AOCAF LXV: Baker Park/Vilitan Cove--Everything Thread

[Jabal Akhdar]

(Provisional) match details.

Vilita and Turori 178-6 (20 overs)
                                                    R    B   4/6
Batter 1                 lbw b Ali Akbar Nizamani  19  (15)  2/1
Batter 2 st Chandrama Kayal+ b Tajdar Reza          3   (3)  -/-
Batter 3 c Aftab Qadiri      b Masood Naqvi        22  (21)  4/-
Batter 4 c Chandrama Kayal+  b Aslan Qambrani      51  (34)  3/3
Batter 5 c Naeem Sajjadi      b Masood Naqvi       36  (29)  3/1
Batter 6 c Shakaar Rana     b Mukhtar Mohamed      24  (12)  1/2
Batter 7 NOT OUT                                    6   (4)  -/-
Batter 8 NOT OUT                                    5   (4)  1/-
Did not bat: Batter 9, Batter 10, Batter 11
EXTRAS (6wb, 6nb)                                  12

FoW: 1: 5 (Batter 2, 0.6 overs); 2: 43 (Batter 1, 4.6 overs); 3: 55 (Batter 3, 7.3 overs); 4: 131 (Batter 4, 15.5 overs); 5: 151 (Batter 5, 17.3 overs); 6: 169 (Batter 6, 19.1 overs)

                    O    M    R    W
Tajdar Reza         3    0   27    1
Ali Akbar Nizamani  4    0   39    1
Aftab Qadiri        1    0    7    0
Masood Naqvi        4    1   14    2
Mukhtar Mohamed     4    0   58    1
Aslan Qambrani      3    0   27    1
Naeem Sajjadi       1    0   16    0

Jabal Akhdar 180-5 (19.4 overs)
                                                    R    B   4/6
Shakaar Rana                           b Bowler 2   1   (7)  -/-
Aftab Qadiri*        c wicket-keeper+  b Bowler 3   4   (3)  1/-
Aslan Qambrani       c mid-on          b Bowler 1  23  (10)  5/-
Naeem Sajjadi        st wicket-keeper+ b Bowler 4  14   (5)  2/-
Abdul Wahab al-Salim               lbw b Bowler 4  41  (25)  5/1
Kamaaluddeen         NOT OUT                       43  (37)  2/2
Ali Akbar Nizamani   NOT OUT                       50  (31)  3/3
Did not bat: Chandrama Kayal+, Masood Naqvi, Mukhtar Mohamed, Tajdar Reza
EXTRAS (2lb, 2wb)                       

FoW: 1: 3 (Shakaar Rana, 1.1 overs); 2: 23 (Aftab Qadiri, 2.3 overs); 3: 42 (Naeem Sajjadi, 3.5 overs); 4: 48 (Aslam Qambrani, 4.2 overs); 5: 100 (Abdul Wahab al-Salim, 11.2 overs)

          O    M    R    W
Bowler 1  4    0   20    1
Bowler 2  4    0   50    1
Bowler 3  3.4  0   46    1
Bowler 4  3    0   28    2
Bowler 5  2    0   11    0
Bowler 6  3    0   23    0

Vilita and Turori innings
Powerplay: Vilita and Turori 43-2, 6 overs (Batter 3 20, Batter 4 0)
4th wicket: 50 in 29 balls (Batter 4 27, Batter 5 24)
Batter 4: 50 in 32 balls, 3x4 3x6 (Vilita and Turori 128-3)

Jabal Akhdar innings
Powerplay: Jabal Akhdar 61-4, 6 overs (Abdul Wahab al-Salim 15, Kamaaluddeen 2)
5th wicket: 50 in 41 balls (Abdul Wahab al-Salim, Kamaaluddeen 13)
6th wicket: 50 in 41 balls (Kamaaluddeen 30, Ali Akbar Nizamani 25)
Ali Akbar Nizamani: 50 in 31 balls, 3x4 3x6 (Jabal Akhdar 180-5)

Match result: Jabal Akhdar win by 5 wickets

AP (Akhdari Press): The Green Caps claimed a see-sawing game against their Eel-Cat-Thing hosts in improbable fashion after chasing down 180 despite the loss of 4 wickets within their first 5 overs. Openers Shakaar Rana and Aftab Qadiri were unable to repeat their Busogan heroics, Naeem Sajjadi fell to the introduction of spin, and when pinch-hitter Aslan Qambrani, recalled as the side shuffled the balance of its bowling further in favour of pace off the ball, smashed a juicy long-hop straight into the hands of the opposing captain, Jabal Akhdar were reeling at 48-4. But a dynamic innings from Abdul Wahab al-Salim who sparked after two failures dragged them back into the chase. Kamaaluddeen, batting with a calmness that at times veered into reckless indifference towards the mounting run rate, was at one stage 16 off 26, and when al-Salim attempted a wild slog sweep the chase seemed to teeter back out the Akhdari grasp.

Two factors changed the equation: a tactical error by the Vilita & Turori skipper, who instead of persisting with spin went back to pace, and the whirling bat of Ali Akbar Nizamani, the free-swinging all-rounder aiming for the fences and finding them with impunity after a slow start. From 17 off 21, he careered to a maiden international fifty while Kamaaluddeen merely had to watch from the other end as Nizamani carted the hosts' death bowler for successive sixes to seal the win. It was less an innings than an assault.

Earlier, the Green Caps had taken to the field with a team seemingly a bowler short, as Qadiri decided neither Ishaaq Hameed nor Sunil Karulkar could be trusted. Instead he played three front-line spinners, lone seamer Mukhtar Mohamed, and would look to his all-rounders and part-timers to make up the rest. Had Jabal Akhdar, his decision-making would have been criticized; in victory, all sins are washed away. The spinners were incisive; he opened with two slow bowlers for the first time this tournament, and when Masood Naqvi was introduced, he bowled the first maiden in Akhdari international history. His first 3 overs went for just 5 runs as the hosts struggled to read his left-arm wrist-spin; such was his control, Qadiri could give him a slip, where Naeem Sajjadi took a sharp catch.

Would that all the Akhdari fielding had been so astute. There were 9 misfields including balls fluffed over the boundary for four, catches dropped, run-outs missed and overthrows conceded; even Chandrama Kayal's stumping appeared accidental, the ball missing his gloves and rebounding off his chest onto the stumps. Mohamed was particularly unlucky, his figures of 58 off 4 reflecting woeful effort in the field from his teammates as much as his own inconsistent line; he responded well to bowl a tight final over after being thrashed in his previous 3. The part-timers had mixed results, Qadiri surprising everyone by bowling himself for the first time with some non-turning off-breaks, Aslan Qambrani getting a wicket but going at 9s, and Sajjadi quickly smashed out of the attack. The star was Naqvi, with 2-14.

But his bowling efforts were nearly wasted as the team faltered in its reply. Promoting Qambrani to 3 gave the innings some impetus and the Green Caps scored at over 10 rpo in the powerplay, but the wickets proved costly. Kamaaluddeen's level head proved as crucial as Nizamani's muscle in saving the day, but such inconsistent displays cannot continue if the Green Caps are to have any chance in their coming semi-final against The Cordian Isles. With the elimination of the Green Falcons by Demot, the Green Caps are the Emirate's sole remaining interest in the tournament.

[Geisenfried]

Last Men Standing
After shaky start, Bergmann dominates Pluvia and the Saxean Isles to reach semis

TROPICOAST, TROPICORP - In what is quickly becoming a home away from home for the Geisen national baseball team, Tropicoast Field played the stage for the quarterfinal match between Geisenfried and Pluvia and the Saxean Isles, a showing of dominance from Geisenfried's top pitcher, Robin Bergmann. Though stung early by a two run shot, he'd retire 19 of the next 20 batters, wracking up a dozen strikeouts and giving Geisenfried plenty of time to catch back up before a couple late bursts of scoring put the game entirely out of reach.

After dispatching Collins with a pop fly and getting Falkenburg out at second on a fielder's choice line drive to short from Bergler, Bergmann left a ball hanging for Billy Bruce in his only really blemish evening that the Pluvian first baseman sent deep to put the Magpies up 2-0 at the bottom of the first. Bergmann would take his frustration out on Travis Newman, striking him out on three pitches in his first of many Ks of the evening. After that, Bergmann was golden - four straight innings up and down the order, notching a couple strikeouts each time, not yielding a single hit until Philip Falkenburg managed to put himself on the bag with two outs in the bottom of the sixth before being stranded with the next batter. He'd get one more inning of with 3 up, 3 out before finally yielding the ball to set-up man Rufus Saverio, who in conjunction with closer Lambert Blaeyer performed capably in shutting Pluvia and the Saxean Isles out.

On the offensive side, Geisenfried relied on small ball to get on board. In the second, Ralf Kammerherr and Isaac Hafner had back-to-back singles before a sacrifice bunt by Archembald put them in scoring position and a shallow fly from Abel Nichols was enough for Kammerherr to beat the throw home to put Geisenfried on the board, though a strikeout by Bergmann at bat would leave Hafner stranded at third. The next inning started with a spurt of offense, with Frederick Wetzel getting on base before taking third on a follow-up hit by Maxwell Alwin and scoring on a double to the outfield by Willem Richter. Jerome Gruber would strike out though, and Alwin couldn't beat Schoenberg's throw home on Kammerherr's grounder. A pop fly from Hafner would end the inning again with runners in scoring position, the game only tied at two.

They wouldn't wait long for the go ahead run, however. Archembald got on base as the leadoff in the fourth, advancing to second on Nichols' grounder to first and taking third with Bregmann's bunt before Wetzel managed to bring him home. Dominic Lowe would manage to hold for two more innings before being pinch-hit in the sixth in hopes of delivering some offense with the game still close at 3-2. The Magpies' two submariners would combine to sweep the heart of the order in the seventh, before sending Julian Kerr out at the top of the eighth. There things started to unravel for the Pluvians and the Saxeans. Kammerherr opened up the 8th with a double, before being brought home by Hafner's single. Archembald would fly out, but on the following batter, Nichols would hit a line drive between first and second, but in trying to catch Hafner out at third, the right fielder Newman had an off-target throw, putting it out of reach of third baseman Bastian Thalberg and allowing Hafner to scoot home, and Nichols to take second on the fielder's error. Being ready to pull Bergmann out for the set-up man anyway, Timo Schumacher was put in to pinch-hit and drove Nichols home with his own single, sending Kerr to the showers and pulling Rory Burke to the mound. He'd manage to get Wetzel to ground into a double play to finally end the inning, but the damage was done.

It'd get worse in the ninth. Alwin would get on before Burke managed to strikeout Richter, but Gruber would smash a ball deep to put two more on the board and put the game unquestionably out of reach. Kammerherr and Hafner both managed their third hits of the evening, and with Kammerherr in scoring position and only one out, that was the end of the night for Burke, leaving Ashton Davies to clean things up. He'd give up an RBI single to the catcher Archembald before managing to get Nichols into a double play, leaving Lambert Blaeyer to end the night in the bottom of the ninth, managing two strikeouts of his own along the way.

