World Cup 91 [roleplays]

by **Tikariot** » Mon May 30, 2022 3:32 pm

A road or pathway, once cobbled, now cracked and broken, with stones missing, rifts bisecting its surface, though barely visible in the failing light of dusk that is struggling to illuminate the strange fog obscuring the surroundings. At the edge of vision the outlines of trees barely discernible, skeletal, ominously looming, yet at the same time seemingly dissolving into nothingness whenever drawing closer. Grass and weeds poke through some of the cracks in the road's surface, but they look dead or dying, dry and wilted, much like their surroundings. The sound of the footsteps also sounds muted, as if an invisible blanket was spread across, slowly suffocating all sounds, all life.

There is a darkness deep within us, often buried, hidden within the dark recesses of the mind, locked away in the hope never to have to face it, too scared of what may happen if it was unleashed upon the fragile psyche in all of its diluvial force, threatening to sweep away whatever wisps of sanity are left to cling on to...

The ghostly silhouettes of buildings come into view, slowly replacing the trees, yet remaining as ghostlike, only barely visible at the edge of vision, receding into the strangely glowing fog whenever turning towards them. They seem dilapidated, forlorn, forsaken, left to rot alone. A forgotten place from a forgotten time.

You can feel the border eroding away slowly, trying to prepare for the seemingly inevitable, yet at the same time feeling that any efforts to keep the darkness from beginning to seep out, beginning to penetrate the mind, engulfing the very soul--being utterly futile...

Moving further into the strange place, the trees have completely given way to the buildings, teetering on the verge of collapse, drowning out more of the glow, making the uncomfortable darkness thicker, almost palpable as if closing in, yet without actually changing.

The human mind can be a strange, sometimes dangerous place to be. Genius and insanity, hope and despair, love and hate. Emotions worlds apart, yet separated by less than a hair's width. When allowed to wander alone, any step could make you fall off the narrow ledge you dare to walk between, not knowing which of them lay on either side, beyond the fog obscuring the borders...

Moving along, even the ghostlike silhouettes and strange wispy images begin to disappear, as does the cracked surface of the road, everything dissolving into the fog until there is nothing left but the eerie, shapeless, dark greyness that has absorbed any sense of direction. Any sense of movement is gone, left, right, up, down, it all looks and feels the same, everything but a sense of oppression gone, a snare around the very core of the being becoming tighter and tighter.

This is your history of a time to come, Savigliane. And this time is now, starting tonight...

Slowly the fog lifts, revealing more of the surroundings, which look completely different from the derelict shapes and silhouettes from before. A man in a long, black robe is standing on top of a hill overlooking Acqui Bollente, the Mercantores Mountains in the distance. In the city below we can see thousands of fans on their way to the stadium that will host the first half of the WCQ playoff tie between Savigliane and Tikariot. As the camera moves a little to the side, a throng of black-clad people comes into view, in stark contrast to the far more colourful Saviglianos, making their way through the streets towards the stadium, the locals moving aside like water giving way to the prow of a ship cutting through the waves. The heavy sound of drums drifts up towards The Shadow's vantage point. Without turning, he continues.

We have stared into the nothingness, we have been where darkness was the brightest light. When we were at our lowest point, we embraced the darkness, we became the darkness. It was the beginning of Retribution's Dawn. Despite the feeling of our very essence being lost, being helpless, despite the knowledge that any step could be the last, sending us over the edge of sanity, we moved on and became the Dark Tide that is rolling towards you. We are not afraid, we stride with confidence and as one.

The picture cuts to the stadium proper, where the wave of black parting the seas of Savigliano supporters has arrived and is moving through the turnstiles. Every single one of the Tikariotian supporters is wearing some degree of black and burgundy war paint, making it seem like a horde of warriors is invading the stadium.

Tonight we will take the next step of Retribution's Dawn before you have to make your journey to the Temple of the Crow. We are ready Savigliane, but are you...?

by **Krytenia** » Mon May 30, 2022 3:37 pm

Time To Be The Villain
By Rami Niblick in Emberton

YOU know how the fairytales go. The princess is held captive by the dragon, waiting for the dashing knight to save them. Trouble is, this isn't a children's story; this is football, and instead of a chivalrous hero, you have...oh, let's say Nate Ellis. Basically, the princess isn't winning this one - at least we hope.

For those thoroughly lost by that preamble, the World Cup 91 playoffs are upon us, and Krytenia's late surge has seen them amongst the thirty hopefuls for the last fifteen spots at the big dance. Their opponents, standing in the way of said place, will be none other than Jeruselem. Dragons versus Princesses in two matches to decide who makes it to Farfadillis and/or Græntfjall.

These are two nations with long and storied histories in international football, with over three centuries of participation behind them, with Jeruselem debuting in World Cup 11, and Krytenia following in the competition's fifteenth iteration. Somehow, though, the teams have crossed path a grand total of...twice.

Those two meetings are laid deep in the bowels of history, coming in the qualification stage for World Cup 17. It was a competition that Krytenia co-bid to host - alongside the fondly remembered nation of Cockbill Street - but when that was unsuccessful, the men in sky blue were drawn in an absolute meat grinder of a group including Bedistan, Lovisa, Dance 2 Revolution, and, yes, Jeruselem. Krytenia had a sputtering first half of qualification, including losing to the Princesses two-one at home. Admittedly, "home" was a bit of a sore spot at that point, as the start of qualifying coincided with the first of Krytenia's three departures from Atlantian Oceania. Home matches were held in a hastily built 20,000 seat temporary stadium on the outskirts of the nation's new capital to be (which, at the time, was a massive building site). It was in this ground, dubbed "Fugeela Field" by the hacks at the time though lacking an official name, that Krytenia had lost to Jeruselem. To keep up their chances of qualification, they'd have to beat the Princesses on their own patch.

Then, as now, Krytenia were led by a foreign manager; the incomparable Karim Isserson of Tadjikistan, after whom the national stadium is named. That stadium, though, was still six years from being built, so it was in the pre-fabricated surroundings of Fugeela Field that the match took place. Their formation, though, was somewhat unfamiliar, being a flat 4-4-2. System Munitis was still an apple in the recently-retired goalkeeper's eye at that point. It was a team filled with players that even now have a special place in Krytenian football folklore. There was Adam Vernazza, the first in a long line of world-class Krytenian goalkeepers. Stephen Xousa, whose goal sent the nation to their first World Cup finals four years prior, marshalled the midfield. The wings were manned by the flairsome pair of Cecil Poldov and Chris Lydersen, both of whom appeared in Krytenia's first ever international against Haperd. And then, leading the forward line, were the superstar striker Ari Smith, in what would be his third and last World Cup campaign, and the Immortal Perm himself, Colin Ulvæus.

Jeruselem, frankly, never stood a chance. Krytenia were on a charge heading into the game, and overwhelmed their opposition. Xousa opened the scoring with a crisp strike, fellow midfielder Will Guarado's free kick doubled the lead early in the second half, and a late poacher's goal from Ulvæus was just the icing on the cake. Jeruselem wouldn't recover from the setback, finishing fifth in a seven-team group; Krytenia, meanwhile, would wrap up second spot and an automatic place in the finals with victory over Lovisa on the final matchday - proof, if nothing else, that "Lovisa Win" is by no means a certainty.

Also, as this was the strange early times before rivalry with Starblaydia was a thing, Krytenia won this game wearing their away kit. Their all-purple away kit.

Almost three hundred years later, Krytenia and Jeruselem meet again. The other two sides of the "Anaian Triangle" - the teams from Anaia that everyone loves to hate in the form of ourselves, Starblaydia, and Audioslavia - have already fallen. It's time for the Dragons to embrace their dark side - perhaps the black away kits are in order - and not just kidnap the Princesses, but absolutely barbecue them. Onward!

by **Squornshelan Remnant States** » Mon May 30, 2022 3:49 pm

Playoff Bound
Salwan Mynhier

Salvaging second place on the final day of qualifying, the Black-and-Reds now head to the playoff round, where they will face 32nd-ranked Electrum. The team is riding a strong run of good form, but will face a stiff test in the home and home series, with a coveted spot in the cup finals up for grabs.

The Black-and-Reds have also hit a few important milestones to this point in qualifying. The matchday 21 win over Eraman was the Confcederacy’s 150th in competitive (WCC+regional) play, and matchday 14’s win over Quakmybush was its 300th competitive match. Most recently, Caitrinn Ness’s winning goal against Mon Sold that clinched second place for the Black-and-Reds was the 600th that the team has scored in competitive play. The team is also currently on one of the best runs of form in their history, unbeaten for 8 matches since losing to Banija on matchday 13. The only time they’ve gone longer without a loss was through the last 8 matches of World Cup 88 qualifying, the ensuing playoff against Trolleborg, and the opening two matches of the group stage against Baker Park and Chromatika. It was only a loss to Quebec that put an end to that streak, as well as the team’s hopes of advancing in that tournament. With the Black-and-Reds once again unbeaten in eight matches heading into a playoff, we’ll hope they can once again keep their good form going and punch their ticket to Farfadillis and Græntfjall.

Another milestone which likely won’t be reached this cycle, but is approaching on the horizon is Anne-Sophie Groothuis’s 100th win as SRS manager. The Omerican currently has a competitive record of 85-39-39 with the Black-and-Reds and if things go particularly well, might be able to reach 90 wins before regionals.

Schedule and Results:

MD19: SRS 3-0 LMB @ Smolak Systemy Stadion (cap. 31,200), Sjerezo, Molvania, SRS
MD20: SRG 2-3 SRS @ Estadio Generalissimo Joaquín Delgado (cap. 108,879), Soluca, SRG
MD21: SRS 1-1 BRO @ Emerald Coast Coliseum (cap. 31,200), Vassilian, Algolia, SRS
MD22: MNS 1-2 SRS @ TBA

World Come Undone, Part 6
Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4, Part 5

You are a civilian in a war zone. One one side, you have the government troops occupying your city. They represent your government, they wear the same flag stitched on their shoulders that flies above your government building. But they are commanded from the capital, on an island on the far side of your nation, by men with whom you have next to nothing in common. Their ever increasing presence here disrupts every aspect of your daily life and you’ve started to realize how little the government knows or cares about your experiences. On the other side, there are the self-proclaimed freedom fighters. Revolutionaries hiding out in the countryside, moving covertly from place to place to make their attacks against the government troops. They claim that theirs is a struggle for freedom and independence, but you’ve seen this kind of thing before, and it always seems to end badly for everyone. Both sides say they’re fighting for your best interests. The rebels talk of freeing you from the Imperial yoke, of democracy and self-determination. The government promises to restore peace and security, law and order by quelling the revolt. You go about your daily routine, going to work, running errands, reading or listening to the radio in the evenings, but it’s getting harder and harder to ignore the struggle that has swallowed your community.

But short of enlisting in the army, or fleeing town to join the insurgents forces, there isn’t much you can do but keep your head down and hope. Hope that you and your loved ones will be left unharmed, and that you’ll all still be here when this is over. This is reality for the ordinary citizens of West Squornshelous, trying to find something to hold onto amidst the chaos.

It’s become harder and harder, all but impossible really, for them to go about their lives while ignoring what has well and truly become a full-scale guerilla war around them. Not only does the fighting dominate the headlines, propagandized though they might be, but the ubiquitous presence of Imperial occupiers is beginning to chafe for many, as the conflict’s one-year anniversary has come and gone. Anything more extravagant than basic foodstuffs has become exceedingly difficult to find on store shelves, and soldiers (all recruited from the Imperium Proper of course) walk the city streets as if they own them. In Brantisvogan, in the month of May alone, over two dozen citizens are arrested for the broadly defined offense of “interfering with military operations.” Four of these are hanged.

It is not only the Imperial Army that causes problems for ordinary people though. The quasi-terroristic nature of revolutionary tactics means that their attacks and raids frequently result in collateral damage, and there are deaths. A bomb destroys a statue of Emperor Zarquon I in the heart of the Brantisvogan government district. It is a propaganda coup for the rebels, but the resulting shrapnel kills three bystanders and wounds several others. A family of five on their way home from a beach vacation are caught in the crossfire as revolutionaries ambush an Imperial convoy on the coast road between Syneca and Hunian. However righteous the revolutionary cause may have been, and however whitewashed their tactics may have become over the intervening decades, this is not a “clean war” if such a thing can even exist.

But there is really nothing to be done for these people, nowhere to turn to for help. The Imperial government, history has shown, only knows how to do one thing in the face of opposition: attack. The revolutionaries know from the same history that they can expect no mercy should they lay down their arms, and so both sides are committed to this fight until the bitter end. There is also no real hope of any third party bringing pressure on the two sides to cease hostilities, as government control over media and information is so complete that there is essentially no news of the conflict outside the Imperium. What word does get out is still largely filtered through government channels, which are concerned first and foremost with saving face, and preserving the perception of the Imperium as a unified bastion of military might.

With no end in sight, the citizens of West Squornshelous settle into a grim routine, occasionally broken by explosions and bursts of gunfire. As much as we in the Confederacy are called to remember the sacrifices of those who fought for the Revolution, we should also remember those who could not, or did not fight, but suffered nonetheless.

by **Saint Eleanor** » Mon May 30, 2022 4:06 pm

OOC: If you want to confirm for yourself who the surviving Juven veterans of CoH73 are, please compare Juvencus' rosters for CoH73 and WC91. "[Pomena's] New Olympic Stadium" is SESB's English/Terranean translation for "Il Nuovo Stadio Olimpico della Pomena," the stadium where Juvencus play their home qualifiers.

Kandorith 3-2 Saint Eleanor: Sloppy dead rubber performance presents surprise opening for White Stars
Chief Football Correspondent Jamie Rodgers breaks down a sorry, but not unexpected, away defeat - and the lessons that must be learned before visiting Juvencus
Originally published on Saturday 19th February 2000

Saint Eleanor failed to get anything after falling 3-0 behind within an hour at Kandorith's Empress Masumi National Stadium, a match that - while putting yet another damper on their playoff preparations - also gave them a surprisingly even hand for this spring's deciders.

Some tactical changes were necessary: after Sam Newbridge finally contrived to get himself sent off against Indusse the previous weekend, a match in which defensive stability subsequently became nonexistent (never mind sorely lacking), he was replaced by Luke Elliott, captain Liam West's centreback partner at Independence 1975, in what may well have been a half-hearted attempt to play the Rising Star at their own, nearly-formationless game. Other switcheroos were sufficient: Dekamela weMexala, seen by some as much too slow to adequately deal with the Kandorese threat, was out; Occidental Olympic teammate Bridget Coombe, set up with Harriet Williams in the ostensible return of one of the unlikeliest defensive midfield pairings of the past year, was in.

Meanwhile, suggestions that Takeshi Honda, a hero of Kandorith's past two World Cup campaigns and now one half of Hiyashi Celestia's partnership in attack, could end up playing the final game had been so widespread that they made the popular Kandorese newspaper Shinonome Kyoai long before kickoff. Rather incredibly - and despite the fact that almost the entire Eleanorian team had played against him twice over the course of the previous season - he started. Far from the tactical disaster some sceptics believed it would be, he set the tone for the game early on, too, skipping straight down the middle of the Eleanorian wall with Kandorith's first big chance of the game and then scooping it past John Bailey to make it 1-0. It should have been 2-0 when he was clean through on goal again after ten minutes, but West timed his tackle surprisingly well and Elliott dealt with the resultant spillage.

Ask any of the few hundred Eleanorians who bothered to attend the match today and they will tell you, as Josh from North Seville did, that "we're just playing for pride here." But they hardly looked to be playing at all for most of the first half; although this may have felt like an exhibition, Priscilla Evans was far less convinced of it than many of the players under her command. It cannot be accurately said that they were broadly feckless: Katie O'Donnell was once again trying her best to carve out a few good opportunities, and had the White Stars' best chance of the first half - but scuffed it straight into Akio Maruyuma's chest. West and Elliott's good working relationship at club level carried on into today, and while they did not enjoy the satisfaction of a clean sheet like last time, their efforts in stopping the hosts from scoring more than they did in front of a ridiculously passionate home crowd were mostly impeccable. There was much less, if anything, to fault about Coombe's performance this time than against Indusse.

However, they just did not have enough drive for an occasion that would affect not only their position, but potentially their fortunes in the upcoming playoff draw. Cathy Winchester and Exandra Davies, although both very good players on a normal day, were confused about how they were supposed to be going about marking the opposition - understandable against one of the most fluid sides in the world today, but not to the extent which it actually happened. Both bear the responsibility for Kandorith's second on their consciences: after a play-out from the back inspired by an ill-fated Steve Pilchard dribble, Ryu Tanji found it much too easy to glide past Davies and set up winger Noboru Hamasaki, who had himself long since left Winchester in the dust, for a sublime rushing half-volley. Jessica Martin was not particularly good either: she was sometimes stopped in her tracks by Tanji, who did an excellent job filling in for Eiji Mayeda today, but too often a victim of the infamous Kandorese offside trap in general.

To say that "it was only 2-0" at half time could have been something of an understatement. The relatively good feelings did not last very long, either, after Williams clocked Kandorese skipper Yoshihiro Matsumoto forty yards from goal in an unnecessarily low-stakes scenario. Yoshito Yamakawa teed up a short pass from the free kick that resulted, but then almost to perfection, Matsumoto spun around, darted towards the left of the pitch (after playing a couple of one-twos with Hamasaki), and curled the ball with his right foot from just outside the penalty area into the net, an effort that Elliott could only straighten out and divert into his own net - much to his chagrin and Bailey's, but not so much as to be treated as an own goal. To be perfectly clear, yet again: playing at 80% capacity against a top-seeded team that should go on another good World Cup run, never mind anyone else, is just not good enough.

