Baptism of Fire 73 - Everything Thread

by **Kencana** » Thu Aug 13, 2020 2:33 am

THE REPUBLIC OF KENCANA
NATIONAL ASSOCIATION FOOTBALL TEAM

BASIC INFORMATION
Nation: The Republic of Kencana
Demonym: Kencanan
Style Modifier: -5
Formation: 4-2-1-3 DM Wide

Head Coach: Ali Azam
Ali Azam is a physical education teacher at Kota Damai High School and the head coach of Kota Damai FC. He started his career by leading Kota Damai High School to the gold medal in football in the Kencana School Council Games which is organized annually by the Education Ministry. Kota Damai High School won the gold medal without conceding a single goal in the competition.

Ali Azam's reputation rose after that and was subsequently hired as the head coach of Kota Damai FC. He then again led Kota Damai FC to win the inaugural Liga Kencana in his debut season by winning every matches. His performance with Kota Damai High School and Kota Damai FC led the Kencana Football Association to pick him as the first national team manager.

GOALKEEPER
GK: Deraman Chik, 27, Kota Damai
GK, Jasir Suhail, 25, Kuala Aman
GK, Hamad Nizam, 24, Teluk Kapal

DEFENDERS
DR: Jusoh Yakub, 27, Kota Damai
DL: Lukman Demang, 27, Kota Damai
DC: Zahir Falih, 28, Kota Damai
DC: Badri Zainudin, 25, Kota Damai
DR, Zufar Amanullah, 24, Kuala Aman
DL, Noh Sangkara, 22, Kuala Aman
DC, Gombak Embong, 21, Cintamata
DC, Danang Muda, 24, Teluk Udang

MIDFIELDERS
DMC: Rafi Muhammad, 28, Kota Damai
DMC: Izzudin Tamir, 27, Kota Damai
MC: Bachok Omar, 28, Kota Damai
DMC, Asgar Shafi, 24, Kebun Ganja
DMC, Jati Jiwa, 22, Teluk Kapal
MC, Johan Basuki, 23, Kota Damai

FORWARD
AMR: Lukman Aslam, 28, Kota Damai
AML: Shakil Moktar, 28, Kota Damai
ST: Merdeka Ali, 29, Kota Damai
AMR, Zulkifli Said, 23, Labuan Dagang
AML, Dollah Zahir, 20, Teluk Udang
ST, Zainal Hassan, 20, Cintamata

KITS:
Home: Blue
Away: White

ROLEPLAY PERMISSIONS:
Choose My Scorers: Yes.
Choose Scoring Events: Yes.
Godmod Scoring Events: Yes.
RP Injuries to My Players: Yes.
Godmod Injuries to My Players: Yes.
Godmod Other Events: Yes.

by **Praeceptia** » Thu Aug 13, 2020 5:21 am

Praeceptia Nationalibus Ludis

Formation: 2-4-4

Style: +5

My opponent, if they RP first, may do the following:
Choose my goalscorers: Yes
Godmod scoring events: Yes
RP injuries to my players: No
Godmod injuries to my players: No
Hand out yellow cards to my players: Yes
Hand out red cards to my players: No
Godmod other events: Yes

Our formation on paper: https://www.buildlineup.com/shared/5f352eaa4e5ac404cc46e51f

by **Iles Rogieres** » Thu Aug 13, 2020 7:53 am

Roster of the Iles Rogieres for Baptism of Fire 1931

The Republic of Iles Rogières, or in English the Rogierian Isles (both names are acceptable) are an island nation in Atlantian Oceania. It is a small francophone country that has regularly been shaken by revolutions and civil conflicts over the last century, and is using international sport as a means for the country to heal its rifts. The Isles are rather poor, and they are technologically somewhat behind other countries - the time is currently 1931, and the year corresponds to the RL tech level available in the Islands. This makes football an extremely popular sport due to how accessible it is. Rogierian football is largely dominated by players from the lower classes of the country, and is focused on an individualistic style of play with a large emphasis on technique in the offence, and on harsh tackles in defence.

Its highest football league is currently undergoing professionalisation, and consists of ten teams. The league is fairly even, not the least because it has been almost entirely semiprofessional until recently, but its strongest teams are the two capital sides AS Port Azértien and Racing Club Azertien, Tout Puissant Port-de-Sud, and F.C. Troiseaux. Much of the national team comes from those four sides, who have been at the forefront of professionalisation and the only clubs in Iles Rogières with a professional structure already in place.

TEAM

A note on positions: As the Isles don’t use a modern formation, I am using the following position abbreviations: GK = goalkeeper, DF = defender, MF = central midfielders, LW/RW = wingers, IF = inside forwards (in this system, something between an offensive midfielder and a support striker, ST = striker.

Coach: Antoine Lemaître
Age: 48 // Coach since: BoF 73
Three-times Rogierian champion Antoine Lemaître has been chosen to run the national team, as he was one of the first ones to bring football tactics to the islands and is considered one of the most knowledgeable people about it. He has introduced the 3-2-5 system to the islands, the first regularly used playstyle, and has generally revised the highly individualistic systems of the islands into a more specific and more tactical style. It still lags far behind the rest of the world, though.

Assistant Coach: Joseph Milvoine
Age: 39
Milvoine has been a player until fairly recently, playing in the midfield under Lemaitre at RC Azertien. After his retirement, his former coach has taken him along to learn coaching from the bottom up - and now, his education spot will be in the national team.

#1 Valentin Ducreux
Position: GK // Age: 26 // Height: 187 cm // Club: F. C. Troiseaux
Ducreux is a spectacular shot-stopper with very smooth reflexes and moves. He is a spectacular man on the line, but lacklustre in distribution and often just sends the ball far up the pitch. Given that few people on the Isles care much for anything other than stopping balls when it comes to keepers, it nets him the starting spot.

#2 Pascal Voisin
Position: DF // Age: 27 // Height: 179 cm // Club: AS Port Azertien
A brutal, hard-nosed working class defender from the poor parts of Port Azertien, Voisin has made his way into the national team with consistent defensive performances. He is a gritty and strong player who is incredibly hard to get rid of.

#3 Michel Saint-Victoire
Position: DF // Age: 24 // Height: 185 cm // Club: AS Port Azertien
A working class defender from the farmland around the capital, he has developed a broad stature and a strong command of the ball, as long as he can send it long. He’s a strong tackler and header, and very strong in defending man to man.

#4 Loïc Raymond
Position: DF // Age: 28 // Height: 196 cm // Club: Racing Club Azertien
Raymond is a tall, commanding and almost elegant presence in the defence with a faible for heading. Rarely stronger than his opponents, he still usually manages to win many duels thanks to having a decent grasp at positioning and adapting very quickly on the fly. Raymond is one of the relatively few footballers in the country that don’t come from a working class background.

#5 Jules Croisay
Position: MF // Age: 29 // Height: 179 cm // Club: Tout Pouissant Port-de-Sud
Croisay is a defensively skilled and hard to pass midfielder, although he is somewhat slow and can be passed with speed. He is sometimes a bit overly hesitant to move forward, and is lacking the skill on the ball of some of his teammates.

#6 Jean-Jacques (JJ) Demartin
Position: MF // Age: 24 // Height: 176 cm // Club: AS Port Azertien
A shuttling midfielder who can go forward or backwards as required. A fast player with good passing technique, and capable of beating someone in a 1v1, as long as it’s not a world class defender. His biggest strength is his incredible stamina, his biggest weakness is his vulnerability to the finer things in life.

#7 Héctor Alexion
Position: LW // Age: 26 // Height: 180 cm // Club: Racing Club Azertien
One of the team’s upper class members, Alexion has received a good basic technical training and is a highly proficient dribbler. Fast and skilled, he is hard to stop and can hold his own physically if he needs to, although he isn’t going to push any opponents off the ball by force. Sometimes, his approach is a bit too formulaic, making him easy to cover.

#8 Marc Pierroix
Position: IF // Age: 29 // Height: 177 cm // Club: Tout Pouissant Port-de-Sud
A sort of hanging striker with a good distance shot and highly capable to arrive late into the box to score. Good at long shots and free kicks, and very good at knowing where to stand, born out of a lack of speed. Defensively, he often is a bit too late to backtrack in time, but competent enough to stop a first pass.

#9 André Martesse
Position: ST // Age: 23 // Height: 194 cm // Club: F. C. Portiron
The single centre forward is a bullish, aggressive man who uses his physical prowess to score from close range. Rogierian strikers are almost exclusively box-lurkers, waiting on the shoulder of the opposition to receive a through ball or a cross, and Martesse is the most proficient man of this type of forward.

#10 Christophe-Louis Bénétraz [C]
Position: IF // Age: 25 // Height: 182 cm // Club: Racing Club Azertien
The exception to the rule of the brutish, strong centre-forward, Bénétraz plays at Racing Club as a low-lying striker who feeds the ball to the sides. In the national team, this makes him a dangerous inside forward, pulling the strings between lines as a playmaker and natural leader. The elegant, intelligent and sophisticated Bénétraz embodies upper-class Rogierian football and its more technical, passing-oriented play.

#11 Patrice Laurent
Position: RW // Age: 25 // Height: 178 cm // Club: AS Port Azertien
Laurent is a winger with a penchant for dribbling and shooting, and with sheer inexhaustible energy. Aiming to find a way to bring the ball to the box at any cost, Laurent can sometimes get stuck in a difficult position, but is overall a strong player who can make the best of any moment. Defensively, he tracks back a lot, using his fighting spirit to make sure he doesn’t get outrun.

#12 Julien Carzon
Position: GK // Age: 26 // Height: 191 cm // Club: AS Port Azertien
Carzon uses his height to make up for technical deficiencies, making him an unconventional, but efficient shot-stopper. Like all Rogierian goalkeepers, he is not particularly strong in reading play, positioning himself or playing with the ball in his feet, but he can stop the ball when it’s flying towards him.

#13 Lucien Michel
Position: DF // Age: 28 // Height: 189 cm // Club: AS Port Azertien
A muscular and strong defender from Port Azertien’s working class neighbourhoods, Michel is a scrappy player who has been defending himself for all his life. Has the common basic technical capabilities of Rogierian street footballers, coupled with incredible determination and a sort of cunning that makes him win even seemingly lost contests.

#14 Joël Miquelon
Position: DF // Age: 21 // Height: 182 cm // Club: Tout Pouissant Port-de-Sud
Miquelon is a young defender that is one of the first players in the Isles that has a certain offensive quality, and has been trained as a midfielder first. Instead of the usual tackling-focused defenders of the Isles, Miquelon is also competent at playing the first pass and getting the ball up the pitch, and can even occasionally carry it himself.

