Di Bradini Cup 49/U21WC70 Everything Thread

by **Chromatika** » Wed Dec 02, 2020 8:39 pm

Chromatik U-21 Squad

Staff
Manager: Shani Hayashida, 59
Assistant Manager: Mikhail Dushov, 53
Physio: Anna-Maria Myers, 39
Formation: 3-4-3
Style Modifier: +2.5
U-21 Record: 17-5-16

Hayashida's squad crashed out in the Group Stage once again. Maybe bringing in some of the brightest players of the U-18 ranks will be enough, as the CCFA had such a large crop of seniors last year that it would have been difficult to field a squad just from the CCFA.

The Roster
Goalkeepers
GK 1. Cathryn Nio, 21, Southern Chromatik University
GK 12. Gerald Oswalt, 21, Urrheddiao State University
GK 23. Van Enax, 18, Tihon U-18s

With Fillar being 22, it's Cathryn Nio's turn to get a chance at some starts. She's a bit sheepish and can get nervous, but performs well with confidence. This is one of the most cutthroat competitions ever, though, and this will be a true test for her. Gerald Oswalt and Van Enax are here to back her up, but they're mostly warm bodies.

Defensive Backs
RB 2. Annemarie Killirion, 21, Deprí Theological Seminary
CB 3. Cylie Nodis, 17, Flames of the Revolution High School
LB 4. Teresa Sang, 21, University of the Islands
RB 13. Grayson Fillar, 17, Central Heights High School
CB 14. Oswin Neindros, 21, Z'ai'ai Institute of Technology
LB 15. Ha'nei Ighv, 21, Eyrods Tech

Killirion is one of the returners from the last DBC, and will be backed up by then-backup Teresa Sang and Cylie Nodis, a player who made a splash during the last U18 World Cup. They all have good fundamentals, but don't really have one aspect of skill that makes them stand out. Nodis is abnormally tall for a seventeen year old, though, and will honestly help clear corners. Sang is the least proven, but a fiery competitor. Grayson is here to get some experience - one of those Fillar children. Keep an eye on Ha'nei Ighv, a defensive back with long-range shooting skills that can sneak up on laxing defenses.

Midfielders
RM 5. Martha Baum, 16, Academy of the Jungle
CM 6. Eli Apt, 21, Southern Chromatik University
CM 7. Mare Si, 21, University of the Islands - CAPTAIN
LM 8. Lili Germaine, 21, Felswyr State University
RM 16. Tani Qe, 21, University of the Islands
CM 17. Kaia Larriet-Cortes, 18, La Nueva Avenida
CM 18. Baillaire Fillar, 16, CdF Celtade
LM 19. Riles Morales, 21, University of Wirr Tsi

Mare Si is fast. Very fast. Eli Apt has never had a moment in the spotlight, and if he struggles, Kaia is also here to step in, fresh off of both the U-18 World Cup and the AOCAF. Baum is small but a decent crosser, while Germaine is known as another player on the fast side who tries to avoid combat if possible. The presence of hot prospects Larriet-Cortes and B. Fillar should light a fire under the starters.

Strikers
RW 9. Charisma Mott, 21, Deprí Sanar University
ST 10. Karra Oveni, 16, Anchors FC U-18s
LW 11. Shane Eckerthorp, 21, University of Wirr Tsi
RW 20. Martha Baum, 16, Academy of the Jungle
ST 21. Hank Killian, 18, Flames of the Revolution High School
LW 22. Miranda Andersen, 18, Pùr U-18s

The amount of players that have turned over 21 in these positions are staggering. Four of the six players here are actually U-18, but it may be useful to see if Oveni and Killian can handle this level of play already. Charisma Mott demands attention via her flashy plays and even more flamboyant personality, while Shane Eckerthorp is an interesting specimen - there are not many wingers who are pass-first from close but shoot-first from range.

Usual Starting Lineup:

NIO
KILLIRION - NODIS - SANG
BAUM - APT - SI (C) - GERMAINE
MOTT - OVENI - ECKERTHORP

My opponent, if they RP first, may do the following:
Choose my Lineup: No. I will be listing the starting lineup for each match at the end of each RP. You can choose my subs, though.
Choose my goalscorers: Yes
Godmod scoring events: No
RP injuries to my players: Yes, I choose the severity.
Godmod injuries to my players: No
Hand out yellow cards to my players: Yes, 3 max.
Hand out red cards to my players: Yes, 2 max. Please TG me.
Godmod other events: No

by **Khytonya** » Wed Dec 02, 2020 11:06 pm

Prematch Preview: Before the Storm

Is everyone back for another game of footy? We are because this time the youths are taking center stage in this illustrious youth tournament: the Di Bradini Cup. I'm sure you know who Simeone Di Bradini is, right? He's a legendary hall-of-fame player who leads Starblaydia to a number of World Cup appearances, is the country's top goalscorer, and is elected President of the World Cup Committee! And he started his career in a small suburb of the capital city. Just reading Di Bradini's facts makes you think how great of a player is he, right? We consider him the 'almighty god' of football.

Uh, where was I? Ah yes, the DBC! Looks like Khytonya are playing in Group G, consisting of nice strong nations like Cassadaigua, Sylestone, and Graintfjall. This group will play in Valanora's Turmondale Grounds in Raynor City and Rose Garden in Kareen (did I also mentioned every match is held in Valanora?). Granted, just like the senior team in the AOCAF, they won't be making out the group alive. It'll take a load of miracle to survive even in the direst situations. May lady luck side with us all. Without further ado, let's breakdown at the teams starting with the first one to play against.

So who will qualify? Perhaps Cassadaigua and Graintfjall will top the group and punch their ticket to the knockout round. As the tournament progresses, however, our prediction would probably be wrong. They may even qualify for the Round of 16 if hard work on the training ground pays off in the group stage. Regardless of what would happen, let's pray that Khytonya grabs a victory.

by **Mapletish** » Wed Dec 02, 2020 11:55 pm

TEAM MAPLETISH FOR DI BRADINI CUP 49/U21WC70
Nation Name: The Mapletia Unida of Mapletish
Demonym: Maplish/Mapletian
Team Nickname: The Lions/The Dragons/The Minnows
The Supporters: The Fierykop

OFFICIAL KIT
HOME - AWAY - KEEPER

HOME STADIUM:
Rosfield Stadium - 102,611

Di Bradini Cup Achievement(s):
1 x Winners, Di Bradini Cup 43/U21WC64

The Buio'Dzz
Before every match, the team members (including the designated substitutes for the match) will perform a traditional ritual, called the Buio'Dzz on the pitch just before play begins. The Buio'Dzz performed by the Maplish sports teams are from the Mapli-ane, one of the largest aboriginal groups in Mapletish. The Buio'Dzz originated from the sun god, Inaka, a Mapli-ane creation. To celebrate the birth of his son Arone, Inaka broke into a dance while humming a poem to celebrate the occasion. This continued to be the foundation of all tribe dances done by the Maplish aboriginals. The Buio'Dzz is just one of the many tribe war dances from the aboriginals of Mapletish. It is meant to awe and to challenge their opponents in the sports context today. This is similar to the [RL] New Zealanders' haka before their matches. It is performed by a group of people, with intensity and vigour. Actions are performed rhythmically including foot-stamping, tongue protrusions, rhythmic body slapping, clapping of the hands, and an accompaniment of shouting in the aboriginal dialect, which may represent tribal poems passed down from the ancestors of the particular tribe, or a poem that marks the events of a particular tribe. This ceremonial dance ritual also fulfills social functions such as weddings, funerals and celebration of great achievements, occasions, other than the anticipation of war from its earlier intentions. This would be performed unless the hosts of the match in question object to the ritual.

Simple Procedural Notes
The RFAM or the Royal Football Association of Mapletish failed to assemble a team capable to take on the reins of the Di Bradini Cup on time for the take off flight towards Valanora in another showing of "administrative excellence" and "multi-verse" class bureaucracy by the RFAM. One can simply look at the hastily assembled team and probably wave off any fighting chance, the Dragons will have for this DBC. Or are they even worthed a look? Pretty hilarious, yet expected, one keen observer would say considering having won the DBC once in its glorious history of participation which dates way back to Di Bradini Cup 20. Yes, it was that far back, then led by a relatively unknown Manger Daniels Wilson, have you got any clue?? The U21 team back then wasn't a force to be reckoned with (spot any similarity then to now?), with Hermanus Hugo standing in as the skipper ahead of Gil Diego and Adolf Sjakie taking on Di Natile. Ahh Di Natile, at least one player, familiar to the ears of the Maplish football crowd. It is a shame to see the state of youth football especially beyond the club levels, the Big 20 Sports Club, I may say are the only ones holding everything together. The standard on the national level for youth football though has dipped. Objectively, these standards include level of coaching, facilities, outreach of the national football programs, talent acquisition and identification, sports medicine, analytics, psychology, etc. Coupled with the relectuance for football clubs to release their youth players for national duties and rejecting call ups, even, it is a tough fight.

BACKROOM STAFF
Head Coach: Bernhard Floris, 40
A particularly unknown coach from Mapletish or probably he could be someone from the National Academy, who knows? Rumours has it that this 40 year old is a full time artist, enjoys tennis, is obsessed with cosplaying, helping the elderly across the road and reading. I don't know about the genre of his books though. Such quirky character but nothing beats his generosity and creativity. Perhaps that is all you need? Especially when dealing with young adults and teenagers who aren't the particularly "tough" or "headstrong" as the older generations might put that out as. Having grew up in a working class neighbourhood, he sure knows what being tough means. Physically, slightly overweight but otherwise in in good shape? So what does this have to do with sport? Maybe he was eyeing for a mid-career switch and found himself taking the helms for a multiverse U21 football tournament, gosh tennis is different from football, you know?

Assistant Coach: Sylvanus Cherokee, 37
An arrogant, talkative and headstrong assistant, Cherokee is vastly on the opposite end of Floris. 3 years his junior, Cherokee seems to be a little more in tune with his sporting/athletic background than Floris. Finally not another full time artist taking a mid career switch, oh Floris. Whlist, one can describe Floris' training methods as benevolent, or in other words, go easy on you when you reach your objectives for the session. Little can be said about Cherokee. Unsparing in his methods? How do we phrase this? Unprogressive? Growing up in a upper class neighbourhood, he sure knows what being tough means. Or however the opposite to what Floris means. Little is known how will this combination work but one can see some obstacles in their partnership on a fundamental level already, but maybe football is the one which breaks boundaries, with football as the common language.

PLAYERS:
#1 - GK - Malcolm Meade - Age 20 - No Club/ Royal Mapletish Armed Forces Sports Association
Floris dug deep in his connections and went straight to the Royal Mapletish Armed Forces Sports Association or RMAFSA, and picking up a goalkeeper on the way in the name of Meade. Meade is about to finish his conscription service in the RMAF and is looking to spend his last few months in the Maplish military amibicaly until Floris knocked on his door one day, literally. Floris under the name of the RFAM made a special trip down down South in fact to grab hold of the Army's football team starting goalkeeper. Consider it done that Meade is not looking for professional football just yet, having had no clubs knocking on his door. That however isn't too much of a concern for Meade as he can look to join one of the University/ College teams which provides fair competition in the annual University Cup. Meade is known or perhaps rumoured to be committed and highly composed in goal, coupled with quick reflexes through repeated conditioning rather than a naturally lower reaction time and reflex action.

#2 - DL - Arin Elton - Age 20 - No Club/ National Football Academy
Deliberating between whether to be a full back or a wing back, Elton is another option in Floris' toolkit. Versaitility in both allowed Floris to pick a relatively fluid formation for the squad in fact. An imposing player in fact, capable of tracking wide attacking players and delivering heavy body checks to get the attackers off the ball, he is also quick to return the attacking favour with speedy runs down the left flank, something which has been proven useful with a short tenure in his high school's track and field team. A 400m sprinter in fact, we can see how the need for repeated bouts of effort translates to a more sprinting outfit like Elton. However, the ability to catch the initial outbursts of speed in bringing the ball allows room for acceleration for the Dragons as Elton is also the centre of the counter attacking outfit, amidst, with minimal effect.

#3 - DC - Ivan Dwight - Age 20 - No Club/ National Football Academy
Dwight is considered rather old fashion as compared to his mate, Elton in the left flank. Sitting back and cautious towards going in front, he holds his position, sometimes a little too deeply, acting like a sweeper instead. Finding accurate long balls to the advancing attackers, is his offensive quality amongst the traditional toolkit of a defender. Tough tackles, maybe vital, maybe uncalled for, especially sliding tackles. But, that probably shows the determination and desire to win balls. Another plus point. Gets a little nervous to play sharp passes to his teammates when under pressure but that doesn't stop his pinpoint accurate long passes out to his offensive players. Something for Floris to take note, which one can be sure Floris has it taken down on his notebook, way earlier than any fans can take notice of.

#4 - DC - Raphael Singer - Age 20 - Balmope Betis
The only club that allowed their player to leave its youth outfit, Balmope Betis. Not be to confused with Raphael Sieger, the DBC 43 winner with his defensive partner Barnabas Hugo, hey now does that remind you of Hermanus Hugo? I'm sure you do, so many names, so many iterations, so confusing. Singer is similar to Sieger, his Balmope Betis senior in many aspects, aiming to form a partnership with his center defender partner Dwight, like how Sieger forms a partnership with Hugo, having great technique and loves a good nutmeg against his opponents, while trying to display, demonstrate or perform acts of flair with the ball against his opponents. Floris would have hope that Singer can be a key man in bringing in the attack together with his left flank counterpart Elton, maybe winning the ball and setting Elton up? Or to get the ball over to Dwight to deal that long cross, lob, sniped shot pass over to any offensive player there is out there. Not the opponents, that is. Never left alone without his guitar, Singer lives up to his name. Indeed he is a singer haha. Another quirk he likes to throw around, a good argument.

#5 - DR - Randolf Tijs - Age 20 - No Club/ National Football Academy
Out of the 4 defenders on the pitch, the toughest tackler will definitely be Tijs. And tackling goes beyond just using your legs to take the ball out, it involves taking your opponent out, and probably getting them below the shoulders and above the waist, yes you heard that right, or maybe a single leg takedown or double leg takedown right there. Tijs was condemned for playing too much football when his only obligation was to be taking fights in the rink, oh I meant ring, or probably the octagon, or pentagon, however the sides to that fighting ring. Probably because of his mixed martial arts background, a keen muay-thai and judo practitioner and some field skills from rugby, culminates in his combative style of play. Tijs, though might have seen the better of the referee books by keeping himself out of them for as many matches that he has played thus far, though. A good temperament? A humbled soul? Or maybe just some rule abiding?

#6 - CM - Austin Sonnie - Age 20 - No Club/ National Football Academy
A top base stealer, is one thing that comes to mind with Sonnie in the name. Eh what? Isn't he suppose to be a football player? Isn't stealing bases, a baseball sport? Oh I mean, baseball. Patience, Sonnie's favourite word. Drag the opponent in your waiting and you have the chance to make the play, that one play to start all plays. Once the time is right, or when the steel is hot, you get into action quickly, like the split second outburst from the starter's gun on the track in front of 50,000 spectators in the Olympics final 100m race, oh you get it. Explosiveness, speed, power and split second decisions, something that has dominated Sonnie's game, not to forget great hand eye coordination, there goes to show it goes to hand feet eye coordination as Sonnie picks out the right passes, run the right positions and starts the right plays. A pity he can't steal home plates and score runs in football, but he can certainly steal balls and score goals?

#7 - LM - Job Bobbie - Age 20 - No Club/ National Football Academy/ King's College - Captain
The good old number #7 man. Unlike a controlling, dominating left winger with far greater offensive tendencies and individualistic tendencies, Bobbie is somewhat different, more of a team player and with a keen eye on picking good crosses, he makes a good compliment with Dwight who comes sprinting down the left flank. Bobbie cuts inside to support his central midfield buddy Sonnie or to relive the pass from Dwight before cutting out again for Dwight to make an inside or to make a one two with one of the oncoming forwards or to make the dribble for himself. Floris looked to this age old teamplayer and handed him the Captain's armband not just because of his on the ball awareness but also because of his big pictured, aerial vision of the game. Not so much an eccentric leader when considered to outstanding captains of his age, he is more of a down to earth elder brother to the team despite being in the same age group. Maturity comes from experience in life, not just the numbers on your identity card, proved to be true in the form of Bobbie. To top things off, Bobbie also captained his school's 5th place finish in Group 11 of the University Cup, where they missed out on the knockout rounds by 5 points, behind group winners Dodgestead University, who won the group narrowly, by one point, coming ahead of Massgrad Park University, in a close group.