Despite trying their best for even the slightest glimmer of hope, the Eleanorians were, of course, time and again denied. Until they weren't. Halfway through the second half, after Bailey cleared out a corner kick, Coombe headed the ball out to safety yet again - surely revenge for the Sreevastva encounter - and, this time, she actually got control of it. Well aware of the consequences of inaction, she did nothing more than just hit the ball up the pitch as hard as she possibly could, where a surprisingly well-positioned David Newcastle was there to charge behind the last three Kandorese outfielders standing and fire an absolute cannonball off the post and well past Maruyama. It was bloody well pump-and-run stuff, but it was literally the only way the visitors could claw back the deficit.

With the players having mysteriously decided that failure was no longer an option, it was the only serious tactic they could employ, too. After a fairly relentless barrage from Kandorith - five efforts in ten minutes, a couple of which were perilously close to restoring the hosts' three-goal lead - they contrived to cut the lead yet further in somewhat identical fashion. This time, with ten minutes to go, Honda had long been taken off for Yuki Ono, but he could only send a weak effort to Bailey, who in turn drop-kicked the ball to an expectant Katie O'Donnell; unfortunately, she was tripped by Satoshi Omori from distance, spurring an unlikely free kick. This was once again in the hands of Williams, who sent a searching lob into the box in hopes of takers. There were none on the Eleanorian side - other than a desperately backpedalling O'Donnell, who basically felt forced into attempting a bicycle kick from twelve yards out and hoping for the best. It bounced once before crossing the line, but that was enough to confuse Maruyama. You could make a case for it being one of the most rushed and contrived things of beauty ever hashed together on a football pitch.

This turned out to be much too little, much too late, against a team that was much too good. If anything, the momentum was quite firmly with the group leaders at this point: Ono tested Bailey twice more, but with little success. Hamasaki and the inaptly-named Toshi Oshita were still plugging away too, and perhaps offered more to their team's final attacks than Ono did. The rest of the squad - especially Matsumoto, a bona-fide leader of men - did a good job of keeping the status quo and avoiding all but a handful of defensive errors. Although Kandorith may not have been able to make any of their last few efforts count, they didn't need to: there is a good reason why no team has won more points in qualifying than Mehaki's 52 out of 60. And while O'Donnell (who turned 30 on Thursday) is older than any of the Kandorese, Omori - who fouled her in the buildup to the final goal - is younger than any of the Eleanorians. Surely this is youth development at its very finest.

The White Stars' final two qualifiers had action, perhaps even too much action: seven goals scored, eight goals conceded, one point out of six, and (by the skin of their teeth) the median runners-up of all the qualification groups. That they still have the best defensive record out of any of Group 10's teams after this shambles is, by itself, a minor miracle. But those issues can, and should, take a backseat for the next two months. Saint Eleanor can take pride in being the most successful fifth seeds of this qualification cycle; in April, they will play Juvencus, arguably the second-greatest overperformers in their cohort, for a place in the World Cup over two legs: first at Pomena's New Olympic Stadium, then back home at the National Liberation Arena. There is an obvious reason why this matters - we've never made it before - and a more obscure story to tell.

In the final of the 73rd Cup of Harmony, Priscilla Evans started up front for Tinhampton; Dudu Madeiros was Juvencus' rock in defence. The Tinhamptonians won. All those years later, Evans and Madeiros will meet again - as managers, rather than players - to decide whose team will secure qualification for the World Cup. She must channel the heroics of Canterlot in the dressing room, at the training ground and besides the pitch in the coming weeks: if she succeeds, then West, Bailey, Davies, Martin, Newcastle, O'Donnell, Coombe, Elliott and all the rest will write their names into Eleanorian folklore. He must emphasise that Juvencus have to focus on rebuilding just as much as revenge: if he does, then many of his battle-hardened colleagues - Martell, Bulgari, Ibarra, Santini, Etxeberria, Silvestri, Zuñiga, Christian - will find qualification a fitting substitute for the winners' medals they were denied all those years ago. Margaret help us all.

Kandorith 3 (Takeshi Honda goal 4', Noboru Hamasaki goal 26', Yoshihiro Matsumoto goal 53')
Saint Eleanor 2 (David Newcastle goal 68', Katie O'Donnell goal 81')

by **TJUN-ia** » Mon May 30, 2022 4:14 pm

By Peter Davis

After a 1-0 win in Roi Ville over República Guanacasteca led to the most stressful bye week in TJUN-ian history, the Jaguars of TJUN-ia entered their final two games knowing that their fate was, somehow, still in their hands thanks to both consistent points scoring (we haven't lost since MD13 vs Pasarga) and to the luck of the draw. If we were in this situation, 4 points back with 2 to play, with any other opponents then this would certainly be more out of our control - but the scheduling gods have played a blinder and so...here we are, with our destiny within 180 minutes. David Seems and Li Xiu Ying knew that some wrote this side off with 7 games to go, a 7 point gap many saw as improbable to overcome without some sort of miracle. But now, here we are...and we have to the football do all the talking.

There was only one place we can start, and that's in Bollonich - the host's final game, our 2nd to last. Joseph Moteudi's side has certainly been an unexpected force in this group from the start, they were a Pot 5 team after all, and they had the opportunity to sew up a playoff spot on home soil against the only competitor that could overhaul them. As for us, we were entering the biggest road game of the season (we lost 4 of the past 9 before this game) looking to try and leave the only team we can overtake a sitting duck on the final day when they take their bye. The maths was simple. If Bollonich took points from this game, then they would finish in the Top 3 no matter what and consign us to another painful 4th-placed finish. But if we were to win, then Bollonich could only sit back and watch us play on the final day with after in our hands.

As you would expect from a game of this magnitude, everyone went all out - including the hostile home fans, looking to push their team towards a playoff berth. The action on the pitch was more like a game of basketball than a game of football, one where the teams traded between attacking and defending and both sides were not prepared to give the other any inch at all. This game was just a grind, a very massive grind...but fates were on the line and TJUN-ia knew that they had to win, else they crumble and die. They were the ones under pressure, not Bollonich...and they would play as such. The Jaguars pushed for that opportunity to crash the party their opponents had planned...and all that pressure, all of that back-and-forth, finally broke the dam in the 76th minute. Mitchell Stevenson simply did not see substitute Jackson Smith-Scott flying past him that quickly with the ball, and all it was left to do was for the young gun to fire past Sean Halliday to send the away section into mass hysteria. The defence would just about hold on and when that final whistle blew, those in the stands could hardly believe it. The gap was down to 1...and there was nothing Bollonich could do anymore.

That meant that all TJUN-ia had to do to overturn this overhanging deficit was to beat Muralos in a revenge game at the Estádio do Pacífico. Rio Pacífico and the UAS Zone probably didn't expect their WC debut to be a game as important as this one, but that's how the cookie crumbles sometimes and the fans were certainly ready for the challenge. The fans down here certainly treat this sport as their favourite son, and that passion would be taken on board for one of the most complete performances in this entire campaign. Simply put, we had a job to do and Muralos did not - so they were played off the park as a result. It was mostly one-way traffic and that's exactly what everyone wanted to see. Archer Andrews scored a brace within half an hour and by the time Prince Carter added a 3rd in the 38th, some in the UAS Capital were cautiously thinking that the job could be done and dusted. Those thoughts would be solidified in the 2nd half as Malhrani al-Kalhrani got the 4th in the 56th and the party would truly get going once Yomakaji Shimigatsu got the 5th in the 87th. Many thoughts that 7 points back with 7 to play was too much to come back from...HOW ABOUT NOW? TJUN-ia will be in the playoffs after all and my word, does it feel good.

After all of that drama, we finally got over the line...and it will be the Chess-loving Zwangzug would we play across two legs, Part 1 in TJUN-ia City and Part 2 over at theirs. Zwangzug finished 2nd in an almighty 3-way duel in Group 3, beaten by Adab but beating Tumbra, and as a fellow Pot 2 nation, we know they will certainly be a tough team to break down. Kate DiMarini loves a defensive side and we shall face one in a team ranked above us in most statistics. Our previous two attempts at the playoffs ended in heartbreak, Chromatika certainly easier to take than the 8-8 away goals loss against Siovanija and Teusland, so will this be 3rd times the charm. We certainly will be the underdogs in this affair...but we were almost down and out in the groups, so maybe nothing is certain after all.

Let the great game begin. GO JAGS!

SCHEDULE (Group 9)
MD1: vs Kyhun (310) - Salam Liljamie Stadium, Al Kalifa W 3-1 (T-2nd)
MD2: @Pasarga (15) - Stade de Torgos, somewhere in Pasarga L 0-3 (7th)
-----------------Boot It!-----------------
MD3: vs Barunia (55) - Tiankong Stadium, Tiankong W 4-1 (4th)
MD4: @Tikariot (40) - Citadel of the North, Fort Viljan L 2-3 (4th)
-----------------Boot It!-----------------
MD5: vs Schima Bas (89) - Zebra Stadium, Toropo W 2-1 (4th)
MD6: @Ziwana (232) - Ziwanicell National Stadium, Birnin-Likulu L 1-2 (4th)
-----------------Boot It!-----------------
MD7: vs Cardenao (277) - Tallawah Stadium, Port Town W 5-1 (4th)
MD8: @República Guanacasteca (137) W 4-3 (4th)
-----------------Boot It!-----------------
MD9: BYE
MD10: vs Bollonich (85) - Ke Kahua Pāʻani o Pua Aloalo, Kepu Manu L 1-3 (4th)
-----------------Boot It!-----------------
MD11: @Muralos (117) L 1-2 (4th/5W-0D-5L/15pts/+3GD)
MD12: @Kyhun (310) W 5-1 (4th)
-----------------Boot It!-----------------
MD13: vs Pasarga (15) - National Stadium, TJUN-ia City L 0-2 (4th)
MD14: @Barunia (55) - Memorial Stadium, Edwardton, Marion D 1-1 (4th)
-----------------Boot It!-----------------
MD15: vs Tikariot (40) - Beregozera Stadium, Szensky W 2-1 (4th)
MD16: @Schima Bas (89) W 4-2 (4th)
-----------------Boot It!-----------------
MD17: vs Ziwana (232) - Estadio Universidad Carlandas, Carlandas D 0-0 (4th)
MD18: @Cardenao (277) W 3-1 (4th)
-----------------Boot It!-----------------
MD19: vs República Guanacasteca (137) - Stade de la Victoire, Roi Ville W 1-0 (4th)
MD20: BYE
-----------------Boot It!-----------------
MD21: @Bollonich (85) W 1-0 (4th)
MD22: vs Muralos (117) - Estádio do Pacífico, Rio Pacífico W 5-0 (3rd/11W-2D-6L/35pts/+17GD)
---------------------------------------------
Playoff - vs Zwangzug (26/2nd in Group 3)
Leg 1 (@National Stadium, TJUN-ia City):
Leg 2 (@???):

by **Zwangzug** » Mon May 30, 2022 4:45 pm

Jerry--Brave-Stripe--was indeed a big lad. Of that there could be no disagreement. Even if he was not quite full-grown, he was certainly heavier than many of the DHA humans who had gathered in Stacey's yard for the ceremony. It was a chilly, windy day, and both a canopy tent and the tablecloths on the table beneath it flapped in the wind.

Like Seven-Winds, Brave-Stripe had a touchpad that he drew on with his tail, and then outputted human language. Unlike Seven-Winds, Stacey flanked him and added her own annotations. The line of text that displayed in Jojie under the glyphs read What time do we start?

"Jerry says he's really excited that so many of you could be here," Stacey said. "It's too bad his birth family couldn't be with him today, but that's all right, he's grateful that you're his family."

"The screen really says all that?" Neha snapped. Once in English, then again in Jojie to get Brave-Stripe's attention. But he only swished his tail idly.

Did he want this or not? There was little chance of getting him away from Stacey and the others, not on such short notice. Call me if you get this, she texted to Seven-Winds, but there was no reply.

"Are there any vets here?" she asked Qiang.

"I don't think so," he said. "Why?"

"What if Jerry has a bad reaction to the wumfish?"

"It's his choice," said Qiang. "You don't want to scare him off."

Maybe I do, Neha thought. But the DHA putting words in her mouth was, for once, the least of her concerns. "How old is he?"

"That's none of my business."

"Jerry!" Neha called. "How old are you?"

He doodled a response. The Jojie auto-translation read: Three. But I've passed my voter-test, I'm of age.

"What's it to you?" Stacey said. "Just because he looks--different doesn't mean you can discriminate against him. Apologize, now."

"Can I see that translator?" Neha bent down for it, but Jerry scrawled, Don't touch, please, if the Jojie was anything to go by.

"Back off," said Stacey. But her accuracy now seemed coincidence, rather than deliberate.

"If there aren't any further questions," she continued, "we'll begin the ceremony." She made questions sound like a curse word. Did she, too, know Neha was an investigator? Or was she just always like that? The woman launched satellites into space, she couldn't be too dogmatic...

Time to act quickly. Half on impulse, half-calculatedly, Neha knelt down to the grass, hair caught behind her in the wind. Then she picked a blade, and began to chew.

"What are you doing?" Stacey asked.

"What does it look like I'm doing?" said Neha, spinning it around in a heavily-salivated ball in her mouth.

"It looks like you're eating grass."

"That's exactly what I'm doing."

"Okay," said Qiang. "Why are you doing this?"

"Isn't it obvious?"

"No," said Jess, "it's not obvious."

Neha gave a long pause, waiting for anyone else to ask a stupid question. But when Stacey opened her mouth again, she continued before the other woman had a chance. "I'm a Zeb."

(Akaptaha 17, Yargab 45+2, Yissakar 64)

(Waugh 29, Gannett 80)

Game 2 of the playoffs will be played at Wayr Stadium in the Rackham Range.

by **Eura** » Mon May 30, 2022 4:57 pm

WORLD CUP 91 QUALIFYING – GROUP 8 MATCHDAY 20
Srednjaci 2–0 Eura
Scorers:
n/a
Lineup:
1. E Palmer
21. T Coffey
4. J Menard
19. A Coles
5. T Green
3. L Almwood (sub Woodman 72)
6. S Erskine (sub Vincent 74)
8. V Robshaw
7. M Woakes (sub Marshall 87)
14. S Singh
9. S Robson

A Prime Minister, a Foreign Secretary, a spy chief and an ex-spy chief walk into a bar. Specifically, the wine cellar in the Foreign Secretary’s residence. What happens next?
That was precisely the question they sought to answer. And the last of that order of four was the one to provide the solution.
‘Give it a nice, inoffensive sounding name in any public scrutiny document. Strengthening Democracy Initiative. Euran Values Programme. I don’t fucking know, anything will do. What matters is the substance, what we know it to be in this room and among those who need to know. And the substance is-‘
‘Offing anyone that gets in our way?’ snarled Eloise Chadwick, Eura’s Foreign Secretary and the leading left leaning figure in the governing Social Party. She did not approve of the Ticker, an aging Euran spook and Machiavellian operator within the corridors of power. He had been out of the game and, the way she saw it, out of a position to do any damage.

Then, Prime Minister Harry Barnham brought him back. She fumed at this undercutting of her authority. But she kept that dissent quiet as she could, with this being one of those occasions where her thinly veiled distaste for the Ticker cut through.
‘Let’s keep it cool’ murmured Barnham, himself no fan of the man he regularly called “that turgid old shitstain”, who was nevertheless more concerned with making this unorthodox arrangement work than his own misgivings.
‘I agree’ said Paige Burns, current chair of the Tickers old haunt, the Office of State Intelligence, who was trying to keep the meeting on track. ‘So, Ticker. Substance. What do you think this re-ordering of Euran strategy looks like in practice? We’ve given you the goals after all-’
‘A Euran foreign policy underpinned by a Euran-friendly form of liberal, representative democracy as the bedrock of all progress and, off the record, legitimacy’ interjected the Prime Minister, asserting what he had thought but not quite articulated in recent weeks, ‘and the relentless promotion and advancement of that cause through all available forums. Including the affairs of other nation-states.’
‘And we hired this old junta-phile to do that, did we?’

There went Chadwick again. She was already putting herself somewhat against her own wing of the party through this new ideological turn – having to work with this prick added insult to injury. The Ticker, typically, laughed it off and responded to the Prime Minister with gusto.
‘I’ve never directly sponsored any military coups, for what it’s worth. Still – to answer your question – we achieve those goals stepping away from our usual diplomatic, economic and military playbook. It works from time to time, maybe, certainly during the war with Sameba which was all-consuming. But we have become predictable, and prone to tunnel vision. Single events come to dominate our agenda and we lack the flexibility to deal with competing demands despite vast resources at our disposal. Your predecessors were the masters of fluid situation management and strategy before, only to let it all fall apart in their final years in office. The Euran state has become predictable – a slow moving juggernaut which, yes, can destroy anything in its path, but can just as easily be stepped around and manipulated ever so slightly off course by those smart enough to do so.’

‘To address this, we diversify, concentrating less on applying all of our weight to one issue at a time and more on using our strategic breadth to stir as many pots as we can, while picking and choosing when to apply pressure to each foot in the door, gaining a…breakthrough, let’s call it, when the moment is right. But we can’t do this if we keep doing things by the book. We step outside the publicly acknowledged rules of how Eura behaves and get creative.’
All four of them let the word “creative” sit. It was a euphemism, and not a subtle one.
The Ticker continued. ‘Our first opportunity to do this has come quickly. The issue is autocracies and monarchies; there are many of them in our areas of interest in Rushmore and beyond, all of which stand in the way of your goals to some degree, and simultaneously three of them – Brenecia, Cassadaigua and Pasarga – are experiencing quite profound crises. The instinct of Euran leaders is to focus on one issue at a time, and make sure it is resolved before moving on to the next, by which time the world has bypassed us. I suggest…’
He moved a very chunky file to the middle of the table with his old hands, binding together three copies of the same document.
‘…that instead, we take this trio of problems as a singular opportunity. I have identified some options for exploiting this opportunity.’
The group picked up their copies of the file and began reading. The Ticker sat back in his chair and watched, confident they would agree with his judgement, and sign off on putting his approach into practice.

