World Cup 91 [roleplays]

[Oberour Ar Moro]

Mercury Sports has announced a collaboration with celebrated Regium pop artist Paul-Albert le Lievre, better known as "Dalleux".



Dalleux has created a capsule featuring tracksuits, football jerseys and a completely re-imagined Mercury Open Circuit 12's. These will officially be showcased at Mercury headquarters in Pelendava next month. But to kick off the collaboration, Dalleux has produced 11 original pieces of art to help Mercury Sports preview Oberour Ar Moro and Group 2 in the upcoming World Cup Qualification.


Oberour Ar Moro (51)
Every single World Cup cycle the Dragoons and their fans imagine what could be. If they find the right players in the right position with the right leadership, Oberour Ar Moro could emerge from mid-field anonymity and become the world-power they always imagined. Is this the cycle?

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The Gothanita Isles (129)
One qualification ago, The Gothanita Isles went 3-1-10 and finished last in their group. Can the Gothanita Islesians turn it around and be a more competitive side? They certainly hope so.

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Kamisato Ayaka Nation (198)
This mysterious side is competing in their first first World Cup, and they look like a intriguing side. They made it to the Third Place Game in their Baptism of Fire, impressing with a highly technical and prepared scheme.

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Mercedini (29)
As Oberour Ar Moro returned to international football in World Cup 81 Qualification, Mercedini served as the first reality check for the Dragoons, scoring a crushing victory at the Parade Grounds. Mercedini fell short in qualifying for World Cup 90, but fully expects to return to the Cup.

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Nephara (11)
You know Nephara. Two-time World Cup champions, four-time Copa Rushmori champions, international and domestic footballing power. They are the Pot 1 team in this group, and a spot in the World Cup will have to go through them.

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North and South Vietnam (UR)
Making a debut in international football in World Cup Qualification is always a tough assignment. Unranked North and South Vietnam are excited and eager to get going, it is left to see how they will fare.

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Pluvia and the Saxean Isles (86)
In this World Cup Qualification, the second and third placed teams at the end of qualification will compete for a World Cup spot. The Magpies can imagine sneaking into third place and taking part in the playoff, where anything is possible.

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Tjorl (277)
Keen Oberour Ar Moro football fans might remember Tjorl as the opponent in the U-18 World Cup Round of 16. Tjorl won that match on their way to the finals. On the senior side Tjorl made the quarterfinals in the Independents Cup, but had a little less luck in their Baptism of Fire, finishing third in their group.

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United Adaikes (153)
The United Adaikes had a rough introduction to international football and have regrouped by combining their men's and women's football teams. It will be left to see if this gains them victories in this qualification effort.

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Valentine Z (82)
The Kittens had an incredible run in the last Cup of Harmony. They made it all the way to the Third-Place match, where it took Starblaydia to stop them. Their hope is that this was not a one-off, but the start of continued footballing success.

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Yuezhou (41)
The third Rushmori side in Group 2 are the Dragons of Yuezhou, who are boasting for a new attacking personality for this World Cup. They have been quite successful as a counter-attacking side, will they be as successful on the front-foot?

[Turori]

Eels Hope Quarter Final Exit "Just a Blip"

Almintora National Stadium, Almintora, Turori :: The Turori National Team will enter the World Cup 91 Qualifying Campaign optimistic that their surprise exit during the World Cup 90 Quarter Finals is not indicative of the team sliding back into the long-time Turori National Team tradition of losing in the World Cup's Quarter Final Stage. For the majority of the Turori National Team's existance in the sporting world, they held the dubious record of having contested more World Cup Quarter Final knockout round matches than any other team who had also never once won one of those matches to advance to the World Cup Semi Finals. While Turori would finally break through - after having suffered double-digit Quarter Final defeats - with their first ever World Cup Quarter Final victory over Ethane during World Cup 81 - The Eels have now suffered defeat in the Quarter Final stage twice since then - with both of those defeats coming at the hands of the eventual World Cup Finalists. During World Cup 85 - which also happened to be the last time the World Cup was held in Farfadillis, the Turori National Team seemed primed for a run at their first ever World Cup Title. Instead, the Eels would fall in a heartbreaking penalty shootout to the Free Republics - a team associated with the infamous Rule Theriault that would lead to the nations first and only World Cup Title - as well as their immediate departure from the multiverse's sporting scene.

During World Cup 90, the Turori National Team was on the rebound after a disappointing end to their World Cup 89 campaign which resulted in just a second-ever defeat in the World Cup Semi-Final as Turori were unable to repeat their success over the Holy Empire before an absolutely expected defeat in the Third Place Playoff to Audioslavia, a team which has defeated the Turori National Team in every single World Cup Knockout Round match the two nations have ever played - with the scoreline in each and every one of those matchups having been 1-0 in favor of the Audioslavian side. The path back to another World Cup Final showdown with The Holy Empire was clear - and it went through a team very few at the World Cup Finals had ever even heard of. The White Myna of Pemecutan had already overachieved just by reaching the World Cup Knockout Rounds. As a low seeded nation in a group with the Host Nation, Pemecutan were not even expected to survive Group A with Vilita and Græntfjall favored to go through. Instead they were all upended by Pemecutan who made a name for themselves on the multiversal stage in a big way with a top tier performance to top Group A and advance to the knockout rounds. Then, Pemecutan would blank Brenecia to set up a David v. Goliath style matchup with Turori. With two consecutive Semi-Final appearances including the World Cup 88 Title, Turori were the number one ranked side in the World and Pemecutan were a nation many expected were just happy to be there. Soon, the multiverse would learn that the White Myna don't just settle for participation trophies. Pemecutan left the Eels in the dust with a 2-1 victory and while they needed extra time to do it, the result was all the same for the Turori National Team: Elimination. The stadium was eerily silent as the Pemecutan players celebrated their winning goal with the #1 Ranked Eels watching their time at the top of the sporting pylon melting away in front of them as they keeled over in the fetal scorpion position so commonly associated with an exasperating defeat. Pemecutan would go on to take second place in the World Cup - their amazing run of sacrifice to Margaret could eventually only be stopped by a group of Mad Cultists from the Dreamed Realm.

 Turori [1] - [2] Pemecutan
				
	GOALS:	Turori 	:: 73' Biliki Rona'atu'i              		
	STATS:	Turori 	:: Possession: 51%:: Shots: 4:: Corners: 6	Pemecutan 	:: Possession: 49%:: Shots: 5:: Corners: 5
	Lineup:	[GK] Derizi Amatopa, [D.] Amakli Inuro'o, [D.] Biliki Rona'atu'i, [D.] Moumouni Verre'elali, [D.]  H’munao Cagomia, [ML]  Kiidallen Aeroluzzi, [MC] Cuoabaza Orani’aoa, [MC]  Lati'ala Giaoka, [MR]  Kinabo Telioa, [FC] Meldi'ita Mungwaii, [FC] Nua'oma Aikiki			
	Bench:	[FC] Lutara Makakio, [FC] Loala Inkabu, [M] Tulaki Rauogba, [M] Daliora Toru'u, [U ] Cusaram Sakeri, [D] Karek Edgeli, [GK] Timaala Hualtia

TURORI NATIONAL ✓

@TuroriNat

After a 2-3 defeat to Chromatika, the #Eels have crashed out of the Cup of Champions at the Group Stage and will not become the first team ever to win three straight #EaglesCup titles Follow the Story Here...

#EaglesCup - #TURvCMT - #CupOfChampions

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Of course, as coincidence would have it, the battle between Turori and Pemecutan would not end there. With the Mad Cultists having retired to their realms with no plan to defend their World Cup 90 title on the pitch, Pemecutan would step in as the World Cup representative to the Cup of Champions to be held in Turori prior to World Cup 91 Qualifying. Pemecutan and Turori would open the tournament up and once again the White Myna would prevail taking a 1-0 victory over the Eels which would ultimately be the difference in Turori's inability to advance through to the Cup of Champions Semi-Finals. While Turori would gain a slight recompense with a 1-1 draw in the reverse fixture - the lone goal being scored by veteran striker Meldi'ita Mungwaii, it was once again a strange feeling for the Eels who would miss out on the Eagle's Cup Knockout Rounds for the first time in a number of cycles, with their back-to-back Eagle's Cup Championship Run having come to an end.

With their usual pre-cycle warmup cut short, the Turori National Team will be grateful for the fact that their World Cup 91 Qualification Schedule as the team starting off on home soil against a newcomer side that showed little promise during their brief Baptism of Fire Cup appearance. The Nation of Gadria did not even send a media team to cover the Baptism of Fire Cup in Mertagne and Farfadillis and has as of yet still not submitted any such applications to cover their teams World Cup 91 Qualifying Cycle opener against Turori which will be held at the Almintora National Stadium in Almintora, Turori.

The Turori National Team will remain largely unchanged for the World Cup 91 Qualifying Campaign, despite the disappointment of an early exit from the Cup of Champions. Derizi Amatopa is expected to remain the first choice goalkeeper for the team while Cedniavella's Wiyauw An'maude will serve in an emergency only capacity for the team who have not identified any goalkeeper prospects to mix into the matchplay this cycle.

While much of the squad returns, there would be two major retirements for the Turori National Team following World Cup 90 - with the first in the form of former Cednia Beach AFC defender Lulu Pumaziiri. Pumaziiri was originally signed by Colonial Sile but after a season away from home, returned to Turori to join up with Cednia Beach and was a critical member of their Season 48 campaign that nearly saw the Coconuts return to the top 3, sliding to 5th on the final day of the season. Runner Up in UICA Champions Cup with Cednia Beach AFC. After 5+ Seasons with Cednia Beach AFC Pumaziiri made a high profile switch to Makosile United but would ultimately return to Cednia Beach after Makosile's relegation to the Declasse Division. Pumaziiri's contributions to sport in Turori were massive, and after winning the 31st Atlantian Oceania Champions League title with Cednia Beach AFC, the defender would be critical in bringing the World Cup Title to the Island Emirate for the first time during World Cup 88.

Turori will also be having a little more competition for free kicks come World Cup 91 Qualifying with one of two regular set piece takers, Kentu Umaka'a, hanging up their boots. Umaka'a Was brought up through the Rammsissil prospect development system and spent 2 and a half seasons at the big club in Sissil before -like Pumaziiri - transferring to Makosile United. Umaka'a Spent 4 seasons with the Makos but after relegation and missing out on UICA competition for multiple seasons, Umaka'a jumped ship in order to keep playing at the top level to impress the Turori National Team Coaching Staff. Umaka'a would join an up-and-coming Eastal Lunar squad that jumped to the top of the Vilitan Stellar Division. The domestic performances also boosted Umaka'a's contributions to the Turori National Team as the midfielder scored decisive the shootout goal during a World Cup 82 Round of 16 Penalty Shootout against Pasarga en route to Turori's first ever World Cup Final appearance. Umaka'a would be a Key member of the Eastal Lunar Side that completed the domestic trifecta over the course of 3 seasons winning the Vilitan Cup during Season 59, the Tropical Trophy for Season 60 and the teams first ever Stellar Division Title during Vilitan League Season 61. In addition to winning the World Cup 88 title with the Turori National Team, Umaka’a is also an Olympic Gold Medalist as a member of the Vilitan Union Men’s Football squad.