#15 Pierre Touret
Position: MF // Age: 24 // Height: 177 cm // Club: CS Loizère
A farmer’s son from a more rural area of the Isles, Touret has gotten a lot of physical training since early childhood. He runs a lot and is strong at shielding the ball, and at separating opponents from the ball; however, once he is supposed to do something with the ball, it can look a little bit wooden.

#16 Adrien Pinole
Position: LW // Age: 20 // Height: 170 cm // Club: F. C. Troiseaux
Pinole is a young, agile winger who is particularly good at dribbling through opposition and looking for passes into the box. Expect him to weave through opposition with incredible speed, although somewhat lacklustre stamina and the occasional mistake due to his cockiness on and off the pitch.

#17 Charles Martingot
Position: RW // Age: 23 // Height: 174 cm // Club: Racing Club Azertien
A young and technically brilliant winger, with a keen eye for passes. Like many upper-class players, he is more of a brain worker than a foot worker. He is good at backtracking, but not necessarily great at doing something when opposed to an opposition player. Martingot has some weaknesses in dribbling and shooting.

#18 Gilles Sonthonnax
Position: DF // Age: 27 // Height: 182 cm // Club: F. C. Portiron
A defensively oriented player who barely ever moves forward, but is very good at stopping an opponent when they attack. Sonthonnax is expected to play particularly when there is a need to preserve a lead, as his offensive skills are largely restricted to playing the ball long.

#19 Marcel Joviard
Position: IF // Age: 26 // Height: 185 cm // Club: AS Port Azertien
Joviard is the working class take on the inside forward role, a physical and muscular player who breaks through enemy lines to shoot from medium to close range, with small amounts of creative work involved. A hot-blooded player with not overly strong playmaking skills, he is a desperation option to score from the second row.

#20 Richard Paquis
Position: IF // Age: 20 // Height: 176 cm // Club: Olympique de Chavon
Paquis is a young inside forward whose strengths and weaknesses haven’t really been discovered yet. At Chavon, a semi-pro team from a smaller town, he has managed to stand out as a stamina-heavy player who has proven a good passer and dangerous scorer, and a physically strong player as well.

#21 Henri Noël
Position: ST // Age: 22 // Height: 190 cm // Club: AS Port Azertien
Henri Noël is surprisingly agile for a tall Rogierian striker, having honed his skills on the street pitches of Port Azertien. Technique is key for this man, whose body is more smooth panther than strong, ferocious bear. Nevertheless, he is still tall and decent at heading, and packs a shot that can trouble opposing goalkeepers.

#22 Gabriel Ferry
Position: MF // Age: 29 // Height: 183 cm // Club: F. C: Troiseaux
A midfield engine, not spectacular, but also not falling off at all. Can cover all parts of the pitch thanks to speedy play and a strength in defending the ball, as well as knowing where to be at what time. A natural leader as well, and long-time captain of Troiseaux.

#23 Valéry Fillon
Position: GK // Age: 23 // Height: 186 cm // Club: Racing Club Azertien
The young Racing Club goalkeeper has been trained privately by an ambitious personal coach, and has proven a highly effective and elegant goalkeeper. However, his personality is difficult to work with, and the lack of experience at the highest level means that he is unlikely to see much play.

STARTING XI:

TACTICS

STYLE: +4

The Isles are an offensive team that doesn’t have much tactical discipline, and is relying heavily on individual efforts. On the ball, the three defenders to tend to stay back, although it is fairly common for one of them to carry the ball forward as much as possible. Both midfielders try to carry the ball and typically play it out to a winger, who crosses or seeks a pass back to the inside forward. The inside forward on the side of the ball looks for passes into free space, the inside forward on the far side goes into the box most of the time. Off the ball, the three defenders usually man-mark the strikers and/or centre-forwards. Against a 4-3-3 or 4-2-3-1, the outside defenders man-mark the wingers, against a two top, the wingers fall back to defend the sides and the central back acts as a libero. If required, one midfielder falls back into the defensive line, while the other man-marks the enemy playmaker; against a 4-4-2, they both man-mark the central midfielders.

ROLES
Captain: Bénétraz => Alexion => Raymond => Dutreux
Free Kicks (direct): Pierroix, Noël
Free Kicks (long): Bénétraz, Demartin
Corners: Alexion
Penalty Kick: Pierroix, Martesse, Bénétraz, Laurent, Noël, Demartin, Joviard [also progression for shooutouts]

KITS

RP PERMISSIONS
Choose Goalscorers: Y
Godmod Scoring: N
Injure Players: Y (no longer than the rest of the tournament)
Godmod Injuries: N
Yellow Cards: Y
Red Cards: Y - not more than one
Godmod other events: N

I am open to discussing all RP permissions via TG or Discord, if you have a specific plan.

by **Mathuvan Union** » Thu Aug 13, 2020 8:51 am

My opponent, if they RP first, may do the following:
Choose my goalscorers: Yes
Godmod scoring events: Yes
RP injuries to my players: Yes, tg first though for answer
Godmod injuries to my players: Yes, tg first though for a answer
Hand out yellow cards to my players: Yes
Hand out red cards to my players: Yes
Godmod other events: Yes, tg first though

Formation + Starting Lineup:

Jersey:

tbc

by **Kencana** » Thu Aug 13, 2020 9:45 am

KENCANA IS OPTIMISTIC AHEAD OF THE BAPTISM OF FIRE

JUNIN - Kencana Head Coach, Ali Azam is optimistic that his team is on the right track ahead of the Baptism of Fire which will officially start tomorrow.

According to the inexperienced coach, the development of the performance of the national squad players since starting the team training session last month is at a satisfactory level and it can still be improved as the competition progress.

"The team is now on the right track, not to say they have achieved 100 per cent fitness but the commitment and development are shown to be very satisfactory and according to plan," said the 51 years old physical education teacher who was appointed as the national team head coach after impressive performance guiding Kota Damai High School and Kota Damai FC to championship locally.

He said that the time available was enough for him to plan a training program for the team after the amateur players he has in disposal showed an unsatisfactory level of fitness when they started undergoing team training a month ago.

"The players are not fit and look a little struggling in training during the first week of team training but there is a change and the players start to get their touch in the second week," he said.

Kencana first opponent in the Baptism of Fire is Eurasies. The two teams will battle it out at the 21,200 seaters Estadio Camilo Mazuera Lopez in Junin.

by **Netop** » Thu Aug 13, 2020 12:16 pm

Netop: A preview

By: Marshall Jetser

Welcome to the 73rd Baptism of Fire, Netopians. As our football fanatic country prepares to hopefully dominate the competition we look at the squad and I will be taking a look at our roster, our group, and evaluating our chances.

Coaching Staff
Joey House-The manager of the squad, I really loved the House decision. Literally everyone knew he was the choice proving why he was a unanimous selection to the position. Especially considering we have little to no film on any of these teams he is the best choice for this BOF.

Issac Galindo-I didn't like the decision to bring Galindo into the squad. I respect that he is known as a legend in the Netopian community and helped introduce us to the sport yet he hasn't ever shown an ability to be a good manager he just has a love of the game. Coupled with his health questions, I think there were better options for the position. I respect all he has meant to the country yet I don't think he was the right choice to be one of two assistants.

Vicky Hensley-I loved the decision to bring Hensley aboard. She brings creativity, youth, and energy to the squad. She will bring the fresh ideas and should mesh very well with Joey House. I hope Galindo is only there to watch and not coach, and Hensley is the real assistant. I think the decision to bring her aboard especially because she was House's choice to be an assistant was a good one.

The Starters
Johnny Howells-I have always had a strong dislike of Johnny. He brings a lot of baggage with him based on his awful personality (he has already criticized the rest of the team and they haven't even played a game yet). The thing with Howells is as long as he performs at an extremely high level he is worth it despite the attitude. The problem is he is very inconsistent and I am completely against bringing him on much less naming him the starter. Hopefully he can fix his attitude problems (although I doubt it) and prove that he should be the starter. Just to make it clear none of the coaches were responsible for picking the squad, that was the NFF (Netop Football Federation)'s job.

Logan Diaz-Diaz doesn't inspire much confidence in him yet he is the most capable right back for the squad. He will be one of the weak links on the team as he's a high floor low ceiling player. You know what you're getting with Diaz the safe, and secure tackler. He could be wore, but he could be a lot better.

Heather Burrows-House naming the young 20 year old as a starter was a bit of surprise yet she has a good chemistry with fellow starter Vaughan. It's clear the future of the defense is on Burrows' shoulders and House wants to get her that valuable experience while Vaughan is still there. Hopefully she can improve her tackling.

Constance Vaughan-Vaughan having already announced her pending retirement is the captain and is a great mentor for the young Burrows. She is the rock in the back as was described when the roster was introduced and while I think Pitt might be a bit better at this point they weren't going to put Vaughan on the bench.

Beau Hendricks-While many people prefer Pitt over Hendricks, I'm actually in the Hendricks camp unlike most of the pundits across the country. What a lot of people don't know about Hendricks is what he means to the offense. Having seen him during practice I can tell you that Pitt is the better defender yet Hendricks is the better play maker and a better fit with the rest of the squad. Now we will see if he can do well with the offense against actual other National teams but the signs are good.

Wanda McNeil-All McNeil has is her speed. While she might be the fastest on the team, her speed will not be as much of an asset at an International level. She has speed and can blaze past defenders but please get her out of the starting lineup before her lack of skills get exposed.

Savanna Park-What's not to love about Park? Despite possessing lots of natural skills like her speed, size, and shot power the best asset of Park in my opinion is that she's a student of the game through and through. She continues to study all parts of the game improving her skills in the process. Park will be the difference maker between a loss and a victory.

Max Holder-Holder and Park are a dangerous duo in the midfield. Holder is underrated in my opinion just because of Park's skill set and while the 18 year old might be in Park's shadow now, he won't be forever.

Zoe Kinney-I don't love the decision to start Kinney. She has all the natural talent you look for but she just needs more time and I think throwing her into the starting lineup will hurt her in the long run. Hopefully House can get the best out of her.

Teddy Riggs-I don't like Teddy Riggs as a player and this is the reason I have no confidence in our ability to score goals and do well offensively. I don't like the wingers next to him and I think Riggs will soon realize this is above his level.