Chadwick sat across the table from another grizzled old man. However, this time, it was someone she had some sympathy for.
‘I’m not sure she’ll go for this, you know.’
‘She fucking well better!’ Chadwick temperament was unusual for a Foreign Secretary, fine, but many had written off Amy Yarley for the same reason. And look how that turned out.
The old man transpired to be Carl Rutherford, a Liberal MP a key figure in the Liberal Party opposition, and her predecessor at the Foreign Ministry. Along with the most senior (and trustworthy) members of the Cabinet, Rutherford had been clued in to what some might be tempted to call a “Barnham doctrine”. Sterling Thorpe – former Minister of Defence and now the newly elected leader of the Liberals – was the only other opposition politician brought into the tent on Eura’s new foreign policy focus. Rutherford was surprisingly receptive.
‘After Nyowani Kitara, I don’t want to be stumping for a dictator ever again – but undeniably our policy led to the victory of democracy in the end’ he mused, as he held the phone in his hand, ‘but Medina? I think she’s so fatigued of such high-powered things that she might just tell me to piss off.’
‘That would be preferable to what will happen if you don’t make the call, which is our party going after your seat with a vengeance at the next election.’

Rutherford chuckled away to himself at the threat; there was no way the Liberals were going to overturn his local majority. But…
‘I suppose its worth a try’ he conceded, ‘if nothing else, I’d be a hypocrite not to take an opportunity to give my party some influence over your government. Because if this goes tits up-‘
‘Yes, yes, you’ll tank us in any votes on foreign policy and defence issues, regardless of whether you agree or not. Sterling gave me the same lecture. Just get on with it.’
Rutherford relented. He picked up the phone and dialled for Medina Klose, Nepharan ambassador to Brenecia, or “Medina Klose (Personal)” as she was listed on his contacts.
’Hello? Carl?’
‘Medina!’ he bellowed, displaying mostly genuine happiness to hear from his old Nepharan counterpart. ‘How are you? How is Rozelle? Not too bad with all the goings-on, I hope?’
’Its charming here, really…charming.’ Klose didn’t sound convinced of what she was saying as she spoke. ’How about you? We haven’t spoken in a little while. I was sorry to hear you didn’t get the leadership. I assume you’re still up for putting the boot into those Social wankers at the next general though, yeah?’

Across the table, one of those Social wankers was unimpressed.
’Carl?’
‘Yessss, about that, I’ve got a parliamentary colleague of mine on the line, why don’t you int-‘
‘Eloise Chadwick, Foreign Secretary. Ms Klose, is this a secure line? We don’t have much time for chit-chat.’ There was a long pause. Klose, stuck now in yet another moment of shitty luck that made her want to crawl up and die, recomposed herself before coming back to the call.
’Eloise, how good to hear from you’ she lied, ’I’m in my office so this should be secure, yes. Unless Corvistone has bugged me.’
‘I’ll be speaking to Pike within hours, and your other bosses. But this is a strictly need-to-know conversation. We want to discuss Brenecia, of course.’
’Yes. Frankly, I…your man in Rozelle has briefed you, I’m sure. It’s a mess. Kearney is AWOL and, rumour has it, vegetative – or worse. The CPP are pulling their hair out. White Cross are being White Cross and for all we know it’s one of theirs that brained the main man. And your friends from Harther have made the entire thing worse by laying off a bunch of poor sods down the pits. And now the monarchy are getting involved. So, yeah…fucked, really.’

‘I wouldn’t call them friends, they’re more likely to donate to Carl’s party than mine. But I digress; its not what matters here. What matters is ensuring a positive outcome for Brenecia, for Nephara, and for us. We understand there are historic sensitivities making direct involvement difficult for you, however, we are rapidly approaching a point where something has to be done, and from our perspective the situation is rapidly spiralling out of control.’
Chadwick paused, exchanging glances with Rutherford, hoping to get some kind of feedback on how this was going. He knew Klose better than she did after all. Rutherford, understanding immediately why she had stopped, nodded as if to say “keep going”.
‘Here in Bastion we are not entirely agreed what that something is yet, only that the final outcome probably doesn’t include the CPP, or White Cross, or any fucker who might do a Ward, anywhere near office. In the meantime, what is important is that we are on the same page. I would like to send Carl out to Brenecia to meet with you on behalf of our government – a special, undeclared envoy, if you will.’
Rutherford’s eyes widened. What?!
‘Won’t you, Carl?’
‘Yes’ he spluttered, ‘I’ve got constituency business to attend to. After that though, erm, yes.’
Medina paused again, not sure what to make of this. ’Fine. My office will book a time. After that, I’ll consult my government.’
‘No need for that – keep it off the books. Tell them you’re having lunch. Make an excuse. Good talking to you.’ Chadwick grabbed his phone and hung up. Rutherford sat still, a bit stunned by her behaviour.
‘Go on then’ she spat, ‘get a fucking moving on.’

OFFICE OF THE FOREIGN SECRETARY
Recipient: Ambassador to Eura of the United Republics of Yuezhou

Dear ambassador,

You will no doubt have seen that the future of a sovereign and democratic Nyowani Kitara has been secured at the ballot box by its own people. I have no doubt you will join me in rejoicing at this wonderful development, which comes at the end of a long road of hardship for the Kitaran people.

Shortly before this election, we were shocked as a nation to see the brutal and indiscriminate act of terror inflicted on our people in Nangang. I understand that, aside from the obvious emotional toll this will have taken, there were political ramifications domestically for your government to consider. I also appreciate that the YPA pardon then-President Akongo passed into law caused great consternation in your country, especially given the insensitive timing.

Taking into account these factors, Prime Minister Barnham took immediate steps to investigate, and commissioned Euran military intelligence to assess the origins of the attack. While your country may be sceptical about the Akongo regime’s honesty, we would hope you can trust our expertise on the matter. We assessed that the Nangang attack was unconnected to the Akongo regime and carried out by either a lone actor or a new YPA splinter group we were not previously aware of.

What does this mean? Firstly, it means that the Akongo regime and Kitaran state did not sanction the attack, and we hope this fact – along with the change in government brought by open elections -will give you the political wriggle room to acknowledge this, as well as dropping the Article 6 challenge to the Varakoula Accords. Additionally, in private, we hope you will do your utmost to ensure your nation’s political class is prepared for normalisation of relations with Nyowani Kitara, regardless of dissent from some opposition parties.

Secondly, it means that there is potentially a threat still out there, potentially a wider dissident threat against the Accords, independently funded and motivated without the need for state backing. This represents an ongoing risk to peace in Nyowani Kitara and the security of all countries with an investment in upholding the Varakoula Accords; while your nation is no doubt a primary target, we have concerns that some dissidents from the Accords may attack others, including ourselves.

Therefore, the Euran government invites you to communicate to your government that we wish to set up a new task force as the peacekeeping mandate winds down, designed to monitor ongoing dissident terrorist activity and ensure it is suppressed throughout the region. The newly active Namboole facility will give the Euran government the capability to act rapidly in the region to assist with this task. We think it only appropriate that the United Republics be a key joint-partner at the very forefront of these efforts. We also hope the new Kitaran government will be committed to this task, rather than pursuing needless antagonism against a now defeated KPWC.

All of this aside, I am pleased to report that the recognition process we have discussed is now almost complete. Please could you instruct your staff to arrange a date with mine to agree the parameters of a recognition ceremony, to which both heads of government would attend.

Best wishes,

Foreign Secretary Chadwick

by **Turori** » Mon May 30, 2022 4:58 pm

Turori Tumble in 14 Stars Meltdown, Off to Playoffs

Iobabao Legendary Park, Mliona, Turori :: The Turori National Team got a dramatic 89th minute winner in their massive game against Juvencus at the Iobabao Legendary Park on the final matchday of World Cup 91 Qualifying after a late Daliora Toru'u free kick gave the Eels all three points and put Juvencus on the brink of playoff exodus. Unfortunately for Tarek Edgeli and the Eels it would not be enough as a melt down in the 14 Stars on the penultimate matchday would cause Turori to lose their grasp on the top spot in Group 14 and send them down to a two-legged playoff matchup with The Cordian Isles.

The Eels dug themselves into a hole early against the 14 Stars going down 1-0 after just 9 minutes of action and then seeing that disadvantage doubled just 8 minutes later when Starsian captain Kira Blade cut down the right hand side and fired a blistering shot past a concrete-footed Derizi Amatopa. It was not a matter of the Turori National Team playing poorly on the night as the had their fair share of possession and a plethora of goalscoring chance, but the 14 Stars were firing on all cylinders and making the most of each scoring chance they would generate.

The Turori National Team would pull a goal back in the 37th minute through Kiidallen Aeroluzzi which would give the team confidence heading into the half time break down by just one goal. Edgeli would make one change at the half with Cuoabaza Orani'aoa coming on in place of Cusaram Sakeri. Unfortunately it would take Orani'aoa a few minutes to get adapted to the game and it was a mistake by the newly introduced player in the 52nd minute that gave the 14 Stars another tally on the scoreboard. Trailing 3-1 with just thirty minutes left to play, Edgeli introduced the veteran Daliora Toru'u to try to help will the Eels back into the game and delivery the victory they needed to seal a place in the World Cup 91 finals. The Eels would get a goal back quickly through Jungle Strike FC forward Nua'oma Aikiki but it was not enough as Kira Blade responded immediately with her second goal of the match which restored the 14 Stars two goal advantage. Edgeli was screaming on the sidelines as the goal went in urging the players to take the game seriously and get back into the thick of it.

Edgeli urged the Eels to press forward and score goals. Turori would need 3 goals in 10 minutes to take the three points and protect their place atop the Group 14 table but would get just a solitary goal back from Turakia Diijelhma. The 4-3 result was devastating to the Eels chances to Automatically Qualify for World Cup 91, costing them control of their own destiny and ceding the top spot to Flavovespia, a nation which had never before qualified for the World Cup Finals.

Even though the Eels were able to get the victory they needed on the final matchday over Juvencus, their fate was no longer in their hands and the 14 Stars could not defeat Flavovespia on the final matchday the way they had beaten the Eels just one game before, securing the Yellow-clad nations automatic qualification to the World Cup 91 Finals and leaving Turori behind in the playoff zone.

In order to make the World Cup 91 Finals, second ranked Turori will now have to face a two-legged playoff against The Cordian Isles who stunned on the final matchday by leapfrogging Vdara to take the final playoff spot in their group as they search for a first ever World Cup Finals appearance at the Eels expense.

 Turori 3 - 4 The 14 stars	
	Turori Goals:	:: 37' Kiidallen Aeroluzzi:: 76' Nua'oma Aikiki:: 83' Turakia Diijelhma            
	Stats :: Turori 	:: Possession: 51%:: Shots: 6:: Corners: 8 :: The 14 stars :: Possession: 49%:: Shots: 9:: Corners: 4
	Turori Lineup :: 	Derizi Amatopa, Moumouni Verre'elali, Amakli Inuro'o, Biliki Rona'atu'i, Cusaram Sakeri (Cuoabaza Orani’aoa 45'), Naraiza Ruaplal, Kiidallen Aeroluzzi (Turakia Diijelhma 71'), Lumlao Noauryua (Daliora Toru'u 59'), Lati'ala Giaoka, Nua'oma Aikiki, Loala Inkabu

 Turori 1 - 0 Juvencus	
	Turori Goals:	:: 89' Daliora Toru'u              
	Stats :: Turori 	:: Possession: 54%:: Shots: 3:: Corners: 5 :: Juvencus :: Possession: 46%:: Shots: 3:: Corners: 6
	Turori Lineup :: 	Derizi Amatopa, Amakli Inuro'o, Moumouni Verre'elali, Biliki Rona'atu'i (Planio’o Nrujsa 21'), Cusaram Sakeri, Naraiza Ruaplal, Kiidallen Aeroluzzi, Cuoabaza Orani’aoa (Tulaki Rauogba 18'), Daliora Toru'u, Nua'oma Aikiki, Loala Inkabu

by **Astograth** » Mon May 30, 2022 4:59 pm

Previously

The end flared red and peeled back to reveal more ash - two whole centimetres of it now, hanging onto his stub of a cigarette. Ibon Mendigurena mashed it against the ashtray, graveyard of a dozen other ends, after the producer called him inside to continue recording.

Another day of recording Daineri Starting Goalkeeper, the world’s stupidest football podcast, was also another day of pretending he still liked his co-host, Mantzia Olenkiaga. They'd been best friends when they started the podcast and had remained so several years into it, but then it was only a matter of time until they drifted apart. In a different time, she would’ve taken one look at the tray and joked that he’d brought a souvenir from Mekhamengi. That only happened on air now, and she didn’t mean it.

Mantzia felt alien to Ibon, now. He didn’t know and didn’t care what she got up to in her own time – hanging out with conceptual artists, academic types, movie studio people… not his thing. Never his thing. He collected classic cars and sports cars and bad, funny cars, and rented out full-length Grand Prix tracks to race them on. He explored shipwrecks in the Modraine Sea aboard his own submersible. He financed Rulandese gladiator fights. That was the real cool shit, not whatever Mantzia was doing. All they had in common anymore was watching football and this little media empire of theirs. The podcast they’d launched from his parents’ attic had sprouted a website – now one of the top sports news sites in Astograth – and from there they’d started acquiring and launching all kinds of stuff. DSG energy drinks. DSG spray paint. DSG linens. DSG pet food. DSG cryptocurrency. Every time he was asked to signed off on some new ludicrous business venture, Ibon figured there was no way it would sell and they’d finally stop expanding. It did, so they didn’t.

Presently, he was sat several hundreds of metres above Rumiatzi, in a futuristic studio on one of the upper floors of a skyscraper. A glowing advertisement for Daineri Starting Goalkeeper was affixed to the outside of the glass – on the floor below, of course, lest it hamper the view from the studio. Ibon was obscenely wealthy, richer than royalty – they’d had the Duke of Bizkarra on the pod some time ago and he’d looked up his net worth. Not impressed.

The people who made it all possible were, of course, the countless millions of their little freak listeners, paying their piddly subscriptions. Ibon pictured them like a gigantic swarm of pikefish, all squirming under the muddy waters of Lake Anzar by Basabe, lying in wait for their feed, for this wretched slop of a podcast. He and his co-host were but humble fishermen, or reverse fishermen, who sailed out onto the lake to do their duty and dump out the sewage with which these writhing wyrms kept themselves alive. Ibon imagined that if they didn’t, the loathsome creatures might turn their attention to the humble civilians of the city, threatening to eat the population and plunder their riches lest they received their tribute in the form of Daineri Starting Goalkeeper, like some mythic dragon of the ancient world... granted, his analogies sometimes got out of hand.

He’d been called from smoke break to record the Audioslavia segment. Every week they played audio recordings that fans sent in, humorously dubbed "audio-slavias", and reacted to them. These were very lightly filtered by the producers - basically to make sure they weren't getting spammed with nothing but porn - but the whole point was for the recordings to be surprising, shocking, and maybe a little risqué. It gave some freshness and realism to the whole thing.

Today’s were not great.

“ENOUGH. EEEENOOOOUUUGH. Enough of Artizar Algarana - I'm sorry, HIS GRACE the Duke of Bizkarra, enough of random pretty boys pretending to be journalists,” screamed some hick in a Mendebal accent through a sore throat. “There, that’s my piece.”

“Thank you for that, listener,” said Mantzia. “We’ll be sure to pass it on.”

“You don’t agree? I think we have ENOUGH random pretty boys pretending to be journalists,” said Ibon.

“You’re a random pretty boy pretending to be a journalist,” smirked Mantzia, “And I don’t want to be out of a job.”

“Plus, we actually liked His Grace. Like, actually, really, and not just because he doesn’t know shit about football and happens to have a gazillion followers on social media. No, we really did like him,” lied Ibon. “OK, and here’s the next audio-slavia: from one Mr. U.K. Go!” he exclaimed, pointing at producer Yeimi through the glass.

The first couple of seconds were quiet, though some ambient static came through.

“I need you to listen… very carefully,” said a frail, agitated voice. The recording was even worse quality than they usually received, and the guy sounded like he was about to cry. ‘Good bit,’ thought Ibon. A real found-footage feeling to this, like it was from a horror movie-

“I have information that will lead to the arrest of Tipi Izotzubia. And possibly the Minister of Interior.”

Please Note
The first leg of the playoff will be held at Grand Duke’s Stadium in Rumiatzi. Tipi Izotzubia will be unavailable for the second leg.

by **Graintfjall** » Mon May 30, 2022 5:06 pm

"...and then he said 'It's Morbin' time!' Funniest shit I ever heard."

Anyway, here's cutoff.

Over the entire WCQs, we graded over 750 RPs.

The mean RP earned almost exactly 65% of the total available and the median exactly 65%. The STDEV was about 21%. Which I've been saying from day 1, suggesting if nothing else our grading (or your RPing) was fairly consistent all the way to the end.

As a special treat, I've put all my graphics skills into this graph:

by **Tumbra** » Tue May 31, 2022 1:24 am

Tumbra 3-0 Valentine Z

TMB (4-2-3-1): 1 - Barker; 2 - Hughes, 5 - Henderson (31 - Tyler, 59'), 14 - Ashburn, 3 - Harris; 8 - Hicks, 15 - McGrath (16 - Fisher, 72'), 10 - Cole; 7 - Hilton, 9 - Vaughn (21 - Crossley, 84'); 11 - Riordan

TMB scorers: George Hilton (23'), Craig McGrath (49'), Nick Riordan (72')

Player of the Match: Craig McGrath (TMB)

PREVIOUSLY ON DEFENDER MEETS MIDFIELDER

Intrepid defender Stephen Kerr and his world-class midfielder team-mate (and also girlfriend) Trudy Harrison, on a routine trip back to Tumbra for a national squad call-up, were seemingly kidnapped outside Kingsbury International Airport by several black cars. Turns out that said cars belong to one Charles Harrison, Trudy's dad, media magnate and the second richest man in Tumbra. On a hunting trip at the Georgia-Dartmoor border, Stephen and Charles have a brief conversation about Trudy. But what exactly does Charles want from Stephen?

