World Cup 90--RP Thread

[South Newlandia]

[Savigliane]

This is a continuation of a previous storyline. To make life easier on those who haven't followed it previously, I've added a summary of what's happened in the preceding chapters in this factbook.

FIND YOURSELF

---

7. Pettegolo

occurring concurrently with the events of this RP:

"Holy shit," Thea said, leaning forwards from her spot on the substitutes' bench. "Is that...Bianca?" The referee had just shaken three Swans off her arm and whistled to stop play, and Stadio del Piero, normally the loudest place in the nation, was starting to fall silent as the realization struck. Then, they were all rushing towards the center of the pitch, where what appeared to be their captain lay weakly on the ground.

"Fuck me," said someone around her, and then, another voice as the substitutes entered the impromptu huddle that had coalesced around Bianca - "I thought she was dead? How did she..."

"We don't know, she just appeared..."

"Like, instantaneously?"

"She was reaching out for something, like, grabbing..."

"Is she awake?"

"Holy shit..."

Amara Vatrican broke the silence. "Bianca? We thought you were gone."

La Capitana weakly opened her eyes, and her lips began to flutter. "The things...they...did," she mumbled, and then she was gone.

---

present-day Acqui Bollente

It was impossible not to hear about it. Every journalist and every last corner of the internet had been blaring the news incessantly since it had broken that morning. Sportswriters, politicos, and tabloids alike lapped it up. Swans Starlet Speaks Out Against Fiore!, read the headlines, or, for the less reputable sorts, you won't BELIEVE what communist THEA SQUARCIAFICHI said about her OWN EX-CAPTAIN!. Adrian had read the interview, between the Swans' Cathair-based striker and a reporter-slash-Fronte! party member, himself on the commute to training. The quotes had stung, not in the least because of how true they were. "Not who I once knew," they'd read, and "more callous than I've ever seen her," and "pathological desire to feel wanted", and most damningly, "maybe some kind of PTSD thing going on there?" The interview had concluded with the striker stating her desire to put Fiore's run for office aside and focus on the Swans' qualification campaign, but it was far too little and far too late.

When he walked into the locker room, it was already in the middle of war. Chiara Blanco had Thea Squarciafichi pinned against an equipment cart, as four or five other players tried to wrestle the center-back and the striker apart. Blanco appeared to be winning both struggles.

"Watch the fucking hair, Blanco-"

"-Bianca Fiore, mentally ill? Hm?" the captain growled in reply. "With Valladares one point ahead in the table and three matches to play? After we shit the bed against Garifunya? What were you thinking?"

"We were all thinking it!" the diminutive striker retorted. "You think those Populistas suits in the stadium yesterday were fans? No! They're here to work with us, because Bianca's a fucking menace, and-"

"So you go to some socialist rag and spill all the tea you know about her? You think calling her mentally ill and heartless is going to do anything but drive this team apart?"

Thea, eyes darting, found Adrian at the entrance. "He's doing it too, and probably Tlanx! Because they all see this shit is way bigger than football. It's like you don't even care Bianca's gone full fash-"

"Yeah that's right, I don't care right now. Even if I think Rizzuto is scum. Because this is a football team, not one of your Fronte get-togethers. And when you say this shit about Bianca, you not only distract us from winning games and getting back to the World Cup, but you tear the team in half. You make it about your side and her side, instead of our side. Adrian," she said without turning her head, "was smart enough to snitch directly to the suits, in private. Why couldn't you?" With that, she dropped Thea to the ground. "I need to talk to the boss about this. Adrian," she added with a nod.

The few other players in the area dispersed as Chiara left. "Thanks for the backup, guys," Thea quipped, wincing as she rubbed her chest where Chiara had shoved her. Adrian walked over and offered a hand, which she begrudgingly took. "Why'd you do it?" he asked.

"Why did you?" Seeing nothing from Adrian, she sighed and continued. "You've heard what she's been doing. Rizzuto is going to get a majority gift-wrapped to him at this rate. All that hate, all that fear. Some of us just like to be more...direct about stopping her."

"Fronte, though? That's pretty...extreme."

"Why not? Populistas aren't doing too hot themselves - it's looking like the commies are our last line of defense. I'll take you to a meetup sometime if you're interested. Beats feeding Caccini and those goofy-ass twins intel and hoping they do something with it. Was a good show from Tlanx, though, I'll give him that. There's no way they let Blanco say anything on twii.tur about this."

"You talked to them, too?"

"We didn't get very far," she said with a smile. "But I'm happy to keep taking the heat if you're planning on doing more with them. I'd schedule a meeting while Caccini still remembers your name."

---

Castiglione

"Bianca, we're going onstage for the rally soon," MP Evangelista Rizzuto said, opening the door to see Bianca's prone form slumped over a couch. "Ah, Bianca, what's wrong?" Wordlessly, she handed him her phone, open to the Squarciafichi news article, in response.

"That bitch," Evangelista spat, handing Bianca's phone back to her before smoothing out his tone. "Don't worry, Bianca, it's not going to have much of an impact on the polls. Liberazione are a joke of a tabloid."

"It's not about that," she replied. "They're my teammates. None of them have even responded to this - it's like I don't exist."

"Ah, old colleagues," he said, suddenly smiling again. "So fickle! But they are in your past, Bianca. They've moved on, and you've moved on. You have a new team now." She said nothing in response.

"Do you hear them chanting your name outside? They are the ones you must take care of now. They are the ones who appreciate you. Come on, let La Capitana back out."

"Yeah, I know. I just need a moment." Evangelista smiled in response, then paused briefly. "Where's the necklace I gave you?"

Bianca looked up, confused. "Took it off to shower earlier. Why?"

"Ah, don't worry about the water damage. You can leave it on when you shower. And it looks nice, don't you think?" Seeing no response, he opted not to push his luck. "Now come, soon, my future PM. Your Cigni are waiting for you."

MD12: Hispinas 0 - 2 Savigliane
Lineup: D'Ambrosio; Lamontagne, Garcia, Blanco (C), Vitale; Chastain (Auvergne 57), Buvalelli, Toscani; Rossi (Roux 71), Squarciafichi, Barthelemy (Montevecchi 66)
Goals: Squarciafichi 27, Auvergne 71

MD13: Kingdom of Voidstania 0 - 4 Savigliane
Lineup: D'Ambrosio; Lamontagne (Palomer 73), Garcia, Blanco (C), Vitale (Romano 63); Chastain, Buvalelli, Toscani; Rossi, Squarciafichi (Rinaldi 54), Barthelemy
Goals: Rossi 33, Toscani 36, Chastain 45+2, Palomer 84

MD14 Lineup (v. Valladares): D'Ambrosio; Lamontagne, Garcia, Blanco (C), Vitale; Chastain, Buvalelli, Toscani; Rossi, Squarciafichi, Barthelemy

---

Two assured wins, combined with Valladares' shock draw to Atheara, mean the Swans now hold the advantage ahead of a do-or-die MD14. With a narrow lead in points, a win or a draw would both secure Savigliane's spot to the playoff round, although Ko-oren has slammed the autoqualification door shut. A loss, however, would doom Savigliane to a second consecutive third-place finish in the qualifying groups, and force them to try again at the Cup of Harmony rather than the brighter lights of the World Cup itself. The football itself has been much better as of late, with the loss to Garifunya the only blemish on the Swans' second half. Rushmori rising stars Hispinas were handled comfortably on the road; they weren't allowed many chances but converted the ones they got, with Thea Squarciafichi playing with renewed fire and Adrian Toscani earning plaudits for a magnificent free-kick. Kingdom of Voidstania, despite taking a point from Stade National, were much easier to handle, as Tlanxball blew them out of the water early, and left-back Roman Palomer scored his first international goal late with a sumptuous volley. They are close, now. But three matches remain between them and a return to the World Cup, and they must remain diligent.

[Farfadillis]

Busukuma Museum of Contemporary Art
Guide to the Farf Exhibition¹

Rü
(translation: Rulandese)
Lüí dí Xísâs

This piece features three portraits of an unknown Rulandese man, with visible burn-related injuries. The portrait on the left is meant to be a faithful representation of the man's appearance: contrary to popular belief, the red eyes are not figurative, as a sizeable portion of Rulandese people have red eyes (this is, in fact, the etymology for the name Rü, which means red in Rulandese). The other two portraits are quite transparent in what they want to reflect: a man with a quiet fury burning inside of him. Farves are fans of using fire both literally and metaphorically: this is thankfully the latter case. This painting is from the times of the Rulandese revolution, so it is approximately twenty-six years old. It was widely used as propaganda by the RRÂ.

Házon
(translation: Home)
Árpád Deák

Used to the almost intolerable heat of the Szoirsian desert, the painter attempts to illustrate what “home” feels like to him, during the Szoirsian heatwave that started in the year 1 Before Anarchy², which hit all-time records and cost tens of thousands of lives. The curious architecture is believed to display the ridiculousness of the painter's nation (back then Farfadillis, not Szoirsia), especially as a complaint over the lack of aid from the then-capital of Ferdullaele. Although the subsequent years would dwarf the subject of this painting in terms of tragedy, this painting nonetheless serves as a reminder of what Farfadillis already was before its collapse.

Tiempos mejores
(translation: Better times)
Poncio Villaluz

This painting is surprisingly not, in fact, about reminiscing about better times. This is the newest painting in the entire museum at the moment: it was finished just last month, and immediately shipped over to the buyer, Farf-Banijan congressman Ruperto Fôx, who graciously donated it to the museum. This piece attempts to illustrate how things have been getting better in Farolera. It is abstract, but it clearly shows one of the many green spaces in a nondescript Faroleran city. Two people are having a picnic. The buildings in the distance are still standing. The trees persist. The weather is merciful. The scene seems almost melancholic, perhaps as a twist, since it is from the here and now.

Grazie Banija
(translation: Thank you Banija)
Gigliola Ricci

An ironic take on our nation's nuclear bombing of Farfadillis, which serves as a reminder of both the danger of nuclear weapons and the debt we owe to Farfadillis as a nation. The colors are bombastic³, clearly meant to attack the eyes. However, no color palette could hope to be aggressive enough to do a nuclear bombing—accidental or not—justice. Much like the author of Rü, the Tanazzan woman who painted this did not attempt to be subtle, and it is precisely this flagrance that makes it worth exhibiting in this museum.

Fyreogfyra
(translation: Eighty-four)
Rasmus Malmkvist

Rasmus Malmkvist is famous in Fröndt for being a very simple artist, but even very few pieces of his manage to get as simple as this. The painting is an allusion to a tragedy in a uranium mine that happened in the year twenty-four before Anarchy, in which eighty-four Rulandese miners died. The laser green is meant to represent the uranium, while the black represents death and the red represents the fury felt over the impotence so many Farves felt after the tragedy: in these times of ethnic tension, it is but a relic of better, more pacific times in Farfadillis. The color scheme itself doubles as the colors of the flag of Farfadillis, which has only recently been adopted at the time.

OOC Notes:
¹: Farf artists don't always literally explain the message their art is meant to convey, but it is a common phenomenon: common enough for it to apply to every piece on this pamphlet.
²: nowadays, the Farf calendar is split into three different eras: Before Anarchy, During Anarchy and After Anarchy (abbreviated BA, DA and AA respectively). When the anarchy began and when it ended is certainly a matter of debate, but it appears to be a matter of debate for non-Farves, mostly.
³: Get it? Bombastic, because the painting prominently features a recently-detonated nuclear bomb. It's wordplay.

[Pemecutan]

Muralos 2-4 Pemecutan
(Away)

Formation
4-3-3
Line Up
1 - A. Jandisuga/GK; 13 - Y. Nehusandak/LB; 3 - S. B. Wijaya/CB; 5 - S. P. Laksamana/CB; 6 - D. R. Putra/RB; 7 - A. Kusumawijaya/; 8 - R. Karyadi/CM; 9 - B. Hermawan/RM; 12 - K. T. Mahayana/AT; 11 - A. T. Wijaya/AT; 22 - W. Pramana/ST
Bench
4 - A. Gunadarma/GK; 2 - D. P. Kusuma/LB; 15 - S. Aksapadan/CB; 18 - B. Padurjana/LM; 20 - A. Setiahadi/CM; 21 - S. Hermawan/RM; 10 - P. Oka Jaya/ST
Substitution
Bayu Hermawan <--> Samsul Hermawan (67')
Yuhabani Nehusandak <--> Dwi Putra Kusuma (73')
Agus Kusumawijaya <--> Basuyuha Padurjana (86')
Goal
Arya Tungga Wijaya (21'; 81')
Komang Trisna Mahayana (37')
Rama Karyadi (62')

---

Equestria 4-3 Pemecutan
(Away)

Formation
4-3-3
Line Up
1 - A. Jandisuga/GK; 13 - Y. Nehusandak/LB; 3 - S. B. Wijaya/CB; 5 - S. P. Laksamana/CB; 6 - D. R. Putra/RB; 7 - A. Kusumawijaya/; 8 - R. Karyadi/CM; 9 - B. Hermawan/RM; 12 - K. T. Mahayana/AT; 11 - A. T. Wijaya/AT; 22 - W. Pramana/ST
Bench
4 - A. Gunadarma/GK; 2 - D. P. Kusuma/LB; 15 - S. Aksapadan/CB; 18 - B. Padurjana/LM; 20 - A. Setiahadi/CM; 21 - S. Hermawan/RM; 10 - P. Oka Jaya/ST
Substitution
Rama Karyadi <--> Agus Setiahadi (59')
Satya Putra Laksamana <--> Sorabala Aksapadan (72')
Yuhabani Nehusandak <--> Dwi Putra Kusuma (81')
Goal
Komang Trisna Mahayana (33')
Arya Tungga Wijaya (63')
Wisnu Pramana (87')

---

Part 3.1 || Part 3.2 || Part 3.3 || Part 3.4 || Part 3.5 || Part 3.6

---

Part 3.7

Suryajaya arrive at his office this morning, the headquarter of PFA. But it seems to be more crowded than yesterday. He also sees policemen at the front door. He wonders what's going on.

The policemen ask for his name tag and ID card as Suryajaya want to enter the door. He become more confuse and curious. He never ask for a security upgrade. He rush to his office room before he is stopped by someone he know.

"Mr. Suryajaya!" shouts the man in police costume.
Suryajaya paused at first before he suddenly realize who is the man in front of him.
"Detective Wirasa?" Suryajaya guessing.
The detective smile as they are shaking hands. "I thought you won't recognize me. Hahaha" laugh him.
"How can I? Although you change a bit," comment Suryajaya.
"Hahaha. I hope it's a good change," say Detective Wirasa while take Suryajaya for a walk.
Suryajaya laugh. "But seriously, what's going on here? I've never ask for reinforcement," Suryajaya become serious.
Detective Wirasa exhale deeply. He take a glance to Suryajaya. "Have you see or read the news?" he ask.
Suryajaya shake his head. "What happen?" Suryajaya ask in return.
Detective Wirasa stopped his movement which makes Suryajaya follow suit. "Artha Guna. He escaped," inform Detective Wirasa while standing face to face with Suryajaya.
The PFA President froze. He can't believe that man can escape from prison. He is already in trial too.
"How can he escape?" ask Suryajaya curiously.
"That's not important right now. You is the most important now," say Detective Wirasa.
"What do you mean?" ask Suryajaya again.
Detective Wirasa pause for a while. They both are still standing at the lobby.
"We're afraid that you might be targeted. So we're here to protect you," explain Detective Wirasa.
Suryajaya stunned. He is still can't believe what's happening around him. He shrug off then walk away from the confuse Detective. He confuse with the change on Suryajaya's face and expression. Detective Wirasa is incline to pursue him. He needs time, the detective think.

Something in the Dark

Wirama sit in his office. He feeling anxious about what happen. Last night he got a call from the precinct that Artha Guna was escape from prison. This is something that he never think could happen. Before this, the police took almost a year to track and catch him. And now he is gone again.

"Sir?" greet an employee at his door.
"Yes, is there something?" Wirama ask.
"The detective is waiting for you in the meeting room," inform the guy.
Wirama nodded and walk to the meeting.

