World Cup 88- Roleplay Thread

by **Valanora** » Mon May 24, 2021 11:18 pm

It was a surreal feeling, knowing that the Atlantian Oceania Champions' League Final that was set to be contested in Cathair was going to be the last ever AOCL match to be contested in the nation of Audioslavia. Their desire to tear themselves away from the rest of the region and convinced many others to follow them was still a very touchy subject within the Empire with some very raw and heavy feelings still felt by a lot of the citizenry. With the history of the Empire and the continued showcase of people are stronger when they work together rather than needlessly dividing themselves for whatever petty reasons were easily the most convenient continued to keep those feelings very strong and against the nations who had decided to participate in the break away. The talk of the normal citizenry spoke of it never being the same after the declaration in Foxchester, even if some of the break away nations decided that they had made an error and realigned themselves with the AO authorities, there would no nothing that could be done to erase the memories of the betrayal that so many people felt, from commoner to important political officials.

It was a bit of a weird happenstance then that the Final of the AOCL that was going to be held in one of the apparent ringleaders of the breakaway nations would come from the part of Atlantian Oceania that seemed those in Anaia held some sort of contempt for, that is of course the southwestern part of the region. With part of their declaration barring any of those in that quadrant of Atlantian Oceania from filing paperwork to join the new Anaian authorities and the constant war of words being used by those in Anaia against those from the southwestern part of Atlantian Ocenia, it is evidently clear that there was some sort of ill feelings from those in the north to those in the southwest of the region. And yet it would be a club from the Eternal Empire and a club from the United Republics of Siovanija and Teusland that would be making the journey, with the players and officials from Raynor City United not expecting anything resembling a warm welcome from the hosts of the Final and an obviously more welcoming attitude towards that of Energija Chernovets, the holders of the competition.

With no less than nine different nationalities represented on their roster and a tenth if you include the Euran born manager, Raynor City United continues to showcase its welcoming attitude towards all those who would work together for the greater goal than any lone person's desires. As has been stated in the club's description as well as numerous different advertisements about Raynor City itself, how the city and club were born with this sort of desire in mind. It seems to ironically be diametrically opposed to those who had now made Anaia their home, despite the talks of it being a brotherhood and how the arms of friendship are extended. Without sufficient explanations from any of the leaders who put their name to the declaration as to why, other than a shrug of the shoulders and an answer of why not, it can only then be assumed that those who have decided to found this breakaway region from Atlantian Oceania have not done it out of the brotherhood that the espouse but through some selfish desire to put themselves at the forefront with disregard of those who get trampled underfoot in that pursuit.

Come what may, it seems that sport will be the proxy by which who will ultimately be in the right shall be measured, even if sport should be apolitical and rather a showcase of the collective talents of the various teams and athletes that are set to compete in the assorted competitions. Sport is what has ultimately helped build bonds between the Vanorian people and with that of those in Banija as well as the United Republics, despite both nations being politically adverse to the normal stances of the Empire and her people. The healthy respect that comes from rivals competing on the field, knowing the effort that those who stand opposed to you have put in in order to be at the level that they are is something that lacks the appropriate written and spoken words to adequately describe. Maybe through these eventual proxy battles that respect that was once freely given between what had been Atlantian Oceania nations can be achieved once more, yet in the immediate future it is likely to breed an even stronger desire from players and individuals in the Empire who are already highly motivated to reach their goals, much like Laborious Hawk and his endless pursuit of perfection through that storied work ethic of his.

by **Sannyamathland** » Mon May 24, 2021 11:44 pm

The Red Terror

Episode 3

Vladimir Mount ran with the ball. It was already two minutes into the stoppage time, and the scoreboard read: 'Sannyamathland: 2-Al Qurija: 1'. Not the scoreline with which the players can be sure of their victory. After conceeding the second goal, the Al Qurijan national team had started playing an all out attacking football, and 2 of their attempts were barely saved by Karjodov. Mount knew that another goal can seal their victory. he was desperate for that one goal. He looked up to see the Al Qurijan center back Stojko Popovski in front of him. From one corner of his eye he saw Ivan Sandiev at a beautiful position, and unguarded by any defender. Should he pass the ball to him, knowing very well that trying to dribble past Popovski would be a blunder? Or should he keep the ball to himself, because passing in this stage might deprive them of this goal? He decided the latter, and with an intelligent tilt to the left, he dribbled past Popovski, and without looking up, attempted a powerful grounded shot at the goal. Mahmud Maksimovic dived to save the ball, but was unable to do so, and the ball went inside the goalpost. All his teammates burst into applause and ran towards him, but Mount was composed in his celebrations, and just pumped his fist into the air. However, all the while, he was looking at his coach, Sergey Kramnik, and he realised that even in such a jovial situation, the head coach was strangely aloof, with nothing but a small smile to mark his enjoyment. This bewildered Mount, as he had always known his head coach to be an expressive person, yet this very man was almost unemotional for the last two or three days.

After the Lions had went inside the tunnel and inside their dressing-room, captain Mount immediately changed his dress and went out to have a talk with Sergey Kramnik. He found him sitting alone in one corner of the staff dressing room, staring at the ceiling.
"Hello coach." Vladimir Mount entered the room and walked up to his coach." Did I just disturbed you?"
"Oh! Vlad. No man, you didn't disturb me. Congratulations for scoring that brilliant goal. It was decisive!" the head coach said with apparent enthusiasm, although his aloofness was still there.
"Uh...I want to talk about something, personally, so can you spare a minute or two?" Mount asked.
"yeah! Sure. Go ahead. Just close that door, so that no one can eavesdrop." Kramnik smiled a little.
After closing the door, Mount began: "For the last few days, I have been seeing you to be strangely detached. That is not how we have known you for all these years. You were always so jolly and expressive. Is something bothering you, coach? I know that you hate to share details of your personal life with anyone, but maybe, I can help you if did."
Kramnik was stunned. He could have never imagined his players to be so concerned about him. He stammered: "No...No nothing's the matter, Vlad."
"No, I know something's wrong, seriously wrong. Please tell me, I am sure we can find a solution together." Mount insisted.
Kramnik understood that Mount was genuinely concerned. He was touched by his player's love towards him, and tears formed in his eyes. He swiftly wiped them off, before replying: "Alright, Vlad, let me be absolutely honest with you. Ever since I heard that Alexei was captured by the Soviet authorities, I am worried about him and I keep thinking about him."
"You mean, Mr.Donsekty?" Mount asked.
Kramnik continued: "Yes. His brother was arrested last week, and now, he himself got arrested. My fears have been aggrevated after that incident in Gretergrad."

Truly the incident at Gretergrad was something, the people would remember for a long long time. 15 members of the local branch of the Communist Party, including their influential leader Viktor Tigrian, were arrested by the police in a sting operation and were convicted of conspiring against the Soviet leadership. They were further charged with treason and spying for foreign agencies, and were thus sentenced to death by the Supreme Court, in a hearing which lasted for only 2 days. Later, the 15 of them were taken to the center of the town, and all of them were killed by firing squad. For a long time, Viktor Tigrian was a well known critic of Chairman Rio's regime, and had criticised him for ruling like a dictator. This was among a long list of such cases, which began with the declaration of War Against Domestic Terror, in which a large number of party members were purged, and many high ranking officials being expelled from the country.

Mount looked concerned, by tried to play down the situation by saying:" Bah! Mr.Donsekty is a well known sportsman, of course he will be out out on bail very soon. No sportsperson until now have been harmed in any manner by the authorities."
"Similarly no sportsperson had the guts to openly criticise the regime in social media." Kramnik snapped back, which took Mount by surprise.
"Have you ever wrote anything that might appear as being antigovernmental?" asked Kramnik.
"I..I..Well..." Mount stammered.
"Alright, I'll tell you. No, you haven't." declared Kramnik before continuing: "Neither did I, nor any player in this team. Do you know why? Because we are a selfish group of people. Yes, my dear, sportspersons are like this. All of them, including myself. We only care about our own needs and wishes, and very few of us actually give a damn as to what happens to the common people. We don't care whether the government is oppressive or not, we don't care whether they exploit the common people or not, we don't care whether a dictator is sitting over us or not. All we care about is whether we are getting sponsorships or not, whether our current contract is justified or not, and stuff like this. We are a group of cowards, knowing very well that speaking against the regime will jeopardize our prospects of earning millions of millions of dollar, and living a luxurious life. Yes, I am also one of them, I am a selfish, coward bitch." he stopped.
Mount had nothing to say, but just hung his head low in embarrasement.
Kramnik added: "We are a role model to the common people, so when they find us to be cowards, they also become cowards without any remorse, because they emulate blindly, no matter whether it is right or wrong. I respect Alexei for his courage, and I don't care whether anyone overheard this conservation or not, and whether saying all this can have an adverse effect on my career or not. I am tired of staying quiet. I feel guilty everyday."
Kramnik stood up, and walked out of the room, leaving Mount seated. Mount was too embarrassed to even move an inch.

by **Yue Zhou** » Tue May 25, 2021 12:11 am

Yübao, Nanhai - after the draw(!?) against Sapim

The women's locker room that the Yue national football team used had gone through a number of iterations. Back in the socialist days, when the People's Federation was taking its first steps into international football, it had been a glorified closet, home to goalkeeper Ruo Xiaolan and absolutely nobody else. When the (then still-Red) Dragons made their return before WCQ86, it had expanded into a proper room in order to accommodate talented attackers Liu Huiying and Wen Xiaohui, both of which, like Ruo, had been forced to leave the country to kick-start their professional careers as female footballers. What had once been a place of isolation and loneliness and taken on a sisterly quality, as Ruo, by now on her last legs, took Liu and Wen under her wing.

WCQ87 had seen a further expansion, adding some benches and an additional clubhouse attendant for the female players. It had also seen the arrival of two more female players on the qualifying roster - Jiawei Chuan, who had also left Yuezhou, and Diadora Reeve, who had never been. The dynamic had shifted a bit, changed by Jiawei and Wen's Sangauese connection, Ruo's diminished role on the team, and Reeve's overwhelming Nepharan-ness. But, like the room, it had remained relatively cozy and close-knit.

But with the fall of the socialist government, the founding of the United Republics, and the rapid inflow of sponsorship money, World Cup 88 qualifiers had seen the team's base move to the legendary Yübao, in Nangang City. The women's locker room had become as large as the men's and was furnished with state-of-the-art equipment, materials, and even several hot tubs, for some reason. And with Guerrilla Cathair's Lu Qiang returning to the fray, and more importantly six new young female players joining the national team reserves, things just weren't the same. Lu Lanying, Shi Meilin, and Fang Yuhui had by now spent enough time in a society that properly respected women to gain a distinct sort of confidence that those that had started their careers in Yuezhou just didn't have. Luo Chuan, similarly, had had almost too easy of a time adjusting to university life in Zwangzug. The original residents of the locker room didn't know Pan Xilei very well, but she had apparently pushed for a loan deal to La Querida last transfer window, which meant she was probably insane. And all Zheng Yuanjun had been talking about lately was her visa situation, and how she might have to find a new club after "The Whole Anaia Thing".

So the mood in the new, state-of-the-art facilities tended to be a little standoffish, if not outright tense. And after Yuezhou had choked a 2-0 lead to draw to unfancied and already-eliminated Sapim, allowing New Lusitania to leapfrog them into playoff position, that night was very tense indeed. Perhaps in an earlier era, with Ruo Xiaolan to calm her down and Liu Huiying to offer encouragement from her side of the towel rack that was inexplicably kept in the middle of the dingy little locker room with the weird smell and the leaking ceiling, Wen Xiaohui wouldn't have done what she did next. But in this painfully brand-new environment, with the chatter of the Cassadaigua-based players pounding away in the background and all three highlights from the match blasting in the massive television in the corner, there was nothing to stop her from calling Wang Jiahui.

"I've been thinking about your offer," she said, "and I might be in. Although I want one more thing."

"Tell me," Wang Jiahui said from the other end.

"I want my uncle in charge of the Sangauese FA."

by **Brenecia** » Tue May 25, 2021 5:15 am

THE ROZELLE OBSERVER
One dead as presumed Bears Armed scout discovered to be actual bear
Annette Brisbane

Brenecia's reputation was done no favours during the 2-0 World Cup Qualifying win over Kannap, in which one man lost his life, another his arm and seven more their jobs when a common black bear was mistaken for a citizen of Bears Armed, and given scouting credentials to enter.

Security footage reveals a bear wandering over to the stadium out of curiosity, following a sparsely-attended queue into the game. At this point, a harried-looking official seemingly chastises the bear for being late, drapes a security clearance lanyard over her neck and guides her into the stadium.

Remarkably, the bear sat patiently in the crowd for 27 minutes before the slow pace of Brenecia's attacks evidently sunk in. Unfortunately for everyone present, it was at this point that a photographer seated itself behind the bear, and indeed used her shoulder as a brace to take better pictures.

It is for this reason that Byron Keener's death, as the bear turned and ate his head, has been widely regarded as an expression of natural selection moreso than a tragedy. Keener's colleague, Morena Johnston, lost a leg trying to induce the bear into dropping Keener through the use of multiple kicks to the face, but this has been more excused by panic.

During the next stoppage in play, the bear was ultimately tranquilised and taken to a local zoo in Rozelle. Now named 'Urrrsula', it is hoped that her murder of an innocent will drive up interest. The Patriots, meanwhile, remain in the driving seat through the rest of qualification after the rest of the game finished without incident.

by **Eshialand** » Tue May 25, 2021 6:11 am

The History of Eshialand
Part II: Revolution
Eshialand 0 - 2 Devonta

Today, you woke up and just decided to start driving. What made you decide to do this? Well, truth be told, the thoughts about the start of the Eshian Revolution you had a few days ago had been haunting you, and you just needed to get away from it all. A drive to the middle of nowhere would be just what you needed.

You drove for about two hours before stopping in a field somewhere. Where were you? You didn't quite know, but that didn't matter much. You got out of your car and just relaxed.

Then, you thought back to another field you had seen, just like this one, over 400 miles and 4 years away...

February 1st, 2017. The rebellion which would come to be known as the Eshian Revolution had been surprisingly successful across what would become known as Eshialand, with the sheer numbers of revolutionaries overwhelming Canadian and American forces. There was just one small wrinkle, however. Many "generals", if you could really call then that (they were really just some radicals who thought they could boss people around), wanted to push the nation's southern border to the Ohio River, but Cincinnati wasn't in their control yet.

You tried explaining to them that war wasn't the answer, but they wouldn't listen to you, no matter what you tried. Hypocritically enough, they still viewed you, Summer, and Jason almost as prophets and forced you to come on the campaign to Cincinnati, but wouldn't actually listen to your message of peace. Selective hearing at its best.

If any battle of the revolution changed you forever, it was surely what ensued on the way to capturing the city. Everything was about as successful as it could be... given that you were trying to fight the U.S. army, that is. It almost looked like the not-yet-Eshian militia was going to break through, when all of a sudden, one American soldier committed what by all accounts was a war crime.

