Copa Rushmori 36 [RPs/rosters/scores]

[Sargossa]

It was frustration, pure and simple. Frustration that tore through this squad with a power that burned with the heat of a thousand stars. Ok, that may be overselling it a little but there was certainly a simmering sense of irk. Irk that lingered from the disappointing end to the Cup of Harmony campaign. The bruising semi-final loss to Krytenia had been a huge slap in the face. The third place playoff defeat to an inferior Sylestone side had been a kick right to a fallen nation’s unmentionables.

The Cup of Harmony had come around very quickly for new coach Brian McAllister, the squad had almost been picked for him. The Copa Rushmori was to be a chance for McAllister to make his own mark, but instead the Tikariotian had elected to keep faith with the same group of players who had been so stung in Sylestone. Hoping perhaps to channel that sense of irk into a series of impressive performances. Charruterra and Southwest Eastnorth had been duly swept aside, helped in no small part by the local support provided by the good citizens of Fort Viljan towards the Tikariotian in the Sargossan dugout. Mytanija, with that irritating stubborn streak so inherent in their cultural makeup, were proving much more unwilling to be duly swept aside.

McAllister cut a frustrated figure, perched on the edge of his dugout with arms folded firmly across his chest. Technically this game was a dead rubber, both nations already assured of advancing into the knockout stages. But this was the coach’s first return to his homeland since leaving his own national side and he was determined that his new side would make an impression. If only the opposition would play ball.

Sadly the Mytanars do play ball, very well. They may dip in and out of international competition but their quality always remains. The Corsairs have just a single win to their name against Mytanija, back at the twenty second Copa in Qusmo so history was not in our favour. Nor was the run of the game. The Mytanars were soaking up pressure with ease and, through Boris Kalinic, had missed the chance of the match. It appeared that three points were there for Lev Repin and his side to reach out and take. He made ambitious changes, introducing both Vlahovic and Andrijasevic in a double switch with only one intent. Repin grasped for the win, tripped and fell on his face. As his charges drove forward they were caught on the break. Martínez and Fonseca combining smartly to find substitute Mauricio Sainz in dangerous territory with Mytanar players caught out at the wrong end of the pitch. Sainz drew a challenge from Mojmir Anac before slipping a pass through to Agustín Soria. The youngster showed a coolness that belied his years to beat Kasun with a devilishly bent shot into the corner.

McAllister punched the air in triumph. He’d repeat the gesture fifteen minutes later to greet the final whistle too. It had been a poor performance but it had been a winning performance, one that had been rewarded with a fixture seeped in historical resonance. Sargossa will face Valladares for the seventeenth time. The Corsairs trail their opposition by six wins to the Valladars seven, which includes an 8 – 1 thumping we simply won’t be talking about, but Valladares squeaked through the group stage with a final day win over Yuezhou. While Sargossa advanced with a record only bettered by Pasarga and Cassadaigua. Brian McAllister will be hoping that this irk-induced form, coupled with a little more of that local support shown by the Fort Viljan faithful, will be enough to see the Corsairs passed their foes of old.

[Mytanija]

Part 1
Part 2
Part 3
Part 4
Part 5
Part 6

“So basically everything he mentions corresponds with what Tosic said?” Elena’s editor asked, briefly glancing up from the thick sheaf of letters he had been reading.

“Yeah, all of it. The motion sensors, the old window frame, they talk about all of it. Luka confirmed it all.” Elena replied. She was stood, looking out the window of the Gazeta Mytanija offices across Esca, back towards the centre of the city where the museum was located. She knew that the detail perhaps wasn’t there in the letters, but to even be able to hint at the facts of the case you had to have something to base those hints on. Whoever it was sending the letters either had to be involved in the theft of the artwork or the investigation of the theft. They were alluding to the exact method employed to take the pieces and they were sending the letters to the Gazeta Mytanija reporter who had originally broken the news of the crime. It was either the person behind the heist or – Elena didn’t like to think about the second possibility too much – someone who was trying to fuck with her.

“I sincerely hope this isn’t someone from the Policija or the museum trying to play a bit of a prank…” The editor said, brow furrowed, deep in thought as he read through the letters for what must have been the hundredth time.

“I know. I hope not too. But every time I think about that I come back to the same thing,” Elena said as she turned away from the window and leant back against the ledge that ran across the bottom of it. “Why would anybody want to do that? If it was someone at the museum and they got found out trying to prank us about that crime I’m absolutely sure that Luka Tosic would fire them straight away. He got rid of one of the security guards for not following protocol when the art was stolen. If it was someone from the Policija that’s involved in the investigation then they could be put in front of a court for leaking evidence.”

“True.” The editor said, looking up at her and stroking his chin. “I thought that too, but there’s just always a bit of doubt there. I’m also not sure why this guy would reveal himself like this. He surely knows that we’ll have to send the information to the Policija eventually and there’s a fair amount of detail about his past in the letters. Someone will be able to identify him if we or the Policija published them.”

“I know.” Elena said, moving away from the window and into the seat next to the editor, taking the letters out of his hands and leafing through them as she tried to find a specific page. “But I think that’s the point. You can see it there for yourself, look.” She stopped, finding the page she wanted and pointing.

“‘For my masterpiece’…” The editor read from where Elena pointed.

“His masterpiece. He thinks this is the biggest and best heist he has been involved in. He’s proud of it. I think he wants to make sure people know that he pulled it off, he’s probably seen some of the newspaper reports in some of the other rags – there’s people praising him for putting a rocket up the establishment’s backside and that’s without even having read the letters he’s sent us!”

“That’s a fair point, but even if that’s the case I’m not sure he’d want to get caught.”

“We’ve had this conversation back-and-forth so many times boss and I can never decide myself either, but I’ve lost count of the amount of times you’ve flipped your opinion on whether it’s the guy who did it or not.” Elena said, laughing a little hollowly.

“I know, I know.” The editor replied. “I just don’t want to run a story on this and it turn out to be a hoax. It’d be bad for me, it’d be bad for you and the cops would hate us. It’s a difficult one to make a decision on, in all honesty.”

“I get that, but it all matches up. I think it is the guy behind it and I think you do as well. If we publish the letters we could even tell the cops and put it across that we’re helping their investigation by getting the letters out into the public domain. We can start a national manhunt, everybody would be buying a paper to read the letters and like you said, someone would be able to identify who it is.”

“They could get a lot of bad information too.” Her editor replied. “It’s a tough call Elena, I hope you realise that. I’m not just being a dick here.”

“No, I understand, I just really think this is the real deal here. It doesn’t make sense to me for it to be a hoax and as far as we know the cops have nothing. They might welcome us putting the letters out there and getting new information.”

“They could…” The editor was back to stroking his chin again, deep in contemplation. “We can’t sit on the letters forever whatever we do. We’ll have to give them to the Policija at some point.” He said pensively.

“Exactly. So give them the letters and tell them we’ll be publishing them and if they complain about it then tell them they haven’t exactly covered themselves in glory so far with the investigation.”

“If they tell us not to publish it because it is potential evidence then we can’t publish it Elena, it’s as simple as that.” Her editor said. “And to be honest, nobody has covered themselves in glory here, the museum’s security measures were a mess and the cops have been useless too. I don’t want to add us to that mess.”

“You won’t be, boss. If there’s a public interest in publishing the evidence then we can do so and there most definitely is in these letters.”

“The cops would take us to court to try and get an injunction to block the publication of the letters.”

“For fuck’s sake, show some conviction here boss, I’m not sure what else I can do to convince you here. You told me to go and speak to Tosic and find out if the stuff in the letter matched what happened and he told us it did. You were positive about doing something about this when you sent me there so what has changed?”

“Well,” The editor side, taking his glasses off and rubbing his eyes. “I spoke to the board after I sent you and explained about the letters and the story we were thinking of going with, you know, publish the letters in their full form and the whole ‘whodunnit?’ headline and all the rest of it. They just said to make sure we know what we’re doing and that if it came to losing a court case it’d be my head on the line.” He explained, putting his glasses on before looking directly at Elena. “And yours. So we have to be one hundred percent sure of this.”

“Oh.” Elena’s body turned cold. The stakes were a little bit higher than she expected. She hadn’t expected the board to come down on it as hard as that, newspapers printed incorrect information all the time and they were slapped on the wrist. Usually they were required to write an apology, but it was always in miniscule font, stuffed away somewhere between the obituaries, horoscopes and advertisements for dodgy goose harnesses. She hadn’t heard of anybody getting fired for those sort of things, especially not the actual editor of any of those papers.

“Yeah, ‘oh’.” The editor said. “We have to be pretty fucking certain of everything with this one and we have to be sure that if it goes to court that we’ll not have an injunction put on us, nor have to pay the cops’ court fees. I can just imagine those lot if we lost, they’d have a field day when the case was closed and they were allowed to put it out that they’d blocked a story in my paper which could have jeopardised their investigation.”

“They’re bastards.” Elena said. “Have you not spoke to legal about it? What do they think?”

“I’ve gone one better and spoke to a friend of mine. He’s a judge.” The editor replied, smirking. “He reckons that it would depend who we’d get on the day. Some people see the heist as an affront to Mytanar society, taking those pieces of art. They want them found as soon as possible. Get someone like that and they’d find a way of reading the law that would make it the public interest to publish the letters.”

“Well there you go then,” Elena said hopefully. “That’s good isn’t it?”

“Yeah. It is. But there’s also people who believe that we have to follow the Policija’s advice and that evidence like this could hamper the investigation or lead to potential false confessions. People wanting to gain a bit of notoriety, whatever. Evidently we know that this must be someone who knows about the heist right now because this information isn’t publicly available, once we release it then god only knows how many people would be trying to own up and claim it is as their masterpiece too.”

It wasn’t difficult to see the problem. Elena didn’t particularly fancy losing her job either and as much as her editor could be a pain in the arse she wouldn’t want him to risk his at the same time, he could be a good guy when he wanted to be. On the other hand she was extremely confident about the story. She just had a feeling about it. She had felt it from near enough the beginning, when one of the first letters arrived. She couldn’t explain it, but it just felt right, it just felt as if this was somebody trying to get their story out – they wanted people to know that they had done this. And everybody knew that the cops had been useless. It could kill two birds with one stone and make Elena, her editor and the Gazeta look triply good. A great story with lots of papers sold and helping the investigation of four of Mytanija’s most important artworks? It sounded fantastic, but it’d have to work out that way. They’d be in the dole queue if it didn’t.

“Is there anything I can do so we can be clearer on whether we want to go for it or not, boss?” Elena offered. He looked at her, before looking down at the letters sat in Elena’s hands.

“No.” He said with certainty, his voice was suddenly harder, almost determined. “I’ve not been working at this newspaper for over thirty years to play things safe. We’re gonna do it. We’ll send the letters to the cops first and then we’ll publish them for the morning paper tomorrow. Ring the cops first and tell them what we’re planning to do and that we’ll send them copies of the letters and the story before it’s published.”

“Wow,” Elena laughed, she hadn’t expected that particular about turn. “Alright boss. I’ll get started on something.”

“Make copies of absolutely everything Elena. I mean everything, all of the letters, the envelopes he used to post them. Everything. Try to back them up on a USB too, we need to have it all in case they come to try and seize things before publication. Knowing those lot they won’t even wait until a court case, they’ll come and block us from doing it and wait for the court decision later.”

“Yeah, absolutely boss, I will do.” Elena said, turning to face the computer on her desk.

“Oh and Elena, one more thing.” The editor said, causing Elena to spin back around in her chair to face him. “Whatever you write about all this, make sure that it’s fucking good.”

[Eura]

The Emplor Editorial
SOLID START FOR SHARP AND HIS NEW EURA

Ten goals scored, seven points from nine available, and progress to the knock out stages. It wasn't a perfect start for Eura by any means, but Lee Sharp has reasons to be cheerful about his side and their performance in the Copa Rushmori group stage.

Eura were clear favourites in Group G, drawn against Bleronia, Taeshan and Plane of Possibility. However the Copa has proved an elusive competition for Eura most years, with only three championships to their name despite having been one of the top sides in the region for most of the tournament's thirty five previous editions. The lesson from that history is that the Copa is not a tournament that can be taken for granted. Eura's opener against Bleronia, the long awaited first match of Lee Sharp's reign, encapsulated this perfectly. A full strength Eura featuring all of its main stars, led by a national hero in front of a roaring and overwhelmingly Euran crowd, went behind in the sixth minute against the undaunted, unranked Bleronians. Marak Farangolli looked almost shocked to have given his side the lead with an outstretched boot to meet a Nik Aletho cross, left with plenty of space by new Euran centreback pairing Jack Menard and Dean Steele. A bad start.

Despite their historic consistency, Eura don't always make things easy for themselves. They almost conceded a second when Lucy Almwood, a prodigy and the new starting left back, gifted the ball to Farangolli outside the box. The striker took advantage and drove forwards, let loose from twelve yards, and was spectacularly unlucky that Kevin Belgrave managed to fling a foot out in just the right place to deflect the shot wide of the post. Sharp, like Michael Brandon before him, is a normally composed character, but was visibly agitated by his Eurans start to the game. Words were had at the sidelines and with the help of captain Monica Rowland, playing her one hundredth game for Eura, the new manager was able to knock heads together and shake Eura out of their slumber. Passes began to connect and opportunities arose. By half time Eura were 2-1 up, goals from Brian Bond and Moira Woakes giving them the advantage. After half time Damion Bowman scored a quick brace to make it 4-1, before Dhimiter Ollari pulled a goal back. In the end, goals from Steele and Vincent Robshaw secured a 6-2 win.

Having avoided a slip up in the opening game Eura then faced the key showdown of the group against Taeshan, former Copa champions themselves and traditionally one of the dark horses for the tournament. To beat Taeshan you need to get behind their deep and nigh-on immovable defence, and thankfully Eura have become accustomed to doing just that. A painfully slow first forty minutes almost stretched the starting state of a goalless draw to half time, only for Rhys Griffiths to clip a deft twenty yard shot into the top left hand corner from nothing. Griffiths' deadlock breaking strike allowed Eura to relax going into the second half and forced the defensively minded Taeshan to come out of their shell in search of an equaliser, in a game they desperately needed to get at least a point from. Eura ratcheted up the pressure as the Taeshani game plan unraveled, and took advantage mid-way through the second half, Bowman earning a "clever" (some might call it soft) penalty that Bond dispatched with aplomb. He now stands on an unprecedented 97 goals in 117 international appearances.

