World Cup 88- Roleplay Thread

[Flavovespia]

Flavovespia has made one of the biggest international policy decisions of recent times by departing Atlantian Oceania for the newly founded Anaia. The decision is a major choice for Flavovespia, and has come with some strong supporters and critics across the nation.

In quite possibly his most significant moment in his presidency, President Alexander Mason has travelled to sign the Declaration of Foxchester and to move Flavovespia out of Atlantian Oceania and into Anaia. The Declaration of Foxchester lays out the terms of Anaia. The region will lie in the North East of what is currently Atlantian Oceania. Calania and the islands largely to the north and east are the areas founding Anaian nations are situated in.

Speaking in the Flavovespian Parliament, Minister of International Affairs, Alex Bidwell of Flavovespia Forward, said "this decision has not been taken lightly. But for Flavovespia to move forward, we the government consider it the best course of action. Our nearest neighbours, are all taking this step. In the best interests of Flavovespia, we believe we should move with them. This is not to say we no longer consider the nations of Atlantian Oceania important to us, but Anaia is where the future of Flavovespia lies". The blue, gold and white flags of Atlantian Oceania have been lowered in front of the Flavovespian Parliament, replaced with the white, purple and green of Anaia.

The move has divided political opinion, even within parties. Flavovespia Forward are the most keen, with the Socialists split, but more in favour of the move. The Democratic Conservative membership and MP's have been particularly divided. Leader Alison Connick in Parliament said "Whilst the pros for this move have been laid out and are clear to see, I struggle to see how the cons have been laid out. Perhaps maybe it's Fast Forward, not Flavovespia Forward from this government?" Opposition came from the unlikely allies of Freedom and Democracy Party and the Greens. Lazaro Gremano, of the former said "This is a government more interested in petty international symbolism, ignoring the wants and needs of the common man. When did the people vote on this?". Jennifer Armstrong of the Greens said "well I don't often agree with Mr Gremano, but he is right. We can't support this move without more detail and without a referendum for the people."

This move also brings some changes to sport. Flavovespia and the FFA will no longer be a part of the AOCAF, instead they become a founding member of the CAFA. Although the World Cup Qualifiers are in full swing now, the first CAFA Cup will arrive before we know it, and excitement will surely build as soon as this World Cup cycle ends. Whilst many will hope for improve fortunes given recent AOCAF performances, others are quick to remind optimists of the list of Anaia nations and their historic pedigree. Some have raised the question of an IAC entry, but rumours circulate this may be unlikely, either from the IAC side, or the side of the FFA. Nevertheless, a new chapter of Flavovespian football history has been opened. At club level, IFCF participation continues, but the AOCL looks set to be replaced by the CAFA LigAnaia, the format of which is still being worked out.

The fact that President Alexander Mason signed this policy, and not Alex Bidwell shows just how seriously this move has been taken by the Flavovespian government. However just how popular this move becomes in Flavovespia remains to be seen. The Socialist-Flavovespia Forward government has staked a lot on this, it could make or break both parties in the next election and beyond.

[Pluvia and the Saxean Isles]

28 Greatstreet, Marienburg, Pluvia and the Saxean Isles

Prof. Charles Cunningham of the history department at the Royal Marienburg University had staggered his way to the bedroom. It was presently around two in the morning and he'd finished transcribing all the bits of William II's diary that he'd read so far. That, plus daydreaming about what kind of advance he'd receive once he published the whole thing, had taken up most of his evening. The light was off when he came in, so he quietly undressed, stubbed his toe on the chest of drawers, hopped around for several seconds cursing inside his head, and then finally managed to put on his pyjamas and get into bed. He put his arm out, expecting to the find the figure of his wife in her typical spot on the other side of the bed, but encountered nothing. After fumbling about for a bit, he in fact ascertained that she wasn't there at all. He frowned momentarily, then reached for the lamp and then the diary. She must be in the other bedroom; sometimes she did that, though he wasn't exactly sure why. Might as well read another diary entry while he had the time.

The last diary entry saw William II having visited the steel mills and factories of Somermont. He was in that northern city of industry and mining to drum up support for his plan of industrialisation and modernisation. He'd been quite astounded and fascinated by the power of the mills and factories to produce these new industrial goods. Of particular interest were the workers, but he'd been more or less kept from seeing them. The official explanation was not to distract them from their work, but he didn't doubt that baser motives were at play as well. Returning from the factory, William II's party had been cut off by a large crowd from the "Workingmen's Protective Association". Before the confrontation could turn ugly, William II had personally intervened and invited the leaders of the group to attend a meeting with him to discuss their grievances. Now it was time for the meeting. What would it reveal about Pluvian society?

February 28, 1885

It is the wee hours of the morning and I have just concluded a meeting with the representatives of the Workingmen's Protective Association.

When I returned from our journey to the mills and factories, I immediately wanted to set about preparing for my meeting, but was convinced by my aides that I at least had to eat something first. Despite this being a good idea on its face, I quickly regretted it as the industrialists and mayor of the city spent most of the meal trying to convince me to cancel the meeting. They regarded the WPA as a group of rabblerousers who were attempting to influence events "above their station in life." I could only take so much of it before I rather indelicately told them where they could shove their advice. Not my finest moment as king, but then again, these men, whatever virtues they may have in business, industry, or politics, are not the finest of men either. After this, they subsided, but did insist on one of their number attending the meeting between myself and the WPA leaders. While I initially rejected this, I reconsidered and selected the least odious of the group, a grandfatherly old man named Charles Coffey. He owned a factory that manufactured arms, had a reputation as a man who treated his workers fairly, and understood the project I was embarking on. If I am to be a true king, I must learn how to mediate across different sectors of society and help them to see that their interests are much more alike than they are different.

Three men from the WPA entered my chambers shortly after dinner, and introduced themselves as Thomas Stanton, Peter Reeves, and Daniel Ehrenfeld. They were courteous enough, though they viewed Mr. Coffey with some suspicion. They refused food, but accepted the offer of a cigar and were soon contentedly puffing away. I invited them to enter into conversation with myself and Mr. Coffey, taking care to position myself both philosophically and physically between the workigmen and Mr. Coffey. Some of the things they said I expected, such as complaints about wages and working hours. I am aware that we currently do not have minimum wage legislation and the typical working day is between ten and twelve hours; this was something I already planned to address. But what I didn't expect was that each of the three of them had suffered some kind of workplace injury; Mr. Stanton had lost a finger, Mr. Reeves walked with a limp, and Mr. Ehrenfeld suffered tremendous headaches and often found himself forgetting things.

I still less expected their proposed remedy: the ballot box. Although we have long abolished the property qualification for office, the remaining obligation to have paid a certain amount of tax or to pay a tax at the voting booth itself was a tremendous burden. Making as little as they did, they neither paid sufficient tax to qualify, nor could spare the crowns to pay the tax at election time. This was not an uncommon issue; they estimated only one man in three in Somermont met the qualifications to exercise his right of suffrage. Furthermore, they complained of areas outside the city electing more members of the National Assembly than the city despite the larger, and indeed growing every day, population of the city. This skewed the balance of the legislature, and combined with the limitations on suffrage, made a mockery of what we called democracy. They assured me they were not socialists, but they knew of socialists and social-democrats active in the city and that many workingmen were at least interested, given that the socialists seemed to be the only ones who cared about their plight. They said they would vote for the National party or the Liberal party if given the opportunity and either addressed their concerns. Although Mr. Coffey looked askance at their claims, I judged them to be a de profundis appeal to their sovereign and had no doubt of their veracity. The five of us spent many hours discussing my plans, their claims, and Mr. Coffey's opinions as we endeavored to hammer out a compromise. In the end, we agreed: I would make a speech to the National Assembly regarding the manifold issues that needed remedies and they would rally workers and industrialists, not just in Somermont, but in many other cities as well. I shiver with excitement to think that we may yet win a great victory; not on the field of battle, but in the halls of power.

[Abanhfleft]

CRESCENT NEWS NETWORK
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ABANHFLEFT • PRIDNESTROVIA • OONTAZ DERT LI NG • COPPER CUPRUM • TRENDSTART • FHULGHAMOUS PENINSULA

WHEN SATIRE BECOMES AN UNFORTUNATE TRUTH: HOW A SINGLE ARTICLE IS NOW TURNING THE FOOTBALL WORLD UPSIDE DOWN
By Arnold Isaacs


The Abanhfleft women's national football team during pre-game training before their World Cup qualifying match against The Grearish Union. (Courtesy of Crescent News Network Sports Channel/Andros Tasasa)

WRITING FROM RIUWIEE - What started out as a tongue-in-cheek reference has unintentionally revealed the dark underbelly of modern football.

Following an eventful 4-4 draw between Electrum and Abanhfleft at the former's Centralis Arena, the Electrumite satirical news publication The Turnip published an article in which it claimed that the Abanhfleft women's national team had been microdosing with a supposedly performance-enhancing drug called Ripperonin before the match against Electrum. The article, as with most other Turnip publications, quickly became viral upon release, and responses within the Democratic Republic were largely uniform in that they recognized that it was satire and worth a quick laugh or two, but probably nothing more. Some have even gone so far as to wonder why results have not been to our advantage if such a doping program truly did exist within our federation.

However, due to the viral nature of this article's spread throughout the greater multiverse, it was inevitable that there would be at least one person with considerable power in their local football federation who would read this article and take it at face value, and indeed it has happened. However, the responses that have come up with regards to the Turnip's article have been varied to say the least, and it is the variance in these responses which has caused such an upheaval within the footballing public. Adab, which is in the same qualifying group as both Abanhfleft and Electrum, has vehemently denied the use of Ripperonin; and Chartistan has adopted the line of neither confirming nor denying their use of Ripperonin in their national team. On the other hand, Baptism of Fire 75 third placers Atheara have admitted to using Ripperonin starting from the Round of 16 of the aforementioned tournament, while the winners Eshialand appeared to confirm by way of their own king their use of the drug even if the content of his speech does suggest a satirical element of its own. Bollonich's football federation has gone so far as to say that the use of Ripperonin is a right that all federations have and should actually be encouraged. Xanneria has stated that Ripperonin is legal in their nation and that their leagues had been given large doses of the drug during the previous season. However, the biggest shock comes from Ethane, who in their statement made the bold claim that Ripperonin was not only legal under the laws of NSWC but was also now actually an important part of the greater footballing culture. There was even an added implication in the Ethanian statement that use of Ripperonin was actually needed in order to secure qualification into the World Cup finals.

Naturally, this has thrown the entire Fleftic footballing scene in an uproar. What was supposed to be only a satirical sports news article has now resulted in the whole fabric of the nation's beliefs about international football being challenged. The Samahang Futbol ng Abanhfleft had long held to the belief that the use of performance-enhancing drugs was an affront to the meaning and purpose of sporting competition, and the SFA had gone to great lengths to ensure that none of our sportsmen and sportswomen have taken even a single drop or pill of a performance-enhancing substance in their professional careers. Hence why the fact that both Erin Jennings and Brittany Hanks failed drug tests just before the start of the 12th Independent Associations Championship was perceived by the SFA to be a huge blow to the team. The SFA prided itself in running a tight—and clean—ship, so the fact that not only one but two of their players failed drug tests was an embarrassment to both the team and the federation as a whole. Neither the SFA nor Rosenpfelblatz City, the club for whom the two women played, have revealed which drugs were discovered with Hanks and Jennings, but judging by the recent news, it would seem as if it was indeed Ripperonin which was discovered in them by the tests.

But now with the apparent revelation that doping has been happening in the World Cup, and quite possibly even other sports, long before Abanhfleft had become a member of the international community, the SFA now faces a new quandary. Should they continue their policy of keepìng our athletes clean and competing to the best of their natural abilities, or should they follow the apparent lead of the rest of the multiverse and invest in a Ripperonin program? In fact, how can we the people of Abanhfleft even know if we haven't actually been doping our athletes in Ripperonin for years, and that all this is more is only coming to light because of what was supposed to be a satirical match day report? One thing though is still for certain: Abanhfleft's understanding of the football world has been turned on its head. Planned or not, The Turnip has opened a Pandora's box, and there is no hope of removing this information from our brains anymore.

If you liked the previous article, here are some more that might interest you:

• National rugby sevens team tests positive for Ripperonin, Fleftic Rugby Union admits
• Samahang Lakros ng Abanhfleft announces national lacrosse team to be "drug free"
• "Ripperonin, other chemicals may have contaminated national water supply", says Water Regulatory Board
• President Matthias Green: "Hard drugs and party drugs have no place in my country"

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█████ATHEARA 1 - 2 ABANHFLEFT
ALGEER (45')       WOODWARD (23')
                   RUSEV (67')

         ABANHFLEFT 3 - 1 THE GREARISH UNION
     McGINNIS (18')       McAULEY (59')
WOODWARD (26', 37')

[Sendhang]

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DAY 7 - MONTH 6 - YEAR 6

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Great week for Sendhangite football

It was a terrific week for Sendhang football as the national team collected a maximum of 6 points from 2 matches in the first week of the Month 6 international break. This is a great result for the Sendhangite considering the players failed to record a single victory in any of the 3 matches during the international break in Month 3.

