WC 82 RP Thread

[Main Nation Ministry]

Hearts of Vice

Chapter 3: A Rather Crappy Party

Brenda asked me if I was really to be downstairs for the party at my house, since I was having one of my bad days. I told her I will head upstairs, if I start to feel tired. To try to get in the spirit, I put on my usual outfit that I like to wear around the public. You probably know which one. My whole "rockstar" outfit that everyone knows that I wear. The one where my cleavage show. You seen it on the WorldVision on your TV's, computers, or phones. It's the real me. Gerald called me to help with the cake, which was this large soccer ball cake that I licked down frosting off of to taste it quick. It was one of those ice cream cakes, but I was annoyed because I prefer simple frosting. I went to the kitchen to grab some of the natural whipped cream in a can that I tend to keep for sweets. Gerald was getting the coffee machine set up at the table, where Tony and Frank were making sure the living room and dining room weren't a miss. The TV was going to be set up to watch some re-runs that people probably miss.

Before anyone arrived, I went to the bathroom to try to practice acting happy in front of the guests. You know that feeling. There's probably people that you know or hate that you have to keep a positive attitude or you look like a jerkass. I considered myself a bit of a natural actor, though. I knew how to shed some tears during some of my performances or look sad. That meant I knew how to look happy and not have a stepford smile of a grin. I did this in front of the mirror to see how good I was faking it. Then, I just looked at the mirror and start on focusing on myself. You probably heard of the whole "duality" concept. You're in this original identify, where you go into this persona of yours and become it. I don't do that. I'm me. My persona has always been me. People who see me on and off of my costume knows it's me. Though I wondered about the people that are "like" me. You know what I'm talking about. I was feeling about it while looking in the mirror, which made me frown a bit.

There is this genre that I believed was trending back a decade ago of being a pop idol. It had to have happened in nations I'm not aware of. The whole happy fake lifestyle of that chick with the umbrella attacking bald head or the one that does contraband that could get you a sentence in the nation. The ones that focus on their image, so little girls can have an excuse to dressing up as them. The whole fake life. These idols probably grew up as adults and what not, while I'm probably the last one that exists. The only difference that doesn't make me like them is that I try to act normal. I lie to kids, but I'm making sure that they aren't growing up the wrong way. I don't snort white powder off of a coffee table or get pulled over drunk on my ass. I act normal. We all want to be normal! Yet, there is this bullshit concept that people probably still think about today that takes a while before they realize that's it's pointless!

Of being popular.

You understand, don't you? You seen many high school movies to know about the whole stereotypes of the jock, princess, freak, nerd and criminal. The whole disillusion of being the people on TV. I want to give them a reality check! I really do! Yet, I feel like we have to lie. Lie because of the shit we don't want them to know and the fucked up crap that happens when they are young! Its-

There was a knock at the bathroom door, as Gerald was checking to see how she was doing. "Jessica? The first guests are here!" Gerald called to Jessica through the door. "Coming!" Jessica refocused on what she was doing and put on a happy facade which she wanted to have lasted through the night. The first guests was just some sports fans around her age. The rest begin to enter the house of all kinds. Jessica saw Jason Masami enter, which made her feel an actual smile. Jason was someone that knew of what Jessica had, but she made sure both of them were good sports about it. Jessica saw this one chick she didn't recognize, but heard the Leader was focusing a lot on. Harrington was the name? The brunette looked nervous to be there. Either she was socially awkward or she was thinking of some other stuff. There was a gentlemen with this bulldog cane with gray hair and a mustache that Jessica guessed to be some parent. There was another guy young as Jessica, who was busy checking his phone, yet looked like he hated being near the crowd. Some fans were enjoying some moments of excitement as they reminisce of past victorious matches. All of going good.

Until there was a knock at the door, which Jessica decided to answer. It was Colin.

"C-colin!?" Jessica had a broken face of both a happy smile and a look of surprise and horror. "Jessica? It's been a while since I saw you." Colin said, calmly.

Look! Colin is just a long distance friend!

...

Ok, he's one of my ex-boyfriends! It's not like I have a closet full of them! He was just my first boyfriend that I had the nerve to date. He's a nice guy! He's just... We had some issues.

"Colin?! Uhhh.. What are you doing here?"
"I came, because everyone's celebrating the draws. I'm a sports fan myself. Mostly soccer." Colin said, adjusting his glasses, which Jessica can't help but admire that they matched his blond hair. "Well, make yourself comfortable. I just beginning to feel a little tired. I need some coffee. That's all." Jessica made an excuse, as she went over to get herself a cup of coffee. Gulping it down, she already tasted the bitter substance, which she hogged the whipped cream to made it sweet. "Jessica, you're alright?" Brenda said to her, seeing some warning signs. "Uhh yeah. I think I need to head upstairs a bit." Jessica explained. "Want me to take her upstairs?" Colin offered, who was nearby. "No no no no! I don't need help!" Jessica said, though she heard herself speaking in a rather passive aggressive manner, where she decided to take the whipped cream with her. A dirty glance by some glutton wanting seconds for that ice cream cake was the result, as they watched Jessica go upstairs.

I think I was acting like a rabid animal in my bedroom, while I was trying to not cry. My mouth was covered in whipped cream, where I left the can on my dresser, as I started to take off my clothes as I went to the bathroom. I needed a good bath to make me relax. I let the water flow into my tub, as I had my knees up to my chest, as I was making sure the water was warm for me to be in. I let my hair be wet, so I can soak, where I had some silence all to myself. I can hear them downstairs, but it was better than them being near me.

Colin was a nice guy. It was mainly my fault on why we broke up. The fact that we were cool with it at the end. With just us being friends. If I hadn't vomited and made a scene, I would have probably loved him. Though he loved me still. Yet, he probably had a girlfriend that would have acted like a bitch to me. What if he knows about..! No! I don't think he would be nice to him, if I tell him. I didn't know how long I was soaking in that tub. Gerald went upstairs to check on me, where he was being mature at how I was without clothes.

"You ok?"
"Yeah. I think I'm going to be upstairs for tonight. I'm not going to be a buzzkill in front of everyone."
"You going to head to sleep, after you're done."
"Might as well. The party isn't going to end, though."
"Fine. Rest up here. I can convince Brenda to give you a way to cheer you up." Gerald said, before leaving. After finishing up, Jessica got a towel to wrap herself in and went over to the medicine cabinet to take a sugar pill.

Jessica turned on some electric candles and went over to the window in her pajamas. Opening the window, she looked outside to observe the calm nightly atmosphere that was happening in the streets. Some lights were on in some of the other houses. The city in the distance let out in barrage of colors for everyone to see. The wind blew something that looked like someone's hat, though Jessica didn't really take notice of it. She wondered if she can forgive herself for the mistakes she blames herself for. Though, she still wanted some hope.

[Mercedini]

OFFICIAL MERCEDINIAN WORLD CUP ANTHEM
NiiNA - "Open Air"
Tune: Simone Emilie - "Anywhere"
Music: N. Pesconti, M. Cartei • Lyrics: N. Pesconti, L. Leonra, K. ze Lowra

Following a national search by Mercedinian national broadcaster ENM, in conjunction with the Mercedinian Football Association, twenty-two year old singer-songwriter NiiNA was announced as the soundtrack of the upcoming World Cup campaign, with her song 'Open Air'. A new addition to the World Cup festivities, ENM executives cited the success of Mercedinian music abroad and previous tournament soundtracks (such as Daniel Alishkaerni's 'Don't Tempt Me', the soundtrack for the previous Winter Olympics). A number of high-profile vocalists were anticipated to be announced, but the Zoloroni-native beat out competition in the thousands to secure her name and song as the official anthem of Mercedini's campaign for the upcoming World Cup Campaign.



NiiNA will be present for the opening match of the campaign, where she will be the headliner of all the pre-match entertainment, singing her song in the Zoloroni Sports City Stadium in front of nearly 75,000 fans before the home match against Lisander. This is the first iteration of what is hoped to be a regular occurrence for Mercedinian music featured in the World Cup ethos, with fans and musicians hoping it would expand the knowledge and awareness of Mercedinian music in competing nations. With World Cup Qualifications secured last edition, the Golden Eagles will be hoping to keep their dream alive for as long as possible, starting with an opening home win against Lisander in the Sports City Stadium. Keeping their home venue a fortress is important for the chances of the team, as NiiNA officially kicks off the World Cup cycle in Zoloroni with 'Open Air'.

The lights in the Sports City Stadium go dim as the crowd cheers for the opening chords of the song. A single spotlight is placed upon a black piano which is being played by a young male in a black suit, the camera pans over to NiiNA who is slowly walking up onto the stage. The surrounding expanse of the crowd has been lit up with the lights of phones from all around the arena, which is captured as the camera sweeps around NiiNA in the centre of a small stage. The small instrumental piece after the end of the first verse lights up the rest of the stadium in many different colours, causing a rainbow effect in the stands.

Baby, can you take away everything so it's us two
We can turn the page and make it feel brand new
Playing all the same games

NiiNa now walks along the walkway that connects the island where they were situated to the main stage where dancers and intricate art sets are waiting for them. The stadium microphones pick up a growing movement as the crowd begin to clap along to the song, NiiNA smiles as she hears the audience encourage her from all sides, with even some of the away fans enjoying the music as the camera pans along the many faces that line the outskirts of the stadium. A single spotlight tracks her movement towards the stage as the second verse comes to end.

When all around are crashing, can you lift me up?
When we're on a high, I don't want it to stop
We can move it forward, but we ain't got time

The circular stage glows in a series of different colours as lights as NiiNA turns to face the front camera in the arena, which is broadcasting to many different television sets not just in Mercedini, but in millions that are watching the game from around the multiverse. The flowing white dress reflects the numerous colours that are emitted from the stags as it sways delicately in the Mercedinian nightly wind. As the pre-chorus comes to an end, the footage fades to black to begin the choreography for the chorus, not before NiiNA blows a kiss to the camera.

Oh-ooh-oh-ooh-oh
They sometimes say that it's a waste of time
When pressure's high, that's when we grow-ooh-oh-ooh-oh
Look to the stars and when we both just look around...

The Sports City Stadium pitch is lit up with colour as the chorus plays out around the arena. The projection originally begins from the circular stage which the performer is standing on, and slowly spreads out to engulf the expanse of the pitch, which is rewarded with a large cheer from the crowd. A camera elevated above the pitch begins to slowly sweep forward from the stands towards the centre of the pitch as the Mercedinan performer reaches her arm out towards the camera as it flies past to cover take in the rest of the stands which are illuminated in a deep blue, representing the Mercedinian colours in a patriotic nod to the national colours.

We can breathe the open air (mmmm)
Let us fly through open air (mmmm)

The beat finally kicks in to the song as NiiNA switches the song's language to her native Mercedinian, with subtitles on screen for international viewers who many not be able to follow the foreign lyrics. A number of lights from around the stadium light up and converge on the performer in the centre of the stadium. She walks around the edge a manned-camera moves up onto the stage and circles NiiNA, capturing the waving lights in the stands and the colours which are mixing in with each other to form a technicolour pitch beneath her feet.

Mi fai del mio meglio, veru
C'e una lunga strada da percorreru
Ogni giorno sgna il potenziale
Sogna grande, vai avanti

I'd try my best for us, will you?
There is a long road ahead of us
Everyday I dream of the potential [we have]
Dream big, move forward

A number of dancers and audience members now grace the pitch as they move their way towards the stage in the centre of the pitch, where the Mercedinian vocalist has already taken a knee with the colour draining out of the performance. The camera footage cuts to a small orchestra in a separate but linked part of the stadium before NiiNA returns and it slowly rising to her feet for the beginning of the second chorus. She clutches her heart as white lights fill in the picture, acting as a transition for the second chorus.

Oh-ooh-oh-ooh-oh
They sometimes say that it's a waste of time
When pressure's high, that's when we grow-ooh-oh-ooh-oh
Now here's our chance, this is a moment you can't miss.

A more upbeat start to the second colours, as a second round of colours fills the stadium and begins to blead into the stands as the seventy-thousand or so audience members all hold up white, opaque panels which allows the colours to be reflected off them and be seen more vividly that is they weren't there. Coloured lights flash around the stadium to add the production value of the performance, making it a special moment for the young Mercedinian performer and those inside the stadium, making it feel like a party atmosphere inside the stadium.

We can breathe the open air (mmmm)
Let us fly through open air (mmmm)

We can breathe the open air (mmmm)
Let us fly through open air (mmmm)

The colour fades away once again as NiiNA walks forward from the main stage and onto another smaller island just in front of the tunnel where the two teams will emerge from once the performance has finished and the staging has been removed from the pitch. Now NiiNA is closer to the stands, a number of Mercedinian fans have seized their opportunity to be seen on television by waving at the camera which is focused on NiiNA, they are seen in the background waving their scarves and smiling behind her. The Mercedinian performer offers her hand to the camera before the camera fades to black for the third and final chorus.

We've been here for centuries
Growing strong from who we meet
We've been here for centuries
Growing strong from you

NiiNA belts out her note in front of tens of thousands of her compatriots as the pitch explodes into colour, with sparks flying from the goalposts and the half-way line in a mini-festival of light and colour. The audience lifts their white panels to reflect more colour back at the camera flying around the stadium. This time, the national colours of all ten teams in Group 15 circle around the stands, with the blue and black of Mercedini most recognisable to the crowd. The away end of Lisander is also lit up in their national colours of green and gold, with the purple of the Equestrian States, the turquoise and white of Krytenia and the infamous orange, white and green of Indusse all making their way around the arena as a special nod to the guests Mercedini will be inviting to the stadium during the World Cup Qualification campaign.

We can breathe the open air, yeah
Let us fly through open air (mmmm)

We can breathe the open air
Open air to fly through

The Mercedinian flag settles in the stand behind NiiNa as the performance draws to a close. NiiNA offers her hand to the camera for one final time to the camera as she sings the final line of the song. The colour drains from the stadium following the three-minute performance which officially marks the start of a new World Cup cycle. The Mercedinian performer cracks a smile as the crowd erupts into loud cheers and footballing chants as she waves to her fans around the stadium and thanking them in her native Mercedinian, "Grazije Mercedinia, Grazije Lizandra. Andiamo!". With the match only moments away, the crowd prepares themselves for 90 minutes of entertaining national football.

