World Cup 88- Roleplay Thread

by **Ranoria** » Sat May 29, 2021 6:59 am

Krauts to Host Himebaugh in Qualifier Finale - Likely Will Not Advance, But Hope to Cap Off a Successful Season Nonetheless

No one anticipated Ranoria to come out like they did this cycle. After their predictable but nonetheless disappointing campaign in World Cup 87, their current 10-2-5 mark is a shock to any pundits or fans who've been paying attention.

The start was the catalyst for this whole thing, as Ranoria would begin the tournament unbeaten at 5-1-0, which of course gave them that early buffer to try and hold onto the second spot in the group, including big wins over Muralos, Xanneria, and South Newlandia in Richardson. Eura, the 18th ranked team in the world, would end that run with a 3-2 victory, and after that the contention for the second spot in group 14 got tight, with both Muralos and South Newlandia vying for that bid.

Critically, Ranoria and Muralos were to play with our Krauts up by one point in the seeding, Ranoria's record by then at 6-1-2 and Muralos's at 6-0-3. A victory would have given us a buffer against the team that knocked us off in the Baptism of Fire, but no such luck. We were shutout in a 1-0 loss that saw Muralos wrest the 2nd seed from us for one matchday. While our victory and their defeat in the next match for both teams saw our place restored, it was an omen of things to come, as a match in South Newlandia with similar implications loomed. And, unfortunately, we lost again, coming in after a heartbreaking shootout loss to Xanneria and leaving having skidded down to the fourth place in the group.

But then a miracle happened! Ranoria hosted Eura, again, the 18th ranked team in the tournament. And our red turf, we beat them 2-1 in what was likely the most exciting moment in the history of Ranorian soccer. Riding that high, we went into Qasden and handed them a decisive 2-0 loss to get to 10-2-5 and jump back up to the third spot in the group. Unfortunately, we are one point behind in seeding of South Newlandia, and lost control of our destiny with that recent skid.

That being said - the Krauts have 10 wins! Four more than a season ago, having gone from deep below the .500 mark to having clinched a winning record before the qualifiers end. If South Newlandia slips against a 68th ranked Qasden squad, we still have a shot to go to a play-in game, something Ranoria never would have discussed coming into this matchup. And hey, if things go well when Himebaugh comes to town, we'll have finished up with a nice three game win streak to come home on.

Qualify, playoffs, or just shy, we've done excellent, and these Krauts deserve more praise and respect than we've given them for the way they performed this cycle.

So with optimism we didn't expect - Go Krauts!

by **Ethane** » Sat May 29, 2021 7:09 am

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The World Cup Discussion Thread (OOC, Version IV)

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Should FIFA proceed with a feasibility study into holding the men's and women's World Cups every two years instead of four?
You may select 1 option
Yes.                     [ ] [                                                                                   166]                           88%
No.                      [ ] [        22]                                                                                                       12%
                         Total votes: 188
                         (Submit vote)

[Quote]

Saudi Arabia by Saudi Arabia >> Fri May 21, 2021 6:46 pm
FIFA Congress Member
I've been listening to complaints recently in this thread that people think that the current World Cup frequency is too slow. We currently have World
Posts: 567 Cups every four years for both men and women. Many nations have been complaining that this is no longer suitable for the way the World Cup works today.
Founded: Sep 23, 1932 It is extremely hard for nations to rise up the rankings now, even when higher-ranked nations roleplay less. The power of the international coefficient
Absolute Monarchy is too strong. It can take decades for unranked nations to reach the upper echelons, and some will even struggle to make it very far at all. That can
be offputting to newcomers. Look at the likes of San Marino and Gibraltar - with the current frequency of World Cups, do you really think they are
going to be willing to put in the time and effort to challenge higher-ranked teams? I think not. It's offputting for us to really put in that
investment too; I can't spend all my time roleplaying to get good for the World Cup when I've got an actual country to run, and international incidents
to attend to.

Therefore, I believe it's important that we, as a roleplaying community, make it easier for newer nations to integrate into football if they invest
in the sport enough. There's two ways we could go about this. The one that I think would work less well would be to adjust the international
coefficient rankings, making it easier for lower-ranked teams to gain rank. However, this method would be unfair on those who have put in the effort
under the current system, and they don't deserve to lose their coefficients if they continue to invest in football at such a high standard.

No, the proposal that I am making is that we make World Cups more frequent. This approach doesn't change how much a nation needs to invest in
football to rise up the coefficient rankings. Instead, it means that if a nation puts the investment in, the overall time from entry into the sport to
when they reach the higher ranks is shorter, because World Cups would be more frequent. I think this method has merit. It doesn't diminish the efforts
put in by top-ranked teamsteams, but allows unranked nations to get a foot in the door in football. This won't solve all football's problems, but will
also generate a tonne of money for the sport too with more frequent World Cups and more frequent roleplaying opportunities. All around, it would
improve the quality and competitiveness of football tournaments here on RLStates.

Our proposal is that instead of World Cups every 4 years, they occur every two years. Look, INS (In NationStates ie IRL) according to the calendars
of many nations, looking at IFCF documentation, World Cups already happen every two years. So it makes sense to replicate what happens INS in our
own fantasy roleplay competitions as well. The objective of FIFA and the WC here on RLStates is to try to replicate the World Cup INS as closely as
possible, so that's why I am suggesting this as a constitutional amendment. I've put it up for vote here at the FIFA annual congress on the WCDT, and I
sincerely hope you all support this proposal.

[Quote]

Arsene Wenger by Arsene Wenger >> Fri May 21, 2021 6:57 pm
FIFA Head of Global
Development Changes to the way we run football have to be made. Not only do we have issues of player welfare, with players being forced to play more matches than
Posts: 784 ever before, but we also have the problem that football is losing its value. We have so many dead rubber games that no one really cares about. We don't
Founded: Oct 22, 1949 want a system where we have to go through the routine of pointless qualifiers, taking time away when we could be playing more valuable games. The
Capitalist Paradise current four year wait is just too long for nations and players. With the current system, players can only appear in a couple of World Cups. It's my
opinion that's not enough. And as Saudi Arabia stated, the current system embeds existing footballing rank hierarchies, and makes it almost impossible
for a team to break into the top ranks without a long grind over decades.

I believe that in RLStates right now, we have too many random football competitions that are meaningless. The World Cup and the Euros and other
regional tournaments are what really matters. I want to see more of these tournaments in RLStates, and less of the smaller tournaments that don't
really mean anything to anyone. I'm urging everyone in FIFA to back Saudi Arabia's proposal, and commit to holding World Cups every 2 years.

[Quote]

European Club by European Club Association >> Wed May 26, 2021 10:25 pm
Association
Sports Organisation Saudi Arabia wrote:
"Our proposal is that instead of World Cups every 4 years, they occur every two years."
Posts: 322
Founded: Jan 21, 2008 We have to look after the players. Previously, we expressed our opposition to plans to extend the RLStates World Cup to 48 teams, because we felt it
Capitalist Paradise would have a negative impact on the standards of roleplay in the competition. We are yet to see what this looks like - the first 48-team World Cup will
be in 2026. We expect it to be poor. But this Saudi Arabian proposal would diminish roleplay quality in RLStates. It would lead to football burnout
amongst competitors and fans, diminishing the value of World Cups.

Football is an elite sport. The players, clubs, and national teams that are the best should remain at the top within competitive football pyramids. We
must remember the heart of football roleplay here on RLStates. The fans, and the players. Without them the World Cup is nothing. This proposal will
weaken both elements - the fans will be less interested, and the players will be more exhausted and injured more. We strongly oppose the proposal, and
recommend that all European football associations also vote against this poorly thought out proposal.

[Quote]

Aleksander Ceferin by Aleksander Ceferin >> Wed May 26, 2021 10:36 pm
UEFA President I've seen that the FIFA Congress have voted to proceed with a feasibility study on holding the World Cup every 2 years. I can tell you now, this is a
stupid idea - one of the most ridiculous I've heard from FIFA if I'm honest. FIFA can do a feasibility study about that but it’s impossible that the
Posts: 1125 World Cup would happen every two years. This idea would cause a ridiculous level of disruption to the calendar. It'll disrupt domestic seasons as
Founded: Oct 13, 1967 well as other international tournaments like the Euros and other regionals. It's also a terrible idea for the players. They already play a lot of
Capitalist Paradise matches, so to put even more expectation on them is unfair. When do they rest? If World Cups are held every 2 years, players won't have any chance to
recover from the long seasons. They deserve holidays too. You know, we have to take this politics and conflict out of this. Football is about hope
and providing inspiration to others - it's a sport which people can unite around. To see certain individuals using policy proposals to play politics
with the future of football is obviously distressing, and shows how much work needs to be done to ensure the future of football. But this World
Cup every 2 years idea is not what is needed. It's ludicrous and irrational to even suggest it.

[Quote]
    
Jamaica              by Jamaica >> Thu May 28, 2021 12:26 pm
                     Hi, Michael Ricketts here - President of the JFF. We honestly think that this idea for biennial World Cups is a great idea! We fundamentally support
FIFA Congress Member       this motion to advance this feasibility study to the next stage. I'll be supporting this idea through every stage of the process. This idea would do
Posts: 122              wonders for the women's game, with increased publicity and opportunity for women to participate. I think world cups every 2 years would assist in
Founded: Aug 6, 1962       the general development of the women's game and improve the quality of football globally. We've had conversations with Concacaf about the proposal
Constitutional Monarchy     and we do believe that it is possible and compatible with current regional obligations as well.

[Quote]

CIES Football by CIES Football Observatory >> Thu May 28, 2021 12:43 pm
Observatory Having the World Cup every 2 years, I can assure you, is a terrible idea. I'm Raffaele Poli, and I study football as head of the CIES Football
Research Group Observatory. This proposal is extremely problematic for the future of football. This coincides with an expansion of the Champions League, and
Posts: 401 the Club World Cup will be kicking off soon as well. More football is not always better. Players risk picking up more injuries with a denser
Founded: Unknown, 2005 calendar; they need time to rest and recuperate. Having the World Cup biennially risks undermining the women's game, with more World Cups
Capitalist Paradise potentially diminishing the oxygen the women's game can get.

It's not just this though, the wider economic benefits of holding a world cup every 2 years are dubious at best as well. One should be aware
of the risk of making a product less prestigious by making it less rare. Not only will World Cups attract less money because they become less of a
rare commodity, but having World Cups every other year for both men and women would lessen the value of broadcast rights for domestic competitions
and continental club competitions. Financially, having a World Cup every 2 years would probably cause more financial harm to the wider game than
any benefit it may provide.

[Quote]
    
Gianni Infantino     by Gianni Infantino >> Thu May 28, 2021 12:53 pm
FIFA President           It's clear from the poll that this proposal passes quorum. With a majority in favour, I will now direct FIFA to  start a feasibility study
Posts: 1258             into holding a World Cup every 2 years. As soon as the study is completed we will report the findings here on the World Cup Discussion Thread. I
Founded: Mar 23, 1970      assure you, this does not yet mean we are implementing World Cups every 2 years. We are open to anything, this study is about finding ways to
Capitalist Paradise        reform football for the better, not just pushing through this one idea. We have a blank sheet, we are open to take on board all views and
                     opinions about how we can make the international calendar better. But we will push for change. The he starting point is not the calendar is
                     full and so nothing changes. But it's clear that football needs reform. FIFA is the only footballing body that provides international 
                     solidarity payments and looks after the game on a global scale. These reforms are about furthering that through access to more funds - the World
                     Cup is our primary revenue generator.

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by **Trolleborg** » Sat May 29, 2021 7:14 am

First part of this story
Second part
Third part

As Norra already know, one can get from the metro to the stadium from as many as four stations of the local subway, but the traditional, classical route is from two stations located quite far, through the park, just like Norra did yesterday. Intending to do the same now, she arrived at the right place, but the park, yesterday quiet and full of his own thoughts, today it was more like a place of manifestation, into which someone stuck trees here and there. In fact, the fans did not leave the paths and generally treated the forest with much care, but at first the impression was exactly that. Some of those walking to the stadium looked in amazement at a large bear walking around, but mostly they were so carried away by chanting, puffing, collective jumping and other due activities that they did not even notice a few exotic-looking foreigners moving to the side stadium.

But Norra was not lucky, a noisy company was walking next to her, discussing the vicissitudes of the entire WCQ. Opinions were divided: some believed that the strange defeats from minnow nonames in the first part of tournament were the result of unlucky set of coincidences, but the overwhelming majority believed that all this was result of some external influence. The organizers of the championship either missed something by organizing matches in group 6, appointing inept referees and officials and not being able to properly assess what and who was doing, or even maliciously obstructed such distinctive and strong teams as gathered in the group. One, especially loud proponent of the latest version easily capable shouted down even bunches of up to five opponents, “We won games with Zwangzug and Tequilo two times, but on Quirija and Talkasa things are like they are? Why would it be so? And I'll tell you why - because it would be difficult to water our national team down the toilet at major matches, but in those that no one watches it is much easier. Do not pretend you don’t see errors of referees!! Then he whistled, there granted a free kick, here a corner kick, and when there was a foul he looked other way, as if there was something more interesting. And as a result, as you see, we did not get the six points that’s our for right! And then suddenly miracles somehow stopped, strange, right? And I tell you: this is exactly the same story as in the second half of the last WCQ, the same wild results, one of the host did something wrong there!”. Most of the participants in the dispute agreed that the case was very strange and probably organizers of WC not without mistakes, but refused to consider what was happening as the result of malicious intent. But the arguer was very noisy and loud.

Norra tried to go slower at first to be out of range of this discussion, but almost immediately whole group ran into another ones and began to argue even louder while walking slower. Then she tried to go faster, but the disputants suddenly concluded that there was not much time before the match and went faster, and she had to continued walk next to them, listening to heated arguments. Already at the vicinity of the stadium, she remembered that she only understood the dispute because the Keith AI system that took care of the tourists was broadcasting the translation to her, and it’s possible to turn this option off, but then the disputants had already finished arguing and went to their places at the stadium.

And here she is again, the stadium of 1st December. A huge bowl, today filled with people from top to bottom. Even in the form of a hologram, the crowd looked impressive, and when you see it personally it’s stunning the imagination. How does anyone manage to take points out of here with such pressure? Not surprisingly, home defeats are viewed by Trolleborg fans as something exceptional.

The neighbors looked at Norra with some doubt, so she even saw fit to voice herrrr grrrhhood intentions. Keith, having finished the translation, added something from herself, everyone around nodded and one asked: "Wouldn't a guest of the country be uncomfortable if we accidentally push her or start pat on the shoulders?" Norra replied no, which seemed to satisfy everyone.

And on the field, the players have already came out from the very tunnel from which Norra herself go onto field a day ago and lined up where usually they did. The noise level immediately dropped to almost a minimum. The anthem of Quirija was listened to while attentively, but Norra was somewhat afraid that something would happen to her ears when the local sang theirs. But Trolleborg fans did not try to break world records for noise, or at least give the sound level slightly higher than the launching spaceship. They sang very harmoniously, like a professional choir, and quite loudly, but not too much, and at the same time legibly, every word is clear, and with deep feeling. It seemed that the huge bowl not only resonated to the beat, but also sang along.