Link to previous part | Link to arc home
defender meets midfielder: season 6, part 7
all the money in the world

The Moors
Somewhere along the Georgian-Dartmoor border

The wait was excruciating.

Painful, almost.

It wasn't the sweat as the humid air rolled in the moors that kept dripping into his eyes and stinging. It wasn't the fact that he had to keep low, and the grass kept tickling what skin he'd exposed to the elements. It wasn't even the fact that he was basically squatting in mud, ankles and knees burning while resisting every urge to stand up.

No, it was the sheer amount of nothing that was going on.

They'd been waiting for what felt like hours, but when Stephen Kerr glanced down at his watch, he'd found only about ten minutes had passed.

It wasn't even noon. He glanced over at Charles, who had his shotgun pointed resolutely in the air, a look of absolute concentration on his face. Finger off the trigger, thank God. He'd tried to make conversation once or twice, but was shushed. Not maliciously, mind, each time a gentle smile accompanied the admonishment, seemingly telling him to focus on the hunt. But there were other thoughts swimming through his mind, too. How did rich people actually enjoy this?

Maybe it was the excitement of actually doing something, rather than doing nothing. After all, if Walter's description of Charles had been accurate, then Charles hardly ever left the house he lived in. At Gleneagles, there were all the comforts of modern life, and then more. There wasn't a need for the billionaire to leave his sprawling estate; he had his army of fixers and lawyers to do his bidding. Leaving the house and doing a bit of shooting, actually exerting himself, was probably the most exciting thing he'd done in his boring life.

Was he being manipulated again? Sure, Stephen by now had caught onto Charles' tricks; but he sure didn't know whether he was being led towards what Charles wanted. Again. His motive here was simple. Butter Charles up, and then, once he'd gotten into his good books — well, as good as a middle-class kid from Straton could get into a multi-billionaire from Georgia, anyway — gently try to lead him into letting Trudy go. It felt like he was getting somewhere with that; Charles himself had admitted that perhaps it was time to let Trudy live her own life — but he wouldn't feel secure until he actually said yes.

What would get him into Charles' good books more than smarming up to him? Probably doing well on this hunt. It would work. They were talking about seven, eight birds for tonight's dinner; so far they'd shot a grand total of one. The birds weren't showing up today, and it was gnawing away at Stephen's patience; all he wanted was for Charles to listen, damnit, and let his daughter go —

A fluttering of wings. It wasn't the loudest, but Stephen's ears perked up at the sound of it. There wasn't much else to listen to, anyways. His knees tightened, in anticipation of needing to spring up the moment the red bird perked up and began to fly. He grasped the fore-end of the gun tightly, keeping relatively close to the ground; and the sense of anticipation had set his heart pounding.

Is this it? Is this what he lives for? The hunt, where he leaps out of the ground, ready to take a shot?

He peeked his head over the tall grass. He couldn't see the bird, but he could sense where it was; the grass was rustling where the bird was walking. All he needed now was for it to start flying; if only there was something he could do to startle it, make it fly in the air —

There it was. The rapid flapping of wings indicated that the bird had taken flight. Just one it was, its crimson plumage a stark contrast against the streaky grey sky; but Stephen knew it was time. He sprung up, like how Charles did when he was shooting his first bird, pointed the gun slightly ahead of where the bird was, and squeezed the trigger.

Crack.

The recoil was a bit stronger than he expected, the sound a lot louder now that he was firing it; but he was unencumbered. The bird, though, hadn't fallen; and was trying to flap its wings ever more. He still had one shot in the barrel, he knew that; he had one more chance to take down this bird, stubbornly refusing to bow down to his gun and the little metal bits of death that it spewed.

All he had to do was shift his sights to meet it. Squinting, he jerked; and waited for the bird to once again cross his sights. There. No time to waste —

And he squeezed, once more.

Crack.

This time, it hit; the bird seemingly froze in midair, before plummeting to the ground; it landed with a gentle thump. The gameskeeper, who seemed genuinely pleased and shocked in equal measure, quickly encouraged the dog to follow; while Stephen was left clutching his gun, marveling at what had just happened. All he'd done was move his finger by an inch, twice.

And in one beautiful instant Stephen realised the beauty of hunting. It was only a second, a finger moved an inch; but that simple movement had allowed so much to happen. A life had been taken; a prize received. He had triumphed over Nature, if only a brief moment; and he laughed, as if to revel at this moment of folly. And now he'd ended up with the result of his hunt — a bird downed, by his own hand. Stephen glanced at the dog making its own way through the moors, bird in mouth; and now it eagerly approached him, eager to be rewarded for its job.

Stephen smiled at the dog, knelt and looked at the gameskeeper; who silently withdrew a few cubes of meat and placed it in Stephen's palms. Gently, he dislodged the carcass of the bird from the canine's mouth; and then stretched out his other palm to reveal the meat, which the dog devoured gratefully. Petting it for good measure, he stood up; the prize of his hunt in his hands.

Then he heard clapping from behind him. Of course, it was Charles, with another smile on his face. This time, however, the smile seemed to be genuine; and his tone was much warmer.

"Amazing. Simply wonderful. Brilliant, really. You said you never fired a gun, before?'

"No, not really," Stephen said. He allowed a small bit of pride to creep into his voice. "Never liked the things. Could kill people, you know. Preferred dogs," gesturing down at the hunting dog at his side. "More loyal. Less dangerous."

"Well I can hardly be expected to believe that," gushed Charles. "For a first-timer with a shotgun, you were phenomenal. You know, I think you'd be the perfect fit for this kind of thing. Once you get more used to the idea of having a gun at your hip, of course. Always thought that our gun laws were too restrictive, but it seemed to be the one thing I couldn't get the suits in Straton to budge on. Anyway. You could come around every summer, spend a few weeks with me..."

"Oh, I could hardly impose on you, Charles," Stephen retorted, once again trying to cover up the fear that was slowly creeping up his body. "Plus, we've got a football tournament every summer; I hardly have time for myself!"

"Well, there's a very simple way to fix that; apart from moving your training camps over to Kingsbury, that is."

"And what would that be?"

"Well, dear boy, do you not see? You could join the family."

Gleneagles Hall
Georgia

There was always a sense of hesitation before knocking on a door at Gleneagles Hall. You checked, double-checked, to see that there was nothing going on; nothing particularly embarrassing, then you knocked. Twice. Butlers knocked thrice; the Harrison family knocked twice. Always. And then, once the door had been opened for you, you went in. You never opened the door; opening doors was not your job. So said her etiquette lessons, age six.

Trudy Harrison had learned that particular lesson before that, however. Once, she'd gone into her father's study without knocking, in search of a hug. She'd instead found her father, hunched over his desk, clacking away at his keyboard; and scarcely reacting to his daughter's entrance. Once he did notice, however, he gave her a scolding she didn't forget. What if I was doing something important, Trudy? and so on.

There had been no hug given. Bridget was instead summoned, scooping the four-year old up in her embrace, whisking her away to make her some hot cocoa.

There had been many more scoldings in the years afterwards. There had been many harsh words exchanged. But this particular argument she never forgot. She remembered it every time she approached a door in the Harrison household; hell, even outside, sometimes she hesitated.

Breathe. In. Out. Father is away with Stephen. There is nothing to fear.

She raised her hand, and rapped on the mahogany door twice. It opened immediately, and Trudy paced in.

The room itself was simple, almost spartan — well, as spartan as its opulent environment would allow it to be. It was almost the same as the rest of the household in terms of luxury, if any visitor decided to ignore the mountain of medical machinery surrounding the super king-sized bed. But Trudy didn't care about that; after the door closed around her, she nearly leapt as she tried to make her way towards the bed and the person lying on it. Her eyes were closed, of course; dozing off in the afternoon sun.

"Grandmama. Grandmama, wake up, it's me. Trudy." She knelt at the side of the bed, holding her hand; not knowing whether her grandmother would stir. Sometimes she wouldn't, and Trudy would just sit at the side of the bed, watching over her grandmother; other times, Christine Harrison would wake up after a while.

Upon hearing her voice, the elderly lady, hair as white as snow and as frail as a flake, opened her eyes and perked up. "Trudy," she whispered. "It's so good to see you once again. Where is Charles?"

"He's off hunting. With Stephen..."

"Ah. Your...boyfriend." A childish grin emerged on her wizened face. "I have heard a lot from the butlers."

"Well..." She shot a glare at the one butler in the room. He nodded. "Yes. My boyfriend."

"You haven't brought him to see me."

"It's kind of difficult, grandmama, I mean...it'd be kind of hard to bring him to visit you without tipping off Dad that he's my boyfriend."

"Oh, who cares? Certainly not me. I want to see the man who's made my granddaughter so happy at least once before I move on."

"Don't say that, Grandmama." A jabbing sensation in Trudy's chest. Somehow her grandma had already come to terms that she would be moving on. 'I've only just found you again."

"We must all move on, Trudy, at some point. And yes, we have only just found each other again, but it's more than enough for me." She raised a hand, gently caressing Trudy's face. "I'm just so happy that you're all grown up, now. I follow all your exploits in the newspapers. And I am so, so proud of you, Trudy. I love you. And I believe the person you chose will bring you happiness, too."

Trudy found herself choking back tears. "Grandmama..."

"So do that one thing for me, will you? When he returns. I guarantee I'll still be here tonight."

"I will."

"And in return, there is one thing I have to give you. I neglected it, in my carelessness, on the night you left. I didn't know you were going to return, and I must use all the time I have left. So here. Trevor!" Christine called out to the butler. "Get the box. You know the one."

Trevor quickly, quietly strode over to Christine's belongings, and began rummaging; less than a minute later, an intricately designed lock-box had been produced, and handed over to Trudy. Christine leaned forward, evidently trying to unclasp something from her neck; after a while of trying Trudy successfully managed to get it off. At the end of a chain was a key. Curious, Trudy slid the key into the lock-box.

It fit perfectly. Before she could turn it, however, Christine's hand stopped her.

"Not here, Trudy. There are several things inside; but the most important thing is the book. Inside you will find a bank account number. The bank is from Kotzellach; everything is very, very secret there. Nobody here knows this account exists, let alone belongs to me. Well, you, now. I set this up after your mother left, Trudy, so that if you ever found yourself in hard times one day you would have something to fall back upon."

"H-how much is there?"

"Oh, about fifty million, give or take. Most of it is from what your grandfather left to me. Well. That, and quite a bit of investment on my end."

"Fifty...million?"

The Moors
Somewhere along the Georgian-Dartmoor border

"I didn't hear you wrongly, did I? Join the family?"

"I did indeed say that. Think about it; if you joined me, and promised to take over the company one day, you'd be able to enjoy all this. All the money in the bloody world. You're certainly enjoying it now."

"I'm just a football player — I'm no businessman."

"But you could become one, under my watch. Plus, you could stay with Trudy."

"Trudy? What does she have to do with this? We're just friends, as I said."

The smile continued, but the eyes narrowed. "Good try, Stephen. Good try. I know you two are an item. I've known since the moment I was told she dragged you into that car. Think about it. You two would be able to continue playing. I'd even give you my blessing to continue your relationship with her, Stephen. All you need to do is take her place. By my side."

"I can't agree to that."

"Think about it, Stephen! Charles chortled, triumphantly. "This isn't your regular decision, Stephen. It's not exactly what to eat for dinner, or what to do on a football pitch. Whatever your choice, make it carefully."

"After all, it's all the money in the world."

World Cup 91, Playoffs Leg 2: Valentine Z vs Tumbra
Goalkeepers: 1 - Nick Barker [FC Inter Nantwich], 12 - Andrew Taylor [Couno Rangers], 13 - George Danvers [Columbia City]
Defenders: 2 - Ryan Hughes [Lakewood City], 3 - Nigel Harris [Lakewood United], 4 - Stephen Kerr [Chromatik, CMT], 5 - Harry Henderson [Aleiusia Capital, ZRH], 14 - Ian Ashburn [Lakewood City], 18 - Nicholas Moss [Miruan City, TKT], 19 - Chris Carter [Lakewood City], 26 - Raymond Perry [Serrapince FC], 31 - Joel Tyler [Couno Rangers]
Midfielders: 6 - Trudy Harrison [Chromatik, CMT], 8 - Vincent Hicks [Metropola Borograd, STL], 10 - Phil Cole [Osarese Marcadia, AUD], 15 - Craig McGrath [Serrapince FC], 16 - Andrew Fisher [FC Inter Nantwich], 23 - Susan Monaghan [Northern Stallions, BRE]
Wingers: 9 - Robin Vaughn [Lakewood City], 17 - Valerie Wells [Swanguard Athletic, QUE], 29 - Duncan Silverwood [Pyathora Miners, TKT], 30 - Neil Fraser [Lakewood City]
Strikers: 11 - Nick Riordan [Sabrefell Moths, NPH], 33 - Bruce Nolan [Couno Rangers]

by **Jeruselem** » Tue May 31, 2022 3:02 am

Naked News Reporter Aaliyah Lust (naked) and former World Cup manager Pekora Dancer in her usual bunny dress holding a rabbit ...

Aaliyah:
Hey everyone, this is Aaliyah Lust for Naked News Jeruselem at Dazza Dallas Stadium covering the first playoffs of the World Cup 91.
Today here at Dazza Dallas Stadium we're hosting Krytenia, for the first playff to see who qualifies for the World Cup 91.
I'm with three times manager of the Jeruselem team, Pekora Dancer, who managed the 88, 89 and 90 campaigns with one near qualification and two qualification.
She knows failure and success don't have much margin.

Pekora: Hello everyone, been a while since I have around here
Aaliyah: So what you been doing since you retired?
Pekora: Running a farm, I wouldn't call running a farm being retired.
Aaliyah: Not exactly a quiet retirement
Pekora: Running your own business is rewarding but being a single Mum with kids doesn't make it easier
Aaliyah: So we're here for a play-off, something you managed to avoid when you when we qualified

Pekora: I'm not terribly fond of play-offs anyway
Aaliyah: Our opponents today are Krytenia, a team that's been around for quite a while. Actually, we've been around since World Cup 11 so we're no newcomers. Weirdly, we've played them ... twice.
Pekora: Yes, it is weird. Baker Park - we've had them in two of our groups in the last three cups but they hosted one of those cups as well. Playing Krytenia twice in err 81 cups is pretty weird.
Aaliyah: Well, make that four times now.
Pekora: Apparently the last game was like World Cup 17 ...
Aaliyah: I guess that's in the realms of ancient history, in terms of football.

Pekora: Sure is
Aaliyah: Before you all think I'm kind of historial research genius, we got that information from something written by a Krytenian somewhere. And I forgot his name.
Pekora: Doesn't matter anyway
Aaliyah: Krytenia being the visitor would know the value of away goals, so it was important we kinda limit the amount of goals they score here.
Pekora: They were wearing their ... black or was it like really dark grey strip today.
Aaliyah: It's some dark grey one. Which was an interesting clash with the Jeruselem home strip which is really pink.

Pekora: Our away strip is a blue one and their home strip is also blue, well cyan blue.
Aaliyah: Well, it's a different blue thank God.
Pekora: They are different enough ...
Aaliyah: For the clash today, Jeruselem did score a home win! And it was a familiar scoreline ...
Pekora: 4-3, what heck is going with us and 4-3.
Aaliyah: We've lost two games 4-3, winning one 4-3 is different.

Pekora: We really need that extra goal going into away game.
Aaliyah: They really went hard on scoring today, scoring 3 goals.
Pekora: With that formation of theirs, you'd expect attacking to be the order of the day. They don't sit around and defend.
Aaliyah: Well, it did kind of work for Krytenia with respect to scoring goals
Pekora: Jeruselem is not known for it's stellar defense, some days we're just fragile but we can do it - sometimes. We did on some occasions this cup not that often.
Aaliyah: But Jeruselem has proven it does punish lax defense, we scored four goals which is not that easy against such a well rated team.

Pekora: Defensively, we could have done better. But it seems our offense, is a lot better than it has been in the past.
Aaliyah: So we have the advantage but it's very marginal
Pekora: We have to play for a win in Krytenia, and get those away goals. Saying that, a draw suits us fine too.
Aaliyah: They'll be going pretty hard to score two more goals than us.
Pekora: For sure, but we can punish them with scoring on the counter attack like today.
Aaliyah: We're vulnerable but we have an advantage we can use against Krytenia

Pekora: I think we can qualify
Aaliyah: We would have qualified if these playoffs weren't used
Pekora: Yes well, they didn't need playoffs tecnically for World Cup 91.
Aaliyah: Hopefully Kate and team can finish the job off in Krytenia
Pekora: Since we're going to Krytenia for the 2nd leg, they'd be aware of away goals being valuable.
Aaliyah: It would have been nice to limit number of goals they scored today

Pekora: Maybe, it was important we won anyway. A draw would have been problematic.
Aaliyah: So Jeruselem score 4-3 win at home in the first leg, hopefully we can finish the job in the 2nd leg.
Pekora: What was with all the extra security here today? We had guards everywhere
Aaliyah: Oh, Princess Bella and her mother Queen Bianca were here as well as Princess Kate and her two daughters. No tolerence for troublemakers today.
Pekora: Well that makes sense
Aaliyah: And for everyone concerned, Jeremy Jaffacake didn't turn up. Probably see him back in Krytenia.

