NEPHARA
World Ranking: 2nd
Preferred Formation: 4-4-2
Secondary Formation: 4-3-3
Style Modifier: 0
Home Stadium: The Farham Arena in Sabrefell is reserved for the biggest games, but Nephara is a large enough country that it spreads its matches across the nation.
Kit Supplier: ediraf
Nickname: The Cormorants
Three goals in thirty minutes ensured that this generation of players have at least claimed a trophy, but the side still remembers how the guns fell silent against the Free Republics. There's unfinished business here. Fortunately, Daniella Strauss is well on track to be Nephara's most successful manager in history, has one of its strongest squads in history and has carried them to the highest rank in their history. That said, seemingly the entire side is 28 years old. They only get one tilt at this before the rebuild begins in earnest. No pressure, then...
Overall Record
517 wins - 87 draws - 124 losses
1712 scored - 868 conceded
Trophies
Baptism of Fire 51
Cup of Harmony 61
World Cup 74
Eagle's Cup 5
2 Cope Rushmori - 30, 35
5 Campionati Esportiva - 6, 8, 10, 15 and 18
Only the second nation in history to achieve the 'Triple Crown' of WCC titles - represented by three stars on the crest.
Second in footballing ability only to 6PupperFunnerRunnies.
I Give My Opponent Permission To:
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Choose My Goalscorers: Y*
Godmod Goalscoring Events: N
Injure Players: Y**
Godmod Injury Events: N
Red Card Players: Y***
Yellow Card Players: Y
Godmod Other Events: N
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* Moxham takes most set pieces, including penalties.
** I'll have the final say on how long the player will be out, but feel free to make them look severe as you want.
*** One per match.
Tactics
Nepharan football is based around playing hard, pressing aggressively, playing for keeps. Occasionally this leaves gaps behind the high defensive line, though most Nepharan goalkeepers are in the sweeping mould these days to compensate. Marchers are, by and large, a physically imposing folk, and eager to throw their size around. The footballing culture is intensely competitive, and those that survive to make their way to the top are hellbent on winning at any cost. Elbows to the face. Subtle digs in the ribs. Diving is dishonest when opponents do it but streetwise when Nepharim do it. In short, Nephara are the bully from two years above who picked you, specifically, out as a natural target.
That is often the foreign perspective, but it overlooks a key fact; Nepharan football can honestly be beautiful to watch. Generations of players brought up on dry plains or asphalt play the ball quickly and fearlessly along the ground, never sideways when there's a forward option open, always looking to stretch and probe and stay one really good pass away from a goal. Nepharim are undoubtedly physical, even cynical, but their success has been built off the backs of ruthless, fast-paced passing football.
Most of the time, Nephara will muster in a 4-4-2, but are prepared to put an extra body in midfield when the battle for control is being lost.
The Godhead
For home matches, and during international tournaments, Nephara wheels out the 'Godhead', a giant boulder with an eerie resemblance to Gethin Ramsey, first manager of the Cormorants in the modern era and by now long dead. Nepharim have a superstitious streak, and while nobody's saying it is, in fact, the mystic reincarnation of their most iconic leader, nobody's quite not saying it, either. The Godhead is traditionally 'walked' to the stadium by Nepharim ultras using an intricate series of ropes, and often a flare is wedged into its 'mouth' to simulate a smoking cigar.
Staff
Manager - Daniella Strauss - Age 52
Assistant Manager - Ivy Herrick - Age 43
A former striker, Strauss has never done it at a truly big club - but then, the obvious candidates tend to fail for Nephara. Strauss turned a terrible Corvette side into a credible Premiership outfit for a time, and started to revitalise Southfell United before the Cormorants came calling. Unusually for Nepharim, she likes to keep ahold of the ball, but likes to play quick, aggressive football, with a high line choking the opposition. Monica Brightwater has hung up her proverbial boots; Strauss is now master, she requires an apprentice. So she's stolen the irascible Herrick, who believes herself to be something like fifteen years older after a stint greasy churning in Bonesea, an undoubted hard woman with a keen tactical mind.
Goalkeepers
Core
1 - GK - Hesterine Mercator ( Ulsa) - Age 32 - 101 caps, 33 clean sheets
Narrow-shouldered and rather horse-faced, Mercator carries the hopes of Nephara's... present. She's outspoken on and off the pitch, unafraid to give referees and defenders alike a piece of her mind. A sharp, acrobatic shot-stopper, a little weak in the air.
12 - GK - Alexandra Markgraf ( Sabrefell Moths) - Age 26 - 1 cap
Already well-travelled, Markgraf is making her mark as an athletic, agile shot-stopper, the kind of goalkeeper who can fly into the top corner and flick the ball over the top in a single fluid motion. There is an error in her game every now and again, but her skill will soon catch up to her confidence.