Taeshan did not give in easily and to the frustration of every Euran in the stadium, they quickly found a way back into the game. A dangerous cross was dealt with poorly and the Eurans once again conceded from such a situation, this time Alma Watts unfortunately diverting the ball past her own keeper. Eura switched to a 4-4-2 in an effort to finish off the game and thankfully succeeded. AFC Treason stalwart John Fletcher found the net with a powerful header from the cross of club teammate and fellow substitute Bobby Malone. Taeshan got another goal back late on, but too late to influence the result; Eura were on six points and heading to the next round. Sharp was now afforded the luxury of rotating his side for the last group game which he duly did. An entirely new eleven took to the field against Plane of Possibility and although their performance was underwhelming - an Isaac Tomlinson goal spared the Eurans blushes in a 1-1 draw - it did feature some good performances, and demonstrated that Sharp has some depth to play with in this Euran team.

[Mavinet]

© Đại Hòa Times
National Council approves non-military support for Yuezhou’s resistance
by Hà Duy Mạnh

In a 146-104 vote, the National Council yesterday approved a spending bill to provide non-military supports to the resistance movements in Yuezhou. The resistance, including the seceded provinces of Nanhai, Jiangdong, Sangau, and newly-formed activist groups within area still controlled by the government in Yincheng, has recently grown in intensity as a result of a military coup by the Yuezhou’s People Army (YPA). Yuezhou’s previous leader, Premier Ren Qiang, was overthrown by the YPA after the latter decided that the way Ren’s government were dealing with the secessionist crisis at hand was ineffective.

Since the coup, the military government have started a brutal campaign to exert control on the population and the country through the suppression of civil liberties and stronger actions on the seceded provinces. The illegal overthrow of the government by the YPA has prompted an outbreak of protests across the country. Despite the peaceful nature of the demonstrations, the military government have responded in force, arresting hundreds of people and reportedly have executed several activists without trials.

The latest bill passed by the National Council is consistent with a series of strong actions taken by the People’s State. Previously, Mavinet’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs had issued an official statement on the situation in Yuezhou, condemning the actions of the YPA as “illegal” and “flagrant”, and expressing that Mavinet will stand in solidarity with the democratic forces in Yuezhou. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs had also cut diplomatic ties to Yuezhou and expelled all Yuezhou’s diplomats in the country.

The spending bill will authorize the executive branch to provide non-military supports to the resistance in Yuezhou, including humanitarian aids, donations for activist groups, and economic recovery funds for the heavily affected regions of Yuezhou. The National Council did not discuss the possibility of further military actions in Yuezhou, but a few Nationalist Party members have said that such possibility is “not out of the question”.

Opinions to the bill within the legislature have been divided, although a majority of the Representatives agreed that actions need to be taken to prevent the spread of authoritarianism in the region. The ruling Nationalist Party, along with their coalition partners from the People’s Voice Party unanimously backed the bill. The Majority Leader, Representative Nguyễn Duy Hưng, said that “Mavinet need to step up to show that it is intolerant to any attacks on liberties, whether domestic or abroad” and further commented that “inaction in this case would mean complicity”.

On the other side, the Social Democratic Party formed much of the opposition to the bill, citing the imperialist intention of it. Minority Leader Phạm Chí Nhân attacked the Nationalist Party’s ultimate goal of proposing the bill, which he described as an “disgusting opportunistic calculation in the guise of freedom and democracy”. Most left-wing Representatives generally disapprove of supporting the separatists, while other “No” voters disagreed on the usefulness of the actions proposed by the bill.

“Without any military actions, the supports proposed by the bill won’t make any difference in the crisis at Yuezhou. The military government is unlikely to be deterred by Mavinet’s support for the rebels. The money is better spent elsewhere.” Representative Trần Trung Hiếu of Phúc Châu said.

With the passing of the bill, the Chancellor is expected to meet his cabinet to discuss the exact details of the plan to support the resistance in Yuezhou.

---

MD3

MAVINET - 5
25’, 90+2’ Ho Vu Thanh Hoang
31’, 63’ Vo Thanh Hai
80’ Mai Trung Hai (sub for Trinh Hoai Linh)

NEPHARA - 5
14’ Koerner
51’ Lovelace
68’ Moxham
73’ Bastable
86’ Mrdja

Ro16's lineup
Hoang Trung (GK) / Khang Anh (LB), Hung Dung (CB), Van Thao (CB), Van Hau (RB) / Tri Thong (DM), Hoai Linh (CM), Hoang Minh (AM) / Tien Linh (LW), Thanh Hoang (RW) / Thanh Hai (ST).

[Graintfjall]

With so much attention on the Copa Rushmori, you’d be forgiven for thinking Græntfjall was entirely given over to matters of the body, but those of the mind get a fair hearing too. In fact, tonight, only a couple of hours before the fate of the national football team is decided, the shortlist for the Hartvigsson Prize, the leading national literary award, was announced. For those seeking some light reading while they wait for the football results, here’s a brief précis of the contenders.

The War of the Changing Winds by David Ingimundsson
Evocative historical epic set during the Counter-Reformation. Early modern Græntfjall is a land of sharply divided loyalties, as a young Catholic noblewoman begins a secret romance with a Protestant merchant boy. Can their love survive the flames ripping families apart? No, because in the end a kraken eats them.

Descendants of Thor by Bendicht Nolansson
The fourth volume in a long-running family saga tracing the travails of a particular Græntfjaller farming community through the ages. Battling to eke out a living herding on the austere, windswept southern plains, each new generation struggles to overcome adversity in the face of grinding poverty, but proves that eternal values of love and friendship will survive no matter what, until they all get eaten by a kraken.

Nights at the Lagoon by Henriette Sæmundsdóttir
A powerful new entry from a writer famed for her dense feminist symbology and complex language, this chilling work of horror puts a twist on classic Gothic tropes, updated for a more modern age. A suitably diverse group of young adults investigate, disbelieving, rumors of strange events in a local cave system. As they delve into the mysteries at the heart of the caves they start to see reflections of themselves in the ancient folklore. But then they all get eaten by a kraken.

Blue Twin, White Twin by Skuld Fardhesdóttir
“Raw, emotional, devastating…a writer at the top of her game.”
“A searing indictment of the failings of the modern state.”
“Captivating language does not blunt the impact of the plaintive social critique.”
“Riveting and dense. Keeps you enthralled right up to the part where a kraken eats them.”

City of Forever by Franziska Ingibergsdóttir
A darkly comic genre mash-up, cyberpunk body horror meets country house detective mystery in this debut novel that has taken the publishing world by storm. A jaded detective meets a sharp-tongued femme fatale. The year? 2329. The place? Mars. Only by decoding an android’s dying words will a sinister conspiracy that spans galaxies be revealed, as a cast of scheming plotters and double-crossers, none of whom are really what they say they are, gather for the grand denouement. Unfortunately they are then all immediately eaten by a kraken.

It should be noted that certain plot devices common to much Græntfjaller literature have led to its generally poor marketability overseas.

Cutoff for Ro16 games in Tikariot.

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Falkyr 0–0 Mytanija (0–0 AET) (3–5 pen.)
Sargossa 4–1 Valladares
Yuezhou 5–3 Nacaltora
Pasarga 2–2 Savojarna (2–3 AET)

Quarterfinals:

Sargossa v Mytanija
Savojarna v Yuezhou

[Hispinas]

ES | EN | EU | FIL

Hispinas' PREMIER sports magazine!

All's well that ends well?
Despite hatred for each other, Medrano and Morea have their squads progress from the Group Stages

PORT RHOVANYON, TIKARIOT - We are used to see Alfonzo Medrano and Marguerita Morea exchange their opinions of each other in all sorts of media including social media, but despite the two not being the best of friends off the pitch, they were able to do their jobs and lead their respective squads out of the group stages on their international tournament debuts.

The Hispinas senior squad managed to not rely on the result between Savojarna and hosts Tikariot in the group stage as Cordovan Chia managed to blast his free kick into the back of the Crystalline Caverns' net in the 67th minute and secure their first ever knockout phase appearance, The Savojars who gave them a 5-0 blackeye in the first match also scraped through the group stage as they progressed to the Round of 16 despite taking a 2-0 loss against the Snowy Owls, and eliminate the hosts in the process. Many have thought that Hispinas was done for after the 5-0 loss, but two 1-0 victories have given Medrano a chance to show the Rushmori audience his knack for attacking football when they go across the border to take on Mavinet in the Optifone Arena in Graintfjall.

Meanwhile, the Under-18 team managed by his archrival Morea had a more comfortable route to the Round of 16, culminating in a 6-0 shellacking of Rwekazaland on the final matchday to secure the top spot in Group D. Despite employing a more defensive formation and playstyle, the Young Sealions were able to pick apart their opponents, including a first-half hattrick for Oro Noyola who was preferred this time for Txeru Segura who made an appearance in the second half and scored his own hattrick after coming on at the 64th minute. They stay in Chromatika for the Round of 16 match against Baker Park who has a formidable youth system.

The two managers may have contrasting tactics and demeanor towards each other, but they can be relied on in times of need and have done well to represent the nation in their own right.

[Tikariot]

Cassadaigua 4–2 Plane of Possibility
Hispinas 0–0 Mavinet (1–0 AET)
Nephara 7–2 Græntfjall
Eura 3–1 Rea San Vegas

Quarter finals:
Cassadaigua - Hispinas
Nephara - Eura

[Mytanija]

Part 1
Part 2
Part 3
Part 4
Part 5
Part 6
Part 7

“They’re doing fucking what?” Dario Lajic spluttered. He’d been woken up a mere forty-five minutes into his usual six hours sleep and wasn’t in the best of moods when his wife passed him the phone across their bed. The news he’d just heard didn’t do anything to improve his mood either. Gazeta Mytanija and their editor had been a thorn in his side for a long time, constantly putting out stories about his police department’s ineptitude and complaining about their inability to solve important cases in the Mytanar capital. This was just another example of that. He hated the media with a passion that most Mytanars would reserve for their football team’s biggest rivals.

The Gazeta were now planning to publish letters that were supposedly from the person behind the heist at the Central Art Museum, letters which featured information that supposedly only the criminal could possibly know. Lajic and his officers had come to dead end after dead end in the investigation. They thought it had to be a criminal gang behind it, such was the degree of professionalism it was carried out with. There had only been one person involved in the physical act of theft, but the way in which they had evaded the museum’s security measures and motion detectors meant that they would have had to have done some reconnaissance at some point. Or had someone on the inside who knew the security protocol. It was too much for one person.

“…they’re sending over copies of all the letters now, guv’,” came the voice at the other end of the phone. Lajic’s question had been entirely rhetorical, he’d heard everything and he hardly listened to the officer at the other end of the phone as they went over it all a second time. It must have been someone new, someone who hadn’t experienced Lajic’s fury at being woken up in the night to come and deal with something.

“Yes, I heard it all the first time.” Lajic replied, voice laced with anger. “I’ll be down in half an hour.” He said before slamming the phone down and throwing the duvet off himself as he sat up on his bed.

“What is it love?” His wife asked.

“Oh nothing,” Lajic replied, rubbing his face as he tried to force his body to fully wake up. “The press just doing what they always do and getting in the way of our investigation. Don’t worry about it. I’ve got to go and see what they’ve done and decide whether we’re going to get an injunction against whatever it is they’re trying to publish, I’ll be back in a couple of hours. You should try to get back to sleep.”

“Alright love,” His wife replied. “Try not to get yourself too worked up over it. You know what the doctor said about your blood pressure the last time you went to see him.”

“I know, I know.” Lajic said. No wonder his blood pressure was sky high, this case had aged him and now the press were causing trouble. He had known it would come to this. The bloody artwork. It couldn’t just have been some gangland shooting or a prostitute murdered. It had to be art that people cared about and thought represented the best of Mytanija. What’s worse is that some saw it as a criminal kicking back at an establishment that hadn’t done anything for the nation in years! They felt like the Policija wasn’t there to help them and actively made their lives harder with things like stop and search. Lajic felt like he couldn’t win, some wanted the art finding as quickly as possible and others thought it was great that the cops were on a wild goose chase trying to find it.

Now the media were involved and would probably be trying to pass their piece off as doing the Policija’s work for them. The Gazeta Mytanija especially always tried to put itself on the side of the people, its front page meant to appeal to the average Josip and Jana. He could imagine it now, an article claiming that the Policija didn’t know what they were doing and had gone however many weeks without reporting any new leads. They’d be saying that they had to take over the investigation and were publishing the letters in order to find new information. They’d probably set-up a bloody hotline for people to ring up with tips. There’d be thousands of idiots ringing the Policija up each day saying they had seen the letter and thought that their brother-in-law or best mate’s boyfriend was behind it.

Lajic sighed. Getting an injunction was always a pain in the arse. He probably wouldn’t be back in a couple of hours. He always said that to his wife though. It promised to be a long day.

---

“I think we should go ahead and let them publish it.” A voice said confidently as Lajic walked into the office at the police headquarters in the centre of Esca. He didn’t know who in their right mind would make such a suggestion. He hadn’t even seen the content of the letters yet, nor the article the Gazeta Mytanija were going to print, but he just knew that it’d be a bad idea. He’d been woken up and now he was at the office and hadn’t even had a chance to drink a coffee and now someone was making a stupid suggestion like that. He just hoped it wasn’t one of the inexperienced inspectors. He would be sending them back on the street in no time.

“Why would we do that?” He asked, setting his briefcase down as he did so.

“Ah, how are you doing Dario?” A voice asked. It seemed familiar. Lajic turned and his face turned ashen immediately. Why did it have to be him?

“Mirko. How are you doing?” Lajic asked. He didn’t particularly care how Mirko Radosavljevic was. He didn’t like Mirko Radosavljevic whatsoever. He had only worked with him once and he didn’t want to repeat the experience anytime soon. “I’m not sure you should be here. As you’ll know, this case is meant to be watertight, people are only involved on a need-to-know basis.”

“Ah, Dario.” Mirko smirked. “I’m good thanks. Yeah I know that and usually I wouldn’t come down here to bother you, especially not after last time we worked together. Have you cleaned yourself up from then? I seem to remember the defendant spitting quite a lot of phlegm all over you after you gave evidence against them.”