Geisenfried will remain in Tropicorp for one final game, this time against neighbors Banija for the right to reach the finals of the Atlantian Oceania Baseball Series. The winner will play against the winner of Milchama - Delaclava for all the marbles. While they started out slowly, with two losses, one of which was to our own squad, Milchama has recovered nicely, winning 4 more or less must win games in a row, whether in defensive struggles, like a 3-2 victory over Aji no Moto, or in offensive shootouts like 12-10 play-in victory over Qasden. Delaclava, meanwhile, the last non-Auzerian team in the competition, has been relying on youth to do just enough to get out of remarkably even group A, before managing to best upstart Cordian Isles to reach the semifinals. Banija, as the defending champions probably stack as the favorites of the remaining teams. It'll be up to Johan Forst to shake off a bad inning against Aji no Moto to help end their reign and keep Geisenfried in the Series.

Geisenfried 9, Pluvia and the Saxean Isles 2

Code: Select all

GSF - 0 1 1 1 0 0 0 3 3 - 9 17 0
PSI - 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 - 2  4 1

Scoring Plays
Bot 1st: Bergmann pitching
- Two-run homer by Bruce, Bergler scores, Bruce scores | PSI 2, GSF 0

Top 2nd: Lowe pitching
- Sacrifice fly by Nichols, Kammerherr scores | PSI 2, GSF 1

Top 3rd: Lowe pitching
- Double by Richter, Wetzel scores, Alwin to third | PSI 2, GSF 2

Top 4th: Lowe pitching
- Single by Wetzel, Archembald scores | GSF 3, PSI 2

Top 8th: Kerr pitching
- Single by Hafner, Kammerherr scores | GSF 4, PSI 2
- Single by Nichols, error on throw from Newman to Thalberg, Nichols to second, Hafner scores | GSF 5, PSI 2
- Schumacher pinch-hitting for Bergmann, Schumacher singles, Nichols scores | GSF 6, PSI 2

Top 9th: Burke pitching
- Two-run homer by Gruber, Alwin scores, Gruber scores | GSF 8, PSI 2
Davies pitching
- Single by Archembald, Kammerherr scores, Hafner to second | GSF 9, PSI 2

Pitching Stats:

Pluvia and the Saxean Isles	IP:	ER:	H	K	Geisenfried	IP:	ER:	H	K
Lowe L	6.0	3	8	6	Bergmann W	7.0	2	3	12
Patterson	0.2	0	0	1	Saverio	1.0	0	1	1
Harris	0.1	0	0	1	Blaeyer	1.0	0	0	2
Kerr	0.1	2	4	0
Burke	1.0	3	4	1
Davies	0.2	0	1	0

[Valanora]

In a round that saw a fair few numbers of upsets, the Marauders are fortunate to not count themselves among those that were on the losing side of one of those upset bids, though they were pushed to their very limit by Schimi Bas in their tie. The Marauders stonewall defense of the group stage was put to the test and did not pass with flying colors as it had done during the first four matches that the team had played in Baker Park, but were beaten twice on the night and the side had to be bailed out by the forces at the tip of the spear. It was a round of fixtures that saw teams push the favorites in multiple matches, with Gyatso-Kai needing extra time against Kimi-Suomi like the Marauders needed in their own tie, while the cohosts of Baker Park did not have an easy time with the Expats, and Demot likewise found the second outing against Jabal Akhdar much more difficult than their first encounter in the group stage. Those were the fortunate ones, what happened in Vilita will remain for many years a bloodbash for the underdogs, with the cohosts going out, as well as the holders, and the traditional powerhouse of Farfadillis, with Qasden the only favorite to advance and perhaps lucky to be on the right side of a five goal affair with Geisenfried.

If there was any doubt about whether the AOCAF still retained its prestige and could lay claim to being the most difficult senior tournament to win outside the World Cup itself, this round of fixtures definitely puts a lot of credence to both. While some of the more glamorous names will be fixing from the Quarterfinals and onwards, this previous round feels almost akin to the so called "Red Wednesday" when several Esportiva underdogs in their playoff ties were able to get the results needed to advance into the World Cup as the expense of some very highly touted nations. With the holders out, it means there will be a new champion to be crowned, with only three of the remaining eight participants having previously won one of the tournaments. Those three being the Marauders of course, who have won the tournament on four occasions, Sarzonia that has a pair of titles, and then the cohosts of Baker Park who has a single title to their name. The odds are then quite high that there will be a completely new champion at the end of the tournament, if the current trends remain as strong as they appear.

The Marauders were able to buck that trend because of some stellar play in the offensive end and perhaps having had the experience of being in one of these must win, high pressure situations. Despite the youthful age for the core of this squad, many of them have been part of the national team for the last three World Cup cycles and were part of the team that made it to the semifinals two editions ago and were part of the AOCAF team that made it to the Final against Banija in the last edition. They are used to the strenuous and anxiety filled nature of the knockout games and though the defense was hardly a steel wall keeping Schimi Bas out, they were only forced to bend and not break entirely. Letting a side that has Laborious Hawk in it to stick around and not put the Marauders out when they are struggling is not the most wise of moves and the Marauders fought back from a goal down on two occasions, with Indra Söderström getting the first goal in the forty-third to bring the sides level at the half time break. Lothas Ludwig showed his class with a brilliant individual effort in the seventy-ninth minute, a goal that forced the extra time. The Felsenkirchen striker would get his brace four minutes into extra time and the Marauders would survive their scare.

Now they advance forward to face off against Baker Park, one of the cohosts of the tournament and perhaps the strongest side left in the tournament besides the Marauders themselves. When it comes to playing cohosts in tournaments, the Marauders are quite familiar with the sort of occasions and all the disadvantages that they will have going into the match. While the record when playing a host or cohost is fairly decent, there is always a feeling of dread before one of these matches as you never quite know how much of an advantage the home side really will have, particularly in the knockouts where a single mistake could be the reason that your team is packing their bags early and heading home. To that end, it is perhaps a tad on the unfair side that Baker Park and the Empire will come to blows in the Quarterfinals rather than the Semifinals, with the two best teams in this half of the bracket fighting for the right to advance to the Final. Alas, life is not always fair and this is the hand that both teams have been dealt and will have to deal with. On paper the edge is with the Marauders but Baker Park is quite the strong team and they are at home, with the Marauders still likely a bit wary after the first knockout upheaval. If they can steel themselves and steal the crowd from the match, it should be theirs for the taking.

[Qasden]

---

Nobody Tell Chekhov

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By Tomathan Hammerland

Out of a mix of sheer boredom and residue spite from last time, I have graciously and voluntarily decided to write another report before the next spew of regional heresy. Just ignore the theoretical gun to my head from higher-ups wanting me to promote QAFA's latest endeavors and everything should go smoothly, capeesh?

Alright, so we're still existing in about 3 tournaments, being rugby, football, and cricket, of all things. The RugVans (they have another name, I'm told, but the idea of angering the national team for Competitive Textiles just sounds more fun to me) managed to limp into bowl game territory, somewhere that'd sound real ritzy schmitzy if it weren't the one competition where bowls aren't the best foodware. We could be fighting for a plate, so I suppose we should appreciate the small blessings in all this, but in a universe where a cup is better than a bowl just sounds wrong portion-wise. There's the WicketVans, another group of nameless strangers that I couldn't care less to nickname professionally. Unlike the limping handegg people, the T20 squad made a gourmet stew of whoop-ass, thanks in part to the copious amounts of laughing stock provided by the OG AO cricket community. Despite how very little experience we have in the sport, Qasden won their group with shocking ease, making what should've been an ignored marathon a primetime cakewalk. Then there's the Vans themselves, the main machos of the national sporting industry and the only part of it to send people abroad still. The crew were coming into the AOCAF with a gaping hole in their hearts, the recent quali-fail ridding the team of Sylvia Zimari. However, under former captain, Icarus Darsten, coupled with a partially-experienced Ryan Xandreas, a now offense-heavy Blue-Red team find themselves undefeated after the 4 matches of group play, including an ever-flexworthy dub over Vilita & Turori. Like cricket before them, these Vans earned themselves a date with an unknown opponent, at least until a one-game playoff revealed it to be a mere rematch.

There, good recap of everything so far. You happy now, Darren? Yeah, I'll name-drop you. What's happened since then? Think I've got a doc of that somewhere on this laptop. There *was* a usb, but some form of wildlife or drunken amorphous person stole it one night while I was hitting up the Seraai nightlife. I couldn't actually find anywhere to go, so I just did laps around the fancy places to make it look like I belonged before heading back to the hotel.

Right, so RugVans. Those guys exist, right? Just kidding, get pranked. Yeah, after some pretty jeer-worthy losses to Busoga and Mlima Kijami, there was still some hope for them going into the Bowl Semis. After all, they were up against the Cordian Isles, a nation we just beat in the football group stage, which surely translates in its entirety to rugby. And you wanna know what? It did! Just instead of the football tourney being AOCAF, imagine the results being similar to MSMT. 19-26, no soup for us, I guess. Not much else I want to say about this match, doubly so considering I hardly know any sports outside football and basketball. The effort was there, but I don't know if a 7-point deficit is considered close or a blowout. That being said, we went out with a lot more fight than Milchama and Busoga in their games, that's for sure. AOT20 featured a whopping goose egg in terms of games we played between last time I typed and now, the only difference being the reveal of our opponent. As an apparent tradition, at this point, cricket will join the long list of sports where destiny ends with the Commonwealth. Aye, bloody Baker Park, black and yellow harbingers of all things dreadful for Qad athletes, are up next in the semi held in Yeaddin. Those honey-lovers just can't get away from us, even when we're not covered in flower petals! The winner of the match will play either Cordia or Jabal Akhdar in the championship, though we can already guess who it's gonna be between us. A little negative, yeah, but that's the whole shtick of Qads. You see an optimist in our borders, you're either lookin' at a foreigner or a hermit. There's still the AOCAF itself, however, somewhere I can shed a somewhat positive light.

4-0 and into the Octos, Qasden's gravy train was due to make a stop at a familiar station, a repeat of Match 2 literally a couple days ago in Alikki-Corra. Geisenfried, Die Steinadler, was gravitating towards us like a Baker Parker towards a championship title. Despite beating them in the past 2 encounters we've shared, the Geisen weren't ready to call it quits yet, having beaten Dogsmouth just to get another crack at toppling us in Lunar Park. Thanks to some mild-mannered eagerness to get this report done, I'm just gonna shorten this rematch of the era to ten words: Goal Qasden, Goal Geisenfried, Goal Geisenfried, Goal Qasden, Goal Qasden. I didn't say they were 10 different words, now did I? Like every other bloody match this tournament, it ended in a thriller, a go-ahead scored 70 minutes in by the towering beast in Lennox Dragoslav. For the third time in 2 tournaments, the Vans had defeated their southern neighbors, a good reminder to the folks in Fyre to avoid certain bars for the next few days, if you catch the drift.