[Sajnur]

Sajnur to play Qusmo on Matchday One

Sajnur's match schedule has finally been set, and just in time too. The Nation States Football Organistion (NSFO) has officially confirmed that Sajnur's first match, to be held at the National Stadium in Javoser, will be held against Qusmo. This will be very welcome news for Sajnur, but will be a massive relief for Qusmo's national squad as they arrived in the capital two days ago. The information that was available to the Sajnuran team suggested that Qusmo would indeed be the opponents that would kick off Sajnur's qualifying campaign, and to the relief of many that has proven to be correct. In any case, Sajnuran fans will be excited to see their national team play at home for the first time in decades Sajnur manager Eliseo Marinin spoke with us earlier.

"It is obviously good news that Qusmo has been confirmed to be the opponents, but why has the world organisation left it so late? Imagine if we had to cancel the match? We would have to reschedule 100,000 people! At least Qusmo seem to be one of the more well connected nations so we had reasonable confidence that this match would go ahead and count for results. It is probably a bigger relief for the Qusmoan [sic] players, too. They have had to travel all this way with their fixture not even published! What would they do? I guess they could do more sightseeing around Javoser, or maybe Jessica [Siafik] could give them some cannabis to enjoy. I do not know if it is common in Qusmo, maybe it is. Anyway, despite the uncertainty, our team is prepared for the upcoming fixture. Qusmo are a very good team, they are ranked 40th, and Sajnur are still developing. We can still win, though. We beat Adab in the Independents Cup, and they are a top 100 side. Maybe we can do the same tomorrow."

[Cassadaigua]

Queen Cassie II Announces Stadium Naming Program

Has your nation ever participated in a tournament in Cassadaigua?

Has your nation simply played any kind of sporting match in Cassadaigua?

Are you simply a Cassadagan who attends sporting matchups?

If so, you have probably looked at your sporting fixture of “Cassadaigua vs MyGreatCountry @ Concord Heights Stadium, Concord Heights”, and sighed and thought to yourself, “Why do Cassadagan Stadiums have such boring names?” Then you may have wondered, “They aren’t even named at all. There is no sense of imagination with those names, and this is supposed to be a great sporting country?”

Yes, we’ve been called out on it a few times. We’ve read the media releases! Still, the Queen has had the ultimate power on these decisions, and would not allow any time of corporate naming rights on stadium. Additionally, there was once an effort way back when to name a stadium after an ex-World Cup Star (Courtney Ferguson, our first ever World Cup effort back in World Cup 43), but that was shot down. The reasoning was that it was too great of an honor for one person to have, especially on a national stadium that was used for other sports, and various other events. So, we’ve had this, “Game A, at Brattleboro Stadium, Brattleboro; Game B, at New Lakeland Stadium, New Lakeland.” At least with that, there would never be any confusion as to what city the game was being played in.


We’re moving on! And you can help! This is interactive!

As World Cup qualifiers going on, a different Cassadagan city will be highlighted, discussing not only the stadium, but the uniqueness of the city itself. This will include any special history in which the city has.

If interested, foreign companies can read about the city and offer sponsorship roles in different package that will be discussed. This will even include the possibility to name the Cassadagan stadium after a company of yours! The first city will be highlighted after the first matchday, and the specific roles that are offered for sponsorship, which will include but not be limited to stadium naming rights. Bear in mind that Cassadagan companies will also be looking to get these roles as well. Once each city that frequently hosts international sporting events in Cassadaigua is first highlighted, then I will move on to the results of the bidding process, and explaining why certain decisions were made.

Foreign companies will need to explain why their company is a fit for the specific Cassadagan city being highlighted. Bids will then be taken, and that will make more sense once I highlight the first city.

This will be a World Cup-long process that will spill over into the World Cup Proper, or Cup of Harmony, and is open to every single nation attempting to qualify for the World Cup to participate in. Interactions and responses to my posts and project should be made only here in the RP thread, and need to include the word “Cassadaigua” somewhere in the post. This is to ensure that I see your post when doing a search for replies and do not overlook anything. Outside participation will make or break this project.

Thank you!

[Abanhfleft]

(OOC: Continues from here.)

Antonis Harisis felt his cellphone vibrating in his pocket, and he reached inside to pull it out. The caller was an unlisted number, but it was also a familiar one. "So nice to hear from you once again, boss," he said when he answered the call. "You've finally managed to settle in over there?"

"I wouldn't exactly call it settling in, Anton," Klearchos Kazantzakis said in reply at the other end. "But I seem to have managed to establish a rapport with the natives, a rapport which I hope to eventually turn into an actual working relationship."

"I mean, if you've already got the rapport then I'd say that you're already halfway there to that working relationship that you want," Harisis said.

"You can say that again," Kazantzakis muttered. "Anyway, speaking of the natives, guess who I met in Imgortur, Anton?"

"All right, not sure if I really want to play this game but I'll bite. Who, Kleos?"

"Artemios Zigdis," came the reply from Kazantzakis.

"Oh, really now? Oh, yeah, now I remember," Harisis said. "He was Gomez Osterhaus's backup for quite some time, wasn't he? How did he react to you being Locomotive's new manager?"

"What did you expect? Of course he was ready to fight for his spot, stake his claim in between the sticks," Kazantzakis replied. "Real chip on the shoulder stuff. Then I dropped the bombshell on him and told him that I'd already made him my starting goalkeeper. And I don't mean to brag about it, but I daresay that that knocked the wind out of his sails pretty quickly."

Harisis could only chuckle and shake his head even though he knew that Kazantzakis couldn't see him. "Ah, still the same old Kleos you are, I see," he said. "I just hope that you remember to be careful when pulling that shit around him because he could very easily down tools on you and you'll have to find yourself another goalkeeper, whether in your reserves or on the free agents."

"Don't worry about that, Anton, I already have that covered," Kazantzakis assured him. But Harisis couldn't tell if the assurance was really meant for him or for Kleos himself.

"Oh, and speaking of transfers," Kazantzakis continued, "how would you feel about moving here to Imgortur with me? As part of the team, I mean."

Of course, in that same moment the crowd around Harisis erupted in cheers as the home team scored a goal against their opponents. Harisis almost missed it, but he managed to look up just in time to see the goal being scored, a header from a corner kick. "Yes! That's a good one! Get in there!" he shouted.

"What was that?" Kazantzakis asked from his end, not being able to see that Harisis had been watching a football match when he had called him.

"Oh, just the local under-12s league," Harisis replied once he had sat himself back down. "Eleftherios just scored. You should see him, Kleos. Ele is literally standing a head above both his teammates and the opposition, and he's just ten!"

"No way, really? Ele is already playing football at that level? I guess we can tell then after whom he takes," Kazantzakis said. "Anyway, so what do you say about moving to Imgortur?"

"What? Move to Imgortur? What do you mean by that?" Harisis asked.

"I think you know exactly what I mean by that, Anton," Kazantzakis said, smiling even though he knew that Harisis couldn't see the smile, which Harisis would have called "devilish", forming on his face.

"Wait a minute," Harisis muttered as realization dawned upon him. "Are you asking me if I want to transfer from Palaeiologi to Imgortur?"

"No, no, Antonis," Kazantzakis shook his head. "What I asked you is how would you feel about moving to Imgortur? That's very different from what you thought the question was."

"What are you saying? That I've already been transferred to Locomotive? That doesn't sound right, does it? I mean, why hasn't nobody told me anything about this? The club? My agent?"

"See, actually, that's the thing," Kazantzakis said. "Everything's already been settled with Palaeiologi. The transfer fee's already set. Three million penenks. Your agent has already agreed to the wages and other terms on the contract. It just needs your signature now. In fact, your agent's been trying to contact you for the past few hours, but apparently she can't get in touch with you because of poor reception in your area. In fact, it's a miracle that I got in touch with you, and that the call hasn't been cut for whatever reason right now!"

Harisis listened to Kazantzakis without saying anything, and then when the latter had finished, Harisis turned to look at his wife, who was standing up and cheering their son on as Eleftherios Harisis tried to fend off a defender while he ran for goal with the ball at his feet. "That's funny that you should mention my agent, Kleos," Harisis said to Kazantzakis, "because she's standing right beside me shouting at our son to go for goal and not once has she ever thought to mention to me that she's negotiated my transfer to Locomotive Imgortur. I mean, I don't know. If she's really done it, I would imagine she would tell me about it because it's in my best interests to know that I'm going to Abanhfleft sometime within the next two weeks; heck, make it the next week."

"Oh. Is that so?" was the only reply that came out of Harisis's cellphone.

"Really, Kleos? You're really trying to use my agent, who is also my wife, to get me to come to Imgortur without even knowing what the hell I'm going to do there in the first place," Harisis said, and the silence at the other end all but confirmed his thoughts and suspicions. "Come on, Kleandros. Are you really going to try to pull that shit on me? Maybe if I was one of your youth players, I might have fallen for it. But not this time."

More silence from the other end of the line. Eventually though, Kazantzakis cleared his throat, more to tell Harisis that he was still on the line and had not hung up on him than anything on Kazantzakis's own part. "Yes, what did they say about old dogs and new tricks again?" Harisis asked, but this time he was the one smiling faintly and "devilishly". "But seriously now, why me? What can I give to Locomotive that they don't already have? Don't they have other good center backs in their ranks? Like that Copperite kid?"

"Motewa Rabatsy's not really a kid anymore, Anton. You know that, right?" Kazantzakis said. "He's already 28, just one year younger than you if I'm not mistaken. And yes, you're right, he's a good guy, a great guy, one you'd want in your back line, but after him there's no other center backs left, none that I'd trust throughout 38 games. They cut Billy Neely because of the video, and then the club sold both Ronald Greene and Peter Alexander before I'd even gotten here and given them my input. But you, you I trust. And not just because I've seen you go 44 games and more. These guys need a leader. And you could be that leader."

"I'm not sure about that, man," Harisis said seriously this time, as he knew that Kazantzakis was now also serious about his offer to go to Abanhfleft. "The Fhulghamous is way different from the mainland, Klearchos," he continued. "It's going to be a massive, massive step up."

"Come on, man, just try it out, even for just one year," Kazantzakis offered. "If you feel like you're done with all this after one year then that's all right. One year is one year. After that you can go back to the Fhulghamous and take care of the family."

"Can I think about it?" Harisis asked.

"Of course you can, man," Kazantzakis replied. "Forget about the shit I tried to pull on you earlier. This is the serious offer. But like you said, if you want to think about it then think about it. And when you've decided, whether it's yes or no, I'd really appreciate it if you could call me first before anyone else. Say hi to Eudokia and the kids for me."

"Sure, whatever you say," Harisis nodded, and then he ended the call. Oh, he was going to think about it, all right. He was going to think long and hard on whether he wanted to get back on Klearchos Kazantzakis's Wild Ride.

[Santa Regada]

Nation holds breath ahead of Matchday 1

Can the Eagles break the dreaded curse of crashing out in the qualifiers or is it time for a new team?

Despite holding high hopes for the national team to finally deliver and uphold the name of the country and its pride, Regadans across the world are bracing for what is expected to be another campaign of eventual misery and upset. Since the Super Eagles’ first appearance at World Cup 79, the Regadan national team has been unable to qualify for any World Cup. During World Cup 81, immense fustration with this misfortune turned into riots on the streets of the nations capital as hopes and dreams were once again turned to dust. This bitter fortune and perceived failure to serve the nation has finally reached the attention of the government, with the Minister of Youth Affairs and Sports demanding that the team ‘delivers something special for once.’ All of this pressure may prompt management to make serious changes to the lineup of the national team during or after World Cup 82; The same team has now been fielded for three World Cups, giving the youngsters time to mature - however this will be their final and ultimate test. So can they deliver? Well, the outlook appears to be quite murky... Santa Regada has been placed in Group 3 with four teams ranked in the top 100, posing a severe threat to any hopes of qualification.

• Dritten Asopie (ranked 332th)

It is expected that the Super Eagles should ahve a comfortable time beating this side both times they face eachother. The Asopians are very new to the World Cup meaning they lack the experience or tactics to break down the Regadan defence or contain its offense. With their low ranking, all statistics for Santa Regada vs Dritten Asopie are firmly favouring the Regadans being able to cruise through to victory. Though just because the odds are in the Eagles’ favour doesn’t mean they should relax as it is essential to gain all six points, and they should use also the two matches against the Asopians to score as many goals as possible as goal difference (GD) may prove crucial in Santa Regada’s qualifying hopes. Experts believe the Regadans should win both matches by at least two goals.

• Eastfield Lodge (ranked 44th)

One of the dreaded teams ranked in the top 100, the Regadans are not a stranger to facing off against Eastfield Lodge, having played against them in at least one previous World Cup. Eastfield Lodge will likely give the Regadans a severe headache in both games, with experts presicting that the national team will suffer two defeats, losing by a margin of two goals in both games.

• Brusseldorf (unranked)

Brand new to the World Cup with no prior experience to their name, Brusseldorf is likely to be in for a thrashing at the hands of Santa Regada. Perhaps the easiest of the qualifying matches for the Super Eagles, the unranked side of Brusseldorf is expected to pose zero challenge to Santa Regada and the Eagles are expected to use this match to cram in as many goals as possible to boost their goal difference and secure all vital six points. Experts believe the Eagles are capable of winning both matches by three goals and state that conceding just one goal to Brusseldorf would be alarming.

• Acapais (ranked 77th)

Being the first time the two nations have ever met each other at a World Cup, the first game between the two sides is likely to be decisive as the teams battle to find a way to break down their opposition. Like with Quakmybush, both Santa Regada abd Acapais are within a somewhat similar ranking area; however this time the ranking advantage is in Acapais’ favour. Experts predict that Santa Regada will only lose one game as they manage to force a draw.

• Quakmybush (ranked 132nd)

Santa Regada and Quakmybush will face each other later today as Matchday 1 gets to a start. This match and their subsequent second match during the later half of the qualifying campaign will most likely be the most balanced standoff the Eagles will have to overcome if they wish to qualify. Both sides are somewhat similarly ranked and field a similar offensive and defensive capability; Deciding the winner will come down to who is able to find a way to breakdown a likeminded oponent and strike first. Experts believe that the Eagles will only be able to win the opening game by a margin of one goal and are likely to face a draw in the second meet.

