RTC Under-18 World Cup 17 [rosters/RPs/results]

by **Tumbra** » Tue Aug 16, 2022 9:21 am

Tumbra 2-2 Baker Park

TMB (4-2-3-1): 1 - Scott; 2 - Boullogne (18 - Tate, 62'), 4 - Sears (14 - Connolly, 75'), 20 - Edmonds, 3 - McReary; 6 - Hovhannisyan (16 - Searle, 62'), 8 - Makeba, 10 - de Vries (25 - Sváfnisson, 75'); 7 - Frecklington, 9 - Hoffman; 11 - Starling (26 - Elliot, 82')

TMB scorers: Lynette Frecklington (18'), Jean Starling (39')

Player of the Match: Angela Makeba [TMB]

FEDERAL ELECTION 2029: REDUX
largely follows the structure of this rp because i am creatively bankrupt

THE BIG PICTURE

.           LNP  LAB  ALL  MOD  SDP  CON  TOT
North-East   68   99   22    3            192
North-West   80   49    4    3         1  137
Central      72   51   18    1            142
South-East   42   45    7    2    3    1  100
South-West   56   14    6    3             79
Totals      318  258   57   12    3    2  650

THE HEADLINES

Broadsheets

The Couno Herald: Six-Month Stalemate Broken As Liberals Eke Out Victory
Williams to form government with Moderate support ◆ Alliance break through but held back by electoral system ◆ Kirkland to resign as Labour leader

The Serrapince Post: "Now Is The Time For Decisive Action" Says Prime-Minister Elect
Boyd confirms Moderate support for Williams ◉ Victory to end six months of government inaction ◉ Alliance achieve best result for third-party since 1906

The Straton Times: Williams Brings End To Decade-Long Labour Government; Promises "Decisive Action"
International Dev't ministry may survive ✦ Andrews, Campbell seen as possible Labour leadership contenders ✦ Alliance flip Roncaster in surprise victory

The Kingsbury Tribune: "No Time To Waste" On Issues of Economy, Northlands, Jabal Akhdar
87% turnout marks lowest since compulsory voting introduced ✯ Moderates likely to be given Cabinet position ✯ Williams to name Cabinet on Monday

The Millsburgh Chronicle: The West Stays Blue
Comment: With power comes a responsibility to deliver for the West ⬤ Williams, Cabinet likely to be sworn in Tuesday ⬤ Moderates regain Ridgewell Woodleigh in shock victory

The Bencoolen Globe: Bencoolen Goes Green
Alliance sweep all six Bencoolen seats ▣ Granger calls for electoral reform in victory speech ▣ Questions remain over whether Alliance obstinacy led to Liberal government

Tabloids

The National Enquirer: WE ARE DOOMED
Eight Seats Flip; Enough To Give Libs Majority ◆ Here's What Will Happen To Tumbra ◆ Alliance To Blame For This

The Hawk: CELEBRATE! THE LIGHTS ARE TO STAY ON
TUMBRA SAVED AT LAST ∎ VOTERS REJECT SOCIALISTS, EMBRACE FREEDOM ∎ NOW THINGS WILL FINALLY WORK AGAIN

The Daily Star: "I DIDN'T CHEAT ON SAM" SAYS LUCY BRIGHAM
BingBong Star Starts Racy XclusivMe Account ★ Finney On Verge Of Huge Transfer To Serrapince ★ Hertel Seen Partying In Couno ★ Yoko Asamiya To Tour Tumbra; Really Means Couno, Straton And Lakewood

THE BIG STORY

From the Tumbran Broadcasting Corporation

STRATON — IT may have taken two elections, and he still finds himself without a majority in Parliament; but Stephen Williams will become the 32nd Prime Minister of Tumbra after the Liberal/National coalition won 318 seats on Saturday. With support from the centrist Moderate Party confirmed a few hours after the result became apparent, Williams proclaimed victory to a packed crowd in Millsburgh.

"After six months of politicking and twelve years under a Labour government, Tumbra will finally be able to move again," said the Prime Minister-elect. "Now is the time for decisive action; we have no time to waste on the issues of the day that confront us." Williams is expected to be sworn into office on Tuesday after a parliamentary vote of confidence. His government will have to battle inflation, which has put a brake on continued economic growth; as well as continuing the program to expand Tumbra's borders in the Northlands. Geopolitically, he will have to balance ties between Atlantian Oceania and Rushmori power Graentfjall; with the latter nation having embarked on a bombing campaign in the desert nation of Jabal Akhdar. Williams is, however, widely expected to declare support for the Pavloan nation, which might ruffle feathers both in Oceania and closer to home.

His opposite number, Prime Minister Michael Kirkland, conceded defeat early in the night when it became clear that Labour had no path to a majority. In his concession speech, he thanked the party faithful for their support; and announced his intention to step down as Labour leader with immediate effect. The current deputy leader of the Labour Party, Bertram Andrews, will take over as interim leader; and speculation that he will run for the leadership is rife. Other contenders include the Minister for Commerce and youngest-ever full Minister, Sandra Campbell; and the former Home Affairs Minister, Hugh Whittaker, who was defeated in his constituency of Strand in April but re-entered Parliament as the MP for Franport Lusidel.

The biggest winner of the night, however, turned out to be the Progressive-Green Alliance; which gained seventeen seats, most of them from Labour, and won a fifth of the popular vote. Cressida Granger, the leader of the Alliance, spoke in Bencoolen; proclaiming that this was "the first step in the road to Straton," and that this result set a "firm benchmark" for future performances by the Alliance. In a campaign that was more low-key than April's and had much less attention paid to it, Granger's calls for an end to the hostilities in the Northlands drew attention to the party amongst young people; and in exit polls, 33% of voters aged 18-24 said they had voted for the Alliance.

Yet there were also calls for reform; Granger in particular called for electoral reform after her party won a fifth of the vote and only a tenth of the seats available in Parliament. Electoral reform is set to become a topic of discussion in the 50th Parliament, thanks to the furore over the Conservative Party; and she pledged that reforming the voting system in the House of Representatives would be the Alliance's top priority in those discussions over the Constitution.

In what was possibly a matter of concern for some, voting turnout dipped by five points to just 87%; the lowest since compulsory voting was introduced in 1906. Professor Martin Richardson of the National University of Tumbra, speaking during the Tumbran Broadcasting Corporation's election coverage, however, stated that this was no cause for worry. "I think that given four years, those that stayed home today will return to the polls. What we're seeing tonight is more people being burned out by the constant noise of politics; and they've chosen to tune out entirely by not voting. I am fairly confident, given that this Parliament serves its full four-year term, that turnout will increase again next election."

One thing that stayed constant throughout, however, was the number of community events at polling booths; the hashtag #PetsAtPollingPlaces was trending on twii.tur throughout Polling Day, while each of the major party leaders were spotted enjoying food at community-run stalls selling food and drinks.

"Regardless of who wins, at least I'll always have my dog and democracy sausage," said twii.tur user @kevjones05.

THE MAPS

ISideWith UK · by **Eastfield Lodge** » Tue Aug 16, 2022 1:27 pm

(OOC: Geektopia formation and tactics taken from IAC roster)

Geektopia line-up

GK: Player 1
RB: Player 2 (<> Player 14 64’)
CB: Player 3 (<> Player 16 79’)
LB: Player 4
RMF: Player 5 (<> Player 15 64’)
CMF: Player 6 (<> Player 13 45’)
CMF: Player 7
LMF: Player 8
RWF: Player 9
LWF: Player 10 (<> Player 12 45’)
ST: Player 11

Eastfield Lodge line-up

GK: Yuvin O'Sullivan
RB: Francille Durelli
CB: Diana Kirkup
CB: Lynne Taelyn-Whitehead
LB: Firhan Kang
DMF: Amaan Lefort (<> Sturwart Nairne 64’)
DMF: Reymundo Meogegiv
RMF: Boet Caceres
LMF: Daisi Hackett (<> Allaire Delaware-Mahmud 82’)
AMF: Chavez Rodgers
ST: Abla Marcial (<> Jenson Ayub-Auditore 75’)

U18 World Cup 17 Group H - Matchday 1
Geektopia 1–5 Eastfield Lodge
Player 9 (68’); Marcial (12’, 37’), Rodgers (32’),
Caceres (54’), Nairne (p 79’)

31% - Possession - 69%
3 - Shots - 19
2 - Shots on Target - 9
3 - Corners - 8
10 - Fouls - 7

Location: Braggsville City Arena, Braggsville, The Arcatas, Gortolekua
Attendance: 12,496

A debut appearance for the Eastfield Lodge U18 squad in the Under-18 World Cup starts off with a statement victory against Geektopia, the Rushmori side sealing the tie with three first half goals to lead the group.

The U18 World Cup was a way of rejuvenating international Eastfielder football, which for decades has been the butt of many jokes across the multiversal footballing community. A way to build up tournament experience so that those who do progress to the national team aren’t caught completely in the cold by all the travel and the vastly different playstyles. The Imperial Commonwealth have previously featured in the U17 Campeonato Rushmori Juvenil, albeit multiple decades previously, and ended up missing their application to the latest edition as part of the build-up to this event - nonetheless, the coaching team, headed by former international Toby Callahan, felt that their preparation has been a success. Geektopia on paper presented a stern opening test for the young Eastfielder side, as the Geektopian senior side recently made the semi-finals of the Independents Cup and are currently ranked 52 places above the Imperial Commonwealth in the WCC rankings - however, it is worth noting the other two teams in the group are ranked even higher.

Whatever the form book stated should happen in the match went out of the window early on, as Eastfield Lodge countered the Geektopian attacking press system with ease, Chavez Rodgers rifling a lot shot into the side netting from the edge of the box early on from a counter-attack, before Abla Marcial forced a top drawer save with a looping deflected effort - little reprieve for Geektopia as she headed home the resulting corner, meeting Boet Caceres’ whipped cross at the near post completely unmarked. Caceres should have made it two just a few minutes later, Rodgers playing an immaculate through ball which Caceres took one touch too many on before his effort was easily smothered. The Geektopian side did have a shot on target in the first half, with their striker forcing Yuvin O’Sullivan to palm a long range effort around the post, but it was mostly one-way traffic in the first half, and that was cemented after the half-hour mark when Rodgers neatly finished a pullback from Marcial, the two then swapping positions just five minutes as the Farond native grabbed her second goal of the game. She could have had a hat-trick on the stroke of half-time, again losing her marker at a corner before pinging a headed corner off the top of the bar.

The second half saw Geektopia bring on a couple of new players, but it did little to change the flow of the match, with the Imperial Commonwealth still very much in control of the flow of play - a point that was rammed home when Caceres secured victory with the match’s fourth goal, following up on the rebound after Daisi Hackett danced through the Geektopian defence and forced the keeper into pushing her low shot onto the post. Hackett could have gotten herself on the scoresheet again a few minutes later, pouncing on a wayward backpass from one of the Geektopian substitutes and rounding the keeper, only for her acute angle shot to be cleared off the line by the recovering centre back. A slight glimmer of hope turned up for the losing side only minutes afterwards, as the winger curled home a 25 yard free kick from left of centre after Francille Durelli tripped up the overlapping wide midfielder. Nonetheless, it didn’t spark anything resembling a comeback, with Eastfield Lodge continuing to hold the ball and control the play, and with just over ten minutes to play Firhan Kang was tripped up just inside the edge of the box, attempting to reach a through ball. The penalty was tucked away by substitute Sturwart Nairne for his first of the tournament, Marcial denied the hat-trick by having been taken off minutes earlier.

Geektopia offered little further of note in the match, and the young Eastfielder side were content to see out the match at 5-1, securing the biggest win of the opening matches in the group stages, and with the match between HUElavia and Quebec ending in a draw, a place at the top of the group. Quebec will be this team’s next opponents in a few days, and a win would see the Imperial Commonwealth comfortably through to the Round of 16, which prior to the start of the tournament would have been seen as a good result. Given today’s dominant victory, the question must be asked, can they continue as they have started?