Of course, as I titled my last report, this journey to elysium would be walked on a road of revenge. If Geisenfried was the first to block our path, then the second surely would be another face we've defeated recently. Perhaps, an elite squad with a mascot like no other. You know them as much as I do; lads and lassies, our Quarter-Final match will have us come back face-to-face with the daring Vilita an- hold on, I'm sorry, Tropicorp?! I could've sworn the keys to my collector's edition yacht that we were supposed to rematch Vilita and Turori. Oh no, this just got real awful real fast.

So the Eel-Cat Things are #2 in the region, right? Big fancy names that we've somehow beaten on a good couple of occasions. Following the group stage, they were drawn to go against the unassuming Tropicorp on Turoki Island. All the bookies had those teal-brown freaks to carry on no problem; yet because the Techies put a couple of sentries down, they lost the home base?! 1-0 Tropicorp, one of numerous shocks the Vilitan half of the bracket had brought in the Round of 16 (joining the losses of Farfadillis and Banija to the Squornshelous Remnant States and Sarzonia, respectively). Thanks to that, Darsten and the Vans are now due to play the Techies in Tropicoast, the first (and only) venture outside Vilita this entire tournament. See, you'd probably think I'm overreacting, but if there's one country that terrifies me more than Baker Park, it's dang darn Tropicorp. First of all, it's straight up just a big ass testing facility on the outskirts of the Vilitan Cove. You can't tell me that's not sus in of itself. Secondly, these guys only ever appear for the AOCAF before fading back into obscurity. Thirdly, most importantly, we've never been able to beat them. Over and over, every bloody time we face these guys it's 1-0 Trop, 1-0 Trop, 1-0 Trop, we can never win! And now, after having arguably the greatest start to any AOCAF we've ever had, we're due to play them next?!

Well, it's been real, folks. If you need me, I'm gonna be crying in the hotel shower while I wait for this trainwreck of a match to start. Can Qasden overcome their engineered arch-villains in their own lair? Or will this chapter end just like the rest when it came to Tropicorp. Never have I had so little faith in Darsten, but stay tuned, stay updated, and good lord we're gonna get killed out there!

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[Tropicorp]

Techies Topple (Vilita &) Turori in Mavaloiao

Bear Claw Stadium, Mavaloiao, Turoki Island, Vilita :: After completing a surprising unbeaten run in the Group Stage of AOCAF XLV despite being drawn into a difficult group including defending champions Banija and the always tricky Sarzonia, the Tropicorp Techies got a cruel reward for their troubles in the Round of 16: Vilita and Turori. Making matters worse for the Techies, due to the scheduling, the First Knockout Round matchup on the Tropicorp side of the draw was set not for Tropicorp Park but for Bear Claw Stadium in Mavaloiao, Vilita.

While the port city of Mavaloiao was about as close as one could get to being in Tropicorp without actually being in Tropicorp, it was inescapable that it was still in Vilita - specifically on Turoki Island. While the town rallied behind Team Tropicorp when the held Banija to a 2-2 draw at the Bear Claw Stadium in the Techies third game of the World Cup 90 Group Stage, it was likely to be a different story in the Round of 16 when the opposition was the one and only nation that could make a claim to be any closer to Mavaloiao than Tropicoast itself was located.

Of course as host nation, Vilita and Turori would have seemed to have any easy victory on their hand in the first knockout round. As the higher rank overall in the competition and having demonstrated steady hands before, Vilita and Turori would be looking for their third consecutive 1-0 victory and passage through to the Quarter Finals as they looked to claim the AOCAF Regional Tournament for the first time in recent memory.

However, when the match kicked off, it was not the dominating performance that many expected of Vilita and Turori and in fact there were a couple of scares from Team Tropicorp who appeared to be feeling out the Red Ball and figuring that if anything should happen to take the favorites out of the competition, Tropicorp got their first real opportunity around 20 minutes into the game but it was quickly passed away. Then on the half-hour mark it would all change when Ashlyn Kojici scored for Team Tropicorp to become the first player to score against Vilita and Turori since they left Vilita. In fact, after back-to-back shutouts in Turori, Vilita and Turori were back to Vilitan soil and had once again found it as a distraction to the competition.

Ultimately Team Tropicorp would hang on for a stunning victory, much in contrast to the most recent meeting between the two neighborly sides where Team Tropicorp was defeated by a 2-5 scoreline in AOCAF history. While Tropicorp has been a little slow to update graphical records for their performances, it was a fifth straight victory for the Techies who were slowly starting to rise out from the shadow of their neighbors as they had in front of them the opportunity to steal in for a championship push. Team Tropicorp's Round of 16 opponent will be Qasden, a team which the Techies have a good track record against the Cats of Qasden, having secured a number of 1-0 victories to close things out with Q Nation.

 Vilita and Turori [0] - [1] Tropicorp
				
	GOALS:	
Tropicorp 	31' Ashlyn Kojici       		

	STATS:	
Vilita and Turori    :: Possession: 52%:: Shots: 2:: Corners: 1	
Tropicorp 	     :: Possession: 48%:: Shots: 3:: Corners: 1

Vilita & Turori Lineup: [GK] Zelkki Milake Jr., [D.] Injyua Klizlo, [D.] Bvalis Amaanara, [D.] Planio’o Nrujsa, [ML] Kinabo Telioa, [MC] Lentali Purama, [MC] Cuoabaza Orani’aoa, [MR] Limu Katarakhna, [FC] Treasvo Tlikara, [FC] Enzoril Alabonni, [FC] Lutara Makakio
Vilita & Turori Bench: [FC] Nii'arala Milaaso, [FC] Kunaro Tlikara, [M] Fyin Miateal, [M] Imauka Lkomorak, [U ] Friika Diirotora, [D] Mikaela Äijälä, [GK] Derizi Amatopa

[Demot]

"You ever wonder why the Dynamo play in orange as the alternate color? I thought the alternate strips were supposed to be clear and distinct from the home strip and yet all the Dynamo have done is switched out the red base for an orange one, keeping the black sleeves and collar, with that little bit of white where you button up the shirt. It really does not seem to make a lot of sense and you would think that after all this time, some sort of authority would have forced the team to at least have gone to a lighter shade of orange to really emphasize the difference between the two kits."

Amazingly this was the discussion going on in one of the many sports bars in Skyhaven as the Dynamo were preparing to take on Gyatso-kai in their quarterfinal fixture in the AOCAF. There was not much talk going on about how the side was vastly overperforming their rank and the perceived talent that the national team was able to put out onto the field and had somehow managed to win every single of their fixtures through the tournament thus far. Instead the talk had turned to the orange kits that the Dynamo were wearing in their match against Gyatso-kai, after Demot was designated as the away team for the tie, and someone had pointed out how there was very little different visually or in the color pallet between the home kit and away kit. It had kicked up a discussion on whether the Dynamo were breaking some sort of rule and what the team should wear instead for its change strip if not the traditional orange that had become accompanied and accustomed with the team since the days of David Masteron and when the Dynamo had the talent to make World Cup Finals.

"Well what you expect them to wear as a change strip, something really bland and predictable like an all white kit or something? Sure, yeah, it might be a distinct and different kit from what the side wears in their home fixtures, but it is entirely bland and boring and has absolutely no connection to the nation or the national team at all. The national colors are red, black, and orange, it really only makes sense that the secondary kit is orange if you ask me. What, do you want them to just pick a color at random and end up wearing something silly like purple or silver and have everyone wondering why the blazes that the team is showing up in something so foreign and bizarre?"

"I mean, you have a bit of a point, but look at the television and how you can barely tell the difference between the kits of Gyatso-kai and our own, it is going to make the viewing experience quite the annoyance trying to differentiate the two very similar colors. While I am not advocating that we just pick out a color at random, I think something a little different that still has some attachment to the culture of either the team or the nation would go a long ways towards making situations like this a lot better. It is not like the team has to get rid of the orange either, keep it on as a third kit that they pull out for special occasions or when the opposing team is wearing colors too similar to ours. Maybe we should go with something like a dark green, what with our druid roots, or perhaps a nice sky blue with the capital of Skyhaven literally being a city floating in the sky?"

"I don't know and frankly, right now I don't care too much. This is the first time I have been able to see the Dynamo be one of the best teams in the tournament and I feel like they have real chance of advancing to the next round and perhaps even to the Final. I am tired of hearing stories of how good the team used to be in the days of yore, I want to see the team good now and be witness to history, to a team that can go toe to toe with the best in the region and world. I feel it in my bones, this is our shot, so please sit down and just enjoy the game like the rest of us. This could be a moment that all in Demot who follow the game will be remembering for years to come and if it all goes well, this will be the stories that our children and their children will hear instead of the tales from football nearly a hundred years in the past now."

[Commonwealth of Baker Park]

Hosts muscle way through to quarters
Scott McCrae
The Daily Mail Chief Soccer Writer

It has been a bumpy road for many of the top nations participating in the AOCAF Cup, and Baker Park has not been spared a rough ride simply because they are hosting half of the tournament here in the Commonwealth.

A demotion to the fourth seeds in this half of the draw meant that the Bees would get a visit to Newport City Stadium for the round of 16 meeting against Eura's Oceanian Territory--give the FAC credit, for they could've manipulated the stadium assignments and switched BP-EOT to Sportsmen's or Springfield--and a pragmatic approach was the order of the day, as Kyle Baum scored a header off a corner half hour in, and Liam Sullivan's side squeezed the Expats out of the midfield, giving no space for the visitors to operate in.

The hosts had moments of bright play in the second 45 minutes, but few of the 31,952 in the stands believed the result was in doubt after Darren Flowers replaced Alonzo Boyle at halftime, a definitive statement of intent about closing up shop tidy and neat; moments after the final whistle the Naval Service of the Commonwealth gave their seal of approval with a blast of horns from the ships in port across the river.

The victory sends BP to the quarterfinals for the 4th straight regional tournament and the 5th time in the last 6 tournaments overall (World Cup 88, the Women's World Cup 14, AOCAF 64 and the WWC15 prior to this), where they will face Valanora at Rogers Stadium.

The Marauders eliminated the Bees in Equestria at this same stage, and the sides met three times in AOCAF 62 in the two-tier Nation's League preliminary rounds, but their most memorable contest was--at the time--the Commonwealth's most significant milestone in the mixed gender era, the 3-2 win in Hosingr in the quarterfinal of World Cup 85.

The current number one ranked side in the region and the runner-up to Banija in the last tournament will not be thrown off by the occasion or the partisan crowd in Endborough, and the winner certainly would have to be the odds-on favorite to take the title at the BBP Stadium; the remaining six sides--Sarzonia (9), Qasden (11), Gyatso-kai (16), Tropicorp (17), Demot (18), & Squornshelan Remnant States (22)--have flexed the collective strength of the region's deep lineup of national teams, knocking off the holders (Banija), the co-hosts (Vilita & Turori) and the always dangerous Farfadillis.

This will be the proverbial Final Exam for the issues that Manager Jen Prescott set up for the the Jenna Raven/AOCAF rosters, literally forcing her coaches to play short handed without full squad rotation and having to adjust tactical considerations accordingly. Can the lessons learned here pay off when the World Cup returns to Baker Park?