“It was only water, actually, Mirko.” Dario said hurriedly, looking around at his team who all seemed to be chuckling nervously and sharing knowing glances with one another. “He took a drink of his water and spat in on me…”

“Sure Dario, whatever you want.” Mirko said. He was so much more charismatic than Dario, that had always been the thing Lajic hated the most about him, everybody seemed to like Mirko Radosavljevic and laugh at his jokes whenever he was in the office. They couldn’t even manage so much as a titter when Dario tried to crack wise. Mirko was better looking too. Dario’s wife had taken quite a shine to him at the staff party during the festive season, he regaled her with the same story he was trying to make fun of Lajic for now. Once they got home Dario tried to set her straight and she wouldn’t have any of it, saying it was a funny story and he should relax about it. He couldn’t though.

“What are you doing here anyway?” Dario asked, trying to change subject. “I told you, you shouldn’t be here, you aren’t on this case.”

“Oh, did nobody tell you?” Mirko smirked again. Dario wanted to punch him and wipe it off his face, quietly seething inside. “I’ve been moved onto the investigation. They felt that the team weren’t getting anywhere under your leadership so they asked me to come and co-lead with you. Fresh ideas and all that, it’ll be good old sport! We two great friends back working together again.”

Dario couldn’t imagine anything worse.

“Anyway, what were you saying about the Gazeta publishing the letters?” Dario said, trying to move on.

“We should let them publish it.” Mirko said. “We can work with them. I actually know the reporter who rang up to tell us they’re going to do it. Elena Katalenic is her name, she’s a friend of a friend.”

“What are you talking about?” Dario couldn’t help himself. “We do that and we’ll have thousands of people ringing up and either grassing on their neighbour or claiming they’ve done it themselves because they think it’ll make them some sort of celebrity.”

“We will have that. But we’re not stupid, are we Dario?” Mirko laughed. That fucking laugh, Dario had to take a deep breath. “We can sift through the information and hopefully use it to our advantage. You’ve been struggling for leads the old-fashioned way, so let’s try something new. Hopefully something in the letters will jog somebody’s memory and they’ll point us in the right direction.”

“Have you read the letters?” Dario asked, his face now red with indignation. Mirko had come in here, mocked him and was now proposing to completely change the way Dario’s investigation had been conducted. He was completely undermining him. And how did he seem to be so certain that working with the media would turn something up?

“Oh yeah.” Mirko said. He looked towards two of the younger inspectors. “My new friends… You’ll have to forgive me, so bad with names, I want to say Tomas and, Eva, is it?” They nodded. “Of course it is! Tomas and Eva let me have a look at the letters and the article that the Gazeta are planning to print whilst we were waiting for you. It’s quite illuminating, actually, there’s a lot of information about the suspect’s childhood—”

“It might not be the fucking suspect!” Dario exclaimed. “It could be a hoax. This is the exact problem with letting them publish this rubbish!”

“Okay.” Mirko rolled his eyes. “The potential suspect’s childhood. It also includes information which could only be known to either the thief, someone from the museum or someone on the investigation… You’ve not been writing any letters to the Gazeta Mytanija have you Dario?” Mirko smirked again and everybody laughed along with him.

“Fuck off Mirko.”

“Come on Dario, live a little man. It was just a little joke.” Mirko replied. “Anyway, whoever is behind the letters seems to want people to know that they were the one behind the heist at the Central Art Museum. They’re calling it their ‘masterpiece’, to them this whole crime is a piece of art. Who knows, if they publish this they might even come forward and hand themselves in?”

“We all know they won’t do that. We aren’t letting them publish anything. I’m going to send someone down to stop them printing their stupid bloody stories and we’ll keep the letters and see if there’s anything to be gleaned from them. They’re probably worthless.”

“Sorry Dario. I just don’t think that’s a good idea. Here, let’s have a vote.” Mirko said, turning to everybody else in the room. “If you think we should let them publish the letters stick your hand up.”

“That’s not protocol Mirko, when have we ever decided how to conduct an investigation with a show of hands.”

“I said live a little Dario.” Mirko said, smiling triumphantly as all the junior inspectors’ hands went up. “I think that’s a majority. We’ll set-up a hotline and be ready for all the phone calls that are going to come in then.”

“This is so stupid…” Dario said, broken by Mirko’s tornado presence and whirlwind confidence.

“It might be stupid.” Mirko said, voice lowering to a whisper so only Dario could hear as everybody else went back to work. “But you’ve been useless so far, so they’ve decided to put me in charge, so we’re going to follow my plan from now on and you’re going to listen to me.”

“Fuck you, Mirko.”

“Don’t be like that.” Mirko smiled patronisingly. “I need you to get in the best mood you can and put on your best phone answering voice. And those calls off people trying to grass on their cheating boyfriends. Don’t be keeping them on the line, serious shit only Dario, yes?”

---

Elena’s editor hurried into the office, breathless, but also with a beaming smile on his face. Elena spun on her chair to face him, a quizzical look spreading across her face, a smile twitching at the corners of her mouth brought on by his happiness.

“You won’t believe it Elena!” He shouted.

“What?” Elena asked, chuckling. “What is it?” It could only be good news of some kind, she had never seen him react like this to anything before. Maybe the court had turned down the Policija’s application for an injunction or something. They certainly hadn’t turned up at the newspaper’s offices as he had been worried about.

“The cops have said they aren’t going to get an injunction for the story!” He replied breathlessly. “More than that, they’re actually going to work with us on it. They’ll let us print the story and try to use it for leads. There’s a new lead inspector heading the investigation… Mirko something or other. And he’s decided to let it go ahead!”

“Mirko Radosavljevic?” Elena asked, taken aback. “I know him, he was seeing one of my friends for a bit.”

“Yeah, that’s the one! They’ve decided to put him in charge alongside that waste of space Dario Lajic and he thinks the story could be a useful way of trying to build up an image of who the person behind the crimes is.”

“Wow. So they didn’t think it’d risk false confessions and people trying to blame it on their weird uncles then?”

“He said that they needed to take the risk, they hadn’t had any new leads on it for ages and apparently Lajic still had them chasing their tails about it being a gang behind it.” The editor paused for a moment. “This… Mirko whateverhisnameis, he wants to review the CCTV footage of the day preceding the heist to try and identify if there was someone looking about the place, checking the motion sensors and not just looking at the exhibits like everybody else. He then wants us to print any stills they can glean from that for tomorrow as potential suspects. He’s hoping that someone will read today’s paper and see the back story he’s put in the letters and think ‘oh, that sounds like’ I dunno, Slavomir, or whoever. Then they’ll see the photos tomorrow and it’ll match up.”

“Oh wow.” Elena said, now beaming herself. Things hadn’t exactly gone how they had imagined, neither were complaining though. “Why were we ever worried about this?” She laughed.

“Ha, yeah. I didn’t think they’d go for it at all. Especially not to this extent. The whole nation will be buying the paper to follow the investigation now Elena, every single fucking day, you’re going to be a star reporter in no time.”

“Well,” Elena shifted slightly uncomfortably. “I don’t know about that. What if it doesn’t lead to anything, all this?”

“What do you mean?! This in and of itself is enough, your articles will be all people will be reading about to try and find out if they’re any closer to catching the fella who did it. People care about those pieces of art you know. Even those who think he’s done a good thing and led the cops on a wild goose chase will be wanting more information on him, he’s a hero to them too!”

“Yeah, I guess.” Elena replied. This was all very strange. She hadn’t particularly expected the Policija to be accommodating of their article in the slightest. He was right though, people would be following the investigation every day. It was good for the Gazeta Mytanija, the papers would be bought as soon as they were off the presses. They had a responsibility to make sure it wasn’t just the normal tabloid hearsay though. Elena wasn’t comfortable with that, though her editor may have been in order to ratchet the sales numbers up even further. “We’ll have to be careful what we print you know boss.”

“Aye. You’ll need to be on your A game. I’ve people on the phone waiting for tip offs, we’ll have to be super careful of what we print though, can’t have people suing us for defamation and the like just when we thought the cops would be putting us out of a job over this. We’re through that one, I don’t want to have something else to worry about.”

“I wonder if he’ll send us anymore letters now.” Elena said, voicing her thoughts out loud.

“The fella behind it?” Her editor asked, Elena nodded. “I doubt it. It might be a bit too real once he sees the article you’ve done, he might not want to be associated with his ‘masterpiece’ anymore. Especially if the cops do find a clear image of him from the CCTV for tomorrow’s paper.”

“That’s true. Well, I’d better get on with any finishing touches then. Not long until it goes to print.”

“No, not long at all.” The editor replied, before adding triumphantly: “What a fucking night!”

---

Let's take a look at Gazeta Mytanija's lead story:

EXCLUSIVE: LETTERS FROM THE CENTRAL ART MUSEUM THIEF?
ARE THESE LETTERS FROM THE THIEF? DECIDE FOR YOURSELF AFTER READING THE FULL CORRESPONDENCE INSIDE

by Elena Katalenic

Over the past few weeks the Gazeta Mytanija has been receiving letters which are purportedly from the person behind the Central Art Museum heist, where four of Mytanija’s most famous artworks were stolen in the dead of the night a couple of months ago. The letters contain details from the supposed thief’s childhood and adolescence, as well as explaining aspects of their life of crime and how they reached the stage of even contemplating such an audacious act – including information about some of their preparation ahead of carrying it out. The Gazeta Mytanija has decided to publish these letters in the hope of helping the Policija’s investigation into the crime – which has seemingly hit a dead end in recent weeks – and asks you, the people of Mytanija, if you know who could be behind the letters? And in turn, who could be behind the heist at the Central Art Museum?

The letters contradict the Policija’s initial analysis that the crime must have been perpetrated by a group of criminals of a professional criminal gang, with the potential suspect claiming to have carried it out alone. Perhaps most tellingly the person claiming to be the thief sees this crime as their ‘masterpiece’, comparable to some of the great pieces of art they stole from the museum in such brazen fashion. Readers will be able to make their own mind up whether they believe the letters are real or somebody playing an elaborate hoax, but we can exclusively reveal that whoever wrote the letters knew details of the case which could only have been known to either the criminal or somebody involved in the subsequent investigation of the crime. Namely the manner in which an old window was removed from its frame and how one of the key security features of the museum, its motion sensors, hadn’t been working for a while before the crime and had failed entirely on the night. They also set out how they visited the museum the day before the heist, reconnoitring the sensors and the museum’s other security measures. They worked out which sensors were not working correctly, something which will surely have the Policija scrambling to check CCTV footage once again for any sign of someone paying overly close attention to them.

Turn to page three to read the letters in full and for further analysis.

[Nephara]

Nephara 7 - 2 Græntfjall
(4-3-3) 1 - Provost; 2 - Stride, 5 - Thorn (c), 6 - Verlander, 3 - Muscadin; 8 - Cromwell (7 - Koerner 67'), 15 - Kastriot, 21 - Moxham; 17 - Mrdja (23 - Sauthier 83'), 9 - Bastable (11 - Basilisk 52'), 13 - Belgrade
Goals: Moxham 13', Cromwell 23', Belgrade 31', Bastable 39', Muscadin 54', Basilisk 69', Mrdja 73'

Aranea Provost frowned as she surveyed the wealth of banners behind her goal.
The largest and most prominent of them showed a cormorant being eaten by a kraken. So did two others. Another showed a Nepharan flag being eaten by a Græntfjaller flag shaped like a kraken. Yet another appears to have been a show of solidarity; both a cormorant and a snow-wolf being eaten by a kraken.
"You know what I respect?"
Alexandra Markgraf looked up from adjusting her gloves. "Yeah?"
Provost pointed into the stands. "Thematic consistency. Kraken, kraken, kraken, far as the eye could see. You know, my great grandmother got eaten by a kraken?"
"... Yeah?"
"Yeah. Went out from the shore looking for like..." She squinted, trying to remember. "Well, I think she was looking for squid, at least."
"Yeah."
"Well, she found one. Giant one."
"No shit."
"Best fisher in Brookford and then, fkkshhshtrkhhhgghll." Provost mimed, presumably, being torn apart by the many horrible tendrils of a terrible megafauna. "Krakenned."
"Your family's been living in that hick town forever, huh?"
"Yeah, well." Provost cracked her neck. "Land's cheap. Food's free. And they had a nightclub in time for my teen years, so, you know. I didn't miss out on much."
"Sure." Markgraf glanced back to the centre of the pitch. "Reckon it's time. Good luck with the krakens, eh?"
"Sure."

A producer winced. There were many microphones placed tactically across the pitch. From these were spliced the broadcast audio, a silent masterpiece melded together by some of the best sound engineers in the business. But somehow, one got the sense there wouldn't be much of use coming from the one by the Nepharan goal.
"Hey! Hey! Hey! Little Ro! Hey! ... Shift! SHIFT! SHIFT! SHIFT! SHIFT! SHIFT! FUCKING-- JOCKEY! CUNT! Oh, for--"
And then a thump, and then, more satisfying, the sound of a ball whistling into a net that rustled and warped to catch it in its folds. Visually, the goal was no less impressive; Briana Noahsdottir scything inside Rovena Stride, who got caught in the turf scrambling to keep up. One more deft step outside, timing her strike perfectly before Thorn could plough in and intercede, finding the near top corner past Provost, who covered her angles well but could never get to that.
Of course there would be time spent dissecting that. Beaten at her near post, after all! Cardinal sin! Didn't matter if it practically hit the fucking postage stamp of the goal. And Græntfjall's second goal was even more shambolic from Provost's perspective. Nothing she did wrong, again. But it was just never a good look, you know? To be beaten by a #yolo shot from Bjornsson, late on; one arrowing towards the corner, sure, but one Provost had space and time to cover, one she would have turned around the post at worst but likely been able to trap and kill. Had it not smacked off Verlander's arse and skimmed in behind the fumbling goalkeeper, anyway. Still on target. Technically, that would go down as Bjornsson's second international goal, some kind of reward for stabilising the ship upon his late arrival in the 81st minute.
Ah, well, the other Cormorants could always console themselves with the seven goals they scored in between. Plebs. Provost? Yeah, she had standards.

