Copa Rushmori XXXI - Everything Thread (Rushmore only)

by **Mytanija** » Tue Nov 27, 2018 6:12 pm

The thing about this Copa Rushmori, was that every single game was of the utmost importance. The small size of the tournament made every single game a must-win affair – or at the very least, it was crucial that you didn’t lose. This was something Robin Hjik had realised in the dying embers of their group opener against Valladares at Radnika. It was the tournament’s first game and whilst the 0-0 score line at 90 minutes may have made it look like a bit of damp squib, the actual action was riveting. It was end-to-end at times and as each manager made a tactical tweak to turn the game in their team’s favour, the other would respond in turn with their own masterstroke. Top-level management on show for all to see. The match turned into a bit of a chess game between the two management teams and in the end they cancelled each other out.

A point against the group’s top seed was nothing to be sniffed at though and despite the home fans baying for blood in the closing stages of the game, Hjik went the other way and shored things up at the back changing the team’s formation from their usual 4-3-1-2 to a much more defensive 5-2-2-1 with two holding midfielders. On came Tihomir Feric, Mojmir Anac and Duje Madar and off went Srdan Vukovic, Jasno Odonelec and Jezdimir Ocokoljic. The team ended up packing the midfield as Hjik had wanted them to and it disrupted the Valladar team’s rhythm – they had started to build up a head of steam – just at the right time.

A point against the group’s top seed was a good result, if anything. Now their attention turned to Qusmo for the second group game. It was a game they had highlighted in the run-up to the tournament as one they could potentially take maximum points from. Sure, the result in the recent friendly wasn’t hugely positive, but they also hadn’t been blown away in that fixture. And, Hjik mused, tournament football can do strange things to people. Nobody knew which Qusma team were going to turn up.

The difficulty in this fixture was that playing Qusmo was in some ways essentially like looking in a mirror for the Mytanar team. Both sides were naturally slightly defensive in the manner in which they played and relied on counter-attacks to create chances. Relying on this wasn’t necessarily the best option, as evidenced by the 1-0 friendly defeat that opened Novi Zavej Park in Arsika. They would have to come up with something different if they were going to really challenge the Qusmi’y. Playing a defensive game and hoping for a fast break hadn’t worked in the first ever meeting beween the two sides, so it was time to try something else.

“What do you reckon, Lev?” Hjik asked, turning to his former national side team mate and current assistant manager Lev Repin. Repin was leaning back in a chair engrossed in a file contained in plastic wallets inside a ringbinder. He looked up momentarily before looking back down at the file. Hjik smiled, amused. Sometimes he just couldn’t draw Lev’s attention away from tactical analysis or statistics that were compiled, such was his attention to detail. Hjik had always been a little bit more of a man-manager, but that was what made them a good managerial partnership, they brought different things to the table. Hjik tried again: “Lev? What do you reckon?”

“Oh,” Repin looked up properly this time. “Sorry, I was just… Y’know.” He said, gesturing to the ringbinder.

“Yeah, I can see that you fool!” Hjik laughed. “What do you think we can do to beat Qusmo?”

“That’s a tough question, they’re a lot like us you know?”

“I’d noticed.” Hjik said. “I was hoping you’d have something different we could try against them, something innovative.”

“I don’t know, Robin.” Lev said, matter-of-factly, “You have to remember the team we played against them in Arsika wasn’t the starting eleven we would choose now.”

“True.”

“We have a lot more dynamism with Vukovic in the squad, for example.”

“That’s true, do you think we could employ him in a similar way to how we used him against Acronius in the Cup of Harmony?”

“I’m not too sure it’s an analogous situation, Acronius were quite offensively minded, remember?”

“Yeah, you’re right.” Hjik replied. “I just can’t help but feel that we need quick movement and natural pace against this defence just to break them down.”

“You’re right in fairness, we need to move the ball quickly and not let them get settled in because that’s when they become nigh-on impossible to breakdown.”

“What do you reckon to Anton-Dusan Straka starting the game?”

“We’d be sacrificing a physical presence up-front. And defensively for that matter, Nebojsa is useful when defending set-pieces.”

“Yeah, but having Straka’s pace could help us get in behind, even when we’re close to their goal.”

“He’s intelligent off-the-ball which is very useful, I’d be tempted to bring him on late in the game against tired legs though. Ocokoljic’s movement will cause them problems naturally, along with Jasno Odonelec’s tendency to drift out to the left. If Vukovic can combine with him on the overlap we could give them some issues they haven’t seen before. And in tournament football that can be a big problem.”

“So, exactly like what we did against Acronius then?” Hjik grinned.

“Kind of, but I don’t think it’s as pre-meditated as that, at the end of the day we’re coming up against a team who are very similar to us in playing style and we’re not that far apart in terms of quality. I think we just need to throw caution to the wind a bit and put our best eleven out there and give them a chance to play.”

“Bloody hell! Lev Repin saying that we should throw caution to the wind!”

“Haha, it doesn’t happen often so you may as well savour it.”

“I never thought I’d see the day where you didn’t have a full-scale military-style tactical masterplan for a national team fixture, but here we are.” Hjik grinned again.

“Oi!” Repin smiled. “Who’s saying I don’t have one of those prepared and that this is but a small part of it?” He asked, now grinning.

“Now that is a very good point, Lev.” Robin Hjik chuckled. He hoped that his trusty assistant and good friend did have something up his sleeve, though. This game was crucial. Just like every other game at this Copa Rushmori.

by **Qusmo** » Tue Nov 27, 2018 7:03 pm

Important Disclaimer: Of course, I mean no disrespect to Baker Park, Novo Calania, Mriin, Krytenia, or Atlantian Oceania in general. I would assume that all would know that Cralt-Nirlo Fox’s IC frustration does not reflect any sort of OOC animus on my part, but I want to make it absolutely clear nonetheless.

Other Disclaimer: This does include a bit stronger language than my RPs typically use, so fair warning if any of y’all would be offended by that.

Also, as a Decidedly Unimportant Fun Fact: The other time I’ve written about Cralt-Nirlo, it was also just after Qusmo played Eastfield Lodge. & now for the not-so-fun story:

by **Mytanija** » Tue Nov 27, 2018 7:09 pm

CUT-OFF - MATCHDAY 2

Can the weak become heroes and the stars align?

Group A
Mytanija 0–0 Qusmo
Valladares 0–0 Eastfield Lodge

  Group A                Pld   W  D  L   GF  GA  GD  Pts 
1 Qusmo                    2   1  1  0    1   0  +1    4
2 Mytanija                 2   0  2  0    0   0   0    2
  Valladares               2   0  2  0    0   0   0    2
4 Eastfield Lodge          2   0  1  1    0   1  −1    1

Group B
Oberour Ar Moro 1–1 Savojarna
Nephara 2–0 Darmen

  Group B                Pld   W  D  L   GF  GA  GD  Pts 
1 Nephara                  2   2  0  0    4   0  +4    6  Q
2 Savojarna                2   0  2  0    3   3   0    2
3 Oberour Ar Moro          2   0  1  1    1   3  −2    1
4 Darmen                   2   0  1  1    2   4  −2    1

Group C
Crystalline Caverns 0–1 Taeshan
Eura 1–0 Pridnestrovia

  Group C                Pld   W  D  L   GF  GA  GD  Pts 
1 Eura                     2   2  0  0    3   0  +3    6  Q
2 Taeshan                  2   2  0  0    2   0  +2    6  Q
3 Pridnestrovia            2   0  0  2    0   2  −2    0  E
4 Crystalline Caverns      2   0  0  2    0   3  −3    0  E

Group D
Mareibat 1–1 Cassadaigua
Pasarga 2–3 Sargossa

  Group D                Pld   W  D  L   GF  GA  GD  Pts 
1 Sargossa                 2   2  0  0    8   4  +4    6  Q
2 Pasarga                  2   1  0  1    3   3   0    3
3 Mareibat                 2   0  1  1    1   2  −1    1
4 Cassadaigua              2   0  1  1    3   6  −3    1

by **Oberour Ar Moro** » Thu Nov 29, 2018 1:09 am

Andreit Jugleeur stood almost like a statue on the touchline, watching as Oberours did everything they could to try to make up ground against one of the strongest football teams in the world. Neutral Mytanar fans seemed to be behind them, and the team was playing hard and keeping it close. But they were behind two goals, and worse, they had scored zero.

A country that believed in a moral victory might have seen a close, hard-fought loss against the best team in Rushmore as a good thing. Oberour Ar Moro is not a country that believes in a moral victory. Victory, they believe in. So this was not a good start at all for the Copa Rushmori.

And just down the touchline was a snarling, tattooed, boar of man. A yelling and screaming Nepharan supposedly serving as their teams manager. Andreit kept sneaking peaks at his opposite number. That thug was their manager? He was an effective thug though, curse it all.

After the referee blew his whistle for the final time and Jugleeur and Brosque shook hands, Jugleeur tried to keep his distaste off his face. And as Brosque seemingly tried to break his hand, all Andreit could think was: What an asshole.

Which left Oberour Ar Moro looking at their match against Savojarna as a must-win-or-at-least-draw. The problem was that Savojarna also saw their match against Oberour Ar Moro as a must-win-or-at-least-draw, after their 2-2 draw with Darmen. And the pressure was evident from the kickoff. Both teams traded nearly-successful attacks. But then fifteen minutes into the game, Savojarna's Freya Sigurdsdottir had just broken through into the box when Josselyn Pessiere charged in two-footed to challenge her. Sigurdsdottir went down (though she would return to her feet and played through the game without further incident), and Pessiere was sent off with a well-deserved red card. Irina Jarkasjärvi then capitalized on the penalty kick. So the Dragoons were now down to ten men, and were behind 1-0.

Andreit could just stand there, too livid to even speak as Pessiere walked off the field (he should have dropped him when he had the chance. If Benedig de Croiseus hadn't torn a hamstring none of this would have happened). But as surely as this was the end, it surprisingly wasn't. The team held tough and kept fighting, somehow. Less than ten minutes later Peterne de Courbueil intercepted a Savojarna pass, and got it upfield to Eneour Pique-Pain who snuck it past Viktorija Petrova to level the game.

At 32 minutes, the undermanned Dragoons pulled ahead. Phelippon de Gentilli worked the ball up-field and connected with Kerrian Odierne who took a strong shot on goal. Petrova was able to block it, but de Gentilli then put the ball over for the goal. The loss of Pessiere did end up cost Oberour Ar Moro in the end. Jugleeur tried to redraw their defense on the fly, but Savojarna unleashed one of their dangerous counter attacks and Lenka Otalainen ended up tying the game.[/Strike]

Somehow, someway, Oberour Ar Moro had managed a draw. They were still in the hunt. But they needed to win. Desperately needed to win for the first time in ages. Against Darmen. And hope Nephara did them a solid and won their third game. What could be simpler? At least Andreit didn't have to play Pessiere.

-----

Andreit Jugleeur Responds To Press Conference Confusion
"I was not confused," says Interim Manager

By Kare Busquent

The routine post-game press conference by Andreit Jugleeur went sideways after he spent time detailing match events that did not count in the final result. Jugleeur, serving as Interim Manager after a year as a National Team Assistant, asserted in his press conference that the final result was a 2-2 draw, and detailed the disallowed goal by Phelippon de Gentilli, before arguing with both reporters and Football Management Committee press representatives about the result.

Video of the conference has spread widely across the internet, and has been featured heavily on sports television, and has raised doubts about Jugleeur's fitness and mental alacrity.

"Andreit can disappear into reveries," says one source close to the FMC, "he's a focused man. But during the match? Twice?"

"What a farce," added a second source.

A red-faced Jugleeur marched away from the conference after a FMC press representative tried to clarify his remarks, and has not made any public comments. A press release under his name has been released, attempting to defend his performance.

"I was not confused. I am not confused. I clearly misspoke. It would be impossible for me to make that kind of error", the release under Jugleeur's name asserts. However, sources close to the team say that his post-game speech also asserted that the game was a 2-2 draw, and in more detail.

"I think some of the team thought he was drugged. No one could believe it," the source says. "I know the players have to look past it if they're going to advance into the quarterfinals, but this will make it hard for the team to take him seriously."

The FMC has said that no further press availability or comment will be made until after tonight's game against Darmen.

-----

Kare Busquent sighed and shook his head as he closed his notebook. "Just unbelievable. I can't think of anything like this. Thanks for giving us your perspective."

"No problem," replied Josselyn Pessiere, as he rose to let Busquent out of his hotel room. "Just to be clear, my name isn't going to be in the article, right? Obviously..."

"Obviously not!" Kare replied, adamantly. "You're a source close to the team. I just appreciate that you can give us a player perspective on this."

Pessiere waved that off, before opening the door. "It needs to be known. Have a good day."

The NewGame writer nodded his head, returned his "Good Day" and walked out.

Josselyn walked back and slouched into a chair. He's out on a red card and that imbecile is the manager? It's a shame the Copa run is almost certainly over, but if it gets a real manager on the job, all the better. He felt certain a Kadvael Heault would appreciate his talents.

This is what happens when you A: Don't read well and B: Write off the cuff after midnight. Let that be a lesson.

by **Darmen** » Thu Nov 29, 2018 10:23 am

It had been a milestone day for a handful of All Greens. Zachariah Butler earned his 100th cap. Víedharr Svendsen and Ivan Borde both made their senior team debuts; Svendsen came on in the 73rd minute and Borde in the 79th. About half of the sold out Novi Kaunostadion had thunderously applauded each time. But Aidan Brosque and his bulldozing Cormorants had no intentions of allowing the Darmenis to have their feel good story for the day.