You and your friends were hanging back watching the fighting from afar, knowing that you wanted to get away but fearing the consequences from your so-called supporters if you did. This American soldier saw you in the distance, and realized that you were the leaders of this movement, the ones who started the protests way back in October and inspired the violence in December.

He ran towards you and got one nearly point-blank shot off on Summer, before you, in a fit of rage, wrestled his gun away from him and whacked him in the face with it, knocking him out cold. You turned to help Summer, bleeding out on the ground. Your first aid barely saved her life that day, and she would spend weeks in the hospital, with you constantly worrying about what might go wrong the whole time.

You couldn't shake the feeling that this was all your fault, after all, it was you who started calling for change, and it was this militia who acted on that change, with the Americans merely trying to defend themselves from this threat.

"Why did this have to happen? Why did I have to do this?"
"Will, none of this is our fault." It was Jason.
"You say that, but if we... no, I, had just kept my mouth shut in October, none of this would've happened!"
"We campaigned for peaceful change, what's going on now is a corruption of everything we stood for."
"But that doesn't change the fact that my words empowered these people to start a rebellion!"
"We did what was right, they're the ones doing the wrong thing."
"BECAUSE OF ME!!!"
"Not because of us, because of their own ignorance. And what's with all of this "me" crap? We started this together, so if one of us is getting blamed, all three of us are!"
"Our best friend might die in there any day, and you want that on your conscience? Just accept that this was all me, plain and simple. It'll be easier for you in the long run."
"That's not how it works and you know it! I'm not going to let you take all of the blame for anything, let alone this, which none of us deserve the blame for!"
"I... I..."
"Maybe we could go for some Chillers? It'd help you take your mind off of things..."
"You know what? Maybe it will..."

About 2 months after the battle, the dust had mostly settled. The fighting had mostly stopped, and the militia had carved themselves out a sizeable chunk of land. They were ready to sign a declaration of independence, with you as the king of their new nation. One problem: what were you going to call this thing?

"The Great Lakes Confederation"? No, too boring. "New Ontario"? No, that only really represented about a quarter of your population. You kept thinking of ideas, but one name popped into your head that you couldn't stop thinking about. Eshialand. Did it have any meaning? Nope, but it did sound nice.

The next day, Monday, April 3rd, 2017, you, your friends, leaders of the revolution, and Canadian and American representatives got together in Toronto and signed two documents: a peace treaty between the new nation, Canada, and the U.S., and the new nation's declaration of independence. The Kingdom of Eshialand was born, and you were its first king.

You set aside your thoughts for a moment to check the time, and... wait, how many hours had you been thinking about the revolution for??? You'd better get home before people start wondering where you've been.

On your way home, you decided to flip on the radio to check the score in the Owls' match against Devonta... 0-2 with Devontan goals in the 50th and 67th? Maybe checking that was a mistake... well, maybe not as much of a mistake as taking that job as king sometimes felt like.

"Hello and welcome back to ENN Tournament Report, I'm your host Josh Seametzle. Matchday 13 was surprisingly unsurprising, so let's quickly cover what happened, shall we?"

Vilita 3 - 0 Lisander
"And with this, Lisander can no longer qualify... but we kinda knew that already, didn't we?"

Eshialand 0 - 2 Devonta
"I swear, we would've done better in an away match!"

The 14 Stars 0 - 0 Sendhang
"You know, this kinda gives me hope for the upcoming Sendhang-Eshialand match... if hope was something you could have with a team this bad."

Squornshelan Remnant States 1 - 0 Pluvia and the Saxean Isles
"Wow, Alana really was right when she called this the 'Mouthful Derby'... that really is a mouthful!"

Hebitaka 1 - 3 Savojarna
"See, there's nothing surprising about last night's matches, nothing surprising at all..."

Abanhfleft 0 - 1 Atheara
"Except that! If you're one of those people who cares so little about being disappointed that you're still cheering for Eshialand and Atheara, take this win, you've earned it! Sadly, Atheara is still out of qualifying contention, but at least their win keeps Eastfield Lodge afloat for one more match!"

Sarzonia 1 - 2 Quakmybush
"Now, for the Unofficial World Championship update, Quakmybush! That's it, I've got nothing."

"Until next time, this has been Tournament Report, and I've been Josh Seametzle."

OOC: My starting XI for the next two matches will be the same as the last match.

by **Montana Verde** » Tue May 25, 2021 6:50 am

Juvencus – 3 (2)
Santini (21’), Campana (36’), Martell (67’)

Montaña Verde – 1 (0)
Dolfo; Castiglione, Edelberto (60’ Edgar ), Jairo, Mallén (8’); Ana-Ximena; Cristo Díaz, Kristjana (63’); Primitivo; Verónica Ximena (54’ Naomí Berrocal ), Osito (56’ Sara Ariadna )

Taeshan – 1 (1)
Nkitilina (2’)

Montaña Verde – 0 (0)
Dolfo; Castiglione, Arquímedes, Jairo, Justin; Ana-Ximena (57’ Edgar ); Cristo Díaz, Kristjana (49’) (89’); Primitivo (85’ Sara Ariadna ); Thiago Montilla, Osito (66’ Páez )

The Condors’ difficult double road trip proved too much as a 3–1 defeat to Juvencus confirmed their chances of qualifying for the World Cup over, and Taeshan piled on the humiliation with a 1–0 defeat. Outplayed and outclassed, the Condors now have nothing to play for but pride – and even that was on scant display in a series of matches that just seemed to prove the Rainforest Republic did not belong at the international level to which they had so long aspired.

Squad update: Kristjana Eiríksdóttir’s suspension is for one match, while Iñigo Olmo Mallén will miss the next two on account of his more severe straight red foul, though Justin would have played anyway. Bregmann will play for Kristjana, while it looks like Thiago Montilla will remain preferred to the disappointing Verónica Ximena. Edelberto is fit again, but a muscle strain has ruled out Ana-Ximena, the team’s lodestone player. Edgar will fill in. With World Cup hopes over a little more experimentation is possible.

by **Mytanija** » Tue May 25, 2021 7:40 am

It had been a mediocre couple of weeks for Mytanija, a late 1-0 win over Atheara via a last minute Kemal Gajic penalty had secured a much-needed win but in truth they had felt like they should have won a bit more emphatically than that. The 1-0 loss to Geektopia had been expected to a degree, but they had been in two tight games with Geektopia and they probably should have come out of at least one of them with a positive result too. Two defeats and nothing to show for two fine performances left a bit of a bad taste in the mouth. It was the sort of result which had defined the campaign though, a microcosm of why they were so far out of contention for a top two position and why they were so far off their own standard from World Cup 87 qualifying. Lev Repin had wanted a little bit more from this cycle than mid-table obscurity, but they had known it would be an uphill struggle ever since the qualifying group draw was conducted.

A strong performance in World Cup 87 qualifying would mean nothing when paired with teams such as Valanora, Geektopia, Abanhfleft and Electrum. There were banana skins throughout the lower reaches of the group two, notably Adab who had had a strong cycle, but also in the form of Mytanija’s Rushmori neighbours Eastfield Lodge and the likes of Atheara and Grearia. It hadn’t been the best cycle for the national team but Lev Repin and everybody associated with Mytanar football had known that this group would be extremely difficult from the very start. It now looked as if the campaign would fizzle out with Mytanija ending up in that mid-table obscurity Repin had wanted to avoid. They now had to start looking ahead to the Copa Rushmori and the next qualifying cycle. Lev Repin wanted to use the final five games as an opportunity to give those who would be playing a bigger part more appearances, so that they would have a bit more experience to call upon for next time.

Post-game interviews and press conferences had grown a little easier as the campaign had worn on, as it became clearer that Mytanija wouldn’t be in the battle to qualify as they had been last time. Usually that could have made things even more difficult, with the media looking for someone to blame and that falling on the manager’s head most of the time. The FSM had quickly quelled any speculation about Repin’s position, saying they had full faith in the manager and that they would not make any hasty decisions on the basis of one qualifying cycle. They had a long term plan and they were going to stick to it, as far as they were concerned Repin would be in charge until the conclusion of World Cup 90 in four years’ time. The more sensationalist sections of the media soon dropped their attempts to stir up trouble after that and the questions returned to football, stuff to do with tactics and selections instead of whether Repin believed he still had the stomach for the job.

“So Lev, now that we are well out of contention what will the squad selections look like from here on out? Will this give you a chance to experiment a little and work on things with players with less international experience?” Came the question from Nevenka Planinc. Lev smiled. These were the questions he liked to answer. Throughout this cycle he had had to talk about specific players, the team’s mind-set and why he thought they hadn’t been able to follow up on their strong 4th place return in World Cup 87 qualification. He preferred to talk about tactics and his ideas about team selections. It was always the side of things he was more suited to. He didn’t want to publicly ruminate on why he had to leave Vilim Kupresak out of a few squads after he had questioned an inexperienced team in the group opener, nor did he want to join in with the media debates about Jasno Odonelec’s leadership ability. Neither were constructive and everybody knew that Jasno was a fantastic captain and why he had to leave Vilim out for a while. Nevenka Planinc was always there with the helpful questions anyway, but this was more like it.

“Absolutely. We will be looking at some of the less experienced lads in these final games, it will give them a tough challenge or two that they may not have faced before. We still have difficult games at home to Electrum and away to Eastfield Lodge and Abanhfleft. Two Rushmori derbies and a very tough, motivated team who look like they’re on their way to qualifying for the World Cup. Some of the younger lads have acquitted themselves well thus far, but they might not have taken part in that sort of occasion before so it will be a good challenge for them and it will allow me and my staff to work with them on some of the tactical stuff we might not have had a chance to drill into them yet. These international breaks are short and sometimes players need a couple of them to really understand what it is they’re being asked to do, particularly if you’re coming from a club side which plays a different way to how we play with Mytanija. So this will give me that chance and in a relatively pressure free environment too.” Lev explained.

Naturally he would have preferred if it was a pressurised environment, it would be better to be battling for qualification but he had a contract running up until the end of World Cup 90 and the FSM had a plan until then and their 4th place in qualifying last time out had been well ahead of schedule. A top-half finish this time around would be in line with that too, the next two would be the ones where the FSM’s expectations would really ramp up. There would be less room for inexperienced competitors once that happened, so he had to look at the positives of a slightly disappointing cycle in allowing him to blood those who might play a larger role in the future. The likes of Damir Milcic, Dino Racic, Sefir Ajanovic, Maks Shishkin, Itzhar Yvjoev were all going to be key in the next couple of cycles among others. Damien Gannot was almost the jewel in the crown of the next generation of players and he would be there too. The results of the past two Di Bradini Cups intimated that these players could go on to be real world-level talents, so it was important to give them the experience which helped them to achieve that potential.

“Do you feel there is a need to put together as many points as possible to try and move up the rankings a bit further? We have seen what a difficult group draw can do to the team’s qualification chances during this World Cup qualifying campaign.” Nevenka asked.

“Absolutely, but we are always trying to win games Nevenka. We go into each game trying to get a positive result and sadly that hasn’t happened quite as much as we would have hoped in this qualifying group. We got a tough draw and then we’ve not quite been good enough in some games where a result was there if we could have just performed a little better.”

“Which ones?” Nevenka interjected. The national team’s media liaison officer was never going to call the nation’s top football journalist out for that sort of thing. Nor would they count it as one of the three questions she was allowed to ask. Lev didn’t mind so much though, Nevenka had always written positively about his tactical influence on Mytanar football. There had always been a degree of respect there, she had understood that it might take time and slow, incremental progress but she fully appreciated that if Lev’s tactical ideas could be ingrained in the domestic game at all levels that it could herald a return to the success of days gone by. Mytanija could be a player at the top end of international football again. Lev didn’t mind answering her questions.

“Well I think both Geektopia games are a good example. Two defeats by a single goal where we have played pretty well. The game away to Electrum was a narrow loss too and the way we lost to Adab was painful and was a bit of a low point for me personally too. That is no disrespect to Adab, but to be beaten by an injury time goal by the goalkeeper will always hurt. I think the Deniria result in the opening match might be the lowest point of my time in charge.” Lev said. He had to be careful not to be too negative, because it hadn’t all been bad either. They had managed a really positive result in the first game against the elves: “We raised our game against Valanora and got a point off them in the first game but we can’t allow a two goal lead to slip at this level, the second game against them was a disappointment because of that. I think the only game we’ve really been truly outclassed in was the one against Abanhfleft and we were even in that for stretches. On the whole this campaign has been around where we would have expected to be, just with some slightly disappointing outcomes in games where we have been close to where we want to be but just haven’t got it over the line. I think the whole cycle has been a bit like that and it’s something we really need to work on next time. We have to turn narrow defeats into draws and draws into wins where possible.”

“Will Vilim Kupresak be back in contention for a spot if you’re using the whole of the national pool?” Nevenka asked with a slight smirk. There always had to be a difficult question. Even off the journalists who were generally friendly. Lev allowed himself a wry smile too. He had made a decision on Vilim at the start of qualifying and whilst it might not have changed the results there was always some chatter in the background about having his experience and vocal nature in the changing room and how that could have helped. Lev ignored it for the most part, but there would be opportunities for him again now. Lev had learned you couldn’t hold grudges in international management or you would soon run out of players to select. Everybody did something you didn’t like at one point or another. You only had to look at how Anton Derajevic had turned his career around to understand that a specific action doesn’t define your whole football career.

“Vilim has never not been in contention.” Lev still had to give the diplomatic answer of course. “There will be opportunities for him in upcoming squads, just like there has been in previous ones and I look forward to working with him again in the future. He’s always been a fine player for Mytanija and he enjoys coming and playing for his country. He’ll do us proud when the time comes again I am absolutely sure of that.”