Lyla Wormald-While most people are high on Wormald as a playmaker and as the option next to Riggs, I think she's slow and is someone who relies too much on speed and size and not on actual talent.

The Bench
Marcus Nixon-While I dislike Howells a lot, I understand the need for him to start due to the skills or lack there of from Nixon. Goalkeeper has always been a neglected position in Netop and Nixon shows this.

Ellie Pitt-Pitt's best trait is her versatility and she is an all around good defender. The problem is she has no play making ability and will add nothing offensively. When we are already starting Diaz we don't want two outside backs who don't add anything to the offense.

Bertie Gilbert-Bertie will be the starter once Vaughan retires as the 17 year old has all the potential in the World she just needs more time and experience under her belt before she's ready.

Tiana Mitchell-I think Mitchell should be the starter instead of McNeil. Unlike McNeil speed is a big problem for Mitchell but she is just all around a better player than Mitchell.

Carole Bond-Bond is here for depth in case of injury that's it. She is washed up but at least can provide some leadership on the bench to some of the younger players around her.

Adelle Benton-I think Benton should be starting in Kinney's role at least for now while Kinney develops. Benton has a decent shot and has a much higher floor than Kinney but is a low ceiling player.

Lulu Wright-Wright is the backup to Riggs in case of injury and that's about it. She does have a powerful shot but not much else besides that which doesn't make her an attractive option.

The Group

Rangers FC
Mathuvan Union
Netop
The Gothanita Isles
TOTEL
Southern Palm Islands

Predictions

1. The Gothanita Isles
2. Netop
3. Rangers FC
4. Mathuvan Union
5. TOTEL
6. Southern Palm Islands

The Gothanita Isles and their 4-2-3-1 formation who we play in our first match of the tournament are my expected winners of the group. I have us finishing second to them with Rangers FC finishing right behind us with a good enough record to advance. Matthuvan Union, TOTEL, and the Southern Palm Islands are predicted to finish in the bottom three spots.

Overall I see us crashing out in the quarters which while it might be ambitious I think it's a good goal for us to achieve. Now despite this I wouldn't count us getting further than that because these players have heart.

by **Tioguldos** » Thu Aug 13, 2020 12:38 pm

FUORUE FA TIOGULDÓS
Tioguldós Newspaper

BAPTISM OF FIRE 73
The Red Army prepares for its first match

TRAINING THE NATIONAL TEAM IN Z'AI'AI

With 5 games to go, the Red Army gets ready and adjusts the last details of the strategy. Gúpder Mebal prepares his classic 4-3-3, with which Nofararekh managed to save themselves from relegation this season in the Muko Tiog. On this occasion, high-level players who fought for the top positions with OMB, Draspa Moipas, Pmig Enako, AR and Tisús complete a lineup that can face any team in the tournament as equals.

The immediate opponent the National Team will have to face will be Quebecois Acadiana at Z'ai'ai Field. While their lineup is not yet known, analysts believe that Tioguldós will be able to secure a victory to start this Baptism of Fire in the best way. The next match will be at Jewel Dome, in Ming, against Liberal Democratic Socialist States, whose long ball style of play can work against them in the overwhelming passing game of 4-3-3. The team will then travel to Felswyr, where they will face NorraLesse at Frozen Stadium. They will return to Z'ai'ai for matchday 4, where the opposing team will be Se Vende Skooma. Finally, the last matchday will be played again in Ming against Megistos. 'The Kids' use a defensive style with 5 midfielders, which may force Mebal to rethink his strategy.

Beyond the skills of its players, the Red Army was organized relatively recently. The coach and his staff are aware that performance will not be optimal yet. They hope that this Baptism of Fire will serve as experience to strengthen the capabilities of the team, which will compete in the next edition of the World Cup. Even so, the team has stars of international stature who are capable of obtaining the definitive victory and winning the trophy.
Some names to highlight in the team are:

Arsós Boal: The goalkeeper of Tisús. Conceived only 34 goals this season and achieved 13 clean sheets for his team. He was the hero of the Northwest team.

Kildoge Fenuskal: An offensive fullback. A fundamental piece of Draspa Moipas. Avid in attack and solid in defense. He can perform like another forward, passing at speed and throwing balls into the box.

Losduse Albofokh: A very aggresive player. Central axis of Pmig Enako's wide style of play. He is characterized by his physical strength and intense marking ability.

Lumugue "Nese" Niforro: He's the captain of the team. Together with his partner from Pmig Enako, Albofokh, they constitute the command center within the playing field. All plays go through their cleats. His great skill with the ball contrasts with the fierceness of his tackles.

Óstam Perda Raom: A classic No.10. He knows how to hold the ball and when to pass it to a free teammate. A specialist in deep passes and a great shooter of free kicks.

Ugós Oroso: The great idol of the Red Army. Playing for OMB he reached a total of 26 goals in 35 games, becoming the top scorer of the tournament. Performs as 'False 9', opening spaces in defense and filtering with wall passes.

by **Wymondham** » Thu Aug 13, 2020 2:23 pm

Wymondham Football Association National Team, BoF 73

Background
Although not traditionally a sport loving nation, football in Wymondham has taken off in recent times after piquing the interest of the nation's leader Wymondham Lacerta-Asteorra on a visit to a foreign nation. Immediately upon his return Mr Lacerta-Asteorra ordered that no expense be spared in forming a national football team and several Wymondhamians who were playing for foreign nations have returned to play for their home nation thanks to generous financial inducements and the odd threat with regards to the safety of their family.
Wymondhamian fans have arrived at the world cup in droves due to their newfound footballing fanaticism, or upon pain of death depending on who you ask.
Kit: Yellow and Green
Roster

Coaching Staff
Manager - Mike Whitfield - 52
A retired military colonel who was shipped off to Widdrington Wolves FC in Starblayia to gain a basic coaching education, as well as picking up a basic refereeing qualification along the way, Mike, or "gaffer" as the players call him, prioritises defensive solidity and tactics that can generously be described as old fashioned. With a focus on "getting rid" at the back and "getting it in the mixer" up front, with the sole overlapping fullback being his sole, begrudging, concession to modernity. Mike never hesitates to make his thoughts clear to the players at half time, with his expletive ridden team talks often audible at the end of the tunnel.
Assistant Manger - Darren Bowley - 35
A footballing "free thinker" - despite his lack of a formal education in footballing matters. Darren is a firm believer in a free flowing, passing style, provding the "good cop" to Mike's "bad cop" in the dressing room. Although he does not yet have much say over tactical matters, Darren has been tipped for big things in the Wymondham Football Association, when they can afford to get him his coaching badges.

Defence
Gk - Boris the bear (7"2'- 17):
RB - James Aaron (5"9, 25)
RCB - Danny Dyatlov (6"3 - 28) 
LCB - Tim Holt ( 6"5 - 31)
LB - Michael Lewis (6" - 29)

Smuggled out of Wymondham Zoo by Mike Whitfield, after seeing him grab a salmon jumping in a lake with a beautiful diving catch - Boris is the sort of "big lad" Mike loves in goal, he also isn't half bad at "putting his foot through it". Dyatlov and Holt at centre back are prime examples of Mike Whitfields philosophy of "6"2', he'll do", with both being hefty tacklers and headers yet lacking any real distribution beyond leathering the ball up-field for the wingers and strikers to chase after. Aarons is a nimble, agile fullback, making up for Robert's lack of pace at Right Winger, however he isn't the most imposing of specimens and often gets out muscled. Lewis is another imposing physical presence, lacking much technically beyond being a decent corner taker, however, he does posses a willingness to get stuck in and take a chunk out of his man.

Midfield
RW - Jeremy Robert (5"8 - 33)
CDM - Isiah Robinson (6"2' - 27)
CM - Hugo Dowell (6"1 - 21)
LW - Todd McPherson (5"9 - 25)

With a powerful left foot and excellent dribbling, robert has a penchant to cut inside and unleash a lethal shot towards goal. However his age and small statue mean he offers little in the way of physicality or pace, despite this Robert is by far the most skillful player in a team chosen for physical presence, with his skills forcing Mike Whitfield to allow an overlapping right back to allow him to be best deployed, he also takes all free kicks and penalties. Isiah Robinson and Hugo Dowell form a typical, enforcer-creator midfield partnership, with Robinson breaking up play and Dowell looking to play accurate long balls for either Oldman to knock down or Andrews to run on to. McPherson is a pacy winger with a good cross, however he dramatically overrates his dribbling abilities - often running the ball right into the hands of the opposition defence.

Strikers
Phil Oldman (7"2' - 29)
Geoff Andrews (5"9' - 27)

A typical fast man-tall man combination, Oldman is the target of all crossed set pieces and corners due to his statue, physical strength and speed in the air, however, Oldman makes container lorries look fast with his lumbering pace. Andrews is a small, speedy forward who is often the aim of the through balls played by Dowell, Dowell is a slight, weak fellow who is often muscled off the ball if forced into a confrontation and goes down rather easily.
Tactics

The team usually lines up in a 4-1-3-2, with all of the defenders save Aaron staying back during the attacking and transition phase, Aaron roams forward into the space vacated by Robert cutting inside, with Thomas dropping back to cover. When forced into a defensive situation the defence will seek to clear the ball to either McPherson or Andrews who aim to launch a counter attack with their pace, alternatively the ball may be aimed towards Oldman to hold the ball up and begin the transition phase. In the transition phase the team will seek to either use a long pass from Dowell to open Oldman for a header in the box, or to play Andrews clean on goal with a through ball. Alternatively the team will attempt to use McPherson or the overlapping Aaron to play a cross into the box for Oldman, or they may rely on Robert to drive at the defence and open the opposition up. The team is weakest in the transition phase but is strongest defensively and from attacking set pieces.
Most likely to score: Robert, Oldman or Andrews
Most likely to assist: McPherson, Robert and Dowell
Style Modifier: -2.5

RP Permissions
My opponent, if they RP first, may do the following:
Choose my goalscorers: Yes
Godmod scoring events: No
RP injuries to my players: Yes (only minor)
Godmod injuries to my players: No
Hand out yellow cards to my players: Yes
Hand out red cards to my players: Yes (Maximum of 1 per game unless u TG me first)
Godmod other events: Yes (but please TG me first for Staff confrontations/mass player confrontations)

by **Graintfjall** » Thu Aug 13, 2020 3:43 pm

Team name: Græntfjall
TLA: GRÆ [GRF when not available]
Demonym: Græntfjaller
Team nickname: Snow Wolves

Kit: Blue with white piping; alternate is the reverse; GK wears red. Because all Græntfjaller names are patronymic, players typically have their first name on the backs of their shirts.