Detective Wirasa together with chief attorney are waiting for Wirama. The knock on the door alert them. Wirama enter the room with a questioning look. Although he seems to understand why is he being call.
"Please sit, Wirama. Let me introduce you to Detective Wirasa. He was the one who's in charge with Artha Guna's case before. And he is now in charge again for his loose," say the chief attorney.
Both Wirama and Wirasa shake their hands before seating down.
"I'll cut to the important things," open Detective Wirasa. "Do you have any idea where he might be?" he ask.
Wirama shake his head. "He is very closed. It's so hard to get information from him," answer Wirama truthfully.
The detective nodded. "I can understand that. We have guards several places where he might be going. And you're house is one of it" says him.
"Yes, my wife inform me earlier," explain Wirama.
"I hope you understand about the situation and stay alert," ask Detective Wirasa.
"I understand," Wirama paused. "I just don't understand why he acted like this. He looks so preserve and calm during our interview and trial," wonder Wirama.
"Do you think something might triggering him to act out again?" the detective begin to curious.
"I guess. But I'm still not sure about that," answer Wirama.
"Just tell the detective, Wirama. We all here to help them," persuade the chief attorney.
"I think it was my fault," say Wirama in a trembling voice.
"Why do you say so?" ask the chief attorney. Detective Wirasa also feels confuse.
"I'm the one who ask for the mental health check up. And I guess that's healing session that triggering him," explain Wirama.
"Where is he being checked?" ask Wirasa.
"Puri Hospital," say Wirama.
Detective Wirasa nodded and suddenly rush out from the meeting room. He left both attorneys in confuse.
"This case seems to be never going to end," comment the chief attorney.

---

"I'm sorry, Sir. But Dr. Gede Krisna is not present today," inform the woman from the phone.
"Do you know why he is absent today?" ask Detective Wirasa who is driving through the city.
"No, Sir," answer the nurse on the phone.
"Can I have his address, please?" ask Wirasa again.
"I'm sorry, Sir. We can't informed you about that," the nurse politely answer.
"I'm Detective Wirasa and I'm in an investigation about his missing patient. I hope you can cooperate with me," explain Wirasa.
"I'm sorry, Sir. Here's his address."
The nurse then give Wirasa the address. He thank the nurse then drive fast to the doctor's house. He can only hope that he is not late. He feels something is happening.

---

"I think we have to postpone the meeting," suggest Kusumawardani. "It's for their safety too."
"You have a point there," say Suryajaya while compiling his files.
"And where are you going?" ask Kusumawardani.
"I have to go to the school. I'm taking my daughter. I not feeling right," answer Suryajaya.
"Be careful. We all know that you are a possible target," remind Kusumawardani.
"I will. Don't worry," say Suryajaya while walk away from the office room.

He rushed out from the building but he is stopped by the guard. After he explain his purpose, the guard let him go. Suryajaya get inside the car and start the engine.

KABOOM!!!!!

Everyone is shocked with the sudden explosion. Kusumawardani rushed to the lobby as she heard it. She stunned. She can't believe what happen.

---

Detective Wirasa punch his steering wheel as he heard the news about the explosion. He just arrive at the doctor's house when he got the call about the accident in PFA headquarter. He feel that he one step behind against Artha Guna. He composed himself and walk out of the car. He knocks on the door and call out the doctor's name but no answer. He try several times but still no answer. He become suspicious. He take out his gun and try to turn the door knob. It's not locked.

He walks slowly into the house. Inside the house, it looks clean and neat. Seems like nothing has happen. He walks further inside until he stop in front of a room. He open the room but no one is there. He walks to the other room. As he open it, he stunned at something inside the room. He put down his gun and call a back up.

"Send ambulance here. Track my phone for the address. We've got accident. Artha Guna's doctor was murdered," inform Detective Wirasa.

He looks once again to the doctor's dead body. The body is lying on the bed covered in blood. A knife is still stabbed on his chest. Detective Wirasa get on his phone again. He ask about the attorney, Ketut Wirama.

---

"You come home early," greet a woman as Wirama walks into his house.
"Yeah. We were dismissed earlier. Something's happening," explain Wirama as he walk to his bedroom.
"Is it crucial?" ask the wife as she follow her husband.
"No. Don't worry," Wirama try to calm his wife. He don't want his wife to be worry.

The wife left him in the bedroom to change his clothes. She goes back to the kitchen to prepare for dinner. As he close the bedroom door, he see a silhouette at the corner of his room.

"Artha?' guess Wirama.
Artha Guna smirk. "Hello, my lawyer," greet him with a mischievous smile.

---

Pemecutan v Nimishzz
@ Manguwi Stadium

Formation
4-3-3
Line Up
1 - A. Jandisuga/GK; 13 - Y. Nehusandak/LB; 3 - S. B. Wijaya/CB; 5 - S. P. Laksamana/CB; 6 - D. R. Putra/RB; 7 - A. Kusumawijaya/; 8 - R. Karyadi/CM; 9 - B. Hermawan/RM; 12 - K. T. Mahayana/AT; 14 - D. P. Mahardika/AT; 25 - L. Olivando/ST
Bench
4 - A. Gunadarma/GK; 2 - D. P. Kusuma/LB; 15 - S. Aksapadan/CB; 18 - B. Padurjana/LM; 20 - A. Setiahadi/CM; 21 - S. Hermawan/RM; 22 - W. Permana/ST

[Muralos]

La Gazeto de Sportoj
Muralosian National Soccer Team is Eliminated From World Cup Qualifying Contention
The Future of the Muralosian National Soccer Team Remains Uncertain
By Adamo Tanaka and Jonathan Li
January 27, 2022

In the Muralosian timeline, one World Cup qualifying match is played each day.

The Muralosian national soccer team was eliminated from qualifying contention for the 90th World Cup on Thursday after a defeat to world no. 22 Pemecutan at home. The match also cemented the Hawks' second-to-last position in World Cup Qualifying Group 2.

Muralosian manager Jozefo Koltakov decided to play the Muralosian national team in a 4-3-3 formation yet again, as they have done since the second half of the 90th World Cup qualifiers. "Against the many dominant teams in this group, we need to maximize our ability to strike," Koltakov told La Gazeto's Adamo Tanaka during a brief interview on Monday. "Having Rui, Adamo Brava, and Valora Lin on the pitch should accomplish exactly that, and it also helps tighten possession on our attacking third. We don't want the ball to fall into the goalscoring apparatus of a team like Pemecutan."

Pemecutan's offense disrupted the unity of the Hawks' formation, as it cut through the midfield with long, aerial passes. A soaring pass from Satya Putra Laksamana bounced off of Muralosian defender Ryo Takeda's shoulder and landed cleanly at the feet of Pemecutan midfielder Bayu Hermawan. Takeda found himself outmaneuvered by Hermawan, who accelerated to his left and fielded a cross to Arya Tungga Wijaya. Wijaya immediately sent the ball toward the Muralosian goal. Rodion Markov dove to the side and tapped the ball away from goal, but not forcefully enough to stop Wijaya from regaining the ball and scoring. RTM-1's Gao Hui lamented the nature of Markov's save: "Markov's incredible eyes and reaction speed are there, but it seems that his save could have used just a little more physicality."

Tanya Lubimova took the place of Rodion Markov after Pemecutan's first goal; the crowd at Komcatt Arena received Markov's substitution well, with few jeers or boos. Hideyaki Yamashita, goalkeeper for Urbego High School, expressed after the Muralos-Pemecutan match that "Markov will always be revered as 'the Prophet' and definitely always a goalkeeper to look up to."

Lubimova made a short pass around the match's 25th minute to Koralo Petrov, who stayed just ahead of Pemecutan's forward Komang Trisna Mahayana. Petrov sent the ball to Rikardo Lei, who gained considerable ground and greatly sped up the pace of the Hawks' attack. Lei made an aerial pass of his own to midfielder Lerta Donaldson, who fielded a cross to forward Valora Lin. Lin was too close to Pemecutan's Dwi Rangga Putra to strike, so she made a sudden backwards pass to Adamo Brava, who maneuvered a bit and scored squarely into the center of the net.

The rest of the first half saw chances for both Muralos and Pemeuctan's teams. Rui took three shots; two were caught by Pemecutan's keeper Aksabala Jandisuga, and one went clear of the goal. Valora Lin took one shot that hit the crossbar. At the 36th minute, Rama Karyadi took an astonishing long-range shot that would have been an impressive screamer if Tanya Lubimova hadn't caught it while jumping. Unfortunately, after this incredible save, Ryo Takeda defended too roughly against Dwi Rangga Putra, and the referee awarded a corner to Pemecutan. Karyadi took the corner, which Komang Trisna Mahayana answered after much fighting for the ball. The Hawks gained possession for just 2 seconds; Aleksandro Kim was unfortunately perpendicular to Mahayana, who swiftly aimed for the goal. The score became 2-1 in favor of Pemecutan.

Pemecutan would dominate in the second half with two more goals. Karyadi finally scored from an impressive range in the match's 62nd minute; Lubimova dived just shy of the ball, which flew to her right. For nearly 20 minutes after, possession changed back and forth. Arya Tungga Wijaya eventually gained possession of a loose ball, as he ran after it. Then, he found a small but not insignificant space between the Hawks' Rikardo Lei and Rebeka Mori, enabling him to score a left-footed goal.

Four minutes later, Jandisuga handled the ball for a touch too long, allowing the Hawks to successfully field an indirect free kick. As Pemecutan's players stood in a line in front of the goal, Adamo Brava made a short pass to Valora Lin, and Lin sent the ball inside the net, where it ricocheted off the crossbar but past the goal line. The crowd in Komcatt Arena cheered extremely loudly for this goal.

The Hawks would not take possession for much of the match's remainder. Pemecutan's team would field long balls to its attacking third. Rebeka Mori succeeded in fielding one to Lerta Donaldson, whose cross to Adamo Brava excited the home crowd again. Adamo Brava's shot was nevertheless caught by Jandisuga, and the match reached full time shortly after.

FULL TIME:
Muralos 2 - 4 Pemecutan
Adamo Brava 29', Valora Lin 85' | Arya Tungga Wijaya 21, 81'; Komang Trisna Mahayana 37', Rama Karyadi 62'

Despite the match being a hard-fought one for the Hawks, their defeat officially eliminated them from contention for World Cup qualifying.

La Gazeto de Sportoj's soccer analyst Klara Antonova expressed disappointment in writing after the Muralos-Pemecutan match. "The Muralosian national team has been on good form in the second half of qualifying: 3-0-2 is an excellent record for a five-game stretch, and the Hawks' organization and skill even makes contests against teams like Equestria (world no. 90) and Siovanija & Teusland (world no. 43) into tossups," Antonova wrote. "I feel some regret that our Hawks could not get into this form earlier. Their projected second half record of 3-1-3 is so much more advantageous than their first half record of 1-1-5."

Muralosian manager Jozefo Koltakov also noted management's plans to deepen the Hawks' roster for future competitions. "We can and should add one more goalkeeper to the reserves, and we should scout defenders on the U-21 team and in the Muralosian Premier League," Koltakov told La Gazeto in a post-game interview. He noted, however, that Muralosian mangement was unsure about which competitions the Hawks would be in. "We managers and players are more interested in the Cup of Harmony than in previous cycles, when we were too overstretched after our World Cup qualifying runs. This does not mean that we will certainly accept an invitation to the Cup of Harmony, and indeed, because of the Hawks' exertion, we may not enter multiversal tournaments for some time again."

Koltakov spoke extensively about changes in management style, irrespective of whether they enter future multiversal tournaments or compete only within Asian Archipelago. "The mental game has taken less precedence in Muralosian soccer, ironically because of the mental exhaustion that players experienced in recent months. As a manager, I am definitely trying to emphasize it more, for the sake of the Hawks' well-being and enjoyment of the game. Without it, we have no good soccer [bona futbalo]. And while I am not the one to do it, I'm certainly intrigued by the approach of our group-mates Le Choix, the more defensive-minded style that creates a buffer around the opponent's attacking third and relies- or is greatly helped- by a long-range scorer in the midfield."

The Muralosian national team plays Siovanija and Teusland next on Friday, in the Atlantian Oceanic nation. This match, and all other World Cup qualifying matches, will be broadcast on the television network RTM-1, the Radio Muralana sports radio station FM 109.3, and the website rtmnet.mur.

[Qasden]

---

Status Alert: Fu—

---

By Tomathan Hammerland

I—I made it, Busukuma! There's no entry stamp on my passport, but surely that won't be needed, right?

The Vans were nearing 3rd last time, right? We beat the Karodin Tetrarchy, Geektopia was dropping points to lower ranks, things were looking a-Ok? Bloody hell, their situation took a turn, didn't it?! Group 3's been an absolute twat; Turori and Drawkland duopolized the qualifier spots as soon as they could walk, Saint Eleanor yoinked some points from us, and now we're doomed to face 2 higher-pot crews in our last 3 matches to cap off the season. It's been abysmal, enough so to make my situation look effortless. Things could be going well, but like most things in everyday life, our roller coaster crash started with the damn Brits.

Qasden drew Britonisea at Hotchskarth Cabin, a small venue down in the mountains typically reserved for presumed victories over low-ranked teams. This hogwash threw the efforts of a haphazard home team on the defensive as they travelled out to the Britonish capital of Doportedas, home to one of the most feign attempts at staying in the game. At this point in the competition, Darsten's efforts continued the nation's painful streak of eliminations, now spanning into its 5th consecutive tournament. The magic belief that Qasden would qualify at the snap of a new manager was pure rigmarole, of course; even fans at home knew we'd have to much of a hill to climb, should we have wanted to actually fight for a spot in the proper. Realistically, the best we could do was hold down 4th, a finish we had made 3 times before. Britonisea seemed like an easy enough opponent, despite them riding on the coat-tails of an upset over Geektopia. Their 5th place status stood a comfortable 4 points behind us, with a match against Turori immediately following our own. Pewter should be a lock up, should the Geeks haggle their way to keeping bronze, so maybe everything we'll end alright?

If you haven't noticed by now, that was poorly made foreshadowing.

Like the first encounter, the battle in Britonisea ended in deadlock. 2-2, a defeat only scraped by thanks to goals from McCracken and Harland. It should've been a simple test, but man are we bad at math. 18 points now, still 4th, but the possibility of 3rd becoming much more distant. The dreaded Kick Corps were up next, taking our final home game to the grand stage of the Royal T.V. Stadium, the be-all, end-all heart of the nation's athletics. Drawkland was a considerable opponent, dominating the first half enough to easily mark one of 2 advancement spots, but latter wanes in their game pushed their competitiveness with top-seed Turori to the brink. For them, this conjugal visit would mean nothing more than a continuation of their war efforts for the auto-qualifier ticket. For Qasden, who, at this point, had nothing left really going for them, decided to make the away team's hopes just a little harder. Operation Piss Off the Drawks was a go; the mission: take points, any points, and force them to go through the bureaucratic hell of playoffs. It seemed a tad mean-spirited; after all, wouldn't it be better to help them get a leg up to keep their ratings up? Bullshiz, they lost to Geektopia, meaning our hopes of at least finishing a dignified 3rd were in the gutter, thanks to them. All it can take is a good game of hexa-pentaball to throw the standings on their side. Believe it or not, I wish I wasn't kidding.

The Operation was a success. Drawkian forces made smashing runs against Qad defensives, smattering keypoints and detonating multiple shots on goal. Yet, the Vans stayed tenacious, answering every Corps goal with one of their own. Dragoslav nets a hat trick, then Bone, soon a pair by Marco Bruno to keep everything in standstill. It was this kind of bullishness that kept the nihilistic crowd electrified in masochistic delight. Whistles blew, and at 4-4, the match was set to rest. The draw meant little to us, but for the visitors, who had struggled to stay as potent on the scene since the early-mid 80's, it was back to playoffs. So much for improving AO-Sonnel relations. Still, we agree on one thing: that Novapax ruins all the fun, man.

Despite the delight in our tie with the Drawks, our 2 biggest threats made moves that really changed our hopes in this pod. Geektopia, after disarming the same Drawkland we fought so hard to draw, shot down a straggling Saint Eleanor, sealing off 3rd from any cat-clawing chances at a dignified finish. More worrying, however, was Britonisea, the unexpected king slayers that became only the 2nd team this tournament to beat Turori. The Britonish now stand a daring 2 points behind us, due to host winless Winnebogan in their final match. How crass, for the one causing so much chaos to be challenging the one position we're holding onto for dear life. The Vans are going Calico for their last flame in WC90, so in order to ward off any Novapaxian advances, we'd need to bring about the same wrought of upsettery as we had at the Stade de Solis before the half. One last game, one final destiny, the Vans' 4th-place defense would all come down to an ill-fated squaring off with Geektopia at the Place of Valence, the Europeia-based nation's battledome of choice.

Can the Vans outlast Britonisea's unsettling main character moment by beating some nerds? Or will Geektopia do the one buzzkill to top all buzzkills by pushing Darsten's valiant World Cup debut to a pan searing 5th? If you excuse me, I need to find an embassy before any Banijan forces notice I'm not celebrating their qualification. Stay tuned for whenever the next report is. I don't think it's an appropriate enough time to sign off we the giddy company slogan, so to our World Cup 90 series, I leave you with only the truest of Qasden's reactions.