The quick, aggressive Cormorants put the All Greens on the defensive for much of the first half: Virgo, Abbey and Maddox having their hands full with Fanaiyan, Hawke and Strongbow respectively. Goldschmidt found himself taking up a spot in the center of the back line to try and support the three backs, Darmen's formation shifting into a rather standard (and bland) 4-4-2. Rowena Strongbow squeezed past Abbey and Goldschmidt, or rather the two All Greens ran into each other as their attempted tackles missed their mark, and Strongbow's shot sailed past Hyman Campo. Darmen's only chance in the first half was a half-hearted attempt Skylar Hurst that skidded wide of the goal.

The Nepharim kept up the pressure to start the second half, relenting only after Rusalka Klein made extra certain everyone was aware of her presence. Klein pushed Abraham Cardoso out of the way with ease as a Cormorant corner sailed over everyone else's heads before making contact with Klein's, who just stood there nonchalantly with clenched fists resting on her hips as Campo's save attempt failed at keeping the ball out of the net.

With Nephara up 2-0, the Cormorants finally took the pressure off, but not by much, allowing the All Greens to play with more possession and get some shots on goal. A quiet day for Craig Blackwood ended when he was replaced by Ivan Borde, who played equally quietly. Aside from Hurst's first half attempt, none of the strikers made much of an impact for Darmen. Butler and Juanito Stafford, on the right side of midfield, tried to spark some attacks down the wing, but the Cormorants' absorbed each forward venture. On the left, a fresh Svendsen, who at 19 years old was the youngest player on either side, gave the Darmenis a glimmer of hope as he shot past Leona Rafford and pumped a cross into the box. Had Svendsen made that run earlier in the match, Rafford would certainly have matched him stride for stride, but fatigue was taking its full effect in the closing moments of the match. In any case, Svendsen's cross sailed past a charging Butler - who failed to connect with a diving header - and bounced several times in the box before being cleared by Dragora Steelhenge.

Despite the 2-0 loss, Darmen were still in with a good chance to advance to the Quarterfinals. A victory for Darmen over Oberour Ar Moro, who had drawn 1-1 with Savojarna in their MD2 contest, and any sort of points for the Nepharim would see Darmen take second. A Nepharim loss or a Darmeni draw or loss would end any chances for Darmeni progression. But Oberour Ar Moro was the "weakest" opponent in Group B, and Darmen were still confident of their chances. The Olujastadion in Ebor awaited.

by **Qusmo** » Thu Nov 29, 2018 12:24 pm

A Blog

I CREATED A CHILD WITH THESE LOINS

Let me make something perfectly clear.

Fuzpon Qusma SUCKS, & its AWFUL, & its RUINING OUR TEAM, & we’re going to WIN the Copa Rushmori.

If you’ve EVER red this blog, in the articles that talk about it, or if you’ve EVER seen Qusmo play, except when their playing in competitive matches, YOU KNOW that Qusmo CONSTANTLY plays in NON-COMPETITIVE matches. They call them “friendlies.” Well, guess what? I don’t feel very friendly about them.

EVERY SINGLE TIME we play a friendly, we LOSE. Except when we draw, when we or win. & this sets us up for FAILURE. If our team doesn’t BELIEVE that they’ll win, they WONT. & losing is BAD.

But even when we DO win, which is basically never, we STILL don’t win when it counts. We played Mytanija in a friendly two matches before playing them in a COMPETITIVE MATCH in the Copa Rushmori. WHOSE BRILLIANT IDEA WAS THAT? We exposed all our tactics, all our secrets, & all our mysteries, & we lost the elment of SURPRISE. & that’s why we LOST TO MITENAGIA. Or drew or whatever. Or maybe painted. I don’t know. I like paintings, though. Not that “modern art” trash, though. That isn’t art. That’s trash. My kid could do that. & my kid was born - um, I think two weeks or so? No, three. Two weeks ago was the last time I posted to this blog. Nothing in this Multiverse brings me more joy then this blog.

& RAGE. THIS BLOG MAKES ME ANGRY. Well, actually, not this blog per se - more like the things that I write about. I am agry at the SCUM OF THE MULTIVERSE that UNRELENTINGLY, OPPRESSIVELY, INHUMANELY RULE AS DICATORS & TYRANTS OVER OUR BELOVED QUSMA NATIONAL TEEM. In fact, my partner calls it my “tomato face,” because my face gets so red when I’m mad. They tell my kid, “Hey, Tla, looks like someone’s got a tomato face!” & then they take Tla to the basement & lock the door until they stop hearing very quiet, polite keyboard typing & screaming.

& nothing makes me ANGRYER than to watch HELPLESSLY as FUZPON QUSMA DESTROYS FOOTBALL. But I am consoled by the fact that QUsmo will win anyway. In fact, QUSMO WILL WIN THE COPA RUSHMORI. Just look at it. EASTFIELD LODGE HAS BROKEN QUSMO’S CURSE AGINST RUSHMORE. Before Eastfield Lodge? ONE WIN & FIVE LOSSES in six matches against Rushmore - & that win was against East Neutralia. East Neutralia! Unranked in Rushmore, unranked in the Multiverse. & that was just because Qusmo is guaranteed to advance out of every group stage it ever participates in. That’s just a fact, like Qusmo beating Omerica.

But now, Eastfield Lodge is the new Omerica. Since we’ve started playing Eastfield Lodge, we have THREE WINS, TWO DRAWS, & NO LOSSES against Rushmore. & look at those draws: the first was breaking the Rushmore Curse, so there was still some residual effect in play, so tht’s understandable. & the second was against Matanaja, right after we beat Mitteraga before. Our AWFUL, TERRIBLE, RIGGED experience against Juvencus should have taught us that we’re going to suck when we play against a team for the second time in a tournament. & the last friendly before the tournament is basically the same tournament, so it really just proves that we are fantastic against Rushmore now if we got a drawing out of it. There’s no going down. We will beat Valladares, & we will win this group. & then, guess what? The winners of Group A get to wear their first-choice colours throughout the entire knockout rounds. We will be wearing red & gold, NOT white, & we will have just broken the Rushmore Curse. Just as long as another team from Group A doesn’t make it to the final, the region ought to just save themselves the trouble of hosting & give us the trophy now. You can bet your watch on it. You can bet your mortgage on it. You can bet your access to television broadcasting Qusmo matches on it. Actually, no. That’s priceless. You can’t do that. But you can bet your kid on it.

I did.

ESCA, Mytanija—For the final match of Qusmo’s Copa Rushmori XXXI group stage, KF Qastyr player Forzu-Ralox Kal will start in right midfield for the national team, instead of KF Trew’s Ilinx-Iblix Tla; with their team having scored just one goal in two matches thus far, manager Avarn-Oxolt Ban hopes the Champions’ Cup quarterfinalist can provide a spark from the right side of the pitch that Ilinx-Iblix could not in Qusmo’s first two matches of the tournament.

by **Savojarna** » Thu Nov 29, 2018 2:12 pm

SavojarSports.sj - inside reports from all Savojarna
Savojarna longing for a Nepharim Miracle

Ebor, MYT - It is somewhat rare that a team that is unbeaten after two games in the group stage of the Copa looks this unhappy. But the Savojar women, followed closely by bad luck throughout this competition, are in deep trouble following their second draw in the second game of Group B, leading to an odd constellation in which only one team in this group has actually been able to win any games, group favourites Nephara. The Cormorants' second victory over Darmen, coupled with another draw between Savojarna and Oberour ar Moro, means that the defending champions of Rushmore have already secured the victory in this tough group before their third-round clash with Savojarna. Unless the Savojars manage to withstand the Nepharim attacks, they will lose out to whoever wins Darmen vs. Oberour ar Moro. Even if our women were to hold Nephara to a draw, the Savojar hopes would be shattered if the other match in the group produces a winner. The only situation in which they could move on if they lose is if the parallel game ends in a draw, in which case the tie-breakers between the three teams that are not Nephara were to kick in.

The first of those would be the head-to-head results. These would be completely drawn, as would be the goal difference as none of the games between those three sides would have ended in anything but a draw. We then move to overall goal difference, sitting at 0 for Savojarna as we speak, and -2 for the two others. As this wouldn't be changing for our competitors - they have to draw for this crazy scenario to kick in - the Savojars are through if they lose with one goal difference, and out if they lose by three or more. Shall they lose by two, we move down the list to number of wins. This fails to produce a result as it would be zero for everyone involved. Moving further down, we see goals conceded overall. And here is where it gets tricky. Shall Savojarna concede less goals than Oberour ar Moro, they are through. Shall they concede more, they are out and Oberour ar Moro are through. Shall they be equal, there would be a playoff match between the two sides. In any case, if it comes down to this, Darmen would be out as they lose out to Oberour ar Moro. Confused? So are we. Don't worry, our friends over at STV2 will keep you updated throughout the game, and we will feature a home-page alert telling you who is through right now, along with our usual flash table.

How did we get in this mess in the first place though? Depending on who you ask, because of our chance conversion or because of the referee. The sheer hectic of the Oberour ar Moro game is hard to grasp especially given that it only saw two counting goals, but it may be indicative that the media of our opponents actually have published a game report that has the match ending at 2-2. Apparently the heat of the moment made them miss the referee disallowing two goals in the second half. Following the already dramatic 2-2 against Darmen, in which the All Greens had only equalised late in the match after Savojarna had taken the lead shortly after the break thanks to a distance shot by Maersk, hopes were high for a potentially decisive match against Oberour ar Moro, but the outsiders had been aggressive from the beginning and pushed Savojarna back successfully. It took only five minutes for Pique-Pain to curl a ball around Ernberg and miss the far post only by a few centimetres, Petrova being unable to scrape it out. On the other side, Laurens Desainctvictori showed a brilliant save against Sigurdsdottir off a corner, when he could just about clear her header with his shin.

The first time the referee stood in the centre of attention was fifteen minutes into the game when Otalainen's magistral pass over the heads of the opposing defence found Sigurdsdottir, who then moved past de Gentilli only to be brutally taken down by Josselyn Pessiere. The referee immediately sent Pessiere off the pitch and caused a short chaos around the box, with the hot-blooded Sigurdsdottir nearly getting into a dispute with Lunen Margas before being restrained by her teammates. The Savojar striker was not carded as the referee was busy explaining his call to a stunned Pessiere, drawing whistles from the Oberour ar Moro fans. Irina Jarkasjärvi is not known for showing nerves, and so hardly anyone was surprised at her sharp shot to the bottom left, just about grazing the post and shaking up the net as Desainctvictori was unable to get as much as a fingertip to the ball despite him choosing the right side to jump to. The Northlights seemed on track, but got cocky, and only seven minutes later they were punished. Victoria Maersk, starting in a tournament game for the second time in her career (even though she did start WCQ games when Nilla Johansson was injured), played a sloppy back pass towards Midström. De Courbeuil intercepted the ball and crossed it to the other side of the box, where Pique-Pain danced past his opponent yet again and this time went for the near side, beating Petrova under the arm.

At 27 minutes, the referee gave us a first taste of the controversy soon to follow as a challenge by Kjaer was sanctioned with a yellow card despite her having played the ball and only pushed the opponent off balance a little bit. The following free kick ended in the wall and Savojarna launched a counter, but the ball flew past the goal as Haakonson tried her luck from the right wing. Among Savojar fans, the decision five minutes later was not controversial either: A shot by Odierne was blocked by Petrova, who then dove for the ball and was hit by de Gentilli in the process as he pushed the ball over the line. The referee disallowed the goal for goalkeeper interference, which our friends form Oberour ar Moro seemed to have missed in the hectic that ensued. De Gentilli protested heavily and saw a yellow for it, while Petrova shouted at him for what she felt was an attack on her safety. The Savojar goalie also picked up a yellow card in the process, launching a hectic phase of over-motivated teams taking turns on each others goals, but failing to convert.

In the second half, the game died down a bit as the moods cooled off after a string of good refereeing decisions. Contention shortly returned after a yellow card against Reskilainen for a late challenge that some opposing players would have rather seen as a red card, but the referee was of the opinion that the attack was not bad enough to warrant the red. Late in the game, however, it was Savojarna that launched a counter. A long ball found Hytamäki, who had joined the counter. From the midfield, she crossed it into the box where Sigurdsdottir jumped for the ball and deflected it backwards onto the feet of Lenka Otalainen, lurking at the second post. Otalainen scored with a volley, but the goal was disallowed because of an offside. Indeed, the replay showed that Lenka Otalainen had been offside when Hytamäki played her cross (but Sigurdsdottir narrowly wasn't), however as her teammate had touched the ball before her, the Savojars argued, it should not have been offside. The referee was deaf to their pleas, and did not allow the 2-1 scored only minutes before the final whistle.