MYTANIJA NATIONAL TEAM SELECTION FOR GAMES AGAINST ELECTRUM (H) & EASTFIELD LODGE (A)
Goalkeepers: 12. Semir Besak (Olympic Thessia), 24. Zafer Muminovic (Tekstil Ibon), 35. Lazar Obradovic (Liria Prizren)
Defenders: 13. Damir Milcic (Tekstil Ibon), 14. Dino Racic (1923 Esca), 15. Kamil Jernejec (Chromatik [CMT]), 16. Petr Isaev (Crvena Zvezda); 25. Tihomir Feric (Atletik Thessia), 26. Josko Omerovic (Olympic Thessia), 27. Usten Odonelec (FK Arsika), 28. Gavril Toshev (FK Arsika)
Midfielders: 17. Branko Brkljacic (Atletik Thessia), 18. Sefir Ajanovic (FK Arsika), 31. Vilim Kupresak (Olympic Thessia), 32. Itzhar Yvjoev (Olympic Thessia), 34. Ramiz Agic (1896 Ebor); 37. Zijad Kurtcehajic (Litala ’93), 30. Mersudin Smajic (Liria Prizren), 19. Dalibor Vlahovic (1896 Ebor), 20. Maks Shishkin (Maethoru SC [KOR]), 11. Kemal Gajic (FK Arsika)
Forwards: 22. Zlatan Andrijasevic (Atletik Thessia), 23. Dejan Zgela (Damogran FC [SRS]), 39. Strahinja Nanusevski (Liria Prizren)

by **Bollonich** » Tue May 25, 2021 8:17 am

Vreton City Journal

Match Review

Bollonich 1 - 2 Tequilo

We were high on confidence, coming up against Tequilo at Vreton in the John Lennon Stadium. We had won 4 back to back games including those against Zwangzug, Rangers FC, Al Qurija and even Sannyamathland. Sitting at third place, it would be integral for us to win if we were to keep our position at the top half of the table. However getting points would be difficult for us as we were coming up against a strong side in Tequilo who were in 2nd place with 20 points. Our last meeting against them hadn’t been very merry for us either as we lost by one goal. This time however we were more prepared, we had 5 wins under our belt and much more experience and with that the ability to handle pressure. This game was turning out to be a good one with both teams having a lot to fight for. Gildiric, opted for the same line up that won the match against Sannyamathland making no changes whatsoever. The game begun and Tequilo instantly took were on front foot, as the Bollonischians seemed tired. Tequilo took advantage of the condition of the Bollonischians, and went on attack after another. It was the 8th minute when the ball landed at the feet of Vilca the captain, who played a brilliant cross field ball to Bailén who after dribbling past Burns, put in a low cross which was tapped towards the goal from the near post by Ecuador but luckily for the Tigers Sirigu managed to save this shot. It was the 21st minute and Bailén had broken through, and was nearly in on goal. Ploy was the last defender to stop him, and was unable to as Bailén silkily dribbled past him. Worried that Tequilo might score Ploy brought Bailén down, however the referee was having none of it, immediately offering Tequilo a penalty. Pinto who went ahead to shoot was slowly brought back as Vilca offered the ball to Bailén, and a chance to put Tequilo ahead which is exactly what he did. Ploy was also sent off owing to his physical and blatant sloppy tackle. Tequilo had pulled ahead leaving the match and the table firmly in their favour. The rest of the first half didn’t showcase any more major chances as the players from Tequilo closed down looking not to concede any more goals in the first half. Visible tiredness could be seen in the Bollonischian players, especially in the defence a department that hadn’t received much rest. Owing to this Gildiric made a number of substitutions at the halfway mark. Klingto was brought on in place of Marshall, with Ed Douglas being brought on for Hum and Cummings for Moreno. The Bollonischian Tigers which had struggled for most of the first half looked revitalised and fresh owing to the substitutions. The team put in multiple attacks with Perry and Cummings getting close multiple times however without scoring. It was the 60th minute when a pass from Klingto reached the feet of Ed Douglas, passed it wide to Schmit. Schmit put a cross in the middle of the box with both Perry and Cummings arriving. Perry met the ball at the near post and headed it towards the goal, however to his dismay the ball came off the cross bar falling straight onto the head of Cummings who easily headed it in, and just like that Bollonich were back into the game. It was important for the players to try to get a draw or even aim for the win. Tequilo worried that dropping points at Bollonich would spoil their qualification hopes went on an all out attack, even bringing on Çenturion in place of Ixtub. Their all out attack was however also countered by Bollonich’s strong defence. However the red card soon came back to haunt the Tigers, as the on coming counter attack from Tequilo outnumbered the defensive players of Bollonich, with at the end of it Ecuador scoring with a simple tap on the ball. This goal in the 94th minute into stoppage time was the last kick of the game. Bollonich had lost, and this had pushed us down to 6th position. This defeat could be blamed on Gildiric as the players seemed exhausted after the long club season and international’s games they had, however it will be interesting to see how the Tigers perform away from home at Sylestone.

Match Events

Bollonich                        Tequilo
22’ Ploy ▪︎                       22’ GOAL - Bailén (P)
45’ Klingto ▲ Marshall ▼        45’ Xaime Medal ▲ Bailén ▼
45’ Ed Douglas ▲ Hum ▼          73’ Çenturion ▲ Ixtub ▼
45’ Cummings ▲ Buck Moreno ▼    90+4’ GOAL - Ecuador (Vilca)
60’ GOAL - Cummings

by **The Licentian Isles** » Tue May 25, 2021 8:34 am

I was in a strange situation after our encounter on the Licentian Channel. The Professor had mentioned that there might be people within Tequilo, her homeland, that knew something about the land of Wight and whether it might have returned. She wasn’t very clear about who they were, though I do recall at one point she described them as “the Narrative Agents”. That seemed like a rather odd name, but I was learning not to question things too much when it came to what this was becoming.

I realised that this was turning into a sort of adventure that really didn’t seem to fit with the fact that I was also mourning that the Isles had gone missing. It felt wrong to be slightly excited by the fact that I was travelling to this new, strange land that I had barely heard of before, never mind considered visiting. I couldn’t help it though. When I was younger, my family barely left Abingdon Parish, never mind the Isles. It was part of the reason I had moved to Apox: an escape to somewhere new and fresh and exciting.

So, that’s what we did, we made our way to the land of Tequilo. I had assumed that we would fly to Tequilo, but it seemed as if the Captain had other plans. We would simply set off in the direction of Tequilo on “the Tam”, as he called it. Again, I found myself suspending my disbelief as he suggested this: his creaking boat barely seemed like it could circumnavigate the Isles. However, it, and he, had already proven me wrong, so I just stayed quiet, and prepared myself for another strange journey.

I overheard the tail end of a conversation between the Professor and the Captain as they prepared the vessel.

“I know where I’m going Professor, don’t worry,” said the Captain.

“Oh, so you know that Tequilo borders Krytenia now then?” The Professor raised an eyebrow as she asked this question.

“Oh, sure I did!” I was not convinced, and I was even less convinced as he began to adjust knobs and dials at the helm of the ship.

Something about what she had said had caught my eye though. I walked closer to query what she’d just said.

“Professor, did I hear you say that Tequilo now borders Krytenia?” I scratched my head a little, trying to understand the concept. “Does that mean it didn’t before, and it’s just… moved?”

“Yes, precisely that.” I couldn’t tell if her short response was indicative of me asking an obvious question, or of her not being in the mood for a conversation.

“So, nations can move then? Does it just happen at the blink of an eye?”

As a result, I found myself sitting there, on the deck of the Tam o’Chanser, as the Professor described to me the experience of a border command post in Tequilo that had been enveloped by a pale blue fog, before suddenly seeing Krytenia, where previously there wasn’t Krytenia. While this scenario seemed weird and terrifying enough on its own merit, it set my mind thinking about whether the two situations were linked in some way.

“It has caused quite a stir, as far as I can see. Plenty of nations unhappy about this, it’s kind of overshadowed the qualifying for the World Cup in Cassadaigua and Chromatika for people.” Her statement snapped me back to reality. I didn’t realise that the World Cup was being hosted in those nations: in fact, I wasn’t even sure I’d heard of Chromatika before.

“This might be a weird question, but which World Cup is this that they’re qualifying for?” I wasn’t sure if I was going down the wrong track, but after all of our discussions, my mind was beginning to come to the strangest conclusions.

“Why, World Cup 88 of course.” The Professor stated this as if it was obvious, but it wasn’t to me.

“Well that’s very strange Professor,” I said, scratching my head, “because as far as I’m aware, the 69th World Cup only just finished.”

by **PotatoFarmers** » Tue May 25, 2021 8:43 am

Exclusive Interview with Katiri Hedge, Assistant Manager of Poafmersia National Team
Reporter: Thank you Mr. Hedge for agreeing to this interview with the PFBC.
Katiri Hedge: Thanks! By the way, we can just cut the formalities. Personally, I don't really mind if you call me by my first name, Katiri.
Reporter: Understood Katiri! Let us start by talking about the team's progress over the past 13 games. It has been a tedious campaign thus far, and yet Poafmersia is currently sitting at 30 points, 1 behind top seeds Audioslavia. How do you view the performance thus far?
Katiri: To be honest with you, there were some highs and lows, but considering that we have been taking this time to try new players, new strategies, seeing how do we utilise the fresher crop of players, I believe that the results have been decent. Not perfect, but the results has been quite solid.
Reporter: How so?
Katiri: The group isn't the easiest of groups, no matter how much you believe in the Red Panjias' abilities. Sure, Audioslavia is one of the lowest ranked top seeds, and is one of those teams we are particularly familar with, since our encounters in 86 and the group stage meeting in the proper last cycle. But you look at the remaining teams. Græntfjall. Zeta Reka and Hügeltaldom. Sharktail. Murphatannia. Ziwana. All these teams are well capable of producing fantastic results. We drew Sharktail at home, Ziwana at home and Murphatannia away.
Reporter: But it wasn't that the team didn't do well? We just got another valuable 3 points away at Græntfjall and now hold a 7 point lead over them.
Katiri: Yes we did, but don't forget, Græntfjall themselves lost away at Sharktail, to allow us to pull away with 7 points. Away at Græntfjall, it was particularly difficult game, with the climate and all, but the players perservered and put in their one hundred percent in the game. Aleka Dufour opened, and Makana Tuft had a penalty. But Græntfjall were threatening to equalise after sniping a goal in the 55th minute, and until Mitchel Rosales scored the winner in the 82nd minute, Græntfjall was threatening to steal a point. I still remember how at the final whistle, everyone was heaving a sigh of relief. I did, Adnan (Suliaha) did. For the last 20 minutes or so we were telling Haodao that he needed to go and save the team, but then the corner was enough. Absolutely nice corner taken by Natalia (Abbott), and the way Rosales just heads it in without hesitation - the newer players are pretty solid at these set pieces now, and that is what saving us at the important times.
Reporter: Of course, that game was particularly beautiful to watch. But were there other games where you felt the team was lacking something?
Katiri: The game against Ziwana in matchday 6 was particularly awkward for the team. Aleka opened the scoring in the 17th minute, but by the 37th minute, Poafmersia was 2-1 down. And if not for Miachel Jackson's perfect calculation of the angle to curve the ball, Makana Tuft would probably not have beaten the defender to the ball, and we could very well enter the second half 1 goal down. But we didn't. The home side took only 15 minutes after the break to break us again, and until Aleka scored the equaliser in the 78th minute, the game didn't look like a winnable match. That game was particularly disapointing, in my opinion.
Reporter: We have always been talking about the games thus far, but has there ever been consideration of a target for the team?
Katiri: Well the target is to win the remaining 5 games, grab 45 points, hopefully overhaul Audioslavia, but we believe 45 is enough to get an automatic qualification.
Reporter: But you said that previously, there were games that you found to be tricky games?
Katiri: Yes of course, trips to Sharktail, Ziwana, home games against Zeta Reka and Murphtannia. 4 really tricky but winnable games.
Reporter: How many points do you think is enough to gain an automatic qualification spot?
Katiri: It is very difficult to tell just how much points is enough. In 86, which also had 18 groups of 10, 39 was enough to avoid playoffs. In 87, which had 19 groups of 10, you needed 42 to be top 6. Who knows, maybe we need all 15 remaining points. But the games won't be easy. There are teams out there who are trying to play party poppers. There are teams out there who are trying to bring home a good result. It is tough.
Reporter: But is the team confident of reaching that target?
Katiri: Yeah of course. The younger players have been really shining when placed under the limelight, the experienced players have been doing a good job, and I believe the team has the ability to win it all.
Reporter: Any names you had in mind when you are talking about the newer players?
Katiri: Michael Jackson has been brilliant thus far. The friendlies till now, he has greatly taken over the position of Daas Taisg. Though he still needs more experience and gain a bit of maturity, his potential is clearly there. Min Berg is another one that has been shining as a holding defender, having been able to recognise where the important spots are, and how to set up choke points. She still has much to learn, but we are getting there.
Reporter: I think that is a pretty good roundup to the interview. Thank you, and hopefully all our viewers will be able to join us for tomorrow's home game against Zeta Reka and Zeta Reka and Hügeltaldom!
Katiri: Thank you for having me here.

Græntfjall 1–3 Poafmersia
Poafmersia Scorers: Aleka Dufour 29'; Makana Tuft 43' (pen.), Mitchel Rosales 82'
Poafmersia Lineup: Sandi Jaliaha; Ariel Casey, Mitchel Rosales, Simone Gori, Natalia Abbott; Min Berg; Dargis Walshor, Withney Rios; Gisiik Moonar; Aleka Dufour, Makana Tuft (c)
Substitutes: Woden Sweet (Berg 55'), Iulianus Innocenti (Dufour 71')

Galeanna 1–2 Poafmersia
Poafmersia Scorers: Makana Tuft 17' (assisted by Dargis Walshor); Pete Carisa 90+1'
Poafmersia Lineup: Suzanne Trengove; Alex Hoboson, Simone Gori, Hollis Stephenson; Dargis Walshor, Michael Jackson, Min Berg, Vasilis Villaverde; Jordan Huerta, Makana Tuft (c), Iulianus Innocenti
Substitutes: Monesty Erdos (Villaverde 68'), Mitchel Rosales (Hoboson 78'), Pete Carisa (Innocenti 84')

by **TJUN-ia** » Tue May 25, 2021 9:12 am

After a shock upset and a 9 goal thriller kicked off the 2nd half of WC88 Qualifying, the Jaguars of TJUN-ia were still in 2nd place despite the 3 setbacks it has experienced so far during the campaign. Despite these issues, the Co-Managers of TJUN-ian Football have pressed on in their charge for a spot with the big boys in the sport and while the next two games were against relative minnows in the sport, every game is now important on the road towards our future.

Up first was a return to the CEA as Tiankong Stadium hosted the group's bottom side in the form of a 2-win Shreekaristan, a team we beat 5-3 on the road on MD3. LIke Malandrin before them, Shreekaristan had clearly learnt from their defensive mistakes from the previous game and so, the game here in Tiankong would turn into another defensive slugfest. Unlike that game, however, TJUN-ia would turn out to be the victors thanks to a 56th-minute header by Joe Green to take another win in a race that was hotting up by the game. With chasers Oberour Ar Moro losing to Srednjaci at home and leaders Banija drawing in Ibixa, TJUN-ia left the CEA 3 points back on the lead and 6 clear of the rest, a great position to be in this deep into the campaign.

Up next was another chance for this team to get some much-needed revenge as we headed out to the Blue Oyster National Stadium in Katanija to take on Srednjaci, who won 3-2 in Senzsky on MD4. The hosts would take the lead through Isidor Matković in the 23rd minute to the roar of the crowd, but TJUN-ia would certainly fight back across the rest of the game. Kepo Ulawaya would equalise in the 44th make things level before the break and then he would take the initiative straight after as well, shooting past Jure Iveša in the 47th to make it 2-1 to the visitors. Li Peng would get another equaliser in the 54th and TJUN-ia would press to try and claw the points back come what may...and they did that in the 88th, substitute Archer Andrews getting the winner despite the best efforts of Li Weng in stoppage time.