Line-up to play Independent Athletes of Quebec: Starting XI
Suspended: N/A
Injured: N/A

World Cup 81/82/83/84

© Sporting Times Daily 2022
Junior Bees battle back to earn point with Egrets
by Fiona Devlin, National Soccer Writer

A strong second half performance allowed the Commonwealth Under-18 National Team to battle from a two goal deficit to earn a point against Tumbra in the opening match in Gortolekua.

The 2-2 draw was the classic tale of two halves as the three time semi-finalists controlled the opening 45 minutes, Black Egrets midfielder Lynette Frecklington opening the scoring with a clinical finish that beat Mitch Longstreet with 18 minutes gone.

BP began to pull themselves back into the match after a a shaky start, with Stacy Johns firing over from 20 yards and Becky Shock heading over the bar from the only Baker Park corner of the half; Peter Newbury was whistled for a handball that gave the Tumbrans a chance to lineup a free kick, and while Longstreet read the flight of the ball correctly, he couldn't get both gloves around the ball, leading to a pinball effect inside the box which Jean Starling knocked in with 5 minutes left before the break.

Manager Danielle Harper made two changes to start the second half, bringing Linette Gonzales on for her much anticipated debut in place of Jones, and Kelly Delacroix for Jeremy Sueleman to jumpstart the midfield; the Bees looked more confident which translated to fewer unforced errors and more possession in the attacking third which saw several half decent scoring chances from the white shirted side.

As the hour mark arrived, it was a neat trio combination that got BP on the board, as Jake Ludwig, Gonzales and Tina Axelrod connected on about a dozen short triangles to open space for the 16 year old Lima City United trainee, who found Cornelius Boyle running into a gap and he made no mistake with his finish. Game on with 30 minutes to go and Tumbra made a double switch to get fresher legs on the left side.

Shock came off for Anthony Dixon as Delacroix moved to the front and Gonzales took up the supporting role linking the midfield and forwards; Harper wanted the screws turned tighter and the press paid off when Boyle intercepted a poor clearance, sent the ball to Dixon who found an unmarked Delacroix, and the Bergholz Caledonian academy star tapped in with a bit more than 15 minutes left.

Toby Barton made another pair of changes, now hoping to salvage a draw from what had looked like an important three points 20 minutes earlier. BP still pushed forward until Harper brought Tommy Applegate off for Zara Jonasson in the 82nd minute, countered by a final Tumbran switch, a like for like up front as Starling gave way.

A display of strong talent from two sides that certainly have to considered in the top echelon of age-limited soccer in the multiverse; a rematch in the knockouts would surprise no one.

by **Chromatika** » Tue Aug 16, 2022 9:47 pm

RTC U-18 WC 17 MD1: Chromatika 4-2 Zeta Reka and Hugeltaldom
Goals: Françine-Miklavivec '15, Xuen-Zhukov '39, Bjarnhéðinsson '55, Tehahanjeragnen '82
Starting XI (4-3-1-2): Sourtois; Griffin - Sæsdóttir, H. - Sæsdóttir, N. - Tehahanjeragnen; Françine-Miklavivec - Mesic-Mizayaki (C) - Bjarnhéðinsson; Dillon; Xuen-Zhukov - Allison.
Substitutes: Ludwig-Nikolaeva -> Allison ('63), Park -> Griffin ('72), Félix -> Dillon ('77)
Summary: Take away two gaffes from the Young Anomalies, including a hard challenge by Griffin that led to a penalty that the Rekans buried without a problem, and it was a perfect start to the tournament for this new-look Chromatik squad. With four different scorers, all from players with dual nationalities, they made short work of the Rekans and pounced to the head of the table. Much will be said about this squad - the future is very different - and they started the first step of that new journey with the right foot.

The Future is Rushmori: How the Majority of Chromatika's U-18 Squad Became Rushmori Dual-Nationals

Take a look at this edition of Chromatika's U-18 team, and you'll notice one obvious thing - there aren't many Chromatik sounding last names. With names like Sæsdóttir, Tehahanjeragnen, Françine-Miklavivec, Mesic-Mizayaki, Bjarnhéðinsson, and Xuen-Zhukov, five of the six names are Rushmori - specifically, Græntfjaller and Mytanar. So, how did that happen?

The plight of the Chromatik populace after the Rainbow Revolution meant that there were plenty of opportunities for blue-collar workers from other regions of the multiverse to move to the country, Mytanars and Græntfjallers joined Ko-orenites, Quebecois, Banijans, and Audioslavs (Chromatika has dual-national players from those places too, as well as The Licentian Isles) in considering Chromatika to be their home, and as the country's love with football grew, so did its acceptance of players who share dual-national status due to their parents.

As these children grow, they'll have two major choices to make. Assuming they do well, they'll have to pick ultimately if they will represent Chromatika at the Senior level or the country of their parents' birth. Then, they'll have to pick if they will attempt to grant their dual national status to their children (there are special rules to allow this to happen.)

There will be some decisions to be made in the years to come. Until then, Chromatika will be happy to have so many players from different cultures help them succeed at the youth level.

Hopefully, they'll all play for Chromatika in the years to come, too.

by **Huayramarca** » Tue Aug 16, 2022 9:51 pm

Controversy Arising for Farmers Moving Up North.

Written by: Christian Chumacero
12/12/1986 – Last Updated: 11:30 P.M.

After a week of protests and force demonstrations from farm owners who work in the southern side of Huayramarca, where they echoed their disgust towards the oil extraction program, arguing that it may hamper the fertility of the soil around the area; they received information about the somewhat happening that the Royal Kingdom of Québec wasn’t shown in the regional map of Anaia, meaning that either the government of said nation dissolved or the nation moved to another place. The news made the farmers take a decision that caused some sparks and friction amongst lawmakers in the parliament, fearing troubles.

The farmers have decided to take their equipment across what we know, as of now, as the official border between Huayramarca and the Royal Kingdom of Québec, crossing it without difficulty nor any kind of impediment coming from Migration and Citizenship Huayramarca. Although, there was a crisis meeting at the Palacio del Altiplano to address the happenings and determine the course of action that Huayramarca should consider, depending on the outcomes or questioning that the international community may do against the farmers’ actions.

Darío Cocachi (Ñucanchi Ñan), representing the constituency of Guayaquil Sur-Astilleros, considered that the manoeuvre from the farmers “has a clear political motivation from dark and pervert agents in the south, in order to cause a revolt against the oil projects in Sechura.” Then he added “There’s nothing official in regards of the status of the Royal Kingdom of Québec, that’s why we should consider as if they’re still there, we might avoid any kind of controversies.” When asked about the potential consequences of the farmers’ actions, he briefly said “International Court of Justice matters.”

William Mamani-Hastings took a even more emphatic stance on the situation by referring to the farmers as “invaders” then he added “Every potential effect from the Québécois government is not our responsibility, its theirs and they must be to blame in case there’s any violation to laws or treaties.”

The caravan of farmers is moving towards the north slowly, but steady, as they are gathering information about the most recent happenings in that zone. Their leader, Marcos Mamani, isn’t concerned by any kind of declarations from the National Assembly: “What they say is complete nonsense, oil projects will have a toll in the phreatic caps of water, it can pollute the roots and ruin our produce. Our products account for 50% of the agricultural needs of Huayramarca and northern Calania, we’re important and we are being mistreated by an uncapable system of political parties.”

When asked about the situation of occupying some land in the north of our current boundaries, Mamani said “Well, Huayramarca will be benefitted if we find suitable land to work, think about it! We would have more land to reclaim, and people could move here; infrastructure can be built, and we would have more accessibility to international markets with this.” When asked about the capability to found fertile land, he said “We will take some time, as we need to do prospections and find out if what we explore is good enough for our main produces, be it beans, banana, apples, grapevines, etc.”

In what could be an international incident, the farmers are downplaying the situation by referring to their project as “something good for Huayramarca” rather than being a potential source of issues, as there’s uncertainty about how the whole of Anaia can react to this potential intention of expansionism, one that it’s not being supported by the government, instead, made by self-funded farmers.

by **Qasden** » Tue Aug 16, 2022 11:47 pm

Kits courtesy of Siru (Primary) and ZSports (Secondary) of Tikariot and Ziwana respectively

Style: +2
Preferred Formation: 4-4-2
Nicknames: The (Mini)Vans | Blue-Reds | Calcio Calico

Manager- Osmer Kerrison|47
Assistant Manager- Marquelle Bingus|60

Goalkeepers

1- Kuno Van Karson|16
18- Olivia Waverly-Wolff|18
24- Justice Meijer|17

Defenders

2- Mason Bentley|16
5- Rebecca Wild|16
8- Carl K. Umstroke|18
11- Vega Neptune|17
14- Leonard Colson|15
16- Oliver Paul|15
19- Karin Woo|16
20- DuMongues Fleep|13

Midfielders

3- Sol Ria|17
6- Vanessa Tonick|17|CAPTAIN
9- Stella Nova|16
12- Ronin Otero|18
15- Lor Starcutter|17
17- Lana Boreal|14
21- Amon Gus|16|QUE/QAD
22- Aaron Leary|15

Forwards

4- Victor Spirodon|15
7- Taniel "Tanny" Beckham|17
10- Devin Ruby|16
13- Olavo C'est-la-vie|17
23- Nex-Wallace Foxtrot|16

I Give My Opponent Permission To
Choose My Goalscorers: Y
Godmod Goalscoring Events: Y (The crazier the better!)
Injure Players: N
Godmod Injury Events: N
Red Card Players: N (tg me first)
Yellow Card Players: Y (tg preferred)
Godmod anything else: No harming my players and venues. Other than that, it's fairest of the fairly fair.

by **West Barack and East Obama** » Wed Aug 17, 2022 1:28 am

Hussein Smithies couldn’t believe his ears. Twelve citations for bad behaviour. He’d been caned more times than he could remember. Or try to remember. His attempts to block out the painful memories had been somewhat successful in recent weeks. There was no way he was ever getting out of his hellhole, unless it was in two years time to be transferred to big boys jail, where he would probably spend the rest of his days. Surely this was another prank?

"Nope, it’s not a joke. Pack your things. You’re getting on the first plane to Gortolekua." smirked Head Warden Hobama. Hussein looked around his specially constructed cell. He could do with some sunshine. Plus, considering that he had been jailed for playing football, getting out of jail for the same thing would be kind of poetic.

Soon, the day arrived. The players were quite rusty, with some not even having played football before, but they were ready to face any challenges. Rumour has it that the Huayramarcans had only just recently kickstarted their youth development programme, so that really levelled the playing field. Also, when the wardens said that they try to pressure their opponents to regain possession, all the players burst out laughing. Yeah, they’d like to see them try.

Hussein spent much of the match standing by the goalposts. The defenders were really on a roll today. This reminded him of his Mean a street days, where the defenders were so scary that no one could ever take a shot on target. He looked at the crowd cheering on. He stared longingly at them. Could he? Nah, he couldn’t. He’s so tall, he’d look like a sore thumb trying to escape. Maybe some of his teammates will try, but he hopes that doesn’t happen. Then he’d really be in trouble.

All this daydreaming was bad for Hussein’s health. He suddenly saw the all fly right past him, followed by thunderous cheering from the Huayramarcan fans. Oops. Head Warden Hobama looked furious, and if things didn’t change he would probably be getting "the chop" soon.

Hussein was on high alert after that folly. No more excuses, he told himself. He looked and saw Robama-Denovitz slide the ball to him. Hussein saw Obamad waiting with no one else near him, and decided to boot the ball up as far as he could. This worked marvellously, as Obamad smashed the ball into the back of the net, earning Hussein an assist. He breathed a sign of relief at his short redemption arc. 1-1 at half time, not too bad for the debutants.