Pekora: I've heard people seem to know who you are overseas
Aaliyah: Oh that, well ... I'm known for doing some things very well in my old profession.
Pekora: You have to be good at something, you can't be good at everything
Aaliyah: Hey I can talk crap all day long
Pekora: Explains why you got this job
Aaliyah: That's OK, I get paid good money to do it. Well, that's enough from us! See you in Krytenia.

by **Squidroidia** » Tue May 31, 2022 7:10 am

A hard fought battle. A war waged with boots and balls and gloves and nets. The toil of war in the World Cup playoffs is something that most players often fear once the time arises to stand up for one last assault with the promised land on the line. To the victor go the spoils and to the loser go the toil, one may suppose. Squidroidia were here before, so they knew a thing or two because they saw a thing or two. Survive on the road and win at home were the orders from commander Adam Johnson of the Squidroidian platoon. His squadron, many of them suffering from the collapse of the Squidroidian Super League but some off fighting another day away from the shores of Fort Inkopolis City, were tested. Humiliated at times. Dominated at others. Their opponents: The Yuezhou platoon, soldiers in their own right, surviving revolutions and fighting for their clubs in a Super League with an exclamation point right next to the Super. 180 minutes of war, 90 minutes of which would start away from home.

The opening trumpets blared and both teams were ready to fire. The war of football isn't the same as a conventional war. Instead of constant onslaughts and bullets flying it was a war of timing, a war of attrition. Who wants it more, as one would say. To be frank the Yuezhou platoon were surrounded by foliage and surroundings that played right into their advantage. Before one knew it, soldier Liu Huiying fired the first blow and bang to put things up 1 to 0 in the 14th minute. The morale of the Yue fighters was high, and it was matching or even exceeding Squidroidia's experience and talent. But still, the war raged on - Squidroidia fired back with Shiba Tetsuo hitting a noscope. 1-1. Herbert Bystrom, a defender who was seen as the platoon's young workhorse, made it 1-1, the Inkling splatting up Zhao Deliang for a goal he will very well remember just moments before the end of the first half.

After the break for pep talks and (supposedly) MREs, the Squidroidian platoon got right back and rolling, Makino Hideo almost putting up a shot to put the team 2-1 up early. On the other side of the battlefield, however, Yuezhou would make it 2-1, a shot by Wan Sheping keeping the Squidroidians up and roaring for a response towards the 73rd minute. From there it was all out, as one would say - Squidroidia getting shot after shot in but not getting a proper goal until the 88th, and who else but Makino Hideo, the captain, to score? 2-2, 2 away goals for Squidroidia. The soldiers did their first task, survive on the road. But now it was a trip back to Fort Inkopolis City to finish the fight and make the promised land. They had the advantage on their side, they had the best team out of the 2, they had good surroundings, they seemingly had it all. But was it enough to make it?

War never changes, as one may say. But one may say otherwise. Leg 2. Inkopolis. Time to finish the fight. Time to say the last words before embarking on a quest for the biggest prize in sports. Time to show the world what they're made of and earn a place at the head table of stars and glory. Time to put up and shut up. Time for a lot of other things. Football is one hell of a game, one hell of a war, and one hell of a drug. The game of kings and queens and nobles, the game of peasants and the middle class, the game for all people. But all people can't make the World Cup. They have to earn their place at the World Cup.

Squidroidia were ready to earn it.

OFFICIAL ROSTER
SQUIDROIDIA v Yuezhou, World Cup 91 Playoff Leg 2
Inkopolis City Stadium, Inkopolis, Squidroidia

STARTING XI
GK: #1 Kaede AKIYAMA
LB: #5 Tapiwa DALGAARD
CB: #3 Baldric BERTOLINI
CB: #15 Wunderbar DOS
RB: #60 Herbert BYSTROM
DM: #8 Kabudo TADATAKA
CM: #22 Charlie COLBERT
CM: #7 Henriette BROOKS
AM: #10 Shiba TETSUO
ST: #11 Makino HIDEO
ST: #9 Sho ITO

BENCH
GK: #12 Wunderbar UNO
LB: #2 Florianne MEEUWESSEN
CB: #4 Muto TOKI
CM: #20 Wunderbar QUATRO
CM: #13 Wunderbar CINCO
CM: #73 Tomomi HAMASAKI
ST: #16 Wunderbar SEIS

MANAGER
Adam JOHNSON (BAU)

by **Sarzonia** » Tue May 31, 2022 7:33 am

The away fixture is always the most nerve-wracking part of a two-leg playoff.

Correction: The first leg is always the most stressful.

Either way you look at it, Sarzonia were playing a match in Trolleborg that would, for the first time in a while, include the celebratory pre-match parading, dancing, and singing of the Trolleborg faithful. It was a spectacle that many Sarzonian players had only seen on television or on various video platforms because the players' most vivid memory of their first trip here was bereft of that.

The Stars marked their first visit to Trolleborg as an unranked side back in World Cup 84 qualifying and got rightly drubbed. They would get back with a win at home, but now they were facing Trolleborg with a lot more on the line than merely three points in a group table. The winner of this two-leg playoff would advance to the World Cup proper whilst the loser potentially gets consigned to the Cup of Harmony.

Nathan Hanifer admittedly was taking a huge gamble by effectively playing his third choice goalkeeper Trent Woodson against Trolleborg, but the Stars shat the bed against Cassadaigua, and to a lesser extent, an inferior Tyskerlund side during the final two matches of qualifying. A victory over the Dagans would have directly sent the Stars through to the proper for the first time since World Cup 85, but in order to earn that trip now, they had two more matches to go. They got the first off to the right foot as Jake Campos and Holly Cambrio staked them to a 2-0 lead after 23 minutes of play. From there, it was hold on for dear life as Trolleborg cut the gap to one goal as the third minute of first-half stoppage time came to a close with a clinical free kick finish.

In the second half, Woodson finally showed why he was on the squad in the first place, making four of his five saves in the period. He made a particularly acrobatic stop of a rising Torgeir Berglund shot in the 87th minute to rob him of what looked like the equalising goal. The reaction of both benches seemed to indicate the effect of Woodson's dramatic save on both as several players on the Trolleborg sideline lowered their heads in dismay whilst the Stars players leapt from the players' bench and cheered their unlikely hero Woodson. When the final whistle's three blasts signaled an end to four tense minutes of second half stoppage time, the Stars emerged with a 2-1 victory.

Sarzonia (15-1-4 during Group 5 play) will return to Dave Wilson Stadium for the second leg against Trolleborg. Hanifer announced that Woodson would get the start against Trolleborg again, citing his play in the match.

"Trent earned it with some great saves, but more importantly, he showed a lot of leadership and even more character out there," Hanifer said. "He's making it a decision for me, that's for sure."

A decision that saw Carlton Sandt, who has again been deposed as the starting goalkeeper, disappointed briefly. However, he was the first player to run out onto the pitch to congratulate Woodson.

"He did a great job," Sandt said of Woodson. "He deserves this opportunity."

by **Saint Eleanor** » Tue May 31, 2022 10:11 am

OOC: For those of you feeling a bit iffy about this (I was!), Juve is perfectly fine with how I described this particular match.

Source code for the Teletext index page you see at the bottom of this RP. (Yeah, Saint Eleanor never made the digital switchover. Don't ask how the TV signal didn't leave Saint Eleanor city until a couple of IC years ago.)

Juvencus 2-2 Saint Eleanor: All to play for at home after epic playoff opener
Chief Football Correspondent Jamie Rodgers reports on the biggest match in the history of Saint Eleanor, so far
Originally published on Friday 14th April 2000

Veteran winger and Juvencus captain Joaquim Martell saved his team from a potentially embarrassing home defeat in the first leg of their playoff against Saint Eleanor, a match which could have swung either way but finished in an appropriately entertaining 2-2 draw.

To know either Gli attaccanti or the White Stars is to know so many of the ups - and too many of the downs - of football. Between the 79th and 82nd cycles, the Sonnellians made two Cup of Harmony finals (and won the first), as well as qualifying for the 80th and 82nd World Cups (where they saw two draws, both in Apox and Valanora, and four losses). In the eight cycles that have been completed since Juvencus' last foray into the World Cup finals, they have made zero World Cups and two Cups of Harmony - and did not get past the first knockout stage at either attempt. In that period, Saint Eleanor has gotten its start in international football, made the Baptism of Fire quarterfinals, tried - and valiantly failed - to make two World Cups, and suffered a pair of ignominous Cup of Harmony group stage exits. This match could hardly get any bigger, both in terms of stakes and the need to earn - or possibly regain - prestige.

The first hint that this matchup was going to live up to its expectations only took a minute and a half to arrive. An aging Martell - played up front for his club, Farfadillis' Ausharmuj Marusi, but out wide for his country - tried to pick up a lofted pass from Michelangelo Santini, but was held back by Exandra Davies and could only watch as the ball crept over for an Eleanorian throw-in. A minor war of words and an excessive amount of literal finger-pointing, which thankfully did not spill over, ensued - and what did the referee do in reaction to this? Nothing whatsoever. This was football uncut, uncensored, uncouth, unconventional - and grossly underrated.

While Dudu Madeiros went full steam ahead with his tried and tested starters, Priscilla Evans sidelined Dekamela weMexala again, drafting in Melcheta Pazorzal in an effort to guarantee pure brute force. The project saw some early success as he put the finishing touches on the game's first attacking moves of note, but he could only stumble towards yet another Jessica Martin cross and failed to get his shot ready by the time Taddeo Bulgari got to the ball. A better chance came after the White Stars began a move from the back, culminating in Harriet Williams pitching a near-perfect pass in his direction. This time, he was able to sidestep Pau Puig and actually beat Bulgari, but Carlo Callejon was there to intercept and clear long before any substantial danger could arise.

Just when the visitors thought they were about to find a breakthrough, Izotz Ibarra cut off a promising through ball from Steve Pilchard and decided to go through the middle to Josefina Portieri. She almost instantly palmed off the ball to Júlien Cantù, who spent seconds in possession with little territorial gain to show for it - although he was being faced off by Cathy Winchester almost all the way. With a surprisingly deep-lying Campana now in possession after Cantù's powerful sideways pass and Sam Newbridge closing in, he struck firm and true after only a couple of touches to give Juvencus the lead - and, for the first time in so many years, a very real shout of making the World Cup.

The White Stars needed a response, and a fast one at that, but it was never going to come easily. Not in an atmosphere this foreign. Not in an atmosphere this loud. And definitely not in an atmosphere this hostile - so hostile, in fact that the restart was delayed by a couple of minutes after some overexcited home fans in the front rows decided to throw flares onto the pitch in celebration. One of them struck Winchester, although she sensibly (in the loosest sense of the word) decided to drop-kick it back into the stands. It only took six seconds for Pierre-Didier Kouyaté to clock an unsuspecting Katie O'Donnell once play had gotten underway, meriting even more shouting, more than a bit of involvement from other concerned players, and - in the end - a free kick that went nowhere.

Enough time had been lost after the first goal that the second, almost inexplicably, seemed to flow from the resultant play. With David Newcastle having taken an otherwise unimportant throw-in after half an hour gone, it was now Winchester's responsibility to take care of the left flank for the time being. She calmly, perhaps even too calmly, skipped the ball over to Pilchard, himself sitting further back than normal; once that was done, and after inadvertently seeing his pass cannon off Kouyaté, Williams technically had a solo effort on her hands, netting from just outside the penalty area to make the game 1-1 and completely swing the pendulum back.

Juvencus, naturally, tried to restore their advantage. Joao Pereyra, making his first big moves of the game, was denied by John Bailey before he scraped the post on the rebound. Martell did not even have that luxury, as he hammered a solid yet unremarkable effort into Bailey's comfortable grasp. But they were not to take the lead: after Bulgari pushed away a good O'Donnell effort in the minutes before the interval, the result of possibly the finest dribble of the day, Martin launched a corner into the box - and it was none other than Pazorzal himself who finally headed in the goal he, never mind his team, had been waiting for. Five hundred thousand Eleanorians in raptures. One hundred and fifty million Juven in panic mode. That was the half that was.

In the first half, Saint Eleanor were on the whole a bit better, a bit more effective, than Juvencus. In the second, a reinvigorated host side were dealt the better hand. The first signs of this came a few minutes into the half, when Pereyra, cutting from the inside and looking to level the tie, was brought down just outside the box by an unnecessarily - and atypically - harsh tackle by Liam West. This was by no means one of West's finer hours in any respect: an avoidable booking this early was bad enough, and the resultant free kick being skied over was the only silver lining to this run-in. Newbridge, himself back from suspension, had done a much better job of dealing with the residue from the hosts' facially understaffed central attack and almost prevented Campana's goal. Winchester and Davies had learned well from their underwhelming performances against the admittedly much less predictable Kandorese attack two months ago, and normally just had to cut out a couple of people very effectively in order to stop them - for the most part, of course.

As an example of this, while most of the Juvencus side had returned to the pitch as active, involved, and demanding players, one of them had been rather sluggish: hte captain had time and again been hounded by Davies, a concentrated but no less obnoxious presence at right-back. He would need to break free from her marking if he were to make a strong impact on the game, and within about fifteen minutes, wing play had started to focus on the traditional midfielders instead. What sealed the deal was Cantù finding his way past Newcastle and then hitting the ball forwards to Campana. Although he was unfortunate not to score with Newbridge again standing in his way, Martell was there to almost throw himself towards the rebound, just lobbing it over Bailey and past the reach of an unusually-concerned West.

Martell's strike was by no means the end. Of course it wasn't: there were still twenty-five minutes to play. A couple of minutes after the equaliser, O'Donnell must have thought she'd won one of the most nailed-on penalties in Eleanorian history after being practically elbowed off the ball by Puig with just a couple of other Juven to beat - but he didn't even need to convince the referee it wasn't one. He set up a good - if unusually counter-attacking - move immediately afterwards, as Santini got the ball from him before distributing to Kouyaté, who (despite being chased down by Williams) took liberties to float a seemingly overpowered high ball into the box for a marginally-onside Campana to feed on. The man who scored Juvencus' first goal could not, however, add a second to his tally, as he somehow - somehow - skimmed the outside netting from eight yards out.

Saint Eleanor had almost been drained after the Martell goal, but not quite. Martin almost got dispossessed by Santini in similar fashion, but controversially won the ball back and really should have gotten more out of her effort than having it skim the top of the crossbar. Williams, too, got her most promising free kick of the match after being brought down by Kouyaté yet again, this time in a much closer position; even though Bulgari was lucky to get anything on her original shot, he must have been relieved when Pilchard proceeded to fire wide. And, although O'Donnell provided the White Stars' last serious chance, it was a poor attempt under too much pressure that never looked likely to result in anything.

As the game approached 80 minutes and with the hosts now trying to do everything they could to secure a first-leg victory in front of more than a hundred thousand eager Juven, Cantù must have been thinking he was well-placed to have his hand in yet another goal, but seemed to collapse after what appeared to be a surprisingly light challenge from Winchester - and then pleaded to get her sent off for an alleged "foul." It was not to be: the Bul Khungur Miner would get the second and last booking of the day. Cantù had a bona fide effort of his own shortly afterwards, but Bailey just did enough to get to it, and the corner that followed was hurried away. And stoppage time saw the small matter of Pazorzal and Puig attempting to shove each other to the ground after Saint Eleanor won a late free kick, which Bulgari happily dealt with in the absence of any effective outfield power. Not that it mattered; the White Stars had done well to stave off a potential defeat towards the end.

With the decades-old consensus on away goals having been drastically swept aside in recent years, there are only two ways either side can now secure their tickets to Græntfjall and Farfadillis. One of them is to win on Monday at the National Liberation Arena - and, almost by some miracle, it is near-certain that everybody on both sides will once again be available for that game. The other is to sit tight for 120 minutes, try and get a draw, and then hope to triumph on penalties. However the second leg pans out, the White Stars still have to stay calm, avoid self-destructing, and steer clear from the controversy that punctuated today's game. If needs must, they might even do well to overturn their own conventional wisdom for an afternoon. The finish line beckons; there is no escaping it.

Juvencus 2 (Julio Campana goal 22', Joaquim Martell goal 65')
Saint Eleanor 2 (Harriet Williams goal 31', Melcheta Pazorzal goal 43')

by **Srednjaci** » Tue May 31, 2022 11:36 am

IGOR BOŽIĆ

FINALLY PLAYOFF !!

Dear viewers, welcome to the show dedicated to football, more precisely the qualifications for WC91. Despite certain result problems, or we would say slippage on teams like Omerica and Kuraita, our players showed character in the last game, which was to be or not to be. Eura was the leading team in the group until this match. They needed a win to go straight to WC91. On other side, Srednjaci need a win to stay in the playoffs.
Katania, the capital, full of fans of both. Rivers of fans in the colors of the national teams flow towards the Blue Oyster National Stadium.
A look at the lineups of both teams speaks about of the importance of this match.

HOSTS -SREDNJACI LINEUP

1 Jure Iveša 
6 Danijela Majić 
4 Ivan Kušić 
18 Franko Rušković 
5 Zoran Šutić
21 Heong Min Ho 
7 Davida Zimmer 
8 Takanobu Tavano 
20 Ante Tomljanović
9 Isidor Matković 
10 Li Peng

GUESTS EURA LINEUP

1. E Palmer
21. T Coffey
4. J Menard
19. A Coles
5. T Green
3. L Almwood (sub Woodman 72)
6. S Erskine (sub Vincent 74)
8. V Robshaw
7. M Woakes (sub Marshall 87)
14. S Singh
9. S Robson

The stadium is filled to capacity. Thousands of fans came from the Eura to support their players. Eura fans have already scored 3 points for their team and were already ready to celebrate thinking their team would win. But Srednjaci had other plans.
The match started, the first 10 minutes showed a lot of nervousness on both sides. The referee has already had to play the faul eight times in 10 minutes. Minor offences on both sides are a sign of tension and nervousness in the team.
Eura was the first to have a chance through player number 14, Singh, but Singh was not precise. The ball went over the goal.
Eura threatened again. This time Robshaw was with the ball and Heong Min Ho knocked down the opponent without a solution and the referee played a foul. Robson shot from 22 meters away, but Iveša was great on goal, catching the ball.
After this initial mild initiative of the guests, the match went to calmer waters. The game was characterized by rough play and many physical challenges on the wet field, but Eulalio Soto showed great heart and had a good game. The attack failed to get quality balls.
The first 45 'is over. Both teams were unhappy with their game. We believe that it will be very stormy in the locker room.