Coach: Sigtryggur Brynjólfursson
Assistant coach: Særún Toresdóttir

During the team’s debut in the Copa Rushmori, Sigtryggur and Særún managed the team to moderate success in the group stage and abject, immediate failure in the knockouts. Instinctively defensive in their mindset they relied on heavily negative formations to blunt the attacks of superior teams and win games through grinding attrition. Coming into this tournament, there are few indications of any more expansive system being used, and expect them to revert to their favored ultra-defensive shifts pretty quickly. Neither are animated touchline presences, unlikely to remonstrate with officials or opposition managers.

Squad: A 23-person squad has been named for the tournament, although in practice those numbered 1-11 should be expected to start unless otherwise stated.

The Græntfjaller Premier League is gender-mixed and it is seen as uncontroversial for men and women to play alongside each other. If you find this unrealistic you are welcome to RP surprised reaction [although given the general state of NS Sports it would surely be not too much of an outlier] but it won’t be something we dwell on.
Ordinarily, the national team would be mixed, but owing to the Olympics (qv) only older, male players are available.
Players are professional, but just barely. Salaries in the league are living wage level. No one here is a millionaire.
In general, Græntfjaller players are athletic and have excellent whole-match fitness, disciplined, and not prone to violence or emotional outbursts. They are, however, not tremendously skilled.
Timing note: I am RPing this tournament as occurring alongside the Olympic tournaments.

Goalkeepers

1. Alexander Leonardsson (31) – Altendalur (caps: 6)
12. Fabian Snæþórsson (25) – Drumchapel United [GLZ]
13. Christian Einvarðursson (32) – Fliserboding

Alexander, a tall and basically competent, if not spectacularly agile, presence who kept a generally tidy net during the CR campaign, retains the #1 jersey. He was embarrassed in open play a couple of times and did not look comfortable one-on-one with top strikers, but handled crosses and corners fairly well. Christian Einvarðursson, from newly promoted Fliserboding, joins the bench with Björnólfur Ernestisson busy in Istria, but is not expected to be needed.

Defenders

2. Ralf Álfarsson (35) – Folte (6)
3. Ørjan Jeffsson (32) – Molding
4. Vilbjörn Hjörleifursson (37) – Molding (6, goals: 1)
5. Öne Svanbergursson (35) – Steinaux
14. Kilian Martinsson (34) – Steinaux
15. Hilmar Farmansson (29) – Platinastigrade [ZRH]
16. Ásgautur Johannesson (30) – Altendalur

With the team’s pacy full-backs missing, playing for the women, Ørjan – who plays with all the subtlety that might be expected from someone whose name is basically ‘Son of Geoff’ – Öne, who has just lost his starting role at Steinaux to new import Jasmine Gardener, are barely adequate stand-ins, replacing pacy trickery with rock-like immovability. The team should be a little stronger across the back four but much less mobile on the counter-attack. Kilian and Ásgautur are also new to the squad; the latter is one of the few players with any real pace but isn’t seen as defensively strong enough to start.

Midfielders

6. Hæming Tronsson (27) – Hofvinger
7. Hrærekur Jvarsson (29) – Steinaux (1)
8. Andrin Franklínsson (32) – Altendalur
11. Hlégestur Snæþórsson (30) – Steinaux
17. Flemming Emiliosson (35) – Oost-Hartburg
18. Kalle Bjørnsson (27) – Oost-Hartburg
19. Niilo Gabrielsson (36) – Kochhavn
20. Viktor Lucasson (35) – Mühlrich
21. David Jimsson (32) – Folte

That’s right – the team’s entire starting midfield from the Copa is missing, all of them playing at the Olympics, along with most of the bench; a 16 year old wunderkind has been replaced with a 36 year old second division player whose knees are just at this stage just bags of sawdust held together with electrical tape. This is not a team of surging youth. Hrærekur Jvarsson – the only one to even see playing time during the Copa – and Hæming Tronsson have the unenviable task of replacing Amanda Guttisdóttir, hitherto the team’s best player, in the center of midfield. They’ll be flanked by Andrin and Hlégestur. Whereas before Sigtryggur favored a ‘squashed diamond’ in midfeld, here both wide men are likely to stay out on the wings, and the two central midfielders to play alongside one another box-to-box rather than one dropping back. Kalle Bjørnsson is likely to play defensive midfielder should the team switch to 4-5-1.

Forwards

9. Love Nilsson (31) – Mühlrich
10. Dan Antoninsson (30) – Oost-Hartburg (6)
22. Ebbe Leosson (25) – Gunzlach
23. Lyngar Rögnvaldursson (26) – Hofvinger

Dan Antoninsson was totally ineffective in the 10 role during the CR; as a sign of Sigtryggur’s brilliant offensive playmaking vision, he has therefore been tasked with doing the exact same fucking thing, except this time with an even less effective center forward in front of him. Love has a fitting name as ‘love’ (0) is the number of goals he scored in the last GPL season. Not that there’s much support off the bench; Ebbe doesn’t even make his own club’s starting XI and Lyngar is very raw, albeit fearsomely strong in the air.

Style modifier: -3

The team will be even more defensive than during the Copa. They play a flat 4-4-1-1 and will shift to 4-5-1/5-4-1 if they take one goal leads. Set pieces are expected to remain prominent when it comes to creating goals; Andrin will take corners, Hlégestur free-kicks, and Dan penalties.

RP permissions:

Choose My Scorers: Y
Godmod Scoring Events: Y
Hand Out Yellow Cards: Y
Hand Out Red Cards: Y
Injure My Players: Y [say they are injured but let me decide the severity and consequences]
Godmod Other Events: Y

by **Graintfjall** » Thu Aug 13, 2020 3:45 pm

Selection of articles from Græntfjaller sports media.

‘Pale, stale, and male’: critics damn ‘boring old men’ BoF squad

GlassHalfFullOfPiss

Háttmark Harbinger

Mixed reaction to new team logo announcement

Cabañas Calligraphy

What do you think of the new logo? Vote now on opinionmeter.græ/twat

by **Woryand** » Thu Aug 13, 2020 3:46 pm

(OOC: I'm a boring industrial PT nation, if you're wondering; no fancy FT stuff you need to write into RP's.)
Lineup:
Formation: Flat 5-4-1.

Home Kit

Away Kit

Starters:
#1 M. Grēnwā: 32 yo, GK, Duronia City (Captain). One of the finest goalkeepers to ever grace the nation, he conceded just 18 goals over 30 games this season to get his club the title. Even at 32, he does not seem to be past his prime.
#2 N. Kōwa: 27 yo, LWB, Kesavi Dwellings FC. A solid wing back, able to switch between defense and attack freely and provide width to the squad whenever necessary.
#3 H.L. Amin: 30 yo, CB, Cauhall FC. A club legend, Amin has stayed with Cauhall FC for over a decade despite their frequent bottom-half finishes. Is a dirty player at times, but is able to get the job done whenever necessary.
#4 L. Saul: 29 yo, CB, Duronia City. An absolute tank of a player, as much as one can exist in the top tier of a nation. Developed a reputation for ending players' careers back in the youth teams, and although this is less frequent nowadays he still is able to stop attacks through sheer muscle.
#5 J. Şmixit: 33 yo, CB, FC Lakeview. Amazing technically on the ball, but his pace and other physicals are declining with age. This is likely to be his first and last tournament internationally.
#6 J. Mōrix: 24 yo, RWB, Kesavi Dwellings FC. A wonderkid that is already developing into a national legend. There have been a few concerns about age, but they are mostly unfounded given that he often seems to be better than Kōwa on the domestic stage.
#7 T. Canīr: 31 yo, LM, Rivton FC. Another club legend, having stayed at Rivton FC since playing in the under-8s.
#8 E. Loz: 27 yo, CM, Capitol FC. Another solid player, and the Vice Captain for his club (after Plançā). A bit of a journeyman, but has mellowed down having played for Capitol FC for three years.
#9 R. Crōdaru: 26 yo, CM, Iglaphis FC. Probably the weakest player on this squad. Is on lower wages than Kayer, the 39 year old captain of the same club. Just praying not to make a mistake.
#10 B. Plançā: 34 yo, RM, Capitol FC (Corner taker). A surprising amount of pace and physicality given his age. Solid player for the national team.
#11 D. Malyōr: 25 yo, ST, Northlake FC (Penalty taker, Free Kick Taker). National legend. Scored two goals in the first three games for Woryand at the IAC.
Subs/Reserves:
#98 F. Kayer: 39 yo, GK, Iglaphis FC
#99 G. Meçōrā: 25 yo, GK, Kesavi Dwellings FC
#12 U. Trāviār: 25 yo, LWB, Rivton FC
#13 V. Kōraxi: 31 yo, CB, Vilon FC
#14 D. Oragara: 27 yo, CB, Vilon FC
#15 K. Formēans-Tōzatē: 33 yo, CB, Northlake FC
#16 D. Xōrēxē: 31 yo, RWB, Rivton FC
#17 J. Tōlīda: 20 yo, LM, Sivon FC
#18 X. Avera: 27 yo, CM, Osatin Miners FC
#19 K. Yaçenkō: 36 yo, CM, Kesavi Dwellings FC
#20 W. Avarēçā: 30 yo, CM, A.N.E. Gloria
#21 Z. Dazeru: 22 yo, RM, South Central FC
#22 O. Ilōyeru: 31 yo, CAM/ST, Duronia City
#23 I. Ēvōzi: 23 yo, ST, Cauhall FC

Style Mod: +1.50

Allowed/Disallowed:
Choose my goalscorers: Yes
Godmod scoring events: Yes
RP injuries to my players: Yes, but within reason and as long as they are not out for more than a few matches (no ACL tears, etc).
Godmod injuries to my players: See RP injuries
Hand out yellow cards to my players: Yes
Hand out red cards to my players: Yes, but no more than one per match.
Godmod other events: Yes, within reason.

by **Southern Palm Islands** » Thu Aug 13, 2020 6:34 pm

SOUTHERN PALM ISLANDS NATIONAL TEAM

Manager: Sembara Bunian (Eraman)
Demonym: Palmyran
Trigamme: SPI
Football Governing Body: Southern Palm Islands Football Association (SPIFA)
Nickname: Blue Palms
Sponsors: MA Spice Board and SPI Tourism

Southern Palm Islands is an island country located in Melayu Archipelago. It is also known as Palm Islands or SPI. In ancient time, it was part of the Sripala Kingdom alongside Eraman (Northern Palm Islands), Sharktail (Western Palm Islands) and Pemecutan (Eastern Palm Islands).