[Squornshelan Remnant States]

The mood in the Confederate locker room was loudly exultant. Upsetting the ninth-ranked nation in the multiverse and making the quarters of "the hardest tournament to win not called the World Cup" will do that for a team. On top of that, the out of town scoreboard delivered good news not long after the full time whistle saw Kambiz Ortan's brace hold up against Farfadillis.

"Banija are out!" shouted Anikke Oljanen, waving her phone in whoever's face was accessible. "Sarzonia took it in penalties!"

"Wait, wasn't it Sarzonia that the Imps had that big blowup with a while back?" Vancy Akkaynak asked. "Hey Pyotr you're from the Isle, you remember that yeah? Wasn't it some Sarzonian player who said something to piss off the old Imperials?"

Pyotr Arikansky shrugged, "Vance, I was like 10 years old or something, how the hell would I know?"

"Looks like it was some guy called Charlie King," Anikke Oljanen had quickly pulled up the story on her phone. "He somehow got recorded, in a bar, saying that Elbrus Kamenev was the rightful leader of all of Squornshelous."

"Kamenev, wow, how long's he been out of office now? Three years?" Vancy laughed.

"Five actually."

"Man, time flies. So this King guy must be retired."

"Actually Vance, he's still a starter," Anikke scrolled faster.

"He's still on their roster now? Guy must be the elder statesman or something, yeah?"

"Says here he's 28."

"Ah ok, that makes more sense, if he was only 17 when he caused all that fuss."

"Umm," Anikke scrolled rapidly, scanning the article, "looks like he was 24 during World Cup 84."

"So he's only aged 4 years in the past 11 years?"

"Yup."

"What the fuck is time anymore?"

[Gyatso-kai]

.::Beichow Family Estate & Farms. Gaoling Republic, United Earth Kingdoms ::.
Early Evening

As the television in the other room flashed by the sports news from both around the Republics as well as from around the multiverse, a woman stood on a balcony in what many would recognise as the third form stance of Hung Gar – Jia Bo, or the Scissor Stance – as the sun set over the fertile valleys of the Dimaiowl mountains. As she moved through the stances of her martial art, the sun would slowly begin to cast the long shadows across the river delta of the Chow May, and the veritable farming heaven that was this woman’s family estate.

To think we have owned this farmland going back eleven generations… and now… it might all come to an end…

The woman stood firm in the second stance, her arms extended outward and her leg brought up to level with her hip. She was wearing standard outfit of a relaxing woman in a higher-class of society – loose fitting pants, a form-fitted top, barefoot with a pedicure to match her obviously-well-kept manicure, hair in a bun secured with nothing more than a larger-than-normal hair tie. The woman relaxed, taking a deep breath before turning back towards the house. She could see into the kitchen, and knew the only thing she wanted was a glass of water and bowl of warmed rice from last night after a decent morning stretch.

To football in the multiverse…

The announcer on the television caught her attention, and she sighed knowing the bowl of rice would have to wait. Walking into the room, she stepped onto the couch facing the screen and tucked her bare feet beneath herself as she sat. She reached for the remote to turn up the volume. The announcer, a blonde whose hairpin suggested she was Mandalorian, looked into the screen with amber eyes and a voice that betrayed any sense of calm as she read the teleprompter.

In the Atlantian Oceanian tournament, the Gyatso-kai national team is set to face Demot in the Semi-finals of the AO Cup’s Sixty-Fifth Edition. Interim Head Coach Wong Haru was interviewed after the 4-2 victory in extra time and asked about his team’s future opponent”

The woman looked to the man on the TV – a dashing man, in her ‘unbiased’ opinion, with dark hair that had clearly been ruffled by his on-the-pitch running and screaming and his never ending habit of running his hands through that hair whenever he was stressed.

Demot is not a team to take lightly. Afterall, they haven’t lost a game yet in this tournament, and haven’t even drawn one either.

The woman laughed, always enjoying some of Wong’s phrasing whenever interviewed. She had told him last they talked he needed to work on his interviewing skills, and to be a bit more loveable, but after twenty years of marriage, she couldn’t get Wong to change his wake-up time anymore than she could change his speech patterns.

Hopefully, we can come out a bit stronger against the Dynamo and stay ahead of them offensively as well as keep the pressure up defensively.

As the interview continued, the woman could not help but smile.

Looks like Dad will have to stay alive a bit longer…

[Commonwealth of Baker Park]

Cutoff for the Vilitan Cove Quarterfinals of AOCAF 65.
Who's gonna Rip It Hard?

Quarterfinals
Sarzonia 2–3 Squornshelan Remnant States
Qasden 1–0 Tropicorp

Semi-Final
Qasden vs Squornshelan Remnant States @TBD

[AOCAF]

Quarter Finals:

Valanora 1–0 Baker Park
Rogers Stadium, Endborough

Gyatso-kai 3–3 Demot (4–4 AET) (6–7 pen.)
Collins Park, Oceana

Semi Final Fixture:

Valanora v. Demot
BBP National Stadium, Belle Haven

---

Milchama               0 0 2 2 0 1 1 0 1  7
Delaclava              2 0 0 1 4 1 0 0 X  8

Banija                 0 0 0 0 0 1 1 1 0 0 1  4
Geisenfried            0 0 1 1 0 1 0 0 0 0 3  6

AOBS II FINAL (44 Hours)

Delaclava v. Geisenfried
Toys '4' All Diamond, Lopinka, Vilita

3rd Place Playoff:
Milchama v. Banija
Toys '4' All Diamond, Lopinka, Vilita

---

Cordian Isles 157/6 (20 overs)
Jabal Akhdar 157/6 (20 overs)

Super Over

Cordian Isles 7/0 (1 overs)
Jabal Akhdar 9/0 (0.5 overs)

Qasden 139/6 (20 overs)
Baker Park 141/6 (20 overs)

AOT20 FINAL (44 Hours)

Jabal Akhdar v. Baker Park
Yeaddin Cricket Club, Yeaddin, Vilita

3rd Place Playoff:
Cordian Isles v. Qasden
Eelandii Cricket Grounds, Eelandii, Turori

[Milchama]

"Well that was a good run"

"It was"

"A decent end in semifinals"

"Particularly for the amount of times we RP'd"

"We even beat Sarzonia!"

"Somehow, again"

"Yeah we always beat them in the region, it's the international stuff where it gets testy"

"Yeah especially with all that Soldera nonsense"

"What do you mean they're too different nations?"

"Or are they?"

"They are legitimately two different independent nations. As different from Sarzonia as we are from Non-Violent Milchama"

"Oh god them again"

"Yep"

"Why do we have an Anaia puppet?"

"Because why not?"

"Fair"

"Why is there nega-Milchama?"

"Because it's fun to type the word nega"

"Ooooh good call"

"Yeah, it's really fun! You should do it!"

"Will do!"

"Woo!"

"Well anyway our B team made semis which is not so bad and our A team is doing really well in the WBC"

"So we're all set up for another mediocre World Cup"

"Exactly"

"Woo!"

"Go team!"

"Come on You Warriors!"

"Let's Go Milchama!"

[Jabal Akhdar]

(Provisional) match details.

The Cordian Isles 157-6 (20 overs)
                                                          R    B   4/6
D Nørup     run out (sub [Ajinkya Kaasbhatta])           38  (28)  4/2
B Prebensen NOT OUT                                      45  (46)  2/1
E Pedersen                     lbw b Ali Akbar Nizamani  18  (11)  -/2
T Andreasen                    lbw b Ali Akbar Nizamani   2   (2)  -/-
M Holm      c Abdul Wahab al-Salim b Masood Naqvi         0   (3)  -/-
M Iversen+                     c & b Aslan Qambrani      43  (25)  4/2
J Ottosen   c Chandrama Kayal+     b Aslan Qambrani       2   (2)  -/-
L Johnsen   NOT OUT                                       9   (3)  -/1
Did not bat: E Christensen, B Tennfjord
EXTRAS                                                    0

FoW: 1: 54 (Nørup, 7.6 overs); 2: 79 (Pedersen, 10.3 overs); 3: 81 (Andreasen, 10.5 overs); 4: 84 (Holm, 11.4 overs); 5: 142 (Iversen, 18.4 overs); 6: 144 (Ottosen, 18.6 overs)

                    O    M    R    W
Tajdar Reza         4    0   25    0
Ali Akbar Nizamani  4    0   29    2
Mukhtar Mohamed     4    0   35    0
Masood Naqvi        4    0   30    1
Naeem Sajjadi       2    0   22    0
Aftab Qadiri        1    0    5    0
Aslan Qambrani      1    0   11    2

Jabal Akhdar 157-6 (20 overs)
                                             R    B   4/6
Aftab Qadiri*        c Pedersen  b Holm     14  (19)  2/-
Shakaar Rana                 lbw b Johnsen   0   (1)  -/-
Naeem Sajjadi                    b Johnsen  50  (42)  5/1
Abdul Wahab al-Salim NOT OUT                50  (35)  4/1
Kamaaluddeen                 c & b Johnsen   0   (1)  -/-
Aslan Qambrani       c Prebensen b Johnsen   0   (1)  -/-
Ali Akbar Nizamani   run out (Iversen+)     34  (19)  5/-
Chandrama Kayal+     NOT OUT                 2   (2)  -/-
Did not bat: Masood Naqvi, Mukhtar Mohamed, Tajdar Reza
EXTRAS (4lb, 3wb)                            7

FoW: 1: 5 (Shakaar Rana, 0.4 overs); 2: 39 (Aftab Qadiri, 6.3 overs); 3: 94 (Naeem Sajjadi, 13.1 overs); 4: 94 (Kamaaluddeen, 13.2 overs); 5: 94 (Aslan Qambrani, 13.3 overs); 6: 144 (Ali Akbar Nizamani, 18.3 overs)

             O    M    R    W
Johnsen      4    0   35    4
Tennfjord    4    0   20    0
Prebensen    4    0   36    0
Holm         1    0    5    1
Ottosen      3    0   17    0
Christensen  4    0   40    0

The Cordian Isles innings
Powerplay: The Cordian Isles 42-0, 6 overs (Nørup 33, Prebensen 9)
1st wicket: 50 in 43 balls (Nørup 37, Prebensen 15)
5th wicket: 50 in 39 balls (Iversen 35, Prebensen 15)

Jabal Akhdar innings
Powerplay: Jabal Akhdar 39-1, 6 overs (Naeem Sajjadi 18, Aftab Qadiri 14)
3rd wicket: 50 in 34 balls (Naeem Sajjadi 30, Abdul Wahab al-Salim 20)
Naeem Sajjadi: 50 in 41 balls, 5x4 1x6 (Jabal Akhdar 94-2)
6th wicket: 50 in 28 balls (Ali Akbar Nizamani 34, Abdul Wahab al-Salim 16)
Abdul Wahab al-Salim: 50 in 35 balls, 4x4 1x6 (Jabal Akhdar 157-6)

One-over eliminator details

The Cordian Isles 7-0 (1 over)
                      R    B   4/6
D Nørup     NOT OUT   2   (2)  -/-
B Prebensen NOT OUT   5   (4)  -/-
EXTRAS                0

                 O    M    R    W
Mukhtar Mohamed  1    0    7    0

Jabal Akhdar 9-0 (0.5 overs)
                         R    B   4/6
Kamaaluddeen   NOT OUT   8   (5)  2/-
Aslan Qambrani NOT OUT   0   (0)  -/-
EXTRAS (1wb)             1

         O    M    R    W
Johnsen  0.5  0    9    0

Match result: Match tied (Jabal Akhdar won the one-over eliminator)

AP (Akhdari Press): An immigrant work visa, a little-more-than-passing understanding of Akhdari culture, and a healthy dose of heart medication pills: the three crucial elements in any Green Cap kit bag. Set 158 to chase by The Cordian Isles, the Akhdari cricket team knew they had scaled bigger targets before, but never on the stage of an AOT20 semi-final. 20 regulation overs later, nothing could separate the teams as Abdul Wahab al-Salim’s drive to cover was good enough only for a scampered single. And after a tournament in which it has been the Akhdari spinners to the fore, it was the turn of seam attack leader Mukhtar Mohamed to play the hero with a tight Super Over conceding only 7 runs.