Savojarna had one more good chance when another joker, Svetlana Namenkova, tried her luck from the distance but missed the net just a few centimetres high. Oberour ar Moro did not get in front of the goal in the final minutes of the match, leading to the Savojars putting on more and more pressure, but there were no more shots on target, leading to the Savojars finishing the match 1-1. And thus, we got into the difficult situation above, with points against Nephara bitterly needed. Three of them, ideally - as tough as that would be.

by **Mytanija** » Thu Nov 29, 2018 5:52 pm

Anton-Dusan Straka had sat on the bench with nerves jangling in the pit of his stomach. For close to 80 minutes he had sat there, thoughts whirring in his brain as he tried desperately to put everything out of his mind except the job at hand. Lev Repin, the national team assistant manager, had called him into his office ahead of the game at the Novi Atletskistadion. He had told him that he would likely be coming on late in the game against Qusmo in an attempt to stretch their defence with his pace, Anton-Dusan had nodded intently, that was certainly something he could do. He would have liked longer in the game to really test their defenders, he was confident in his abilities to run any defender ragged with the constant challenge he set them as he played on the last man from first minute to last. One coach at youth level had described him as 'born offside', but when it was so effective, why would he change it? He may get caught offside a lot, but when he broke the offside trap nobody was catching him.

He'd have to be content with some time off the bench, though. He could live with it. He still felt like he could cause some issues, especially against tired legs. Then, when they had walked out to conduct the warm-up, Anton-Dusan's insides turned to jelly. The crowd were raucous, it was almost a carnival atmosphere when you knew those fans were on your side. But at the same time it brought pressure. He kept reminding himself that at least they weren't the Qusma team, at least they didn't have to put up with an intimidatingly partisan Mytanar crowd, but at the same time he knew that all those Mytanar fans were there expecting something from this game. They felt like it was the one that could really propel them to qualifying out of the group stage. Everybody knew it could be crucial and as much as the gaffer said that every game was crucial in this tournament because of the reduced number of teams, it didn't really take anything away from this particular game. Plus, they had only narrowly been beaten in a recent friendly against the same opposition and there was a general feeling that they were there for the taking if only the team could get into the attacking rhythm that was sometimes there and at others was non-existent.

As confident as Anton-Dusan was in his own ability, the fact he hadn't been capped before and the potential importance of the game played on his mind. He sort of sleepwalked through the warm-up, barely there mentally but physically going through the motions, almost doing the warm-up from memory. He'd done enough of them even at his young age, pre-game warm-ups were pretty much the same every time. Then they were in the changing room with the starting eleven putting on their kit for the game and the substitutes and reserves all put tracksuit pants on and team issue sweaters or jackets. They headed out to the bench together and as Anton-Dusan sat down, Mojmir Anac clambered past him with his enormous frame trying to fit into the relatively tight space between the rows of seats in the home dugout at Atletik's stadium.

"First time I've ever been on this side of the dugout at this ground..." Mojmir said, grinning. The Novi Atletskistadion was the home ground of Atletik Thessia. Mojmir had come through the youth ranks at their greatest rivals, Olympic Thessia and was now captain of his boyhood club. "Fucking shithole!" Mojmir added. Anton-Dusan chuckled, a brief respite from the knot of nerves occupying his body.

The game was as cagey as the opener had been against Valladares, perhaps even more so. Qusmo did not need a win as much as Mytanija, they had beaten Eastfield Lodge in their group opener and therefore had a little bit more room for manoeuvre. The first chance of the game fell to Nebojsa Aleksic, the striker was one Anton-Dusan admired greatly because he didn't really have a weak part of his game. Not when it came to finding the net anyway. Sure, he may not bring the most to the team's build-up play but he was strong, quick, good at shooting with both left and right and was strong in the air. If Anton-Dusan had been taller he'd have liked to think he'd be a little bit like Nebojsa Aleksic. Aleksic received the ball on the run after a good pass from Branko Brkljacic and used an outstretched arm to push off the Qusmo centre-half Zenon-Gerol and he then swung his right boot at the ball, powering it towards the goal. It rattled off the outside of the post, Xynat-Evela had stood there stranded and Aleksic had held his hands to his head. It had been nothing more than a half chance but it was a good effort. Aleksic had been unlucky.

The game seemed to move quickly on to half-time and Anton-Dusan went out onto the pitch to warm-up again with the starters all in the changing room, Hjik and Repin advising them on any tactical tweaks ahead of the second-half, maybe some motivating words too. This time, Anton-Dusan realised where he was as he took part in some finishing drills, he smashed one effort low past Gudelj and then a second past substitute goalkeeper Savic. It all felt a bit more real, the nerves were still there, but his mind was a little more present now too.

The second-half was a tight affair too, Qusmo edged the early exchanges, Pedja Kasun was forced to make a string of excellent saves from several Qusma attackers. Prant-Pertz went close twice, the second of which had to be tipped around the post. For all intents and purposes it had looked like a done deal when Prant-Pertz connected with the ball from the captain, Ilinx-Kepex's, cross. Kasun was equal to it though and it was arguably the save of the tournament so far, Anton-Dusan was slightly unaware of that, the team had been urged to relax in their free time and try and stay out of the tournament bubble for a little bit. Hjik had chided some of the players when he had found them engrossed in Sargossa's victory over Cassadaigua, he had told them to focus purely on their own games and to forget about the other teams. It was difficult when the tournament was in Mytanija though, it was nearly literally everywhere you looked.

Minutes were ticking by: the hour mark, 65, 70, 75 and still Anton-Dusan wasn't getting the call to do a final quick warm-up to go on. Srdan Vukovic came off for Tihomir Feric, one of the regular substitutions and one that could be expected and then Tahir Fejzuli came off for Mateja Stojkovic. Anton-Dusan was expecting the next substitution to be him, the game was seemingly meandering towards a 0-0 conclusion as both sides seemed devoid of ideas going forward. Surely Hjik would throw caution to the wind and try to get a victory that could prove all-important in the context of the group. But then suddenly Qusmo were on-top again and they had Mytanija pinned back within their own half, even Jezdimir Ocokoljic was back trying to hustle and harry their opponent's midfielders when they were in possession inside the Mytanar half.

Anton-Dusan glanced towards the technical area when Hjik was stood, Lev Repin next to him and chattering away. Hjik was focused on the game, but then said one line, Anton-Dusan couldn't make out what he said such was the din in the stadium. He glanced at the clock: 80 minutes. Exactly the number of minutes that Lev Repin had suggested that Hjik may decide to bring him on in this sort of game. Repin turned and strode towards the seats in the dugout where the substitutes were sat, right towards Anton-Dusan. This was going to be it, his chance. He was slightly surprised given the way the game was going, but maybe Hjik thought they could hit Qusmo on the counter-attack, with them perhaps vulnerable to over-committing players.

"Okay," Repin stopped and then spoke, "Mojmir, get ready to go on. We need to see this game out."

Anton-Dusan was gobsmacked. He'd been so sure it was going to be his opportunity to show that he could affect a bit game with the national team. It definitely wasn't going to be today now though.

by **Mytanija** » Thu Nov 29, 2018 6:01 pm

CUT-OFF - MATCHDAY 3

The only one I see, is mine when she walks down our street

Group A
Eastfield Lodge 0–1 Mytanija
Qusmo 1–0 Valladares

  Group A                Pld   W  D  L   GF  GA  GD  Pts 
1 Qusmo                    3   2  1  0    2   0  +2    7  Q
2 Mytanija                 3   1  2  0    1   0  +1    5  Q
3 Valladares               3   0  2  1    0   1  −1    2  E
4 Eastfield Lodge          3   0  1  2    0   2  −2    1  E

Group B
Darmen 1–1 Oberour Ar Moro
Savojarna 2–1 Nephara

  Group B                Pld   W  D  L   GF  GA  GD  Pts 
1 Nephara                  3   2  0  1    5   2  +3    6  Q
2 Savojarna                3   1  2  0    5   4  +1    5  Q
3 Oberour Ar Moro          3   0  2  1    2   4  −2    2  E
4 Darmen                   3   0  2  1    3   5  −2    2  E

Group C
Pridnestrovia 3–2 Crystalline Caverns
Taeshan 0–2 Eura

  Group C                Pld   W  D  L   GF  GA  GD  Pts 
1 Eura                     3   3  0  0    5   0  +5    9  Q
2 Taeshan                  3   2  0  1    2   2   0    6  Q
3 Pridnestrovia            3   1  0  2    3   4  −1    3  E
4 Crystalline Caverns      3   0  0  3    2   6  −4    0  E

Group D
Sargossa 6–3 Mareibat
Cassadaigua 3–1 Pasarga

  Group D                Pld   W  D  L   GF  GA  GD  Pts 
1 Sargossa                 3   3  0  0   14   7  +7    9  Q
2 Cassadaigua              3   1  1  1    6   7  −1    4  Q
3 Pasarga                  3   1  0  2    4   6  −2    3  E
4 Mareibat                 3   0  1  2    4   8  −4    1  E

Quarter Finals.
QF1: Qusmo vs. Savojarna (at Kotrba, Esca)
QF2: Eura vs. Cassadaigua (at Olujastadion, Ebor)
QF3: Nephara vs. Mytanija (at Novi Kaunostadion, Thessia)
QF4: Sargossa vs. Taeshan (at Miagostadion, Miago)

by **Cassadaigua** » Fri Nov 30, 2018 8:48 am

Dagans Change The Script,
by Chelsea Dufresne, Concord Heights Times

Abysmal.
Pathetic.
Uninspired.

You name the negative adjective, it would apply to Team Cassadaigua in Copa Rushmori 31. They were crushed by Sargossa in the opener, and then could only draw the unranked Mareibat side. The team was 0-1-1, and preparing to face world juggernaut Pasarga for the group stage finale. We were getting the headlines ready...

“Dagans weakly bow out.”
“Copa Rushmori an Epic Failure.”
“Terrible, uninspired soccer, football, or whatever the hell you call that garbage.”
“Sweeney fails Cassadaigua by taking Copa Rushmori off.”

Which one would I pick? Well, there was still this match against Pasarga to watch. Damn, this was about to be painful. The timeline ticked away.

Pre-Game: Told Stacie Houston just won the Golden Bear 400. Good. Something positive will come out of today.

6th Minute: Already three Pasarga shots on target. This is going to be really bad. But at least our goalkeeper Kristen Speller is on good form right now.

14th Minute: Well, we got a little momentum, and look, Chelsea Monroe just gave us a 1-0 lead. Maybe we won’t get our butts kicked.

16th Minute: Why does Hannah Ranucci take the Copa Rushmori off? Well, back to the game.

25th Minute: Yep, short lived excitement. Erik Földessy ties it up.

31st Minute: Hey! The good Kristen Speller is here today! Great recovery save.

40th Minute: Goal! Wow. Good job Caitlyn Mayer. We might actually lead at halftime unless we blow it.

45th Minute: We didn’t blow it. Yet.

56th Minute: Am I imagining things or have we been the better team this half?

62th Minute: So Sargossa just beat Mareibat. Interesting.

69th Minute: Good substitution idea, Brittany. Bring in Ashley Crocker, if we tighten up our defense more maybe we actually.... wait, what am I thinking, this team has been terrible this Copa Rushmori. They’ll blow it.

74th Minute: We are still controlling the play. Wow.

78th Minute: Goal! Sierra Mattison with the strike. Two goal lead.

79th Minute: They say a two goal lead is the most dangerous lead in sports. Wait, that’s just a hockey saying.

86th Minute: We’re actually going to win this, holy crap!

90th Minute: Victory!

Somehow. Someway. They have advanced to the quarterfinals. How did this happen? Well, it just happened! Let’s forget we were thinking about those negative headlines. Congratulations to the Fillies on stepping up with a nice complete effort when pretty much everyone had written you off. Sure, Eura is a probably an unbeatable opponent for us, but Pasarga seemed like they would be too. We’ll be in Ebor on borrowed time. We should be long gone. Eura meanwhile, expects to cruise.

by **Nephara** » Sat Dec 01, 2018 4:06 am

Nephara 2 - 0 Darmen
(4-3-3) 1 - Swoboda; 2 - Rafford, 5 - Konoval, 6 - Steelhenge, 3 - Close; 8 - Klein, 4 - Rowland (23 - Misidjan 70'), 21 - Moxham; 7 - Fanaiyan, 9 - Hawke, 11 - Strongbow (16 - Staunton 81')
Goals: Strongbow 31', Klein 61'

Savojarna 2 - 1 Nephara
(4-3-3 / 4-4-2) 1 - Swoboda; 2 - Rafford (18 - Kielseng 61'), 22 - Thorn, 6 - Steelhenge, 19 - Vicelich; 8 - Klein, 4 - Rowland (9 - Hawke 71'), 14 - Webster; 7 - Fanaiyan, 10 - Metzger, 16 - Staunton (11 - Strongbow 77')
Goal: Staunton 44'

THE HERALD
FIVE THINGS WE'VE LEARNED FROM AIDAN BROSQUE'S FIRST DAYS IN CHARGE
Erik Waldemar

1. The identity is already shifting
Michael Brandon always warned us against pragmatism turning to cynicism, against the overwhelming pressure of a siege mentality setting the Cormorants up to fail as it had in the fallow period following World Cup glory. It took him a long time to undo that, and it appears that Brosque, well, has better things to do than care. Already, the Cormorants are getting harder and more aggressive in the tackle, and Rusalka Klein's goal against Darmen - enabled by shoving a defender and daring the referee to call it off - was, bluntly, cheating.

2. The 4-3-3 is bringing the best out of Moxham
... And the team seriously missed her against a Savojarna side that played without fear, and deserved their win. When present, however, she picked apart the OAM defence practically at will, and was a constant thorn in the Darmeni side though her finishing touch was off. Unfortunately, she picked up a booking in each game. At least she'll be fresh for Mytanija. The new shape is doing well for some of the other question marks, too - Rowena Strongbow has particularly thrived, and Hawke looks to be enjoying things now she isn't so isolated.