Hussein continued to spent most of the match not really doing anything. He had forgotten how boring it was to stand up for 90 minutes waiting for something to happen while he was in the big house. At least in jail you could lie down. Suddenly, another cheer was heard. Thinking he had conceded again, Hussei braced for the worst, but nope. Just Obamad scoring a good old penalty right on the eightieth minute, with the Obamen potentially grabbing a victory.

When the final whistle went, Hussein felt pretty confident. Despite conceding that only shot on target the whole match, he made up for it with that goal right? He looked at Obamad walking up to him with his hand raised out. Hussein leaned in for a handshake, but Obamad twisted his arm hard and behind his back.

"Another accident like that, and you’re gonna have one yourself. You got it?" Obamad growled. Hussein gulped. If it wasn’t a state execution, it was gonna be his teammates that’ll kill him by the end of the tournament.

works? · by **Abanhfleft** » Wed Aug 17, 2022 7:55 am

DISCLAIMER: Gaelic Gamers is an independents sports blogging website created by four cousins with a common liking and passion for sports of all kinds and is in no way or form affiliated with or organized by any official news organization in the Democratic Republic of Abanhfleft. All statements and opinions posted here are our own and not anyone else's.

Gaelic Gamers
Presents...

The Football Fallacies
with The Man from Markovsky

17TH UNDER-18 WORLD CUP: RIGHT IN THE GROUP OF DEATH

Hello and welcome to The Football Fallacies. Right, it's that time of the year again. It's that time of the year where we take a new generation of Fleftic footballers and introduce them to the country's time-honored tradition of bloody flopping in all of the bastard football tournaments. Hey! No! Stop it! I said stop it! Stop trying to deny that this isn't Abanhfleft's footballing legacy because it absolutely is! Abanhfleft has never done well in a football tournament ever since we hosted the bastard Under-18 World Cup all those years ago! Ever since we hosted this bloody youth cup, we have never gone back to the final of said tournament despite all of our best efforts. The best finish that we've had in the Under-18 since we hosted it was that time that we took third place from under the noses of our bloody rivals HUElavia, and since then we have never gone out of the group stage! It's literally a stark contrast to those times when we went to three straight finals and bloody lost all of them, once to Semarland and twice to Anglatia. Oh, Christ above! The introduction of the Under-18 World Cup and its consequences have truly been a disaster for Fleftic football!

And when you look at the group that Abanhfleft have been put in for this Under-18 World Cup here in Gortolekua, you would really struggle to find a fan of Abanhfleft who believes that we actually have a chance of getting out of said group. I mean, Christ above, if you’ve been watching funny cat compilations and are afraid of overdosing on dopamine then this is the perfect reading material to come down from that high. We’ve got Mertagne, Ceni, and Cardenao in Group G with us. Now to some, those nations don’t really mean anything to them. But if you look beyond just the nations themselves and look at who’s in charge of those teams then you’ll see names like Azewyn Feanaro managing Mertange and Andrew Arrowsword leading Ceni. And if you’ve been following Fleftic football for as long as I have then those names will be scarily familiar to you as well. Feanaro is only the long-time manager of Starblaydia, a team that’s done their fair share of beating Abanhfleft in the Under-21 World Cup, while Arrowsword is remembered in these circles for being the guy who shattered Fleftic hopes and dreams in the 38th Di Bradini Cup with a bloody Panenka. A bloody Panenka! If you wanted to destroy the confidence of an entire group of young players right at a crucial moment in their development then this is how you do it!

Cardenao’s just about the only team in our group which I think we have a fighting chance against, but knowing our team’s luck, we might end up losing all three games in our group once again! And why should we think that we have a chance? When you've got bloody Azewyn Feanaro managing one team and the bastard Andrew Arrowsword in charge of another, you might as well just pack up your stuff and leave! I mean, what even is the point of taking part in a youth football tournament anymore if we’re not going to make out of it anyway? Oh, we really are just setting up the next generations for a life of constant failure and disappointment, aren’t we? Just… good God! Why? Why am I being tormented like this? What sins have I done in a past life to make me deserve such suffering in this life? Why do I keep choosing to support teams that will give me aneurysms on a daily basis?

It’s certainly not a good look for Jonas Adrianzen as well. Imagine taking over your first ever national team, even if it’s just a youth team, and in your very first international tournament, you’re drawn against two teams led by two managers who have tormented the team you’re managing. What a way to throw your career right down the toilet without even doing anything, right?! This might be the first time that I’ve called a manager’s career completely washed before he’s even taken charge of a single game! Even I have to acknowledge that that’s unfair on Adrianzen. It’s not like he’s the one who reached into the bowl and drew Abanhfleft into the same group with the likes of Mertagne and Ceni. The footballing gods just have a sick sense of humor that is incomprehensible to us mere mortals.

But now that Adrianzen has actually taken charge of his first ever game for the under-18 team and I’ve seen his tactics out there on the pitch, I now have the license to criticize him for everything that he’s done wrong. And it’s pretty much the same kind of criticism that I’ve leveled against almost every manager that Abanhfleft has had since the start of our international woes. We’re focusing too much on attacking once again! Once again, we’re so focused on scoring more goals than the opponent that we are forgetting about one of the literal basic tenets of playing football in the first place, and that is defending! Once again, we’ve left behind acres of space on the pitch for Ceni to exploit, and bloody hell, did they exploit the crap out of those spaces! Sebastian Ellex-Mar and Nova Daneraj were just causing havoc across the Fleftic back line, and I’m pretty sure that those two have left both Elena Burke and Leon Calim chasing shadows more than once in this game! Those errors were pretty much responsible for twol of Ceni's three goals against us. They just had the space to operate wherever they wanted because we were giving it to them. Honestly, that was just painful to watch, and I’m doing that from a dodgy stream from a dodgy website! I can’t possibly imagine how that would have looked like live.

I also have a bone to pick with the midfield. Just because the defense was responsible for a lot of our own misery in this game doesn’t mean that I’ve completely forgotten about the role that the midfield played in bringing that about as well! Say what you will about their potential and their future, but present-day Krista Nash and Nadine Miller are not an elite-level midfield pairing! Not yet, anyway. They’re both too lightweight to control things in the middle of the pitch just yet. You can ping passes from wherever you are on the pitch all you want, sure, but if you don’t have the body to shield the ball or the technique to dance away from danger then you cannot even make the claim that you are a complete or even just a well-rounded midfielder! I cannot count on my hands and toes the number of times that both Nash and Miller were bullied off of the ball by the Cenians. That’s how many times that happened!

It’s just an outright downright shame about our midfield because when they’re actually on the ball, that midfield of ours is actually capable of producing magic, or at least moments of it. Honestly, without the midfield of Nash and Miller, Abanhfleft would probably be worse off than we are right now. Sure, it doesn't look good right now, but it definitely could have been a lot worse. Like, 3-0 worse. What I'm saying is that while those girls definitely played a role in us getting defeated by Ceni once again, they also played a large part in making sure that we were at least somewhat competitive against the Cenians untl the end. After all, it was Krista Nash's diagonal ball that cut through the Cenian defense and allowed Beth Anderson to run away from her marker and score her first ever goal for the Younger Revolutionaries. Honestly, if the midfield and the forwards could improve on their connection then there really could be a future for these boys and girls in the Fleftic national team. As things stand though, I wouldn't hold my breath just yet.

The sad thing about this whole thing is that I've seen enough flashes of brilliance from this team that's stopping me from just writing them off once again. But this is what being a fan actually looks like. I'm angry at this team not because they've always been shit and will almost always continue to be shit, but because I've seen the signs that this team could definitely be much better than what they are right now. It's the knowledge that there's a lot of potential in this team that makes me so angry that we can't find a way to unlock it! And good luck trying to unlock it here in the 17th Under-18 World Cup because this is the absolute worst environment for Jonas Adrianzen and company to try. Sure, you could say that adversity is actually a good way to bring out the best in our players, but much more often than not, all this does is ensure that Abanhfleft players grow up in a culture of losing, whether it's the important games against the big names or the games against the countries that show up for one tournament and then disappear, never to be heard from again. Again, that’s just the way of the multiverse.

Anyway, that’s all that there is from me now. If you’ve got any comments or thoughts of your own about the game against Ceni or predictions against (sigh) Mertagne then feel free to leave them down below. Until then, I’ve been the Man from Markovsky, disappointed by the draw that’s put my country in such a terrible and fucked up situation in the bloody group of death.

      ABANHFLEFT 2 - 3 CENI            
 COJUANGCO (27')       DANERAJ (15')
  ANDERSON (63')       QURIMANTA (40')
                       ELLEX-MAR (79')

by **Tjorl** » Wed Aug 17, 2022 11:27 am

PROVEN STARS DEPART, UPCOMING WUNDERKINDS ARRIVE (Part 1 of 2)

Last edition, De Jernsmeden went on an incredible run, all the way to the finals. This run was fueled by young talents such as Anders Renikainen, Konrad Nikulásson, and primary goalscorer Henrik Nordnes. However, the 16th U-18 World Cup would prove to be their final competition with the squad, as they all turned 19 soon after they returned from the tournament. In their place, new starlets have been brought in. The constant cycle of short participation, rapid replacement, and tough competition is what makes the U18 team quite difficult to manage at times. While manager Fredrik Solstad has near complete faith in the new recruits, Tjorlish football fans are a bit more skeptical. They and the pundits say that the new arrivals are not yet ready to lead Tjorl. However, Solstad has previously stated that the rookies' technical ability and teamwork is what makes him believe in them, despite the lack of experience in top competitions. So, who are the new players, which of them will succeed the players who led the team before, and why does coach Solstad have so much faith in them?

1. Between the Uprights
With Daniel Kirsch turning 19, the starting spot in the position of goalkeepr is handed over to Christian Mikaelsen, a product of 1. FC Norrehavn's youth academy. This position is the easiest to retool. Many consider Kirsch and Mikaelsen to be equal in ability, both deserving a place in the starting eleven. Now that Kirsch has left, there is no debate now on who's #1 in the U18 team. What made Kirsch so good anyway? While he was good at positioning and making himself "intimidating", he was known for his passing. Kirsch did extremely well in launching attacks from the back, providing opportunities for Tjorl on the counter, especially from set plays. Meanwhile, Mikaelsen is more recognized for his skill as a sweeper keeper. He may take quite a lot of risks, but it does usually work most of the time. Usually. When he does f#ck up, it hurts the team in the most painful of ways. This makes his playstyle way less liked by the Tjorlish sporting community, but he doesn't care.

2. Frustrating Opposing Attackers
Just in front of the keeper, the defensive line was really tough to replace. The most notable exit from the trio of defensive departures was Anders Renikainen's. Renikainen what Tjorl needed as a center-half: a tall, resilient rock at the back. He constantly struck down any aerial opportunities while also being difficult to pass with dizzying dribbling at the ground. Who is the next best defender that can take his place? Klara Forsberg. Simply watching Forsberg for a couple of games show that she has a different playstyle compared to Renikainen. Her way of defending is closer to what a libero does than what Reinkainen's tough stopper's defense displays. She is more versatile and agile, allowing her to efficiently cover the space behind the other players at the back like Lily Ternovšek or Marius Glockner. When she gains possession, she is also able to quickly move it up the pitch and pass it on to the midfielders providing sudden attacking chances for the ones up front. Meanwhile, there have also been four new additions to the back line: Nikolai Fodness, Miguel Hernandes, Hanna Aavik, and Beatriz Rohner. Interestingly center-half Hernandes is half-Tjorlish, half Tecoian. Starting his football career at a relatively small football academy in Portavem, Hernandes was soon noticed by Konunsfjord 014's scouts, who provided him with a tremendous opportunity to play for a top Tjorlish club's academy. Hernandes plays somewhat similar to Renikainen, although he does show his capabilities in ball progression, much like Forsberg. However, he still has much to learn and improve.