And only after finishing the song and making a proper pause, the stands again began to generate noise, at first just noise, and then more and more clearly the chant “Trolleborg! Trolleborg!" Finally, the referee raised his hand in the center of the field, indicating that the match is about to begin. Again a pause of two seconds and the whistle blows, the ball is in the game, and the fans again unleash a barrage of noise on the guests and all emotions from the fact that in this game the Trolleborg team could issue a ticket to the World Cup, but everything turned out differently.

by **TJUN-ia** » Sat May 29, 2021 7:55 am

After the draws finally returned to TJUN-ian football (one good, one bad), the situation heading into the final 3 games of the World Cup 88 Qualifying Campaign was pretty simple: TJUN-ia was 5 points ahead and 5 points behind at the exact same time, looking to try and confirm Top 2 in the group for the 3rd WC in a row. The Co-Managers of David Seems and Li Xiu Ying have certainly steadied this TJUN-ian ship to the best of their abilities, trying their very best to make the Jaguars cross the immortal line come what may, but no one can ever truly predict what may happen in the run-in and so, they had to press on for the sake of us all.

The third-from-final game of this long road was the tournament swansong of the Beregozera Stadium as Szensky hosted the Catalan Protectorate of Ibixa for a low-key game the Krasnaya Stena were taking very seriously for two reasons: they didn't want their home to go 0-3, no one would want that, and a TJUN-ian win could see us clinch a Top 2 spot if Oberour Ar Moro fell to Astograth in Regium. The permutations certainly inspired the team to go for the three points and this game would be effectively decided within the first 45. Vladimir Podolov clearly loves to play in his home region and as such, he would produce a first-half hattrick for the home fans to enjoy (in the 23rd, 26th and 43rd respectively), putting the Jags a deserved 3-0 up at the interval. Gonçal Oriol would get the first consolation in the 56th, with Adrià Mollet getting the 2nd in the 67th, but substitute Archer Andrews would make sure of the final result with a brilliant strike past Didac Marines in the 78th. The win was secured indeed but with OAM winning 2-0 in Regium, the status quo remained the same as Szensky finished on 1-2.

Then came a trip to the Grand Duke's Stadium in Rumiatzi to face the team that failed to get us through in the form of Astograth, with 90,000 fans turning up to witness the Pot 2 and 3 teams duke it out for very different reasons. For TJUN-ia, they knew a win would secure Top 2 at last while the Olibondeka were looking for something to take from this terrible campaign for the men in green. This game would be a very interesting one and a game where the final day came into question once again. The hosts would get first blood in the 14th through Aire Epherra but Joe Green was quick to equalise things up in the 20th through his quick wits. That would be all from a brutal first half, but the 2nd would be where everything came crumbling down. Green would get a 2nd in the 51st to make it 2-1 but from here, Ill Olibondeka took complete control of the game the opposing bench came alive to take us down. Yokin Arana was especially important as they produced a very important brace (with goals in the 78th and 84th) that certainly caused all attention to move towards the final day in the Capital.

With defeat in Rumiatzi and Oberour Ar Moro winning as well, the battle for 2nd in Group 13 is going to go down to the final day in TJUN-ia City itself as OAM are 2-ponits back entering this showdown in the National Stadium. Banija are, obviously, your group winners but the fate of TJUN-ia hasn't been sealed as of yet, with 3 scenarios still on the cards for the Jaguars in from of their home fans. If we win, we have a good shot of making the top 6 in the 2nd placed rankings (currently 10th by a point) and, if things go are way, we could join Audioslavia in the grandest stage of them all after all. If we draw, as TJUN-ian teams are want to do, then 2nd would be secured but we would have to keep an eye on the other 17 group to see whether qualification or the playoffs awaited us. If we crashed to defeat in front of our home fans, line our away-goals loss in the WC87 playoffs, then Oberour Ar Moro makes the playoffs while we have t suffer another cruel blow in this sport. In the Home of TJUN-ian Football, where we have experienced pain for a lifetime already, the Jaguars must defend their honour in order to try and make the promised land in front of their countrymen and countrywomen. If you thought the "Battle of Tikariot City" was a game of high stakes, this you ain't seen nothing yet. GO FUCKING 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 D 3-3 (2nd)
MD15: @Banija (6) - Mavuto Field, Hoima D 1-1 (2nd)
----------------------BOOT IT!----------------------
MD16: vs Ibixa (173) - Beregozera Stadium, Szensky W 4-2 (2nd)
MD17: @Astograth (24) - Grand Duke's Stadium, Rumiatzi L 2-3 (2nd)
----------------------BOOT IT!----------------------
MD18: vs Oberour Ar Moro (82) - National Stadium, TJUN-ia City

by **Eshialand** » Sat May 29, 2021 8:01 am

What Happened?
Eshialand 1 - 2 Hebitaka

October 9th, 2021:

Dear Diary,

What the heck happened last night? I swear, we must be cursed or something.

Okay, maybe I should explain, because you might not know what I'm talking about.

Our soccer team is just can't win at home. It's impossible, we can't. We only have one home win in all of World Cup Qualifying, and that's because the other team's manager got cocky and benched literally everybody who had any experience. Apart from that, we just can't win.

Nothing proved that better than last night's match against Hebitaka.

Our first match against Hebitaka finally broke a 5-match losing streak we had been in at the time, and we figured that this match would be just the same: the one thing we needed to snap us out of our latest funk. In the end, it was the exact opposite.

We were doing so well in the beginning too... David Gorman took the ball from Tarun Masake in the 15th minute (I honestly don't remember him ever doing anything, so it was nice to finally see him get some action), and he passed the ball to Avery [MacDougall], and she got it to Jake [Harran] and he scored one of the most amazing goals I've ever seen in my life!

Then... I'm not sure what to call it, but something bad happened. It's like our home curse remembered that this was its last chance to work its magic and just decided to screw us over one last time. Mel [Carey] completely messed up in the 38th, letting Baldev Tiltankara take the ball away from her... then, he passed it to Elver Dyne, and at that point, I couldn't watch anymore... when I could finally bear to look, Ram Vijay had tied the score.

Speaking of bearing to watch, I could have sworn I saw a few bears in the stands... but surely they couldn't have actually been bears! I must have been hallucinating.

Then came the 67th, when Takeshi Kazuto tripped me and that lousy referee thought that I tried to hurt him and gave me a yellow card! Of course, Vijay scored the penalty kick, meaning that what was going to be a draw or maybe even a win for us turned into a loss all because the referee needed a stronger prescription! How unfair!

Now, Dear Diary, I hope you can see why I think we must be cursed. Oh well, on the bright side, I can always look forward to the party in Valentine Z.

Sincerely, Alice.

"Hello and welcome back to ENN Tournament Report, I'm your host Josh Seametzle. Matchday 17 was... frustrating, so let's just get to the matches."

Sendhang 0 - 0 Lisander
"Say what you will about Lisander, but they really can draw when they have to... they're still in last though."

Devonta 2 - 3 Pluvia and the Saxean Isles
"I have to say that PSI really has been this group's biggest surprise... that kind of gives me hope for next year."

Vilita 2 - 2 Savojarna
"That can't be good for a Savojar side that really could've used a win there..."

Eshialand 1 - 2 Hebitaka
"You know who else really could've used a win there? Because I do..."

The 14 Stars 0 - 1 Squornshelan Remnant States
"Huh... I actually expected this."

Deniria 2 - 1 Atheara
"NOOO! NOT DENIRIA AGAIN!! Eshialand simply can't cheer for a team without them becoming cursed!"

"On that lovely note, I think it's time to end the broadcast... I've been... ah, you know the drill by now..."

OOC: My starting XI for the final match will be the same as it was for the last two matches, but with Christian Meers as keeper rather than Alex Kolek.

by **The Grearish Union** » Sat May 29, 2021 8:14 am

Upper House Election Deliberations
Lydia Hope - Salvador Hills University

With the new lower house having been sworn in along with the cabinet ministers and prime minister, it is now time for the second stage of the second republic to come into full effect. Election of the house has been a topic of discussion among the presidential advisory committee members, and it is believed that the said elections will take place sooner than later. Quite a few different probable formats of elections and sizes of the Chamber have been discussed, reportedly, but haven't actually been ratified.

High among the list of preferred house seat formats, was the proposition of having proportional seat representation for all the seven states of the union according to their population. This house, they said, would elect a third of its members every three years, and as such could never be dissolved. Intuitively, it is also understood that a third of the Chamber's representatives would complete their tenure of six years every year. While this would ensure one standing house in the democracy regardless of the political situation that the country currently finds itself in at any point in time, it would also contribute to the huge burden of having to deal with the never-ending election issue that seems to plague so many democracies around the world. There isn't much doubt among political scientists that this looks liek the best proposition on paper by quite the margin, but the toll on the economy and the psyche of the electorates may not actually be worth it in the long run. Especially when the country is trying to streamline its legislature systems, such a process could have devastating implications.

The other major suggestion coming from those looking for a cheaper way to get done with the elections, is to have an equal representation for all states (tentatively set at 25) with the tenure for the upper house set to be the same as that of the lower house. It is preferred by many also because of the fact that state assembly changes will then be reflected in the upper house seat share every five years in conjunction with the Commons. Needless to say, some are sniffing vested interests of the incumbent government in this regard.

In any case, it is still under consideration by the President of the Union, and Mr. Ledford is yet to make a concrete decision on the matter. It is yet to be known what said decision will be, or when the planned elections will be, but it is clear that a common ground between the two major opinions will be accepted.

by **South Newlandia** » Sat May 29, 2021 8:41 am

The story of Sally, or why there are Elephants in South Newlandia
An old tale told for generations [Thanks to Electrum for the inspiration and to Banija for help with details]

It was, once upon a time, in the land that would be South Newlandia today,
Long before the country chose to attend international sports to play,
And before the country was even known to most
They still had frequent trade on their coast.

One time, they needed a shipment from overseas,
Full of sugar cane, cocoa, coffee, wood and peas.
They chose to trade with far-way land, today Atlantian Oceania,
Across regions, they received goods from Banija.

It just so happened that Banija was in turmoil from war at the time,
And the guards doing checks at the harbour were barely paid a dime.
As such, the ship stood unattended for some hours or days,
Different to the effective control system nowadays.

Attracted by the smell of sugar canes, resting on the ship,
A small, brave elephant wandered to the harbour, eager for a nip.
It found the ship unattended, the doors wide open and large,
And the Elephant decided to sneakily take charge.

When the ship departed in the morning, no one saw it,
And the Elephant ate sugar cane, more and more, bit by bit,
When sailors finally found a happy, young animal on their boat,
It was too late to turn around, and the elephant remained on the float.

The shipment arrived, with less cargo than intended,
But with a large animal, an Elephant instead added.
The people of South Newlandia were surprised, yet keen,
As such an animal they before had never seen.

They looked at it, the trunk, it’s weight, size, eyes above,
Large ears, a friendly look; and instantly, they fell in love.
They noticed that this elephant could be a great fried and ally,
And, after long discussion, decided to name their new friend Sally.

Sally was hungry, and she ate a lot of produce from the local people,
But they knew it wasn’t theirs, it belonged to Banija, it was illegal.
So they wrote to Kabaka Mugisha the Liberator, who ruled Banija,
Asking him if they could keep their friend, by law.

They offered to ship it back, give compensation, or other,
And a reply came soon: “We’re not going to bother”.
Now, the South Newlandians kept their new friend,
And even decided to go bring her some mates, in the end.

Elephants grew in number on the small island,
And soon, some were freed, to populate the land.
People loved Elephants so much that it become a symbol for them,
And so, Sally shaped South Newlandia into the place it would become.

NEWS
**South Newlandia and Grearia not awarded CoH rights in narrow vote**
**Massive three-team trade: Cain to Lions, Flowers to Sox, Henry to Rhinos**
**Owlephant numbers shrink by 14%, scientists puzzled, environmentalists confused**
**SNL to go into crucial match against Qasden with same squad yet again**
**Wise, Freeman and Bell in support of proposed “Espo”**

Sitting in the locker room in the Dome, Corban Green, and presumably, the rest of the team, had a massive deja-vu. This had all happened before. Almost to the day two years ago, South Newlandia defeated Tumbra in this very same stadium, on Matchday 18, in a must-win scenario to qualify for World Cup 87, after not having lost a game in the second half of World Cup Qualifying. Now, the Elephants, 6-2-0 in the second half, holding on to a 1-point lead in second place ahead of the Krauts, who would probably easily deal with Himebaugh at home, would play Qasden. Once again, they had one match to win to reward themselves, to keep the dream alive.
It was the exact same thing all over again. The noise of the Dome, sold out to support their team, making noise, hyping the team up; they had not forgotten the last time either. The Elephants had fought to get to this situation, defeating Muralos in a nail-biter, holding a 1-0 lead against Ranorita, and, most recently, miraculously defeating Eura, one of the best sporting teams in history.
There were some important differences, though. When the Elephants defeated Tumbra at home two years ago, it was for automatic qualification; a draw still would’ve netted them a playoff spot. And when they faced Tumbra, they had previously defeated them in the away fixture on Matchday 9. Now, a win would be just enough for the playoffs, and a draw would kill the dream immediately. And, perhaps more importantly, the Elephants had been defeated by Qasden on matchday 9 of this campaign, a crushing 0-3 loss that dropped them to 4-1-4. Qasden was in the middle of a long win streak that the Krauts just shattered last matchday, but that’s what set up this crucial match.
It would not be an easy game. Being without Trischuk was a burden for the entire campaign, but it would lay even harder on them in this game. Trischuk had ice in his veins, he could stay calm under any situation. His mere presence calmed the team down. Could Rigby do the same? He did last matchday, when he brought the Elephants to this game with the best game of his live, holding Eura to a single goal.
The team was ready. 11 man, fighting for a country, This match would be the chance to keep going, to play two more matches. The last exit to still have a chance to play in Chromatika and Cassadaigua, and everyone could feel the pressure that would bring. They surprised the world by doing it once, could they do it again?

Josef Salazar, now thirty years old, came home to his apartment. The young athletic coach of the Elephants still lived here, alone, near Elephant Valley, not far from the Dome. He rolled the carpet in his living room back, revealing a cut in the wood, and sat down his backpack. He slowly took out a rubber chicken, a large butcher knife, and a jar of tears. Once again, he sprinkled the tears in the rough shape of a pentagram, placed the rubber chicken in the middle, and raised the knife. What had worked once would work again, right?

NEWS
**Chess to be promoted more in South Newlandia by creation of ECC**
**Wahlja claims new coach for Elephants will be confirmed during WBC52**
**Weird sightings around Dragon Island, Murphy calms populace**
**Elephantson not sad about “expected” result: “We’ll just host something else”**
**South Newlandian kids eat healthier, according to study**

by **Bollonich** » Sat May 29, 2021 9:01 am

The Karvian Chronicle

Sport - Bollonich win against North Japan; Just got eliminated

Bollonich were coming off hard loss at Trolleborg. We had travelled to Trolleborg where we were thrashed by them 2-0. However this defeat wasn’t enough to put us down, we had already done very well in this year’s WCQ and we wanted to finish it strong before the start of the CoH. We were up against North Japan at the Rose Bowl in Vreton. The last time we had faced them they were playing at home and defeated us 7-4. This defeat would’ve been on the minds of the players who wouldn’t have forgotten conceding 7 goals so soon. However a comeback is what we needed. A comeback for us is what we would want, and mainly a win as confidence would be very important for the game coming up against Zwangzug. The match begun with North Japan having a chance straight after kick off. Japanese midfielder Hatsumane played the ball to Izo Natsuke who took on a shot from a distance which was safely saved by Sirigu. The match didn’t burst into spirit before the second half. In the second half cam eat only goal of the match from Bollonischian attacking midfielder Marshall which was beautifully assisted by Schmit who played in a brilliant pass which was smoothly put in by Marshall. This result was a crucial one in what Gildiric described to be a battle for pride, the pride Bollonich wishes to earn. The win was crucial going into the game against Zwangzug which turned out to be a dull 0-0 draw, the third one in Bollonich’s qualifying campaign.
These results eventually resulted in Bollonich’s elimination as we were sitting at 24 points fighting only for 5th a place, for which we would need to win our upcoming encounter against Rangers FC and required Sannyamathland to lose or draw.