#8 - CM - Moseses Quin - Age 20 - No Club/ National Football Academy
Moseses cuts open the Red Sea. Or maybe he can cut the red card into half. Oh wait, he is Moseses, what a lad. Leaning on the right side of the central midfield, he is a good pairing with Sonnie. Soonie, however, seems to play better with Bobbie as a potential left side complement though. Energetic, handsome, photogenic, stop stop. Are we describing a would be sports model? Yes, he certainly turns heads on campus whenever he makes an appearance and a heartthrob to the ladies or whoever sets their eyes on him, even if it is just a glance. Appearance aside, Moseses is a box to box midfielder, hard working, disciplined, good all-round abilities but doesn't quite excel in attacking and defending, just skilled, and probably skewed towards sticking his head in the centre of the park most of the time. Trace back to his own box to make tackles and block shots then up ahead carrying the ball forward and run into the opponent's' box to assist or score himself. Quite traditional one would observe, noting how the game has evolved to split the two roles into holders and surgers in recent years. A mark of backwardness or conventionalism by Floris nonetheless.

#9 - RM - Henry Tomomi - Age 20 - No Club/ National Football Academy - Vice - Captain
Henry Tomomi, his name speaks volumes even before you see him. Impressions include wisdom, intellect, an attractive and refined friend, while a leader in his right. Tomomi is the sort to sit a little deeper than his left flank counterpart, Sonnie. Yet, he is not to be missed with his pace, and ability to beat the opponent's full back one on one and his incredible strength to muscle his way through if he is caught. A little less refined his in technical abilities than Sonnie, Tonomi takes on slightly more demanding physical roles to make up for it often opting for tried and tested passes and crosses rather than beating opponents by skills, he brings them down with both physicality and intellect a part, just like what his name suggests. A leader on the pitch, he complements well with Job Bobbie in the dressing rooms, probably a little less patient than the skipper himself, but he is a great listening ear and often can be seen talking to his teammates over coffee.

#10 - ST - Leonde Patrick - Age 20 - No Club/ National Football Academy
Patrick might not turn heads as often as Moseses, but turns heads for him is on the pitch. That is what matters isn't it? A second striker or inside forward, he is known for his ability to play in the hole, or what one would say between the space between the midfield and the defence of the opposing team, that means dancing around opponents? Probably. Quick, nimble, mobile, flexible and skillful and of great help to set up goals together with right midfielder Henry Tomomi, they are most likely to be the ones creating goals. Although Patrick might be thought of to be quick and nimble, he is also known for his strength, another feature that has been part of Floris' team this time round, with an emphasis on less than refined technical skills but a lot more focus on physical abilities. Something not to be missed despite Patrick's less than refined technical abilities is his dribbling though, an area which he has worked on countless of times and complements well with his nimble feet as observers suggests.

#11 - ST - Fernando Gauvain - Age 20 - No Club/ National Football Academy
Gauvain takes the role as the number 11 in the central forward spot ahead of Patrick as the team's key goal scoring and focal point of the majority of the attacking play by the team this tournament, at least. Of course, if you only measure a young lad by just how many goals they score, Guavain won't be in the running for the starting spot for this team. Not known to be any better at scoring goals than any of the top forwards in the Youth Premiero Liga, Guavain was brought in solely because of his agility, on the ball skills, confidence and strength, and also height. A kayaker, who plays football as an off season spot, Guavain finds himself in the wrong sport after all, after he suggested to paddle to Valanora for the DBC, luckily Floris pulled him back and sit him on the plane instead. Height is of an advantage just like how it helped with his reach in the water, strength and endurance, just as nicely put in the water, we don't know whether he is well conditioned enough to be putting in an on season effort on the field though. Game time will tell signs whether this off season kayaker is ready for some football matches.

PLAYERS: RESERVES
#12 - GK - Fernao Rufino - Age 20 - No Club/ National Football Academy
Rufino has it rough, rougher than many of his teammates in fact, he came from ice hockey. Imagine skating such aggressively on the ice and now having to run on the pitch, and roll around in the mud, what a horror. Falling down in grace and away from the obstructive helmet, Rufino roughs it out on the ground as his favourites are one on ones with each of the outfielders in the team. Gone are the days when he can have his entire body to the goal though, now he has to dive and jump and catch like really take the leap of faith and dive for it. Low balls are his strengths though, well drilled in bottom corner shots, he might have that bit of a trouble taking those upper corner shots because that is literally what he doesn't do in ice hockey, but whose idea was it to bring an ice hockey goalie in the football pitch anyway? Anyone? Floris? Anyone with that name? Sounds familiar.

#13 - CB - Jansen Olu - Age 20 - No Club/ National Football Academy/ University of Queensland
Another varsity player on the pitch together with Bobbie, who is from the King's College. This Business Administration major better not be doing his sums or his SWOT analysis on whether or not to play the game. Just play and defend well. Another one of those ambitious and physical fellows in the team. Despite, Floris' insistence to not throw long crosses into the opposition half, a more completely opposite instruction for his teammate Singer, Olu, just attempts it anyway. No wonder he sits on the bench but such ambitious attempts have a 1 in 3 chances probability to hit an advancing Maplish player, as calculated by Olu, what nonsense. For one, one wouldn't be too confident to execute a pass that isn't at least 50% accurate at least. At least in 4 tries, get 2 in, but seems like what 50% means to Olu is there is a 50% chance that the ball won't reach an offensive player because it is either a hit or a miss, 50-50 indeed. Is this the partition problem? Are some partitions just that much better than others? One shudders to think.

#14 - CB - Nazariy Borislav - Age 20 - No Club/ National Football Academy
Borislav, a sport fisherman more than anything else or he could be a career fisherman if he wants to. What is he doing on the football pitch? Few things to learn from him though, he has an odd superstition about the weather, if the weather isn't at all good, he tends to stand his ground and his a little more patient than usual. "One doesn't curse the weather, as nature it is should be taken naturally," wise words coming from a 20 year old. Giving things a second and re-evaluating it, when brought into context on the football pitch means making calculated guesses on the pitch and timing his tackles right rather than throwing in tough and rough and wild tackles whenever he feels like it, sounds a little bit better than the all rough Tijs, one might think. But that only throws you off especially when concentration gets a little wayward when the weather goes down south, lesser analysis and more work, would do Borislav better though. Cheers to that.

#15 - CM - Arnar Vioir - Age 20 - No Club/ National Football Academy
Vioir, at one point, I thought there might be double "o"s. Comparing him to the football team is like comparing apples with oranges. This dude is all the way from the weightlifting team. Now, we can say he is buying his time in the offseason with the football team, just like Gauvain, that kayaker. Training for Vioir consists of more squats than the football team can comprehend, and more assistance exercises than the football team has ever seen. Front squats, back squats, picture perfect snatches shot in quick succession and the neat catch at the bottom at the highest pull of the bar and dropping under perfectly, good technique Tuesday, captions one of the weightlifting coaches, remarking Vioir's emphasis on technique mastery and practice. What can that bring over to football? One fears the other who practices 1 kick 1000 times rather than the one who practices 1000 kicks 1 time. There we go, Vioir has good technique mastery, good control and keeps himself close, perfect for man marking duties especially in defending corner. One could have witness a human clean and press.

#16 - CM - Agnar Yngvar - Age 20 - No Club/ National Football Academy
We have seen a sprinter, kayaker, rugger, mixed martial artist, fisherman, weightlifter, an ice hockey keeper, but have we seen an Olympic rower. Floris lack of options really have him pulling out all strings to keep tabs on athletes who do play football decently during their off season. Yngvar is an Olympic Rower, good riddance, or probably one might say for the good of Di Bradini. A huge power to weight ratio, is that enough? Add an endless amounts of insane dedication and the daringness to keep going and going and going and going like those trains spinning on the tracks. Not only is he a good combination of speed, he also emcompasses some resemblence of endurance, and his favourite past time indeed is going for marathon length jogs. One can only guess this means he is a workhorse on the pitch, something that is not to be missed as he runs into positions set out just fine. Floris really has a good eye.

#17 - CM - Oliv Lui - Age 20 - No Club/ Royal Mapletish Armed Forces Sports Association
Another player from the RMAFSA, Lui sits patiently by as he too is vying his time to end his conscription service with the RMAF peacefully, and just nice, it is a chance for him to sit out the rest of his time with an edition of the Di Bradini Cup. Lui is a combat medic, who obviously plays football when he is free, or at least on the Sports Association level one can at least guess. Combat medics in the RMAF at least complete rounds of courses which certify them as Emergency Medical Technicians, paramedics and on site trauma care specialist and an all round medical and clinical setting training, something which is similar to the type of training that med school students get to experience. An on the job training component and a capstone emergency treatment simulation rounds up the training for Lui in his role as a combat medic. Most of the time, Lui spends his time in the Battalion medical centre hoping to have a peaceful day, with zero injuries and zero medical attention needed.

#18 - ST/ Utility - Hampus Torbjorn - Age 20 - No Club/ National Football Academy/ Great Readingbury University
Torbjorn is termed a Utility, perhaps, a compliment of his versatility or simply just a backhanded compliment to his inability to settle in any of the positions on the pitch, but lets just assume it is meant to be a compliment for his versatility on the pitch. Although mainly used in the forward roles, Torbjorn was also utilised in other positions such as the defensive midfield, the wings, or the centre backs positions in his tenure within the National Football Academy. One can only imagine why because he is one of the younger coaches within the Academy, and since Floris needs some young men to form the squad for the Di Bradini Cup, he is brought on on the very last minute, what a bummer. Currently, a sports science major in the Great Readinbury University, he is also a varsity team player and the current captain of the varsity football team at the university, who recently finished ina respectable third place in Group 1 of the University Cup failing to qualify for the knockout rounds behind University of Catazaro and South Holtsburg University.

Formation: 4-4-2

Style Modifier: -5

Penalty Takers: Job Bobbins/ Fernando Guavain/ Moseses Quin
Direct Free Kick Takers: Job Bobbins/ Fernando Guavain/ Moseses Quin
indirect Free Kick Takers: Raphael Singer/ Austin Sonnie/ Leonde Patrick
Left Corner Takers: Henry Tomomi/ Moseses Quin/ Randolf Tijs
Right Corner Takers: Job Bobbie/ Austin Sonnie/ Arin Elton

THE opponent can,
Choose my goalscorers? Yes.
Godmod scoring events? Yes.
RP injuries to my players? Yes, within reason, that means no career ending injuries or my players end up dying. I reserve the right to change the severity in the follow up RP.
Godmod injuries to my players? Yes, as above.
Hand out yellow cards to my players? Yes.
Hand out red cards to my players? Yes, only a maximum of 2 per match and that excludes the captain or vice-captain.
Godmod other events? TG me first and I'm always open to ideas.

by **Mapletish** » Thu Dec 03, 2020 3:43 am

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

The Forgotten War - Equipment

Getting into the heat of war, and all that comes in between, we look at some of the equipment that I carried in Somalia. Depending on the operations and deployments, we do not carry a standard kit. I adjusted my gear accordingly to the conditions of the deployment, adding and reducing equipment that suits the conditions. I will run through some of the standard kit outs though.

Pistol
An SOF standard issue pistol is the Mapletish Chartered Industries (MCI) Pistol 226, or MCIP 226, a neat 9x19mm Parabellum, fitted with 9mm rounds. While it lacks the blastpower I would have preferred I stuck with it anyways. Judging by the fact that we don't exactly reach down on our pistol until the situation calls for it. By that time, I am more likely to be dead rather than to continue fighting. Placing perfect shots on the target board though is not the main aim over here, my main aim is to bring down my opponent or the enemy with enough firepower. Then enters the .45 caliber round which comes from the MCI Springer edition which shoots a much bigger round, and more likely to knock an enemy out during close combat situations, other than that, I don't look to use my pistol on the first encounter though, never ever.

I place my pistol in my combat loadout belt, or a hip belt with my pistol rigged up at the hip, i find it to be of a better fit for maneuverability and to minimise the constant bouncing it gets on your leg whenever you are moving about. Although a consideration is that a thigh holster lowers your gun and you are somewhat in your natural position to grab the gun when you need it. However on a more practical standpoint, running and drawing your pistol is made much easier while moving especially in a fast evolving situation, hip holsters thus suit this function way better. But, it is up to the user, at the end of the day.

Medical Kit
The emergency kit is a must for everyone and each of us have a small set of medical supplies, which is the bare necessities, needed to treat gun shot wounds. It contains bandages of different sizes for different wounds, IV, clotting medication, and is readily accessible and everyone knows where everyone carries their blowout kit. Always in the left pocket on the thigh. That is in fact the common practice from Recruits when they are sent for Basic Military Training and the instructional Sergeants and Corporals made sure the new recruits know that this was their life saving pocket. If I'd ever been shot, my buddies will move ahead to cut open the bottom of my pocket and pulled out the kit anyways.

When you are on the field and you get to someone first before the medic does it, you use their med kit, that is all about it. No movies antics, no dramatical re-enactment, you go for the patient's med kit. You don't use yours, and you don't use somebody else's.

Body Armour and Rig
The body armour often used is an integrated modular system of load bearing and body armour. This was in fact a standard loadout. A web system where different pouches and gear can be attached and detached according to operational or deployment needs. This allows you to customise the equipment loading however you like it. The load bearing vest comes with two slots in the front and the back which allows you to put in your armour plates. While convenient, you are mostly restricted in movement, coupled with so many objects literally on you.

Subsequent deployments that followed, brought me back in time with the Rhodesian rig, one that separates the load and body armour. This is also a modular and customisable system. Having a separate vest allowed me to take my gear off and lay it down, while still wearing my body armor. This made it more comfortable to lie down and still be able to take everything I needed. When I was going to be on the sniper rifle, lying behind it and peering through the scope, I would unclip the strap and lay out the vest. This made my ammo, which I had in the pouches, easier to access. Meanwhile, the vest was still attached to my shoulders; it would come with me and fall into place when I got up, re-clip the straps as I continued moving. Such convenience. It also helped a little with keeping cool, as the pouches don't hog up your frontals that much.

I kept a rugged and tough GPS watch on my wrist at all times, reinforced with blast protection and all kinds of shock. I kept a backup GPS in my vest and a good old fashioned compass just in case. Goggles wise are another important feature, cycled through them during different deployments. I can't emphasised its importance enough. A blast that happens right in front of you will have impaired your vision without eyewear protection, even if such protection might look a little flimsy and you lack the confidence to depend on them, but I have seen instances of how these eye protection goggles work and they generally do help in getting you up and running soon, at least you aren't blind. Some of the better ones that I run through, had miniature fans inside to keep air circulating so they wouldn't fog up.

Amongst other equipment included a 7 inch blade fixed blade combat knife which was one of my go to and default combat knife.

Overall, I seperate how i carry my items, some of them are on me on my pouches, while others lie lower at my hips with the wasit combat belt. This is really an attempt to keep myself as mobile as possible even being weighed down by tons of equipment.

Ear protection was a necessity. We cycled through different ear protection hardware, the most vintage of those had noise-cancelling circuitry. While it was possible to hear gunshots fired by the enemy, the microphone picked up sounds omnidirectionally which made it impossible to tell where the shots came from. The next generation ear protection hardware just that bit better. This time round, it has smart noise-cancelling circuitry, which minimises noises up to a certain volume but it still plays the sound and it is possible with this technology to find out where exactly the shots come from. Smart indeed.

Standard issue helmets were uncomfortable, of minimal value against all but the weakest of shots and shrapnel. While I had to convinced Dana that i always wear my helmet because it was safety first, it was really not the case. Have you seen before a clown with a jostling cap, that was it was. It was very hard to find the perfect fit anyway, and compression headaches were a thing because of the ill fit, even if I tighten the straps and added in compression pads to ease the pressure, but it was annoying to wear over long periods and compression headaches come in. It is hard to focus over long periods of wear and together with the compression headache, it was not the best option to keep it on all the time. Especially, when you have to peer through your scope over long periods and to maintain your composure and posture over long periods of time.

Judging from how the rounds go through standard issued helmets, it is not worth the discomfort it has caused. It isn't an additional incentive though. But for the notion of safety, you keep them on. Some big army shit right there and a false notion of safety and protection. The exception to this norm is when I have to attach my night vision device, which is basically the only time I wear my helmet. Otherwise I wear a ball cap. Plain ball caps are my go to. At least it is more comfortable than the helmet, more lightweight, and is generally cooler in an aesthetic sense and in a practical sense. Be cool? Look cool.

In your face

Historically, there were two battles for Mogadishu. The first one took place in what would be the spring offensive, as i have mentioned fore. Political considerations were made especially with the Revolutionists running wildly distorted media reports and propagandas. This caused the Army to reduce their intention to make the move and back off the offensive soon after it was begun. Somalians who were loyal to the government were supposed to take control and run the city. With the Army withdrawn from the city, the Revolutionists wrestled control back of the city and civilians, really civilians were the ones who suffered the most and they were either killed or had to flee the city which in fact made them refugees in their own home country. This didn't make any sense and particular who would do all these just because of an ideology.