MATCHDAY 1 @ Orionvyö, Isittelyssä, Näytteet, Gortolekua | Attendance: 35,241
Tjorl 2 – 2 Adab
⚽ Stüber 7', de Scheuss 85' || Yakmesi 55', Yacoub-Haddad 79'

by **Elmyia** » Wed Aug 17, 2022 12:35 pm

If my opponent RPs first, they may:
Choose my goalscorers Y
Give caout yellow cards to my players Y
Give out red cards to my players Y
Injure my players Y
Godmod scoring events Y
Godmod injuries to my players Y
Godmod other events Y
Style mod -2

Elymian Under 18s Roster
Starters are numbered 1-11

Goalkeepers
1. Eirini Knight (18 - Mosfleet Albion Academy)
12. Mario Belotti (18 - FC Campina)
23. Ian Garavakos (16 - Italia Mosfleet Academy)

Defenders
2. Andrew Awfield (17 - Diepfleet) - Left-Back
3. Nancy Savalas (17 - Hellenic Beaucester) - Centre-Back
4. Kit Simmons (18 - Mosfleet Albion Academy) - Sweeper
5. Antonio Silva (16 - AS Samita) - Centre-Back
6. Jane Beresford (18 - Scolastico) - Right-Back
13. Ellen Honiton (16 - Munster) - Left-Back
14. Anastasia Kastrinakis (17 - Sablegaard) - Right-Back
15. Luigi Pozzo (16 - Italia Mosfleet Academy) - Sweeper
16. Dawn Mead (17 - AS Catamouge Academy) - Centre-Back
17. Peter Bracknell (18 - Mosfleet Albion Academy) - Centre-Back

Midfield
7. Aaron McLoughlin (18 - Mosfleet Albion) - Defensive Midfielder
8. Marina Kuhl (16 - AS Catamouge) - Central Midfielder
11. Valentina Galli (18 - Scolastico) - Central Midfielder
18. John Severn (17 - Mosfleet Albion Academy) - Defensive Midfielder
19. Warren Neil (17 - Diepfleet Academy) - Central Midfielder
20. Anya Marakakis (16 - Hellenic Beaucester Academy) - Attacking Midfielder

Forwards
9. Gina Whittingham (18 - Scolastico) - Centre-Forward
10. Elisa Gabbiadini (16 - Italia Mosfleet Academy) - Centre-Forward
21. Dick Anderson (17 - Mosfleet Albion Academy) - Centre-Forward
22. Mia Benoit (16 - AS Samita) - Centre-Forward

by **Elmyia** » Wed Aug 17, 2022 12:54 pm

The Overlap Tactics Blog
How Kidd’s Triple Substitution Swung the Game

After the senior teams underwhelming performance at the Independents Cup, football fans in Elmyia could’ve been forgiven for thinking things might have been heading the same way in the under 18s tournament.

Paula Kidd had named a 5-3-2 formation, much as with most Elmyian sides there was a continued focus on man marking, and with it came the usual issues. Too easily pinned back and then pulled about out of possession, a 1-0 deficit by half time was somewhat flattering. In their tracking of opposite numbers, the midfield trio of McLoughlin, Kuhl and Galli found themselves too distant from the forwards and unable to assert control, the defence found themselves twisted by the runs of the Poafmersian forwards.

Whilst Kidd has copied the usual approach in their marking, she remains a more flexible coach than most and the changes were called up. All three subs came at half time, with three tactical issues resolved as a consequence. Firstly, Awfield, a wing back known for sturdy defence, had left a lack of width on the left side due to his short comings with pace, Honiton came on and started offering speed and an out down the left hand side. Secondly, the lack of thrust and creativity from midfield was resolved as Galli came off for Marakakis. Galli seemed uncomfortable marking her opposite as she usually plays a zonal system, additionally Marakakis offers longer distance, more direct passing. Finally, Benoit came on for penalty box striker Whittingham. Her willingness to drop back and collect the ball, before driving at the defence, offered an additional option.

These changes switched the momentum, Poafmersia had dominated the first half, but the substitutions gave Elmyia an extra dimension on the counter. Honiton and Marakakis, through their dribbling and passing, added a directness that had been lacking before. Benoit, meanwhile, allowed Elmyia to push through the phases of play by dropping back and offering a passing option.

The equaliser from Gabbiadini came directly from a Honiton cross, she was again able to find space on the left hand side, and a driving 50 yard run was rewarded. The second came as Marakakis and Benoit combined again, a ball played out to Benoit allowed her to turn and find Gabbiadini, who fed the on rushing McLoughlin for the winner.

by **Cassadaigua** » Wed Aug 17, 2022 1:34 pm

Team Cassadaigua- RTC World Cup 17 (U18)

The Brattleboro division of RTC would like to remind everyone that RTC has established a fine transportation network within the Brattleboro area and any ticket holder from this competition can use their ticket stubs for a 50% off monthly pass voucher until the end of the year. The team will wear an additional RTC- Brattleboro Division patch on their kits.

Coach- Hannah Shanley (47)
Starting defender from World Cups 80-83, and then served as a regular substitute in World Cup 84. Assistant coach during World Cup 85. Has been the head coach of the RTC World Cup side since the 11th edition.

Starters In Green
Subs In Blue
Reserves In Red

Goalkeepers:
#20- Erica Knapp (18)
#30- Meghan Lewis (18)
#31- Darius Fiddler (16)

Defenders:
#2- Marco Venditti (17)
#4- Chrissy Larmer (18)
#6- Carlee Shea (18)
#3- Thea Martindale (17)
#26- Hannah Corbitt (18)
#28- Krissy Joslin (16)
#37- Crystal Boyd (18)
#39- Hailey Johnson (15)

Midfielders:
#8- Claudia Baneka (16)
#9- Kaitlyn Millikan (18)
#16- Jenna Stokley (18)
#19- Abigail Cullen (17)
#21- Ashley Pearce (18)
#23- Serena Mullins (17)
#34- Samantha Confair (16)
#35- Kyle Hodgson (17)

Forwards:
#12- Lacey Sherwood (18)
#25- Lexi McGregor (18) ***TEAM CAPTAIN***
#27- Rachel Blasko (17)
#29- Lauren Sillinger (17)
#34- Veronica Wheaton (16)
#36- Nicole Ingerson (16)

Team Info:
Style Mod: +2.2
Formation: 4-4-2
People from Cassadaigua are referred to as Cassadagans.
Team nickname: Fillies. Also, we are commonly referred to as the Dagans

RP Permissions:
Choose my goalscorers: Yes
Godmod scoring events: Yes
RP injuries to my players: Yes but only say they hurt
Godmod injuries to my players: No
Hand out yellow cards to my players: Yes
Hand out red cards to my players: Yes, no more than one
Godmod other events: TG idea first. If it fits the theme of my team, I probably will allow it.

Kits: (Pink= home, White= away, Black= keeper or third. Thanks Donnacona!)

If there is a conflict with the white kit, the team will wear pink.

Retired Kit Numbers:
#1 is retired in honor of Allison Salamida
#5 is retired in honor of Michelle Fuller
#7 is retired in honor of Shannon Myers
#10 is retired in honor of Brittany Lawton
#11 is retired in honor of Courtney Ferguson
#13 is retired in honor of Meaghan Bateman
#14 is retired in honor of Stacie Kerrigan-Fraser
#15 is retired in honor of Erica Lambert
#17 is retired in honor of Jessica Schanke
#18 is retired in honor of Taylor Connolly
#22 is retired in honor of Lupe Enriquez
#33 is retired in honor of Hannah Ranucci

Numbers are retired at all levels of Cassadagan international soccer[/quote]

by **Hopal** » Wed Aug 17, 2022 1:48 pm

A Hopalian Sports Scandal

Episode 1

The sun shone brightly over the City of Hopton, a vast, sprawling metropolis which served as the Capital of Hopal, it was the pumping heart of the whole country, housing the institutions which commanded and controlled the country's governance. People from across the land come to the industrious centre to live and work, and with the help of the ever-expanding Hopalian government, the City of Hopton and its highly-populous metro area stretched across a vast expanse. In one of many towering skyscrapers right in the middle of the hustle and bustle of this ever busy city housed the employees of the Hopal Herald, the leading (and only) nation-wide newspaper. It's on the eighth floor of building where this story of sporting scandal begins.

The 8th and 9th floors of the Herald Tower were where the journalists of the Sports Section of the Hopal Herald worked. Twelve core journalists officed within these two floors, though with seemingly hundreds of assistants, junior reporters, and interns running around all over the place, though interns were shared throughout the whole building, and there were close to 70 of them being employed at current. Mostly journalism or former journalism students from either the University of Hopal or Hopton College hoping to get a permanent job as an assistant or a junior reporter, and from there into being one of the core group of journalists who write the main stories to be published in the paper every day. It was a hard ladder to climb, journalism in Hopal, and few made it to the top, by the time someone did so they would probably have been near the retirement age anyway. Board meetings between the various editors of the different sections of the Hopal Herald often looked like bingo games at the local retirement home. But it was seen as a noble profession in Hopal, and many dared dream and took their chances trying to climb the ladder. The editor-in-chief of the Hopal Herald, Rick Silverstone certainly couldn't see the point in turning down free labour and more assistants to carry his coffee, so more and more interns, and assistants, and junior reporters were hired, with very few actually breaking into the core group of journalists who actually did the work and wrote the articles.

So in the pursuit of their journalistic dreams many ended up near the bottom of the ladder, stuck as junior reporters, assistants, even interns sometimes well into middle age. This was true for 59-year-old Betty Cortroyd who, under a decade away from the average retirement age in Hopal, found herself as an assistant there at the Hopal Herald, carrying around coffee for senior reporters. But many still valued and relied on her thanks to her invaluable experience in the organization, she having joined the Hopal Herald from right when it was founded all those years, hoping to chase her dreams to become a journalist, an effort which hasn't gone very well, to say the least. One such person was a one Emma Delaney, a newly-minted senior reporter in the Sports Section.

As Betty opened the door to Emma's office, the Olympics on HBC was playing on mini-TV on the wall on Betty's right side. Despite Hopal not sending a delegation to the Olympics in Prescott-Twin Cities, HBC (the Hopalian Broadcasting Corporation), still had rights to air them in Hopal and did so. Betty walked in placed the mug of coffee that she was holding on Emma's desk on the far side. Emma took her eyes off of the television and thanked the assistant, taking a sip of the coffee she had brought in.

"Editor Whitney wants to see you in his office in a half hour, Emma." Betty said, assistants didn't usually call senior reporters by their first name, but Betty had helped and supported Emma so much as she settled into her role, and they had grown so close over the past few weeks and months that Emma asked Betty to call her by her first name, and she felt they'd become friends.

Emma nodded, then sighed. Eyes going to the screen on the other side of the office she said, "Do you ever wonder why the Hopalian Olympic Committee didn't send a team to the Olympics this year?" The day before the Opening Ceremony in the Twin Cities, the Hopalian Olympic Committee announced that they wouldn't be sending a delegation this year citing various reasons from an internal dispute to not having enough government funding to simply just missing the deadline to register. There had many people raising questions in the days leading up to the statement as to why there hadn't been a team announced, but after the statement people just stopped talking about it, in the office at least anyway. But something just didn't add up for Emma Delaney, whether it was the half-baked explanations or the cryptic, seemingly accusatory statement, there was something more there, she could sense it. But no one in the office, nobody wanted to, or so it seemed, until now.

Betty shrugged, Emma looked at her with a confused expression. "It's just.. something doesn't add up here. Nothing in the statement really prevents the Hopalian Olympic Committee or the government, or really any sports organization in Hopal from sending an Olympic delegation. It just doesn't make sense to me. If they simply just missed the deadline why would they put all of these excuses out there, throwing the government and the committee under the bus. There's something more here, I can sense it, Betty, I can sense it."