It should never have been so close, but from 94-2, Louise Johnsen ripped through the Akhdari middle order, taking a hat-trick. Naeem Sajjadi, who had compiled his second fifty of the tournament but slowed in the second half of his innings, lost his off pole; Kamaaluddeen, on whose slender shoulders the hopes of the chase seemed to rest, went first ball as a leading edge looped back to the bowler; and Aslan Qambrani slashed to cover to complete the hat-trick. Abdul Wahab al-Salim and Ali Akbar Nizamani then scraped together a frantic 50 stand, but with erratic running that could have seen them each run out – and proved fatal the third time they tested the Cordian fielders. al-Salim bashed his way to a maiden half-century off the final over but couldn’t find a winning run.

Not for the first time, Aftab Qadiri gambled. Instead of his spinners, he chose Mukhtar Mohamed, his under-pressure seamer, for the Super Over. Having conceded 0-35 off his 4 overs, Mohamed bowling skiddy yorkers that left the Cordian openers unable to find the boundary. For the second part of his bold captaincy gambit, Qadiri then sent out Kamaaluddeen and Qambrani, both of whom had just registered golden ducks, to chase the 8 runs needed. This time, there was no Johnsen magic: Kamaaluddeen could wait for the boundary balls, and put them away, twice, to seal a thrilling win.

Earlier, tight bowling and an improved performance in the field with “only” two catches dropped had seen the Green Caps restrict Cordia to 159 off their 20. Bernt Prebensen anchored the innings with 45* and Miriam Iversen hit a sprightly 43 off 25, but the Akhdari proved tough to get away and Qambrani picked up two surprise wickets including a sharp return catch. Masood Naqvi, though finishing with modest figures of 1-30 off 4, was the pick of the bowlers. In reply, Shakaar Rana fell to the first of three golden ducks in the innings, and Qadiri again struggled for fluency, before Sajjadi and al-Salim joined together. The manic scenes that then unfolded were far away as the two pleasingly stroked around the Cordian bowlers.

When they arrived in Turori, the Green Caps could scarcely have dreamed of a regional final, but it is that that now awaits them, where they will meet tournament co-hosts Baker Park.

[Gyatso-kai]

.:: AWAY Locker Room, Jacob F Gleason Field, Belle Haven, Commonwealth of Baker Park ::.
1900 hours, local time, 16 December 2021.3

As the energy began to build in the locker room with just forty-five minutes left before kickoff, Mit Wobet sat at his locker stall, looking at the statue of An’buir with his usual pre-game focus and intensity. An’buir was one of the patron gods of Wobet’s religion, a branch of ‘Mando’a Spirituality’ as it was referred to in Avatarian documents as, or as Wobet and its followers called it, “Manda” or “Spirit”. An’buir was the father of the two head gods of Manda – Kad Ha’rangir and Arasuum – who, as legend told, were engaged in a never-ending war for dominance; Kad Ha’rangir, the God of Destrction seeking to keep the world in chaos and change, and Arasuum being the God of Stagnation, who wanted everything to stay as it was.

An’buir sat above them, watching the daily lives of all who lived in this universe through his two strillhawks, never choosing one of his sons over the other, and instead seeking to find a middle ground between the two diametrically opposed sides. However, most followers of Manda did not see An’buir in this light, and instead see him as an undecisive father, who instead of scolding his sons and taking his rightful place as ruler over them and the realm beneath them, chose instead to dishonor Kad Harangir and support Arasuum with not engaging in change.

So most Mando altars did not have him in the position of honor. Most altars do not honor one god over the other; seeing as how the sect that exclusively worshipped Arasuum died out years and years ago thanks in part to their own beliefs that their god wanted them to do nothing and just allow life to stay the same … terrible

As Webot stood, he looked beneath his statue of An’buir, and to the Away uniform hanging there. Originally, had Gyatso-kai made it to this point, the plan was to wear the Alternate uniform of all-red with gold accents as their playoff uniform; however, with Delaclava advancing into the group stage, the option was to go with a more strikingly different color scheme so as to stand out on the field, more than likely wearing Home should they face off at any point. When it was announced that the team would be facing off against Delaclava for the championship, the choice was made to run with the black Aways instead, and to re-do the team’s helmets with all black and a gold facemask so as to better be seen against very-similar colored Delaclava. Webot had hoped they would have been able to wear the Home Jersey; he always felt more confident in his play whenever he had the white shirt over and felt that it helped him better spot his own team and which players to throw the ball to whenever the chance arose.

Which for this tournament… had been quite a few more than expected…

He dressed with no ceremony; no fancy music playing in his ears, no chants to be said, no order for the uniform to come on. Webot simply closed his eyes, and allowed the spirit of An’buir guide his choices for how to dress. He could smell the orange blossom incense on his skin as he moved around to place his pads on before pulling the uniform over. While most of the players blasted whatever music they chose to get hyped to into their ears, or chanted whatever pre-game ritual they brought from their home clans, Webot found himself simply thinking of An’buir and how to best please him with his play and performance. To garnish whatever favor he could from his gods, and to hopefully push the God of Stagnation onto the opposing team and bog them down.

I wonder if I should pray before walking through the tunnel…

Probably not… An’buir doesn’t need any ‘help’ from me trying to serenade Margaret…

[Valanora]

Legends are not born, they are crafted through the experiences of their lifetimes, through the deeds that they do and achieve until their last breath escapes them and they fade into the ether, folded back into the reality that gave them life in the first place. To be a living legend is then a rare feat indeed, that you deeds are already so accomplished and you so respected among peers and others that you are elevated to a whole other level. I suppose it does help if you are an elf and have already had the breath of many lifetimes of some of the shorter lived species, that little fact might be the cheat code into getting into that elevated status or at least having the opportunity to do so. There is little discussion or debate as to whether or not that Laborious Hawk has reached legendary status, that debate came and went decades prior and now it is simply an accepted fact, the deeds that the player has been able to achieve on the field are second to none. When one is discussed as potentially being the greatest player to have ever played the sport, being deemed a living legend seems like a modest boast at best and assumed role.

However every now and then, even legends are overshadowed and are not the focal point of the event that they are a part of. While the Marauders battle to get to the Quarterfinals of the AOCAF has by no means been a one person show, Laborious Hawk's fingerprints are all over the triumph that has seen the team get to this point, being the focal point in getting the team moving forward. Part of that comes in his role as the captain of the team, making it an assumed duty that Hawk will have everyone up and ready for the game and be the coach on the field to get players playing in a more cohesive and together matter so that the end product is the desired goal. It is a role that he has found good footing in for the better part of fifty or so World Cups at this point and many, many domestic seasons in the various places and clubs that he had played at during his magnificent domestic career. A natural leader through the example of action and not as much in the verbal part of leading, yet he has routinely found ways to make the players and teams around him better more often than not.

In the match against the cohosts for the right to continue the pursuit of the regional title, it would not be Hawk who would claim the plaudits or who would be the focal point in the Marauders attempts at securing the victory. Rather it would not be one single person who would be the key to defeating a side as talented as Baker Park and in front of their home fans who were pushing them ever forward and trying to be that decisive edge between two fairly evenly matched teams on the night. On this night in the Rogers Stadium in Endborough in Baker Park, the Marauders instead collectively put together a performance as a team that would keep the hosts from making the most of their home advantage and would keep the much maligned defense from being overburdened. Baker Park would only be able to must five shots on the night, with only two of them on target and Julius Miljeteig would have safe and reliable hands on both occasions, keeping a clean sheet in this highly pressurized game that seemed to have a little more riding on it for the team in navy and white.

It would be in the fifty-seventh minute that the difference between the two sides on the night would be found and as exemplified by the rest of the evening, it would be a well worked team effort that would eventually find the goal to break the deadlock. Ralph Winter would head out an attempted cross from Alonzo Boyle into the mixer. Gideon Riemann would collect the ball and put it out wide to Veliz, who pushed it across into the middle for Hawk, who sent it back out wide and up the line for Veliz to run onto and stretch his legs in a dashing run up the sideline. Feinting a cut in, Veliz squared it back to the top of the box to Riemann, who one touched the ball forward as Ludwig spun around his defender and latched onto the ball with his left foot, shifting it to his right with his first touch and then delicately chipping it over Rob Callaway who had attempted to rush out and smother the play. Unfortunately the acceleration of Ludwig was too much and the weight of the pass just right that Lothas had beat the keeper to the ball and with a showcase of his technical ability, put the Marauders out front. A position that they would not relinquish over the rest of the match.

More often than not a legend shines the brightest, but on this night it was the collective work of the team, a team that now finds itself once more in the semifinals of the regional championship and in the somewhat unfamiliar role as the favorite of the remaining teams. That moniker may be more curse than blessing as the knockout rounds have not been overly kind to favorites in the tournament and the Marauders will need to steel themselves from being too caught up in the hoopla and potential for a title that they lose sight on the game in front of them. That game is a rekindling of a once held rivalry with the former colony of Demot, who have made themselves into quite the force to come out of nowhere and into the semifinals themselves. The Dynamo are a team that likes to attack and attack in waves, they did have the best goals for record in the group stage and their quarterfinal tie also saw them score four times. The defense will have their task, to be as strong as they were against Baker Park against Demot and if the team can play as such a cohesive unit for a second straight game, a date in the Final should await them.

[Commonwealth of Baker Park]

Cutoff for the AORC Finals, live from Barnitz Stadium in Middletown:

Banija 19–17 Sultanate of Oontaz
Sultanate of Oontaz 7–35 Aji No Moto
Aji No Moto 12–24 Banija

Pld   W  L   PF  PA  PD  Pts 
1 Banija                 2   2  0   43  29 +14    4
2 Aji No Moto            2   1  1   47  31 +16    2
3 Sultanate of Oontaz    2   0  2   24  54 −30    0

Banija win the Linus Inniscragthie Memorial Plate

Bowl Final
The Cordian Isles 12–28 Vilita

Cup Final

Baker Park 26-19 Pluvia and the Saxean Isles (scored by Vilita)

And the Final of AO Bowl Championship from Gleason Field, Belle Haven:

Delaclava 17–17 Gyatso-kai (33–30 OT)

Congratulations to our Regional Champions!

