BRENECIA
World Ranking: Like 30th? Top 30, just about
Preferred Formation: 4-3-3
Backup Formations: 4-2-3-1
Style Modifier: -1
Home Stadium: Kingsgarden - a 58,000 all-seater in the capital of Rozelle.
Kit Supplier: ediraf
Nickname: the Patriots
After the failure of Sienna Fallon to get acceptable results in the World Cup - though far from her fault - she proved an easy scapegoat, and was axed. Derdriu Wright's in, and she's swept a number of veterans out the door to try and blood a new generation of talent. They're far from certain to reach the World Cup, and qualification is going to be a serious battle. Wright's job is simple: get their shit together, and hash out a few decent results.
Honours
Campionato Esportiva 14, 17, 19, 22 and 25 champions.
World Cup 80 champions.
Casaran round participation award.
Overall Record
440 wins - 133 draws - 151 losses
1474 scored - 846 conceded
First Team and Tactics
Raised on lumpy grass pitches, waterlogged and potholed, Brenecian footballers tend to grow physical, disciplined and tough to break down, and this iteration of the national pool is no exception. Yet, they lack out-and-out goal threat after the international retirement of professional egomaniac Lauren Cheney. Brenecia will not be prolific, aiming mostly to break teams down in the centre of the park and attack very directly, with long balls and hard running the norm. Byrne and Carpenter offer something a little different on the wings, natural Plan Bs, with overlapping fullbacks tasked to whip in crosses.
I Give My Opponent Permission To:
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Choose My Goalscorers: Y*
Godmod Goalscoring Events: N
Injure Players: Y**
Godmod Injury Events: N
Red Card Players: Y***
Yellow Card Players: Y
Godmod Other Events: N
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* Carpenter takes most free-kicks and corners; Tristram takes penalties
** I'll have the final say on severity.
*** One per match without prior agreement.
Staff
Manager - Derdriu Wright - Age 52
Asst. Manager - Hendry Jackson - Age 47
An intelligent, well-read and softly-spoken woman, Wright likes a slightly more open style of play than her predecessors, but recognises that Brenecia's talents lie largely towards the back and will play to those strengths. She has high standards of her players and has been accused in the past of burning them out; will this translate well to international football's short stints and high turnover, or will she be unable to get her ideas across? Few expect her to revolutionise the game, but she's seen as a safe and unambitious pair of hands for the medium-term.
Goalkeepers
1 - GK - Anthea Finnan (
Holdenberg City) - Age 31 - 23 caps, 5 clean sheetsEndearingly twitchy, and quick on her feet. Finnan's rise has been thoroughly deserved, and she's overcome a number of career setbacks to put herself in the driver's seat as a successor to Wright. Inconsistent form during qualifiers has pegged her back in the pecking order, though.
12 - GK - Sorcha Tanner (
Southern Star) - Age 26 - 5 caps, 3 clean sheetsA strong and well-balanced goalkeeper, commanding in the air and rarely erring. She's not a top-class goalkeeper, as Brenecia had become used to with Woodgate and Wright, but she's consistent.
20 - GK - Cairbre Dundalk (
North Laithland) - Age 31 - 2 caps, 1 clean sheetDespite being 5'8" - with all the weakness in the air that entails - Dundalk's made a name for himself as a brilliant reflex stopper who never lets errors get him down.
Defenders
2 - RB - Clovette Bravender (
Ulsa) - Age 29 - 90 caps, 5 goalsBravender's combination of blinding pace, limitless energy and enthusiastic slinging of crosses into the box were evident from the start; it's only in her mid-20s that she was able to match it with sharp and excellent defending at the other end, making her a superb generalist.
3 - CB/LB - Triss Roscommon (
Revolutionaries) - Age 32 - 96 caps, 5 goalsA slender fullback, poised, technical and intelligent. The best fullbacks know when to hold 'em and fold 'em, and when to run (constantly); Roscommon has all these gifts and more, as any midfielder would be proud to have her passing range with her left. A born leader, this is likely her last World Cup, and she was shifted to centre-back late in qualifying.
5 - CB - Finn Leadbetter (
Holdenberg) - Age 33 - 134 caps, 16 goalsA colossal defender who loves to put a bit of stick about. The art of defending and the joy of defending remain alive whenever Leadbetter is on the pitch. A serious destroyer of men in either box, and a genuine threat in set pieces.
6 - CB - Casey Giltanan (
Workers Union) - Age 28 - 98 caps, 5 goalsGiltanan's mixture of composure on the ball and bloody-mindedness off it have successfully papered over occasional lapses in concentration to make her a high-class centre-half, but those lapses have prevented her from quite cresting the heights some thought her capable of. Fairly or not, she is in some ways emblematic of this era of Brenecian football, despite her stellar service.
17 - RB - Felice Lovibond (
Kingsgrove) - Age 27 - 14 capsLean, arrogant, promiscuous, heavily inked-up and outspoken on social media, Lovibond is a bit... shag, when it comes down to it. But she's from an affluent Rozelle old-money family, so perhaps it's some kind of a delinquent thing. She's an intelligent all-round fulback, more comfortable advancing the play than simply whipping a cross in.