---

[Brenecia]

Sangti 0 - 3 Brenecia
(4-2-3-1) 12 - Tanner; 2 - Bravender (17 - Lovibond 62'), 18 - Shrine, 6 - Giltanan, 22 - Seeler; 19 - Mikoliunas (23 - Briggs 75'), 8 - Conway; 7 - Carpenter (15 - Fife 80'), 11 - Brind, 16 - Leonard; 21 - Lofthouse
Goals: Lofthouse 23', Leonard 38', Conway 81'

Brenecia 1 - 3 Banija
(4-2-3-1) 1 - Finnan; 2 - Bravender, 5 - Leadbetter, 6 - Giltanan, 3 - Roscommon (c); 19 - Mikoliunas, 4 - Schofield (8 - Conway 65'); 7 - Carpenter (15 - Fife 87'), 13 - Garrard, 10 - Byrne; 14 - Tristram (21 - Lofthouse 65')
Goal: Garrard 39'

THE ROZELLE OBSERVER
Brenecia goes to the polls as LDR pray for miracle
Ferry Kane

After a heated electoral campaign marked by vicious factional fighting, early signs are that it will be the CPP who rise to the top.

Provided the polls have any bearing on reality, there is little prospect of anything other than a CPP victory and a massive swing against a government beset by scandal, an unpopular budget and a loss of momentum without their talisman, Locke's predecessor, Catherine Bardsley.

]
The Observer projects the CPP to carry a slight majority, winning 109 of the 215 seats up for grabs.

The current Prime Minister enjoys respect in Parliament and the backing of her party, but is seen to have been a more effective power behind the scenes for Bardsley. Upon Bardsley's retirement from politics, for health and stress concerns, it was Locke who succeeded her, but has been unable to replicate her charisma.

Instead, it has been Randall Kearney who has captured the hearts of the people, going from strength to strength with his hard-hitting rhetoric. He has at all times sought to paint the LDR as failing to carry out their mandate for change, and failing to understand the desires of down-to-earth Brenecians. He is expected to dominate the rural vote and make serious inroads into the cities, with a serious battle for North Hall, where his pitch to revive the ailing mining industry has made serious impact.

The NPD, largely forgotten, are likely to set a new nadir for the fourth election running, yet now they are set to be overtaken as the force of Brenecia's left by No Compromise, under the firebrand Nadia Hawthorn. Hawthorn's gains are expected to come almost exclusively in the western cities, especially Westpike, and largely at NPD expense, though also making inroads against the LDR.

On the right fringe, White Cross have been the beneficiaries of the recruitment of long-standing Lastcreek independent Bryce Courtney - with the other two Independents likely to lose their seats - and will be hoping for the CPP to underperform, with slim hopes of completing a minority government.

Kearney has largely shifted the CPP back to the right, returning to Wardite policies once considered taboo such as National Service, the expansion of the military and a crackdown on welfare abuse. Locke has fought a largely negative campaign based around Kearney having no chance to actually bring his plans to fruition. Yet while Kearney has shifted to the right, he has made little move to bring the White Cross out from their current status as pariahs.

Potential Outcomes
Most likely, the CPP will simply be able to form a majority government. Should they fall shy, the White Cross will be the most natural partners. The WC are seen by some as a 'mask-off' CPP, saying aloud what the CPP are purported to secretly want, such as the expulsion of the Euran military from the Fiana Cove base, or the aggressive dismantling of the welfare state. Their main point of difference is on free trade, to which the CPP is broadly more sympathetic, and the Esportivan Union, which the CPP have consistently supported (though with a slight distance, and Kearney has remained very quiet on the subject).

If the CPP and White Cross fail to reach 215, it is possible that the LDR could make a desperate play for government using both NoCom and the NPD. However, the parties on their left despise one another, and NoCom are particularly aggressive in campaigning against the LDR's pro-business, pro-free trade angle. Any supply deal between the three is likely to be extremely tenous, and any chance of it would depend on the three sides simply hating Kearney that badly.

However, there is another possibility, a 'grand coalition' between CPP and LDR which would hypothetically attempt to unite a moderate centre-right platform, one largely cleaving to its mutually pro-business leanings - albeit of late, backing different forms of business, with the LDR backing largely new and foreign investment while the CPP wish to revive local industry. Whatever the result, there may not be a natural resolution to any hung parliament.

BRENECIAN NATIONAL TEAM SELECTION - FORTNIGHT 8
Goalkeepers: 1 - Anthea Finnan (Holdenberg City, EUR), 12 - Sorcha Tanner (Southern Star), 20 - Cairbre Dundalk (North Laithland, NPH)
Defenders: 2 - Clovette Bravender (Ulsa, EUR), 3 - Triss Roscommon (Revolutionaries, EUR, c), 5 - Finn Leadbetter (Holdenberg, EUR), 6 - Casey Giltanan (Workers Union, EUR), 17 - Felice Lovibond (Kingsgrove), 18 - Athelney Shrine (Southern Star), 22 - Mynah Seeler (Southern Star)
Midfielders: 4 - Ronan Schofield (Olympia Borograd, STL), 7 - Kendra Carpenter (Wirr Tsi, CMT), 8 - Iseult Conway (Northern Union), 10 - Katua Byrne (KT Itzalovalle, AUD), 11 - Felicia Brind (South Laithland, NPH), 13 - Consaidin Garrard (FK Metropola Borograd, STL), 15 - Mathgamain Fife (Rozelle), 16 - Rhona Leonard (Kingsgrove), 19 - Kurtis Mikoliunas (Mâ Âlâmëómë, FFD), 23 - Skaidrina Briggs (Southern Star)
Forwards: 9 - Mhacha White (Farrenton Athletic, EUR), 14 - Danand Tristram (Kingsgrove), 21 - Jadwiga Lofthouse (Northern Union)

SCHEDULE
Lathamford 2 - 2 Brenecia
Brenecia 5 - 3 EOT
Oberour Ar Moro 2 - 3 Brenecia
Metherwoll 0 - 2 Brenecia
Brenecia 3 - 0 Sangti
Banija 1 - 2 Brenecia
Brenecia 1 - 1 Cabo Azure
Brenecia 1 - 0 Lathamford
EOT 2 - 2 Brenecia
Brenecia 4 - 2 Oberour Ar Moro
Brenecia 1 - 1 Metherwoll
Sangti 0 - 3 Brenecia
Brenecia 1 - 3 Banija
Cabo Azure vs. Brenecia

[Zwangzug]

The Bassabook Baritone

Kate DiMarini's side experienced their first defeat of this qualifying cycle in Zwischen, with Luo Chuan of Spenson Suburbia scoring the winner in a rare start. But a win against the Gatchingerrak Union, combined with South Newlandia's matchday twelve loss to Texkentuck, means that the final matchday at the Stadium of Friendship will be more of a friendly atmosphere than a competitive fixture; Zwangzug have clinched the group title, with the South Newlandia Elephants taking the playoff spot. DiMarini has indicated that she may play some of the reserves as the starters rest and prepare for the proper, however, Ketevan Igreli is unavailable after spraining her wrist during a vigorous Chess960 game. Goalies.

In other multisport news, the Vilitan Mountain Games continue in full force, with mixed results for the Cugio delegation. Eric Llawcae, who arguably overachieved in some of his less-preferred events, finished seventh in his favored "Pillars of Hercules" discipline. However, Sigur Folt-Jackson failed to finish his Log Run. "It's always painful when you can't get your logs to run," he groaned. [The rest of this paragraph has been redacted. -ed]

In a Technique Course of kleptochase, Melinda Reise-Thule successfully acquired her stuffed gnome, only to be hunted down by Gabby Yves, who promptly recited a small fraction of the alphabet at her. They rematched on a Strength course, and this time Reise-Thule's agility was no match for the tempermental Yves, who captured the gnome and burst through barriers to reach her goal point.

Desmond Chisor-Brach triumphed in a taut game of Arcticala Electrical Grid, beating out Aranora Jaded on the tiebreaker; Chisor-Brach had 69 dollars remaining to Jaded's 5. [Nice. -ed] "I didn't have a lot of familiarity with this map," Chisor-Brach admitted, "when it comes to games from this era, I'm more familiar with stuff like Ticket to the Supercentro and Deconstructing the Problematic Settlers of Cotdelapoms. But I'd been brushing up on Flirty Foxes, Flavovespian Fauna, and Fragmented Friars, so I was prepared for some of the alliterative emergent strategy." Jaded, we should say, is himself a former World Cup player; a veteran of World Cup 67, he is a contemporary of such luminaries as Martina Ruan, Hadrian Belfast, Kohev Küngas-Vaga, and Friekder Dandalleion. Also, he was a goalkeeper, because of course he was.

(Haugen 36, Dulk-Fough 45+2; Liu 14, Huang 49, Luo Chuan 58, Li Jing 71)
(Vizirani 8, Puyo-Sachar 50)

[Saint Eleanor]

OOC: After an entertaining but just-about narrow loss against the Karodin Tetrarchy, Saint Eleanor has seven points from their first seven qualifiers in World Cup 90. Priscilla Evans, despite being well-regarded in Saint Eleanor as well as her home city of Tinhampton, has been told to make the White Stars improve in their next seven and beyond - or lose her job. Can the players deliver? And will they?

Short because I'm busy as hell this evening. Episode IIb coming after MD14.

---

Though The Stars Fall
Episode IIa

10:54am - Thursday 12th March 1998

"Sorry I'm a bit early," complained Lucas, with not a lot in the way of concern. "Actually, no, I'm not, I've decided that the meeting's about to start now. The latest one about your future here."

"I take it that it's... perhaps a bit secure," responded Evans.

"To some extent, given the unexpectedly challenging circumstances - let's call them. We've had six games since our first meeting, which has basically been a recap of all our qualifiers except the one against the Carrot... I'm not even going to pretend how to pronounce that name now."

"A rerun, I think you mean."

"In reverse," Lucas pointed out, while getting an actually functional flipboard. "Defeats against Turori, Drawkland, the Geeks - we expected those." Flip. "Victory against Britonisea, good. Revenge on Winnebogan, very good." Another flip. "A draw against Qasden... could have been better?"

"We haven't lost against them either way - I mean it."

"A win 'on the road,' as it were, could have perhaps been followed up with something better. But don't worry; I'm told that the form's good enough." Yet another flip.

"Who told you that?" asked Evans, perhaps disbelieving that she was actually talking to the president of the FA.

"Trust me, Cilla; Stephen's okay with you. Over here is... my attempt at drawing a black and white thing with a bunch of things on the top-left, that should probably do okay. Our last opponents, for now. The better the result you get out of this game, the more the chance you have of staying."

"You are thinking of keeping me on for the Cup of Harmony, aren't you?"

"Yes. But options will become available," warned Lucas. "The performances are good enough to warrant me not terminating your contract early. They are nowhere near good enough for the fans, however."

"I'm not the most numbery person in the FA structure but hasn't the average fifth-pot team gotten something like fifteen points? We've got fourteen."

"That's the mean - it counts the Gothanitans who seem to have very much failed at their task and the Equestrians who didn't. But we would have more than gotten there had we won against Winne... the tree people first time around anyway. Anyway, most people still expect more from us. The next flight you and your lot take is going to be an indicator of something to do with success. Can't be bothered to remember what exactly."

"I'd thought that your flipboard would be more detailed than whatever you just showed me."

"It's not and I'm running very short of time. Our previous expectations of you still hold. Fail in... it looks like Mon-tah-nah Ver-dee and the Licentian Isles are going to be hosting this next Cup of Harmony and you're you. Looks like I may have to do the player-nagging next time." Lucas was out so quickly that he didn't even bother to pack the board away this time.

[Schima Bas]

Match Reports
MD 12: Reçueçn @ Basian Sports Complex, Ourelasia (40,000). 4-3, Reçueçn
‘31 Reçueçn Player
‘39 Reçueçn Player
‘42 Akili Granada
‘52 Reçueçn Player
‘59 Reçueçn Player
‘77 Bisma Shehadeh
‘88 Araft Sergeant

---

MD 13: @ Electrum, Olympic Stadium (100,000). 1-0, Electrum
‘82 Einarsson

Not sure if I'll have time for a RP today, but I wanted to put up last game's scorers and the next roster for my groupmates. Best of luck for the final matchday!

Upcoming lineups
MD 14: Guanacasteca @ The Circle, Alquerdi (25,000)

Lucas Lefebvre,
Orgasni Azizi, (C) Avery Cloutier, Gilles Bertrand, Jerust King,
Raaji Attar, Abaddon Ghanem, Mukarram el-Muhammad, (C) Araft Sergeant,
Casildo Hana, Bassel Adel

[The Archregimancy]

A Statement from Great Cthulhu

Hey there Ordinary Reality bounce buddies! Are you missing me and my playful pals? It was so much fun joining you for World Cups 88 and 89, and I'm sorry we can't be there for World Cup 90. It's just that losing two finals in a row makes even a happy go lucky Great Old one rethink his priorities, and it was time to give someone else a chance.

But while we might be retired now from international football, I felt it was important to clarify a few things about this MUCK lot who are turning out for the Holy Empire in the present World Cup. It seems that MUCK are constantly claiming to worship the Great Old Ones, Elder Gods, and going on about bringing about the final apocalypse. Let me make it perfectly clear that MUCK do NOT present Great Cthulhu or my playful pals.

Frankly, they're a bunch of sad losers. Well, not at football, obviously - for whatever reason they seem to be rather good at football, and good on 'em on that front. Huzzahs for the Holy Empire, and all that. Juan Tzimisces is probably really looking forward at setting a new record for most World Cup finals lost. But outside football...

Let's be upfront about this; if you saw a group of slightly creepy men running around obsessing about virgins and constantly going on about sacrificing them without ever being able to actually get their hands on a single virgin... well, it's a bit pathetic, isn't it? Also, they don't seem to actually understand the difference between 'uncapped international footballer' and 'virgin'. The Mytanar squad rightly ignored the MUCK invitations to the visiting dressing room after the Holy Empire's 4-3 victory, largely because they know a bunch of sad virgin-obsessed losers when they see them. Alright, the match itself was a thrilling classic that will be long remembered by the neutral, and I'm sure Mytanija media will tell you all about it in due course; but the whole thing about uncapped virgins was just a little bit sad.

Furthermore, myself and the other playful pals have good reason to believe that Mr Shadow Whitmore isn't being entirely truthful when he puts out his statements and invitations, and that there's every reason to believe that many of the latter will prove to be a tissue of lies when closely examined. I've asked some of my playful pals to have a look at this and report back to me, and it may well be that I'll be forced to issue another clarifying statement in due course. Which is a bit irritating since I have better things to do with my time here in R'lyeh, like redecorate the master bathroom (slime green seemed like such a good idea three centuries ago, but these days I'm looking for something a bit more contemporary).

Anyway, all I want to say is this... if you see a bunch of robed international footballers shouting out 'give us your virgins!' while chanting Ph'nglui mglw'nafh Cthulhu R'lyeh wgah'nagl fhtagn, they have absolutely nothing to do with me. You can probably safely ignore them. I'd even go so far as to call them completely harmless - all bark and no bite; all that talk of 'hideous rituals' is just bluster. And has anyone considered the possibility that they're so obsessed with virgins because they might not have that much experience with fleshy lust themselves? Just sayin'.

So here's hoping for a successful World Cup 90 for all of the qualifying nations, and just to let you know that I'll be watching closely from R'lyeh - when my redecoration schedule allows - even if I'm going to have slightly mixed feelings about the progress of the Holy Empire under the circumstances.

All the best!

Great Cthulhu

[Savojarna]

SavojarSports.sj - inside reports from all Savojarna
The Lijushkin Effect: Are Savojarna turning it around?

By Jaukka Halanen

With Kohnhead having won their home game against Osarius, Savojarna’s chances of turning around the campaign entirely and manage to secure playoffs are mathematically gone, but at the same time, the Northlights appear to have turned around the tide of their own performance quite drastically after the departure of Gylfi Haukason last September following a mediocre Copa Rushmori showing and a terrible weekend, losing a home game to Osarius and drawing the Finntopian Empire. As has come out since, Gylfi was already on the edge of losing his job as early as the Copa, but held on to it as the SFFB were figuring out whom to replace him with.