The first match of the international break was at home against The 14 Stars. The 14 Stars has not collected a single point prior to the match while Sendhang has only collected a single point. The 2 nations were the only nations that are yet to win a single match in Group 2 of the 88th World Cup qualifying campaign. It was a match between fellow minnows but pride was at stake.

The national team players made sure they can be proud after the final whistle was blown as they won by a slim margin. A goal from Nanang Wirajuda in the first half was enough for Sendhang to win the match. This is the first time Sendhang recorded a clean sheet in the 88th World Cup qualifying campaign.

If you think things couldn't get any better, Sendhang won again earlier today far away from home against the recent Baptism of Fire champion in which Sendhang was knocked out in the group stage. It was not just that, the manner of the win made us more proud of the players. It was a terrific performance from the first whistle until the final whistle.

Gusti Sing Nggawe once again staked his claim as the starting striker for Sendhang as he scored a hattrick in the match held at the 75,000 capacity Eshialand City SuperDome in Eshialand City. The final result was 5-1 to Sendhang. The 2 other goals were scored by Keylar Samoi and Nanang Wirajuda respectively. Amazing. Just amazing.

Overall, it was a terrific start to the international break. Everything seems to be going well. Every Sendhangite should be on cloud nine. But for the players, the euphoria must end because there are 2 more matches in the coming 6 days.

And the next match will be a huge match. Sendhang versus Vilita, a former World Cup at the Stadium Persekutuan in Kambang. This is the first time Sendhangite will be able to watch world-class superstars in front of their own eyes. Tickets have been sold out just a few hours after it was sold to the public. I've got mine. See you in Kambang.

Can Gusti strike again? Lets hope so.

[Squidroidia]

The Big One - Inkopolis

Theme music

"When the World Cup 88 qualification draw was stirred up all these months ago, one match on the Squidroidian fixture list has caught the eye of every football fan within this country - A date with the defending world champions. Togonistan may be top of the group as everything stands, the Squidroidians may be behind Hampton Island and Quakmybush, but oh how the Inkopolis City Stadium, 50,000 strong, will react if the Inklings can take down the title holders, the number 1 team in the world in Nephara? Only time may tell. This might be the biggest qualification game in the history of the Squidroidian national team.

"We welcome you back home to the illustrious Inkopolis City Stadium, my name is Takanaki Osa and we start with Quakmybush and their heroics as they drew on the road all the way here in Inkopolis, a boring 0-0 draw that sees the Squidroidians midpack in 5th. It took them 3 games last cycle under Mito for them to get a win at the Championship Grounds... We are 5 games into an 18 game qualification cycle, and they haven't won at this stadium yet! It begs you to wonder under Adam Johnson, when are they going to win at home? When will the time come for Johnson to pump his fists at home knowing that he won in front of this home crowd of 50,000 people, Squidward Roids packed up in the stands, and the next game he has... Is against the reigning world champions at home? That is something that would keep him up at night for sure.

"Now Nephara haven't done all that brilliantly either, in fact they did something that is extremely rare for reigning world champions to do, and that is lose to a newcomer like Brookstation. A 5-3 loss away from home has to be embarrassing for Cormorants manager Triffid Ramsey, and even though they went back home and whooped Central Shaneville 4-1 at home, that loss is stinging with this squad. Squidroidia don't have to face the Godhead yet, but it feels like the Godhead has been with them wherever they went, and they have only forgotten it on their way to The Highest Room by the looks of things. They need to win here in order to keep their automatic qualification hopes alive, especially with a seemingly all-conquering Togonistan side that Squidroidia themselves have to face immediately after this, but the pressure is on for the Inklings too! They are 5th with 1 loss to their name like Nephara and Hampton Island, but they have a difficult slate for their 5 upcoming games. Of course there's Nephara and Togonistan, but they have Hampton Island AND Sarzonia to round out the first half, and then it's a trip up to the jungles of Sechura to rematch with Huayramarca. This might be the toughest slate of games Squidroidia has up until the final 4, and the results against these sides might be the difference between World Cup qualification and a trip to the Cup of Harmony.

"We caught up with Adam Johnson immediately after the Quakmybush game, and here is what he had to say:"

"Nephara are no pushover wherever they go, but that loss against Brookstation shows that they are without perfection. They have imperfections in their squad, and those may lay the keys to victory at the end of the day. I talked to this squad after the draw and I said this: 'The way Quakmybush played today will be almost like the way Nephara will play against you, the only difference being the skill of the players'. If we get a win out of this, I'll carry it with a badge of honor."

"Some words of wisdom from a manager that has reached the World Cup proper before, so he knows a thing or two about this situation. Let's get to the bottom of this and discuss Adam Johnson's starting XI for this Squidroidia team. As always, Takemoto Shingen will captain his country between the sticks, and he has some familiar company, as the backline is at full strength with Shigeko, Moronobu, Toki and Kane all at their regular positions. Kabuto Tadataka stays in defensive midfield, but ever since that Quakmybush draw the attention has been put on the midfield, and this time Toshikuni will sit on the bench and Henriette Brooks will be thrust up against the spotlight for this clash against Nephara. Ashihei and Tetsuo stay in their positions, as do the 2 strikers - Hideo and Itō. Akira Honda has been called up to the bench in case anything doesn't work out."

"When we come back, the shocking news that the northwest of AO wants to break up - What does Anaia mean for the national team going forward? Will Itō be separated from Toki? What about 3rd choice Hiryama Shunji's chances to stand between the sticks? And what about the future of Squidroidian football with a potential 4th new major region? Don't go away."

[Talamia]

Matchday 2/3 - Group 10
match report

San Ortelio 1-0 Talamia

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Talamia 3-2 Mercedini

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"Ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls, children of all ages. It's Monday and you know what that means!
I am Auxe Aggelia and I welcome you back from the Pro Diorux TV studios!

While the last match of the first matchday of the DSAFF Comrades Cup 2021 is being played between Jerno and New Ordiel Kalibleland, we are back for a new match report! These were two very important days for the Talamian national team, who will now have to face three new, equally complicated challenges. We came out with three points in two matches. Not bad, I would say, especially considering that the victory came against an experienced team like Mercedini! Continue to surprise the Cinderella of the San Ortelio competition, which inflicted on us the first defeat of the season. Sanisla Pedalisismi will have a lot to do in the next few days, with two new qualifying matches and the crucial Comrades Cup match against Kepler-0085. There are already rumors of his possible goodbye to the bench after two years in case of non-qualification or a bad course in the Cup of Harmony. Ensem Eio has already been listed as a possible replacement. But let's see the matches in detail!

Will Ensem Eio become our new coach?

May 15, 2021
Little to say about this first game. We arrived already tired on the pitch, you could see it. Pedalism also underestimated the opponent, deciding to send a team that was too inexperienced and too attacking. The result was a goal caught off guard in the last minutes of play, after watching a very boring match. To be praised the great defensive skills of San Ortelio and their long-term football project. Other than Cinderella, they could turn into the werewolf!

May 16, 2021
And now, ladies and gentlemen, the report you've all been waiting for: our incredible home win against Mercedini! The defeat against San Ortelio must have spurred the boys to give their all because after being down 0-2, we overturned the result by winning 3-2! A brace from Stern A'apt and a goal in the seventy-seventh minute from captain Ansem Egemon allowed us to achieve a historic result. And looking at the ranking, we can say: we are there too! We want that place in the World Cup!

That's it for now, ladies and gentlemen! See you next report! Only here on Pro Diorux - are you a sports devote? Pick up your TV remote!"

[Ko-oren]

Ko-oren 4–0 Barunia
Mallerbury made his first minutes in the Yellowsash, previously sitting behind Benjamin but the latter's tendency to fly off the handle saw Mallerbury tried out at the right centre back position. The West Strand Ridinger did fantastically, and highlighted some of the problems in his colleagues. Mallerbury has a slightly different play style from what's normally expected in a centreback, and Breukelaar had to step in to cover both positions when necessary, whenever the right centre back was next to Odgers disrupting the passing build up. Janoreirinthen stepped up his attacking responsibilities, now that he's seen that Odgers is capable of doing everything at the back. It freed up both Janoreirinthen and Batchelor to focus on supplying Erisia with quality passes. Longchambon was a little more invisible as a result, tyring to draw defenders out of shape but that's one of those thankless jobs that only analysis nerds crave. Two goals from Erisia made things easier, though, as the Dragonflies cruised to an easy 4-0 victory. Finally looking like the team that Juliasterinthen was trying to carve out from the start - never say that this staff doesn't move on from innovation to innovation. We don't speak of the outcome of these innovations either. It's important they happen, it's important that they have success, but you can't yell that something doesn't work after only three tries. The 5-4-1 is here to stay, it seems.

Aut-Ves-Nat 1–3 Ko-oren
Van Schelven was responsible for a lot of build-ups, but never came to his own on enemy territory. Aelisire was struggling in both of his appearances, prompting Juliasterinthen to take him off early in both contests. Erisia scored twice, like he did in the previous game. No hat-tricks for him but they're still statistics that we love to see. In pretty much any game of the last two cycles, scoring twice means Ko-oren take the win - with the exception of the strange occurrences of conceding two or even three in a game (Quebec during WCQ87, ZSeparatists during WCQ88). Batchelor was a little more active in this game, not just serving Erisia, but also taking shots himself. From any direction, at any speed, towards any part of the goal, Batchelor far and away recorded the most shots and shots on target, for a horrifyingly low amount of expected goals. It was his shots that bounced back in play that did the most damage, as those were the ones that Erisia could pounce on for an easy shot on an empty goal. He didn't always get there first, but he did tap in one of the long distance attempts as it came back from the post.

Little did the players know: they left from Atlantian Oceania to go on an away trip, only to return to a different region. The KFA headquarters were a stressy mess of people sorting out contracts, visa requirements, as the employment status of several Dragonflies was suddenly very precarious.

POS/NAME                   M   Y R F  P% CS Sav T  B C  G A SOG S
GK Larut Theshendan        450 0 0 1  98 2  21  0  0 3  0 0 0   0
GK Bengt Palmgroen         0   0 0 0  0  0  0   0  0 0  0 0 0   0
GK Wellington Doolan       0   0 0 0  0  0  0   0  0 0  0 0 0   0
LF Edialor Aiamara         440 1 0 9  92 0  0   15 6 14 0 1 2   6
LF Emmé Escoffier          10  0 0 1  93 0  0   1  1 3  0 0 0   0
LB Tij Breukelaar          450 2 0 8  91 0  0   17 4 15 0 0 1   6
LB Calvin Kitchingham      0   0 0 0  0  0  0   0  0 0  0 0 0   0
CB Minne van Schelven      450 1 0 10 95 0  0   23 2 11 1 0 2   5
CB Jubenar Mallerbury      180 1 0 0  91 0  0   9  4 2  0 0 0   3
RB Ethan Benjamin          220 1 0 6  97 0  0   5  1 4  0 0 0   1
RB Just Olink              50  0 0 0  82 0  0   0  0 0  0 0 0   0
RF Aesimila Aelisire       396 1 0 7  90 0  0   8  3 14 0 0 1   8
RF Ézo Gicquel             54  1 0 1  79 0  0   2  1 1  0 0 0   2
DM Sinclair Odgers         327 1 0 12 85 0  0   20 2 14 0 0 0   8
DM Reizo Yokota            71  0 0 7  97 0  0   6  2 5  0 0 0   2
LM Saushilu Janoreirinthen 435 2 0 12 96 0  0   7  1 5  1 2 9   14
CM Jurre Hilberdink        67  0 0 1  90 0  0   3  1 2  1 1 5   9
RM Lysander Forward        186 1 0 1  84 0  0   2  1 1  0 2 2   5
RM Harold Batchelor        264 1 0 5  92 0  0   2  0 1  3 0 14  19
AM Mata Vaugrenard         52  0 0 2  89 0  0   0  1 2  1 1 3   5
AM Maximilien Longchambon  398 1 0 4  80 0  0   3  1 0  2 2 6   12
ST Aenemere Erisia         416 1 0 3  77 0  0   2  0 2  6 0 16  21
SS Murai Okawa             34  1 0 1  83 0  0   0  0 0  1 0 5   9

GK Barre Goossen
LF Winwig Jundy
LB Harmon Mulvahil
RB Rodolfo Parada
LF Emi van Kalvenhaar
RF Hadrian Pazos
CM Kherles Ensaunden
LM Nanko Wormstal
RM Samuel Ulysse
CM Jess Gregory
ST Lew Turner
ST Adée Lavigne

M = Minutes played
Y = Yellow cards
R = Red cards
F = Fouls
P% = Successful pass percentage
CS = Clean sheets
Sav = Saves
T = Tackles
B = Blocks
C = Clearances
G = Goals
A = Assists
SOG = Shots on goal
S = Shots

Lineup for the upcoming games: Theshendan / Aiamara, Breukelaar, Van Schelven, Benjamin, Gicquel / Odgers, Janoreirinthen, Batchelor, Longchambon / Erisia

[Darmen]

Foxchester Declaration Prompts Rademacher To Call For Rushmori Unity
Improving Relations With Valladares Remains Crucial First Step In Path Towards Darmeni CRC Membership

SCOTT CITY - President Joshua Rademacher responded to the recent Foxchester Declaration announcing the separation of many northern Atlantian Oceanian nations into the newly formed region of Anaia, by calling on the nations of Rushmore to unite in friendship and solidarity, specifically mentioning the Common Rushmori Community as the primary vehicle for achieving these aims.