• Qasden (ranked 24th)

Representing another severe headache for Santa Regada, Qasden is one of the premier nations within Group 3. All the statistics firmly point towards the Eagles being outplayed and outscored in both matches, losing by a margin of at least two goals each time.

• The Holy Empire (ranked 12th)

For the Regadans to achieve anything other than a loss here, the stars would need to align perfectly alongside the second coming of Jesus Christ. Facing off against these highly ranked World Cup veterans, the Eagles will likely go into the match with a no surrender attitude and try to exploit any little mistake that the opposition makes, however all the statistics firmly point at Santa Regada being crushed.

• Libertas Omnium Mximus (ranked 206th)

The Regadans are expected to play hard in these two games; despite their opponents being ranked over 100 positions behind them, comfort is not assured in this game and the Super Eagles will need to play all of their cards to earn the vital six points up for grabs here. Experts predict that the Regadans will be able to win both games with at least one goal separating them.

• Sulsuland (ranked 239th)

In order to have a shot at qualification, the national team should not let their guard down when facing Sulsuland as it would not be the first time that a similarly ranked team has managed to punish the Super Eagles for their arrogance. The Super Eagles must ensure that they gain all six points up for grabs here it essential to their qualification campaign. Experts believe that the Regadans will triumph in both matches by a margin of at least one goal.

So, the experts are predicting a qualifying campaign consisting of 9 wins, 2 draws, and 7 losses for a grand total of 29 points. At the nations first ever World Cup appearance at WC 79, Santa Regada finished qualifying in 6th position with a total of 27 points, having won 8 games, drawn 3, and losing 7. World Cup 80 was skipped, giving the national team time to train and mature - subsequently in World Cup 81, Santa Regada again finished qualifying in 6th position, again with a total of 27 points, again having won 8 games, drawn 3, and losing 7. If the experts are to be believed, Santa Regada will have its best qualifying campaign in terms if points but will still end up in 6th place - potentially 5th - and yet again miss out on qualification.

[Kandorith]

Shinonome Kyoai - International
_________________________________

Kandorith Prepares For World Cup Campaign

Group 15
Mercedini (27)
Kandorith (174)
Equestrian States (10)
Krytenia (84)
Garifunya (54)
Ancherion (288)
Indusse (69)
Zeniyadh (UR)
Pratapgadh (298)
Lisander (134)

It has been a while, but the fans of Kandorese football are ready to cheer for their national team once again in an attempt to reach the World Cup. In previous attempts the Kandorese campaign can only be described as shaky or unstable. People are hoping the new head manager Saitou Moriyase is the chosen man to lead this very young Kandorese side to victory. The expectations for the team are always high, however people are remaining realistic. Every World Cup so far it is a mission to at least qualify for the cup itself. If Kandorith can qualify it will already be a victory for them.

Kandorith is currently ranked 174, the lowest ranking for the team in history. Moriyase has already vouched to at least clean up the mess which was left behind after the disbanding of the previous governmental system and football association. The group Kandorith faces for the qualification can be favorable if the team can punch through with it's attacking and midfield based play, the largest opponent for the team would be Equestrian States. When asked what the focus for the team would be on, Moriyase revealed very few details but, he did say Equestrian States is not the main focus. Knowing his tactics, he will most likely be looking to at least contest the second place in the group and trying to get a draw against the Equestrian States.

This will be the first time Kandorith will compete for the world cup since the restoration of the complete imperial rule, many people are also viewing this as the very first real Kandorese team to finally enter the international sports field. The reinstalled Kandorese throne could be a decisive morale boost for the team, as not only are they the international example of the nation; they are also the shining example of Kandorith's finest athletes at the moment. The first match is coming up and the players are ready to represent the nation in all their capability and finesse. The Kandorese nation is ready to see a revival of Kandorese football.

[Filindostan]

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FOOTBALL: WORLD CUP 82 QUALIFIERS
Pula Garuda grouped with Starblaydia and Cassadaigua in quest for World Cup Qualification

SAN MARCO - Game on.

The group draw for the 82nd World Cup Qualifiers have been conducted and the quest of 150 national teams to be one of the thirty teams to join co-hosts Apox and Valanora in the big stage. In the group draw, FSNA Berita Filindo has learned that Filindostan is put into a tough group including five-time World Champions, Starblaydia, the team who knocked them out of the 72nd Cup of Harmony, Cassadaigua, and three notable national teams: Omerica, Polkopia, and The Sherpa Empire, among four relative newcomers in Group 14, with only the top two qualifying for the finals.

The Filindos start their campaign in Stadii di Bradini in Jhanna, Starblaydia, where they face one of Atlantian Oceania's most prominent teams in the universe. The two teams' last meeting in the Starblaydi capital resulted to one of the most notable defeats in Filindostani football, a 3-0 mauling during their matchday six encounter when Filindostan made its WCQ debut three editions ago. There were one more meeting between the two - with the reverse fixture also gave the Filindos something to note for for the forecoming years, a 5-1 demolition at San Marco will give any hope for them in the first match encounter.

Another team to note is Cassadaigua. Despite never coming yet to Cassadaigua to face the Fillies, the two teams met at the quarterfinals stage of the 72nd Cup of Harmony in Yeaddin, where they were blanked 2-0 by the only team to win all the five major sporting tournaments in the Multiverse at Lirai Asku Castle, and eliminate them from contention. There were also a recorded match against one of the participants in Group 14, where Filindostan faced The Sherpa Empire in the 22nd Campionato Esportiva, at Jishy Dairy Product Arena in Qarbin, The Golden Lotus. That ended in a goalless contest, but the tie had to be settled via a penalty shootout, where Filindostan won and advanced from the quarterfinals to finish third in their third Campionato appearance.

There are no recorded matches yet against either Omerica or Polkopia, though the two nations are already seasoned in World Cup qualifiers participation, and is deemed by the Filindos to be one of the teams that can give them a run for their money. Abristan, Britaen, North Quadania, and Tiiwark are opponents where the Filindostan manager, Twilight Striker, can tinker with her lineup and give the younger players a chance to start, but she should be also wary of the threat they may bring to the table.

Ideal Preparations for the Qualifiers?

The Equestrian manager, who also managed the Equestrian States hoofball team several years ago, is under pressure to perform well and lead the Pula Garuda to their first World Cup finals appearance. Brought as the successor to former manager Willy Gurnawan, who delivered silverware to the Filindos by winning the 66th Baptism of Fire tournament, at the middle of qualifiers for EqueStar World Cup 80, She has delivered a quarterfinal finish in the Cup of Harmony, and placing third in the 22nd Campionato. The said feats enabled her to have her contract extended up to the end of World Cup 82 campaign. However, she had a terrible run recently, as the Filindos failed to make it in their third attempt, and were not invited to the Cup of Harmony.

They tried to use the regional tournament as a platform to rebound from their failures, but failing to win a single Campionato match at Barbury's Village Green worsened her job security. Now with the Filindostan Football Federation possibly having shorter patience with the female unicorn, She's more eager to prove that she deserves to stay on as the Pula Garuda's manager. The preparations were less than ideal though. A late goal by Dûsh Bagg at Sky-High Coliseum denied Filindostan a win against Equestrian States, where they shot themselves in the foot early on as they went 3-0 down in the early portion of the first half, but the half ended 3-3. Filindostan led 4-3 and 5-4 respectively before the Ponies clawed back on both occasions, keeping the national team winless against them.

It was a different story though when they returned to San Marco to face Qusmo though. Shai's curled shot at the edge of the box was the only goal in the first half as the Filindos were able to beat Avarn-Oxolt Ban's impressive Qusmo side, 1-0. They were put back to earth though by New Lusitania, losing 1-2 in Leiria, with Bienvenido scoring Filindostan's only goal.

Playing Squad announced for Starblaydia and Polkopia matches

Twilight Striker's squad will be away from home in the first two matches of their qualification campaign, where they will have one of the toughest schedules as they face all of the other top seeds in the first four matchdays. After the match in Jhanna, they will fly straight to Polkopia and their Marshupov Arena in Peeto to face the 87th ranked team in the multiverse. She named the final 23-person squad for the two matches before they return to the Filindostani capital to open their home campaign to welcome Omerica to the Filindostan National Stadium.

Goalkeepers (3): Tonyo, Gerry, Abram
Defenders (6): Casimir, Dekker, Leomarie, Kartio, Dina Satyawan, Johnpaul 
Midfielders (9): Damaris, Hasna, Juanda, MMM, King, Yakob, Mohd Safri, Onyok, Mordecai 
Forwards (5): Yish, Shai, Ina, Bienvenido, Bochog

There are no injury concerns or suspensions, and Twilight Striker hope that her selected squad can challenge at the top of Group 14, despite the tough sequence of matches they have at their disposal. We at FSNA Berita Filindo will bring you the latest updates regarding the national team.

Written by FSNA Staff.

[Polkopia]

Polkopian Author Yakub Orvin Seeks to Grow Fanbase Overseas

Throughout its existence as an independent state, the Allied States of Polkopia have always exemplified a culture surrounded by literature. The "Golden Age of Polkopian Literature" occurred in the late-18th century and lasted until the mid-19th century and saw some of Polkopia's greatest writers of the day. Authors such as Yvgeny Marshpan and Leonid Yač have left an incredible legacy which still continues to this very day, and influences from these authors can still be seen in any major Polkopian city. Since the Communist government was instilled in the 20th century, Polkopian authors - especially those from the 18th and 19th centuries - were heavily censored throughout Polkopia. With the recent transition into a democratic society, the Polkopian government has heavily emphasized a revitalization of Polkopian literature and President Bebek has been quoted saying that he longs for another "Golden Age."

One of the authors making headlines is Yakub Orvin. He recently released his novel, Pelyučidnost', which translates in English to "Transparency". The novel is the first of a trilogy, with the other books being set to be released in the coming years, though no official release date has been announced.

Pelyučidnost' has already sold a million copies, making it the highest-selling novel by a Polkopiamn author in over one hundred years. The novel has been classified by many as both Fantasy and Philosophical fiction and those living abroad will soon have access to the entire novel, as Orvel's publisher is making the entire novel accessible online for free and plans on releasing snippets of the novel by chapter over the next few weeks. The novel draws inspiration from several events throughout Polkopian history and showcases elements of Polkopian folk culture throughout the book. Despite being translated into several different languages and losing some of the nuances only detectable when written in Polkopian, the overall tone of the novel is unmistakably Polkopian and differs greatly from other values and morals exemplified in foreign novels.

[Mattijana]

Cosumar and Saltstead Headline Reasonably Kind Mattijanan Qualifying Group

MFO SPORT

Mattijana's group for their World Cup 82 Qualifying campaign has just been announced at a ceremony in Apox, with 15th-ranked Cosumar set to be their toughest competitor on paper in group 11.

Compared to recent years, the group is a kind one. Mattijana have avoided any team in the top 10 for the first time since World Cup 76 whilst Saltstead are also at the bottom end of pot 2. Qusmo are one of the higher pot 3 nations, but with Mattijana at their highest ever position in the world rankings, Dusan Vukoja will be hopeful of getting his team into one of the top 2 slots. Unlike recent editions, it appears there will be no playoff for 2nd and 3rd-placed teams, so doing so would earn Mattijana a historic first appearance in the World Cup finals.

As is traditional at this time of year, here's a closer look at the teams the marmots will line up against in this year's quest for World Cup glory.

Cosumar

World Rank: 15
Region: Atlantian Oceania
Last WC: World Cup finals, bottom of group H.
Mattijana Matches:
MD3-Away @ Crowley Memorial Stadium, Ramusok
MD12-Home@ Stadijo Nasinal, Burges

Cosumar had a disappointing time of things last time out by their previously lofty standards. The team comfortably qualified for the finals by winning a group also containing Saint Émelie, but beat only Baker Park in the group stage and conceded 8 goals in their three matches.

That was followed up by an improved performance at the AOCAF however, with Cosumar losing 7-8 on penalties in a thrilling final against Farfadillis. As a result, the team have not yet decided to sack manager Alexander Pearce, but he did decide to scale back his attacking approach and inject some youth into the team in response to the disappointment last World Cup.

Having done enough to save their manager, those players will likely feature again for the vanquishers as they look to once again bring joy to their many fans. Whether they will do that at the finals is an unknown, but you would expect them to ease their way through qualifying yet again.

Saltstead

World Rank: 28
Region: Atlantian Oceania
Last WC: World Cup finals, finished bottom of group E
Mattijanan Matches:
MD8-Away @ King William VII National Park, Ashwell
MD17-Home @ Stadijo Dinamov, Burges


28th-ranked Saltstead also made the finals last year and also finished bottom of their group, although they did nick a 2-1 victory against the Equestrian States along the way.

Manager Gay Ware is expected to take charge yet again, which means no change from the ultra-defensive style his team are known for. The Stallions will try and bore your team to death when in possession with a keep-ball passing game and will scrap hard when not in possession to break up attacking play.

Teams that play pretty tika-taka football will probably struggle, so it will be interesting to see how Mattijana fare. On the one hand the Saltstead defence may target Mattijana's skilful wingers to prevent them playing their natural game, but the marmots can deploy a more direct counter-attacking game that their opponents may not be able to contain as easily.

The Stallions will be favourites to take the other qualifying spot, but will face some stiff competition from those behind them.

Qusmo
World Rank: 40
Region: Rushmore
Last WC: 3rd in qualifying group 9
Mattijanan Matches:
MD7-Home @ Stadijo Nasinal, Burges
MD16-Away @ Mastad Qastyra, Qanz

Qusmo came very close to a playoff place last cycle, finishing third in their qualifying group with just a 4 point deficit to eventual runners-up Polkopia. Their main strength is the midfield, but the side showed excellent defensive prowess at World Cup 81, conceding only 9 goals in their 18 games.
Qusmo will be a tricky team to break down, but they shouldn't be as hard to keep out at the other end. The attack scored only 30 goals, the same as 8th-placed Rakivland.

69 year-old manager Avarn-Oxolt Ban will return, looking to take the talent at his disposal one better than their last effort and into the qualifying places.