Betty having now walked back across the office to the door watched the TV screen in front of her as Emma spoke, she looked over at Emma who was staring at the ground worriedly. Betty thought over what Emma said for a bit before responding, "You should talk to Editor Whitney about this, Emma." She said, "You have a sharp mind, I can see why you were chosen to be a senior reporter. My advice is look into it, it's usually things like this that can allude to a larger scandal, I saw with the Ministry of the Environment Scandal, the Henry Forrester Scandal, hell, even the Baltic NRC scandal way back in the day."

"You really think I should delve deeper into this?" Emma asked half-rhetorically, half-unsure of herself, Betty just gave her a single nod. Emma gave her a slight smile, "I'll ask the Boss about this, and thank you, Betty. I don't know why you aren't a senior reporter yet, but I know, I'll make sure you'll get there one day." Betty smiled at her and then left.

Brian Whitney was the editor of the Sports Section of the Hopal Herald, a quite overweight man with greying dyed black hair with skin that got ever paler with age. Whitney had a large office which took up somewhere between a fifth and a quarter of the ninth floor of the overbearing skyscraper that was the Herald Tower. At 63-years-of-age, time hadn't been kind to him, and it showed. The editors of the various different sections of the Hopal Herald were appointed directly by the Editor-in-Chief, and Brian Whitney was appointed to be the Editor of the Sports Section seemingly out of nowhere. He hadn't worked at the Herald before, and no one aside from the Editor-in-Chief seemed to know who he was, it was an out of the blue decision from Rick Silverstone, and people were still questioning the decision months later, still with no idea of his origins. He seemed like kind of armchair manager, a guy who spend all day on his couch yelling at the TV at the decisions managers or players took. He certainly didn't do very much work usually simply just approving or rejecting articles or article ideas.

When Emma Delaney arrived at Brian Whitney's office there were already a few people in the room. There was Brian Whitney of course, sat behind a large desk in a large armchair to accommodate for his size. Virginia Huff, the Deputy Editor of the Sport's Section of the Hopal Herald was there, she was the woman who did most of the heavy lifting essentially acting as the editor as Brian Whitney to say the very least wasn't a very active editor. She was massively popular among the employees of the Sports Sections as she was always helping out and was immensely kind. She was appointed as Deputy Editor of the Sport's Section by popular demand by Brian Whitney. Then there was a woman who Emma recognized as Helen Hernandez, a retired soccer player kicked off the Hopalian National Team by Manager Tom Villiers, but Emma couldn't discern exactly why she was here in the office of the Editor of the Sports Section of the Hopal Herald. There was also Simon Karkos, the Chief Sport's Analyst at the Hopal Herald, who could analyze any game of any sport ever. Beside her she saw Virgil Galentino, another new senior reporter she knew, they were promoted around the same time, and finally on the side there was a young man (at least she thought he looked young in comparison to older group in the room) that she couldn't recognize.

Emma told the group that she had something that she wanted to ask everyone, but Brian Whitney, commanding the conversation from behind his desk at the front of the room told her to wait until after he finished addressing the room. He announced that he was assigning all of them to Gortolekua to cover the U-18 World Cup. Emma tried her best to listen to what he was saying, but she just couldn't stop thinking about her Olympic question. Finally when he finished she dropped it, asking if they should look into the Hopalian Olympic Committee and if anyone else thought that the statement released by them was weird.

Brian was immediately flabbergasted that she could even ask about that. "No! NO! NO! NO! I have specific orders from THE BOSS, you know the big guy, the Editor-in-Chief to not go there. Not look into that, that is not your jurisdiction, that is not our realm. OK, YOU UNDERSTAND?"

Emma was flustered at his reaction, Why is he reacting like this? All yelling and flat out denial, and what's this about the Editor-in-Chief giving specific orders not to go there. What!? Is he trying to hide something? Emma thought, she was even more confused (and curious) now after Brian's outbreak. "But why?" She asked, "Why can't we go there? It's about sport's, and I think it's something we ought to look into and figure out, people need to know this, people need an explanation. Don't they? Isn't this our job, to look into this type of thing?"

"NO!" Brian responded again, "your job is to listen to what I say and report about some sports. I don't know why the Boss has given me these orders, but he has. Maybe he has another team looking into this, who knows? But I think this is a job for the investigative journalists team and not for you lot, okay? You understand me? Great. Now you will go to Gortolekua and report on the U-18 Cup. Helen, I want to see your reports, okay, welcome to the team, Virginia and Simon, you're helping her out. And Virgil, Blake, and Emma," he said Emma's name with just a hint of resentment in his voice "you, you help out, okay? Everyone understand? I don't want to see you, any of you looking onto the Hopalian Olympic Committee and this year's Olympics. OK?" Everyone nodded, though Emma did considerably less so mumbling something indiscernible to the others in the room.

"Great." Brian said motioning for everyone to leave and they all did so.

Afterward Virginia Duff caught up with Emma Delaney as they were walking back to their offices. "It was a brave thing you did back there to bring that up." Virginia said.

"I don't know if that was incredibly stupid, I didn't know if he'd give me my marching orders right then and there." Emma replied.

"He wouldn't do that," Virginia responded, "I wouldn't let him."

Emma gave a bit of a smile, looked out into the distance and told her what was on her mind. "It's just, I've been thinking about it for a while, ever since I read the statement, really. I thought, I knew something was off. I talked to Betty, you know, Betty Cortroyd, the assistant."

"I know her." Virginia said

"I talked to her, and she said to go for it. So I finally unloaded what had been bothering me for so long. And it bothered me, the statement bothered me, the fact that no one questioned it bothered, everything about it, it bothered me. I just didn't think his reaction would be so visceral."

"I didn't think he'd do that either. And you know you're not the only person who's thought about the statement, I've found myself wondering about it too, and so has he probably. Look, I don't think you're wrong to look into this, and I'll help you, okay? First, let's go to the Editor-in-Chief and hear what he has to say."

After the meeting Brian Whitney had gone to see Rick Silverstone and told him what transpired between him and Emma. Rick gave Brian a curt nod and Brian left. Rick tried to make a call, but the other side didn't pick up, the call went to voice mail and he left a simple three word message. "They're onto us."

by **Cassadaigua** » Wed Aug 17, 2022 2:05 pm

McGregor enjoying “next one” talk,
by Caitlyn Dufresne, Concord Heights Times

My mother, Chelsea, is on Sonnel right now focused on the World Baseball Classic, and I am getting one of those occasional opportunities by the Concord Heights Times to cover a major tournament in her absence. They used to assign me these, saying that since I am just out of college, that I am closer in age to the actual players so might understand them more, but I am in my upper 20's now, so I don’t really consider teenagers to be my peers anymore. Regardless, I’m glad to be here. As you probably know, CASE did bid to host this competition and it would have been great, but the voters opted to go with Gortolekua’s bid by the narrowest of margins. We can all speculate why, but it’s time to look at the present and the future. Gortolekua is located within the newer region of Anaia, and will be using sixteen venues across their ten provinces. The Fillies are in a brutally difficult Group A, but at least this means that we will be playing all of our games within the Salmia District.

The team is led by Lexi McGregor, who is drawing comparisons to Rachel Schanke, Hannah Ranucci, Jenna Frontiera, Stacie Kerrigan-Fraser, or whatever generational talent at her position of striker that you want to use. On the World Cup team, the two young forwards that have seemed to be the next superstars at the position after Frontiera are Chloe Anderson and Rachel Bolden, and they are only five years older than her. Frontiera is 30, so it’s safe to say that the team doesn’t need to develop it’s next phenom quite yet. But, she is arriving, and unlike the more modest players that are in front of her on the depth chart, Lexi knows this. Last year, during World Cup qualifying, Lexi posted on social media that, “If seventeen year olds were allowed to be play on the senior team, we would have qualified for the World Cup”. The comment drew a lot of laughing emojis, but anyone who knows McGregor knows she’s more than confident, she’s kind of arrogant.

Arrogance, or younger swagger does not have to be a bad thing. Most people who watch her will saying that she does back it up, and works very hard on the practice field. It’s the oldest cliche in the book, but they’ll claim she is one of the first to show up at practice and the last to leave. Teammates say she is a great locker room presence, and that is why she has been named the captain. Lexi has not even played a game in the Cassadagan Soccer League yet, but will this upcoming season for Starksville United, having signed there out of the Starksville Regional Academy. Of that announcement, McGregor said, “Of the teams I could have picked, I felt that United was the most deserving of having me. A balanced offense, and I can play beside Alexandra Carabali who’s been amazing since coming here from Valladares. Alexandra and Alexis are obviously a perfect match in more ways than one. I can’t wait to hoist multiple CSL trophies here.” Some have criticized her attitude (ok, many have), with Emma Joyce, of Brattleboro FC, being the most outspoken, saying, “Score a f***ing goal first, b***h! #doitright” Joyce is a teammate of Jenna Frontiera’s, the current player considered the top forward in the nation. Lexi has also been seen wearing some very extravagant bling, including a watch believed to valued around $50,000 in itself. Not that she can't afford it with her new contract, but some would like to see her play a game first at the professional level.

On the RTC team, manager Hannah Shanley (who also will be McGregor’s manager with Starksville United) said of Lexi’s attitude, “I address problems. Lexi is not a problem. She’s one of the most skilled teenagers I have ever seen. Plus, she has the needed confidence to have success at this level”. So, who thinks Hannah makes that comment if she managed another CSL team? McGregor did back up her talk in the opening loss to Gortolekua, though, scoring two of the three goals in the 4-3 loss.

by **Ceni** » Wed Aug 17, 2022 8:51 pm

Terranean Broadcasting Company

Cenian FA faces choice between two "sportswashing" bids for upcoming RTC U-18 World Cup

By Rena Kordall
TBC Sport in Cenial, Ceni

Human rights activists have argued that both competing bids for the upcoming RTC U-18 World Cup constitute sportswashing, urging the Cenian Football Association to vote to reopen nominations and to boycott the official winners.

When most people hear the words "sports diplomacy," they probably imagine two faceless, suited bureaucrats in a basement room arguing about technical criteria for stadia — a largely alien concept.

The term "sportswashing", however, has entered the common parlance in recent times, despite being integrally bound up in the concept of sports diplomacy. Essentially sportswashing is using sports — participation in sporting events, but especially hosting sporting events — to distract from perhaps less savory elements within a country that its leaders might wish to sweep under the rug.

"Both Cassadaigua and Gortolekua have things they'd like to sweep under the rug," said Val Baize, a spokesperson for the Cenian Alliance for Human Rights. "We all know that Cassadaigua would very much like to distract from their illegal and unfathomable occupation of the Cooper River region, while Gortolekua wants to pretend they're not in a political crisis right now, which is adversely affecting the political rights of Gortolekuans."

And a small group of protestors has even shown up outside of the Cenian FA's headquarters in Millennium City to demand the Cenian FA vote against the upcoming bids, with some signs even urging the FA to withdraw from the tournament entirely.

"We have no business helping to sanction the Cooper River occupation," said Vera Typhe, a mother who had taken the subway from New Oxford to attend the protest. "We have no business at all doing that!" But when asked about her specific objections to the Gortolekuan bid, she said that she didn't know much about the country. "The twii.tur posts I read only mentioned Cassadaigua," she admitted on the record.

For its part, the Cenian FA has largely brushed off these protests. "As far as we know, these protests are not from stakeholders within the Cenian footballing ecosystem," said Ken Rendar, a spokesperson for the Cenian FA. "International regulations require us to be immune from political interference anyhow, and we don't see ourselves getting involved in these kind of disputes in the near future, given that the Republic of Ceni handles all foreign affairs and not the Football Association."

The newly formed Confederacy of the Afanc Strait's new steering council refused to comment on the protests against the Cenian FA, again stating similar principles against political interference within sporting bodies. When we noted that both the Cassadagan and Gortelekuan FAs appeared to be contravening these regulations themselves by presenting bids with clearly political drivers behind them, both the Afanc Strait Confederacy and Rendar refused to comment.