Banadir, the area that surrounds the city, was studded with insurgents, in the form of the Revolutionist of various forms. Anti-Mapletish sentiment was what drove all this sentiment and hate towards the Maplish. The Revolutionist as in the simplest sense of the word, were one part terrorists and another criminal gangs. IED ambushes, kidnappings and random attacks were straight up common and anything and everything that one could think of. They could have. Mogadishu was a safe haven. We had once drove them out but that was the first offensive, the second was to be different. The Revolutionist had their stronghold here once again.

While using Mogadishu as a base to attack the surrounding area of Banadir and looking to wrestle control of the region away from the Somalian government, the Revolutionist had spent considerable time fortifying Mogadishu in an attempt to withstand another counter attack and subsequent attempts to take the city back. They stockpiled ammo and weapons, prepared IEDs and fortified buildings, closing roads off and planting mines around the main entry points to the city. Ambush spots were well thought out and hidden from plain sight. Holes were drilled in between houses to allow the Revolutionists to run around and avoid the streets.

The Revolutionists were confident of their chances and were able to launch rocket attacks against the Maplish regularly. This prompted the Maplish forces to draw up an offensive plan against the Revolutionists in order to right this wrong perhaps. Previously, the second offensive was cancelled to make way for the Somalian forces to take the city, but they were unable to do so. Fearing political backlash, the Maplish forces could only look as the Revolutionists took the city back. In a never ending wrestle to keep such an important Somalian city from falling, the Maplish had make a mistake back then, therefore the desire to right the wrong.

The city would be cut off from the outside as enemy supplies and reinforcements attempts would be stopped in order to cut the city out. This will force the Revolutionists to be rooted out and destroyed. The Army from the First Division made up the backbone of the attack force. This offensive attempt made the key piece of the plan to retake Mogadishu. SOF snipers tailed along the Army's assault groups, providing overwatch and traditional sniper missions and duties. The Army would spend several weeks preparing for the assault whilst launching a series of pre-operations disruptive operations to throw the Revolutionists off balance and to test out tactics on a smaller scale.

The Revolutionists caught wind of these small movements by the Army but were unsure as to when the Army would come after them. The Somalian government forces were saved from their earlier embarrassment by spearheading the offensive together with the First Division. The eastern side of the city was heavily fortified in anticipation of the heavy Maplish bombardment and attack. Little do they know that the attack would come from the north west and roll down into the heart of the city, as the steam roll begins, that is where I was headed.

Moving to the Target
About a month into my tour with Team Alpha, I was woken by a shake on my shoulder.

I skipped a bit, ready to go as I sat upright on my bed, ready to deck out with my equipment.

"Relax boy,", said the Major, who had woken me. He was my boss, the "Overlord', "I need you to get dressed and come to my office."

"Yes sir," I mumbled. Pulling up my shorts and my flip flops and heading towards his office.

I had thought little of this encounter anyways, whatever trouble I could have gotten myself into, I would own up. But, I have been on good behaviour for all I have remembered throughout my tour.

The Major's voice rattled as i entered the office. "Take a seat, Viktor. I'm going to need you to get your sniper rifle and pack up all your gear." The Major continued, "You will be heading towards Mogadishu to gather with the rest of the guys, the Army guys."

He started telling me about the arrangements and threw in some operational details. "Get your head right, we need you there."

Dismissed by the major, I gathered all my gear and headed towards a pickup truck that was waiting to take me to a chopper. A sleath chopper, a work of art - was waiting for me and another guy who'd been working with Team Alpha, a communications specialist, Adam. We glanced at each other and laughed.

"Ready?" I exclaimed.

"Of course," he continued.

We were headed towards battle and that in itself was thrilling. SOF members from all over Somalia were making a similar trip. The trip towards Mogadishu, the huge Army base south of the city. The SOF base was well established within the huge ARmy camp and I traded my way through the narrow halls of the building, which had been dubbed the House. The walls lined with gear and equipment, gun boxes, metal suitcases, rows of bags and the cartons of water. Snipers from team Alpha, Bravo, Charlie were put on to join the assault. I already knew most of these guys and I would come to respect them over the next few weeks. The energy level was intense and everyone was thrilled to be back together again and to play a part in helping the Army.

Back home

Dana haven't caught wind of this major offensive yet. As the battle drew nearer, Dana was busy with our little baby boy. I would received photos and even videos of our son, showing his early progress and milestones. She'd also send images through the e-mail for me to look at. I can see some of those videos now in my mind and had imagined, back then I was equally thrilled and excited for this growing boy, who was as active as his dad. Holidays in Somalia, those weren't all that matters, what mattered was having missed part of the experience with my son as he grew up. The more I was gone, the more I saw him grow, the more I wanted to help him grow - do the things a father does with and for a son, such dread away from home, you get rather drained out from such thoughts all the time.

I called Dana for a while while I was waiting for the assault to being. It was a short conversation.

"I can't tell you where I am going, dear, but I will be gone for a while. Take care while you are at it. Watch the news and you will figure it out. I don't know when I am going to be able to talk to you again." That was going to have to do for a while.

She held onto her receiver and mouthed the usual words, "Take care, dear, as you always do, stay safe."

Offensive

And here we go, the offensive began. I got onto a Amphibious Assault Vehicle (AAV) together with the rest of the Army guys, a dozen of them and a few SOF operators, all keyed up for battle. The AAV rumbled to life and slowly moved towards the camp gates. A procession of armour headed out of the camp and north of the city into the open desert and ready for the assault.

We sat knee to knee in the vehicle with benches facing each other in a bare bones interior. That was the best we could get as we squeezed in the compartment. We might try not to crowd out the guys on the either side of us, but sometimes there was only so much we could do and we ended up leaning on each other for support, the kind of brotherhood support that warriors can accord to each other even in the most dire and uncomfortable of situations. thankfully, just about everyone inside the vehicle with me had showered before getting on!

The tropical sun was the most daunting of all and it was all hot and stuffy in the vehicle. The AC on board although cranking hard at work, barely provided sufficient comfort for all the men stuffed inside the vehicle. I tried to catch a shut eye but I didnt get much as I shouldered one guy to my left and another on my right as we all laid against each other and each tried to get their own shut eye time.

I didn't get all that much sleep, as expected. Every so often I glanced towards the windows in the rear doors, curious as to what might have so been. Pretty funny especially when the only thing you see is sand all around. There wasn't much to see as expected, just specks of dust left by the vehicles that ran the sand over. We had practiced with the Army pals for about a week, working on general strategy and tactics and working on our communication and going over everything including getting in and out of their vehicles to figuring out what sort of demolitions we would use to blow sniper holes through buildings. We also exchanged ideas on the what worked best for all of us through the impromptu sharings and post and pre training briefs.

Constant communication was key especially when tactical decisions are involved as it often mattered that life and death be an issue.

As with any large organisation, planning time was littered with buffer time and we rushed to wait. We sat there in our vehicles for what seemed like hours. every muscle in my body had cramped and I had troubled sitting up, my neck a little sprained. I stretched bit by bit and luckily someone let go of the ramp at the rear door and all of us rushed to get a breather. I unfolded myself from the bench and had to mentally prepped myself to walk. What a bumper. We went out to release our trigger fingers as we lay out some target practice with the rest of the SOF snipers.

Finally, just before dawn, we were loaded back up and again and all ready to trot to the edge of the city. We were ready to fire shit up.

"Five minutes!" , one of the the NCOs yelled.

All decked out with my arms hooked onto my ruck and my grip on my gun.

The AAV jerked to a halt. The rear ramp slammed down and I leapt out with the others, running toward a small grove with some trees and rocks for cover. Our destination was an apartment complex overlooking the northwestern corner of the city. Roughly 1 km away form the start of the city property. We have perfect overwatch over the cities and the area where the Army were going to launch their assault, perfect location to set up sniper cover. All we had to do was to take it. i moved quickly and I wasn't that afraid of being shot at as much as being runned over by the onslaught of armoured vehicles that come over from behind. They didn't look all that friendly anyway coupled with the aggressive driving on the drivers part.

I hit the dirt, got the ruck next to me, and began scanning the building, watching for anything suspicious. I worked my eyes around the windows and the surrounding area, expecting all the while to be shot at. The soldiers, meanwhile, poured out their vehicles. Besides the tracked personnel carriers there were Hummers and tanks and dozens of support vehicles. The Army troops just kept coming, swarming over the complex. They started kicking in doors. I couldn’t hear much, just the loud echoes of the shotguns they used to blow out the locks. The soldiers found no one around the building even the outer yards were vacant. My eyes never stopped moving. I scanned constantly, trying to find something.

Our radio guy came over and set up nearby. He was monitoring the Army's progress as they worked up through the apartment building, securing it. All in a matter of hours.

by **Hispinas** » Thu Dec 03, 2020 10:15 am

ES | EN | EU | FIL

Hispinas' PREMIER sports magazine!

Junior Sealions draw tough group in Di Bradini Cup
Pasarga, Tikariot, and Krytenia ensure a difficult group stage for Hispinas

WEXAX, VALANORA - Fresh from the achievements of the senior and under-18 national teams, Hispinas Under-21 team manager Bartoli Gonzalez expects a lot of pressure from fans and media to perform well in their debut campaign in the Di Bradini Cup. What lies in front of them would be a very tough group for starters - Pasarga, Tikariot, and Krytenia. The first two nations are from the same region as Hispinas, with the latter hailing from Atlantian Oceania, and the senior teams of the three are currently performing very strongly in recent editions of the World Cup and regional tournaments.

For Gonzalez, he expects the hunger from glory and the desire to win of his squad to give the other three teams drawn in Group D a run for their money. The Junior Sealions face the Young Wanderers in Matchday 1, followed by Tikariot which may have players participated in the Copa Rushmori that wanted revenge for the loss dealt by the Golden Sealions that ultimately costed them a spot in the knockout stages in their own backyard. Scouting reports have the first two opponents playing in an attacking style of football, with the Snowy Owls playing more aggressively on the attack, while the Pasargans are likely to play balanced to slightly attacking. Their final opponent, Krytenia, has not yet been scouted by Hispinian staff, but their most recent entry in the past DBC shows that they also play a highly attacking style of football.

Gonzalez also knows that the management from the senior squad currently in Qasden are keeping a close eye on the Under-21 players on who can have a shot in making the senior squad come the Baptism of Fire tournament and the upcoming World Cup Qualifiers, as he is aware that Alfonzo Medrano will be doing much tinkering with his squad during their Wonder Cup stint. The Under-21 squad has been selected based on the performances observed during the tryouts, as well as several players being included with experience at senior level or Under-18 level. Starting keeper Elpidio Campoy is expected to start all the matches, as he had already trained with the senior squad despite not making any appearances in the Copa Rushmori, which was taken by another relatively young player Natalio Londono. Pancho del Olmo is the other senior squad mainstay reinforcing the squad which is already in Valanora.

For the Under-18s which took the crown in Chromatika, Tomasina Baltazar and U-18 captain Paco Rosado will be joining the under-21 squad, with approval from Marguerita Morea. Other Under-18 players were deemed too young or was not selected to the 23-person delegation headed by Gonzalez. There should be no changes in the initial lineup sent by the manager from Cebuenas for their match against Pasarga.

by **Northwest Kalactin** » Thu Dec 03, 2020 11:02 am

Northwest Kalactin U-21 National Team

Formation: 4-1-5
Style Mod: +5

Roster
GK: Alvin Schneider
Owen Nash
Darnell Saunders

DL: Tim Silva
DC: Reginald Barnes
Dewey Scott
DR: Tomas Hayes
DL: Kerry Bell
DC: Kenny May
DR: Franklin Porter

M: Nelson Spencer
M: Gerald Bowers

ST: William Bennett
Otis Sparks
Randall Hunt
Bradley Floyd
Orlando Banks
ST: Chris Padilla
Juan Knight
Lewis Ray
Mack Stevens

by **Island of the Lost** » Thu Dec 03, 2020 11:14 am

The Island of the Lost returns for the second time
to the Under-21 Di Bradini World Cup

By Inès Neville

The Island of the Lost is well and truly on its way towards integrating itself into the greater community outside of our lonely island. After its initial outing in the Under-21 World Cup in Valanora, the Island of the Lost entered the 6th Melayu Archipelago Cup following a break of three years during which the Football Federation of the Lost have made the necessary arrangements to better integrate the sport of football as it is played in the greater world into the fabric of Lost life. Seven-a-side football remains the most popular sport on the Island, but in order to make more seamless our integration into the outside world, the FFotL and the Football League of the Lost has adopted the rules of eleven-a-side football with the hopes that this will make it easier for the players of the Lost to compete on a similar level as their peers from all over the greater world. A new team has been assembled for the Island of the Lost's second appearance in the Under-21 World Cup, and the hopes of the Island are that they will be able to match or even exceed the performance of the first Lost team to play in Valanora three years ago.

Manager
Name: Kai Evans
Age: 74
Kai Evans is a veteran when it comes to managing football teams. He started his career as an assistant manager for Ratcliffe Town A.F.C. before eventually rising to the top job for the Colonists in his early 50s. But while he was unable to get much success in his early years with the club, his consistency in keeping Ratcliffe Town in the top half of the League of the Lost attracted the attention of the Port Maleficent Magic, and it was at the capital where he attained his first major trophy by winning the League. He then followed this up by winning the championship for the next five seasons, before a falling out with his players saw him walk out of Port Maleficent and sign for their rivals the Playa del Mal Royals. It took him a few seasons to get the Royals playing the way he likes them to play, but in the end his efforts resulted in the Royals winning four championships under his tenure. He has however become embroiled in controversy when he made overtly xenophobic remarks at other teams during the Island of the Lost's first Under-21 World Cup campaign, but if the Football Federation of the Lost has named him the manager of the country's second Under-21 World Cup squad, then they must think that the pros outweigh the cons.

Goalkeepers
#1: Brittany Smyth (Cruellaville Hounds)
Age: 20
Gender: Female
Teenagers who rebel often do things in the heat of the moment that they go on to regret. Brittany Smyth ran away from her home at the age of 17 simply because her father wouldn't allow her to play football. Three years later and she is still convinced that she has done the right thing, and given that she has now made a name for herself as the custodian of the Hounds' goal (at least in the under-21 level), she may just have a point.

#13: Malia Livingston (Ratcliffe Town A.F.C.)
Age: 18
Gender: Female

#21: Alicia Finnegan (Ursulopolis Eels)
Age: 17
Gender: Female

Defenders
#2: Lou Rose (Cruellaville Hounds)
Age: 21
Gender: Male
At just the age of 21, Lou is already the father of a young son. But while at first he wanted nothing to do with his son, he eventually came around, mostly because he had been told that fatherhood was the single greatest adventure a man could ever embark on. Despite all this though, he considers himself a free spirit and would gladly jump at the opportunity to get away from Cruellaville if it was offered to him. When it was offered to him.

#3: Lola Clark (Mont Gaston Hunters)
Age: 19
Gender: Female
When her parents told her that they were going to be moving to Mont Gaston, Lola Clark was surprised, but she was also happy. She had always wanted to learn French, and going to the French-majority area of the Island of the Lost was for her a great way to start learning. Nine years on, while she still won't pass for a native speaker, Lola has certainly learned a lot of French, something that she has often had to use thanks her getting into frequent arguments with her boyfriend. This aggression can show itself during games.

#4: Asher Campbell (Playa del Mal Royals)
Age: 20
Gender: Male
Analysts have called Asher Campbell's defending as "entertaining, to say the least". There are a lot of people in Playa del Mal who wish that he would just defend like a normal person and not have to make a show out of everything. But say that to him and you will be greeted by a barrage of colorful language that would make even the most hardened sailors blush. But if his mother ever hears him speaking such colorful language then he knows he's in trouble. Friends will know though that the only thing Asher is really after is happiness.

#5: Jean Reyes (Playa del Mal Royals)
Age: 19
Gender: Female
When she's not a football player, Jean Reyes is busy taking part in programs that are aimed at improving the lives of minorities living in Playa del Mal. Eventually she hopes to be able to improve the lives of everyone in the whole Island of the Lost. Had she been of age during the Auradonian occupation, she would most definitely have been part of the Island For the Lost movement which aimed to restore Lost rule over the Island. Her determination to removing oppression in the lives of people often translates itself well on the pitch, with her chasing causes others would consider lost. Forgive the pun.

#14: Siddharth Mccormick (Ratcliffe Town A.F.C.)
Age: 18
Gender: Male

#15: Anneliese Matthews (Cote du Facilier Barons)
Age: 18
Gender: Female

#16: Vincent Whitehouse (Cape Hook Pirates)
Age: 19
Gender: Male

#17: Earl Vasquez (Ursulopolis Eels)
Age: 17
Gender: Male

Midfielders
#6: Bailey Hamilton (Port Maleficent Magic)
Age: 17
Gender: Female, Goblin
Bailey Hamilton is the first goblin to represent the Island of the Lost in any sporting competition, and media attention is most definitely on her given the fact that goblin-human relations on the Island have not always been on the best of terms. And even though she is already a capable player even for such a young age, she will still have to prove herself out in the field simply because she is a goblin. And she's not starting off on the right foot; following news of the cancellation of her favorite TV series her social media posts have become a meme throughout the Island.

