The Eagle's Cup :: XI :: Rosters, RP, Scores

by **Aut-Ves-Nat** » Mon Aug 23, 2021 11:50 pm

Autonomous Vessel Nation National Team
Unexpectedly at Eagle’s Cup XI

Roster

Goalkeepers:
01 | Bob Scottsman | 30 Years old
12 | Terrence Shinryo | 28 years old
23 | Grga | 24 years old

Defenders:
02 | Ronaldo Rodriguez De Sousa | 25 years old
03 | Gundeberga Schikowski | 19 years old
04 | Tall Pete Jr. | 31 years old
05 | Fallah Anand | 24 years old
13 | Judas Fuller | 21 years old
24 | Luc Rottner | 24 years dlo
50 | Maria Kazura | 35 years old

Midfielders:
10 | Bob Crockett | 28 years old
08 | Sergey Ingenious | 25 years old
16 | Ben Schumacher | 25 years old
11 | Qojur Zarinchech | 18 years old
15 | Johnny Moyer | 23 years old
21 | Fatima Weilliny | 25 years old
20 | Paris Stilton | 28 years old

Forwards:
06 | Wagon Leader Stanley | 174 years old
09 | Luigi Firmo | 22 years old
07 | Hesediel the Warrior| >6,000 years old
17 | Justin Manihar | 25 years old
18 | Martin Fitoussi | 12 years old
19 | Revanchism St. Martinique | 23 years old

Since the CAFA Cup

So far, the Autonomous Vessel Nation has been avoiding controversy over rumors it lost possession of the CAFA Cup. These rumors are unfounded, however, for reasons that are undisclosed, the nation itself will not be attending the Eagle’ cup matches, and has gone off of most oceanographic traffic reports since the CAFA Cup concluded in Legalese. Even so, a contingent of players, some of whom played in the Aut-Ves-Nat’s moment of triumph will be present for the Newcomers Match against Trollenberg. Top scorer Luigi Firmo is back in action with his deadly partner Hesediel the Warrior. Sergey Ingenious is a strong player in the midfield, along with Bob Crockett, Ben Schumacher and Qojur Zarinchech.

The side has shifted since it's triumph over the dry land lovers of Anaia into a 4-3-3. Thus Ronaldo Rodriguez De Sousa and Gundeberga Schikowski have been drafted in from the Aut-Ves-Nat defense forces to play a wingbacks. Schikowski is an outlier on the team due to a lack of athletic experience. She is considered the fastest person in the military however according to training documents citied by the Aut-Ves-Nat Atheltic Management Board president Fulani Fuller. Goalkeeper Bob Scottsman was moved in after alleged footage of John Opie clones brandishing firearms behind the Grand Admiral Juan James Marcozy (not maroczy) was shown to the world.

OOC:

Formation: 4-3-3
Set Piece players: Firmo, Stanley, Ingenious
Style: +2.5
Choose my scorers: Y
Choose my scoring events: Y
Godmod scoring events: Y
RP injuries to my players: Y (The players could leak fluid. Just be sure you're careful.)
Godmod Injuries to my players: Y
Give Yellow Cards to my players: Y
Give Red Cards to my players: Y
Godmod other events: Y

by **Nephara** » Tue Aug 24, 2021 4:59 am

Zwangzug 2 - 2 Nephara
(4-4-2) 1 - Olexander; 17 - Fischer, 5 - Warden, 6 - Bruhn, 19 - Islinger; 7 - Sauthier (11 - Reader 80'), 4 - Miller, 16 - Brand (8 - E Fletcher 72'), 13 - Belgrade; 23 - Mrdja (9 - Pawnbroker 80'), 10 - Murin
Goals: Brand 27', Murin 39'

Cassadaigua 1 - 3 Nephara
(4-4-2) 1 - Olexander; 2 - Rostock, 5 - Warden, 6 - Bruhn, 19 - Islinger (3 - Seselja 76'); 7 - Sauthier, 4 - Miller (15 - Belltower 84'), 16 - Brand, 13 - Belgrade (11 - Reader 71'); 23 - Mrdja, 10 - Murin
Goals: Murin 19' pen, Brand 61', Mrdja 79'

The most difficult part of managing Nephara is booking the rooms.
That feels like a joke, but it's just the truth. Nepharim - especially the ones made millionaires for their competitive edge and superlative ability - have a certain tendency to be... high-strung. When things go well, they're great. When things go wrong, well... Cormorants of the past have gone through expensive bar-fights, mid-tournament breakups, hair pulled out of scalps... things can get messy.
With her A-list, Triff Ramsey knew her match-ups. Solid, blunt Rashica Horvath helped ground flighty Radeka Lind, Severine Reed got on well with Nea Provost and stopped her getting bored and making trouble. But with this new batch? That was less certain. Many of these players had never even met before.
There were a handful of international veterans, most obviously Linde Rostock and Mrdja, while Sauthier had a good few caps and a good head on her shoulders. Rostock was already developing a productive chemistry with the shy Sonya Belltower, a woman from an unusually strict and religious religious background who blushed whenever Linde looked at her. So they went together. Renira Schanzer and Fiona Hartnett's chemistry, however, was more the sort that Ramsey identified as leading to local bars being set on fire at 3am after a heavy defeat; they did not go together. Most likely it was their last tournament anyway.
Mrdja went with Pernille Brand. They were either opposites, or very similar indeed, depending on how you looked at it; what they shared in common was dealing with doubt. Mrdja was a hard-battling, hard-working marauder who had gutted her way up the leagues and won a World Cup; Brand was a somewhat languid player, not the most physically gifted, and an undeniably late bloomer. She'd taken time to earn trust at Newrook City, and in part been slowed by injury, but once she got a couple good years under her belt she'd flown. Very different players, but neither one the complete article, not quite.
Brand was having issues coping with the pressure. Mrdja, blunt and self-effacing, could take the edge off that, and between them, perhaps, help push each other to the World Cup in a year...

It didn't take long for Pernille Brand to feel at home in her new surroundings, though. For maybe twenty, twenty-five minutes against Zwangzug, pressed hard against Junia McCue, she struggled to cope and find space. Worse still, it was her lack of intensity that allowed Sokhi to find a way past her, slip a deft one-two to play her way into the box before setting up Esther Axelrod-Conway to rifle home the opener.
Brand for a moment looked devastated. Then Mrdja came and draped a long arm around her shoulder and murmured tender nothings into her ear. Ramsey needn't ever know the words were, "Fuck up like that again and I'll throw you out the fucking window when we get back," because it works. The next touch she got was to get the ball onto her stronger left foot, some minutes afterwards; the next touch after that, to blast past Troy-Vee from 28 yards.
By the end, she was disappointed to be taken off, and that was what Ramsey wanted to see.

The match against Zwangzug was somewhat disjointed and erratic, and likely Kate DiMartini would have felt the same. Two of the multiverse's rare defensive-trending sides both preferred a sense of order to proceedings, yet neither side looked wholly in control.
Things went better against the Dagans, though. This time, there were no crises of confidence. Murin opened the scoring, just reward after a daring run and a dip of the shoulder and a vicious cut inside Standish, and she was not at all upset to get an ankle-tap and fall. Her penalty was drilled hard the right way, but Rachel Schanke lead by example, stabbing home a leveller on the verge of half-time. The Cormorants had to improve in the second half... and they did, Pernille Brand leading the charge. She earned a free kick when Newfeld and Graham had to double-team her, and drilled it into the top corner from well outside the area. Beginning to make a name for herself, yes, but Katerina Olexander was lucky to get a reprieve when she spilled a shot from Rosenblatt and a narrowly offside Schanke converted the rebound, thoroughly disappointed to see the flag raised.
But Brand evaded pressure, just had a way about her of gliding around contact like a cat avoiding having its back stroked. Late in the game she eased past one, two, four players - Cassadagan fans at home surely screaming at someone to just foul her - before lofting a beautiful pass over both centre-halves, just the perfect weight for Mrdja to sprint onto the end of it, trap it with an outstretched boot, cut inside and lace home a conclusive third.
No defenestration necessary. Four points from two would more than do.

by **The Kytler Peninsulae** » Tue Aug 24, 2021 6:57 am

There was an inevitability about the second Kytlerian return from sporting isolation in this of all sports going pretty badly from a results perspective; after all, soccer is famously a sport where the gap between the top teams and the bottom teams is truly a yawning chasm, and a team with no international experience is invariably going to be one of the latter.

Hope is a danger, though. And hope was provided by the Kytlerian opening game at the Eagle's Cup being against a team in a similar position. Mertagne are another team that haven't been seen in a long time, but they dangerously played with an attacking style of the kind associated with so many big teams, thanks to a manager in Tyrrel Gulliver with a direct link to that style from a grandfather who played in Eura. Their own period of isolation - known as "The Insulation" and marked by division along corporate lines - ended five years ago, and they have not been seen at a major tournament since.

Still, hope plus history meant the first sellout crowd at Zube Olympic Stadium for several years, even if it was mostly the latter. A reflection of that; whilst the ZOS gates have been set for digital-only ticketing for years, fans could get a physical ticket for this game as a souvenir, and the majority reportedly did.

It was quite the moment for 32-year-old Edward Pringle, a holding midfielder who had spent his entire impressive career out of the international game, to lead his national team out from the ZOS tunnel. A distinction assumed lost to his generation, found at last. The concern in this environment was that the team would actually overcommit, be overemotional, and leave themselves wide open to attack. Manager Sam Wahl emphasised the danger at every turn, and while his team sheet listed Pringle as the holding midfielder in a diamond 4-4-2, in practice he was regularly seen directly between central defenders Guido Nenci and Tim Wallace in a back five. Being charitable, it would then play like a 3-5-2 with full-backs Tipene Hohepa and Angufams Izorigor flying forward; in practice, Izorigor in particular was very restrained in picking his spots to attack a very attackable team.

The weight of historical significance weighed heavily on what was otherwise arguably the least significant match of the entire competition. Mertagne's return was significant enough, goodness knows how much there was to be said about that, but even though the Kytlerians never so much as qualified for a single World Cup their name is hugely resonant in sporting history. How could it not, when they are one of the few countries - and this one of the few stadia - to literally stage the Olympic Games? This geographically small country, little more than two sticks of land jutting out of the edge of the Pavolan continent, has always had its danger of isolationism even as its own national identity has formed and gained global attention; after all, its non-isolationist history is rooted in the Rushmori drugs trade, and moral panics around doping continued to be a story of the modern Kytlerian nation. Much of that was around sport, where "Recognised Performance Drugs" - RPDs - have been historically not only legal but actively encouraged. Apt, then, that the first Kytlerian isolation started shortly after an Olympic Games that ended with the host nation topping the medal table, a startling feat even at home. Use of Verbosita - notoriously one of the most powerful RPDs - skyrocketed in the years after the Games, and the resultant spike in erratic behaviour produced a moral panic that also seemed to reinforce the breakaway movement in Varn in the south of the country. Isolationism began within a decade, and barring a short-lived return would remain for generations.

Quite the background to reinforce. Quite the fraught atmosphere inside the stadium, even as it was an amazing one. The fear of embarrassment was so crushing it may paradoxically have been self-fulfilling; Mertagne were able to dominate possession despite Wahl's intention to control the ball and spark recklessness in the visitors, and entirely deserved the 25th-minute lead they gained when Josua Tikurtz played a neat one-two in the right channel with Neville Cate that drew Nenci totally out of position as the cavalry arrived down the middle in great numbers. Tikurtz was able to pick out Dani Emdelbia for a chance she couldn't miss.

Wahl had to unshackle at this point to at least some extent, but seemed afraid to. In fact, after the goal he immediately barracked Hohepa specifically, claiming he'd gone too far forward, and he never really let go of that. And so, despite him being one of the only attacking threats in the first half, Hohepa was sacrificed for Tom Cutler. Now the Kytlerians were even more toothless, and almost seemed to be settling for a 1-0 loss despite this being their easiest game on paper.

Inevitably and deservedly, they didn't even get that. Aptly, the killer blow came when a Tikurtz free kick from a crossing position was headed behind by Nenci for an own goal as the Kytlerian back line dropped too deep.