There will be just two uncapped players in the Turori National Team Player Pool for World Cup 91 Qualifying. 19 year old Forward Tsinuzpa Rana’aiao from the Eelandii Academy has been training with the National Team since the start of World Cup 90 Qualifying but has yet to make an appearance for the Nation. Another Eelandii Academy player, Trenian Omalizo, will join the Turori National Team player pool for the first time despite being just 16 years of age at the start of the cycle. Omalizo will be drafted into the training lineup to fill the gap left by Umaka'a in midfield training activities and may get a chance to participate in matches as a substitute against weaker opposition if they impress during training drills. Following their opening matchup at home against Gadria, the Turori National Team will travel to the Forbidden Territories for their first road game of the campaign.

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Almintora, Turori

Postcard:

Fixture :: World Cup 91 Qualifying: Matchday 1 v. Gadria:

Location :: Almintora National Stadium is located in Almintora, Turori. Almintora is the capital city of the Island Emirate of Turori and has been the capital ever since the time of Turorian independence.

Capacity :: 79,000 (All Seated)

Stadium History :: The Almintora National Stadium served as the home of the Football Association of Turori and the Turori National team from their entrance onto the international competition scene prior to World Cup 15 until the Football Association relocated their headquarters to the purpose built Eels Park community in Eelandii, Turori.

The Almintora National Stadium was originally constructed as a 45,000 seat stadium for use by the National Team during World Cup 15 and World Cup 16 qualification. However, when it became evident that Turori's nearby neighbors, the Tropics of Vilita, were being considered as the potential hosts of World Cup 17, the Football Association of Turori strategically aligned itself with their former colonial lands in order to ensure that of the 8 stadia selected for the World Cup Finals, one would be from Turori. Naturally, the Almintora National Stadium was the stadium of choice and would serve as the first time the Island Emirate of Turori would open its doors to a major international event. With a lot on the line, the Turorian government partnered with the Football Association of Turori to increase the capacity of the Almintora National Stadium from 45,000 to 79,000 in time for the World Cup 17 finals.

The move was proven even more fruitful when the Turori Eels themselves qualified for the World Cup 17 finals, the first finals appearance for Turori, and were able to play each of their group stage matches at their home stadium.

With the success of hosting one group of the World Cup 17 finals at the Almintora National Stadium, Turori had put itself on the map. Soon after it would be announced that the Island Emirate of Turori would host World Cup 19 in a joint bid with The Belmore Family. Naturally, the crown jewel of Turorian stadiums, the Almintora National would ultimately host the World Cup Final - the single most prestigious match in the multiverse.

Unfortunately for the Almintora National Stadium, hosting the World Cup 19 final was something of a 'peak' over the course of the stadiums lifespan. Co-sharing the arena between the Turori National Team and Turorian domestic side FC Almintora accelerated the wear, tear and aging within the facility. To make matters worse, the mediocre performance of FC Almintora in the domestic league meant that incentive to invest in further renovation of the arena was minimal. The stadium would still be chosen to host the final of the 26th Cup of Harmony, but even by that time the Cednia Beach Center in Cednia had started to become the premier sporting facility on the Island. In fact, even the Cup of Harmony 26 final was originally awarded to the newly built Coliseum of the Inurahtii in the Inura Forest, however, the Safety & Health Initiative of Turori determined that the site would not be ready in time to host spectators, with the Final site being retroactively chosen as the Almintora National Stadium due to its experience having hosted the World Cup 19 final.

Despite having been supplanted as Turori's international stadium of choice, the Almintora National Stadium has accrued one honor that no other stadium in Turori - or in Vilita, can lay claim. Almintora National Stadium is the only stadium in Vilita & Turori to have been selected as a host site for the UICA Globe Cup, having been home to the 55th Globe Cup final. Almintora National Stadium also hosted the 66th UICA Champions Cup Final.

Primary Tenants :: FC Almintora currently compete in the Vilitan Declasse Division. The Turori National Team continue to play occasional matches at the arena during World Cup Qualifying due to the arenas central location in Almintora, the capital city of Turori.

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[Independent Athletes from Quebec]

Avalon

PART 1 - Atlas

Christine, unofficially of Dolgoroukii surname, slowly walked along the paved streets of Aspen. Two to three centuries had changed since the city's wealthy and the aristocracy had first built their apartments and hotels, but there's always that air of affluence and prestige that had not really departed the western half of the Downtown. Elm, spruce and maple trees covered the pavements, and the birds continued to whistle in their usual selves. Some of the old houses on the more open of streets near the metro stations, where aged lords and ladies had resided, were now commercial properties and saw commercial activities. Some of the lesser traditional of residents, who had come from nouveau-riche or even of non-traditional ways of earning money, had moved into the district in the second half of previous century, but even they themselves were multi-generation residents with their children and grandchildren being born into this area of Songak.

Mille. Dolgorukii knew Songak well - it was her job as a monarch to do so. But this was her first visit to this neighbourhood of the city, for she not only had no reason to visit it, but had preferred to avoid making personal visits to the city. So on a rare visit like this, the thirty-four year old woman had to think carefully and make sure that all were going to be quick, swift and without possibility of her being seen by the public. This was not easy, but Christine had ways to ensure that her presence, disguised by powers beyond most minds, were enough to make a rare outing work.

'No matter how well the intentions were, I cannot forgive the way she had brought you to your current state.'

Mille. Dolgorukii had told her friend, The Writer (don't worry we'll find out who he is very quickly), on the day he found out about her abilities thirteen years ago. The Writer, then a roommate of hers before their graduation from St. Croix, had accidentally walked into the room, and promised to her, then-The Princess, on a bloodbinding vow not to say a word about her possession by a spirit.

'But the fate wills that there be a child. Does not clarify if she comes from you or her, but the words have been said and told.'

Thirteen years had passed since. The Princess became The Queen, The Writer had taken a long way but returned to the home soil, and the world danced again in the midst of 2040s and 2050s. The Writer owned a small, two-floored apartment in Aspen, one that was not his but of his wife, The Musician. The area, being close and yet isolated from the bustling streetlights we have all come to remember Songak-Wangsan-Montreal, did not see a lot of unexpected guests or suspicious eyes, and the 9-to-5 routines of many had made it easier for the couple, whose husband's usual absence from the intellectual circles he had long made his name within, to raise their children. Even if it had not afforded the relative security of being in Coxwell Park, The Musician's family estate where you needed at least an hour's train ride or a drive from the corner of Twin Cities' metropolitan area, being in a pocket of seclusion just ten minutes from Royal Arlenia Hospital, had meant that they could keep a better eye on the conditions, degenerative and evident.

'And it is not the promise I can make for you.'

The Queen knew that The Writer, wearing a mask and with either of his children, used to walk in a certain route with little change. She had long heard about it from him over their exchanges, which were never done virtually but only in written form over mail. And she had long heard about it through his vivid descriptions of clovers and flowers his daughter, a sensible one, would point out and pick for her mother. The trail of words that would describe his joys, appearing small and yet magnified in their delight, were constant, delightful and emulating.

'I do not have specific faiths myself, but I run under a limited timeframe, let's say a shelf-life, and you cannot and will not transcend what we've been told and gifted.'

It was a cool day with spring breeze, with the May skies of this city famous for their hues. Some say they evoke the clearest blues of their eyes, while the others say they come at the equinox of bygone eras, brought by the spirits who have refused to accept their departure time. It was in this espirit de corps that Christine shed a solitary tear, took a deep breath, and continued to walk closer and closer to the household. Slowly and delicately, caught unaware by the naked eye of an average citizen, she fixed her sunglasses, the left side of her hazel-golden locks, and looked back to see if her bodyguards, dressed in plain clothes, were still within distance.

Tong-Tong,

The Queen was suddenly caught outside of her moment as a small football dropped, hitting the pavement before rolling along the hallway. 'Oh,' Christine raised her eyebrows, as she quickly walked towards the ball. Guards were still nowhere near sight. Well it cannot be that urgent. The Queen thought to herself as she grabbed it, her beret slightly shaking. There was still not a single cloud outside, and yet the ball's mysterious drop suggested something else. Right. Christine blinked, only to see a short, brown-haired girl dressed in a blue blouse, aged around 6 or 7, standing before her.

'Ma'am.' said the young girl, looking at the ball. The young girl, who just happened to notice Christine just as The Queen felt her layer of semi-invisibility buzz, looked familiar to her, but Christine wasn't sure why. Was it because of the way she had said those words at the regency? Christine did not know for her whose memory, admittedly, was something that needed more improvement beyond the use of the spirited eye.

But it was clear from the surface that the child, whose eyes and face had suggested aura beyond her age, was not normal. Oh, thought Christine, as The Queen looked once more at the child. Young girl had loose brown and straw-coloured hair flowing, and wore her blouse loosely. To anyone it was clear that she had her father's eyes and built, and mother's facial complexion, a compliment to those who knew both the father and the mother.

This can't be, Christine felt the tremor inside her body, a couple of her fingers twitching, as The Queen gave the girl a sad look at the absence of a parental figure on this hour of a week-day, before noticing a clear hue. This can't be, She drew a breath, swallowed her spit, and then positioned herself lower to meet the girl's eyes. 'Hello dear, do you happen to know where 131 Highgate Square is?' was what she asked, as Christine hoped that this was who she thought it was.

'Yes, ma'am. Are you looking for my dad?' she asked, her face dimming from a temple full of candles to a Mahavira Hall with a solitary light. 'He's busy and says he wants no visitors.'

'Yes, I am a friend of his.' Christine answered, as she slowly regained her calm. 'Your father invited me to come at two. Said I needed to pick up something from him.' This was of course a lie - nowhere did Christine call the girl's father, The Writer, that The Queen was going to make an unplanned visit to their house, and without presence of a guard. But all it took was for her to make an exception where she saw necessary, and motivated by an unexpected visit to Royal Arlenia just hours before, Christine knew that she had to see The Writer. 'Can you please lead me to your place?' asked she, pretending that the guards, who now moved back a dozen steps to keep distance, were not present.

She smiled. 'Yes, ma'am.'

[Vdara]

beans

[Banija]

[Huayramarca]

The WCQ Journey Begins!

Written by: Marta Succar
03/02/1986 – Last Update 8:38 P.M.

New cycle, new experiences, and the counts starts from scratch this time. Huayramarca is now facing the World Cup Qualifiers with a renewed look and mood gave by the fact that the team is now enjoying a status they haven’t had before. The pupils of Omar Caicedo and Rodolfo Zelaya have just finished an amazing cycle, if not a dreamed one, for this nation as it qualified for her first World Cup Final ever, in a dramatic fashion, after beating Omerica1-0 and then forcing the kicks from the penalty spot. Then, the rest of the story is well known, debuting with a victory and eliminating the hosts on the last matchday of Group Stage.