#7: Hef Morrison (Ratcliffe Town A.F.C.)
Age: 21
Gender: Female
For someone as large as Hef Morrison is, someone whose less flattering descriptions include "built like a space hopper", the fact that she hates violence, especially violence on television, is a strange one indeed. But while she may abhor physical violence, she is more than willing to engage in psychological violence; a battle of the wills, if you will. And when she's not busy playing football, she takes part in various ecological projects to improve the environment, for she sees it as her mission to save the world from global warming.

#8: Mathias Stewart (Ratcliffe Town A.F.C.)
Age: 20
Gender: Male
Mathias Stewart is as thin as a plank. That alone makes it surprising that he has chosen to play football on a professional level, considering that he could also make a name for himself as a poet, if only he had the bravery to publish his works. But the sad reality is that playing football pays more than writing rhyme and verse, and if he wants to earn money he has to go to the pitch and let himself get kicked around. Despite all this though, he still has a keen eye for the key pass that could eventually lead to a goal.

#10: Claudia O'Brien (Ursulopolis Eels)
Age: 21
Gender: Female
It makes sense to have someone who's built like a brick house standing in midfield alongside a player who looks like a slight breeze could blow him over. Claudia O'Brien's role is basically serve as the shield to protect Mathias Stewart while the latter looks for the pass that could eventually lead to a goal. Despite her size, Claudia loves to make friends, but unbeknownst to others this is driven by a desire to not grow old alone. She also has a tendency to speak in tongues and create brand new sentences, such as "The Sun is in Venus."

#18: Sulaiman Talley (Jafar City Cobras)
Age: 20
Gender: Male

#19: Fatema Matthews (Cote du Facilier Barons)
Age: 18
Gender: Female

#20: Tasha Valenzuela (Playa del Mal Royals)
Age: 21
Gender: Female

#22: Antony Norman (Dinamo Rasputinsk)
Age: 20
Gender: Male

Forwards
#9: Marion Li (Port Maleficent Magic)
Age: 18
Gender: Male
This may be a dysfunctional strike partnership, if it even works at all. Marion Li is a brave young man, willing to put everything on the line if it means that he will get to the ball first and he will be able to score a goal. He dreams of becoming an engineer, and his studies have begun to help him find ways of scoring from more and more unlikely areas and angles. But all of this could come to nothing if he can't find a rapport with his strike partner.

#11: Eva Sanders (Playa del Mal Royals)
Age: 21
Gender: Female
The main reason why people fear that the Lost will not have a properly functioning strike partnership for the Under-21 World Cup is because of Eva Sanders. She is the complete opposite of her supposed strike partner Marion Li. Unlike Marion, who will do anything in his power just to attempt a shot at goal, Eva will only attempt to make a play at the ball when everything is just right for her. If the ball is just a little bit too high, if the wind is blowing just that slight bit in a different direction, she won't even bother making an attempt. But for all her snobbery she is surprisingly quick to forgive anyone who fouls her, earning her the nickname "Goldfish" on account of her apparent very short memory.

#12: Michaela Brock (Cape Hook Pirates)
Age: 18
Gender: Female

#23: Ralph Hancock (Cruellaville Hounds)
Age: 20
Gender: Male

Our Projected Starting XI:

Kits
The kits of the Lost players have been decided by committee in an effort to not show any bias to any of the present football teams on the island. In the end, the committee decided to procure kits of alternating amber and black stripes with black shorts and black socks. If in the event that there is a kit clash then the team will hope to be able to procure alternate kits in time.

Style Modifier: +2.75
My opponent, if they RP first, may do the following:
Choose my goalscorers: Yes
Godmod scoring events: No
RP injuries to my players: Yes (but I will decide for how long they will be injured)
Godmod injuries to my players: No
Hand out yellow cards to my players: Yes
Hand out red cards to my players: Yes (maximum of 1)
Godmod other events: No

by **Sylestone** » Thu Dec 03, 2020 2:29 pm

The 48th Di Bradini Cup was one to forget for Sylestone. In their five group stage games, the Young Chickens recorded a grand total of two points and only two goals. Not very good, is it? This year, 9 out of the 17 players also participated in that squad, but all have hugely improved. Sylestone will no longer be a pushover, with the side including the likes of Mitchell Stevenson, Harrison Gilchrist, Rose Fleetwood and 15-year-old Harry Love. No one would be surprised if they make it far in this tournament. However, standing in their way are three very strong youth sides. Khytonya, Graintfjall and Cassadaigua. Khytonya are well known for punching above their weight while Graintfjall had a brilliant 86th world cup cycle. Their talented youths will have a lot to say. Then there’s Cassadaigua. Yeah, them. They are ranked 4th in the world or something. And their youth side is probably just as good. Have fun.
But it’s not over yet. It hasn’t even started. Who knows what could happen? But there is one thing we do know, and that is that it will be a smashing tournament. That’s us for the night, we’ll catch you tomorrow for the game against Khytonya.

by **HUElavia** » Thu Dec 03, 2020 2:53 pm

Promising HUElavia returns for the U21 World Cup!

Once again, HUElavia returns to another edition of the Di Bradini Cup, or more formally known as the U21 World Cup. While the team has floundered in previous editions of the competition, compared to the U18 team that has had deep runs in that respective competition. This time around though, the HUElavian Football Association feels confident that the team is growing in the right direction. For this edition, promising youngsters from all around the country playing among the Top 3 flights of HUElavian Football, along with some returning players from the U18 World Cup that got 4th Place are participating in this squad.

Some of the players to look forward to in this competition includes: Goalies Quadros and Marin, Defenders Di Donato and Yoshimura, Midfielders Jiang and Torrisi, and Attackers Gimenes, Sol, and Herzig. Compared to previous years, the HUElavian Youth teams are beginning to look more and more multicultural and multiracial, reflecting the melting pot population of HUElavia. Regardless, along with the U18 team, this may be the main squads of the near future for the HUElavian National Football Team.

For the tournament, HUElavia was put in Group A with Chromatika, Sarzonia, and Kohnhead, all formidable opponents that can be strong for the team. For the first time ever in the U21 World Cup, HUElavia was seeded as A1, being the very first team listed for the competition, something the fans back home felt proud of.

The matches will be played at the host nation of Valanora, who is the traditional host of the competition, which some of HUElavia's current stars have played here in the past. The matches in Group A will be played at Metropolis (39,000) in Ibini and The Tar Pit (39,000) in Char Sara. A solid amount of HUElavians will be flying out to Valanora to support the youngsters, as it is projected some of them may get the call to participate in the Qualifiers for World Cup 87.

Regardless of what happens, the HFA hopes that the team can have a good performance and make at least the Round-of-16 with the squad the have. Coach Savedra is training the players well, as well as the players are studying their opponents looking to have a good performance. The fans as always are praying for the team and wishing them a good and entertaining tournament to make a good name for HUElavian Youth Football, much like the U18 team has done before. Here's to a good tournament!

FORCA HUELAVIA! VAMOS HUELAVAI! GO HUELAVIA!

by **Valladares** » Thu Dec 03, 2020 3:24 pm

THE VALLADAR FOOTBALL ASSOCIATION

OFFICIAL ROSTER FOR THE 49^TH DI BRADINI CUP/70^TH U-21 WORLD CUP

Coaching Staff:

Head coach: Claudio Londero
Assistant coach: Mario Marmolejo
Goalkeeping coach: Agustín Roncero
Fitness coach: Álvaro Rezende
Team doctor: Daniel Cooper
Physiotherapist: Benoît Lavigne
Video analyst: Elías Rocha

Squad:

GOALKEEPERS
1. Marlon Chacón - GK - 21 -

Bohemians Metropolis
12. Carlos Zambrano - GK - 21 -

Deportivo Junín
23. Ariel Fraser - GK - 20 -

Metropolis Alligators

DEFENDERS
2. Dante Barbosa - RB - 21 -

Marinos Metropolis
3. Mauricio Arboleda - CB - 21 -

Blacklake Blues (Taeshan) (Captain)
4. Danny Barrichelli - CB - 21 -

Canalave Dragons
5. Pablo Núñez - LB - 21 -

Marinos Metropolis
13. Bruno Mendes - RB - 20 -

AS Bezieres
14. Aaron Wilson - CB - 20 -

Bohemians Metropolis
15. Ulrich Demirel - CB - 20 -

AS Bezieres
16. Gregory Colman - LB - 20 -

Eterna Stars

MIDFIELDERS
6. Marcelo Escobar - RM - 21 -

AC Tallin
7. William Alonso - CM - 21 -

Oakstone (Eura) (Vice-captain)
8. Fabio Cardetti - LM - 21 -

Tannenberg FC
9. Adrien Trolli - AM - 21 -

Servette FC
17. Andrés Abrigo - RM - 21 -

Nacional
18. Agustín Mallone - CM - 20 -

Nacional
19. Aldo Pereira - LM - 20 -

Marinos Metropolis
20. Cristian Benítez - AM - 20 -

Nacional

FORWARDS
10. Randall Olsen - FW - 20 -

Eterna Stars
11. Thiago Pizzutti - FW - 21 -

AD Cerro
21. Paul Fontaine - FW - 19 -

AS Bezieres
22. Patrick Grenier - FW - 20 -

Fontvielle Impact

Starting Lineup, Formation, and Tactics:

The Valladar national under-21 football team is known for having a more conservative and traditional formation than its senior counterpart, using four defenders, three midfielders, a playmaker and two forwards. However, and just like the senior side, La Nacional will always be looking to attack and retain ball possession for as long as possible, trying to score many goals in the shortest possible time and mounting an insurmountable lead for the second half of the match when players from both teams start showing signs of fatigue, while also exerting a huge amount of pressure when they are not in possession of the ball. This squad relies on the associations between midfielders Marcelo Escobar, William Alonso and Fabio Cardetti with playmaker Adrien Trolli, who will be in charge of pulling the strings of the team's offensive effort and responsible for providing passes and assists to capable forwards Randall Olsen and Thiago Pizzutti, and their substitutes. Through the flanks, Dante Barbosa and Pablo Núñez should be able to give some support to the offensive effort as well as blocking any attempts by the rival to send crosses to the Valladar box. Both Olsen and Pizzutti should also be expected to work under the premises of the typical Valladar forward: high speed and pace, talented, skillful, and with the ability to seemingly harmless crosses into goals, create chances and score goals out of nothing, and kill defenses with speed and lethal counterattacks.

Style Modifier: +1.5

Kits (Brought to you by Meski Sports):

First
Alternate
GK/Third

RP Permissions:

In the event my opponent RPs first, they may...
Choose my goalscorers YES
Godmod scoring events YES
RP injuries to my players NO without permission. I'll determine severity if granted permission.
Godmod injuries to my players NO without permission.
Hand out yellow cards to my players YES
Hand out red cards to my players NO - I'll determine whether my players are sent off or not.
Godmod other events YES only if they involve weather conditions.

Special requests:
1) Please no killings, and definitely no pandemic-related RPing.
2) Try to be as realistic as possible, and last but no least...
3) Have fun.

by **Tikariot** » Thu Dec 03, 2020 3:42 pm

For many it was the first trip outside of Rushmore and as they landed in Raynor City it was an unusual sight, to say the least. In their corner of Rushmore humans are in the vast majority and seeing elves was not something most had experienced. Coach Seymour McCann had tried to prepare them prior to landing to avoid the gawking that was happening right now, but as so often theory and practice were not exactly the same. Hoping that his youngsters had not offended any of the elven hosts with their fairly open surprise and way louder-than-needed whispers, he ushered them towards the exit where the team bus that the Valanoran Footballing Federation had provided them with was waiting.

After the doors had closed he decided not to press the matter for now, but rather use the drive to address the team. As he had stepped off the Tikariot Owlways plane he had received the draw for the group stage and had groaned inwardly as the group the Snowy Owls were drawn into was far from a walk in the park especially at such a prestigious event. Prior to leaving Port Rhovanyon he had collected all electronic devices from the players, much to their collective dismay, as he did not want them getting distracted or know about the draw before they were ready to be addressed. After seeing the draw, however, he was not sure if he was ready.

"OK, guys, can I have your attention please? While we were in the air, they drew the groups and let's just say that if you wanted to really challenge yourself to see where you and the team stand, you've come to the right place."

A murmur went through the bus, covering the whole spectrum from excitement to insecurity. One thing was for sure, though, he did have their attention.

"The first time we've been drawn with is - Pasarga."

The murmur turned into a groan, as they all knew that it was one of the hardest nations they could have been drawn with. Sure, this was the U-21 tournament and the only Pasargan in the Tikariot Premier League was 33-year-old Tihamér Szakály, but seeing his impressive play for lowly Vantanoch FC was at least one indicator that Pasargans at any age were likely to be one of these true challenges the coach had talked about just before.

"Alright. The second team is Hispinas."

Despite being a very new addition to the international scene, Tikariot already has had a run-in with the newcomers at the Copa Rushmori, losing their game 0-1 and effectively ending their hopes of advancing to the group stage of the tournament, which stung even more since it had happened in Tikariot, adding insult to injury. Obviously the U-21 stage was a completely different affair, but McCann had to decide if he was going to use the result as an example for caution or appeal to the players' sense of revenge to set things straight. As it would only be the second game in the tournament he figured he would have some time, though.

"Number three and the first team we will be facing: Krytenia."

Another country with some history with Tikariot, having faced them in their final group game at the Cup of Harmony 78. Contrary to Hispinas they had won the game 2-1 with goals by Rory McNair and Franklin Mosnyk, despite having been widely regarded as the clear favourites. And that was exactly what he was going to use as hyping up for his young players.

"Now I know that all three nations are going to be very tough nuts to crack, but let's have a look back at our game at the Cup of Harmony, right? We needed to win to advance to the knockout stages and Krytenia were considered the favourites by a good bit. And we won. It wasn't a beauty of a game, but in the end when you look at the history books, nobody cares. I know that you'll likely want revenge for Hispinas knocking us out of the Copa and that you might already think about Pasarga and how strong they are, but especially with a group this top heavy we have to focus on the game at hand and take it one game at a time. I know that all of these are platitudes, but that does not make them any less valid."

He looked at the faces of his players, all of which were looking at him. Silently he congratulated himself for taking all of the phones and tablets and whatever else they were trying to bring.

"Look at you guys. Every single one of you. I could have picked many other players from the league, but I chose you. I know, I sound like a new Pokemon trainer, but that's besides the point."

Chuckles go through the bus, showing McCann that having worked with youth players for many years now he still had at least some idea of what they grew up with.

"I know that these games are going to be hard, maybe the hardest you've ever been in, but I would not have nominated ANY of you, if I did not feel that you could take on whatever they would throw at us. Are we the underdogs? Are we maybe even favourite? Who knows? And does it matter? No, not at all. If you start to think about that, you're already on the way out."

Agreeing murmur could be heard throughout the bus. This has been going well so far, but right now he decided to stop, no need to try to go overboard right here in the bus. And to be honest, the bus driver's weaving in and out of traffic did not sit well with his stomach either. But they were here, the guys were attentive, now he just had to figure out how to get them used to seeing elves.

by **Graintfjall** » Thu Dec 03, 2020 4:58 pm

Excerpt from Kekulé Meets Jörmungandr: Tour Diaries of the DBC49 Campaign.

Tendency Guides

by **Mytanija** » Thu Dec 03, 2020 5:01 pm

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

’28 ELECTION CAMPAIGNS BEGIN
ALL SEVEN NATIONAL PARTIES FORMALLY KICKED-OFF THEIR MONTH-LONG ELECTION CAMPAIGNS TODAY

by Mladen Sambunjak

Well there’s a phrase that a week is a long time in politics and if that holds true the next month or so could be truly seismic in the future of Mytanija. The first democratic election since the fall of Natella Kalinina will take place in exactly four weeks, with millions of Mytanars going to the polls to elect the representatives who will form the government and elect our nation’s next Premier. Seven national parties have registered ahead of the election, with some familiar faces as the two main parties from before Kalinina’s rule are expected to dominate once again. Both the centre-left Radnika and centre-right MNK are positive about their chances of winning the most seats and being able to form a government, but given the mixed member proportional representation methodology that is being employed it is likely that they will have to form government in coalition with at least one of the other five parties standing for election. That is where things get interesting.

Bruno Petric, the head of the Provisional Government, announced that the seven parties that are running for election are the aforementioned Radnika and MNK; the far-left PsD; the green eco-socialists Ekologija; the left-wing populists Jedinstvo; centrist liberals Zajedno Naprijed!; and the far-right populists Spasenje. All except Spasenje will be running candidates in every single one of the 256 constituencies that are up for grabs. Petric also confirmed that regional parties had been prohibited from running in what is a national election, a move intended to mitigate the worst excesses of ethnic nationalism that engendered the rise of Natella Kalinina and eventually the Mytanar Conflict. Petric was also asked if he had any desire to re-enter politics when his role as the head of the Provisional Government comes to an end once the election is over, but he ruled this out entirely. Petric argued that once the election is completed that his ‘job is done’ and claimed that he must maintain his impartiality even once he exits politics given the nature of the role he has taken on in getting the country back on its feet following one of the most bloody conflicts in modern history.