Mytanija

World Rank: 88
Region: Rushmore
Last WC: 6th in qualifying group 7
Mattijanan matches:
MD2-Home @ Stadijo Dinamov, Petrovijanka
MD11-Away @ Kotrba, Esca

Mattijanan fans will be familiar with the group's second Rushmori team Mytanija after the two faced off during the last qualifying cycle. Mytanija nicked a 1-0 win at home whilst the Marmots claimed the spoils in Mattijana 2-1, so it seems the two sides are reasonably equally matched heading into this run of qualifiers.

There has however been a bit of a shakeup in the Mytanar management, with Lev Repin replacing previous manager Robin Hijk after the latter chose to take a job at Euran club Bastion. Repin is much more of a tinkerman than his predecessor, often choosing to chop and change formations and players. The 47 year-old is also much more keen on possession-based attacking football, rather than the counter-attacking style of Hijk.

Mattijana will also remember that both games against Mytanija were hard-fought. The Mytanijans are not afraid of putting in a rough tackle or cynical foul, whilst also complaining vehemently when on the receiving end of one. Neutrals will probably be behind the more respectful Mattijanans, but with qualifying points at stake, expect some bad-tempered affairs. The atmosphere is often not helped by the Mytanijan fans and stadium security in WestStrand will have to be alert to the usual range of pyrotechnics and booze the ultras try and smuggle in.

Kavagrad

World Rank: 102
Region: The Leftist Assembly
Last WC: 5th in qualifying group 3
Mattijanan matches:
MD1-Away @ Venue TBC
MD10-Home @ Garijo Ales Struna, Puljanka

Kavagrad performed admirably during qualifying for World Cup 81, finishing 5th. The nation has former manager and player Alex-Louis Valentine to thank for bringing them onto the international stage, ending a self-imposed 38 year boycott of formal international tournaments.

Valentine has just been sacked following poor regional performances with Ian Wissa from Grod Island replacing him. Whether the changes work remains to be seen, but both teams will be aware of the quality in each others sides when they meet for the first match of their respective campaigns.

The partnership between winger Benjamin Mumuni and striker Louis-Henri Bonne has been especially productive of late. Mumuni became the youngest player to make a senior international appearance for Kavagrad at just 17 years of age, but looks to be a huge talent having already made 11 assists in his 15 games last cycle.

Mattijana should have enough to beat the Redhearts, but not without a fight.

Velestria

World Rank: 169
Region: Esportiva
Last WC: Didn't compete
Mattijanan Matches:
MD5-Away @ Venue TBC
MD14-Home @ WesterStadion, WestStrand

Velestria have gone through a fair bit of turmoil in recent times. The continued civil unrest following the collapse of the nation's predecessor Kebec subjected the team to an international ban, keeping them away from World Cup qualifying. As a result, the team have slipped from 102nd to 169th in the World rankings.
Velestria made their international comeback with a group stage exit in the 23rd Campionato Esportiva and given that Mattijana went on to win the tournament, you would think that a match between these two teams should be no contest.

Whilst the Velestrian team is better than their ranking suggests, Mattijana should still be looking for 6 points against them. The important thing for Velestria this cycle is to establish some stability and identity, something that a few good performances in the Campionato Esportiva at least hinted at.

Alluersia

World Rank: 250
Region: Atlantian Oceania
Last WC: Debutants. Reached BoF round of 16
Mattijanan Matches:
MD6-Away @ venue TBC
MD15-Home @ Stadijo Snezn, Snezn

Alluersia looked like one of the favourites to go big in the most recent Baptism of Fire after cruising through their group stage, but suffered a shock defeat to TigerSharkistan in the round of 16.
Fresh from that setback, the rookies will now have a longer set of fixtures with which to prove themselves on the international stage.

Alluersia is a breakaway region of New West Guiana who, fed up with a lack of enthusiasm for international football, decided to form their own team to take on the best in the world. As a result, the side has a small pool of talent, but big ideas to go with it.

One of the biggest, boldest and possibly stupidest ideas of the lot is to only play with two defenders. The Alluersian's 2-4-4 formation is certainly unorthodox and may leave them open to attack, especially by a team like Mattijana who like to use the full width of the pitch.

Unless they learn to adapt, they will probably get steamrollered by the group's better teams, but there is talent in the side and they should nick results against their fellow lower-table sides.

Sajnur

World Rank: 315
Region: South Pacific
Last WC: Debutants, eliminated in BoF group stage
Mattijanan Matches:
MD9-Home @ Stadijo Katarina Zafarova, Revinka
MD18-Away @ Niurka Stadium, Ciarkhan

Even less successful than Alluersia in the Baptism of Fire were Sajnur. The team were eliminated in the group stage after finishing third in it, winning only two out of their six games.

For starters, the fact that goalkeeper Piotr Laghiev is one of the team's most relied-upon players is a bad sign. Sajnur themselves have consistently criticised their team's defence and their performances in the BoF hinted to an overreliance on keeping possession and an even bigger one on their man between the sticks.

Against teams that are comfortable with the ball, this is a problem. The Sajnuri defence looked more crumbly than a piece of Feta when having to defend for long periods, not helped by the fact that the two full-backs are normally somewhere up the other end of the pitch trying to score goals.

Unless the defence tightens up or Laghiev has 18 total blinders, it looks like being a long qualifying cycle for Sajnur.

Vartugia

World Rank: 359
Region: Storenda Kukwandera
Last WC: Debutants, Eliminated in BoF group stage
Mattijanan Matches:
MD4-Home @ Stadijo Birjkemluft, Matbirjke
MD13-Away @ a field in Vartugia

Only one team in the group is ranked worse than Sajnur and that, for reasons that are about to become clear, is Vartugia.

The first, but not only reason is that Vartugia is managed by a goat. It is unknown whether this goat has any tactical ability or means to communicate with the players, but based on the team's abysmal showing at the Baptism of Fire in which they failed to win a single match, it would suggest not.

The team's formation is also rather unique and can only be described as parking the bus. Unlike many other bus-parking nations like Saltstead however, this bus is incredibly porous and disorganised and the chief tactic seems to be the traditional playground one of all 11 players running after the ball.

The only thing that may go in their favour is their choice of venues. Despite WC regulations, Vartugia play in a variety of random fields, none of which seem to be the right shape for a game of football. This may cause our wingers some navigational issues, but once we've sussed those out, there should be no way back for the 'nation that is a bit batshit crazy.'

Vartugia may not only state a claim for being the most inept in the group, but also possibly the whole tournament.

[Gladom Newion]

OOC: Forays of Folly is taking a cycle-long break. In the meanwhile, please enjoy this tale of conspiracy, conspiracy theory, conspiring conspirators, and flat-out dodgy blokes who seek to manipulate the Tinhamptonian population and Football Association towards the end of 2018-ish...

Previous instalments of Air Conditioning: Prologue I

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AIR CONDITIONING - prologue II; Newion, Gladom Newion, July 1989

She is still praying the Rosary, but everything else has changed in the interceding thirty years. We are entering the realm of what they call "poshland," the good bits north and west of President meKonta's marbled and towering "House" whilst the Newion majority minority gets everything else, which is both an awful lot and yet at once virtually nothing. Alas, we shall only devote ourselves to them later.
On one table, we have people talking about how their fairly distant relatives are doing in the newly-found right-wing confusion "back home" that has only just started making sense. On another, girlfriends, boyfriends. On yet another, the second-year mock tests that they all get every summer, about how abysmal their knowledge of hypotenuses and the death penalty and respiration and plot devices and self-sufficiency and all of those other ghastly things that somehow happen to trip almost everybody up. You see, the one thing the tincanny colonisers couldn't do to this island was to educate it.
Those stereotypes are real. The queues stretch out in the surprisingly unsweltering heat - "what, it's only eighty degrees?" - and are rammed with as much horror and scandal as anybody could have hoped for. About halfway down the line, two young men jump on another one in what you would otherwise only assume to be a robbery of some sort. Half an hour passes and you are told that they wanted the answers to their own mock that afternoon and they figured he was a cheating scoundrel. So much for being the only proper swot in your lecture hall on most occasions.
If you step outside for a bit and travel about five yards, there's a good chance you'll get thwonked somewhere with a football. Those young - younger, even - lads that have had slightly less time to devour their dinner, whether or not by virtue of cutting class at ten minutes past instead of quarter past, are always outside for the next half an hour and more, with fire in their bellies. The fire of a half-digested jumbofold. They want to play, they are playing, but they will never have the chance to do so for the green, purple and white.
None of this seems to matter when your mind is focused upwards and both of your knees are rested upon ceramic tiles that haven't been any warmer since the President was just a young lad that put paid to the lives of seventeen traitors. One of them was your grandfather. Amidst all this heartbreak? One constant. One corner. One woman... or maybe two.

[Velestria]

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STONEHENGE — The 417-18 Velestria LigVezia Series A football season has started and its getting wild entering the first third of the season done and VLZSports.com and its streaming app, VLZNow has all the action including defending league champions, Azurea taking on surprise league challengers, the Doverhampton Wanderers live from Saints Park in Applegate City. The game pits two teams, ranked 4th and 5th respectively, Azurea being the latter battling it out early in the season in what could be an important game for deciding who gets a berth into the Velish League Cup later this season. That’s not all, Azurea’s got a lot of storylines going into this upcoming clash, a slow, rigid offense unable to fuel an attack; a rigid coach who refuses to change his ways in manager, Christopher Tajo Mendez and of course the team’s stellar goal-keeper between the pipes, Jelanee Jidefor displaying larger-than-life acrobatic saves as he keeps the team within the top five of the league. The entire country is looking forward to the next four games leading to the end of Year 417, will we see Azurea finish outside the top 2? If so, there could be some gruesome and big announcements shaking the future of the team at the head, ownership and management have made it clear this season is an important one for the future of Tajo Mendez and also members of the team…what’s to happen to them if they fail?


If we’re keeping it nice, Azurea is only three points out of first place and nothing could really matter within a couple of matchdays, but in reality this is a horror show, in the first ten games of the season for Azurea the team is 5-3-2 and these losses have come at terrible times for the team. Matchday 5, a 1-nil loss to of all teams, Aquatarius S.C.; Jelanee Jidefor looked really out-of-shape in that game, clearly out of position and still reeling from the bad display against KF Quastyr of Qusmo which sent Azurea spiraling out of the UICA Champions Cup road. Last year’s 4-4-2 which Christopher Tajo Mendez used to win the title handily was replaced by Tajo Mendez by a strange-shaped 3-2-3-2, attempting to take things out of his book from his national team management. And the same problem runs rampant once more, just with different players; goals cannot be generated at a quick pace, over ten games; Azurea has only scored eleven goals; A.C. 317 Roses, a team two spots above them have mustered 18 goals and similarly have only allowed eight goals on the season, thus demonstrating a deeper problem lie with the team. The former Devontan national team manager had promised to improve an already-decent defense, instead, his defense is jolty and unstable at best and at worst concedes unneeded mistakes to the opposition and is clearly costing an offense which can’t generate precious time to build an attack. The defense has not been able to find a way to calmly lead the team, sloppy play in the final defensive third has doomed this team and cost it key victories and allowed for draws and losses to slowly begin to pile up for the championship-winning side. Speaking on the apparent disarray of Azurea, Vikings Weekly spoke on the problems plaguing the team, “the man [Tajo Mendez] has never had a losing season with the team, hell in his time, as manager for Azurea, Mendez has won the league title in each of his two seasons with the team. The team is clearly reeling, its set piece defensing is continually atrocious, Jelanee Jidefor against Quastyr and against league opposition has allowed sloppy goals to be scored and truly proved that the N$12m dollar transfer fee is questionable.” That’s not to spare the other parts of the defense, its true Jeremy Blackson’s defense has been atrocious and lead to the team conceding key penalties in 70+ minutes, backline disputes have plagued the team since the season begun.


If he goes where does the team turn to in finding someone to lead the club for the rest of the season? Is someone brought from within? I’m not sure management would want to find a team coach from within to resurrect and fix the team till the rest of the season, especially because Azurea still has plus N$20 million dollars to throw around after the season, it would be interesting if they threw around bringing in an available manager on the Transfer Window currently. But, at what cost? A complete rebuild of the team? Clearly the team has lost its way it seems and it wouldn’t be surprising if the club slowly begins stripping itself of assets, even looking back at the club it’s stunning that it was able to win three straight league titles with at best mediocre talent; the midfield has been a revolving door for the past three years and now it’s clear that Miguel Benedito, the latest midfielder; from Dreamplanet could potentially not be the solution the team is looking for. Benedito obviously needs more time to develop into his own and he looked…well, shaken in his first time playing in LigVezia, which currently sits miles above Liga Dreamplanet in terms of play. The team has already begun hearing songs on the pitch:

No, we say,
No we pray,
Christopher Tajo Mendez is not the way!

I’m not too sure how the team will react to that, especially in a tense locker room with differences in defensive approach on the backline. For Christopher Tajo Mendez, it’s not too late to stop being stubborn, anyone could see the backline pairing as left alone is clearly not working, there are many good and free quality transfers he could bring in to reinvent and hopefully meld and solve the issues that are continually plaguing the team.


How much worse can it get for Azurea? Oh it can definitely get much worse, if they possible lose to Avispa Orleans later down the road, it can and will be much more brutal and certainly will certainly get management to act out on its promises of “restructuring the football operations of the club” as it had hinted at after Velestria crashed out of the Champions Cup. Imagine even if the team somehow found a way to disappoint and fall apart against Angels of Rockdover in the Velish Premier; then certainly there’d be heavy cause for concern and we could see the management step up and rein in Mendez. Right now, there is cautious pessimistic, and there’s a good and fair reason for that, given how the team has underperformed on the early part of the season, sure right now for now there’s nothing wrong with the team but Christopher Tajo Mendez and everyone in that locker room; while they’re at the training ground improving and seeking to revise the team for each game, they need to be considering what lay on the consciousness if they fall apart and falter.


I’m not saying it’s time for the pitch forks, I’m for right now staunchly against making any actions against Tajo Mendez; he’s a good manager who’s shown on plenty of occasions he has what it takes to lead the club, but he’s certainly past his welcome, and winning two straight league titles has really set the bar high for both himself and his successor. However, one can be reminded Adam Jeffreys won the league title for Azurea three seasons ago before making the transition to Banija and he had six different and certainly lesser players on his roster. So, what am I saying? I’m saying anyone can win here.