It seems that the name they have eventually settled on is the former Torpedo and Savojars Vinge Virkaja coach Dmitri Lijushkin. The 47 year old was celebrated at Torpedo, bringing them from chronically falling short to the extended top of the table, before signing on at SVV and bringing a lower midtable side to 12th place in the old, 20 team SFS A. While a following season filled with a ton of trouble, mostly internal strife and bad luck with injuries, saw him lose his job as SVV even were briefly relegated, his reputation wasn’t too much tarnished as he showed his great eye as a tactical and video assistant within the Lok Jarnstad system, being part of the title-winning SFS 11 team, before taking on the position of general manager at his hometown side AFK Savojagrad. Under his tenure, supported by AFK chief scout Roman Antonov - who followed him to the SFFB selection - and long-term coach Emil Haraldson, the club has established itself as a higher mid-table side and a prime address for youth talent to be scouted and developed. This keen eye for selection was something that the SFFB prized in hiring Lijushkin, alongside his strong tactical skill that has been described by observers as “imagine Jurtanen, if he hadn’t had a talent to make everyone angry at him within a few days” - clearly a promising outlook.

Throughout his career, Lijushkin has been a strong proponent of offensive football, preferring a 4-3-3 with fluid wingers who are not afraid to cut inside. However, he has proven that he is flexible, as his tenure at Lok showed success within a much more defensive system, although not as head coach. The first games in blue and white still suggest he is looking for more offence than his predecessor, but not in the intense style of his Torpedo and SVV days. Instead, it was a sense of measured aggression, still built on a strong pivot of defensive midfielders. Most notable was the choice to play Hartikainen on the left over the more traditional wingers Östberg and Aarsoy; a risk that paid off as the Sumani winger scored a goal against Squidroidia. In defence, too, he has taken risks: Matts Pedersen has been relegated to the bench in three of his four games, starting only against St Trinians; in his stead, Milla Viipuri has been starting on the left. On the right, he even dared to start Gudjohn Magnusson once, although Skov appears to be the preferred choice; likewise, Rika Lundell suits his style much better in midfield and has rewarded the trust over Morten Poulsen with three assists in three games.

But besides the changes to the squad, Lijushkin most notably has created a new atmosphere, players pointed out. “We’ve kind of lost trust in ourselves”, Rika Lundell stated after the game against Legalese. “It’s been a bit always the same, always falling short, lots of bad luck. It’s not really Gylfi’s fault this kept happening, but bringing on Dima meant a lot of new trust just because things were different. We’ve started thinking about more different things again, thinking about what we do, how we do it, all of that”. Indeed, Lijushkin has created a massive honeymoon period among all Savojarna fans - and this is supported with data. So far, he has won four out of four games, something no other Savojarna coach has managed thus far (Mikaela Rangren comes close, but drew her fourth game against Pridnestrovia). He has also been much more willing to experiment, starting different players and choosing to run an alternative system against St Trinians, when he changed his 4-3-3 to a 4-4-2 with Ehlers and Alvesen next to each other in a shadow striker and poacher combination. While, of course, the lack of any theoretical qualification chance has made this kind of experimentation easier, there is hope this will make it easier to find a good squad for the future.

Most impressively, however, has been Lijushkin’s reception by fans, particularly in the Russian-speaking area. Lijushkin is Savojarna’s first national coach that is a native Russian speaker, and while he is fluent in Savojarsk (although notably accented), he conducts interviews in Russian and communicates his roots openly. This has quickly made him not only a hope-bringer for fans, but also an avatar for many Russian Savojars in the football community. There have been many memes touting him as a saviour for multiple issues in the nation, most notably the recent political crises surrounding the quality of public transport and infrastructure, with memes circulating such as “Dima Lijushkin for Commissioner of Transport”, “Pawlograd trams would be on time if Lijushkin was in charge of them” and the trending hashtag #DimaCouldFixIt. Of course, many Savojarna coaches have been welcomed by fans enthusiastically, only to be falling short of expectations and have the public turn against them within a few months, but the return of hope to the team and fans is clearly a great sign for a team that seemed stuck in a terrible rot only a few months ago.

Savojarna lineup vs. Valentine Z (4-3-3)
Virulainen - Viipuri, Zirkova, Dmitriev, Strid - Niskanen, Orakhin, Lundell - Hartikainen, Ehlers, Jashkin
Bench: Sharin, Pedersen, Forsberg, Skov, Klaebo, Poulsen, Östberg, Gyldenström, Alvesen

[Sargossa]

It was an international double header that offered up entirely contrasting performances. In Al Qurija, Sargossa’s Corsairs were in inspired form. Having rung the changes following the battling defeat to Chromatika, Brian McAllister’s charges had responded with a solid victory away to Good Samaritans. A nation that has very much lived up to its name, by offering up points to practically everyone. So for another trip to one of the group’s weaker nations the coach kept faith with those that had come in. And it was Mauricio Sainz who made the most of it. The big striker bullying the opposition defence into submission.

It was his hold up play that led to the first as he held off a covering defender before laying the ball off to Jeremías Saavedra to stroke into the back of the net. He added a second himself, towering above his marker to loop Figueroa’s cross back across the keeper and into the far corner. Martín de la Cavallería was having a productive outing too. The formation had morphed into something more akin to a conventional 5-3-2, with de la Cavallería drifting into the number ten position. Ahead of him Sainz and Saavedra were playing as a front two. De la Cavallería was finding plenty of space in the attacking third and the neat passing play of the Dínamo Maturín playmaker was making things happen. Although there was nothing intricate about the third. As raw power from the right boot of de la Cavallería killed off the match midway through the second half. Even the home fans at the Petro Mohammed Stadium clapped in appreciation of the twenty-five-yard thunderbolt.

In fairness to the home fans the flags never stopped waving and the smoke from the flares never left the pitch despite their favourites being largely second best. And there would be a fourth. With Sainz wrapping up his man of the match performance with a decisive finish following good approach play from substitute Juan Pablo Montenegro. So six points from a possible six were won following the defeat against Chromatika, enough to keep Sargossa on top of the group. Albeit with the big guns right on the Corsairs’ heels.

So to the contrast. And to the lashing rain of Soluca. Where the Sargossan resolve dissolved in the face of a furious Euran onslaught. The Rushmori rivals arrived in the Sargossan capital with disappointing results against the Corsairs fresh in their memories. The two points dropped in Bastion earlier in the campaign would have been irritating. Defeat in the semi-final of the recent Copa Rushmori would have been excruciating. They took full revenge at the Estadio Generalissimo Joaquín Delgado, battering their opponents into submission in a fixture in which the leadership of Group 6 was at stake.

So the Eurans now sit at the top, with defeat for Sargossa sending them crashing down into fourth. Wins for Chromatika and Nyowani Kitara saw those nation’s leapfrog the Corsairs too. With the end in sight and barely a knife edge between four nations there is no longer any room for slip ups. Slip ups like a draw with Taksylvania for example.

[Banija]

Banijan manager, Pam Scott, standing on the touchline, in stoppage time, of a 2-1 game at the Kingsgarden

Pam Scott had her arms crossed, on the touchline. The moment that they were building towards, if Banija was able to hold on in these few final moments, was World Cup Qualification. A place that she had been to before- never missing on the Finals with Farfadillis or Baker Park. And a place that this nation had been to before as well, with the Banijans qualifying for 9 consecutive World Cups before failing to qualify for World Cup 89. But it was that failure, that failure to qualify for World Cup 89, even right after winning the AOCAFs for the first time, that had been the defining moment of Banijan soccer for this cycle.

It was something that, as the manager and her players quickly learned at the Cup of Harmony, that they could not escape from. No matter what they did- they would constantly be reminded of their failure, and they would not be able to escape from that. When she kept on getting questions and comments about the team's qualification failure at the Cup of Harmony, she realized that to be true. The other tournaments mattered greatly in Banijan soccer- the AOCAFs, the Eagle's Cup, etc... They wanted to go out and win them. They felt that success in those tournaments would get you success in the most important tournament of all- the World Cup. But as was shown, if you weren't making the World Cup, that overshadowed all else.

That, more than anything, was what informed Pam Scott's decision-making throughout the World Cup cycle. Bringing an entirely domestic-based squad of players to both the AOCAFs and the Eagle's Cup. Questionable thinking, perhaps? They especially struggled at the Eagle's Cup, where they went five consecutive matches without scoring, before a meaningless 3-1 victory over the White Winter Queendom at tail end of the group stage. The outlook would change, from Qualifying, to trophy chasing, after they went to the World Cup. But of course- everything hinged around World Cup Qualification.

Even this game, had been a hellacious battle at the Kingsgarden. A loss would almost surely relegate Banija to the playoffs, while a draw would leave everything to play for on Matchday 14. Pam Scott had told her charges before the game that she wanted to win this game, outright, in Rozelle. "It is about more than simply winning this game. It is the ultimate signal that, after one cycle, to shut up all of our critics, that Banija, emphatically, are back. Beating the Pot 2 team at their house, to clinch direct qualification? There's nothing more emphatic than that. And it gains the ultimate currency, that currency of respect. A win here, in a place like Rozelle, for all the marbles, would show that not only we deserve to qualify for the World Cup and that last cycle was a blip- but that once we get there, we are not going to Vilita & Baker Park to sightsee. It'll show the world that once we get there, we mean absolute business."

ANd this had been quite the battle. Kausu Dione opened the scoring with a 27th minute header, but Garrard equalized in the 39th minute for Brenecia. This set up the stage for a wild second half, where Brenecia was forced to break from their shell and go for the win, while the Banijans were pushing up the pitch, trying to get the win themselves. For the opening half hour, both Finnan and Wanda Kouyaté, in net for Brenecia and Banija, respectively, were putting on a clinic. But Gereh Kama finally broke the deadlock in the 75th minute, when he beat Bravender on the dribble in the box, to put the ball in the top corner. And the Banijans were sitting there, trying to hold that lead against a desperate Brenecia attack.

But when Kouyaté caught a cross here in stoppage and threw the ball down the sideline towards Sarafina Ikpeazu, Pam Scott started leaping up. "C'MON! GO GO GO!" She yelled, although there was no way anybody could hear the Baker Park national. Immaculate Kaba, who had come onto the pitch for Kama just a few minutes earlier, was flying up the pitch as well off the ball, alongside both of Banija's strikers, Dione and Kamara Touré. With the amount of Brenecians forward, it was a mismatch. Ikpeazu eventually lofted a ball towards the near post, and Kamara Touré tried to head the ball into the net. While Finnan made a fantastic save, the only person around for the rebound was the 34 year old former Champions League winner, Immaculate Kaba. She slotted the ball into the back of the net, and that was that.

"YES!" Pam Scott yelled, throwing her hands in the air. She was going to try to mute her celebration. But everyone around her had felt the pain of World Cup 89 lift off their shoulders at once with that goal. She was mobbed by assistant coaches. The whole bench flew down to the corner flag to mob Immaculate Kaba. Banija? Redeemed. What a moment. What a story. Banija would appear at World Cup 90.

---

Kadongo Kamu qualify for World Cup 90 with an emphatic second half performance in their 3-1 win at the Kingsgarden in Brenecia


Banijans celebrate World Cup Qualification after the final whistle is blown at the Kingsgarden

ROZELLE, BRENECIA- "The wait is over." Demba Kinteh declared in his post match interview after the final whistle in Rozelle. Banija faced its toughest two-game window of the entire World Cup Qualifying cycle- a home game against Oberour Ar Moro, a Pot 3 team that Banija are very familiar with, followed by a trip to Brenecia, a team that beat Banija at our very own national stadium in this very Qualifying cycle. A 6 point window would be enough to put Banija into the World Cup Finals- but anything less could see the team with a high pressure home game against Sangti on Matchday 14, where the nerves could spoil everything and Sangti would have a chance to ruin things for this national team.

Let's get started, shall we?

The two-game window

Oberour Ar Moro came to Jinja City. They, of course, after struggling to start the campaign, have turned things around, finding their way to the #3 place in this group, which makes sense for the Pot 3 team. As their media has said, this qualifier is the sixth time these two teams are meeting competitively- all in World Cup Qualifying. Which makes Oberour Ar Moro a very frequent opponent of Banija. "Look- this is World Cup Qualifying." Pam Scott said before their match. "If you want to make the World Cup, you are going to have to beat good teams along the way to get there. There is simply too much talent across the multiverse to avoid that fact. And we want to make the World Cup. Our last game against them was high-flying and wide open, with both teams getting up and down the field, to create plenty of chances. We put away our chances then, of course, to take all three points. I don't expect as open of a game today in Jinja City, and we're going to have to earn 3 points on this Matchday."

Ethan Stevenson's men are aggressive, however. They wholly prefer to get forward and go after a game, and at BCEL Stadium, that's exactly what they did. For probably the opening half hour or so, actually, the Dragoons were actually much more the dominant team on the day. Unfortunately for them, they did not bring their finishing boots- but they had the Kadongo Kamu on the back foot. They meant to test Wanda Kouyaté and her mobility, as the Banijan goalkeeper was in her first game back from injury. She was, fortunately for us, looking exactly like her old herself. The hamstring injury that caused her to miss games did not test her explosiveness, as even at age 35, she was able to leave her feet for a pair of diving saves, and still command the box, leaping high over her opponents for punchouts or catching crosses.

After about 30 minutes, we finally started to get into the game on the offensive end. We didn't have our first shot on goal until the 33rd minute, when a long distance shot by Dembo Savaneh was easily corralled by Oberour Ar Moro's goalkeeper. We created our first legitimate chance in stoppage time of halftime. Immaculate Kaba was able to nail a perfect through ball towards the young striking phenom, Wesoloski-Okafor, who was suddenly through on goal. As the crowd rose, an aggressive Olliuier le Duc made a spectacular one on one save, sliding out to deny the dual-national any room to get his shot off. His defender cleared the ball, and the teams went into the break, tied at 1. In the second half, the Banijans grew more into the game. We were created more chances. le Duc knocked a free header for Kamara Touré over the top of the goal, and out for a corner kick, in the 52nd minute. A long range shot from Idi Mboge was denied at full stretch, in the 63rd minute.

But then, came the controversial moment. A few minutes after Idai Uster had come into the game for Wesoloski-Okafor, in the 72nd minute. Momodou Jassey making a run, in the box. Brought down by Tilio Lot. Peter Stepney, the Tumbran referee, pointed to the spot- and then called for a VAR review. It was as tight of a call as you could see. It seemed as if Tilio Lot got tangled, and then fell into Jassey, who probably exaggerated his fall. That is what many saw, although we all know the trouble with instant replay- two people can look at the same replay, and see very different things. Stepney saw a foul on Lot, and after the match, said it was because Lot ended up 'wrapping his arms around Jassey as he fell', just as a cross was being hit in towards the box- a gridiron style tackle. But he tripped? Or fell?

A highly controversial call. The visiting fans were booing, but of course, they were only a small section of the crowd. OAM fans were absolutely livid on social media. But we would benefit from that controversial call. Idai Uster, the veteran, stepped up to take the penalty, and she buried it into the top corner. One of Banija's all-time leading goalscorers, a woman who had scored in the World Cup Final, was always going to take- and make- that penalty. 1-0 to Banija in controversial fashion, and that was that. OAM had 20 minutes to try and equalize, but Banija was stiff in the back. We went to one striker, brought Idi Dabo as an extra defender, and held out for the 1-0 win. Amid controversy? Yes. Was it pretty? Absolutely not. But it was a win they had to grind for, and that put them on the brink of Qualifying for World Cup 90.

And we all know what happened here in Rozelle. A high-flying, up and down matchup, between two national teams of the highest caliber. A rocking Kingsgarden stadium in Rozelle for a perfect backdrop for this extremely high-level match, between two teams with excellent quality. Kausu Dione's opener being cancelled out by Consaidin Garrard's brilliant equalizer. Gereh Kama scoring the go-ahead goal in the 75th minute, and then Immaculate Kaba putting Brenecia's dreams on ice, and sending Banija directly to the World Cup Finals. What scenes. What a goal it was. What a game it was. What a post-match celebration. The Banijans, to celebrate, bought a bunch of champagne and sprayed it all over each other in the visitors locker room.

What next?

Well, despite not making the last World Cup, Banija has had an excellent World Cup Qualification cycle. We're in the midst of a 7 game winning streak, and have beaten every single team in our group at least once. Most importantly, at 34 points, with one game remaining, we have the second-most points out of any team in World Cup Qualifying. Who is first? None other than Farfadillis, who sit with 35 points. Shango-Fogoa time is real.

Expect our final qualifier against Sangti, at Keystone Stadium in Sisonke, to be more of a celebration party than anything. We are going to chase the three points, of course. But a game with no pressure, with Banija not only having clinched a berth, but seemingly there is no way we can drop from Pot 2(or go up to Pot 1) for the World Cup Finals, it is truly a match that is simply going to just happen. And then, look out for what Banija will do to prep for the World Cup Finals.