With 5 games to go, TJUN-ia's position in this process is actually quite good and may actually see us advance to the finals without winning the group after all. But the next two games on the calendar - Bongo Johnson in Tiankong and the undefeated Banija in Hoima - are arguably two of the biggest games of the entire group stage so far as no one in this group can be taken for granted this late in the game. Four teams are already down in this fight, but TJUN-ia and their Co-Mangers will certainly hope not to be part of the pile once this process finally ends. GO JAGS!

SCHEDULE (Group 13)
MD1: vs Malandrin (UR) - National Stadium, TJUN-ia City W 6-4 (T-3rd)
----------------------BOOT IT!----------------------
MD2: vs Euran Oceania Territories (86) - National Stadium, TJUN-ia City W 2-1 (3rd)
MD3: @Shreekaristan (354) W 5-3 (2nd)
----------------------BOOT IT!----------------------
MD4: vs Srednjaci (253) - Beregozera Stadium, Szensky L 2-3 (3rd)
MD5: @Bongo Johnson (139) - Murbley Coliseum, Bongo Johnson? W 1-0 (1st)
----------------------BOOT IT!----------------------
MD6: vs Banija (6) - Beregozera Stadium, Szensky L 2-3 (4th)
MD7: @Ibixa (173) W 3-2 (2nd)
----------------------BOOT IT!----------------------
MD8: vs Astograth (24) - Tiankong Stadium, Tiankong W 3-2 (2nd)
MD9: @Oberour Ar Moro (82) - Parade Grounds, Regium W 3-1 (2nd/6W-0D-2L/18pts/+8GD)
----------------------BOOT IT!----------------------
MD10: @Malandrin (UR) L 0-1 (2nd)
MD11: @Euran Oceania Territories (86) - Flynn Arena, Fligsive W 5-4 (2nd)
----------------------BOOT IT!----------------------
MD12: vs Shreekaristan (354) - Tiankong Stadium, Tiankong W 1-0 (2nd)
MD13: @Srednjaci (253) - Blue Oyster National Stadium, Katanija W 3-2 (2nd)
----------------------BOOT IT!----------------------
MD14: vs Bongo Johnson (139) - Tiankong Stadium, Tiankong
MD15: @Banija (6) - Mavuto Field, Hoima
----------------------BOOT IT!----------------------
MD16: vs Ibixa (173) - Beregozera Stadium, Szensky
MD17: @Astograth (24)
----------------------BOOT IT!----------------------
MD18: vs Oberour Ar Moro (82) - National Stadium, TJUN-ia City

by **South Newlandia** » Tue May 25, 2021 9:38 am

NEWS

**Even better test scores by students "A good sign for South Newlandia", Wu says**
**Upcoming match against Ranoria will be 100th WCC match in South Newlandian history**
**Can Lions win the SNSL again? Probably**
**Straton summit "A massive siccess for South Newlandia and Esportiva"**
**South Newlandia will have to save in the next few years, according to Wise**

The South Newlandian football association has held a fan poll where fans could vote on their favourite South Newlandian football star. Unfortunately, a computer error wiped out the final results. People are scrambling to put together the results from the limited information they remember. Can you help them find out who placed where? They were also supposed to remind one of the players to update his Owlephant-permit – but which of the players? Find out the places, the names of the players, where those players play domestically, against what teams the players scored their best goal of the campaign so far, how they scored it, and what animal they own. Good luck.
[Try not to cheat by looking at my roster! You’re smarter than that!]

Clues:
1. The player that scored with his right foot from outside the penalty box and the man that scored against Eura placed next to each other.
2. The man that scored with his knee owns a fish named "Horsey"
3. The man that scored with his right foot from outside the penalty box placed next to player that owns a cat.
4. The player with the dog placed next to the person that scored via penalty.
5. The winner of the contest plays for Barnley FC.
6. Finnley Wallis scored his goal against Ranoria.
7. The player that earns his money with the Taeshan City Miners scored with a header.
8. Someone scored with a light tap-in against Muralos.
9. Brandon Irving scored his goal on a penalty.
10. The goal scored against Sahuarita placed 3rd.
11. The man playing in Kohnhead placed next to Patrick McMora.
12. The man that scored against Xanneria plays for the Walstreim Lions.
13. Typing the country Simon McCabe earns his money in correctly requires a degree in computer science.
14. The four players that earn their money abroad play in Kohnhead, Græntfjall, Taeshan and Murphtannia.
15. Finnley Wallis placed directly ahead of Sean Wu in the standings.
16. The player that owns a rabbit plays for a team that sounds like it's from RLstates.

NEWS

**Southwestern Baselanders officially sold, to become Malidridad Mariners**
**Innocent women from Ratzupalfu: “I was attacked by an Owlephant and nearly died”**
**Man arrested for “cruel and difficult” riddle**
**South Newlandia with Rigby – Roy, Gurero, Wu, Barker – Mohamed, Green, McMora, Wallis – Irving, McCabe for next games**
**How to tell ursines from bears – a survival guide**

by **Graintfjall** » Tue May 25, 2021 10:45 am

Græntfjall – 1 (0)
B. Ernestisson; Lúthersdóttir (55’) (73’), T. Ernestisson, Reynarsson, Vilbertsdóttir; Jvarsson, Ásvaldursson (77’ Guðmannsson ); Harrysson, Guttisdóttir (77’ Hólmarsdóttir ), Kristoffersdóttir (45’ Jonathansdóttir (90+2’)); Þórhallursson (40’)

Poafmersia – 3 (2)
Dufour (8’), Tuft (22’ pen.), Rosales (82’)

Sharktail – 3 (1)
Rawilson (39’), Badrol (59’), Badhri (74’)

Græntfjall – 2 (0)
B. Ernestisson; Lúthersdóttir, Kristersson, Reynarsson, Vilbertsdóttir; Jvarsson, Bjørnsson (81’ Álvgeirsdóttir (85’)); Harrysson (74’ T. Ernestisson ), Guttisdóttir, Hólmarsdóttir (74’ Kristoffersdóttir ); Guðmannsson (55’)

The Snow Wolves’ World Cup qualification hopes were virtually dashed in a brutal set of losses, capitulating at home to Poafmersia and then taking the losing show on the road to Sharktail. Neither match contained controversial refereeing decisions or moments of ill luck: they were simply outplayed across 180 minutes, their first string defense unable to stop six goals peppering Björnólfur Ernestisson’s net. Not for the first time, there was a rush of blood to the head from Jason Þórhallursson (his elbow inducing rush of blood from the head of Ftiks Wariq); his suspension will continue through the first of the matches that could see the Snow Wolves eliminated from contention altogether.

23 player squad for MD14 (expected starters in bold): B. Ernestisson, Jorgesson, Hárlaugsdóttir; Lúthersdóttir, T. Ernestisson, Kristersson, Markusson, Björnsdóttir, Thorleifsson, Jokulsson, R. Rögnvaldursson; Álvgeirsdóttir, Jvarsson (c), Guttisdóttir, Bjørnsson, Miansdóttir, Kristoffersdóttir; Mensdóttir, Heikkisdóttir; Bergmundursson, L. Rögnvaldursson, Jonathansdóttir, Guðmannsson

23 player squad for MD15: Reynarsson, Vilbertsdóttir, Þórhallursson replace Jokulsson, R. Rögnvaldursson, Guðmannsson

Posted on the Græntfjaller political news blog ElectionBONK.

All the news that’s fit to BONK
The Best Disinfectant: Could Sunshine Explain Left-slate Polling Surge?

ElectionBONK

* Græntfjallers rarely eat egg for breakfast.
** They do however love to slather unicorn semen on some freshly buttered bread for breakfast. Yum!

PHORCED-ACRONIM #014

The stress of a long campaign is taking its toll on the leaders, with some strange comments…

0: “Greetings, my friend. You are interested in the unknown, the mysterious, unexplainable. That is why you are here. And now, for the first time, we are bringing you the full story of what happened. We are giving you all the evidence, based only on the secret testimony of the miserable souls who survived this terrifying ordeal. The incidents, the places. My friend, we cannot keep this a secret any longer. Can your heart stand the shocking facts of the true story…?”
1: “I’m running this monkey farm now Frankenstein, and I wanna know what the fuck you’re doin’ with my time!”
2: “Kill everyone now! Condone first degree murder! Advocate cannibalism! Eat shit! Filth is my politics! Filth is my life!”
3: “I can no longer sit back and allow Communist infiltration, Communist indoctrination, Communist subversion, and the international Communist conspiracy to sap and impurify all of our precious bodily fluids.”
4: “Dog carcass in alley this morning, tire tread on burst stomach. This city’s afraid of me. I have seen its true face. The streets are extended gutters and the gutters are full of blood and when the drains finally scab over, all the vermin will drown. The accumulated filth of all their sex and murder will foam up about their waists and all the whores and politicians will look up and shout: ‘Save us!’ – and I’ll whisper ‘no’. Now the whole world stands on the brink, staring down into bloody hell. All those liberals and intellectuals and smooth talkers – and all of a sudden, nobody can think of anything to say. Beneath me, this awful city. It screams like an abattoir full of children, and the night reeks of fornication and bad consciences.”
5+: “The path of the righteous man is beset on all sides by the inequities of the selfish and the tyranny of evil men. Blessed is he who, in the name of charity and good will, shepherds the weak through the valley of darkness, for he is truly his brother’s keeper and the finder of lost children. And I will strike down upon thee with great vengeance and furious anger those who attempt to poison and destroy My brothers. And you will know My name is the Lord when I lay My vengeance upon thee!”

…which aides swiftly blame on…

0: a deep-fake
1: poisoning
2: heat stroke from the unseasonably hot weather
3: being “tired and emotional”
4: psychic weapons
5+: a sincere expression of their actual beliefs

PHORCED-ACRONIM #015

There’s embarrassment for another leader when they forget…

0: which football team they support
1: to pay for a beer at a photo-op
2: their child
3: their ID card
4: how much their biggest policy promise costs
5+: how to eat a bacon sandwich

…a situation aides scramble to ameliorate by…

0: immediately changing party policy
1: having the leader deliver a heartfelt speech while holding a small dog called Checkers
2: limiting the leader’s appearances from now on and having the deputy leader take greater prominence in campaigning
3: arranging another event, which unfortunately manages to go even worse
4: physically attacking the journalists trying to report on the incident
5+: shouting “Look! A kraken!” and then running away

by **Flavovespia** » Tue May 25, 2021 10:59 am

Outer Waldster

Overview

Outside of the capital lies the region of Outer Waldster. Unlike some of the new regions created under the devolution system, Outer Waldster was already one with a fairly distinct identity and connection. Originally it comprised of 4 city-regions, Galling, Stanmorn, Towerhaite and Vale. Vale has since seen Radstye be granted municipality status in it’s own right, but the 4 aforementioned city-regions join Radstye as the 5 municipalities of Outer Waldster. Other areas over time have been considered to join Outer Waldster, including Loxthorpe, Lunselbury and Henhaven Island, although the only area that came loser than just a theoretical idea is Cartswood. However it didn’t happen, and thus Outer Waldster contains only it’s historic areas. Although close to Waldster, and with a strong affinity for the capital and Greater Waldster, local identity is strong, and citizens of Outer Waldster don’t like to be thought of as Waldsterians.

Municipalities

Galling Code: GA Population: 350’886 Land Area (sqkm): 378 Population Density (pop/sqkm): 928
Radstye Code: RA Population: 109’023 Land Area (sqkm): 174 Population Density (pop/sqkm): 627
Stanmorn Code: ST Population: 306’697 Land Area (sqkm): 307 Population Density (pop/sqkm): 999
Towerhaite Code: TO Population: 360’160 Land Area (sqkm): 733 Population Density (pop/sqkm): 491
Vale Code: VA Population: 216’577 Land Area (sqkm): 370 Population Density (pop/sqkm): 585

Geography

Outer Waldster is a relatively flat part of Flavovespia, with only the southern tip of the Tors reaching into Towerhaite. Within Towerhaite is the source of the River Wald, flowing to the sea via Galling and Waldster. Whilst Radstye, Vale and Stanmorn are all on the coast, it’s only Radstye with any particularly tries to be a seaside town, rather than a settlement that just happens to be on the coast. High rates of urbanisation and previously agricultural development means little of Outer Waldster is woodland, and it’s fairly hard pressed to find any rural areas in the region.

Transport

Outer Waldster has 4 motorways running through it. The M1 heading west, cuts through every municipality except Stanmorn. The M3 shoots north to Hadford Hill, running through Galling and Towerhaite. The M4 on the East Coast briefly enters Galling before passing through Stanmorn. The M14 runs between Vale and Stanmorn, via Galling and Towerhaite, and it’s sometimes known as the “Outer Waldster motorway”. Rail links are plentiful as well. The South Coast railway goes through Vale and Radstye, and the East Coast Railway through Stanmorn. The Waldster Loop connects all the municipalities except Radstye to the capital, in a circular railway. Buses between the 5 municipalities are also plentiful in nature, including a few guided busways, however they are not yet necessarily the most popular form of transport. Plans to add the Outer Waldster areas to the Waldster Underground, or to build a tram network have been proposed, but nothing has come of it.

Economy

Outer Waldster was historically one of the industrial powerhouses of the nation. From coal mines, to metalworking, to finished products, a lot was produced in Outer Waldster, and exported across the nation and later on beyond. However many of the factories struggled to survive, especially under the pressure of past right-wing governments to migrate to a services economy. Nowadays the industries that adapted, especially to greener technology, still go strong in Outer Waldster, but it isn’t as focused on industrial output as before. Levels of deprivation were historically high, in particular in Galling and Stanmorn. Towerhaite and to an extent Vale, were seen as the slightly more affluent of the Outer Waldster areas. Things however have improved in the last few decades, thanks to good connections to Waldster, East Coast and Lunselbury, the Outer Waldster region becoming a popular home for commuters who find the big cities unaffordable or stifling.

Politics

Thanks to the fall in industry caused by past right-wing governments, it’s no surprise the Socialists do well in Outer Waldster. Often it was even more “red” than Waldster itself. High republicanism sentiment also means limited room for the anti-republicanism parties to grow in Outer Waldster. For a while the Alliance Party, and other parties further to the left of the Socialists were competitive in Outer Waldster. However in the modern day, the Greens and Flavovespia Forward battle out to largely be “best of the rest”. Even the Democratic Conservatives are slowly hoping to repair decades of resentment.

by **Starblaydia** » Tue May 25, 2021 11:10 am

"Traitor."

Lady-Protector Korra Starblayde narrowed her eyes, staring deeply at the paper held tightly in her iron grip. Her dark brown eyes, usually so calm and fixed on the world around them, darted across the information in front of her as she wracked her not-inconsiderable intellect to make sense of what she was being presented with. Sitting in the vintage, high-backed leather chair with its button tufting along the arms and backrest, the material creaked ever so slightly as she shifted her position, sliding her long and shapely lower limbs off the armrest, dainty feet planting themselves delicately on the floor. The light from her desk lamp illuminated the dark room sharply, as the night time rain patted gently against the triple-reinforced bulletproof glass of her window, running down the panes in small rivulets, highlighted by the lights outside the Praetorian's official residence. The pencil she had tied up her flowing dark locks with stuck out of the back of her bun at an awkward angle, and she reached up to slide it out. With the scaffolding undone, her hair unfurled to cover the back of her neck, delicate strands brushing against soft skin and framing her youthful face. She softly placed the end of it against her lips, instinctively pushing her bottom lip aside and grasping the painted wood it gently in her teeth. Korra frowned again, as the merest hint of a line formed on her brow.