Christopher Tajo Mendez, post match after MD10's 1-1 draw with Blue Strike Calix

[Free Republics]

OOC: background (See also the Olympic Closing Ceremony)

Sister Polus's Thoughts

Hello, I am Sister Maria Polus. I am the Housemistress of Tomlinson House at the Barjavel Academy at Republica, the Instructor in Religious Studies, Deportment and Latin at the Academy and the Headmistress of the Barjavel Junior Academy, Republica Branch. I am joining you today on VirtueTube and SanctusTube to discuss current events in the Free Republics and around the multiverse. Today, I am speaking to you from outside of the New Legislative Building where I will be leading a protest against Scarlett the Harlot's latest proposal to persecute Christians and destroy the sacred institution of holy matrimony! Yes, today is the day when the Federation Legislature will take up the so-called "Defense of Marriage" Amendment, which is a proposal to amend the Constitution to destroy a sacred institution by permitting men to marry men and women to marry women! What will the wicked leaders of this land think of next? Will we soon see men marrying dogs, women marrying cats and acceptance of those who purport to be a gender other than the one God assigned them? I shudder to think what kind of horrors we will be subjected to if Godly men and women do not take back this nation from those who revel in their own sin!

But that is not why I have decided to film this video today. Actually, I have a number of other pressing issues to discuss. Firstly, the Republica Police Department recently contacted me to inform me that they have decided not to follow up on any of my reports of disorderly and often plain indecent behavior by Olympic athletes and spectators. Even worse, the police had the gall to ask me to stop filing reports since I am, and I quote, "wasting police resources by reporting trivial offences and things that are not crimes". Since the Republica police have failed to do their job, I have recruited one of my former students, Audric Grenier, to run for Sheriff of Republica and I will be actively campaigning for Mr. Grenier who has already received the endorsements of the Salvation Circle, Christian Coalition and New Holy Party for the nonpartisan office. Speaking of those parties, I can report that all 3 of them plus several other Christian parties have tentatively agreed to contest next year's midterm elections with a unified list to ensure Christian representation in the Assembly and I am hopeful that we will soon have a Moral Majority in the Assembly that can stop the Whore of Baseton from further transforming this nation.

There is a remarkable energy right now in Republica as Christians from all over the Free Republics have gathered here to protest the Christophobic policies of the wicked government. However, it is unfortunate that many Christian parents still send their children to schools that do not teach Christian values. While I am affiliated with the True Church of Iesus Christus and I believe without a shred of doubt that it is the one and only True Church, I recognize that we need to be ecumenical and work with other churches that follow Iesus Christus if we are going to reverse the current course of our nation. So, I am working with several of my brightest former students to form a new organization which will educate Christian parents about what schools are teaching so they can make informed decisions about where to spend their education voucher funds. We are also working with denominations to open more Christian schools throughout our Federation that teach Biblical morality to the next generation.

Now, I will turn to recent international events. As you may have heard, the Republican National Baseball Team, led by that wicked feminist Honomi Kamei, lost to the West Phoenicians in the WBC quarterfinals in Cassadaigua. This result was clearly a manifestation of God's Will. The West Phoenician press, notably, criticized our wicked leaders and their disgrace of an Olympic opening ceremony. As they were the more Godly team, it is no surprise that they emerged victorious. There's also the matter of the Republican National Soccer Team, which will play its World Cup Qualifying opener tonight at Taeshan. The Republican World Cup Team has refrained from the wickedness that the previous generation of the team displayed and have been rewarded with a quick ascension to #9 in the multiverse. They will play 18 qualifying matches and should qualify for the World Cup without much difficulty as the next highest ranked teams in their group are Darmen and Taeshan, teams that have been mired in mediocrity for decades. There's a decided lack of excitement for World Cup Qualifying this year due to the lack of serious, top-flight, opposition in Group 6.

Finally, I wish to turn to the matter of the apple that was tossed at me during my last video. Unfortunately, it seems like I may never be able to determine the identity of the culprit but I have determined from security footage that 2 suspicious women were in the vicinity. I have been unable to identify them but I have elected to upload the security camera footage to my channel in the hopes that somebody may be able to identify these delinquents and bring them to justice. If anybody has any information regarding the identity, nationality or whereabouts of these two women, please leave a comment. I am Sister Maria Polus and I thank you for watching.

[The Macabees]

Metzha Pilán, Mahica; ca. 67 B.C.



[OOC: This picks up 13 years after the death of Etchenzotecuhtli, the father of Eztli, during a ritual game of piyilnat (an ancient ancestor to football): I,II, III, IV, V]

Zuma had packed him an ample lunch for the day. Huitzitl's mother always treated him as one of her own, since the day he had first arrived in the palace. In a way, he was her first. Perhaps not biologically, but the emperor was still childless when he first took Eztli as a hostage and a page. When was the last time he had seen Chantico? She was allowed free passage through any quarter of the palace in Metzha Pilán, yet she rarely visited the capital. In her heart, there was still rancor, a deep resentment for the death of her beloved husband, Etchenzotecuhtli. Without his mother, there was Zuma.

He trotted beside Huitzitl, the prince's brothers Tlacecatl and Iccaultzin, and their father, emperor Cenquetzal. They all carried lances with tips made of iron, a metal that the great Pilanec empire imported from far from the jungle and the seas beyond it. The emperor always said that none of his enemies could spend as lavishly on their armies as he did on Metzha Pilán's.

Behind them followed the Otonin Necacoatl and a retinue of forty jagurat warriors. They all wore their iconic spotted pelts and carried bronze-tipped spears.

Truth was, Eztli's mind was elsewhere. The emperor enjoyed a good hunt before the games, but all Eztli could think of was of the next day. Thirteen now, it had come time to earn his passage into manhood, which meant that he would have to prove himself on the piyilnat fields tomorrow. And despite all his training, preparation, and practice, he could not but feel nervous. Failure meant death or disgrace.

"Eztli, are you thinking of the games?" chirped Huitzitl, interrupting his thoughts. The prince was twelve and was not eligible to play in the games until the next year, when he would most certainly do so and most certainly win. For how could the emperor's son fail at becoming a man? Never before in the history of the city had such a dishonor fallen upon the imperial family. No, Huitzitl would succeed, a fact which put a lot of pressure on Eztli. "I have no doubt that you will perform splendidly. Huepan says you are the best fighter of your age."

Huepan was their instructor, and a man of great courage and skill. For him to have said that of Eztli was a great honor, but the son of Etchenzotecuhtli could not allow it to soften him. To fail the games would bring him dishonor as an imperial hostage, but it would be a disgrace to the name of his father. His father had become a legend as a hero of the people and savior of the village of Etchenzo. It was that memory that propelled Eztli the most.

"Yes," he replied, "I cannot take my mind off it."

Smiling, Huitzitl asked, "Are you afraid of looking a fool in front of Xiomara?" Tlacecatl and Iccaultzin behind them, seven and nine respectively, giggled.

Eztli blushed. "No," he snapped, "I am not even thinking of her. My mind is on piyilnat."

"Sure," said the prince.

Their father, the emperor, turned his head and brought a finger to his lips. "Quiet," he said, "we are approaching the home of our prey, and if what we seek hears you then it will be us who become the prey. And it will kill the children, who are the weakest, first. Perhaps even run off with you, before we can spear it. Is your pleasant conversation worth that end, son?" He looked at Huitzitl sharply, who looked down at the ground, and then shifted his gaze to the younger boys. They fell on Eztli last and seemed to linger there for a long moment. The emperor had always treated him more harshly than he did his own sons.

Silence prevailed as they turned off the narrow mud path that cut through the dense rainforest that surrounded Lake Tucapán. They crept through the dense forest foliage as the mekowas and tucanos squawked from their perches, the jagurat warriors splitting into four columns that quietly slipped through the brush. Necacoatl signaled his men to stay back and as he advanced to meet with the emperor. Eztli rushed to join them, Hitzitl close behind him. But Cenquetzal shook his head. "No," he said, "you are not yet men. Go back and take your brothers to the men, they will protect you."

"I don't need protection," answered Eztli.

The emperor laughed. "I am sure, Eztli, son of Etchenzotecuhtli. But you are not yet a man, not until after tomorrow. Now go."

Disappointed, Eztli turned around. Hitzitl only followed after his father gave him a stern look. Taking the younger princes, they all waited for the retinue, who surrounded them with all of their manpower. Eztli looked at the emperor and the otonin, impatient for the day that he too could join them in the vanguard. He would, as a man. And that only if he succeeded tomorrow.

A low growl emerged from the blackness of the forest. Here, the light penetrated the thick canopy only in spots and the vegetation was the sort which thrived on water. Beyond the illuminated pathways, they could see very little. In the jungle, the jagurat was king.

A hiss sounded. The emperor and otonin turned back-to-back, spears pointed forward and at the ready.

Around the boys, the warriors tightened their grips on their own bronze-tipped spears. Eztli and the princes held theirs made of iron, emulating the stances of the soldiers.

Then, another long growl, and suddenly a black shape darted between two trees and disappeared again. And then it reappeared above them, climbing the thick, twisting branch of a great manok that looked as tall as a short mountain. It hissed as it stared at them with its glowing yellow eyes. It was big, its muscular legs moving gracefully as it came closer to them. Then it roared.

A cluster of birds scattered in all directions.

It pounced, landing on the side of the emperor. Cenquetzal jabbed at it, but the big cat twisted its body and skillfully avoided the blow. It then clawed back, but Cenquetzal retreated back to his position behind the otonin. Necacoatl's head was turned as much as it could be as he tracked the jagurat, but when it withdrew into the dark jungle again he swiveled it forward again, eyes darting from side to side. It darted into view as it jumped from out behind a short, but lush palm tree, and swiped at the otonin's thigh. Its claws dug deep into his leg and pulled downward, until the cat withdrew again, narrowly missing Necacoatl's weak thrust towards its ribs. The otonin fell to the ground, his leg shredded and bloody.

"Necacoatl!" yelled the emperor, who turned to face the threat. But the cat was gone.

Cenquetzal did not look down yet. He was panting, constantly turning on one leg as if to guard the space all around him.

Another roar came from deep within the forest. And then the jagurat came out again, this time prancing along a branch even higher than the one before. It jumped into the group of soldiers, right in front of Eztli. Its eyes were black slits sailing within a sea of bright amber and its teeth were swords of bone. Before anybody could turn to face it, it pounced upon him upon landing as if almost in one fluid movement.

As fear gripped the young Eztli then, and he closed his eyes. He felt a sudden force come upon him, throwing him back on to the ground.

He lay there for a moment, then opened his eyes.

"Etzli, Etzli," repeated Huitzitl, who had been near him the whole time. The prince was crouched over him now, shaking him from the shoulders. "Are you okay?"

He pushed himself up and nodded, then looked at his feet. The jagurat looked at him with open eyes, but it lay lifelessly on the ground. An iron-tipped spear jutted from out the cat's side. Walking up to them, the emperor dug it out and threw it at the feet of Etzli.

"You are truly the son of Etchenzotecuhtli," said Cenquetzal. The emperor looked at him. "Tomorrow, should you not only succeed in the games tomorrow but lead your team to victory, then you will have the honor of leading the sacrifices to the gods with me during the final ceremonies."

Hitzitl gasped. "But father, what about me?"

The emperor turned to look at his son. "You will have that privilege by birthright if you too succeed in the games when it comes your time. Etzli's privilege, on the other hand, does not come from his blood. It comes from the honor that he has brought us, his father, and his mother by slaying the very cat that we shall eat tonight during the pre-games feast."

Etzli suppressed a smile. Hitzitl smoldered with jealousy.

They made their way back to the city in silence.

Edits:
8/11/2019: Updated the emperor's name to Cenquetzal, son of Cozamacoztli.

[Tinhampton]

OOC: Inspiration for Steve Andrews' claim that "you don't even need to call the cops..." can be found here: February 2018, British woman arrested on suspicion of public order offences despite no police report being filed.

---

A Miner's Breakfast - before Game 1, against BLANEU at home - on JUSTICE

So we've had about half a dozen breakfasts and about as many dodgy Proper Miner's binges since we last saw the Tinhamptonians gorge upon two Blox'o'Wheat. We might have had a new captain, a new trophy, seemingly membership of the New Multiversal Order and departure from the deuterocanon of international football, but---
"THIS IS WHAT WE'VE ALWAYS DONE, LADS!" Of course, if you're somebody like Julia Atherton, you would not be unjustified in assuming that what happened in the past is what has perpetually happened, but not this time. Team Breakfast was a fairly new ritual introduced when Clive decided to start arse-whooping the municipal contingent at the start of the past cycle, and it appears to have worked very well so far. Seven-thirty sharp every morning before the game for forty-five minutes, as you recall, and you get loads of wheat and fiber potentially shunted down your throats: and a fair bit of success to boot.
"But if you put something potentially yummy down your throat... your body can't be actually yummy, can't it?" pondered Williamson, ever the advocate for human decency and still as confused about all of this "philosophy" nonsense as always. Evans laid her fork upon his shoulder not long afterwards, as if she was trying to tell him something.
"No, we send everybody to the island camp back in my home," wryly complained noVenaxali, fully aware of the tortures that he had only just escaped from a while earlier. Vatunska, oblivious to the praise and prophecy he had granted the skipper just five months earlier - wait, was it really that long ago? - nodded on.
"No, we send those sad and deluded bastards to prison back in my home!" responded Whitbread. "Three weeks or so from now and I suppose we'll have an election of some sorts, I'll reassure you that Jacob and myself would positively never vote for anybody that plans to abolish minimum sentences!"
"...well, fuck."
"My lady colleague, as is the form she has somehow picked up upon," continued North, "is eating right now to avoid any criticism of her ideas, although I am open to the same." To which a slightly less hapless Valley wondered "Is there any point in ourselves sentencing people doing something naughty that nobody else seems to be affected by? Isn't that an oxymoron, is it? Can one commit a crime without a victim?"
"Every crime affects somebody," shot out North again, "whether it be the people who feel terrorised, the man who buys the infringing object despite his full knowledge of his illegal intentions, or indeed the seller who continuously lives in fear of losing all of his... can you say hard-earned cash these days?"
"And to think that you don't even need to call the cops to get somebody arrested these days!" spouted Andrews. "Even when you don't, I've lost count of how many people I've seen doing awful and horrible things like sleeping on the street or upsetting somebody and then they get caught bang to rights! My grandad would have called them wastes of police time! Who says that our government is conservative?"
She nodded her head. "And when many of their cases find themselves on the jury's collective lap," noted Elliott, "they often get thrown out for exactly that reason. If they're not, justice is served more often than it would have otherwise been. Now you tell me, should justice be an immediate prospect or something that should simmer? Should we be suspicious of the immediately smacking of hammers or can they be thumped away?"
Nothing. Absolutely nothing, if you wanted some scale about just how uneduated - even unrepresentative, if that - this national team was.
"...is justice not universal?" thought Evans. "I'm the only one in here who's spent any good amount of time overseas, I'm the only one that's won anything of note since the Cup of Harmony given that all of the rest of you have been striking, but not alone in having noticed that the same rules of football apply everywhere, surely not? We have international legislation we Tinhamptonians are subscribed to which prevents the worst of offences against the sapient being - even ritual sacrifice! Even beyond that, so many of the laws are identical with regards to protecting this one thing - was I right or was I wrong, then?"
"Yes, in terms of the law," rounded off George, "but not in terms of the past, the future or any given point in time or space. Sometime, I'll call this X may seem desirable or necessary or - dare I say it, even just? But then again, X is far from guaranteed, especially when you're in as universally torrid a situation as us lot are in. I think we can all agree that it's going to be our sixth time in a row without reaching the promised land."
"And it shouldn't be forgotten that we have a harsh road ahead of us," inferred Holmes: "we have seven people below us, the Nepharim and the un-unqualified Bakers above us, and then we have us. One of the lowlier and lesser-known lot to commence with today, however."
"I know we might have one flubbering heckie of a route to get into this month," struck back Richard, "but WHERE THE FRIZZLE is the other teamsheet? Are we going to be playing against a load of predictable amateurs in some blue strip that bear no resemblance at all to a proper international football team? No wonder you call 'em lesser-known, Johnny boy!"
The rest of the hall gasped in horror. It took a while to get their breath back.
"What now, then?" asked Coltfield. "What now? What now..."
"Please don't worry - yes, it'll be a seven o'clock kickoff this evening, you know what to do then and you know what to do now!" And with the Captain's Word, the other twenty-four members of the team (or thereabouts) saw fit to join in the mushy sacrifice with her.