The key policy area battlegrounds in the election are no different to any other with polling indicating that the major issues are the economy and jobs; housing; fairer policing; and climate change and the environment. However one issue which polled big in terms of its importance which other countries may not experience as an issue in their own elections was the desire for continued easing of domestic tensions and – perhaps even more importantly – reconciliation following the Mytanar Conflict. The latter could be a huge sticking point for many as Mytanija looks to move on from the past and establish a unified, hopeful and outward-looking future. Whoever can build the greatest narrative around being able to do that may well end up being the party who win the most seats and take-up pole position in forming a government and electing their leader as Premier.

It’s been interesting in recent years to hear high profile, usually young, individuals from all walks of life and all regional backgrounds arguing that they’re a part of a generation who want to move beyond the Mytanar Conflict and put that past into context, create an atmosphere of reconciliation between the different regions and build an inclusive Mytanija – one which the likes of Alex Util and Predrag Pamic would be proud of. The likes of footballers Jezdimir Ocokoljic and Jasno Odonelec have given fantastic soundbites on this issue, demonstrating that sportspeople need not just stick to sport; young women like singer Jovana Rajkovic and fashion designer/all-around socialite Enesa Handanovic have voiced similar opinions and how the politicians deal with the demands of young people could well be a big factor in the result of the election given Mytanija’s relatively youthful population.

Follow the leader, leader

Given the nature of the system that the Provisional Government have formulated for this election the effect of the party leaders may well be diminished a little, the 256 seats available for local constituencies will mean that having strong local candidates will be immensely important for any party with designs on playing a part in government formation. Voters don’t just vote in their local constituency however, the ballot paper has one section where voters can indicate their preference for their local constituency and then a secondary one where they vote based on which party they prefer nationally. This means they can vote for different parties within their local constituency and on a national level. There are a further 150 seats available as a minimum due to this second vote and they are allocated by proportional representation, with share of the national vote translating into extra seats for each party and rounded up to a whole number (meaning there can be more than 150 seats available via this method).

It will be interesting to see how the parties go about trying to game this system, evidently the crucial vote is in trying to secure as many constituencies as possible given the fact there is more of those seats – but a party could conceivably underperform in terms of constituency seats and still get a large national vote share and do very well because of that secondary way of gaining seats. Could we end up seeing the party leaders having a big effect on the proportional representation part of the vote? Their performances in televised debates and in getting their party’s policy agenda and messaging across to the public will be crucial in encouraging people to vote for them. Some people may have a local politician who they feel will do brilliantly for their area from the MNK, for example, but hugely prefer Ekologija’s messaging on climate change and vote for them on a national level. We will have to see how that affects things as the election campaign goes on.

The leader of the MNK is political veteran Radovan Stefanovic and his experience may prove decisive, he’s already proving to be popular with older generations – particularly in the more conservative regions of Zentria, Magevskaya and Nasto and Avnalia. It is notable that the MNK have less competition on the right of the political spectrum than their main rivals Radnika have on the left. The MNK can only really be attacked from the right by the far-right Spasenje, a party who many believe to be unpalatable given their sympathies with the Kalinina regime. They’re led by Zoran Milosevic and may find some support in the industrial heartlands of Vojovitica and Zentria – in cities such as Miago and Vershina, for example. Cities left devastated by the Mytanar Conflict and the Euran intervention in the fighting such as Eskobirsk and Trunca may well also prove fruitful for Spasenje.

For a lot of people Spansenje are seen as unelectable, many believe them to be fascistic and little more than racist thugs and it is this antipathy which could benefit the more moderate MNK on the right of the political spectrum. Radovan Stefanovic is well liked and he’s already set out his stall, proposing to ‘uphold the spirit of Mytanar values whilst allowing each region to conserve its cultural heritage’. That line is a direct call to those – particularly in the regions which benefited from Kalinina’s rule – who do not wish to stray too far towards the unified new Mytanija that many young people are hoping for, but who will also find it impossible to vote for Milosevic’s Spasenje as they don’t want to return to the horrors of the Kalinina regime. Zajedno Naprijed! are casting themselves as the sensible party in this election, they’re led by Davor Juric – a former PR firm executive – and they believe they can undercut the MNK from the middle ground. They will try to appeal to those who would vote for the MNK because of their beliefs around the economy but who are perhaps more liberal when it comes to sociocultural matters. ZN! could do the same to the centre-left Radnika, appealing to some of their voters because of their liberal sociocultural policies but also providing them with a different take on economics. ZN! are proposing to open up the Mytanar economy to foreign investment and deregulation in the manner Premier Pamic did and some Radnika voters may like that, but may have felt uncomfortable voting for the MNK on those grounds because of their cultural values, ZN! could prove dangerous in that regard.

On the left Radnika have a lot more to worry about because despite being the big-tent centre-left party who have enjoyed the most success in the past they have double trouble in the form of Jedinstvo and Ekologija to deal with now. Radnika’s leader Slobodan Acimovic is a new face in Mytanar politics and how he deals with the pressure and scrutiny of political life could be a crucial storyline in this election. He’s a former lawyer and only narrowly won the vote to become Radnika leader against a more left-wing candidate. He’s seen as a middle ground choice by the party and someone who may well be able to appeal to voters across the political spectrum, potentially even stealing voters from the MNK who want to see a fairer Mytanija going forward.

Radnika will hope that they make Zajedno Naprijed! an irrelevance as they fight the election from a position which is arguably nearer the centre than the left. They believe that their centre-left credentials are long-standing and that they can be the party who takes Mytanija forward by taking advantage of the best ideas from different schools of political thought. They hope to combine deregulation and the opening up of specific industries with state subsidisation of others. They have largely tried to stay out of the debate around the legacy of the Mytanar Conflict and there is a feeling that by doing so they’re only providing ammunition for attacks from both the left and right of Mytanar politics. It will be seen as ground which the MNK are strong on and no doubt Stefanovic – ever the savvy operator – will attack the less experienced Acimovic whenever he can if he perceives it to be a weakness. It’s not something Radnika can stay quiet on forever because it is seen as important by the public.

The competition on the left is much fiercer than on the right and the more fractured left side of the Mytanar political spectrum does almost provide the MNK with an advantage from the very start, but that doesn’t mean that the parties on the left will give Radnika an easier ride just to prevent the MNK from being elected. Ekologija have long-standing credentials as the lead of Mytanija’s green political movement and they’re led by Radenka Kovacevic. She’s a former teacher from Ebor and she is enthusing young people across the country as her party promises to combine forward thinking environmental policies with a fairer economic settlement for all. She will undoubtedly be a problem for Radnika, cutting into their vote from the left and they evidently enjoy supremacy among those who consider the environment and climate change to be their key issue in this election.

Ekologija aren’t Radnika’s only problem though, the new left-wing party Jedinstvo (which translates to ‘unity’ in English), will be causing Slobodan Acimovic some headaches throughout this election campaign. They’re led by Thessian nurse Ana Mecava-Catic and whilst they’re the new kids on the block they seem to be strong on a lot of the key issues in this election. Even the party’s name demonstrates an understanding of where a lot of Mytanars – particularly young people – are with regard to the future of the country, gone is the tribalism of the past and the ethno-nationalism that could be found within different regions is frowned upon by a lot of people. They simply don’t want to return to the Mytanija that gave rise to the Mytanar Conflict and Jedinstvo are showing a way forward which avoids that. Mecava-Catic has emphasised a programme of investment in large infrastructure projects across Mytanija to encourage the economic development of the whole country by the central government rather than rely on regions to organise those same projects. She is well liked personally – similarly to the MNK’s leader Radovan Stefanovic – with her career as a nurse being something people look upon extremely favourably. Her rivals, particularly within Radnika, have denounced her policies as little more than populist idealism which are impossible to achieve but she has regularly hit back and rejected the idea that Mytanija can return to the politics of the past which led to so many feeling alienated due to their unemployment, believing that the state wasn’t helping them and that institutions like the Policija were out to get them. The response by Radnika to Jedinsvto’s policy announcements perhaps demonstrates that they are fearful of them, but so far polling hasn’t favoured the newer party – that could all change as the election campaigns get underway.

Further to the left are the PsD, led by Ilya Ilicic, they will be hoping to gain a handful of seats in some of Mytanija’s larger cities such as the capital Esca and the more left-wing Thessia. They aren’t really competing with any of the others but could end up being a valuable ally to any of the left-wing parties if they end up needing to build a coalition for government. The PsD’s handful of seats could swing the balance over the threshold required for a majority and that could give the PsD an outsized role in government formation and law-making given that they aren’t expected to do amazingly well electorally.

Here come the girls?

The personal popularity of the two women leaders, Ana Mecava-Catic and Radenka Kovacevic, is leading many political commentators to believe that this election could well see the first woman to be democratically elected Premier in Mytanar history. It would be a shock and the smart money is still with either Radnika or the MNK ending up with their leader as Premier but the two ladies are seen favourably by the public due to a mixture of their affable personalities, their careers before entering politics (Mecava-Catic still takes on nursing shifts at a Thessia hospital) and their policies. Young people could have a big effect on this election and Jedinstvo and Ekologija are polling very well among those in the first two age groups polled, those aged 18-24 and 25-39. These are people who have grown up with the legacy of the Mytanar Conflict and some who may have been born slightly before or during it. They have no desire to relive those years. Voters from older sections of society – particularly in the regions of Zentria, Magevskaya, Nasto and parts of Avnalia and Vojovitica – more sympathy with Natella Kalinina’s rise to power and her policies, but younger people give these short shrift and often see her as little more than a warlord who gave the order for some of the most brutal ethnic cleansing in modern history.

In Mecava-Catic’s home region of Thessia there is no such sympathy among any age group for Natella Kalinina, both the city and region of Thessia was brutalised by Kalinina’s regime and there is a degree of deep-seated resentment to many in the more southern and western regions who stood by and watched whilst her regime carried out the unforgivable acts which led to so many being murdered. It’s a similar story in Radenka Kovacevic’s home city of Ebor, another Otpor stronghold which fought against Kalinina fiercely. However neither of them come across as resentful towards the rest of the country and their calls for reconciliation ring true, they are believable and we may find many across Mytanija voting for them when they may have believed voting for a Thessian nurse or a Visorav teacher to become Premier was anathema when Kalinina was in power.

Could we see a huge shock? Well, it’s not impossible and the combination of their personal popularity among various sections of society and their appeal to young people in a country with a relatively young population could make for an interesting electoral dynamic. Seeing how Slobodan Acimovic’s Radnika deal with them will be intriguing, but seeing how Radovan Stefanovic and his MNK respond to them will be even more interesting. Stefanovic is an intelligent political operator and he may well welcome both women into the electoral campaign warmly despite disagreeing with the majority of their politics. He’ll do this to create problems for Radnika and try to pit the various parties of the left against each other, if it works then the prospects of a first democratically-elected woman Premier worsen and the MNK will reap the benefits. If people either believe Stefanovic is being earnest and thinks Mecava-Catic and Kovacevic are a welcome addition to Mytanar politics or see through his attacks on the left as merely releasing gremlins then we could perhaps see a bit of a surprise in this election.

Right now, if I had to call it my prediction would be for the MNK to end up as the biggest party and perhaps forming a coalition with ZN!, albeit a potentially unstable one if the MNK fail to win enough seats. The fractured left could end up all taking votes off one another and it may well just about be an election too early for Jedinstvo to make a real dent in the allegiances people have to their pre-Kalinina political parties. Ekologija could end up being the main opposition party if Radnika aren’t careful under Acimovic, there is a strength of feeling around the country about climate change and the environment and Ekologija seem to even be offering a more coherent narrative about the Mytanar Conflict reconciliation process. Radnika will have to get their act together if they don’t want to lose their position as the main centre-left party after this election, that in itself would be a big enough shock.

___________________________________

Gazeta Mytanija will keep you updated with all the latest news in Mytanar politics! Please subscribe for more.

by **Chromatika** » Thu Dec 03, 2020 6:36 pm

Di Bradini Cup 49 Preview: Why Did the Last Two Teams Lose, and Why This One May Not

As the U-21 Chromatik team heads to Valanora to play in the 49th Di Bradini Cup, let us take a moment to review the last two Di Bradini Cups and why Chromatika hasn't been in the knockout rounds since Di Bradini Cup 46. After placing second place in the 63rd edition of the U-21 WC and then crashing out in 64, Chromatika missed 65 and 66 to return in 67, and that was the edition in which they reached the Round of 16 but lost to Pasarga. Since then, it's been rough. Why is that?

Di Bradini Cup 57/U-21 WC 68:

P Group G                   Pld   W  D  L   GF  GA  GD  Pts 
1 Hapilopper                  3   3  0  0   11   5  +6    9
2 Banija                      3   2  0  1    8   5  +3    6
3 Chromatika                  3   1  0  2    6   8  −2    3
4 HUElavia                    3   0  0  3    4  11  −7    0

This particular U-21 squad had an issue with defense as they conceded eight goals in three matches, including four goals in the opener against Banija, in which Chromatika lost 2-4. Then, they defeated HUElavia 3-2, just to lose to Hapilopper 1-2 and place third in the group. Though Nadia Rios was a highly touted keeper, the defense of Noemi Walters, Wilson Diaz, and a then-unfinished Marietta Adams was leaky, and Kateryna Zuniga, Leysa Burns, and Vasiliy Marten Kuznetsov couldn't carry the team. On paper, this team is fantastic - Oriane Marc, Augustus Humphreys, and Prisca Rogers add onto the aforementioned Adams, Zuniga, Burns, and Kuznetsov that have already played for the National Team. This proves how even teams made up of good players can still struggle given the caliber of their opposition and the chemistry of the squad.

Di Bradini Cup 58/U-21 WC 69:

P Group C                   Pld   W  D  L   GF  GA  GD  Pts 
1 Springmont                  5   4  1  0   20  10 +10   13
2 Oberour Ar Moro             5   2  3  0   14   8  +6    9
3 Chromatika                  5   2  1  2   14   7  +7    7
4 Terre Septentrionale        5   2  1  2    8  10  −2    7
5 Equestria                   5   2  0  3    6  13  −7    6
6 Quebec                      5   0  0  5    4  18 −14    0

In a six-team group that only saw the top two advance, which is 33% of the teams - far less than the usual 50% - Chromatika was unlucky by placing third in the group. The losses were in the last two matches, which made things actually worse; Springmont was an expected loss but losing 0-1 to Equestria was really a stinker for the squad. They did score 14 goals in 5 matches, a decent clip, and they featured a 7-0 blanking of Quebec that was legendary. Juxon Fillar began his will-be-storied career here; Renate Haggard led the way in scoring, and Haley Hauser helped out. If playoffs had extended, it's hard to tell how much further this team would've gotten, but that's neither here nor there. Definitely a team that deserved to do more than it ended up doing.

Top Three Reasons This Team Can Make the Knockout Rounds:

3. The Format.

We've returned to four-team groups! This means that every match is cutthroat, but it means that as long as you beat out two other teams, you make it to the knockout rounds. Sarzonia, Kohnhead, and HUElavia will not be easy opponents, but things should fall into or out of place faster.

2. The Squad.

On paper, it may seem to be a detriment that a lot of the team are from the U-18 squad. However, that U-18 squad did pretty well, and their potential is definitely worth testing out alongside the U-21 team. The likes of Kaia Larriet-Cortes, Baillaire Fillar, Karra Oveni, and Hank Killian have the potential to be key players in Chromatik football's future, and this tournament will give them even more time to see.

3. The System.

This is the only squad that is sticking to a 3-4-3 instead of the 4-3-1-2 that Evans and Landers employ. In a way, this is a positive thing, as Hayashida will be able to provide Evans and Landers footage of how the players adapt to a different style. Chromatika will stick to 4-3-1-2 for the foreseeable future, but a generic formation like 3-4-3 is good for a proving ground like this one.

Will Chromatika return to the knockout rounds of the U-21 competition? We think that they can do it.

by **Siovanija and Teusland** » Thu Dec 03, 2020 7:19 pm

Siovanija & Teusland National U21 Football Team

Facts

Nation Name: United Republics of Siovanija and Teusland
Short Names: Siovanija and Teusland, the United Republics
Demonyms: Siovanijan, Teus
FA: Siovanija and Teusland Football Association (STFA)
Colours: Blue and gold
Anthem: ‘High Mountain Skies’
Capital City: Borograd
Other Major Cities: St. Jakob, Stelburg, Vlaikograd, Chernovets, Felsenkirchen
Highest Domestic Youth League: J. Republikaliga
Nicknames: The Goldhorns
Style Modifier: +2

Coaching Staff

Manager: Josef Baumann

Josef Baumann holds a very important distinction - the first ever manager from Siovanija & Teusland, and to date only manager, to win an international club trophy. Yes, Baumann led his FC Felsenkirchen 1879 youth team to the IFCF Rising Stars’ Cup title a year ago, and with many of the players from that ‘golden generation’ filling the ranks of this national squad, he’s been chosen to lead the way. The success of the team as well as the documentary film surrounding them has led to Baumann being tipped as a potential candidate for Republikaliga jobs, as well as perhaps the senior national team. This, then, will serve as his audition. Baumann likes a 4-2-3-1 formation, but in this tournament will be using a 4-4-2. His teams press quite high. With gifted midfielders like Jesper Porsche in the lineup, there will be an emphasis on the talented wide players like Florian Krukenberg, Helmut Kadelberg, and Marcel Mrazek - the former two of whom play for Baumann at Felsenkirchen.