[Demot]

"Did we just...?"

"Yes, yes I believe that we did."

"I saw it live and in person and I still do not believe what I just saw. We not only were able to hold our own against Gyatso-kai, but we were able to come back after going behind a goal in the extra time and then were able to find a way to beat them in a penalty shootout. This is absolutely insanity and I am all for it, long live the Dynamo!"

"So, what do we do now? There is no way that anything gets better than the game we were able to just attend. Six goals in the normal time with both sides trading blows through the game, then both sides able to find a way to get a goal in the extra time, before an eight player a piece penalty shootout and we somehow won it. The Dynamo are completely unbelievable!"

"Well they are going to need to be that if they are going to have any chance of winning their next match, they play Valanora next. Last time we played them in a game of any importance was the World Cup 43 Final and we all know how that went."

"Who cares, the national team is back and whatever happens in the next two games, well it happens. At long last we have been able to see history rather than just be completely reminded of it. What a time to be alive."

[Squornshelan Remnant States]

Sometimes the unexpected success is the sweetest. Competing as a united nation for just the second time in a century, and fielding a B team of younger players for evaluation, the Confederacy has reached its second ever international semifinal, the first since IAC 8 six cycles ago. Featuring players from both halves of this recently mended nation, the team has inspired a sense of unity that would have been unimaginable just a few years ago.

In Brantisvogan, the beating Metropolitan heart of the Confederacy, they cheer not only local favorites like Vancy Akkaynak and Chiranjivi Dast, but others from across the nation. In Santraginus, at the grand re-opening of Semi's Bar, now rebuilt after the war, dockworkers and students both proudly watched local boy Vasilii Nyberg, but also got to know his partners in defense from across the Far Sea. Everyone got behind a rotating cast of strikers, all little regarded coming out of their youth days, and all now making big impacts abroad and indeed here in the Vilitan Cove. In Vogsphere, where the old Imperial Palace still looms like a gargoyle above the buildings of the government center, in streets where non-ethnic Squornshelans had been second-class citizens for centuries, voices cried out praises for names like Kartal, Yarlut, and Damnagoras.

A nation so long divided cannot be healed in a few short weeks, simply by watching their flag, their emblems carried forth by a team that doesn't seem to know when it ought to lose. The process of building bridges will take long years, generations even. Old prejudices must be forgotten, old injustices righted and old crimes punished. Two peoples must learn to trust each other, and rediscover the truth that they are one. Still, this performance, even if it should end in defeats will stand as a testament to the inspirational power of sport. Of its power to unite and, on occasion, to bring out the best in people.

[Delaclava]

"This can't be happening."

"They don't even belong on the same field as us."

So the conversation went in many a Delaclav bar and living room on the night that the Phoenixes took on Gyatso-kai for the regional championship. The Phoenixes were the former two-time champions, one of the best teams in the world: the... "Boarqupines"?? had never played an international game before this. It was a miracle they'd only lost to Delaclava by 31 points, wasn't it? How was it they had the favorites on the ropes and needing a touchdown just to survive regulation?

There were about fifty or so young men who didn't think this way at all. Fortunately, they were the ones dressed in red and gold and standing on the grass in Belle Haven. This wasn't a team worried about what kind of team they were "supposed" to face - all they were concerned about was that they needed seven points in the next five minutes and give themselves a shot at the championship. Besides, they'd seen the Boarqupines hang tough just two games ago, were smart enough to recognize their potential. They hadn't taken the underdogs lightly at all - the Avatarians were just throwing everything they had at the Delaclavs.

But the game was still just 17-10, and so Michael Willis took a deep breath before jogging out after Tam Prater's kickoff went unreturned. The Gyatso-kai defense had perfected their blitz-heavy attack today, but Willis had finally put some dents into the opponents, targeting Robbie Hahn and Christian Gooden on short slants. Now, Rellim Von and Leyiab Cyr'o were itching to make the big title winning play - too eager, in fact. Not even they could get there quickly enough for Willis to feed Hahn and Gooden on slants for five, six, seven yards at a time.

Now the Phoenixes had the ball on the 43 yard line. The Boarqupines were on their heels, just hoping to stop another first down. Michael Willis had bigger plans. He took the snap Joe Gill, dropped back a few steps, scanned, and saw Andre Michel streaking down the right side of the field, just a half-step in front of Leyiab. Willis quickly turned and whipped his arm forward, flinging the ball into a perfect arc that Michel caught on the 5-yard line. Leyiab tackled him just too late as their momentum took them both past the goal line.

Simon Dacosta steadied himself to make the crucial extra point, and Willis knew the game was over - not because the scoreboard said so, but because they'd survive the ebb and flow of the action, the evolution of the opponent's game plan, and were still kicking. The Phoenixes had been here before, they had the greater variety of options. One possession for one? This was their game.

They matched touchdowns on the first drive. The Phoenixes had their chance on the second possession, after Mit Wobet's dash to the left side on the two-point conversion fell just short in the arms of Kendrick Diaz. But after Willis snuck in for the tying touchdown, he thought he could do it again for the win. Not quite, Rein'un Ch'tim said, stuffing the QB sneak and prolonging the game.

The third time was the charm, as Elias Zafrani crept across the middle to interrupt the pass from Wobet to A'den Kato and fall down with the ball secured. Coach Frank Newman didn't think twice, immediately sending out Dacosta to win this now. The crowd at Jacob F. Gleason Field grew louder, anticipating the championship moment in the making.

Dacosta got set. Osian Fox snapped to the punter, Rhys Davidson. Dacosta took one, two steps and drove his left leg into the ground, swinging his right leg through the ball. It sailed well above the outstretched fingertips of the Boarqupine defenders, and between the uprights.

It wasn't the championship performance the young Delaclava squad drew up - but they and a worthy adversary had put on an instant classic for the finest sporting region in the world, and it was still Michael Willis' squad that triumphantly raised the trophy - their first of many.

[Qasden]

---

From the Blazing Sear of Yesteryear

---

By Tomathan Hammerland

There are only 2 occasions in life where a title that rhymes is genuinely ok: during your kid's wedding reception and in times of inane emotion. Thing is, I don't have a kid, nor the means to purchase one from that goat farmer down the road. If there's a possible way to describe this feeling, you'd have to imagine like 7 emotions showing up at the same time, yet none of them know why they're there nor have a reason to leave immediately. The sensation is...numbing; like, I can't tell whether my 5 brain cells are leaning over the dark chasm or reeling from it. I've been told to actually take the day off and enjoy the sunset hours of the tournament, but screw those guys. Get on my ass for two weeks, then decide to let me free once it starts getting juicy? No, get published, nerd.

After a plethora of sporting affairs in the past however long it's been, Qasden finds themselves floating in 2 sporting abysses. Rugby and Baseball tanked early, leaving a semi-bound Cricket team and a Football squad getting a hit of nirvana for the first time since the 62 semis. Both of these groups hadn't really had much to live up to, going in. The WicketVans are a completely new team in a completely new tournament, while the Vans just intended to use this tournament as a test for new general manager, Icarus Darsten. Sure enough, both outperformed their competitors in a cascade of gameplay, resulting in the awkward forays we find ourselves in now. Just gonna put this out there, but one of the stories has waaaaaaaaay more significance to what I feel like writing about atm, so as much as I love the other guys, we'll speedrun them.

Cricket! T20! Whatever insect/algorithm chimera you want it to be. Baseball but c i r c l e. We entered the tournament last-second in order to give the contest a bit more oomph, seeing as the initial plans of cataclysm featured a plain round robin showdown. To stop this simple debauchery, the WickeVans or whatever forced themselves down the throat of AO, giving way to a surprise bye to the semi-finals. At first, there was a smidge of hope that something of value would come out of this. Instead, we get drawn against Baker Park, the game-ender to any Qad sports team. I don't really need to cover it from here, but it's pretty clear by that instinct to avoid discussion implies a grim fate for our loveable clowder of the clueless. Rest in peace, has-beens of Blue-Red Cricket; we'll be amazed if we remember you.

Onto the meat and potatoes, our last competition: the AOCAF. Gotta say, I don't think anyone saw us getting this far, lest not with the constant uptick in heart-attacks, courtesy of every match being a nail-biter (the hell, man, I just wanna sleep tonight!). Still, through the brush and brimstone, Darsten and the Vans stood firm, 4-0 the group stage and sending Geisenfried home for like the 3rd time in recent memory. All good and fun, but the happy crap immediately became a crappy happ when it came to our quarter-final match, featuring our ever star-crossed mini-rival, Tropicorp. For the few that are fortunate enough to not know, the Techies are a small-ish nation on the mainland southeast of the Vilitan Cove, doing whatever people do there, idk. Despite only ever entering regional events, Tropicorp was more than capable of displaying their manufactured prowess on the field, once reaching the Top 10 in all of AO. Increasing their lethality, however, is our record against them. On the 3-ish times we've met in AOCAF, all of them ended in a simple 1-0 shutout of Qasden, a real open-and-close type of thing. We were expecting (and, honestly, pleading) to get a rematch with the Eel-Cat Things of Vilita and Turori, someone who we're able to beat on an unsettlingly regular basis. Instead, the Corp did to them what they do to us, dragging us into the devil's domain that is Tropicoast for retribution.

Hope was admittedly lost from here. aside from being above them in rankings and foreign bookies favoring the Vans for more than Tropicorp, there was no real way we'd be able to pull it off. The coast had already broken our hearts before in AOCAF LIVe, giving us a taste of advancement before immediately employing our doomed destiny in Round 1 against Chromatika. Bars in T.V. City were filled to the brim, mostly containing pessimistic saps that want to drink in premature defeat. The starting whistle blew, the bottoms of mugs went up, and a match just as terrifying and heart-cracking as all the others in this Marlene-forsaken tournament commenced.

As the madshow raged on, old memories from the backs of drunken Qads began to resurface. How every time the two of us duke it out, it's always 1-0; a painful, organ-clarting 1-0. The remembrance soon turned into suspicions; then, to downright conspiracy. All it took was a single goal to win, the glazed-eyed fanbase spewed like verbal acid. Whoever shot it, got it, and with an offense-seeking Qasden, maybe...just maybe, the tides can turn. 52 minutes in...the great judgement emerged. In a roundhouse turn of events, an offset corner gave way to a hat trick more stylish than that one time I tried a trilby on. Michelle McCracken, the Brattleboro-bound Captain of the QAD, had broken the curse (...in the minds of the boozed, anyways). 1-0 Qasden, what alcohol were these guys drinking and where can I find them in Vilita? At that point, it became a matter of mad defense vs. a starving offense, to exacerbate tensions between non-existent relations between a science facility and a principality half-way across the region. Time kept ticking down, and the score stood still. One more whistle was all it took...and at last, history was overwritten.