As the team has earned prestige with a spectacular run, there’s a moral responsibility running in the background, implicitly, for the team to stand up for what they have got, as they are supposed to be at a different level of game quality than the beginning of last year. Although, it is important to focus that the players and staff should keep themselves level headed, humble for the new challenges that will come. Ian Mamani, our captain, is aware of that and has stated it during the latest press conference of the team, yesterday. “Life goes on, victories are ephemeral and it depends on us to continue this path forward, steadily.”

Compromise is important, even more than before due to the significant step forward that the team has done, and these Qualifiers should demonstrate that the team is still not comfortable with what has been done, since it’s needed to keep in mind that the real goal is the same one that every team taking part in this process has, yes! win the World Cup. Of course, no one (myself included) is asking for Huayramarca to win it now, it’s a difficult process and we should consider that we are going on a good path right now, but this is said to raise awareness that we haven’t reached the very top and we must keep fighting to achieve it.

Cockiness must not be tolerated, we are another team in the lot who has the same desires and hopes, that our work ethic should be the same one as it has been since the beginning; we should keep humble.

For the upcoming cycle that kicks off tonight at Delte, Huayramarca has done some interesting preparations to make sure to keep the level headed mood required, also the performance level they achieved during the last cycle with a couple of training camps and a friendly against Eura to christen the Estadio Nacional del Altiplano in El Alto. The Eurans have a strong team and they will be, for sure, the contenders to win their group and qualify for the World Cup Finals, Jermaine Gates, Moira Woakes and Travis Vivier are their spearhead for what is coming and posed a significant test for the midfield of The Condors during the friendly.

This kind of preparation will help the team to recover their strength in high altitude settings, something that has affected quite a lot of the National Team in In recent times; there are episodes such as the Tumbra match as the clearest one standing there recently. The Eurans played at a quite good level through the match, as expected from a team of their caliber, they didn’t opt to press The Condors, instead to wait until they recovered the ball and then keep control of it to propose some ideas and attacks.

The Huayramarcans, on the other hand, were the same team we are used to seeing, but a bit more cautious to analyse the rival and to avoid overcharging themselves to prevent injuries. High pressing wasn’t as usual as in other matches, but the intensity was a constant for The Condors during the match, as Ian Mamani and Orlando Mina worked in a nice tandem that caused some interesting changes, some shots from mid-range and other approximations near the box that caused some chaos in the Euran defence.

Possession was the key to the game, both Eura and Huayramarca were trying to gain it but it was difficult as both teams found a stalemate in the midfield, Omar Caicedo tried to maintain the idea of the team to resemble what this team used to do during the last Qualifiers. In the press conference, Caicedo said “The team has responded nicely to what we intend to do. Keeping control, moving on blocks, and coupling in the midfield between the creative midfielder and the two destroyers.” Of course, maintaining the fundamentals of a known and also reliable tactic is better than improvising, despite there being some time to do so.

Bryan Tello, on the other hand, has had a quiet day upfront. The reason? He hasn’t been running so hard as he usually does, he wants to preserve his physique to prevent injuries, especially when his Metropolis Alligators are preparing hard for their next tournament. Tello had a couple of chances before scoring a goal, one coming after a ball from Gabriel Sayritupac and a venomous cross towards the goal, a header and done!

Substitutions were made for the second half but no changes were done to the team structure, keeping loyal to the 4-3-2-1 he has years implementing with The Condors. Instead, it was time for other players to use the available showcase and convince Omar Caicedo that they are always ready to come to action when needed.

Fans continued to cheer, this time more fiercely as La Banda de La Alpaca was bigger and bigger each day, Julián ptoroven that Huayramarcans can unite to make some noise and leave behind the stereotype of being cold or silly fans.

The Eurans continued to stick to their idea in a disciplined way, fans were noticing it and some of them were muttering to each other things like “this will be a hard nut to crack”. Then, some group of fans behind the Euran goal started to chirp Eliott Palmer to distract him, but as expected, the efforts were useless.

Huayramarca closed the match with a decent performance after all, enough for Rodolfo Zelaya who said “We have a clear idea, it remains as it is in the players despite the couple of months, we had without working together.”, although Caicedo tends to be more prudent: “We are just stating once again, the idea is still there but we need to keep working as there are some improvements that could be made in order to keep growing.”

Bryan Tello also gave some words after the match: “Experience is helping us to prepare ourselves better, this is only our second camp and training like this one and the outcomes have been positive for all of us, especially when it comes to strengthen bonds between us. We like to be sort of a family, a tightly-knit group that supports themselves for the greater good, not only ours, for the greater sporting good of Huayramarca.”

Step by step should be the motto of the team, as they must work shoulder to shoulder in order to grab as much points as possible from the rivals in this new stage of the dream called World Cup. The starting trip to Delte will be the starting mark of a Group 5 that has some good ingredients to prove that it’ll be highly competitive, as Huayramarca will also face Cassadaigua, Electrum and Sarzonia in their quest for victories in the Multiversal plain of football things. Omar Caicedo also had some words in regards of the draw for this qualifier, although his words were quite humble and reserved “We have to be ourselves, focus on our job and also focus on score more than the rival, that’s the important thing of the game and we must be able to perform it in the highest level possible, as our rivals belong to that category in football.”

Huayramarca will also feature three new stadiums for this Qualifier, equally distributed between Sierra, Selva and Costa and one for the Isles due to capacity constraints in the San Carlos Archipelago. This is part of the newly launched campaign from the Huayramarcan Football Federation called ”Vivir Junto A Ti” which encourages fans to always be supportive to The Condors, showing love for the colours and the country itself in this World Cup Qualifier. The new stadiums that will be featured are the Estadio de la Universidad Nacional del Altiplano in El Alto, Estadio de Pando in Pando and Estadio de Alto Hospicio in Alto Hospicio. The aim of picking those venues was to integrate more zones of Huayramarca to get closer to the National Team as the team will have a rather extensive journey in this Qualifier, having 10 games at home and the same amount on the road.

This means that we, Huayramarcans, can be closer and closer to support our National Team in our cities, it’ll be important to display pride and love for the team and the nation, to complicate things for our rivals with our strong support and take the role of the 12nd player of Huayramarca!

[Nyowani Kitara]

@KWFA World Cup Qualifying is set to begin! Watch us in our opener, as the national team travels to Poafmersia as we start the #JourneyTo91 . It'll end with a short trip north to the White Winter Queendom, of course?

@PresidentAkongo Officially declaring my candidacy for President of this Democratic Republic! The Peace Accords require elections, and the KPWC, having protected the country from pillagers who would strip this nation of its resources for foreign suits, will look forward to massive victories at the ballot box in a few months time! #NYKElection

@OdedeAngonga Excited to be back in national team colors for World Cup Qualifying! If you think Poafmersia's ready for the swarm that'll hit 'em on Matchday 1, think again- the Playoffs are our goal, nothing less. #JourneyTo91

@NYKEmbassyEura A tough 3-1 loss here in Bastion for our national team ahead of World Cup Qualifying. But it showed the strength and enduring partnership of the Euran and Kitaran people. Eura stood with us in our darkest hours, when we risked losing our nation to Banijan controlled capitalists. The NYK-Nepharan-Euran alliance will stay tight, forever. #NYKvEuraFriendly

@KPWC Both Liang Wei and Wang Jiahui have chosen to live their lives out in Nyowani Kitara after the disastrous capitalist takeover of Yuezhou. See Below interview on them singing the praises of this country, the last socialist bastion in this part of Rushmore!

[Graintfjall]

RP cutoff for MD1-2 for groups 8-15.

Some notes:

• This cutoff came 2-3 hours later than they will usually be. Please don't assume future cutoffs will be this late; this was pushed later to accommodate grading rosters. From now on my cutoffs will generally be 2300-0000 UTC as advertised.
• There will not be RP bonus info with this cutoff, but it will hopefully be provided from the next cutoff onwards.
• Special thanks to Turori, whose spreadsheet drastically cut down on the work needed. I would not have been able to assemble today's scorination so quickly once grading was finished had it not been for his help.
• As it now very late for me, I'll be leaving almost immediately after posting scores, so if there are any problems they will have to be fixed in the morning.

News from the White Winter Queendom to read while you wait for me to produce scores or whatever

• A peace treaty with Bollonich has been signed, bringing to an end the conflict in the Komodo Channel.
• A flotilla of hundreds of anticommunist refugees fleeing persecution in Montaña Verde is arriving on Græntfjaller shores.
• Prime Minister Kaija Michaelsdóttir has ordered further air strikes on the Jabal Akhdari Air Force following publication of an intelligence dossier accusing the emirate of having krakens capable of striking the Queendom within 45 minutes.
• Princess Jessika has sparked controversy by defending the right to an abortion in comments to a news magazine.
• Concerns about poor transport infrastructure continue after a massive spill of sodium hydroxide from a train derailment north of Háttmark.

Results: viewtopic.php?p=39588082#p39588082

[Turori]

( Results Thread :: viewtopic.php?f=7&t=518602 )
( Groups 1-7 MD1/2 :: viewtopic.php?p=39588182#p39588182 )

[Kamisato Ayaka Nation]

It felt weird to say it, but Ayaka really enjoyed Ayaka the Eleventh's company.

The sentence itself didn't even make much sense. Her enjoying... her own company? Was she narcissistic or just really lonely? Still, talking to what essentially was herself didn't pan out as weirdly as Ayaka thought it would.

Their bond started when Ayaka the Eleventh muttered that she missed her home softly. Ayaka, who had overheard it, was hit with a multitude of intangible feelings. She felt both pity and wistfulness, but most of all she felt wrong to be feeling as such. Ayaka couldn't forget that she was pitying herself. It was surreal and almost felt unreal. Yet, here she was, feeling sorry for her mirrored self. No, that didn't sound right.

She was feeling sorry for herself.

Ayaka then felt uneasy. Was it so easy to feel for her? Was she that weak? Ayaka felt sick. She felt disgraceful. How could she, an aristocrat, put up an image of a weak, transparent puppy who could be taken advantage of?

Then again, being forcefully taken from your home world and brought to a foreign environment to achieve a goal you had no interest in would definitely take a toll on a normal person. Ayaka herself missed her home so she could understand why Ayaka the Eleventh was so emotional then. Still, she didn’t know why she was feeling much more negative or cynical about everything around her these few days. Was it a cumulative outcome of the past few days’ happenings, or was it always been in her character to be pessimistic and self-deprecating? Ayaka wasn’t a very social person having been a hermit somewhat for most of her childhood and adolescence; yet, she felt an urge to talk with Ayaka the Eleventh. The idea of comforting a sad person wasn’t alien at all, but the fact that the person in question was essentially herself made her hesitate for a bit. Still, she mustered courage she didn’t know she had to walk up to Ayaka the Eleventh.

The latter was spooked when Ayaka approached her, but let down her guard after knowing Ayaka didn’t have any bad intentions. Ayaka spent her time sympathising with her, and the conversation quickly turned to small talk about their lives before this whole calamity. Ayaka found out that Ayaka the Eleventh had very similar interests, childhoods and friend circles. This of course made Ayaka very excited. She didn’t think Ayaka the Eleventh would have a similar life to her. Talking about their everyday lives, Ayaka the Eleventh brought up sword fighting.