Bollonich (Starting 11) - Sirigu (GK), Lindsey (RB), Ploy (CB), Ingit (CB), Burns (LB), Swanson (CDM), Hum (CDM), Marshall (CAM), Cummings (RW), Schmit (LW), Perry (CF)
North Japan (Starting 11) - Akita (GK), Izumi (LB), Ken Shingy (CB), Yoshiki (RB), Noguchi (DM), Katabushi (LM), Okuyama (LM), Suzuki (RM), Hatsumane (RM), Natsuke (SC), Takahara (SC)

Bollonich - 1
63' Marshall (Schmit)
North Japan - 0

Bollonich (Starting 11) - Sirigu (GK), Lindsey (RB), Ploy (CB), Ingit (CB), Burns (LB), Swanson (CDM), Hum (CDM), Marshall (CAM), Cummings (RW), Schmit (LW), Perry (CF)
Zwangzug (Starting 11) - Troy (GK), Miovuku (DF), Crain (DF), Gannett (DF), Sibal (DF), Haugen (MF), McCue, (MF), Kent-Maner (MF), Munshi (MF), Noile-Murne (MF), Idmar (ST)

Bollonich - 0
Zwanzug - 0

International News - BAC and GCF form a partnership ahead of the Elephant Chess Cup

In recent news with regard to a game which is adored by a large number of Bollonischians, chess, the Bollonischian Association of Chess have announced forming a partnership with the Græntfjall Chess Federation ahead of the 1st edition of the Elephant Chess Cup in South Newlandia. The BAC announced that this decision meant that the BAC and GCF shall be sending a joint team to compete in the Elephant Chess Cup, and may have other joint events or participations in the future. The reason for this coalition is not yet known however the obvious reasons seems to be a diplomatic move by both governments as an attempt to mend friendly relations among both nations following Grænfjall’s communist bloc which destroyed their relations with the Bollonischian Government and made the country highly disliked in the eyes of Bollonich’s ruling party The Liberal Party. Even after the defeat of the communist bloc, the relations between the countries never repaired. And right now what better way to do this than through the means of a sport both countries are very good and have a long history in.
The GCF in a coordinated announcement with the BAC also confirmed the team of players that shall be representing both chess federations at the Elephant Chess Cup. The team sheet reads :-
1. Ánýá Klæðskera-gleði (GRÆ)
2. Ýrarsson Reynir (GRÆ)
3. Felip Oliver (BOL)
4. Clara Josep (BOL)

by **Srednjaci** » Sat May 29, 2021 9:17 am

DAILY NEWS KATANIJA

NORTH SLAVONIJA PROCESS

"When it comes to the North Slavonija unified process, srednjaci supports a solution that includes one state and one autonomous province in which both nations can realize their national aspirations and equal rights for their citizens. And which guarantees to both nations security as a state of the free people in peaceful coexistence with its neighbors, "said PM Danijela Milanović Radman as reported by NAS. ( Novinska Agencija Srednjaci)

The prime minister said this during an informal meeting of 27 members of both delegations of ministers in Podgora, capital of North Slavonija, have a meeting with President of the Transitional Government of the North Slavonian Democratic Center party, Zoran Zelić.

As for relations with North Slavonija, the minister commented: “It was a truly constructive dialogue. Zelić is our partner and ally in the region. We greatly appreciate their efforts in caring for refugees after the civil war in North Slavonija. We discussed strengthening co-operation and the latest escalation of the separatists conflict and efforts to rebuild the peace process. We are grateful for Zelić's efforts to reach a ceasefire agreement. "

REMINDER

Northern Slavonija is a region created by the disintegration of neighboring Windardia. Ethnically, the majority of the population were srednjacians. The Srednjaci, as one of the leading members of the security concil of the South Voytana region, advocated a peace process. The civil war in Windardia led to the disintegration of the nation into several weak regions. With the peace signature in Podgora, it was agreed that the state no longer exists as such. The Northern Slavonija region had its first elections. The government of the Democratic Center took the lead in the elections. However the ruined country, with poor infrastructure, destroyed economy could not alone. The party democratically organized a referendum to stay as an independent country or to join the DR Srednjaci. In the referendum, the majority demanded unification with the DR Srednjaci. Foreign observers of the South Voytan Security Council accepted the results. However, there is another current that has accused the referendum results as a fraud. It all started with protests but then there were armed clashes in which over 200 people were killed on both sides. The conflict was stopped by the intervention of the Srednjaci army. Talks are currently under way on the annexation of Northern Slavonija. The most likely solution is that Northern Slavonija will be an autonomous province.

Northern Slavonija does not have a developed economy. It is predominantly an agricultural region. Unification will cost DR Srednjaci almost 32% of GDP. Economists say it will take a safe 20 or 30 years for the Northern Slavonija region to come close to the development of the rest of Srednjaci. Northern Slavonija has a population of 20 million and the majority is rural, more than 60%.

MAP OF SREDNJACI AND NORTH SLAVONIJA

by **Sargossa** » Sat May 29, 2021 9:55 am

SSM | Sargossan State Media

International Edition - Sport

Coach Not Sacked

Blanco Borrayo reports;

The Football Federation of Sargossa have reiterated their ‘complete faith’ in national coach Brian McAllister in the wake of a fourth successive World Cup qualification failure, the second under his charge. With the World Cup cycle reaching its final throes national coaches around the multiverse are dropping like flies, with Sarzonia, Græntfjall, neighbours Pasarga and group rivals Indusse among the nations to pull the triggers on their coaches during this campaign. Indeed it was former Sargossan boss Rafael Barrios firing by Barunia, having failed to arrest The Sun’s decline, that prompt the FFS’s statement. Reports, that seem to have first emerged on social news aggregation site Spreddit, suggest that the Federation were planning on returning Barrios to the Corsairs helm. The former Dínamo Maturín coach is still held in high regard after leading Sargossa through a nightmarish qualification group to reach the Finals of World Cup 78, their first appearance in eight editions.

When pressed for further comment Alana Nieto, the FFS Head of Communications, acknowledged that there was disappointment that the campaign had ended prematurely but said that the Federation were focusing on the positives. ‘It’s fair that knee jerk reactions have been a speciality of this body in the past but to do so here would overlook the good work done by Brian McAllister and his technical staff. We’ve already eclipsed our points tally from the last campaign and will finish two positions higher in the group so there is definite improvement on show. Not least with the defensive side which I know Brian and his staff have worked incredibly hard on. From forty goals conceded in the last qualification campaign to sixteen in this one. We can see an upward trajectory and are confident the side will be well placed to challenge in the next World Cup cycle.’

Señorita Nieto also had some sharp words regarding two of the nation’s Group 3 opponents*. ‘In truth it’s difficult to take a true reading of our performance when you’re faced with nations who practise a damaging form of anti-football. When the likes of Silvedania and Damukuni show zero desire to actually indulge in this game we know and love, when they are simply content to sit in their own halves and make no attempt whatsoever to compete it sucks all the life out of the spectacle. What should have been exciting battles for precious World Cup qualification points effectively became televised training sessions. It makes you question why they even bother to turn up at all. Perhaps it’s something the governing authorities should take a look at. What they are doing is anathema to the entire spirit of the competition.’

Sargossa, along with Silvedania, Damukuni and the rest of the group will be playing entirely dead rubbers in the final round of qualification matches. The Group 3 picture is already complete, with the Holy Empire predictably comfortable winners and the Independent Athletes from Quebec living up to their seeding and securing the playoff spot. The Corsairs are guaranteed to finish in third and have only pride to play for in Maturín, against Indusse.

*criticism is entirely IC

works? · by **Abanhfleft** » Sat May 29, 2021 10:13 am

DISCLAIMER: Gaelic Gamers is an independents sports blogging website created by four cousins with a common liking and passion for sports of all kinds and is in no way or form affiliated with or organized by any official news organization in the Democratic Republic of Abanhfleft. All statements and opinions posted here are our own and not anyone else's.

Gaelic Gamers
Presents...

The Football Fallacies
with The Man from Markovsky

IT'S HAPPENED AGAIN

Hello and welcome to The Football Fallacies. Right, let's just get the fucking elephant out of the room, shall we? Oh, my bloody God! Why do we always have to do this? Then again, why the fuck am I still surprised? This is the legacy that Fleftic football will leave behind on this world long after all of us have gone on. I can't even be bothered with trying to remember why I even bother supporting this bastard team in the first place. In case you can't tell, I live in the Plain but the L is silent. However, the two Ls I'm about to talk about are anything but silent! Let's just get this over with while I continue screaming internally.

1. We are living in the worst possible timeline imaginable
All right, some delusional fans out there are probably saying right now, "Man from Markovsky, this is not the worst that can happen to Abanhfleft! The absolute worst thing would be if Abanhfleft were somehow absolute rock bottom of our qualifying group!" Yeah, well, guess what? Abanhfleft spent almost the entire qualifying cycle firmly entrenched in the top half of the automatic second-placed qualifiers, but now these two defeats have flushed all that early effort right down the bloody drain! Look, I think we can all be in agreement that the match against Valanora was going to be a dead rubber. No matter what we even tried to do, Valanora was always going to beat us. No ifs, ands, or buts. It's not defeatist, it's just pragmatist. Anyone who even had the shadow of a thought that we could have beaten the elves should be taken to a mental institution immediately because it's clear to me that they're not thinking right at all! Valanora was a throwaway; getting even just a point from them would have been an absolute outright miracle. But bloody Mytanija!? The bloody bastard side that we managed to beat 4-2 away from home? You're telling me that not only can we not beat them on our own turf, we also can't hang on to a bloody one-goal lead? Oh, the football gods are most definitely taking a right piss on us right now! How bloody fucking typical of Abanhfleft would it be for us to be perched in the top six of the second-placed teams in all the qualifying groups, only for us to plummet right back down because of two bloody losses? It's absolutely bloody typical, that's what it is! It's actually gone beyond a joke into an actual stereotype now, you know? Abanhfleft, the nation that does well in the early stages of any given sport only to choke it all away at the last second! Good God, sometimes I just hate living here.

2. Were you expecting another observation here? Then good fucking luck!
Look, there are no more observations about this team to be made. All that I needed to talk about, I'd already tackled in the previous point above. I mean, of course I could go over all of the times this qualifying cycle that Abanhfleft well and truly messed up what looked on the surface to be an excellent quali campaign, but that would be beating a dead horse. You guys know that I am just fucking done with all of this shit. You wanna know how to manage to break someone's spirit? Keep disappointing them to the point where they're apathetic or just plain indifferent about anything that's happening. I think I've reached that point with the bloody national team now. I just can't be bothered to keep slagging them by now. Nothing changed when I was slagging them off before so why should I expect anything to change now? It's a bloody exercise in bastard futility, that's what it is. Oh, sure, you could say that Abanhfleft maybe still has a chance of nicking an automatic spot, but of course that all depends on us winning against Geektopia and a few other results in other qualifying groups going our way. And we all know that none of those things are going to happen now, don't we?

Anyway, that's all that there is from me. If you've got anything at all to say about the pathetic state of this team then feel free to leave those comments down below. Until then, I've been the Man from Markovsky, thoroughly disappointed in our country.

          VALANORA 1 - 0 ABANHFLEFT
SAXSTROM (56' pen)

█ABANHFLEFT 1 - 2 MYTANIJA
RUSEV (14')       DERAJEVIC (35')
                  RACIC (52')

(OOC: Scorers for the Mytanija game agreed upon on Discord.)

by **Mytanija** » Sat May 29, 2021 10:15 am

RACIC RISES HIGHEST!
1923 ESCA DEFENDER SEALS THE WIN FOR MYTANIJA

by Nevenka Planinc

ABANHFLEFT 1–2 MYTANIJA
AFT: Rusev 14’
MYT: Derajevic 35’, Racic 52’

AFT: 1. Churchill; 2. Baum (sub. Goodlett 71’), 4. Sullins, 5. Shepley, 3. Adams; 8. Segovia, 6. Kleist (sub. Fleet-Street 66’); 7. Rusev, 10. Woodward, 11. Liner (sub. Magomedova 66’); 9. McGinnis

MYT: 12. Besak; 13. Milcic, 14. Racic, 15. Jernejec, 16. Isaev (c) (sub. Toshev 64’); 37. Kurtcehajic, 18. Ajanovic, 31. Kupresak, 20. Shishkin (sub. Vlahovic 76’); 38. Gannot (sub. Agic 76’), 33. Derajevic

Mytanija had to come from behind to win on a tough away trip to Abanhfleft. Goals from Anton Derajevic and Dino Racic cancelled out Amelie Rusev’s brilliant opener to allow the Hoops to move level on points with Electrum in third in the group. Lev Repin’s team have been fantastic after the halfway point of this qualifying campaign, only losing to the group’s top two seeds coming into the cycle (Valanora and Geektopia). Six wins represents a solid second-half and has perhaps vindicated Repin’s decision to include some of the more inexperienced members of the national pool in his team selections for some of the final few international breaks. The likes of Milcic, Racic, Ajanovic, Shishkin and Damien Gannot – scorer of the winner against Adab – have flourished in the absence of some of the more high-profile names, indicating that the future of Mytanar football is in good hands.

Repin’s team did reasonably well against Abanhfleft here, atoning for the defeat in the earlier meeting between the two sides, but a real moment of magic from winger Amelie Rusev put the Hoops behind in the first-half. A ball into McGinnis from midfield was brought down on the forward’s chest and then she waited for assistance from her midfield, it appeared as if she might play a simple ball into the feet of the Fleftic number ten Prudence Woodward but instead McGinnis flicked a pass out to the left flank where Rusev was waiting. Rusev was up against veteran full-back Petr Isaev and the Crvena Zvezda man – not getting any younger, now aged 33 – had a bit of a torrid time against the tricky winger up until his substitution in the 64th minute. Rusev set the tone with how she dribbled past Isaev for her goal, first looking as if she was going to drive to the by-line down the outside of the full-back before flicking it inside to leave Isaev sprawling. Kamil Jernejec naturally moved across to try and help Isaev but it was too late as Rusev flashed a shot off her right foot into the far corner. The winger is both-footed and that became evident with this shot, perfectly rifled into the right corner to leave Semir Besak with no chance.