"Lèse-majesté." she said finally, repeating the words she had said only moments before, "Fifteen across. Seven letters. Begins with 'T-R'. Not traitor."

"How about Treason?" her partner, still hidden in shadow across the room, spoke softly, but he commanded the attention of the otherwise empty space.

"Oh, that's perfect," Korra confirmed, her pencil scratching at the newspaper's low-quality material, barely more than pulp these days, "matches up with eleven down, Backstab."

"What an entirely beastly set of puzzle clues, this is," Tororin Halatyrion said, not moving from couch where he reclined on his back, the light of the desk lamp barely reaching his shoulder, but still managing to bring an ethereal glow to his long silver-blond hair that was draped artfully over his clavicle and down the front of his black shirt.

"I did warn you," Korra let the newspaper hang low to the ground as she looked at the President of the Starblaydi Football Association, seeing him from head to toe in perfect detail, despite the lack of light in the room. "This is a special crossword, where every answer is one of the soundbytes from the nations we left behind. Nothing quite like attacking a Starblaydi with fancy words to get their back up."

"Some things never change," Tororin confirmed, "although most people know better than to try. Aren't you supposed to be, you know, governing?"

"Aren't you supposed to be," she fired back at him while reading the next clue, "you know, qualifying?"

The silence hung between them like the space between the tips of two epees. One of them was in charge of organising one of the best national football teams in existence, both currently and historically. His administration commanded near-absolute power over what went on within the game inside its borders. Other than the poetic turn of pitch-and-toss that happens once the players themselves cross the whitewashed touchline, Tororin Halatyrion, World Cup Champion, World Cup Hall of Famer and former President of the World Cup Committee itself, was in charge of it. He appointed Ázëwyn Fëanáro to the position of manager forty years earlier and had therefore overseen Starblaydia's return from the wilderness, one which had included a World Cup Final and being crowned champions of Atlantian Oceania for a seventh time. The other was one of the most powerful individuals in this - or any other - region. Commander-in-Chief and absolute ruler of one of the largest, oldest and economically strong countries, her every whim rubber-stamped by a legislative body made up entirely of planted agents, all dancing to the tune of the state in front of the people in one hugely expensive cavalcade and facade of democracy. Each of them had an inordinate level of control over their respective fields, but were finding that they had less than zero control when it came to events playing out, no matter how hard they tried. Plenty around the world would be happy if they failed.

Concerning qualification, the Starblaydia national football team was entirely failing to put any real distance between themselves, a top-ten side, and the rest of the chasing pack aiming to qualify from Group 11 and make it to the 88th World Cup. Two losses and two draws along the way, including only managing to take one point from six against the unranked side Wight, had left them precariously holding on to top spot solely by the virtue of goal difference, over 61st-ranked Kohnhead. It was not lost on Tororin Halatyrion that Starblaydia itself had once made the World Cup Final from a similar position in the rankings, seemingly without trying too hard. Not only were Kohnhead right behind, but the real threat of 27th-ranked Tikariot was just a point behind. They were one of those fresh-to-the-scene teams who had rocketed up the international rankings faster than almost anyone could have imagined, and this time Starblaydia's spot as 8th in the world was now seriously under threat from this side and their ridiculous, childish clapping. At least the Raiigar had a song to go along with it, as stupid as that piece of faux historical trash was, it was at least slightly creative. Any slip-ups in the last five matches, including ones against Tikariot and Kohnhead, could genuinely see Starblaydia needing to rely on the generosity of the Cup of Harmony, something they'd not needed in nearly a century across some eighteen cycles of the WCC's quadrennial calendar. It would be terrible for their world ranking if they failed to qualify and, what's more, intensely embarrassing for the SFA. Embarrassing enough, perhaps, for calls to sack him, or Fëanáro, from their positions. He would make sure it was not he who faced the headsman's axe, if it came to it.

In terms of governing, Lady-Protector Korra Starblayde had - out of the blue, as far as international observers were concerned - signed a secret document to officially remove Starblaydia from the political and geographic entity of Atlantian Oceania. The most famous of regions, with the longest history. Outright victors of all sports, now and forever. Why leave such a strong team, they would constantly ask, removing the nation from amongst such history, power and legacy. Why did they not ask about the reasons for removing themselves from the rusting chains of AORDO, where military leaders from across the region would meet to shake hands and polish their medals, congratulating themselves on how powerful they all were. Why continue to couch everything in terms of North-East and South-West, two sides of the same coin that rarely saw eye to eye, but had to balance upon a knife-edge between them. What about change and growth, because treading water is as good as drowning. Why be content with resting on dusty foundations so far back in the past their marks can barely be read, when you could build and thrive with something fresh and new. More nations had fallen than even Korra and her long memory could recall. Every one of Starblaydia's partners in the Strategic Alliance of Autocratic States had fallen: Abbatoir where the Lavingrad Pact had been signed, Xile, Hypocria and Footballia. Hers was the only one left. From their enemies, Lamoni had long ago declared itself extraneous to AO and part of Greater Dienstad, where they had prospered far beyond the imaginings of even the wildest of dreamers. Half of the Strategic Defense League had vanished from the pages of history, too: The Lowland Clans, Nedalia, Khazaron, Bazalonia and Milchama no longer saw their flags fly proudly over the AO regional council building in Wapakoneta. New ones had risen to take their place, of course, but in olden days Starblaydia's had flown highest, and proudest. 'Mightier-than-thou', they had called the Starblaydi government's attitude, but they no longer strut across the regional stage like they owned it. Here, in Anaia, was a new stage to own, but old things have to be torn down before they can be rebuilt stronger.

"Eleven down," Korra said, eventually, "Ripped in twain, eight letters. Second one is a 'U'."

"Sundered."

by **Sarzonia** » Tue May 25, 2021 12:56 pm

Col. Marcia Weston had spent the better part of the day in a Zoom conference with her superiors in Sarzonia's AORDO command and missed the departure of Krytenian military assets from the airport in Wilmington.

She watched the footage on the local television broadcast. She drew in her breath slowly and exhaled, staring down into the mug of decaffeinated tea she'd made for herself. It had been a long day and she wanted to drink something that would help her unwind. She hated coffee, and wouldn't have wanted to spend extra on the Squornshelan product that she used to buy whenever she had guests who wanted to drink coffee. She saw the signs, the faces contorted in anger, heard the shouts. "Go home, Kryties!" "Bloody traitors!" and those were just the ones the local station saw fit to broadcast.

If she'd somehow accompanied the Krytenian forces and Col. Nathaniel Abraham to the airport, she would have looked with disappointment at the shouting from the Wilmingtonian populace. They weren't known for their nationalist zeal. In fact, they were usually fairly welcoming to Krytenia. In fact, there was a small neighbourhood a few blocks from the airport that included a number of ex-pats who'd made their home in Sarzonia. She was friendly with Col. Abraham, to the point where they each occasionally stopped by the other's residence for tea and commiseration about various complaints about recruits or drill sergeants who didn't exactly endear themselves to their higher-ups. And they occasionally talked footie, including Sarzonia's current struggles in the World Cup.

But to see a population that had previously welcomed Krytenians, be they soldiers or civilians with open arms now viciously turn their backs on what had been a rewarding relationship was a blow Col. Weston felt unprepared for. She saw a text message from fellow Col. Julian Westmoreland, whom she knew was her counterpart in Hastings, which housed the similar Sarzonian contingent as it was preparing to leave Krytenian soil to return to Wilmington. It asked her to contact him via Zoom.

"I'm Zoom-fatigued," she texted back. "I've been in meetings all day on Zoom."

"I understand, but I really need to talk to you," Westmoreland texted back. She rolled her eyes, then fired up her Zoom.

"Listen, Colonel, we're about to board the plane to fly back," he said, not even waiting for pleasantries or small talk about the weather or about World Cup qualifying. "We've seen a few Krytenians with signs, but just some looks of sadness out here. Am I understanding correctly that Wilmingtonians were protesting?"

"Yes, Colonel," she said. "A lot of shouting and screaming and fists in the air. It's rather unfortunate."

"Yeah, we've been lucky here. There's a split in sentiment here about the region, but most of the people I've talked to are rather upset about the state of Krytie-Sarzonian relations. A few ex-pats from Sarzonia apparently gave some longtime friends the cold shoulder at a recent party I attended here."

"That's a shame. I really wish our government weren't so aggressive about pushing these countries away."

After the conversation, Weston picked up the saucer containing her tea. It had now grown cold. She sighed. That wasn't even the biggest disappointment on this day.

**************************************************************

Sitting in their office with Senior Vice President and External Affairs Officer Bryan Conway across from them, Deputy Senior Vice President Tam Carter reviewed the report from Maj. Gen. Eric Yancey. They nodded their head and said matter-of-factly, "Our AORDO Central Command reports that all Anaian forces save the Krytenian embassy compound military police have departed Sarzonia and are now either home or are en route."

Conway smiled. "Thank you, Tam. Nice work."

"There is one other thing I wanted to talk to you about, Mr. Senior Vice President," Carter said.

"Sure, Tam. What is it?"

Carter drew in their breath and exhaled.

"You don't think we're being a little bit too ... hasty with all this? I mean, we haven't even heard anything from Catherina about their plans and we're pursuing a foreign policy that's two wrong steps away from outright war."

Conway's smile quickly melted away and be began to feel the heat of anger build up for a moment, but then he realised: They're right. Sarzonia has been rattling its sabre aggressively. Granted, most of the hostility has been purple-hued, but even Audioslavs, whose relationship with Woodstock was hardly as deeply entrenched as either Jhanna or Emberton, were finding themselves on the wrong end of a drawn Sarzonian sword.

"We've already sent word to task forces Whiskey, Alpha, Tango, and Foxtrot to remain in international waters and not encroach upon any Anaian nation's territorial waters," Conway said. "Our Navy remains among the best-trained military forces in the entire multiverse. I doubt very many nations want to even consider facing off against the ISN."

Carter nodded in agreement. The Incorporated Sarzonian Navy had long been the pride, the identity of Sarzonia. It was a military force that caused even the largest, most powerful countries in the entire multiverse to put Sarzonia on their "do not fuck with" list. The Navy was powerful enough, competent enough, and ornery enough to even allow a small naval force to realistically threaten a much larger power ... and get said power to back down. She knew Sarzonians would not put trigger-happy recruits on the front lines in the event a Starblaydi fighter jet decided to take liberties and fly perilously close to a Sarzonian warship. Obviously, if a Jhannan fighter jet pilot mimicked a kamikaze attack or fired first, Sarzonia would be more than capable of fighting back harshly.

"But still, I think we made our point with sanctions. Maybe we could actually expel a few Starblaydis if we wanted to prove a point, but unless Jhanna does something to up the ante, I don't see why we should do anything of the sort."

"They haven't reacted. That's the point," Conway said. "There's been nothing but radio silence from the Starblaydis since we sent home 15 of their diplomatic staff. And reports from Archie Dunham [the Sarzonian ambassador to Starblaydia] are that their citizens are going out of their way to be extra nice to Sarzonians. He's concerned there's something up with that."

"Well, we haven't gotten firm intelligence, or even anything pointing to a specific, credible threat," Carter said. "I've just gone over the latest intel with Intelligence Deputy VP [Clarissa] Brighton. There's some chatter about potential spies in the Starblaydi embassy, but we've been pretty careful to monitor what information they get access to."

"But still. You'd think there'd be some kind of condemnation or something."

"That's just it. The opposite of love isn't hate. It's indifference. That's what they're showing us now."

"Well, two can play that. Should we issue a statement that even if any of the Anaian nations wanted to rejoin Atlantian Oceania that they would not be welcome back?"

"That's too hasty. Besides, President Haffner wouldn't approve it unless the Stelburg Conference decides to implement that."

"But what about the Krytenian press officer's speech?"

"What about it?"

"The closing part, about Anaia meaning 'brother'."

"Now that's something we can -- and should -- address."

An hour later, just before the daytime staff were ready to leave for the day, Conway stepped up to the dais in the External Affairs press room.

"We note with appreciation the Krytenian government's timely response to our calls for them to remove their military assets from Sarzonian territory, and the fact that a vast majority of Krytenian civilians have also done the same," he said. "However, I feel compelled to address the comment from their army spokeswoman about the current state of Sarzonian-Krytenian relations.

"You say the door is not closed; yet you have closed it. You have chosen to walk away from the region and from your friendship with the Sarzonian people. The decision to depart the region is bad enough, but the decision to do so surreptitiously, to align yourself with an anti-diplomatic power who might otherwise be considered hostile to democracy and to Sarzonian interests is one that we cannot easily forgive, nor can we easily forget.

"We may in time restore some form of diplomatic ties with Emberton. We may eventually repair some of our bonds of friendship with the Krytenian government. But right now, the wounds are too fresh. The betrayal is too raw."

Following the speech, Conway saw the look of disappointment and consternation in Carter's face. He didn't think he'd fucked up, but he knew his subordinate wanted his speech to be noticeably more conciliatory than it ended up being. Whether that was a mistake that would cost Sarzonia in general or External Affairs in particular was anyone's guess. But the divide that threatened to tear Atlantian Oceania completely asunder was now showing a crack within Sarzonia's External Affairs Department itself.

by **Ko-oren** » Tue May 25, 2021 1:02 pm

Lunaro Tsukida would have published his first article ('Numbers Game') of the World Cup qualification campaign, bringing us the in and out on the extended statistics that were recorded for the national team, but he instead spent his day helping out the South Newlandian delegation with their SNL-MVP problems.

He did scribble down some notes about the two games he watched, where the Dragonflies scored three, conceded three, bagged three points, and remains in first place by the smallest of margins. Frestovenia did win both of their games of the international window (over CRONY and Delaclava - 9th and 10th in the group) while Vdara beat HUElavia to retake third place and stay in the race. They won their other match, against the ZSeparatists, 5-3, while HUElavia recorded a 2-0 home win over CRONY. And that means that the top three are within three points of one another... so it's still all Ko-oren's to lose, and the comfortable position is well and truly gone. And remember: our games against the rest of the top three are still to come. It's all in our hands, but to say we're confident isn't exactly correct either.