If that was what happened against a fellow returnee, what would a proven team do to them? We found out in the next game, as the Ko-orenites - a top-12 team in the world rankings - showed just how good they were. Wahl's possession-based style was seen as a potential foil to the Dragonflies, but it doesn't work when you can't actually keep hold of the slani ball. Constantly harried by an industrious midfield, the raw Kytlerians frequently fell into no-win situations and gave the ball away in dangerous areas. The team scored four unanswered goals without even actively trying, all from winning the ball in advanced positions; this is a team who don't go looking for goals because they trust that they will simply arrive. Against a fragile team like these Kytlerians, they absolutely will.

by **Mertagne** » Tue Aug 24, 2021 9:37 am

"Well, I was informed of the story when a journalist from Ekitaldia got a hold of me, asking 'What made you decide to submit an application to the Eagle's Club? Weren't you thoroughly slapped out of it six editions ago?'. Naturally I rolled with it, and said something about how the government wanted us to do it, and then as soon as I put the phone down I did some detective work."
Michelle Romanage sipped a glass of wine in a comfy booth in El NOMbre Dos, one of Zube's top restaurants. She had accompanied the team to the Kytler Peninsulae, as a bit of a personal excursion, but also in a more official capacity to analyse the team's performance and determine if Gulliver was truly up to snuff to deliver this team in the World Cup next year. If he wasn't, it'd be a long long road to finding someone else, and they'd probably have to recruit externally, which just made everyone look bad in comparison.
Tyrrel looked inquisitively as he tore off a piece of the complimentary bread. "And what did you find?"
That smile crept back onto Romanage's face. "Well, what's more exciting was my wonderfully methodical search. I called up the managers of the national squads. Nothing. Zilch. Ettrick's phone went to voicemail, so I had to flag her personally, but, she knew nothing. So I started inquiring into the domestic sides, and thought maybe one of our people over in their necks of the woods had been put up to it. That didn't reward anything promising, at least not until I connected the last dot - I found out where the application had been sent from."
"Is that entirely legal?" asked Gulliver, placing down his glass of water.
"It is if it's your mail you're asking about! But that's not important. What is important is that it was delivered from..."
A palpable pause punctuated the pleather pigeonhole in which the pair perched.
"... Cathair." Tyrrel guessed, with the deductive reasoning of a brick.
"No. To be honest, I didn't give you much to go on. No, it was delivered from Neorudo. And in Neorudo is..."
"...My sister's house? Oh my gosh, you don't think it was her, do you?" Tyrrel placed his hands under his chin in faux shock.
"Not quite. She's not a temp, is she? I promise that becomes important later."
"She's not. She's an embryologist at Old Quarter General, actually."
"Oh, that's amazing! Does she get much work? It must be really interesting being an embryologist..."

After a few rounds of tapas, the conversation drew back to the Eagle's Cup application.
"So, you were telling me about how Mertagne got into this edition of the Eagle's Cup." said Tyrrel.
"Ah, of course! Where was I? Temps! Yes, temps. So, Neorudo was where it was sent off, and that got me thinking, because obviously the old FMF headquarters used to be located there. So I phoned them up at the Cop Limy, and I asked if they knew anything about an application for the Eagle's Cup, or anything to do with the old FMF stadium."
"And what did they say?"
Michelle paused, before raising a finger. "They told me they'd recently cleaned out some old storage rooms that had FMF stuff in it. But then-" the finger wiggled in an accusatory manner, "- they told me that they'd recycled it all!" she looked at Tyrrel like she'd just revealed the smoking gun.
Tyrrel looked back like she'd just revealed absolutely nothing.
"... And you rattled through the recycling and found and Eagle's Cup application?"
"Do I look like the type of person that rattles through recycling? No, I called up the temp agency. I had a chat with a lovely temp. Asked her about a red envelope. She knew about it. So, it goes like this:..."
Michelle proceeded to regale a tale in which two temp workers, deep within the bowels of the Cop Limy, were able to procure an ancient and dusty document containing two things - an invitation, extended to the Calanian Union from the prestigious Eagle's Club in Eelandii, Turori, to compete in Eagle's Club VI, and a response to the Eagle's Club, confirming their participation and to expect the arrival of a squad fielded from the FMF. The temp worker had done their job diligently, clearing the clutter of the room, and discarded the envelope at an overfilling industrial recycling bin outside the Cop Limy. However, it seems that, either at the recycling centre or by some other act of Margaret, that the envelope was noticed, and promptly placed in a mailbox just in time to be shipped to Eelandii for the 11th edition of the Cup. The Eagle's Club, perhaps, had a sense of humour, or were impressed with the response - either way, they responded with a much needed sense of swiftness.
"... and that was when I found the envelope on my desk. I called Dornell that Friday, he and I had a chat, and that's why I called you Monday morning."
"Blimey. That reads either like an astounding piece of work or a comedy of errors. Symptomatic of the Mertagnian team, to be honest with you."
Michelle beamed across the booth. "They're not that bad. They mustn't beat themselves up over the CAFA. I mean, did you see the boat won it?"
Tyrrel chuckled. "The Aut-Ves-Nat, yes. A shame, really - I had Krytenia in the sweepstake."

Two matchdays had passed, and from them the Mertagnian team had earned - not stolen, as many naysayers would naysay - four points from two games. Zube had proven to be Splendour City as well as Snowflake City - the prestige of playing at Zube Olympic Stadium appeared to spur the Mertagnian team to victory. That and the Kytlerian own goal that really cemented the win.
Tyrrel and his team were in Ko-oren, this time. Many predicted this would be a tense match between the two, the only Anaians in the competition (at least, until the boat swanned in, but, like their hold on the CAFA cup, they were ephemeral).
The squad, gathered in the locker room, prepared for the match. Tyrrel had a ritual, like many staff and players alike. This one was slightly strange, but for those that knew Gulliver, it was a common sight. He slowly took off his tie, and threaded it through the loops on his trousers, until it sat around him alongside his belt. The lime apparel made him look like a martial artist, but few were bothered as he stepped out and addressed the room.
"Try your best out there, folks, Give it your all. We've had two good games so far - your win against the Kytler Peninsulae was inspired, and taking an established team like Gyatso-kai to a tie is respectable indeed. We need to do well here for two reasons. We're not in sight of beating Nephara yet, for one, and for two, we're playing Ko-oren. They'll be out for blood, in their typical 'death from one thousand dragonfly wing cuts' style, and beating them, coincidentally, is like getting blood from a stone. A big, bricky, wall-like stone."
The mood of the locker room could be best described as "pumped but bemused".
"Look, I'm not great with speeches, yeah? Just get out there and do your best. You've got the nation behind you."

by **Nova Anglican Admin Zone of Esportiva** » Tue Aug 24, 2021 11:29 am

Nova Anglican Admin Zone Roster and Overview

Roster
Position-Number-Name-Age-Club

G #1 Jordan Hopkins, 30, FC Portus
G #22 Johnny Hodges, 30, Heartwood FC
G #23 Patrick Fisher, 25, Castellum FC

LB #5 Sean Reed, 30, Archbishop FC
CB #2 Jared Thayer, 32, Bridgewall City FC
CB #3 Matt Woods, 28, Springs FC
RB #4 Bradley Fuller, 30, Newfield Athletic
FB #12 Damian Hillman, 31, Archbishop FC
FB #13 Hayden Cochrane, 26, Kinjestad Soccer, South Newlandia
CB #14 Billy Brock, 26, Castellum FC
CB #15 Michel Robert, 25, Olympique Sept-Iles

DM #6 Will Bartholomew, 31, Bridgewall City FC
LM #7 Ced Hampton, 29, Newfield Athletic
AM #8 Colby Parker, 29, Sanctuary FC
RM #9 Luc Gagne, 27, Olympique Sept-Iles
M #16 Tanner Whitehead, 29, Bridgewall City FC
M #17 Buddy Ahrens, 30, Bridgewall City FC
M #18 Scott Banks, 26, Labrador United FC
M #19 Ryan Goodman, 24, Archbishop FC

F #10 Darren Williams, 32, Newfield Athletic
F #11 Freddy Beal, 29, Archbishop FC
F #20 Garrett Burke, 31, St David Wanderers, Kelssek
F #21 Aaron Stevenson, 31, FC Portus

Manager: Ross Hogan

Formation, Starting XI, and Style

http://sharemytactics.com/166660/NAAZE-formation-tactics.png

Style Modifier= +2.5

Uniforms

(In order, home, away, and alternate, courtesy of NSI's Vulpine Sportif)

Home Stadium: Lighthouse Stadium, Rutupiae, NAAZE (cap. 40,000)

I Give My Opponent Permission To:
    =================================
    Choose My Goalscorers:        Y
    Godmod Goalscoring Events:    Y - only if you TG me and ask first
    Injure Players:               N - TG me if the severity will be more than one game and I'll give the yea or nay
    Godmod Injury Events:         N
    Red Card Players:             Y - no more than one every two games, so if my previous opponent has doled one out, tough luck
    Yellow Card Players:          Y - for every two you give my players, at least one must be given to your players
    Godmod Other Events:          N
    =================================

by **Trolleborg** » Tue Aug 24, 2021 5:54 pm

Greetings, compatriots!
It’s TTV with a report about most recent endeavour of our national team. As you know, this time FA decided to accept invitation to play in nebulous Eagle Cup. People behind this tournament already make a similar offer in past, right after victory in Baptism of Fire tournament, but our nation decided against. And there is nothing incomprehensible in such a decision – because no explanation was sent with invitation about what kind of tournament it was. Right now, as FA CEO Torben Mortensen reveal us, we are invited as a victors of Melayu Cup tournament, and after some hesitation we decide to accept, just to pay something back for Melayu Archipelago, take a fight for region, which take our lads to the heart. As he add, this probably will be useful test of strength before the start of the next our campaign in international football.

As we know just by chance, this tournament is already begin (funny enough, official board is not put any dates in their fixture). Our lads start (and maybe end) their participation with a two-leg fixture against Aut-Ves-Nat national team, who won recent CAFA tournament – rather unexpected result, everyone must admit, considering not particularly successful performance in the recent WCQ. But winning such a tournament in a race against well-known heavyweights of world football is clear enough warning for anyone concerned.

And as we awaited opponents, our journalists decide to prove how much everything ready for the guests of the country. Before our first World Cup Qualifying game our colleagues from the “Trolleborg Leesse” newspaper tried to get into the shoes of foreigners, going to the airport and see themselves how things will unfolded for a guests of our country. We in TTV plan to do this at the IAC-13, which our country have hopes to host. But as this right go to Poafmersia, our crew had to postpone it until another time, and right now it’s just the right moment.

Keystone of the whole Trolleborg manner of dealing with guests from abroad is, undoubtely, our Keith.
The “Keith” AI (really-masterpiece-of-artifical-intelligence, we must add) system was created precisely to care for a foreigners and gained a lot of experience over these five years. In the meantime Trolleborg Airport has become a global hub, with more than 119 countries in 74 regions in the reach of 69 different airlines.
Flag international airline Trolleborg Wings is also well-known feature of many airports, having provide millions of people with every possible amenities and level of comfort almost uncomparable with everything you can find in the tickets aggregators – all this for more than modest price. But Keith is not overwhelmed will all this – instead our AI learn fast and become much more adapted to various needs and wishes of our guests.
She speak with you in your own language while taking regional pronunciation differences into account. Keith can help you with booking hotel or tickets to everything or make a best route to every destination you can imagine in our country. This wonderful AI will convert your money into Trolleborg florins (or help you change your coins\seashells\last year's leaves\bottles of moonshine\or whatever you have as a money in your country into florins with a virtual credit card) and allow you to pay for every service without slightest delay – and did much, much, much more for you. Undoubtely her performance is a reason for the pride of the whole country.

Right now airport is not like five years old, with main terminal full of restaurants, shops, pubs and so on, where you can find almost everything on the offer in the multiverse for the last few years. TIA authorities, as we all know, never missed chance to lure business into their premises. Just to drink everything on offer in TIA with a five minutes per glasses probably take a month or so out of your life – and then you probably must be ready to begin everything anew, since many other breweries and wineries will move in at the meantime.

But, it must be noted, everything put around such a way as to not obstruct the way for a passenger who is not interested in shops and bars. If you want, you can just move from the subway station to the gate through beautiful environment of the airport.

As every who travel outside the country know, you can take a ride to the city in subway with one of three modes on your choice, by electric bus or by automatic taxi.

Just for a report, we have to try to go to the Murnau and Heimen as this cities is most likely candidates for hosting IAC matches – and Keith offered us options of transfer by air, rail and electric bus. If we wish, we will be at Murnau in just forty-three minutes, having buy tickets and checked in while not moving a finger and already on the way to the gate.

While we are at the subway train on the way to the Trolleborg City, Keith already begin to probe what we want to see. For one of us, who play a sport afficionado, she make a fixture that included Sports Museum, Football Museum, visit to the 1st December Stadium and (as he add yachting to his preferences) seeing local yachting races with option to take part.