Tinhampton vs Blaneu at Tin Park, Tinhampton, will be broadcast on the TBS on TV and radio at 7:00pm (Tinhampton time) tonight.

[Lisander]

The second force, but until when?
Bruno Barudi, to 4-3-3 Football

In an ever-widening market, Football suffers to remain popular.

Formerly, Lisander's sports had their own space, their geographic region of interest. In Soria and Azhaar, the Rugby for the boys and the Field Hockey for the girls. In the Southwest and West, Football. In the "shield", as it was formerly known the mid-north, basketball. And in the far north, where the winters are strict, ice hockey.

However, the advent of technology and professionalization in sports made all sports mingle. Now, Soria is a multi-sport center. There are teams of football, basketball, ice hockey, cricket, field hockey, volleyball, et cetera. All professionals, all competing for the attention of spectators, fans and customers.

Eventually, some are losing strength, and that's what seems to be happening with football. Although it has the largest structure, with a system composed of more than 120 teams in six divisions (which is considered a high number for the modest dimensions of the country), Football loses fans annually. The last time the National Institute of Research and Statistics considered football to be "the country's first sport|", six years ago, the team was riding high, had just won the Imperan League Cup and participated in Baptism of Fire 51.

However, a series of disputes and disagreements between the teams, the league and the federation, a three-way mess, caused the national team to stop competing outside the Imperan League. Timid returns are eventually tempted when the calendars align. Punctual animation disappears when bad results come.

In the last participation of Lisander in the eliminatory ones, in NSWC80, the team reached the classification playoff, being defeated by South Covello, the nation that was once called Gregoryisgodistan. That defeat thwarted the federation's plans to finally be able to increase its revenues.

"If Rugby got it... if basketball got it, why would not we?" seemed to be the idea of the Federation. But it backfired.

Firstly, "comparing yourself with someone who has less makes you have even less". The Federation fixed a team and ignored all the other players. Football is extremely larger in terms of teams, fanbase and international reach. While Rugby, Basketball and even the isolated Baseball embraced the world, the rule of isolation ended the possibilities of exchange in football. And the team got plastered. They lost even to the weak team of Ariannin, being outside of Knockout Round of the last Imperan League Cup.

Rugby has become the most popular, most profitable sport in the last three years. Basketball is following the same path, and if you have not gone beyond football yet it is still, in a way, a "localized" sport, with the Lerna team winning it all. But as I stated, teams from Soria are reaching. Is the era of sport everywhere.

If football does not win again quickly, then neither will the second force be more. Then we can say goodbye to investment, to international competitions, to UICA, to NSWC, to everything. If nothing change, football will die in isolation, and our current 134 will be a distant dream

The new beginning of the "new beginning" begins today, again, against Mercedini.

[Qusmo]

I got caught up with some financial stuff I had to take care of. I plan to finish up this preview before Matchday Two; ICly, every team in Group 11 was previewed. If I can keep to that timetable, my actual main RP arc should begin before Matchday Three - though, again, that’s if I can keep on schedule.

SPONY LUQ TELEVISION

Hello, all. Welcome to Spony Luq Television, broadcasting from Qanz, Qusmo. The qualifying draw for World Cup 82 has been conducted, & Qusmo will be playing Saltstead, Sajnur, Kavagrad, Mytanija, Cosumar, Vartugia, Velestria, Mattijana, & Alluersia for the right to be one of two nations to advance to Apox & Valanora for football’s greatest spectacle. The executives of national FAs drawn into Group 11, surely dreaming of lucrative World Cup money, must be rueing their luck to be drawn against such strong opposition. No one - not even the top seed - is safe in this group, & it will be very hard to emerge as a lower seed in this group. However, for supporters, it presents a thrilling opportunity to see eighteen matchdays’ worth of top-notch football in the Qualifiers, with genuine talent from top to bottom. With that, let’s get to our first question, from a viewer in Atlem.

Who are the big threats in our group?

In a word, everyone. Let’s start where Qusmo will - in The South Pacific. The World Cup Committee apparently did not give the World Cup 82 Qualifying match schedule to the authorities in Sajnur until after Fuzpon Qusma already arrived in Javoser. In fact, Sajnur only got it from a bootleg organization known as the NationStates Football Organization. This fiasco has the potential to seriously impact Sajnur’s preparation for World Cup 82 Qualifying, & some have called upon the World Cup Committee to launch an investigation into how a participant nation could not know who it would play next, nor when, so soon before qualifying began. One thing is for sure: it is a black mark on the tumultuous first days of what seems to be a chaotic presidency of Princess Candace of the Equestrian States thus far.

Sajnuran manager Eliseo Marinin quipped that if Qusmo was left out of the loop, too, it could explore the capital & sightsee. While Avarn-Oxolt Ban & the team have not previously been to the nation known for its openness around the subjects of sexuality & drug use, they have gotten the chance to see several other nations nearby. The South Pacific is not conventionally known as a sporting region, but it has produced its fair share of names over the years, & Qusmo has had a chance to visit the Pacifics many times, starting with its first-ever away match. That is still an historic win in the hearts of Qusmi’y, as a four-nil drubbing of the reigning Baptism of Fire champions was a statement of intent. That vision may not have been realized in that qualifying campaign, but perhaps as Qusmo’s first trip abroad of the qualifiers is to The South Pacific again, things will come full circle.

Largely forgotten is Qusmo’s match in the return leg, as the team suffered a one-nil loss at Mastad Qanza, but that is the only setback Qusmo has ever had against a team from the Pacifics. Qusmo visited The South Pacific again to play North Prarie in their first-ever Tour of the Multiverse, where they won three-two, & no Pacific opponent has scored against Qusmo since, with a one-nil friendly win in North Prarie, a four-nil win away & three-nil win at Mastad Kolla against Axuva of The North Pacific in World Cup 81 Qualifying, & a pair of one-nil wins over The West Pacific’s Squornshelan Remnant States, with one in the Cup of Harmony 73 quarterfinals & the other in Qusmo’s latest Tour of the Multiverse, coming since. In eight matches against Pacific opposition, Qusmo has seven wins - & it will be hoping that it can keep both the five-match clean sheet streak & the six-match winning streak against Pacific opposition going against Sajnur.

Qusmo certainly cannot sleep on Sajnur. It will need to ensure that it is ready to go from the outset, as the team from The South Pacific has proven that it is capable of playing well. Sajnur was unable to make it through the group stages of Baptism of Fire 69, but it did show quite a bit of attacking talent. Qusmo’s defense will need to be on alert throughout the match to ensure that they are not broken down by centre midfielder Jessica Siafik. Particularly of note is striker Andre Naulo, who scored six goals in Sajnur’s six group stage matches; they will look to add even more to their tallies in front of a crowd that, if it reaches the National Stadium’s capacity, could swell to 102 000. It will be an early test of the Qusma defense, but it will be a test for the offense, as well. Sajnur has quite a poor defense, & they are often vulnerable. Often, all Sajnur can do is look on & hope that goalkeeper Piotr Laghiev can bail them out of tough situations. Qusmo should be able to generate chances - if it doesn’t, the alarm bells will sound - but finishing those chances against Laghiev will be key. Still, we think that, although it will be tough, Qusmo can win against Sajnur.

After playing their first match of World Cup 82 Qualifiers, Qusmo will host its first of nine qualifiers to be played in Qusmo. On Matchday Two, they will welcome Kavagrad to Mastad Qusma. The players from Kavagrad might be thankful for the chance to get away, as there is a serious political crisis occurring in their homeland at the homeland, which began only a few weeks ago & figures to end no time soon. The Kavagrad Socialist People's Front, the dominant party in the country since its first democratic election, became deeply divided after President Michael Alexander lost a vote of no confidence in response to the New Property Act, which would have represented a major change to the country’s property ownership system. It has culminated in a dramatic vote of no confidence that yielded dozens of KSPF defectors defeat their own party leader.

The three-term president will now need to navigate two votes in order to extend his stay atop Kavagrader politics. The vote of no confidence triggered a new snap election, which has the potential to shift the balance of political power in Kavagrad. Alexander’s party may be able to retain its decades-long majority, as it was polling at an excellent seventy percent before the new bill was introduced - above even the numbers the party had in the current parliament - but inadequate polling has been conducted since both the introduction of the new bill & especially the vote of no confidence to project what influence these events will have on public opinion.

More immediately pressing for Alexander, however, is the internal party election. If dozens of members of parliament voted against Alexander, it seems to be a sign that the party has left him - & it would seem unlikely that the resounding way in which Alexander lost the vote would engender loyalty among the party, especially considering that it was his own party base that he was angering with the New Property Act. Technically, there is a path for Alexander to win the party election & then the general election, but it is slim; in the meanwhile, all of Kavagrad is swaying in the winds of political change.

The team from Kavagrad will have that at the back of their minds when they play, & the Qusma team will have to deal with it on Matchday Eleven as they visit the nation itself. However, the political situation threatens to make some forget that Kavagrad is a quality football team. Kavagrad has proven that it is capable of a top-half finish in a World Cup Qualifying campaign; just look at last cycle, when they took fifth, even keeping two clean sheets against higher-ranked Omerica along the way. Their thirty-one points were just four shy of Qusmo’s mark in the same cycle. However, that is far from the nation’s high-water mark; Kavagrad managed to win its Independents Cup 6 group, featuring the likes of Omerica (again) & the bronze medalists of World Cup 81, the Free Republics, before being eliminated on penalties in the semifinal in a rematch against Omerica.

Qusmo certainly has history with Omerica, too, & Qusma fans can also empathize with being knocked out of a tournament in its semifinals by a team they had beaten in the group stage. It just goes to show how talented this team is - & Qusmo cannot lull themselves into thinking it will be an easy win to start off its stretch of home qualifiers. This pair of fixtures, too, is winnable but tough; Qusmo will need to be solid in the back against a good offensive team, & they need to create chances & capitalize them on a team that has a lacklustre defense.

After Kavagrad, Qusmo faces a pair of more well-known opponents, beginning with Mytanija. It seems as though every time Fuzpon Qusma schedules Mytanija for a friendly, they get them in the draw of the next competition. They decided to play Mytanija, as its first intraregional friendly opponent, to prepare for Copa Rushmori XXXI in the country - & were then drawn to play against Mytanija. Fuzpon Qusma tempted fate again by inviting them to Mastad Vlyva for their final Tour of the Multiverse friendly to prepare for this set of World Cup Qualifiers, & now Qusmo will get to face the Mytanars twice in Group 11 play. As Ceni has left the footballing scene, Fuzpon Qusma has been in the search for an intraregional rival, & they seem to have been trying to make Mytanija just that rival - & now the draw will surely help them. By the end of this set of World Cup Qualifiers, Qusmo & Mytanija will have played each other three times in competitive settings, tied for the most between Qusmo & any other opponent, & will have played five matches total, making Mytanija Qusmo’s most common opponent, despite not having played at all in Qusmo’s first seventy matches.

If recent history is anything to go by - & there will be quite a bit of it by the time these qualifiers are over - it will be a thrilling set of matches. Qusmo defeated Mytanija in their first match, a friendly in Ariska, at Novi Zavej Park by a score of one-nil. Then, in the two teams’ only competitive fixture to date, Qusmo drew the hosts nil-nil in Thessia, at Novi Atletskistadion, in the group stage of Copa Rushmori XXXI. That allowed Qusmo to win the low-scoring Group A, which featured just three goals over the course of its six matches in total: two from Qusmo & one from Mytanija. In the latest match between the Rushmoris, however, Mytanija had the last laugh, with a one-nil win at Mastad Vlyva that featured a few changes for Mytanija but Qusmo’s first-choice XI.

Thus far, Qusmo & Mytanija have played three times; each has won one match, each has also lost one match, & each has drawn one match. Each has scored precisely one goal, & each has also conceded precisely one goal. Their only competitive fixture thus far has been a draw. These matches will be hard-fought, & both the goals & the points will likely be hard to come by - but bitterly fought over - by both sides. Qusmo will play on Matchday Three at Novi Atletskistadion, the same stadium in which Mytanija earned its best result against Qusmo on home soil. Fuzpon Qusma, meanwhile, has dedicated Mastad Qusma, its largest & most storied stadium, to the fixture on Matchday Twelve.