[Savojarna]

Extra Time

Oceanview Stadium, Port Rhovanyon

On the bench of the Savojar National Team, moods were all over the place. Some of the substitute players were sitting there, fidgeting, knowing there was nothing they could do anymore to help the team. Morten Poulsen was sitting laid back in his chair, his face a blank stare, stoic and calm. Anja Loeseth looked like she was asleep, drumming cryptic rhythms on her thigh. Aleksandra Virulainen had a ball in her hands that she was idly throwing up and down. Dmitri Dmitriev couldn’t sit still at all, his legs constantly shivering, until his neighbour Juhamatti Rajala put his hand down on Dmitri’s knee. Rika Lundell, on the other hand, had no power for such antics. She was simply gassed, having played 95 minutes and then some, and pressing an ice bag against her thigh where a misplaced tackle had left her with a bad bruise. She was sitting in her chair, no energy left, but the game was too tense to relax and she was staring at the match in front of her, praying for a goal. Mikaela Rangren was eagerly pacing up and down the coaching zone, screaming encouragement out at her players. It was all the tension of an international knockout game in overtime.

Then, a whistle made her perk. “Fuck”, she muttered, “please not like this”. A tackle had gone slightly amiss, and Paddi Gren brought down an opponent a mere 22 metres from the goal, in perfect position for the skilled Pasargans. Next to her, Rika felt a hand on her leg, gripping her good thigh hard. Kris Midtjaer, in her second international tournament, had been reduced to a shivering mess even more nervous than Rika herself. She took the winger’s hand and squeezed it reassuringly, before reverting her attention to the pitch. There was a little bit of shoving in the box, but it all settled down in time for the ball, which flew in a perfect arc… into the waiting hands of Iiro Pakanen. The bank cheered “JA, IIRO! COME ON!”, goalkeeper coach Andersson shouted in his loud, deep voice. The coarse “Davai, Davai!” of assistant coach Jotanov cut through it, and Mikaela Rangren was now frantically waving her team to counter.

On the bench, all eyes were suddenly on the ball. No more aloof Morten Poulsen, no more drumming from Loeseth, no more ball throwing. Everyone knew what was now on the line as Iiro threw the ball out to Matts Pedersen. The fullback, playing in Pasarga, scouted the field and looked for the long ball, but only found Zirkova - who played a superb long ball onto the foot of Jashkin. Misha danced around Csapó with ease, the goal in front of his eyes. Then, he saw the gap and sent Ola Lapanen, the scorer from Taeshan, deep. Next to Rika, Kristina Midtjaer gripped her hand even tighter, squeezing Rika’s fingers together in anticipation until they turned white. The bank buzzed with anticipation as Lapanen cut through the defence, alone in front of Galambos, but with a bad angle. Then, someone on the bench shrieked excitedly. “Simon! Simon’s there!” Lapanen had seen it too. He swung his leg back, but turned his foot in the last moment to send the ball horizontally, and Simon Jacobsen took it half a step to the left and completed the task.

The Savojar bench exploded. Everyone was on their feet. Rika could feel her left leg hurt and almost give out as she jumped up and Kristina jumped in her arms, then she felt Krister land on her back, and as one big blob of cheer, they charged out to the sidelines. Victoria Maersk was first to reach them, her friend from Nephara, and fell over them. Then, a screaming and smiling Simon Jacobsen jumped onto them and the whole blob collapsed into a pile, lying somewhere on the grass in a Tikariot stadium, smelling of grass, dirt and sweat. The smell of victory - or at least the hope for it.

The next minutes all blurred into one flurry of looking at the pitch, the clock, and back at the pitch for Rika. Time was ticking slower than ever before. With every attack of the Pasargan side, time seemed to tick a little bit slower again. They were pushed back, and Iiro needed to make save after save, sending everyone on the bench into a shivering mess. Rika couldn’t feel her leg anymore, so much adrenaline was pumping through her body; next to her, she could feel Kristina’s leg twitch and the young winger holding her breath at every attack. She knew exactly how her teammate must feel; exactly the same as Rika did, dying inside knowing that she could not help the eleven on the pitch but at the same time glad that she wasn’t out there stemming the Pasargan tide. In Rika’s case, she’d have been too tired anyway. The clock ticked over to 120, but the fourth official held up his sign. A big, glowing, green three was on it.

“WHAT?”, the Savojar bench immediately exploded in disbelief. “Three minutes?”, Rika asked confusedly, and Kristina let go of her hand for the first time since the goal, gesticulating angrily. In that moment, a Pasargan shot on the goal, deflected off the thigh of Forsberg, high and unreachable for Iiro Pakanen, but thankfully for the Savojars also a tad high for the goal. They were now sitting in name only, perched on the edges of their seats, Rangren practically running up and down the sidelines. Pasarga had had the ball for what, three minutes in a row now? Nobody even knew when the ball last had left their half. A corner would follow, it swung in and… was cleared, at least for now. But the onslaught went on. Another attempt came to the middle, deflected again. Yet another corner. The referee looked onto his watch, and Rika held her breath. The last chance. The corner came swinging in. Iiro flying through the night sky. Closing his hands around the ball. Catching the cross and landing on the floor, ball underneath him. She dared to breathe again. Next to her, Kristina now almost hugged her arm as Iiro got up and kicked the ball long down into the Pasargan half. The ref looked at his watch again. Simon Jacobsen prolonged it deeper into the Pasargan half. And then the game was over.

The bench was on their feet within a second. Within moments, the team was in a pile again, hugging and cheering each other. “Quarterfinals! Quarterfinals!” someone began to shout, and in no time they all were chanting along. Everyone was gassed and tired, but the adrenaline of the game had flooded them all, and the relief of the last minutes being over made the Savojars feel light. Right now, in this night in Tikariot, everything was possible.

[Cassadaigua]

First Things First: Hispinas,
By Chelsea Dufresne, Concord Heights Times,

After beating Plane of Possibility, fans could not help but look at what the potential game waiting in the wings would be: Nephara or Eura. As a supporter, that is only natural, as there is plenty of reason to get excited about a showdown against either of them, even if it is the Copa Rushmori and not the World Cup. But, as the cliche goes, you have to get there first and in order to get there, you have the classic trap game. Hispinas. Oh boy, if there was ever a matchup that defined “trap game” look no further then this one. Fortunately, the players that make up the team focus better then the average fan, as they know what it is at stake, and there have been many times in their career, no matter what level, where they were too interested in the next game in the schedule, that they were not zeroed in on the current opponent. At this level, and especially in the knockouts, they know to take it one game at a time. In the knockouts, once you lose, there is no next game in the schedule after all. (save the discussion on ‘but if you lose the semifinal you still will have a third place game’).

Another reason why Hispinas is such a trap game is that it is not really a known nation in the region. They got here by beating Mavinet 1-0 in extra time. Mavinet would not have been a trap game at all, given that they are our western neighbors. The cooperation between Cassadaigua and Mavinet is well documented as we have helped them build their national team, especially with funding of their developmental sides. They had plenty of potential, and we saw that when they won the Baptism of Fire. There have been many friendlies played between us and Mavinet, and it would have been a game that attracted the passionate fanbases of both sides. No one would have been more interested in talking about the “what if’s” with a potential game against Nephara or Eura quite yet. Who is Hispinas? It is a nation that has made their international debut in this competition, led by 35-year old Josepe Agerre Norzagarai, and it is a mixed gender lineup. It is good to see them giving women an equal opportunity to make the team. They are a modestly offensive side, but are responsible enough defensively. In Group E, they made quite an impression, topping a group that featured Savojarna and Tikariot, with a 2-0-1 record. They got a tough wake up call in their first match against Savojarna, but their win over Tikariot was a good bounce back, and once they beat group minnow Crystalline Caverns, it was on to the knockouts. Up first for them was Mavinet, and they knocked them off as well. Despite being rumored as an offensive team, they have registered two 1-0 wins thus far.

“The Copa Rushmori is a great chance for everyone,” manager Brittany Byers began, “and part of that is for a nation like Hispinas to make an impression. They have done a great job, and should be proud of what they have attained thus far.” However, Byers goes on, “they have good wins on their plate, but a win over Cassadaigua would further raise their national profile. In my studying of them so far, I see a team that does a great job in overall execution. They take care of the little things, and are well responsible. They learned alot from their first match, and are only getting better with more experience.” Byers would obviously not elaborate on the game plan for the match, but the attitude of all of the Cassadagan players is the same. They are not looking past Hispinas at what the next game could be. They’ll earn that, or else they’ll be watching Hispinas play either Nephara or Eura.

As for the game against Plane Of Possibility, it was another 4-2 win, the same score that we beat them by in the round of 16 in the last Copa Rushmori. However, this game did not require extra time. Cassadagan goal scorers were: Rachel Schanke (20’), the red-hot Morgan Rosenblatt (34’), Rachel Schanke again in the 58th, and Meghan Wolcott finishing it off in the 70th. The play of Morgan Rosenblatt has been a real eye opener in this tournament, and I look forward to talking more about her at length in the near future.

[Nyowani Kitara]

The Kitara People's Free Press
The voice for the working people of Nyowani Kitara

Nyowani Kitara bows out of Copa Rushmori 36 without a win

DEWAYO, NYOWANI KITARA- Last week, the People's Republic of Nyowani Kitara was dumped from Copa Rushmori 36, their first ever entry into the region's top sporting competition- the Copa Rushmori. With us being a small nation, we generally have not taken part in such competition for a long time, but for the first time ever, with the competition taking place in the neighboring states of Tikariot and Graentfjall, the government decided to authorize the Kitara People's Soccer Association(KPSA) to enter the competition.

The team's manager said that the competition was indeed a difficult one for the team. "It is not easy to try and win a competition like the Copa Rushmori. We, of course, simply aren't funded on the level to enter WCC competition- that simply will never happen for a nation like ours. But in a tough group with Yuezhou, Valladares, and Pridnestrovia- the odds of our nation advancing were incredibly slim. Full credit to our opponents, but full credit to our boys as well. We kept each game close- they can go home with their heads held high. First ever Copa Rushmori, and nobody ran us off the field."

Other News:
- The Nyowani Kitara government announced their support for the legitimate government-in-exile of Ren Qiang, who will temporarily be based out of Nyowani Kitara's capitol city of Dewayo. A government spokesman said that there was an "illegal coup" going on in Yuezhou, where corporations and foreign capitalists were overthrowing a government that was of, by, and for the people of Yuezhou.
- There is no denying that the fall of another nearby socialist government, after the fall of the socialist governments in Graentfjall and Tikariot a few decades earlier, is a blow to the Nyowani Kitara Government. While the government spokesman said that there were 'no worries' on their end, a few foreign ministry spokespersons off the record said that the fall of Ren Qiang's government was 'disastrous' for one of their strategic partners, and that Nyowani Kitara would closely watch how events unfolded in Yuezhou.

[Mytanija]

PENALTY DRAMA PUTS HOOPS THROUGH
MOJMIR ANAC THE PENALTY HERO ONCE AGAIN IN SCENES REMNISCENT OF COPA RUSHMORI 32

by Nevenka Planinc

FALKYR 0-0 MYTANIJA (0-0 AET) (3-5 on penalties)
Penalties (MYT to kick first):
MYT: Odonelec ✔, Hrdaljko ✔, Brkljacic ✔, Andrijasevic ✔, Anac ✔
FKR: Kristoffersen ✘, Laukkanen ✔, Jankovič ✔, Bjork ✔

FKR: 1. Smolarek; 3. Westerberg (sub. Nilsen 54’), 69. Mäkinen, 0. Laukkanen (C), 4. Vollan, 2. Frank (sub. Losnedahl 102’); 11. Jankovič, 10. Sienkiewicz (sub. Bjork 60’), 8. Tennfjord, 7. Ząbek (sub. Ljungman 76’); 99. Kristoffersen

MYT: 1. Kasun; 2. Vukovic, 13. Obadko, 3. Anac, 4. Jernejec (sub. Odonelec 60’), 5. Isaev (C); 6. Hrdaljko, 16. Brkljacic, 7. Fejzuli (sub. Kupresak 94’); 9. Ocokoljic (sub. Brajdic 60’), 21. Aleksic (sub. Andrijasevic 67’)

Mytanija and Falkyr huffed and puffed at one another for 120 minutes of football but neither could quite manage to blow through the other’s defence, needing the dreaded penalty shoot-out to be separated and decide who would qualify through to the Copa Rushmori quarter finals. By the time the shoot-out had come around Mytanija had already substituted off two of their preferred penalty takers. Jezdimir Ocokoljic – returning from injury – could only manage an hour before having to head off for Josip Brajdic; Tahir Fejzuli managed into extra time, running the show in the centre of midfield, before making way for Vilim Kupresak. This mattered little in the end though with the Hoops perfect from the penalty spot, shooting five from five whilst Pedja Kasun saved spectacularly from Katharina Kristoffersen. Mojmir Anac was once again the man with the deciding penalty and he made no mistake, smashing it high into the top-right corner of the net leaving Smolarek no chance. Seconds later Anac was to be found at the bottom of a celebratory pile-on, the Mytanar team mobbing the Olympic Thessia captain to a roar of approval from thousands of Mytanars in the stands of the Dragonscrest Stadium in Port Tacassam.

In truth the headline is probably a little unfair to the other four penalty takers and the Mytanar goalkeeper, but fate seems to have a strange way of drawing Anac to the winning penalty in shoot-outs when he pulls on the historic hooped shirt. The Olympic Thessia captain doesn’t crumble under pressure as many others might, he had been in this position before after all. Anac scored the winning penalty against Nephara in the last sixteen of the 32nd Copa Rushmori (the last time Mytanija entered), held in Qusmo. Lev Repin will be hoping that the comparisons between that tournament and this one don’t end with a last sixteen victory on penalties, he led the Hoops onto the podium in that tournament as they beat Valladares 3-2 in the third place play-off. Expectations were low heading into this tournament but there is no reason why the team cannot dream big – the tournament bracket appears to have fallen kindly, with most of the marquee names on the other side. After beating Falkyr a rematch with Sargossa awaits and Mytanija didn’t do too badly in the group game against the Corsairs. Savojarna – winners of the 31st Copa held in Mytanija – or Yuezhou await the winners in the semi-final.

The game was mostly a battle of attrition, Lev Repin surprised everyone by deciding to match Falkyr up with five at the back too. He set Mytanija out in a 5-3-2 versus Falkyr’s 5-4-1 and the resulting game won’t have shocked anybody. Each team could only muster up six shots between them and only two of those were on target, one apiece, an advert for Rushmori football at its free-flowing best this game was not. Repin has been sometimes unfairly maligned for being a bit of a tactical idealist, trying to play football the way he thinks it should be played but not in the way that wins matches. That view among Mytanar football punditry circles has dissipated entirely in recent years, he’s found a new pragmatic streak to go with the tactical tinkering and he’s leading Mytanija into the deeper stages of tournaments and nobody can knock him for that. A third place last Copa Rushmori and who knows where he might lead the team to this time around.