For another, who decided to play a dedicated shopper, the schedule included numerous stores, and when he clarified his financial capabilities, then the plan changed accordingly. Plans have a points at which both travelers had to meet to eat together, according to their financial capabilities. And so on. Opportunity to buy souvenirs not forgotten, you have options for both original products and something in the spirit of which you are accustomed.

Looked like our country take a lot of steps on the way of being open and understandable for the foreigners.

by **Ko-oren** » Wed Aug 25, 2021 4:17 am

Where would we be without a little politeness? Not in the Eagle's Cup, that's for sure. For the second edition running, the KFA has addressed the Eagle's Club in the humblest and kindest way possible, and for the second edition running, the Eagle's Club has reciprocated our good manners with the most magnanimous gesture of offering us a spot in their elite tournament.

And not just us: outside of the current trophy holders of the AOCAF, Copa Rushmori, or more obscure tournaments like the World Cup, we're joined in one group with other friendly folk: the Kytler Peninsulae, Gyatso-Kai, and Mertagne. Between the four of us, two will advance to the Challenge Trophy for Eagle's Club members and invitees. The Challenge Trophy winner takes on the Cup of Champions winner - that's where the trophy holders compete - for the overall Eagle's Cup.

We take on the other three invitees twice: one home, one away. The KFA has decided to extend its friendliness and inclusivity by awarding the three home games to new hosts: versus Gyatso-Kai, we'll play in the Planetarium in Sterrenwolde (a surprising name for a stadium, though it all makes sense when you see the particular dome over the stadium). Next, the regional rivalry versus Mertagne shall take place in the Hertfield of Mawrystwyth. And lastly, the Kytler Peninsulae match will be at the Verrevento Arena in Ferrovente.

Sterrenwolde
Sterrenwolde is a great city, easy to get to, and has great spots to visit and some great sporting events to offer. That said, there is little in the way of soccer. Or rather, there was, since Sterrenwolde FC's climb up to the second tier. Apart from them, there's the gridiron Dragonflies (the club team, not the national team of the same name), as well as a handful of development teams in gridiron, soccer, and rugby league. A sprawling harbour and maritime museum are among their other places of interest - have you figured out Sterrenwolde's raison d'être yet? And if you ever want a new horizon, you've got Schemerdrecht (the 'capital of the north') to your west and Straudum to your east.

Mawrystwyth
Mawrystwyth is a well-known spot for rugby (union) fans. While new to football, its stadiums have been used for both RUWC 27 and 30, as well as World Bowl 36 - you'd almost forget that Mawryshire (the county as a whole) is big on rugby union, as well as gridiron, and cricket, and that there's still room left for soccer. In fact, soccer is only on the rise as, for the first time ever, a team from the county made its way up the ladder to the second tier. Mawrystwyth (the name of the club) is now among the country's best 24 teams, which makes 'second tier' make a lot nicer than it sounds. Outside of sports, Mawrystwyth isn't the most pleasant destination. There are some landscapes to visit, but they lie at least an hour away from the city, so thankfully there's enough sports to enjoy within city limits.

Ferrovente
Ferrovente's Verrevento Arena is the city's largest venue, normally used for rugby league. That's not to say that soccer is a step behind: Castelo e Calvente CS' promotion to the Top League last year sees the third club of the region added to Ko-oren's top tier - a tier that only holds 12 teams. The Arena, all maroon and light blue for the normal occupants, the Ferrovente Scorpions, seats 25000. It's safe to assume that no soccer fan has been there before, though they likely rolled through its central station on the way to Santa Teresa, which is a regular host for the Dragonflies. Visitors will surely remember the dry heat, but they can now also feel the soft breeze that rolls in over the city for most of the day. If your hotel is beyond the hills on the east, bad luck: the breeze won't reach you there. It's a good thing that most of the tourism sector is located in the lower side of the city, near the quaint harbour. Ferrovente has always used the strange effect that takes place where warm and cold air meet, which gives the city its nickname: the Wind-powered City.

In the two games so far, a regrettable home loss to Gyatso-Kai was followed up by a tremendous bounce-back effort at and against the Kytler Peninsulae. In the first game, an early Vaugrenard goal was nullified by a Skirata header on a Guanyu cross, and then Takahashi thrust a dagger into the Dragonflies' hopes and dreams. Breukelaar parried a corner kick to where Takahashi was waiting for the second ball - he didn't hesitate for a millisecond and sent the ball straight back on goal, where Theshendan wasn't in position yet.

The next game, things looked very different. Apart from another early Vaugrenard goal, that is. The 1-0 lead was still there at half-time, and from then on it only got better. Erisia was on great form, always a step ahead, and always open to receive a pass. He controlled a long ball, set up a pass in behind the defence to Janoreirinthen, who slotted in the 2-0. Erisia scored the 3-0 himself: his shot on goal was poorly dealt with, and he got the ball back, but now without a goalkeeper ready for a shot. The 4-0 came from another long ball to Erisia. This time he chipped it over the last man to Batchelor (who came on for Longchambon), he volleyed it in for the final score.

Longchambon was nearly invisible for both games, while Erisia and Ensaunden were much better than expected. Van Kalvenhaar did fine in her first two starting appearances. Parrott is a serviceable back up - even when he's in the starting XI - and the rest of the defence already knows each other pretty well. Van Schelven knew when to advance and when to let Mizuno go, as both manage a pretty good buildup to Ensaunden and Janoreirinthen. Vaugrenard has been good on set pieces but hasn't been lucky outside of his early goals. We're expecting to see a bit more of Misthinden and Rouselle. When the scores allow it, we can see some opportunities for Miyahara as well.

by **Vilita and Turori** » Wed Aug 25, 2021 7:48 am

Eagles Club Pitch #1, Eelandii, Turori :: It has been a rare moment in history when any Vilitan side has taken on any Turorian side. Of course, famously, the two teams met in high profile matches during back-to-back World Cup Finals with Vilita defeating Turori in the Semi-Finals of World Cup 81 en route to the World Cup Title then lifted the multiverse's premier Sporting Trophy once more the following cycle by defeating Turori in the World Cup Final.

Outside of that, one cycle in the World Cup Qualifying and a random meeting in the Eagle's Cup there was very little history between them.

Throw in a little more Turori and there was none. For the first time in recorded history, the Vilita & Turori Regional Team would face off against one of its halves - in this case Turori. It caused a selection headache not only for the coaches but for the players - specifically on the Turorian squad. It is rumored that Turorian players who were a part of either Vilita & Turori's championship winning side in the 72nd Under-21 World Cup OR the Vilitan Union squad that won the gold medal at the XV Summer Olympics were given the option of being called to the Vilita & Turori or the Turori squad. Of course, a handful did choose the Vilita & Turori squad knowing that as younger players it might afford them a greater opportunity for play time. The majority, however, fresh off their victory in World Cup 88 chose to don the Eelskin Brown.

But what motivation could their be to step out onto the pitch against your teammates? Of course, on the rare occasion that Vilita has faced Turori some of the players experienced such scenarios playing against some of the players they play alongside on the Regional Squad. At this level, however, once you step on the pitch it no longer matters who your opponent is. If they are wearing a different color shirt, they are your opponent. This Vilitan Union squad unveiled a new kit for Eagle's Cup XI that would allow the Eel's to wear their traditional Eelskin Brown in their designated 'home' match at Eagle's Club Pitch #1 in Eelandii.

Whether they are your teammates in the Vilitan League or other domestic competitions; Whether you might play with them again in the future on a regional squad - or even whether you are preparing to go out for dinner with them after the match. Sport at its heart is competition and whether that is competition with your opposition or with yourself, the motivation is to do better on every play than you did on the play before - so long as your body allows it.

Demand for the match was great as the Eagle's Club was forced to erect temporary seating for VIP's while the nearby Eels Park in Eelandii was over half full with fans looking to watch on the arena's video screens.

In the end, the World Cup Champions would prevail through goals from Meldi'ita Mungwaii and Kentu Umaka'a. From there, the Vilitan Union squad would head over to the Tivali Ring Stadium in Alikki-Corra for the only of their three Group Stage matches to be played on mainland Vilita with the hopes of bouncing back with all three points against Baptism of Fire Champions Eshialand. However, for the second time in as many cycles, Eshialand managed to come into Vilita and hold the home side to a draw. Budding Vilita National Team star Trezisi Rokopolis got the only goal for the Vilitan Union who now sit bottom of the Champions Group table after two matchdays.

 Vilita and Turori [0] - [2] Turori
				
	GOALS:	Vilita and Turori 	:: None               		
	STATS:	Vilita and Turori 	:: Possession: 49%:: Shots: 4:: Corners: 2	Turori 	:: Possession: 51%:: Shots: 5:: Corners: 5
	Lineup:	[GK] Striitca Virahat, [D.] Lohani Riiyaaw, [D.] Rojara Tiones, [D.] Kamarela Dzzara, [ML]  Khrusan Mlianko, [MC]  Lentali Purama, [MC] Trezisi Rokopolis, [MC]  Polaox Torerun, [MR]  Imauka Lkomorak, [FC] Nii'arala Milaaso, [FC] Berali Tzufarei			
	Bench:	[FC] Sipke Tarala, [FC] Clarana Refiami, [M] Limu Katarakhna, [M] Intikko Kuhilana, [U ] Loala Inkabu, [D] Narri Sebapilo, [GK] Zelkki Milake Jr.

 Vilita and Turori [1] - [1] Eshialand
				
	GOALS:	Vilita and Turori 	:: 13' Trezisi Rokopolis              		
	STATS:	Vilita and Turori 	:: Possession: 51%:: Shots: 5:: Corners: 9	Eshialand 	:: Possession: 49%:: Shots: 5:: Corners: 3
	Lineup:	[GK] Striitca Virahat, [D.] Injyua Klizlo, [D.] Lohani Riiyaaw, [D.] Kamarela Dzzara, [ML]  Lentali Purama, [MC]  Intikko Kuhilana, [MC] Trezisi Rokopolis, [MR]  Limu Katarakhna, [FC]  Loala Inkabu, [FC] Sipke Tarala, [FC] Berali Tzufarei			
	Bench:	[FC] Nii'arala Milaaso, [FC] Clarana Refiami, [M] Khrusan Mlianko, [M] Polaox Torerun, [U ] Imauka Lkomorak, [D] Narri Sebapilo, [GK] Zelkki Milake

by **Eshialand** » Wed Aug 25, 2021 11:13 am

Something Out of the Ordinary
Græntfjall 3-2 Eshialand
Vilitan Union 1-1 Eshialand

The team's flight from Vilita to Eshialand was filled with questions about what just happened and how it all related to the past. After all, Eshialand drawing the Vilitan Union on Vilitan soil wasn't just a coup in itself, it was a callback to their past. A ridiculous past. A past with a World Cup Qualifying that, taken as a whole, was utterly unimpressive, but with a thousand little things that it made it all worthwhile and special.

Eshialand drawing Vilita in that World Cup Qualifying was a truly special occasion as, not only was it a Pot 8 team drawing against a Pot 1 team that had won the World Cup multiple times in recent memory, but it was a 0-0. Vilita had only been held scoreless once in that entire qualifying campaign, and it was at home, against Eshialand, of all teams.

There were other good parts of World Cup Qualifying too, even if the whole thing turned out to be a wash in the end. Defeating Sendhang 4-0 away on matchday 14 was a huge morale boost after they had lost 5-1 at home to them in their 5^th match, and breaking their 5-match losing streak by defeating Hebitaka away on matchday 8 was another huge win.

All discussions relating to World Cup Qualifying, of course, had to end in the Squornshelan Remnant States, when the Owls drew a ridiculous 4-4 match to give themselves the final, iconic, total of 19 points, boosting their morale ahead of the Cup of Harmony... until they played Græntfjall.

Græntfjall was a touchy subject for the team, since the entire thing was a sh*tshow, even before the opening whistle. The Owls had to play their B team since all of their usual starters were completely hung over, and an on-pitch incident had led to their friend Harriet being ejected from the team permanently as the team hobbled to a 2-0 defeat. Losing to Græntfjall wasn't what the team really wanted to think about, but since their Eagle's Cup had begun the same way, it had to come up at some point. Some things are simply inevitable.

At least having been in Græntfjall for their first match brought up some good memories of the Cup of Harmony. After all, there were good parts, especially the ridiculous 3-1 victory over Kandorith that sealed the bottom-seeded Owls a brief appearance in the knockouts before immediately being knocked out in extra time by Eraman, the weakest opponents they had played in the entire tournament. Why was it that every good memory, every good tournament, that they could possibly think of had to be stained by something bad?