“Did you… by any chance learn any sword art back where you live?” She asked with a shiver of nervousness in her voice. Ayaka nodded her head before delving into everything she’d learnt from her master.

“… I also got my Cryo vision from a duel with my brother —” Ayaka couldn’t bear the thought of her actual brother; she missed him, “— I guess the Cryo Archon really blessed me, heh.” She ended off with a chuckle. Ayaka the Eleventh’s eyes sparkled upon hearing that.

“I… I also got my vision from fighting with my brother! We have so much in common,” her voice trailed off in amazement. Ayaka too shared the same sentiment, but the more she thought about it the sooner she realised that she was foolish for thinking as such.

They were the same person. Of course they’d have the same experiences, interests, and life stories.

Upon hearing that, Ayaka felt lost, again, but most of all, felt like trying to make connections would be useless. What was the point of interacting with practically yourself? You could talk to yourself and have the same effect.

As if they were controlled by the same mind, both Ayaka’s looked at each other with a worried expression. It was like they came to the same conclusion at the same time. Stuttering on her words, Ayaka quickly took her leave distressed.

Reality was a bitch, and logic was a puppeteer, toying with Ayaka in the theatre known as the world.

[Commonwealth of Baker Park]

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
World Cup Qualifying Factsheet
(contact Sasha Henderson, Director, at the FAC Media & Information Office for more details)

The Commonwealth of Baker Park National Soccer Team enter the World Cup for the twelfth time seeking to extend their current WCC record streak as the only current nation participating that has never failed to make the 32 team World Cup Finals (nine outright qualifications and two co-hosting turns).

--The national side are entering into a phase of "re-tooling" to integrate the newest generation of youth development coming into their prime, the so-called "Third Wave" who follow 'The (New) Originals', those players who led Baker Park in the first couple of WCQ ventures following the beginning of the mixed gender NT Era; and 'The Golden Generation' who were the products of the FAC Development Charter's implementation. The current crop can be dated from their victory in SWC 9 in Siovanija & Teusland, as 18 players from that team are in the current player pool for World Cup 91.

--These are heady times for the Bees, as they've finished 3rd in the Cocoa-bo Challenge Trophy at Eagles Cup 12, a quarterfinal appearance in World Cup 90 that was co-hosted with Vilita & Turori, and the most recent outing, a second win in AOCAF Cup 66 in Jabal Akhdar, signified with another orange & blue star on the FAC badge; a return to the top 10 rankings was a by-product of the upturn in form following elimination in the group stage in World Cup 89.

--For the first time since the start of the World Cup 85 cycle, Ichi Tuzzio's debut (who returns to management with Savigliane in this WC--Good Luck Maestro!), an open squad vote was held for the national team captaincy; Marcus Nolan and Pryna Rasanamira edged out Derion Hutchins and Lainey Wadsworth for the honors but with eleven players in the core pool aged 30 or over, expect to see widespread sharing of the armband throughout the tournament.

--Nolan and Wadsworth will join the Century Club early on in qualifying, becoming the eighth and ninth players, respectively, to earn 100 NT caps; of the first seven, six have been midfielders--Jamari Bozeman, Annabeth Westmoreland, Nicki Stone, Lorenzo Taborn, Antonio Sotolongo, Junior Ngoba--with only DeAngelo Simmons among forwards having achieved the feat.

--Ayana West will certainly pass Sabrina Patton for fourth place on the NT scoring list, making her the most prolific female goalscorer in history and can also move ahead of Reggie Laing into third during the cycle; Zach Johnston comes in tied with Danielle Gaines for 2nd most NT clean sheets kept (15), just one behind Scott Hartline who holds the record; co-captain Rasanamira slipped behind Gabby Jordan on the most capped defender list (87 to 86, with Kelly O'Connell also getting into the mid 80's) during the regional, but will regain the record for women and probably the overall record held by Derek Briggs (90).

--It's unlikely that there is another nation among the 167 entries for WC 91 that have three international trophy winning managers on the technical area bench, following Darren Kirby's stint in charge of the AOCAF 66 squad; he joins Jennifer Prescott and Tony Weiss as three of the four coaches who have led a BPNT squad to a trophy, with Zoe Montgomery, manager at Bakermouth in EOT the fourth.

--Of the ten opponents in Group 4, the Commonwealth have only faced second seeds Jereselem and fourth seeds Ranoria previously; the Tiger Princesses have seen a change at the top as Pekora Dancer retired and Kate Dallas--not Princess Kate Dallas, they don't even look alike--the former NT striker take the reins. The nations met in World Cup 89 qualifying, at the end of both halves with the Bees victorious on both occasions--3-1 at Dallas Dazza Stadium, and 1-0 at the BBP Stadium on the final day to secure advancement. The newly re-christened Snow Bears are mostly familiar to sports fans from the University of the Commonwealth's NSCF rivalry with Richardson University, but the nation have risen quickly in the round ball game to a pot 4 berth. The sides have met in a pair of friendlies that ended in stalemates: 3-3 in Belle Haven during the midway break of WC 88 qualifying and a 0-0 affair ahead of the WC 90 Finals at Smith Field in Richardson.

Lineup vs Britonisea:

Vickers; Brooks, Rasanamira (C), Harrison; Eichorn, D'Amico, Buxton, Boyle; Shanahan; Garvey, Mack

Lineup vs Potenzia:

McCormack; Edmonds, Onikambe, Bauer; Grimaldi, Nolan, Wiley, Reynolds (C); Price; McDavid, Harris

[Wreckeria]

From: “The Tales of a Dead Country – The Story of Wreckeria’s World Cup 91 Campaign” by Gord Radcliff

2: Prelude to Battle

The Film Room

I learned pretty quickly that while Biscuit Gilbert was more than happy to have fun after practice, the next morning the mood was exactly the opposite. I was invited into the film room the next morning at Unification Stadium where I spotted a lot of skeptical faces. Fortunately, Biscuit brought me around to meet everyone. There was head coach Marvin Byrnes, the architect behind the Wreckerian team, who was more than happy to meet me; There was Sigmund Justice, who called himself “Sig”, a giant of a man who stared me down to figure out what he was dealing with; There was Clive Carson, who Biscuit said may have made the best animal sounds of anyone in international sport; Max Crisp, who may or may not have sent a sprint car out of the ballpark the night before in Halsted; and there was Gordon Sheppard, who seemed to be Biscuit’s polar opposite.

Gordon Sheppard doesn’t deal with random people. His default reaction is to distrust whoever he encounters. He is far from the stereotypical Hapiloppian or Wreckerian athlete: He doesn’t drink, he doesn’t smoke, he doesn’t party, he doesn’t chase women. He said very little to me as I encountered him in the film room – perhaps he didn’t want me there. And that’s fair – it’s not often outsiders get a chance to watch game film with a team. Perhaps he just wanted the film to start, and perhaps he just wanted to take notes on the first opponent.

But, as Biscuit later told me, Gordon was far from the worst in the room.

“Be glad you ain’t met Dean yet,” Biscuit said. “I dunno why we keep him.”

Dean Norman, I am told, is the most sour character on the entire Wreckerian squad. His play reminds one of the legendarily-dirty Hapiloppian defenseman Nathan Ellis. But unlike Nathan Ellis, who is revered among his Hapiloppian teammates for his desire to fight for them, his desire to see them all succeed, Dean Norman doesn’t have that quality. His only desire to fight is for himself. His only desire is for himself to lead the team, to hell with everyone else.

Eventually, after all the social encounters had ceased, it was time to start with game film – and “film” might not be the best way to describe it. Instead, it was a collection of matches of Wreckeria’s first opponent, Metherwoll. The Wreckerians would travel there, players, coaches, staff, media, everyone, to hopefully do something great. All they wanted was three points out of that first matchup, and they’d get ready for their match against the 14 Stars afterward.

As the lights dimmed and as the video clips started to be played, it hit me how different this sort of game-watching was compared to what I was used to. Normal people watch a game on television with a beer in one hand and popcorn in another, ready to scream, whoop and holler, and go crazy if their team succeeded. This was a different occasion, though. Instead of popcorn and beer, players had legal pads and pens to take notes. And the film room was deathly quiet as players paid attention to Metherwoll matches, trying to find some sort of nuance in their tactics that they could take advantage of.

When someone found something, they would shout out, asking for the film to be replayed and played over, so people could see what they were looking at. And to the untrained eye, it might not be anything out of the ordinary. To a seasoned footballer, however, it was everything. And if one footballer would catch it, the rest would do so pretty quickly. An excited murmur came up through the film room as players started catching on something that they felt could get them past Metherwoll in their first match. And then there was something else and the murmur started again. This is how Wreckerian footballers watched football matches – again and again and again, over and over. Studying like they were studying for a test.

For some, that wasn’t the end of the film study. Players left carrying flash drives, which I was told carried video clips of Metherwoll matches from the last World Cup qualifying campaign. Gordon Sheppard said the flash drive was his plans for that evening. And I believed every word.

“The more you know,” Gordon said. “You know?”

That night around 11:30, when I was downing shots with Marvin Byrnes and Biscuit Gilbert, one of us had the fine idea to prank-call Gordon, seeing what exactly he was up to. To our amusement, he was still watching film.

“God damn it all of you, I think I found something and all you chucklefucks care about is getting shitfaced!” I heard Gordon yell over the phone, to the delight of my new drinking buddies. “If we don’t get this right, those guys are going to whoop our ass!”

“Aw come ON, Gordie, ya’ gotta LIVE just ONCE in ya’ eva-lovin’ life!” Biscuit slurs over the phone. “Jus’ JOIN US!”

“SCREW YOU!” Gordon shouts. “And don’t call me Gordie! I’m letting coach know about this!”

“I’m HERE,” Marvin slurs. “And coach says get ya’self a shot!”

“Fucking hell!” Gordon replies. “If we lose, this one’s on you!”

As Gordon hangs up the phone, Biscuit and Marvin start howling with laughter. I smile. I figured Biscuit would join me for an evening of fun, but the head coach of the team? I figured that was inconceivable – at least, until I had met him that afternoon.

‘Peace Through Sport’

“So you’re that guy with that sports journal? Come on with me, I want to show you some things.”

Marvin Byrnes is the long-suffering head coach of the Wreckerian team. He’s been there trying to get a team from Wreckeria going for eight years now, and he feels like the team is just now hitting its stride. Of course it would – even as Wreckeria the nation ceases to exist, at least the Wreckerian people have Wreckeria the football team. But their ringleader, the graying, somewhat frail-looking Marvin Byrnes, is bound and determined to keep that football team going as long as he’s able.

“Football was one of the only things that united us,” Marvin tells me on the car ride from Unification Stadium to the Wreckerian team HQ. “Priders, True Wreckerians, they hated each other’s guts but they’d play together on a soccer pitch. We didn’t care who was who out on the pitch. So what pissed me off so much was the fact we never had a chance to show what we could do on the international stage. We were good ballplayers. But we never got the chance.”