The key in this matchup may not be who has the best home advantage, but who has the best manager. Avarn-Oxolt Ban has done a wonderful job to get Qusmo to the point that they are at now, but Lev Repin might be their match. The two matches in which Qusmo have earned a result have both been against Robin Hijk, but after Hijk moved to Eura to manage Bastion, Repin took over - & won the only match they have played against Qusmo thus far. Repin has a very good defense on their hands & a genuine star striker who is still getting better in Jezdimir Ocokoljic; if what Repin could do with an understaffed team in Qusmo was any indication, we think that Mytanija can heat up this rivalry by taking all three points from Qusmo - perhaps even twice - with lock solid defending & a few moments of brilliance in their final third.

Mytanija will be a tough opponent, but Qusmo will get to enjoy no letup after their Rushmori derbies, with the most foreboding team in the group on paper to follow directly thereafter. Cosumar is the fifteenth-ranked team in the Multiverse, & they have a long footballing history, in its thirty-second cycle & counting. They have trophies in their cabinet - from Cup of Harmony 64 & AOCAF Cup LIV - & they have been a regular World Cup qualifier, even advancing to the quarterfinals of four straight World Cups among seven consecutive World Cup knockout round appearances; the streak was snapped just last cycle, however, & Cosumarite football is not satisfied with its place now.

Qusmo has never qualified for the World Cup; for Cosumar, however, not only do the Azure Dragons expect to each cycle, but not even that is enough. Cosumar expects to win this group, qualify to the World Cup, advance out of its finals group, win a knockout stage match, & lose in the quarterfinals. Anything less is just not up to the high standards of the Vanquishers; anything more is unprecedented in the history of the team that just can’t quite get to the World Cup semifinals.

Cosumar will have their eyes cast well beyond their qualifying matches, against Qusmo or any other opponent; however, that doesn’t mean they’ll overlook Qusmo or have an easy weakness to exploit. Cosumar’s senior national team has never faced Qusmo’s before, but the two nations’ U21 teams met in the group stage of Di Bradini Cup 43, & Cosumar dispatched Qusmo fairly easily by a two-nil margin after having full control over the match. Players like Yamaj-Blonz Jok, Kynda-Sevet Pec, & Helek-Nenzi Ono started that match for Qusmo, while players like Eero Solari, Edith Tidesson, & Kai-Kai Mokumdarian started for the Junior Dragons. Qusmo proved simply unable to compete with the ability, experience, & class of that Cosumarite side.

Despite the fact that the senior national teams will be playing & the fact that Qusmo has clearly gotten better since then, the Vanquishers will be motivated to vanquish every opponent on their schedule, trying to prove that it is better & more capable than how it performed in World Cup 81 - & that it is far better & more capable than its opponents in World Cup 82 Qualifying. We think that they simply have too much class, & Qusmo will be on the losing end of two tough matches as a result.

[Eura]

Not long ago Moira Woakes was a complete nobody outside of her home town of Carsby. A few years of hard times for the city and harder work to get through them had taken the team, and her, to new heights. On the last day of Season 38 she capped off the end to another remarkable season the only way she knew how. Weaving between two defenders against a leaky Workers Union defence she had found the right space and timing to slip a placed effort into the corner beyond the reach of Magnus Orchard. Who needed Tom Whittaker in the team anyway? He'd buggered off to Nephara and it had turned out Carsby didn't miss him too badly after all. Woakes, Marsh and Hagen had made up the goalscoring difference all season and they were the goalscorers today as well. 3-0! Until Ermin Drzic stuck one in up the other end at least - but 3-1 was still a good scoreline to finish with. Moira didn't so much trudge off at the end, she glided, riding on a wave of adoration from the home fans. Dughill Park sang her name and she sang right back at them. But as she left the pitch something caught her eye. The club owner had some officials with him, pointing her way and applauding as they discussed the young midfielder beyond the reach of her own ears. It couldn't be. Could it?

It wasn't. She'd been hoping the Euran national team had finally made the call, to do what they knew was inevitable with time. Women can play in the league now, and you've been a cut above most, hell you've been a cut above most of the men too, so you're on the plane! She'd imagined the conversation in her head a few times already. Considered the titles that would be bestowed upon her by the media. "Trailblazer" had a particular ring to it. However it was not the national team scoping her out. It was scouts from Crisisbless in Nephara. When she found out she was initially disappointed. Carsby was her life and she intended to stay; what she really wanted in her heart of hearts was the holy grail of an international call up. Sleep on it said her agent and her family. And she did, and when she did, her heart began to weaken ever so slightly. Come morning she was on the phone to the agent. How much are we talking? The first offer was a pisstake, barely what she earned now. No, they would have to do better. Then they came back with a better offer. Much, much better.

The management and squad were starting to worry. Connor Marsh and Glen Merson had been on the phone. You're the star here, you know that right? We can build the side around you. A pay rise was discussed but as the hours passed Moira realised her wavering wasn't just about the money. It was that damned call up. Euran women had been playing in the Gold League for a few seasons now alongside the likes of Strongbow and Rowland. Yet not one of them had got that breakthrough first cap. Was there something about the Euran system that was holding them back from taking the next logical step? She was better than some of the guys in the red and gold for sure. Harrison Burns, a better player than me? Are you fucking mad? All she could think of was what she needed to do to make the selectors realise that. A move abroad seemed like the perfect choice. Although her teammates didn't realise it the move was now inevitable. Eventually she accepted an offer, as did the club, and a contract was signed. She was on her way to Crisisbless.

It was a step up for Moira for sure but she was ready to go, ready to prove herself further to earn what she believed was her right, not some kind of special privilege. There had been no charity playing in a small team in the top heavy Gold League and there wouldn't be any in the physical, grueling heights of the Nepharim Premier League. Yet before she had even kicked a ball in her new colours, there came a phone call. It was them.
Daniel has been watching you closely throughout the last couple of seasons. The EFA have sanctioned it. The media are in place. Burns is out, you're in. She listened patiently and didn't give away an ounce of the excitement bursting inside. Her first season abroad hadn't even started yet! Of course. I'm honoured. When do I start?
When do you start? Potentially sooner than she thought. It was there in writing, under "Subs" on the first Euran team sheet of qualifying: "20. M WOAKES". An excited phone call with her dad and sister allowed Moira to get the emotion out of her system. If not today, she would be Eura's first female international before long.

[Apox]

Here Be Dragons

"Ohh World Cup, just the sight of you is getting me excited."

MD1 Cutoff for Groups 8-15

[Velestria]

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READING-UPON-WYCHESTER — The top team in LigVezia’s Series A since matchday 5 has changed precisely three times flipping between the co-chairs of Olympic Reading, Blue Strike Calix and the occasional awakening from Azurea before lasts season’s champions slumped back down to fourth place off terrible defensive play as highlighted in the last article. But Olympic Reading — both a genius name and a good team have established themselves at Matchday 10 as the team to beat and look to begin to put themselves in prime position for the Velish League Cup which selects the top 4 teams as entrants from Series A into the League Cup. Reading holds a point, meaning a draw for you non-football heathens, in hand over Blue Strike Calix who’s corporate money from Mercedinian energy drink giants, Blue Strike has kept them in contention for the top spot over the season. Olympic Reading on the other hand look to take advantage of their single point lead and widen the gap on the table in the next four games when in order they take on A.C. 317 Roses who under Filipe Vaz’s goalkeeping have managed to stay alive in the league fueled by a high-scoring counterattacking offense, Aquatarius S.C. who they should easily be able to walk over and earn a win against, Avispa Orleans who remains fighting to finish above the relegation zone however is struggling, Azurea who they’ll have a tough time against, especially with Lothar Zander returning from injury for the Vikings and finally they’ll head into halfway part of the season against Battlebrook United, with who I don’t see them having an easy time defeating in any stretch. However, this team has made a statement thus far, only losing a game on the season as they look to improve and hopefully stunningly win the league in a year Vegai F.C. was expected to come alive.


Blue Strike Calix currently looks like the only team who can’t really challenge Olympic Reading through the first half of the season, both sides have been sitting pretty trading the leader through winds and draws of the first ten match days of the season, leading to pundits calling this season a “clear two-team league with room for a challenge for Azurea late”, a major thing of note seems to be that neither side looks to really want to take the bull by the horns and maneuver themselves into a good spot on the league table, and we’ve seen it from the beginning as they seem to let points slip from their hands in the late parts of the match. Que Olympic Reading who found a way to draw with atrocious Pyracantha nil-nil in matchday 8, sure perhaps it might’ve been playing in a hostile environment at Banc of Knollcrown Field, but remember this was at the point in the season where Pyracantha had yet to pick up a single win in the season. Things have been atrocious with Pyracantha and that’s a story for another day with the situation that’s going on there, things are just not going to well for the team and Maggie Livia isn’t very happy with the terrible situation with the team. Meanwhile Blue Strike Calix, bankrolled by the Mercedinian billionaires from…well Mercedini are also on a tear through the league but have slowed as of late, a 1-1 draw with Azurea in which they scored late in the 84th minute off the foot of a goal from Andrei Keyes, allowing them to salvage a point during the game in which many had expected Azurea to win. If Blue Strike continues these come from behind wains, that’ll only allow Olympic Reading to continually widen and open up their lead on the league table, it really looks as if most teams simple don’t have enough power to match and muster to keep up with Olympic Reading in its mad dash for the league title. Of course there are other teams making early statements as they quietly look to jockey for position, from A.C. 317 Roses and their quiet moves up the pyramid, granted it hasn’t been anything special but it has been seen from the big team quietly putting things in place in a run for the top, Azurea is... I don’t know what they’re doing but at some level they do in fact exist and want to compete I assume. Then there’s a rebuilding team in Rovers who’s only looked hot in the Old Firm battle they’ve had with Vegai, but also Battlebrook is looming around but they don’t look especially frightening to the top teams in the league, at all.


The big teams throughout he league need to start looking to jockey for position, especially teams further down the pyramid like say Rovers F.C. who’s identity struggles might start being solved, they brought in Tatius from Mercedini’s Elspachia over the offseason and have found a manager in Felipa Medina who while not having an immediate impact on the team has certainly begun implementing Medina’s wishes on the team however it’s clear that everything is still a work in progress for the former giants of Velish football, you could probably see a challenge from them next season when the time is right and Medina’s been allowed to go out and acquire big pieces for the team. Olympic Reading meanwhile have all the tools for a big for UICA this offseason, and also are in prime position to challenge for the Velish League Cup’s top spot against presumably the weakest team if they can hold on and make it all the way to matchday 15 in prime position. And Charles Courtney? He’s definitely the lead choice for Manager of the Season if he pulls this off, and he’ll be a hot commodity this offseason, definitely will receive some offers from clubs around the league; who knows, foreign clubs might come calling if he leads Olympic Reading to a title. Every single one of the teams we’ve mention thus far has an incredible chance of making it to the top four by matchday 15 for the Velish League Cup.

If the Velish League Cup started today:
1. Olympic Reading
2. Blue Strike Calix
3. A.C. 317 Roses
4. Doverhampton Wanderers

Oh, its going to be a race and a bloodshed fight for that final fourth spot in LigVezia, the fourth spot is pivotal because it’s the final qualifier spot in LigVezia’s series A to get into the Velish League Cup. Doverhampton Wanderers have a long stretch of five games remaining for them and I don’t think, despite the help they’ve received in the post-Diamond Gregory-era from Jasper Kirkland, they’ll be able to push on and avoid the inevitable drop.


Of course, there’s other teams who also have a chance of competing through matchday 15, teams ranked fifth through tenth *ahem, Vegai F.C.?* are separated by only five points throughout the league table, and it makes for a juicy fight to get back up to the top of the league table. Peachtree F.C. and Aquatarius S.C., both sides are somehow still continually challenging for the top of the league table, working hard to stay up within the upper mid table and perhaps somehow sneak into the top four on the table. But in real, honest honesty, only two teams have the best chance of catching the top four, that’s Azurea and Battlebrook United who collectively are only two points behind Doverhampton Wanderers for the fourth place slot, that means that these next five games are very important and perhaps must wins; especially for Battlebrook United if they want to compete for a trophy this season. Meanwhile, the other side of the two-team battle with Azurea sees them perhaps not too concerned with catching Doverhampton Wanderers but getting in position to battle for a top 4 spot later in this season in time for UICA competition.


Looking back on the season, we’re getting ready for the better part of the first half of the season, its going to be very big and tough part of the season for most teams throughout the season. There’s a lot of big outliers for most teams and a lot of teams need to worry more about preparing for next season, for some teams, the season is already over — i.e. BirninZula F.C. who’s looked disastrous all season and simply not…well, not in position to do much. The rest of the season is going o set a trend for what goes on in the offseason and right now it looks as if Olympic Reading is playing UICA this offseason.

Krisstoff Mark and Every Barks defend against BirninZula F.C.'s Aiden Garret.