But what of the future? All of these discussions of the past, and nothing of what came next? Well, next up for the Owls would be an home match against World Cup Champions Turori. If they won, they'd move to the second spot in the group and may even have a shot at making the knockouts, but that would be a far harder task than it seemed on paper. After that, they'd be playing Græntfjall at home in what, again, would likely be a loss. Such are the problems with playing in the Eagle's Cup as the Baptism of Fire champions. It's the hardest spot to come up from since, in every single match, you'll be playing teams who are better than you. You'll be fighting, as lowly nippers just beginning your soccer journeys, against champions of the World Cup and Cup of Harmony who far outclass you. Was Eshialand's team going to let that stop them though? Well, no. They didn't let it stop them in a World Cup Qualifying where they were 8^th seed in a group where at most two could advance, did they? No. They stuck it out then, and they'd stick it out now. They absolutely knew that they had to, because anything could happen, just like the Cup of Harmony.

Græntfjall - 3 (þórhallursson 34'; Álvgeirsdóttir 48' (pen.); Auðunsdóttir 79')
Eshialand - 2 (Harran 21'; MacDougall 57')

Vilitan Union - 1 (Rokopolis 13')
Eshialand - 1 (Meilling 64')

by **Graintfjall** » Wed Aug 25, 2021 4:19 pm

Græntfjall – 3 (1)
Snæþórsson; Philipsdóttir, Thorleifsson, Svanhólmsson, Bjarnfinnursdóttir; Nicosdóttir, Álvgeirsdóttir (48’ pen.) (80’), Rögnvaldursson, Raphaelsson (55’ Ørjansdóttir ); Leosson (87’) (88’ Nicolajsson ), Þórhallursson (34’) (45’ Auðunsdóttir (79’))

Eshialand – 2 (1)
Harran (21’), MacDougall (57’)

Turori – 2 (1)
Toru’u (1’), Aeroluzzi (68’)

Græntfjall – 4 (2)
Einvarðursson; Matteosdóttir (59’) (82’ Persson ), Thorleifsson, Svanhólmsson (90+1’), Bjarnfinnursdóttir; Nicosdóttir, Álvgeirsdóttir (5’), Rögnvaldursson (81’) (82’ Vatnarsdóttir ), Ørjansdóttir; Leosson (27’ Auðunsdóttir (87’)), Þórhallursson (57’)

One of the strangest teams to have collectively worn the Blue-and-White (or, on this occasion, Blue-and-Gold) took the field at the National High Performance Sports Center in Græntfjaller Multinesia. While Græntfjall has fielded heterodox sides in past Eagle’s Cups, those squads have had some commonality: all domestic based players or all women. This team featured a key starter from the Cup of Harmony winning side. It also featured a teenager who has never played top division football, sitting on the bench next to a 41 year old who announced his retirement three years ago. Some chap called Þórhallursson turned up, too.

And turn up he did. His motivation was not difficult to discern: publicly embarrassed by the drugs ban (with pleas that it involved a strictly recreational drug only compounding the public excoriation for risking his place in the squad just ahead of the first Cup of Harmony to be hosted on home soil), he won back the hearts and minds of the general public through a brave mission to rescue Princess Jessika from the Verdean jungle. The general public – but not the footballing one. For them, he remains an unknown quantity, and doubtless hopes to display a bit of leadership as a big fish in the small pond of this Eagle’s Cup squad.

He took the game on manfully against Eshialand and the seemingly inevitable goal arrived in the form of a much needed equalizer 34 minutes. An unglamorous six-yard side footer? Yes, but the celebrations were worthy of a 30 yard screamer. Concerns that the return to competitive football had been rushed in the sapping humidity of the brutal Multinesian summer after he didn’t appear in the second half were put to bed a week later against Turori, when he completed the comeback, playing a full 90 minutes, re-inevitabled with a trademark thumping header, and was even seen giving just the vaguest of shits defensively, always a rarity.

KG’s motivation for picking such a strange side seemed much more tenuous. Yes, technically, if the two Olympic football tournaments are counted separately and the 14th Under-18 World Cup, which Græntfjall withdrew from mid-tournament, included, but not the ongoing Di Bradini Cup about to kick off, in which a team of mice, hedgehogs and otters will be representing the finest Under-2’1” Græntfjall has to offer, there have been 23 prior tournaments for the Græntfjall national team; and yes, KG has generally named 23-player squad (though there appears to be no WCC, and certainly no Eagle’s Club, rule requiring such).

The more prosaic truth – that KG has yet to find a way of managing a congested schedule featuring annual major tournaments and a sprawling international club tournament, and thus wanted to give its World Cup starters some rest – has given way to conspiracy theories, from rumors that the Snow Wolves are unhappy about Þórhallursson’s return to the fold following his drugs ban (a notion that should have been disabused by Sara Kristoffersdóttir – a player with a pre-match routine of performing hundreds of keepy-ups, something that infamously led to her accidentally spilling “Chemical X” into the nutrient drink being prepared by her Di Bradini Cup coach – wearing his shirt during the post-match celebrations at the Cup of Harmony final) to wilder fodder in which all the first team were eaten by krakens on their way back from Krytenia.

Igrene Cantor, who had no role in picking the squad, has been professional throughout this but gave a soft head-tilt to her dissatisfaction with having her squad messed around with by naming a starting XI against Eshialand containing only one genuine international debutant, Hanna Nicosdóttir, a Euran Silver League player. Three further players earned debut caps off the bench: Theo Nicolajsson, who did little suggest he’s the one to break through in the crowded center back position but acquitted himself without embarrassment; Lea-Sophie Ørjansdóttir, who became the first second-generation Snow Wolf and showed a touch of pace that her father, Baptism of Fire 73 winner Ørjan Jeffsson, never displayed; and Lara Auðunsdóttir, whose long overdue call-up culminating in the game-winning goal, an unspectacular but clinical finish. Johanna Álvgeirsdóttir, who thumped home a penalty just after the half, put in a superb display to yet again prove her attacking midfield credentials.

Against reigning World Cup champions Turori it was much the same, save for the absence of Matthias Raphaelsson, who lost his place – to the previously uncapped teenager, in a sign of just how far he has slid since his glory days. The only other major change came at right-back, the source of possibly the only genuine chance of winning a World Cup spot from this squad. Elektra Lúthersdóttir, known for her pre-match routine of vomiting before games, played a pivotal role in the Cup of Harmony final with her corner kick to set up a decisive goal, but has amassed a long injury history, though. Michelle Matteosdóttir and Paulina Philipsdóttir are not just competing to be her reserve, but to take over as starter: on the balance of the first two games, it was Michelle who impressed more: playing as a high wing-back, she created one chance and scored one another to help the Snow Wolves claw back a win after Turori shocked them out of the gate with a goal 24 seconds into the game.

There were more debut caps off the bench: Sara Vatnarsdóttir got a chance in midfield, where Reidar Rögnvaldursson’s attempts to prove himself more than a lumbering center back have not exactly convinced those who remember him lumbering his way to a pretty decent career at the back, and Helge Persson earned a long overdue cap. Lara again came off the bench to score, though this time she was called on early after Ebbe Leosson went down with a suspected hamstring issue that will, after doubling his international cap count, sadly end his participation in this tournament and likely any aspirations of furthering his international career. Seeking desperately to remain true to the spirit of the competition – or, cynically, to compete with the Olympics, which beat both Eagle’s Cup games in the TV ratings – KG has called up as a replacement a player who has never featured in any Snow Wolves squad…

“Petter Erlingsson!? You’re calling up Petter Erlingsson!?”

Igrene Cantor wasn’t calling anyone up: responsibility lay squarely with the KG. But Jason Þórhallursson didn’t have a faceless bureaucrat on hand to yell at, so he was taking it up with his manager, who was giving him her best ‘I could give a shit’ face. It was a pretty good face.

“We all play the hand we’re dealt, J.”

“Sanctimonious prick. Prays before every game. Says the … what’s it … necklace thing. Rosemary?” grumbled Jason.

“Rosary. It’s his pre-match routine you’re worried about?” She didn’t even bother arching her eyebrow: the sardonic tone conveyed her wry amusement well enough.

“I thought he said he would never play for the Snow Wolves because he wanted to be with his family?”

“Yeah, well, maybe you fucking his wife – no, wait, maybe you getting caught fucking his wife on national television made him rethink a few things about his commitment to his family.”

Jason had rather walked into that one. He scratched at his cheek; he always grew a tournament beard, a tradition used by PHL hockey players but less common in Græntfjaller football. In the past he’d disliked the patchy nature of his dark blonde stubble, but since emerging from the Verdean jungle with a beard down to his chest (and a Princess draped across his arms) he’d grown more comfortable with a bit of follicular experimentation.

“Have you two talked?”

He shrugged. “Not really. He came by when I was in the hospital.”

“This isn’t going to be a problem, is it? It’s not going to be all training ground fisticuffs or bitchy media leaks, is it? I can trust you guys to be professional, to be leaders?”

Jason cast his mind back to what was perhaps the best known Græntfjaller pre-match routine: electing a captain. It was an unusual convention, and one that had largely been abandoned at the senior level with Hrærekur, then Emeli, and now Hjörleifur being appointed full-time. It dated back to Græntfjall’s traditions of tribal popular democracy, embodied in the Thing, which claims to be one of the oldest continually operating democratic parliaments in the world. Before the Eshialand game, it had been Þórlaugur they elected as captain: it made sense given he’d emerged from training camp as the strongest defender. Before the game against Turori, the pebbles had been cast in Jason’s favor. That surge of honor he’d felt, seeing the young faces smiling up at him with trust and the old heads nodding with respect.

He stopped scratching his beard. “You got it, boss. We’ll be grown-ups about this. I promise.”

“What?”

He attempted to repeat his promise, but it was once more lost under the roar of the engines as the small plane set down. A small gaggle of particularly intrepid paparazzi hustled up to photograph Petter Erlingsson as he disembarked. If calling him had been a cynical publicity stunt on the part of KG, it had worked, for the Græntfjaller media was ablaze with headlines about his astonishing arrival and how his rivalry with Þórhallursson might translate into success or disaster on the field – and off it. A tournament of relatively minor repute was suddenly crowding Græntfjaller Olympic gold medals off the front pages. Cameras popped and questions where shouted as a tall, slim blonde man in sunglasses emerged from the mini charter jet. He waited at the door, and another figure emerged beside him. The Multinesian sun caught her flowing blonde locks as Petter helped her down the stairs. Ever the gentleman. for the woman was wearing high heels.

“What were you saying?”

“I was saying, um… we’ll be – it’ll be fine. It’s cool. Who’s that with him?”

“KG told me he was bringing a missionary with him, a nun. Sister something or other. Sister Jasmine.”

The woman, apparently adjusting to the warmth of the evening after the air conditioned confines of the plane, shed her long jacket.

“She doesn’t look like a nun.”

“Could that be his actual sister?”

Igrene looked at the woman, and then at Petter. And then at Jason. And then at the puddle of drool forming at his feet.

And, not the first time, wondered why she’d taken this fucking job.

There were just minutes left before the game against Vilitan Union kicked off. Out on the field, the Græntfjallers in the crowd – a mix of ultra-loyal Snow Wolf Pack fans, and tourists seeking a diversion from beaches and five star golf resorts – were hurling boiled sweets onto the pitch in a bizarre little pre-match superstition. Throwing things onto the pitch is common in Græntfjaller football fandom – better boiled sweets than the cabbages flung by fans of Fliserboding (their stadium smells terrible) – and this one began at Baptism of Fire 73. The team fielded by Græntfjall was notably old, with an average over 30 and several players over 35, and it led to charges they were the ‘Gray Wolves’. Fans dressed in old lady outfits with gray wigs and walking canes, and hurled boiled sweets onto the field. But the team kept winning, all the way to the final – and won there, too. The boiled sweets became something of a good luck charm. The other great Græntfjaller pre-match superstition, of howling like wolves, was also much in evidence, the calls echoing around the vast modern stadium, and down into the changing room.