20 - GK - Aranea Provost ( Holdenberg) - Age 23 - 10 caps, 8 clean sheets
Anyone with any sense has their eye on Provost. She's sharp, spry, with the height and deceptive power to command her area, and only getting better year on year. She broke through at Brookford, playing every minute across a successful season, and is now winning a place at Holdenberg.
Defenders
2 - RB - Rovena Stride ( AFC Treason) - Age 25 - 62 caps, 5 goals
Stride's surname is apt. She's fast; very fast, and just gets the simple things right. All of them at once, racing upfield for overlapping runs to lash in raking low crosses, before tracking back at full speed to put in a crunching sliding tackle. A world-class player.
3 - LB/CB - Cedella Verlander ( AFC Corvistone) - Age 26 - 9 caps
Why draft a centre-half to fill the gap left by an attacking fullback? Verlander can do double duty, and probably has the wits to play in a holding midfield role, too. Snaps into challenges with aplomb, and can count on pace as a major virtue.
5 - CB - Roxelana Thorn ( Revolutionaries, c) - Age 29 - 118 caps, 7 goals
Tall, decisive and muscular, Thorn throws herself fearlessly into any challenge to keep the ball out of her net. The art of defending - the joy of defending - is not lost, not as long as Thorn is here. She has grown into a truly world-class defender, and is currently an inspirational captain.
6 - CB - Ilyana Brosch ( Brinemouth) - Age 30 - 97 caps, 7 goals
A tall, grave figure, with a dense web of tattoos. Brosch doesn't really get angry. She just stares. It's worse, somehow. She's an uncompromising defender who sticks tight to her task, and is growing increasingly confident in possession. Has a telepathic understanding with Thorn, honed over many years and tournaments.
18 - RB - Linde Rostock ( Stahlburg City) - Age 24 - 16 caps, 1 goal
A diminutive youth who slotted in naturally to a fullback position, Rostock took that training and then grew into a lean, powerful 5'8" frame. She's got an easy sharpness on the ball backed up by a brutal physicality where she has to. Defensively, she's peerless. Going forward, perhaps, slightly uninspired. But she's a top-class player in the making.
19 - LB - Bremusa Strassman ( Crisisbless) - Age 25 - 8 caps, 1 goal
A composed, mature fullback who has had to bide her time to get the nod for her club, but has found a relative flood of caps recently. The major beneficiary of Vivica Muscadin's injury and Sander Katarec's lack of form, she will hope to lay down a marker for cycles going forward.
22 - CB - Gabriel Lockheed (AFC Treason) - Age 28 - 39 caps, 2 goals
Lockheed is a powerhouse, someone who was on no lists of future greats until injuries at the Stags thrust him into the firing line and he stood up flawlessly to the task. He combines physicality with intelligence and no small mastery of the dark arts.
Midfielders
4 - HM - Tawny Shone ( Sabrefell Moths) - Age 29 - 106 caps, 7 goals
A true street-scrapper, from the hard part of Sabrefell. That reflects in her play, uncompromising and full-throttle despite her relatively small size, scampering around and committing niggling fouls.and sneaky ankle-taps. She's far more than a destroyer, though, and that becomes clear the moment she glides onto the ball and picks out a perfect pass from range.
7 - RM/AM - Marica Kuepper ( Jungle Strike) - Age 29 - 76 caps, 23 goals
Nepharan wingers do not generally have a reputation for flair - nevertheless, here the mercurial Marica Kuepper is, combining the traditional lightning pace, general bittiness and ability to handle herself in a scrap with the... let's be honest, arrogance required to really like humiliating her markers. Her versatility allows her to play in pretty much any advanced midfield role.
8 - CM - Lothaire Cromwell ( AFC Treason) - Age 23 - 19 caps, 5 goals
Cromwell has serious potential, the kind of player whose statistical multi-scale radar looks like a circle. He held down the midfield for the U21s and can certainly play that role, but at heart he needs to run, and room to run forward into the box at the perfect moment. He's tall, strong, fast, he'll brawl, he can pick out a pass, and he's a leader in the making.
11 - LM - Morena Deventer ( Brinemouth) - Age 28 - 81 caps, 26 goals
Deventer's got a real sense of mischief about her. She's a trouble-maker, at least on the pitch. Maybe a little off it. But her impish goblin grin conceals a brilliant football intelligence, which brings the best from her considerable technique and pace. Somewhat lightweight, and has a slight tendency to overthink things at this stage.