Making a statement at his weekly press conference, Rademacher said, "It is important to note, that this separation of the Atlantian Oceanian and Anaian nations, regardless of the intentions of those who made the decision, has nevertheless caused friction between those who have chosen to remain in the folds of Atlantian Oceania and those who have chosen a new future in Anaia. These frictions, even if they do not affect Darmen directly, can not be repeated here in our own region of Rushmore. Our fellow Rushmori nations must make the same commitment that Darmen is making here and now: to commit ourselves to a region united in friendship, peace and solidarity."

Echoing his main campaign promise, Rademacher was quick to point towards the best option for keeping such a commitment. "The Common Rushmori Community, as established by the Orean Accord, is perhaps the only institution currently well positioned and well equipped to achieve these aims. I am calling on all the nations of Rushmore, those inside and those outside of the CRC, to make the enlargement of the CRC a top priority."

Rademacher made it clear that the member nations of the CRC have an obligation to help those outside of the CRC gain entry to the regional organization. "For some nations hoping to enter the CRC, there are barriers which need to be eliminated. Those nations already enjoying the benefits of CRC membership must be willing to help those who also desire to enjoy the same benefits by making changes in the areas where it is necessary."

While Rademacher made no mention of it directly, the single largest barrier to Darmeni entry into the CRC is its relationship with its southeastern neighbor, Valladares. While politicians on both sides of the border have stated their willingness to improve relations between the two nations, there has not been any significant progress made in changing the current state of affairs. There has been no direct talks between Rademacher and Valladar Prime Minister Florent Philippe since either was elevated to their respective positions and although some low level discussions have been had, nothing concrete has been produced.

Just months after being elected, questions are already beginning to mount about whether or not Rademacher can even achieve the two biggest foreign policy initiatives of his administration and make good on the many campaign promises he made. While public support for his administration remains strong (56% of the population rates his performance so far as satisfactory), various members of the Republican Party are circling the waters waiting to pounce not only on Rademacher, but on each other, as the Republican Party leadership election approaches.

Current interim Republican leader, Donald O'Donahaue, did not reveal much when asked to respond to the Foxchester Declaration and Rademacher's response to it, stating only, "The All Greens achieved twelve goals and six points this weekend. It remains to be seen if Rademacher and his cabinet can replicate a performance like that anytime in the next three and a half years."

[Mytanija]

“Tough week, Lev?” Came the opening question from one of the journalists sat in after the post-game press conference. Mytanija had lost 1-0 to Rushmori rivals Electrum. A few days prior they had let a 1-0 lead slip to a 2-1 defeat in Thessia against Geektopia. A ‘tough week’ sounded about right. The journalist asking was Gazeta Sporta’s top woman, Nevenka Planinc. She had changed over the years, from a tyro who loved to seek out and even cause controversy with her articles into a fine writer who had ended up as one of Lev Repin’s main supporters in the Mytanar media. He valued her questions, as soft as they might have been sometimes. It allowed him an easier start than if one of the other ‘sharks’ of the Mytanar media had the first question. It was looking at the sharks from the safety of an aquarium, on the other side of a thick sheet of impenetrable glass instead of jumping straight into a diving cage and down beneath the water with them. That would come later.

“Yeah, you could say that Nevenka. This was always going to be a really tough group for us and we didn’t start in the best way against Deniria and despite getting a good result against Valanora these two matches show that we have a long way to go in our progression.” Lev replied. He half expected her to come back asking why he allowed the qualifying cycle to be started on such a bad note, with those dropped points against lowly Deniria almost a portent of what was to come. Mytanija had set high expectations for themselves with the way they burst back into international football, a 4th place finish in a competitive group on the first cycle back as well as two decent to brilliant showings at the Copa Rushmori meant that the domestic media were ready to stick the knives in if things started going the wrong way. Some already had, it made Lev think bad of those who he knew were mostly on his side, like Nevenka.

“Do you think that the media and supporters should perhaps temper their expectations after these two losses?” Nevenka asked. Lev relaxed a little. He knew he should have thought better of her. It was an easier question than reverting back to the discussion around the Deniria game anyway. Sure, these two results against Geektopia and Electrum were disappointing, but they were also close losses in games against higher-ranked teams. The quality gap on show wasn’t enormous and Mytanija could have gotten a result on a different day, perhaps later in qualifying they would. Nothing teaches you about how an opponent plays better than actually playing them, after all, Lev mused to himself. That was a good line, maybe he’d use that later.

“I mean, I think it’s well documented about how the Mytanar media heap pressure onto all of our sports teams. It comes with the territory at this point, Nevenka. I have to live with it and my players have to live with it. Some of them have spoken about it in the past and discussed how difficult it can make things for them and that didn’t change anything. I seem to remember athletes in different sports – Slava Preobrazhensky, the skier – mentioning it too. I think we’re a bit too far along with the media noise for it to be reined in.” Lev Repin was known to be a manager who wasn’t afraid of speaking his mind, but he was also a competitor. He didn’t want some of those ‘sharks’ – the ones who had it in for him – to twist it into a ‘Repin versus the media’ story. So he continued: “With that being said, as a coach of an international team and as a former international footballer I am the one who puts the most pressure on myself to try and coach these young men who play for me to wins. I’m a proud Mytanar too – just like all the supporters and journalists – I want to see us win as well. I put a lot of pressure on myself to play a part in that and my players put pressure on themselves too. We all want to win and the losses hurt.”

“You are always evasive on setting goals heading into tournaments and World Cup qualification campaigns, but what do you really feel was the team’s goal coming into this cycle? We have a really tough group, it’d be interesting to understand what you and the FSM were aiming for.” Nevenka asked, her third and final question. It wasn’t a bad one, not like some of the more pointed questions that some of Lev’s ‘sharks’ would ask, but it was still a difficult one. He didn’t particularly want to reveal any set targets, it would make a rod for his own back if he failed to meet them. At the same time he didn’t really want to avoid the question, Nevenka had already drawn attention to the fact that he disliked being clear on that sort of information with the media.

“I always say the same thing, we want to keep improving and we want to win as many football games as possible. Last time we ended up 4th in a tough group and then we went out of the Copa Rushmori in the quarter finals. Given where we’re at in this group – I think it might be even tougher than last time – it might be difficult to quite improve on that showing in this group in a purely results sense. Who knows what we might do in the next Copa Rushmori?” Lev stopped, taking a sip of the water sat out on the table in front of him. “It’s difficult to say at the moment, we have a long way to go in the qualifying cycle and we’ve had some disappointing results. But Geektopia and Electrum are good teams, we’re going to lose games sometimes. This means that we have to be better next time we play them, so that’s where we can improve. Nothing teaches me or my players about how an opponent plays better than actually playing them, so next time we know more and we can try to improve on the result.” Ah, there it was. He had mostly avoided the main premise of the question again, but he had gotten that good little line into the answer. It wasn’t a bad one.

“Thanks Lev.” Nevenka smiled, she knew by now that she wouldn’t get much else out of him. Now the others would jostle for position over the next question and the FSM media liaison officer would decide which of them would get it. Lev knew that the team had to be better, but he meant what he said too. Electrum were good, a really tough team to beat. Geektopia were the same, although losing at home was always frustrating with the advantage of the intimidating home atmosphere in Mytanija. But the one which really bugged him and played on his mind was that bloody opening game draw against Deniria. It was arguably the low point of his managerial reign and the media would probably be asking questions about it for the rest of this qualifying cycle as a result, particularly if the two points dropped had an impact on the final group standings. He knew that they couldn’t really afford anymore poor results against lower ranked opposition or else the knives would really come out.

“Lev will you be working with Ramiz Agic on his finishing after that late miss?” Came one question, they were rattling them off at some cadence now, trying to catch the media liaison officer’s eye so that they could get their question in first. It didn’t seem the most fun job in the world, but then few people got to do a job that they adored and be well remunerated for it like Lev was. He always reminded himself how lucky he was, how well insulated from money worries and the threat of unemployment he was. If he got sacked as national team manager the television channels would soon have him on providing some tactical analysis about some big game or another. It wasn’t like the media liaison officer and even he was better off than old Milos from Ibon who spent most of his earnings each year following his local club around the country and then saved for the odd trip with Mytanija somewhere far overseas that he’d never dream of going to in a million years outside of football. Lev always reminded himself that the tough questions from his ‘sharks’ were a small price to pay to be as lucky as he was to be in the position he was in. The media liaison officer pointed at a journalist, Lev didn’t quite catch the name or which news outlet they worked for. Sportmag, possibly? Perhaps it was best not to put too many faces to names if it was the tough questions coming up.

“Lev, do these two results have any bearing on your squad for the next international break? Eastfield Lodge and Adab will provide different challenges to those which Geektopia and Electrum posed?” Ah, that wasn’t such a bad one, maybe it wouldn’t be so bad after all.

“Not entirely no, players can always play themselves into contention and I like to pick those who are in good form. We might need some different players for the way that Eastfield Lodge and Adab play but that’s something me and my staff will look at in the meantime. We do a lot of analysis in between international breaks and it allows us to try and determine who we think will be the best players to cause the opposition problems, we always try to be proactive. Eastfield Lodge will be another Rushmori derby game and that’s always fun, but we need players to play the game and not the occasion and that’s another thing we have to consider.”

“Will Vilim Kupresak be back into contention after you left him out following his comments after the Deniria game?” The journalist asked, so there it was. It had been wishful thinking on Lev’s behalf to believe they wouldn’t be giving him at least some difficult questions.

“Of course,” Lev started. “Everybody in the national pool is always in contention throughout a World Cup qualifying cycle, that’s why we select them for that group and players play themselves in and out of contention based on their performances with their club side as well as with the national team. Me and my staff also make decisions based on what we think is best for each set of games as I said before. Vilim is no different to anybody else in the national pool because of that…”

MYTANIJA NATIONAL TEAM SELECTION FOR GAMES AGAINST EASTFIELD LODGE (H) & ADAB (A)
Goalkeepers: 1. Pedja Kasun (Ararat Severyan), 12. Semir Besak (Olympic Thessia), 24. Zafer Muminovic (Tekstil Ibon)
Defenders: 2. Srdan Vukovic (1896 Ebor), 3. Grigorij Savicevic (AC Izotz Zubia [AUD]), 4. Mojmir Anac (Olympic Thessia), 5. Patrik Odonelec (Atletik Thessia); 25. Tihomir Feric (Atletik Thessia), 26. Josko Omerovic (Olympic Thessia), 27. Usten Odonelec (FK Arsika), 28. Gavril Toshev (FK Arsika)
Midfielders: 6. Alen Hrdaljko (CDSA), 7. Tahir Fejzuli (Mâ Âlâmëómë [FFD]), 8. Brajko Gavrilovic (1896 Ebor), 10. Jasno Odonelec (Atletik Thessia), 11. Kemal Gajic (FK Arsika); 37. Zijad Kurtcehajic (Litala ’93), 30. Mersudin Smajic (Liria Prizren), 32. Itzhar Yvjoev (Olympic Thessia), 20. Maks Shishkin (Maethoru SC [KOR]), 21. Boris Kalinic (Workers Union [EUR])
Forwards: 9. Jezdimir Ocokoljic (Energija Chernovets [STL]), 22. Zlatan Andrijasevic (Atletik Thessia), 23. Dejan Zgela (Damogran FC [SRS])

[Srednjaci]

ICE BEARS BETTER THAN JAGUARS

IVAN BOŽIĆ : Dear spectators, today, before the match against Shreekaristan and Malandrin, we will go through important things from the previous two rounds played.
Unbelievable that we have the same ailments. One game we play great and at a high level, the other we play catastrophically bad and miserable. It happened again!!
Against TJUNI-a, a great game, the kind that is expected of our talented players, and then against Euran Oceania Territories, without ideas and bad.



TJUNI-ia vs Srednjaci- 2:3

In a great match in the city of Szensky, at the Krasnaya Stena Stadium, our footballers defeated the TJUN-ia national team with 3:2. In a well-prepared match, Hrvoje Vezmar's players were better opponents and deservedly took all three points. The first goal fell in the 23rd minute and the scorer was Isidor Matković high over Harold Gylfisson.
The second goal fell in the 37th minute. From one great action the Ice Bears get a corner. Danijela Majić takes a great corner and Li Peng scores for a 2-0 lead! A big surprise is in sight. However, the Jaguars do not give up and try to get back in the game. They managed to do that through Vladimir Podolov in the 56th minute of the game. With a great breakthrough, he managed to outsmart Iveša and score a goal to reduce the score to 2: 1. However, Tomljanović returned the lead to +2 goals in the 78th minute of the game. TJUN-ia managed to mitigate the defeat again through Vladimir Podolov in the 89th minute.
This is a great win and a big 3 points for Hrvoje Vezmar players against a direct competitor.

AFTER A GREAT MATCH IN SZENSKY NEW COLD SHOWER IN RADUČ

Srednjaci vs Euran Oceania Territories- 0:1

The Ice Bears played an incredibly lukewarm and bad game in front of their fans.
The guests were the team that was ranked better than us, but the team against which we expected to win.
However, that did not happen. Euran Oceania Territories were more specific and scored all three points in the 77th minute.
It was an equal match on the field. Five shots on goal from both sides but the 86th national football team of the world was more precise.
This defeat pushed the Ice Bears to fourth place in the table and it will take a lot of effort to get back to the top.