3. There is faith in youth
Picking Aristide Metzger and Roxana Thorn to start against Savojarna, on the other hand? Those were not enforced changes. And Kurtis Bastable was a decidedly adventurous pick for a manager some feared would be overly staid. People feared Brosque would go for more experienced heads, but in reality there was never anything to fear - Brosque has always had faith in youth where needed, most prominently in bringing a 21-year old Airik Ruhl to the Harriers and putting immediate faith in him, and most relevantly in bringing out Marisha Staunton.

4. When they're good, they're good
Let's not focus unduly on Savojarna, though. Or, for that matter, on the manner of Klein's goal against Darmen. The fact is, the Cormorants dominated Oberour and were comfortably on top of Darmen, a side very much to be taken seriously - after all, they put four goals past Swoboda a year ago, made up for only by Hawke's hat-trick, and help from Rafford and Gosforth, at the other end. This time, the Cormorants were resolute at the back, with the midfield trio of Klein - Rowland - Moxham clicking silkily, and despite some late threat from Darmen, looked very much in charge of a very capable side.

5. Things could still go either way
Okay, so it's kind of an asinine final 'point' to make, but... only three matches have been played so far. Maybe there'll be more fluent showings like Darmen, maybe there'll be more disjointed defeats like Savojarna. Defeat against Mytanija would be seen by some as a disaster, but it's literally one game. Against the hosts, at that. Looking across to Brenecia, people called for Jim Reid's head after an admittedly humiliating group stage exit in the CE; a year later, they were world champions. For now, it's just time to watch, wait... and hope.

by **Savojarna** » Sat Dec 01, 2018 2:37 pm

SavojarSports.sj - inside reports from all Savojarna
Favourites stumble en masse - the big chance for Savojarna?

Last night, employing a rather young and unexperienced team, we saw Nephara falling to a determined Savojar side fighting for their life in the Copa. The surprising victory brought an unbeaten Savojar side into the quarterfinals, but had no consequences for Nephara, who had secured the group victory already before the game as all matches without the Cormorants' participation ended in draws. However, many other top teams fared worse as only three out of the eight top seeds advanced from the group stage. We will look back at how the favourites for the Copa did, and how the removal of some big shots changed the chances for Savojarna.

With Eura and Nephara, the two most-named favourites for the victory are still in the running. The Nepharim had dominated Oberour ar Moro and were in control throughout their match against Darmen as well, conceding no goal against the side that managed to put two past Petrova in the opener. However, their last match was hectic and the Cormorants never really got into the game, and a clever Savojar side exploited the openings in their team quickly, proving that the Nepharim defence is all but impenetrable. A strong opposition that pounces upon their mistakes may be very capable of threatening the defending title-holders, but only if they manage to not be completely pushed back by Nephara in the first minutes. Eura, on the other hand, were one of two highly convincing teams in the group stage. In a tricky group with Pridnestrovia and Taeshan, the Eurans conceded not a single goal and scored five themselves, leading to a clean record. With a clean 2-0 against Taeshan, who were showing a pretty strong game so far, the Eurans underscored their ambitions and will be a team to watch.

The next best favourite now probably comes out of Group D. Copa 30 vice-champions Sargossa, seeded only as number two within their group, spectacularly qualified on a perfect record as well. However, if Eura had been an example for solid play and a sober get-the-job-done campaign, Sargossa were an example for a flashy, spectacular storm, as exemplified by their 6-3 against unranked Mareibat. With fourteen goals, Sargossa have scored more than twice as often as the next best offence, Cassadaigua. However, they also conceded by far the most goals of any qualified teams with seven, and across the entire tournament only Mareibat conceded more. Against a tactically sound team that exploits the defensive weaknesses of Sargossa, they may very well struggle if they cannot overwhelm their opponents.

The weirdest group, however, was definitely Group A. With a whopping three goals scored across six games, this was not an enjoyable group. However, it provided a lot of drama as the two top seeds Valladares and Eastfield Lodge both failed to score a single goal against hosts Mytanija and the always dangerous Qusmo. Things seemed still rather normal for Valladares after two rounds - a draw against the highly motivated and well-fighting hosts in the opener is nothing to worry about, and Eastfield Lodge is a team that could be considered roughly equal to Valladares - but collapsed in their final match. No goals across three games surely should have consequences for the coach or the team, but the (former) number three of Rushmore remained surprisingly calm as their chances crumbled away. Even quieter was the end of Eastfield Lodge, who ended up last in their group after they could not even draw Mytanija, finishing the Copa with a single point and no goal scored. Despite the abysmal performance, communication from the team was near zero, even though we expect some profound changes in the team.

What does the crumbling of Rushmore's elite - with Pasarga, another top 5 team failed to qualify as they lost a bit surprisingly to Cassadaigua and went home after the group stage - mean for the Copa as we go on? For Savojarna, it means that we dodge a rematch of the Copa 30 group stage match against Valladares (which the Savojar men had lost 0-3) and get a rematch of our final Copa 30 group stage game instead, which the men's team won 1-0 against Qusmo. Both have finished their group stage with a victory over the top seed of their respective groups and come out of the group stage unbeaten, which should be a warning to the Northlights. Nevertheless, Qusmo are a beatable team and we predict a very tight game, possibly going into overtime. However, our optimism drives us to predict Savojarna winning (knock on wood).

How about the other teams? Nephara get a tricky match against the hosts, Mytanija, but if the reigning champions manage to get into the game early on, they are probably going through. Mytanija have shown fighting spirit, but this will likely not be enough against a side like Mytanija, which will require also a lot of skill and experience which may be a bit too much for the hosts at this point, even though it may certainly be well within their range in a few years. Eura also get no easy opponent in Cassadaigua, but the Dagans should be well within Eura's range if they want to win the Copa. They have played with almost machine-like precision so far and are unlikely to slip up against Cassadaigua, who have not always convinced us either. That leaves us with Sargossa vs. Taeshan, a game that is promising for a lot of entertainment. Two systems will clash as the careful Taeshan, having won 1-0 twice and qualified with only two goals scored, will meet the spectacular Sargossa. If the Taeshani defence can hold, they may actually be slightly favoured here, but we still tend slightly towards Sargossa, even if it is just because we would like to see some offence as the tournament continues.

If we are right in our predictions, Savojarna will play Eura in the semifinals, a match that may produce some tensions as the nations have some history. On the pitch, however, this should be a fairly calm game, and unfortunately it will probably end up better for Eura. Nephara vs. Sargossa, the rematch of last year's final, will however be a much tougher game. The Cormorants have shown against Savojarna that they are not too fond of heavy attacks by aggressive teams, which is exactly what the Sargossans specialise in. It is hard to say if Nephara would fall apart again if there is more at stake than in the Savojarna game, but we will predict Sargossa to go through nevertheless. In the third place playoff, Savojarna will face Nephara again, and we assume that with their pride slightly hurt, they will prevail. In the final, we will now have Sargossa vs. Eura. This will be yet another clash between a tight system and the free-flowing Sargossan offence, but we see the systemic approach prevail in this case and Eura taking the Copa.

However, this is all speculation. If you want to see the real deal, tune into STV2 tomorrow at 22:00 Savojar Standard Time in order to catch the pre-game studio and the Copa Rushmori quarter-final between Savojarna and Qusmo!

by **Sargossa** » Sat Dec 01, 2018 5:17 pm

SSM | Sargossan State Media
International Edition - Sport

How To Solve A Problem Like Sargossa

Blanco Borrayo reports;

On the surface everything is going rather well. A third win from three group games, only Eura can equal that record, and a place already booked in the Copa Rushmori quarter final with a game to spare. This coming hot on the heels of a joint best ever showing at the World Cup would suggest everything in the Sargossan garden was decidedly rosy. Take off the spectacles and that rose tint wavers just a little.

Because, once again, the great and good of Sargossan football can’t quite fathom how to create a national side with true balance. The tactical discipline of Rafael Barrios worked, for a time. Arguably he was exactly the kind of coach a nation that had dropped like a stone in the world rankings needed. He created a side that was rock solid in defence and clever on the break. His charges soaked up pressure by the bucketload before launching laser guided counter attacks. Despite emerging from qualifying pot 5 The Corsairs made it to the finals of World Cup 78 as shock group winners, ahead of Starblaydia, Nephara, Darmen and Mercedini. They’d repeat the feat during World Cup 79, but the cracks were becoming evident. When underdogs the counter attacking worked like a dream. But when the opposition sat back Barrios’ sides struggled when forced onto the front foot. The attack looked increasingly pedestrian, increasingly laboured. When before heavyweights had met their match, now minnows were winning cheap points.

Those cheap points would eventually cost Rafael Barrios his job, with Rodrigo Defederico brought in to add an attacking élan that had been lacking. A brief he met with some aplomb, rescuing a flagging World Cup 80 effort, reaching the Copa Rushmori XXX final and advancing through to the last sixteen of World Cup 81, given eventual winners Vilita a scare in the process. Take that World Cup as a case in point. Sargossa defeated Damukuni 8 – 6 on aggregate in the playoff, before a 4 – 3 loss to Ethane, a 2 – 1 victory over Eshan and a 3 – 2 win against the second seeded Farfadillis that secured that date with Vilita and a third 4 – 3 scoreline in five matches.

Where Barrios’ sides became laboured the Defederico vintage has shown a fluidity in attack that has left the fan’s mouths watering. His youthful Copa side have run particularly rampant, reaching the quarter final having scored more than twice as many goals as the next most prolific in the tournament, Group D rivals Cassadaigua. The other side of that coin is a defence that has shipped goals at an alarming rate. Only unranked Mareibat have a poorer record, largely thanks to the six that Sargossa stuck past them.

The fear is that against a disciplined outfit the Corsairs could well be found wanting. Against a disciplined outfit, like Taeshan for example. The Purple Knights have a long history of producing rock solid sides, two banks of four and a gritty determination. Something we know awfully well, having met the Taeshanis on twelve previous occasions. Most recently at the 28th edition of the Copa, in which the Knights duffed up the Corsairs 3 – 0 in the last sixteen. Rodrigo Defederico will need to quickly inject a bit of much needed steel into his backline or Sargossa could well be following other former Copa winners Eastfield Lodge, Pasarga, Valladares and Darmen through the trapdoor.

by **Qusmo** » Sat Dec 01, 2018 7:42 pm

SPONY LUQ TELEVISION

Hello, all. Welcome to Spony Luq Television, broadcasting from Qanz, Qusmo. Qusmo has defied all expectations to win Group A of Copa Rushmori XXXI, with a win over Eastfield Lodge to open the group stage, a draw against hosts Mytanija, & a victory over top seeds Valladares to finish group play. In this smaller-sized tournament, teams are heading straight from the group stage to the quarterfinals; the group stage was the round of sixteen. So, Qusmo will play Group B runners-up Savojarna in the quarterfinals in Esca, with the winner playing either Cassadaigua or Eura for a spot in the final. First, we have a question from a viewer in Esca, Mytanija.

What just happened in Group A?

Well, not a whole lot. Qusmo scored one goal against Eastfield Lodge in their opening match & another against Valladares to win the group. Mytanija also scored in their final group stage match, against Eastfield Lodge. Those three goals were the only scores that took place in six Group A matches. Eastfield Lodge & Valladares will head home as the only two teams in this tournament to have not scored a goal, while Mytanija is the only nation to have scored precisely one. In fact, even though Qusmo was the most “prolific” offense in Group A, it scored no more than the other three groups’ least-successful attack. This isn’t really out of the ordinary for Qusmo, a normally defensively-minded team. In the last tournament the Qusmi’y played in, Cup of Harmony 73, four of Qusmo’s seven matches ended 1-0 in Qusmo’s favour. & the only other time Qusmo competed in a Copa Rushmori, every match they played in the group stage ended with exactly one goal scored, with one win & two losses among them.

With its win on Matchday Three, Qusmo avenged the loss they suffered in their debut match in a Copa Rushmori. Defeating regional powerhouses Valladares - & eliminating them in the group stage of the competition they won for the second time just two editions ago - was a tough task, but it won’t get any easier for Qusmo, as they face another foe from the last tournament. Qusmo needed only a point in their final group stage match, against Savojarna, to move on, but after a 1-0 loss, they were nearly eliminated, needing results in other groups to go their way to advance as the fourth of four third-place teams to advance to the Round of Sixteen, where they were taken apart by Ceni - in Qusmo’s rival’s last win to date.

Now, Qusmo will face Savojarna again, after the Savojars drew Darmen & then Oberour Ar Moro before defeating defending Copa Rushmori champions Nephara. Savojarna only has one win in this tournament, admittedly, but it will be a massive challenge for the Qusmi’y. Savojarna is peaking at exactly the right time, & they are more than ready to go for the knockout rounds. Whoever emerges from this knockout round will be in excellent position for the future. If the match goes into a penalty shootout, both teams will earn one ranking point in the regional rankings; otherwise, the winner will earn three. Currently, Qusmo would stand to finish this tournament ninth in the regional rankings - a record high, after entering Copa Rushmori XXX unranked & this Copa seventeenth - but they would fall to twelfth if all group winners are defeated within one hundred twenty minutes in the quarterfinals. On the other side of the touchline, Savojarna would be in sixth at the moment, though they could fall as far as tenth if they lose, depending on other results. &, of course, it is worth noting that KPB bonus will change between now & the next edition of this tournament. However, Qusmo would hurdle Savojarna to claim sixth place in the standings if they win in one hundred twenty minutes, while Savojarna would move up to fifth if they could earn three points. & whoever wins will get two matches - a semifinal & either a final or third-place match - to try to earn even more ranking points. This is a battle between two rising powers, the winner of which will announce to Rushmore as forces to be reckoned with, will be only one match away from a final, & will be in great position to have favourable group draws from which to build success in the future, as a likely Pot 1 team.