All goals came from different players - Odgers scoring his first ever goal for the Dragonflies - and they were their first goal of the campaign for all three. That's good news for Juliasterinthen, who seems to struggle, still, after 13 games, to find the best formation and lineup. Odgers keeps doing just well enough to continue his streak of starts, even though it wasn't the resounding success we hoped for. Even this far down the line, on his 13th appearance, it's just marginally better than his first game - but good enough, at his position. Theshendan is getting a little antsy in certain situations where he's been let down by his defence in the past. Open play and lots of players in the box, and Theshendan forgets the basics and tries to cover low crosses as well as direct shots on goal, and he burnt himself on those twice in the Barunia game. Juliasterinthen tried a match without Aiamara and Aelisire (right and left backs) and have Escoffier and Olink instead, and they narrowly got away with that as the rest of the squad scored three times to cover up for Barunia's double. The one unit that feels like it's doing exactly as intended is the group up front: Longchambon and Vaugrenard get to showcase their creativity and knack for finding space, Erisia is the poacher we've been looking for since Shiribeshi (who retired in the early 60s, mind you) and Janoreirinthen on the left wing can combine his playmaking skills as well as his crosses. We have a right wing by committee: Forward and Batchelor have shared an almost equal minutes at the position and they've both brought a lot of width and pace to the position.

The regular old XI will appear going forward on sheer experience. This is the part of the campaign where it doesn't matter how you do it, you just gotta keep a clean sheet, hopefully score a goal - losing is unacceptable, winning is optional. We're still expecting Frestovenia to fall back to earth. Combining that with (hopefully) ties or better against both Vdara and HUElavia, and our cushion should last until the very last matchday, where we play CRONY and hopefully get a repeat of the insane scoreline of the first leg.

Only Group 2 and 17 come anywhere near our group when it comes to tense top three battles - Group 17 with a situation much like ours, three teams on high point totals within three points of one another while Group 2 has three teams within a single point from one another, where Squornshelan Remnant States are leading with Vilita in second and Savojarna behind the Cove Dwellers on goal difference. Challenging us further are the best runner-up among all WCQ groups and the second-best 3rd placed team. The Dragonflies are still having a good cycle - just a very upsetting group draw.

The Parliament had questions, the international community (mostly the Atlantian Oceanian governments) had questions, but at least Laurderinthen could still rely on his own cabinet. After all, they were all handpicked by the Prime Minister himself, in year two of his term. And after all, the decision to sign the Declaration hardly came from Laurderinthen himself: it was a carefully constructed decision by the entire cabinet - and the entire bureaucracy supporting them.

That's more or less the boring way in which the Ko-orenite government works: a Prime Minister is selected and given a small to-do list of key policies and questions to be sorted out in the upcoming term at the start of year 1. That Prime Minister selects Ministers to help him at the start of year 2. A set of Secretaries ('sub-Ministers'?) is appointed by the PM and his cabinet a the start of year 3, representing a group of difficult issues that are too temporary for a Minister to deal with but too big to ignore - in Laurderinthen's case, to assist the ministry of Infrastructure and Transportation, a Secretary for Tourism was appointed. An issue too vital to Ko-oren's economy to ignore, yet too small of a policy area for a Minister of its own. With that group in order, the next four years are for the cabinet to figure out. After that, a new to-do list of crucial issues is put together by the exiting cabinet, a Prime Minister is found by the previous cabinet, President, and Ambassadors of Meritocracy, and the cycle continues.

One last group to deal with were the Governors, one per province.

Now, calling them provinces isn't the entire story. Only Intermare, Finisterre, Sudaefjoll, and Poolrugge are actually called provinces. Aerellen and Mayara are called oren, the Gehrennan word for 'land'. West Strand Riding is, well, a riding, Mawryshire and Surbourneshire are, again, not creatively, shires. Gehrenna is often called a state, but doesn't have an official designation. Cote Austral is a department. Yoshima is a prefecture. Don't remember all of those names and terms: all 'provinces' (that includes the states, shires, ridings, etc) are to be redrawn in the next Prime Minister's term.

The most fearsome of the 12 Governors, at least to Laurderinthen, was Videmichi Ogawa - the Governor for Yoshima. A region that has threatened independence more often than the Dragonflies have lost Rounds of 16. A Governor who is in favour of remaining in Ko-oren, but also a Governor in such poor health that he will likely have to find a replacement in the next few years. A replacement that will always sit more towards independence than Ogawa, so the time bomb is set up. Make sure Yoshimans want to stay before Ogawa has to leave his post, so a new Governor can be found that won't immediately pull a Declaration of Foxchester on us. Ogawa was the first Governor invited by Laurderinthen post-declaration, inevitably to talk about the move's effects on the prefecture of Yoshima. Katashi has a large harbour that will see a little less traffic as long as the tariffs are sorted out, so either new treaties will have to be signed with the majority of Atlantian Oceania or all trade will have to come from Anaia in the meantime. With the announcement of several Anaian regional government buildings coming to Ko-oren, one way of forcing Yoshima to embrace their new region is by putting one of these buildings in Katashi. "Imagine all the jobs created by the Region! More than AO ever did for us" but those would be the same lies told about "Let's host the Olympics! Think of the jobs created and the real estate and the public transport and the exposure that will pull tourists to the city for all of the next... 2 months" but Yoshima is one region to be placated.

The Governors of all the 'problematic' areas were called in on day 2 after the signing. That includes Finisterre's Vidal Santiago, who is involved in the de-desertification of his province and therefore relies on environmental protection more than financial incentives - of course, a more habitable province will bring in more people, which in turn gets the financial activities going to make Finisterre into the powerhouse it once was (as long as we ignore that well over 50% of the province's economy is the city of Santa Teresa). It also includes Mawryshire's Cheollhaer yBwllnheg. Mawryshire has the same problem as Ko-oren had in Atlantian Oceania: it's far away in distance and in relative distance. It just feels far away and therefore is less connected. With Anaia's geographic situation yet unknown, Mawryshire can still get the short end of the stick. Now, if Anaia invests in expansion to our west, all of a sudden Mawryshire is in the middle of the action, so yBwllnheg is easily convinced as long as Laurderinthen can make that a talking point in regional discussions. The same goes for West Strand Riding's Corellor Rangar: it'll be more train lines to his Riding or bust. Sudaefjoll's Adelina Degermark was only invited to day 3 of talks: Sudaefjoll have been the target of many, many IT investments: you can cool datacentres with the cold of its mountains, and Sudaefjoll's GDP has nearly doubled in two decades, far outpacing Ko-oren.

POS/NAME                   M    Y R F  P% CS Sav T  B  C  G  A SOG S
GK Larut Theshendan        1170 1 0 4  96 5  52  0  0  5  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         1018 4 0 21 92 0  0   38 11 25 1  1 2   13
LF Emmé Escoffier          192  1 0 4  88 0  0   11 3  8  0  0 1   3
LB Tij Breukelaar          1103 3 0 18 91 0  0   36 11 24 0  0 2   8
LB Calvin Kitchingham      0    0 0 0  0  0  0   0  0  0  0  0 0   0
CB Minne van Schelven      1170 5 1 33 93 0  0   62 8  23 1  0 3   9
CB Jubenar Mallerbury      213  2 0 5  89 0  0   11 5  3  0  1 0   4
RB Ethan Benjamin          940  3 0 25 96 0  0   19 4  10 1  0 0   6
RB Just Olink              107  1 0 5  87 0  0   9  4  5  0  0 1   3
RF Aesimila Aelisire       1056 3 1 13 91 0  0   20 13 24 1  2 2   12
RF Ézo Gicquel             129  2 0 1  82 0  0   7  2  3  0  0 0   4
DM Sinclair Odgers         913  6 1 29 86 0  0   49 6  25 1  1 4   19
DM Reizo Yokota            204  1 0 16 95 0  0   17 5  8  0  1 0   6
LM Saushilu Janoreirinthen 1111 2 0 31 94 0  0   25 3  17 3  2 16  33
CM Jurre Hilberdink        111  0 0 3  91 0  0   6  2  6  1  1 9   17
RM Lysander Forward        539  3 0 12 88 0  0   10 2  3  1  3 9   21
RM Harold Batchelor        621  2 0 11 91 0  0   8  1  2  3  1 23  49
AM Mata Vaugrenard         339  0 0 9  88 0  0   1  3  3  5  2 11  33
AM Maximilien Longchambon  831  3 0 19 84 0  0   7  2  1  3  2 22  46
ST Aenemere Erisia         1026 4 1 15 79 0  0   6  2  3  10 2 41  63
SS Murai Okawa             154  1 0 9  83 0  0   2  2  2  2  0 11  21

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

by **Hispinas** » Tue May 25, 2021 1:21 pm

Alfonzo Medrano believes that he has achieved his goal of improving the results of the national team just after the first half of their qualifying campaign compared to last edition's poor qualifying run.

With fifteen points garnered just in the first half of the World Cup 88 qualifying, the Golden Sealions have already eclipsed their best result of their team in their history, with eleven points only amassed last edition. Fans thought that they could be in contention in making their first World Cup finals, but the manager kept downplaying the possibility as he would not want to add unwarranted pressure to the players, and it seems it was the right decision he made.

After the win against Acronius which effectively pays back the defeats the nation inflicted to them last time out, Hispinas has not been performing as well, losing to Recuecn and Fluvannia, and failing to beat Gergary in their own turf. Their lone win was against Queenisa who held them to a draw the last time they met. And they have two difficult matches when they host Krytenia and travel to Turori, which may confirm the Rushmori nation's elimination from qualifying contention as early as the end of Matchday 13, with the Hispinos six points behind Recuecn for the second spot for the next stage.

Medrano believes that Hispino football will quickly rise to the occasion as proved by their third place finish in the Copa Rushmori, and international clubs starting to scout Hispino players with Casimiro Coro already made his way out of Hispino domestic football. How the team will finish their qualifying campaign may bear what happens to the national team moving forward.

by **Sargossa** » Tue May 25, 2021 1:31 pm

The World Cup, with the possible exception of the Olympics, is perhaps the very pinnacle of sporting excellence across the whole Sportiverse. One hundred and eighty nations kicking a ball about with the ambition of being one of the lucky thirty two to make it to the Finals themselves. It’s a huge business, which has spawned a multitude of businesses around it. Not least the tussle that occurs every two years to win the rights to broadcast all the action to the respective masses. Inevitably it was SargoSport, the sports arm of Sargossan Central Broadcasting, who won the rights to transmit Sargossa’s qualification campaign in full. With highlights of the other Group 3 fixtures thrown in for good measure. Globo Sport, having lost out, had elected to up the ante and had forked out for the deluxe highlights package. Meaning nearly four hours of schedule after every round of qualifying was devoted to highlights from every qualifying match from all eighteen groups. With full coverage of the odd fixture of interest thrown in for good measure. Sarzonia v Nephara and the Rushmori derbies between Pasarga & West Zirconia and Astograth & Oberour Ar Moro were some of those fixtures. Be it full coverage or highlights, both networks probably would have liked a refund following Sargossa’s trip to Damukuni.

The ninety minutes in Atarashii-Damushuto was possibly one of the dullest affairs in the history of international sport. Arrayed against the Corsairs were two solid banks of four who simply refused to budge. After an hour Brian McAllister withdrew wingbacks Alfonso Barrueco and Tobías Figueroa and introduced Esteban Leguizamo and Édgar Elvira. The new arrivals took position either side of González and Varela in the centre as the formation switched to an outright 3-4-3. But still waves of attacks crashed fruitlessly against the disciplined lines of defence. The home side seemed content to soak up the pressure, occasionally looking to exploit some space on the wing or pumping a hopeful ball over the top to their largely unsupported front two. A front two who were probably as bored as the supporters in the stadium.

The lack of urgency from the host nation was perplexing, perhaps they’d simply drawn a line through this whole campaign having already lost eight of their previous twelve fixtures. It had been a miserable campaign for the Esportivan side. The fans who had made the trip from Rushmore were probably pining for the comfort of an island jail in the snowy north of Anaia. At least they’d seen goals up there. As so often happens when the Corsairs are piling forward they very nearly got caught out at the other end. With seconds ticking down Orange Line slipped in Alif Garak. Clean through on goal, the Nasutani striker took his effort with all the confidence of a player leading the line for a national team that had managed just seven goals in the whole campaign. He shot straight at Alejandro Martínez and the final chance of the match had gone.

A sixth clean sheet was unquestionably an improvement on past efforts but two dropped points saw the Independent Athletes from Quebec extend their advantage over Sargossa to three points. It was even worse for Damukuni. After just thirteen matches the Esportivan side had been officially eliminated. Sargossa remain in third but it’s not getting any easier with The Holy Empire coming to Soluca. Admittedly the masters of The Dreamed Realm somehow managed to concede four to the Islands of Ventro in their last match. But that was perhaps a result of enforced rectal probing putting something of a spring into the step of the visitors more than anything else. Still, something to consider.

by **Alasdair I Frosticus** » Tue May 25, 2021 1:37 pm

OOC - this is a thinly edited parody of large swathes of Lovecraft's The Fungi From Yuggoth

A Dream Quest of World Cup 88 Qualifying

By H. Felipe Lovecraftes

I. The Book

The place was dark and dusty and half-lost
In tangles of old alleys near the quays,
Reeking of strange things brought in from the seas,
And with queer curls of fog that west winds tossed.
Small lozenge panes, obscured by smoke and frost,
Just shewed the books, in piles like twisted trees,
Rotting from floor to roof—congeries
Of crumbling elder lore at little cost.

I entered, charmed, and from a cobwebbed heap
Took up the nearest tome and thumbed it through,
Trembling at curious words that seemed to keep
Some secret - cuddly if one only knew.
Then, looking for some seller old in craft,
I could find nothing but a voice that laughed.

II. Pursuit

I held the book beneath my coat, at pains
To hide the thing from sight in such a place;
Hurrying through the ancient harbor lanes
With often-turning head and nervous pace.
Dull, furtive windows in old tottering brick
Peered at me oddly as I hastened by,
And thinking what they sheltered, I grew sick
For a redeeming glimpse of clean blue sky.

No one had seen me take the thing—but still
A happy laugh echoed in my whirling head,
And I could guess what sunlit worlds of cute
Lurked in that volume I had coveted.
The way grew strange—the walls alike and madding—
And far behind me, unseen feet were padding.

III. The Key

I do not know what windings in the waste
Of those strange sea-lanes brought me home once more,
But on my porch I trembled, white with haste
To get inside and bolt the heavy door.
I had the book that told the hidden way
Across the void and through the space-hung screens
That hold the undimensioned worlds at bay,
And keep lost aeons to their own demesnes.

At last the key was mine to those vague visions
Of sunset spires and twilight woods that brood
Dim in the gulfs beyond this earth’s precisions,
Lurking as memories of infinitude.
The key was mine, but as I sat there mumbling,
The attic window shook with a faint fumbling.

IV. Recognition

The day had come again, when as a child
I saw—just once—that hollow of old oaks,
Grey with a ground-mist that enfolds and chokes
The slinking shapes which madness has defiled.
It was the same—an herbage rank and wild
Clings round an altar whose carved sign invokes
That Tzimisces to whom a thousand smokes
Rose, aeons gone, from unclean towers up-piled.