Group 13                                     Pld    W   D   L    GF   GA   GD   Pts 
 1 TJUN-ia                                     5    4   0   1    16   11   +5    12
 2 Banija                                      5    3   2   0    19    9  +10    11
 3 Euran Oceania Territories                   5    3   1   1    14    8   +6    10
 4 Srednjaci                                   5    3   0   2    11    7   +4     9
 5 Astograth                                   5    2   1   2    10    5   +5     7
 6 Oberour Ar Moro                             5    1   3   1    11   11    0     6
 7 Bongo Johnson                               5    1   2   2     5    7   −2     5
 8 Malandrin                                   5    1   1   3     8   17   −9     4
 9 Shreekaristan                               5    1   0   4    11   20   −9     3
10 Ibixa                                       5    0   2   3     5   15  −10     2

RADUČ

Raduč is a town known for its metallurgy and automotive industry.
In recent times, factories of aircraft, trams and military vehicles, such as military armored vehicles "Favorit", have been launched in Raduč.
Raduč is also known for basketball, volleyball and handball.
Raduč is a city of 1,800,000 inhabitants and has the youngest population in the country.
It used to be a mining place and originated in the early Baroque period when a coke and steel mine was discovered.
After some time, it became the center of the metal industry, which it remains today.

RADUČ MOTO STADIUM



TODAY EVERYONE IS PLAYING FOOTBALL

The next two matches we play against Shreekaristan and Malandrin.
The eighth and ninth teams in our group have big problems and we believe that Ice Bears will record two victories because class and quality are on our side.

LINE UP

GK Jure Iveša - 26 y - NK Čelik Raduč

LB Danijela Majić - 23 y - NK Bistua Nuova
CB Ivan Kušić - 26 y - NK Dinamo Katanija
CB Franko Rušković - 27 y - NK Mladost Melarit - Captain
RB Zoran Šutić - 25 y - NK Archer Kula

CDM Heong Min Ho - 25 y- NK Dinamo Katanija

LW Davida Zimmer - 24 y - NK Bistua Nuova
RW Takanobu Tavano - 23 y- NK Dinamo Katanija

CF Ante Tomljanović - 25 y - NK Čelik Raduč

ST Isidor Matković - 24 y - NK Torpedo Melarit
ST Li Peng - 25 y - NK Mladost Melarit


SUBSTITUTE

GK Jelena Jukić - 24y - NK Bistua Nova
GK Hrvoje Rendić - 19y - Traktor Vitreja
LB Konstantin Kozlević - 25y - NK Black Wings
LB Vitalija Orežan - 18y - NK Plava Laguna
CB Ivana Žimić - 25y- NK Dormatisi Blue Stars
CB Ninoslav Kutleša - 18 y NK Mladost Melarit
RB jakov Ivandić - 27y - NK Čelik Raduč
RCB Ivona Lužajić - 26y - NK Dormatisi Blue Stars
LCB Julija Stamatova - NK Kula

DMC Hrvoje Šetkić - 30y- NK Archer Kula
CM Olga Vuković - 25 y- NK King Stars Katanija
LW Matija Čežić - 18 y - NK Katanija Dalatia Bank
LM Valentino Rocca - 23y- NK Dinamo Katanija
RW Ivana Julišković - 17y - NK King Star Katanija
RM - Vjeran Tukić - 24y - NK Čelik Raduč
CAM Marko Štegotić - 26y - NK Torpedo Melarit

ST Perica Lozančić - 25y - NK Bistua Nuova
ST Tijana Mušarović 19 y- NK Plava Laguna
LS Elina Efimova - 26y - NK Kula
RS Ivan Županović - 23 - NK Torpedo Melarit


FORMATION 4 - 1 - 2 - 1 - 2

Style Modifier: +2

COACH : Hrvoje Vezmar
Coach Assistent : Dubravka Šoljić
GK Coach : Filip Jurčević
MD COACH: Goran Tvalić
WINGS Coach : Zoran Tadesić; Hedeharu Takamoto
CF Coach : Lidija Sterilić, Mirnes Dušebašić
ST Coach : Klaudija Rumenić; Vjekoslav Burić, Tomislav Galić
DF, CB Coach : Gordan Hretić, Silvija Šunjić, Hassan Al-Homeini
Doctor : Fran Kostolan, Henry Derman, Julija Kotyarova
Psyhioterapyst : Blagoje Raudić, Martina Steblić

[Togonistan]

Togonistan are World Champions? Almost...


Aleki Siosifa celebrating his opening goal against Brookstation

Togonistan has been on a flawless run in World Cup 88 qualifiers so far with 5 wins out of 5 matches played. Following a 1-0 victory against The United States of Sonindia, Togonistan moved on to face Brookstation last night. With Brookstation having earned a surprise victory against reigning champions Nephara the previous round, the match was expected to be a tough obstacle for Togonistan.

Match started with an early lead for Brookstation, when they managed to find a hole in Togonistani defense lines and score an opening goal on the 8th minute. From there on, Brookstation kept on putting pressure on Togonistan, who despite multiple goal scoring opportunities opening up for the opposition managed to stand firm and showed great defensive work. Togonistan remained true to their defensive playstyle throughout the first half and managed to have a few opportunities themselves in counter attack situations. Eventually, Aleki Siosifa managed to pick up a long ball ahead from Tim Sapani clearing up a threat from Togonistani penalty box. With the Togonistani forward striker making a solo run past Brookstations defense line, Siosifa scored an equalizer on the 43rd minute, making the scoreline 1-1 as the game moved to half time break.

The second half saw Brookstation actively continue looking for goal scoring opportunities and on the 51st minute, the ball found it's way to Togonistani goal once again, making the scoreline 2-1 in Brookstation favour. Some changes in tactics were in order for Togonistan as coach Toma Maiava decided to bring in an aggressive midfielder Jonas Patrick as a substitution few minutes later. From there on, Togonistan started showing more aggressive style of play an managed to bring the ball in front of Brookstation goal a few times, eventually resulting in another goal for Siosifa on the 78th minute, making the scoreline 2-2.

With the game already being expected to result in a tie as referee decided to add two extra minutes, Togonistan managed to earn a late corner kick on the 91st minute when a long strike from Jonas Patrick got interrupted by Brookstation defense line. Togonistan moved 7 players to Brookstation penalty box as captain Luca Faleta prepared to take the corner kick. To everyone's surprise, Faleta decided to play a short pass to Rai Kamakiwole, who in turn made a low pass to Laran Makula with the latter guiding the ball to Brookstation goal. The late goal allowed Togonistan to bring home a 3-2 victory, with the referee giving final whistle shortly after the ball was put in play again.

Fun fact about a win against Brookstation is that following their victory against Nephara in the previous round, Brookstation had earned themselves the title of Unofficial World Champions. UWC is an informal title contested in a boxing-style title match format, with any team beating the current title holder in a match taking it over. Following the victory against Brookstation, Togonistan have technically become the current unofficial World Champions. When asked from Togonistani coach Toma Maiava about it during post-match interview, Maiava laughed and commented: ''Yeah, I've heard of such title moving around amongst the football scene. It's sure a fun fact to know we're currently holding it, but I don't think it's anything worth celebrating. Before anything, we should focus on getting as close as possible to even qualifying for the actual World Cup. There's still a long way to go.''

Group 12                                     Pld    W   D   L    GF   GA   GD   Pts 
 1 Togonistan                                  5    5   0   0     8    2   +6    15
 2 Nephara                                     5    3   1   1    18    9   +9    10
 3 Hampton Island                              5    3   1   1     5    2   +3    10
 4 Quakmybush                                  5    2   3   0     8    4   +4     9
 5 Squidroidia                                 5    2   2   1     9    5   +4     8
 6 Huayramarca                                 5    1   2   2     6    7   −1     5
 7 Brookstation                                5    1   2   2    11   13   −2     5
 8 Central Shaneville                          5    1   1   3     9   12   −3     4
 9 Sarzonia                                    5    0   2   3     7   14   −7     2
10 The united states of sonindia               5    0   0   5     2   15  −13     0

With 5 wins out of 5 matches so far, Togonistan is facing Central Shaneville in the next match, who are currently 8th in the group. Can Togonistan keep up their perfect streak so far? Only time will tell. As always, Ultrasports 1 will be broadcasting the match live and Tgsports will keep up with up-to-date news regarding the tournament.

READ MORE FOOTBALL NEWS:
WC88 Pre-match analysis: Togonistan vs Central Shaneville
Talamia beats Mercedini 3-2 in World Cup Qualifiers
Penalty kick brings Togonistan to victory against Sonindia!

[Kandorith]

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Shinonome Kyoai - International

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Woes During Home Game.
Home advantage a far away dream.
By Natsumi Miyasaki
Sports

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TENKYO, KANYORI — It was to be Kandorith's night when facing Marigred(272) at home in the Empress Masumi Stadium in the capital; the night turned out differently for the Warriors however. A seemingly uninspired Kandorese squad looking to find their game would become the story of the night. More people are starting to wonder if the Kandorese team is indeed cursed when it comes to home games. On paper the game against Marigred should have been an easy game for the Kandorese yet the complete opposite happened.

For the Kandorese the this game in particular could be one of the costly defeats which Watanabe wanted to avoid at all cost; especially when still having to play against the number one of the group, currently, and higher ranked teams in the group. The story for the national team is starting to take similarities of the previous World Cup Qualification campaign; where multiple costly defeats against much lower ranked teams would mean the end for the qualification campaign for them. Despite Kandorith outclassing Marigred on the field, the team failed to score in every chance t hey got: leaving the game completely in the dust and a taste of disappointment behind for the fans. While they did not lose with a large goal margin, the team seemingly being unable to neither defend nor attack was the thing which disappointed the fans the most. Watanabe himself had no real kind words on the match either.

"Shameful is all I can think of if I had to describe the game tonight" Watanabe said after the final whistle. "We should have done way better and especially after the start of the second half. The first half was terrible but we were able to find back our game on some moments. After the second half I do not know what happened but we lost all will to play it seems to me. Our passes were not connecting, our shots were not on target, I truly have no kind words for this display and don't really want to waste any words on the game as I have nothing to add. The result of tonight tells the story fully. We were not playing to our own standards and put on a terrible display which can not even be called football.

"I do not know if it's nervousness or just complacency but there will be some tough talks to be had for the players after this game. We should have won against an opponent like this, especially when you play at home. I cherish the fact that the fans claim there is some kind of curse on our home games but frankly, we were playing subpar. A lot needs to improve from here on else we do not deserve to play in the World Cup indeed, we might as well pack our bags already and conceded the tournament. Surely the players know this too and will be performing better in the next match, hopefully."

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Renewed Bushi Narehiko thrashes Revlona.
0 - 5 scoreline echoes hopes of better chances.
By Natsumi Miyasaki
Sports

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TENKYO, KANYORI The difference was striking, the Kandorese looked like a completely different time than when they were facing Marigred in the previous match. The Bushi Narehiko were playing like a true professional team and showing the nation that they were able to keep their composure excellently without conceding a single goal (A feat which the team has not achieved for a very long time). For the fans it was a sigh of relief after the previous disastrous results, the question is if the team can keep up their form.

The disappointment of the game against Marigred has not completely subsided yet, but the fans are more positive after the game versus Revlona. The trashing of the opponent was a much needed win for the Narehiko and a much needed display for the entire nation as the results have been disappointing ever since the previous World Cup Qualifiers. The general consensus right now is that it's rather difficult to be proud of the national team if they do not get their act together and at least have something to show for them in important matches. Five goals were a godsend for the Kandorese and reestablish the hopes of having a proper World Cup campaign coming up. Watanabe looked relieved after the win tonight, yet wasn't completely convinced yet as we spoke to him after the game.

"Of course I am glad we won, as we should have. However, I do not think it's good enough yet. Yes we won by an amazing goal line, but I did see some hesitation within the team and the scoreline should have been larger. I've had a few conversations with the players and they have realized the dire need to start performing better indeed, I also think the previous game has impacted them quite well and they have learned from their mistakes. Hopefully this match will be the turning point for the previous games where we were reluctant to either score or to hold on to our lead.

"The thing that is important for us now is to look forward and try to focus on the games at hand. The upcoming games should be more focused and more straightforward than the last ones. We need wins if we want to qualify and we need them sooner than later. More importantly, I think we should be able to try and get a win in every upcoming game even if it means that we have to play somewhat ugly football. It's great for the fans if the team plays beautiful football, yet it won't mean anything if you do not win. One goal more than the opponent is what matters at the end of every game."

The next game for the Kandorese will be against The Juniper Union at home for the Kandorese; this is where they should absolutely shine and show the fans what the team plays like and if they can take it to the bigger teams in the group. The game against The Juniper Union is followed by an away match against the current number one of the group, ranked 115th, Tumbra. Again on paper, both matches should be easy wins for the Kandorese team yet the reality can be much different as we saw so many times.

The only thing the Bushi Narehiko should focus on is breaking the "curse" which apparently rests on the team when playing at home and play to the very best of their ability with the support of the home fans behind them. Surely it will be an amazing display once again at the Empress Masumi Stadium in Tenkyo.