In the second half, our team came out on the field much more determined. They have more accurate passes than their opponents. They use the whole field and the opposing players fail to put together more than three accurate passes.
Our team is more scattered and offensive. This style of play giving the results after a great action and breakthrough by Takanobu Tavano, Tavano shot, Palmer managed to defend but Matković reacted brilliantly on the blocked ball, scoring 1: 0! Gooooooal in 52 '! Delirium in the stadium! Over 60,000 fans are in ecstasy because Srednjaci are in lead 1: 0!
Already in the next attack of our team, a new opportunity, but this time Zimmer is doing a great crossover and Tomljanović's headder finishes right in golakeepers hands.
77 minutes of the game Tomljanović towards the ball to the left wing Zimmer, Zimmer is with ball now. Tomljanović immediately runs into the penalty area towards the opponent's goal. At that moment, Li Peng runs out of the penalty area. Zimmer cheats to confuse his opponents. Instead of crossing in the penalty area, she passes the ball diagonally towards Li Peng, who is unguarded at the edge of 16 meters. Li Peng shoots, his ball hits the top left corner of the goal! Gooooooall! Team Srednjaci has a 2-0 advantage!
A big celebration at the stadium started. Srednjaci are on the door of the historic success in the World Cup qualifiers. We played qualifiers two times and both times we finished sixth in the group. Now Srednjaci finished in third place. Congrats to all players and stuff !
This result did not change until the end. Srednjaci are playing in the playoffs for the first time in WC qulifiers.

The next opponent in the playoffs is Mytania. Mytanija is a better ranked team than us and it will be very difficult to pass them. But if our players repeat such a good game as against the Eura, then anything is possible.
Mytanija was tied in its group with the first-placed team, the Independent Athletes from Quebec. However, the Independent Athletes from Quebec had a better h2h trial. What we need to worry about is the fact that Mytanija has only been defeated twice. They scored only one goal less than our team but conceded far fewer goals than our defense. Mytanija is a great team and our players will need a lot of luck in addition to knowledge to pass them. But nothing is impossible.

-  Group 8                         Pld    W   D   L    GF   GA   GD   Pts
 1 Brenecia                         20   14   4   2    48   18  +30    46
 2 Eura                             20   13   5   2    40   18  +22    44
 3 Srednjaci                        20   12   2   6    51   35  +16    38
 4 Gyatso-kai                       20   12   2   6    53   37  +16    38
 5 Mertagne                         20    9   6   5    37   32   +5    33
 6 Omerica                          20    9   4   7    26   29   −3    31
 7 Kuraita                          20    7   4   9    30   40  −10    25
 8 Polkopia                         20    5   4  11    28   37   −9    19
 9 Maphidon                         20    5   1  14    31   49  −18    16
10 Natanians and Nosts              20    3   3  14    19   37  −18    12
11 Arjunnagar                       20    2   3  15    23   54  −31     9

by **Juvencus** » Tue May 31, 2022 1:48 pm

The Second Great War of Unification(1876-1892)

To surrender arms is considered very shameful, yet necessary in most societies if it means more people get to survive like that. However, Juven and to the same extend its twin, the Osci society both viewed surrendering not just as shameful but blasphemous and as a means to insult their enemies without much retribution at said occupation time. It has to also be noted that such behavior had slowly started being deemed old-fashioned by the time of the war, though it did take place on multiple occasions and several important battles that did end up in a side surrendering to the other. By the end of the conflict, this attitude was completely written off in respect for the multiple victims sustained by both sides, especially the losing one that at least did surrender to the victors. Michelangelo II was the first major figure in the conflict to think like that, considering the damages he knew he caused to the Vincentiani.

Guns among the ruins post-surrender

Chapter 14: Siege of Vinceti(October 17th 1879-February 3rd 1880)
Part 3: The Fall of Vinceti(December 26th-February 3rd 1880)
"I wept seeing a city of such significance fall so miserably, for I know all great cities are bound to such death."~Prince Heir of Scudelli, Michelangelo II

As small-scale skirmishes kept raging on on all 3 fronts, with no signs of stopping, the city itself experienced its worst ever cholera outbreak on top of yet another destructive famine. Both of those affected children and babies the most, leading to it being called the Lost Generation of '80, but older people generally got ill and died to it as well. With the graveyards reaching full capacity, many people resorted to throwing the bodies of the dead at sea or worse, cremating them, a practice frowned upon in Christianity unless on serious instances like this. Apart from that, as the city was still besieged found itself impossible to be rebuilt until all was over. As adult men got reduced significantly, teenage boys would take arms to join their fathers and even grandfathers in combat. All in all, the situation was becoming desperate in the once bustling coastal hub.

One by one, all the fronts started to crumble beginning from the north and heading to the south. The north was already in Scudelliano hands for the most part, being just a breath away from the city already before the turn of the decade. It served as a spot of significant pressure with multiple barrages following suit whenever possible from that side of the front. Any counter-attacks from the Domenicans were met with strong defence and eventually large casualties for their part due to the strong setup of troops, excellent trench and gatling gun positioning of the Scudelliano. The last barrage from the north took place on January 28th, 1880 after which a massive coordinated push took place towards the city.

The western front's initial ambiguity served exactly as its downfall. A series of bombardments in the early days of January meant that the western side of the city was reduced to rubble. A major fight happened on January 30th, 1880 when a Scudelliano contingent fought against a Domenican squad on the outskirts of Vinceti, using houses and trees as cover against the ensuing hailstorm of bullets. It developed to the typical close quarters battle from which the Scudelliano emerged victorious, capturing several Domenican soldiers, while the few that got back lived to tell the tale. A charge came forth by February 3rd.

Lastly, the most important front of all, the one which Michelangelo II was leading forward and the official entry point towards Vinceti. That was the southern front. A swift bombardment followed on the south side of the city as well, promptly followed by an ultimatum by Michelangelo II towards the city's governor, Eustacio Callieri, requesting the city's surrender or to face annihilation. With no other suitable option ahead, Eustacio Callieri had to accept the ultimatum, formally signing the city's capitulation on February 3rd, 1880. From then on the Scudelliano troops advanced into the city where they paraded through the destroyed neighbourhoods, much to the locals' disdain.

As an order of respect, due to the high casualties of the siege and seeing as how the city and its civilians had been corrupted both physically and mentally, Michelangelo II ordered his troops to not disrespect the local soldiers, militia and general population by all means possible, despite the surrender. It was a huge victory for the Scudelliano who could finally push even more southward towards Santo Domenico itself and focus on the more important fights in the west and south on the side of their allies.

Battle Outcome: Massive Scudelliano victory! Santo Domenico is next.

by **TJUN-ia** » Tue May 31, 2022 2:25 pm

By Peter Davis

After a 7 point deficit was finally removed from existence in the most TJUN-ian way possible, the Jaguars of TJUN-ia had clawed and dragged themselves into the WC91 Qualifying Playoffs by what many presumed to be an outright miracle. Many felt that we may have been dead and buried after MD13, our hopes turned to dust for another campaign, but this team fought back hard and while we certainly can thank the scheduling gods for keeping that fate within our hands, this team fought for that right with a resilience unseen by most in the football circles of the International Community. David Seems and Li Xiu Ying certainly enjoyed all of this, the turnaround certainly in the papers across this fine nation....but the job wasn't done yet. This job was incomplete. The playoffs were now up ahead, with two more games to decide 15 more teams. 15 had to rise while 15 had to fall...and TJUN-ia has to host first.

The National Stadium in TJUN-ia City would get to host a 2nd game after all and the crowd would certainly be feisty when Zwangzug came to town. One of our fellow Pot 2 teams at the start of this process, they were involved in a gargantuan 3-way battle in Group 3 with Tumbra and Abad that would end up separated by only 2 points and go down to the final day. That battle would be won by Adab, with Zwangzug finishing 2nd to face us while Tumbra ended up with 3rd and a showdown with Valentine Z. Zwnagzug are our opposite in terms of tactics, our moderate attack against their moderate defense, while opposition manager Kate DiMarini has a "Zebras" outfit filled with different characters and styles, all combining to create a pretty strong unit that has seen them well thus far. All that everyone needed to know was that both teams deserved to be there...and soon, that whistle would start the war.

To say this was a war would be an understatement. You didn't need to tell either side what was at stake here, what was up for grabs once these 180 minutes were up, and both teams would certainly try and try and try to get any advantage they could get for the 2nd leg to come. The Jaguars were the team more on the attack overall and that would certainly show in this contest, with Prince Carter and Archer Andrews certainly having their chances. Unfortunatly for them, the Zebras had a rock in the net named Helen Pimbura who wasn't going to allow a shot past her while she still had a spine. Another pest here was Kausalya Vizirani, the Captain who just did not give up at all no matter what. Of course, any attacking play the Zebras made was focused in on Quincy Dulk-Fough, who certainly was trying to get past our system...but David N'kude and everyone else managed to hold on too. It was a tight and twisty affair, with chances for day, but no goals would be scored when the first final whistle blew. If this was a chess match, then Game 1 was a Stalemate - a Draw has been declared and we will reset for Round 2.

There has been a lot of debate over that result - 0-0 at home, with the 2nd leg to come Wayr Stadium. Will us not scoring at home be the end of our campaign right there and then? Is the fact they didn't score either a positive to take? Were we lucky to not concede, unlucky to not score? Who knows at this point...but one thing was for certain: we will enter the Rackham Range in the exact same position as we entered the JagBase in. We will enter Zwangzug still with all those pieces on the table, the setup reset and the clock back to the start. But next time, Zwangzug will move first...and we have to be ready for that. We haven't been the strongest on the road, but we made it to this point by beating Bollonich on the road so it isn't impossible.

That is what we must take into battle. It is not impossible. It cannot be impossible.

We've been through so much already. We can't, won't, give up now.

We've tasted the gold of the WC Finals before...now, we want to try it again.

GO JAGS!

SCHEDULE (Group 9)
MD1: vs Kyhun (310) - Salam Liljamie Stadium, Al Kalifa W 3-1 (T-2nd)
MD2: @Pasarga (15) - Stade de Torgos, somewhere in Pasarga L 0-3 (7th)
-----------------Boot It!-----------------
MD3: vs Barunia (55) - Tiankong Stadium, Tiankong W 4-1 (4th)
MD4: @Tikariot (40) - Citadel of the North, Fort Viljan L 2-3 (4th)
-----------------Boot It!-----------------
MD5: vs Schima Bas (89) - Zebra Stadium, Toropo W 2-1 (4th)
MD6: @Ziwana (232) - Ziwanicell National Stadium, Birnin-Likulu L 1-2 (4th)
-----------------Boot It!-----------------
MD7: vs Cardenao (277) - Tallawah Stadium, Port Town W 5-1 (4th)
MD8: @República Guanacasteca (137) W 4-3 (4th)
-----------------Boot It!-----------------
MD9: BYE
MD10: vs Bollonich (85) - Ke Kahua Pāʻani o Pua Aloalo, Kepu Manu L 1-3 (4th)
-----------------Boot It!-----------------
MD11: @Muralos (117) L 1-2 (4th/5W-0D-5L/15pts/+3GD)
MD12: @Kyhun (310) W 5-1 (4th)
-----------------Boot It!-----------------
MD13: vs Pasarga (15) - National Stadium, TJUN-ia City L 0-2 (4th)
MD14: @Barunia (55) - Memorial Stadium, Edwardton, Marion D 1-1 (4th)
-----------------Boot It!-----------------
MD15: vs Tikariot (40) - Beregozera Stadium, Szensky W 2-1 (4th)
MD16: @Schima Bas (89) W 4-2 (4th)
-----------------Boot It!-----------------
MD17: vs Ziwana (232) - Estadio Universidad Carlandas, Carlandas D 0-0 (4th)
MD18: @Cardenao (277) W 3-1 (4th)
-----------------Boot It!-----------------
MD19: vs República Guanacasteca (137) - Stade de la Victoire, Roi Ville W 1-0 (4th)
MD20: BYE
-----------------Boot It!-----------------
MD21: @Bollonich (85) W 1-0 (4th)
MD22: vs Muralos (117) - Estádio do Pacífico, Rio Pacífico W 5-0 (3rd/11W-2D-6L/35pts/+17GD)
---------------------------------------------
Playoff - vs Zwangzug (26/2nd in Group 3)
Leg 1 (@National Stadium, TJUN-ia City): D 0-0
Leg 2 (@Wayr Stadium, Rackham Range):

by **Zwangzug** » Tue May 31, 2022 2:49 pm

"What," said Harvey. Zwangzugians were pros of the flat what. Neha had done it herself on plenty of occasions. Some of them went so far as to be pros at being just plain flat.

Neha picked another blade of grass, in lieu of an answer. Stacey, despite the wealth associated with having a lawn as splendid as hers, did not seem to mind this.

"Well, you can't be a Zeb," Jess said. "Zebs don't speak."

"And they--they have four legs," Qiang pointed out. Neha thought it for the best to let them accumulate this collection of facts on their own.

Once a few more obvious anatomical truisms had been stated, Jess concluded, "So you can't eat the grass."

"Says who?" said Neha. "Don't knock it till you've tried it."

"Yeah, well, I don't have to try it," said Harvey. "Cause I'm not a Zeb."

"But neither is she!" Qiang blurted.

Stacey looked over at Brave-Stripe. "What do you think?"

Brave-Stripe began writing on his tablet. From her position on all fours, Neha couldn't make it out.

"He says you're being disrespectful, and you need to stop," Stacey said. That, Neha reckoned, was a Stacey translation.

"Who's being disrespectful?" said Neha, not looking up. "Some people worship the Seraphim. Some people worship the Cherubim. Some people are humans and eat wumfish. Some people are Zebs and eat grass. It's all good."

"You're..." Stacey cast about, looking for the equivalent of Spenson's Einar to supply jargon. "Zebs were here first, in the forests. You're stealing his culture, that's not right."

"I'm Namirite," Neha pointed out, "us humans were here before most other humans. But I don't have a problem with you."

"Actually," Harvey said brightly, "there's been a lot of, uh, takes recently on how we should be, like, deferential and stuff. Cause she's right, they were here first--"

"Your ancestors were cowards who fled wherevertopia rather than fight in a war," said Qiang, "just like mine, don't act like you'd know how to oppress anyone even if you tried."

"Look," said Stacey, "get up, you're embarrasing. You can't really be a Zeb."

"And if the Eternal Ones have spoken to me?" Neha asked.

"What Eternal Ones?"

"The...you know. Zeb deities." This was, of course, a complete bluff. Neha assessed the probability that Brave-Stripe would kick her in the head for such a mediocre heresy to be small compared to the other risks she was up against. "They affirm my place in the clan. Who am I to stand against them?"

"There's no such thing as Eternal Ones," said Jess. Whether she knew enough about Zebs to be confident in that or was just speaking with confidence didn't matter.

"And the archangels are different?"

"Of course they're different," Stacey said. "Jerry, tell her how they're different. Jerry?"

Out of the corner of her eye, Neha saw Brave-Stripe scribble something else; while she wasn't close enough to see that, either, she thought--hoped--it was something along the lines of You are all crazy, you know that, right?

Then he was bolting, running like a scared horse, trodding over the windblown edges of the tent. He burst through the gate and then was out in the street, another relic of the early post-consolidation years that, in the absence of automotive traffic, was now the province of bikers. A zebra, even a young and healthy one like Brave-Stripe, could not hope to get all the way to Guariday on the decaying car roads alone, but he could get very, very far before the DHA caught up with him.

The tent, carried away in the wind, flopped against the side of Stacey's house, leaving the tables below vulnerable to the wind. And the sacred wumfish, imported at great expense, was the first to go. The plate surged off the table. Stacey, with the accuracy and brilliance of an orbital-trajectory calculator, bounced to catch it. The fish flopped to the grass, and the broken shard of half a plate landed in Stacey's hand.

It was then that Neha received her follow-up text from Seven-Winds. Sorry I'm late, hooking the glyph decoder up to the phone is a hassle without opposable thumbs. What's happening?

Never mind, Neha sent. I think my work here is done.

by **Chromatika** » Tue May 31, 2022 7:47 pm

Playoff Leg 1: Zeta Reka and Hugeltaldom 1-1 Chromatika
Goal: Kruetzberg '78
Starting XI: (4-2-3-1) - Begley (C); De Saint-Pierre - Ingram - Anbient - Ighv; Zuniga - Larriet-Cortes; Kruetzberg - Hauser - Fillar, E.; Gainsbourg.
Substitutes: Ansov -> Anbient ('62), Armageddon -> Larriet-Cortes ('70), Toussaint -> Gainsbourg ('79)
MVP for Chromatika: RW Emilie Kruetzberg
Playoff Leg 2: Chromatika vs. Zeta Reka and Hugeltaldom (49) @ The Capitalizt Dome, Chromia, Capital District, Chromatika (Cap. 144,000)
Predicted Starting XI: (4-1-4-1) - Fillar, J. (C); Fillar, G. - de Aea - Anbient - Ighv; Zuniga; Wen - Hauser - Fillar, B. - Kuznetsov; Gainsbourg.
Reserves: GK Kathie Begley, GK Lorée Bautista, RB Victoire De Saint-Pierre, CB Klavida Régine, CB Moira Ansov, LB Ipati Aimée, RW Emilie Kruetzberg, DM Mare Si, DM Kaia Larriet-Cortes, AM Alissar Phoen, LW Edith Fillar, ST Hank Killian.