The Southern Palm Islands was then used as a trading post for Malayalee traders from Indusse. The trading post grew so big over time until the Malayalee outnumbered the native Austronesians in the islands. It is now the only Malayalee-majority nation in Melayu Archipelago.

Southern Palm Islands Football Association (SPIFA) is the main organization behind the development of football in Southern Palm Islands. The SPIFA is one of the emerging nations in Melayu Archipelago. With the success of Eraman and Sharktail in international level, SPIFA finally decided to send the national team to compete with the rest of the world.

STARTING XI:
GK 1 Rawat Khan
DF 16 Peter Feachell
DF 5 Michael Darmraj
DF 64 Krish Nathan
DF 9 Rana Shariyar
MD 25 Rupwant Das
MD 51 Liam Torus
MD 6 Pelvin Brothasear
MD 13 Milen Krishn
ST 10 Daniel Plascas (c)
ST 7 Peter Plascas

BENCH:
GK 2 Saif Saini
DF 37 Godvin Temptsone
DF 93 Bakaht Ali
MD 11 Dhanvat Das
MD 3 Joe Maskin
ST 17 Ratwanarayana
ST Moin Abdul Shah

ROLEPLAY PERMISSIONS:
Choose My Scorers: Yes.
Choose Scoring Events: Yes.
Godmod Scoring Events: Yes.
RP Injuries to My Players: Yes.
Godmod Injuries to My Players: Yes.
Godmod Other Events: Yes.

by **Valladares** » Thu Aug 13, 2020 8:21 pm

The moment for thirty-six torches of hope to be lit up has finally come. Thirty-six stories begin to be written from this moment. A long road to glory and greatness for thirty-six teams officially begins tonight.

This is the RP cutoff for Matchday 1 in Groups A, B, and C!

Group A
Savigliane 2–0 Pluvia and the Saxean Isles
Pripet Socialist Republic 1–3 Iles Rogieres
Praeceptia 5–1 Lovisa

Group A                                Pld   W  D  L   GF  GA  GD  Pts 
1 Praeceptia                             1   1  0  0    5   1  +4    3
2 Iles Rogieres                          1   1  0  0    3   1  +2    3
  Savigliane                             1   1  0  0    2   0  +2    3
4 Pluvia and the Saxean Isles            1   0  0  1    0   2  −2    0
  Pripet Socialist Republic              1   0  0  1    1   3  −2    0
6 Lovisa                                 1   0  0  1    1   5  −4    0

Group B
Wymondham 0–2 Graintfjall
Tikariot 6–2 Free Republic of Hong Kong
Eurasies 1–0 Kencana

Group B                                Pld   W  D  L   GF  GA  GD  Pts 
1 Tikariot                               1   1  0  0    6   2  +4    3
2 Graintfjall                            1   1  0  0    2   0  +2    3
3 Eurasies                               1   1  0  0    1   0  +1    3
4 Kencana                                1   0  0  1    0   1  −1    0
5 Wymondham                              1   0  0  1    0   2  −2    0
6 Free Republic of Hong Kong             1   0  0  1    2   6  −4    0

Group C
Ihilthracna 2–2 Southwest Eastnorth
The holy junta 3–1 Staypuftonia
Overseas Territories of Sylestone 5–1 Hwiccemark

Group C                                Pld   W  D  L   GF  GA  GD  Pts 
1 Overseas Territories of Sylestone      1   1  0  0    5   1  +4    3
2 The holy junta                         1   1  0  0    3   1  +2    3
3 Ihilthracna                            1   0  1  0    2   2   0    1
  Southwest Eastnorth                    1   0  1  0    2   2   0    1
5 Staypuftonia                           1   0  0  1    1   3  −2    0
6 Hwiccemark                             1   0  0  1    1   5  −4    0

by **Chromatika** » Thu Aug 13, 2020 10:53 pm

Here is your first cutoff of the Chromatik half of BoF 73!

Group D
Pemecutan 3–4 Squidroidia
Fluvannia 3–6 Glazgo
Woryand 2–2 Unimon

Group D                                  Pld   W  D  L   GF  GA  GD  Pts 
1 Glazgo                                   1   1  0  0    6   3  +3    3
2 Squidroidia                              1   1  0  0    4   3  +1    3
3 Unimon                                   1   0  1  0    2   2   0    1
  Woryand                                  1   0  1  0    2   2   0    1
5 Pemecutan                                1   0  0  1    3   4  −1    0
6 Fluvannia                                1   0  0  1    3   6  −3    0

Group E
Rangers FC 1–1 Southern Palm Islands
Mathuvan Union 3–0 TOTEL
Netop 0–2 The Gothanita Isles

Group E                                  Pld   W  D  L   GF  GA  GD  Pts 
1 Mathuvan Union                           1   1  0  0    3   0  +3    3
2 The Gothanita Isles                      1   1  0  0    2   0  +2    3
3 Rangers FC                               1   0  1  0    1   1   0    1
  Southern Palm Islands                    1   0  1  0    1   1   0    1
5 Netop                                    1   0  0  1    0   2  −2    0
6 TOTEL                                    1   0  0  1    0   3  −3    0

Group F
NorraLesse 1–4 Megistos
Se Vende Skooma 3–4 Liberal Democratic Socialist States
Tioguldos 4–2 Quebecois Acadiana

Group F                                  Pld   W  D  L   GF  GA  GD  Pts 
1 Megistos                                 1   1  0  0    4   1  +3    3
2 Tioguldos                                1   1  0  0    4   2  +2    3
3 Liberal Democratic Socialist States      1   1  0  0    4   3  +1    3
4 Se Vende Skooma                          1   0  0  1    3   4  −1    0
5 Quebecois Acadiana                       1   0  0  1    2   4  −2    0
6 NorraLesse                               1   0  0  1    1   4  −3    0

RP Prompt for Matchday 2:
RP Prompts are here to suggest a topic to write about. Writing about the prompt won't give you any additional points, but if you're ever stuck, feel free to give these a whirl!

Football Origins.
Welcome to your first foray in international football! How did football originate in your nation? Have you had a multi-decade tradition of professional league? Was it brought into the country by a colonial power? As it semi-pro for a long time, and just recently became professional? Who were some of the early stars in your nation's footballing history? As you take your first step into history, take a moment to look back at what led to your nation forming a squad to enter an international competition.

by **Southern Palm Islands** » Thu Aug 13, 2020 11:38 pm

Introduction to the Floating Paradise

OVERVIEW

Southern Palm Islands, officially the Floating Paradise of Southern Palm Islands, is an island country in the Melayu Archipelago. It is also known as Palm Islands or SPI. Southern Palm Islands was officially established in December 27 1902. The islands were under The British Empire and other native empires until 1902.

The flourishing age in SPI started when the Sripala Kingdom was established. The Sripala Kingdom (103 AD - 586 AD) is the largest kingdom or dynasty to rule Southern Palm Islands. At its peak, Sripala Kingdom encompass the territory now under Eraman, Sharktail, Pemecutan and Southern Palm Islands.

According to the National Archeological Development Council (NADC), SPI had 23 major empires from 542 BC. The first matured kingdom was established in 201 BC. It is called the Pamban Kingdom. Hinduism arrived in SPI in the age of Pamban Rule. Until then, SPI was inhabited by Pamban and Curuchi Tribes. Aryapada Dynasty (201 BC - 90 BC) was the first Hindu kingdom in SPI. Buddhism arrived in SPI after the fall of Sripala Empire. Islam arrived in SPI from Samudera Darussalam in 1216 AD. There were 3 major Muslim Empires from 1596 to 1794 AD.

Monarchy ended in 1902 AD when SPI gained independence. SPI celebrates 27 December 1902 as the independence day. Democracy rised in the nation and Sri Rajeshwara Akiraman became the first president of SPI.

GEOGRAPHY

SPI is a island country in Palms Archipelago Subregion. It consists of 5 major islands and countless of smaller islands. The nation is covered with temperate lands and forests. Mountains and hills are rarely seen in SPI. There are lot of fault rivers and valley in the south and north of the nation. The biggest fault line can be found near Kimbishtki island known as Katanaga Fault Line,which was the aftermath of Katanaga Series.

CLIMATE

Climate in SPI is seasonal. It is tropical during the months of April to September, temperate during the months of September to November and relatively cold from November to April.The hottest place in SPI is Matarapuri, located at the north of Ajaxin. The highest temperature recorded to date is 42Â° Centigrade. The coldest place is in and around Gulabi Hills, west of Khurtubh. The temperature recorded was 7Â° centigrade.

WILDLIFE

Flora and fauna is relatively diverse in Southern Palm Islands. About 11000 species of animals and 17000 species of plants are found in SPI. The Paradise Flycatcher and Albadra Giant Tortoise are some of the rare species of fauna. The Kimbishtki Island is home to various species of flora and fauna. Thousands of tourists flock to Kimbishtki everyday.

ENVIRONMENTAL ISSUES

Pollution and environmental Issues are also a major problem to SPI just like in other nations. But the pollution rate is low and is in a controllable stage. The biggest pollution issue was the Destruction of Satvant Chemicals Co.Ltd. located in the far end of West Palmas. The factory was destroyed due to fire and toxic gases and wastes affected the citizens living 24 km around it.

MAP

What makes SPI different from the other MA Nations?

The main difference is the culture followed in the floating paradise. SPI is the oldest and biggest Indian/Hindu Cultured Nation in Melayu Archipelago. Hinduism/Indie/Dravidian Culture came to Melayu in the early age of Civilization with the Malayali Merchants of India. They came to the then small tribal kingdoms in SPI and started the Trade. They soon settled in the unoccupied regions mainly the land except Kimbishtki and Jarind because they were the capitals of the tribes. The Malayalis later known as Palmyrans or the real natives of SPI started their history there. They later established kingdoms with the Hindu religion as its base and started ruling regions. Later after hundreds of years They established the most famous and strong kingdom in the Melayu History the Empire of Sripala. The empire stretched from Modern day Samudera,Eraman,Sharktail to Pemecutan and Kimbishtki. All of these nations now share its culture with the palmyran ones. The next thing is the Cuisine, one of the tastiest Meat Cuisines and Veg Cuisines in Melayu it consists of spices and herbs which makes it a memorable food.

by **Rangers FC** » Thu Aug 13, 2020 11:46 pm

Not Bad, Not Good

As the whistle blew for full-time at Stadio Ibrosikis, there wasn’t much cheering. In fact, it had felt like Rangers had thrown the match away. Gerardikis was going to have a lot to answer for.