Rk   Nation              Points
 1   Nephara              30.72
 2   Eura                 30.27
 3   Sargossa             20.22
 4   Valladares	          18.98
 5   Pasarga              17.12
 6   Savojarna            14.27
 7   Darmen               13.55
 8   Pridnestrovia        12.66
 9   Qusmo                12.33
10   Eastfield Lodge      12.13
11   Ceni                 12.01
12   Cassadaigua          11.80
13   Taeshan              11.34
14   Mytanija              9.34
15   Yuezhou               5.77
16   Olastor               5.13
17   Sarrbia               3.39
18   Thibaea               3.38
19   Northern Natanians    3.31
20   Oberour Ar Moro       3.05
21   Sameba                2.92
22   Mapletish             2.87
23   Crystalline Caverns   1.95
24   Dunnes                1.78
25   Mareibat              1.75
26   The Askari Union      1.14
27   New Gelderland        0.86
28   Rou Scotan            0.57
     Kalosia               0.57
30   Alitaba               0.29
31   Philamer Isle         0.00
     East Neutralia        0.00
     St Trinians           0.00

Qusmo has performed phenomenally well this year. In every competition, they have improved their performance. They did not finish seventh out of ten in World Cup Qualifying; they finished third. They did not lose in the Cup of Harmony Round of Sixteen; they won a bronze medal. At the club level, no Qusma team had made the group stage of any UICA competition, but every UICA group stage featured at least one Qusma team this time around, including KF Qastyr, which advanced all the way to the Champions’ Cup Quarterfinals - far from the First Preliminary Round exit they had taken just one year prior. Now, after a weak third-place group finish in Copa Rushmori XXX & Round of Sixteen blowout, Qusmo finds itself in the quarterfinals of the tournament as group winners. There can be no doubt that Qusmo is having a golden year. Still, Savojarna is capable of fantastic things, as evidenced by their defeat of Nephara in just their last match. They have a successful offense, & they were able to unlock Qusmo’s defense last year in their 1-0 group stage win. Now, with the stakes even higher, we think that the Savojars will be able to pull it out again. Savojarna is solid on both sides of the ball, & if they can get just one goal, we think that they might be able to keep their sheet clean against a fairly quiet Qusma offense & book their ticket to the semifinals.

There, we think they will face Eura. Just one look at the teams’ defensive records reveals why: while Eura has not conceded a single goal all tournament long - a feat matched only by Group A’s Qusmo & Mytanija - en route to winning each of their three group stage matches - which is something only Sargossa has done among this tournament’s other teams - Cassadaigua conceded seven times during its group stage, tied for second-most in the tournament. That’s why they are the only team in the quarterfinals which took less than five points from the group stage, & it’s why they’re the only team in the quarterfinals with a negative goal differential. Cassadaigua’s offense performed roughly as well as Eura’s in this group stage, but that was aided by a Group D which seemed, stylistically, the opposite of Group A, with the team that conceded the least goals in the group having conceded just as many, if not more, than every other team in the tournament. Taking that into account, Eura may actually have an edge offensively - & they certainly do defensively. We expect them to win.

In the other half of the bracket, two teams loom large. Taeshan always has a solid defense, but they will face - by far - the most prolific offense in this tournament. Sargossa has scored fourteen goals in just three group stage matches, eight more than this tournament’s next-best offensive performance. That’s why they won all three of their group stage matches - & we don’t expect them to stop now. Meanwhile, hosts Mytanija will face defending Copa Rushmori champions Nephara in the other quarterfinal. Nephara slipped up against Savojarna, but make no mistake: Nephara had nothing to play for at that point. They had already won the group after two 2-0 wins, & they started young players to give them experience. They conceded their first two goals of the tournament in that match, & emerged with a blemish on their group stage record, but they will come into their matchup with the hosts more rested & ready to go. If what we predict - wins by Nephara & Sargossa - come to pass, it will lead to a rematch of last year’s final in the semifinal. That would certainly be a massive match to watch, though one shouldn’t overlook a clash between Savojarna & Eura in the other half of the bracket - or underestimate Savojarna’s chances.

Nephara had not conceded once before they faced Savojarna, but the hockey-lovers scored twice. If Savojarna defeats Qusmo, they will have beaten a team that, before that point, had not conceded, either. So, Savojarna will not be fazed by a Euran team which kept a clean sheet throughout the whole group stage. Savojarna will ride their momenum from wins over Nephara & Qusmo to surprise Eura & seize the opportunity to advance to their first Copa Rushmori final. On the other half, Sargossa has had an astounding offensive performance thus far, scoring at a rate of nearly five goals per match on average. Nephara might be rested entering the quarterfinals, but we think they will have to fight tooth & claw against fierce opposition before they can beat the hosts, who have not conceded so far this tournament. That will eliminate Nephara’s edge & open the door for Sargossa to avenge their defeat by simply overwhelming Nephara with its superior offense.

That would set up a third-place match between two established regional powers & a final between two relative newcomers. For the former, third-place matches are often decided by who is most motivated to come out & compete after being eliminated so close to the final. When we look at the two sides, we have absolutely no doubt that colourful Aidan Brosque will be able to channel those emotions into a call to arms for Nephara to defeat Eura, who might come out a bit flat-footed. Finally, what we’ve all been waiting for: the final. Sargossa-Savojarna might not have been the bookkeepers’ pick for a final, but it is ours, & it would certainly be interesting. Savojarna would likely be ecstatic just to get to this point - but Sargossa would see it as a piece of unfinished business. Sargossa knows what it is like to go so far & then flag at the final hurdle. Sargossa will not be willing to do that for a second year in a row - & their amazing offense will not let them. Viewers, there you have it: we believe that Savojarna will emerge as Copa Rushmori XXXI champions.

Then again, we have been wrong before. In fact, we only correctly predicted four of the eight teams still left in this tournament - & we dismissed Qusmo winning Group A as a mere fantasy. So, who knows? Perhaps Qusmo can advance to the semifinals - or, maybe, just maybe, even go further.

by **Eura** » Sat Dec 01, 2018 8:03 pm

OOC: Part 1.
Part 2.
Part 3.
Part 4.
Part 5.
Part 6.
Part 7.
Part 8.
Part 9.
Part 10.
Part 11 of this RP.
This is the final part of a long RP and was supposed to be posted for the World Cup but got delayed. Indeed the entire RP chain was supposed to be finished a couple of cycles ago but alas it has taken until now to bring it to a close. It’s been a laborious task to tell this story and hasn’t always panned out the way I had foreseen or wanted. But its more or less reached the endgame that I had envisioned now, and I am glad to have concluded a long and winding piece of writing. To all readers, especially those who have stuck through an RP line that has gone on for a couple of years – thank you. I hope you have enjoyed reading it.

Bastion seemed brighter now that Sameba was on its knees and the war more or less over. The cloud hanging over Eura’s capital had seemingly been not just metaphorical but physical. Or maybe that was just a notable coincidence. Blackhall, the nerve centre of the Euran state, was buzzing with activity once again after its longest period of inactivity since the national defensive emergency years ago ; the inactivity was caused by a lengthy holiday for most civil servants and officials following the apparent breakdown of Eura’s sworn enemy. Normal working patterns had resumed but today a vast military parade – remarkably only a warm up to the real thing in a few weeks’ time – had brought the city to a halt and led to many being given the day off work. The usual newspapers would vent that this was typically Bastionite laziness while people were still fighting and dying to the north. Most Euran’s however would simply enjoy the occasion.

Nephara’s Margravine had been in her element on the first day of this state visit which the Euran’s had very deliberately designed to impress her and her entourage. It had started with a solemn and highly publicised visit to the Joint Multinational Cemetery that had developed near Farrenton in the north. Here both leaders played off each other’s strengths in their sequential speeches. Fern was quietly respectful and articulate about the tragic waste of human life, but she also cautiously tested the waters of humbly patriotic themes of “sacrifice for more than just territory”, to appease the less anti-war of her party at home. This set up Yarley nicely, who was typically imperious and direct about the noble cause that Eura’s allies had been fighting for. They flew back south to Directus for a series of PR stops and a visit to the Museum of the Reach, the most famous Euran museum of art and a personal favourite of Fern in her youth. The Nepharim also had the opportunity to meet students and the city’s biggest university. She even got to take advantage of her crime-writer past to do a highly unusual book signing with giddy Euran fans.

Today had been the harder of the two so far for Aurelia Fern. The morning had consisted entirely of business at 30,000 feet as they flew to Bastion. She’d been rudely interrupted by a serious issue arising at home to make things more awkward. Details were scarce but it sounded like one of her Progressive Democrat colleagues was thoroughly embarrassing the administration. Fern opted to deal with it on her return rather than waste her opportunity in Eura, where dozens of negotiators and officials had joined her to seek out trade opportunities among other objectives. When the parade finally began she was already tiring and struggled to summon up much fake enthusiasm for an open display of militarism. It wasn’t usually in her nature to participate in this sort of thing. Fern did at least try though. She appreciated the enormous symbolic value to Eurans of commemorating the moment. To begrudge them for this would be cynical and harsh on a country that had suffered eye wateringly high losses in blood and treasure. Aside from a series of determined handhsakes with Euran war heroes presented to Fern, there was also the matter of Nephara’s own armed forces participating who were reportedly delighted to see their head of government make it.

Eventually the spectacle had to come to an end and the two leaders were permitted a brief respite from the hectic schedule. Then they were back at it, pressed into grinning for the cameras and big names at a celebratory dinner in the old Kings District, followed by Fern laying a wreath at the Memorial to the Citizens on the steps of Parliament. Oddly this symbol of Euran solidarity probably meant more to Fern than Yarley; her left wing instincts had led her to learn more about the memorial to the workers who had perished by the millions in Eura’s various historic civil wars. Once the entire press packet had got what they needed and the schedule hit its back end the Prime Minister and Margravine were finally able to disengage. They scurried back to the Prime Minister’s offices instead of the residence and were joined by several members of cabinet for some wine and off the record discussion. In time the politicians took their leave as well.

The Margravine’s spouse had been planning to call earlier but the busy day meant they could only speak now. It was a short but warm conversation from a top floor conference room within Blackhall’s Richardson Building. She felt a bit uneasy about making a personal call from the nerve centre of Eura’s notoriously invasive intelligence services but it would have to do. ‘Alright. Ok, well you know how it is. Lots of shaking hands and signing deals tomorrow. Got to meet Yarley’s opponents too, whatever the hell they’re doing to survive these days. I love you Helena. Yes. Night.’
‘Conspiring against me?’ Fern almost dropped the handset as Yarley surprised her by waltzing into the room unannounced. ‘Don’t worry, I wasn’t eavesdropping. Just caught the end. You’re meeting the Social Party leadership, right?’ She was. ‘Yes. Catching up and all that.’ The Progressive Democrats had a semi-formal relationship with the Euran Social Party. But the social democratic titan of Euran politics had been reduced to a punchline in recent years by factional infighting, a swing to the left and a bad record in contributing to the war government.

The official Euran opposition were not alone. All major parties had suffered under the Liberal Party hegemony that had been considered a fantasy barely a decade ago. Yarley knew this well and wasn’t afraid to say it. ‘If you lot were a bit more economically middle of the road, you could be holding those meetings with us. Social are living on borrowed time. We’ll nail them at the next election.’
‘And when will that be?’
‘Wouldn’t that spoil the surprise?’ Yarley smirked devilishly, like she’d just thought of a joke. ‘Enough of that anyway. Are you enjoying your stay?’
‘Absolutely. it’s been, what’s the word, fulfilling?’
‘If that is your way of saying “over in a hurry” then fear not – I won’t be offended.’ Fern couldn’t resist a giggle. It had been a long day and she’d been keeping up the mask of invulnerable sensibility the entire time. ‘Of course not Amy. I’d be lying if I said this wasn’t a good use of time. And I’m not just talking about that visit to the Bohemian Quarter.’ Yarley led Fern into another large room which appeared to be a dimly lit dead end.

As they entered Yarley spoke to a figure in the corner. ‘Williams, could we have the lights down and the security measures off?’
‘Prime Minister the threat level is still exceptionally high-‘
‘I said bring it down. If I’m going to do speeches in public in Parliament Square I can bloody well lurk about up here at night with unblocked windows. Open the place up.’ The security personnel obliged. The lighting dropped off suddenly and a grinding, humming sound filled the room as the titanium shielding surrounding the windows was retracted. ‘Do you hold cabinet in here or something?’
‘No, but the OSI use this place to brief me on high volume dossiers. We can’t let it be vulnerable, even twenty storey’s up.’ The sight that greeted them was beautiful. Bastion was laid out before the pair in all its endless neon glory. Fern could tell Yarley held a special kind of affection for the view. ‘Glorious city isn’t it? Sixty million people in the conurbation. The place is an absurd beast. Look at those skyscrapers!’ No-one could miss the dozens of humongous office buildings stretching off into the distance.