Perseverance.
How Chromatika Managed to Secure a Draw in Zeta Reka and Hugeltaldom to Set Up for the Showdown in the Capitalizt Dome

Ten Minutes before Kickoff - Kathie

As Kathie Begley warmed up, the intensity of the situation and the noise of the crowd surrounding her, starting LB Ha'nei Ighv jogged up to the veteran keeper with a smile on her face.

"Ready to go, KB?" asked the youngster who had won the starting Left Back spot vacated by longtime talisman Valence Ilya, "You've faced more stressful situations than this with the Shock, right?"

Kathie thought back to the moments at the end of the Red League seasons when Wirr Tsi had needed things to go a certain way to win the title. She thought back to how the team had won the last Challengers' Cup. Yes, she had been in bigger games than this on paper, but things were different when you were representing your country.

"Yes and no," she responded, "I just want to make sure that I don't hand off an untenable situation to Juxon, you know?"

The younger Ighv nodded vigorously.

"I get you. Don't worry, I'll do my damnedest to make this work. Victoire and Damon know how to play with each other, and Keira and I have this side of the field down pat. We'll be fine."

Chromatika's backup keeper smiled, thinking back to the phone conversation she had had with Juxon Fillar before the flight to Zeta Reka and Hugeltaldom.

"There's nobody else I'd rather trust this with," he had stated solemnly, "Make the most of the opportunity and put us in a good spot. I believe in you."

He had always been wiser than his age, Chromatika's Captain.

Now, she found herself leaning on those words as she gathered herself for the ordeal to come.

Their mission: Don't head back to Chromatika with a deficit. A draw would be fine - the Chromatiks' home form was something to contend with, and the squad would be at full strength for the return leg. If they somehow managed to win this leg? Even better.

Perhaps it was a bit safe to try to just avoid total disaster. After the tragic end to World Cup Qualifying in the prior World Cup, though, when Nyowani Kitara had marched into Chromatika and broke all the hearts, simple was better than grandoise.

She had no idea just how dramatic this game would be.

Fifth Minute - Victoire

There was a part of Victoire De Saint-Pierre that was still wishing that Chromatika had fielded the complete "B" team instead.

She'd gotten used to playing with them. Kathie at goal, her at right back, Ingram and Ansov in the middle, Aimée to the left. Emilie Kruetzberg to the right, Edith Fillar to the left, a combination of Mare Si, Kaia Larriet-Cortes, Alissar Phoen, and Hank Killian or Paskal Toussaint. Though they were the second string, they were a solid unit, and if she had had it her way, it would be those eleven facing the Rekans, not this hodgepodge of first and second stringers.

If it had been the second eleven, perhaps, they would've been able to overcome the pickle that they were in.

Djordjewić took the first real chance for the home team, a corner from the left side. With Iwanić being the tallest opponent, both Damon Ingram and Keira Anbient lined up on him, leaving Victoire one-on-one with Stanimir Rekawić. The kick was on target, and before Victoire could compensate, Rekawić found the hole, and had the physical strength to head in the ball. Advantage - home team. Advantage - the crowd.

While the Rekans celebrated, she jogged up to Begley, who pointed at herself to accept the blame.

"Play separate halves," Victoire stated to the other three of the back four, "You know how to play with each other, and we have experience between ourselves as well. Work in pairs, and help as needed. Kateryna will fill in where needed, all right?"

As the other three nodded, she cursed under her breath.

Things were not going according to plan.

Thirty-first Minute - Edith

The flow was completely going the Rekan way, but with both she and Emilie pinning back a little more to form almost a pseudo 4-4-1-1, they were holding, the biggest issue being that the Anomalies couldn't string together more than three passes in a row without being interrupted.

'Think, Edith, think,' she pressed as she ran back to chase down another loose ball, 'We've been through situations like this. This isn't the first time we've had to pin back. How did we handle this before?'

As she cleared the ball, Kateryna Zuniga ran by her with a curt nod. Kat would know exactly what the flow of the game was like from her position. As Edith shrugged her shoulders in a question. Zuniga made the motion of pointing at the clock, her message very clear.

Survive till halftime. Let Sybill and Hellion do the thinking. Play in the second half.

Noticing that three other players made note of the interaction, Edith nodded.

Chromatika had made a living out of strong second halves throughout the entire campaign. They'd lean on it once again.

With that being decided for her, she continued to run, free-spirited, without a care in the world.

Halftime - Sandra

When Sandra Sybill addressed the Anomalies, there wasn't an ounce of defeat in them.

What she saw, instead, was steadfast determination and purpose.

"We need to play far more narrower," she charged her players, "More short passes. Press up the field, but stay within short distance of each other so that we don't stretch it out. Use the buddy system."

"Look," continued Rachel, "We know that this isn't what you signed up for. I get that you all aren't used to playing with each other. However, we put this squad together for a reason. You can fit in to the spots that you are replacing because we chose you specifically for the task. The goal here isn't to win this game. The goal is to get out of this stadium with a draw so that we can take care of business at home."

Rachel and Sandra had discussed this on the bench. Perhaps some would say that it was bad form to say that the goal was to not lose; however, with the mountain that they were up against, stressing something that was far more likely was better.

"Play together. Play for each other. Let's get the job done."

Sixty-third Minute - Moira

She hadn't expected to be brought in this game, but it was decided by the Managerial Staff that her presence was needed.

"You know how to work with Damon better. As we press further and further up the field, we need you to shore down the back end. Can you do that?" Rachel had asked.

She'd nodded curtly, then high-fived Keira on her way out.

Working with Damon was an interesting thing. He wasn't the fastest, but he was lanky, and he had a dogged determination that was present in many a Chromatik player. As the duo started to work with Victoire and Ha'nei, she noticed that the ball was starting to cross into the Rekan half of the pitch more and more often.

"Keep going!" she egged on her teammates, "We've got this!"

That was the advantage of coming off the bench - fresh legs. The Rekans were tiring. She was good to go.

Advantage? Chromatik defense.

Seventy-seventh Minute - Emilie

The momentum was tangible.

In the last twenty minutes, the Rekans had barely sniffed the ball. Deep passes from Haley Hauser, a foray from Edith Fillar, a cross from Emilie herself - Zlatko Wukowić was being harried time and time again, and it was starting to really work.

Edith Fillar's deep cross found Alicia Gainsbourg in a dangerous spot for the Rekan defense. Instead of going for the goal herself, though, Alicia did something that the Chromatik team had really come to value in the last two cycles.

With a neat backwards kick, the ball found Emilie, with one player in front of her between her and the keeper.

A feint to the right, a sharp cut to the left, and Emilie hit the ball, low and centered, toward the lower left corner of the net.

By the time Wukowić realized what was going on, it was too late, and Emilie was celebrating with Edith and the rest of the team.

They'd fulfilled their end of the bargain.

After the Game - Kateryna

It had been a physical, draining game. After the Chromatik goal, they tried as much as they could, but the Rekans made their adjustments, trying their hardest to make sure that they wouldn't lose at home. The result was a one-one draw, with the Rekans happy that they'd held Chromatika to a draw and the Chromatiks happy to escape the away leg with the game tied.

As the waters hit her skin, Kateryna thought back to the last week. When the news of the flu outbreak first happened, the first reaction from the squad had been utter panic, followed by a cold, calm determination that had set in within the span of an hour.

Then, they'd traveled to the ZRH, and now, they were going to fly back with the chance to put the series away at home, with a chance to return back to the World Cup.

She remembered the last text that she had received from Vasiliy Marten Kuznetsov before the pre-game warmups:

Code: Select all: Keep doing what you do, and you'll be fine, and we'll be fine.

Against all odds, they'd persevered.

Now, it was time to bring it home.

Chromatika vs. Zeta Reka and Hugeltaldom - Keys to the Game
By: Jordan Lawless, Chief Football Correspondent

1. Chromatika's Home Form vs. Zeta Reka's Away Form - Advantage: Chromatika

The Anomalies were 7-3-0 during qualifying at home with 25 goals scored and 7 goals conceded, earning 24 of their 42 points at home. Those home draws were against HUElavia, Pemecutan, and Thibaea - with the draw against Thibaea being the only negative result. The Rekans, on the other hand, went 7-1-2 on the road, with 13 goals scored and 7 goals conceded, earning 22 of their 43 points on the road. With the fact that Chromatika scores so many more goals at home and the fact that the defense is more than twice as good, the return back to the Capitalizt Dome will be great for the Anomalies.

2. The Return of the Best - Advantage: Chromatika

The gamble paid off! After holding the Rekans to a draw on the away leg, the contingent of GK Juxon Fillar, RB Grayson Fillar, CB Henri de Aea, RW Wen Xhose, AM Baillaire Fillar, and LW Vasiliy Marten Kuznetsov will return to the pitch, all of them starters. Also of note is that the second stringers who played in their stead will be warmed up and ready to go if they are called upon, having played in the previous, charged match. The Rekans will now face the full might of the Cup of Harmony winning roster.

3. The Pressure - Advantage: Toss-Up

On the one hand, the Rekans have to come to Chromatika and try to beat the Anomalies in their home venue, something that not even the likes of Pemecutan and HUElavia were able to do in the height of the Qualifying Cycle. On the other, Chromatika has been burned by hosting the final game of a Qualifying Cycle in the past - take a look at how they lost to Nyowani Kitara in Tihon at the final game last cycle to even get to the Cup of Harmony. Also, there will be a mostly-Chromatik favored sold out crowd hanging onto their every move. Is that too much pressure for any team to handle? Or will they rise up to the occasion?

4. The History - Advantage: Toss-Up

Since qualifying for the World Cup in World Cup 75, the Anomalies have missed the Group Stage of the following World Cups: World Cup 82, World Cup 85, and World Cup 90. They have never missed two in a row. The Rekans, on the other hand, have never qualified. If they were to trump Chromatika at the Capitalizt Dome, it would be the first time. Will the inevitability of Chromatika's recovery win, or will the Rekan destiny finally come to pass?

5. The Pick: Chromatika

We have to go with the Anomalies here, and not just because they're the home team, the team that we support. Sandra Sybill and Rachel Hellion have navigated a rather challenging set of circumstances to set up their squad for success, and we believe that the Chromatiks will be able to see this through. In front of the crowd of 144,000, most of them home fans cheering on the black and white, the Anomalies will return to the World Cup Proper and finally catapult Sandra Sybill to the ranks of the Managers that have taken Chromatika to the big dance.

by **Yue Zhou** » Tue May 31, 2022 8:37 pm

WC91 QUALIFYING PLAYOFFS LEG ONE: Yuezhou 2 - 2 Squidroidia
Starting Lineup: Zhao; Jiawei, Yuan, Zhu, Reeve (Li J.G. 75); Li (C), Wan, Wen (Tao 59); Jiang, Liu, Huang (Luo N.W. 65)
Goals: Liu 14, Wan 73

The Dragons emerge from leg one bloodied but still firmly in contention in the tie. While a 2-2 home draw might have put the Dragons on the back foot in past years, the removal of the away goals rule is a huge boon to Yuezhou. Now, Hayabusa's team can force extra-time or penalties with a draw in Squidroidia, or win the tie outright with a win. In other words, the match has come down to the result of the return leg alone. While Yuezhou will rue letting the Inklings equalize twice after Liu Huiying's early goal and Wan Sheping's late piledriver gave the Dragons the lead, a draw is a more than fair result from a back-and-forth first contest.

The first half, despite ending 1-1, was all Yuezhou. Ken Hayabusa's team authored an absolute masterclass early in the first half, consistently keeping Squidroidia backpedaling as they sent waves of attacks into a roaring Yübao crowd. Liu Huiying, as expected, was a huge part of this, but the rest of the offense seriously showed up as well. The first goal was a work of beauty - a driving run from Li Jing, a through-ball that brought young Jiang Jieren to the sideline, a deft flick to a drifting Wen Xiaohui, who crossed the ball for Huang to square to a dive-bombing Liu. And Yuezhou maintained the lion's share of possession, threatening several times to put the tie away with a second. But they just couldn't connect, and after a potential equalizer was waved away for clear offside, it would be a defender, Bystrom, to equalize against the run of play on a corner.

Conceding just at the end of such a strong start, and going back to where they started, meant it would be the Dragons who started the second half flat. To Yübao's dismay, they nearly conceded to the talismanic Sho Ito in the forty-ninth minute, being bailed out by a touch save from the defiant Zhao Deliang. Squidroidia continued to push for the lead, but Hayabusa's 4-3-3 showed a bit of the old counterattacking Dragon spirit as they held firm. It would be Wan Sheping, against all odds, to break through - after a counterattack forced Squidroidia to drop back, Liu Huiying collected and sent the ball back to Wan - who, finding himself left open, thundered the ball into the corner to make it, against all odds, 2-1. While the lead wouldn't hold, with the captain Hideo equalizing, Yuezhou showed enough fight to keep themselves in the tie - but if they can't execute on the road, they may rue their missed chances in the first half.

WC91 QUALIFYING PLAYOFFS LEG TWO - STARTING LINEUP: (4-3-3) ZHAO Deliang; JIAWEI Chuan, LI Jianguo, YUAN Mingrong, ZHU Aiguo; LI Jing (C), WAN Sheping, WEN Xiaohui; JIANG Jieren, LIU Huiying, HUANG Shedong

Zhuang Weilun had been a nobody in the Yue Parliament a few years ago. He'd been one of just ten Liberation Army MPs elected in the first Yue general election, which Wu Zhongsheng's centrist National Union had thoroughly swept. And of the ten, in a party that openly did not give a shit about foreign policy, he'd been one of the few to recognize that Liberation Army could define themselves more clearly on that particular axis. Not that that'd led to anything in Wu's first five-year term, as National Union did whatever they wanted and barely even paid lip service to anything the minority parties said. But he'd at least caught Liang Ziyou's eye enough to become the Shadow Minister for Foreign Affairs after "The Army" picked up forty-five seats in their second election.

Zhuang wasn't your average Liberation Army MP, either. He hadn't fought in the war, owing to a slight limp that came from a high school motor accident. In fact, he'd been a professor in a past life, although he'd repeatedly fallen afoul of the People's Federation for his unorthodox teachings. But he still believed in a strong Yue state's ability to transcend regional divisions, and the need for self-determination and security in Pavolan affairs and the right-wingers were the only party that really did that for him. So, the route that he'd chosen had ended up taking him to Liang Ziyou's side as the right-wing leader suddenly realized that the next election would be defined by foreign policy.

"You know," he was saying now, "Wu conceding on Article 6 at least gets Euran recognition over the line. And it's not like Muhoozi Kulan isn't going to give us what we want anyway. We come out of this looking like we compromised, while getting our exact demands - it's not a bad position."

"No," party leader and self-proclaimed next Yue president Liang Ziyou replied, "Wu gets what he wants. If Eura is wholeheartedly supporting his policies, then they are insufficiently bold. We need to present an alternative choice to the people of Yuezhou."

"It'd have to be a security angle," Zhuang mused. "Of course, Eura said that they found no Kitaran government involvement, but maybe-"

"Eura said it? The government that propped up the Akongo kleptocracy against the brave freedom fighters led by, ah, the brave Malik? Why should we trust them to keep the peace in this region? They clearly want to keep us divided, and weak, so that they can come in and have all of Rushmore for themselves. And for the response to be based out of the naval base that they bought off of Pavolans - the situation is untenable."

"Wu believes Eura, and so does basically everyone else. They have a vested interest in, er, hunting down communists as well, Samebans." Seeing Liang's face go blank, he reluctantly offered an explanation. "It's, uh, a nation that has recently been integrated into Eura proper. There was a referendum, and...well, there were a lot of socialist Sameban fighters who sought refuge in Nyowani Kitara, as the ex-YPAs have. So Eura's interests are aligned with us here. And besides, they're done covering up for Nafuna, especially with her out of power."

Liang pouted. "Well, okay. But the fact remains that we remain under threat, nay, under active siege from the communist infiltrators! And until we hunt down all the YPA and ensure they pay for what they have done, the Yue people will remain simpering and terrified! Wu Zhongsheng dares negotiate with the same nation that harbors the terrorists? Well, then, our peacekeepers will ensure that peace is kept by any means!"

"Okay, so substantively, we can try to bring the other Pavolans into the initiatives that Eura is proposing, and we can try to push for increased IFPNK involvement in the plan. We can get a commitment from Kulan to not interfere with us bringing any ex-YPAs to justice, which Wu hasn't committed to yet, and push the envelope more than National Union have. But these are some pretty subtle policy changes, so the messaging-"

"-The messaging is simple! We will drown the communist scum in their own blood! We will not stop until the threat to the Yue people is utterly extinguished! And while we will work with Eura, or Nyowani Kitara, we will not let them stand in our way!"

why do you talk like that? we're from beian, Zhuang thought, but did not interrupt. As long as the policy behind the messages were his to control, it didn't really matter what Liang said, he mused. But although he ignored it, there was a small voice at the back of his head that pleaded for him to do something to stop Liang Ziyou while he still could...

by **Zeta Reka and Hugeltaldom** » Wed Jun 01, 2022 1:57 am

RekanSport
World Cup 91; A Chromian Climax Approaches
By Xaver Lulling

A drawn game puts the Rekan team in a difficult situation before the final qualifying fixture. Could glory and honor be secured for Rekan boss Lu Jialan, captain Bogdan Rawić, the whole side playing for a win, and the millions of Rekans waiting for a result? The results won't be known for days, all that is known tonight is that Zeta Reka and Chromatika are in a dead heat.

RekanSport Poll
Who Will Win?
Zeta Reka
............. 42.2%
Chromatika
....... 24.1%
It's a draw
....... 22.9%
I don't know
... 10.8%
Total
.............................. 100%
438,625 votes, daily poll One day ago

Players and fans alike roamed into the sold out National Sports Complex for the stadium's biggest game ever. The away side were Chromatika's Anomalies, who finished second in a group with World Cup 90 runners up Pemecutan. Chromatika was ravaged by a contagion, and thus used both top players and secondary options. Tonight The Anomalies were built unsystematically, but had class talent. Three of RekaTV's four analysts predicted a Chromatika win or adraw.