Following the team’s entry to the dressing room, the manager looked around the room to see the expressions of his players. None of them looked particularly cheerful.

”Lads, I just don’t think it was our day.” Gerardikis said in his thick Scouse accent. ”We needed some proper football out there, but nothing seemed to be going our way at all, did it? Can’t be slipping at this early stage of the-“

Stevenakios had just said the word that gave him horrific flashbacks to his time as a player. Long ago, when Gerardikis was one of the stars of a decent squad, they were on course to winning the league title. This was his boyhood club, and it was always his dream to win it for the fans. However, after a victory, he uttered the term “We will not slip now!”. This came back to bite him, as the title was lost when Gerardikis slipped and let the ball run to the opposition striker, who then scored. That moment has always stuck in Stevenakios’ mind, it’s the moment that almost defined the later stint of his career, where his team chucked the title. He didn’t want to slip again, not as a manager.

”-oh... erm, sorry lads. Just that the term ‘slipped’ gave me horrible flashbacks. Anyhow, RangersTV want me to give them an interview about this game, so I’m off to give them that.”

As Stevenakios left the dressing room to give the interview for RangersTV, those flashbacks hit him again. Phrases like “Slippy G” and other terms chanted at him following the event just kept flooding back into mind, which was putting him off greatly.

”The flashbacks will stop one day.” Gerardikis said to himself. “At least, I hope so.”

by **The Gothanita Isles** » Thu Aug 13, 2020 11:59 pm

RP Series: Getting to the top
Chapter 1: Aiming to be the very best
Part 1: The Isles' goals at the BoF

In the Isles, there is this game that is really popular. Named Ménstâmon, it is game where players become a character in a fictional world, catching all the Ménstâmon and aiming to complete the Ménstâpedia, which is a collection of Ménstâmon. Along the way, they meet various characters, evil or helpful, battle their Ménstâmons, and train their group of Ménstâmons. The other ultimate aim is to be the Grand Master of Ménstâmon by beating fellow Ménstâmon Trainers. (people like the player who are also collecting Ménstâmon)
This game has an animated series available on Vidtube, a popular video-streaming website in the Isles. Among the numerous song tracks that this animated series has, one of them, known as the "theme song" of Ménstâmon, is known as "Gotta Get Them All". The starting lyrics goes like this:

I want to be the very best,
Like no one ever was.
To get them is my real test,
To train them is my cause.

It may sound cliché, but this is the real truth. The first 2 lines resonates with everyone here in the Isles, since being the very best is something that everyone always aims to be. Whether they say it or not, there can't be someone who is satisfied with being average. Being that somebody who is a nobody. Simply because of how our world works - only the strongest and the best is being recognised by everyone, being that somebody, being that talented individual who is recognised for his contributions.

This is why sports is such a huge aspect of the culture here in the Isles. Sports bring forth the competitive spirit, the spirit of trying to win in everything, doing the best in all that we do, while ensuring that we fight fairly and squarely. The Isles manager has seen the importance of it, looking at the top of the football rankings, and arranged for friendly matches that way.

First came the Mike Sarzo Memorial Trophy. The Isles played their regional semifinals (it is the first round of the competition, by the way) against the 8th in the world - Baker Park, who obtained 4th place in the last World Cup. Though it was a 1-3 loss that threw the Isles out of the competition, our players performed really strongly, sticking to their regular playbook and doing their best. Kartal scored a fantastic goal by getting in a bicycle kick early on, but in the end, got absolutely shredded by a Baker Park team full of confidence and experience to back them up.

The true bellwether came against Poafmersia. Poafmersia has been a friend of the Isles, with both countries having mutual cooperation pacts. Unlike the Isles, Poafmersia's sporting culture is up and rising, with many of their professional leagues just new and being established. However, they have taken the plunge into international football earlier than the Isles, and have produced 2 really strong qualification campaigns on their first 2 tries. Their performances on the international stage has made them a somebody, a side where newer nations look and admire, a side which has become the role model of other newer sides, including the Isles.

Poafmersia 0-1 The Gothanita Isles @ Mancodas Complex, Mancodas, Poafmersia
Scorer: (TGI) Kartal 89'
Poafmersia 4-0 The Gothanita Isles @ Camp of Power, Mancodas, Poafmersia
Scorer: (Poafmersia) Haodao 18'; Tang 37', 80'; Handris 56'

If anything, that 1-0 win against Poafmersia was a really nice result. Even the Poafmersian head coach, Adnan Suliaha, was in full awe of the TGI players and the way they played in that first match. Poafmersia fielded a 4-3-3, and although it wasn't their full first 11, it was a very strong side featuring star strikers Joel Haodao and Shakria Handris, captain Danzik Hoboson, and midfielder Daas Taisg. Nevertheless, the strategy to park the bus and rely on set pieces worked out well. In the end, Poafmersia got a corner, but Bolkvadze punched the ball out of the box, Ross made a clearance, and Kartal found the ball. He made a solo run to beat Nicole Potts in goal, allowing the Isles to take the first match. Having lost that first match, Poafmersia fielded an even stronger side the second round, switching to a 3-4-3 formation to dominate the Isles in midfield. In the end, the Gothanitans couldn't hold the fort, and got trashed with Hansel Tang leading the rout.
It was after these 3 matches which started convincing the Isles that there is a need to play internationally. Being the best within the Isles is not enough - we just simply had to improve. The best way to improve would be to play the best teams outside of our bubble, and then climb our way to the top of the international ladder. Poafmersia has done it before us, and have shown lots and lots of improvements as compared to their team years ago. Players like Hansel Tang and Shakira Handris ply their trades overseas in big football leagues, and it is those experience that would allow their national team to gain various experiences and then reach such a high rank. The Isles signed up for the Baptism of Fire as a warm-up competition, aiming to gain experience and see the different levels of teams debuting this round, before aiming for the real prize - a good performance in the World Cup Qualifiers. The footballing fraternity in the Isles knows very well that being top of the class in the Baptism of Fire doesn't translate to a lot of points in the rankings, as the bulk of the ranking points comes from the Qualifiers. The Baptism of Fire would just be a place where the team gel together and ensure that they understand each other, since it is with this mutual understanding can a team play better.

So it was with the understanding of "doing our best for every match" did the players play their first match against Netop. The opposition plays a 4-3-3, a formation which the Isles has had an increased understanding of from the friendly against Poafmersia. The introduction provided by Netop with regards to their squad gave Unterbrink and Bouchard a feel of what was to come - a team of young players with potential but not a lot of experience. Which you can say it also applies to the Isles in general. Only the players from Otksarin would have gained some experience from the Melayu Archipelago Cup, other than which, there was really nothing much in terms of international matches. The weakness of a 4-3-3 formation lies in their lack of midfield control, since the 2 wingers would typically be in front and unable to retreat in time. Our team utilised that weakness, and brought out the playbook that defeated Poafmersia 1-0 - which was to park the bus and rely on counter-attack. In the 37th minute, Tyler got in the first goal for the team through a set-piece, heading in the ball after receiving the corner taken by Stenger. Barely 7 minutes later, a mistake by Heather Burrows allowed Kartal to slip past the defence, taking the ball all the way towards goal and beat the keeper in a 1-on-1. After that, the players sit back to defend the ball, forcing Netop to make mistakes while pushing forward. Netop didn't, as they slowly got the ball forward, but ultimately just get overwhelmed by the Gothanitans crowding forward to defend and take back the ball. It was a really good match as the Isles secure their opening win of the campaign.

Interestingly, a report from Netop pointed to the Isles as favourites to top the group. But are we indeed favourites? That is not us to say, but ask anyone in our training camp and they would tell you that the Gothanita Isles need to top the group. Why? Self-confidence. The confidence that we bring about in every match, the "never-say-die" spirit even if we are on the other side of a trashing. The players never give-up, because they understand the importance of doing their best. Only when we are confident that we are the best, can we do our best. This group of players from the Gothanita Isles come with one target - to forge a path no one has ever forged, and to get our way to the top.

by **The Overseas Territories of Sylestone** » Fri Aug 14, 2020 12:52 am

The Sports Equipment have managed to get a comprehensive win over Hwiccemark in their first BoF game and are in first place for the time being. Yet another Cricket Bat hattrick led the way and with support goals from the Soccer Ball and Golf Club on their way to a fiver. Coming off a 3-0 victory against Delaclava only three days ago in Equestria and then yesterday holding Qasden to a 0-0 draw. They then had to have a quick overnight flight from Equestria in Atlantian Oceania in Atlantian Oceania to Valladares in Rushmore and got there earlier today. A quick training session and the game was about to start. Despite their jet lag, they still managed to pull off a slaughtering of Hwiccemark.

The Cricket Bat was on song immediately with a cut shot in the eighth minute that flew into the net and a hook from a corner in the thirteenth put OTS up two-nil very early on. Hwicemark's poor defence really gave way to the OTS mids and forwards, but after a talking to after the second goal, they managed to keep themselves up to let nothing else through for the rest of the half. They even managed to get one back on OTS with a dubious penalty in the 34th minute. Being 2-1 up at half-time, the Coach was clearly disappointed in the result after coming into the game so strong.
"Great start boys. I thought that the first fifteen minutes were absolutely superb. But what happened? We just sat back and relaxed! Honestly, we need to keep the game up. We are easily the better side. We are probably one of the best eight or so sides in the competition, along with Southwest Eastnorth, Grainfjall, Tikariot, Squidroidia, Woryand, Gothanita and Megistos. We can easily beat these guys, so let's get out there and do it! What are you waiting for?"

The Coach's speech clearly worked, as the Golf Club smacked the ball after a Lacrosse Net pass was missed by the goalkeeper. The shot looked to go wide, but a diving "header" pushed the ball into the corner of the net to make the score 3-1 after 53 minutes. In the 68th, the Soccer Ball deflected a long clearance by the Hockey Stick into the goal to go into the lead by three. The Coach and Manager were clapping on the sidelines, apparently satisfied with their team's performance. As the Cricket Bat said "When our Coach is really upset, we just turn ourselves on. If we can act angrily the entire game, then we could beat anyone. It would be interesting to see."
To further add misery to Hwiccemark, an eightieth minute shot from the Cricket Bat from in the "D" outside the penalty box gave OTS their first-ever fiver. And that was how it stayed. They now look a threat in their group if they didn't already and have really shown what they are made of.