23 man squad

Goalkeepers

GK -- Lino Kaberle -- #1 -- 20y/o -- Sporting Iturributa (Astograth)
GK -- Karl Frank -- #22 -- 21y/o -- Marlesee 97
GK -- Per Holtz -- #23 -- 20y/o -- FC Felsenkirchen 1879

Lino Kaberle has been talked about for years as a potential future number 1 for his country, and he’s put in some excellent performances in Astograth - first on loan with Arkamo. Now, he gets the chance to really take the reins here for his country - he was the backup on the bronze-medal winning DBC 48 squad. Backing him up is Karl Frank, a solid, capable keeper, and Per Holtz, who was brilliant for Felsenkirchen in their Rising Stars Cup campaign.

Right Backs

RB -- Helmut Kadelberg -- #2 -- 20y/o -- FC Felsenkirchen 1879
RB -- Matyas Hedek -- #12 -- 17y/o -- Olympia Borograd

Helmut Kadelberg was another of Felsenkirchen’s stars as they captured a surprise championship. Kadelberg is a fast fullback who has been compared to Darijen Vesele in terms of his ability to bomb down the wing and send in a cross, and he has excellent chemistry with right winger Florian Krukenberg. Matyas Hedek is a young talent at Olympia Borograd, but the selection of a 17 year old here shows that the nation lacks depth in this position - and even Kadelberg came out of nowhere last season.

Centre Backs

CB -- Reinhard Listner -- #4 -- 20y/o -- FC Teussen Stelburg
CB -- Frantisek Polak -- #5 -- 20y/o -- Zvezda Vlaikograd
CB -- Paul Steinhausl -- #14 -- 20y/o -- FC Felsenkirchen 1879
CB -- Thomas Kaberle -- #15 -- 18y/o -- Sporting Iturributa (Astograth)

Reinhard Listner is the top prospect at the moment in this position - Teussen have such faith in his potential that he’s already been the anointed successor to Erich Thierse in the backline. They’re hoping to loan him out soon to continue his development, but will be eagerly watching his performance here. Frantisek Polak is the new starter for Zvezda Vlaikograd as they overhaul their defence, he also played a key role of the bench in their President’s Cup victory. The two are a good pair of ball-playing centre backs. Paul Steinhausl was key to Felsenkirchen’s win, he’s a big, muscular defender also competent on the ball. Thomas Kaberle, brother of Lino, joined his elder brother in Astograth a few years back and, thanks to developing in the excellent Sporting academy, is now in line to earn some game time here as well.

Left Backs

LB -- Dieter Hartleben -- #3 -- 21y/o -- FC St. Jakob
LB -- Niklas Mitter -- #13 -- 20y/o -- FC Felsenkirchen 1879

Dieter Hartleben is a solid option, as is Niklas Mitter, and this position could end up becoming a battle between these two young Teus for the #3 shirt. Neither are projected to have particularly special senior careers - similar to the situation at right back, there’s a bit of a gap of depth here - but perhaps one can find magic at this tournament.

Centre Midfield

CM -- Henrik Martin -- #6 -- 21y/o -- Di Maozoxe (Farfadillis)
CM -- Jesper Porsche -- #8 -- 20y/o -- FC Felsenkirchen 1879
CM -- Michal Spacek -- #10 -- 19y/o -- FK Venkovets
CM -- Ivan Petr -- #16 -- 18y/o -- FK Metropola Borograd
CM -- Dobroslav Havek -- #20 -- 17y/o -- Zvezda Vlaikograd

The midfield duo here could be quite a special pairing, and it’s one Goldhorns fans are very much looking forward to. Henrik Martin, who just made the move to the new joint Banija-Farfadillis league and Farf giants Di Maozoxe, will be an integral part of this team as he was on the bronze medal winning side two years ago. Beside him, Jesper Porsche emerged during Felsenkirchen’s campaign as a true blue-chip prospect. From the day that Thorsten Kramer debuted for FC Teussen Stelburg at age 18, many a young Teus midfielder have been compared with our nation’s greatest-ever player. Porsche may be the first one so far who could actually live up to that billing. Michal Spacek is a forward-thinking, technically skilled midfielder, but size is a challenge for him. Ivan Petr and Dobroslav Havek are talented midfielders who are still young and developing, so will need to be handled with care - but both seem to have good heads on their shoulders and bright futures ahead.

Right Wing

RW -- Florian Krukenberg -- #11 -- 20y/o -- FC Felsenkirchen 1879
RW -- Cestmir Adamek -- #21 -- 18y/o -- Olympia Borograd

If you had to pick one of the attacking players to be a breakout star here - with the exception of Denis Dezelac, of course - it would easily be Florian Krukenberg. He was the dynamo of the Felsenkirchen offence, creating many of the goals that Young Galactico Lothas Ludwig finished on a silver plate. And Krukenberg can finish too - he had 6 goals in that Rising Stars Cup run. While he has always been well-regarded, he’s now launched himself towards potential national team stardom, and the road begins here. Cestmir Adamek is included in the squad as well, one of a number of youth candidates at Olympia Borograd to replace Ivo Romanov. Known best for his speed, Adamek will see limited minutes here.

Left Wing

LW -- Marcel Mrazek -- #7 -- 21y/o -- Energija Chernovets
LW -- Bastian Kracht -- #17 -- 20y/o -- FC Felsenkirchen 1879

Marcel Mrazek returns from last time around, the Chernovets winger a strong player now after bulking up a bit more. He’s still quick, and with Bastian Boltzmann graduated he’s hoping to get the opportunity to prove to his club his worth. It might be too late, however, as they’ve already brought in Emiliano Gallegas of Farfadillis - Mrazek might be auditioning for his next club, too. Bastian Kracht was a key role player for Felsenkirchen who likely makes this team through familiarity with the manager’s system.

Centre Forward

CF -- Denis Dezelac -- #9 -- 21y/o -- Olympia Borograd
CF -- Marian Hovlak -- #18 -- 19y/o -- FK Orlovska Bistrica
CF -- Louis von Stroheim -- #19 -- 21y/o -- SW Stahlberg

Three of the best young forwards in the Republikaliga today, led by Denis Dezelac. He returns after leading the line last time around, bringing a bronze medal home for his country, but as the clear starter at Olympia now, he’s here for one more lap around the track, and one more shot at gold. Marian Hovlak was a break-out star for Orlovska Bistrica last year, and playing off Dezelac at this tournament is sure to get some goals. Louis von Stroheim’s stock has fallen a bit after a tough sophomore campaign for Stahlberg, but he will certainly be getting minutes here and a chance to prove himself.

First Choice XI: L. Kaberle; Kadelberg, Listner, Polak, Hartleben; Krukenberg, Martin, Porsche, Mrazek; Hovlak, Dezelac

Set Pieces

Free Kicks: Martin, Krukenberg
Penalties: Dezelac, Hovlak, Krukenberg, Porsche, Martin

Captains

Captain: Henrik Martin
Vice Captains: Denis Dezelac, Florian Krukenberg

Kits

The home kit will be gold with black lettering and a black collar. It will feature black shorts as well as gold and black socks. The away kit will be white with gold lettering and a gold collar. It will feature gold shorts as well as white and gold socks. The goalkeeper kit will be green with gold lettering and a gold collar. It will feature green shorts as well as green and gold socks.

RP Permissions

Choose my goalscorers: Y
Choose Scoring Events: Y
Godmod Scoring Events: N
RP injuries to my players: Y, I determine length/severity
Godmod injuries to my players: N
Hand out Yellow cards to my players: Y
Hand out Red cards to my players: Y
Godmod Other Events: N (TG me if you want to discuss something, however)

Group and Schedule

The Goldhorns have been drawn into Group B for the Di Bradini Cup, alongside Devonta, Starblaydia and Mapletish. The Goldhorns have not faced Devonta or Mapletish at the U21 level, however, they faced off against Starblaydia in the Semifinal of Di Bradini Cup 48 - a match the Starblaydis won despite an excellent performance from Denis Dezelac. Dezelac, and the other returning members from that team, will surely be looking to get a little bit of revenge for that defeat.

Matchday 1: Siovanija & Teusland vs Mapletish, @ Raynor Memorial, Hondo, Valanora
Matchday 2: Siovanija & Teusland vs Devonta, @ The Tar Pit, Char Sara, Valanora
Matchday 3: Starblaydia vs Siovanija & Teusland, @ The Tar Pit, Char Sara, Valanora

We’ll continue to bring full coverage of the Di Bradini Cup live from our neighbours Valanora, as the Goldhorns look to improve on last time’s 3rd place finish. Come on you Goldhorns!

by **Pasarga** » Thu Dec 03, 2020 10:12 pm

Elek Salai was feeling a bit frustrated, having been chosen by the rest of the team to be the one to show the squad around the sights and sounds of the Eternal Empire. Elek did not understand why, almost everyone on the squad had been here two years ago when the Young Wanderers were playing here in the DBC. Not only that but he played for Ibini, it was a city on an island that was half a continent away from where the Young Wanderers were going to be playing their games. They were going to be playing in Cartmot, which was in the middle of the continent for crying out loud, for all of their matches in the group stage, while the other teams in the group would also get a trip over to Wexax which was in the southern part of the nation. It was ridiculous to assume simply because he played his club football in the Empire that he would know all the hot spots in the Empire.

Add on top of that, the team was here to be playing football and not be tourists, they could go and sightsee on their own time, not when they were supposed to be trying to perform well not worrying about seeing the sights. The group that they had been drawn into was going to be a difficult one to try and navigate to get out. First off, there was Krytenia, a team that Elek knew in the history books had been competing for quite a long time but all the records seemed to suggest that they struggled in the knockout rounds but had been quite formidable force in the group stages of tournament. They were also the only side in the group not to be from Rushmore and instead were from Atlantian Oceania like their hosts and could be expected to perhaps get a bit more support than any of the other three sides in the group. They were going to be the second side that the squad was going to face in the tournament though and it was not really worth worrying too much about them and how much or how little support they were going to have compared to the rest of the teams.

Perhaps he should have considered himself fortunate for having been in the Empire so long that the awe and mystique was now just another thing he dealt with on a daily basis, all the different species that went to and fro were no longer this life shattering thing to him. While the history was still something that caught him a bit off guard and left him slightly in awe from time to time, those instances were becoming few and far between compared to when he had arrived a few years ago. While everyone else was distracted by all the shenanigans that were going on around them, he could keep his focus on what was in front of him. Perhaps in doing that, he would be able to showcase his talent all the better and get a good chance of being called up to the national team during the upcoming World Cup Qualifiers that were going to start again in a few months.

"Yo Elek, what is this place even supposed to be? Is it named after someone important or something? Cmon man, spill the deets!"

And there it was and Elek could only roll his eyes at one of his teammates question, it was the same sort of thing he had been dealing with for a fortnight now as they had come together as team to get ready for the tournament. He had shown maturity over the last few years and had been given the captaincy from the manager. Enduring his team's silly antics like this was going to be a test to his leadership.

"I have no idea, maybe? I know a few of the stadiums are named after famous people, like the Hatire and Raynor Memorial, but no idea about this stadium. Anyways, you should worry more about the team we're facing and not the place we are facing them. Tikariot and Hispinas is not going to go quietly into the night just because you and half the squad are more interested in seeing the sights than actually playing the matches. Not careful, they will send us back to Rushmore before the group stage is even over if everyone is not ready once matchday rolls around. Hispinas is a big unkown quality for most us and instead of training and scouting, everyone want to be a tourist."

"Yeah yeah, you can count on us, everyone will be ready once the matches are underway. But Elek, we are all still young, we need a chance to live a little and see the sights, make a few memories here and there. You only live once my man."

"True and that is exactly why I want to be ready and hit the ground running. I want to have a chance at taking home the trophy and not just be happy to be here. I'll drag you all along if I have to, I want to win, starting with Hispinas."

by **Valanora** » Thu Dec 03, 2020 10:56 pm

Matchday 1

Group A
HUElavia 3–3 Kohnhead
Chromatika 2–2 Sarzonia

Group B
Siovanija and Teusland 0–2 Mapletish
Devonta 0–3 Starblaydia

Group C
San Ortelio 6–1 Quebec
Xanneria 0–2 TJUN-ia

Group D
Hispinas 1–1 Pasarga
Tikariot 9–0 Krytenia

Group E
Wapistan 2–6 Mytanija
Transvolcanic 4–3 Valladares

Group F
Saint-Domingues 2–3 Northwest Kalactin
Equestria 0–4 Hebitaka

Group G
Graintfjall 3–3 Cassadaigua
Sylestone 4–3 Khytonya

Group H
Baker Park 1–2 Island of the Lost
Darmen 2–2 Megistos

by **Sylestone** » Fri Dec 04, 2020 12:18 am

Well, a new tournament has showcased a very different Under-21 side for Sylestone. This new and improved side seems to have produced something similar result-wise, too, with the Young Chickens playing out a brilliant 4-3 win over Khytonya's Under-21s. The result has put Sylestone into first place, as Graintfjall and Cassadaigua fought out a tough 3-3 draw. Those two sides look most likely to progress, but if Sylestone can beat one of them, who knows what will happen?
Khytonya were off the mark quickly with a dominant display in the first ten minutes. Damasekara, Stevenson and Pearson all held their own in the defence, but it wasn't for long as Sheryl Robertson and Amber Gretzky played a perfect one-two around Jayden Clarke in the right-back position. Robertson was then left with a shot at goal, and via a curving kick that passed Barrett and hit the top-right corner of the net, Khytonya went 1-0 up with only eight minutes down on the clock. Three minutes later, a masterpiece from Barrett made up for his mistake by punching another shot from Robertson over the crossbar to stop Khytonya going up 2-0.
The save seemed to wake Sylestone up. Five minutes later, in the 16th minute, MacIntosh took a corner which was headed perfectly in by Fleetwood. It came so quickly that LaBarbera had no chance of saving it as Sylestone fought back to 1-1. It was a brilliant play by the Young Chickens, and the momentum gained from that one piece of brilliance by the Betham forward set up the game for Sylestone.
Fleetwood had another chance in the 36th minute, where she shot the ball from way off-balance on the left-wing onto the right-hand post. Keyes took the ball and shot it, but LaBarbera was good enough to stop it. But she wasn't good enough to stop Fleetwood as she charged in and slotted it past LaBarbera's right-hand side. 2-1 to Sylestone and that was how it remained until eh half-time whistle blew.

Seven minutes after half-time Harry Love got his first chance on the field and he made an immediate impact. His reputation as a brilliant passer was exemplified as he single-handedly gave Amelia Stanton a shot at goal as she put on a burst of speed to bisect Kwong and McGee in the defence. She slotted it in and Khytonya's early game brilliance hadn't shown any more signs. Sylestone was going to win. Or so they thought.
Finnigan was substituted on and despite not being able to run properly, still made a huge difference. He led the way perfectly, but his injury still impacted the side. Arianne Panarin picked him off and in the 69th and 74th minutes, slotted goals past Barrett. Finnigan was taken off immediately as Sylestone began to once again slip towards defeat. But the scoreline was still 3-3, so they stood a chance. That chance was all they needed.
It was the 88th minute. The pressure was building as the game between Graintfjall and Cassadaigua was announced as a draw. If no one scored, then it would be a four-way tie in Group G. What a way to start off. But it didn't happen. And it was all down to Dunkirk Athletic star Harrison Gilchrist. Knowing time was running short, he took a shot from outside the penalty box. LeBarbera had positioned herself towards the left of the goal and Gilchrist realised that. He shot it, low and hard, towards the bottom right. LeBarbera got a hand to it, but it wasn't enough as the ball trickled past the line. Sylestone were up 4-3, and despite Khytonya's best efforts, kept it that way. What a game, what a result.

Join us next time for Matchday Two against Graintfjall, who will be hungry for points after the draw. If Sylestone wins, they will qualify. If they don't? Then they are still in with a good chance. But that doesn't mean there's nothing to play for. Who wants to play against Cassadaigua for a qualification spot?

SYLESTONE - 4
Fleetwood 16', 36'
Stanton 52'
Gilchrist 88'

KHYTONYA - 3
Robertson 8'
Panarin 69', 74'

by **Khytonya** » Fri Dec 04, 2020 2:55 am

Postmatch Review: Matchday 1

*Sylvestone 4 <--X--> 3 Khytonya*

Sly Sylvestone Take Three Points!