Much of the criticism towards him was directed at almost over-thinking things, trying to make strikerless formations work rather than just putting the best eleven players out in a formation familiar to them. This analysis was always reductive, usually propagated by those who wanted to play the man rather than the ball and had an axe to grind against Repin – mostly for not being Robin Hjik, whom many would have preferred to be in the national team job. When things worked Repin wasn’t charged with over-thinking; it’s certainly something which wouldn’t ring true when looking at the current situation and he’s definitely done some fiddling with the system in order to make the team Copa Rushmori quarter finalists once again.

The 5-3-2 was a smart formation to play, it kept defensive numbers equal for both teams and meant that Falkyr’s wide midfielders could be combatted by either Mytanija’s wing-backs (in this case it was Vukovic and Isaev); or the left-sided or right-sided centre-backs (Niksa Obadko started his first game of the Copa and did very well, with Kamil Jernejec on the opposite side). The difficulty was ensuring that the lines of communication between the wing-backs and left and right-sided central defenders remained open and clear on who was meant to be covering the tricky Jankovič and hard-working Ząbek. Mojmir Anac was tasked with man-marking the dangerous Katharina Kristoffersen and he did as well as expected, restricting her to zero shots all game.

Mytanija’s midfield trio then outnumbered Falkyr in the centre of the pitch, the numerical advantage Repin wanted to engineer. Brkljacic, Fejzuli and the reintroduced Hrdaljko popped the ball around nicely when in possession. Sienkiewicz and Tennfjord were game competitors, hustling and harrying the Mytanar midfield at every opportunity, but the extra man meant that Mytanija had superiority in that area. The issue was creating clear-cut chances against a packed Falkyr defensive unit. Zdzisława Laukkanen was especially impressive, the opposition captain almost mirroring Mojmir Anac’s job at the other end by following an off-colour Ocokoljic around the pitch like a limpet. Ocokoljic was clearly not at his best, still recovering from a groin injury sustained against Southwest Eastnorth which has caused him to miss all but 27 minutes of the Copa Rushmori so far. Nebojsa Aleksic alongside him had Mytanija’s best chance of the game, a rifled effort from the edge of the box which hit the side netting. It wasn’t a great chance, but Falkyr’s defending was very good and great chances were at a premium.

Nevertheless Repin will have been pleased with his team’s defensive performance, they negated the likes of Kristoffersen and Jankovič and that was key. Going 1-0 down to this Falkyr team could be the dictionary definition of an uphill battle, such was their prowess defensively. He’ll have also been heartened by his tactical switch, brought about by the introduction of Jasno Odonelec and Josip Brajdic on the hour mark, not risking the defensive stability. Similarly to the Sargossa game Repin showed that he’s prepared to try and seize games by the scruff of the neck and not let the opponent set the agenda. He switched from the 5-3-2 to a 4-3-1-2, trying to get Odonelec on the ball in front of the Falkyr defence with Brajdic running in behind them. It didn’t quite work, Odonelec did get on the ball, but the final pass was never quite right and Falkyr defended well against the Atletik man.

The four defenders continued to give a good account of themselves, ably supported by Branko Brkljacic who sat in a deeper position with Hrdaljko and Fejzuli ahead of him. Sadly for the neutral it was a game defined by solid defensive performances. The lack of a creative spark may worry Repin ever so slightly, but he has largely set his team out to be defensively solid throughout this tournament in much the same manner as he did back in Qusmo. There Mytanija scored two goals in three knockout rounds and finished third, even Repin’s harshest critic would find it difficult to turn that sort of performance down here in Tikariot and Græntfjall.

Fejzuli was out on his feet when he was eventually substituted off in extra time, hopefully his efforts won’t leave him too fatigued for the rematch with the Sargossans but the return of Hrdaljko following his ill-discipline will be welcomed and he’ll be able to fulfil Fejzuli’s role without issue should he need to. Hrdaljko also took Fejzuli’s role in taking a penalty, demonstrating why he has the job for his club side and calmly despatching the ball past Smolarek. The team seem to have a knack when it comes to penalties and haven’t missed one in a shoot-out at the last two times of asking, they’ll surely be confident should it come to that again.

They’ll be hoping they don’t need to because of how close the match with Sargossa was in the group stage. The game was there for the Hoops to win at times and just the finest of margins separated the teams, Sargossa’s superior finishing the difference on the day. Jezdimir Ocokoljic didn’t play in that game and he surely would have tucked away one of the few opportunities which came Mytanija’s way. Repin will have to decide how to set-up tactically, but he’s got no shortage of options in that department with the full gamut of formations being cycled through at some point in this Copa. It’s likely to start with some variation of the 4-2-3-1 the team started the tournament in against Southwest Eastnorth now that they have everybody available once again, but don’t be surprised to see the usual blurring of positions that occurs between that and a 4-3-3 and maybe even the 4-6-0.

Mytanija against Sargossa is never a game for the faint hearted, though both teams managed to stay within the rules during the group game, there could easily be some bending and breaking of rules now we are at the quarter final stage when the stakes are inevitably much higher. The importance of discipline will be emphasised, but the Mytanar supporters who are still here in Tikariot – many staying despite their flights home being for after the group stage, few expected to get this far – will be encouraging every tough tackle and it may make keeping a cool head especially difficult. One thing is for certain, whether you’re a tactical aficionado or love old school blood and thunder style football there should be something for everyone in the quarter final in Fort Viljan.

[Sargossa]

Sargossa and Valladares have a long sporting history. Both nations debuted at the thirty fourth Baptism of Fire tournament, prior to World Cup Forty-Seven. Both nations also endured debuts to forget, failing to make it out of their respective groups. Ironic considering, recent resurgence of Delaclava aside, they represent the last survivors from that BoF crop. Both would win multiple Copa Rushmori titles and be crowned champions of the world at Under-21 level. Valladares would reach a World Cup final senior level too. Sargossa would lift the Cup of Harmony. Valladares would also inflict Sargossa’s heaviest ever defeat but that’s by the by. That fixture was one of seven Valladar victories in the sixteen matches between the Rushmori nations. Sargossa’s finest would take to the pitch in Fort Viljan looking to level up that record at seven wins apiece.

The Citadel of the North has begun to feel like a second home to the travelling support from far off Oygruppen. On the banks of the sprawling Lake Viljan Brian McAllister’s side have been in fine fettle. That fettle continued as the Corsairs caught Valladares cold. Agustín Soria, hero of the group game against Mytanija, teed up Diego Alejandro Costa who fired passed Thomas Becker with barely four minutes on the clock. Valladares may not have come into the game in great form but their class doesn’t die quite so easily and they restored parity ten minutes later with a sweetly struck volley from Danilo Riveros. The half would continue in a flurry of punch and counter punch as two evenly matched sides sought out each other’s weaknesses. They failed to find them. That was until stoppage time when Jason Zarama was bamboozled by the quick feet Mateo Manzanares and lured into a clumsy lunge that caught the leg of the young forward inside the penalty area. Without hesitation the penalty was given and César Goyoso comfortably beat Becker with the final kick of the half.

That goal changed the entire flow of the match, with Valladares forced onto the front foot in search of an equaliser. At the back Esnáider and Galán were holding firm, while in the centre Águila and Fonseca were dominating and Goyoso was pulling the strings with his intricate range of passing. As the Valladars pushed forward Carter and Escribano were being presented with acres of space to run into behind Padilla and Kremer. It was a potent mix. And one that led to the Corsairs’ third. Águila, strong in the challenge dispossessed Brattan and released Escribano down the left. He exchanged passes with Goyoso before swinging a deep cross into the box. It was too deeper for Manzanares to get his own shot away but the Dínamo Maturín forward controlled with aplomb before laying it back to the arriving Adrián Fonseca to side foot firmly into the corner.

The lead had increased but Sargossa’s Tikariotian coach, buoyed on by the support from the Citadel’s stands, wanted more. And his side responded. Fonseca again was at the centre of it, intercepting a ball forward before finding Goyoso. The midfield maestro slide a beautifully timed through ball forward, placed perfectly to meet the diagonal run of substitute Diego Cazalla. The forward, recently transferred to local side Miruan City, bore down on the Valladar goal. He gave Becker the eyes before clipping it over him to give Sargossa an unassailable lead.

At the final whistle Brian McAllister and his charges acknowledged the crowd, local and Sargossan travelling support alike. They had grown to enjoy The Citadel of the North very much. At this point the television cameras picked out an interesting spectator in the crowd. Juan José Barreto, sacked by the Football Federation of Sargossa after forty seven games at the helm, had found himself perhaps unfairly scapegoated for the nation’s recent World Cup failings. Seeking a palette cleanser from international football he had recently be named coach of stuttering Tikariot Premier League champions Port Rhovanyon AFC. How he felt about witnessing the side that had so struggled under his command turning over one of their great regional rivals with aplomb under his immediate successor was anyone’s guess. Which wasn’t something his immediate successor had to worry about. No, McAllister had a far bigger challenge.

Mytanija. Why did it have to be Mytanija? When it comes to sheer passion there’s arguably not a nation in this tournament who can hold a candle to the Mytanars. Wrongly channeled it can admittedly lead to well publicised bouts of disciplinary issues. But when properly controlled Mytanija can become a force to behold. Sargossa rode their luck against the Mytanars in the group stage, in a match that ultimately meant nothing at all. But to play like that again, with a place in this competition on the line, is crying out for trouble. A collective cool head and the Fort Viljan effect may yet see the Corsairs through. They’ve turned The Citadel of the North into a fortress worthy of its name. It’s up to the Mytanars to break it down. But that’s what hooligans do best.

[Yue Zhou]

SHANYUEGUANG PLAZA, BEIAN, YUEZHOU

It had been a rough week for Yan Ailing.

In terms of activism, the National People's Revolutionary Council had cracked down on protests more than Ren Qiang ever had. The Beian Underground, under the People's Federation, had always had to be careful of angering the government, and strict regulations limited the amount of activity that could go on, but they'd never gone to mass incarceration and tear gas quite as quickly as this military coup had.

In a way, it had filled the movement with a newfound enthusiasm - with the Ren Qiang loyalists streaming into activism at record rates. But just two weeks into the reign of the National People's Revolutionary Council, a targeted campaign to break up the movement and imprison its leaders had already begun to take its toll. Yan Ailing's network had been hit particularly hard - it felt like every day, a new comrade or friend went missing.

Luo Dan leaving, in the abstract, didn't trouble her as much. She'd never quite trusted their compatibility, and him running off to join the state-sponsored Red Dragons wasn't really surprising. But Luo Dan had been someone she'd turned to when things were going poorly, and she was acutely feeling that relative lack of a support structure underneath her.

Her patience had been worn more than thin over the past week, so thin that when a nearby iconoclast had asked her to bring her network to a "new kind of action, one that'll get Chen Guochuan to stop picking us off" at Shanyuegang, she'd thought "fuck it" and gotten the word out.

She really hadn't expected it to work, even though she'd been active in the next few days of frantic planning. Only when the crowd had breached the gate and begun storming inside did things really hit Yan Ailing. The revolution had begun. In the battle over the fate of Yuezhou, a fifth faction had made its entrance.

Yuezhou 5 - 3 Nacaltora
Starting Lineup: Ruo - Kang (Qiu 67), Ren, Han (s/o 52), Zhu - Guo, Yang - Liu (Chen 60), Li Jing (Zhuang 64), Gu (C) - Huang
Goals: Li Jing 12, Huang 27, Marier 35, Gu 45+2, Huang 49, Carels 54, 59, Huang 90+1

---

Despite debutant Nacaltora putting up a surprising fight, Yuezhou ultimately came out on top in an absolute humdinger of a match. The Red Dragons took advantage of Nacaltora's attack-minded, slightly naïve setup, and although Nacaltora had a number of early chances, all it took were two deadly counterattacks for first Li Jing and next Huang Shedong to put Yuezhou 2-0 up. Nacaltora fired back with an absolute beauty of a long-range shot from much-maligned #10 Roland Marier to halve the deficit before halftime - until Gu Zhalei came back on another counter to resecure a two-goal lead.

When Huang Shedong coolly slotted home a through-ball from Li Jing to make the lead 4-1, one could've forgiven Yuezhou fans from thinking the game was in the bag. One red card and converted penalty later, it was very much not so. And just seven minutes after Han Jian's rash challenge, Nephara-based Raymond Carels scored his second goal of the half to narrow it to 4-3. Yuan Zilai reacted swiftly and decisively, withdrawing attackers Liu Huiying and Li Jing to switch to a 4-4-1 (which was functionally an 8-0-1). For the next half hour, Nacaltora laid siege to Ruo Xiaolan's net with increasing urgency, but although Melanson was denied twice by the woodwork, they couldn't break through. Ultimately, they overexerted themselves, and one final counterattack finished by Huang Shedong, the 1 in the 8-0-1, was enough to see Yuezhou through.

Lineup to play Savojarna (5-3-2): Ruo - Kang, Ren, Guo, Zhuang, Zhu - Yang, Li Jing, Gu (C) - Liu, Huang

[Graintfjall]

The list of official Græntfjaller dignitaries attending the remaining matches has been announced. Because of the ongoing election no political figures will attend in any official capacity. The KG thanks the Tikariot officials for permitting small delegations to attend the key games in their country, and their assurances of the strictest standards of anti-kraken security measures during the royal delegation’s visit.

Final @ Grander International Arena

Crown Princess Kassandra
Dóra Lucassdóttir (Chair, Knattspyrnusamband Græntfjalls)
Spjälle Janniksson (Director of Community Outreach, main sponsor Überolía)
Maren Ralfsdóttir (Director, National Agency for Sports Development)

3PPO @ Oceanview Stadium [Tikariot]

Princess Jessika
Clemens Lorenzson (Co-chair, Græntfjall Tourist Board)
Elsý Klængursdóttir (Director of Football Programming, GTV Sports+)
Lorena Sigurvaldisdóttir (not sure what she does but she’s well fit)

SF1 @ Grand National Arena

Laurin Oktavíassson (Mayor, Háttmark)
Marha Isaksdóttir (Head of Marketing, main sponsor Qardinal)

SF2 @ Dhaencunor Arena [Tikariot]

Jana Kópursdóttir (Ambassador to the Common Rushmori Community)
Maren Marcosdóttir (President, National Alpine Council)

QF1 @ Florus Stadion

Dave

QF2 @ New Skoðarhüb

Niilo Guðmannsson (CEO, main sponsor Skoðar Optik)
Annikki Aðalmundursdóttir (President, Lake Viljan Conservancy Council)

And with all appropriate fanfares sounded, let's cut off for the first two quarterfinals.

