"Yes."
"Really, fifty? You think that's necessary?"
"I wouldn't have asked for it if I didn't."
The conversation was quickly becoming tiresome and frustrating for Anne-Sophie Groothuis. She would have thought SCFA President Ailen Koirala could understand her better than this by now. They'd worked together for, what was it now? Nine years? Ten? Groothuis had never requested so many callups to training camp for World Cup Qualifying before; it was true. She'd never had such a need for depth of skill before though. First and foremost, the expectations for herself and the team had been raised by last cycle's performance. No longer was qualification the stretch goal that would by itself make the campaign a success. Qualification was now the expectation, along with a respectable group stage performance. Not only that, but their schedule in Group 9 promised to be an exceedingly difficult one. There were no easy stretches at all, with quality opponents to face during every international break. Not only that, but the final match would likely be one of the most difficult, with the Black-and-Reds set to host the Cormorants of Nephara in a contest that would likely have major implications on the final standings at the top of the group. The matches against the other top teams in the group were closer to the beginning of the schedule, with the Black-and-Reds slated to face fifth seeds Eraman, fourth seeds Tumbra, and third seeds Huayramarca all in the course of four matchdays. Northwest Kalactin and Delaclava were ranked a bit lower than those three, but were still quality opponents, and would come back to back. Groothuis knew that without sufficient depth to allow for fatigue and injuries, her team would not reach the end of this marathon schedule. She thought she'd expressed as much in an email to Koirala weeks ago, but apparently her references to "larger numbers of callups than usual" had not been explicit enough.
"The clubs are not going to be pleased with this. My phone will be ringing within five minutes of publishing this list if we go ahead with it."
"How many times have you told me that my job is to manage a football team, and not to worry about public perception."
Koirala laughed, "So it's my problem, not yours then?"
Groothuis felt her shoulders unclench. When Koirala turned to this sort of mildly self-deprecating sarcasm, it always meant she'd already made up her mind to go along with Groothuis. She just had to spend another couple minutes talking herself around to it. "Not in so many words, but I always take the decision I think is best for the team's performance."
"I know that, Anne-Sophie. I'm just really not looking forward to explaining to two dozen odd club chairs why we absolutely need to call their player up to sit on the bench during the break." Koirala held up a hand to forestall Groothuis's rebuttal. "I know, Anne-Sophie, I know. If it's necessary in your view I'll make it happen. Just do me one favor."
"What's that?"
"Win. They'll forgive us anything if we win. If we don't, we'll never hear the end of it."
Home Schedule and Venues:
MD01: ERM v SRS @ Daulapura Stadium (cap. 40,000), Daulapura, Daula, ERM
MD02: SRS v MTU @ Lugina Computing Field (cap. 20,450), Yassaca, Sivolvia, SRS
MD03: HUA v SRS @
MD04: SRS v TMB @ Sunergy Field (cap 37,550), Hunian, Algolia, SRS
MD05: OSY v SRS @ Red Bull Stadium, OSY
MD06: SRS v NWK @ Malgacorp Arena (cap. 29,350), Hensha, Megabrantis, SRS
MD07: DEL v SRS @ Golden Phoenix Field (cap. 150,000), DNAC, Catherina, DEL
MD08: SRS v OCI @ Slavnarzeczpospolitastadion (cap. 61,230), Lublova, Molvania, SRS
MD09: NPH v SRS @ Farham Arena (cap. 88,046), Sabrefell, NPH
MD10: SRS v ERM @ Synesoft Arena (cap. 38,600), Syneca, Sivolvia, SRS
MD11: MTU v SRS @
MD12: SRS v HUA @ Raftel Park (cap. 59,870), Chalesm, Megabrantis, SRS
MD13: TMB v SRS @ Trenton Park, (cap. 74,500), Lakewood, Severn, TMB
MD14: SRS v OSY @ Eichlen Stadium (cap. 37,500), Rudlit, West Flania, SRS
MD15: NWK v SRS @
MD16: SRS v DEL @ Castle Street (cap. 57,300), Jaglan, Algolia, SRS
MD17: OCI v SRS @ Emperor Boston Stadium, (cap. 60,000), New Ranton, OCI
MD18: SRS v NPH @ Albrechtsson Park (cap. 65,400), Damogran, Algolia, SRS