I saw the body spread on that dank stone,
And knew those things which feasted were not men;
I knew this strange, grey world was not my own,
But Tzimisces', past the starry voids—and then
The body shrieked at me with a dead cry,
And all too late I knew that it was I!

V. Homecoming

Tzimisces said that he would take me home
To the pale, shadowy land I half recalled
As a high place of stair and terrace, walled
With marble balustrades that sky-winds comb,
While miles below a maze of dome on dome
And tower on tower beside a sea lies sprawled.
Once more, he told me, I would stand enthralled
On those old heights, and hear the far-off foam.

All this he promised, and through sunset’s gate
He swept me, past the lapping lakes of flame,
And red-gold thrones of gods without a name
Who shriek in fear at some impending fate.
Then a black gulf with sea-sounds in the night:
“Here was your home,” he mocked, “when you had sight!”

VI. The Lamp in Quebec and Shingoryeo

We found the lamp beside a football field
Whose chiseled sign no priest in Quebec could read,
And from whose caverns frightened hieroglyphs
Warned every living creature of earth’s breed.
No more was there—just that one brazen bowl
With traces of a curious oil within;
Fretted with some obscurely patterned scroll,
And symbols hinting vaguely of cuddles within.

Little the fears of forty centuries meant
To us as we bore off our slender spoil,
And when we scanned it in our darkened tent
We struck a match to test the ancient oil.
It blazed—great God! . . . But the vast shapes we saw
In that mad flash have seared our lives with awe.

VII. Sargossa

The great hill hung close over the old town,
A precipice against the main street’s end;
Green, tall, and wooded, looking darkly down
Upon the steeple at the highway bend.
Two hundred years the whispers had been heard
About what happened on the man-shunned slope—
Tales of an oddly mangled deer or bird,
Or of lost boys whose kin had ceased to hope.

One day the mail-man found no village there,
Nor were its folk or houses seen again;
People came out from Sargossa to stare—
Yet they all told the mail-man it was plain
That he was mad for saying he had spied
Cthulhu kindly eyes, and smile stretched wide.

VIII. The Licentian Isles

Ten miles from Montfort I had struck the trail
That rides the cliff-edge over Montfort Parish,
And hoped that just at sunset I could reach
The crest that looks on LTI Stadium in the vale.
Out past the ground was a retreating sail,
White as hard years of ancient winds could bleach,
But evil with some portent beyond speech,
So that I did not wave my hand or hail.

Sails in the Licentian Isles! echoing old renown
Of long-dead times. But now a too-swift night
Is closing in, and I have reached the height
Whence I so often scan the distant town.
The spires and roofs are there—but look! The gloom
Sinks on dark lanes, as lightless as the tomb!

IX. Indusse

Nest 'twas the city I had known before;
The ancient, Indusse town where mongrel throngs
Chant to strange gods, and beat unhallowed gongs
In crypts beneath foul alleys near the shore.
The rotting, fish-eyed houses leered at me
From where they leaned, drunk and half-animate,
As edging through the filth I passed the gate
To the black courtyard where the man would be.

The dark walls closed me in, and loud I cursed
That ever I had come to such a den,
When suddenly a score of windows burst
Into wild light, and swarmed with dancing men:
Mad, soundless revels of the dragging dead—
And not a corpse had either hands or head!

X. The Islands of Ventro

And then the Islands of Ventro, where gaunt walls of brick
Bulge outward with a viscous stored-up evil,
And twisted faces, thronging foul and thick,
Wink messages to alien god and devil.
A million fires were blazing in the streets,
And from flat roofs a furtive few would fly
Bedraggled birds into the yawning sky
While hidden drums droned on with measured beats.

I knew those fires were brewing monstrous things,
And that those birds of space had been Outside—
I guessed to what dark planet’s crypts they plied,
And the presents for kind Tsathoggua they kept in their wing.
The others laughed—till struck too mute to speak
By what they glimpsed in one bird’s kindly beak.

XI. Silvedania

Coach Caroline Barbier was past thirty when
She tried to sink her team to qualification by the back door,
With only Myers to help her bore and bore.
We laughed, and hoped she’d soon be sane again.
And yet, instead, young Myers went crazy, too,
So that they shipped him to the county farm.
Seth bricked the well-mouth up as tight as glue—
When the team did better than any dared predict.

After the match we felt bound to get
Out to Silvedania's ground and rip the bricks away,
But all we saw were iron hand-holds set
Down a black hole deeper than we could say.
And yet we put the bricks back—for we found
The hole too deep for any line to sound.

XII. Siapa ya

They told me not to take the Siapa ya path
That used to be the highroad through to Zoar,
For Nyarlahotep, who banged in four,
Had left a certain monstrous aftermath.
Yet when I disobeyed, and had in view
The vine-hung cottage by the great rock slope,
I could not think of elms or hempen rope,
But wondered why the house still seemed so new.

Stopping a while to watch the fading day,
I heard faint howls, as from a room upstairs,
When through the ivied panes one sunset ray
Struck in, and caught the howler unawares.
I glimpsed—and ran in frenzy from the place,
And from a four-pawed thing with human face.

XIII. Treekidistan

The winter sunset, flaming beyond spires
And chimneys half-detached from this dull sphere,
Opens great gates to some forgotten year
Of elder splendours and divine desires.
Expectant wonders burn in those rich fires,
Adventure-fraught, and not untinged with fear;
A row of sphinxes where the way leads clear
Toward walls and turrets quivering to far lyres.

It is the land where trees' meaning flowers;
Where every unplaced memory has a source;
Where the team of Treekidistan begins its course
Down the vast void in starlit streams of hours.
Dreams bring us close—but ancient lore repeats
That human tread has never soiled these streets.

XIV. Nyarlathotep

And at the last from the Holy Empire came
The strange dark One to whom the fellahs bowed;
Silent and lean and cryptically proud,
And wrapped in fabrics yellow as sunset flame.
Throngs pressed around, frantic for his commands,
But leaving, could not tell what they had heard;
While through the nations spread the awestruck word
That wild beasts followed him and licked his hands.

Soon from the sea a noxious birth began;
Forgotten lands with weedy spires of gold;
The ground was cleft, and mad auroras rolled
Down on the quaking citadels of man.
Then, crushing what he chanced to mould in play,
The idiot Chaos blew his opponents away.

XV. Azathoth

Out in the mindless void Tzimisces bore me,
Past the bright clusters of dimensioned space,
Till neither time nor matter stretched before me,
But only Chaos, without form or place.
Here the vast Lord of All in darkness muttered
Things he had dreamed but could not understand,
While near him shapeless bat-things flopped and fluttered
In idiot vortices that ray-streams fanned.

They danced insanely to the high, thin whining
Of a cracked flute clutched in a monstrous paw,
Whence flow the aimless waves whose chance combining
Gives each frail cosmos its eternal law.
“I am His Manager,” Tzimisces said,
As in frustration he struck his defender’s head.

XVI. Morning Star

I saw it from that hidden, silent place
Where the old wood half shuts the meadow in.
It shone through all the sunset’s glories—thin
At first, but with a slowly brightening face.
Dawn came, and that lone beacon, amber-hued,
Beat on my sight as never it did of old;
The morning star—but grown a thousandfold
More haunting in this hush and solitude.

It traced strange pictures on the quivering air—
Half-memories that had always filled my eyes—
Vast towers and gardens; curious seas and skies
Of some dim life—I never could tell where.
But now I knew that through the cosmic dome
Those rays were calling from my far, lost home.

XXXVI. The End of Qualification

There is in certain ancient things a trace
Of some dim essence—more than form or weight;
A tenuous aether, indeterminate,
Yet linked with all the laws of time and space.
A faint, veiled sign of continuities
That outward eyes can never quite descry;
Of locked football fields harbouring years gone by,
And out of reach except for hidden keys.

It moves me most when slanting sunbeams glow
On old World Cup 88 fixture lists set against a hill,
And paint with life the shapes which linger still
From centuries less a dream than this we know.
In that strange light I feel I am not far
From the fixt mass whose sides the ages are.

by **Trolleborg** » Tue May 25, 2021 1:39 pm

First part of this story

And whole group follow guide into the tunnel, almost a cave, quite daaaark and veeery looooong, leading under the whole stand. As if read in minds, guide add “No, there was no lighting apart from game days. It’s tradition from the days of construction. Our valiant ancestors while build this stadium put their own convenience at the last place, so lights for a tunnel was installed at the very end of work”.
And at last tunnel ended - right at the edge of the grass. Guide make something and there was the roar of the stands, punctuated by chants. And then the whole group entered the field, surrounded by crowded stands, to the continuous beat of a dozen drums, many pipes and noise from tens of thousands of sips, and proceeded to the point in front of the coaching benches, from where the teams in the stadium of 1st December usually move to the center of the field before the start of the game.

Norra felt the fiery energy of the stadium with all her soul, her legs suddenly found themselves surprisingly light and carried her like through the air. It seemed that with such support from the fans, she would now easily move around of all the opponents players, and even twice around some especially stubborn ones, and then, having rolled the ball into the net, she would rush over there, to the corner section of stands, where the most stubborn fans raged, who had support team at all the away matches, celebrating success together with them.

And suddenly everything was quiet. The tour participants were surrounded by a completely empty bowl of the stadium, in which there was not even a single soul. It was so quiet that the sound of the surf in the bay seemed to be heard.

“A dramatic change, that's right,” said the guide. “But partly for the sake of this opportunity to feel such emotions, I work here, where it was supposed to put the robot already. This is one of the reasons why I stayed". And without giving time to ask a question, he led the group to the stands.
“When the stadium was being built, they asked whether it would be comfortable for people to sit in such a huge bowl, whether it would be clearly visible. Well, as you can see, the review is not bad, and not only the fields ”.

Then he again made a movement with his hand, and the figures of football players appeared on the field, the Trolleborg team pressed on someone's defense.

“And when our players began to play in international competitions,” the guide continued. “Many people began to complain that the stadium has no roof, that there is no convenience for eating and drinking in the stands. But, as you probably know, that tower over there contains a weather control station and that provides the necessary stability, so, although there is a sea nearby, there is only a lightest wind at the stadium, always moderate to nil cloud cover and + 18 to + 20C degrees. And although many people really like to combine football and food, FA of Trolleborg stick to the the opinion that it is much better to do it at home, and remains with its views that people go to the stadium mainly to watch football".

Waiting a minute to allow everyone to make a best possible photos, he tell the group: “Now let's take a walk around the bowl and finish our voyage over there, on the opposite side of the field, in the box for the guests of honor”.

by **Mercedini** » Tue May 25, 2021 1:49 pm

88th World Cup Qualification Review
@ Zoloroni Sports City Stadium - Zoloroni, Mercedini

Good evening everyone, and welcome back to the World Cup Qualification cycle, where Mercedini are now well into their second half of games. With points running out, the Golden Eagles are hoping for a dream run and a slip up or two from those ahead of them to nab the one atuomatic qualifying spot in the group. Last time round, Dini pulled of the dream double with wins over Jeruselem and San Ortelio, the two group leaders. Those points were enough to lift them above the latter, and draw closer to the former. Now, it's no longer a direct contest between the top three, since Dini cannot directly take points away from their main rivals. Dimply put, they have to win all their games and hope for a favour from one of the other teams in the group to give them the lift they needed. Following their double win, Dini now face Fujai and SDLG to keep their points ticking over and to hold a viable chance of making it to the World Cup.

With all the action happening around the grounds of Group 10, let's see whether Dini can keep their train chugging along and inch ever closer to a return to the World Cup. Past Mercedinian sides have bottled it from this point onward, but this is the best chance they've had in a while of actually getting to the promised land.

World Cup Qualification: Empire State Of Play

The Golden Eagles have picked up a head of steam in the World Cup Qualifiers, ranking up a fifth win in a row after they beat Seguidores de la grasas by four goals to two away from home, to eliminate them from proceedings at this early stage. Their double-bill against Fujai and SDLG were two of the more comfortable games in the group, with neither team asserting themselves onto Group 10 as the surprise package. With their six points from the last two games, Dini still couldnt close the gap on leaders Jeruselem, since they picked up wins against both Talamia and Istoreya to keep the gap at four points. Further back, San Ortelio remain in third place, they need to overcome a four point gap to have a sniff at the World Cup. Meanwhile, top seed Siovanija & Teusland's hopes to returning to the Group Stage may be fading, their 3-3 draw to Valladares now means they have an eight point margin to overcome in their final five games.

*  Group 10                                  Pld    W   D   L    GF   GA   GD   Pts 
 1 Jeruselem                                  13   10   2   1    29   14  +15    32
 2 Mercedini                                  13    9   1   3    29   20   +9    28
 3 San Ortelio                                13    7   3   3    15   11   +4    24
 4 Siovanija and Teusland                     13    5   5   3    28   21   +7    20
 5 Talamia                                    13    6   2   5    19   22   −3    20
 6 Valladares                                 13    3   6   4    20   21   −1    15
 7 Bluecliff League                           13    4   3   6    19   21   −2    15
 8 Fujai                                      13    1   6   6    20   26   −6     9 E
 9 Istoreya                                   13    2   3   8    12   22  −10     9 E
10 Seguidores de la grasas                    13    2   1  10     6   19  −13     7 E

As you can see in the table, both opponents that Mercedini faced in the most recent double-bill are no eliminated. So now there are only seven nations fighting for those top two spots. Bluecliff League and Valladares could be next if they don't pick up lucrative points in this group. In Qualifying, the margins are usually fairly slim, but from first to fourth/fifth, there are four point margins in between each team. We will know a lot more in the coming days as more results fill in the gaps in our table.

Thanks so much for reading this edition of Mercedini Sports Daily. Only a short one today with all of the sporting action going on around the multiverse and what that means for the Golden Eagles as we head into the final three games of the qualifying campaign. As we have stated before, Dini have never been as close to a World Cup berth as they have right now, for a long long time. It would be the first World Cup that Billic has reached as a manger, plus plenty of maiden appearances for some of our players at this level. We bid you goodnight, and we hope you have your fingers crossed for the Golden Eagles at their campaign draws to a close.

by **Newmanistan** » Tue May 25, 2021 1:51 pm

THE ROCKET REPORT

CLOSING IN ON THE WORLD CUP?

By Taylor Larson,

Newmanistan picked up four points in back to back games against nations that used to be very good in the World Cup: South Covello and Osarius. Thanks to this, the team has a six point lead in the group over second place Omerica, with both Flavovespia and Darkmania not ready to go away just yet. Those are also our next three opponents, and it will start with Darkmania before welcoming Flavovespia to Keisler Stadium in Southport.