How many matches will the RBSA play? It's hard to say. Maybe 3, maybe 4. Expect at least two games at home, and a minimum of one away from home. Potential opponents? Hard to say. Could be anybody. Rumor has it that the team will look to play Ranoria in a pre-WC friendly, at the very least. Quebec, Chromatika, and Equestria are all potential opponents, as well as nations like Yuezhou and Ko-oren. Really hard to say- because we know the RBSA will wait until the World Cup draw to schedule friendlies with any opponents that qualify for the Finals(to ensure we don't play any potential group stage opponents). But just know this- we're back in the World Cup after a cycle away, and now that we're here, the team will show up with ambitions to make real noise at the tournament proper.

Matchday 14 v. Sangti
Starters: 3-4-1-2.
Players who are based in a foreign league are bolded.
Players who have their first ever competitive callup received in this tournament are italicized.
BSL = Banijan Soccer League, Banija's second tier. National league. S-FPL is the joint first tier soccer league for Farfadillis, Banija, and the Busoga Islands.
GK #23 Wanda Kouyaté. Age 35(Female). Plays for Jungle Strike FC in Vilita. Only player on this team to be a world champion at every level- U18 World champion(Sporting World Cup , U21 World Champion(DBC 47), and World Cup Winner(World Cup 86). Missed Matchdays 10 and 11 due to hamstring injury.
LCB #3 Samba Ogunsola. Age 33. Plays for Holdenberg City in Eura.
CB #15 Demba Kouyaté. 27 years old. Plays for Istria City FC in the S-FPL. Called up for first time at midway point of World Cup 89 Qualifying.
RCB #4 Idi Dabo. Age 23. Plays for the Hoima Warriors in the S-FPL.
LM #22 Orji Uzoma. Age 26. Plays for Herzegovina City FC in the S-FPL.
CM #8 Idi Mboge. Age 29. Plays for New Bremen FC in Baker Park. Only Olympic player to play for a foreign team. Banijan/Mrii dual-national. Debut made at Eagle's Cup XI. Became a starter for the first time at the midway point of WCQ89.
CM #6 Momodou Jassey. Age 27. Plays for the Hoima Warriors in the S-FPL.
RM #21 Dembo Savaneh. Age 20. Plays for Istria City FC in the S-FPL.
CAM #15 Immaculate Kaba(Female). 34 years old. Plays for Forest Park SC in the Commonwealth of Baker Park.
ST #17 Abel Wesoloski-Okafor. Age 20. Male. Plays for the Busembe Timberwolves in the S-FPL. Called up at halfway point of World Cup 89 Qualifying.
ST #9 Idai Uster. Age 33(Female). Plays for AFC Treason in the Nepharim Premiership. Captain.
Bench:
GK #35 Hebron Yiena. Age 22. Plays for Busukuma AC in the S-FPL. Female.
GK #39 Hebron Rao. Age 24. Plays for Jinja City FC in the S-FPL. Female.
CB #5 Demba Kinteh. Age 33. Plays for Dí Maozöxê(Farfadillis) in the S-FPL. Captain of the U18 Sporting World Cup 8 championship squad.
CB #30 Kemo Jawara.Age 30. Plays for Wexax United in the Elven Premiership in Valanora. Became a starter for the first time at the midway point of WCQ89.
RCB #20 Tairu Conateh. Age 26. Plays for Raynor City United in the Elven Premiership in Valanora. Became a starter for the first time at the midway point of WCQ89.
CM #14 Tijan Sowe. Age 24. Plays for Herzegovina City FC in the S-FPL.
CM #25 Mzukisi Nzo. Age 34. Plays for Crisisbless in the Nepharim Premiership.
CAM #10 Gereh Kama. 26 years old. Plays for Lhor in the Red League in Chromatika.
RM/RW #7 Sarafina Ikpeazu. Age 26. Plays for Sabrefell Athletic in the Nepharim Premiership. Female.
LW/LM #11 Lolong Bokate. Age 21. Plays for Dí Maozöxê(Farfadillis) in the S-FPL.
ST #12 Kamara Touré. 28 years old. Plays for Mar Sara FC in Valanora. Became a starter on Matchday 4 of World Cup Qualifying.
ST #19 Kausu Dione. 32 years old. Plays for KT Itzalovalle in Audioslavia. Starter on both the DBC 47 and SWC 8 Championship Teams.
Notes:
- Our free kicks are taken by Abel Wesoloski-Okafor. Our corner kicks are taken by the winger on whatever side the corner kick is on.
- Our penalty kicks are taken by Idai Uster.

[Starblaydia]

World Cup 78 Part One: Takeaway | Two: Duchess | Three: Fidget | Four: Torque | Five: Omen | Six: Leap | Seven: Screams | Eight: Iota | Nine: Death | Ten: Wrong | Eleven: Happy | Twelve: Together | Thirteen: Sweat | Fourteen: Taken | Fifteen Ice cream | Di Bradini Cup 41 Part Sixteen: Stunned | World Cup 79 Part Seventeen: Fame | Eighteen: Weird | Nineteen: Sheep | Twenty: Grave | Twenty-one: Gather | AOCAF Cup 55 Part Twenty-two Device | Twenty-three: Evil | World Cup 80 Part Twenty-four: Sure | Twenty-five: Basic | Twenty-six: Telescope | World Bowl 35 Part Twenty-seven: Sacrifice | World Cup 81 Part Twenty-eight: Library | Twenty-nine: Amateurs | Thirty: Two Ks | Thirty-one: Mirrors | Thirty-two: Germinate | World Cup 82 Part Thirty-three: Party | Thirty-four: Lights | Thirty-five: Fleet | Thirty-six: Pandemonium | World Cup 84 Part Thirty-seven: Idiom | AOCAF 61 Part Thirty-eight: Outline | Thirty-Nine: Wham | Forty: Cock | Forty-one: Mercenary | World Cup 86 Part Forty-two: Facility | Forty-three: Ego | Forty-four: Chimeras | World Cup 88 Part Forty-five: Exist | Forty-six: Motivate | Forty-seven: Whimper | Forty-eight: Geopolitical | Forty-nine: Crossword | Fifty: Something | World Cup 90 Part Fifty-one: Crunch | Fifty-two: Grift

OOC: For the people who haven't been keeping up with my RPs since 2004 (guaranteed to be 100% of readers, I'm sure), there's been a few loosely intertwined threads to an overall, grander story of Starblaydia as a nation: it's become worldbuilding via football RPs. I appreciate that just providing a whole bunch of links going back god-knows-how-many cups isn't particularly helpful to dissect this story, as some of the (necessarily immortal) characters have been developing over the course of 75 in-character World Cups over almost 15 RL years. The TL:DR grand picture, however, looks something like this:

World Cup legend (and author avatar) Simeone Di Bradini has lived for the past 50 World Cups as an immortal construct of the Dreamed Realm, thanks to Arch's IC and OOC generosity. In this time, he's saved the multiverse on several occasions, and has also traveled in time, accidentally becoming Starblaydia's version of King Arthur, the once-and-future King Oberyn Starblayde, in his country's ancient past. The Starblayde family, who currently rule Starblaydia, have all been killed off through various ways and means by the evil vampire Viannor, who is currently masquerading as Lady-Protector Korra Starblayde, the hitherto completely imaginary daughter of the former Lord-Protector Julius Starblayde, and is ruling the nation as tightly as a constitutional monarch who was once the head of the secret service and covert intelligence agency can. This is the second time she has been in control of the nation, and the first time did not go well at all.

Simeone has been informed, by the late "Best in the World" goalkeeper and prophet Lucas Cable, that Korra Starblayde is actually Viannor, and will enslave the entire nation/world/universe/multiverse. Simeone, together with Starblaydia national team manager Ázëwyn Fëanáro the elf, along with time-travelling dwarven scientist from the future Dalnir, plans to stop Viannor by recruiting a rag-tag band of commandos, via the process of essentially making their own Dreamed Realm constructs of some characters from the past, including Lucas Cable.

Tons of stuff has come before, which one day I will put all together in one place as the grand story arc of Starblaydia across the ages, but World Cup 78 was the start of a specific arc with a vague plan in mind, rather than just going wherever the narrative happened to take me on a given day.

Simeone had largely forgotten what the experience of flying was like. Long gone were the days when he'd be part of teams at club or country level, flying all around the incomprehensible and largely unknowable distances between all the various stadiums that he had to go and play in. Nowadays portals built the monks of the Archregimancy would transport him wherever he needed to go to get to an international match, and there was always one set aside for him for a return to Starblaydia in case he wanted it. Unfortunately, though, that only took him to the capital, Jhanna, so if he wanted to go anywhere else, even within one of Anaia's largest landmasses, he had to travel the mundie way. For him, 'mundane' didn't mean economy, it just meant an airplane. He and Ázëwyn were far too well-off, famous and had both racked up so many air miles in their career that they could fly almost anywhere business or first class, so sitting in front of that curtain on a modest internal flight from Jhanna to Farça was nothing outlandish. Once he had got inside the airport, though, he barely recognised any part of the process.

The Zephyr Logo

This multicoloured 'Z' logo was everywhere, plastered all over vending machines, at the perfume counter, at the check-in desks, at the information desk. Even though they'd taken the VIP entrance to the terminal at Jhanna International Airport, you absolutely could not get away from it. The check-in desk for business class had a separate queue just for those who interacted with this Zephyr thing, whatever it was. Ázëwyn had told him all about it, but he still didn't really get it. At an intellectual level, sure, he understood all the words, but in his gut he just didn't understand the what, the how, or more importantly, the why.

"It's an app," she'd explained, "for your phone, but also for the subdermal smart-chip they make everyone have implanted."

"The what?"

"Oh, that's right," Ázëwyn remembered, "you were already in the Dreamed Realm when they rolled it out. Every Starblaydi citizen, Elves excepted, has an ID chip implanted in their hand. It has your government ID, driving license, medical and criminal records on it. But now it also has your banking details on it."

"How on earth does that work?" asked Simeone.

"Beats me," Ázëwyn said, "but to access your money you need to have the Zephyr app. If you put the app on your phone, and you've linked your phone to the ID chip, then you can just put your hand on the pad thing and pay that way. Your phone gets a confirmation message that you paid, and if something was up you can put a hold on the transfer, otherwise it just goes through automatically. There's no such thing as physical money any more for us, just this damn app."

Simeone's mind had, for once, raced with a dozen questions about security, transparency, government oversight and usage of big data, but it was the most mundane question that came to his lips.

"So what do I do with the card in my pocket?"

"Join the slow lane, unfortunately." Ázëwyn shrugged.

Simeone pulled out The Device. It was so important it needed a capitalised article, but he'd never considered what it would look like written down. It was, in the mundie world, the sleekest, slimmest smartphone one could possibly ask for. It was mirror smooth, but had more than enough grip to never slip out of his hand. It didn't have any discernible 'front', 'back', or 'up', but no matter which way he held it, which way round he'd flipped it, whatever side faced him was the front screen, and whatever way he was inclined became up. Whatever its appearance was back in the Dreamed Realm, the boffins there had ensured that it was top notch in the mundie realm. For functionality, it was everything he ever needed in a smartphone, in that it made calls and sent texts. Only recently had Simeone attempted anything app-based, because usually all the information he'd wanted had been fed to him by The Device. Presumably it was coming from the chaps, chapesses and others betwixt and between back home, but it seemed to Simeone that The Device had a personality of it's own. He tapped in 'Zephyr app install', misspelling Zephyr twice in three attempts, and was then immediately faced with the reply 'There's no way you're having that one.' Now that was odd, even for The Device.

Old-fashioned passport, old-fashioned credit card was the order of the day. At least the card still worked, because he could wave it vaguely at the little machine with the 'Z' logo on it and it would still register. Ázëwyn used her watch, waving the back of her hand over the machine and then seemingly checking the time, but in reality confirming the transaction. From then on it was a smooth transition to departure terminal, to executive lounge and then on to the plane itself. Simeone sat across the aisle from Ázëwyn, and as they leaned across to chink their take-off drinks together, she seemed to have finally worked up the courage to ask him the question that had been on her mind.

"So what was the human world like three hundred years ago," she said, "when this time capsule we're off to see was first buried?"

Okay, maybe it wasn't the question he'd been expecting. Ázëwyn was perilously close to not qualifying for the World Cup. This had happened several times before - fifteen in fact - before she had taken the reigns for World Cup 78. Since then, they'd qualified twelve times in a row, which currently stood as the the team's third-longest streak behind nineteen and eighteen times in a row, both of which had yielded multiple World Championships. She only had a solitary Final to her name. What had not happened before, however, is for Starblaydia to not quality when they had money behind them. The SFA had withdrawn appropriate funding for the national team a few times. The first, during what they delicately called 'the first international hiatus' during Viannor's reign and that dark period of AO history known as Operation Galactica, was obvious. The isolationist withdrawal from the world stage had removed any chance of competing on it as the World Cup entered its mid-thirties. In the late fifties, too, the same thing had happened, as Starblaydia pulled the plug on Isabellas Roshanak's reign after she couldn't qualify for World Cup 57. He'd tried something sneaky with Dreamed Realm shenanigans in World Cup 60, but that had failed miserably. The dark period of Starblaydia trying and failing to enter the World Cup was at it's worst between the 66th and the 77th editions, but since then a period of heavy funding, national support and - thankfully - a conveyor belt of appropriately-skilled players had seen them qualify relatively untroubled since Ázëwyn took up the Manager's position.

But not this time.

Starblaydia had one more match to play, against the table-propping South Covello, but even if they won that match, their qualification would not be guaranteed. Three points could conceivably catch surprise packages Tumbra on points, if they lost to Quakmybush, but Tumbra easily held the head-to-head advantage with two victories over Starblaydia, meaning second was the highest they could hope for. It was a long shot, too, as Tumbra had flattened Quakmybush 6-0 away from home, so the return match would surely be a similar scoreline. The next problem for that second spot was Adab, who sat two points ahead of Starblaydia. It was simple maths - if Adab won, they'd cement a top-two spot, and no matter what the other results were, there'd be no room for Ázëwyn's team in that picture. It made every fan of the white and purple a Flavovespian fan for the last match, too. Finish in third place and it was only the hopes of a Cup of Harmony invitation that could possibly save her. Most pundits expected that position would cost her the job instantly, though.

Second position, made only possible with a Starblaydia win and Adab dropping two or three points to Flavovespia, would mean a tense and nervy set of playoff matches against one of the other second place finishers in qualifying. Starblaydia already had enough points to top a good number of the other groups, but Simeone had no idea who could be in store for them. The likes of Drawkland, Equestria, Tikariot, Brenecia, Vdara and Pasarga were all possible assassins for Starblaydia's World Cup hopes with potential meetings further down the road. Making the play-offs would probably keep Ázëwyn her job for the moment, but then it would be celebration or misery after that round. Simeone now realised that All or Nothing was a pretty decent title for a show about football.

"Well?" She prompted him again. "Those heady days of 1974 when you were eighteen and had the world at your feet, what were they like?"

"Simpler," he said at last.

[Estorvipa and Estorpiva]

From the diary of Marek Lemish

These World Cup qualifiers have been a wild ride, to say the least. We went into them with no expectations of winning even a single point, and now here we are with a chance to actually go to the World Cup! It's a very small chance, but it's still a chance. If someone had told us this after we had lost the Baptism of Fire final against Dispertag then we would have all thought that that person was crazy! It doesn't sound so crazy now though, does it?

The whole point of this football team has been to do one better than the Communards in the north and actually win the Baptism of Fire. Everyone knows that. They agreed to it as soon as they accepted the call-up from the federation. "Anything you can do, we can do better," was the message that we were supposed to send with that victory. But we didn't win. We could only match what the northerners had done before us, therefore neither side is actually superior over the other. But that won't stop the politicians on either side from continuing with their dick-measuring contests. When two sides in a conflict are just so diametrically opposed to each other like the northerners and the Federal Republic are then they're always ready to jump on the smallest thing and claim it as a victory over the other side. Fucking crazy, if you ask me.

These World Cup qualifying games have been fun. Most of them, at least. There are a few games that I'd rather we all forgot about. Like that tackle against that player from Nagore. I think I might have actually shattered some bone there. My dismissal from that game was very much deserved and warranted. I got a little bit too trigger happy with slide tackling and I just got carried away. [Stanislav] Vinogradovsky also got carried away with slide tackling. And he's still using the Freudian excuse to explain. Come on now, Slava. We all know how much you hate your father, who also happens to be the head coach of this whole team. But you can't keep falling back on it all the time to explain all these times you've acted odd, so just out with the truth then.