There, in one corner sat a whiteboard covered in arrows, squiggly lines, and various complex mathematical equations, all trying to explain the difference between Vilita, Turori, the Vilitan Union, and where the Cocoa-Bos fit into all this. From the toilets, the sound of blessed silence. No Elektra to hurl her guts out; her replacement, Michelle, sat stoically chewing gum and looking well in control of her stomach. Petter Erlingsson, wearing the Blue-and-~~White~~Gold for the first time, was running a rosary through his fingers. Igrene Cantor was standing respectfully to one side as Theo Nicolajsson counted the pebbles. There was one last pre-match routine to complete: electing the captain. Theo, trusted vote counter, had tallied up the choices. 4 votes for Christian: a nice, safe pick. 9 votes for Jason. Not so nice, definitely not so safe. And 9 votes for… Petter Erlingsson.

Theo sat back on his haunches. As vote counter, he held the deciding 23rd vote. Gunzlach vs Steinaux mattered little to a Kuodorf man, and he had no time for duelling egos. As far as he was concerned, the vote came down to a simple issue: who was best to lead the team today? He looked around the changing room, at the faces young and old, arrayed between the two men seated at either end. He flicked a white pebble into the pile, and stood up. “Petter Erlingsson,” he announced. “Congratulations, Petter.”

At first, all except the Gunzlach supporters clustered around to offer their congratulations to Petter on the unusual achievement of being named captain on his international debut. But when Jason joined in, magnanimously offering a firm handshake and a firmer clap on the shoulder, they took their cue and dutifully filed up to offer their grudging obeisance. An official poked her head through the door and asked the team to assemble. Last minute prayers, real or mocking, were said, and Theo thought he saw a momentary green pallor in Michelle’s features. Perhaps she was fitting into the replacement role after all. The team jogged out through the doors, led by Petter and Christian. Jason dallied last, along with Igrene.

“Thank you, that could have been awkward.”

“No problem, boss.” Jason gave her a playful grin.

“And please don’t fuck his sister.”

The grin fell. “Yeah. Um. OK.” He made for the doors, and the paused, looking back. “Would it be, like, a dealbreaker if something had already happened?”

Exit, pursued by a shoe.

by **Zwangzug** » Wed Aug 25, 2021 5:52 pm

The Kerlagrad Courier

Since there has been a bit of confusion about the process of invitations to the prestigious Eagles' Cup, we thought we would clarify the process by which each of these teams earned their invitation.

Valanora - after winning five World Cups, unlocked the "right to get invited anytime, anywhere," achievement, symbolized by the star on their national flag
Zwangzug - World Assembly ordered the Eagles' Club to take us in to spare any serious tournaments from having our journalism inflicted upon them
Nephara - extracted an invitation from their hated nemeses Brenecia in exchange for not obliterating them
Cassadaigua - demanded they get a chance to create more all-time legends so they can retire all the double-digit uniform numbers and move into the triple digits
Turori - defeated Qusmo in the Singular They Interregional Championships
Graintfjall - qualified as winners of the Frosty Cup. No, not that one, the really old one paying tribute to The Holy Empire after they ceased to exist the first time. This nation is older than they look.
Eshialand - let's call them the Baptism of Fire champions, sure, why not
Banija - built a stadium called the Eagles' Club and just declared themselves worthy members
Nova Anglicana - thought this was the World Baseball Classic after seeing a Puyo-Sachar player, too embarrassed to drop out now
Sargossa - won Copa Rushmori, albeit in a walkover as all the other island nations have evacuated for sea level reasons
Indusse - champions of the last Eagles' Cup, probably, all I know is it wasn't us
Vilitan Union - cocoabos angry about not getting to play for Turori seceded and formed their own "country" which only exists on paper
Kytler Peninsulae - surprisingly upset Farfadillis in the Countries We Have Lots Of Nerdy In-jokes With Interregional Championships
Ko-oren - winners of the regional competition in Anaia, which stands for Atlantian Nonsense Associations In Alliance
Gyatso-Kai - won the most recent World Cup, thanks to flagrant cheating by concussing opponents with ice hockey sticks
Mertagne - their paperwork from applying to Eagles' Cup 5 or 6 only just arrived, interregional mail is slow
------------
Trolleborg - special invitee as champions of the Melayu regional tournament, despite being located in the South Pacific
Aut Ves Nat - champions of every single region at once, they're on a boat and just dock wherever a tournament is.

The more you know!

(Axelrod-Conway 23, Blum 50)
(Palminger 74; Haugen 12, Burkhart 31, Waugh 84)

by **Turori** » Wed Aug 25, 2021 8:07 pm

The Turori National Team's preparation for the XI Eagle's Cup was unlike any tournament they have ever prepared for in the past as, amongst their own players, they had to draft and share players between their own squad and the Vilita and Turori squad entered into the same competition. Only Turorian players who participated in the XIV Olympic Games or the 50th Di Bradini Cup were given the option of selecting to represent Vilita and Turori in the XI Eagle's Cup which simplified the selection process on the Vilita and Turori side and leaving the remainder of the players eligible only to participate with the Turori National Team.

In goal the only player who had a decision to make was Goalkeeper Derizi Amatopa. The Turorian youngster participated in all three major qualifying tournaments taking championships in World Cup 88, the Olympic Games and the Under-21 World Cup. Looking to establish themselves as the new permanent #1 goalkeeper for the Turori National Team, however, Amatopa chose to represent Turori along with Cedniavella's veteran netminder Wiyauw An'maude and Timaala Hualtia of Inland Peaks FC.

This process continued throughout the full Turori Roster until both Turori and the Vilitan Union including Vilita and Turori had their players selected and ready for Eagle's Cup Competition. With a number of returning Veterans including defenders Mikki Mayelli and Yitizo Mpala'a who had announced their retirement from the National Team following the World Cup 88 Final.

Turori's choice of players was validated in the opening Group Stage Matchup at the Eagle's Club Pitch #1 in Eelandii where the crowd was stretched thin in support of a high scoring fixture that would eventually see the home side prevail 2-0 over the... other home side.

With the win, Turori set forth to race some more traditional opinion including Graintfjall and Eshialand before the group stage concluded. Former Baptism of Fire championship Grintfjall took full advantage of the Eels with a 4-2 victory on Matchday 2.

 Turori [2] - [0] Vilitan Union
				
	GOALS:	Turori 	:: 16' Meldi'ita Mungwaii:: 91' Kentu Umaka'a             		
	STATS:	Turori 	:: Possession: 59%:: Shots: 5:: Corners: 4	Vilitan Union 	:: Possession: 41%:: Shots: 2:: Corners: 1
	Lineup:	[GK] Derizi Amatopa, [D.] Amakli Inuro'o, [D.] Yitizo Mpala'a, [D.] Planio’o Nrujsa, [ML]  Naraiza Ruaplal, [MC]  Lati'ala Giaoka, [MC] Kentu Umaka'a, [MR]  Kiidallen Aeroluzzi, [FC]  Kala'a Yuliizala, [FC] Meldi'ita Mungwaii, [FC] Turakia Diijelhma			
	Bench:	[FC] Mirana Gotuai, [FC] Nua'oma Aikiki, [M] Daliora Toru'u, [M] Cuoabaza Orani’aoa, [U ] Retiso Buran, [D] Karek Edgeli, [GK] Timaala Hualtia

 Turori [2] - [4] Graintfjall
				
	GOALS:	Turori 	:: 1' Daliora Toru'u:: 46' Kiidallen Aeroluzzi             		
	STATS:	Turori 	:: Possession: 46%:: Shots: 4:: Corners: 6	Graintfjall 	:: Possession: 54%:: Shots: 9:: Corners: 9
	Lineup:	[GK] Derizi Amatopa, [D.] Amakli Inuro'o, [D.] Mikki Mayelli, [D.] Biliki Rona'atu'i, [ML]  Kentu Umaka'a, [MC]  Daliora Toru'u, [MC] Lati'ala Giaoka, [MC]  Kiidallen Aeroluzzi, [MR]  Cuoabaza Orani’aoa, [FC] Meldi'ita Mungwaii, [FC] Turakia Diijelhma			
	Bench:	[FC] Nua'oma Aikiki, [FC] Kala'a Yuliizala, [M] Tulaki Rauogba, [M] Naraiza Ruaplal, [U ] Loala Inkabu, [D] Lulu Pumaziiri, [GK] Timaala Hualtia

by **Eagles Club** » Wed Aug 25, 2021 11:20 pm

^{MATCHDAY 3}

Cocoa-bo Challenge Trophy
Eagles Club Group
Zwangzug [2] Cassadaigua [3]
Nephara [2] Valanora [2]
Eagles Select Group
Ko-oren [1] Mertagne [2]
Gyatso-kai [3] Kytler Peninsulae [1]

Cup of Champions
Champions Group
Graintfjall [2] Vilitan Union [2]
Eshialand [3] Turori [4]
Confederations Group
Nova Anglicana [1] Indusse [2]
Sargossa [0] Banija [2]

^{MATCHDAY 4}

Cocoa-bo Challenge Trophy
Eagles Club Group
Cassadaigua [3] Valanora [3]
Nephara [1] Zwangzug [1]
Eagles Select Group
Mertagne [1] Kytler Peninsulae [2]
Gyatso-kai [1] Ko-oren [3]

Cup of Champions
Champions Group
Vilitan Union [0] Turori [0]
Eshialand [3] Graintfjall [4]
Confederations Group
Indusse [2] Banija [1]
Sargossa [3] Nova Anglicana [3]

Cocoa-bo Challenge Trophy at the Eagle's Club

----Eagles Club Group     P  W  D  L GF-GA     GD  Pts
[1] Nephara               4  1  3  0  8-6    +2   6
[2] Zwangzug              4  1  2  1  8-7    +1   5
 3- Valanora              4  1  2  1  9-9    +0   5
 4- Cassadaigua           4  1  1  2  8-11   -3   4

----Eagles Select Group   P  W  D  L GF-GA     GD  Pts
[1] Mertagne              4  2  1  1  5-3    +2   7
[2] Gyatso-kai            4  2  1  1  6-5    +1   7
 3- Ko-oren               4  2  0  2  9-5    +4   6
 4- Kytler Peninsulae     4  1  0  3  3-10   -7   3

Cup of Champions at the Eagle's Club

----Champions Group       P  W  D  L GF-GA     GD  Pts
[1] Graintfjall           4  3  1  0 13-9    +4   10
[2] Turori                4  2  1  1  8-7    +1   7
 3- Vilitan Union         4  0  3  1  3-5    -2   3
 4- Eshialand             4  0  1  3  9-12   -3   1

----Confederations Group  P  W  D  L GF-GA     GD  Pts
[1] Banija                4  3  0  1  7-4    +3   9
[2] Indusse               4  2  1  1  8-7    +1   7
 3- Sargossa              4  1  2  1  9-8    +1   5
 4- Nova Anglicana        4  0  1  3  5-10   -5   1

:: MD3&4 Scores will follow between 42-48 Hours from this post!

Roleplay Challenges ::
Roleplay Challenges will be offered to help inspire contributions that will be both Fun, Informative to your opposition and historically relevant for future usage in your nations World Building or factbooks! Feel Free to go back and complete the earlier Challenge(s) if you missed them!