Mytanija retained possession a bit better after that goal and Damir Milcic moved forward into midfield a little more often too, providing another option to pass to as the Hoops looked to create overloads in the centre of the pitch. Repin had selected a slightly unusual 4-4-2 diamond formation for this game, something Mytanija haven’t used very often at all during his tenure but he has always emphasised tactical flexibility and this was a good example of that. The logic behind it was fairly clear to see during the first-half as Mytanija looked to occupy Trinidad Kleist with Maks Shishkin whilst Sefir Ajanovic and Vilim Kupresak rotated around him. Their movement forced Woodward to drop deep to try to prevent Mytanar superiority in midfield. Milcic would also aggressively move up the left flank and into midfield areas, a move which seemed designed to force Elene Liner backwards as much as possible. This left Mytanija with three at the back, a familiar situation in the team’s usual 3-1-3-3 in possession, which allowed them to retain a man advantage against McGinnis and Rusev – the pair who usually remained highest up the pitch for Abanhfleft.

It became a fascinating tactical battle and it appeared to be turning Mytanija’s way as the half wore on, but the team were lacking an equaliser to show for it, a point of frustration for both Lev Repin on the sideline and many of the players out on the pitch. Damien Gannot and Anton Derajevic both had chances, Gannot forcing a fine save from Bronwyn Churchill whilst Derajevic shot wide from the edge of the penalty area. Derajevic was determined though and he took his next chance in the 35th minute, good work from Shishkin and Ajanovic in midfield left the former with a bit of time and space just outside the Fleftic penalty area. Shishkin is a player who can pick a pass and he stubbed a low ball through the legs of Christy Shepley for Derajevic to run onto. The Nyva Zvornik man didn’t need asking twice and ghosted behind Shepley before taking one touch with his right to bring him across into the centre of the goal and then sweeping the ball low past Churchill’s left leg. It seemed a slightly scruffy finish, with the ball bobbling into the net, but it got Mytanija level and made the team’s hard work seem worthwhile.

Mytanija didn’t need to wait too long after the break to get their noses in front, either. Damir Milcic had won a free-kick in a dangerous area out on the left, his aggressive forays forward proving fruitful and forcing Liner into areas she might have preferred not to be in. Shishkin and Ajanovic went out to debate who would be the better option to cross the ball into the box and in the end the slightly more diminutive playmaker won (Shishkin, to be clear). The likes of Racic and Jernejec had moved up from defence to compete for the cross, with Shishkin’s delivery likely to be decent. The Maethoru man hit a delicious ball in with his left foot, curling into the space between the Fleftic goalkeeper and defensive line. Dino Racic had just about timed his run perfectly to beat the offside trap, but also to allow himself to get to the cross. He still had to dive forward to meet it with his head, but he couldn’t have done it much better and the 1923 Esca man was delighted with his effort, jumping up to run off in celebration of his first international goal.

The remainder of the game was characterised by Mytanija making themselves very hard to beat, keeping possession but also making some changes to make themselves sturdier at the back. Gavril Toshev came on for Petr Isaev, ostensibly to guard against any more moments of inspiration from Amelie Rusev down the left. Later on Repin switched his team from the 4-4-2 diamond with a roving left-back in Damir Milcic to a more defensively minded 4-3-3 which morphed into a 4-5-1 when Mytanija lost possession. Milcic and Toshev were tasked with maintaining their positions in the back four and Dalibor Vlahovic and Ramiz Agic came on for Maks Shishkin and Damien Gannot respectively. A player like Vlahovic is invaluable to have on the pitch when you need to retain possession due to his ability to wriggle out of tight situations and intelligent play. Agic’s pace was useful too, allowing Mytanija to go longer down the right if they needed to.

Special mention has to go to Anton Derajevic, a player who has taken his career to a different place to that which many expected him to go. For a long time he was seen as the petulant child of Mytanar football, but he led the line with great effectiveness and maturity for the national team here. He’s now 34 and it’s unlikely he’ll get too many more opportunities at international level but this sort of performance might have played him into a spot in the Cup of Harmony should Mytanija be invited to the tournament. His hold-up play towards the end of the game mimicked Kelly McGinnis’ in the first-half and demonstrated a different side to Derajevic’s game. It also allowed the Hoops to play the game out as a 2-1 win rather than allowing Abanhfleft back into the game.

Mytanija only have one game of the qualifying campaign remaining, they finish up with a home game against Grearia at Radnika in Esca. It remains to be seen if Lev Repin will choose to go with a stronger team or whether he will keep up with the theme of selecting less experienced players to give them a taste of international football with the future in mind. In the past he has used this sort of scenario to thank members of the national pool who have not received a call-up to a squad over the course of the cycle, as well as giving game-time to those who haven’t got on the pitch. That could mean that the likes of Lazar Obradovic and Josip Brajdic are selected and those who haven’t played too much like Predrag Vukomanovic, Andrija Ugljanin and Usten Odonelec might get a chance to impress too. A win could see Mytanija finish third in the group if other results go their way though and that would represent an improvement on World Cup 87 qualifying, something Repin will be eager to secure and could mean an experienced selection. All in all this cycle has been one of consolidation for Mytanija, with the second-half being a massive improvement on a slow start and hopefully being evidence of the direction of travel for the national team.

MYTANIJA NATIONAL TEAM SELECTION FOR GAME AGAINST THE GREARISH UNION (H)
Goalkeepers: 35. Lazar Obradovic (Liria Prizren), 12. Semir Besak (Olympic Thessia), 24. Zafer Muminovic (Tekstil Ibon)
Defenders: 13. Damir Milcic (Tekstil Ibon), 3. Grigorij Savicevic (AC Izotz Zubia [AUD]), 4. Mojmir Anac (Olympic Thessia), 16. Petr Isaev (Crvena Zvezda); 2. Srdan Vukovic (1896 Ebor), 27. Usten Odonelec (FK Arsika), 36. Andrija Ugljanin (Atletik Thessia), 5. Patrik Odonelec (Atletik Thessia)
Midfielders: 29. Predrag Vukomanovic (Energija-Nuklearna), 7. Tahir Fejzuli (Mâ Âlâmëómë [FFD]), 10. Jasno Odonelec (Atletik Thessia), 8. Brajko Gavrilovic (1896 Ebor), 11. Kemal Gajic (FK Arsika); 6. Alen Hrdaljko (CDSA), 30. Mersudin Smajic (Liria Prizren), 31. Vilim Kupresak (Olympic Thessia), 19. Dalibor Vlahovic (1896 Ebor), 21. Boris Kalinic (Workers Union [EUR])
Forwards: 9. Jezdimir Ocokoljic (Energija Chernovets [STL]), 22. Zlatan Andrijasevic (Atletik Thessia), 33. Anton Derajevic (Nyva Zvornik), 38. Damien Gannot (Atletik Thessia)

by **St Trinians** » Sat May 29, 2021 10:18 am

It seemed ironic to Amy that St Trinians hopes of qualifying as a team ranked outside the top 200 should rest on a matchup against an opponet ranked below them. But that is what St Trinians were facing as they looked to take on Grandistania, ranked 341st. At National Stadium no less. Amy was confident that the girls could pull it off. However, even a win wouldn’t ensure they pulled off the miracle. That would require a lot more luck.

Sitting in her office, Amy pulled out a notebook. It was a nice office, with expensive art and furniture, and even a national flag in the corner. It was a gift of sorts from the Matriarch, who had found a room for her in Howard House. The building was technically a palace, and was probably the closest St Trinians came to a parliament. It was here that the Matriarch housed her loyal assistants, advisors and friends. The sign on Amy’s door now read “Amy Pepperpot, National Football Team Manager”. Amy had grown quite fond of the position, one she had only been given for her negotiation skills. Considering the team’s performance, she was confident it was a position she would be allowed to keep going forward. What would truly cement her position would be qualifying. Amy paced her office as she scribbled down some calculations, trying to work out if they could qualify.

It was going to be difficult. With the current format, 2nd place was not an option. That would leave St Trinians with 34 points, just short of the minimum 36 required to break into the top 6 2nd place teams. So it had to be first place. Which meant both the Busoga Islands and Pasarga had to lose. Possible, but unlikely. The Busoga Islands could easily take down Freeport, while Pasarga’s final opponent would be 5th seeds Freeport. If however both teams lost, then all three teams – St Trinians, Busoga Islands and Pasarga, would have 34 points.

Amy paused and went to her desk. After some searching, she finally found the tournament handbook. Flicking through it, she alighted upon the section that would determine the team’s fate: tiebreakers. Points, then head to head. St Trinians had drawn and beaten the Busogan Islands, meaning that the head to head points were 4-1 in favour of St Trinians. But by the same token, they had drawn and lost to Pasarga, meaning they would lose to the veteran team. Amy sighed and put down her pen and pad. That was it then. No chance of a miracle, by the merest of margins. Still, looking back on the campaign, it was one to be proud of. The girls had come far, as players, and as a team, and as for Amy, she felt she had truly earned the sign on her door. She was a football manager alright, and St Trinians were now a footballing nation, one that had proved they could compete with the best in the world. The team would run out against Grandistania proud, and they would give it their all. Especially as Amy wasn’t going to tell them about the tiebreaker situation, or let them see results of the Pasarga and Busoga Islands games. Let them have some hope, and watch them turn it into fuel. They would certainly leave this competition with a bang.

by **Tikariot** » Sat May 29, 2021 10:35 am

Walking with Shadows
--- Chapter IV ---

Chapter I - Chapter II - Chapter III - Chapter IV - Chapter V - Chapter VI - Chapter VII – Chapter VIII – Chapter IX

The murmur of voices can be heard coming from the front door. Not having been able to locate the back door yet, James is trying to find a place to either hide or better escape quick. The only way he can see not leading to immediate discovery is up, taking their chance with the broken staircase. He motions for the others to come over. Jacob and he hold their respective hands as stirrups, enabling Sanford and Crowe to get to the crooked landing, who then pull up the other two. They barely manage to slip through the doorway to the second level when the front door opens. Surprisingly they do not seem to notice the water on the floor as they walk in, but are put into panic mode when they see their presumed leader unconscious on the ground. Two men try to tend to him, to get him to wake up while the others fan out to search the ground floor for the intruder or intruders.

James and the others are hiding in the darkness of the hallway, trying to monitor what is happening downstairs. He motions for them to stay put while he tries to see, if there is a way out from the top level. Thankfully the men make enough noise to mask his footsteps, even though he is trying his utmost to remain silent, quietly thanking the builders of the warehouse to have taken great care to have solid flooring, avoiding creaks and cracks. The upper floor is mostly office space, as dilapidated as the rest of the place, with broken furniture and boarded up windows. Trying to find his bearings he goes for the back wall of the building in the hope of a fire escape or something of the likes.

In one of the back offices a partially broken shelf against a wall catches his attention as there seems to be some light coming from behind it. As he inspects it he sees that it was used to over up a door to the outside. Just as he is trying to pull the shelf, Thibodeaux comes into the room.

“Their boss is awake and he gave them a pretty good description of you and me. Some of them have gone out to search the area, but I think they are also trying to find a way up here, so I hope you found something!”

“Yes, there is a door here, help me to move that shelf!”

The big man walks over and lifts up the whole frame of the shelf, setting it aside. The moment he lets go, it starts to collapse and he is barely able to press it back together before it clatters to he ground. James quickly grabs the lose pieces and places them on the ground before exhaling. He turns towards the door and finds that it is unlocked. However the moment he opens it, an alarm sounds downstairs. Thibodeaux and James look at each other and unison say: “Shit!” A fraction of a second later Jacob and Crowe come running into the room and out the open door without giving the two others as much as a glance. Noise from the stairs and corridor indicate that they won’t be alone for long.

As they step out into the rain, they rush down the stairs, just to come up short as the bottom part is nothing more than a rickety rusty ladder that has a few rungs missing, greatly slowing down the descent. Jacob is at the bottom already, Crowe halfway down. Thibodeaux is just starting his climb down when three men burst through the door. Knowing that trying to climb down now would expose him, James looks around at an alternative. The only thing he finds is a big dumpster against the back fence, which does not look very appetizing, but given no choice he climbs on top of the railing and jumps off. He lands with a dull thud as he hits the garbage bags, sending a geyser of water up in the process.

Crowe reaches out to him to help him climb out, while Thibodeaux reaches the ground. Two men are on the ladder now, while the third seems to be contemplating taking James’ way down. The decision is made for him, though, as Thibodeaux grabs the ladder and starts to viciously swing it around. The two men hold on for dear life, but the rain has made the rungs so slippery that they lose grip, tumbling to the ground. Jacob wastes no time in hitting both over the head with a wooden plank he found, knocking them out cold. Sanford, however, does not stop there, but continues his efforts as he sees the screws of the platform above give way. Realizing this, the third man tries to scramble back up but to no avail as the screws finally give out and the whole constructions comes falling down. The man falls with a scream, hitting the same dumpster James had landed in, but at an angle that sees him hit his head on the side wall, knocking him out. After quickly checking that the man is above the water, James urges his companions to hurry through the fence, but not before Thibodeaux pulls out his gun and fires it above the oncoming men, who immediately scramble for cover, buying them time to exit and run for their life.

They angle away from the demolished front of the warehouse to put as much distance between themselves and their pursuers when they her a car honk frantically. The van pulls up next to them and the men scramble inside with James crawling in through the back hatch. As soon as Sanford yells “Clear!” Sophie puts the pedal to the metal and tears away from the scene. Knowing that they won’t get away this easily, she tries to get out of the line of sight by turning, but the water standing in the streets make the surface slippery and treacherous. As she careens around one corner, the back of the van starts to slide and only straightens out when it hits the sidewalk, sending a violent jolt through the van and James crashing into the side. When he straightens back up, he looks out the back to see two sets of headlights come around the same corner.

“They’re coming! Two cars!”

“I’m working on it!”

The strain in Sophia’s voice is clear. “Hold on, guys, it’s going to get bumpy!”

James whirls around and sees with terror that the street they are on seems to be a dead-end. Without any sign of slowing down, the van is hurtling towards a high wooden fence, a fact that does not go unnoticed to the other passengers in the van.

“She’s going to kill us!” Sanford screams.

Sophia ignores him as they hit the sidewalk, launching up slightly and towards the fence. James ducks down, bracing for impact as there are no seatbelts in the back, but other than a loud crash and a light jolt nothing happens until they hit the ground and just keep going. He lifts his head again and sees that they are plowing through an undeveloped parcel of land with what looks like a pond or some other standing water at the far end. The two following vehicles crash through the fence as well, but not in the same spots as them, one hitting a pile of broken concrete panels, abruptly halting their progress. The other one, a pickup truck, has made it through, though, following in the ruts Sophia is creating. Slithering left and right in the wet earth, they near the standing water in the back and Sophia again does not slow down, but floors the gas pedal again instead. They shoot out over the surface churned by the onslaught of rain drops and James can’t help a sinking feeling, quite literally as the van seems to be slowly going down into the water.

Suddenly the wheels catch traction again, violently jolting the van forward and through chainlink fence marking the far side of the piece of land and onto asphalt. As she tries to brake, however, the wheels prove to have far less traction and the van skids towards a lamp post, clipping it with the front left corner of the van. James looks back and sees that the pickup truck tried to do the same as them, but traverses the water with far more speed, shooting through the fence and hitting a wall across the street. Sophia pushes down on the gas pedal again as their pursuers are immobilized, but a very distinct wobble indicates that the lamp post must have damaged something in the front of the van.

“Samreach, we have a problem…”

While still able to get away from the crashed pickup truck, it is evident that the van will not make it much further before either losing the wheel or making it unmanoeuvrable.