Marvin is talking about his generation of footballers. At 41 years old, Marvin is too old, and possibly too beaten up to play on an international team ago. He walks with a noticeable limp, something he doesn’t like talking about. Not knowing him that well, I made the mistake of asking him about it.

“Artificial turf, Gord,” Marvin tells me. “The god damn artificial turf at Capital Stadium. I hit it wrong and wrenched my knee out of commission. I knew it was bad when the doctor came up to me and asked me if I had any marketable skills other than playing football.”

I realized that I might have made a misstep. I realized that he was incredibly uncomfortable telling me the story. There are people that I have known that would open up their guts to me with the right question. A couple of years ago, for instance, I asked Chet Byrd, the stock car driver, about stories of cheating in racing. He took about an hour and a half on that one question, gleefully telling me about the stories of racing teams cheating in Hapiloppian races.

But Marvin shut down when I asked him about his limp. It was clear it was still a bad memory to him, and my first thoughts were if I’d be asked to return to Hapilopper City without filing a single story from a World Cup match. I looked over and saw Marvin stewing. So I asked him another question. I asked him about how members of the Party of Pride and the True Wreckerians could tolerate one another on the football pitch despite being in the middle of a civil war, and how the football matches didn’t escalate to all-out violence.

To my relief, Marvin chuckled at that last part.

“Sometimes it did,” Marvin said. “I played against a few guys out there that would just knock you on your ass. I think they were playing just so they could knock someone out. They didn’t care about getting the ball or scoring, they just wanted to drop people. But the incredible thing is, we didn’t really ask each other who was who. The guy next to me in the locker room? I didn’t care what party he belonged to. All I cared about was that he had my back and I had his.”

As Wreckeria’s Civil War wound down, the True Wreckerians and the Party of Pride started to negotiate a settlement, which involved making Arnold Martin – a Party of Pride lifer with a reputation for being fair at the negotiation table – the President of Wreckeria. And not long after Martin became president, Byrnes came up with an idea – that of something called “Peace Through Sport.”

“I had seen it all over, Gord,” Marvin told me. “We were too busy having fun playing soccer, or we were having too much fun driving around in a circle or having too much fun playing baseball to want to kill each other. I mean, after you team with someone, the last thing you want to do is kill them because they believe in the different party from yours. Christ almighty, I had too many friends die from that godforsaken war. All of us in Wreckeria lost friends from that. We didn’t want to lose any more.”

“Peace Through Sport” became Wreckeria’s mantra for its attempted return to World Cup competition in the 84th event. Many were skeptical, but it seemed like it was working. Wreckeria did fairly well in their first competition in 54 years, better than some probably expected. And the team did decently well the next year, too. But what happened?

“Politics,” Marvin said with tinge of disgust. “True Wreckerians became impatient. They were getting impatient with Arnold Martin. Jesus Christ, they put poor Arnold Martin through the ringer.”

Marvin told me that he had been a True Wreckerian, having been raised that way, but he grew disgusted of how the far-right elements of the party would negatively impact the party, how it operated and how it impacted daily life.

“I’m a conservative,” he told me. “I don’t really like talking about it because honestly it’s not relevant. But I’m a conservative, my whole family’s been conservatives so we followed the True Wreckerians. But they let – encouraged, even – some of their wingnuts run the party, and it showed. They tried to make Arnold Martin’s life a living hell for the smallest of things. It pissed me off seeing how they treated him. When the True Wreckerians started firing off rockets again, I wasn’t surprised.”

That was three or four years ago. All hell broke loose in Wreckeria for a short period of time, but then… everything stopped. The Wreckerians, like most everyone else in Atlantian Oceania, had a shock to their system that made them realize that this war they had been fighting… there was no sense in it. There was a chance their very survival, instead, was at risk. And had the fighting not restarted, Marvin suggested that Wreckeria would have been better equipped to handle this shock.

“Honestly, if those dumbass True Wreckerians hadn’t started the fighting again, we might have survived,” Marvin says with frustration. “We were in the midst of rebuilding, we wouldn’t have had to worry about the simoleon going to shit, and then that whole Anaia disaster… we would have been prepared, as a unified front, to help the region deal with that mess.”

Marvin looked like he wanted to spit out the window as he thought of Anaia. Most people in Hapilopper and Wreckeria do. Most people in Hapilopper and Wreckeria still think of Anaia as a part of Atlantian Oceania and eagerly await a reunification between the two regions that sadly, probably won’t come.

As we got to Marvin’s office, the stark differences between a Hapiloppian operation and a Wreckerian operation couldn’t be any clearer. Dom Probst and Thom Perkins, Marvin’s counterpart in Hapilopper City, had large high-tech offices with the capability of watching any sporting event anywhere in the multiverse. Their offices overlook a pristine practice pitch, where the staff can review the team or perhaps look at other players considered for the national squad.

Marvin’s office – the offices of Independent Wreckerian Athletes, Ltd., as a matter of fact, are in a small office suite in an old six-story building in a bad part of Halsted – to be honest, most of Halsted is a bad area – but this is a bad area by Halsted’s standards. As we come into the office, Marvin points to the coffee pot near the front room of the suite – “We don’t make any coffee from that anymore because it’s a fire hazard, but we don’t want to unplug it because the wiring in this whole building is screwed.”

His office itself is cramped. There are papers everywhere, covering old posters from the 80s and 90s. Off to the corner is one of those old CRT televisions that maybe carries one or two low-power channels in Halsted, and certainly not any of the Hapiloppian networks. There is a strange smell of mold, and you swear the building’s about to catch fire at any second. And outside, rather than viewing a pristine pitch, you can view some poor 65-year old woman get taken for her jewelry.

As he sits down at his desk, Marvin pulls out a large bottle of whiskey – Firebrand Dark, a strong one. It’s clear he’s enjoyed a glass or five at this desk before. He pours both of us a glass, and as he sits back, sipping from his glass, it’s clear something is bothering him.

“We’ve known nothing but struggle,” Marvin tells me. “I’ve been trying to make something work from this office for eight years now. Peace through Sport, that didn’t work. That didn’t work at all. We’d try to do something and it’d fail on us. We’d try to change our fortunes and it wouldn’t fucking work. But last year, I don’t know if that was the start of something new, something good for us or if that was some ridiculous fluke.”

Marvin looks at his glass, looks at me and then looks out the window behind him.

“This has to work this year,” Marvin tells me. “We’ve got to keep up the run we had last year. Otherwise I don’t know if we’ll be able to survive.”

[Delte]

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Delte 4-0 The Karodin Tetrarchy
Sports Correspondent Polka Lunn in Oswark for The Oswark Parish Advertiser

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I won't dwell overly long on the finer details of this match, but certainly mention should be made of the fact that, amidst a fine turnout at Ildemorton Road, the record crowd of 1,048 spectators were treated to a cracking match where forward Tai Cerotha once again proved the focal point with two goals and an assist to send The Representatives immediately to the top of the group. Sadly, though the locals were looking forward to meeting some foreign types in the local bars, no travellers from the Tetrarchy turned up for the match, with Benito the Stationmaster suggesting they may have forgotten to book their stop on the Meridien Mainline bullet train and rocketed right on by the temporary stands at Ildemorton Road and platform 3 of Oswark station without slowing down. They probably won't be feeling like they missed much. This World Cup business all seems rather too easy...

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Huayramarca 5-1 Delte
Player-Reporter Kim Samrodd in San Ignacio de la Frontera, Huayramarca for Up The Reps Football Fanzine

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It was a long way to go for a football match, and I have to say it didn't help that our good friends at the Oswark Parish Advertiser sent us off from platform 3 quite certain we were about to conquer the world. Los Cóndores soon put us all straight about that as they toyed with us all from start to finish. It could have been double the eventual tally but for the sterling efforts of our goalkeeper Osward Ess, who had a brilliant game despite fishing out five balls from the net. The same could not be said of yours truly, Kim Samrodd, who along with the other defenders had a nightmare at the back with Sayritupac and Tello entirely having fun turning us inside out. It felt in the end that Tai's 88th minute goal for us was either a small victory for the little guy or a charitable donation from the home side to show appreciation for us turning up in the windy country and getting downright spanked for our efforts.

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Ready Player 1: Tai Cerotha
Vignettes of The Representatives

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Centre forward, age 24, for Deltemouth Pacific; dock worker - A resident of the small port town of Deltemouth, Tai impressed everyone (who were watching, which wasn’t many) in his games for The Representatives at the Baptism of Fire, scoring a hattrick in the first game and going on to hit four more in the unexpected run to the quarterfinals. Fans back home at the Delte Valley Tuesday Evening & Sunday Lunchtime Super League strugglers Deltemouth Pacific would be surprised to hear of his good form, as they were when he was called up in the first place. He’ll argue all day that it is impossible to be a good striker in a bad team (and the Pacific definitely are a bad team these days) but put him with a useful bunch of daisycutters and he can show you what he’s capable of. Says he. That certainly seemed to be the case in Farfadillis, where he claims only a case of mistaken identity won a professional contract for Enor Perro at Rülândéá Kôstä - after all, Enor was the second string defensive midfielder in the squad who hadn’t actually played a full game for The Representatives. Whilst the unofficial reporting of that surprise international transfer suggested Enor had some contacts on the inside - literally, him recently coming out of gaol at the Auld Triangle - who engineered the signing in some kind of black market people trafficking arrangement (this being Rülândéá after all), and most of the players suspecting it is because Enor’s surname means ‘dog’ in Rülândésé and that somehow appealed to the Kôstä team, Tai Cerotha says the team officials came to the hotel asking for him, but the first person they met was Enor who, being unemployed at the time and always alert to a good opportunity for career advancement, pretended to be the free-scoring striker and was soon packed off to the Kôstä training complex to meet his new teammates. Meanwhile Tai came home to his job on the docks, loading and unloading essential supplies for a small community who don't have the infrastructure to produce household goods, vehicles, factory-mades wares or pharmaceuticals for better living.

[Southwest Eastnorth]

Chris Houton came out of the tunnel at the Stadium Biru and for the first time as an athlete, he wasn't starting. This would be the first time since just a few weeks ago, that Houton was not a starter for the Southwest Eastnorth National team. Houton stepped down from his position as starter and team captain. This was mostly due to Southwest Eastnorth finally getting some additional talent upfront to help take the ease off of the aging Houton. Hoyer Harbors came in to be a real scoring threat after he lead Bearden in scoring and was a golden boot contender in the score friendly Football League of Xanneria's Omega Division. Also a big surprise was the defection of Xannerian wonder kid Austin Navarro. So the team was set not only up front having Harbors join existing players Jessica Roth and Ulysses Barnett III up front.