THE OVERSEAS TERRITORIES OF SYLESTONE - 5
Cricket Bat 8', 13', 80'
Golf Club 53'
Soccer Ball 68'

HWICCEMARK - 1
Hwiccemark Striker 1 34'

by **Megistos** » Fri Aug 14, 2020 6:12 am

NorraLesse 1–4 Megistos

The Kids were here and today, they managed the win against NorraLesse, putting them at the top of the table for now. The Robertson-Lukovic duo worked out with Robertson bagging all 4 goals in the game, and Lukovic grabbing 2 assists, with Lam and Cringan responsible for the other assists. Megistos was early to arrive with their new spaceships; as a result, they got more practice and training time than NorraLesse's team did. Let's dive in and take a look into the match.

In the 1st minute, action had already started. The Megistian team had kicked off, and the ball was at Becks feet. Becks passed to Fran, who spotted a open midfield, devoid of players, and he ran out of position, into the space. A NorraLessian player ran after him, making the leftback area open. He spotted Lukovic running there, and passed to him, and Lukovic backheeled the ball through the midfielders legs to Lam, but got shoved, and the referee said advantage. Lam spotted a opening for Cringan who was running into the box, and Lam chipped it over to him. Cringan made a volley attempt, but the goalkeeper caught it in his hands.

Later, in the 23rd minute, the first goal happened, and this goal was for Megistos. Lukovic spotted an open Robertson running down the left flank, and he passed to him. Robertson megged the left-back and ran past the goalkeeper to slot the ball in the back of the net.

Robertson bagged his brace in the 43rd minute when Lam had won a free-kick outside the box, and Lukovic took it. The ball curled in and met Robertson's head, and sailed the way the goalkeeper had just come from, and into the net it went. The halftime whistle was blew, and the Megistians ran into the locker room.

"Great start, lads, but play the ball through Cringan more, as the right-back marking him is slow. I'll not tell you to do anything, it's your game, it's your magic. Attack, defend, you'll decide. After all, you are a favorite to win this, right? So get out there, and come back with a win!" Was Bopertston's speech. The encouragement and motivation the players had after the speech helped them win the game later, but they started the half poorly.

In the 49th minute, a NorraLessian player scored, from a header into the box. Megistos were still up by 1 goal, but the players were tiring, so Bopertston decided to bring on fresh legs with Frett on for Jorgenson, Rardes on for Howard, and Groinisten on for Lukovic, using all of his subs. The new energy caused Megistos to start dominating the match, with a Megistian goal coming in from Robertson in the 74th minute.

The goal was caused by a mistake from a opposition defender, and Lam took advantage of this, and he ran down the field, running past 4 opposition players. The goalkeeper decided to run out of his line, and Lam passed it to Robertson who smashed it into the open goal, and bagged his hat-trick in.

Robertson finished his excellent day with a pass from Cringan into the outside of the box coming to Robertson and he did the first-timer, which sailed over the players and into the top right corner, in the 86th minute.

Norra Lesse 1-4 Megistos
Midfielder 1 49'AHHHHHHHHRobertson 23',
Midfielder 1 49'AHHHHHHHH43', 74' & 86'

by **Squidroidia** » Fri Aug 14, 2020 6:40 am

All My Friends

Europe at the 73rd Baptism of Fire - Matchday 1 Recap and Matchday 2 Preview

Matchday 1 Results

Group A

Praeceptia 5-1 Lovisa
Estadio Tricentenario, Valencia, Valladares

Scorers:
'47 '51 (Praeceptia)
'54 (Praeceptia)
'63 (Praeceptia)
'71 (Praeceptia)
'83 (Lovisa)

Lovisa Lose. That is all.

Group B

Eurasies 1-0 Kencana
Estadio Camilo Mazuera López, Junin, Valadares

Scorers:
'37 (Eurasies)

If Eurasies sounded like a brick wall when it came to defense at first sight, Kencana was, in fact, the brick wall but sturdier. Ultra-defensive like the RLstates club sides you snore to, it was a surprise that Eurasies only slipped 1 past them. This is their 2nd ever competitive win in international football, their first coming in IFC 1.

Group D

Pemecutan 3-4 Squidroidia
Hawks' Nest, Depri Lanar, Chromatika

Scorers:
Kusumawijaya '12 (Pemecutan)
Hoshi '25 '83 (Squidroidia)
Hideo '32 (Squidroidia)
Oka Jaya '61 '78 (Pemecutan)
Toshikuni '89 (Squidroidia)

In the words of famed commentators throughout NationStates and RLStates, I swear you'll never see anything like this (In Squidroidia's case anyways) ever again. Pemecutan would take an early lead through Agus before the light offense (Compared to Pemecutan's +2.17 offense) of the Inklings charged through and got them 2 goals in 7 minutes through their star men. But then, cometh the hour, cometh the day, Pandu Oka Jaya got himself a brace too. Hoshi would level it in the 83rd before, in the dying minutes of regular time, Yoneda Toshikuni slotted the ball into the back of the net, giving Squidroidia yet another win that sends them 2nd in their group.

Matchday 2 Preview

Pluvia and the Saxean Isles vs. Lovisa
Arena Bohemians, Metropolis, Valladares
Prediction - 2-1 Pluvia and the Saxean Isles

Free Republic of Hong Kong vs. Eurasies
Estadio 8 de Octubre, Lierravus, Valladares
Prediction - 2-0 Eurasies

Squidroidia vs Unimon
Warrior's Arena, Knetyohai, Chromatika
Prediction - 1-0 Squidroidia

by **Praeceptia** » Fri Aug 14, 2020 10:42 am

Fun DanceALot Newswire

BREAKING NEWS!

The Tickler
• Man found guilty of having tea party with monkey - Again
• Cursed piano likely to win village show
• Top hats linked to global scare

Politics

• Minister of Truth writes open letter about his fight against hate speech
• Grand Mayor of Ossumastu resigns amid anti-corruption scandal
• ID Chips: How soon for newborn installation?

Sports

• Novus scores 4 for match ball
• Football actually soccer?
• Your guide to Baptism of Fire Television

Praeceptia win first match 5-1! The power of the Iron Fist prevails again!

Today, we interview our Praeceptian warriors after a successful opening match to the Baptism of Fire! We will hear from the courageous Coach Amet, the miraculous Mumu, and finally our favorite person to forget, Arte Mediocris.

"We just wanted it more," Coach Amet had to say on the win, "You can't score if you don't shoot." When asked about the own goal at the end of the match from Fil Tzoounes, Coach Amet claimed "it's a game of two halves." Though Praeceptia overall did very well over the course of the match, there were some stars who looked lack luster. Bibulus seemed burnt out before the end of the first half, Grandis was winded throughout the game, Shijo threw a fit about becoming stronger throughout extra time, and Haud Dubie... Well, he's Haud Dubie. "Should've done better with that one," was all an irate Coach Amet had to say.

The star chimpanzee player of Clava Simia, Muta "Mumu" Fortis, likened the win to his days hanging in the trees with his mates. That is, going clutch and carrying the defense on his back. Classic chimpanzee culture right there. The goal keeper for Praeceptia put in an impressive performance against Lovisa where he collected 12 saves over the course of the match. Such an excellent game surely was not helped by the defense. Neither defender added very much to the team, at least not in terms of athletic performance. There were several fantastic shots of "Crazy Face's" crazy face as he prostrated his body across the ground in hopes of stopping the opposition. Xysticus Grandis for his part ensured we had several long looks at his olympian inspired strength. Undoubtedly 'Thing 1' and 'Thing 2' are exactly what Mumu needs to shine. We asked Mumu to tell us how he really feels. This is what he had to say, "Ee ooo oo. Eek ook ee!" Truly inspiring words from such a dedicated chimp.

Despite Arte Mediocris's failure to score, he is left upbeat and ready for more, "A few inches to either side of the post and it woulda' been a goal," he said as he laughed off the missed chance. "If only I could get within a few inches," Arte added rather abashedly. His game was average overall. Few would scoff at such a performance and yet it was not something to be proud of either. You could say he's mediocre? Despite however we feel about him, Mediocris will go into the next match excited and ready for another chance. He left us with this rousing quote, "You can't make a sandwich out of pita bread."

by **Tikariot** » Fri Aug 14, 2020 1:16 pm

Alistair McIntosh: Genties and ladlemen, uh, one moment.

He gives his head a shake.

McIntosh: Ladies and gentlemen, there we go, welcome to the Firepit, TSG TV's daily coverage of the Baptism of Fire tournament. Matchday 1 is behind us and I'd say we are off to a quite roaring start, aren't we, Martin?

Martin Seagrave: Oh are we ever! Our first opponent, the Free Republic of Hong Kong, was quite free spirited in their defensive efforts, which given the calibre of forwards we have pretty much played right into our cards. But let's hand it over to Cavan Sinclair for a recap of game one.

Cavan Sinclair: The conditions in Lierravus were perfect for football, sunny, a nice breeze and a crowd that was ready to see Baptism of Fire action. There were no surprises in the Tikariot line-up, with Merson in goal, Grimes, Kovalchuk, Coronello and Liniack in defense, McNair, Thorniley and McTierney forming the midfield to feed Nighthorse, Sheffield and Connolly upfront. And from minute one, Team Tikariot tried to build up their offensive formation and it only took six minutes for Jenson McTierney to show why he is considered one of the, maybe even THE hottest prospects in Tikariotian football at this moment. Picking up a stray ball near the centre line, he went straight towards goal, curving around two Hong Kong players, then faking a turn, instead flicking a quick pass outside to Jardel Connolly with the outside of the foot, who anticipated McTierney's run into the box to give it right back and then the youngster sliced it right past the goalie for a great start to the tournament. An unforced error by McTierney, however, was the starting point of one of the very few deeper excursions by the Free Republic into Tikariot territory, allowing them to skip past midfield and give a clear shot that was deflected by the back of Randy Kovalchuk, resulting in a quick equalizer

Despite continued pressure on the Hong Kong goal, Tikariot did not manage to get another score, despite Morris Nighthorse hitting the goal post once and a shot by Rory McNair from 30 metres out skimmed the top of the crossbar. For the second half Stuart Ekstrom brought on Jesse Liljestrand to replace a very inefficient Graydon Sheffield and immediately his presence was felt, as his sheer physicality opened up spaces for his team mates and in the 53rd minute it was Liljestrand that began proceedings for the 2-1 when he robustly outjumped the whole Free Republic defense and laid the ball back to McNair, who did not wait for it to drop, but just took it on the volley and quite frankly, one can be happy that the goalie did not manage to get a hand on that ball, because that could have caused some serious injury. And with this goal pretty much all resistance broke away and Coronello in the 61st and Nighthorse in the 63rd minute made it 4-1 in quick succession. A brief uprising in the 73rd minute that gave the Free Republic a second goal, but only 26 seconds after that Marvin Thorniley surprised the goalie with a lobbed ball that went right over the outstretched hands and into the net and the 6-2 by Connolly in the 78th minute was just a final nail in the opponents' coffin.