---

Sargossa 4–5 Mytanija
Savojarna 4–0 Yuezhou

Semifinal
Savojarna v Mytanija

[Eura]

OOC: This election storyline is set during the summer of end of Euraleague S45/WC86.

emplor.eur/main/worldnews
ELECTION EURA: THE KEY ISSUES AT STAKE
The CRC, Sameban integration, and the economy are just some of the issues that will shape Eura’s choice

After several weeks of campaigning, Eura is on the eve of the first Prime Ministerial debates, and a number of major issues are likely to feature. The first debate will include Prime Minister Amy Yarley in her eleventh year of office, and leader of the governing Liberal Party. They remain ahead as they were at the start of the campaign and are on course for an unprecedented fifth consecutive Liberal election victory. But the debate will also include her nearest opponent, Social Party leader Harry Barnham, who has performed well on the campaign trail so far, alongside struggling Capital Party leader Tom Paldrey, and four leaders of minor parties. We have looked at three particularly salient points of debate they are likely to contend with.

The economy

For many years the Euran economy was the natural advantage of any incumbent government, because no matter who was in charge, it just wouldn’t stop growing. The Great Endemian War halted that trend despite an initial spike of war production induced growth during the conflict itself. The Liberal government had to contend with a sudden slump as the Sameban state collapsed, and rebuilding both in Eura “proper” and the new seventh state of the federation has incurred trillions in costs for the state.

The civilian death toll of the war and the emigration of a hundred million Eurans has been a double edged sword; Eura’s housing crisis and the costs of its welfare state have been relieved for the first time in decades, but at the cost of massive national trauma and a host of other problems, and a growing national debt as the government has borrowed massively to sustain its post-war programmes. In an attempt to stymie criticism on this area, where the Liberals were previously shielded by the excuse of wartime expenditure, Yarley has spent much of her campaign focusing ruthlessly on creating jobs, taking advantage of Eura’s entry into the Common Rushmori Community, and the enormous expansion of the Breakers Reef oil field project.

Economics is where traditionally the Social and Capital parties have traded public trust over the years but currently it is held by neither. Despite the nation’s troubles, the Liberals reputation for economic competence established during the war and the period prior remains, and the Secretary of State for Economic Affairs Anthony Pollard has earned himself a particular reputation for making good fiscal calls. For the first time in years the economy is polling as the most pertinent issue for Euran voters. That means that regardless of the challenges the Liberals face in managing the economy, they stand a good chance of re-election if they can keep the discussion on the public finances.

Sameban integration

One of the signature achievements of Yarley’s premiership has been the gradual integration of former Sameba into the Federation. Her campaign has played heavily on favourable statistics about progress on what she describes as the “most important civil project of our times”, a quantitative narrative of millions of homes assembled, thousands of schools rebuilt and hundreds of towns cleaned up. However, events on the ground to the north have cast doubt on those claims. Years after the official peace, Sameba remains beset by poverty and varying levels of violence, especially in the more nationalist regions of the north. And now they’ve got to hold elections.

Needless to say, the government has worked hard to ensure an electoral process can take part in former Sameba; but that doesn’t mean they have been successful. There has been widespread concern across the political spectrum following the first district council elections there last year, where turnout was half of that in the rest of Eura and reports of endemic corruption were rife. Although there has been time since to tighten up election processes, it’s far from guaranteed that the same scenes of disorder and criminality won’t undermine the first general election in the history of the Sameban territory – not to mention that there is no historical precedent to go on in judging who will win the 250 parliamentary seats available.

The Common Rushmori Community (CRC)

Eura’s joining of the CRC was the pre-war dream of the Liberals and has finally been fulfilled, though in its early years the organisation seems to have been slow to come together and organise itself. The Liberals are determined to make further expansion of the CRC and construction of its institutions – ideally with a substantial Euran influence – a lasting legacy of their next term. The Prime Minister herself is thought to see cementing Eura’s place in the CRC, along with Sameba’s place in the Euran union, as a personal legacy for her as much as the party. However, the days of the Liberal Party dominating the discourse around the CRC may be over. Pan-Rushmore scepticism remains a significant minority view, and on the pro-CRC side the Liberals are no longer the only voice.

This is another area where the Social Party have emerged as a serious contender and government in waiting again after a long period of internal strife. Eura’s traditional left of centre party couldn’t find a strong position on the CRC for almost twenty years, with the left of the party, social conservatives and Bastion centralisers dead set against, while the bulk of the party’s urban working class and more socially liberal voters were for. The Liberals exploited this to split the Social base with disastrous results for the party. However, the leadership of Harry Barnham has overcome the years of internecine warfare and set the party down a decisively pan-Rushmori course, already winning back millions of voters from the Liberals. The question is whether this will be enough to take back cities like Farrenton and Falourr.

EURAN ELECTION – HEADLINE POLLING AVERAGES
Bracketed are changes since beginning of campaign. Does not include figures for former Sameba (c. 250 seats of 3,000 available) due to incomplete data

Voting Intention
LIB – 40.1% (+0.1)
SCL – 30.9% (+2.5)
CAP – 19.8% (-1.1)
CIF – 3.5% (-1.0)
UNI – 2.9% (-0.2)
Best PM
Yarley (LIB) – 42.4% (-0.7)
Barnham (SCL) – 30% (+2.9)
Paldrey (CAP) – 12.3% (-2.3)
Adamson (CIF) – 5.8% (+1.2)
Bannister (UNI) – 2.3% (+0.3)

[Hispinas]

The efforts of the Television Deportiva Hispinas (TVDH) in broadcasting the Copa Rushmori matches on free television initially was deemed unnecessary by the fans after their initial 5-0 defeat at the hands of Savojarna in Tikariot. Most fans would not have watched the remaining games, expecting the Hispinians lose against the hosts, making their last game a dead rubber for them against the Cavernites, and ending the campaign on a disappointing note. How just one result changed the perspectives of the fans.

After the 1-0 win of the Golden Sealions against the Snowy Owls, Optimism was seen by the fans who watched the game, albeit some of them only watched because the matches were broadcasted around the nation, in TV shops, and in the Javier Square in Mandrid, where a giant TV screen is installed to broadcast several government programs and certain sports events like this one. By the third matchday, although viewership does not yet reach MD1-level of viewers, have drawn a respectable 47 percent viewership when they beat Crystalline Caverns, 1-0 to progress to the Round of 16.

By this time then, many viewers who were stuck in traffic of just outside of their homes used their smartphones to watch the Round of 16 match against Mavinet, cheering on the team in white with most of their attempts being taken care of by the defense from the Water Buffaloes. Both teams were kept in the game and once the added time in the 90th minute were used up, there was still no goals separating the two teams that time. Then came extra time, and when Maite de la Pena was fouled just outside the penalty box in the 113rd minute. Fans anticipated another Cordovan Chia special, which free kick sent the Hispinians into the knockout stages. And boy they did, with Chia's clinical free kick going past Nguyen Hoang Trung and give Hispinas a 1-0 lead, which would they keep until the end of the match.

TVDH hopes that when Alfonzo Medrano's team face Cassadaigua in the quarterfinals, the viewership will skyrocket past Matchday 1 figures.

[Graintfjall]

Second half of the quarterfinals

Cassadaigua 2–0 Hispinas
Nephara 3–3 Eura (4–3 AET)

Semifinal

Nephara v Cassadaigua

OOC: This game is still scheduled to be scorinated at 0330 UTC Nov 22.

[Mytanija]

LITERALLY NO DEFENCE, JUST VIBES
I'M NOT SURE WHAT HAPPENED TO LEV REPIN’S NEWLY DISCOVERED PRAGMATIC STREAK

by Nevenka Planinc

SARGOSSA 4-5 MYTANIJA
SRG: Soria 9’, 17’; Manzanares 66’, Sainz 74’
MYT: Ocokoljic 3’, 81’; Odonelec 28’, Gavrilovic 42’, Isaev 84’

SRG: 1. Martinez; 3. Escribano, 5. Esnáider (C), 21. Galán, 2. Carter; 18. Águila (sub. Sainz 70’), 8. Goyoso, 16. Fonseca; 10. Costa (sub. Leguizamo 70’), 17. Manzanares (sub. Pomar 76’), 15. Soria

MYT: 1. Kasun; 2. Vukovic, 3. Anac, 4. Jernejec, 5. Isaev (C); 6. Hrdaljko, 17. Kupresak (sub. Fejzuli 76’); 8. Gavrilovic (sub. Vlahovic 62’), 9. Ocokoljic, 10. Odonelec (Andrijasevic 76’), 11. Kalinic

I said in my report following the Falkyr game that it seemed like Lev Repin had discovered a new streak of pragmatism alongside his penchant for tactical tinkering, the evidence being that in the knockout rounds of the last two Copa Rushmoris his team has generally shut up shop, kept things tight at the back, retained possession and played safety-first, risk averse football. That may well have been the case in those previous games but none of it was evidenced by this game in Tikariot. Mytanija won by the odd goal in nine in what was a thrilling spectacle of attacking football, neither team seemed willing to sit back and absorb pressure as happened in the group stage meeting between these two sides and in truth the result could have gone either way. Luckily for Lev Repin it was Mytanija who grasped the opportunity and got the winner in the latter stages of the game and given the way the manager threw caution to the wind he might count himself quite lucky, one can only imagine the criticism that would have come his way for playing in the manner they did had his team not progressed. If it ain't broke and all that...

How much of this could be put down to the manager is anyone’s guess though, I’m not sure many could put this sort of match down to the two manager’s tactical decisions, any semblance of tactical organisation went out the window quite early. It was a case of being thrown in at the deep end for Vilim Kupresak as he deputised for Tahir Fejzuli after he was left heavily fatigued after playing every minute of normal time in the tournament so far.

Jezdimir Ocokoljic scoring inside the first three minutes of the game lit the blue-touch paper, after that the lead changed four times, Petr Isaev getting only his second international goal to win the game and send Mytanija through into the semi-finals. The national team captain scoring is a novelty, the way he scored even more so, he got on the end of a well-worked move and finished like an experienced striker. Dalibor Vlahovic had a difficult first twelve minutes once he was substituted on, Mytanija conceding two goals in that time, but he was crucial here as he played a slide-rule reverse pass through for Isaev to stroke into the corner of the net to win the game.

Ocokoljic didn’t show too many signs of his injury woes, his goal inside three minutes displaying all the virtues of the 4-6-0 formation, his finish one he would do when he’s at his instinctive best. He came short to start the move, receiving the ball off Hrdaljko on the halfway line before playing it out to Vukovic first time and spinning Águila to stretch the Sargossan defence. This immediately caused confusion, Águila and Galán were not sure who was meant to pick up Ocokoljic. Vukovic fired the ball into Gavrilovic’s feet at speed and the 1896 Ebor midfielder made the deftest of touches to redirect the ball in behind the Sargossa defence between Carter and Galán, turning them both and Ocokoljic was already haring in behind and he fired the ball past the onrushing Martinez from the edge of the penalty area. A fine finish perhaps heralding his return from injury and back to his best.

The issue for Mytanija was that this was the way that they were defending too, the Sargossan attack finding ways to move the back four around and out of position in the same way Ocokoljic had. Águstin Soria had already scored the winner against the Hoops once in this Copa Rushmori and he was clearly in the mood here as he cut in from the right-wing and smashed the ball past Kasun from all of 25 yards. Less than ten minutes later he had added a second, putting his team ahead in the process as he stabbed home from a corner after a bit of a penalty area pinball as Mytanija’s defence failed to clear their lines.

Jasno Odonelec was in fine form once again, he’s probably been Mytanija’s player of the tournament thus far and he was integral to the result again here. He had taken up a few dangerous positions already and had gone close with one effort before his equaliser. It came from good work from Boris Kalinic down the right flank creating nervousness in the Sargossan defence and his cutback to the penalty spot was begging to be hit in the manner Odonelec laced it, Martinez left standing unmoved as the ball nestled in the bottom right corner. Four goals in the opening half an hour was more than had been scored during Mytanija’s last three fixtures in this Copa Rushmori.

Just before half-time Brajko Gavrilovic added a goal to his assist for Ocokoljic’s opener, a diagonal ball from Petr Isaev was punted up-field more in hope than expectation and Gavrilovic rose well, competing in the air against the shorter Carter. Sargossa goalkeeper Martinez was off his line as he attempted to come for the ball and Gavrilovic got a stroke of luck, the ball cannoned off his shoulder and into the Sargossa net. It wasn’t a goal that will be remembered for his beauty or intricacy, but it was a crucial goal in the context of the game nevertheless. At half-time the score was 3-2 to Mytanija and those who had either managed to get a ticket or bunk their way in were celebrating wildly, few expected to witness this sort of game and fewer still expected Mytanija to get to this stage – much less be ahead going into the second half of a Copa Rushmori quarter final.

Repin’s 4-6-0 has been the subject of much discussion in domestic sports media, some love how innovative it is and the way that the players interchange positions and drag the opposition’s defence around the pitch. Others believe it is an indulgent tactical approach, almost trying to make a point rather than trying to be effective. Here it had been wonderfully effective offensively but the Mytanar defence which had been solid enough – opening group game against Southwest Eastnorth notwithstanding – had been left floundering, yet the Hoops were leading despite that.

Vlahovic joined the fray, substituted on for the tiring Gavrilovic and he must have been wondering what he had walked into within four minutes or so. Mateo Manzanares had been a pest for Anac and Jernejec to deal with from the first whistle and his off the ball movement caused them issues again here, getting in behind in a manner similar to Ocokoljic’s opener. Goyoso’s through ball sent him on his way and Manzanares rounded Pedja Kasun and put the ball into the empty net. It was an important equaliser and Tikariotian manager Brian McAllister could smell blood, substituting Leguizamo on for Costa and removing defensive midfielder Águila for centre forward Mauricio Sainz. Within four minutes those changes bore fruit, Leguizamo crossing in for Sainz to power home a header to put Sargossa ahead and put their support into raptures, as well as much of the stadium which was fully behind the Tikariotian in the dugout. McAllister then tried to restore some defensive solidity to proceedings by replacing Manzanares with Pomar, ostensibly to shield the Sargossan defence in the way Águila had failed in the time he was on the pitch.