As the game was starting Houton got a sense, a sense that weather was gonna be a factor. It was HUMID in Sharktail. That would clearly be a factor in the end but for the Pioneers and Sharktail it would start off normal. There a couple of potshots in the first 10-15 minutes from both sides but all were easily scooped up by the goalies Jessica LeRioux and Maxter were both on top form early. Eventually 22 minutes in the first sign of issue showed up. A run by Win Aziz looked as if he was destined to go one on one with LeRioux. The only person who could stop him was Shaquelle Harnett, Harnett had him dead to rights with a tackle but when he went to slide, he looked more like a baseball player rather than a footballer as his foot caught a divot and cause him stand right back up weather he wanted to or not. Needless to say there would be a gif file of that throughout twii.tur for ages to come give how goofy the missed tackle was. Thankfully for Southwest Eastnorth, LeRioux got the save and one of the best chances you'll see a player have to score came to naught.

Soon Sharktail had their next opportunity, just five minutes before half time. This time a Twin Zairo pass to Aziz resulted in the striker headbutting a ball into the goal. Soon the heat could noticeably be seen effecting some of the SWENNIC players. Very odd to see some players struggling with the ehat given the usually warmer environments of Southwest Eastnorth, but usually SWEN deals with a dry heat. The muggy conditions of Sharktail were murderous to some. Quickly after the start of the next half, the Sharktail team took more advantage over SWEN and put one in the net. A Twin Zairo kick had simply been placed in a spot where Jessica LeRioux couldn't get it and the game was suddnely 2-0. Coach Houton then and there knew he needed to bring in some fresh blood and he thus subbed in some fresh players, bringing in youthful strikers such as Navarro and Ian Gordon to help supplant Barnett III. Navarro dazzled the new fans of his by getting the ball in the back of the net as fast as he could with a bullet fast goal that simply sped by the keeper. That happened at minute fifty five and by time minute 90+2 struck the game was over, Sharktail had pulled it off. They had beat the Pioneers 3-2 behind two goals from Aziz and an a goal for SWEN from Barnett III and Navarro's earlier mentioned Goal.

(Aziz 40' 71' Zairo 49' ) Sharktail 3-2 Southwest Eastnorth (Navarro 59' Barnett III 81')

---

Meanwhile back in time we go to Pasarga. Southwest Eastnorth had come off a surprising Cup of Harmony run which saw the make the Ro16 before getting punched out of that round by Trolleberg in a penalty kick shootout. The first opponent for the Pioneers was Xinhua. A mysterious nation bordering Darmen, they chose Copa Rushmori XL for their first time first regional appearance. In the game though Xinhua came out fighting, with aggressive moves that shocked the Pioneers. These guys were way more seasoned than the Pioneers anticipated. Chen Youngrui scored less than 20 minutes in and the defense of Xinhua was a mad swarm of hornets looking like the ball had taken a swat at them. They were constantly being a nuisance to the Pioneers and that defence in the end won out 1-0.

Houton didn't know how to feel after that game. Coming off a close fought loss in the CoH Ro16 to falling flat on their face versus a mystery nation didn't help. It also didn't help lots of SWEN fans had taken the trip to Pasarga given both SWEN and Pasarga's proximity to each other is fairly close. In fact Pasarga is technically a neighboring nation, if you don't include the thousands of miles of ocean between the two.

Houton was starting to get hard on himself, he hoped the lack of intel on Xinhua is what hurt, but on the surface he couldn't stop blaming himself...

(Youngrui 16' ) Xinhua 1-0 Southwest Eastnorth (NONE)

[Gnejs]

Part 1: The early years

He was born on a snowy November night. He was overdue and his parents had gone back and forth from their home on the westside of town to Port Kejm University Hospital in the northeast for several days on end before he finally arrived. His mother had him sitting in a bathtub at the natural birth unit, so in a manner of speaking he swam into the outside world, and growing up his father often said that was why he loved the ocean. That always seemed like a tenuous connection, but his father was full of those and with time you often learned to appreciate them.

He was a big bear of a man, his father. He worked as a chef at a popular restaurant by the sea in the downtown area, and always said the only secret to good food is adding more cream and and butter. A passionate football supporter, his father draped him in the colors of his team from early on. On his first Christmas, his uncle gifted him a bodysuit with a big Kejm BK logo on it. It was meant to be a joke, but his father took it badly.

His mother worked within the municipal hospice care. She was a talented sketch artist and did numerous sketches of her son as he was growing up. Together with a series of portraits of her patients they formed the core of a solo exhibition at a respectable gallery on the waterfront. It was well received, but she never really managed to follow up on that momentum, and while she had always dreamed of turning her art into a livelihood she never did. It was not a great sorrow, but always felt like a missed opportunity.

He never got the hang of breastfeeding and ended up one of those bottle kids. The heavy formula diet quickly turned him into a well-rounded fellow with a sensible sleeping pattern, helping his parents keep sane all throughout those first manic months. They shared the parental leave period, and stayed home about six months each, and as his second year of life kicked off they managed to get him into the kindergarten just down the street from their apartment. It didn’t have the same stellar reputation as the one over by the park, but it sure made the logistics of life a whole lot easier.

Growing up, he preferred crafts to playing with the other kids, even from early on. Building blocks was a favorite, ripping up paper and trying to piece it back together was another. He was big and strong, but clumsy. When he was three, he fell and hit his head on a table. It gave a sizable cut to his forehead, and he had to be rushed to the emergency room to have it glued up. He was back in kindergarten after a few days, and during playtime he absentmindedly walked out in front of the swing-set and got hit, with the cut bursting open again. Freakishly, the same thing happened the next week, and at this point the emergency room doctor gave up on gluing his forehead back together and got out the needle. The cut looked nasty to begin with, and having it glued and banged up two times didn’t help. The doctor did her best, but it ended up leaving a distinctive scar.

His parents worried about him starting first grade. He’d been a loner all throughout kindergarten, and even though it didn’t seem to bother him they felt this lack of a social drive would present more of a difficulty when he transitioned to schooling. His introverted demeanor persisted, but he seemed content enough. His classmates were friendly, but he never really made any friends. He excelled at reading and writing but struggled with even basic maths. This surprised his parents, who felt like his cloistered persona and preoccupation with puzzles surely hinted at him being a numbers person.

About halfway through first grade his father brought him to his first ever Kejm derby, the Old Fray. It was down at «The Dock» and they stood on the south side of the stadium, the traditional spot for fans of Storängen IF. While young at the time, even in later years he retained vivid memories of the festive chaos that framed their walk by the water towards the stadium, a laughing and singing human train swathed in green, white and yellow. It was an intoxicating sensation, and he could remember it had left him with a feeling of being part of something bigger beyond his immediate family and everyday context. The overwhelmingness of it all apexed when they entered the stadium and the game began.

Sadly, his feelings of joy and excitement quickly transformed into a blend of shock and trepidation. Because while the atmosphere before the game had been characterized by positivity and signs of affection towards their team and one another, the mode quickly shifted to one of intense hatred towards the opposing team and their fans when the game began. His father, who had always been a rock of tranquility and love, transformed before his very eyes to a brutish beast with murder in his eyes. And the same was true for all of those around them. They hurled insults and profanities liberally, and the brutality and graphic nature of the things being shouted left him in utter shock.

It was a traumatic experience, and it soured him on football for a long time. When he was around seven, his father arranged for him to play in the green-white-and-yellow kids teams. He refused, although he never said why. It saddened his father, but he respected his wishes. In the end he started playing tennis instead, much to his mother’s contentment.

Tennis proved to be good for him. He made friends and had fun. He enjoyed not being dependent on anyone else while he played, and had a great time trying to figure out strategic ways to score points. Often his strategic ambitions went beyond his capabilities as a player, but it was always a rush whenever the two components aligned. Amongst the other kids he got especially close to two slightly older peers, Tommy and Saskia. They were superior to him in skill, but his quirky way of playing always made each matchup something exciting.

The whole experience made him open up in general and when he was around nine or ten he suddenly started engaging more with his classmates as well. It was a welcome surprise to everyone. His parents were particularly pleased when he started bringing home friends after school. Football was a big thing, both in the neighborhood and at school, but despite his newfound outgoingness he always stayed clear of that particular activity. At this point he still viewed the game of football as a thinly veiled excuse for uncivilized behavior.

[Baggieland]

[Mertagne]

Aurrera! appeared to be at the crest of a wave. After receiving before unheard of support from key provinces in the recent regional elections, off of the back of a radical and somewhat shaky manifesto hung around reform of the Mertagnian Charter, they were now the second biggest political block in the Brickwork of Mertagne's National Forum. While the campaign had been dominated by local leaders and mouthpieces, the block was unique from others in the party in that, at present, it didn't actually have a designated leader. Whether this was because Aurrera! didn't fancy their chances at winning, or because they were so democratic they did everything by committee depended on which newspaper you read or which radio station you listened to, but now that the block was starting to become a force to be reckoned with, the mantle of authority was beginning to wrap itself around the neck of Aurrera!'s chief whip - possibly the only person in the block at the National Forum who could really put their foot down and get NFMs to bend to their will - when that will truly was in the best interests of the block, of course. With media pressure growing to determine exactly when Aurrera! would deliver on their promise, it was theorised that it would be their chief whip that would deliver the news.

The media agreed with the above assessment, and as such after two weeks of little media coverage from a key Aurrera! figurehead, they instead descended like carrion birds around the entrance of Sixteen Freskovia Cresent, one of the eighteen streets in Mertagne's capital of Dannin that contains housing for NFMs while they're in the capital. It just so happened that Sixteen Freskovia Cresent was a block of flats, and so the media circus that had camped outside had to contend with some rather annoyed commuters that morning, many of whom were wondering why they had to weave through a throng of journalists to catch the metro. One commuter had the shock of her life as she emerged, kids in tow for the school run, to the flash of cameras and raucous questioning about the future of the nation that exploded the first moment someone opened the door. Questioning whether these were the chief whip's children, and weather the chief whip had children, entertained them just enough until the whip stepped out of the block of flats, and into the block of media asking about the block of politics.

Malcolm Noirot, chief whip of Aurrera!, didn't look like the standard sort of politician you'd find in nations such as Eura, or Tumbra. A thin, early forty-something with the genesis of a thin grey beard clinging to his face, which was immediately overshadowed by the dazzling white moustache that looked like a flying saucer hovering above his lip, wore a beanie hat even here in the humid swamp-adjacent city in the waning of the summer. As he turned around from shutting the door, he noticed the media ambush, and froze in place for a palpable second or six before shuffling around in his jacket and producing a small note card that can't have been larger than the palm of his hand.

"Good to see you all." he said, grabbing a plastic crate used for delivering milk and juices, and standing on it to get some height from the ever encroaching phalanx of microphones. "I've prepared a short statement."

"As well you know, Aurrera! made a promise to the provinces involved in elections this year that a vote for Aurrera! would be a vote for change. I have been vocal in my opinion that Mertagne's fledgling governmental system is no longer fit for purpose in a world that is ever more competitive, co-operative, and combative. Our message was a clear one - in the event that Aurrera! is confident to deliver a vote in the National Forum, we would begin to deliver on a process to make that change come about. I am happy to say that our recent election results have enabled us to do just that, thanks to the voting public, and that is why today I am going to the National Forum, and this week Aurrera! will be bringing a motion to explore the creation of a Mertagnian Assembly - an organised process in which to view the current Mertagnian charter with the eye of experience, and hopefully bring about key constitutional change that impacts the lives of the general public in a positive way."