McIntosh: Thank you Cavan. So, gentlemen, I think that this is the almost best possible start to the tournament and continues right where we left off at the IFC.

Duncan Haldane: Yes, it was a great opening salvo, which is great for the team confidence. Now McTierney light and shadow, scored a goal, cost us a goal, what's the take on this?

Seagrave: That's the risk when playing a player this young and especially one that will try and do things that nobody expects, but I think that it's good that this happened in a game like this to hopefully click and be more aware that this is a completely different ballgame compared to the league.

McIntosh: I hope so. Another player to look at is Graydon Sheffield, who was taken off at half time. It definitely was not his game and when Jesse Liljestrand came on in the second half, things immediately became a lot more dangerous.

Seagrave: Even though they play the same position, they are very different. Sheffield is dynamic, he can shift and turn around his opponent while Liljestrand is the tank. And he can also hold on to the ball well, so once he has the ball it is extremely hard to get him off it. It was good to see that the team was able to seamlessly switch their game to use him as focal point and require the defense to pull two players to cover him and with that leave spaces for the others.

McIntosh: So for the next game against Wymondham, what would you change, Duncan?

Haldane: For one bring on Liljestrand for Sheffield. He has made such a difference that he deserves a start. Wymondham is playing out of a very dense defense, then a quick switch-up to get Oldham or Andrews into scoring position, but it's this transition that sometimes is giving them some trouble. That being said, they are defensively very sound and with Boris they have a bear in goal, 7 foot 2, this is a tough one to get through.

Seagrave: That's true, but the advantage is that with the exception of James Aaron the defense is fairly slow, which is where we will have to focus on. They are very physical, so another big reason to bring on Liljestrand and with the speed of Nighthorse to go into the holes that he might be able to tear into the back. As long as they don't bulldoze over him. But in case it does not work for him, both Iain Aspinall and Atlas Baxter could very well take over from him. I would not take off Connolly, though, because his willingness to shoot from anywhere could be worth a lot, if the goalie or defense can't get one of those out of the danger zone, then Liljestrand could get to the ball and cause more havoc.

McIntosh: That sounds like a sound plan there. So what is everybody's pick?

Seagrave: 3-1.

Haldane: 2-1.

McIntosh: 3-1 from me as well, I guess we're all d'accord.

Haldane: So let's hope that Wymondham will not prove us all wrong, but you will be able to follow it all live tonight when we will be in Junin in the Estadio Camilo Mazvera Lopez to see, if we can continue our streak!

by **Liberal Democratic Socialist States** » Fri Aug 14, 2020 1:16 pm

“Tioguldof will be a difficult opponent so we hope to win. Our last game was great but this next game is imporant because Tioguldof is good. We will continue to use our long ball style of play but it might hurt us in a way. They will be playing a 4-3-3 and we will be playing a 4-4-2. We also noticed in the last game that our defense was weak which allowed them to score 3 goals against us. If our defense looks weak more times we will have to adopt more offensive tactics at the WC.”

Prediction: Liberal Democratic Socialist States 2-3 Tioguldof

by **Netop** » Fri Aug 14, 2020 1:17 pm

Netop suffer opening loss to The Gothanita Isles

By: Marshall Jeter

Taking on the team that I thought would be first in the group was not the fixture that we had wanted to start out the tournament. This is a young and inexperienced team that up until this point had never played together before. The Gothanita Isles had played in the Mike Sarzo Memorial Tournament and played Poafmersia (a very quality side) twice. They even managed to win one of the two matches and interestingly enough Poafmersia also run a 4-3-3 like us meaning The Gothanita Isles knew exactly what to do against us.

While some believe parking the bus is a poor tactic and is not a way to win games try telling that to the The Gothanita Isles who parked the bus to perfection against us. Better to park the bus than crash the bus I guess. We looked like a team that had never played against anything quite like The Gothanita Isles even if this is the Baptism of Fire. Due to their being no Domestic League in Netop the quality of play in amateur leagues is a lot lower than it could be. We had also as hinted at before never played together in a match and these are some of the many reasons we lost this game.

To give credit to our opponent it's clear they had done their research on our players and the formation that we were running. While it's difficult to gain film on us when we had never played before they knew our formation and knew how to beat it. My colleague over at The Gothanita Isles explained what they did very well. "The weakness of a 4-3-3 formation lies in their lack of midfield control, since the 2 wingers would typically be in front and unable to retreat in time. Our team utilised that weakness, and brought out the playbook that defeated Poafmersia 1-0 - which was to park the bus and rely on counter-attack."

They would strike first in the 37th minute after what had been a pretty dull first 36 minutes. They of course parked the bus against us which didn't lead to many exciting chances. Set pieces which are looking like our Kryptonite early on were what scored them the first goal. Adolf Stenger sent in a corner after Logan Diaz had cleared the ball out of bounds and their number 10 Ladislava Tyler was there to head the opener in. That was extremely poor marking by Heather Burrows who would also be responsible for their second goal.

Speaking of that second goal it was a classic Heather Burrows mistake in the 44th. On a pass from Grigorii McCrory to Abdelkader Kartal she thought that she could get a steal so she tried to dive in but didn't get there in time allowing Kartal to go the rest of the way as Vaughan couldn't get there in time to make the stop. There was nothing Howells could do as he isn't expected to make 1 on 1 saves. While Howells chewed her out, I understand him here as she made two costly mistakes that cost us the game.

Against a defensive team when your down two goals by halftime against a primarily defensive team how do you expect to come back especially with a questionable offense that aren't going to score that many goals? The answer you don't come back as we failed to even register a second half shot on goal against their defensive front which was completely impenetrable.

Coach House after the game was quick to say that Burrows will not be leaving the starting lineup saying "She had a bad game, so what? Everyone has those and I've already talked with her about that. She will come back against TOTEL she's too good to do this two games in a row. She is a starter and will be until I say otherwise end of story."

The current table has us sitting in second to last following our loss but we will be playing last placed TOTEL in our next match. There are six teams and we play five matches so one loss especially against the projected first placed side isn't going to kill us.

Group E                                  Pld   W  D  L   GF  GA  GD  Pts 
1 Mathuvan Union                           1   1  0  0    3   0  +3    3
2 The Gothanita Isles                      1   1  0  0    2   0  +2    3
3 Rangers FC                               1   0  1  0    1   1   0    1
  Southern Palm Islands                    1   0  1  0    1   1   0    1
5 Netop                                    1   0  0  1    0   2  −2    0
6 TOTEL                                    1   0  0  1    0   3  −3    0

As for the lineup, it will remain the same despite Burrows bad play.

http://lineupbuilder.com/?sk=vy9my2

by **Tioguldos** » Fri Aug 14, 2020 1:55 pm

_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________SECTIONS____________________________________Stats_________Schedule_________

^{RED ARMY}

BoF73

THE RED ARMY STARTS WITH A VICTORY

In its first match in the Baptism of Fire 73, the Tiog National Team managed to secure a win. The result was 4-2 against Quebecois Acadiana. With this favorable result, the Red Army ranks second behind Megistos. There are 4 matchdays ahead and expectations begin to grow around this squad that could position itself as one of the favorites of group F.

Schedule

MD1:
Tioguldós 4-2 Quebecois Acadiana
Z'ai'ai Field, Z'ai'ai

MD2:
LDSS - Tioguldós
Jewel Dome, Ming

MD3:
Tioguldós - NorraLesse
Frozen Stadium, Felswyr

MD4:
Se Vende Skooma - Tioguldós
Z'ai'ai Field, Z'ai'ai

MD5:
Tioguldós - Megistos
Jewel Dome, Ming

Krakerue Oxam
14/8/10AR - 15:17
KEM! - BoF73

The matchday 1 of the Baptism of Fire 73 has left the National Team airy and on track. The technical, physical and strategic preparations_ proposed by Gúpder Mebal and his staff have proven to be efficient. The crowd at Z'ai'ai Field witnessed a show by the Tiog players, who_ easily outplayed Quebecois Acadiana with exemplary performances by Nese Niforro, Perda Raom and Mongard. Overwhelming plays,_ accurate shots and a superb marking. The strength of a complete team that presents itself to the world and hopes to grow to fight at the_ top.

The game started with the Tiog midfield dominating the ball. Quebecois Acadiana had difficulties to maintain possession and the Red Army_ knew how to take advantage of it. At 20 minutes into the first half, a long kick from Niforro was unstoppable for the goalkeeper. Fans who_ traveled to Chromatika to support the team jumped in euphoria at their first international goal. At the end of the first half, an amazing_ collective play of 23 passes in which 7 players participated led to a pass between the lines that Jarsosfe Mongard finished off the crossbar_ with force.

After the second half began, the Red Army relaxed. At 15 minutes, Norue Gomospar suffered a blow that could knock him out for the next_ game. A few minutes later came the first goal from Quebecois Acadiana. The defense was disorganized and the goalkeeper could not do_ anything. Given the partial 2-1, Tioguldós reactivated. Mebal urged the team to focus and not lose their cool. At 33 minutes, a penalty_ comitted against Mongard was taken by Perda Raom. The number 10 defined with the calm that characterizes him. The Acadiana Quebecois_ team managed to discount once more, after a cross ball to the box that [REDACTED] scored with a header. Five minutes before the end,_ Perda Raom scored his second goal after a prepared play from a free kick 25 meters from the goal. The final result: 4-2.

The National Team proudly carries the Tiog flag around the world. At Kem! we look forward to seeing more of this team that has given us an_ incredible afternoon at Z'ai'ai. Tonight they will travel to Ming, where they will have to face the Liberal Democratic Socialist States at_ Jewel Dome.

Baptism of Fire 73 - Everything Thread

OTS gets massive 5-1 win in opening BoF game

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