It was a futile substitution in the end, Repin’s introduction of Andrijasevic designed to cause chaos among the Sargossa defence and Fejzuli came on for Kupresak to add that much needed creativity. Neither of those two were needed when Jezdimir Ocokoljic robbed Pomar of the ball as the defensive midfielder was on the half-turn only a few metres outside the Sargossa penalty area. Ocokoljic speedily closed in on the Sargossan centre-halves, neither tried to close him down and this was all the encouragement he needed as he smashed a shot into the bottom left corner. Mytanija were back level and this was where Fejzuli and Andrijasevic got involved.

Fejzuli brought the ball forward, jinking past the tiring Goyoso and Fonseca with ease before playing the ball into Dalibor Vlahovic. Vlahovic cut inside and Zlatan Andrijasevic’s run dragged left-sided centre-half Esnáider away from the passing lane Vlahovic was looking to play the ball through, the Sargossa captain had been in the way of where Vlahovic wanted to put it – he was no longer there – and Vlahovic hit the sort of pass that has become his trademark, delicately caressed through the defensive line for Petr Isaev to run onto. What Isaev was doing there is anyone’s guess, he’s rarely a factor in his club side’s attacking play these days and Repin usually tasks him with an even more defensive role for the national side. He was there though and he took the ball on his weaker left foot and put it beyond Martinez to win the game. Pandemonium on the pitch, in the stands and on the touchline. Mytanija did well to recompose themselves and hold out for the final few minutes, but they did so and they got a famous win over a tough rival. Progression this far in the tournament was a pipe dream before the tournament and yet the Hoops have been pretty good value in getting here, beating decent teams and putting in good performances – despite being very divergent in the manner of victory. One of the most difficult decisions for Lev Repin might be in telling his team how to approach the semi-final.

It has drawn us against Savojarna, a team perhaps most famous in Mytanija for winning the Copa Rushmori we hosted, they’re a solid outfit though and can be found in the latter stages of most editions of our much cherished regional tournament now. Sergey Nweke is a constant goal threat, Morten Poulsen a creative playmaker and a back-line of Pedersen, Viipuri, Zirkova and Skov will make life very difficult, even for the always dangerous Ocokoljic and Odonelec.

I’ll probably give up on trying to second guess what Lev Repin will do to counter the Savojar team. He may not even take a reactive approach, Mytanija set-up with the 4-6-0 against Sargossa the second time around after all and this may have set the tone for the whole game, but as alluded to, how much of this game was down to tactics is very hard to place. You cannot exactly plan for a 5-4 victory after all. It was definitely more of an open game than the one in the group stage, but analysing whether Repin may try to repeat that openness against a very strong Savojarna side who have just come through a tough game against Yuezhou with a 4-0 win is a fool’s game. A dull 1-0 win would probably be much better for the heart health of the Mytanar nation. Even getting this far is an enormous success and a play-off for third more than anyone could have imagined going into the tournament. Now we’re here though, it’d be nice to get to a final, wouldn’t it?

[Nephara]

Nephara 3 - 3 Eura (4-3 AET)
(4-3-3) 1 - Provost; 18 - Rostock, 5 - Thorn (c), 6 - Verlander, 3 - Muscadin (19 - Strassman 53'); 8 - Cromwell, 4 - Shone, 21 - Moxham; 7 - Koerner (23 - Sauthier 76'), 9 - Bastable (11 - Basilisk 86'), 13 - Belgrade
Goals: Cromwell 25', Moxham 49', Bastable 57', Sauthier 108'

12 games. 8-1-3.
It always came down to Nephara and Eura. Often, very significantly. Nephara's first qualification had been in Eura's group, sliding in second - one win and one loss. Nephara's World Cup victory in 74 had also involved a defeat in the groups and victory in the semifinals over Eura.
Terranea was a footballing and political juggernaut, and Eura and Nephara were two of its powerhouses, both territories who had recovered from sprawling civil wars to thrive.
Of those starting, Provost, Thorn, Moxham and Bastable played in Eura, Almwood, Steele, Woakes, Robshaw and Bowman played in Nephara, and Monica Rowland - daughter of a Nephar who had played his entire career in Eura back when that was a significant step up - had captained both countries.
But there was a difference to the sides, one that revealed the underlying philosophies. The Euran side was built on chemistry and continuity, players who had grown old together and played like a club side. Nephara reinvented itself every year, reliant on keeping enough fresh blood in circulation that players could afford to keep pressing and battling for every ball. Composed, technocratic professionals against brash, muscular pragmatists. A lot could change, either side of Electrum.

The 4-4-2 had been dreary, the 4-3-3 reckless, but in the end Strauss opted for the extra body in the centre of midfield. Helped that the extra body was that of Lothaire Cromwell. Added spark, added energy.
Pity she hadn't packed another midfielder to give them any relief. Koerner could play a centre-right role capably enough but Strauss was loath to overwork him. No, this was the way.
The men in red wasted little time. An early shot across the bows from Woakes flew narrowly high and wide, another from Bowman came in off Verlander's shin and had to be sharply pulled around the post by the typically incandescent Provost. Provost would soon have little room to question her defenders - she came out rashly, too hard and yet not far enough, to flap at a cross from Bowman that Rhys Griffiths was there to pull into the empty net.
Nine minutes in and a goal down, but this was never going to be an affair of clean sheets. Eura knew they couldn't sit back, but Nephara took ruthless advantage on the break, Cromwell and Shone double-teaming Robshaw, getting the ball out to the flank. Belgrade returned the favour, Cromwell fired low with his first touch, 1-1 and so on to the break. Though Belgrave-with-a-V in goal still had a couple of opportunities to make good on his exalted reputation.
No matter. When Rowland reignited hostilities with her rival, Tawny Shone, to give away a free kick uncharacteristically cheaply, Chimera Moxham sent it into the top corner. Not long afterwards, she found Bastable when the Euran defence could not and, as ever, the Ulsa marksman was ruthless. All Nephara had to do was hold on... but then it was Shone's turn to get her needless revenge on Rowland. This was ill-advised; it put the ball at Brian Bond's feet, never a good plan. Bond did what he did and drilled it under the wall and past Provost.
3-2. Heating up, bth sides going for it, Nephara seeking a decisive goal, Eura seeking a necessary goal, and it went right down to the wire. A goalmouth scramble at one end, a maze of bodies from which Latona Basilisk, off the bench, hooked the ball clear only to pull wide. The goalkick went straight down the right. The seasoned figure of Freddie Wright took the ball cleanly in flight, looked up, and hooked in a diagonal that missed Bond, missed Thorn, caught Bowman on the other flank. One touch to trap, one to drill past Provost, and Eura, so often victims to the late sucker-punch, had delivered one themselves.
Tension was high, blood was up... energy was down. It was a dire extra time, in truth, neither side willing to open up. But there was one player with ambition, the one player in Nephara's squad people had questioned, the one with the most to prove, the one with the 23rd and final number in the squad.
When Latona Basilisk viciously ripped apart from the attentions of Steele and found some space down the right to hook a pass, hoping someone would find their way to it, it was Janna Sauthier who was fastest, Sauthier who was paying the most attention, Sauthier who could break clear of Almwood, clear of everyone. And now...
She did what she'd always done, and backed herself.
She let fly.
13 games. 9-1-3.

[Cassadaigua]

Familiar Foe Awaits,
By Chelsea Dufresne, Concord Heights Times

For the longest time, there had not been a ton of history on the pitch between Cassadaigua and Nephara. There would be the odd matchup here and there, but really, the two countries have just seen each other in the group tables and such but that was the extent of it. The paths of the nations simply did not cross a ton. Now, it seems like we can’t get away from them. Starting in the World Cup, where the two teams played in the group stage and then the intense battle in the World Cup 86 semifinal with a trip to Tundra Falls in the wings. Now here, in the Copa Rushmori 36 semifinal. No one is going to call it a rivalry as each nation can rattle off many others they consider a bigger rival, but who knows if that changes. For it to be a rivalry, Team Cassadaigua needs to show they can beat the Cormorants, and to do it at a pivotal juncture in a tournament. It’s not the World Cup, but the semifinal of the Copa Rushmori is not a bad option.

As we know, there are differences with the Fillies roster in this tournament, with regular manager Stephanie Sweeney choosing to focus on the Under-18 World Cup to get a good look at future talent that we have, and this gave the opportunity to Brittany Byers. Byers has done a fantastic job, but has had the benefit of many World Cup players choosing to participate in the Copa Rushmori. Historically, players have taken advantage of their option to not play in this tournament, and likewise we have not had any significant success in it. From time to time, we have made a good run, but for the most part, this has not been an exciting tournament for us. This, perhaps, was why some of initial ratings for the tournament were low for the first games as Cassadagans needed to find out through the grapevine that there were many regular players taking part in this, including Rachel Schanke and Meghan Wolcott, the biggest stars on the pitch in the nation right now. Coming at a time when the nation’s focus is on the Golden Edition of the World Baseball Classic, that was another reason ratings for the first couple games were not high. That has changed now, as fans are excited to see this team play, and on the same day that the Fillies will be playing at Dagan Airways Stadium to begin the playoffs of the World Baseball Classic, we will be having this pivotal game. Fortunately, the start times of the games are different, so the baseball game should be well over before the soccer begins.

The opponent being Nephara will have our fans perk up our ears, too. If you have forgotten (then are you even a fan?), but if you did forget, World Cup 86 in the semifinals, Cassadaigua met up with Nephara with a trip to Newmanistan for the prestigious title on the line. This was a little while after they met in the group stage of the same tournament. That game was not dramatic, as each side had a 2-0-0 record at the time of the match, with advancement known for both. The Cormorants played to a 3-1 in the game, to win the group. Each would take care of business in every game thereafter, setting up the showdown in the semifinal.

What a semifinal it was if you didn’t have a rooting interest. For fans of each nation, it was intense to watch, as each team played very well, but in a game that did not have a shortage of goals. There were some higher scores in the competition, but this one did not lack intensity.

2-0 Nephara after 34 minutes….. Oh crap
Schanke strikes!
Schanke strikes again! 2-2 at halftime!

45 minutes in, the Spirits of Tundra Falls had to be hearing what was going on in Drawkland….

71st minute…. Bastable… 3-2 Nephara. Dammit!
80th minute… Schanke… Damn Right! Make your grandma proud! Throw the hats!

Extra time we go. Who’s going to play for the World Cup 86 title….

99th minute… Basilisk. 4-3 Nephara. Is that ball game?
Moments later… Ashley Dahlin!! Yesss! Yesss!!

113th minute…. Bastable. 5-4 Nephara.

Is there time?

No, but we made it interesting.

So it ended. An intense battle went to Nephara. The Cormorants would not be able to beat Banija in the final, but the Fillies did take the third place game. Nephara is #2 in the world. Cassadaigua #4. The rankings are different for the Copa Rushmori, but these two teams each know what the other is capable of doing.

Kurtis Bastable will be there tonight.
So will Rachel Schanke.

Let’s do it!

[Mytanija]

Part 1
Part 2
Part 3
Part 4
Part 5
Part 6
Part 7
Part 8


“Is this the best angle we have?” Mirko asked as he and two of his colleagues crowded around a computer, viewing grainy CCTV footage.

“Yeah I’m afraid so guv’. The museum’s security equipment and planning was generally all way behind the times. They hadn’t updated the cameras in years. It’s the best we’ve got, none of them are particularly clear but this is the only one that shows him entering the portrait room.”

“Wow,” Mirko replied. He screwed his face up and let out a deep sigh. “Well, we’ll just have to work with what we have I suppose.” He said in the cheeriest manner he could muster.

“We’ve not got much to go on from this CCTV footage, he’s kept the balaclava on—” The junior inspector was interrupted before he could get the full sentence out.

“Yes, he’s got the balaclava on the whole time he’s inside. I know.” Mirko interjected impatiently. He had watched the CCTV footage over one hundred times and he knew what occurred in it like the back of his hand. The route the thief took in the museum; how long he took to make his way in, take the paintings before leaving; and the fact that they had kept the balaclava on throughout the time they were inside. It was frustrating, but he couldn’t let that frustration dishearten his team, he’d been brought in to move the case forward – something Lajic hadn’t managed to do since the heist had occurred. “We know that. We’ll have to work without any idea of what he looks like. The museum’s technology obviously wasn’t the best and we’re all aware of that. We’ll have to just work on the tip-offs we’re getting for now.”

“Alright.” One of the junior inspectors replied. “Did we get the report back from forensics? About the letters?”

“That’s a good point actually Eva. Any word on that Tomas?” Mirko asked. Eva and Tomas had been two of the younger members of the team, eager to please, that was something useful to Mirko given Dario’s intransigence. He hadn’t liked being replaced one bit, but he had been entirely ineffective and the government wanted the paintings found. It was hardly Mirko’s fault that there was such clamour to find the things. He didn’t mind getting one over his old rival one bit, but the blame had to be left at Dario’s door for even allowing it to happen. Now Mirko just had to make sure he solved the bloody case.

“Er, yeah. I think so. Just a second.” Tomas rushed to another computer and tapped at the keyboard, fingers a blur over the grey buttons. “Yeah. No sign of fingerprints or any DNA on any of the letters sent to the Gazeta Mytanija. It says here on the email that they reckon that he must have used gloves and been very careful about leaving hair on the letters as they’re spotless.”

“Okay. That rules that one out.” Mirko said, his voice tinged with resignation. He really didn’t want to have to rely on the tip-offs alone, he had suggested that to get a new line of inquiry going but it hadn’t bore fruit for them as yet. It was also an enormous job to sift through all the information. They had so little to go on that it made the task near impossible. The details of his childhood and adolescence were pretty specific, they even had one of his cousin’s names, Antonio. They knew he was from Visoravna originally but his family had moved to Esca and his parents fought a lot. God only knew how many Visorav families that was, though. “What about the address that Elena Katalenic was sending her correspondence to? Anything there?”

“No guv’,” Eva replied with certainty. “We’ve got an observation team there but apparently it just looks like a squat, it’s a flat in the Votavova area, some of the people going in and out are regular drug users known to the police local to the area. He could have even been giving them money in return for them just collecting his mail.”

“Wow, well then, get them to ask them about it. I don’t care if they have to ply them with money or drink. Hell, even drugs, just try to get something out of them that we can use. We need more to go on than just the tip-offs. If we can add a description or a photo we could have this tied up pretty quickly.” Mirko said, then wondering out loud: “A name would be even better… They’ll have to see if they can get a name off the junkies.”