Notably, Cassadaigua's occupation of the Cooper River region was one of the events that sparked the Confederacy's creation, given the potential to lead to a proxy war between Cassadaigua and Eura, two major Rushmori regional powers.

New manager of the Cenian U-17 and U-18 teams Andrew Arrowsword was equally circumspect in his response. "As the manager of the team, I don't have a say in how the FA determines the winning bid," he wrote in an emailed statement, "and I'm sure that we'll try to have amicable relations with the host team on a team-to-host basis when we get there."

"And I sincerely hope that we do get to compete in this tournament, as I know that pretty much everybody on the team has looked forward to this tournament," Arrowsword added.

"From an academic standpoint, these are clearly different kinds of sportswashing," said Sion Vancil, a professor of international relations at the University of Cenial. "The Cassadagan bid seems more directed at an international audience to distract from a clear issue in international relations, while the Gortolekuan bid appears more directed at a domestic audience, trying to distract from clear domestic political problems."

"Does it want to present a cleaner, more sanitized image to the world, as a nation that is safe for international trade and tourism? Absolutely," added Vancil. "But it's not quite the human rights issue that some of the protestors have claimed."

Asked about the wisdom of the Cenian FA's response, Vancil said that it made sense to play their cards close to their chest. "In reality, yes, they're correct that they should be insulated from political pressures," he said. "And I'm sure they don't want to piss off any of the other FAs in the world, so it's smart to keep their mouths shut."

But supporters of the team seemed to largely ignore the political wrangling and the academic analyses. "I want to see Ceni play in this tournament," said Zena Horne, 38, an optometrist, who has not paid much attention to the news coming from either place. "And of course, I'd love to see them win the tournament. That can't happen if they don't even play!"

Alan Rikhil, 18, a student at Montague-Hawkesbury University, echoed those tournaments. "We haven't had international football since before I was born until these last World Cup qualifiers," he said. "Why would we let politics get ahead of match play?"

"I always like to see people my age playing, because I can imagine myself up there," he added. "And we certainly have a lot of ground to make up on the international stage."

by **Gortolekua** » Wed Aug 17, 2022 9:06 pm

Some of you will be movin' on up after this matchday. Cutoff!

Matchday Two Scores

Group A
Cassadaigua 1–2 Banija
Gortolekua 3-1 Græntfjall (scorinated by Mriin)

P Group A                          Pld   W  D  L   GF  GA  GD  Pts 
1 Gortolekua                         2   2  0  0    7   4  +3    6
2 Græntfjall                         2   1  0  1    6   5  +1    3
3 Banija                             2   1  0  1    4   6  −2    3
4 Cassadaigua                        2   0  0  2    4   6  −2    0

Group B
Poafmersia 1–2 The Finntopian Empire
Elmyia 2–0 Sierra Grand

P Group B                          Pld   W  D  L   GF  GA  GD  Pts 
1 Elmyia                             2   2  0  0    4   1  +3    6
2 The Finntopian Empire              2   1  1  0    4   3  +1    4
3 Sierra Grand                       2   0  1  1    2   4  −2    1
4 Poafmersia                         2   0  0  2    2   4  −2    0

Group C
Qasden 3–1 Arjunnagar
Kriegiersien 3–1 Oberour Ar Moro

P Group C                          Pld   W  D  L   GF  GA  GD  Pts 
1 Kriegiersien                       2   2  0  0    5   2  +3    6
2 Qasden                             2   1  0  1    4   3  +1    3
3 Arjunnagar                         2   1  0  1    2   3  −1    3
4 Oberour Ar Moro                    2   0  0  2    1   4  −3    0

Group D
Zeta Reka and Hugeltaldom 2–2 West Barack and East Obama
Chromatika 2–2 Huayramarca

P Group D                          Pld   W  D  L   GF  GA  GD  Pts 
1 Chromatika                         2   1  1  0    6   4  +2    4
2 West Barack and East Obama         2   1  1  0    4   3  +1    4
3 Huayramarca                        2   0  1  1    3   4  −1    1
4 Zeta Reka and Hugeltaldom          2   0  1  1    4   6  −2    1

Group E
Commonwealth of Baker Park 4–2 The Cordian Isles
Tumbra 8–0 Oclea

P Group E                          Pld   W  D  L   GF  GA  GD  Pts 
1 Tumbra                             2   1  1  0   10   2  +8    4
2 Commonwealth of Baker Park         2   1  1  0    6   4  +2    4
3 The Cordian Isles                  2   1  0  1    4   5  −1    3
4 Oclea                              2   0  0  2    1  10  −9    0

Group F
Hopal 0–0 Adab
Drehda 4–2 Tjorl

P Group F                          Pld   W  D  L   GF  GA  GD  Pts 
1 Hopal                              2   1  1  0    3   0  +3    4
2 Drehda                             2   1  0  1    4   5  −1    3
3 Adab                               2   0  2  0    2   2   0    2
4 Tjorl                              2   0  1  1    4   6  −2    1

Group G
Cardenao 0–2 Ceni
Mertagne 1–4 Abanhfleft

P Group G                          Pld   W  D  L   GF  GA  GD  Pts 
1 Ceni                               2   2  0  0    5   2  +3    6
2 Abanhfleft                         2   1  0  1    6   4  +2    3
3 Cardenao                           2   1  0  1    4   5  −1    3
4 Mertagne                           2   0  0  2    4   8  −4    0

Group H
Independent Athletes from Quebec 0–6 Eastfield Lodge
HUElavia 1–4 Geektopia

P Group H                          Pld   W  D  L   GF  GA  GD  Pts 
1 Eastfield Lodge                    2   2  0  0   11   1 +10    6
2 Geektopia                          2   1  0  1    5   6  −1    3
3 HUElavia                           2   0  1  1    3   6  −3    1
4 Independent Athletes from Quebec   2   0  1  1    2   8  −6    1

World Cup 81/82/83/84

Media Statement
For Immediate Release (contact Sasha Henderson, FAC Director of Media Relations for more details)

Allison LeFleur, General Secretary and Executive Vice President of the Football Association of the Commonwealth, has issued a response on behalf of the FAC to the recent report broadcast in Ceni by the Terranean Broadcasting Company.

"The Board of the FAC have authorized me to make the following reply in relation to a story reported by TBC in Ceni in regards to the host bidding process for the 17th Under-18 World Cup sponsored by RTC in cooperation with the FAC.
'The Commonwealth of Baker Park believes in protecting basic human rights for all nations, as well as protecting similar rights for all species and sentient beings. But generally as a society we abhor those who cast aspersions at others while ignoring their own behavior.
The Cenian Alliance for Human Rights was strangely not active at all in protesting the thousands of human rights violations committed in Nyowani Kitara by their neighbors in Eura and Nephara; if they in fact applied pressure to the Cenian Government to object to the presence of troops from those nations in Pavola, I will publicly retract this charge with an apology.
Neither Cassadaigua nor Gortolekua have contravened any current International Convention, World Assembly or Security Council Resolution, or any World Cup Committee Constitution provision; although the U18WC is administered outside of direct WCC control, we at the FAC abide by same standards applied to potential hosts of the WCC portfolio as sitting members of the Executive Committee. We stand by our selection--duly submitted to a vote of the nations with confirmed entries--of the Gortoleki Football Union, having proven to be a fit & proper host.'
I personally invite the CAHR to contact us at the FAC so that we can engage directly on issues, as we hold the CFA in high regard and our nations have enjoyed cordial relations through the years."
__________________________________________________________________________________________

BP Under-18's win, move closer to advance
CPA--(Aurinkolasit, Gortolekua)
The Commonwealth of Baker Park National Under-18 Team defeated The Cordian Isles 4-2 on the second matchday at the 17th U18 World Cup, needing only a draw on the final day to progress to the single elimination portion of the tournament.

Baker Park led 2-0 and 3-1 before substitute Tommy Applegate slammed the door shut in the 80th minute; Naomi Kaeppler (21'), Craig Domicelli (33') and Anthony Dixon (52') were the other goal scorers for the Commonwealth. Cordia replied through Helvi Assendorp (37') and Ragna Mikaelsson (58') in the matchup between the Atlantian Oceania sides.

BP will face Oclea on the final day in Group E, while Cordia will meet Tumbra; avoiding defeat will be all the Bees and Black Egrets need to move on in the tournament.

by **Tjorl** » Fri Aug 19, 2022 2:54 am

PROVEN STARS DEPART, UPCOMING WUNDERKINDS ARRIVE (Part 1 of 2)

3. The Squad's Engine
In the last U18 World Cup, Tjorl knew they could rely on Konrad Nikulásson to provide crucial passes from the left flank for Henrik Nordnes to receive. As an academy product of Czujon 022, Nikulásson progressed through the system with friend Johan Kalbfleisch. After Kalbfleisch's departure from the U18 squad, many thought the captain's armband was going to be passed on to Nikulásson. Surprisingly, however, it instead went to Edvard Vázsony. Another, Nikulásson was moved further up front to replace left winger Kacper Kalvik. This worked out for De Jernsmeden, who benefitted tremendously from this change. Nikulásson's crossing or progression from the left wing often attracted defenders, giving Nordnes just enough space to receive a pass, take his time, and shoot the ball with precision. Since Nikulásson's exit, there was little debate on who was to be selected in his place. It was quite surprising that Joshua Ochsner, another Czujon graduate, wasn't picked sooner for the U18 team. Ochsner is well-known for his leadership, vision, and smart passing. Despite some strong competition in Erich Karjalainen, Johan Kalbfleisch, and Nikolaj Eriksen, Ochsner is still recognized as a likely successor to the senior national team's captainship role once Franz Kaufer hangs up the boots. Unlike Nikulásson, Ochsner is placed at a more central position, expected to be the bridge between defense and attack. Another notable addition to the team is Nicolò de Scheuss, who plays closer at the back and is responsible for frequently disrupting the opponent's attacking flow.

4. Firepower up Front
Tjorl's U18 side is different from its senior or U21 teams in that the midfielders are usually considered as the biggest and brightest stars of the squad, instead of the players up front. However, with Lukas Stüber and Maria Ravndal arriving, maybe that will soon change. First, who was the player leading Tjorl's U18 attacking unit before? It was Henrik Nordnes. A quiet personality, Nordnes had a simple task: find the ball and score. He was pretty good at that, scoring ten in his final U18 World Cup tournament. Another, Nordnes' leaping ability makes him a dangerous aerial threat. In fact, six of his aforementioned ten goals were scored through a header from a cross or a set-piece. Replacing him is Stüber, yet another product of Czujon's academy. If Nordnes was famous for being lethal in the air, then Stüber is known for his positioning. He somehow constantly finds gaps in the defense which he exploits. Also, Stüber almost never gets called offside as he always times his run perfectly to catch out the opponent's defensive line. Like the starting striker before him, Stüber has superb ability to score from set-pieces. However, unlike Nordnes, he does this not in the air but more on the ground. Stüber is quite skilled scoring free-kicks from most distances. Despite his excellent technical ability, Stüber still has quite a lot to improve, especially his strength and dribbling.

MATCHDAY 2 @ Orionvyö, Isittelyssä, Näytteet, Gortolekua | Attendance: 33,497
Drehda 4 – 2 Tjorl
⚽ TJL Scorers: Ochsner 7', Stüber 70'

works? · by **Abanhfleft** » Fri Aug 19, 2022 8:54 am

DISCLAIMER: Gaelic Gamers is an independents sports blogging website created by four cousins with a common liking and passion for sports of all kinds and is in no way or form affiliated with or organized by any official news organization in the Democratic Republic of Abanhfleft. All statements and opinions posted here are our own and not anyone else's.

Gaelic Gamers
Presents...