MD 5: IF NOT US, THEM :: The fans come out in force with your nations kit and waving your flag. But you can't win them all. MD5 could be a deliver or go-home kind of match day... and what if your nation is on the losing end? Which opposing team would your fans throw their support behind for the remainder of the competition? What foreign National Team has the most support among your citizens and why? What happens when your nation plays that team head to head? Graphic Bonus: Any sports memorabilia from your nation that shows split support between two or more teams - either national or domestic

Eagle's Club "Newcomers Match" - Leg 1 presented by twii.tur

Location: Eagle's Club, Eelandii, Turori

Trolleborg [1] Aut Ves Nat [1]

Leg 2

Location: Eagle's Club, Dodoma, Banija

by **Mertagne** » Thu Aug 26, 2021 3:20 am

As I was going to Strillinger,
I met in passing a group of nine villagers,
Each villager had nine bags,
Each bag had nine flags,
Each flag had nine stars:
Of star, bag, flag, and villager,
How many of each were going off to Strillinger? -- Old Mertagnian Rhyme

"So, Tyrrel, how do you reckon you've settled in?"
A busy airport departure gate was beeping and chattering as Tyrell Gulliver sat next to Phil Dornell. The flight they were chartered on wasn't the one currently being called to the gate, it was the next one, and so the two had some time to kill before they had to make a move for the long journey over to Gyatso-kai. A journey that was markedly longer than it had been in the past. Used to be that you could just fly over with a quick change at Cathair - now Cathair was closer to Mertagne than ever before, and the stop-over was in Vilita. Tell that to a person from several years ago, you'd be called mad. It's just the way of an ever changing world.
"It's a process, Phil, as I'm sure you'll. Much more in-depth than being an assistant, and much more weight than managing a domestic side." Gulliver placed his feet on his suitcase, rocking his legs from side to side with the wheels. His neck pillow made him look like some kind of pufferfish, and he pulled his sunglasses down to look at his older boss-come-assistant properly.
"You ever think you'd be here?" Gulliver asked.
"Not at all. I... Yeah. The Insulation was tough, as you'd know better than me. You were only a nipper when it started, so I guess you weren't really aware of anything different though, right?"
"Well, I had the stories from my family. Did you ever meet Granddad?"
Phil smiled. "I did, actually. I was very young, but he came to a training once. I was amazed. We joked about how we had the same first name. Of course, this was all before I left for Audioslavia."
Tyrrel looked over to Phil with a question. "What was it like over in Audioslavia? You basically missed, well, everything. Of course, from a certain point of view, I did."
Dornell looked sullen. "Aye, that's true. Nasty time to be in Mertagne I'm sure. I mean, you lot weren't dying en masse, but you weren't exactly living, either. Government collapse is a terrible thing. If that happened in Audioslavia, it'd be strange - you'd really notice, but in the day-to-day, you also really wouldn't. They have a way of doing things over there that obfuscates the effect that the government is having. They like to hide. Not like Mertagne, where the government - old and new, I should add - is constantly vying for your attention."
The two paused as they saw holiday makers shuttle themselves into a tunnel, bound for Banija.
"Not to say it was a hard ride in Audioslavia. I had many good years there, met the partner, had the family, the works. I try not to feel guilty about leaving Mertagne. I didn't know what was going to happen, you know?"
Tyrrel lowered a brow in sympathy. "Of course not. And like you said, people weren't dying en-masse in the Insulation - we just weren't exactly living. Barely any imports. Corporate interests vying for power in the vacuum the government left behind."
"Where did you live during it all?"
"Oh, I was lucky enough. Lived in Keers. Big industry - fish 'n' ships, that sort of thing. Easy to get a job, get company benefits to replace the ones the government would have provided. I think Docker's Union owned half of Plitterland by the time the Insulation was over."
"Here's something that's always interested me - how is the government supposed to be so divorced from these corporations?" Phil asked.
"Well, two points on that. They're not, and there was also a bit of conflict to seize some of the property back to the public domain. It's important to remember the Insulation didn't end overnight - it had been ending in slow-motion for about 10 years."
"The things you miss when you're in Hasiera with a cocktail in your hand, I suppose." remarked Dornell, checking his watch. "But anyway, to the present and to the future. Rest of the team should be here soon. What's your genuine opinion on our current run?"
"It's been solid. I'm a bit sad we've not definitely qualified by now, like Græntfjall, but we had to drop a game at some point, and the Kytlerians definitely had us sussed out this time around. We beat them away at an actual Olympic stadium, and they beat us at home at our own 'Olympic' stadium*. It's just how it goes, isn't it?"
"I suppose. I know we were all excited about the win over Ko-oren. Not every day you get past that wall not once, but twice. The kind of victory that cements our place in the region, that." said Phil, as he stood up and squinted at the departure board, which had just flashed into life once again, informing the two of their short wait for a flight to Gyatso-kai.
"That was a good game. Ko-oren had their pants down there. Lucky for them to host us in Mawrystwyth - I think only the most hardcore fans would have trekked out there to see it."
"Reckon you'll throw yourself behind them if we don't go all the way?" asked Phil.
"No. No offence to the Ko-orenites, I respect them, but they don't play football right, to me. A stack at the back is not how you attack."
"Who will you support, then? Not the boat, surely?"
Gulliver laughed. "I'm all behind the boat, actually. Hope they win their next leg. But no, if it's not us, it's got to be Nephara. I want to see more from them, if only to make our actual meeting even sweeter. Be that in this Eagle's Cup, the next, or a far-flung tournament someday."
"Lofty aspirations, Tyrrel." said Phil. "I'm not going to lie, I continue to appreciate your style. Romanage was right to swap us around."
"I'm to understand you had a part in that, so don't sell yourself too short." Tyrell replied.
"You'd think that, but I think it's more your merit than you give yourself credit for. You focus too much on everything else, sometimes. It's like that rhyme about that person going to Strillinger. You focus so much on counting the flags, bags, and stars, that you forget that the narrator is the only one who's going."
In the time that the two had been talking, the gate had slowly filled up with all sorts of people. A few, wearing Mertagnian football shirts, but most simply tourists from Vilita to Gyatso-kai. Tyrell sat with his thoughts for a while, thinking about what Dornell had said. Perhaps he was right. Am I doubting my own abilities too much? And if I'm doing that to myself, is there a possibility I'm doubting the abilities of the team?
Could we go all the way here?

*The Neorudo 'Cop Limy' stadium is called as such because, upon Mertagnian colonialists finding the stadium in the abandoned city state of Leorudo, they discovered its original name of the 'Leorudo Olympic Stadium' had been defaced, the letters rearranged. Leorudo, of course, have never hosted an Olympic Games, and so it's safe to assume this infrastructure was built for a bid that failed to materialise.

by **Nephara** » Fri Aug 27, 2021 3:13 am

Nephara 2 - 2 Valanora
(4-4-2) 1 - Olexander; 2 - Rostock (18 - Fischer 61'), 22 - Clemence, 6 - Bruhn, 3 - Seselja; 13 - Belgrade, 4 - Miller (15 - Belltower 71'), 16 - Brand, 11 - Reader; 23 - Mrdja, 10 - Murin (17 - Harper 67')
Goals: Reader 17', Mrdja 51'

Nephara 1 - 1 Zwangzug
(4-4-2 -> 4-3-3) 12 - Arrowsmith; 2 - Rostock, 5 - Warden, 6 - Bruhn, 19 - Islinger (3 - Seselja 76'); 7 - Sauthier (8 - E Fletcher 71'), 4 - Miller (15 - Belltower 84'), 16 - Brand, 13 - Belgrade; 23 - Mrdja, 10 - Murin
Goal: Belgrade 26'

THE HERALD
GUIDE TO 'NEPHARA'S SECOND TEAM'
Brunnya Hornek Football Correspondent

It is a regrettable fact of football that even the best team - specifically, Nephara - must sometimes lose matches.

It hasn't happened yet in this liminal Eagles Cup, but it's come damn close, as the latest home fortnight has seen two competent but slightly disjointed draws against strong opposition; Valanora seized control over the last 20 minutes to strike twice and level the scores, and there could have been a third, while Zwangzug forced Tanith Arrowsmith to make a couple of very sharp saves on her international debut. So with defeat on the mind, if not yet relevant - the Cormorants yet remain on top of a tightly-poised group of death - here's a brief guide to the priority list of who Nepharim follow if not, well, themselves.

5. Audioslavia
When Nephara shot to relevance, the immediate comparison was of a bastard offshoot of Audioslavia and the Polar Islandstates, powerhouses at the time of Nephara's entry. Doughty, disciplined bruisers like the Valhallans, with an Audioslavian approach to winning at all costs, no matter how brutal. Nephara's appearance at the Baptism of Fire was in Kirola kits made in Audioslavia, and the two nations even share an affinity for Terracotta. and green, one which is the sole reason Nephara need a third kit.

4. Sargossa / Savojarna
Sargossa and Savojarna share Nephara's affinity for the sea, but more importantly, the two have seriously damaged Nephara's silverware aspirations over the years. It therefore suits Nepharan fans to support the two sides when they themselves are knocked out, given how often their being knocked out is at the hands of one of these. The side knocked out in the Ro16 to the eventual champion is, after all, as good as runner-up. Right?

Nephara have of course played against other S---a teams over the years. Notably, Sameba, though they don't qualify; for one, Nephara have won two and drawn one of the three matches they've played, and for another, there isn't going to be a fourth match, because Nephara was complicit in the destruction of Sameba as a political entity, which could arguably qualify as a third win. Sarzonia have of late made a credible attempt to join the list, taking four points from two games they've hosted (though beaten comfortably in Nephara both times), but in order to qualify as a rivalry both nations are generally encouraged to be able to place the other on a map.

3. Osarius
Not many nations have consistently got one over Nephara, but Osarius have to be at the top of the list. They've played precisely once in the WC itself. Osarius won 4-0. This was an improvement over the previous time the two played each other, in a Confederations Cup. Osarius scored nine in that one. Around that era, the two nations were tightly linked to each other, with most Cormorants seeming to play in Osarius and most Firebirds seeming to play in Nephara, not least Roque Acosta, considered by most to be the Premiership's first genuine world-class player.

2. Eura
Despite recent national tensions relating to what may in an uncharitable light be considered war crimes, Nepharim and Eurans tend to get along well, which is handy for Nepharim given they're outnumbered literally thirty-to-one. The two states anchor Endemia either side of the Terranean Isles, both spell colour with a U, and share a joint national hobby in trying to remind Electrumites of the events of World Cup 78.

1. Whoever's Playing Brenecia
Well, naturally. Someone's got to keep the filthy little swampers in their place.

by **Indusse** » Fri Aug 27, 2021 3:22 am

Indusse
"The Queen of the Oceans"

Last Year's National Postcard featuring the Central Hills.

About
The Holy Patriarchal Union of Indusse is a gargantuan, environmentally stunning nation, ruled by Baskar H Kumar who is regarded as the father of modern Indusse. Baskar H Kumar is the second president of Indusse (Second Term, only president) who is also the captain of the Indussean National Team. Indusse is a Semi-Peninsular country with the sea on the west and south and land on the north. The Nation is a Democracy ruled by the president with a cabinet consisting of the Prime Minister and the rest. The Prime Minister also handles the role of Vice President. The Nation is classified as an Inoffensive Centrist Democracy, which is a classification of the government where the people moderate themselves with an equal ratio of economy, political freedom and civil rights. They are also a centre aligned type of government. The Patriarchal Union consists of the nations of Tamil Nayaks and Indusse but is a commonly used word for Indusse. The Patriarchal Union is neighboured by the Arabian Sea in the West (The nearest Country in the west is Marvellian Maldive Territories 505 kilometres from the coast). The East is neighboured by Tamil Nayaks, a fellow part of the Patriarchal Union and beyond is the Bay of Bengal. The South is neighboured by the Laccadive Sea-Indian Ocean and The People's Socialist Republic of Neo Kerala which is 25 kilometres down the coast. The North is Landlocked and is neighboured by three nations. The Northwest is sharing borders with The West Indian Republic of Madhyarashtra, The North with Ram Rajyan Hyderabad and the Northeast with The People's Confederacy of Vajji.

Top Two Environmentally Stunning Places to Visit
Indusse is an environmentally stunning nation, The enormous, government juggles the competing demands of Education, Defense, and Industry. There are a lot of places that can be visited in Indusse. The below is the list of a few destinations. These include educational, leisure and religious places.

The Central Hills: The Central hills located 92 kilometres from the capital is home to a lot of hill stations and royal suite resorts. The region is environmentally stunning with endangered animals,waterfalls and various natural wonders.
The Inland Backwaters: The Inland Backwaters is home to different species of birds and fishes and also hosts a wonderful transportation facility through the water. It also works as the national waterways and transportation of container goods.

by **Eshialand** » Fri Aug 27, 2021 10:32 am

It's All Over?
Eshialand 3-4 Turori
Eshialand 3-4 Græntfjall

Sometimes, defeat can be easy to take. Sometimes, however, it can be the hardest thing in the universe.

Just ask this Owls team about the spectrum of losing, and they'll tell you all about it. They expected to lose in the Eagle's Cup, sure, but they never expected it to be this bad. 1 point out of 4 matches. That's even worse than that bloody IAC that nobody wants to mention ever again.

But, some good things came out of these matches, right? After all, they were tied with the reigning World Cup Champions until stoppage time! That has to count for something, right? And the Græntfjall match was also absurdly close, even if it wasn't the ideal outcome for the Owls.

Now, however, qualification is next to impossible. They'd have to beat both the Vilitan Union and Turori and hope that Turori lose to Græntfjall in order to move on. There was no way in the world they could do that, right?

Well, Coach held out a bit of hope. He knew in his heart that there was still a fraction of a chance that the Owls could make this happen. A fraction of a chance... but still something resembling a chance. It wasn't like the team wanted to believe it, however. They were fully ready to throw in the towel and put their support behind the Græntfjaller side, but not him. He knew that something could still be done. If he could just light a fire under his squad to keep them going through their final two matches, then maybe there could be a real chance for them to advance...