“Shit! What now? I have no idea where we are, but we can’t outrun them, if they come with cars!”

Sanford’s normally so unshakeable voice shows distinct worry. James tries to think what they could do when Sophia surprisingly turns into the parking lot of an industrial complex. She hobbles the van to a walled off area for big garbage bins.

“Can one open this please?”

Crowe jumps out and opens the wooden gate, revealing Sophia’s car and an empty spot for the van. She pulls in and he immediately closes the gate again before slouching over and resting her forehead on the steering wheel.

Laying down in the back of the van, trying to calm down from the adrenaline rush James says: “How did you know there was nothing behind that fence?”

Without lifting her head Sophia replies: “I didn’t.”

“Are you insane?” Sanford exclaims. “You could have killed all of us!”

James lifts his arm, so his hand is visible above the back seat. “But she didn’t, she actually saved our asses. How do you think it would have gone if they would have caught us back there?”

Sanford grumbles in reluctant agreement. James opens the back of the van and climbs out into the relative dryness of the roofed enclosure, then rounds the van towards the driver’s door. He opens it up and puts his hand on Sophia’s shoulder.

“Thank you. Don’t know what we would have done without you!”

She lifts her head and he can see her shake from the ordeal. She looks at him and he can see the adrenaline dropping fast. He barely has the time to catch her as she collapses.

by **Sarzonia** » Sat May 29, 2021 10:39 am

Nathan Hanifer awoke early in the Squidroidian hotel room on the eve of Matchday 18.

It wasn't how he envisioned his dream of becoming Sarzonian national football team manager by any stretch. He'd wanted to manage the team from start to finish. He wanted to set the tone with his ideas for a more aggressive style of football than Sarzonia played in the past.

He did not envision his first match as the national team manager -- as the interim national team manager -- would happen with the Stars well out of the playoff picture. He wasn't expecting to make lineup decisions for a match that didn't matter in the Group 12 table, except to possibly leapfrog Togonistan for sixth place. He didn't anticipate being interim manager at all.

But yet, here he was. His usual routine was a 0615 tactics meeting with manager Nicola Mentes, followed by the team breakfast at 0700. This time, instead of bringing his notes to the meeting with Mentes, it would be Brenda Allison, the interim assistant manager bringing her notes to the meeting that would be conducted in Hanifer's hotel room.

He thought about it as he took a sip of coffee. He didn't want the job this way, but if he wanted to make his dream a reality, he would have to make the best of the situation he found himself in.

Even with Paolo Gomes's rehabilitation from his torn ACL well ahead of schedule, he still would have to sit out one full cycle before he had a chance to compete for his old job with Carlton Sandt, whom Hanifer preferred as the starting goalkeeper. He would soon lose the services of Marcé George as the backup, so Hanifer would soon have to determine who would be the backup goalkeeper to Sandt in the event the Stars sent a team to the Cup of Harmony. Hanifer thought about that, too. The fact that Graintfjall and Krytenia were awarded the Cup of Harmony made the prospect of Sarzonia accepting a potential invitation to compete there was not a slam dunk. The Incorporated Football Federation's relationship with Anaian nations was famously frosty, as was Sarzonia's relationship with the countries in the area attempting to break away from Atlantian Oceania.

But the relationship between Sarzonia and Krytenia was ... complicated, to say the least. They were among the countries who welcomed an infant Sarzonian nation 17 years ago by Sarzonian measures of time. In the parlance of other countries with different ideas of the advancement of time, Sarzonia's tenure as an Atlantian Oceania country was much longer. Either way, Atlantian Oceania was as much a part of Sarzonia's identity as any aspect of the country's existence. The decision by Krytenia to join the Foxchester Declaration was seen as a slap in the face by Sarzonia, and they acted accordingly.

So, it was with little surprise that Hanifer was now privvy to what was becoming a heated discussion among the IFF's Board of Governors about whether or not to accept an invitation, or even if such an invitation would happen at all. The prevailing sentiment among the Board was that there was a potential for a tie vote, and Hanifer knew that tie would be broken by IFF Chairman Zack Wilson, and Wilson was no proponent of rewarding Krytenia with an accepted invitation to possibly send Sarzonia to hostile territory. What he didn't know, however, was that Wilson was making plans to have Hanifer's preference be the deciding factor if Sarzonia were to potentially accept an invitation to the Cup of Harmony.

All of that was not what Hanifer signed up for when he first applied for the national team managerial role. He knew that. So did everyone else. But if there was one thing Hanifer believed in, it was making the best of a bad hand when those cards were the ones dealt to you.

by **Adab** » Sat May 29, 2021 11:19 am

KickTheBall.com
Bringing you the latest news and rumors in football, in Adab and abroad

June 4, 2033 / 6 Rabi’ al-Awwal 1455
Adab 1-0 Geektopia
Yargab (77’)

NEWS | WORLD CUP
By: Lugalzagesi Zababa

Adab win against Geektopia as Cup of Harmony draws nearer

Enlilbani Yargab scored the only goal in Adab’s latest World Cup qualifiers match to secure a victory against 22nd-ranked Geektopia as players and staff look forward to the prospect of a Cup of Harmony appearance.

The previous meeting between the two sides during the qualifiers had ended in a 1-1 tie, and with both Group 4 teams now mathematically out of contention for a place in the World Cup proper, manager Saad Kaykali hoped to eke out at least another draw, which would be a small triumph for the Adabians as a potential invitation to the Cup of Harmony awaited them.

Before the home crowd at the Adab City Stadium, Kaykali’s players would deliver more than just a draw.

The match started rather unremarkably, with the Adabians dominating possession of the ball and putting it out of the reach of such great Geektopian players as Ponti, Foletta, and Sdao.

The Adabians however were often unable to convert their defensive mastery into scoring opportunities. The Football Association had not bothered to fund any substitutes for the country’s return to the World Cup in 14 years, and though the players had performed admirably throughout the course of the qualifiers, the strain was showing on them.

Enlilbani Yargab breached the Geektopian penalty area in the 39th minute, but it was obvious that the 34-year-old veteran striker was tiring and his reflexes were suffering; his shot went straight to the hands of keeper Lertora.

The Geektopians fared better in the second half as the Adabians slowed down. Ponti and Foletta were now more often than not beating Adab’s own midfielders to the ball, putting something of a brake on continual Adabian advances towards the other half. That the tide was turning became obvious when, in the 67th minute, the ball was rapidly passed from Foletta to Ponti to Sdao in the span of a few seconds and none of the Adabian defenders were able to stop them. However Sdao’s shot ended up going far above the net.

As the match entered its final twenty minutes, the Adabians seemed to get their wind back, with veterans Taymour Frangieh and Ephraim Orlev rallying the defense and midfield, respectively, rousing them back into action. This time it was the Geektopians’ turn to retreat, as their defense gradually buckled under a renewed Adabian offense.

Yargab finally capitalized on this opportunity in the 77th minute, moving towards Lertora’s left and baiting the keeper to follow him before blasting the ball diagonally behind Lertora and into the net to the cheers of the home crowd. The veteran striker’s goal would prove to be the only one of the match, with the team subsequently retreating to their own half of the pitch, content to maintain the paltry lead.

In the end, although qualification for the World Cup was out of reach, the Adabians had emerged victorious against one of the best teams in the world. It was indeed a triumph.

Kaykali praises players’ performance

At the post-match press conference, manager Saad Kaykali yet again commended his players and also told journalists that he is looking forward to the Cup of Harmony.

“I still don’t know for sure if we will get the invitation, but I do hope that we will,” Kaykali said. “I think we can perform well there.”

The Adab manager also reaffirmed his commitment to the national team.

“These boys and girls are the best talent to come out of Adabian football right now,” he said. “I will do my best to make sure that they win the trophies they deserve.”

Unusually, national team captain Mohammed Marramzi also made an appearance at the press conference, stating that he was there to speak on behalf of the players.

“We are sure that we have done our best and we will continue to work hard in the future,” Marramzi stated.

“We will be very glad to have the opportunity to play in the Cup of Harmony. We will not let the nation and our people down.”

by **Valanora** » Sat May 29, 2021 11:35 am

The Marauders had room to breathe at last, able to convert from the spot against the second place Fleftic side, with Saxstrom calmly converting the penalty. It had taken upto the penultimate matchday for the second ranked side to have a moment to relax during these Qualifiers but at last it had came through with Vanorian efficiency on display. The team had all but secured their trip to the Finals and now with two matches remaining, they could attempt to bleed in some of the more fringe players in the national pool. That sort of experience was going to be vastly important in the months and years to come.

That decision may have been a poor one, as a heavily rotated side would suffer the Empire's first loss of the cycle, preventing an unbeaten qualifying for the Marauders. Elias Hammer would get a brace on either side of the halftime whistle, but the defense would let in three goals to their hosts and the unbeaten run in qualifying had finally come to an end. For the manager, it will serve as a teaching moment for the mostly young side that took the field against The Grearish Union, a lesson that no matter the circumstances that you were to never take a result or match for granted.

The Mauraders travel back home to Capri to play in the last match of the qualifying campaign. They will be hosting Deniria in the final encounter of the campaign, a team with just a pair of victories to their name at the foot of the table, and the subject of some controversy. Some paperwork hidden from the WCC about their affiliation with another team competing in the qualifiers had many calling for the forfeiture of their remaining and previous matches. That did not come to pass however and thusly the Marauders will have to earn three points on the field if they are to get them. It should be an formality but the last game has proven to both player and media alike that nothing is a certainty in football.

Speaking of that, many nations have seen fit to relieve their managers of their duties due to the results they have had. With so many vacancies open, there is a concern that the Mauraders assist manager will be looking to get back into the managerial game after having rebuilt their reputation with the Marauders. The Pasargan has had some success in the past and this looks like a prime time to attempt to get another job with so many openings. If Jens does leave, it would give the Marauders not anlot.of time to.find someone else to slot into that pivotal assistants role.

by **Squidroidia** » Sat May 29, 2021 11:45 am

Darkness at the End of the Tunnel - Stafford City

The final whistle would blow at the Stafford City Stadium in Hampton Island. Before the match, everything seemed to come down to this - If Squidroidia won against the Golden Bears, they would be 1 point behind them heading into the final matchday, where all they needed was a win against Sarzonia and for Hampton Island to drop points in Sabrefell. Unfortunately, that was not the case. Hampton Island 1... Squidroidia 1. It was all set. It was all over. All the fighting, all the drama, knowing that they had to be perfect when the ball kicked off against Togonistan, it had all come to naught before the team headed home.

For the third cycle in a row, much to the heartbreak of a nation, Squidroidia weren't going to the World Cup.

Adam Johnson had done all that he could to spur on this team, this team that was once broken by defeat after defeat on Dagan soil, back to the Matriarchy. He guided this team, after all, to the IAC Final only to lose in heartbreaking fashion to Tequilo, a Tequilo side that, as an Anaian nation, could qualify for the big show. And look where they are now. Like in between 86 and 87, the Inklings had gained one spot from before, going from 5th in their group to 4th and now 3rd, but Johnson knew that this team was capable of 2nd place. He just knew they were capable of something better. Unfortunately, some unlucky results bit them in the butt. If they won against Quakmybush and Brookstation at home instead of embarrassingly drawing to them, they would be heading back to Inkopolis knowing they controlled their own destiny. Instead, they weren't even heading to Burma after all of this. All of that hard work... And 3rd in the group was all that could be showed for it.

As the team headed back to the tunnel knowing their fate, some tears were shed in the eyes of the players. Their minds were running wild. "No, not like this! We should have won this game..." "If it wasn't for that bear Pinnacle and that strike, we could have gone further than this..." "What a day to be losing like a bunch of octopi..." These thoughts, and obviously many more, were running through everyone's minds as Johnson got to the locker room, ripping up the tickets to Naypyithaw that he had promised to the team if they made the playoffs and putting them in the trash. Those tears of the paper were the final reminder to this team that they weren't going to take on the world, that their final game as a national team for the qualifiers was meaningless.

"...There's always next cycle. But unfortunately, you aren't going to be on the glory road to Chromia, back to the land where Mito made his second mark on international football. It wasn't how I dreamed this cycle to be when we were within 2 points of top spot... I should know better. I have coached national team football, as you may know, for many, many cycles. I know every in and out of how this works. You should not be ashamed that you didn't make it, however close you did get. Like the 2 cycles before, to be honest... It's something to build on. If this trend keeps up, you should, I'm not saying you will, make the playoffs for World Cup 89. But let's not worry about that. We have a lot of football left to go. We still have to go to Inkopolis to face Sarzonia. You still have the Cup of Harmony. And of course there's your club game to worry about as well. We're not done by a longshot."

He walked over to team captain Takemoto Shingen, and held his hand, getting him up and patting his back for the effort he gave throughout this time. The 2 were met by applause by the rest of the national team squad. For a moment, everything seemed to disappear. No more tension, no more heartbreak, just celebrating that you got this far. But there was a road to travel still. A road that led from the icy tundra to the heat of Anaia. A road that a certain Lucas Combbrush would know.

As the team boarded their plane back to Inkopolis, they waved Stafford City goodbye. They were leaving the rainbow road to Chromia, and going to a road of ice and fire, but primarily ice, on a trip that would blend the conditions of IAC 11 with the excitement of Cups of Harmony past. The Frostier of Frosty Cups. The Cup of Harmony without Eura.

In other words, the road to the paradise of Krytenia.

OOC: I would like to thank everybody in my group this cycle (Especially Brookstation, you deserve it after drawing with me and beating Nephara) for having a fun time with me in their group! I understand that this wasn't what I really wanted, but luck can't be on my side all the time, can I? With all this space removed, I should have time doing the Super League a bit differently. I promise that I didn't forget about it, it's just life's getting in the way and all. See you in the Cup of Harmony!

by **Flavovespia** » Sat May 29, 2021 1:44 pm

Henhaven Island

Overview

The final of the 10 regions to be considered, and maybe the most unique of them. The smallest in terms of population and area by quite a distance, there’s a case to be made that Henhaven Island should simply be a part of Outer Waldster or the Eastlands. However the Flavovespian government saw otherwise, and Henhaven Island is the 3rd of the single municipality regions. Henhaven Island has a unique character in many aspects. Located off the mainland, there was a time it wasn’t really considered in the remit of Greater Waldster/Flavovespia, but nowadays it’s seen as an equal part of the nation, if still a little quirky. The purple and bright green quartered flag is one of the most distinctive regional symbols in Flavovespia, and can be seen in a lot of places on the island.

Municipalities

Henhaven Island Code: HI Population: 233'420 Land Area (sqkm): 384 Population Density (pop/sqkm): 608

Geography

As the name suggests, Henhaven Island is located entirely off the coast of mainland Flavovespia. It’s only a matter of kilometres away from Waldster, a route that has been relatively easy to travel across over the years, but one that exists nevertheless. The island largely consists of one gradual hill through the middle, rolling down to the coast. There’s plenty of beaches on almost all sides of the island. The entire island can be contained in a 30km by 30km square, and thus travel across it is easy. The Ifleii Point on the southern tip of the island is geographically the southern most part of Flavovespia, a few kilometres further south than South Point in Waldster.