It's a fair showing from both sides. We would admit that's one hell of a game, and that's coming from a group of fans of the losing side. We should be told you about the bright future these players would have based on the performances you have witnessed. Of course, that wasn't to say we adopt the mindset of 'losing is okay'. If you look at the matches where Khytonya has lost, that's where you analyze where mistakes occur and how you fix the problem. Nevertheless, the Young Magicians would still have six points remaining in the DBC so the next two matches would be more important than you think. Okay, enough talk. Let's head into the game.

First Half: In the 8th minute, Sheryl Robertson opens up the goal with a great banger. A beautiful passing play from both her and Amber Gretzky was what lead to a beautiful goal when it went past Sylestonian keeper Charlie Barrett. The former tried to increase the lead in the 11th minute, only from the latter keeper to deny the goal by the punching it to the crossbar, remaining the score as 1-0. Sylvestone atoned their mistakes five minutes later. Strikers Max McIntosh and Rose Fleetwood combined for a corner goal that chained their team into a 1-1 deadlock. Starting keeper Peyton LaBarbera (who replaced Bentley Hart at the last minute before the game) couldn't jump to reach the ball for a save.

LaBarbera continued to block as many shots as she can, prevent at least 7 of them before (in the 36th minute) succumbing into a Sylvestonian goal, courtesy of Fleetwood's rebound shot after fellow teammate Cameron Keyes had his goal denied by the keeper. The rest of the matched remained constant as the first half ended with Sylvestone leading the game with a single goal against Khytonya.

Second Half: Young midfielder Harry Love created a play to put the Young Chickens in the lead. And, lo' behold had they done it. In the 52nd minute, another midfielder Amelia Stanton translated his playmaking setup and blazed through defenders Ben McGee and Priscilla Kwong. She proceeded to increase the difference by two as Sylvestone brought the goal to 3-1. This wasn't the end of Khytonya, though. The goal seemed to awaken the spirit inside. Within the next 15 minutes, Khytonya pushed aggressively with the ball even so far as to keep the ball out from their side.

The struggle seemed real at first, and benchwarmer Jason Finnigan was brought up to reinforce the wall further. That was until the 69th minute, when Robertson lob the ball to star forward Arianne Panarin. As the ball touch the grassy field, Little Ari tapped it in to cut the difference into 3-2. She would later did the same thing five minutes later. This time, Gretzky advanced up the field to deliver the ball to her. Panarin turned her body and blast the ball through Barrett. Khytonya clawed themselves back into a 3-3 game. One goal can only make a difference.

Unfortunately, in the 88th minute, it was Sylvestone who went back into the dressing room with the 3 points as their forward and saviour Harrison Gilchrist broke the deadlock once again as LaBarbera was left to despair in the field. She won't be sleeping after that mistake.

What does it mean?

by **San Ortelio** » Fri Dec 04, 2020 7:45 am

This audience knows a thing or two about football. That’s what you get when you consider the human rules for mortality ‘cute’ and think in triple digits when it comes to age - you’ve gone through a lot of footy on your day and you recognize a beautiful fixture when there is one. So for the twenty-thousand Ianislians that had chosen the adventurous route and opted to purchase a ticket for a confrontation between an absolute minnow and a side that had returned home from the previous edition with the wooden spoon… You should have seen it coming. Or at least, that was the atmosphere after about half an hour. During that time, they had been the witness of absolutely nothing. Not a shot on goal, not a good combination, not a corner kick, … Just two sides that believed that the game format was to keep the leather between those two chalked boxes, preferably with a limited amount of space around it. You won by… Not sure. But you didn’t lose that way, that did both sides know.

So when Sgarbi captured the leather, fledged to the wing for a second before blindly hoofing it to the middle of the pitch, there wasn’t much animosity in the stand. Most thoughts were at which beverage they would purchase in halftime. Maybe something alcoholic could soften the blow of visiting a dud. Because what would follow next was predictable: the towering Quebec center-backs headed it out of contention, it landed somewhere in the middle, some scrambling for the ball and probably a free throw a bit later. It was Groundhog Day, but within ninety unbearable minutes.

As such, most of the audience missed the moment that defined everything. Whilst another lost duel awaited Vitali, he anticipated the curve of the ball best. It came in a bit lower than expected and suddenly, with just two steps, he darted away from his opponent to reach it first, despite a hand on his shirt holding him down. In general, despite the beauty of the move, it would be of no avail. The second Quebecois defender was rushing in to nip any aspiration in the bud. However, rather than trying to get control over the ball, Pier Luigi Vitali let it bounce of his chest, making a nearly comical arch over the second guy. Like a ballerina, he twirled around his axis, away from Q2, just to dart in between his two opponents. The original one lost grip of his jersey but the newcomer panicked and in a reflex, decked Vitali. By the time the referee had arrived, the Quebecois central defender was already shuffling towards the showers.

That’s 169 words. It was zero point eight seconds. The vast majority of the spectators missed it, preoccupied with something else. Yet, it would define the game.

As the dust had settled, the scoreboard revealed a version of the multiverse of which no one had dared to dream but still, it existed in all its nauseating red glow. Six to one, a thorough thrashing that only avoided international exposure due to Tikariot pulling an even bigger stunt, hundreds of miles and one group away. Yet, those who strolled through the highlights would have one name to their mind.

Pier L-... No, no no no. Denis Spaviero. The Pesari striker made the nets tremble four times, showing his deadly clinicality in the box. Not each and every one of those was a beauty, but that didn’t matter: his name got slammed across the front pages and underneath the goal rails which were quickly picked up abroad. Across the multiverse, bookmakers were scribbling his name and slamming it in the ‘potential top scorer’ lists - albeit still a bit off the top odds. As the last whistle resounded, Spaviero kindly asked the ball to the referee and carried it around the stands as if the trophy already was in the bag. His teammates surrounded Pumpy, as they called him after a very particular ball inflating situation - if this adventure could be over in two games time, they better enjoyed every minute.

Well, not all his teammates.

Pier Luigi Vitali still sat on the bench, nearly unchanged since the final whistle. His stats looked meagre for a striker at the dispensing end of a proper beating, seventy minutes played, two shots on goal, none converted. Luca Cadili completed the game in his spot.

“A shame we don’t play here anymore,” coach Ernesto Siboni spoke when he noticed his lone striker, “This place brings us luck, let’s hope Tiradir does the same.”
“In tournaments without home advantages, larger crowds tend to favour the smaller team,” Vitali replied, well ‘reply’. He somehow managed to reply to no one in particular.
“You’re a bit bummed over not scoring?” his manager attempted to connect, “It’s a team effort Pier Luigi, the collective result matters.”
“Of course,” was the dry answer.
“So, you can be happy about this one, it’s been a good game.”
“Yes,” Vitali echoed, “Yes, I know.”
“Is it…”

Ernesto hesitated. Let’s see, he had had Vitali on his pitch since he was thirteen. Within those four years, he never had the feeling that he managed to peel more than one layer of him - the layer which revealed a marvellously talented attacker, with flair and vision, so that had turned out great. But further? To be honest, he tried to shy away from the rest by now and those around him dissuaded him alike. As long as that little one keeps pushing out those games, it doesn’t matter.

“Is it ok?”
“Yes,” Vitali replied, somewhere miles away. “It’s…”

They hadn’t noticed the cloud of noise coming their way. Spaviero huddled next to Vitali, with a few others in his trail. Before they came down to Valanora, Siboni had given everyone the cliffnotes. Internally, he had been torn on whether to do that or not, but he counted on the maturity of the others - so far correctly so. And people said that it was best, for the results and such…

“Good job,” Spaviero spoke, or nearly yelled, as the chants from the crowd had gotten his volume calibration off, “Good job, Pier Luigi! That really worked well today, we gotta keep it up.”

Those mobbing them nodded in agreement, even Niccolo Galli, who warmed the bench as reserve striker but anxiously wanted to show himself as a loyal part of the team.

“That red card really changed the game,” Spaviero showed some insight, “come, join us for a last cheer.”

He said it with the best of intentions, even held the coveted ball in front of Vitali to carry for a bit. As the others walked away already and Pier Luigi slowly rose, Denis continued, “I really think we make a duo that can turn heads here. Imagine that on international headlines: Pumpy and Pier Luigi, haha. Or like Pumpy and Pier… Pumpy and PL? Pjel? We’ll find something.”
“Yeah, sure,” Vitali spoke.

But as the group celebrated in front of the main stand, Siboni couldn’t spot Pier Luigi amongst them.

by **Megistos** » Fri Dec 04, 2020 8:10 am

Alan: "Welcome back to the official coverage of the DBC47 for Megistos! Today at WRITE20 we have to talk about the 2-2 draw with Darmen!"

Jacob: "Yes, we will, Alan. The game was pretty disappointing for Megistia fans, we would have won on the pitch had the IAC not been going on."

Mark: "However, this shows a sign of improvement for the robot team."

Jacob: "They may not get time at the league, but they'll get time at the national team... well, the U-21 national team, of course."

Alan: "Enough about the robot team. We came here to discuss about the result, not debate about the team, like those people do during the elections."

Jacob: "Fair enough. Well, let's start from the beginning."

Kickoff. ST8 passed the ball, and the game had begun.

The first chance was created by van der Vennen. A beautiful touch of a crazy ball, and the attack had started.

Alan: "I'll just say, it wasn't really a crazy ball, more of a high ball."

Jacob: "Tell me you mea..."

Alan: "You know what I'm saying, dude."

Van der Vennen would pass it to Aartsen, as the Megistian defense would scramble back. Aartsen would pass it to Hale, but C23 was marking his back. He ran forward with the ball, chopped back and shot it. G13 would save the first shot but Van der Vennen would tap it in the back of the net.

Jacob: "Easy, given up goal. Nothing real special about it. They're celebrating about a two-inch tap-in? Ridiculous."

Mark: "It was a good play though, just admit that."

Jacob: "Yeah, it was. Although if the ball weren't drunk..."

Alan: "Remind me to punch you, Jacob."

Jacob: "Just shut up."

However, the Megistian would reply with the equalizer. LW9 would fall down at the halfway line, and the foul would be given. He would quickly strike it to the edge of the box, and M11 received it. He would backheel it to ST8, who would pass it back to M11. M11 would chip Krause but it would not go direct to the goal, so ST8 kissed the ball with his foot and scored.

Alan: "Nice goal, to be honest. A little bit chaotic and the ref had to check to see if he was onside or not, but it was still a great buildup."

Mark: "A quick buildup. 20 seconds was all it took from the halfway line to the back of the net."

The Megistian team would again roar just after halftime, with RW7 getting tripped up in the box. He would take the penalty, and score, sending Krause the wrong way.

Jacob: "Lemme just start by saying, that was a tooooooootal dive."

Alan: "Yeah. He didn't even get touched, he squeezed his way through and then feel."

Jacob: "Drama robot."

However late in the game the Darmeni struck back, with Park getting shoved in the box. A fight started but it ended quickly. Hale would shoot... and chip the ball down the middle, which G13 couldn't reach.

Alan: "At least he didn't dive."

Mark: "Yeah."

Jacob: "Anyway, talking about the next game, Island of the Lost."

Mark: "A win against Baker Park was good for them, however if we win we are one step closer to qualifying, but we are also very close to being eliminated."

Alan: "Tough game. Well, tune up for next time, WRITE20, out!"

by **Sarzonia** » Fri Dec 04, 2020 8:13 am

Even though he was an eager participant in training and managing the Sarzonian under 21 national team after being Nathan Hanifer's understudy, the walk from the pitch to the media room still felt surreal for Diego Cristobal.

This time, it wasn't Hanifer who was fielding questions about the Junior Stars and their performance during the Under 21 World Cup, also known as the Di Bradini Cup. It was him. He relished the tactics. He loved the camaraderie with his assistants, even though he realised there was a difference between saying his fellow assistants and his assistants. He loved the players. He loved the idea of melding young men, women, and enbys into contributing adults regardless of whether or not they ever laced up football boots again.

There was one thing Cristobal didn't love. The media. In particular, media scrutiny over his decision to bench starting goalkeeper Glen Baker at halftime after he gave up a goal he spat out was "a horrible, soft goal" until he would later have to approach Baker privately and admit it was because of a defensive lapse he hadn't seen until he reviewed the tape the next morning. He and Baker nearly came to blows as Cristobal sent out reserve goalkeeper Eleanor Keating with the Stars trailing 2-0 because he waited until the last minute and sent out Keating in a way that was viewed by many Sarzonians as showing Baker up.

"It was a soft goal he gave up to Karra Oveni, no excuses," Cristobal snapped when asked about his decision to bench Baker. When the reporter pointed out that Ian McKinley was supposed to mark Oveni and instead attempted to double team Charisma Mott, he said, "I'll have to look at the tape," in a way that made it clear he was sure the reporter was dead wrong. However, when he saw the video replay of the 28th minute Oveni tally, there it was plain as day. He couldn't believe he didn't see it live, but then he remembered he'd had trouble looking around the Baker Park linesman to see the play in question. The second goal, by Mott in the 36th minute, gave Baker no chance, and Cristobol admitted that at the time.

The Junior Stars got on the scoreboard first through an Edwin Campbell pass to Joanie Rhys, whose deft ball handling froze Chromatik goalkeeper Cathryn Nio just long enough for her to be just a split second too slow to stop Rhys's rising shot. The goal would bring the Stars to within 2-1 in the 66th minute before Rhys assisted on a Nick Raiden 89th minute tally that prevented Sarzonia from losing out on a full three points in a tournament that would afford them little to no margin for error.

After the last reporters filed out of the Sarzonian dressing room, Cristobol was there with his assistants poring over the squad list. Cristobal had decided he wanted Keating to start Matchday 2 against Kohnhead, but after extended conversations with goalkeepers coach Marissa Bingham-Sandt, he decided against it. His re-watch of the Oveni goal soon proved his decision to stay with Baker against Kohnhead was the right thing to do. So, too, was a public apology soon on the heels of his private apology to Baker. It wasn't just for making a decision that more than just suggested a lack of confidence in his starting goalkeeper. It was also for making his decision in what looked to be a blatantly disrespectful way, a way that he realised might very well cause him to lose the dressing room if he didn't own up to his major mistake.

He knew Hanifer would have handled things differently. In fact, Hanifer's only suspension of Baker happened when he'd make homophobic comments. And that was because Hanifer felt he had no choice, even with a tenuous goalkeeping situation.

There was a lot more to being a manager than tactics. Cristobal was finding that out the hard way very fast.

by **Saint-Domingues** » Fri Dec 04, 2020 8:28 am

Saint-Domingue 2-3 Northwest Kalactin: Little Avengers kick campaign off with disappointing defeat
HT 0-3

A poor opening half ensured that Saint-Domingue began the Di Bradini Cup with a maiden defeat.

Northwest Kalactin were three goals up by the thirty-five minute mark and were deserved victors, two late consolation goals for Saint-Domingue salvaging nothing but pride.

The Kalactanians, lining up in a heavily attack-minded 4-1-5 formation began their barrage from the opening whistle, pressing the Dominguans high up the pitch and ensuring that their opponents struggled to retain possession. A ball won by William Bennett was laid off to Bradley Floyd who curled low past the goalkeeper for the game's opening goal.

The pressure continued after the opening salvo, and a second was almost instantly found when Otis Sparks struck the post from distance. A header from Bennett was saved by Marco Tomes but from the resulting corner there was a scramble which ultimately led to Randall Hunt getting the ball across the line.

Saint-Domingue crafted their first chance on the half-hour mark, Cheikh Dieng wriggling into space and stinging the palms of Alvin Schneider. Napoléon Berlioz blasted just over from a free-kick but otherwise the opening half was one-way traffic. Bennett again got in space but shot straight at the 'keeper, and Orlando Banks made no mistake when the ball was squared for him to seize upon an easy tap-in.

Northwest Kalactin went into the break three goals to the good, victory practically assured already - or at least it was in the minds of the Dominguans, whose body language conveyed a feeling of utter despondency. Gaëtan Souchon was in for a serious challenge if he were to have any chance of rallying his troops and getting anything out of the match.

A tactical change by the Dominguans helped give them a foothold, bringing Dieng deeper to play closer to the midfield in a lopsided 4-4-2. The winger was able to find a great deal more space against a virtually absent Kalactanian midfield, giving him opportunities to run at Tim Silva and drag the poor left-back out of position. An early cross by Dieng found Pozo unmarked but his floated header was palmed away by Schneider.

Momentum was beginning to turn, even if slightly. Marc-Antoine Cisse won the ball from the over-run Nelson Spencer in midfield and threaded the ball through to Napoléon Berlioz, who shot wide. The breakthrough eventually came with around fifteen minutes to go from another Dieng cross that caught out the Kalactin defence, allowing Pozo to volley in at the near post. The striker took a knock as he scored and afterwards had to go off.