But after these World Cup qualifiers, the Federal Republic has decided that they would rather focus our attention to Anaia and solely to Anaia only. Oh well. I had a good time but there's just so many things to take in. I'd love for us to make an impression there in the World Cup, but that might be a bit too much to ask for this group now. Gloria de Anaia. One more game left to play. Hopefully we can pull it off and get one more win. Hopefully.

 JUVENCUS 0 - 1 ESTORVIPA AND ESTORPIVA 
                DAVYDOV (78')

 ESTORVIPA AND ESTORPIVA 0 - 0 MONTAÑA VERDE 
   VINOGRADOVSKY (█ 72')

STARTING ELEVEN VS. BOLLONICH
GK: Enin; DF: Kessler——Birkov——Krasnenko——Krastenkovic; MF: Rodin——Potritskij; Roberto——Davydov——Roberta; FW: Prasutagusic

[Cassadaigua]

So this last game is important,
By Chelsea Dufresne, Concord Heights Times

Gone are the days where we qualified for the World Cup well before the final game. At least, for World Cup 90, it is. This is something that we felt could happen, after being put in the Group of Death. At this point in qualifying, there will be people that will write in to tell me that I should not be calling this the Group of Death because it ended up being a two team breakaway while there are other groups with much tighter situations. Fiddlesticks to them! In what other than a Group of Death would a team like Electrum be sitting at 4-6-3? In what other than a Group of Death would a team like Reçueçn have a losing record? How else would a Baptism of Fire semifinalist like Guanacasteca be a complete non factor? How else would a nation like Schima Bas,who showed so much potential at halfway end up fizzling out and have a losing record? And finally, and maybe most significantly, how does a nation like Mertagne pull off a huge 4-1 win over Polkopia while that one was tied for first? That all happens because this was the Group of Death. Group 6 might have three involved to the finish, but they also had their acceptably normal Good Samaritans, Geisenfried, and Al Qurija: non factors that were always going to be non factors. No other group, from 1st to 7th (not quite 8th), had more potential than our group. It played out the way that it did because two nations were up to the task from the opening game, while the rest of the nations ended up taking one another out.

The result is a meaningful Game 14 for the pink and black and against a very difficult challenger: Mertagne. We’re only in the situation that we are in now because of Metagne’s 4-1 win over Polkopia, so don’t go thinking that the explosively offensive system of Tyrell Gulliver are unable to hand us a similar result. A good point of this match is obviously that it is being played at Dagan Airways Stadium while Polkopia had to play Mertagne on the road.

The situation is this:
Cassadaigua: 8-5-0, 33GF, 17GA, +16
Polkopia: 7-5-1, 34GF, 22GA, +12

You can throw out all of the head to head tiebreakers, because the two countries played one another to a 3-3 draw in both matches. The next tiebreaker? Overall goal differential. At the moment, the Fillies have an advantage there, which is why, again, we need to not only be happy with the Metagne win over Polkopia, but the eventual 4-1 final scoreline. Polkopia does not have a picnic in their final match, as they meet Reçueçn. If the Fillies get a point, at the bare minimum, they qualify for the World Cup. If they lose, and Polkopia wins, then we start looking at that overall goal differential. If Cassadaigua loses by one, then Polkopia still must defeat Reçueçn by at least three goals. So, yeah, things do look good, but nothing is ever in the bag and automatic. We’ve seen last minute heroics. We’ve seen final thirteen second heroics. Polkopia is the type of nation that can pull it off, too. They have had nothing to lose ever since they first signed up for the World Cup and continue to exceed expectations. But one thing that they cannot do is control their own destiny. They need Mertagne, the nation that just thumped them, to return the favor and probably beat us by more than one goal to have a chance. The good news for them is that Mertagne plays the type of system that could be able to pull that off if they click on all cylinders, and we stutter.

Yes, people will say it isn’t over for the second place team: you still have the playoff! Do you really want to play in that? I didn’t think so. That’s the kind of thing that a nation like Polkopia would look at with a little more acceptance. We do not want to be playing in that. You want to play someone like Pasarga, Starblaydia, Eura, or Chromatika in that, as is possible? That’s pretty concerning and why we can’t be looking at the second place playoff route as something that we want to go through. Sure, it would be there if we needed it. But let’s not get derailed to the World Cup from the highway to the side road, because the side road could end up going to a different destination in the end.

Here’s a look at some other news from around the team:

Frontiera getting in scoring groove?

After scoring just four goals in her first eight games, and none in her next three games, Jenna Frontiera has scored three goals in her last two games, including two big ones against Polkopia, that tied the game at 2-2 in the 63rd minute, then 3-3 in the 80th. Jenna would then add one more against Guanacasteca. This has put her at seven goals in twelve games (she did not play in one of them), which is not the type of clip that draws a lot of scrutiny. Sure, you’d like to see the person you were counting on to be the team’s leading scorer and to replace Rachel Schanke in that position have a few more, and maybe that is why Cassadaigua is in a situation where they must secure a point in their last game, but just maybe Jenna is going to get hot at the right now. Chances are you have read a lot of my coverage at this point, so if you have, you know that Frontiera has done a lot of the other things that a team needs to be successful, and this was why she was kept in the lineup. (Her game off was earlier in the campaign and a planned such day by manager Brittany Byers, so not related to production).

Byers was quick to point out that there are goals, and then there are goals. In other words, there are goals that made a 4-1 lead a 5-1 lead in the 85th minute against a team at the bottom of the table, and then there are goals like the two that Frontiera had against Polkopia. In her post-game press conference following the Polkopia match on the matter, Byers said, “Yeah, goals like that can be uplifting. They can generate confidence. You know that I have felt that Jenna has been doing more than has been seen on the scoresheet, but she knows why she is on the team. We need her to have a high degree of confidence, right now.”

Zack Pierce responds to Ava Brookdale’s comments:

You will recall that Victoriaville City midfielder Ava Brookdale lashed out at the CSL’s decision to do much more to promote more Cassadagan males within the game. I covered the quote in full in my last article but essentially Brookdale stated that she felt that this will “dumb down the league”. Zack Pierce did not initially comment on the response, but made a statement about it last night. It would be as follows, “I would invite Ava to talk to me and speak her concerns. I would then love to share her mine, and I am confident that I can assure her that this program will in no way dumb down the CSL. Of course, I was offended by the statement, but I am not surprised to hear it. Whenever you get this kind of program started to help out a minority or disadvantaged group, there will be people like Ava who might not fully understand the disadvantages that said groups face. In a way, I am glad that one of these people like Ava made her thoughts known instead of keeping it inside, because like I said, I knew there would be people who thought that way. So, we can tackle this perception now. Most people will not feel as she does, but naturally, there will be people who do.”

The CSL has not issued a fine to Brookdale, and say they will have a hearing with the midfielder before making any additional decisions on punishment. The intention will certainly be to get her to understand the need for such a program. Brookdale has not yet replied to Pierce’s response directly, but did say that, “We’ll see, but I don’t know what good it will do.” Hopefully, it will do plenty of good.

No changes to lineup against Mertagne:

It should not come as any surprise that the anticipated starting eleven will take to the field against Mertagne. Brittany Byers has not made any statement about how she will handle the visitor’s aggressive 2-3-5 formation. “That is kept in the locker room,” Byers said.

[Wrecker]

THE END OF WRECKERIA – PART IX

The President’s House, Hapilopper City, Hapilopper
A few days before World Cup 90 Qualifying Match 14
What a scene it was inside the President’s House in the government complex of Hapilopper City. Arnold Martin, the President of Wreckeria was flanked with officials from both of Wreckeria’s two political parties, waiting outside of Hapiloppian President William Mathis’s office. The last few days or so had been very telling for Wreckerian officials. Either they had gone out to poll average Wreckerians, or had people go out to do it, and they got the same answer every time. The only thing to be proud of with Wreckeria was their national football team, and even then that was questionable. Many Wreckerians thought out loud that maybe being part of Hapilopper was a better idea, if, at least, it would mean they could finally rebuild from the years of fighting and political and economic turmoil.

With all that in mind, Arnold and the party leaders decided to make the very hard decision to cede power. It was the last thing in the world they had wanted to do, but the thing was, they had no alternative at this point. Wreckeria was out of money and out of options to keep the lights on, and as a result, the Wreckerian simoleon had been devalued so badly that people couldn’t afford their groceries. No matter how good the national team was going to be, they weren’t going to be able to fix those problems. Not even close.

With that in mind, there was a little bit of unease in the minds of Wreckeria’s leaders. They knew this meeting would have a massive impact on their future, and it wasn’t entirely the move they wanted to make, but they were there for the good of their people. Maybe not being there anymore would be for the best.

And then, a huge door opened.

“Mr. Mathis will see you now,” a representative for the Hapiloppian president said.

The Wreckerian officials came in, nervously wondering what these next few minutes and hours would hold for them. William Mathis stood up and offered a handshake, which Arnold happily took. The Wreckerians didn’t know it but Mathis and his counterparts in Hapilopper were just as nervous about the meeting. They weren’t sure what this meeting was going to hold, nor were they sure Wreckeria had anything planned under their sleeves. But that feeling went away when they started speaking.

“I’m just gonna be blunt with you, Mr. Mathis,” Arnold said. “Either we can flounder apart, or we can thrive together. We owe you more than anyone else, probably put together. The only we can pay back our debts is if you take us. Simple as that.”

Mathis looked at Arnold and his Wreckerian colleagues for a long time, studying them. He was studying to see if Arnold was telling the truth, or if there was some deceit going on. Part of him was sure there was deceit. After all, Arnold’s predecessors wouldn’t have dreamed of merging in to their neighbors to the east. Wreckerians had historically thought of Hapiloppians as excessively hedonistic and immoral compared to their blue-collar work ethic that had, for most of its existence, defined their character. But when Wreckeria was trying, but failing to pick up their mess, they noticed Hapilopper, off to the east, as a land that people could actually enjoy themselves. A land where people could make something of themselves and prosper with some hard work, as opposed to a land where people wondered where their next meal would come from.

But as Mathis studied the Wreckerians, he realized there were no ulterior motives. He had known that Wreckeria was going through major internal problems, and the Hapiloppian government had prodded Wreckeria to pay its debts all year. Mathis sat forward in his chair and thought out loud.

“Mr. Martin, I understand where you’re coming from,” Mathis said. “Wreckeria has been in a very bad place for a number of years now. Since I’ve known you, I’ve known you as someone who has tried to get the best deal for his people. You and I have spent quite a few hours together trying to figure out how to help your country in a way that is palatable for all of us. Unfortunately, the idea of helping y’all out is not politically popular. I got flayed alive in Parliament not too long ago when I proposed a rescue package for y’all.”

“Right, I remember,” Arnold said. “That was hard to watch.”

“A lot of people are concerned,” Mathis continued, slowing his tempo down a touch. “A lot of people are concerned about your nation and your ability to pay back your debts. What I am getting from you is that you acknowledge this, and that to pay back your debts, you are giving us… you. Am I understanding this correctly?”

“You are,” Arnold replied.

“What I want to know is why,” Mathis asked. “Why now? You know, for so many years, Wreckeria was resistant to any help we’d offer you – hell, you were even hostile to it. Even when we had talks about the debt, y’all took this idea as a nonstarter. But something’s changed. You don’t have to tell me that. I can see it. You wouldn’t have come to the table if it hadn’t changed.”

“We’ve been running informal polls in Halsted and elsewhere in the last few days and weeks,” Arnold said. “People can’t afford to eat, people can’t afford to get their basic supplies, yet they see other nations able to handle this just fine. And they’re looking at Hapilopper. They want to clear the wreckage but they can’t. They want to be able to have a decent meal without their simoleons becoming more worthless than a surfboard in the Calanian Desert. And there’s more and more people, every single day, saying their life would be better off if they were part of y’all, instead of us.”

“I see…”

“And honestly? I’m sick and tired of looking at the wreckage. I’m sick and tired of wondering when the next shoe’s gonna drop. You know, I see the two parties working together but they had fought for over 50 years, and then they just couldn’t fight anymore. Because they realized that…”

Arnold stopped speaking as a lump grew in his throat. He realized he was talking about the end of the nation he had loved so much.

“…Mathis, they realized that there was no point in division. They realized that, we can try to prosper together as a nation unified, or we can fail if we keep pitting us versus them. If we keep doing that, this whole us versus them nonsense, nobody’s gonna win. As a matter of fact, we lost.”

Mathis winced a bit, as he listened to Arnold continue.

“We lost because we realized we had been pitting us versus them for way too long. We had blown ourselves up. We had realized that we were spending too much time and resources on trying to kill each other rather than build ourselves back. By the time it was over, we couldn’t afford to do anything. By the time it was over, we didn’t have a god damn thing left. William… we don’t have a country left. All we have is wreckage. Broken dreams. No money. People that don’t want to be there. But I keep waiting for that other shoe to drop. What’s going to happen next to us, what now? Are we gonna have a violent coup d’etat where some maniac takes us over and threatens fire and fury on everyone?”

Mathis slowly nodded his head, taking in what Arnold was saying. The rest of the room was dead quiet. Party of Pride members, True Wreckerians, and Hapiloppian officials all sat in dead silence.

“We’re done,” Arnold said, emotion pouring through his voice. “We’ve just been running and running and our legs gave out and we just can’t run anymore. We can’t do it anymore. We can’t keep living through this cycle. We’re gonna keep running up more and more and more debt to you guys. People are gonna run out of food. They’re gonna starve. They’re gonna revolt and we wind up getting a situation far worse than we’re in now. So, you wanna know what’s changed? That’s changed.”

Mathis nodded his head.

“Have you spoken to your Parliament?” Mathis asked. “Has this been relayed to those in government?”

Party leaders nodded their heads.

“What’d they say?” Mathis asked, wanting a better answer than just a nod of the head. “If I’m gonna take you guys in I need assurance that this isn’t gonna blow up in our face.”

The leaders from the True Wreckerians and the Party of Pride both handed Mathis notes, signed by the vast majority of the Wreckerian parliament, agreeing to cede power to Hapilopper. Mathis inspected the note, searching for any out that Wreckerians might have to try to cause a skirmish to keep their nation alive. After around 20 minutes of looking through the notes, Mathis spoke up.

“Looks like it checks out,” Mathis said. “But the thing is, I can’t just snap my fingers and Wreckeria becomes Hapilopper West Coast. I need a binding vote from your Parliament, and I’m gonna take this to my Parliament to discuss and vote on. If they say yes and you say yes, it’s done. But if they say no, and I’m not sure what they’re gonna say, then we can’t help you that way. Let us cast the vote and we’ll get back to you.”

The Wreckerians nodded their heads, shook Mathis’s hand and went on their way. While the meeting took place behind closed doors, Mathis admitted to the Hapiloppian public, through the media, that the meeting involved consolidating Wreckeria into Hapilopper. The headlines that went out surprised many. In both nations, there was an interesting response. The view of Wreckeria in Hapilopper had grown substantially over the years, and Wreckerians wanted whatever they could to improve their lives, and if being a part of Hapilopper was it, then so be it.

FLASH! Wreckeria, Hapilopper to hold legislative votes on consolidation – 15:21 LOCAL

FLASH! Wreckeria requests to become part of Hapilopper – 15:22 LOCAL

[Adab]

Tuesday, February 3, 2037 / 17 Dhu al-Hijjah 1458 / 18 Shevat 5797
Adab 5-4 Alezian Union
Adab scorers: Yargab (23’), Akaptaha (52’, 79’), Orlev (64’), Yissakar (85’)

---

Tuesday, February 10, 2037 / 24 Dhu al-Hijjah 1458 / 25 Shevat 5797
Quakmybush 3-4 Adab
Adab scorers: Akaptaha (30’), Yargab (47’, 68’), Yissakar (89’)

A Dance with Football
Snapshots of the lives of the people involved in Adabian football and those associated with them
For a full list of chapters click here. To read all the chapters in one go click here
For an (incomplete) list of major/prominent characters in this story click here and scroll down to the ‘Football’ section

Chapter 55: Rendezvous

November 11, 2036
Faraby City, Faraby

“I… I need to go out for a while,” Rashid Abbas said, hastily putting the phone back in his pocket and starting out of the room. On the TV screen that broadcast was still ongoing, zooming in and out constantly, but still showing the plane hovering aimlessly above Adab City International Airport, never on the verge of landing.

“Wait, Rashid, where are you going?” Kara Abbas turned to see her brother rushing behind the corridor, then the sound of a door quickly creaking open and closing again. Her father’s eyes were still on the screen, but now both Sabiha and Maria were looking at her, confusion painted on their faces even as their eyes occasionally glanced back at the screen to see what was happening.