But for now, that wasn't on the team's mind. After all, they were in the middle of a three-match homestand, which meant that they got to catch up with family, friends, and other assorted loved ones. Losing doesn't really matter when you're with the ones you love, now does it?

Eshialand - 3 (Carroll 19'; Harran 56'; Longfield 78')
Turori - 4 (Mungwaii 32', 90+2'; Toru'u 43'; Aikiki 76')

Eshialand - 3 (Carroll 42', 65'; Carey 84')
Græntfjall - 4 (Raphaelsson 22'; Þorhallursson 38', 64' (pen.); Rögnvaldursson 81')

by **Valanora** » Fri Aug 27, 2021 12:00 pm

For many, the idea of sport is a faux war that can be traced back to the tribalism from which most civilizations emerged from to form the nation's they are today. Rather than actual war where needless bloodshed would occur, sport became that form in which proxy battles could be waged, with all the pride and boastfullness that comes with success in those. It is a more civilized form of pride disputes and shows of honor than combat and duels, allowing that little itch behind the surface that stays with use despite our ascent out of tribalism to get the scratch it so desperately desires. However sport in the Eternal Emlire developed a completely different way and thusly is not seen in the same vein in Vanorian eyes as it is in the rest of the world. This different development also subtly changes how citizens of the Empire interact with sport and the various teams they will come to support.

Sport in the Eternal Empire developed as a team building experience, where it was through cooperation and togetherness that success could be found. This one of the reasons that outside a handful of traditional hobby sports, like fencing and archery, most Vanorians tend to prefer team sports to that of individual athlete competitions. The last decade or so has seen some rise in popularity of the more individual based sport or awards, but team sports and accolades are still by far the most dominant in appreciation in the Eternal Empire. The strive for success through teamwork and that through cooperation that all things are possible continues to be the lasting sentiment for Vanorian athletes. It is what inspires them to push themselves harder to get better, so that the team and not themselves are able to benefit. This is personified in an acute sense in the captain of the national football team, Laborious Hawk.

When it comes to finding other national teams to throw their support behind if the various national teams falter, it is an interesting process. Nominally, location is a big factor, with those nations that are nearest to the Empire borders the most likely to get support. There is also the style in which a team conducts itself and how it plays the game. Vanorians are know for liking very clean and honest teams who do not resort to trickery or goon tactics or the so called gamesmanship to get advantages. However they also like entertaining play with an offensive tilt, as the entire sporting culture of Vanorians has been built to be on the front foot. Lastly, if the nation's get along well with the Empire or not. As not many want to support teams whose nation's are perceived as possible enemies.

In this vein, when it comes to the Eagle's Cup, shiuld the Marauders not be able to overcome the poor position that they have found themselves in, they are likely to throw their support behind Banija. While culturally and politically on different ends of the spectrum, there is a long standing sense of friendship between the Empire and our neighbors to the north. Thousands of Banijans have come to live in the Empire, with many more choosing to study or work in the Empire for a time before returning back to Banija. On the field, Banija athletes seem to have that same drive and determination for success as Vanorians, making them easy to get behind. However the Marauders will always be first choice, as evidenced by even some Banija immigrants rooting for the Marauders when the two Atlantian Oceania teams have to play one another

by **Trolleborg** » Fri Aug 27, 2021 4:36 pm

Greetings, compatriots!
It’s TTV with a fresh news about our national football team. Our team, as you all know, is now playing in the rather mysterious Eagle Cup tournament, which is stood apart from many others for the incomprehensibility of the rules and intricacy of tournament formula. Our team had a two-match duel with Aus-Ves-Nat, but that both games would be played on a neutral field became known at the last moment - as, indeed, about everything at this tournament. Our team had to urgently pack their things and get to the place of the first game, and go out on the field without really having a rest and passed acclimatization.

But it should be noted that the Morten Troghil squad played at a quite decent level. The head coach took this occassion to see how the players called up for the last year would look on the pitch. And in general, it is necessary to summarize, the newcomers did not spoil the game, although not everything turned out as well as it could with the players who have 3-4-5 seasons of international football behind them. And we must remember while complaining about the not quite optimal line-up, that victories in tournaments are only one of the team's tasks, and the second is to ensure continuity in the line-up, ideally providing team with twenty players of a good class. In our opinion, in the duel with AVN, the team did what was must lead to victory, but (notwithstanding refereeing) there was simply not enough class and experience. In the first half, our lads opened the score - after a tricky corner kick, Gulbranden outplayed the disoriented defenders and make an excellent header of sort you always expect from him

There were other moments that would have made it possible to consolidate and build on the first half success. The ball hit the goal post soon after goal. Then the opponent's goalkeeper miraculously reached out and parry the shot in the upper corner when everyone in the stadium had already seen the ball in the net. Ten minutes before the end of the game, Berglund could remove all questions, the goalkeeper was closed by the players and did not even have time to twitch - but the ball passed the gate literally by ten centimeters.

And shortly before the end of the game there was an episode that, no doubt, should be attributed to mistakes in the selection of judges by the hosts of the tournament. The opponent's player move into the penalty area and made a pass, after which he collided with our defender and fell.

The judge considered this a reason to point at the spot, and then turned a blind eye to the peculiarities of the penalty kick execution. Our players tried to challenge his decisions on both count, but he decline to rethink anything and eventually showed two yellow cards to our players.

It is worth noting that our goalkeeper at this moment was let down by a lack of experience in international battles - if he had shown more composure, he would have had much more chances to repulse the shot. But he would not need to show it, if not for this controversial and unfair decision by referee.

The match ended 1:1. And, from our point of view, which is probably shared by a considerable part of the football community, such a result is a consequence of misjudgement on part of hosts.

by **Zwangzug** » Fri Aug 27, 2021 6:26 pm

"...up to Burkhart, she'll take it herself and--neatly denied by the keeper! Tanith will play it harmlessly back to Rostock and the Cormorants comfortably in possession once again."

"Aye, not a bad choice from Jaclyn to try to get something going, but the rookie Arrowsmith has made a strong start. With the exception of Ginoud-Sachs' rebound towards the end of the first half, which tied the game at one apiece."

"Mhm. Blum approaches but Bruhn will leave him no space--Bruhn of course familiar with our Vanorian opposition from playing in Soldarian FC."

"Arrowsmith a recent transfer to the Chenoworth Harriers--they're a popular club in the Kytler Peninsulae, I believe--"

"No they're not, Benjamin."

"--having come by way of Sabrefell Athletic, where she, uh. I don't know. Fletches, probably."

"Fletches?"

"She's an arrow smith. So she...smiths arrows. I think."

"Thanks, Benjamin. Uh, Miller and Sokhi battling for possession--"

"Nephara of course a nation with a proud tradition of Fletchers; Exene warming up on the touchline, number eight might come in later this half."

"..."

"Not to be confused with Gideon Fletcher, a long-tenured player for AFC Treason who's now the manager of second-division Mantlegrove."

"The Nepharim second division is of course the third tier of their pyramid, they're one of those zero-indexing nations."

"I knew that, Morton."

"Right, but we're here to remind the fans, some of whom are not up on their ordinal number systems."

"Okay, okay. You know, Rowena Strongbow is the Cormorants' second-most capped player of all time...?"

"Yes, but she's long retired."

"I'm just saying, someone needs to make all those arrows. For the bow."

"I'll just interrupt you there, Benjamin, because it looks like we have some updates from the World Baseball Classic; in their third game against Raspotochje, Zwangzug won 3-1 in the eleventh inning, with Nancy Puyo-Sachar's husband Griffith pushing in the winning run, and pinch hitter Kajsa Boole singling him in to add on. Always like a player who can get a lot of RBIs."

"RBIs are a meaningless statistic."

"Meaningless?! I bet you'd love a player who can get a lot of RBIs! You wouldn't say no to one, would you?"

"Well, I probably would, because this is a baseball broadcast."

"Lots of people like to talk about how RBIs aren't important, but when push comes to shove, at the end of the day, you want a guy who can push in runs."

"But that's entirely situational, it depends on having runners on base to begin with. If you're measuring a statistic other than the final score, you're probably doing so to try to quantify individual player value. In which case, you want something that measures that player's skill, not the opportunities their teammates present them with."

"I guess..."

"I mean, football is a much more continuous game, if you want to evaluate defenders you probably have to be more holistic or subjective, it's the whole Scallop's law thing."

"Well, Arrowsmith has made like six saves, that's a stat."

"And that's the discontinuity corollary--yesss, Fletcher's coming on! Seventy-one minutes elapsed and we'll see if DiMarini wants to make a switch."

"Richardson coming on for Sokhi, it looks like. Hope to see more stability and consistency from him, he's been an erratic one."

"Well, I hope we see Sonya Belltower here in these last twenty minutes."

"Another product of Sabrefell Athletic, she might be able to link up well with Tanith at the back..."

"Yeah, and I like bell towers. Especially the carillon ones."

(Cassadaigua game: Blum 40, Gannett 63; McClain 17, Rosenblatt 52, Frontiera 76)

by **Graintfjall** » Fri Aug 27, 2021 8:30 pm

Græntfjall – 2 (1)
Einvarðursson; Matteosdóttir, Thorleifsson, Persson, Bjarnfinnursdóttir (80’ Arnosson ); Nicosdóttir, Álvgeirsdóttir (63’), Rögnvaldursson, Ørjansdóttir (57’ Raphaelsson ); Erlingsson, Þórhallursson (55’) (60’ Auðunsdóttir (90+4’))

Vilitan Union – 2 (2)
Torerun (10’), Kuhilana (31’), Riiyaaw (40’ o.g.)

Eshialand – 3 (1)
Carroll (42’, 65’), Carey (84’)

Græntfjall – 4 (2)
Einvarðursson (90+2’); Matteosdóttir, Nicolajsson, Persson (43’), Arnosson; Nicosdóttir (90’ Þorfinnsson ), Vatnarsdóttir, Clemensson (69’) (71’ Rögnvaldursson (81’)), Raphaelsson (22’); Erlingsson, Þórhallursson (38’, 64’ pen.) (72’ Auðunsdóttir )

After 94 minutes of testosterone flying everywhere, the Erlingsson–Þórhallursson heavyweight bout was decided in favor of… Lara Auðunsdóttir, the sneaky featherweight punching stealing a late equalizer. Lea-Sophie Ørjansdóttir picked up an injury that provoked questions about the wisdom of throwing a teenager into this level of competition; it did mean a return to the starting XI for Matthias Raphaelsson, who proceeded to score an astonishing screamer against Eshialand and briefly revived hopes that he could resurrect his international career, then set about firmly disabusing everyone and their spaniel of that notion for the remainder of the game. Petter Erlingsson’s wonder debut did not produce a wonder goal, for all the flurry of interest back home, but there were signs he was fitting into the team well: in the second match, he won a penalty only to turn over duties from the spot to Þórhallursson, who duly smashed it in. To the goal, just to be clear.

Johanna Álvgeirsdóttir’s two niggly yellow cards for ticky-tacky silliness meant she sat out the return leg against Eshialand and a valuable opportunity to prove herself, though in her place young Sara Vatnarsdóttir and Steinar Clemensson did not embarrass themselves. The latter made way for Reidar Rögnvaldursson only to add some defensive muscle after Carroll streaked straight down the pitch and scored virtually untouched in reply to the penalty, but ended up netting his first career NT goal (with his head, of course) from a corner. Eir Bjarnfinnursdóttir sat out as an injury precaution after limping off against Vilitan Union but, unlike Lea-Sophie, has been cleared to return to training now. Christian Einvarðursson appears the man in possession of the #1 jersey despite conceding goals almost faster than his forwards can score them and getting booked for calling the referee a twat.

With qualification sewn up there’s still plenty to play for, namely, places in the World Cup and other future squads. Lara has looked ace and surely must make the WC squad; Johanna’s starting credentials are now beyond doubt. Less certain is the defense. One goal aside, Michelle has not done anything to displace Elektra, and none of the various center backs tried out look fit to enter the next starting XI, leaving them to fight for scraps on a very crowded bench. Reidar’s efforts to prove himself a midfielder have not been too convincing either, though no one can fault his effort. Or the power of his immense forehead. It may well be there is a world class center back in this lineup – being played in the midfield.

by **Turori** » Fri Aug 27, 2021 10:52 pm

Eels Park, Eelandii, Turori :: The Turori National Team secured a crucial victory over Baptism of Fire Champions Eshialand on Matchday 3 of group play in the Cup of Champions to keep themselves inside the Top 2 and with the upper hand over the Vilitan Union ahead of their second clash of the competition on Matchday 4. Veteran attacker Meldi'ita Mungwaii continued their strong Eagle's Cup showing with a pair of goals including the stoppage time winner after being fed through by Lati'ala Giaoka and breaking the hearts of the Owls Fans who hoped to claim another high profile draw with the World Cup Champions.