[Balqia]

A tall blond woman stands in front of the microphones and as the National anthem stops playing she starts to speak.
-Welcome everyone, it’s a honor to announce the beginning of the XVI Press conference of Sports and Culture. Today with us are Mr. Alexander Iako, the Minister of Sports.
An old man stands up, he is wearing a black suit with a gold tie, a badge showing a eagle stands in the left side of his chest. He looks around and smiles as several photos are taken. His green eyes show that he didn’t sleep for hours or even days, his bulky eyebrows make him appear always angry, he have no hair.
-Let’s start with the questions.- All reporters sit down and wait. The order of questions are always drawn before the conferences to avoid confusion. -Mr. Poltok from the Sports News of Orsaw.
The man stands up, he is wearing a brown suit with a hat.
-Mr. Iako, we all know why this meeting was made, so, could you please give us some information about the World Cup?
The minister starts to speak, he speaks a bit louder than necessary, but not enough to make someone call his attention about it.
-Well Mr… Pol...tok?! The World Cup is an international event as you should know, a football event, or is it called soccer? Don’t matter. As you can see we have done an excellent job in the...er…- The blond woman on his side whispers in his ear -Baptism of Fire, that’s right, we did an excellent job in the Baptism of Fire. We even reached the finals and we should have won if it wasn’t for those fu…- The woman pokes him -For the magnificent team of...Xanneria? That’s right, Xanneria. So we are confident in our abilities to go very far in this one.
The woman stands up and calls the next one, it’s a young girl, in her twenties, Annabelle from the Orsaw University Newspaper.
-Mr Iako, some changes where made in the team. Please talk a bit more about them.
-Well, as you can see we have added some players. They were invited to play in the Baptism, but the budget was very… limited, and we couldn’t afford these extra players. However, with the success in the event the government increased our budget, and we did not just hired some players, we have also substituted the old Assistant Coach as we discovered he was involved with… subversive activities and groups. The new one promises to be more competent and proved to be completely clean of anti-Balqian sentiments.
The next reporter is a good looking man in a military formal uniform. -Darius Antoninoviq, from the Military Newspaper.- announces the woman while the man gets up.
-It’s a honor Mr Iako. I wish to ask you about the relationship between the armed forces and the National Team.- He salutes the Minister and sit in his place with pen and paper in hands.
-Well Mr Antoninoviq, our team is composed mostly of military man. See, we impose harsh discipline to our State Teams, this includes everything from alimentation to hairstyle, so it’s natural that people from the armed forces will have some… familiarity with the routine. However some of our players are from a civil background, such as Petre Q. Tiriq whom was a player from the towns team. We believe that discipline is a core aspect of life, and enforce it to every aspect of Sport as we can. As said a philosopher from… well I don’t remember from where he is from, but a philosopher said once that “Excellence is a habit”. And only with harsh discipline and toil we can achieve excellence.
-The last question is from Mr Andreas Karanako, from Channel one.- As she stops to speak a man in a black suit stands up, he speaks with a smile.
-Mr Iako, as you can say our team will encounter some old rivals from the BoF and some new ones. Do you think we stand a chance to win? Specialty against some more experienced teams?
The Minister drink some water and speaks with a softer voice.
-I believe we have everything to go even beyond expectations, like we have done in the Baptism of Fire. I said it before and will say again, we did and excellent job in the Baptism of Fire and will do one as excellent this time again. About the opponents, well, as you can see we surpassed rivals before in games that seemed impossible. I am sure we will match teams that play football since they were newborns, and I assure you we will give them a hard time.-He drinks a cup of water - We learned a lot from our last games, a lot…
-That’s all for today. Thanks for the questions. Now we will be heading to the exclusive interview with the team from Sports Report. We will be distributing some flyers with information that might be useful to you. You will receive an email with the obligatory content to be put in your media, it will take twelve hours at max. Again, thanks for your presence.
As she ends the Conference the Minister leaves the room with her and some bodyguards. The reporters star to get up soon after that, some of them chat a little and others try to interview what they judge to be government officials.

[Drawkland]

DISC ANNOUNCES QUALIFYING TOUR
Written By: Fox Lewis and Duchess Lewis

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World Cup Qualifying is back.

Usually I'd be full of happiness and excitement, but we all know what happened last time. An amazing, triumphant cycle, our best-ever performance as a team in qualifiers, all to come crashing down on a last-matchday mishap ... which turned into a playoff game 1 mishap ... which turned into a playoff game 2 mishap ... which turned into us losing out on the World Cup for the first time since our inception.

This year though, things will be different! And most importantly, a big change is happening to the hosting of our home games in this qualifying cycle. Previously all our home matches were held at Drawk City Stadium (which to be fair, is our biggest soccer-specific venue). Due to massive nationwide requests, however, DISC (Drawkian International Sporting Council) elected to have all 9 qualifying matches played at 9 stadia nationwide.

QUALIFYING HOME SCHEDULE
We have 9 home games, as it's an 18-game home-and-away schedule. Stadiums were assigned based on interest, importance of opponent, stage in the qualifying campaign, among other factors. The idea was to have the most important matches back in the Metro District where most NT fans are used to going to games, while still allowing some of the fun to be dolloped around the continent.

Here is the schedule. The format, if it isn't apparent, is the Matchday, Opponent, Stadium Name (Capacity), City, District and (Tenant).

MD2 vs Oberour Ar Moro: "Home of Kickerball" Gelia Field (111,000), Gelia, Restemin (Gelia Nets)
MD5 vs Lochario: Castle Stadium (149,500), Raikennax, Rupon (Raikennax Charge)
MD7 vs TigerSharkistan: The Root Field (133,300), Elstrund, Maderas (Elstrund Roots)
MD9 vs San Rocca: Archifel Capital Stadium (61,200), Archifel Capital, Archifel (no tenant)
MD10 vs Darkmania: Kanyo Pitch (164,000), Kayo, Nainel (Kayo Queens)
MD12 vs Eura: National Pitch (149,000), Metropolon, Metro (Metropolon Lights)
MD13 vs Kevagaria: Pitch of the Plains (101,000), Bellator, Emesamie (Bellator Rangers)
MD15 vs Rakivland: Oreme Field (115,000), Kilnelm, Seekid (Kilnelm Crusaders)
MD17 vs Audioslavia: Drawk City Stadium (175,000), Drawk City, Metro (Drawk City Troopers)

QUICK PREVIEW
So, with the new cycle all but beginning, let's take a quick look at our chances in this cycle. As everyone knows, it's anyone's game in the qualifiers, so it's impossible to tell who can survive to qualify. Back in our first cycle even, we managed to grab qualification from the maws of doom from Pot 7 on the final matchday. Lady luck, until very very recently, has been on our side in the qualifiers.

With our bad cycle last time, we've dropped quite a bit in the rankings, from knocking on the Top 20 door to being unceremoniously dumped into the mid-30s. Missing qualification and a Cup of Harmony for administrative reasons does that to you. As a Pot 3 team, we have a little work to do to make sure we get back on the right track, but it's not as bad as it could be. We were one away from being Pot 2, so we have the best shot of any Pot 3 nation. In an even better stroke of luck, the Pot 2 team we drew was none other than 29th-ranked Audioslavia, a rebuilding squad from missing World Cup 79 (was it something we said?). Our biggest challenge will be our Pot 1 team, #4 ranked Eura, but ultimately qualification will probably come down to who between us and the Audioslavs performs better. Beating or tying Eura is just an immense bonus that would help us on our journey.

Our first match is against the Pot 4 team of Darkmania, a nation who's been trying to make a real name for themselves on the international scene in multiple sports over the past few cycles. This is an away match, and it could reasonably be an upset. However, Drawkland is likely to pull out the victory on the road. Our next challenge is our home opener versus Oberour Ar Moro, a newcomer this cycle. In the friendly confines of Gelia Field, this should be a statement win for still-fresh manager Carol Haywood to get us some momentum going forward. We'll certainly need it too, as our next fixture is on the road in Eura. In Bastion Arena, a stadium comparable to Drawkian in size, it should be difficult to try and beat them, especially if you remember the last time we played Eura (6-2 loss in neutral ground).

By now we should reasonably be 2-0-1. Our next 4 matches against Kevagaria, Lochario, Rakivland, and TigerSharkistan, should all be relatively easy victories, regardless of how some are home and some are away. After this we have perhaps the most important match of the campaign, the away tie versus Audioslavia. A victory or even a tie here could set us up for a qualification, provided we hold serve against lesser opponents and successfully defeat Audioslavia at home later.

By now, a hopeful but realistic estimate has our record at 6-1-1. Our next 3 matches, San Rocca, Darkmania, and Oberour Ar Moro again, will be another 3 victories as all goes well (although you shouldn't count chickens before they hatch). Finally, we'll get our home match against Eura, held in Metropolon. Despite being the biggest match, it's in the middle of the cycle and not crucial for our qualification in all likelihood, so it's being held at National Pitch rather than the behemoth Drawk City Stadium. Once again we'll have the 4-match stretch of middling nations, which are all easy yet very necessary victories.

MD17, Audioslavia will roll in Drawk City Stadium in front of most likely 175,000 fans and have to take us on in what should be a make-or-break match for qualification. With only one matchday to go after this, the result could very easily make the difference in who goes on to the World Cup and who has to stay frosty at the Cup of Harmony. Our final game, an away tie against San Rocca, will hopefully either be a victory lap rout or an easy win to preserve our lead or assist the prayer for a last-day miracle.

Our predictions have us with a 15-2-1 record, assuming a draw-loss against Eura and a win-draw against Audioslavia. The matches against these two stalwarts will absolutely be the differencemakers this cycle, and all we can do now is wait and watch. Do you thing, ladies. On Corps!

[Cosumar]

Here Be Dragons

It is time. Time for the people of the NSverse to gather once again at the most beautiful of places: a freshly-cut football pitch.
"Mother Moon, cast your spell on these fields."

MD1 Cutoff for Groups 1-7

Results

[Sargossa]

SSM | Sargossan State Media
International Edition - Sport – Football - SuperLiga


The Dunas Run Goes On


Maya Escalona reports;

Had you consulted tea leaves, dealt out a few tarot cards or had a delve around in the entrails of a sacred goose it would have been of little surprise that going into the round three encounter between Dunas Del Sol and Alianza Jucaro, one team would have six points in the bag, while the other would be yet to register. Had you seen Dunas being the former and Alianza the latter you’d rightly be querying the sacred credentials of that goose.

It’s early days but you can probably forgive the Dunas faithful for feeling good about life. Undoubtedly they went into this campaign with modest ambitions, simply avoiding last season’s brush with relegation would probably suffice. But Óscar Cicerón’s side are sitting pretty after following up their impressive opening day win over Dínamo Maturín with a convincing display at newly promoted Jaguarés.

The last time Dunas won three in a row Rodrigo Defederico was at the helm and the side were playing with an attacking élan that took them all the way to the Copa Sargossa final. Cicerón’s side may be some way from that vintage but the early signs are undeniably promising. Particularly given that Óscar Cicerón’s was patently not first choice for the role when Patricio Reyes stepped aside at the conclusion of the previous campaign. Alberto Moya was sounded out about the role, before Alianza swept in for the Mercadel S.C. tactician, and the board made a concerted effort to lure Defederico’s assistant Raúl Churín from his national team post. Another knock back saw the promotion of youth team boss Cicerón. Promotion from within may actually have provided some much-needed stability. That, coupled with an impressive transfer window, have laid the foundations of the boys from the resort city’s strong start.

The capture of highly regarded Mercadel forward Nicolás de la Cavallería was a real coup, given the list of clubs that were reportedly chasing him, but more impressive still was the move that never happened. The hierarchy at the Estadio Del Sol had all but resigned themselves to losing keeper Robert Penedo but a move for the Sargossan international never materialised.

Both players played key roles as the Dunas run continued at the expense of floundering Alianza. Although it was not without its bumps in the road. Penedo’s first action was to pick the ball out of the net as Tomas Murillo gave the visitors an early lead. But he followed that up with a string of fine saves against an Alianza side desperate to get some points on the board. At the other end Dunas were clinical, José Sarmiento powering in a headed equaliser before de la Cavallería bagged his third in three games to keep the run going.

While Óscar Cicerón took the plaudits from the home faithful his opposite number Alberto Moya cut a sullen figure on the touchline. This really hasn’t been the start he would have envisioned and working for the trigger-happy Bonilla family always adds a degree of danger. The international break will provide some much-needed time on the training ground, and perhaps a little soul searching, before Alianza attempt to kick start their campaign at home to Rubio Bayamo.


Elsewhere…

• Champions El Nacional stay ahead of Dunas Del Sol on goal difference after swatting Jaguarés aside at the Estadio José Romero. The 3 – 0 win was just as one-sided as was expected and displayed some more of Diego Flores’ side’s ominous form. For their part, Jaguarés looked well off the pace and will need to sort themselves out or a speedy return to the Segunda Liga will be on the cards. Although the lack of a trip to the grim jungle city of Durgos would upset very few.

• Juan José Barreto promised that he needed a proper pre-season at Ciudad Soluca to stamp his template upon the side following his late season appointment last campaign. And his grandad, former Ciudad great Félix Barreto, would have been proud after a gutsy victory in San Marquez. Sporting San Marquez coach Alejandro Echeverría, himself a former Ciudad favourite, will still be encouraged by a performance that could have so easily gone the other way.

• The appointment of former striker Franco Fontava to the Mercadel S.C. hotseat was something of a gamble, given it’s the tactician’s first outing in the top tier. But he arrived with a reputation as a canny dealer in the transfer market and someone unafraid to give youth a chance. He was a new broom to sweep the Estadio Municipal clean. Although the Mercadel bosses perhaps didn’t expect him to sweep quite so enthusiastically. Key players left, with de la Cavallería heading for Dunas, defender Juan Andrés Ureña and midfielder César Tenorio joining former coach Alberto Moya in Jucaro and midfielder Pedro Céspedes moving to Maturín. And no fewer than twelve new faces came in. With eight of them starting in their round three fixture away at Sportivo Soluca. The performance was so disjointed that even Rafael Barrios’ goal shy Sportivo went to town, racking up a 4 – 1 win.

[Xanneria]

The BoF Hangover: It's real!
Steve Stevenson - football.xan

Xanneria - In what is one of the most awkward true international losses Xanneria had a hangover, a massive hangover. One where you feel like your vision is blured, you can't walk with out keeling over do to the strong sinus headaches and you wanna vomit but there's nothing coming out. A 5-1 loss to Peru doesn't put Xanneria in a huge whole, but it does put a glossy streak inb a matte painting for the Maroons. Bad weather was certanly a factor but its not with out theorizing that rampant unpreparedness was also a culprit. a soggy field wasn't something the Xannerians were afraid of, afterall that was half their BoF matches. But it was clear the Peruvians where way more adept at playing the Domincan City pond match than the Maroons. Maybe now that the BoF had settled teams had finally gotten the tape on Maroon football. But It most likely had to do with the sloppy conditions, and very strict referring that left 5 players with yellows and lead Amos Alton to make several substitutions. Paolo Fernandez and Raul Santiago got two goals each all before half way and Ricardo Teixeira who was scurried in as a replacement and scored quickly. Xanneria could only muster a Mark Hailey Penelty kick. So next up is a game verus the highest ranked team, Brencia. The fans can only hope this won't be an embarrassment like the Peru game.

New and Improved Peru - 5
Santiago 9' 28'
Frenandez 11' 38'
Teixeira 62'

Xanneria - 1
Mark Hailey 48'