Zeta Reka wound won twenty four points in the prior ten games. The points put Zeta Reka past former world champs Audioslavia and lower pot country Soldera. With Fenstermacher Schwarzhammer injured, and Tim Ulrich on the bench, different attackers had to be shuffled in. Marko Zup was in midfield and had years of experience against Chromatika's footballing ways. Former first choice striker Arnald Gal would play again with star captain Bogdan Rawć.

Both Zeta Reka and Chromatika's narratives for this world cup could have ended underneath Aleiusia's clear sky. Fate had other plans. The game was an exciting stalemate. Heroics were aplenty, but in the end both sides stood even.

RekanSport Statbox
World Cup 91, Playoffs, Leg 1
Zeta Reka and Hügeltaldom 1-1 Chromatika
ZRH: Rekawić 5'
CMT: Larriet-Cortes 78'
Zeta Reka and Hügeltaldom
Starters: Wukowić — Djordjewić, Iwanić, Gabrielstein, Mauer, Igorić — Branić, Rekawić, Zup — Gal, Rawić (c)
Substitutes: Branić (DM) -> Bratić (DM) (57'), Gal (FW) -> Osanyinleye (FW) (65'), Gabrielstein (CB) -> Wlad Wlad (CB) (80')
Chromatika
Starters: Begley (c) – De Saint-Pierre, Ingram, Anbient, Ighv — Zuniga, Larriet-Cortes — Kruetzberg, Hauser, E. Fillar — Gainsbourg
Substitutes: Anbient (CB) -> Ansov (CB) (62'), Larriet-Cortes (MF) -> Armageddon (MF) (70'), Gainsbourg (FW) -> Toussaint (FW) (79')

Zeta Reka scored five minutes into their biggest World Cup match to date. Djordjewić kicked the ball out in the corner. Cromatika are a tall side, and worked over Yousef Iwanić. The hole for Zeta Reka to score was carved by Stanimir Rekawić of Zenith side Coret Hawks. Rekawić had physical strength to make room and head the ball. The sold out National Sports Complex roared with approval. The Rekan goal was the only goal of the half. Chromatika's formation was absorbing most counter attempts. Marko Zup broke past the double pivot on a dribble. Kathie Begley saved the ball with a leap in what was likely not Zup or Begley's first encounter. One counter attack saw the ball float into open space, where Gal caught possession. Gal's shot sadly smacked the post. In injury time Rekawić shot from range but his double was denied by Begley's next great play. In the end the Rekan Mantis had a lead over Chromatika's Anomalies, but a slim one. The Rekans all walked off the pitch with confidence however for had never come this close to glory in years past.

Facing a lot of pressure from Chromatika, Nikola Branić was subbed out in the game's first change. Ena Bratić had vigor, but it was hard in the second half to win the ball. Additionally, the away side had wings and fullbacks, which meant Zeta Reka's wingbacks had a long night. Both flank players to their credit were consistent for the full game and Djordjewić even collected the second highest technical score according to RekaTV's game analytics. When Chromatika got a new center back into the game, Rawić moved forward and Olu Osanyinleye was brought on in place of a tired Arnald Gal. Chromatika would equalize with twelve minuites of regular time remaining. Alicia Gainsbourg had been marked, and Kruetzberg found an opening that came with a nice shot. Manger Sandra Sybill quickly changed horses up front. Paskal Toussaint was smaller than Gainsbourg, and had a slick way of playing. Paskal normally was a second striker but was far forward tonight. Lu Jialan brought former captain Wlad Wlad onto the pitch, and he made the central defense both more sizable and more solid in the closing minutes. It was just enough to live.

RekanSport Minibox

World Cup Playoffs; Leg 1

Astograth      2–1  Hapilopper
Yuezhou        2–2  Squidroidia
Cabo Azure     0–1  Vilita
Brookstation   0–2  Nyowani Kitara
Srednjaci      3–3  Mytanija
Trolleborg     1–2  Sarzonia
TJUN-ia        0–0  Zwangzug
Juvencus       2–2  Saint Eleanor
Delaclava      2–4  Eura
Cordian Isles  1–3  Turori
Krytenia       3–4  Jeruselem
ZR&H           1–1  Chromatika
Savigliane     4–3  Tikariot
Electrum       0–0  Squornshelan RS
Tumbra         3–0  Valentine Z

Post match commentary gave a mixed reception. Iwo Matijk, a former Aleiusia Capital club legend, was critical of Capital's Tim Ulrich not being brought on, “Wlad Wlad coming on was a concession of victory,” Matijk said in RekaTV's post game show. Sitting beside Matijk was sportswriter Djoko Weljkowić. Weljkowić disagreed with Matijk's objection, finding the decision to bring on Wald Wald was “shrewd and effective,” and further explaining that, “Toussaint was brought in when Chromatika were the ones doing well. Wukowić was a hero with his saves in the final twenty minutes of the game, but he needed breaks. Wlad Wlad bought some time. He kept our collective hopes alive, and was necessary tonight.”

“I am not unhappy with the game,” Lu Jialan said in the post match press conference, “You can't be unhappy when we played great. I am however displeased with how our lead disappeared. I'm not going to expound on it all here, I have talked with the team. We understand our issues and will now get ready for whatever happens in Chromatika.” Jialan also stood by his substitutions in the match and declined to comment on if Fen Schwartzhammer would play in the return leg, “Our opponents are coached well,” Jialan explained, “You can't reveal those things – rosters – You keep quiet if you want to help a second country qualify.” Jialan did not avoid mentioning Tim Ulrich and hinted Ulrich would be at Chromatika's Capitalzt Dome.

Players unavailable for Leg Two

Name              Pos  Reason
Wukan Ogrovenić   GK   Arm injury
Nikola Branić     MF   Card Accumulation
Danica Wultz      MF   Arm injury
Nenad Mihajlowić  FW   Thigh injury

Team captain Bogdan Rawić fielded questions about his performance. When asked by a journalist from Anaia about playing in Chromia, the Rekan Captain said, “I think we're as ready for the Capitalizt Dome as they were for our crown jewel. They have a good record at home, but we've not lost in four games.” Zeta Reka's own press was able to ask about who Rawić would want to play with against The Anomalies, chiefly if he would want Fen Schwartzhammer back in the squad. Rawić was quick to answer, “I really couldn't pick my teammates. Fen is a different player than the others, and he's got a lot of strengths. If Fen's healthy, the coach can choose what happens.”

RekanSport Top 6:
World Cup 91; A Chromian Climax Approaches Special Free Article
Basketball Scoring Record Broken
Audio: Rekan Lock Room Excited After First Half
Rekan NT Player Linked with Atlantean Club?
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by **Nyowani Kitara** » Wed Jun 01, 2022 5:37 am

President-Elect Kulan, sits at the UPF headquarters in Dewayo

Muhoozi Kulan was in what many would call a waiting game. The UPF had won the election, and they were still in ongoing negotations with the JVV on how, exactly, to form a coalition that would run the Government. The President-Elect's team, with Susan Ounda's negotiators, were fairly close, but were not quite there yet. Kulan had gotten the bad news just yesterday. "While we're gonna probably reach a deal, it'll probably happen right after our second leg with Brookstation." One of his negotiators said, referring to the World Cup Qualification Playoffs. He had wanted to go to that second leg as the President, rather than the President-Elect. He wouldn't get that, but ultimately, it didn't really matter much- it was a matter of when, not if, Kulan was going to be sworn in as the President of this Democratic Republic.

Probably not a bad thing, anyways, to sprint straight into office like most Parliamentary democracies. Gave him time to prepare, gave them time for a miniature transition period. The task ahead of him, of course, was vast. How to de-Akongofy the state apparatus? That, of course, was the biggest question. What to focus on first, of course, were the sticking points in the negotiations. Muhoozi Kulan and Susan Ounda would attend them both directly, tomorrow, right before the game, in hopes of the leaders showing up themselves being able to bring the parties to an agreement.

One of the things he had to focus on, of course, was repairing Nyowani Kitara's foreign affairs. It was a disastrous mess thanks to Nafuna Akongo, with relations bordering on poisonous with basically all of our Pavolan neighbors, and then her own Government propped up by a Nepharan-Euran alliance. With a letter on his desk from the Prime Minister, he decided to write a response to Bastion, and then send another letter to Nyowani Kitara's northern neighbor.

He wanted to write the United Republics as well, but he was counseled by his own advisors that, while Coalition negotiations were ongoing, it'd be inappropriate for him to conduct foreign policy with a nation that Nyowani Kitara was in open dispute with.

The President-Elect then sat down and wrote a direct response to the Euran Prime Minister.

To: Evan Barham, PRIME MINISTER of Eura

Mr. Prime Minister,

I thank you for your congratulations. You are indeed correct that this is a new, seminal day for the people of Nyowani Kitara. We have been denied our right at a truly representative and democratic Government for a long time, and to finally achieve it, in this day and age, is absolutely a blessing. I am both excited for this opportunity, and feel a deep sense of honor and humility for being entrusted with this role by the people of Nyowani Kitara. There will surely be our ups and downs, but the future has never looked brighter for this great nation.

I certainly remember your opposition to the Euran government's near blanket support of the President, and that is noted. I was a mere civilian who was a refugee throughout the war, and my feelings about the President, her party, her father and uncle, and most importantly, her Government, are both strong and publicly noted. While those obviously remain, I understand, from a foreign policy perspective, that the outbreak, nature, and brutality of civil war means that people are sometimes, frankly, faced with a set of bad options. I believe that the Nephara and Euran legacy in this country will be not one of propping up a despotic regime, but helping deliver a true democracy from the depths of civil war and despair.

We appreciate your willingness to strengthen Euran-Kitaran relations, regardless of who is in power. Obviously, we both opposed President Akongo when out of power, and yet, while she was at the foundation of the Euran-Kitaran relationship, it is a relationship that can go beyond simple personalities. Nyowani Kitara does firmly need to re-built in many ways, and so the continuation of the Ian Smith Fund, alongside the establishment of this democratic Government, is something that we consider a positive for Nyowani Kitara-Euran relations.

Unfortunately, I do not want to speak on any specific issues, as coalition negotiations are still ongoing on my end. But rest assured, the "Elect" part of my title will be dropped within the coming days. Let it be known, however, that any Government I lead will be firmly committed to multi-laterism, and full cooperation with Nephara, Eura, and our Pavolan neighbors. I believe that the Namboole military base can be a positive for the neighborhood in general and our country specifically, and also believe that long-term Euran and Nepharan cooperation in this part of Rushmore is in everybody's best interests.

I hope to speak with you soon!

From,

s/ Muhoozi Kulan
President-Elect of Nyowani Kitara

To: Kaija Michaelsdóttir, Prime Minister of Græntfjall

Prime Minister Michaelsdóttir,

I write to you, today, with only an "elect" in my title, yes, but at the start of a new dawn for Nyowani Kitara. I would like to thank you, of course, for your steadfast support of the people of Nyowani Kitara throughout the war. Even under heavy rhetorical pressure from President Akongo, your Government stood for the human rights of Kitarans, and that is much appreciated. I, of course, was a beneficiary of your generous refugee policy, allowing over a million Kitarans to settle in the White Winter Queendom during the war. That is the type of generosity and support that can never be re-paid.

Like said above, in a few days, I will drop the "elect" from my title. I want to mark a reset of toxic relations between Nyowani Kitara and much of our Pavolan partners, particularly Græntfjall and the UR. While, due to diplomatic protocol, I have to wait in regards to the UR, we can start a reset here between our nations now. To open an olive branch, once I assume the reigns of power in Dewayo, we will request that the former DFLK office in your capitol be transferred to Nyowani Kitara sovereignty, which will serve our nation's Embassy to Græntfjall. Furthermore, your nation will be invited to open an Embassy in Dewayo, to mark the new positive establishment of northern and southern neighbors.

Your thoughts?

From,

s/ Muhoozi Kulan
President-Elect of Nyowani Kitara

And while the President, due to his advisors, did not write to the United Republics, he made his intentions clear on everybody's favorite social media platform....

@UPF Coalition negotiations going well with the JVV! Confident that we will, soon, form a stable, majority coalition Government, that will be of, by, and for, the people of Nyowani Kitara. One of the first things any UPF Government will do in office is bring sense to our Foreign Policy, and finally recognize the United Republics as the legitimate government of Yuezhou.

@JVV Democracy is hard, folks! We're not going to negotiate with a war criminal like Nafuna Akongo, just to get into power. These coalition negotiations take some time, but we are ensuring that a main priority for this Government will be bringing justice to all victims of this Civil War. That's the only way we can re-build and move forward.

by **Electrum** » Wed Jun 01, 2022 6:36 am

The Turnip: SRSLY!
by Billiam Maskey, chief-editor-in-chief

There is one more match and this interminable, incessant Cup of Harmony qualifying will be over. On the twenty-fourth matchday (could you imagine if we had to write an article for each of those matchdays?!) we will face the Totally Serious nation of Squornshelan Remnant States. Or SRS. Yes that's right. We're deadly SRS. This is SRS BSNS (Squornshelan Remnant States' Ball Slash Noisy Shindig and not 'serious business').

In fact, before the interwebs decided SRS meant 'serious' it actually meant one of the world's most favouritest nation, the Squornshelan Remnant States, a nation name that inspires a ton of confidence and totally does not signal abandoned stadiums or a non-existent government. Anyways, the point is, the name of these acronyms and initialisms has changed over the years and you zoomers are ruining our language. To get back to your roots we have translated some of the web's most popular acronyms, initialisms, unicode characters and emojis back to its original meaning gosh! OMG!

TTYL - The Turnip's Yelling Later
FWIW - Fart While I Win
TGIF - Thankfully Godzilla's In Farfadillis
PFP - Please Fax Peepees
ROFL - Rice Only For Licentians
STFU - Saintland's The Fuck Up
LMK - Leeks Match Kale
TBH - Tummy Belly Hurts
RN - Ring Nan
BRB - Boorish Rude Boomers
BTW - Breathe Twice Worry
E - Electrum (not Ecstasy)
LOL - Live, Obliterate, Love
GOAT - Gently Opine About Ten Thousand and Ninety Three
OOC - Out Of Cheese
IC - In Cheese
HMU - Help Margaret Unravel
IMO - I Made Omelettes
IDK - Ignorance Does Keep
TBA - The Big Asshole
ILY - I Like Yogurt
WFH - White Fairies are Hypersensitive
VPN - Veal Piccata Now
PC - Peel Carrots
POC - Peel Orange Carrots
COH - Champions Of Heroes
WC - Weird Competition
RP - Repulsive Paragraphs
IT - Interminable Tournament
SRS - Squornshelan Remnant States or Save Redditor's Souls

by **Sarzonia** » Wed Jun 01, 2022 7:09 am

What goes on in the mind of a one-time reserve who's suddenly thrust onto the stage as a starter in arguably the most important match of his team's qualifying campaign?

Trent Woodson went from being the understudy to Carlton Sandt and then one of two reserve goalkeepers as Paolo Gomes returned from a torn ACL to suddenly earning the starting nod against Trolleborg.

Sure, he'd started matches before, but his starts were usually well into qualifying. There was no illusion that Woodson was being given a start for no other reason than to give Sandt a breather. It wasn't a role he wanted. It wasn't something he liked, but for the sake of the team, he did it.

But now, with a craptastic performance by Sandt in the World Cup qualifying finale against Cassadaigua, he was being given the opportunity. It was his chance to shine, and he did just that in the first leg, away to Trolleborg. He could feel his confidence rising with every save, and he could sense the team's confidence in him growing exponentially as he made that spectacular save on Torgeir Berglund in the 87th minute. He felt the special validation that came from Sandt being the first off the players' bench to congratulate him.

And now, he was getting this opportunity at home, in front of a packed house at Dave Wilson Stadium in Woodstock. A win or a draw would send the Stars through to the World Cup proper for the first time in five attempts, since Sarzonia did not field a team during World Cup 87 qualifying. A one-goal defeat would force extra time and possibly penalties, that bane of Krytie existence. A loss by two or more goals would consign the Stars to the Cup of Harmony and would raise questions among the supporter base regarding the future of manager Nathan Hanifer. Woodson knew Hanifer was taking a huge gamble by starting him, even over the more experienced Gomes, who by now was match fit, and the veteran Sandt.

But Hanifer had decided that if he was going to go out, he was going to go out his way. He would start Woodson in the most important match the young goalie ever played. He would substitute whom he needed to when he needed to, and there was nothing anyone in the Incorporated Football Federation was going to say about it. He was aware that Zack Wilson preferred Sandt. He was aware of a couple of Board of Governors members who rather fancied Gomes and the majority who quite pointedly lobbied for Sandt. But Hanifer had his mind made up. If Sarzonia was going to succeed or fail, it would be on Woodson. And as manager, he was willing to take that fall.

As for Woodson, he had a fitful night's sleep on the eve of his biggest match in his life. He was comfortable in the hotel bed the team was staying in near the stadium, but he had thoughts about the scouting report on Trolleborg's offence. He had visions of walking out of the tunnel in front of over 105,000 fans at home, of the butterflies he knew he'd feel when the blazing guitars of the Sarzonian national anthem began playing before the match. He'd received a text just before he went to bed that contributed to his jitters. The President will be attending.

Grant Haffner would make the trip from the Gray House to Dave Wilson Stadium to watch the team play its most important match in quite a while. And Woodson knew what that meant.

World Cup 91 [roleplays]

World Cup 91 MD21-22

Match report: Kandorith 3-2 Saint Eleanor

Boot It!: The Turnaround Is Complete Before The War

Match report: Juvencus 2-2 Saint Eleanor

Boot It!: Playoff III, 1st Leg - The Stalemate

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