From there, the Turori National Team would return home to Eels Park in Eelandii for the Away match against some of their teammates on the Vilita & Turori squad. Naturally the crowd in attendance was pro Turori which to some extent would see them cheering for quality performances on both sides of the ball. Before the match fans entering both sides of the stadium were asked whether they were supporting Turori or the Vilitan Union in the match - and whether they would go on to support the other team during the remainder Eagle's Cup if it were them and not their preferred team that won the game and advanced on to the Cup of Champions Semi-Finals.

81% of respondents indicated that yes, if their preferred team were defeated and the other team advanced instead that they would shift their loyalty to the other team including 85% of fans who indicated they were rooting for the Turori National Team who, if Turori were eliminated, would switch their allegiance to Vilita and Turori, and a slightly smaller percentage of Vilitan Union supporters who indicated they would do the opposite.

The match itself ended in a goalless draw. While the two teams were comfortable on their own side of the ball, the heavy Turorian presence on both sides shined through and for Turori it was a shutout from the veteran Wiyauw An'maude that allowed the status quo to be maintained in the overall standings. While Graintfjall secured their spot in the Cup of Champions Semi-Finals with their own 4-3 victory over Eshialand, the Turori National Team were now crucially just one victory away from guaranteed advancement with two games to play in the Group Stage.

 Turori [4] - [3] Eshialand
				
	GOALS:	Turori 	:: 32' Meldi'ita Mungwaii:: 43' Daliora Toru'u:: 76' Nua'oma Aikiki:: 90' Meldi'ita Mungwaii           		
	STATS:	Turori 	:: Possession: 56%:: Shots: 12:: Corners: 9	Eshialand 	:: Possession: 44%:: Shots: 7:: Corners: 10
	Lineup:	[GK] Timaala Hualtia, [D.] Lulu Pumaziiri, [D.] Biliki Rona'atu'i, [D.] Amakli Inuro'o, [ML]  Cuoabaza Orani’aoa, [MC]  Kentu Umaka'a, [MC] Daliora Toru'u, [MR]  Lati'ala Giaoka, [FC]  Loala Inkabu, [FC] Nua'oma Aikiki, [FC] Meldi'ita Mungwaii			
	Bench:	[FC] Turakia Diijelhma, [FC] Lutara Makakio, [M] Tulaki Rauogba, [M] Kiidallen Aeroluzzi, [U ] Naraiza Ruaplal, [D] Planio’o Nrujsa, [GK] Wiyauw An'maude

 Turori [0] - [0] Vilitan Union
				
	GOALS:	Turori 	               		
	STATS:	Turori 	:: Possession: 51%:: Shots: 3:: Corners: 6	Vilitan Union 	:: Possession: 49%:: Shots: 4:: Corners: 7
	Lineup:	[GK] Wiyauw An'maude, [D.] Amakli Inuro'o, [D.] Lulu Pumaziiri, [D.] Biliki Rona'atu'i, [ML]  Daliora Toru'u, [MC]  Lati'ala Giaoka, [MC] Kentu Umaka'a, [MR]  Cuoabaza Orani’aoa, [FC]  Turakia Diijelhma, [FC] Nua'oma Aikiki, [FC] Meldi'ita Mungwaii			
	Bench:	[FC] Kala'a Yuliizala, [FC] Mirana Gotuai, [M] Kiidallen Aeroluzzi, [M] Tulaki Rauogba, [U ] Lutara Makakio, [D] Yitizo Mpala'a, [GK] Derizi Amatopa

by **Vilita and Turori** » Fri Aug 27, 2021 11:24 pm

 Vilita and Turori [2] - [2] Graintfjall 
				
	GOALS:	Vilita and Turori 	:: 10' Polaox Torerun:: 31' Intikko Kuhilana             		
	STATS:	Vilita and Turori 	:: Possession: 48%:: Shots: 6:: Corners: 6	Graintfjall  	:: Possession: 52%:: Shots: 3:: Corners: 6
	Lineup:	[GK] Striitca Virahat, [D.] Lohani Riiyaaw, [D.] Injyua Klizlo, [D.] Inbekira Ajhabekk, [ML]  Trezisi Rokopolis, [MC]  Lentali Purama, [MC] Polaox Torerun, [MC]  Khrusan Mlianko, [MR]  Intikko Kuhilana, [FC] Nii'arala Milaaso, [FC] Sipke Tarala			
	Bench:	[FC] Berali Tzufarei, [FC] Tyoasi Klipark, [M] Limu Katarakhna, [M] Fyin Miateal, [U ] Imauka Lkomorak, [D] Narri Sebapilo, [GK] Zelkki Milake Jr.

 Vilita and Turori [0] - [0] Turori
				
	GOALS:	Vilita and Turori 	               		
	STATS:	Vilita and Turori 	:: Possession: 49%:: Shots: 4:: Corners: 7	Turori 	:: Possession: 51%:: Shots: 3:: Corners: 6
	Lineup:	[GK] Striitca Virahat, [D.] Lohani Riiyaaw, [D.] Kamarela Dzzara, [D.] Rojara Tiones, [ML]  Polaox Torerun, [MC]  Lentali Purama, [MC] Khrusan Mlianko, [MR]  Trezisi Rokopolis, [FC]  Loala Inkabu, [FC] Sipke Tarala, [FC] Nii'arala Milaaso			
	Bench:	[FC] Berali Tzufarei, [FC] Clarana Refiami, [M] Limu Katarakhna, [M] Intikko Kuhilana, [U ] Karisto Monafog, [D] Narri Sebapilo, [GK] Zelkki Milake Jr.

by **Eagles Club** » Fri Aug 27, 2021 11:59 pm

^{MATCHDAY 5}

Cocoa-bo Challenge Trophy
Eagles Club Group
Nephara [2] Cassadaigua [1]
Zwangzug [1] Valanora [1]
Eagles Select Group
Gyatso-kai [3] Mertagne [3]
Ko-oren [2] Kytler Peninsulae [2]

Cup of Champions
Champions Group
Eshialand [1] Vilitan Union [4] ^
Graintfjall [1] Turori [2] ~
Confederations Group
Sargossa [1] Indusse [3]
Nova Anglicana [0] Banija [4]

^ Scorinated by Sylestone
~ Scorinated by Bollonich

Cocoa-bo Challenge Trophy at the Eagle's Club

----Eagles Club Group     P  W  D  L GF-GA     GD  Pts
[1] Nephara               5  2  3  0 10-7    +3   9
[2] Zwangzug              5  1  3  1  9-8    +1   6
 3- Valanora              5  1  3  1 10-10   +0   6
 4- Cassadaigua           5  1  1  3  9-13   -4   4

----Eagles Select Group   P  W  D  L GF-GA     GD  Pts
[1] Mertagne              5  2  2  1  8-6    +2   8
[2] Gyatso-kai            5  2  2  1  9-8    +1   8
 3- Ko-oren               5  2  1  2 11-7    +4   7
 4- Kytler Peninsulae     5  1  1  3  5-12   -7   4

Cup of Champions at the Eagle's Club

----Champions Group       P  W  D  L GF-GA     GD  Pts
[1] Graintfjall           5  3  1  1 14-11   +3   10
[2] Turori                5  3  1  1 10-8    +2   10
 3- Vilitan Union         5  1  3  1  7-6    +1   6
 4- Eshialand             5  0  1  4 10-16   -6   1

----Confederations Group  P  W  D  L GF-GA     GD  Pts
[1] Banija                5  4  0  1 11-4    +7   12
[2] Indusse               5  3  1  1 11-8    +3   10
 3- Sargossa              5  1  2  2 10-11   -1   5
 4- Nova Anglicana        5  0  1  4  5-14   -9   1

:: MD6 Scores will follow between 42-48 Hours from this post!

Roleplay Challenges ::
Roleplay Challenges will be offered to help inspire contributions that will be both Fun, Informative to your opposition and historically relevant for future usage in your nations World Building or factbooks! Feel Free to go back and complete the earlier Challenge(s) if you missed them!

MD 6: PUT ME IN COACH :: It's the last matchday of the Group Stage and some teams may already be planning their flights home. Some are already looking ahead while everyone else needs a result on the final matchday. So who gets to play? and why? Has everyone on the roster had a chance to get into a game so far? Do you rest the starters to make sure everyone plays or is it best lineup, every game. Has a reserve/fringe player from your nation ever made a name themselves and thrust into the starting role with an unexpected performance in a 'throwaway' match?

Eagle's Club "Newcomers Match" - Leg 2 presented by twii.tur

Location: Eagle's Club, Dodoma, Banija

Aut Ves Nat [1] Trolleborg [3]

Final Score (Two-Legs):
Aut Ves Nat [2] Trolleborg [4]

Trolleborg will be invited to play an additional matchup based on the results of the final Group Tables. Teams who are eliminated or might finish outside the Top 2 can express interest in their RP or via TG.

by **Zwangzug** » Sat Aug 28, 2021 9:58 am

The Spenson Star

The relationship between Zwangzug's "starting XI" and their "full roster" can be perhaps expressed as one extreme followed by an overcorrection. In the early days of the national team (cycles 33-36), there were no actual backups--the team had a hard time attracting talent in a country still skeptical towards football, and trained for endurance as a consequence. But after the World Cup 36 run, there was plenty of interest, and it became possible to field a squad of 23.

However, partly out of tradition, substitutes in the "first-generation" team tended to be rarely used, except in cases of injury or illness. Additionally, the slightly off-kilter nature of positional demands made it the case that the starting forwards scored lots of goals and everyone else very few, which led to some of the absurd all-time statistics that are still records. (Mostly. Johan Idmar's career total of 47 outstrips people like Gary Maini, for instance.)

Upon the return of the second- and third-generation teams, responsibilities were more diffuse. This coincided with the "boring" tactic of just using uniform numbers 1-23, with 1-11 the nominal starters; however, modern coaches have put much more of an emphasis on variablity and adaptation, with Makvala Tsereteli (who led the third-generation team on its return in cycles 80/82) probably the most ardent adherent to this approach. The modern teams have, rather sensibly, recognized that our culture is defensive at heart and tend to play with one or occasionally zero strikers rather than the formational curiosities of the old days, but that presents its own set of problems.

Of course, trying to live up to the perceived "standards" of some inscrutable international "arbiter" is impossible. Is it "worse" and "unrealistic" for the same players to score goal after goal, or "insulting" if a heavy beating of some unheralded country is inflicted by the backups rather than the perceived elite? The only safe approach is to get shut out all the time, and for obvious reasons, we're not keen on doing that either.

So far, Zwangzug has resisted the tendency to list "pools" of more than 23 players for long qualifying campaigns. This may be because being named to the roster is a serious honor that we don't want to lower the standard of, but more likely, it's because we can't be bothered to count caps and/or come up with more than 23 names. So even in a relatively short stage like this, you will probably see most of the outfielders have made at least one appearance. Goalkeepers, obviously, Are Complicated and we don't really want to sub them out or bench them because it might screw with their psyche and that would be very bad.

Some famous cases of players coming off the bench, not necessarily because it was an unimportant match, but simply because duty required:

-in the World Cup 38 qualifiers, pugnacious defensive midfielder Ursula Lauren was unavailable due to stomach cramps. This gave Megan Kucinich the opportunity to make her debut, and an impressive performance with obvious energy and love for the game saw her quickly become a starter.

-by World Cup 39, long-tenured forward Phillip Stings did not have the pace of his younger years, and had been designated as a reserve. In the first matchday of the proper, however, he came off the bench and scored two goals in the last ten minutes to spur a comeback victory over the Holy Empire. This was celebrated in "Towards the Final Whistle," by prolific Imperial author Guillermo B. Yeatses.

-in Cup of Harmony 82, Sydney Stefred's first of several dramatic extra-time goals came in her first game on the roster, as a reserve. Playing against Velestria shouldn't necessarily have been that difficult, but then, that was why her goal was so dramatic.

(McCue 30; Ludwig 62)

The Eagle's Cup :: XI :: Rosters, RP, Scores

ECXI - MD1/2 -

Eagles Cup XI - Matchday 1 / 2

Eagles Cup XI - Matchday 3 / 4

ECXI - MD3/4 - v. Eshialand / V&T - Turorian Loyalty

ECXI - MD3/4 - v. Turori - V&T Scarf

Eagles Cup XI - Matchday 5

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