Several shouts were threw into the dome that Malcolm had created for himself, as the reporters started asking a litany of questions.

"Do you think you have the votes for the motion to pass?" asked a spectacled reporter clutching a microphone, before thrusting it towards Malcolm and elbowing their camera operator, who was staring off into space, to focus a shot on the pair.

"I am hopeful that those free radicals in the forum have listened to the areas in which they represent, and that they have understood that the appetite for large-scale change is there, on the street, in the office, and at the park. As for those allied with blocks, I know that the Environmental Protection Block have given their support to us, and the Liberal League will allow their NFMs to vote as they see fit. Our work this week will be remining the general public why this is a good idea, and it's their duty to tell their representatives that our idea is the change they want."

Another reporter, this one armed with a tablet computer, gesticulated towards Noirot. "And is it your ideas that you want to see enshrined into a new Mertagnian Charter? How is that better than what we have now?"

"It is our aim that the Mertagnian Assembly will be an open and free forum for debate on the future of our nation. Aurrera! are simply the ones that want to set it into motion - we want to see key figures from all across the political spectrum involved in the process. Statesman Roper and his good company were instrumental in laying the foundation of our great nation, but, like a house in the marsh, when the foundation subsides, you have to do everything you can to shore it up or else you're losing the building. I don't want to lose Mertagne to the bog that is our current political system."

Malcom cleared his throat, and took a pair of round glasses out of his pocket, placing them on his face. "Now, if you'll excuse me, I've got to go and make change happen."

He strolled past the crowd of reporters and walked towards the bicycle rack on the other side of the street.

DANNIN DAILY
'Milky' Malcolm Noirot Promises Motion by THIS WEEK

Malcolm Noirot, chief whip of the recently resurgent Aurrera!, stood on a milk crate this morning as he delivered a speech, in which he claimed that Aurrera! would be looking to deliver a motion to create a special session of the National Forum that would debate on the content of a new Mertagnian Charter. The session, called the 'Mertagnian Assembly', is expected to be voted on in the National Forum as early as next week, with a short debate period in the National Forum to happen this week. Noirot, famed for his milk-white moustache and rather care-free attitude to formal attire, has been campaigning for constitutional reform as part of the Aurrera! block, was been appointed five years ago after the results of Freskovia's Regional Forum election, and bringing a cadre of new Aurrera! recruits in Freskovia's most recent Regional Forum election, where Aurrera! increased their vote share across the western province by 15%. He is arguably one of the most senior members of his block, which has no leader, while he himself serves as the leader of the Aurrera!-aligned "Forward Freskovia" party, which four years ago was revealed to be involved in a plot to secede from Mertagne, a move that was criticised by the ruling Mertagnian Conservatives and members of his block in other provinces. However, it appears that Noirot has put all of that behind him, and focused his energy in proposing a small-f forum to determine a new form of government.

The vote in the National Forum will determine if the idea can move ahead, or will be as dead in the water as Noirot's succession plot. Free radicals from across the Forum are split on the issue, and the Liberal League of Mertagne have removed the whip from the vote, allowing their National Forum Members (NFMs) to vote as they please on the issue. The current majority coalition of the Unified Mertagne Party and the Workers Unions of Mertagne are likely to be voting against the motion, as they had previously come out against the radical Aurrera! proposal, on the grounds that Tricameralism is a tool that prevents corruption, rather than allowing it to fester. However, rumours are abound at the National Forum that some NFMs will vote against their whip's desires, as if Aurrera!'s ultimate goals are realised, the whole National Forum may have to be re-elected anyway.

Further roadblocks for Aurrera! come in the form of Alyson Hydguera, who will have the power of Presidential veto in the event that the motion passes up to the council. However, if the mandate to reform the Mertagnian Charter is strong, doing so may torpedo her political career and make way for further change regardless. Hydguera faces a difficult decision in the coming weeks, and will have to strongly state her case for the current system of government in the hope that it does not fall on deaf ears in the National Forum.

[The 14 Stars]

Starsian team take the points, advantage taken!

Welcome folks, today we look back on the matches of the Starsian team, we have seen matches against New Folgore and Metherwoll respectively who are the least dangerous teams in our group.
As always against New Folgore the regular starters were playing, no injuries, no new debuts and it looked like the players were set on once again doing their very best to bring joy to their people and make the Starsians at home proud.

This time without Maximillian Flare and Nicolay Moon, two legendary players who have retired from the national team now and make place for new players and new talent to be brought in here.
Usually the age of the starting squad is higher then the entire teams average as experience weighs heavy in our teams.

In the first match against New Folgore it was a quick kickoff followed by a series of swift attacks from our players and two corner kicks who were well defended by the Folgore defence.
We had never heard of this team but they played surprisingly well, our players had quite some trouble with them though in the 38th minute the first goal was for our team by a great attack set-up by Dylan Diam.
Diam brought the ball forward to Redwood who played it back to the center to Garcia who had a double opportunity but chose for a long pass to Kira Blade who gave the assist for Holly Moonlight to score the first goal of the match.
A well made play and very complex for an opposing defense to comprehend at such a quick pace.

However our players were a bit relaxed after that goal and a defensive mistake by Rodriguez caused the equalizer to be scored in the 46th minute after halftime right away.
This broke the motivation of the team a bit but Landry had some really good cards to play, he made in the 57th minute substitions including the move to take Rodriguez off to protect him against his own doubts on the field now.

Substitutions:

Rodriguez - off
Jude Redwood - off
Klara Jenssen - on
Wendy Turner - on

With Jenssen and Turner on coach Landry aimed to use the connection between White and Jenssen to keep a tight defense while bringing in Turner for extra offensive power which eventually succeeded.
They used the Invincible Lance tactic where 4 people move forward at once, 1 in the center and 3 around that player to protect the player making it nearly impossible to stop the play without making a foul yourself.
Holly Moonlight was in the center and scored her second goal of the match after the Lance formation broke through the Folgore defense letting the game end in a 1-2 win for the Starsian national squad.

Metherwoll match

In the match against Metherwoll alot happened but it was very one sided, the Starsians had heard about the place but didn't exactly know what to expect from this team or its leaders at all.
After kick-off it was very quickly clear that they had worried themselves for nothing as they steamrolled Metherwoll right off the bat scoring their first goal within 10 minutes by no one less then Kira Blade herself.
Metherwoll was an offensively strong team but their weak spot was pressure, their team wasn't too good when a team would full on pressure their players and it would force them into very dumb and stupid mistakes.

By the time it was nearly halftime the second goal was scored by Dylan Diam after a corner kick where they weren't marking him good enough and failed at communicating that the right way.

Halftime was when subsitutions were made, the Starsian relaxed a bit and gave new players opportunities.

Alan White - off
Stefano Garcia - off
Dylan Diam - off

Daisy Moreno - on
Brittany Storm - on
Zeyna Chardan - on

In the second half two new players made their debut, Brittany Storm a left midfielder to replace Diam who was known for her speed and great passing was coming on to help her team secure this victory.
Further on the central midfield Stefano Garcia was replaced by Zeyna Chardan, the up and coming allround midfielder of our national team who is considered to be the successor to Valerian on the midfield.

Her strong areas are her ball control, vision of the game and quick decision making in heated situations, she played abroad and was known to be a very exceptional player but still very young hence why she had not played before.
However after these substitutions two more goals were scored, one in the 64th minute by Zeyna Chardan with a long distance shot that was just unstoppable for any goalie no matter who would have stood there.
Later in the 81th minute it was Jude Redwood scoring for a change after a brilliant cross assist by Kira Blade allowing Redwood to beat the keeper in a one on one sealing the four to nothing victory for the Starsians.


After two victories now it places us in second place equal in goals and points to Juvencus, our next matches will be much tougher and it is expected the Starsian will not be able to maintain this position.
Nations like Starblaydia and Savojarna are expected to surpass and claim the tickets however we can say this excellent start of the the qualifiers will give the team a great boost in morale and in the rankings for the future!

[Ko-oren]

Sure, the KFA tells you that your game versus Ko-oren is in Greencaster, Maethoru, Aminey, or Schemerdrecht... but what are those places like?

Ever wondered where your perfect vacation spot on the Dragonfly Islands would be?

Or do you just want to know a bit more about our nation's varied flora and fauna, landscapes, climates, etc?

Simply click 'Present' (top right) on page one. All text is a link!

[Sargossa]

SSM | Sargossan State Media

International Edition - Sport



Out of the Baptism. Into the Fire



Blanco Borrayo reports;

Not so long ago, in a city once and still possibly called Ferdullaele, the footballers representing a tiny Anaian island nation had a thoroughly lovely time. They also lifted the Baptism of Fire trophy. In a stadium that was on fire, suitably enough. That was then. This is now. Now the stakes are so much greater, with places at the greatest show in the sportiverse up for grabs. The opposition cranks up a notch too. Not to decry Caribbia or Unpleasant of course. They’re just not in the same league as Banija or the Squornshelan Remnant States. Admittedly the Baptism of Fire winners do also have a couple of CAFA Cup tournaments under their belts, but this right here is the business end of the international football calendar.

Within the vast bowl of the Independienté stadium in the sprawling city of Goza it’s little wonder that the men and women and non-binary others of Aleirave wilted a little under the weight of the occasion. This was an altogether different scale. After all, the entire population of their homeland could fit comfortably inside the arena. Twice. And their opponents weren’t some dewy-eyed newcomer to the world stage. But a grizzled veteran, still smarting from the loss of the regional trophy they’d held for four straight years. This was the first chance Alejandro Echeverría’s side had had to exorcise the demons of that defeat to Pridnestrovia in the last sixteen of the Copa Rushmori. And little Aleirave were in their sights.

The Corsairs were two goals to the good inside ten minutes, thanks to a twenty yard screamer from Enrique González and a much more sedate finish from Martín de la Cavallería. The Dínamo Maturín midfielder being left with a simple tap in after some excellent work from Tobías Figueroa on the right. And as the half drew to a close Mateo Manzanares was released by an exquisitely timed through ball to round Falena Rukipiato and give the nation a three goal cushion going into the break.

The second half was a much more even affair. Aleirave, no doubt with the loud words of coach Haulafo Paka’ula still ringing in their ears, had settled into the occasion and were displaying something like the kind of form that had seen them lift a major international trophy. And a calmly taken side footed finish from the edge of the box from the boot of Neraveke Ho’uminalu gave their small contingent of travelling support something to cheer. Manzanares bagged his second of the game, and Sargossa’s fourth, but that did nothing to dampen the visitor’s spirits. Other side’s may have seen heads drop but they poured forward with attacking intent and were rewarded when Fyodor Veshchik pulled another back. The attacking élan of Aleirave’s finest was winning them a lot of friends within the huge stadium. Unfortunately it was also creating huge amounts of space into which the Corsairs were countering in to. Inevitably a fifth was coming, and it was substitute Jeremías Saavedra who provided the finish.