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Group 1                                      Pld    W   D   L    GF   GA   GD   Pts 
 1 Tumbra                                      5    4   1   0    15   10   +5    13
 2 Drawkland                                   5    4   0   1    17   15   +2    12
 3 Kelssek                                     5    3   0   2    10    6   +4     9
 4 Kandorith                                   5    3   0   2    10    8   +2     9
 5 Saltstead                                   5    2   1   2    10    5   +5     7
 6 Marigred                                    5    1   2   2    14   15   −1     5
 7 Garbelia                                    5    1   2   2    12   14   −2     5
 8 The Juniper Union                           5    1   1   3     7    9   −2     4
 9 Revlona                                     5    1   1   3    13   20   −7     4
10 Gyatso-Kai                                  5    0   2   3     9   15   −6     2

[San Ortelio]

Twenty seconds.

Thirty seconds.

Forty seconds.

It was not until Elisa desperately banged the window between the two of them that Bernardo resumed his commentary.

“And so, it’s San Ortelio who have the ball again and… It’s gone.”

Whether it had gone to the opposition, gone across the line or gone orbiting in outer space, would remain a mystery forever for the poor saps who were dependent on this broadcast for their insight in the antics of I Spada against Istoreya. In truth, it had gone upfield to Del Prete who managed to make his way past Owen Morgan before being scythed down by the generous center-back of the Iguanas. With one minute left on the clock ahead of the break, the pressure was quite on the Swordfishes. Earlier, Istoreya had already stunned the footballing world by overcoming qualification candidate Valladares and they seemed eager to add another scalp to their belt. A more than decent home reputation seemed in the making for the unheralded side – and Di Tane’s boys could well be on the receiving end of that one.

Needless to say that it was a tense moment in the game. Gianmarco Del Prete waved away his compatriot Favaro from the spot of the free kick. Vague rumors encircled the squad that the two popular midfielders, both plying their trade in Tikariot, were no longer on speaking terms. After all, there is only room for one rooster on the farmyard and the youngest of the two had brought in a series of vital performances, topped off with a winner against Talamia after an athletic action which made Del Prete looked like a pillar of salt. A pillar of salt with exceptional feet – but still. The rivalry gripped the whole nation, Elisa believed, but Bernardo seemed to have missed all of that. With a nearly lethargic move he clicked of his microphone before exiting the recording studio – it almost seemed as if he was ignoring his shouting and waving sound producer on purpose.

“So, that went better than last time didn’t it?”

He asked it with such innocence that Elisa nearly forgot she wanted to strangle him with his own microphone chord. Nearly.

“There’s! There’s still a free kick!”
“What do you mean? The clock went to forty-five and well… I’ve paid attention. Ginevra closed up at half an hour for the traffic report, but Salvatore told me it’s forty-five minutes for each part… Slice… Semi?”

How on earth did these people make her look like an expert? Wasn’t this some basic knowledge which you are spoon-fed as a toddler, like how to brush your teeth or to tie your laces? But apparently she was in a world of mouth breathers and incorrigible stumblers.

“And extra time, Bernardo, they add it after every half!”
“Well, that’s just stupid,” he quietly said to no one in particular, “why on earth wouldn’t you want a nicely complete figure.” And then a little louder, “’half’, right, that’s the one.”

Part of Elisa wanted to chase him back in, but she too knew it was far too late. Neither knew that Gianmarco Del Prete had painted the leather in the top corner, out of reach for an outstretched Archie Gentell. Nor that he had celebrated it by pushing aside teammates who wanted to celebrate with him, just to stand in front of the camera, point to the ‘1’ of his short number ‘10’ and point to himself, before winking to the audience at home. It was as iconic as moments come in qualification campaigns of mid-tier nations – but remained something only discovered the day after for RODEO listeners. If those still existed.

“Still… Better than last time?” Bernardo now asked, with the intonation of a mishandled puppy.
“Yeah… Kind of,” Elisa sighed.

Three weeks of being the intern and now all of a sudden her opinion become of value. Then again, it was very difficult to stoop below the bar which Bernardo had laid in the encounter with Mercedini. In theory, the encounter had everything a broadcaster could wish for: a motivated home selection, a strong challenger eager to regain their spot amongst the 32 most fabled nations in multiversal football and a bit of history stemming from the previous doubleheader where a shock win for San Ortelio had thrown a spanner in the ambitions of the Golden Eagles. And still, Bernardo managed to make the following bit of timeless commentary over the late decisive goal.

”It’s the number… Let us take a look… Oh, it’s Peter Vecchia taking over possession for Mercedini. He must have been brought on for… Are they playing with twelve? Is that allowed?” This was where Elisa waved ‘no’ with both arms. ”They probably are allowed. But it’s a little unfair, I must say, however, the name of this young man does of course remind us of Pietro Vecchia. During the Second Merchants Raid of 1596, Pietro Vecchia was the – ironic as it might be, considering his name – young second-in-command of Michele Dancetti. His name itself was quite a twist as he was, after all, the son of Pietro Vecchia the Older, part of one of the pioneering families to arrive on the shores of San Ortelio. However, this Vecchia – the younger, that is – had a crucial role in the battle as he lead a group of pikemen into battle. From their position at the higher grounds near La Messchia, this squadron served as a reserve battalion. Oh, it seems Mercedini scored. Anyway, from their position, they saw how the main troops got wedged between two groups of cavalry. Despite being told by Dancetti to await the signal of the trumpet, Vecchia couldn’t contain himself and charged into the battle. It lead to a great boost of moral for the Ortelians, but Vecchia himself passed away as he took an arrow to the chest, ending a promising military career.”

After that Elisa had cut him off. Tonight, she wondered if she could cut off the whole second half.

---

“You’re late, so your next!”

Elisa had heard the giggling already in the elevator. Then again, as it was an open, dangling platform over a pit of unavoidable death, this was no surprise. The apartment she shared with Chiara and Stefano had about the size (and luxury) of a paper basket, but it was located in the heart of Catrallo and from their living room, they had a charming sight over the harbor. It was a perfect bachelor pad for three young creative dreamers. Elisa had her ambitions in recording, Stefano really possessed a talent for painting and Chiara… Well, that differed every week, but lately she had decided to become an infamous actress.

But now, they were just three youngsters smashed after a long day of trying to scrounge together the unseemly high rent. A bag of discount chips laid trashed across the box which dubbed as the living table and Stefano made his ‘personal brew’ – which was the lowest quality bottle of wine sold mixed with disturbingly cheap lemonade and injected with something which had more alcohol then taste: all together, three liters and enough to give a bit of a buzz without leaving a hard head in the morning.

“Look at the sweetie we’ve found for Stefano,” Chiara giggled as she pointed to the television screen which had been bolted, and rebolted, to the wall by various previous owners. Despite the cracks in the bottom corner, Elisa could still see the annoyingly pixelated cell phone screen projected and didn’t even need the logo of the glowing lucifer to discover what they were on about. MatchMaker was the latest fad and a perfect hobby for people without the cash for an expensive television subscription. You just entered your a/s/l parameters and let the AI try to find your significant other in the wild forest of Ortelian bachelors – or at least their pictures and cheesy taglines. After about half of Stefano’s brew, they would match the raunchiest ones just for shits and giggles and send them a message. Right now, they had found a guy with the tightest possible pair of leather pants for Stefano, who looked less satisfied with the catch of the day then Chiara.

“Jezus, Chiara, you’ve just got a nose for the bottom of the barrel, don’t you,” he sighed, curling his nose in disdain.
“If you’ve got a talent, you’ve got to show it!,” Chiara grinned, adding “As that guy does.”
“Ugh, let’s just hope there’s no match,” Stefano said flatly, before realizing he could turn the narrative, ”Anyway, you’re up, Elisa!”
“Really?” Elisa groaned – after the escapades with Bernardo, she just wanted the day to be over with.
“You’re late,” Stefano counted on his fingers, “you haven’t done the dishes and besides – you could use it. So either you let Chiara do her magic, or you keep an eye on it.”

There were moments when her roomies turned her raving mad, but they did know well enough what she needed after such an evening. Two glasses in, Chiara hadn’t even contacted the worst profiles and they were scrolling through a new set.

“Right!” the two chanted over the sight of some guy who believed the internet was the perfect place for a picture of him with a fish. Let me correct that. A picture of him with just a fish.
“Oh, god no,” Elisa groaned, “anything but this.” Part of her and the booze were laughing at the thought – they knew they wouldn’t go that far either. Right? “Right, guys?”

Chiara hesitated a second, then flashed a devilish smile.

“We’ll let you pass this one but… You must contact the next one – whatever the details.”
“What?”
“Oh, come on Elisa,” Stefano laughed, “you really think it will be worse than fish stick guy?”
“Yeaaaah, nope. Ok, I’m cool. Next one it is.”
“Aargh…” Stefano exclaimed as he pressed the button for the next picture, “it’s always the same that are in luck. Hot stuff alert!”

Dennis, 21, was indeed an indisputable improvement on what had come and gone. His first picture was a bit tacky, but Elisa still left a sigh of relief.

“You do know who that is?” Chiara asked, grinning for the looks of the other two, “that’s Dennis Spaviero. No? The striker? The incredibly talented striker? The incredibly talented striker on a highway to wealth and glory and goddamned Stefano, if you don’t swipe to the right, right now, I will!”

[Le Choix]

Les Élus Surprise Many By Achieving 3-1-1 Mark After Five Games

Le Choix 1–0 Arklanda
In the very first qualifying game in Chosen history, Goalkeeper and Captain Francine Pellier was on point as Les Élus prevailed in a narrow 1-0 victory off of a 74th minute header by Aurélie Dior, the brilliant attacking midfielder of Brilliante. The Chosen backfield and midfield were able to maintain possession for most of the match, limiting Arklanda's options on the attack and frustrating the opposition to commit costly fouls that ultimately led to the goal by Dior. Wonderkid Gavin Lavigne was kept in check by the Arklandan defense for most of the game, only contributing three shots on goal in the attack. Still, it was an uplifting victory in front of a sold out crowd at the newly opened Sang des Martyrs in Espoir du Ciel - and hopefully the first of many to come.

Tolanka 0–1 Le Choix
The Chosen are no strangers to long travel, and really hit the ground in Tolanka, scoring in the first ten minutes off of a breakaway run by Gavin Lavigne. The wonderkid's strike from barely five yards out was deemed onside by the official, and Le Choix was able to go on autopilot after that. It could be argued that The Chosen should've tried to add onto the league, but as Manager Hélène Monet stated after the match, "Why do more when you don't need to?" Enough was accomplished, and a win is a win, regardless of how pretty or ugly it seems.

Le Choix 1–2 Sapim
Hours before the match against Sapim, Francine Pellier pulled her hamstring during warmups. Though The Chosen goalkeeper tried to tough it out, she was limited, leading to the concession of one goal and the substituting in of Marie-Françoise Benett. Benett wasn't able to beat the Sapim attack on a desperate one-on-one after the sixtieth minute, and a spectacular goal from Henry Grant was wasted by The Chosen. Marcos Storck was the hero for the visitors, scoring the brace to obtain the upset victory.

Havynwilde 0–0 Le Choix
Without Francine Pellier for the second game in a row. The Chosen absolutely parked the bus in Havynwilde. To Benett's credit, she did stop all six chances at goal, but Les Élus were content to get out of Havynwilde with a draw, even choosing to have Gavin Lavigne play ten yards further back than usual. It led to a very boring game to the fans watching at home, leading to the Minister of Sport to make a statement, but it did get the job done, getting them a point.

Le Choix 1–0 New Lusitania
With Francine Pellier's return to the pitch, the entire team seemed energized. They tripped up the second seeded team in the group at every turn, frustrating the New Lusitania squad to no end. Then, ten minutes into the second half, Gavin Lavigne snuck behind two defenders, got a long ball from Dior, and found the back of the net to lead to pandemonium and bedlam in the stands. Pellier was brilliant for the next thirty-five minutes, and Le Choix had the most impactful victory in their short footballing history, one that improved their record to 3-1-1, good for 10 points and tied for second place in the group behind an undefeated Farfadillis.

Unfortunately, Le Choix still has to play Farfadillis, Yuezhou, Equestria, and Netop - all four of them seeded ahead of The Chosen, with one of them being the top seed in the group. However, they have shown in these five matches that the Baptism of Fire was hardly a fluke and that the Chosen way of playing football - suffocation leading to mistakes by the opposition that leads to scoring - may work in the international stage.

---

Ligue Légère Saison 41 Preview - Part 1: The Contenders

1. Croiser
Last Season: Ligue Champions, Cup Finalists
Key Players: GK Francine Pellier, CM Hervé Kaplan, CM Fabrice Bessette, LM Brice Vasseur, 22
Unsung Hero: ST Justine Ebene
Manager: Kaila Sine
Summary: The Champions return with four players on Les Élus and young Justine Ebene as the team's leading goalscorer. Traditionally, Croiser is one of the most defensive squads in the league, and in a league where defense wins titles, conceding so few goals usually does the trick. With Kaila Sine's multitude of formations behind them, Croiser - the team of the Church - should be favorites to win their thirteenth title, to add onto their impressive record.