Fern couldn’t help but wonder how a place like this had earned a reputation for efficient governance, or how it hadn’t fallen apart at the seams during the war. It was like a city state with the size of an actual state, and there were at least five other cities like it – uncontrollable metropolis’ that crushed all in their path. ‘Another glass of wine?’
‘How could I possibly refuse?’ The two of them were sat down for a drink looking out at the skyline when Yarley unexpectedly asked a very personal question. ‘Do you think you’re doing alright, you and your partner?’ A few seconds passed where Fern sat quietly without knowing whether or not to answer. ‘Sorry, I shouldn’t ask. As far as I can tell it looks like it’s all going well.’
‘It is mostly. Now and then we have our differences.’
‘That doesn’t matter. As long as you’re happy generally. We’re different on this point I expect. I’ve got used to being a lone wolf. Maybe I’ve been used to that my entire life even.’
‘You’ve got a very loyal cadre of old colleagues at least!’
‘Yes well, time will tell.’

For a fleeting moment the leaders were able to enjoy glorious silence. Like the pre-historic peoples who had once wandered these vast lands they were weary, and desired little more than to be spared the rough and tumble of existential struggle for just a few minutes. Of course their struggle was one of politics rather than a brutal hunter-gatherer lifestyle but there were plenty of similarities to be had if you really thought about it. At least, that was Yarley’s view; Fern had a different philosophy. Peace was a natural order of things from her point of view – even with class struggle taken into account - and politics should be about consensus. Her experience leading Nephara through the final stages of the Euran-Sameban onslaught had been a direct challenge to much of what made Aurelia Fern the person she was. Yarley on the other hand was simply born to fight.

Camilla Rinehart rudely interrupted their thoughtful pause, breaking the serenity in her usual blunt style. ‘Boss. Prime Minister.’
‘Ah, Camilla was it? Would you like a drink?’ Fern was slightly surprised to see the Euran offer the Nepharim’s personal bodyguard alcohol on the job but she didn’t protest.
‘…no, that’s very kind Marg- Prime Minister. But I’m on duty. Ma’am, do you still need me up?’ Fern signalled to Camilla that she could let herself relax. ‘No, you can get some rest Camilla. Thank you for your exceptional vigilance as ever! Goodnight.’
‘Goodnight ma’am. Prime Minister.’ The bodyguard took her lead and once she was out of earshot Yarley couldn’t help but let out a squeaky laugh. ‘I do like that one. Are they all like that?’
‘Who are like what?’
‘Your entourage! They’re so typically…well, Nepharim. They fit our stereotype of you. Is she spoken for? Maybe her and Williams can have a little bodyguard on bodyguard courting, the man hasn’t had his unit touched since I was a backbencher.’
‘I’m not sure that would work but it’s an entertaining thought I’ll admit.’

Yarley set her wine down and stood up. ‘I hear you’re a bourbon fan?’
‘Yes actually. Where’d you pick that up?’
‘The grapevine, ironically.’ Yarley went over to her worryingly large liquor cabinet. Euran leaders did have a reputation for hitting the bottle a little too readily, despite Yarley’s apparent sobriety. ‘Ok, I’ll be honest. By grapevine I mean the intelligence services.’
‘Ah. They seem to know a lot about me.’
‘They do about us all. Hell, if the leader of the Social Party got into office tomorrow they’d have a bloody dossier on him taller than this building. Anyway, come on, come up here.’ Fern joined Yarley over by the massive windows to peruse the spectacular views offered by their position. ‘To victory?’ Fern’s pre-war self would not have countenanced a toast soaked in nationalism. Nevertheless, if there was one thing she’d been happy to put the effort into on this trip, it was diplomatic tact. ‘Yes. To victory.’ They chinked their glasses and observed the view fleetingly.

Throughout the trip Yarley had been quite open about her positions to Fern even if it was off the record, partly because of her personality but also because the situation allowed her to be. However her next comment threw Fern completely. ‘I thought you’d be gone in a year.’ Nephara’s head of government had a double take before she could respond. ‘What?’
‘Sorry. It’s not a personal thing. I just didn’t think you were up to it. And that Moving Forward lot? Fuck me, talk about snakes in the grass. And I’d be lying if I said we wouldn’t have liked to see the Liberal Alliance stick the knife in had you proven weak.’ Yarley paused only briefly to drink and then continued. ‘I was wrong though. You’ve stuck it out nicely so far and done what you’ve needed to do to survive. You’ve got a significant supporting role in a won war to take home to the electorate. A lot of body bags too but that’s the price we pay to crush those who would do us harm. Did you think the same about me?’

Fern, as was in her nature, took her time to reply. How could one respond to such an offhand political analysis of a visiting head of government? She’d never experienced anything like it. ‘Well, no. You’ve been in some form of office a lot longer than me. Being fully honest with you I wasn’t that aware of you when you were Foreign Secretary in the coalition. It was the Crow-Judge show from our perspective. Plus with our political links to Esportiva at the time Eura seemed more distant than geography implied. By the time your party took over it was already pretty clear you knew what you were doing. So no, I didn’t think the same about you. I doubt I had the chance to.’
‘Sounds fair.’
‘I mean, it’s not like I don’t have criticisms of what you’re doing. We’ve discussed your insistence on keeping centralised control of liberated Sameba. I just think local leaders might need more involvement in the long run. And obviously publicly and privately you are aware of my personal concerns about the way you treated the left wing factions in Bregaland.’
‘Communists, let’s call them what they are. A threat to be dealt with. Our country bled to these people before and it shall not do so again. I don’t hear you crying for the regime fascists after all.’
‘True. We both know though they’re not quite the same thing.’ Yarley set her drink down and turned to face Fern.

Briefly Fern thought she might have overstepped the mark but Yarley smiled and nodded. ‘I don’t dispute that. Yet I’m afraid I cannot spare them much mercy. Their prison beds may be a little softer than the regime’s death squads at least.’
‘That will probably be enough. When our people have left front line duty up there I can’t promise you my government will tow your line on every aspect of the aftermath. Please be assured though that we will be understanding of any “peculiarities” as much as it goes against my instincts.’
‘I’m glad to hear it Aurelia.’ She hadn’t used her first name much. It was an odd touch when she did so. Was she being personable or was it some kind of protocol test to psyche her out? Maybe it was just the booze. ‘When you go back home we’ll be happy to help you make the most of this politically. This has been a good summit of sorts. There’s a bright future ahead if you want there to be.’
‘Of course, I know. You don’t need to convince me. If I’m going to pay for the UBI rollout long term some Euran money would be bloody welcome!’
‘Hah, that’s pocket change. Imagine having to rebuild a country!’ Imagine having to rebuild a country. The comment hit home for Fern. Nephara’s losses had been politically controversial and deeply wounding. She couldn’t contemplate the task that lay ahead in getting Sameba – or whatever it would be called now – back on its feet.

However it was not Sameba that concerned Yarley the most. It never had been and how could it be? ‘If we could we’d let them put it back together themselves. We remember how this whole thing started. What their people did to ours.’ Fern wanted to avoid stepping on any toes more than she had but she couldn’t resist pointing out the historical double standard. ‘I mean, a lot of the conflicts between you were the other way round going back, were they not? I’m no expert of course. Call me naïve but I think these things never end without some reconciliation. You seem to be a pragmatist, not the emotional kind.’
‘No, you’re right, but emotional instinct and pragmatism don’t have to be mutually exclusive. We can hate the bastards and still see that it’s in our interest to win them over. This thousand year struggle has to end somehow. All that said, if peace doesn’t work, further violence will have to do. Make no mistake Aurelia – I will stop at nothing. Do you know how we got to Beran?’
‘I wasn’t sure you had to be frank.’
‘We killed his family. I ordered it.’ Outwardly Fern was calm as ever but Yarley could tell the claim made her uncomfortable. ‘I’m no expert of military strategy but that strikes me as a risk.’
‘It was. And it worked. Now we’re here and there’s confetti in the streets. And you’ll get to send your brave Nepharim home soon enough.’

After their final conversations Fern departed for her accommodation, to get some rest ahead of her journey home the next day. Williams came in to ask Yarley if she was ready to go back to the residence. ‘Thank you but I’d rather stay here tonight. Can you bring me one of the sofas from the lobby and maybe a blanket of some kind?’
‘No problem at all, we’ll have that with you right away Prime Minister.’
‘Thank you.’ It was a lovely piece of furniture, exactly the sort of thing that she’d buy if she saw it in a retailer. Not too firm and not too soft. It caressed Yarley as she lay on her own once more with the sparkling lights of Bastion lighting up her left side. The tasks that lay ahead of her were too big to comprehend tonight. For now she just wanted to soak in the tantalising promise of uncontested power. Not just that actually – despite her callous exterior the promise of peace, in the war with Sameba that is, made her feel warm inside as it did every Euran.

On another level she was sad that it was over. This had been the making of Amy Yarley as a leader and peacetime might be unkind to her status. This was a contradictory attitude for her to have but it was a complex situation; Yarley was both delighted and distraught that the war had come to a conclusion that confirmed her legacy but set her up with potentially impossible challenges for the future. Yarley was full of contradictions and so was her country. Triumphant and rife with patriotic feeling but also insecure and traumatised, dreading further war but also pumped up with rage to take the fight to anyone who would challenge the Euran nation next, a champion of democracy and individual liberty but also a conformist mass led by an authoritarian in sheep’s clothing…the list of complexities that would define “post-war” Eura could prove endless. Only time could tell where the great democratic experiment of modern Eura would lead next.

by **Mytanija** » Sat Dec 01, 2018 8:21 pm

CUT-OFF - QUARTER FINALS

Here's your trance, now dance!

Qusmo 0–0 Savojarna (0–0 AET) (3–4 pen.) (at Kotrba, Esca)
Eura 2–0 Cassadaigua (at Olujastadion, Ebor)
Mytanija 1–3 Nephara (at Novi Kaunostadion, Thessia)
(Scorinated by Mriin)
Sargossa 1–0 Taeshan (at Miagostadion, Miago)

Therefore:

Semi Finals.
SF1: Savojarna vs. Eura (at Novi Atletskistadion, Thessia)
SF2: Nephara vs. Sargossa (at Westfalenstadion, Prizren)

by **Nephara** » Mon Dec 03, 2018 3:29 am

Mytanija 1 - 3 Nephara
(4-3-3) 1 - Swoboda; 2 - Rafford, 5 - Konoval, 6 - Steelhenge, 3 - Close; 8 - Klein (15 - Rosenthal 36'), 4 - Rowland (23 - Misidjan 77'), 21 - Moxham; 7 - Fanaiyan, 9 - Hawke (21 - Bastable 81'), 11 - Strongbow
Goals: Fanaiyan 21', Moxham 33', Bastable 89'

It's an enlightened era. People these days know, or are expected to know, that not all Nepharim are 6' tattooed polygamist hard-man alcoholics. Not all Eurans are emotionally-repressed workaholics. Some Apoxians don't wear hats or smoke pipes - sometimes, Brenecians smile. Hinodejin have been known not to pursue martial arts or football. And not all Mytenars are out to kill you.
Aidan Brosque hadn't got that memo, as he stormed into the dressing room of the startled Cormorants, jabbing a finger outside. "Fifty thousand bastards out there, and three in four of the cunts want to see us dead!"
That was him all over, really. Michael Brandon had felt authority meant you didn't need to shout. Brosque, on the other hand, loved slamming the dead cat down on the desk. It kept people on their toes... and listening.

They listened, all right, and set about their task as Brosque demanded, and under his steely gaze from the sidelines. They kept the ball moving quickly, moved bravely and passed riskily to break down a physical, taciturn Mytenar defence. Things may have hung in the balance later, but for the first third of the game, the Cormorants spun the play with which they'd deserve their win later. They were faster, stronger... bluntly, better. Hawke tested Kasun sharply with a lashed left-footer, then a header - the Ararat man did well to tip both away, and talk of Hawke's supposed goal drought continued. But at least she'd win an assist for her team; an arrowed pass from midfield, from Klein, and Hawke turned into trouble, then back around, shielding the ball from her marker Azanovic before slipping the ball across for Ishtar Fanaiyan to sprint onto it, jink past Azanovic and rifle the ball low and hard across Kasun for the opener.
Not long afterwards, the previously quiet Strongbow would hammer her mark into the game. A lumped goal-kick from Swoboda - he'd actually gotten fingers to the shot from Todorov, but the referee hadn't noticed and he wasn't about to argue with the call - found Rowland, who leapt over Fejzuli and headed the ball behind her, to Moxham. She drilled a pass low and hard down the left, Strongbow raced past a flat-footed Isaev and returned the favour, finding Moxham basically unmarked on the edge of the area, and with her first touch she drilled the ball into the bottom corner. Direct, powerful, seamless. The match was in the bag... if they kept playing like this.

And then Rusalka Klein and Brkljacic fought over the same ball.
Brkljacic won. Klein went down in a heap, and then rolled a good half a revolution, drawing her ankle up towards her hands as the physio rushed on. She went off limping, leaning heavily on her physio for support. Darmeni neutrals probably felt it was karma. Brosque grimaced, Rosenthal came on, and the half was very nearly seen out...
Until Ocokoljic came in, bearing down on goal, drew in Konoval, before looking across to his left and playing a perfectly-weighted ball across a flat-footed Close, into the path of Srdan Vukovic's overlapping run. Vukovic took one touch before hammering in a high cross, Swoboda was caught in two minds, Steelhenge and Aleksic both went for it... and the Ibon man won, sending the ball lofting, painfully slow, into the net, just before Swoboda could make amends and sprawl across.
And all of a sudden, this was a very different type of game indeed.