13 - RM - Ysabet Belgrade ( Sabrefell Moths) - Age 22 - 8 caps, 3 goals
A combative firebrand on and off the pitch, Belgrade really just wants to make trouble. Bad things happen to defenders when she's involved. Relentless when taking on defenders and making surging, violent runs that slam into opposing defences and scatter opponents in their wake.
15 - HM - Mercurio Kastriot ( Crisisbless) - Age 28 - 38 caps
While Kastriot is a boxy, scrappy bruiser of a man, he's known as one of the Premiership's most progressive, oddly elegant defensive midfielders in possession. He will use any and all tricks to stop the opponent dead in their tracks, and knows just about every way to kill a game.
16 - LM - Rasmus Caracole ( Coret Hawks) - Age 25 - 13 caps, 4 goals
Smart, rangy and frictionless, Caracole's the thinking man's winger. He can occasionally hesitate a little too long, but the payoff tends to be worth it; that ball is going precisely where it's needed to. He's a quiet sort, but a tireless worker.
21 - CM - Chimera Moxham ( Spartangrad) - Age 30 - 129 caps, 52 goals
Aren't playmakers meant to be classy? Moxham isn't. She's arrogant, but not in an elegant way, she just always believes she knows the right thing to do, on and off the pitch. Perhaps annoyingly, she's usually right. Decision-making can be a bit flaky, but she has the pace, the eye for goal and even the defensive workrate to make up for it.
Forwards
9 - ST - Kurtis Bastable ( Ulsa) - Age 28 - 86 caps, 52 goals
A sturdy figure with a low centre of gravity, immense strength and resilience, a deceptive change of pace and an unerring eye for goal, Bastable has emerged as the natural successor to Estrella Hawke, though he's less versatile in his skillset and better with the ball at his feet.
10 - ST - Konrad Lovelace ( Revolutionaries) - Age 26 - 47 caps, 25 goals
'The new Estrella Hawke', according to excitable headlines that don't pay attention to anything that matters. They're both from Starling, they're both strikers, they're both athletic, they're both good. Thus far, Lovelace lacks a real dimension besides blistering pace, football intelligence and a ruthless finish - and also lacks a right boot. But he can still do the damage.
14 - ST - Arista Tzorvas ( CA Paulinthal) - Age 28 - 32 caps, 16 goals
Tzorvas has been around in her time, and swayed in and out of international reckoning. Regardless, she appears to have timed her run well. When high on confidence, and of late she's been high on confidence, Tzorvas combines top-quality athleticism with ruthless finishing, a generally strong all-rounder up front.
17 - ST - Latona Basilisk ( Coret Hawks) - Age 22 - 6 caps, 4 goals
Former Young Galactico Basilisk is self-assured to the point of parody, right to the point of having made 'Basilisking' - purported to be her petrifying stare one-on-one with goalkeepers - not only part of her brand, but trademarked. So you'd better believe it matters to say: she's very nearly as good as she thinks she is.
23 - RW/ST - Traudl Mrdja ( Vermillion Rage) - Age 23 - 8 caps, 4 goals
Rangy and raw-boned, a part of Mrdja still can't believe she's come this far. She made her name by simply being fearless on a local side in Rochford that had cause to fear most anyone. A player of relentless energy who relishes the chance to press hard and early.
ABBREVIATED ROSTER
Goalkeepers: 1 - Hesterine Mercator (Ulsa, EUR), 12 - Alexandra Markgraf (Sabrefell Moths), 20 - Aranea Provost (Holdenberg, EUR)
Defenders: 2 - Rovena Stride (AFC Treason), 3 - Cedella Verlander (AFC Corvistone), 5 - Roxelana Thorn (Revolutionaries, EUR, c), 6 - Ilyana Brosch (Brinemouth), 18 - Linde Rostock (Stahlburg City), 19 - Bremusa Strassman (Crisisbless), 22 - Gabriel Lockheed (AFC Treason)
Midfielders: 4 - Tawny Shone (Sabrefell Moths), 7 - Marica Kuepper (Jungle Strike, VIL), 8 - Lothaire Cromwell (AFC Treason), 11 - Morena Deventer (Brinemouth), 13 - Ysabet Belgrade (Sabrefell Moths), 15 - Mercurio Kastriot (Crisisbless), 16 - Rasmus Caracole (Coret Hawks), 21 - Chimera Moxham (Spartangrad, EUR)
Forwards: 9 - Kurtis Bastable (Ulsa, EUR), 10 - Konrad Lovelace (Revolutionaries, EUR), 14 - Arista Tzorvas (CA Paulinthal, PAS), 17 - Latona Basilisk (Coret Hawks), 23 - Traudl Mrdja (Vermillion Rage)