2. Lumière
Last Season: Ligue 4th Place, Cup Champions
Key Players: CM Léa Leloup, ST Gavin Lavigne, RM Océane Manaudou
Unsung Hero: LM Xander Olivier
Manager: Pierre Kysing
Summary: Historically the most offensive minded team in the league, Lumière dares to do what every other team fears - have more than three players in the front with their 4-3-2-1. With Lavigne as their primary goalscorer, they may be able to bring back the glory days of Lumière to win the title as well as continue to contend for the cup. How they do is of great import to the Grand Bishop of Communication in their struggle among the Big Five.

3. Chevalier
Last Season: Ligue 2nd Place, Cup Quarterfinals
Key Players: AM Élie Rouzet, ST Reilee Josette, CB Feu de Ligne
Unsung Hero: LM Léon Pagnet
Manager: Édith Cardeau
Summary: A team made up of many players that would be third on the list for Les Élus, Cardeau has done a remarkable job molding them together to be a formidable squad that can contend for the title. They're not spectacular in any one area, but excel well enough in multiple - defending, scoring in opportune moments, and holding out for the crucial draw at the end of matches.

[Krytenia]

The views expressed here are purely IC, and in no way are meant to reflect any OOC opinions on the AO-Anaia split or the fallout therefrom.

OFFICIAL STATEMENT
Regarding the Foxchester Declaration and future Krytenia-AO relations

A few days ago, we became charter signatories of the Foxchester Declaration, joining the North East Alliance Treaty Organisation and becoming members of the new regional organisation of Anaia. For those unaware, the word "Anaia" means "brother", and we stand with our sixteen siblings at the beginning of a long and interesting journey on the world stage. The road will be long, and the perils along the way unknown, but so long as we stand shoulder to shoulder, there is nothing we cannot overcome.

The question many have asked, domestically, in Atlantian Oceania, and further afield, is a simple one: why? The answer to this is simple. We are like-minded nations, with shared economic, cultural, and philosophical ties. We believe that what brings us together is stronger than what may pull us apart. To come together in this way was simply a natural step. There is no ill will to those we leave in Atlantian Oceania, and we wish all nations in our former region the best for the future.

As to what happens politically in the future, we cannot speak for all in our region - we are like-minded, not a hive mind - but as far as the United Provinces of Krytenia are concerned, we will treat those in Atlantian Oceania with the same courtesies we always have. Foreign nationals with residency in Krytenia will still be as welcome as they always were, and consular support, trade agreements, and rights of individuals from these nations whilst in Krytenia will all not be subject to any changes, with one exception at present.

The Government of Krytenia is saddened to hear of the changes in status made to our nation, and others in Anaia, by the Governments of Siovanija and Teusland, Banija, and the Busoga Islands; that being said, we understand that these changes are the removal of preferential treatment offered to Atlantian Oceania nations and citizens, a group that we of course are no longer a part. We hope that these nations will be willing to negotiate with us in the future, either nation to nation or region to region, to establish a working relationship and new agreements on trade, travel, and migration. The door may now exist, but it is always open to our former regional allies, again with one exemption at present.

There is, however, one elephant in the room. That, of course, is the Eternal Empire of Valanora. Many nations expressed shock, and indeed dismay, at the establishment of Anaia; only the antedeluvian snobs in charge of that country, however, had the hubris to sever diplomatic ties completely. In response, we reply in kind. The Vanorian Embassy in Emberton has been served notice that its diplomats will no longer be welcome in our nation at the same time our citizens are no longer welcome; Vanors resident in the country will be given the option to either take Krytenian citizenship or be repatriated to their homeland. Krytenia extends the same exception for those participating in international sporting competition within our nation's borders; sport, after all, should be apolitical.

In conclusion, let me just state one final thing: we are not the enemy. We have always been a melting point of nationalities, and we see no reason why this should change. Should those in the ivory towers of Raynor City reverse their decision to cut off their nose to spite their face, they will once again be welcomed to Krytenia with open arms. Do not fear Anaia; we are a happy few, a band of brothers, committed to self-improvement and prosperity rather than belligerence and doom-mongering. The hand of friendship is extended to all who wish to grasp it.

Thank you for your time.

[Electrum]

The Turnip: Heartbreaking: Eura and Valladares speak out after not being invited to the Anaia breakaway after they asked really nicely to join but the Anaians said NO!!!
by Billiam Maskey, chief-editor-in-chief

Electrumites, don't rejoice! By now you will have heard about the Foxchester Declaration, a declaration that declares that the Foxchester region of Atlantian Oceania, will become its own separate region. Foxchester is a bustling city of twenty billion people who are known for collecting all kinds of radishes, as according to Foxchesterian legend, they are the eyes of God.

Talks about the Foxchester Declaration were kicked off when West Starblaydia Prime Minister Charles Linton opened a suspicious package as part of an unboxing video for WhoTube. The box, which had the words "Fire Alarms Are Musical Instruments" scrawled across the top off it, was slightly damp and was sent to Linton without alarm bells ringing from his security forces who would normally open up any and all suspicious packages that the Prime Minister receives. Thankfully, they agreed that fire alarms are musical instruments because fire alarms blare out in G Sharp, which is the most annoying sound of them all, other than the Tyre Flat of course.

In the WhoTube video, Linton was seen pulling out a roll of used bandages, a jar of sperm whale oil, and finally, a pristine Mint condition ultra-rare holocopy of the Foxchester Declaration. This prompted the Prime Minister to call up the various world leaders to discuss this declaration, a story we are all familiar with. But what you haven't heard was that Eura and Valladares were part of those discussions, and it was only at the very last minute where the delegation of East Krytenia and West Starblaydia vetoed their entries on the grounds that Anaianism is something you inherit on your mum's side. Instead, the Rushmori nation of Aut-Ves-Nat was somehow deemed worthier than either of them and they now form part of Anaia -- rude!

Indeed, when the declaration was finally announced, the Foxchester authorities said, "We invite the entire half of the continent that we occupy to join this very new Idiot Project, as well as Ko-oren and Aut-Ves-Nat somehow but not Valladares and Eura. Sorry, no one wants to see you two cry like a little baby."

Sadly this means we won't see oversized helicopters with plungers lifting the nations of Eura and Valladares from out of their positions in Terranea to fill out that decrepit gap between Ko-oren and the rest of Anaia. The Euran prime minister Ian Smith in a statement said that, "We very much indeed regret the position of the Atlantian Oceanians to not invite us to their clearly super subregion. If only we had been a little less annoying to our neighbours to the South, perhaps we wouldn't be here." Meanwhile, Valladares Prime Minister Florent Philippe said that, "NO!!! Why didn't we invade Electrum when we had the chance!" Truly, our thoughts are with those leaders who have to contend with their annoying Terranean neighbours for the foreseeable future.

It will be interesting to see how this 'Idiot Project' will evolve and shape over the next few femtoseconds. Already, people are complaining that the regional map resembles a North Japanese adult video, with no resolution or quality that we expect from a normal adult video. Time will tell if those concerns will be resolved. And whether or not Eura and Valladares will continue with their journey to join Anaia.

[PotatoFarmers]

It was business as usual in Poafmersia. Nothing particularly out of the ordinary, even as the sporting world woke up to a particularly nasty surprise with regards to the split in Atlantian Oceania, a powerhouse region in the context of the World Cup.

Coming from a region of nations haven't really been participating in sports events of this kind, the interest in the formation of Anaia didn't particularly interest Poafmersia. There was little to no talk of it on the streets, even as it caused a big stir among other participating nations, including Audioslavia, one of the signatories of the Foxchester Declaration, and a group mate here in Group 5. The talk, if there was even any, was spilled over from North Handoria, a member state of the Gothanita Isles. For the uninitated, The Gothanita Isles is a treatied ally of Poafmersia, and relations between the 2 nations have a particularly interesting relationship, considering that the former's defence is mainly supported by the Poafmers.

The Ridimag convened this morning to talk about a series of issues relating to Poafmers as a whole. The issue of Anaia was brought up as a Private Member's Resolution, and the Minister of Foreign Affairs did make a small speech about the usual stuff, about how they are monitoring the situation at the Ministry, about how they are considering how relations with these nations could be made going forward. He also emphasised that Poafmersia would not turn its back on nations who are happy to seek a friendly relation with Poafmersia. This probably signals how neutral the country is in the entire affair, so much so that the Ministry wasn't willing to take a stand.

The real discussions of the day was about the establishment of a "wastage tax", aimed at incorporating the current carbon tax, as well as tax citizens for a slew of environmentally-unfriendly actions, such as unrecycled garbage, food wastage, and use of disposables. It would likely be the issue of biggest controversy to make the parliament before Poafmersia heads to the polls, considering that Pikashru Nisharian's term ends at the end of the year. The President has indicated that he will be stepping down as Prime Minister anyways, and should his party gain a majority at the polls for the 4th consecutive time, the party will elect a new leader to lead Poafmersia into the next 6 years.

Poafmersia 3-2 Suimede
Poafmersia Scorers: Iulianus Innocenti 6'; Makana Tuft 27', 74' (assisted by Withney Rios)
Poafmersia Lineup: Shirou Amatore; Ariel Casey, Simone Gori, Huangdi MacRae, Zak Kaloyanov; Min Berg; Dargis Walshor, Withney Rios; Michael Jackson; Iulianus Innocenti, Makana Tuft (c)
Substitutes: Nero Wood (Jackson 66')

---

Zeta Reka and Hugeltaldom 3–5 Poafmersia
Poafmersia Scorers: Nero Wood 17' (assisted by Monesty Erdos); Monesty Erdos 39', 90+3'; Makana Tuft 55' (assisted by Matea Idowu); Natalia Abbott 75'
Poafmersia Lineup: Sandi Jaliaha; Nasri Sanchez, Mitchel Rosales, Hollis Stephenson, Natalia Abbott; Gisiik Moonar, Ftiks Wariq, Nero Wood; Matea Idowu, Makana Tuft (c), Monesty Erdos
Substitutes: Arnold Shwentin (Moonar 70''); Woden Sweet (Wariq 81')

[Sharktail]

Graintfall-3
Þórhallursson '6
Jvarsson '38
Bergmundursson '90+3

---

Sharktail-2
Haziq '20(Gaby)
Azaim '50

X1 vs Graintfall:
Asra(GK) • Harold • Yusri(Harizul m 47) • Hidawi • Irfan(Haizul m 51)
Chandra • Nik Akif • Azaim • Rawilson(Balang m 70)
Gaby(c) • Haziq

---

Sharktail-2
Azaim '82
Harold '88

X1 vs Murphtannia:
Ahmad(GK) • Harold • Yusri(Harizul m54) • Hidawi • Irfan •Chandra(Rafdi m63) • Badhri • Azaim • Rawilson
Gaby(c) • Virman(Win Aziz m68)

---

Murphtamia-5
Murphy '5
Saunders '26(Murphy)
Saunders '33(Murphy)
Hogan '58
Boland '65

Me-Gaby

The long awaited days finally come. I turned 9 y.o. That's mean i now entering a third year in Sekolah Kebangsaan Pekan Ru. Now, with this, i finally eligible to join a school activities and club officially.

At the start of third year, all the student's need required to fill some sheet about club activities in school. I dont really sure what is it and how it may effect, but seem like it will be given to all the club. All of us sees take that like nothing and just fill it without proper thinking. When we think all have been settled, the lightning seem to have strike my body. My homeroom teacher explanation after that almost destroy my ambition.

"All the form that you guys filled will be handed to all club. Then we will arrange and put you in club. Every student required to join a club. We will decide which club will you take." I cannot say anything. I have long waiting for this time just to joining football team and my teacher said they will arrange us to a club. Wait, is this for real. I mean, are we dont have a right to choose. Because of curiosity, i go and meet teavher to ask him about it. Why we cannot choose on ourselves? Why must we be assigned to any club even we dont like it? Why we must be divided into each club?

I go to staff room to meet teacher. I have to ask. Two years, i hangout behind the field, watching the football club practice, and now they said it for nothing. Please, just let us have right to choose. My teacher seem bit uneasy about this. He explained at the best way to me. It not like he never though of this team. However, many team in this school already in grave danger. If the school not take this solution, can be said we will have a lot of team disband near future. I cannot say anything more. I know it also have a point there. Even k cannot except it, it not just me. Even i get to fulfill my dream, how about everyone? Oh, i feel hopeless. For that time i font feel excited anymore.

I leave the staff room with gloomy face. With just a few days left before we start our club activities. I feel like it was black. No hope, am i gonna end in other sport club or my name will not even be in sport club. After the school done, i as always go to the field and hangout there. "Hmm, will i be able to come here again after this?" Just a few minute there, a lot of thing comes to my mind. I cannot relax, so i just take a leave and go home. I need to do something to relax. If not, i will just be more depressed from this.

The day has come. We will know where we will end up. Without much hope, i just waiting for this. Good or bad, let just accept it. From the start, i can already see some of my classmate dissapointed with the result. Even some of them says they not even know anything about the club the got. It no suprise, it have gone far. Just to save a club, school take this measure. And it my turn, will i be lucky? Teacher handed me my form. The result will be written there. Please, please, just let me be in football team. I have long awaited. I opened the the paper, and look at the result. It was...