When the final whistle blew there was a sense that this was perhaps a good fixture to get out of the way early. The plucky underdogs had been certainly overawed by the occasion for a time but that had seemingly worn off as the game progressed. At that rate the fear factor will have gone entirely by the time the nation’s meet again in the second half of qualifying.

   Group 12                        Pld    W   D   L    GF   GA   GD   Pts 
 1 Sargossa                          2    2   0   0     8    4   +4     6
 2 Banija                            2    2   0   0     8    5   +3     6
   Efnakia                           2    2   0   0     3    0   +3     6
 4 Eraman                            2    1   1   0     3    2   +1     4
 5 Aleirave                          2    1   0   1     7    7    0     3
 6 Mon Sold                          2    1   0   1     1    2   −1     3
 7 Squornshelan Remnant States       2    0   1   1     4    6   −2     1
 8 Lumbinipur                        1    0   0   1     2    3   −1     0
   Quakmybush                        1    0   0   1     2    3   −1     0
10 Milchama                          2    0   0   2     1    3   −2     0
11 Brookstation                      2    0   0   2     2    6   −4     0

[Electrum]

The Turnip: Woah! They Said What?
by Sweet-T, blogger

Everything you need to know about this article is explained in the title and in the content. We don't need to explain this.

"The trick to kicking the ball very hard into the goal is to imagine it is your fucking ex-husband who cheated on me with my very own fucking secretary. Suck shit Dave you asshole. I'm going to be a successful team manager and then a successful stock photo model. I'll show you."

-- Sandra Sybill, Chomatika team manager
on scoring goals

---

"Sometimes I like to go up to homeless people and open my purse to give them some notes but I always forget I don't have any notes on me because I'm the Premier and people buy stuff and cook food for me. It's the act of forgetting something you should know that really grounds me."

-- Premier Ana Mecava-Catic, Premier of Mytanija
on life's simplest pleasures

---

"Yes, our ritual of interlocking trunks is inspired by James Cameron's 2009 film Avatar where a race of blue humanoids called the Na'vi on the planet of Pandora express their love for each other by interlocking hair strands."

-- Some Random Elephants, South Newlandia
on unique love languages

---

"As a kid, I was always scared of truncated icosahedrons. I would cry and scream every time they came within a metre from me. Where ever I went, they appeared, from football games on the street to football games on the field. That's why I decided to become a football player, so I can kick them away from me as soon as they come near me. I don't cry like I used to but I still whimper at the thought of my toes touching truncated icosahedrons."

-- Tairu Conateh, Banija NT, right centre-back
on the dream job

[Soldera]

Larry Carricker woke up in his Squidroidian hotel room sure it was just a dream.

There was no way the Solderan national football team could be 2-0-0 with him serving as the reluctant set of hands at the wheel, was there? Soldera being top of the Group 7 tables also felt like an impossible dream. And yet, when he pulled up the results on his mobile phone, there it was. Soldera were in first, level with those crazy Drawks on points with six, but the plus-five goal differential favored the Snakes.

He heard a THUMP! outside his hotel room door, then looked through the peep hole in the room. He didn't see anything there. Or anyone. He opened the door carefully, ensuring that if anyone was out there to jump him that they wouldn't get a clear shot. He looked down and saw a newspaper in front of the door. He raised an eyebrow. The Squidroidians still read newspapers? You know, the kind made from ink and paper? He looked at it and saw various news items related to international and domestic affairs in Squidroidia, except he saw a banner at the top of the page that referred to their team's 3-1 loss to the Snakes.

He pulled out the sports section and turned to World Cup coverage. Sure enough, there it was. Squidroidia scored the first goal the Snakes would concede as Makino Hideo found the range just outside the box with a shot that beat George Rollings in the 79th minute, after the Snakes had already assumed a 3-0 lead. The first match, a 3-0 win over Togonistan had all the pageantry befitting a monarch as King Anthony himself, the reigning king of Soldera, was there for the first match. Hideo's tally ended a nice streak of 179 minutes without a goal for Rollings, but after the match, he was unbothered.

"A win's a win and we'll gladly take them any way we can get 'em," he said. "Stats don't impress me. Wins do."

Either way, the Snakes will slither back to Branwen on a high with a match against StrayaRoos on the docket before they travel to Bendicion.

Carricker, meanwhile, pinched himself for the third time that morning as the Snakes sat around the hotel breakfast table in preparation for their return home. He was managing a team that was currently enjoying its perch atop Group 7. Even if the time at the top is fleeting, it was something he would savor as long as it existed.

[South Newlandia]

[Juvencus]

Flavovespia 0-2 Juvencus

Juvencus 6-3 New Folgore

Two opening matchday victories for gli attaccanti: What this could mean and what to look out for.


Promising performances against Flavovespia and New Folgore give gli attaccanti hope

While Dudu Madeiros' One Last Ride Friendly Madness test of using the same starting 11 seemed to be treated as somewhat of a joke, since the team had several medicore performances that just did not showcase its possible strength against opponents around the same skill range or even lower, it may also prove to be the key to the team reaching a good level of consistency in order to reach heights never seen before by this team. Managing a very important away victory in the opener against Flavovespia, as well as gearing up its true engines against New Folgore, giving a sense of nostalgia yet again, give the team as well as the general public a sense of hope. This could be tracked back to using the same starting lineup in both games, or could it be perhaps tracked back to more than that?

Dudu Madeiros' "somos campeões" mentality: While yes, instilling a winning mentality to gli attaccanti's players has always been a focal point of every coach, focusing on them becoming mentality monsters has surely taken its toll on many players of the team, so much so that choking on the second part of the qualifiers has become commonplace these past few years, as they have become unable to handle defeat. This led to the team suffering some upsetting loss streaks and disappointing defeats by a very large margin. Dudu Madeiros has described this "somos campeões" mentality as a mentality that is meant to focus the team on the matchday that is happening next rather than the one that already happened. As the team is currently experiencing a 3-match win streak, if we include the friendly against Saterun, it could perhaps indicate that this mentality change might work.

Same starting XI always: Yes, that is correct, while substitutions might differ from matchday to matchday, a rotation in each game proved to be really exhausting for players who are just better off being impact subs instead of consistent starting lineup players. The Bulgari-Callejon-Puig-Ibarra-Kouyaté-Portieri-Cantù-Santini-Pereyra-Martell-Campana lineup, the one announced as the official lineup of the team, by the way, seems to be really effective in mixing old and new talent in a way that neither dominates the other. Bulgari and Martell provide the leadership the team needs, but rest are providing the cannon fodder to ignite the cannonballs needed.

Is this Pereyra's time to shine?: The long anticipated addition of Pereyra in the starting line-up of the team has provided us with more of his play in action. Playing over at the Zenith league in Nephara has given him a touch of maturity while not losing his signature technical gameplay that he has become so well-known for. A brace at Saints Park much to the awe of the local Flavovespian fanbase as well as a goal and an assist against New Folgore back at home have surely given us insight on what type of influence this man possesses not only against the goalkeeper, but also the circumstances that lead the ball to the back of the net.

What this could mean: A change to a more consistent lineup is something not many have gotten used to in Juvencus these past few years, however this is what may build a different, maybe even better squad chemistry between the players that is much needed for matches to come. It would be important to give both Madeiros and la squadra the time they need for any drastic changes, however. But the team is currently on a good path and we could be seeing gli attaccanti do something special.

What to look out for: While the opening two victories came in very strong style, it is important not to forget that inconsistency is still something to work for in the squad in particular in the form of holes in the backline, since one day there is a clean sheet and the other the team cannot stop conceding. New Folgore managed to net 3 past the gli attaccanti defence and if it wasn't for a strong showcase of the frontline that day, this could have very easily been an upset on their part. Being clinical up front also requires a strong backline, or else, the building collapses. Dudu will definitely need to organise Puig, Ibarra and Callejon in that regard. Other than that, there are a few aging players that could either stick out like a sore thumb on occassion, it would be smart of Madeiros to give these specific players some rest, especially against much-lower ranked sides in order to give other players more playtime in easier, maybe even secured matchdays for gli attaccanti.

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Other news:

Politics: Talks over a possible open-border union between Juvencus and Oscioru take place in Poma, Oscioru
Juvencus: Serone-Tiscan speedrail construction is officially under way. "To be done in a year's time!" says Wilma Adalberto, mayor of Tiscan
Sports: Campionato's semi-isolationist policy: Is it a curse?
Agriculture: Research on "Juven soil" and what constitutes it as an "invincible" soil could give light to agricultural concerns multiverse-wide

[Indusse]

IFA NEWS NETWORK
Aristocratic Behavior

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Eventhough Indusse is one such nation who had gained independence from foreign invaders who tried to establish their oppressive regime over the natives through their monarchial systems and moved over to choose democracy over the oppressive past of Monarchy, it still is not completely free with the touch of the royal family. Imagine the nation to be a tea, the milk would be the democratic value and the tea leaves left after the preparation would end up to be the tiny bits of the leftover monarchy and its influence. The existence of monarchy at a very low span doesn't effect the working of the nation's able and strong democracy, infact the so-called royal households also play a major role in the nation's democratic politics.

The native royal families of the nation also became one of the oppressed at the time of the foreign colonialism. Eventhough they share the same system as the invaders, they fought for independence. Taking this into consideration, the then constitutional convention decided to draft the constitution in such a way that ensures the establishment of the Rajpramukh system for the native royal households. The Rajpramukh system made sure that all recognised native royal family would have the power to conduct inside elections and elect one of their members as a representative of their family to the province's regional assembly. The Rajpramukhs at various regional assemblies would also be able to elect one from them as their representative to the central assembly.

From the passage of the Royal Titular Recognition Act, this system has been in place. Various royal families decides to opt out of the incentives due to inside issues and fights regarding heirship. The Kulashekaras and the Aryas are two royal families who have always shown their influence in the assemblies. They are known to be those who constantly sends a representative after conducting regular elections every three years. Eventhough the Rajpramukh system exists, a few of the royal families decides to create political entities and stand for elections.

The Kulashekaras and the Aryas were two major factions who always stood in the general elections. Eventhough they never got to be the ruling party due to the influence of the existing president Baskar H Kumar, they were able to get hold of some decent amount of seats. The two entities kept on fighting against each other until the last election where they formed an alliance uniting all royal political entities under a single umbrella. They hoped to get more votes with a single alliance and also make sure that they don't break the votes meant for another royal household. The alliance didn't do much justice to them and the results once again showed the lack of confidence on the royal household from the people's side.

While all these political dramas take place, there's a bunch of people hailing from the other parties as well as independent entities who formed the "National Anti Monarchist Front", a non electoral political entity who's need is to get rid of royal families and special incentives the monarchists get. They are also on a compromise statement that of where, the royal household members would not be allowed to stand in elections or if they want to stand they should be part of a non monarchist political entity. Also with the rise of votes that's been generated by the Communists who's been a long time supporter of the National Anti Monarchist Front, this protest is gaining popularity all over the nation.