Mytanija were a tough, physical side, wearing green, and playing in a 4-3-1-2 diamond formation stacked mostly with domestic talent and a handful abroad. It would be reductive to call them something similar to Old Nephara - for one thing, when Nephara were Old Nephara, Mytanija were a far stronger and more established power - but that was nevertheless the parallel most Nepharim thought of, certainly in a second half defined by muscle and cynicism. Brosque wasn't averse to his players being drawn into a physical contest; he knew they could give as good as they got. He was averse to Nephara being caught on the break, as Mytanija threatened a couple of times, especially after the goalscorer Aleksic was hauled for young, quick poacher Straka. Ocokoljic found him almost immediately with an arrowed through-ball, Straka raced past the aging Konoval and the pursuing, swearing Steelhenge, but he rushed his shot and Swoboda threw out a hand to tip it away from danger, though Close still had to sprint like mad to get there and clear it out before Straka could capitalise on the loose ball.

And then Brosque turned, not to Metzger, but to the young Kurtis Bastable. In a straight swap for Hawke, no less.
By the 81st minute, when he arrived, the game really had deteriorated. The referee had handed out 'just' six Mytenar yellows, and the wrath of the crowd had probably stopped it from being more. Nephara had been given five slices of cheese themselves, and that was with the referee missing a sneaky elbow to the kidneys from Rowland on Brkljacic. Rafford would probably have taken her second for dissent had she followed through in an argument over a foul, had she not been firmly escorted away by Rosenthal.
It was not the most decisive contribution Rosenthal would make, however. Sure, Klein had been responsible for much of Nephara's flowing forward play, but Rosenthal was definitely the harder of the two, perhaps better-suited to the occasion. When Stojkovic, another substitute, dwelled on the ball, Rosenthal snapped into him and took it away, surging down the right, linking well with Rafford before looking up, stepping forward, daring Vukovic to come at her. Vukovic came at her; Rosenthal flicked it away to the left, before hitting a somewhat speculative ball into the mixer as she fell under the boot Vukovic planted in her calf.
The referee put the whistle to his lips, ready to dismiss any thought of advantage. After all, it was a real Hail Mary...
Then Bastable forcibly muscled Obadko away with the force of momentum, chested the ball down, turned and slammed the ball past Kasun on the turn. It wasn't a beautiful shot, that would've been too much poetry from a player so muscular, but it smashed into the turf and bounced back up, high and hard, beyond Kasun's sprawl.
It didn't need to be beautiful, anyway. The Nepharim wouldn't have traded it for the world.

by **Savojarna** » Mon Dec 03, 2018 11:44 am

Kotrba, Esca, Mytanija

Viktorija Petrova stood in the hallway of the stadium, dressed in her black jersey, glancing over at Xynat-Evela Cuf next to her. The Qusmi was equally dressed in black, albeit with the Qusma sash rather than her red star on the chest. After another nervous glance at the goalie, she focused on the back of Kris Midström, standing in front of her. The Savojar goalkeeper breathed in deeply again, trying to calm her nerves as she heard the noise of the audience swelling after something the announcer said. Eventually, a volunteer in the front waved. She gripped the hand of the child assigned to walk onto the pitch with her, hoping to be able to hide her terrible nervousness. Following Kristina, she walked out onto the pitch and was hit by a wave of sound from the left, hearing booming drums. As she turned her head, she saw a wall of 2'700 Savojars who had come here despite the long distance, waving Savojar flags and blue and white scarves. It reassured her, to see her nation's colours on the stands and hear their drums as she took her position between Kristina Midström and Petra Ernberg.

The International started booming, and the stadium fell into the usual cacophony of people singing the anthem in three different languages, the players having their arms around each other's shoulders and singing loudly. Breathe, Viktorija had to remind herself again. The atmosphere was breathtaking in the best sense, but for her, it also was quite literally as her heart sank, lining up for the Copa Rushmori quarter-final. She always hoped that they got a quick attack against them, so that she'd get into the mood of a game. However, shortly after the procedurals were through and the game started, Viktorija realised it may take them a while today. She stood in her goal, watching the Savojar wall opposite her, but the ball hardly ever left the midfield. It took the game around ten minutes until she first had to do more than catching a wayward cross or joining the Savojar buildup. Petra Ernberg had headed a too short cross away, but only hit Ilinx-Vulav, who shot from a bit over twenty metres out to the top left. Viktorija had just about gotten the timing right and punched the ball out over the bar.

She finally had gotten the pump she wanted. The corner found the way right into her hands, and she was now perfectly locked into her game. However, the game was still not too locked into anything. She saw a shot on the far side of the pitch, when Haakonson shot around one and a half metres wide, and one on her side when Prant-Pertz only touched a high ball, sending it far wide as well. Qusmo were mostly dangerous off the second balls, when Savojarna's defence failed to clear a ball entirely. There was one more chance before the break based on this, as Ilinx-Vulav this time didn't look for the shot but lobbed the ball in towards Prant-Pertz. However, the goalkeeper ran out just in time and caught the cross centimetres before the striker's head. With this, the referees whistled and the two sides went into the locker rooms, assembling for the fifteen minute break. Viktorija got some personal feedback from Valtteri, the goalkeeper coach, while Lise Asbeck was giving her usual motivational speeches.

As the teams went out for the second half of the game, little interesting events happened. Savojarna and Qusmo neutralised each other even more than in the first half, and aside from the occasional attack that forced Viktorija to stop a wayward cross or a long-distance shot, she was getting increasingly bored. The best chance for the opponents came after a one-two between the two Qusma strikers that suddenly saw Prant-Pertz standing alone in front of her, but he didn't hit the ball quite right and she could catch it rather easily. On the other side of the pitch, there was at least some hope for Savojarna as Jarkasjärvi crossed a ball perfectly onto the head of Freya Sigurdsdottir after a corner, but a defender headed it off the goal line. One more attack came her way, a distance shot by Paliv-Xilit, but it was another attempt that Viktorija saved without too much trouble. The game was trickling along towards extra time, neither side willing to take a risk, and the coaches backing that up with defensive changes. Asbeck substituted Martinova, a more careful back, for Anna Reskilainen after the latter had been carded in the first period and grew increasingly tired, and on the opposite side Qusmo focused more and more on counters. Shortly after the whistle, Kristina came to her. "I'm down, Vikki. I can't keep up anymore. You'll have to lead us now", she coughed, handing the captain's band to the goalkeeper.

As the whistle blew, Viktorija Petrova felt like she was on a gigantic stage. Not only was she now the captain of Savojarna, it was also extra time. This was her most dreaded time, worse than a shootout. See, in a shootout, even if you let in five goals, the blame will fall on the strikers that missed theirs. You're not supposed to stop anything. In the extra time there was no such expectation, you were just as much under scrutiny as in the rest of the game; but in a match as tight as this quarterfinal, any mistake could be the end of your dreams. And now she had a band on her arm that seemed to glow and pull everyone's attention, or so she felt. She tugged on the captain's band as she walked out onto the pitch, at the front of her team. Behind her, Kris Midström shouted some encouraging words. It did more for her than any of the coaches ever could, showing to Viktorija that her team trusted her. And they had not let her down so far, nor would they start now. Savojarna were more aggressive, controlled the game and almost went ahead three minutes in, but the shot by Otalainen had bounced off a defender and just about missed the post on the far side. Qusmo were only dangerous once, and Viktorija saved it. Slowly, she believed in her chances more and more. Would she, after all, win the game for Savojarna?

After the change, she had the Wall behind her. A swelling noise whenever the ball came anywhere close to either goal. It gave her power, and they served as a great "alert mode". Time ticked down. Five minutes. The ball was flying down towards her goal, an exhausted Gor Prant-Pertz sprinting after it, coughing and breathing, as Viktorija came out of her goal. At the edge of the box, the ball bounced up into her hands as she stood firm and saw the striker fly past her. Four minutes. The ball bounced around in the midfield when it suddenly landed on Jarkasjärvi's feet, she took aim... and missed. Three minutes. Qusmo had gotten even further back, and Hytamäki was pushing the left side. She crossed the ball in from behind, but it was punched out by their goalkeeper. Two minutes. The Qusmi'y had countered fast, and they were coming down the left where Kajsa had been too aggresssive. Forzu-Ralox, who had been subbed in, took the open space. Viktorija ordered Kjaer to go out, stop the attack - and she did. The tackle was just a split second late, but it was enough. The ball just slumped into the area, where Ernberg caught it and threw it back out to the side, where Qusmo were preparing for a free kick. The referee told Kjaer off, but just about refrained from a card. One minute. The wall was forming. Most of Qusmo's players were now in the box. It was a crucial moment. The ball came in from the side, aiming for the middle. She looked onto the strikers at the long post for a second, then back to the ball. A split second later, it came flying at her - no, past her. With a cry of desperation she threw herself forward. A thump on her leg. As she found her orientation again, sitting on the ground, she heard something behind herself.

BOO-BOO-BOOOM.

VIK-KI!

BOO-BOO-BOOOM.

VIK-KI!

BOO-BOO-BOOOM.

VIK-KI!

The Savojar fans were chanting her name, and in front of her Petra Ernberg stretched out her hand. The defender helped her goalie up and pat her on the back. "Great safe. You may just have kept us in the Copa", she smiled, as she then took her position in the middle of the box for the following corner. The ball flew in. Sigurdsdottir rose with her whole length, and cleared the ball as the whistle went off. Shootout.

Never in her life had Viktorija Petrova felt both so proud and so alone as she walked up to the centre of the pitch. Proud, because almost 3'000 Savojar fans had chanted for her, after she saved her team the Copa quarter-final. Alone, because she was walking up to start the most gruesome exercise in modern football, the shootout. The referee showed her and Ilinx-Kepex the coin. One side white, one side black. "White", she immediately answered. The coin flew, landed, and it came out white. Viktorija knew what she had to do. Without a further word, she pointed to the side where their fans sat, to the Wall. Ilinx-Kepex smiled a cryptic smile. "We'll start then, I guess", they said before taking the ball and handing it over to Prant-Pertz as they walked up to the penalty spot, following Viktorija as she assumed her spot in the goal. Behind her, the fans started shouting her name again, this time in anticipation. The Qusmi walked up. Set the ball. Took five steps back. She stared at them, leaning just a tiny bit to the right. As they started the approach, she shifted a tiny bit more. Now, the striker's last step, she shifted back. Took a small jump, and leapt out to the left. Her trick worked. Prant-Pertz had taken her bait. Viktorija saved the shot, the wall behind her erupting into cheers as she walked off to the side. Irina's turn. The Finn laid the ball down and walked back in her unmatchable manner, each step seemingly carefully chosen. Not a single move too much, that was her style. She ran up, shot - and scored dryly to the bottom left.

1-0 Savojarna. The shootout went on in lockstep - Qusmo scored, Savojarna scored. Qusmo scored, Savojarna scored. And then, Qusmo scored and Savojarna failed. It was 3-3, the fifth shot came up and pressure rose for Viktorija. The fans began their chant again, as she stood on the line, her head leaned back, breathing deeply as the captain themselves walked up. Zev Ilinx-Kepex. She looked down and clapped her hands three times, then staring in his face as they arrived at the spot. Ilinx-Kepex's face was frozen as they set the ball and walked back. Viktorija didn't let go of her gaze. Readying themselves for the shot, Ilinx-Kepex smiled the same cryptic smile as before the shootout. This time, Viktorija didn't play any mind games. She just stood there, taking in all the details in the shooter's body. The foot, slightly pointing towards the ball. Was it the right side? The shoulder, slightly shifting. It was going to be right. The body coming forward just a bit. Low to the right.

Zev Ilinx-Kepex shot low to the right. Viktorija Petrova jumped low to the right. Her hands connected with the ball, and it bumped away to her right side, past the post, into the feet of a photographer. Emerging from the dirt, she looked up to the fans who were becoming ever more frenetic and clenched her fists. Lenka took the ball and walked up as Viktorija stood besides the box, waiting. She took her shot. Scored! Viktorija was the first one to be with Lenka, tackling the midfielder to the ground as they were buried by their teammates. Behind them, the blue and white wall was lighting up in flares in the national colours, flags being waved and people breaking into song and dance. They made it. Savojarna stood in the Copa Rushmori semifinals.

by **Sargossa** » Mon Dec 03, 2018 4:40 pm

SSM | Sargossan State Media
International Edition - Sport

Once More Unto The Final Four

Blanco Borrayo reports;

After a group stage that was a feast for the fans (Group D, at least. Group A contributed all of three goals) it was inevitable that at some point the action would become a little more circumspect. Rodrigo Defederico’s ‘fuck it, charrgggeeee!’ attitude worked like a dream, provided you aren’t of a Rejistani persuasion, but the knockout stages are a whole different kettle of marine life. Cagey. That was the word. It was a cagey affair. Albeit one in which Sargossa were the better side. Despite an appearance in the quarter final this was a Purple Knights side seemingly devoid of confidence. A couple of 1 – 0 group stage wins over tournament also-rans had clearly done little to arrest the general slump being experienced by the Taeshanis. But slump or no, the Knights had not lost their prodigious ability to defend.

When they did find an attacking groove the Corsairs broke against the purple clad defence like a dark blue wave. But it was when called on to counter that the Taeshanis seemed to lose their nerve. The final third seemed anathema to them, confidence seemed to ebb away just as soon as they entered it. The few times he was called upon Roberto Penedo dealt with the problems with ease. If only his offensive colleagues showed similar poise. It seemed like it was going to be one of those games. One in which the Taeshanis would hold out for the grim lottery of a shootout. Perhaps they would have too, but for one moment of Sargossan fortune.