The bell ring. It time for lunch break. Let just go and rest. What a days, some are lucky, some not, some are disaster. The result has been out. We have to accept it no matter what. I hangout with my friend. We talk about anything fun. We all try to get distracted and not talking about the club. After the days end, i straight back home, just doesn't have any feel to go hangout somewhere. The school days will continue, i hope nothing more shocked will happen. Perhaps.

---

---

X1 vs Audioslavia:
Asra(GK) • Harold • Yusri • Harizul • Irfan
Chandra • Nik Akif • Azaim • Balang
Gaby(c) • Win Aziz

X1 vs Suimede:
Maxter(GK) • John • Fiqal • Hidawi • Haizul •Chandra • Badhri • Azaim • Rawilson
Gaby(c) • Virman

[South Newlandia]

Freeman appoints Tanya Bell as Minister of Esportivan Collaboration, creating 13th South Newlandian department

While the multiverse seems to be in turmoil, Nia Freeman’s turquoise coalition has publicly stated that South Newlandia remains focused on unity, collaboration and friendship within Esportiva. South Newlandia is one of the six founding members of the Esportivan Union, and is going to collaborate further with Nova Anglicana, the Licentian Isles, the Grearish Union, Tumbra and Damukuni. The Esportivan Union, in the words of President Nia Freeman, will hopefully bring peace and friendship to all of Esportiva, not only the founding members. To underline the South Newlandian determination to Esportiva, the coalition of the Centrist Union and the Green Environmentalist Party, Tanya Bell has been appointed as the new minister of Esportivan Collaboration.

Centrist Union (86)
Green Environmentalist Party (73)
Socialist Party (42)
Liberal Progressive Party (11)
Conservative South Newlandia (38)

Bell will now be responsible for all further negotiations regarding the EU. She had been a diplomat for decades, only joining the GEP comparatively recently, but her years of experience as ambassador in various countries make her a great fit for the job. According to some unconfirmed sources, Bell will, among other things, push for a voting system based on a qualified majority, along with greatly focusing on environmental issues, as her party allegiance suggests. In the near future, she will also be working together tightly with Guerra of the Centrist Union, who had previously been responsible for the field Bell will now take over. It is considered likely that the situation in Anaia and the EU were thought to be too much to handle for one minister at the same time.

[Tikariot]

Walking with Shadows
--- Chapter IV ---

Chapter I
Chapter II
Chapter III

Normally the drive from the middle of the forest to Samreach would have taken about two and a half hours, but as they open the door of the cabin it quickly becomes obvious that this would not be a normal drive. The rain is still pelting down and under the protection of the trees around the cabin, they had not even noticed how bad the wind is, the driven rain obscuring even the edges of the clearing, making the prospect of driving across the province an even less appealing idea. A low grumble from behind reminds them to the third member of their party.

“You really want to come, too? You’ll be stuck in the car for a few hours and you barely fit!”

More grumbling. Sophia sighs.

“OK, I’ll try to bring the car as close as I can, I don’t want muddy pawprints, understood?”

A low bark seems to signal an agreement.

She rolls her eyes at James as she runs out into the rain and around the corner. He hears a motor start and a small compact car reverses towards the door as close as the cramped area allows. Sophia gets out of the car and for a moment forgets the downpour starting to laugh at James looking alternatingly at the car and the dog with a puzzled expression on his face.

“He does fit. Kind of.”

She opens the back door on the driver’s side and motions for Nurisema to hop in. Much to James’s surprise the dog carefully picks his way between puddles to avoid getting mud on his paws before jumping into the car that creaks ominously. James pulls the door closed behind him and sprints to the car, trying to protect the papers under his long coat. As he slams the door closed, he looks at Sophia and then into the back, which is pretty much completely filled with dog.

“He loves car rides, so let’s hope he’ll enjoy this one, otherwise this will be a long, long drive…”

With that she turns the ignition and they set out along a narrow unpaved road, the tall trees looming ominously in the murky twilight the storm has brought with it. But even when they reach the provincial route between Veriasod and Ulmiash the only real difference is the quality of the road as it snakes through dense forests in the gently rolling hills west of Lake Neyvis, the rest awash in the rain, making it impossible to see where ground and skies separate. Only the theatre of lightnings breaks up the dark grey dullness, cleaving the broiling clouds in half, immediately followed by deep, rumbling thunder or accompanied by the sharp clap of the electric bolts hitting a target on the ground. It quickly becomes clear that while Nurisema loves car rides, thunderstorms are a slightly different story as his usual grumble is replaced by whimpers every time the thunder rolls.

“We’ll have to take exit 82 just before Ulmiash, leading south towards Samreach. I hope that the bridge across the Oxligt is still open, with all the rain they said on the news that they’re expecting flooding.”

Despite many questions swirling around in James’ mind, he decides to remain quiet and allow Sophia to focus on the roads, which area treacherous on their own with aquaplaning and the horrible visibility requiring all concentration available. But despite this there are still cars passing by as if being chased by some unseen monster, trying to outpace whatever seems to be behind, eliciting some choice words from Sophia, telling them in quite clear terms where to go and how to get there. After almost an hour and a half they branch off the provincial route south, following the signs for Samreach, when they see the flashing lights of police cars break through the grey wall of rain.

“Oh no, this can only mean they closed the bridge!” The disappointment in Sophia’s voice is strong, however as they close in on the swirling lights, they see that the bridge is still open, but preparations are made to barricade the access, allowing them to cross the river.

Soon they break free of the forest and what normally would be a beautiful view of rolling meadows and gently undulating hills now is nothing more than a sodden murk, devoid of any defining features. As they draw closer to Samreach, the hills begin to gain in height, indicating the foothills of the Paladon Range that begins south of Samreach, its peaks hidden behind the low-lying clouds and rain. On the radio news have broken that the provinces of Dhaencunor and Paladon have issued a state of emergency due to the torrential rains, already reporting heavy flooding and more rain in the forecast.

“You picked a lovely time for this!”

James looks over. “It’s not like I went to Weather’Is’Us and went into the catastrophe aisle…”

She chuckles. “Silly! So, what’s going to be the pla—Aaah!”

Suddenly the car begins to fishtail on the wet road. Immediately Sophia lets go of the gas and gently counters the movements, making sure not to touch the brakes. Eventually she manages to stop the car on the side of the road, her knuckles white from gripping the steering wheel. As the car comes to a halt she slowly exhales and slumps forward, putting her forehead on the steering wheel, still grabbing it right, her long black hair falling forward like a veil.

“Are you ok?” James puts his hand on her shoulder. The whole car begins to shake as Nurisema is trying to turn himself around in the tight space, attempting to move into the front, with the main consequence that his massive body pushes both of the occupants to the side, a heavy paw landing on Sophia’s shoulder, forcibly vacated by James’.

“Oh good lord, Nurisema! Get off! You’re not a puppy anymore, you can’t do this!”

A dissatisfied grumble emanates from the dog as he tries to squeeze his body back into the back seats, which after some pushing and shoving finally succeeds. James pushes back Sophia’s hair with a worried look.

“Are you ok? Do you want me to drive?”

She raises her hand gently waves him off. “No, I’m fine, I’m ok. Just going to take us a little longer to get there, that’s all.”

She sits up, closes her eyes and takes a deep breath before putting the car back into drive and setting out once more.

About 40 minutes later a weak glow begins to penetrate the grey haze at what is presumably the horizon, ever so slowly becoming larger until they reach the edge of a large basin that stretches out underneath them, the destination of their perilous travel: Samreach, City of Dragons, as it is nicknamed, having gained national notoriety for dragons found all over the city, be it murals, statues or the stadium of their local football team, not surprisingly named Dragons.

“Alright, so where to next?”

*****

It is hard to say how much time really has passed but it feels as if the grey gloom is deepening by the time they reach a place at the edge of town about halfway up the side of the basin that old maps indicate had been the location of the monastery of the Ordo Draconi Dhaencunori. It is not what they expected however, as big illuminated letters on the side of the building state “Dragonsridge Stadium,” the football stadium of the city.

“I’ll be damned…” Both Sophia and James stare at the modern stadium, the lights around it barely managing to penetrate the pouring rain. While they knew that the site had been built over, they had not quite expected something this big, dousing their hopes to be able to find some remnants of the monastery and its secret underneath like the rain did to pretty much the whole province of Dhaencunor.

“So, what now?” Sophia’s voice shows the disappointment in their task being made infinitely harder, if not impossible.

James is rifling through the papers in his lap until holding up an old drawing. “This is the kind of blueprint of the monastery. It had been built at the top of Dragonsridge, but if you look at this drawing here, there were tunnels underneath and if this is to scale—” He tries to measure a distance with his fingers. “—then I have no idea where exactly it was in relation to the stadium, because I can’t see squat out there!”

“What are you looking for?”

“Well, it feels like the stadium is further from the edge of the ridge than the monastery was. There was, or maybe still is, a rock formation that had marked the edge of the monastery proper, four kind of spiky rocks that look a bit like the back ridge of a dragon, so if we could find those, we could get our bearings, but—” he gesticulates towards the murk outside the car’s windows.

“Does your dog come with infrared?”

Sophia slowly turns her head towards him with an incredulous expression on her face. “Did you just ask me, if—”

Not able to keep a straight face anymore, James begins to laugh, causing Sophia to join in. At the same moment a loud snore reaches their ears from the backseat.

“Even if he came with infrared, I think he’s out of order.”

James chuckles. “Yeah. Can you just try to drive over there towards the edge? Maybe we can find those rocks.”

“If they didn’t bulldoze them.”

“If they didn’t— Positive thinking, milady, please, we don’t have much to go on to begin with…”

She puts the car back into drive and circles the stadium, finally reaching the outer perimeter of the parking lot. And barely visible against the dense rain they see the outline of four rock spiky pillars sticking out from the featureless grey mass, faintly darker than the surroundings and definitely off the stadium’s plot.

“Well, at least those are still there, now we just have to figure out, if there’s anything else left. Ready to get wet?”

Sophia looks outside and then back at James. “No!”

He nods. “It’s decided then, let’s go!”

[Vdara]

Handing Out Hammerings

Following an impressive 4-1 away win over ZSeparatists, Moustakakos’ youngsters would now be playing at home, against the Communist Republic of North Yorkshire. The squad had, so far, got off to a decent start - despite their 3-0 defeat away to HUElavia - and the fans were hoping for a continuation of this form as they came up against the bottom-seeded team of the group.

Home Team Dressing Room,
VdarArena

Moustakakos: ”Well, lads - I hope you’ve brought your shooting boots for today. Because of that 3-0 loss that the first team had against HUElavia, our goal difference is in the shitter, and we need to drag it straight back out, y’know? I mean, winning 4-1 against ZSeparatists is good and all, but that just rights the wrongs that occurred against HUElavia. We need to absolutely smash those wrongs! Kick em in the face! Grab our goal difference by the horns and drag it upwards! More goals is more points!... well, not really, but you get what I mean. The more goals we score, the more of a chance we have at taking second place - and if we take second place, we’ll be in with a fighting chance of qualifying again, capiche? Good, good. Do whatever you usually do, do whatever you need to do, and do whatever the fuck you want - as long as we score goals, I’m happy.”

The match report is as follows:
Attendance: 51,832
Referee: Alfredo Contestabile

1: The whistle is blown, and the match kicks off! Can Vdara’s second lineup continue their immense goal scoring form? Can the North Yorkies cause havoc and prevent Vdara from keeping up with their rivals up top? Can those annoying drunkards in the away end shut the fuck up? Let’s watch the game and find out!
5: Vdara seem to be playing a more attacking style of football than usual - works pretty well when your formation has five attackers, to be fair.
7: It’s a free kick to Vdara after Filiphev’s disgraceful tackle on Makrotsis, but Contestabile doesn’t seem to be handing out any cards today. Quite odd.
8: Manousos Scafididis steps up to take the free kick, while the North Yorkies set up their wall. Scafididis takes a few steps back, runs forward and blasts the ball... right into the top left corner! Sergovic dove the right way, but the ball was just out of his reach! It’s an early lead for the home side, and the fans are absolutely delighted with that goal!
12: Rychenkov is making a fast run down the left hand side, and that attacking formation is really exposing the Vdarans at the back. Rychenkov swings the ball into the box towards Tryndin... but it floats directly into the safe hands of Zaharias Frangoglou.
16: It’s a corner for North Yorkshire, and Pyotrokov will be the one to swing it in... and it’s a goal! Bogdan Kopeykin headers the ball right into the back of the net, and the away team have now levelled the scoreline!
26: It’s another free kick to Vdara and Scafididis steps up to take it again. Scafididis shoots... but it’s directed wide by Sergovic! Wonderful save from the North Yorkshireman there, there was no chance that he was letting that go in!
27: It’s a corner to Vdara, and Scafididis will be there to swing it in. Scafididis tries to curve it nicely... and it’s headed in by Lambros Tantalopoulos! The captain puts Vdara back into the lead with a thundering header, and the team looks reinvigorated once more!
28: Well, I must say, ever since that second goal went in, the North Yorkies have looked pretty demoralised. I’m not sure why, honestly - they’re only 2-1 down.
32: Andrianos Petras receives a long pass from Akakios Demotis, and he’s through on goal! He’s only got Sergovic ahead of him, as he tries to go for the rabona shot... and it’s in! The move from Vdara was filled with flair and skill, and the shot... well, that was even more of a show of skill, eh? The scoreboard now reads 3-1.
37: It’s a penalty to Vdara! Tantalopoulos was sliced down in the box by Pyotrokov, and Contestabile immediately pointed to the spot!
38: Lambros Tantalopoulos steps up to take this penalty, and he looks like the least nervous person you’ll ever meet. Most people taking penalties will tell you that it’s scary as fuck, but not Lambros. Lambros is too much of a hard man to be scared. Be like Lambro- oh, he’s scored! While I was in the middle of my rant, Lambros Tantalopoulos fired the ball into the top right corner, increasing Vdara’s lead by even more gosld!
45: Well, that’s halftime. The Vdarans lead 4-1 going into the break, with their astonishing display pleasing the home fans greatly.