“What about the tip-offs, Mirko?” Dario asked, smirking a little in a way that he hoped mimicked Mirko’s own smirk. He wanted to give him a taste of his own medicine.

“Well Dario, it’s been a pretty mixed bag so far I must admit. A lot of people trying to own up to it, we’ve not followed many of those up. He might hand himself in but I don’t think it’d be his style to do it in this exact manner, you know?” Mirko replied, trying not to give off the sense that Dario was getting one over on him by raising the point.

“Who would have thought it, eh old pal?” Dario smiled, barely able to contain his pleasure. Schadenfreude was a beautiful thing.

“Yeah, there’s been a few malicious tip-offs too.” Tomas chimed in. “People saying it is family members, we’ve followed a few of them up but most of them tend to be able to provide a rock solid alibi pretty quickly. The others don’t really even look like being worth following up.”

“We’ve done good work on that, very efficient so far.” Mirko said, trying to spin the situation as positively as he could. “We’ll have to keep that up. It’s important to make sure that those monitoring the phones ensure that whoever is at the other end of the line can back-up some of the identifying information the thief before we look into what they have to say. It’s only useful if there’s a chance it’s someone who knows the person who carried out the heist, okay?”

“Yes guv’.” Came the unified response. Dario was notable by his refusal to add his voice to the response. He wasn’t going to lie down whilst Mirko swanned into the place and tried to get one over on him. He still had to do his job, but he wasn’t going to make it easy for that pompous prick.

“That’s good, let’s get back to work then.” Mirko said. Just as everyone started turning back to their desks to pore over their computers for a few more hours the door of the office flew open. The young man who ran through it almost took it off its hinges. Everybody’s head whipped around to look at him as he stood there panting, clearly out of breath. “Are you quite alright?” Mirko asked.

“Yeah… Yes guv’.” The young man couldn’t manage much more through his panting.

“Here,” Mirko said, grabbing a cup of water from the water dispenser. “Calm down. What’s happened?”

“There’s new CCTV footage.” The young man said, sipping the water. “Away from the museum. We’re pretty sure it’s him. He’s wearing the same gear and he has a bag with him. Walking towards the museum.” The whole office went silent. Mirko’s face had lit up, Dario looked crestfallen. After all this, an old method would make Mirko look great. The hotline would definitely turn something up once the papers got their hands on the photo. Mirko would be a hero. If it showed a face.

“Does he have the balaclava on?” Mirko asked hurriedly.

“No guv’. You can see his face clear as day.”

“Get that footage here now. We need to see this.” Mirko said, turning towards everyone with a broad grin on his face before turning back to the young detective. His face turned thunderous upon seeing him still there. “What are you still doing here?! Go bring that CCTV footage here!” He yelled, the young detective immediately turning on his heels and sprinting out of the room.

---

Elena,

I’d like to thank you for publicising my masterpiece so widely. It never would have received the recognition it deserved without you and your colleagues at the Gazeta Mytanija deciding to print my correspondence with you. Nobody would have heard my story or what led me to the life I have chosen to lead these past fifteen years or so. They would have thought I was a mere petty criminal, someone who decided that stealing some of the nation’s most famous art purely for monetary gain, someone who could only be sated by cold hard cash.

With your help they know that I do enjoy the finer things in life, but they know that the hunger for those material goods arose from a childhood spent in poverty, with parents who fought a lot of the time. Not having much makes you treasure those things you cannot have and whilst I may have had to take a less than obvious route to acquiring those things, but people know that I have mainly taken from those that can afford to miss a few pieces of jewellery or a painting on the walls of their multimillion Corun apartment. People like those who take from the rich, especially if it’s someone who came from such limited means as I did.

I don’t want to say that you’ve made me out to be a martyr or some such. I’m not dead, for one, but I think that would also be unfair on you. You have merely printed my story, your reports were factual and supported the Policija in trying to find me. Printing the letters was all I really wanted though and you did that, even if it was designed to try and put me behind bars. Printing the letters allowed me to get my message out and it has now – I believe – played a part in creating the biggest piece of performance art in Mytanar history. The theft of four of the country’s most famous works from the Central Art Museum by the poor son of Visorav migrants, brought up in a fractured home and now kicking back at the establishment which never offered him anything.

That was one of the reasons I took the paintings, naturally my desire for them played a part too, but to get one over the politicians and bourgeoisie who never do anything for people like me is sweet nectar in itself too. I hope you publish this letter too, I would like the Mytanar people to understand my reasons. I might even hand myself in now I’ve made my point. It’d be interesting to hear what you think, but I’m afraid I won’t be collecting any further letters so there’s little point in sending me a response. You’ve helped me enough.

Elena put the letter down. She had been used like a pawn in this weird game the thief had set out. It was true what he said, too. A lot of people did support him, they felt the same way he did about the upper classes in Mytanija. The theft of these paintings was a small act of rebellion against their rule. However a lot of people were also proud of Mytanija’s culture and these pieces of art represented a small part of that, but that didn’t stop her from beating herself up over the manner in which she had been used. They all had, the whole of the Gazeta Mytanija, her editor included.

“We probably shouldn’t print this one.” The editor offered, putting a hand on her shoulder as she stared down at the printed words in disbelief. “I think he’s annoyed that we’ve played a part in putting him on the run, to be honest, I wouldn’t believe a word he says.”

“I don’t know boss. I think he’s had us exactly where he wanted us the whole time. You can see what he’s said there. He might hand himself in now, he’s made his point.”

“I don’t believe that for a minute.” The editor said, trying his best to reassure her. “Look, in the other letters he was saying about how much he wanted different paintings, how he felt drawn to art and almost needed it in his possession. He’s a common criminal, he’s materialistic, this isn’t the great political point that he thinks it is.”

“People agree with what he’s saying though, some people do see it as someone finally lashing out against an establishment which has never done anything for them. The Provisional Government’s been trying to get the country back on its feet after the Conflict, but so many of them have been lining their own pockets in the process. People don’t like politicians.”

“They stand behind our values and culture despite that, Elena. Those paintings are cultural touchstones for many, they represent Mytanija. People will respect the way in which you’ve reported on all this, we’ve tried to do something the cops weren’t doing and we’ve forced them to do something they never would have done. Nobody would have known about those letters if we hadn’t said we were printing them, the cops would have sat on them and the evidence in them would have been useless. At least people might ring up and give some names with the letters being out in the public domain.”

“We’ll have to give this to the cops and they’ll be reverting straight back to what we thought they would have done originally. They’ll say we forced their hand and now look what has happened.” Elena argued.

“I don’t think so, this guy has seen his backside, that’s all that has happened here. He has to try to spin it the way he is now. The information he gave us about his family and things like that, he’ll be there absolutely shitting his pants. If the cops can turn a name up they’ll soon know who it is behind it, the name will have to match-up with the information in the letters. The names of cousins and the like. It wouldn’t surprise me if he’s trying to use this as something to slow down the investigation. He knows we’ll have to give this to the cops and he might think that saying he’ll hand himself in will make them lower their guard. He’s probably planning to flee the country or something.”

“I don’t know boss. I just feel like we’ve been used.” Elena replied. She could almost see where he was coming from, the strange rapport she had built up during their correspondence perhaps bringing her round to the point of view he was espousing. The Provisional Government hadn’t done anything for young people, after all, but this guy wasn’t that young, or at least Elena hadn’t got the sense that he was from the letters.

“He’ll get caught yet Elena.” Her editor said. “When he does you won’t feel used. You’ll be the one who forced the cops to allow the publication of the letters that led to him being caught. You’ll be a hero in all this.”

---

“Fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck.” A man muttered. He strode across the dirty floor of a dark room, an ashtray overflowing with cigarette butts was sat on the table in the middle of the room and surrounded by half-empty takeaway boxes and drug paraphernalia. There were two sofas, at one time they may well have been a bright red colour but they were now a dark purple-brown flecked with red and black. The smell of damp emanating from them was enough to turn even the most iron-clad stomach. The wallpaper was trying its utmost to peel itself away from the room’s old walls, perhaps unwilling to subject itself to the smell in the room for any longer. Large segments had unfurled, hanging lazily into the middle of the room. The man himself was dressed in a manner which was entirely out of kilter with the rest of the room. He wore a matching tracksuit which looked to be made from fine merino wool, it didn’t have a brand logo on it but it looked to be the sort of clothing which was so expensive that the brand didn’t even put their logo on it to add value. He had fresh white trainers on his feet, they absolutely did have a logo, the snake of an Ausonean designer brand instantly recognisable. Around his neck was a thick gold chain, it was mostly tucked into the tracksuit jumper, but its glint was unmistakeable.

“Will you calm down please?” Came a voice from on one of the sofas. A woman sat up, she had been curled up, facing the back of the sofa and undistinguishable from it. Her clothes were the same purple-brown colour that the sofa was and had almost entirely camouflaged her into it. As she sat up she picked up a cigarette packet from the table and scrabbled on the floor to pick-up a lighter. She took a cigarette out of the packet and put it into the side of her mouth, she let it hang out as she used both hands to work the lighter. Eventually the flame took hold and the cigarette was lit. She took a deep drag and then dropped the lighter back on the floor with her left hand before using it to take the cigarette out of her mouth. She took a deep breath and blew out, her fringe blowing up into the air as dark smoke billowed through her lips. “You’ve got what you wanted, haven’t you? It’s all over the bloody newspapers now.”

The man didn’t respond. He was about 40. He just continued to pace back and forth across the room. The blinds were completely closed and there was only a little bit of natural light able to creep its way into the room. The only other light came from an old lamp sat on the table in the corner. It flickered every so often and the bulb must have been ancient, the yellowy light it gave off giving the whole room a strange glow. Every step he made his white trainers crunched against something, sometimes it was a takeaway container, at others it was an old magazine or newspaper rustling underneath his feet. The room wasn’t clean, arguably not fit for human habitation whatsoever and that fucking smell.

“It’s the timing more than anything.” He said, finally deciding to speak. He stopped his pacing and sat at the edge of the other sofa, a look of disgust written across his face as he stared at the soggy material. He turned back to face the woman. “I wanted a bit more time before they decided to release the letters. I knew they would eventually. The cops would have to, I’m pretty sure they never would have got an injunction off a judge. But I expected them to at least try.” He said, hands constantly fidgeting and knee bobbing up and down as his body continued to emit nervous energy. He had to stay on the move constantly, even when sat down. The woman sighed as she took another drag on her cigarette. She was quite a bit younger than him, possibly in her mid-twenties. She had crimson red hair, evidently dyed, she looked to be exhausted with dark rings around her eyes.

“So what? Sell the paintings and get a ticket out of here. The sooner you’re shot of this place the better, right? You’ve made your point, surely you don’t want to go to prison for it.” She said, her voice had a foreign lilt although it was hard to place where exactly from as she spoke perfect Visorav. “Great performative art isn’t something which usually lands people up behind bars, anyway.” She added, taking another drag from the cigarette before leaving it sitting atop the pile of cigarette butts in the ashtray, smoke curled upwards from it – in the exact opposite direction to the wallpaper that curled off the walls. She busied herself by opening different takeaway containers, trying to identify which had the food in it that they had ordered last night.

“It’s not as easy as just selling those things! You know that, don’t be so stupid.” The man replied venomously. The woman looked back at him with raised eyebrows. “Oh come on, don’t be like that.” He added. “Look, I’ve paid for your flat for the past two months and all your food. And your gear. I’m not doing that for your opinions on what I should do with the fucking paintings.”

“I didn’t ask you to come here.” She replied. “I didn’t ask you to pay for anything. You needed a place to hole up after taking those fucking things. You decided to come to me, not the other way around.”

“I know and I’m glad you’ve let me stay, but don’t pretend you’ve not got something out of it.”

“What about Vedran? Is he still in Prahecq? Would he know someone to sell the paintings onto?”

“I’ve spoken to him and he’s working on it. But it’s always slow progress with these things, people aren’t willing to have such high profile work on their walls in case someone recognises it. There are people who might, but it takes time to get everything in place.” The man explained.

“Well what are you going to do in the meantime?” She asked. “You weren’t serious about handing yourself in were you?”

“No, not really.” The man said, deep in thought. “I could, but I think the biggest piece of performance art would be to take the paintings and get away with it. Even if they do eventually know who I am.”

“Well you’ll have to leave the country then, won’t you? So it wasn’t such a stupid suggestion.”

“No, it wasn’t.” He replied, sighing. “But I did say it takes time. Everything’s just happened a bit quicker than I expected. I’m relying on none of my family reading the papers and trying to report me for a bit of cash. Or any of the people I used to live in that squat with.”

“Well, you know Vedran from there.”

“Yeah, but he’s the only one who isn’t a junkie now. The rest of them would sell me up the river to the cops if it meant them getting a few Coruns for their next fix.”

“Well, you’re welcome to stay here until you get sorted, just don’t get seen coming here and cause the Policija to come down here. You know I’d get sent to prison if I got caught doing this here still.” She said. She pointed at the stuff on the table.

“Yeah, that’s not the only thing you’d get done for.” The man replied. “I’ve seen those dirty old men leaving from time to time when I’m on my way back, don’t think I don’t know what you’re up to.”

“That’s my business you horrible fucker.” She shot back. “It’s nothing to do with you.”

“I’ve been giving you money for this gaff and your food so you don’t have to do that.”

“Yeah. What about when you fuck off Tomica, eh?” She asked. “What then? Back to that life for me. Better to not stop and have the money there ahead of time, you know what it’s like.”

“You could come with me.” He replied quietly.

“What?”

“You could come with me. If I get the paintings sold then why not? We could go anywhere we wanted and we could leave all this…” He pointed around at the flat, “behind us.”

“Tomica,” The woman started, sighing. “Don’t make promises you can’t keep, okay?”

[Graintfjall]

Semi-final cut-off.

---

Savojarna 0–0 Mytanija (1–1 AET) (3–2 pen.)

Congratulations to Savojarna who advance to the final. This will be scorinated at 0330 UTC by Tikariot.

Mytanija will play in the 3PPO. This will be scorinated at 2330 UTC by myself.

[Tikariot]

And the final is set!

Cassadaigua 4–4 Nephara (4–5 AET)

So the final will be Nephara vs. Savojarna! This will be scorinated at 0330 UTC by myself.

The 3PPO will be made up by Cassadaigua and Mytanija. This will be scorinated at 2330 UTC by Graintfjall.