Transport

Henhaven Island given its size is rather spoilt in terms of transport. The Henhaven Link Rail from Waldster Junction to Henhaven Junction has major trainline status, to the chagrin of some of the areas of Flavovespia. The M111 motorway runs across the Waldhaven Bridge, with the Henhaven Link Rail in the similarly named Waldhaven Tunnel. Buses are the favoured form of transport in Henhaven Island, running practically 24/7 and decked out in the purple and bright green colour scheme of the island. Most as well run a circular route, with a few venturing across the Waldhaven Bridge. Henhaven Island is easy to get around, although in particular in the summer months, roads can quite often shut for events.

Economy

Henhaven Island is the party island of Flavovespia, and always has been. Flocks of young people travel there every summer for holidays, and there’s a big nightlife and tourism industry. At times this has come under criticism for some of the disorderly behaviour it brings about, especially from the permanent residents of the island, and some want to clean up the island’s image. Away from nightlife and tourism, the island has some agricultural industries, and the odd company here and there starting services. Henhaven Island has, due to its history, a lot of businesses and services in the hands of the local government, which has occasionally caused consternation with the national government. In particular the island had issues with tax evasion, smuggling and trade of illegal goods, although that’s mostly of a bygone era now.

Politics

Henhaven Island’s local politics can be fairly unique. It’s only just beyond living memory that they used to have an elective monarchy that wasn’t purely ceremonial. Everywhere Henhaven Island still elects a symbolic monarch, but this role is now completely removed from any political role, and is purely a ceremonial figure, often a “local hero” is elected. Locally, many independents get elected, and the Henhaven Island branches of some of the national parties are more autonomous than others. This trend can extend to national elections, Henhaven Island is a place plenty of the INO’s (In Name Only) party members get elected. In recent times Flavovespia Forward and Greens poll better than the other national parties, but not massively so. Henhaven Island does have a fairly high population who want more autonomy from national parliament, given its unique geography and history.

by **Le Choix** » Sat May 29, 2021 2:19 pm

KLÉBER THE FUTURE?
Third-Choice Keeper Gives Les Élus Minimal Chance at Qualification

Written By: Justin Raoul, Chief Correspondent, La Chronique

When Francine Pelier went down in a heap five minutes into the match at New Lusitania, all of Le Choix held their collective breath. She needed the support of medical staff from the sidelines to limp off the field, favoring her left foot. Manager Hélène Monet stated after the game that she had suffered a "moderate shoulder injury" that could potentially sideline her for the rest of the qualifying campaign. This, of course, put the load of being Les Élues's starting keeper to Marie-Françoise Benett, the twenty-three old keeper of Étoile who was known for her play in transition, solid basic skills, and the capacity of adjusting to situations quickly... At least that was what her reputation had been domestically before having to come in in the sixth minute, having to replace arguably the MVP of the qualifying campaign up to that point.

It was too much to ask to think that Le Choix should be able to defeat New Lusitania after that opening sequence. The defense folded time and time again. Benett was peppered from all over the pitch. In fact, the final score didn't do justice to how badly that Le Choix played. Only three attempts were made on goal by The Chosen, Gavin Lavigne being shadowed time and time again by defenders every time that he dared cross the midfield stripe.

It could be argued that this deflation carried to the next game: A 0-2 loss at the hands of Netop that was utterly devastating. Benett was smacked around a bit by the opposing midfield, but it was really the dispirited defense that was the bigger issue. It wasn't that Benett was terrible, it was more like the team didn't know how to work with her.

So, Hélène Monet pulled the biggest audible ever.

Davy Kléber is a twenty-one old keeper of Aube that has been in the Ligue Légère for two years. His calling card is being imposing, committing to a path, and boxing out forwards when they come up to meet him. With the team floundering and the campaign in jeopardy, he got pressed into service.

Equestria. Matchday 16. Kléber lets in a goal in the first five minutes. Afterwards, the team rallied around him, Lavigne scored a hat-trick, and the smiles that were around the locker room were contagious. There was newfound enthusiasm and hope, which they carried forward to the match in Yuezhou, which was where Kléber really proved himself.

All twelve shots on goal were handled expertly, including a breakaway that would've beaten anyone not on point. Aurélie Dior took care of the scoring end.

Kléber will be the starting keeper in the pivotal match against Fafadillis. Though it's not likely that Le Choix end up in second place, they may have at least answered the question of who will be the keeper once Pellier retires.

by **Newmanistan** » Sat May 29, 2021 2:22 pm

THE ROCKET REPORT

ROCKETS WORLD CUP BOUND

By Taylor Larson,

The crowd in Romainbourg filled their seats quickly, and were ready to make noise as soon as they possibly could. This was one of the bigger matches in Omerica’s history more than likely, and these fans were going to do all of the traditional pre-match festivities that they love to do with even more energy. Their team would feed off of it, and the fans hoped that they would be the 12th player on the pitch.

Michael Starre was well aware that this would happen. He’s been through this before, and his team had a lot less to prove. This game was not anywhere near as important for the Rockets, since they could lose the game and probably still be okay in terms of, at the worst, getting one of the automatic spots for a second place squad. Starre grew up on another planet, cutting his teeth with Drawkland, and leading that national team to immediate success. His job with the Rockets is different, to make the nation a regular World Cup qualifier. So far, that has not happened, but with the team on the doorstep, he sensed it. For the most part when these teams met in Newmanistan earlier, his team played really well, but collapsed in the dying moments.

The Incorrigibles were ready to make their fans proud from the start, and they controlled the pace of play early on. Newmanistan expected this, and made sure that they were solid in the back. So, while Omerica controlled possession, the quality of their scoring opportunities were not as great as the fans were hoping for. With 20 minutes played, and the score still 0-0, you had to feel that Newmanistan had survived the storm. In the 29th minute, the first goal of the game was scored. Not by the home side, but coming off the foot of Allister Levy, giving the Rockets the 1-0 lead.

Only down by one, the fans hoped that things would turn in their favor, and their team again controlled the pace of play early on. However, in a 54th minute counter attack, a long ball from Shannon Stefansson to Garrett Sarniak was delivered perfectly, all even more importantly, with Sarniak on-sides. Garrett made the most of it, capitalizing on the chance, and giving the Rockets a 2-0 lead. Omerica closed to within a goal in the 75th minute, but there would be no final twelve minute heroics this time. Madison Desalvo finished off the scoring in 88th minute to secure the 3-1 win.

The victory clinched the World Cup for Newmanistan, but the players waited until they were in the locker room to celebrate the berth out of respect for Omerica and their home field. We don’t get to the World Cup often, but this team never let up from when the group draw was announced and played what may be the best qualifying campaign in the history of the nation. Being a Pot 1 team, for the first time, sure was nice.

by **Mercedini** » Sat May 29, 2021 2:43 pm

88th World Cup Qualification MD17 LIVE
Siovanija & Teusland vs. Mercedini
@ Nationalstadion - Stelburg, Siovanija & Teurland

Good evening one and all and welcome back home to World Cup Qualification, it's been a long and winding road for everyone involved, but it is finally coming to an end with two games to go. Last time round, Mercedini took a massive step forward to make it to the World Cup with a 3-1 win at home versus Valladares to hold onto their five point advantage against the third placed team with two games to play. That third placed team just so happens to be tonight' opponents, Siovanija & Teusland. Now it's been a up and down campaign for the group's top seed, and it could be all wrapped up for them if they fail to win at home tonight versus the second seed. For the Golden Eagles, they need to win or draw to seal their spot into the playoffs, since the top spot is seemingly out of reach given Jeruselem's rather unassailable lead. So it's crunch time for both of these sides, Dini need to win to keep their spot as one of the top second placed teams, although a draw will lock at least playoffs in for the side in blue and black.

In the reverse fixture between these nations, it was Siovanija and Teusland who started their resurgence in Zoloroni, beating the Golden Eagles in a closely fought battle by two goals to one. Dini have been known to upset the top teams away from home, with Baker Park and Starblaydia all previous scalps claimed away from home in qualification. Can they add another to the list? Let's see as we go down to our commentary team in the wonderful Nationalstadion in Stelburg.

0' - Out come the teams into a cauldron of noise and fanfare, both sets of fans are ready for this match in their distinctive colours, but there are plenty of flags flying for both nations for this Group 10 match. Mercedini have bought their biggest away contingency to far, with thousands packing out the stands in their familiar blue and black kit. They will be hoping to see their team claim another major scalp in qualifying, which could all but wrap their qualifying campaign with relative success. This is the final chance that S&T have to save their qualifying campaign, if they lose they will go out at this early stage in one of the biggest shocks of qualification so far. We're under lights here in Stelburg, we hope you have your fingers crossed at home.

5' - (S&T 0-0 MRC) - Five minutes gone in this game and it's safe to say that we are gone be in for one heck of a barnstormer if the opening exchanges are anything to go by. Both sets of strikers are switched on and on line for this one, with early shots traded from Dostalok and Ribbeck which hasn't resulted in a goal just yet. The first shot on target of the game came from Dostalok when Gucci's opportunistic cross was flicked on by the Starling frontman. The header, however, took all of the pace out of the shot and it was safely caught by Heuser inside the six yard box. At the other end, Ribbeck fired a shot low to Hosset's right. The ball was smothered by the Mercedinian goalkeeper, so he survived that test for now. Five gone, still 0-0 but still plenty of high-calibre football to be played.

12' - (S&T 0-0 MRC) - The match beginning to simmer a little after being warmed up a little following that opening exchange of chances. Dini are doing very well to match S&T's playstyle early on, as the tactic seems to be wearing down their opponents as quickly as possible. The athleticism of both sides is something that is developed at the highest level, so these teams will be wanting to put out their very best to state their case for the qualifying spot. As of now, Dini would be eliminating their hosts, and every second that ticks away increases the urgency for Siovanija and their fans in attendance. 0-0.

20' - (S&T 0-0 MRC) - Massive chance for the home side goes begging as Mercedini have gotten away with one. The chance fell to Brinemouth's Lukas Tauscher on the edge of the six yard box after a scything in-swinging cross from Mario Kogler eluded everyone who went for it. Clearly, the attackers and defenders all thought that someone would make contact, but it didn't, and Taucher was the last man. To react to the cross, he stuck out his leg to hit it towards goal, but the deflection just wasn't enough to put the ball on target. The ball rolled agonisingly wide of the far post, and with Hosset diving too late to make a convincing save, it was a matter of inches. Dini escape with their clean sheet intact, they are pushing forward to recover from that scare and to facet a chance of their own.

23' - (S&T 0-0 MRC) - It's all Siovanija at this moment in time, as Dini cannot escape their own half with the ball. The hosts know the occasion, and what is at stake for both teams, and they are trying their damn'dest to ease some nerves in the stadium as the mid way point of the half. No further chances since that mis-hit which we spoke about earlier, but Siovanija are slowly breaking down the Golden Eagles with their passing play to draw out their opponents. Billic is watching on as he directs his players and barks at them to keep their shape with all this movement. The home fans are getting behind their team, and you can feel the atmosphere in this place. They want to win this, but Dini are holding firm as of now.

29' - (S&T 0-0 MRC) - If there are any nails left on the fingers of these fans, there won't be any left at the end of this game. This time it's Mercedini who go close, but they just can't find the net. This chance came from a corner which was gifted to Dini by some good work from Gucci on the by-line. It was indeed Gucci who took the corner, which was a fast outswinging ball towards Chillotov on the edge of the box. It didn't go that far, and was deflected to the path of Di Sansev. Not known for being an attacker, Di Sansev took the chance and blasted the ball towards goal, prioritising power over placement. The defender struck the ball fast enough so the keeper couldn't get a firm clasp of the ball, and had to parry the ball onto the bar and out for another corner. Some of the players had their heads in their hands after that chance, that could have been the moment. Instead, it remains goalless.

35' - (S&T 0-1 MRC) -

GOAL! and it's Mercedini who take the lead at long last. This match has been threatening to give a goal for some time, and it's finally come, but for the visitors. It certainly is against the run of play when it comes to the game, as Siovanija have had most of the key chances in from of goal. It's Chillotov who opens the scoring in Stelburg after a great piece of play by Presic to pretty much put it on a plate for the new talisman. It was Presic versus Vesele, in the corner as the Mercedinian was held up for a good thirty second or so before any other players went in to contest. Karlovic was the welcome relief, as a quick one-two between the two of them set Presic free to move along the by-line. The Mercedinian then skinned a defender before squaring it to the arriving Chillotov who simply tapped the ball into the Siovanijan net for what could be a famous goal for Mercedinian football. 1-0 Dini and Chillotov is off to celebrate with the fans.

43' - (S&T 0-1 MRC) - Another chance goes begging and it's Mercedini that are beginning to turn the screw in Stelburg, with Gucci going for goal this time. It was an opportunistic shot at the right-winger curled a low effort towards goal with play opening up in front of him. He fancied his chances but the ball didn't curl far enough and the ball flew wide of the mark and went out for a goal kick. The momentum as completely switched the other way following that goal, and the Golden Eagles have the wind beneath their wings. Very close to 2-0, but as we approach half time, it is just that single goal which separates the two teams.

45+1' - (S&T 0-1 MRC) - Well there goes the whistle for the end of the first half in Stelburg and the Pot 1 side have work to do! A well worked piece which resulted in a Chillotov tap-in is the only thing seperating these teams, in what has been a frustrating half for the home side as they stare elimination firmly in the face. Both teams have had their chances, and both teams have been uncharacteristically wasteful with said chances. Alas, another scalp of a top team could be on the cards for the Golden Eagles. They lead Siovnaija & Teusland by one goal to nil.

HALF TIME
Siovanija & Teusland 0 - 1 Mercedini
Chillotov 35'

There's just something about Mercedini when playing a big team away from home. Normally these matches are the toughest of a campaign. but the Golden Eagles often turn up and cause a surprise with their performances. They are a goal up in one of the more scrappy games of the round, but at this point, anything could happen given the pedigree and talent on the pitch for both sides. Remember, Siovanija have to win to keep their World Cup hopes alive. If the scores stay as they are, then Dini will lock in second place and have a very good chance at securing one of the best second-placed teams spots which guarantees a World Cup spot as well. Back to the action, are we going to have another twist in the tale?

50' - (S&T 0-1 MRC) - Slow start to the second half here as it's the team in Blue and Black which is grinding this game to a halt. They are comfortable with simply running the clock down and forcing their higher ranked hosts to come to them and force the initiative. S&T are doing that as we speak, since their tournament lives are on the line. Billic has tinkered with the formation somewhat to pull the central-midfield duo further back and effectively have six players playing defensively. The home crowd are becoming increasingly disgruntled with said tactics, and are beginning to make their voices heard. Still 1-0.

56' - (S&T 0-1 MRC) - Free-kick from Thorsten Kramer goes narrowly over the bar in the first real chance for either side in this first half, and you can see the visible disappointment on the home fans' faces as the score remains as it does. It hasn't been classic Mercedini like in previous games, but the clinical attacking play has been replaced by a tactical masterclass from Billic as he pulls the strings and let's his players do the rest. The Jeruselem game is insignificant at the seem all but certain to claim the top spot in the group, but there could still be a direct spot at the World Cup for the Golden Eagles if they can keep the score line the same. 1-0 Dini, just over thirty minutes to go!

62' - (S&T 0-1 MRC) - Chillotov is done for the night as Talisky comes on to see out the rest of this game upfront, let's see how he pairs with Dostalok to potentially get an insurance goal to end the game. The defence are still holding firm although the Siovanijan attack are now making in-roads through the middle. Ilev had a half-chance on the edge of the box but he could only drag his shot out wide to the right to remove any danger from the chance. Less than thirty minutes to go and it's all eyes to the clock it you're a Mercedinian fan.