1-0 FT, the dirtiest way we could've possibly done it to those lab-coat jagoffs. The Vans had broken a curse as old as Belle Haven; now, they take this freedom to the cove. For the 3rd time in national history, Qasden had reached the AOCAF semi-finals. Gone were the days of celebratory anarchy in Jon Merritt and Sylvia Zimari, as now the midnight revel set their appraisals towards McCracken, Darsten, and the new era. Only two more matches stand in our way from claiming a title 14 cycles in the making, starting with a face we always manage to play in qualifiers. Squornshelan Remnant States, some form of breakaway state from the initial Squornshelous, but is now Squornshelous in of itself? Confusing, but whatever, that's not the point. Despite being a Pot 3 team managed by an Omerican, the Black and Reds' unexpectedly handed out L's to damn near every team they've faced, including the only one to ever beat them this run, Farfadillis. Now coming off the back of a stellar victory over 9th-ranked Sarzonia, the Confederacy is looking to capitalize on their newfound dominance by taking on the undefeated Vans mano a mano for a spot in the title match. Victory would, of course, come at the cost of facing arguably the most dreadful of teams: Demot. The undisputed kingpin of Azeuria, lossless throughout a campaign that saw them tango with the biggest names in AO, such as Jabal Akhdar and Romsten. Skilled as they are feared by all, and the unlucky bastards to face them happen to be the doomed #1 ranked squad, Valanora.

Can Icarus Darsten bring the Vans back for a 2nd chance to win the impossible? Could the Squornshelan Remnant States outlast the last of their competition standing in the way of long lost glory? Who will be destroyed by the raging tide that is Demot first? Stay tuned, stay updated, and stay alert for the greatest underdog grudge match this side of Articala at AOCAF 65!

---

[Geisenfried]

At the Eleventh Hour
Geisenfried topples reigning champions Banija in dramatic fashion, advance to regional final

TROPICOAST, TROPICORP - You couldn't script a movie to end like this - at least, not without the critics leaving a review calling it hackneyed and played out. But after falling down to 4-3 to the defending champions, Geisenfried managed to put two men on base before Willem Richter knocked it all the way out of the park with two outs, denying the Banijans a third straight finals appearance and giving Geisenfried the victory in this baseball version of the Kanuen River Derby. Their chance at glory awaits in Vilita as they take on a young Delaclava team for the regional championship.

Banija came in with an advantage, as their five-pitcher rotation meant that squad ace Ramata Kabba was available, while Geisenfried's four-man rotation pushed it to the #2 man in Johan Forst, responsible for Geisenfried's only loss in the competition so far. Undeterred, Forst once again came out strong with 5 straight scoreless innings while Geisen small ball finally made way in the third inning - after striking out the pitcher Forst, both the leadoff hitters managed to make it to base before a deep fly from Richter put them into scoring positions. Jerome Gruber would bring Frederick Wetzel home for the first run of the game, while Maxwell Alwin would end up stranded at third after Ralf Kammerherr's ground ball to Mesuli Calata left the shortstop with an easy fielder's choice to end the inning.

They'd double their advantage in the fourth, with previous run-scorer Wetzel knocking in Isaac Hafner in to make it two-zero. But three runners stranded in scoring position in two innings would come to haunt the Geisen squad, as in the top of the sixth Calata would steal second, putting him in the right spot for Malik Soley to send him home and cut the score in half. Looking for more offensive output, Forst was pinch-hit for in the bottom of the sixth, ending his day on a solid 1-run, 4-hit outing, and Markus Benz, hero against Misrantis - another walk-off homer victory - would put the ball just over the left-field fence for a solo shot to make it 3-1. Hafner would move over to short to let Benz in on second, sacrificing Nichols' strengths as a defensive player to keep Benz's bat, while with right-handed batters down the remaining order, righty Simon Dietrich was called in from the pen. But Nyaniso Hani would get a leadoff hit in the seventh, advancing on Cedron Aloo's fly ball before getting to third thanks to Bailo Suso. With two outs and a man on third, Ousman Kakay decided to bring in Momodou Joof to pinch, and like Benz, he'd make the appearance count by driving Hani home.

After Badara Ogunsula delivered a one-hit seventh, set-up man Rufus Saverio came on in the 8th to try and keep a 3-2 lead secure. But for the second time in six games, Saverio managed to blow the save, bringing up questions on whether or not he will continue to relied upon as Geisenfried's penultimate pitcher. The heart of Banija's order, star Soley and Luxolo Mbeki combined for back-to-back doubles to tie the game up before Saverio managed to get out Hani and Aloo. This would prompt Banija to put in their own set-up man, Oyella Lugum, who would go one-two-three, retiring Hafner, Archembald and Timo Schumacher, brought to pinch-hit for Saverio with Lambert Blaeyer ready to take over in the ninth. Then came the closer's duel.

Blaeyer and his counterpart Yoro Coulibaly traded spotless ninths before each gave up a hit in the tenth, Coulibaly also yielding a walk. At the top of the eleventh, however, the use he'd accumulated throughout the tournament started to catch up with him. Hani and Aloo would get onto the bases, and with two on, Banija brought on Ebrahima Sillah in Coulibaly's spot to pinch-hit and put Ifeatu Chee in to pinch-run for Hani at second - Assefa Mulugeta having pinch-hit for Lugum in the ninth before replacing Anathi Zimema at catcher in the tenth to put the pitcher seventh in the order. Geisenfried would manage to get Chee out at the plate, but Suso would single to make it bases loaded. Mulugeta put in a hit to drive Aloo home, prompting Geisenfried to finally pull the normally reliable Blaeyer and put in Miklan Anschutz, who would force Calata into grounding into a double play to get out of the jam and end the inning having only yielded one run - but still the go ahead run.

And so Banija called Mizpah Askari to the mound to defend the lead. Willing to throw everything at the wall at this point, Anschutz was immediately replaced with a pinch-hitter, Reimund Graaf, who unfortunately could only send a fly ball to Sillah, now out in left field for Hani. Markus Benz had better luck, managing to get to first on a hit past Oneko. Wetzel would whiff on a 2-2 count to put Geisenfried in dire straits, but Maxwell Alwin managed to get the ball over Chee and into shallow center-right, allowing Benz to manage to get all the way to third, and leaving Askari in a dilemma. Both Richter and Gruber were power hitters, though Richter the more consistent batter of the two. She could afford to walk Richter, but it would put both the winning and go ahead runs in scoring position with Gruber easily capable of knocking both home. In the end, she decided to pitch to Richter.

It would be a decision she'd regret. After getting him looking on the first pitch, the second went too low to make it 1-1. But the third would hang in the corner just enough for Richter to smack it hard into deep center, and bring the Geisen dugout to their feet. It cleared the fence comfortably, and brought the game to a raucous conclusion, with Banija being denied a trip to the AOBS finals for the first time. An underdog through and through, Geisenfried had reached the finals, with only one match left to go between them and a most unlikely Atlantian Oceania Baseball Series trophy.

After a long stretch at the now comfortable climes of Tropicoast Field, Geisenfried will travel to Lopinka, Vilita to Toys '4' All Field for the final game against Delaclava. They'll switch up their starting rotation a bit - after a strong performance against Tropicorp, Mauritz Eilerts will start on three days' rest for the final against Delaclava, with Robin Bergmann and Anton Seuss both available to come on if necessary to secure the team the title. With the potential victory being the first Geisen regional title in a major team sport, expect the team to put everything on the line to bring home the hardware.

Geisenfried 6, Banija 4 (11)

Code: Select all

BNJ - 0 0 0 0 0 1 1 1 0 0 1 - 4 14 0
GSF - 0 0 1 1 0 1 0 0 0 0 3 - 6 15 0

Scoring Plays
Bot 3rd: Kabba pitching
- Gruber singles, Wetzel scores, Alwin to third | GSF 1, BNJ 0

Bot 4th: Kabba pitching
- Wetzel doubles, Hafner scores, Nichols to third | GSF 2, BNJ 0

Top 6th: Forst pitching
- Soley doubles, Calata scores | GSF 2, BNJ 1

Bot 6th: Kabba pitching
- Benz pinch-hitting for Forst, Benz solo HR, Benz scores | GSF 3, BNJ 1

Top 7th: Dietrich pitching
- Joof pinch-hitting for Kabba, Joof singles, Hani scores, Suso to second | GSF 3, BNJ 2

Top 8th: Saverio pitching
- Mbeki doubles, Soley scores | GSF 3, BNJ 3

Top 11th: Blaeyer pitching
- Mulugeta singles, Aloo scores, Sillah to third, Suso to second | BNJ 4, GSF 3

Bot 11th: Askari pitching
- Three-run homer by Richter, Benz scores, Alwin scores, Richter scores | GSF 6, BNJ 4

Pitching Stats:

Banija	IP:	ER:	H	K	Geisenfried	IP:	ER:	H	K
Kabba	6.0	3	10	4	Forst	6.0	1	4	5
Ogunsola	1.0	0	1	1	Dietrich	1.0	1	3	0
Lagum	1.0	0	0	2	Saverio	1.0	1	2	1
Coulibaly	2.0	0	1	2	Blaeyer	2.1	1	5	2
Askari L	0.2	3	3	1	Anschutz W	0.2	0	0	0

[Commonwealth of Baker Park]

We've reached the Semi-Finals of the oldest and best Regional Championship so who will take the crown?

at the Arcticala Electrical Stadium, Arcticala, Vilita (att--88,712)

Qasden 2–3 Squornshelan Remnant States

at the BBP National Stadium, Belle Haven, BP (att--71,968)

Valanora 3–3 Demot (4–3 AET)

Third Place Playoff
at TBD

Qasden vs Demot

FINAL
BBP National Stadium, Belle Haven

Valanora vs Squornshelous Remnant States

[AOCAF]

AOBS III FINAL
Toys '4' All Diamond, Lopinka, Vilita

Delaclava              0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0  0
Geisenfried            0 0 1 1 0 0 1 0 X  3

3rd Place Playoff:
Toys '4' All Diamond, Lopinka, Vilita

Milchama               0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0  1
Banija                 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 0 X  2

---

AOT20 FINAL
Yeaddin Cricket Club, Yeaddin, Vilita

Jabal Akhdar 155/6 (19.5 overs)
Baker Park 154/4 (20 overs)

3rd Place Playoff:
Eelandii Cricket Grounds, Eelandii, Turori

Cordian Isles 152/5 (20 overs)
Qasden 153/5 (19.5 overs)

[Jabal Akhdar]

(Provisional) match details.