Another consolation came in injury-time. Dieng beat Silva once more and cut the ball back to the edge of the area where Berlioz was waiting. Taking a touch to steady himself, Berlioz then placed a neat finish to the right of the goalkeeper. It was little too late however, and the Dominguans began life in Group F with defeat.
Lineups:
Tomes
Berger
Soyer
Kolley
Camejo
Kujabi <- Ngoy 52'
Cisse
Caceres <- Reyes 80'
Dieng
Pozo <- Parmentier 74'
Berlioz

Saint-Domingue: Pozo (74), Berlioz (89)
Northwest Kalactin: Floyd (4), Hunt (18), Banks (34)
Venue: Miner's Haven, Goldsan

by **Mapletish** » Fri Dec 04, 2020 10:05 am

Part 1|Part 2| Part 3| Part 4| Part 5| Part 6| Part 7| Part 8| Part 9

The Forgotten War

Apartments

"All ready up, they want us inside," the communications specialist relayed the message to us.

I ran from the trees and bushes that I was hiding in, towards the apartment complex that we were supposed to take. An SOF captain was organizing the over watch watches. He had a map of the city and showed us where the assault was going to take place the following day. We huddled close as heavy winds picked up the sand around the area.

"See this area here, here and here, these are the areas that need our cover. Find a good spot and get yourself comfortable," the captain instructed calmly.

He pointed towards a building and off we went. I was paired with a sniper I have met during our trainee days, Raymond.

Raymond is a big gun nerd and he loves his guns and sure knows them well. I have personally never see him shoot so I was unable to gauge how good of a shot was he. But he's probably forgotten that I wasn't that much of a gun nerd as him so I had better made sure I steered clear from talking about the technicalities of each of the guns that we were carrying lest I got schooled.

We haven't seen each of years, but from that moment that we were paired, memories from our trainee days fleshed before our eyes. We got on just fine, we figured as you had better be. You want to feel confident that the guy you are working with is someone you can rely on, and he better feels the same about you too, after all we are trusting each other with our life.

One of the army dudes we called Uncle Molly distributed additional gear from the Desert Vehicle. He came up and gave me my magazines. My sniper rifle was well fitted for the occasion and with the harsh desert conditions I had made sure the gun was well maintained and well covered, I sat down and covered the contours while the rest of the guys gathered around the Desert Vehicle to get their gear and equipment checked once again as they hovered around Uncle Molly.

Running up the stairs in the building, I looked around to find a good hiding spot to shoot from, while sorting the situation out in my head. I knew which side of the building I wanted to be on, and roughly how it should all layout, all I needed was to scout out that spot. When i finally reached the top, I had figured that I would have very much wanted to shoot from a room rather than the roof, so I started walking through the halls of the building and scanned the area once again. I ravaged though the building to find suitable furniture that will match my setup.

Personally, this building that I was in felt just like another part of the battlefield. The apartments and everything in them were just things to be used to accomplish our goal which was to assault and clear the city. Longing for something comfortable because of the situations that I will find myself in, I searched for something to rest my rifle on and something for myself to rest on. Our job really includes long periods of sitting or lying down, you really want to get the blood flowing as best as possible and made sure none of your body parts feel pressured, to keep the blood flowing.

The additional need to rest my rifle on helps with my shooting as I had to shoot from the window, so there is a need for elevation. As I searched through the apartment, I found a room that had a baby crib in it. It was a rare find, and one I could put to good use. Ray and I took it and flipped it over. That gave us a base. Then we pulled the door of the room off its hinges and put it on top. We now had a stable platform to work on. Most locals don’t sleep on beds; they use bedrolls, thick mats, or blankets that are put directly on the floor. We found a few of them and laid them out on the door. That made a semi-comfortable, elevated bed to lie on while working the gun. A rolled mat gave us a place to rest the end of our guns on.

We opened the window and set the area up and were nice and cosy, at least in our minds. We decided we’d work four hours on, four hours off, rotating back and forth. Ray took the first watch. Just enough time to get a shut eye and possibly get away from getting into REM sleep which puts you in a slumber and in a dazed state if you were awakened from that stage of sleep. I started rummaging through the complex to see if I could find any cool shit—money, guns, explosives. The only thing I found worth acquisitioning was a handheld basketball game. Not that I was authorized to take it, or even did take it, officially. If I had taken it, I would have played it the rest of the deployment. If I’d done that, it might explain why I am actually pretty good at the game now. If I had taken it.

The city I was doing my watch on was a brownish-yellow, a literal concrete of grey, almost as if everything was from an old photograph. The buildings generally looked the same, covered in the same colour with the odd pines around, the desert pines, if I may add. Two storey high buildings and the occasional three or four storeys. Minarets or prayer towers poked out of the grayness in its landscape. Mosque domes scattered around, showing the predominant religion of Somalia in fact. Despite the dull exteriors of the buildings, they were packed tightly, streets lining up in grid style, and an odd outer sprawl of buildings which could have been older remnants of the city against a developing, modern backdrop.

On watches like these, you can't help but let your mind wander. One thinks about how this country will have been like if not for the war and conflict that ravaged through the streets, how the development of the city could have been fully implemented all round with the neat and tight grids and the odd symmetry of buildings despite the boring, mono-coloured grey coloured landscape. These days, with the war and conflict, rubble littered the streets, the odd corpse of a rocket attack or the mutilations that occurred. The very sight from my scope turned my stomach, but I had a job to do, so here I was.

I had my eyes set on a set of railway tracks about 850 metres away from the building. There was a berm and a train trestle over the highway south of me. To the east, on my left as I looked out the window, the train line ran to a switching yard and station outside the main part of the city. The assault would sweep across the tracks, driving down and into an area and onto the expressway at the eastern end of the city. This detail was marked carefully on my version of the map with a cloverleaf. This was also an area roughly seven kilometres wide; the plan was to move about a three kilometers deep to the expressway in a little less than three days. That might not seem like a lot—most soldiers can probably walk that far in a half hour—but the path lay through opportunistic setups of booby-trapped streets and past heavily armed houses.

Close quarter combat and house to house fighting is inevitable. Going through every house, and literally every door, this could be worse than what was initially thought. It was a huge risk factor but one of the only methods left to eradicate any remaining Revolutionists who would die valiantly in their attempts to defend their belief. "Damn evil Maplish," posters plastered on the streets as seen in propaganda films shot by the Revolutionists. This was heavy on manpower for the most part and this could be as deadly as fighting coastal hook, if done recklessly. It could have been an easy jet run and poof the city is gone but minimising collateral damage and getting boots on the ground will do a better job in eradicating the roots of the problem, or so they say.

Honestly, when you are in the conflict zone, you only had one job to do, to fight it out whenever you are faced with the enemy. If your job could be done with ease, you let that be your go to option. Calling closed air support or just bomber runs for those, and you just clear the remains, what a good way to do things. You considered little of the diplomatic side of things, the possibility of killing innocent civilians or any hopes of the city rebuilding anyway. Those were the harshest realities of world, it was selfish, it was efficient, deadly-efficient. We couldn't risk more men than it is needed to achieve the objective, Maplish sons fighting in another person's land for a cause that seemed vengeful.

Looking out at the windows at that time, I was anxious for the battle to start. I wanted a target, I wanted to shoot someone, believe it or not. I didn't have to wait that long after all.

Kills come by soon after I got on the gun. Most were back in the are near the city. Revolutionists would move into the area that was our assault point in an attempt to get the best position to attack, spy, lay booby traps and catch our troops. They thought they were all stealthy and couldn't be seen and were all safe. They could have never been more wrong.

Taking your first shot, lies an almost unconscious question of "Can I kill this person?" In situations like these though, you followed your rules of engagement closely and there was no doubt the man in your scope was an enemy. This was clear. Wandering around or maneuvering towards Maplish positions, intentionally instigating an attack and setting up bobby traps in full view of our surveillance. Important points for our ROE though. Civilians were warned not to stay on in the city, but obviously there were still innocents remaining in the city. But, they are more likely to be hiding, away from our view at least.

The ones that remained, of fighting age, within the city limits, were most likely to be the bad guys. They thought they were going to kick us out, just as they supposedly had kicked the government forces together with the Maplish out when they retook the city earlier. It was to be an uphill task. I look through the scope, get my target in the crosshairs, and kill my enemy before he kills one of my people. got three that day; Ray got two. Beyond the first shot, you don't need to take any mental preparation though. You just ease into it, reducing any mental pressure on your side. I would keep both eyes open while I was on the scope. With right eye looking through the scope, my left eye could still see the rest of the city. It gave me better situational awareness.

With the others

As the Maplish troops moved into the city, they soon reached a position where we could no longer cover them from the comforts of our apartment towers. We came down, ready for the next phase, getting into the city itself. It was more dangerous here, because there lies the chance when your enemy can take potshots at you especially when your position is exposed. Sounds do come rather clearly in the city when the sound waves bounced off walls. I was assigned to Company K, helping the army units on the western side of the city. They were part of the first wave of the assault, sweeping down block by block, door to door. Another company would come behind them and secure the area and ensuring that none of the Revolutionists would take a cheapshot from the back in behind them. The idea was to clear Mogadishu block by block.

Thick brick and stucco walls laid the part of the city we were in. There always areas where the Revolutionists could hide. The backyards, usually flat with hard dirt or even cement, were rectangular mazes. It was a dry, dusty place, even with the river nearby. Most of the houses didn’t have running water; the water supply would be on the roof. I worked with the army snipers for several days during the first week or so of that phase of the assault. There would be a few support guys that i worked with, who provide security and helping out with different tasks. I was also paired with two other army snipers and a joint tactical air controller trained SOF personnel.

Those army guys doing the support were keen to take on sniper roles and were hoping to sit out this deployment and head towards sniper school. Others were interested in the prospect of joining the SOF.

We dumped a hell lot of ordnance on the enemy positions through precision attacks with mortar, arty, bombs, rockets, missiles. Yes, but why are we still on the ground? Some things are just best left answered unanswered. This enemy positions were softened up which allowed us to take the remaining Revolutionists on with a little less resistance. Black smoke engulfed the streets and funnels of black smoke could be seen in the distance, vibrations and rumble could be felt from the explosions and secondary explosions, distances away. We might have caused a mini earthquake and shift some tectonic plates with our flattening tactics.

At first, we were behind the army's advance. But I realized we could do a better job by getting ahead of the squad on the ground. It didn't take long for such a revelation though. It gave us a better position, allowing us an element of surprise. Shock and surprise another tactic we were pleased to have used. This shocked anyone who tried rallying against our ground units. Swift sweeping action. Gets the bad guys out of the picture sooner rather than later. It also gave us a hell of a lot more action. So we started taking houses to use as hides. We were also participating in block clearing just in case. increased risk exposure now, how "nice".

Once the bottom of the house was cleared, I’d run up the stairs from the top floor to the roof, emerging in the small shack that typically sheltered the entrance to the roof. Sure the roof was clear, I would move over towards the wall at the edge, get my bearings, and set up a position. Usually there would be something on the roof I could use —a chair or rugs—to make things more comfortable; if not, there was always something downstairs. My weapon held up fine in the waves of attacks. They were just as deadly as I expected them to be.
Meanwhile, the troops on the ground would work down the street, usually side to side, clearing the houses. Once they reached a point where we could no longer cover them well, we’d move up and take a new spot, and the process would start over again.

Generally, shooting from roofs gave us the best view and were often already equipped with chairs and the like. The civilians must have had some sun decks or something which allowed such a deckout though. Most in the city were ringed by low-rise walls that were just enough protection when the enemy shot back. Additionally, sing the roofs allowed us to move quickly. While the assault was taking its place, they wouldn't have the time to wait for us to take our positions. They probably wouldn’t wait anyway, time was essence.
If the roof was no good, we would shoot from the upper story, usually out of a window.

Occasionally, we would have to blow a sniper hole in the side of a wall to set up a firing position. It felt like one of those rat holes but, I was not the Revolutionst so it was a sniper fire hole rather than a rat hole. That was rare, though; blasting holes, that was obviously a noisy business, we didn’t want to draw more attention to our position by setting off an explosion, even if it was relatively small, just enough to send shockwaves to any people in the building or maybe just in the next building. Small indeed, we must have underestimated the vibrations.

One of those days we found a good spot in one of the small office buildings. It had been vacated some time before. We pulled the desks back from the windows and sat deep in the room; the natural shadows that played on the wall outside helped hide the position. Just another example of a fine working city just before it was so badly damaged.

The enemies we were fighting were well-armed, that was well documented. In one of our block clearings, the troops found roughly three dozen guns, including machine guns and sniper rifles, along with homemade rocket stands and a mortar base. They operated well as a platoon then, since that was roughly enough firepower for a platoon to pull through. Man to man in terms of combat, they probably didn't hold the upper hand, not that their firepower was up to mark with ours but they were well armed by what we have seen. That was just one house on a long block. It was a nice house, in fact—it had air conditioning, elaborate chandeliers, and fancy Western furniture. It made a good place to rest while we took a break one afternoon. It could very well have been another temporary base to keep operations in check from.

The houses were all searched carefully, but the weapons were usually pretty easy to find. We made sure we left no stone unturned especially having encountered countless bobby traps and homemade IEDs laying astray. It has come to a point where the Revolutionist dont hide their IEDs, knowing full well that once we routed away from that, we were up in their alley and their hidden IEDs went off. That scarred us a little though. We would go inside the houses and see a grenade launcher propped against a china cabinet—with rockets
stacked next to the teacups below. At one house, we found dive tanks—apparently the terrorist who had been staying at the house used them to sneak across the river and make an attack. There were even combat divers we are facing now. It won't be that much of a surprise if we chanced upon a rebreather system. We also salvaged through old military equipment and in one of the houses there were rifle grenades that could have been made decades ago. We found binoculars with old Communist hammer-and-sickle emblems.

And IEDs, other than those lying around in the bobby traps and on the roads, there were some cemented into walls, they were literally everywhere. You could open one of the doors to the bathroom and boom there we go you lose an arm and part of your legs. A lot of mention about just how fanatical these Revolutionists were. They must have such deep hatred for us that was driving them to extreme ends and it was no doubt that good many were pretty doped up. Later on in the campaign, we cleared a hospital.

They were located at the outskirts of the city and were using it for drug works. There was also other evidence of how they prepared themselves. It looked as if, at least to me that they would cook up heroin and inject it before a battle. Other things I’ve heard said they would use prescription drugs and basically anything they could get to help get their courage up and maybe get their minds to wander or be able to continue standing after being shot. What an uncomfortable state of high if you ask me. You literally watching how you end up dead. You could see that sometimes when you shot them. Some could take several bullets without seeming to feel it. They were driven by more than just hatred and adrenaline, even more than blood lust. They were already halfway to Paradise, in their minds at least.

Such perils of evil, we were facing but even on the other side of the coin, we see a group of people although unforgivingly and unmercifully defending their very beliefs that held them together. Such boggling thoughts.

by **TJUN-ia** » Fri Dec 04, 2020 2:21 pm

By Peter Davis

Philip van Oosterend and his Young Jags are back and looking to actually make the knockouts this time. At least, that is the aim PvO set out in his pre-tournament press conference (an oddity in TJUN-ian sports). Here in Valanora, it was time for the talking to stop as the Young Jags played the Collegiate All-Star Maroons of Xanneria, an established nation in this competition filled with talent from the deep collegiate game over there.

The game itself was a fun one, as you would expect from an under-21 game in this universe. Both teams had players who wanted to show off their skills to the multiverse and that was what exactly happened in an entertaining contest. This was a fun game to watch for many, especially for TJUN-ia, as they would score the only goal of both halves in this one. The first-half goal was in the 32nd, the CEA taking the first goal bragging rights through Yomakaji Shimigatsu with a nice strike past Evan Hall to open the scoring. It would get better with TJUN-ia's 2nd half goal in the 67th, a corner by the NAU's Peter Ørberg headed in by substitute and newbie Jackson Smith-Scott of JB TJUN-ia. He's fifteen years old and yet scored on a bunch of adults. Make of that what you will.

A good 2-0 win for us to kick off the groups and with only 2 more games before the knockouts, this might turn out to be a huge win. Not as huge as Tikariot's 9-0 demolition of Krytenia of course, but it's important nonetheless. Next up is The Royal Kingdom of Quebec, who just lost 6-1 to San Ortelio. Can the Jags book their place to the knockouts with 1 game to play? GO JAGS!

SCHEDULE (Group C)
MD1: vs Xannaria @Tiradir, Gladerial (31,000) W 2-0 (2nd)
MD2: vs The Royal Kingdom of Quebec @Lathal, Ianisle (29,000)
MD3: vs San Ortelio @Tiradir, Gladerial (31,000)

Di Bradini Cup 49/U21WC70 Everything Thread

Team Mapletish for Di Bradini Cup 49/U21WC70

Part 9

Part 10

Boot It!: Young Jags Start Strong Over Collegiate Maroons!

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