66' - (S&T 0-2 MRC) -

GOAL! and that could be the goal which sends Siovanija & Teusland out of the World Cup! It's Talisky who wheels away in celebration following a counter attack which was massively against the run of play. The home side pushed forward following a corner to try and find an equaliser which left them exposed at the back, but it would a do or die moment for the Pot 1 side. It was cleared by Nymark who belted the ball upfield, to anywhere and anyone. Karlovic was up and was held up by Edgar Stiemle, who was the only defender who stayed back. Karlovic held onto it for as long as he could, but spotted the run of Talisky who was released by a brilliantly weighted ball from Karlovic. He only had the goalie to beat, and he managed to slide the ball home with a less than convincing shot under the keeper. The sun is going down on Siovanija, and their World Cup dream might just follow. 2-0 with twenty-five minutes to go.

73' - (S&T 0-2 MRC) - It's the Mercedinians which are making all the noise now as the clock ticks away in this game. The home side are still having a crack to get a way back into this game, but they need three goals to turn this match around, as we know a draw still isn't enough to keep them in it. It's looking like revenge for earlier in the campaign when S&T won out by two goals to one in the Sports City Stadium. They have inflicted a loss of their own with World Cup elimination being the cherry on top. Ilev with another curled effort, but it's blocked by Toivonen and scooped up by Hosset.

84' - (S&T 0-2 MRC) - Five minutes to go in this one as Siovanija end this game with the upper hand. They are having much more possession and looked to have the ball in the net following a header from Jager, but it was cleared off the like by Presic and confirmed to have stayed out upon a goal-line review. It's another frustrating moment in what has been a frustrating game for the home side. The inquest may begin for them, but it's head up for Mercedini as they maintain their two-goal lead in this game.

88' - (S&T 0-2 MRC) - Nothing much left to talk about in this one as the crowd begin to file out of the stadium. That second goal seemed to have killed off the game and any hope of a grandstand finish. The home side are trying to rescue a more respectable result out of this game but their chances of doing enough to stay in the hunt for a World Cup spot are now long gone. Billic seems to have masterminded another brilliant result in this World Cup run, and they will have one more match to play to give him a maiden appearance at the World Cup as a manager. A couple of minutes to go as Dini look to safely sail onto a 2-0 win.

90+4' - (S&T 0-2 MRC) - With all of the bluster and action that we were seeing before this match and throughout, the match ends with no real fanfare at all. The stadium is largely quiet save for the small amount of Mercedinian cheers in one corner of the stadium. Mercedini with a tactically professional performance to see off Siovanija & Teusland in their own back yard. Their second goal from Talisky killed off the game, and the fight and passion from the fans seemed to die with it. It means that Mercedini lock in second place and confirm that we will not be seeing Siovanija & Teusland in the upcoming Group Stage draw. Both teams will have one more game before their campaign, but only Mercedini will have anything to fight for on the final day. In Stelburg, it's finished Siovanija & Teusland 0, Mercedini 2.

FULL TIME
Siovanija & Teusland 0 - 2 Mercedini
Chillotov 35', Talisky 66'

There we have it, Group 10 is done and dusted with a game to spare, and now Mercedini can solely focus on themselves, rather than the rest of the group. The Golden Eagles have secured second spot, but currently sit as one of the best second-placed teams, so they can still qualify directly rather than going through a playoff. Their final game is at home to Bluecliff League, and if they win, they are guaranteed a return to the World Cup. A draw may still be enough, as is a loss, but they would then be looking around the groups to see if their results went their way. We will see you in the Sports City Stadium, where history could be made. However, from Stelburg, goodnight!

by **Graintfjall** » Sat May 29, 2021 3:21 pm

Græntfjall – 0 (0)
Hárlaugsdóttir (72’); Lúthersdóttir, T. Ernestisson, Reynarsson, Vilbertsdóttir; Miansdóttir (75’ Álvgeirsdóttir ), Ásvaldursson; Noahsdóttir, Guttisdóttir (79’ Grímólfursson ), Heikkisdóttir (60’ Jonathansdóttir ); Þórhallursson

Zeta Reka and Hügeltaldom – 2 (1)
Radowić (41’), Simeoniwić (71’)

Audioslavia – 0 (0)

Græntfjall – 1 (0)
Hárlaugsdóttir; Lúthersdóttir (62’) (71’ Thorleifsson ), T. Ernestisson, Reynarsson, Vilbertsdóttir (51’); Noahsdóttir, Miansdóttir, Tronsson (73’ Grímólfursson (90+2’)), Heikkisdóttir; L. Rögnvaldursson (89’ Jonathansdóttir ), Þórhallursson (68’)

Preoccupied with the tough challenge of Audioslavia, the Snow Wolves first capitulated against Zeta Reka and Hügeltaldom to make their game against the top seeds immaterial. Tomislaw Radowić, who had previously played in Græntfjall, ended the hosts’ World Cup qualifying hopes with a well taken first half goal, and Miloš Simeoniwić came off the bench to drive a nail into the coffin in the second half.

It meant that travelling to Audioslavia and winning, what should have been one of the greatest moments in national footballing history, left a curiously flat feeling. Stand-in captain Jason Þórhallursson headed home the winner in the 69th minute but there was little celebration at felling a World Cup giant, knowing full well that once again the Snow Wolves had fallen short. After the match, Kang Guilin’s departure on head coach was confirmed, and the conversation began to turn to likely successors.

Despite the dead rubber Torsten Oliversson is likely to be given a near full strength side for the final game against Ziwana, including a return for captain Hrærekur Jvarsson who will play his 100th match in circumstances far removed from the drama and optimism he might have hoped accompany such an occasion.

23 player squad for MD18 (expected starters in bold): Hárlaugsdóttir, B. Ernestisson, Jorgesson; Lúthersdóttir, Kristersson, Reynarsson, Markusson, Björnsdóttir, Jokulsson, Thorleifsson; Ásvaldursson, Jvarsson (c), Guttisdóttir, Tronsson, Miansdóttir, Hólmarsdóttir, Kristoffersdóttir; Harrysson, Heikkisdóttir; Þórhallursson, Bergmundursson, Dannysdóttir, Jonathansdóttir

BAN THIS SICK FILTH NOW!
Shameful leftist brutes’ demented attacks on Queen must be stopped

BELOVED Queen Júlíana’s RIGHT TO PRIVACY was BRUTALLY VIOLATED by WICKED LEFTISTS who secretly filmed the queen during a PRIVATE DINNER PARTY WITH CLOSE FRIENDS!!! The disgusting invasion of the people’s most beloved public figure’s personal safety and security marks a NEW LOW even for the SICK LEFTO SCUM that have POISONED the debate during this VITAL ELECTION!

Campaigning rag Index Græntfjalls obtained the secret footage of what they claim is Queen Júlíana assuring HARDWORKING JOB CREATORS from Marcusson Samuelsson that she would deny royal assent to a proposed bill to SHATTER business confidence by BRUTALLY ripping apart investment and commercial banking operations.

INSTEAD OF APPLAUDING THE BELOVED MONARCH’S PRINCIPLED STAND THE LEFTOID SPIN MACHINE HAS GONE INTO OVERDRIVE!!!

Wild accusations that she is “exceeding her constitutional authority” and “offering political favors in exchange for kickbacks” (links to the funding of her new private yacht, which yes was paid for by Marcusson Samuelsson but that’s totally coincidental, are clearly BASELESS LIES perpetuated by envious Leftist snakes) are flying around.

Instead of quashing this BARBAROUS SLANDER Marxist-in-chief Zóphonías Juliusson has PILED ON, boasting he was “resolute” to pursue his banking bill regardless. Even worse, so-called Progressive so-called Liberal leader Kaija so-called Michaelsdóttir has SLAMMED her Royal Highness by saying the matter “deserves investigation”. COWARDLY!!!

This time of national division is when we should be COMING TOGETHER BEHIND THE QUEEN!!!

Kaija coughed to cover up her laughter at the last line’s inadvertent entendre, and continued leafing through the paper, past the Page 3 girl, the pages upon pages of immigrant crime stories, the articles about grieving families clearly garnered through phone-hacking (ND’s position on secret surveillance did not seem entirely consistent). It took until Page 19 to come across a reference to the hostages being released. As she read the stub of an article, Auðlín and Kimberley continued to berate her.

“We told you, don’t attack the Queen.”

“I don’t care if she promised to give Tikariot back the entire Alps, she’s off limits.”

Kaija didn’t look up. “Anyone who cares that much about the dear old ma’am wasn’t going to vote for us anyway,” she murmured.

“Maybe six months ago, but now, with the Blue-Green vote collapsing, there are lot of people who aren’t crazy about Zóphonías Juliusson…”

“There really aren’t.” Now she looked up.

Auðlín and Kimberley sighed. She was right, of course. After personally negotiating the release of hostages, Græntfjaller pipeline workers who’d been kidnapped by the Arab Socialist Republican Army, a tiny terrorist fringe group in Jabal Akhdar, Zóphonías Juliusson’s personal approval ratings were through the roof, and his party’s stock rising not far behind. From fourth in the polls after ‘Bigotgate’, he’d somehow turned this supertanker around. ND was the only paper not leading with news of the hostage release: unable to spin it as anything but a win for his diplomatic credentials, they’d relegated it to the back pages between horoscopes and news about the less exciting celebrity sex tapes.

“Well, he didn’t speak out. Chose his words carefully. Said he’d pursue the bill but didn’t mention the Queen,” objected Kimberley.

“I wonder why?” mused Auðlín.

Kaija closed the paper and glanced back at the front page. Coming together behind the Queen. Yes, that was exactly why he hadn’t said anything…

PHORCED-ACRONIM #018

Time for another game-changing political ad, which, just to annoy Zwangzug, will be on the topic of…

0: environment
1: energy
2: economics
3: external relations
4: electoral reform
5+: ecstasy

…but style also matters as well as content and the ad is striking because…

0: it features a surprise celebrity endorsement.
1: it contains a very bold promise.
2: its fictional elements are mistaken for real news.
3: it casually reveals the party leader to be capable of literal magic.
4: it is performed by naked news anchors.
5+: it contains found footage of krakens.

by **Sylestone** » Sat May 29, 2021 3:21 pm

Sannyamathland - Sylestone

Sannyamathland (4-3-3): Zinchencko; Putin (▮ 67’) - Vladinovich (Chalov 45’) - Javcherenko - Karpov; Chubukov (Savchencko 78’) - Mbiki - Bronstein (Cheryshyev 62’); Sandiev - Philips - Mount

Sylestone (5-3-2): Brick Wall; Ironing Board (▮ 86’) - Toilet (Drawer 70’) - Washing Machine - Sofa - Dishwasher; Stove (Spiderwebs 59’) - Bar Stool - Fridge; Tumble Dryer (▮ 18’) (AC Vent 53’) - Mixer

ROWLING CITY, SANNYAMATHLAND - If the Sentients even wanted to keep their qualifying hopes alive, a win over Sannyamathland would be absolutely pivotal. It was a must-win match, as the White Lions were only a singular point behind Sylestone on the table. A loss for either side would spell their elimination.

Considering Sannyamathland had the home ground advantage and the home leg for the Sentients was a 0-0 draw, Sylestone were facing an uphill battle when they walked out in front of the Big Bowl, full to its 100,000 capacity with supporters of the home side. But the Sentients were just starting to find some form, winning three of their last four matches, with a disappointing draw at home to open a new stadium in Dodle, the first international football match to be played in the highland city. The game was against Al Qurija, a side that Sylestone put four goals past in the first leg. So they had every right to be disappointed with the performance.

Right from the get-go, the White Lions began to walk all over the Sentients. Sylestone kicked off, but the ball was turned over within the first 30 seconds of the match. However, with a five-strong defensive lineup, Sannyamathland would still struggle to break through despite far superior play. Their first chance came in the 15th minute of the match, with Stephan Chubukov, playing as the Lions’ left-centre midfielder, passed back to centre midfielder Ansu Mbiki. Spotting an opening for Ivan Sandiev to run into on the left corner of the box, Mbiki passed a through ball, of which Sandiev gladly accepted. To the roar of the crowd, Sandiev lofted the ball directly into the goalmouth, where Peter Philips was standing. The ball curled directly onto his head and when you are standing only a metre or two away from the goal, surely you can direct it well enough that no goalkeeper can stop it. Apart from a Brick Wall. Philips got a beautiful piece of the ball, sending it towards the bottom right corner of the goal, but the Brick Wall was prepared. It moved across the goalmouth with agility, deflecting the ball away to safety.

However, it didn’t deter the White Lions for long. Gary Bronstein, starting in the right-centre midfield in a contentious decision, especially with usual starter Danil Cheryshyev in a strong run of form. However, he certainly played his part here.
It was the 17th minute of the match when Bronstein had the ball out near the right wing. He passed it into some free space up near the corner post, close to where Philips was able to run onto it. He crossed it into the box, directly to V.I Mount, the Lions’ centre forward. He took a touch and shot for goal, but the Tumble Dryer stopped that. It was a hard tackle. A bit too hard, as it took the ball off Mount, who was up and screaming for a penalty. He got one.

A minute later, Chubukov came tearing in towards the spot where the ball had been placed. However, instead of shooting directly for goal, he took a touch and then shot, to try and maximise his chances of getting it past the Brick Wall. And maximise them he did, going one way and then another to kick the ball into the right side of the net. There was nothing the Brick Wall could do about it. The White Lions were 1-0 up and the Sentients were en route to elimination.

It was this moment that something clicked for the Sentients. Immediately, they were on the attack after play restarted, with intricate passing to successfully eliminate Sannyamathland’s midfield out of contention. The Stove had the ball on the left wing when it crossed the ball into the box, through a line of sliding defenders including the likes of Leon Vladinovich and Savreck Javcherenko. It fell to the Mixer, who attempted to knock it into the goal. The ball rolled towards the right post, where the Lions’ goalkeeper, Ivan Zinchencko, was able to push it out of play with a wonderful dive. It may have passed to the right of the post but hey, it’s better to be safe than sorry.

The Sentients had their second proper chance of the game in the 28th minute, when the Bar Stool received a pass from the Toilet. Unmarked, the Sentient dribbled up the midfield, careful to keep control of the ball. When defenders began to converge on it, the Bar Stool passed up through the centre to the now unmarked Mixer. It was too late for the White Lions. They had realised their mistake, but they could not make amends. The Mixer quickly turned, poked the ball past Mikhail Karpov and shot for goal. It was a splendid strike, appearing to be missing the left post by about a foot before curling back in on the bounce and slotting into the side of the net. Zinchencko dived and nearly got to it, but the shot was far too good. The Sentients were back in the game.

The White Lions had their first chance to go one up again in the 36th minute of the match. Alexei Putin received a pass from goalkeeper Zinchencko and with everyone else marked up, Putin lofted a long ball up the wing to Sandiev, who broke past the Dishwasher and began to hone in on goal. He passed back to Philips but he had to rush the shot. He aimed for the top right corner, but got a tad too much height on it as it flew over the crossbar and into the crowd beyond.