The Football Fallacies
with The Man from Markovsky

17TH UNDER-18 WORLD CUP: I DON'T EVEN KNOW WHAT TO SAY

Hello and welcome to The Football Fallacies. Right, so now, I don't know what the fuck to say. Like I legitimately do not know what to say about this Younger Revolutionaries team anymore. Every time I think that there is no possible way that this team could surprise me, they go ahead and do this! At this point, I won't even try to predict anything out of our team anymore. It's a futile effort anyway!

To be fair though, both to Jonas Adrianzen and to the boys and girls in this team, it's not like they were exposed as being completely toothless when they first went up against Ceni. And that's pretty much the same story for almost all of Abanhfleft's sports teams. Scoring goals is not really a problem for us: defending is! I've already wasted enough breath and words on my laptop talking about our defensive woes so I'll spare all of you that. All I'm going to say is that things would be much easier for all of us if our bastard defense could learn to give up less goals per game.

Now I'm going to loop back to another point that I just made and repeat it: scoring goals is not a problem for this Abanhfleft team. There have been times in previous Under-18 World Cups where our young lads and lasses were pretty much out of ideas once our forwards have been dealt with by the opposition. I've seen our youth teams just lump the ball forward and hope that another player in a white shirt (if we were playing in it; sometimes we'd be wearing red or dark blue) comes to get it, and it would just be the most frustrating thing to see. But not this team though. Even when they were getting overwhelmed by Ceni in the previous game, the lads and lasses continued chipping away at the Cenian defense. Like I said, that game definitely could have finished 3-0 to Ceni were it not for the likes of Albert Cojuangco, Faustino Kissane, and Beth Anderson making themselves a right nuisance to the Cenians. They’ve got the right ideas to keep the attack going when everyone else is faltering, and they definitely could have drawn against Ceni, but they just ran out of time.

Look, I’m not gonna lie, I groaned audibly when that Mertagne goal went in. It’s got nothing to do with the fact that Jamie Martix was literally wide open in front of goal during a corner kick, and everything to do with the fact that this all happened within the first eight minutes. “It’s gonna be another bloodbath,” I distinctly remember saying to myself while watching those scenes. That’s how low my trust and confidence in the Younger Revolutionaries has gotten. I don’t trust them, can’t trust them to find a way to get their heads together and back into the game. Do you know how depressing it is to come to that bastard realization? It’s like going through your life without much thought for what tomorrow’s going to bring and then suddenly waking up one day to find that you’re being kicked out of your own apartment!

But see, this is where the story starts getting weird. See, for some reason, the lads and lasses didn’t drop their heads when that Martix goal went in. That alone almost beggars belief because that’s not how Abanhfleft usually works and operates. Usually, when we concede a goal that early, almost everyone on the pitch doesn’t bother playing anymore because everyone knows that the end is coming. There’s just no escaping it! All the other times that Abanhfleft has tried to come back from an early deficit has ended in failure, so why even bother trying this time around? That’s always been our modus operandi since I’ve begun following the senior national team and our youth teams for Gaelic Gamers. Either Abanhfleft completely dominates an opponent or they’re not going to bother to play football anymore! But no! This new generation of players had other ideas. They’re not ready to throw in the towel just yet. There were 82 minutes of a game of football still to be played, and in their minds a lot could happen in those 82 minutes. And boy, were they right about that!

Okay, so first of all, I have to mention that there were some changes between the team that faced Ceni and the team that faced Mertagne. Steven Fowler was standing in between the sticks in place of Kim Fitzgerald, which isn’t a knock on the Xemlice Rovers shotstopper but part of an ongoing Fleftic tactic to let all three goalkeepers play at least one game in whichever competition they’re playing. But the two other changes to the team that were most definitely related to the events of the previous game against Ceni were Sam Westphal on the left wing in place of Castor Cuenco and Franco Caacbay going into the left-sided center back spot instead of Elena Burke. Burke got really rinsed by the Cenian forwards, so Jonas Adrianzen decided that he couldn’t take any more chances with her and plopped someone else in her position. Meanwhile, Cuenco’s replacement was one that was forced on Adrianzen since Castor rolled his ankle after landing in an awkward position while contesting a corner kick in the 81st minute against Ceni.

Now that we’ve cleared up the tactical situation on the field, let’s talk about how in the world were Abanhfleft actually able to beat the bloody defending Under-18 World champions. Now, it’s a given fact of life that youth football could be absolutely unpredictable. Well, apart from a ten-year spell where it was almost guaranteed that Abanhfleft would lose the Under-18 World Cup final to another team, anyway. But ignoring all of that, youth football really is a strange animal sometimes. Sometimes the teams that you expect to win it all end up falling face-first in the mud within the first three games, and other times, the dominant sides continue to dominate. This isn’t one of those instances. Mertagne had definitely looked like good value for their early goal in the 8th minute, but once Jonas Adrianzen and company finally got their heads out of their arses, it’s all turned into chaos!

I mentioned earlier that Adrianzen was forced to replace Castor Cuenco with Sam Westphal because the former had hurt his ankle while playing against Ceni. Both Cuenco and Westphal are pretty much the same kind of player who can run across the pitch and swing in a cross into the six-yard box and occasionally cuts inside to provide an extra man inside. The only difference though between Cuenco and Westphal is that apparently Westphal can do it all quicker, and he cuts inside more times than Cuenco did. In fact, it was from one such cutback that Westphal scored the equalizer. The Mertagne defenders didn’t know which player to defend as they didn’t know if Westphal was going to shoot or pass the ball, and in that moment of hesitation, Westphal went for the top right corner. He didn’t quite pull it off, but he did send the ball into the bottom right corner, and for some reason it squeezed underneath Pertinax Tikeers and met the back of the net.

As if that wasn’t surprising enough, Abanhfleft kept the pressure on Mertagne even after equalizing. In older times, getting the tying goal would be enough for Abanhfleft to sit back, relax, then panic as the other side regrouped and regained the upper hand. Not this time though. The lads and lasses have seemingly had enough of our country being on the short end of the stick so many times that they’ve now decided to take matters into their own hands. And if they had to take matters into their own hands to make it happen then so be it. Faustino Kissane definitely had that vibe about him when he charged through the center of the pitch and smashed that ball into the back of the net with vicious intent.

And the lads and lasses were not satisfied with just having a one-goal lead in the second half after having gone down 1-0 within eight minutes. They wanted more, and they got more. Albert Cojuangco realized that he had a great situation in his hands, and he would be remiss if he didn’t take advantage of all the other forward players getting into the box and getting shots on target. As the main striker of this team, he was still getting passes sent his way, and he was also getting so many good attempts in on goal that it was just a matter of time before he finally found the back of the net. And the madman actually did it. In fact, he got not one goal, but two goals! The fact that Cojuangco scored two goals against the defending Under-18 champions isn't even the most surprising thing about this; it's Mertagne's defense! Now I will give them the benefit of the doubt for Albert's first goal because that was a thunderbolt from the blue. Nobody's going to stop that without irreparable damage to their body. But how in the world could these kids give up such a poor excuse of a goal near the end of the game? Cojuangco didn't put nearly enough power behind the ball during the lead-up to his second goal that it should have been an easy save for Pertinax Tikeers. But the bastard spilled the ball! He spilled the ball and gave Cojuangco a second bite at the cherry, and Albert was not one to say no to that. Like I said, youth football is unpredictable. I just can't believe that we scored four goals against the defending Under-18 champions. The defending champions! Now just watch as we drop the ball against Cardenao and we end up not making it out of the group stage once again. Now that is the Abanhfleft that we all know and love to meme.

Anyway, that's all that there is for me now. If you've got any comments or thoughts of your own about the game with Mertagne or predictions against Cardenao then feel free to leave them down below. Until then, I've been the Man from Markovsky, bracing myself for the disappointment that I am sure is about to come for my country once again.

    MERTAGNE 1 - 4 ABANHFLEFT            
 MARTIX (8')       WESTPHAL (20')
                   KISSANE (41')
                   COJUANGCO (57', 80')

by **Elmyia** » Fri Aug 19, 2022 9:23 am

The Overlap Tactics Blog
We Need to Talk About Kit Simmons

Kit Simmons has been selected as Elmyia’s sweeper for this tournament. He’s started both games and most certainly won’t be dropped after two sterling performances. However. We do now need to ask, is he actually a sweeper?

Sweeper as a position has long been entrenched in Elmyian football, and it’s always been a really well defined role. You are the one player charged with marking a zone, that behind the back line. Your meat and drink are loose balls, breaking forwards and blocks. You can be a hard bastard, or a player of defensive craft. Either way, you are responsible for putting out fires and acting as the defender of last resort. If, and only if, you play for a team that is dominated, you might be charged with helping build up play. Some sweepers have possessed a good long ball, or been able to at least lay the ball out to a better colleague. Under no circumstances should you push ahead of the centre-backs and start splaying the ball about. Well, unless you’re Kit Simmons.

Simmons’ role was a surprise, even given his high levels of technical ability. He found himself often playing ahead of his centre-halfs and was instrumental in build up play throughout. This didn’t particularly come from Elmyia dominating the ball, but his pushing forward allowed two key things to happen. Firstly, Elmyia had a way to progress the ball between midfield and defence, with McLoughlin allowed to focus on his natural game of breaking up play. Secondly, by having two players in front of an effective back four, Kuhl and Galli were able to push further up and better build play in the attacking third. This tactical shift from the first match really helped solve the issues Elmyia were having with Whittingham being isolated up front, and instead she bagged two goals, both from within 15 yards of the goal.

This result means Elmyia progress to the round of 16, begging the question of whether the time has come for Kidd to give some game time to fringe players. If she does it will be interesting if Simmons or Pozzo play, and whether or not they continue to push beyond the back line and attempt to progress the ball upfield.

by **Cassadaigua** » Fri Aug 19, 2022 9:56 am

Why don’t we do good in junior competitions?
By Caitlyn Dufresne, Concord Heights Times

Another juvenile competition is about to end as far as Team Cassadaigua is concerned. The young Fillies were placed in a very tough group for RTC World Cup 17, but even if the level of competition had been softer, you have to wonder if the result would be any different. Cassadaigua simply does not do well with these competitions, whether your are talking about this one, the Di Bradini Cup, or the International Baseball Slam (where more than half, including Cassadaigua, send junior teams). The nation is also signed up for the World Junior Hockey Championships, but when we have done that before, the result has not been much different. I get that some people will play Devil’s Advocate with me right now and say, “You have won three NSCAA tournaments, it’s not all bad,” but the NSCAA is much, much different in terms of it’s structure.

It’s really not difficult to realize why we don’t do as well. For all Cassadagan sports, entering these tournaments is about developing players. The wins and losses don’t show in the group standings, they show in how people grow as young athletes. Who steps up in pressure situations? Who doesn’t? The key is: when they don’t, you don’t give up on them, you work on correcting that. Because at their ages, it can still be corrected. Another thing Cassadagan sports will do in games like this is not necessarily play their perceived best players in every game, but give everyone a shot. Why? Because, again, you want to see who makes the most of this opportunity, and who might need a little more guidance in practice. The President of CASE, Stephanie Sweeney said of this, “In the Di Bradini or in the RTC, you’ll see the usual suspects in terms of nations do well, but will see nations that you have never heard of before appearing out of no where and doing well. Then, you never hear of them again. They are likely going all in with this tournament, trying to win a competition, when that’s not really the purpose of these tournaments. We will always operate under the mission, and it’s true for the other sports, too, that these exist to develop players.” Does that mean Stephanie is fine with another three and out? “I’m fine with it if we felt that as a team, we learned something about the players which can help them become better players.” Does she feel that’s happening? “Absolutely, it happened in the second game. We surrendered four goals in the opener and cut that in half against Banija. I saw our defense make mistakes in the first game that didn’t happen in the second. I also saw Lexi (McGregor) make one hell of a pass to Lacey (Sherwood) in the 68th minute when people talk about Lexi needing to pass the ball more instead of always shooting. Their keeper made one hell of a save on Lacey. It could have tied the game, and while the fans may have groaned that we didn’t, that’s what you call a win for player development purposes.”