Kara could only shake her head. “I… I don’t know what’s going on, I hope it’s not too bad,” she said, before quickly continuing, “I, uh, I think I need to see Rashid now.”

“It’s… it’s not a hijacking isn’t it, Mrs. Kara?” inquired Maria with some panic in her voice, again turning her head to steal a look at the screen.

“I don’t think it is,” Kara answered, swiveling on her feet and quickly making her way out of the living room, raising her hand over her shoulder and pointing back as she headed for the corridor. “Uh, don’t forget my father’s meds. I think it’s an hour from now?”

She pulled the door open and pushed it shut behind her with a loud thump, looking left and right as she tried to guess which way her brother had gone. He was nowhere to be seen, and obviously nowhere to be heard. She rushed towards the elevator that would take her to the lobby but stopped right before the elevator doors, reasoning to herself that Rashid appeared to be wanting to make a phone call to the people in the plane and that the content of the call might potentially be too private or sensitive to be heard in a public space.

So for a while she just stood there, debating to herself where he might have gone until she decided to have a look at the lobby anyway. She pressed the button, quickly sliding into the elevator as soon as the doors parted open. The journey from Basement 4 to the lobby felt awfully long; either it was sensitivity to whatever was going on that made her more sensitive to the passage of time or the elevator was just old and slowing down.

Both, both it was also more of the latter. An awfully long amount of time later, she found herself just reaching Basement 1. The doors began to part open and she leaned onto the wall, trying to appear relaxed to whoever was coming in. She didn’t need to; the doors opened to reveal an all-too-familiar face, albeit ashen and almost colorless. “Rashid!”

“Kara?” Rashid swiftly stepped into the elevator, pushing on the button to close the doors behind him.

“W-where did you go?”

“Oh God,” he shook his head again and again rapidly, running his fingers across his forehead and down the bridge of his nose, sighing heavily. He leaned over his shoulders, making sure the doors were closed.

“A-are you alright?” Kara found herself becoming increasingly nervous. She knew her brother, and she knew from his face that something had gone wrong. Horribly wrong.

Again, Rashid shook his head, and again he looked behind to be sure the doors were closed before pushing on the button that would take them to Basement 5, the lowest level. “It’s a fucking madhouse up there.” He leaned closer to his sister, whispering to her ear. “The players are accusing the Football Association president of not allowing them to land. Something about him calling the Imperial Palace who then called air traffic. I don’t know, it’s fucking chaos.”

Kara’s voice lowered to a conspiratorial volume. As the elevator continued its slow descent to Basement 5, she moved her head closer to her brother’s. “Is that even possible?”

“I- I don’t know either, but you never know,” Rashid said. “I got to Mr. Kaykali, he said he’s trying to reach the president but he’s been unable to do that so far. The players are just fucking raging. They think the president is intentionally doing this to them and they’re basically being held hostage or something.”

“Holy shit,” Kara whispered back. “Is it really that bad?”

“I don’t know but we’ve got a situation on our hands. And, yeah, it’s not good.”

The elevator trudged closer to Basement 5 and Rashid pulled away from his sister, trying to appear as normal as possible as they stepped out of the elevator. Kara took the cue and she straightened her back, leaning back on the wall, exhaling heavily but quietly. They both craned their heads upwards, their eyes dancing to the ceiling as they waited for the elevator to reach the lowest level. And then Rashid’s phone rang.

Kara turned to see her brother scramble to pull the phone out of his pocket. Her mouth opened and her eyes widened but she desisted from saying a word, instead watching wordlessly as the elevator finally reached Basement 5, only for her brother to lean forward and press the button that would take them all the way back up to the lobby, forcing the doors shut as soon as they had begun to open, all the while talking on the phone in a tone which appeared a mixture of shock and surprise and reverence.

When the call ended, Rashid put the phone back in the pocket and spun around towards Kara, his eyes wide open, all the color drained from his face. “Did something happen with the plane?”

“No,” Rashid looked straight into his sister’s eyes, breathing unevenly. “I need to come to Prince’s Palace. Now.”

Adab lineup for MD14 (March 2, 2037, vs. Flavovespia at home)

Starting lineup: Chandrasekar, Altun, Enmerkar (VC), Issou, Thomas, al-Muntar, Samanu, Orlev, Akaptaha, Yissakar, Yargab (C)

Substitutes: Shulgi, al-Tikriti, Sharkalisharri, Akshak, Emmita, Uhwan, Zambiya, al-Kufa, Barzani

[Turori]

Eels Saved by the Qads

Eels Park, Eelandii, Turori :: While the Turori National Team was busy suffering its second home defeat of the campaign, a shock 2-3 result against 162nd rank Britonesia at Eels Park in Eelandii, it was not too far away in Qasden where the reprieve came as Qasden held Turori's main Qualification rival Drawkland to a 4-4 draw, ensuring the Eels would go into the final matchday showdown in Sonnell with a 4 point lead in the Group 3 table - and a guaranteed spot in the World Cup 90 Finals.

TURORI NATIONAL ✓

@TuroriNat

Thank You @QasdenNT! The #Eels have clinched the top spot in Group 3 thanks to the Qads win over Drawkland!

#WC90Q - #Group3 - #VilBPBound

Elsewhere Turori's dreams in the Vilitan Mountain Games appear to be covered in sand as their Strongman contestant has fallen to 15th in the 17 athlete competition, they have been eliminated from contention in Strategy Games and Ousted in the Semi-Final of the Atlantian Oceania Kleptochase Championships.

 Turori [3] - [2] The Karodin Territory
				
	GOALS:	Turori 	:: 11' Nua'oma Aikiki:: 15' Cuoabaza Orani’aoa:: 70' Turakia Diijelhma            		
	STATS:	Turori 	:: Possession: 55%:: Shots: 8:: Corners: 13	The Karodin Territory 	:: Possession: 45%:: Shots: 3:: Corners: 2
	Lineup:	[GK] Derizi Amatopa, [D.] Amakli Inuro'o, [D.] Planio’o Nrujsa, [D.] Moumouni Verre'elali, [D.]  Karek Edgeli, [ML]  Naraiza Ruaplal, [MC] Daliora Toru'u, [MC]  Cuoabaza Orani’aoa, [MR]  Kinabo Telioa, [FC] Nua'oma Aikiki, [FC] Turakia Diijelhma			
	Bench:	[FC] Lutara Makakio, [FC] Loala Inkabu, [M] Kentu Umaka'a, [M] Lati'ala Giaoka, [U ] Biliki Rona'atu'i, [D] Cusaram Sakeri, [GK] Wiyauw An'maude

 Turori [2] - [3] Britonesia
				
	GOALS:	Turori 	:: 6' Nua'oma Aikiki:: 52' Nua'oma Aikiki             		
	STATS:	Turori 	:: Possession: 51%:: Shots: 7:: Corners: 8	Britonesia 	:: Possession: 49%:: Shots: 7:: Corners: 7
	Lineup:	[GK] Derizi Amatopa, [D.] Amakli Inuro'o, [D.] Moumouni Verre'elali, [D.] Cusaram Sakeri, [D.]  Biliki Rona'atu'i, [ML]  Daliora Toru'u, [MC] Kiidallen Aeroluzzi, [MC]  Cuoabaza Orani’aoa, [MR]  Kinabo Telioa, [FC] Loala Inkabu, [FC] Nua'oma Aikiki			
	Bench:	[FC] Kala'a Yuliizala, [FC] Meldi'ita Mungwaii, [M] Lati'ala Giaoka, [M] Kentu Umaka'a, [U ] Karek Edgeli, [D] H’munao Cagomia, [GK] Timaala Hualtia

---

TURORI NATIONAL ✓

@TuroriNat

Shock in Eelandii as the #Eels concede two second half goals in defeat to Britonesia Follow the Story Here...

#WC90Q - #TURvBRT - #EelsPark

---

[Huayramarca]

Julián Choque was having some flashbacks of his “somewhat glorious” moments lived back at Krytenia for the time of the CAFA 2, moments that meant a lot for him and many football fans across Huayramarca during the last months. Only six months had passed since THE moment that marked Julian’s jump into fame in Huayramarcan Football, that moment where he decided to take an alpaca from a milk vendor outside the stadium of Avidia and attracted people to listen some random chants that provided support to the team, something that was unknown for many fans until that moment.

His move was a game-changer in Huayramarcan stadiums and fans, since before that, Huayramarcan fans were easily known for not being noisy, being timid and not so supportive towards their National Team at different circumstances, especially seen after World Cup 88 when the team faltered at a crucial moment. It was a common sight for people to see how loud were, most of the time, the visiting fans compared to the local ones because they didn’t have an organised group of fans leading with some chants, choreographies or even tifos from the stand. Julián was a different mind among Huayramarcan fans, as he was used to see different leagues such as the widely broadcasted Q-League and the Zenit from where he borrowed inspiration to do some chants by taking classical Huayramarcan songs to support the team.

As he was sleeping, Julián was seeing himself at Avidia’s Stadium leading some chants with his friends and watching how, in a mob-driven fashion, the rest of Huayramarcans on the stadium became interested in the new way of supporting the team, reading papers with the songs and then memorising it while chanting. Julián was crying of happiness as the flashback ended with people celebrating the initiative… His cellphone woke him up as he had set an alarm for 5:15 a.m. it was an important day for him as he had already planned important stuff to do as he was prepared to travel to Krytenia once again, but in a different condition if we compare to his flashback.

Julián hurried up and removed his clothes as he was about to take a shower, opened the music app of his phone and played one of the most popular songs that the Barra Brava he found as La Banda de la Alpaca, known as the official supporters group of the Huayramarcan National Team, now a group with a board of leaders democratically elected, chants proposed and approved by a committee, being an organised structure in a couple of months. He jumped and chanted as he was taking the shower, no matter how slippery and risky could be for him to slip and crash against the floor, he didn’t care of risks, he was starting to live a special moment, one of those that aren’t seen too much for Huayramarcan fans as of late.

Being in Krytenia, again, was special for him as it was the place where his major hobby and also innovation on fan atmosphere took shape. Things had changed, while he created La Banda, the Huayramarcan National Team was trying to cope with a debacle that WC 89 second half meant for fans and team, as many were losing trust wit the project led by Omar Caicedo in that time; after a decent CAFA 2 where the team reached Quarterfinals and got knocked-off by reigning WC Champs Ko-oren, the Condors had produced a surprising and motivating sporting comeback during the World Cup 90 Qualifiers that has reawaken passion among fans, to the point that faith is now strong in the project. A solid performance that led the team to secure, at least, a play-off appearance two matches prior the end of the Qualifier and being able to fight for Qualification against Valanora in the last MD, has made the support for the team to grow in unexpected levels if we check what happened a year before.

What’s at stake is what motivates the fans, the last MD is going to be at the mammoth-sized Isserson Olympic Stadium at Emberton, a stadium that can receive up to 191,340 fans. This is perhaps the biggest stadium at the most important circumstance that the Banda has ever visited or had the opportunity to do during their short-lived adventure. Julián ended the shower and quickly rushed to get dressed as he muttered “Damn, it’s 5:35 already!” As fast as he could, he dressed himself and did some phone calls with staff of the Banda, as they already scheduled to meet at 6:15 a.m. near El Panecillo one of the most emblematic sightseeing spots on the Metropolitan District to discuss some logistics of their trip to Emberton that very same day.

Julián kissed his son and spouse, as they were going to sleep some extra hours before departing to Krytenia as they had things already prepared to leave as soon as possible. He rushed to take an old bus with a somewhat cranky driver, Julián took some coins and said “To El Panecillo”, the badly temperate driver asked him “Hey, you owe me 10 cents!” Julián paid and came back to the seats. The sun was posing itself over the beautiful mountains that surround the District, Julián plugged his earphones and listened to some songs of La Banda while watching the scenery while the bus was reaching its destination.

Short before six, Julián arrived at El Panecillo, to his surprise there were already 400 people from different “committees” of La Banda from across Huayramarca. Those groups, mostly known as Peñas, agglomerate people from across the nation in order to move them to the different venues or road games that the Condors have to play due to their compromises, even help to provide hospitality to those other members of La Banda when they visit local cities for matches of the team. This time, the situation is completely different as the fans were in the last details of the nicknamed “Invasión a Krytenia” (Storming Krytenia), an event where approximately 50,000 to 60,000 Huayramarcan fans were visiting Emberton for this crucial match.

The meeting started and the fans prayed to God asking the trip goes well for everybody and that the Condors might get a good result in this match. After that, each member of the Peñas confirmed amounts of fans from their side that were ready to visit Krytenia for this match, Julián carefully pointed out the amounts and said “Well, we have confirmed 57,560 fans for tomorrow match then” People clapped and celebrated as the amount confirmed how big was the plan that the Banda managed to assemble with success. María Sierra talked and said “I’ve had some conversations with regional airlines and industry of aviation of Huayramarca to settle down the transportation for fans, as we are that many, some of them will opt to go via plane and a lot of them are already in the road to Emberton with busses and cars.” Julián asked “Who’s in charge of the caravan?” another peña member replied “Guillermo Andrade and Karla Tello, weren’t they?” “That’s right” said Julián while asking somebody to call one of them.

After waiting for some minutes, the first news arrived “They are already in Oustia, so it’s matter of 12-15 hours for them to be in Emberton as it’s a 1500 km route if I’m not mistaken.” Julián said “Well done!” Everything was being sorted properly, as the fans didn’t report any issue nor any malfunctioning of cars that would require some support, nothing that would be complicated to solve in the better maintained Krytenian motorways. People there were preparing information about flares and paraphernalia for the match “We have bought some flares and stuff for the match in Emberton already, it’s matter to pick it up and enter to the stadium as Krytie authorities are informed of our plans.” Said Gabriel Zamora, one of the most well-known faces of La Banda, another random member said “That was something I wanted to ask but it got responded already.” Referring to the protocols and things that needed to be sorted with the Krytenian authorities in order to enter in the stadium without any complications.

As authorities were notified, David Fernández decided to call a contact into the Krytenian Police Force in order to make sure that everything is sorted out for real; the contact answered the call and Fernández greeted “Hello there! Thanks for receiving my call!” The Constable said “Pleasure is mine, friends, hope everything is OK on your side for your travel needs.” Fernández asked “Has the authorisations for flare and paraphernalia usage have been approved?” the policeman said “No need to worry, I’m sending you, right now, a PDF document that certifies the authorisation. We have already spread the voice among the taskforce that will be at Isserson tomorrow, they already know what you’ll do and what to check.” The call ended and he opened the PDF with a note in English and Spanish, things were dully approved and the people in the meeting celebrated.

“Now it’s matter to solve out our travel needs” Said Julián, María Sierra replied immediately “We are leaving at noon and arriving at 5:05 p.m. local” It’s a midrange flight from the Metropolitan District to Krytenia, matter of a 4-hour flight to Emberton. Timing was well-thought in order to allow the fans do some tourism across the City of Nations, as the locals identify that diversity melting pot that is Emberton. As it was already 7:00 a.m. people decided to hang around before they would head to the airport, Julián rushed back to home in order to take a breakfast and hang some time with his family before leaving home to the airport. One hour later, because the rush hour started and another disgruntled bus driver that wasted time to threaten a driver that didn’t let him merge into another lane, Julián was at house and noticed that the family was already breakfasting, they had their shower and were dressed, Julián said “Everything is sorted out. A gigantic caravan is getting close to their Capital, we leave at noon but we should be at 10:00 a.m. at the airport.” Said while the family was eating.

Diana, his spouse, said “Nice to see that they are getting closer to the destination. I knew you’d be in a hurry, that’s why I woke up a little after you left in order to avoid discussions.” Julián’s face got red, as a display of shame, and replied “Well, no need of hurry from me, it’s matter to spend a nice day and do some tourism in Emberton when we arrive.” During the last months, Julián’s life changed a bit, as he wasn’t single anymore, he got married with Diana and decided to take care of her daughter in order to have a family. They knew themselves during the match of Huayramarca against Valanora in Guayaquil, they simply fell in love like Cupid sent an arrow straight to their hearts to link up.

They quickly married as their love was, and continues to be, so deep that they considered it was enough proof to demonstrate that there was a deep connection and not a mere superficial attraction. During the months, despite the usual impasses, love has proven to be real for this couple, who passes most of their time working and planning their adventures while following the Huayramarcan National Team to most of the places they visit; being freelancers in sports news really helps them to plan trips and be where the team goes to play. After they lunched, Julián called a friend who also planned to go to Krytenia, so both families would get into a pick-up truck in order to head to the airport and be able to get into some of the waves of planes that would be able to move fans across the border.