The Sentients had their final chance to take the lead in the first half 41 minutes into the game. After the resulting goal kick had been taken, Sylestone had casually passed it around, not letting the Lions have even a singular sniff. However, they were keeping them at bay. Or at least, they were.
When the Stove was passed the ball by the Bar Stool, it noticed an opportunity with Karpov a touch off his line. The gap was exploited perfectly, with the Stove taking the ball all the way out to the edge of the box before cutting back in towards the post. A couple of metres out, with only the goalkeeper in the way, the Stove shot. It was a great run and deserved to be converted, but Zinchencko stuck his foot in the way of the ball, letting the ball bounce off and out of danger. It was a great, if lucky save and ensured that the score remained 1-1 at half time.

Directly after half time, the White Lions took advantage of their kickoff to immediately give themselves a chance at goal. Philips took the ball all the way up to the edge of the box to shoot, but the Washing Machine made a last-second tackle as the ball squirted over the goalline.
Chubukov took the corner and curled it directly into the box. Chaos ensued as Mouth moved to head the ball towards the goal. The Brick Wall, as always, kept it out, but it did not stop the White Lions’ forward from going again. This time, the shot was a lot better and seemed to be taking a direct path towards the goal. But the Ironing Board appeared out of nowhere, using its flexibility to direct the ball at right angles to the goalmouth and out to where the Stove was lurking, ready to turn the play into an offensive move for the Sentients. ‘

But nothing came of it. Over the course of the next ten minutes, neither side was able to break through the other’s defences, and when they did, the defenders were quick to retaliate. As a result, neither goalkeeper was troubled until the 60th minute of the match.
With the AC Vent hot on his heels, Karpov passed back to Zinchencko, who shaped up to boot the ball up the field. However, the pass was poor and with a display of gracefulness, the AC Vent intercepted and with Zinchencko off his line, had a certain chance of scoring. But the touch was a bad one and the Sylestonean striker had to try and shoot from a near-perpendicular angle. For a moment the ball appeared to be going in, but it hit the post and bobbled towards the line. Zinchencko dove at the ball, ensuring that it remained out of the goal while the Mixer ran in to finish it off. Zinchencko won the race as the scoreline remained 1-1.

The Sentients had another chance seven minutes later when Putin tripped the Fridge along the right wing. The referee did not hesitate to book him as the Fridge moved into position to take a quick kick. It was a good one, too, curling from outside the box towards the penalty spot, where Stove was able to deflect it towards the bottom left post. It was a great shot for goal, but Zinchencko was ready, deflecting the ball out of play to keep the attack at bay.

Sannyamathland were given their best chance in the entire half when a bad pass from the Ironing Board across to Sofa was intercepted by Mount. With every defender, save the Washing Machine, off their line and three Sannyamathland forwards coming in for the kill, Sylestone needed a huge slice of luck. But the Washing Machine was smart. Just as Mount signalled his intention to pass the ball across to Sandiev, it ran forward, putting the winger offside. Screams of offside filled the Sylestonean part of the stadium, which had a clear view of it. The referee also saw it as Mount kicked up a chunk of the dirt. The White Lions’ best opportunity to break the deadlock thus far had been ruined by a wonderful piece of tactical defending.

The resulting kick came as the Sentients began to pass their way up the field. The Fridge had the ball on the right wing when it spotted an unmarked Stove on the opposite side of the field. It was a risky pass, but timed to perfection. The ball flew over Jeff Chalov’s head in defence, past Danil Cheryshyev’s outstretched foot and bounced directly in front of the Stove. The Sentient continued its great game by taking Karpov out of the game with a brilliant piece of technical skill and began to hone in on the left post. However, it had learned its lesson and feinted a shot for goal. Zinchencko and Chalov were completely done as the Stove passed back to an unmarked AC Vent about five metres out from the goalline. Easy as you like, it tapped the ball into the back of the net. Finally, the deadlock had been broken and the Sentients were 2-1 up.

The White Lions had their first chance to equalise once again in the 78th minute of the match. Cheryshyev took a corner kick and curled it not into the box but directly for goal. For a terrifying split second, it seemed to have evaded the Brick Wall, but the ball hit the post and bounced out. Directly to Mount, who took another shot for goal. But the Ironing Board got in the way as the ball bounced out for Cheryshyev to take another chance.
It came to nothing.

The White Lions were back in on goal in the 85th minute when the Ironing Board came in and made an attempt at a tackle. However, it was a poorly judged one and down went Mount. The referee did not hesitate to red-card the Sentient, ending its qualifying campaign in its tracks. He then pointed to the penalty spot. This was their chance. They had to equalise.

Chubukov took the set piece and launched it into the top left corner. It was a great shot, but it had an inch too much height on it. The ball rebounded off the crossbar as the stadium held their breath. The ball bounced back down on it a second time and ricocheted over the goal and out of play. All Chubukov could do was stare in disbelief.

To make matters worse, two minutes into stoppage time, the Bar Stool was fouled by Chubukov inside the penalty area, stepping on the foot of the Stool to floor the Sentient. It was only minor, but still certainly worth a penalty kick. Although it was checked for the severity, the referee kept with his original decision, pointing to the spot. In a surprise move for Sylestone, the Dishwasher took it and launched it about halfway up the post into the right corner. Zinchencko had no chance, absolutely none at all. The Sentients were 3-1 up and had all but won the game.

And when the final whistle blew three minutes later, it was confirmed. They were still in this, with a home win against Tequilo required to stay in the hunt.

Alas, it could not happen. The Tequiloans bolstered their defence as the two sides played out a 0-0 draw. And when Trolleborg came out as victors in their game against Al Qurija, the Sentients' hopes had been vanquished. With Zwangzug equal with Sylestone on 28 points and Trolleborg in second on 32, they had been eliminated. It meant that the match against Zwangzug at Wayr Stadium would be a dead rubber, with both sides only fighting for third place and 31 points from 18 matches. It was a disappointing fate for the Pot 1 side and their determined counterparts. A loss could even drop that side to fifth if Sannyamathland were to beat Trolleborg….

SANNYAMATHLAND - 1
Chubukov 18’ (P)

SYLESTONE - 3
Mixer 28’
AC Vent 73’
Dishwasher 90+2’ (P)

Schedule:

MD1: Sylestone 0-0 Talkasa @ Sunlife Stadium, Halpenley (cap. 52,000)
MD2: Trolleborg 0-1 Sylestone @ 1th December Stadium, Trolleborg City, Trolleborg (cap. 100,000)
MD3: Sylestone 1-1 North Japan @ The Trees Stadium, Pesfield (cap. 62,000)
MD4: Bollonich 0-1 Sylestone @ John Lennon Football Stadium, Vreton City, Bollonich (cap. 100,000)
MD5: Sylestone 0-1 Rangers FC @ Sentient Oval, Kirkham (cap. 29,275 toilet seats)
MD6: Al Qurija 3-4 Sylestone @ Petro Mohammed Stadium, Al Qurija, Al Qurija (cap. 98,000)
MD7: Sylestone 0-0 Sannyamathland @ Ground of Dunkirk, Dunkirk (cap. 43,000)
MD8: Tequilo 2-2 Sylestone @ Estadio Águilar, Tapalupe, Tequilo (cap. 81,810)
MD9: Sylestone 0-1 Zwangzug @ Chamberley Institute of Sport, Chamberley (cap. 109,300)
MD10: Talkasa 1-0 Sylestone @ TBC
MD11: Sylestone 0-0 Trolleborg @ Carson Stadium, Cleorough (cap. 80,000)
MD12: North Japan 0-1 Sylestone @ TBC
MD13: Sylestone 1-0 Bollonich @ The Bay Reserve, Betham (cap. 68,420)
MD14: Rangers FC 1-2 Sylestone @ Stadio Ibrosikis, Glaskopolis, Rangers FC (cap. 50,800)
MD15: Sylestone 1-1 Al Qurija @ The Furnace, Dodle (cap. 37,500)
MD16: Sannyamathland 1-3 Sylestone @ The Big Bowl International Stadium, Rowling City, Sannyamathland (cap. 100,000)
MD17: Sylestone 0-0 Tequilo @ Avondale International Sports Stadium, Avondale (cap. 99,000)
MD18: Zwangzug - Sylestone @ Wayr Stadium, Rackham Range, Zwangzug[/size]

by **Omerica** » Sat May 29, 2021 5:16 pm

World Cup 88 qualification: Explaining Alexis Stephanidis’s decision to rest Omerica’s best eleven
With second place secured, the third-string Incorrigibles will be treating the game against Flavovespia in Romainbourg like a dead rubber

Romainbourg — When Omerica take to the pitch against Flavovespia at the Stade des Marins, the Incorrigibles will be without captain Valentine Augustin in goal. Nor will the likes of Charity Kayode, Sacha Sepulveda, Maxime Fournier, Soraya Archambault, Jamal Ahmad, Alexis Chrysanthos or Jessie Beckett be among those named in the starting XI or substitutes bench.

For a game that has major implications—Omerica are one of the nations in hot pursuit of direct qualification on matchday eighteen—, the team sheet is highly unusual indeed. When the United Republican Soccer Federation unveiled the selection on twii.tur, the general response of supporters was one of confusion and bewilderment at the picks, with some outrage that Alexis Stephanidis would (allegedly) dare take a result against third-seeds Flavovespia for granted thrown in for good measure. It’s important to remember one thing above all else: the Incorrigibles must defeat Flavovespia, otherwise they will be doomed to enter the playoffs.

However, Stephanidis and anyone else watching the tables closely will be well aware that direct qualification is not in the Incorrigibles’ hands, as the team sit joint-seventh in the ranking of runners-up, one spot shy of automatic tickets.

The pesky matter is that (besides the mathematically qualified Group 5 winners, be they Audioslavia or Poafmersia) eight teams can still mathematically finish ahead of Omerica in the all-important runners-up table. In the event of an Omerican victory, though, one of those nations would be highly unlikely to pass the Incorrigibles: TJUN-ia would need to defeat Oberour Ar Moro by Omerica’s margin of victory plus seven just to take the matter to lots, so it would be a really bad night for Incorrigibles supporters if the Jaguars were nipping at the Incorrigibles’ heels.

Conversely, Group 2 will probably provide zero respite for Omerica, as three teams—Vilita, Squornshelan Remnant States and Savojarna—are locked in a death battle for the top two spots. It is therefore safe to say that unless Savojarna (who sit on 35 points and a significantly worse differential than Omerica) pull out a miracle, the Group 2 runners-up will finish ahead of Omerica in the ranking and qualify directly, leaving just four tickets up for grabs and six teams in the running to beat Omerica to them: Savigliane, Twicetagria, Mercedini, Independent Athletes from Quebec, Abanhfleft and Hampton Island. For Omerica to avoid the playoffs, three of their six results—i.e. half of them—must fall Omerica’s way.

For the record, these results would be Savigliane losing to Igratia, Twicetagria, Mercedini and Quebec dropping points to Squornshelous, Bluecliff and Silvedania respectively and Abanhfleft and Hampton Island failing to defeat Geektopia and Nephara respectively by a greater margin than Omerica’s against Flavovespia. The likelihood of these events transpiring varies wildly as Hampton Island are rank underdogs against the reigning world champions, whereas Savigliane go into their match as overwhelming favourites. Twicetagria may be vulnerable to Squornshelous and Quebec may have been stunned by Silvedania on matchday nine, but they both probably emerge as winners. Geektopia are far from slouches, but their form has fallen off a cliff this cycle, whereas Bluecliff have their moments, but are decisive underdogs against the Golden Eagles.

All said, it is highly unlikely for Omerica to win direct qualification and the fickle nature of the runners-up table could see the Incorrigibles stare down the likes of Drawkland, Tumbra, Tikariot, Yuezhou or Trolleborg if they’re particularly unlucky. In a stage where Omerica have never once tasted success, such a match-up would make even the unflappable Ryan Pritchard nervous.

Stephanidis’s selection must therefore be viewed with these circumstances in mind. Her decision to rest Omerica’s tried-and-tested faithful is akin to a white flag of surrender, a realisation that the Incorrigibles are more likely than not going to the playoffs and need to start preparing for the affair now. If the Incorrigibles did not have second place sealed or were sitting in the top six of the runners-up table, the Omerica manager would be playing at full strength in a bid to get the nation over the line. Neither of those is the case, so the Incorrigibles can afford to take their foot off the pedal tonight, as even if they do not manage to pull off a triumph like the infamous Wet Bog Roll match against Krytenia, there is still a playoff to be had.

The natural reaction is to view the playoffs as a kiss of death for Omerica, considering that the Incorrigibles have played seven games across three playoffs and not won a single one, but each comes with extenuating circumstances that make this judgment naïve at best. The World Cup 75 playoff against Electrum came in the midst of the Omerican Football Federation’s spectacular collapse, which had the effect of severely demoralising the Omerica players to the point that Electrum won far more comfortably than the 1–0 aggregate scoreline would suggest. Then came the World Cup 83 “playoff”, a four-team winner-take-all round-robin that Omerica had just barely squeaked into and were absolutely hopeless in outside the opening game against Kelssek. And finally, the World Cup 87 playoff came after a gruelling battle with Equestria that went down to the final matchday, leaving the Incorrigibles totally ragged by the time they arrived in Fiskadaha for the first leg against Poafmersia.

Fortunately, none of these circumstances apply. The United Republican Soccer Federation has taken some bruising from its long fight with the Omerican Professional Soccer League, but is in no danger of collapsing any time soon. In addition, the Incorrigibles have secured their playoff spot with a game to spare and—thanks to Stephanidis’s strategic surrender—will therefore not be completely frazzled by the time the first leg comes knocking. Her squad choice is a gamble pinned on the hopes that a well-rested and prepared Omerica squad will be in better position to take on whatever opposition is thrown at them than one which fought for a direct ticket and had their hopes predictably crushed, but if the stars align and Omerica avoid the playoffs altogether, all the better.

Omerica close out the World Cup qualifying group stage with their return match against Flavovespia, with live coverage available on SFRD Sport. ⚜️

For your reading pleasure
▶ John Rosencrants will leave the Saltsteadish managerial job after the conclusion of qualification
▶ The URSF set Romainbourg’s Stade des Marins as Omerica’s home leg venue for the qualifying playoffs
▶ Federal constables save a shipping vessel crew from drowning off the coast of North Hesperia
▶ The Socialists select caucus chairman Kevin Courtenay to succeed Julie Thibault as Prime Minister

United Republican Soccer Federation
6 Jean-Jacques la Rouge Road
Port Alexandre, MS 18-A40
UNITED REPUBLICS OF OMERICA
Omerica v Flavovespia
World Cup 88 qualification — Matchday Eighteen
Stade des Marins, Romainbourg, Romainbourg
Omerica lineup (4–3–3): Annelise Betancourt; Darcy Francis, Justin Thyme (captain), Noah Clement, Lauren Kerry; Jacques-Pierre Castell, Paige Boyce, Christian Marts; Jean-Lucas Babineaux, Malcolm Beauchesne, Adélaïde Argyris
Substitutes: Antoine Vicario, Alexandra McGuire; Jacques Laurent, Anna Charles, Raphaël Martin, Felix Zanetti; Alphonse Fontaine, Fearchar Mac Cléirich, Thom Magalhães; Maïa Bustos, Jean-François Fernand, Wesley Sawyer

World Cup 88- Roleplay Thread

Boot It!: Everything's On The Cards For The Finale!

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