18 - CB - Iucharba Killen (
Guilder) - Age 24 - 1 capCapped once in qualifying, Killen is here to make up the numbers after an injury to Athelney Shrine. A brutish powerhouse.
22 - LB - Mynah Seeler (
Southern Star) - Age 26 - 23 capsA deft, pacy fullback, Seeler's minuscule size helps her slip beneath notice as.she goes on daring runs down the flank. But she's no less diligent at the back. The kind of player who can seemingly spend ninety minutes sprinting, with the attitude to want to.
Midfielders
4 - HM / CM - Ronan Schofield (
Olympia Borograd) - Age 28 - 79 caps, 2 goalsAn unnervingly commanding presence in the middle of the park, Schofield is oddly effortless in all his motions, whether in sweeping passes from flank to flank, or deftly bullying opponents out of possession. Yet he never quite convinced at the highest level, and RCU sold him on after years of good but not excellent service. Still, RCU are one thing, the Patriots quite another, and he's among the first names on the teamsheet.
7 - RW - Kendra Carpenter (
Wirr Tsi) - Age 27 - 42 caps, 11 goalsA classy, elegant winger who has worked hard for every sniff of football she's had, and will take no chance for granted. Energetic and fearless, Carpenter won't feel the weight of that number 7; the kind of player who can leave Northern Union's comfortable nest and keep going from strength to strength.
8 - CM - Iseult Conway (
Northern Union) - Age 25 - 32 caps, 6 goalsQuick-witted, quick-footed, and always with a smile on her face. Conway is an unflashy but diligent box-to-box shuttler with a hint of the unpredictable, and excels at bringing the ball forward between the lines. Fouls a lot, and always seems to get away with it - though at club level, is that just because she plays for Union?
10 - LW - Katua Byrne (
KT Itzalovalle) - Age 21 - 36 caps, 17 goalsByrne's got it all. Top-class pace, fully two-footed, even relishes defensive work pressing high. She's going to go far, and she knows it, forcing a move to Audioslavia to get away from pockmarked Brenecian pitches. The Patriots' top scorer in qualifying and very clearly, by now, the country's best attacking threat.
11 - AM - Felicia Brind (
Northern Union) - Age 29 - 41 caps, 6 goalsBrind carries on the proud tradition of calling up someone born and raised in Nephara, though at least her incomprehensible Valeside drawl makes her less of an easy flashback to tattooed longbowmen. She's a deft, clever and diligent street footballer, deceptively fast and with an eye for goal.
13 - AM - Consaidin Garrard (
FK Metropola Borograd) - Age 25 - 33 caps, 10 goalsAthletic and versatile, Garrard burst onto the scene early, able to hold his own against fierce pressure. He's found his place in the squad as a highly mobile danger-man with a beautifully deft first touch, but able to press aggressively to win the ball, a natural fit for Fallon's concussive system.
15 - RW - Niko Longshore (
Marque) - Age 26 - 4 caps, 1 goalA dangerous, incisive winger at A-League level, an injury to Mathgamain Fife has thrown Longshore in at the deep end.
16 - LW - Rhona Leonard (
Kingsgrove) - Age 25 - 5 caps, 2 goalsAn unfussy orthodox winger, Leonard tends to go underappreciated. She presses aggressively from the front and would rather set up a teammate than go for goal herself, and can very consistently keep up her intensity for 90 minutes of football.
19 - HM - Kurtis Mikoliunas (
Mâ Âlâmëómë) - Age 26 - 17 capsMikoliunas must break you.
23 - HM - Skaidrina Briggs (
Southern Star) - Age 22 - 6 capsTall, powerful and strong in the tackle, Briggs has a rash, youthful physicality and a tendency to see picking up a caution as indication of a job well done.
Forwards
9 - AM/ST - Mhacha White (
Farrenton Athletic) - Age 29 - 89 caps, 38 goalsLike Ursula Rankin, White made her way through FC Endeavour's overclocked reserves program, the Centre for Excellence, before seeking regular minutes elsewhere; like Ursula Rankin, she's a boxy poacher with a quick switch of pace and a great eye for turning. But she's tall, and a far more complete forward than Rankin ever was. Of late, Wright has taken to putting her in attacking midfield.
14 - ST - Danand Tristram (
Northern Stallions) - Age 25 - 30 caps, 10 goalsA powerhouse up front, and a traditional target woman in a way that Brenecia haven't had since the underutilised Fox Charnwood. Tristram is the kind of relentless brawler that doesn't consider a game complete until her elbows have been in at least four faces. In a sense she's the ideal forward for the system, but she's developing a real reputation for missing the target.
21 - ST - Jadwiga Lofthouse (
Northern Union) - Age 22 - 10 caps, 4 goalsGenerally, when Union want a player, they just get one. So when a local rises through the ranks to break through, especially in a key position and at a young age, Brenecians take notice. A towering juggernaut, Lofthouse is certainly old-school but undeniably effective.
, age 58
, age 46
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3-2 Qzvarkian Qaz 
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