Diego Puebla, the right winger deployed on the left flank, was the catalyst. He inevitably cut inside, looking to bring the ball onto his favoured right foot. The Taeshani fallback stuck to him like his own shadow and, as the El Nacional wide man was about to pull the trigger, the defender slid in to whip the ball off Puebla’s toe. It was a beautifully timed challenge. Perfect but for one flaw, the roll of the ball. The loose ball meandered right into the path of Fabián Guzmán. Presented with a shock clear run on goal the forward took three strides before drilling the ball towards the target. He’d added a bit of whip, but far too close for it to be a decisive factor. Instead it was power that won the day, the keeper getting the fingers of both hands to the effort but not enough to keep it out. It was a goal that sent Sargossa through to a ninth Copa Rushmori semi-final.

Our Copa semi-final record is something that we are rather proud of. Eight times prior to this tournament the Corsairs have reached the final four, and eight times they have been victorious. Victories against not only the finest Rushmore has to offer, but some of the very best in the whole world too. Or their B-Team, who remembers the minutiae.

Semi Final Victims
Candelaria And Marquez
Saugeais
Falconwhereveryouare
Western Cuba
Mapletish
Darmen
Darmen
Eura

It’s an impressive record. A record that was severely tested two years ago by the Eurans. And yet this is likely to be the very toughest test. Admittedly a potential fixture against Mytanija, buoyed on by a raucous home crowd, wasn’t exactly first choice but it was marginally preferable to the alternative. But alas the host’s run came to an end in the quarter-finals.

Rushmore is a region known for its uncommonly confrontational waterfowl but Sargossan football fans are becoming increasingly fed up of coastal birdlife in general. After decades of being knocked all over the park by the Polarian Terns (five defeats in five, three in the Copa and two in World Cup Finals) there was a collective sigh of relief when they flew off over the horizon. Relief didn’t last long as Terns were replaced by Cormorants and the whole cycle started up again. After a victory in the first fixture between the nations, during qualifying for the sixty sixth World Cup, the Corsairs have since gone six games without a win against Nephara. Including two defeats at the last Copa, one in the group stage and the other on a much larger stage.

Memories of that night in Cassadaigua should be fresh enough in the minds of those that were there to inspire something of a reaction. There are minor reasons for optimism too. Michael Brandon, architect of so much success for Nephara, has stepped aside and replacement Aidan Brosque is still in the probationary phase. And the reigning champions already have a defeat to their name, a 2 – 1 reversal to Savojarna. Admittedly with qualification already assured and taking the opportunity to rest key players but straws are there to be grasped.

To tackle Nephara coach Defederico is expected to ditch his attacking 3-4-3 in favour of the 5-3-2 system he deployed against Pasarga in the group stage. With experienced players like Fabián Parra, Alex Vallejos and Ignacio Navarro likely to come into the starting eleven.

by **Eura** » Mon Dec 03, 2018 5:31 pm

It was a nostalgic night for Daniel Belgrave. Eura were playing in the beautiful north coast city of Ebor in Mytanija, or Mytannion as he and most Eurans knew it. The Euran lexicon doggedly refused to give up on that old Anglicism no matter what. He had played against this classic Rushmori team in the formative years of his own nation's international footballing relevance long ago. Their opponents were not Mytanija however. The cunning hosts were elsewhere; tonight Eura faced Cassadaigua, once giants of the game and now recently enjoying a Renaissance. The Dagan's too prompted the recalling of fading memories, from when Eura famously faced them fearlessly in World Cup qualifiers (at the time they were top seeds in qualifying). Belgrave had been in goal for both games, one a heartbreaking and controversial defeat and the other a draw that went down as a Pyrrhic victory and galvanising morale boost. Capped by a Lee Sharp goal of course.

Now an ageing man those best years were behind him, but Belgrave still had something to offer as a top manager whose inability to win the 81st World Cup was seen as a failure, but not a capital one, meaning he was facing little pressure at this Copa Rushmori. Group games were hard as ever this time around but Eura stuck it through and finished with an impressive three wins from three scoring five and conceding none. A comfortable 2–0 win over Crystalline Caverns courtesy of Dion Underwood and Josh Holmes goals had been enough to settle any opening day nerves. More marginal victory followed against the notoriously plucky Pridnestrovia although Oscar Coltrane's strike had been enough to see them off and guarantee Eura a place in the next round. Then came Taeshan. An opponent Eura hated to play due to some very bad Copa memories indeed, although at least Eura's overall record against them was overwhelmingly positive. That record was reinforced further by a disciplined performance to walk away 2-0 winners (Bond and Robson on the scoresheet this time) to ensure Eura topped the group.

The Dagan's presented quite a challenge for Eura. Although they were possibly less talented than they had been all those years ago when Belgrave played, Cassadaigua could not be doubted for their passion and work ethic. Every game they played was one they believed they could win. Call it arrogance or self belief their faith has always been unquestioned. For all their frequent brilliance, Euran teams could not often be accused of perfecting the art of self confidence. As the cold biting air descended upon the pitch Belgrave had to watch nervously. His team were struggling - hampered partly by losing John Talbot early to an injury - and failing to create meaningful chances. Talbot's replacement Alex Wyatt looked perilously unconvincing in a deeper role while Armstrong and Gravesen tried and failed to plow a furrow forward. The clock ticked on and on even after half time which was supposed to have reinvigorated the flagging players. When Hall welcomed the arrival of the 70th minute with a dreadful shot from range, Belgrave lost his patience.

Sometimes he wondered, what Thompson would do in any given situation? Including a situation like this one. It was a stupid thought. He was his own man! Had Thompson dwelt on Kelly Sporadic's likely choices so religiously? Certainly not. But for Belgrave it was easier said than done to move out of the man's shadow. To do so he would have to be bold. What was it Ben Randall had used to say to the lads in dressing room when the chips were down? 'Refuge in audacity!' Once upon a time a younger Belgrave had struggled to appreciate the phrase. However since becoming the voice on the sidelines he had come to understand the value of such concepts for articulating a set of instructions simply and quickly. So he muttered it into the ears of the teams leaders. Refuge in audacity. Then came the changes that symbolised Eura's change in tactics. Pundits and fans recoiled in shock and confusion as he rolled the metaphorical footballing dice on...Lofty Jones AND Brian Bond? On for a fullback and the underperforming Gravesen? Eura had switched to a 3-2-5 of sorts. Jones and Dion Underwood fronted up the attack with Oscar Coltrane, Bond and Anthony Townsend tucked in behind them.

It was a special kind of madness to try this in the 67th minute of a Copa Rushmori quarter final but it worked a treat. Barely four minutes later Eura were in the lead. A surging counter attack started by a Jones header knocked on ended with the rest of this makeshift front five swarming the Dagan goal and their risk paying off, Townsend sliding home a Coltrane cut back. Cassadaigua did not take this lightly. They pushed back at full throttle. Sierra Mattison rattled the bar, Chelsea Monroe headed wide, Shelby Martin blazed over, as every footballing cliche was exhausted by the variety of half and full chances thrown away by Cassadaigua in the next ten minutes of chaos. Eura held until the very end. Leach was out of form again and failed to clear a corner allowing Martin to loft it back in. Breanne Rothers clattered a shot goalbound which Scott Coles blocked away. Had the subs been a mistake? Eura were using their strikers as wingbacks. Going for such an attacking formation appeared to be a panic move that would now sink them. The ball rolled to the feet of Jessica Curran who crossed low and hard for Caitlyn Mayer, surely she couldn't miss? Well, she didn't. It was technically on target. But the Euran player who made Belgrave most proud of all was there to stop her.

Robert Griffin and his iron hand grappled the ball away with an instinctive reaction save that would be replayed again and again for the rest of the evening. It wasn't his last act either. Rothers took another pop which Griffin masterfully punched away. Curran retreated to collect but was ingloriously mugged of possession by Hall, who stroked it infield to Armstrong who positively sprayed it a whole 30 yards to Coltrane, and the Euran's were away! Coltrane kept going against those tired opposition legs. Substitute Diana Foster clumsily went in on him but he shrugged off the foul and toepoked the ball through for Dion Underwood to sprint away. It was every bit an Underwood goal, a counterattack at furious pace against an embattled defence ending in a stroked finish past a despairing goalkeeper, Kristen Speller. Eura had triumphed in the fashion that had so often been their undoing in the past. Full time came and went and the players celebrated joyously. Not Belgrave. The tactician took his notes, spoke a few reassuring words to select players, and vanished down the tunnel.

by **Mytanija** » Mon Dec 03, 2018 5:32 pm

CUT-OFF - SEMI FINALS

You know I feel, I feel much better, at night

Savojarna 4–3 Eura (at Novi Atletskistadion, Thessia)
Nephara 1–0 Sargossa (at Westfalenstadion, Prizren)

Therefore:

Final & 3PPO
3PPO: Eura vs. Sargossa (at Radnika, Esca)
Final: Savojarna vs. Nephara (at Radnika, Esca)

The Third Place Play-Off is to be played tomorrow, with the final the day after. Good luck!

by **Mytanija** » Tue Dec 04, 2018 7:39 pm

CUT-OFF - THIRD PLACE PLAY-OFF

Tall and tan and young and lovely

Eura 3–2 Sargossa (at Radnika, Esca)

by **Nephara** » Wed Dec 05, 2018 6:19 am

Nephara 1 - 0 Sargossa
(4-3-3) 1 - Swoboda; 2 - Rafford, 5 - Konoval, 6 - Steelhenge, 3 - Close (22 - Vicelich 77'); 15 - Rosenthal, 4 - Rowland (c), 21 - Moxham (14 - Webster 71'); 7 - Fanaiyan (13 - Saroszi 64'), 9 - Hawke, 11 - Strongbow
Goal: Hawke 56'

You knew, as a player, you were probably going okay if three games without a goal could be considered a 'drought'.
Maybe other strikers wouldn't have seen it that way, but Estrella Hawke wasn't other strikers. Not for her the... well, for want of a better word, the unbridled testosterone of some of the game's greats. Hawke kept her focus, a clear head, and let the rest sort itself out.
She'd done alright, anyway. She'd been a constant threat against Oberour and Darmen, had laid on an assist against Mytanija even if she'd been overshadowed by the young Kurtis Bastable. But she'd need her finishing boots off, she figured, if they were to break down this defence, because the defence was a disciplined shield of five guys given the further shielding of relative veteran Ignacio Navarro. Navarro, at 30, was one year younger than Sargossa's last win over Nephara, but he'd been instrumental in their hopes of forcing another.
It had been like Mytanija in that it was another match where both sides played decidedly hard, but fair. It had been unlike Mytanija in that Nephara hadn't yet found the spaces behind that defence. Hawke had had two, maybe three half-chances, all shots she took quickly and crisply that wetly thudded into the sacrificial lunge of a covering defender. Really, you had to admire the men in white for their courage - and resent them for it, at least a little. Could have been worse, too. With a swish of the hips and a flick of the boot, Cesar Goyoso did his chances of unseating Rafael Bustamente no harm by giving the Corsairs what the Cormorants had failed to manage, by sending Berganza past the last man, through on goal. Fortunately, the El Nacional man overthought it; he went to round Swoboda, who sprawled, flicked out a wrist, just got it away from him and to Rafford, who wheeled around to hoof it down the wing.

It was the second half, now, and things were calming down - bogging down, really, in the heart of midfield. Maybe the Cormorants had been spooked by that one threat. Hawke could only speculate, she'd done what she could, maybe even tried to a fault to drift back and help in midfield. Brosque hadn't liked that, not one bit, and promptly pointed aggressively at the Sargossan goal until she shifted back there.
It really was becoming a drab, dire shitshow of a match. Not even the twobadteams.mp4 situation, where neither side can string two passes together. The Cormorants had the ball, and nowhere to put it, the pace of their wingers wasted with the conservative Sargossan line. The Sargossans played out the back obsessively, but had the skill to pull it off. Just once, Hawke managed to intercept a wayward pass from Parra... but with a heavy enough touch she wound up inadvertently leathering it into the stands.
Nothing was happening.
It wasn't a game that deserved a beautiful goal, and the football gods weren't feeling subversive enough to give it one. What happened instead was Rowena Strongbow flicked the ball to Marcin Close, who was poleaxed by Miralles as he tried to run across him towards the box. No big deal. Moxham stepped up, face like thunder, and snatched the ball from Strongbow's hands. The winger made a face like she was about to speak up... then thought better of it.
That was for the best. Moxham swung it in high, towards all the typically Nepharim tall timber they could load into the box. Hawke was not among them, seeing the flight of the ball, seeing Dieter Konoval rising highest, and she slipped away from the group, positioned herself to be first as Konoval, under pressure from Camargo, headed it down into the turf. It bounced, once, and Hawke ran onto it, chested it down and flicked out her boot to scuff it past Penedo at his near post.
And just like that, the drought was over. And Hawke's chances of exiting this tournament as the star, yet again, lived another day.

by **Mytanija** » Wed Dec 05, 2018 7:34 pm

CUT-OFF - FINAL

This Is The One

Final.
Savojarna 1–1 Nephara (1–1 AET) (3–2 pen.) (at Radnika, Esca)

Copa Rushmori XXXI - Everything Thread (Rushmore only)

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