As Marcos, the friend, arrived to Julián’s house, he honked in order to tell them that he was already waiting “Hurry up” said Diana while taking some backpacks with clothing and cleansing instruments; she took her daughter’s hand and walked with her towards the exit, secured the house by locking it and then put the backpacks into the pick-up truck. The trip to the airport was somewhat short but complicated due to the remnants of rush hour in the District, some crashes and the usual troubles caused by the lack of a proper driving etiquette in the Huayramarcan society. Once at the airport, the queue was a bit long but that wouldn’t make them delay as the passengers heading up to Krytenia were enjoying priority due to the excessive demand.

They proceeded through immigration and were at the gates just in time for boarding the plane, as smooth as possible, airline crew decided to board people and organise them in their respective seats; distinctively this time, the crew was wearing the official Condors’ jerseys as they were going to carry constantly people to and from Krytenia during the following days. As the fans filled the plane, they started to chant “Vamos, Huayramarca, ¡pongan huevos que ganamos!” while slapping the food tables of their seats as the aircraft was taking the thin air in the Huayramarcan Metropolitan District and its scenery from air as they were heading off towards Krytenia.

Chants continued as also some chatter did while taking the route towards the Huayramarcan jungle and then off into Krytenian airspace. People talking about what to do prior the match and about visiting some places in Emberton or even in Avidia, a neighbouring city that’s not so far away from the match venue, were the most popular choices in order to kill some anxiety due to the match which will be the next day at night. The time came to an end and the fans arrived to Krytenia as the sun was still not setting into the horizon, the gigantic metropolis that Emberton is was noticeable, at least 60-75 kilometers in radius approximately, the aircraft landed and people prepared their luggage to head out into immigration.

As Huayramarca hasn’t signed yet AORTA, immigration procedures weren’t as fast as could’ve been, but the celerity of the Krytenian immigration agents was noticeable while vacating the queue in the airport. Fans were gathering outside into tours or awaiting hostel transport in order to get into their lodging destination previously selected. Julián and his family accompanied his friend as they already scheduled a tour across Emberton for the night, visiting some pubs and tourist attractions such as the Theatre District for some late-night theatre activity filled with enough drama to get rid of stress.

As the family and friends arrived into the hotel at almost 11:30 p.m., they went to sleep as they would need some energies for the next day. They slept nicely in a comfortable room with some air conditioning, something needed to withstand the somewhat contrasting weather there compared to the cold weather of the Metropolitan District, no noises nor distracting lights that could kept them away from the zone of influence of Morpheus. Although, some Huayramarcans in Krytenia had difficulty to conciliate with sleep, they had to use the best method to attract the Sleep King such as counting sheep after sheep to exhaust their minds.

The first sun rays popped up through their windows, still asleep until Julián woke up screaming “GOOOOOOOOAL” Perhaps he was dreaming, but his noise woke up some neighbouring dorms, also a disgruntled Diana who said “What the fuck?” Julián said “Don’t blame me, I was dreaming.” Both took a shower and waited for Sofia, the child, to do so. They dressed in red and white for the day, using the home jersey of Huayramarca, Julián’s shirt was special as the Huayramarcan FA gifted him a special shirt with the signatures of the players in small serigraphic details, with his nickname behind “El Juli” enough to make him recognisable for the members of La Banda and those followers of the National Team.

As the family spent some time walking through Emberton, visiting the Spanish Quay in order to enjoy what the community had to offer. Visiting some Ibixan business that offered cañas y tapas, then, Diana realised “Why we couldn’t offer some arepas to the Ochreans, I’ve heard that they love that?” “If the elected government gets more connected into Anaian Integration issues it’d be good.” Time was running up and that’s why they decided to prepare to go into the meeting zone, at the main square of Emberton, where the Huayramarcan fans would gather in order to march towards Isserson Olympic Stadium as a display of unity and support from the fans towards the Huayramarcan National Team in a crucial moment of the current World Cup Qualifiers. It was 2:00 p.m. and the match was scheduled to begin at 8:00 p.m., so the need to grab their seats and pass checkpoints was important, logistics would be complicated in the stadium.

They marched and prepared everything, the around 58,000 Huayramarcan fans passed the controls, showed their tickets and slowly accommodated in the north tribune of the Olympic Stadium, the zone that the police assigned them for the match. Anxiety was growing among the fans, clock continued its march and the time was getting closer, it was 7:50 p.m. and the teams jumped to the pitch for the protocol acts, the tifo and flares were ready, the Huayramarcans were chanting until the National Anthem of Huayramarca was being played The stadium cameras were pointing the team, who lined up in order to give visibility to the Huayramarcan fans backing them up for the match. The most symbolic moment of the Anthem came and both fans and players lifted their left fist punching the air, they chant in one voice ”Tus hijos juramos, defender, hasta la última gota de sangre, tu libertad!” cameras focused a random man crying while singing proudly. The anthem ended, people chanted while Julian screamed “Let’s fucking do this, Huayramarca!”

[Valanora]

The last international weekend was a crucial one for the Marauders, as if results went well for the team, they would be qualified for the Finals before the last match of the qualifying campaign. A road trip to Melbergia followed by hosting Acastanha were not the most stressful of fixtures on paper, yet Melbergia had been able to run rampant against Krytenia and Acastanha was able to hold the Marauders to a draw in the away tie in the first half of the qualifiers. It is these sort of games that fans like to take for granted and think that they are an easy three points in the bag, but results are often not as easy as fans would appear. It was set to be a weekend that would test the mental fortitude of the Marauders.

In Melbergia, the crowd was loud and was wanting to see their side be able to pull off yet another massive upset in these Qualifiers. It is the role of the spoiler that their team was being allowed to play, as they were to far removed from the top two spots to have a realistic chance of bringing the gap. The Marauders however were looking to keep or extend their lead at the top of the table with Huayramarca keeping pace just behind the Vanorians at the top of the table in the race for qualification. The pressure was definitely pressing more down on the team from the Empire as the game kicked off. The hosts had the early advantage, riding the highs of the crowd behind them to keep the Marauders on the back foot. Thirty three minutes in through and Lothas Ludwig would showcase some of his skill in a brilliant individual effort, taking the ball from inside the Vanorian half and cutting through the defense before chipping the oncoming keeper for the opener. The goal started to shift the game in the Marauders favor and it seemed inevitable when Veliz added a second in the sixty-eighth minute to seal the victory for the Vanorians.

The scene shifted to Capri and the Hatire Memorial, knowing a victory and Huayramarca failing to win at home against Sannyamathland would have the team qualify. However there was a lot of confidence andnsounk.from their guests of Acastanha, believing that they could build off their draw from the first encounter to produce another upset against the groups top seeds. David Gothrado would capitalize on that belief and sneak past the defense, blasting a long range effort from three yards outside the box and it went in off the underside of the crossbar. It was a rare moment when the Marauders have been trailing in this campaign and seemed like a shock to the system for the Marauders. Laborious Hawknwould convert a short range header in the thirty ninth minute to equalize just before the half. The captain would make it a brace in the seventy-first minute, with one of his patented long range free kicks that was struck to perfection. It was enough, the Marauders getting a somewhat nervy victory but a victory all the same.

Huayramarca however ensured that the race for qualification would go to the final day, with a two to nil victory at home against Sannyamathland. That is the same Sannyamathland that the Marauders will be playing in the last match, a team that could play the ultimate spoiler if they can prevent the Marauders from winning. A draw for the Vanorians is not enough to secure their qualification, as a victory for Huayramarca would send them a point ahead of the side in this scenario. In a twist of fate, they will be playing Krytenia in the final game, a chance for the Dragons to salvage some pride and try to impress the Cup of Harmony invitation committee. Will we see an Anaia pact to let Huayramarca get a free three points or will the sanctity of the game be maintained? Regardless, if the Marauders are able to extend their win streak to three, they will qualify despite whatever happens in the other match, avoiding what could be a majorly stacked playoff with many top seeds in position to be there heading into this last match.

[StrayaRoos]

Cruz Kaiplo has been one of the Breakout stars of World Cup Qualifying and The Baptism of Fire this Cycle since Debuting against Soldera and Scoring Twice in the BoF and 5 times in the World Cup Qualifiers and Wonder Cup and will become the first Roosian To play overseas for Turori's Cedniavella

Cruz Kaiplo Career (So Far)
Club
2017:Menai FC 1 (0)
2017-19:Real Menai 6 (1)
2020-2022:Union Zalk 31 (15)
2022- Cedniavella 0 (0)
2017- CLUB 38 (16)
International
2016-17:StrayaRoos U13 1(0)
2017-22 StrayaRoos U20 7 (3)
2021- StrayaRoos 27(5)
2016- International 35 (8)

MD14 Line Up
GK: 1 Yesak
DEF: 17 Okuna|3 Poalian|22 Forsberg
MID:11 Fitzsimmons|31 Keane|14 Guala|15 Lopai
ATT:4 Cahill (C)|7 C.Kaiplo|30 L.Kaiplo
Bench:19 Ryan|6 Kuyta|8 Jedinak|16 Turean|21 Yuail|28 Greaan|9 Kewell

[Kelssek]

INTERNATIONAL FOOTBALL
Ó Tuathail rallies football voyagers for one more push

Kelssek captain Colm Ó Tuathail has called for the team to take nothing for granted as they head into the last match of World Cup 90 qualifying with their fate in their hands against unranked Jeeves Land.

There’s a bevy of qualifying permutations in a group that’s seen its share of drama, but Kelssek can ensure they qualify ahead of Astograth and Omerica if they gain at least a point. That should be simple enough, but nothing is ever guaranteed and this is a Kelssek team that hasn’t impressed with their ability to cope with pressure thus far.

“We just have to come in and focus on winning this match. We’ve done the work to get this far and now this is all we need to do. We have control and we have to seize the day.” said Ó Tuathail in a pre-match press conference.

Kelssek will want to impose themselves from the start to get over a torrid second half display against Gyatso-kai that saw them pinned back and struggling to hang on to a one-goal lead, which they finally threw away with minutes left in the match.

“Gotta forget all that. We can’t change it, now we have to take the chance we have in front of us.” said Ó Tuathail.

Ó Tuathail also wished Thamior Liadon well following the news that the full-back will be withdrawing from the national team indefinitely.

“Thamior is a great teammate and has always given his best for Kelssek. It’s no secret that there’s often been off-field stuff that made it difficult for him, but I’ve got the highest respect for him as a player and a person. I’ll miss having him as a teammate but he’s going to concentrate on club football and I’m sure we’ll all welcome him back into the national team in the future when the time’s right for him.”

KELSSEK 1 – Ahmad 9’
GYATSO-KAI 1 – Kaoru 87’
St-Gerlais, Buené, Lozic, Auiloquet, Douglass, Docherty, Dionne (Bogdanor 75’), Ó Tuathail, McDonald (Hartpoach 59’), Ahmad (Maçon-Petrault 71’), Wylten
Exhibition Place, Kirkenes (attn. 30,761)

OMERICA 1
KELSSEK 2 – Liadon 23’, Taleb 64’
St-Gerlais, Liadon, Brewer, Lozic, Bowler, Lafrenière, Lapierre (dí Völará 72’), Hartpoach, Ó Tuathail (Blanchette 87’), Taleb, Maçon-Petrault (Maradrogba 77’)

[Mytanija]

MYTANIJA SQUAD FOR MATCH AGAINST PYAZHNAYA (H)
Goalkeepers: 12. Pedja Kasun (Ararat Severyan); 34. Lazar Obradovic (Liria Prizren)
Defenders: 24. Vuk Bajalica (Kyethas Rivermen FC [TKT]); 14. Ezib Salihovic (CDSA), 25. Dino Racic (Libertas Bergheim [SVJ]), 26. Mahir Kapetanovic (Liria Prizren); 27. Slobodan Vujovic (Royal Rumiatzi [ASG]); 15. Kamil Jernejec (Chromatik [CMT])
Midfielders: 19. Dusko Ocokoljic (St. Thomas [TLI), 37. Bruno Ozmec (Liria Prizren); 31. Maks Shishkin (Maethoru SC [KOR]); 35. Svetoslav Radozevic (Bakartirla Buccaneers [ASG])
Forwards: 33. Mijat Simic (Liria Prizren), 40. Fran Prpic-Bosanac (Workers Union [EUR]); 39. Kemal Gajic (Falourr [EUR])

They just hadn’t quite had enough. The Holy Empire just about managed to outlast them. Lev Repin’s alteration in midfield – a change to a 3-5-2 from the usual 3-4-1-2 – had helped them with progressing the ball and keeping possession for longer periods. Unfortunately it did not quite add the extra steel in the middle of the pitch that he had hoped for. Mytanija conceded four goals, a number which made Repin wince a little when he thought about it, you were making the game a lot harder for yourself by giving away that many and it made actually winning the game nigh on impossible. The Hoops had discovered that in the first meeting between the two sides, the 3-3 draw in the Dreamed Realm.

Still, Jezdimir Ocokoljic hit his 80th international goal, a quite frankly ridiculous number which contextualised just how good a player he actually is. Repin was pleased for him. His strike rate had gone up a notch recently – perhaps no surprise given the general improvement of the national team in the last couple of cycles – but he was as effective as ever tactically, causing problems for even the best defenders at international level. Ocokoljic was great, as always, but there was still the nagging feeling of The Holy Empire being able to cut them apart a bit too easily. They were leaky themselves at the back, but coming forwards they were truly exceptional. For the first time in a long time Repin felt powerless. He had always had a plan before, but there just seemed to be no stopping them.

Gavril Atsev had taken to international football well, sometimes when Repin watched him he had to rub his eyes just to make sure he wasn’t watching a younger Tahir Fejzuli. Atsev was a similar player and this level of the game suited him. He grabbed his third goal for Mytanija from a cutback, the marauding Patrik Odonelec teeing him up and Atsev expertly curled the ball outside the post and back in so it went into the bottom corner without the goalkeeper even moving. Mytanija could score, but every single time it felt like The Holy Empire would come back and get another chance. And they did.

The introduction of Jasno Odonelec in the second-half saw Mytanija return to their more familiar 3-4-1-2 formation and Zlatan Andrijasevic came on to provide a different threat in and around the penalty area. The latter headed down for the former to volley in the Hoops’ third goal of the game but it would not be enough. The Holy Empire were relentless, there was a reason why they were the number one ranked team in the world, after all. They sealed the winner, Novi Zavej Park was swept by an ominous silence, there would be no direct qualification to the World Cup for Mytanija this time around. Not without some major shocks. Lev Repin went around his players, congratulating them for a solid performance, sometimes you could be good but the opponent could be even better.

The television pundits bemoaned the draws in the first-half of qualifying, the radio hosts yelped about how Repin might not be the man to turn Mytanija into a contender even if the job he had done to get the national team to this level was excellent. The manager paid no attention. They had a game against Eraman which they had to win to seal second place and the play-off spot. Sarzonia could overtake them if the Hoops lost their final three games and they had already lost the first. There was still a job to do. Repin went with the same starting eleven he selected for the match against The Holy Empire. It had worked reasonably well and they had generated chances even without a number ten. The result was not what they wanted but the performance was good. Repin wanted more of the same.

This time it was Damien Gannot scoring the opener, a wonderfully driven effort after a piece of skill to beat an Eraman defender. The Sabrefell Athletic forward must be in the best form of his career after winning the top goal scorer award in the Zenith and now improving his international strike rate to 21 goals in 36 games. If that was his record across a domestic season he would be ecstatic. The Mytanar media were quick to make that point too. An Amar Kovacevic header would put the Hoops on the verge of sealing a play-off spot but a late Eraman goal made the final moments a bit nervier than the team would have liked. They held out, the introduction of Alen Hrdaljko and Svetoslav Radozevic adding experience and defensive nous in the crucial moments.

Mytanija had done enough. They would finish second barring something ridiculous on the final day of qualification. A match against Pyazhnaya presented an opportunity for Repin to select some players who had not figured as much as he might have wanted prior to the campaign. It could also be a key match to decide exactly who Mytanija would face in the play-off. A win could make the draw easier, but given some of the teams occupying second spots: Brenecia, Pasarga, Chromatika, Vdara etc, it was clear that there would be no easy draws no matter what the result.

“We’re going to try to win the game and then we’ll see what happens. We can’t try to play some sort of clever hand to get a more favourable draw when that depends on what other teams do.” Lev Repin told journalists at his press conference. “We’ll try to win. We’ll see who we get drawn against. Then we’ll begin planning in earnest to work out exactly how we might be able to beat whoever that may be. It won’t be easy, if you finish in the top couple of spots in World Cup qualifying you’re a strong team, the quality of some of those who might end up finishing third and missing out can tell you that at a glance.”