Those two games might put fans of Omerica in a bind as to whether or not they want to root against us or not. With a six point cushion, Omerica needs us to drop points somewhere else in order to have a chance to win the group. They only need help with three points, as the eventual game in Romainbourg is their chance for the other three, and they would have the tiebreaker on us if they were to defeat us. Omerica would also have the tiebreaker on us if we drew, but that would not help them gain those other three points. Perhaps some will think that they should be rooting for the second position now, since it is a hard climb for them to top us at this point. If we could get wins against Darkmania and especially Flavovespia, then Omerica would be in a much better position to finish second in the group. This would put them in a position to play in the playoff against another second place team. However, they also have the avenue of the automatic spot for a second place team. They are not in a position for that, currently, but if they keep winning games then they may get there. But the last thing they want is to be where we were in the Group of Death last time. Having a great qualifying session, but finishing tied for second, losing that tiebreaker, and never having a chance to play in that playoff. What they decide is up to them.

As for our team, it is a great chance to put this group away. Six points in these two contests would see us still have that six point cushion on Omerica, at minimum. It would also probably mean that even if we did drop to second, that we would probably be okay for an automatic qualifying spot. Michael Starre has done a great job with this team, and the patience and acceptance that we had with him over the last World Cup is being rewarded. After four points against two nations that at one time were considered good World Cup sides but shells of their former shelves, we can continue to be optimistic.

Corey Dexter, a talk radio show host from Jessicaville, made some interesting and somewhat controversial comments concerning the nation of South Covello’s sporting programs. “You know what South Covello needs? Lord Gregory. This nation is a shell of its former self when they were Gregoryisgodistan. Think about it. What sport is this country better in since the execution of the final Lord Gregory? I can’t think of one. This isn’t just soccer. They used to be good in baseball, and in our football, but now they have had a decline in every single sport that they participate in, and it all began when they executed Gregory. These athletes did better when they had the fear of execution by Lord Gregory if they performed badly, and this made them better players, regardless if they were Enemy Crushers, or Pervert Chasers. They feared him. Now, they have nothing to fear. They have got big heads, and just go about their business playing unmotivated on their field of choice.” While Dexter does make a good point considering sports in South Covello, many have looked at his comments as an endorsement of the tyranny which was in place in his country during the days of Gregory. Dexter has not apologized for that, later saying, “if you think I endorsed tyranny, you are one of those people who probably get offended by anything. The point is, their athletes suck now, and I don’t think it is just a coincidence. So, they got a draw against us. Look at them on this table. I can’t see down that far. Fifth place. Clinging on to the top half. Now they have some stupid stadium sponsor, showing that the team only cares about finances now. Gregory, they need you! Save them!

The Rockets did draw against South Covello, as Dexter was aware, at Emperor Michael I Stadium in Pocono City. An own goal in the 11th minute did not help the Rockets, especially because it allowed the Rebels to take the deal and sit in their defensive shell like they have become known for. 22-year old Damian Andrews, who saw the deflection go off his foot and into the net called it, “a miserable feeling when it happened. I really feel terrible about it.” The team tried to get Andrews off the hook for the goal, but they would not be able to do so in the first half. In the second, the Rockets fell behind 2-0 on a well executed long ball from Cal Yachtwood to Coconut (Greg wouldn’t approve) Charles in the 50th minute. Down by two, things looked really bleak for the sky blue, but two substitutions that Michael Starre made in the late moments for fresh legs paid great dividends. Kevin Hynes scored his first international goal in the 79th minute, and three minutes later, Kenzie Miller added an equalizer. The 27-year old Hynes called his first goal at this level, “a long time coming, but I never stopped working hard in hopes that it would happen.”

In the game against Osarius, the Rockets used a four goal second half to break away from a 2-2 halftime tie like an Anaian nation from Atlantian Oceania. Newmanistan managed first half goals by Madison Desalvo (19th) and Paul Lombardi (30th), and broke away in the second half with Lombardi starting the onslaught in the 49th. Allister Levy (58’), Garrett Sarniak (68’), Tyler Callaway (76’), and Levy again (89’) were the goal scorer in the 6-2 win. As this was going on in Centralia, news of the 2-1 Acastanha win over Omerica got the Firepit crowd fired up. Acastanha, who we torched for 14 goals in the two games that we played against them, only allowed one against the Omericans, allowing us to regain some dropped points following the South Covello draw. With five games left in qualifying, Newmanistan has a six point lead on Omerica, with a road head to head game still to come between them. Flavovespia is eight points back, and Darkmania nine.

So, these next two games are very important. No looking past them and to the trip to Stade des Marins in Romainbourg quite yet.

by **Tikariot** » Tue May 25, 2021 2:07 pm

Walking with Shadows
--- Chapter IV ---

Chapter I - Chapter II - Chapter III - Chapter IV - Chapter V - Chapter VI - Chapter VII

A few phone calls later, James returns to Sophia at the terminal.

“Alright, it’ll take a little, but they’re on their way.”

“Where are they coming from?”

“Tikariot City. Let’s just hope that they can get here – or wherever we’ll be.”

She furrows her brow. “Where would we be?”

“That’s what we’re going to find out.”

He starts to type away, then waits for search results to pop up. “East Dhaencunor Nationalist Party, headquartered in Samreach – hah, what a nice coincidence – considered a radicalized splinter of the One Tikariot Party. They seek independence of East Dhaencunor and establish the supremacy of pure Dhaencunorian blood in the lands once owned by their ancestors, the revered Ordo Draconi Dhaencunori, protected by the Gods.’ They propagate an immediate closing of the borders and total eviction of foreign citizens or citizens of migratory descent.”

“Sounds like a lovely bunch of people.”

“No kidding. Now they are probably not going to march straight to Tikariot City to cash in the decree, that would be too ‘normal’ and quiet for them. I’m pretty sure that they’ll try to milk this as much as they can for propaganda and make it a spectacle with them in the spotlight. So that should buy us some time.”

“OK, so now what?”

“Well, for one I’m sure they’re not expecting us to show up again, at least not that quickly given the weather out there. They likely know that there’s no cell reception in that cavern either, making it very improbable for us to call for help. So, we should have at least some element of surprise.”

“Alright. So, who are these people that are coming here?”

“They are – specialists of some sorts. They’ve helped me with research, recovery, one is a specialist for explosives, that kind of stuff.”

She looks at him with big eyes. “Explosives? What on earth are you planning?”

James laughs. “I’m not planning anything yet, but for one he was close and for the other you never know. Speaking of which, have you ever fired a gun?”

She is eying him even more suspiciously now. “Uh, no? Only a bow.”

“Bow?”

“Yes, you know, the thing you shoot arrows with?”

He can’t help but chuckle. “I know what a bow is, it’s just not something you hear often. How good are you with it?”

“I hunt with it and haven’t starved yet, so I’d say decent.”

“Good, good. But doesn’t help us, unfortunately.”

“It’s in the trunk of the car, if you’re referring to that?”

“Ooh, intriguing. But—” he looks at his watch “—it’ll be at least two hours before anybody is going to show up and I’m starving.”

“Sure, sounds good.”

James returns to the search engine. “Looks like there is a pub close-by, uh, that away.” He points to the right. “And they allow dogs.”

“Sold!”

“Alright, let’s go then!”

*****

After sharing a hearty bowl of stew and some chow for Nurisema, Sophia and James are bent over her phone, looking at a map of Samreach.

“So, the party house is out here on the outskirts of town, looks like an old warehouse or something, that whole area looks industrial. Let’s do a drive-by and see what it looks like before the others arrive, so we have at least a rough idea of what we’re looking at.”

They pay and Sophia runs to the car, pulling it over as close to the door of the pub to allow Nurisema to jump in without getting too wet. The shocks of the car creak ominously again. James directs her to the industrial sector in the east of Samreach, which is absolutely deserted, not only because of the dismal weather, but also because it is a weekend. As they reach the address in question, it surely is not your average warehouse, because of razorwire lining the top of the fence around the place, windows being planked up, a number of cars and pick-up truck the only sign of life as no light pierces the grey, rainy gloom outside. They stop under an underpass, allowing Nurisema out of the car to stretch his legs and mark a few areas around.

“They’re close, should be here soon. They say that they were lucky they could cross the Oxligt, there’s only one bridge left and they’re likely going to close that one down pretty soon, too.”

“Yeah, this is bad, I don’t remember having seen anything like this before. I see lights!”

James follows her outstretched arm and a pair of headlights is struggling to penetrate the sheets of rain still drenching Samreach and the whole region. A van comes to a stop next to them, a tall, square dark-skinned man sliding out of the rear, easily a head taller than James. He is bald and has a golden earring, which stands out even in the shallow light.

“This better be important, you don’t send out a dog in this weather!”

His deep bass voice resonates through the underpass, drawing Nurisema closer, who grumbles as kind of a greeting, sounding not that much difference than the big man. Sophia and James break out laughing at the incredulous look on his face when the dog looks at him expectantly.

“What’s wrong with you people?”

James tries to catch his breath. “Thibodeaux – Nurisema. Nurisema – Thibodeaux.”

Thibodeaux looks at the dog again, who has not moved, and carefully stretches out his hand, but another deep grumble by Nurisema makes him retrieve his hand as carefully. James gestures towards the big man.

“Sophia, this is Sanford Thibodeaux, NIS officer turned private investigator. Over there is Jacob Skarsgaard, as he calls it the man for things that go boom and I can only assume that still in the van is Grayson Crowe, he doesn’t talk much, but is as reliable as they come for pretty much anything.”

Sanford extends his arm towards Sophia, who’s hand looks like one of a doll in the huge hand of Thibodeaux. “Nice to meet you, milady. You never told me about her!” He says with an accusatory look at James.

“*She* has just met James,” Sophia says pointedly.

“Ooh, a feisty one!” Thibodeaux laughs.

Sophia looks ready to show Thibodeaux feisty, but James takes her arm and gently pulls her back while shooting Sanford a warning look. “You don’t want to find out, let’s leave it at that, ok? And I didn’t call you guys for that.”

“Lead the way, boss,” Thibodeaux salutes before slipping back into the van.

Sophia ushers Nurisema back into the car, much to the dog’s dismay as he had enjoyed the short freedom. “You wanted to come, now you’ve got to live with it!” She chides the big malamute. James is trying his hardest not to laugh at the argument, keeping a decidedly straight face when she turns towards him, eyes ablaze. Apparently he succeeded as she wordlessly turned around to circle the car and get into the driver’s seat. It only took them two minutes to reach the old warehouse again, passing it by and stopping behind an abandoned building adjacent to it, using a broken gate to actually get out of the rain.

“OK, here is what I know. That’s the place.”

The three men look at him expectantly.

“No, seriously, that’s all I have.”

He quickly briefs them on what they are looking for and who has it, but for now the plan consists of ‘go in, get the decree, get out, don’t die.’ After that he turns to Sophia.

“You stay here, while we go in, ok?”

She opens her mouth to argue, the look on her face clearly showing her intention, but before she can say anything, James continues, “I don’t want anything to happen to you, ok? I want you to be safe.”

Without a word she turns around, walks back to the car and slams the door closed.

“You’re in trouble, Mister!” Sanford grins at James.

‘Oh, shuddup. Alright, let’s go.”

They each grab a gun, additional ammunition, a bolt cutter and a few other tools from the back of the van before heading for the gate. James looks back towards Sophia, but she is making her point by looking away from him. He feels bad for dumping her like that, but what he said was true, he did not want anything to happen to her.

“Are you coming?”

Sanford yells over the rush of rain and he turns to follow him. As they near the warehouse from the far side of the neighbouring building, James counts the vehicles in front of it and while he is not sure, it seems like there are less of them, which he guesses is a good thing. Using some broken down wooden crates for cover they rush towards the chain link fence and Crowe swiftly cuts a hole into the fence, holding it back for the others to squeeze through. James scans the side of the building, but there is no sign of any light or movement. They run across the small yard, flattening themselves against the wall. Suddenly he sees something zipping through the air right next to them, followed by the body of a man falling into view from the around the corner of the building, a sawed-off shotgun in hand and an arrow sticking out of his chest. He turns his head towards where the movement had come from and sees Sophia standing in the rain, her bow in hand.

by **Gouvanarch** » Tue May 25, 2021 2:56 pm

Gouvanarch - lost in the past and present?

-- by Cariulphe Erquemboure and Nolwenn de Bellemare --

Gouvanarch is a nation in northern Esportiva, bordering The Hinodejin Empire to its east. In a way it is a paradox, as if a time machine malfunctioned and only part of the nation made it it into the here and now, kind of a Venn diagram between the Middle Age and the modern times, just with a really small overlap. We, Cariulphe and Nolwenn, are history and sociology students at the Goddard Institute in Tovaca, Tikariot, and we have tried to come up with a brief look at this beautiful, but odd country that seems to be stuck between the past and present and hope to be able to continue this blog and look at more odd things here.

One of the best places to see this incredible discrepancy is the capital Douarnac'h, which sits at the entrance to one of the three prongs of the Trident peninsula that juts out into the Gavorican Sea to the north. It is dominated by the ancient castle sitting on top of a hill smack in the centre of town, overlooking the harbour as well as the peninsula. It looks like it comes straight form the Middle Age, with standards and guards in pompous armour and halberds, but it's the people living in it that are what really makes it, well, peculiar. For some strange reason the rulers of the country all are in their at least 70s, live in the castle, wear medieval robes and come with all the pomp and circumstance one would expect. However their belief system also is medieval, which makes their interactions with the younger population outlandish, to say the least.

And here is where you can see the real disparity of our country. Here you have the ruling elite, who only grudgingly accepted electricity to be put into their castle not too long ago, but other than that still operate with parchments and candles, there you have parts of the rest of the country that is trying to catch up with the rest of the world. Yes, we have cell phones, high speed internet etc etc, so we are not completely medieval, but it's when these two worlds collide that it gets really interesting.

So last World Cup cycle Gouvanarch decided to open itself up to the rest of the multiverse and start to participate in competitions, like the World Cup qualifiers. That served a culture shock to our upper crust in the castle, because they had to face that there's more to this whole thing than what they can see from their high perch up on the hill. They even bought a camera, so they could send their missives to the multiverse, as they would not trust any of the "younglings" to handle this. Now the camera is about 80 years old, doesn't move on its own and given that the old farts (am I allowed to write that? - Nolwenn) insist on candle light, you can imagine how awesome the quality is. One of them even completely freezes up whenever he sees a camera, it's comical.

Anyways, like we said, Douanarc'h is probably the biggest schism in this whole thing, but also when you go into the countryside, you'll find things going completely medieval the further away form the cities you go and up in the Gavorican massif I'm sure there are still a whole bunch of people that have no idea that technology actually exists. Some people tried to go there to tell them, but then decided that they were not big fans of pitchforks being thrown at them as evil demons trying to corrupt them, that after a while they gave up. Guess sometimes ignorance is bliss.

World Cup 88- Roleplay Thread

Boot It!: Could We Actually Do This After All?

Who is online

Place	1	2	3	4	5
Player	Irving	McMora	McCabe	Wallis	Wu
Club	Kohnhead	South Newlandia	Graentfjall	Taeshan	Murphtannia
Opponent	Eura	Xanneria	Sahuarita	Ranoria	Muralos
Manner	penalty	outside pen box	knee	header	Tap-in
Animal	Cat	Dog	Fish	Owlephant	Rabbit