Baker Park 154-4 (20 overs)
                                                     R    B   4/6
B Nyquist  NOT OUT                                  86  (63) 11/2
C McCarthy                    b Mukhtar Mohamed      6   (6)  1/-
R West+    c Naeem Sajjadi    b Ali Akbar Nizamani   9  (14)  1/-
R Hilton   c Chandrama Kayal+ b Ali Akbar Nizamani  25  (15)  4/-
E DaCosta                 c & b Mukhtar Mohamed     22  (17)  1/2
J Driscoll NOT OUT                                   4   (5)  -/-
Did not bat: M Wright, R Bruce, P Edwards, B Reed, C Vitale
EXTRAS (1lb, 1wb)                                    2

FoW: 1: 25 (McCarthy, 3.1 overs); 2: 61 (West, 7.4 overs); 3: 101 (Hilton, 12.4 overs); 4: 150 (DaCosta, 19.1 overs)

                    O    M    R    W
Tajdar Reza         4    0   30    0
Ishaaq Hameed       1    0   16    0
Mukhtar Mohamed     4    0   26    2
Ali Akbar Nizamani  4    0   36    2
Masood Naqvi        4    0   27    0
Aftab Qadiri        3    0   18    0

Jabal Akhdar 155-6 (19.5 overs)
                                           R    B   4/6
Shakaar Rana         c West+   b Edwards  51  (39)  4/2
Aftab Qadiri*        c Nyquist b DaCosta   8   (8)  1/-
Naeem Sajjadi        st West+  b Vitale   19  (13)  3/-
Abdul Wahab al-Salim NOT OUT              41  (31)  3/1
Kamaaluddeen         c West+   b Vitale    7   (8)  -/-
Ali Akbar Nizamani   c West+   b Reed     21  (14)  -/2
Chandrama Kayal+               b DaCosta   1   (2)  -/-
Mukhtar Mohamed      NOT OUT               2   (4)  -/-
Did not bat: Masood Naqvi, Ishaaq Hameed, Tajdar Reza
EXTRAS (2b, 3wb)                           5

FoW: 1: 27 (Aftab Qadiri, 3.2 overs); 2: 63 (Naeem Sajjadi, 7.3 overs); 3: 104 (Shakaar Rana, 13.1 overs); 4: 116 (Kamaaluddeen, 15.1 overs); 5: 152 (Ali Akbar Nizamani, 18.5 overs); 6: 153 (Chandrama Kayal, 19.1 overs)

          O    M    R    W
Driscoll  2    0   12    0
Reed      4    0   40    1
DaCosta   2.5  0   16    2
Bruce     3    0   32    0
Vitale    4    0   28    2
Edwards   4    0   25    1

Baker Park innings
Powerplay: Baker Park 45-1, 6 overs (Nyquist 34, West 4)
B Nyquist: 50 in 30 balls, 9x4 1x6 (Baker Park 67-2)

Jabal Akhdar innings
Powerplay: Jabal Akhdar 55-1, 6 overs (Shakaar Rana 28, Naeem Sajjadi 15)
Shakaar Rana: 50 in 36 balls, 4x4 2x6 (Jabal Akhdar 100-2)

Match result: Jabal Akhdar win by 4 wickets

AP (Akhdari Press): Under the floodlights, Mukhtar Mohamed hacked wildly and -- having missed his first three attempts -- connected well enough with the fourth to send a thick edge spiralling down to third man. He and Abdul Wahab al-Salim raced back for the second to complete the Green Caps' win and with it claim literally the most prestigious sporting title available to cricket teams competing in Atlantian Oceanian regional competitions. For a team of mostly immigrant labourers, part-time semi-professionals, and four teenagers, it was a staggering accomplishment.

The Green Caps played much of the game with one hand tied behind their back, having dropped all-rounder Aslan Qambrani for pace merchant Ishaaq Hameed, whose wild first over went for 16 and prompted banishment to the fine leg-to-fine leg shuffle. A bowler down, Aftab Qadiri turned his own distinctly part-time arm over for what turned out to be three very economical overs of flat, non-turning off-"spin". Ali Akbar Nizamani and Masood Naqvi found more turn, although the pick of the spinners -- despite going wicketless -- was Tajdar Reza, who took the new ball and bowled without great spin but with wicked bounce off the surface, fizzing deliveries spitting into Chandrama Kayal's gloves past the bat.

In response, Shakaar Rana, just on the precipice of making his vaunted debut innings look like a fluke, made a much more composed fifty. When Baker Park's own spinners got to work, he top-edged a cut into Riley West's gloves, but al-Salim took over and a brief injection of attacking intent from Nizamani, who hit two big sixes, took the Green Caps within sight of victory before he gloved a sweep behind. With just 1 run to defend, DaCosta began his death over magnificently by sending Kayal's off-stump flying, but couldn't hit the sticks again as Mohamed scythed and missed.

The team have been sent congratulations by the Emir and Crown Prince, and will be greeted on their return with a reception at the Palace.

[Squornshelan Remnant States]

The Black-and-Reds began this, their first AOCAF playing against a legend of the tournament, so perhaps its fitting that they'll end their journey, in victory or defeat, against another such team. Though the AOCAF Cup may be the one tournament which cannot simply be dismissed as another "Untitled Elf Game" it was indeed Valanora who one might say accepted the baton passed by Pacitalia as their own era of dominance came to an end. While the day may never come when a team duplicates the incredible feats of the Blue Foxes in the 20's and 30's, winning 10 tournaments in a 16-cycle span, the Marauders have been a near perennial semifinal fixture since making their first in AOCAF Cup 39, exhibiting consistency in excellence that outstrips the other powers of this era. They have also hoisted four trophies of their own, and while it has been longer than the Eternal Empire would probably like since their last triumph at the fifty-third AOCAF Cup, they remain a team who must be considered a contender in any tournament they care to enter.

It is also fitting then, that this should happen now, still in the first international cycle of competition for this newly reunited nation. The Black-and-Reds have reach an international final for the first time in 51 cycles, dating back to World Cup 38, where the Red-and-Black were overcome by Az-Cz. That team had a fair amount of history with our final opponents today, defeating the Marauders 5-4 in the semifinal. Revenge was on the cards the following cycle though, as the two teams met in the second round of World Cup 39 in a match for the ages. Both teams managed three goals through full time, and combined for another four in extra time for a 6-4 final that sent the Squornshelans home early. This has long since passed out of living memory in the Confederacy, of course, but some in the Empire can probably still recall.

The semifinal against Qasden to reach this point was the latest in a series of matches the Black-and-Reds probably should not have won. This isn't the same shorthanded and disorganized I.A. Squornshelous team that bowed out in the group stage a cycle ago, but they certainly were not expected to make anywhere near this much noise. While the Black-and-Reds avoided facing either Vilita & Turori or Banija, ranked second and third in the region respectively, their path forced them to eliminate the sixth, ninth, and eleventh ranked sides. All this after tournament organizers could not initially agree on a ranking for the Black-and-Reds. 29th? 41st? 22nd? The upheaval and uncertainty of the unification has left many foreign heads spinning as they try to sort out exactly who their opponents are. A roster leaving off most of the Confederate mainstays probably didn't help matters either. In any case, no team was taking the Black-and-Reds lightly by this point, least of all the Vans. Teams prone to doing that don't make international semifinals.

No, the Turkish Vans came out disciplined and in sync, with McCracken marshaling her troops well in midfield, enjoying a majority, though not an overwhelming one, of possession. Jaylyn Bone, showing off the skill that Algolia were so eager to add to their roster, put the Vans in the lead midway through the first half, trapping De La Fontaine's forward ball off his chest while in full stride, and splitting Bedrosian and Palk in the process. Alone against Heiskanen, he made a quick strike to the bottom corner before the keeper could cut down the angle. As he wheeled away to celebrate in front of the Qasdonian supporters, the Confederate team looked at a loss. The match hadn't been a walkover by any means to this point, but such a perfectly executed play was impossible to defend against. Whether it was discouragement or simply more flawless play by the Vans, the lead was doubled before the half, as Nana lost his marker, Oljanen, and rose above the crowd to head home a McCracken corner kick.

With her team looking lost, Groothuis committed to wholesale change at the half, bringing on Akkaynak in place of Oljanen, and Shehu to replace Ortan, who had been spectacular through the knockouts so far, scoring both goals against Farfadillis and another against Sarzonia, but was looking a bit fatigued and out of sorts. The moves set a clear expectation from the Omerican that her team was going to push the attack in the second half, find an equalizer or die trying. Their first chance to narrow the lead came right out of the gate, when a rather hopeful ball forward from Bruno was sent rapidly back up the field, from Bedrosian up to Oljanen, and from there out wide to Nyberg. The Santraginean went on a long, rambling run down the flank before launching a cross from long distance that just sailed over the head of Shehu. The striker sprawled to the turf after her leap, but came up applauding the attempt, and a sense of optimism seemed to run through the team. For the next several minutes, they were everywhere at once, and the Vans couldn't seem to string more than a couple passes together before running into a solid wall of white jerseys. in the 61st, Nyberg got a chance to redeem himself, overlapping way down toward the corner flag. This time his cross was driven hard just above head height, and Shehu's touch was precise, nodding it into the far corner.

Then came the inevitable pushback, and the feeling out period. The Black-and-Reds had something to lose now, they were back in the match, but the Vans had realized they weren't going to just stroll the rest of the way to the final. Any overextension by either team was set to be punished. As the clock slowly ticked closer and closer to full time, the Confederates began to take chances. Groothuis as well, gave the order to push forward hard, taking off Arkhipov for a second striker in Ness. Loefgren and Nyberg, and even Bedrosian at times pushed further and further forward, in hopes that sheer weight of numbers would eventually break down the Qasdonian defense. The breakthrough was a creation of the two attacking midfielders, Akkaynak and Damnagoras, who had up to now not played a single minute together. Akkaynak, the playmaker, held the ball, playing quick exchanges with Arikansky, Bondarov, and Ness. Each time the ball returned to her, it seemed the defense inched a little closer, jumped a little earlier. Finally, as both Lekoye and Varnham rushed to try to catch her in possession, she drilled the ball forward to Ness who laid it off for Damnagoras. Rushing forward, the raumdeuter had once again gotten themself completely lost between the lines, and had an open shot from just outside the penalty area.

After the kickoff, the Confederates seemed prepared to play for extra time, and despite the Black-and-Reds current personnel not being their best defensive lineup, the Vans looked uncertain how to start breaking them down to look for the winner. In the first of three minutes of added time, the truly shocking occurred. An uncharacteristically hard slide from Arikansky was deemed fair play by the referee, and the resulting turnover was sent forward to Damnagoras. They played a quick one-two with Akkaynak, catching their Asbury Park teammate, Lekoye, flat-footed, and suddenly an attacking group of five bore down on just four Qasdonian defenders. In the end, they could only cover three others while also closing down Damnagoras to prevent them scoring an easy one. It was Ness who was left open, and she took Damna's pass in stride, dribbled around Waluigi, running through a desperation tackle by Rigby, and calmly slotted it home. That was the last thing that happened at all calmly for a few minutes. The Black-and-Reds second round match against Farfadillis may have seen Kambiz Ortan score the 500th competitive goal for the Confederacy, but this was certainly the most important goal in the national team's history. A couple minutes of desperate defending later, the final whistle went and the Black-and-Reds were set for their showdown with top-ranked Valanora.

Lineup for AOCAF LXV Final: Kartal; Nyberg, Bedrosian, Palk, Loefgren; Arikansky, Akkaynak, Damnagoras (C); Arkhipov, Bondarov; Shehu