I know you’re expecting a second half to occur right around now, but I regret to inform you that the rest of the match report was lost in a fire... or something. Sounds about right, yeah? An internet fire. Totally plausible. Anyhow, here’s the final scorechart:

VDARA - 6
Manousos Scafididis 8’, 66’
Lambros Tantalopoulos 27’, 38’
Andrianos Petras 32’
Mathaios Makrotsis 86’
COMMUNIST REPUBLIC OF NORTH YORKSHIRE - 1
Bogdan Kopeykin 16’

With the abrupt end to the match report, you must be wondering how Markos Moustakakos felt the result was, right? Well, he was ecstatic. In fact, he was so ecstatic that he sang the most heartfelt rendition of ‘Sweet Caroline’ by Neil Diamond that’s ever been sung - but you’ll never get to hear it. It’s lost to the internet fire. Will this internet fire affect Vdara’s future match performances? Find out soon!

[Squornshelan Remnant States]

Lifted Lamp, Chapter 4
Chapter 1, Chapter 2, Chapter 3

Anne-Sophie Groothuis waited as the team filed into the locker room, trying to gauge the mood and pick her words and tone accordingly. The team's play had been decent, but far from flawless, and with the first quarter of qualifying behind them, it was an important moment. The next four matches leading up to the clash away to Vilita were crucial. A reversion to mediocrity now would likely doom their chances.

The team seemed subdued overall. The result was a decent one, taking a point away from Savojarna was certainly not bad. They'd had their chances to take all three points though, and Groothuis was pleased to see that the team seemed to realize that already. No point in dwelling on it then, time to move forward.

"I won't spend much time talking about tonight. You know how it went. We played well, but not as well as we could have. Plenty of time for film review later. I want to talk about where we go from here." She looked around the room. "The pundits will talk about whether our draws with Vilita and Savojarna are good enough, whether we could have done more, whether they're great achievements. All I know about them is that they happened, and they can't be changed, no matter how much we talk about them."

"When we see each other again in a few weeks, we'll have a new match, a new chance to win. I won't even talk about points. Points don't matter out there on the field. We couldn't qualify tonight, and we can't qualify against Hebitaka either. All we can do is go win a football match." A few nods from the players. There were a few genuine superstars on this team, but Groothuis had always been pleased to see how much the hardworking team-first spirit built into Confederate football stuck with even those playing abroad.

"Now," she continued, "there are some who will say that the most difficult matches of the first half are behind us, that the next four should be easy. What do we say to that?" She pointed at Takala; the captain knew what had to be said.

"No such thing as an easy match."

"Exactly. If it ever looks easy to the press, it's because we prepared, and we executed our gameplan when the time came. All these next four are teams looking at our ranking and hoping this is their chance to knock off a third seed and climb up the table. If you think they're wrong, it's up to you to prove it."


Qualifying Schedule and Results:

MD1:  SRS 2-2 VIL @ Radlov Arena (cap. 76,800), Brantisvogan, Megabrantis, SRS
MD2:  USD 4-6 SRS @ TBA
MD3:  SRS 1-1 SDG @ Killough Grove (cap. 31,400), Han Wavel, Han Dold, SRS
MD4:  PSI 0-3 SRS @ TBA
MD5:  SRS 3-3 SVJ @ Overburg Arena (cap. 46,222), Damogran, Algolia, SRS
MD6:  HTK  v  SRS @ TBA
MD7:  SRS  v  LIS @ Flanoil Arena (cap. 50,350), Traal, East Flania, SRS
MD8:  SRS  v  TFS @ Smolak Systemy Stadion (cap. 31,200), Sjerezo, Molvania, SRS
MD9:  ESH  v  SRS @ The Eshialand City SuperDome (cap. 75,000), Eshialand City, ESH
MD10: VIL  v  SRS @ Tivali-Ring Stadium (cap. 87,000 ), Alikki-Cora, VIL
MD11: SRS  v  USD @ Sunergy Field (cap. 37,550), Hunian, Algolia, SRS
MD12: SDG  v  SRS @ Stadium Persekutuan (cap. 40,000), Kambang, SDG
MD13: SRS  v  PSI @ Old Flamarion Stadium (cap. 26,405), Flamarion, Megabrantis, SRS
MD14: SVJ  v  SRS @ TBA
MD15: SRS  v  HTK @ Pheldagriff Stadium (cap. 45,620), Yassaca, Sivolvia, SRS
MD16: LIS  v  SRS @ TBA
MD17: TFS  v  SRS @ TBA
MD18: SRS  v  ESH @ Chernov Stadium (cap. 57,600), Viltvodle, Megabrantis, SRS

Team Selection against Hebitaka:

Starting 11: Krieven; V. Harkhan, Dalso, W. Harkhan, Achthoven; Hashemi, Lomidan; Feidhlim, Takala, Storrev; Petrov
Subs: Drenel; Kazarov, Ciernik, Buczvarov, Malgos; Arslan, Sonari; Naqvi, Damnagoras, Yonte; Verhulst

Team Selection against Lisander:

Starting 11: Krieven; Macar, W. Harkhan, Ciernik, Achthoven; Marrish, Lomidan; Naqvi, Takala, Yonte; Petrov
Subs: Shimski; Savo, Baste, Dalso, Storsjo; Arslan, Tabur, Vladcik, Damnagoras, Yonte; Gerstlauer

[Audioslavia]

You are no longer living in Atlantian Oceania. You are living in Anaia, a region independent of any influence from any other corner of the world.

If you are a citizen of another nation in the Anaia region, your rights as a resident of Audioslavia are retained. They are as follows:
You receive the same rights as those of citizens of Audioslavia, Gilmeecia, Kjeligsted, Lemmitania and Silexhera, excepting a right to remain in Audioslavia following a criminal conviction and a right to vote in national elections (although you are encouraged to vote in local elections)

If you are a citizen of Atlantian Oceania, you previously enjoyed the above rights. Under laws passed in parliament today, you retain these rights for a period of three years. During this time you are welcome to live and work in Audioslavia on the same conditions as that of Anaian citizens.

After a period of three years has elapsed, you will need to attain either a Residency Visa or, via laws passed in parliament yesterday, citizenship of Audioslavia.

For citizens of nations of Atlantian Oceania who wish to become a citizen of Audioslavia in lieu of returning to their home nations, the period of residency required for Audioslavian citizenship has been reduced from 5 years to 2 years, backdated to your first arrival in the country, and dependent on you being resident in Audioslavia for at least seven months out of every twelve. If you qualify for the above conditions, your application can be fast-tracked if you feel you are being threatened or pressured to return against your will.

If you would like to return home, but do not currently have the means, the Audioslavian Government has put together a scheme to allow you to return home free of charge. Follow the instructions on the CathAir website for more information.

If you are a citizen of Valanora and you would like to return home, you have been awarded a travel bursary from your nation. If you have not received this, you may make enquiries here [AUDGOV.AS IS NOT RESPONSIBLE FOR THE CONTENT OF WEBSITES OUTWITH THE AUDGOV.AS DOMAIN].

If you are a citizen of Banija, Siovanija & Teusland or Valanora, you may have been made aware of sanctions imposed on Anaian nations by your home country. Audioslavia's government has decided, unilaterally, that such sanctions will not be reciprocated. Your rights as residents in Audioslavia are assured.

If you feel you are being pressured to return to the nation of your birth against your will, it is against the law for any Audioslavian local authority, national authority or private company or citizen or overseas authority to force or coerce you into returning. If you feel your safety is threatened, call 555-390-196 to reach the AGAS hotline, or dial the emergency services (666) as appropriate.

If you are a citizen of Krytenia and you are having trouble reading the above guide, it is also available in ToGgLeTeXt.

[Chartistan]

Chats before the Game - Chartistan vs Savigliane

Little Exnash: So uh you guys said something about our opponent moving regions and separating from... Atlantian Oceania, right?
-
Tatertot Crazy: I know, right? All this Anaia talk has been all over the news lately. I heard many big nations are involved...
-
Tatertot Crazy: Audioslavia, Krytenia, Flavovespia...
-
Adult Royce: Withoutia?
-
Tatertot Crazy: Mr. Royce, Withoutia aren't even a country!
-
Little Exnash: Damn, this is worse than I though. Aren't Legalese involved in this too?
-
Florence "I Love My Country" George: I don't give a damn about an Anaian away day, let me prepare for the soccer!
-
Rosanne Emilia: Florence, for the final time, it's futbol, not soccer.
-
Florence "I Love My Country" George: Fine enough Rosanne... What is this Anaia talk anyway?
-
Tatertot Crazy: Something that doesn't involve Sonnel, apparently!
-
Rosanne Emilia: I should know. I have a bunch of new hurdles to jump through.
-
Olisa Rodgers: Deja vu again, it seems. Good for them.
-
Liam Barney: There is a reason why traveling to a whole new region isn't good for my lifestyle!
-
Tatertot Crazy: What is it, Mr. "That's My Kind of Night"?
-
Liam Barney: ...Never mind. Off to drink my beer again.
-
Tatertot Crazy: That's what I thought!
-
Air Latte: Listen, I know you're all distracted by the Anaia news... But we have football to play.
-
Air Latte: I don't care where we have to go, there's 6 points to be won and Combbrush won't be happy if you keep moaning!
-
Air Latte: Got that?
-
Little Exnash: First the Ripperonin thing and now this? Damn this whole place is wild!
-
Air Latte: Say that one more time and you're going.
-
Little Exnash: This place is WILD!
-
Air Latte: thank u, next.
-
The Original Mega Millions: WHO WANTS MONEY!?
-
Air Latte: Not again...

[Equestrian States]

Royal Council Chambers
:: Canterlot Castle, Canterlot, Equestria

High Princess Luna sat at the head of the Royal Council's table, growing increasingly frustrated as Celestia read the Declaration of Foxchester aloud. It was late in Canterlot, or at least it was for the other Princesses in attendance. For Luna, it was actually still quite early, given her nocturnal schedule and stewardship over the Moon and stars' nightly trek through the dark sky. She’d woken to chaos in Canterlot Castle as diplomats and ambassadors were scrambling to determine what exactly was going on. Her sister had summoned the rest of the Royal Council to Canterlot: Twilight Sparkle from Ponyville, Cadance from the Crystal Empire, and Sunset Shimmer from distant Freeport had all soon teleported to the Equestrian capital for this late conference.

Celestia finished reading the list of signatories. "Now I know there's a lot to process here, but-"

"That’s it?" Luna demanded. "Nay, sister, there is not actually much to process in that document. In fact, there's barely anything of substance in their declaration of secession. What this tells us is that the majority of the nations in northeastern Atlantian Oceania have decided to jointly sever ties with the rest of the region without first informing or consulting with anyone else, even within some of their own governments. And they've done so without even so much as giving a rationale for their secession in their declaration!"

Celestia glanced down at the offending document and blinked twice before replying: "So it would seem."

"Is there popular support for their formally establishing a splinter region?" asked Cadance.

"Not that I'm aware of."

"Have any of the seceding nations' ambassadors complained about their homelands being ostracized by the Southwestern nations?" Luna pressed.

"The Foreign Minister hasn't mentioned any such protests."

"Is there some inherent ideological difference between them and the rest of Atlantian Oceania which makes them distrust us?" inquired Twilight.

"None that aren't also present in this corner of the region."

There was a pause as the assembled princesses considered alternative theories to justify such drastic actions.

Sunset broke the silence: "Are we sure that Discord isn’t involved in this?"

Another pause as the idea was processed.

"He said he isn’t," cautiously stated Celestia, "but do any of us actually believe that?"

“Not really."

"Nope."

"Stars above, no."

"Not for a second.”

…

"It would be something of a departure from his usual antics though," said Cadance, "he’s been quite content to toy with Equestria and the Crystal Empire exclusively since being freed from his imprisonment."

A joint grumbling of affirmation echoed through the room.

"Maybe he got bored and wants to spread his peculiar brand of 'fun' elsewhere?" suggested Luna.

Twilight was quick to respond, "Perhaps, but I would think Fluttershy would have picked up on something like this and let us know."

"Agreed. Although I do think we'll want to keep a closer eye on him," recommended Celestia, "just in case."

"Regardless," said Luna, "I see we've received an invitation to a regional summit in Stelburg from Chancellor Meier to discuss a coordinated response from the rest of Atlantian Oceania. Naturally, as the current High Princess, I will attend on behalf of Equestria, and I assume Cadance and Sunset will be representing their nations as well."

"Correct."

"I'll be there."

Luna sighed. "Right, looks like we're all in for a rather interesting next few weeks, so let's figure out what role Equestria will be playing in this."