Cassadaigua’s final group stage game is against Graintfjall, and if they were to win Gortolekua defeated Banija, then the Fillies have a chance to advance, via tiebreakers. The first is overall goal differential, so we’d have to win by two or more over Graintfjall to get the tiebreaker. So, it’s feasible, but the odds don’t favor it. And as far as CASE is concerned, the effort against Graintfjall may matter so much more than getting a fourth game.

by **Tumbra** » Fri Aug 19, 2022 10:25 am

Tumbra 8-0 Oclea

TMB (4-2-3-1): 12 - Hawkins; 2 - Boullogne, 4 - Gorostieta, 24 - Singh (14 - Connolly, 68'), 19 - Bailey; 6 - Hovhannisyan (8 - Makeba, 84'), 15 - Gillard (25 - Sváfnisson, 68'), 23 - Campbell; 17 - Nunnaro (7 - Frecklington, 45'), 21 - Halliday; 22 - Yeltsov (26 - Elliot, 84')

TMB scorers: Fedya Yeltsov (6', 36', 80'), Clarissa Nunnaro (22'), Colin Campbell (41', 62'), Esekíel Sváfnisson (79'), Tom Elliot (87')

Player of the Match: Fedya Yeltsov (TMB)

FEDERAL ELECTION 2029: DENOUEMENT

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TBC News > Trending

Prime Minister-elect Stephen Williams unveils Cabinet

By Tejinder Dhillon
TBC News

STRATON: Two days after an election victory which will mark an end to twelve years of Labour government, Prime Minister-elect Stephen Williams unveiled the members of the next Cabinet of Tumbra in a press conference earlier today. Among the major changes to be made to the federal government include the dissolution of the Ministry of Immigration, with its functions to be taken over by the Ministry of Home Affairs, and the introduction of the post of Second Minister for Finance.

The post, which will see the Moderate Party leader William Boyd join Cabinet meetings and help formulate government policy, was announced as a "natural conclusion to negotiations" in the days following Polling Day, and will see the Moderate Party sit on the government benches for the first time in twelve years. Commentators have pointed out that the post offers no real power to Boyd, and that he will, in all likelihood, be subordinate to the Finance Minister Paul McKenzie; but Boyd, in a press conference, refuted all claims that his appointment was little more than a tokenistic one and that he was "ready" to help Tumbra's economy moving again.

Williams' Shadow Cabinet largely makes the transition over to government, though the notable demotions of Bernice Wyatt, Senator Henry Weycott, and Matthew Westwood from top-level Cabinet positions to the outer ministry raised some questions. Williams' Press Secretary, Tony Obiang, refuted claims that any party-room business had taken place and the appointment of several ministers was purely on "geographic grounds, and meant to reflect the views and distribution of the newly-elected caucus as well as the voters who put the Liberals first on the ballot."

The Ministry for International Development, which had long come under fire for being a "useless ministry" by some members of the Liberal frontbench, surprisingly survived the post-election cull. To be headed by six-term MP Julian Smith of Colbrook Springs, the Ministry will pick up additional responsibilities for international trade, taking over that responsibility from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

The other appointment that generated much interest was that of freshman MP Jack Hinchcliffe to that of the Regional Development portfolio. Hinchcliffe, 38, and the latest in a long line of politicians that have been central to the history of the National Party, was elected MP for the family's traditional held seat of Cricklewood on Saturday. The appointment not only surprised for the placement of an MP with that little experience in the role, but also for Hinchcliffe's family relations — which some have pointed to as the reason that he got the role in the first place.

Tom Roberts
TBC Chief Political Correspondent

What Williams has done is name a fairly standard centre-right government. It's got all the big names of the Liberal Party that have bobbed up over the past decade or so. He's also named Lucas Clark as Leader of the House. The former Foreign Minister and a longtime friend of Williams will be able to provide guidance and advice to the Prime Minister. Sure, the demotion of some names expected to take full positions will have surprised, but there are rumours that Bernice Wyatt will be heavily involved in the Prime Minister's rumoured "New Federalism" programme, in effect making her the Deputy Prime Minister.

The Cabinet will be able to implement most of his economic policy fairly easily, including a long-awaited reform of the tax code that the Liberals have said unfairly punishes corporations for 'innovating and doing well'. He will also likely have a free hand on foreign affairs as well. Not only is this because there is a broad spectrum of agreement on general policy within the Liberal caucus, but two of his staunchest allies are in those positions as well.

Where he is likely to face more difficulty in getting his Cabinet to agree on issues is on the matters of law enforcement and defence. Stephanie Wilson, Lawrence Newell and Gerald Kingsley are all high-ranking members of the more conservative faction of the Liberal Party, and are likely to push for more proactive action in the Northlands. Newell in particular has ambitions for the top job; he finished as runner-up to Williams in the 2025 leadership election to replace former leader Peter Lindner, and the two have worked together rather uncomfortably ever since. Newell himself has diverged from the official Liberal line on certain issues, but Williams has kept him on in the Cabinet despite it; perhaps fearing the possibility of a backbench rebellion. It remains to be seen how long this uneasy peace between the two men will last. A bill extending the jurisdiction of the Internal Security Department, Tumbra's domestic counter-terrorism, intelligence and security agency, to the Northlands will likely be the first sticking point between the two.

Williams, describing his Cabinet as "ready to govern," outlined his priorities for his first hundred days in office — tax reform, the formation of a commission to examine the current state of industrial relations, Western investment and Senate reform — in an ambitious agenda that will seek to kickstart Tumbra's flagging economy and reduce inflation. The Cabinet is likely to be sworn in by President James Clark on Thursday, a few hours after Parliament is set to confirm Williams as Prime Minister and where he will be sworn in as Tumbra's 32nd Prime Minister on the floor of the House of Representatives.

Prime Minister/Minister for the Civil Service/Minister for Northern Affairs             Stephen Williams [LIB - Yarwood, Napier]
Deputy Prime Minister/Minister for Intergovernmental Affairs                            Jon Blair [NAT - Lynham, Clearmont]
Minister for Finance                                                                    Paul McKenzie [LIB - Cantonment, Bechor]
Second Minister for Finance                                                             William Boyd [MOD - Tamworth, Marlsbruhe]
Minister for Foreign Affairs                                                            Rita Ingham [LIB - Meryton, Bechor]
Minister for Home Affairs                                                               Stephanie Wilson [LIB - Calderdale, Iswilyn]
Minister for Law and Justice/Attorney General's Office                                  Lawrence Newell [LIB - Holsworth, Pesvern]
Minister for Defence                                                                    Gerald Kingsley [LIB - Bartley, Gamaliel]
Minister for Commerce and Industry                                                      Michael Greenwood [LIB - Birchmoor, Fremont]
Minister for Health                                                                     Vivian White [LIB - Fairfield, Caduke]
Minister for Education                                                                  Alastair Smith [LIB - Penrith, Marcato]
Minister for Transport                                                                  Ian Cunningham [NAT - Heidelberg, Hamilton]
Minister for Labour and Pensions                                                        Tom Gregory [NAT - Belmont, Napier]
Minister for Agriculture and Natural Resources                                          Bryan Lockhart [NAT - Findlay, Clearmont]
Minister for Urban Development                                                          Alexander Morrison [LIB - Shepperton North, Pesvern]
Minister for Regional Development                                                       Jack Hinchcliffe [NAT - Cricklewood, Clearmont]
Minister for Energy and the Environment                                                 Jessica Collins [LIB - Postwick, Westmond]
Minister for Culture                                                                    Ben Hooper [LIB - Meadowford, Raleigh]
Minister for International Trade and Development                                        Julian Smith [LIB - Colbrook Springs, Grantfeldt]
Minister for Social Affairs                                                             Alexander Hurst [LIB - Brendham, Finnley]
Minister for Technology                                                                 Esther Robertson [LIB - Tomlinson, Thornton]
Minister without Portfolio                                                              Michael Harper [LIB - Millsburgh Tevandale, Grantfeldt]
Minister for the Cabinet Office                                                         Cheryl Edwards [LIB - Kerrick, Marcato]
Leader of the House of Representatives                                                  Lucas Clark [LIB - Weatherby, Napier]
Leader of the Government in the Senate                                                  Sen. Russell Voinovich [LIB - Senator for Raleigh]
Chief Whip                                                                              George Walker [LIB - Cobham, Clearmont]

by **Hopal** » Fri Aug 19, 2022 6:41 pm

A Hopalian Sports Scandal

Episode 2

The contingent of journalists from the Hopal Herald had arrived at the hotel that they were staying at in Munkkeja, which was where Team Hopal would play all of their group matches at the 17th RTC Under-18 World Cup. It wasn't a luxury hotel by any means, but it was a nice comfy little hotel right in the centre of the city, near The Gymnasium (the stadium where the team would play their matches), all of the facilities, and all of the hustle and bustle that a major international tournament brought to a city. It was rather a large contingent of staff that were being sent and lodged, and each staff member had their own room, provided by the Herald. This included: Virginia Duff, the Deputy Editor of the Sports Section of the Hopal Herald, Helen Hernandez, a former soccer player who recently was recently hired by the Hopal Herald and was to be given her own column to report and give her thoughts on every game, and Simon Karkos, the Chief Sports Analyst at the Hopal Herald. There were also two newly promoted senior reporters in the Sports Section: Emma Delaney and Virgil Galentino, as well as the young man who was at the meeting Brian Whitney's office where the lot of them were given this assignment in Gortolekua, and who Emma Delaney didn't recognize at the time. Emma was soon introduced to the man as Blake Speere, though she still didn't understand why he was accompanying them on this assignment. For every one of these senior members staff listed there was an accompanying assistant, Emma wanted to bring Betty Cortroyd, but the requested was denied by Brian Whitney who said that Betty was needed at the office. As well there was a handful of interns, who one would presume would soon get a permanent job at the Herald, bring trusted to accompany a team on a foreign assignment, but in reality it wasn't always guaranteed. The newspaper didn't like to dish out, it was a lot of people and a lot of rooms, and the hotel they were staying at was certainly comfortable enough, there was no one complaining, they would only be staying there for a few days to report on a story.

Gortolekua was coming out of the period of isolation from the outside world and straight into the midst of a political crisis. A crisis which the government of Gortolekua has been keen to try to cover-up, an effort which the tournament that these journalists from the Hopal Herald were coming to cover. An effort which had not a amiss in the international community, and there had been some concerns over their hosting of the tournament, and the other bid for the tournament from Cassadaigua, which there had been similar concerns of what the international community called "sportswashing" over human rights abuses carried out by the nation. On the surface, things didn't seem very off when the contingent from the Hopal Herald arrived in the capital city of Seinät at Tenth Point International Airport, which had recently renamed to be an "International" airport and renovated to accommodate for multiversal travel. From there they had taken another flight to Munkkeja, where all of Team Hopal's group matches would be played. The country had seemed quite usual for a host of a major international tournament, the general populace seemed quite excited for the tournament, for the soccer anyway, and while most people weren't used to seeing foreigners, which made for some awkward moments, and other rather intense moments, it wasn't anything these journalists hadn't dealt with before. But when one looked a little deeper, signs of political crisis and the previous period of isolation and iron fist government could be seen.

But for now the contingent of journalists of the Hopal Herald just arrived at their hotel, with some (Emma Delaney, really only Emma Delaney) hoping to take a closer look at some of the social-political problems of the tournament's host, while others just wanted to cover the soccer. The hotel looked rather new, and the group assumed it was newly-built after the end of the country's period of isolation, possibly even specifically for this tournament, but it wasn't a thought that lingered for very long. As the each of the members of the group would go to their rooms to unpack their bags and unwind after their long journey. But soon many of them would be snapped out of their reverie as the senior staff, those who had been in that meeting with Brian Whitney, would be called down for a meeting in one of the hotel's conference rooms.

When they all assembled, Virginia led the conversation, "Alright, so first off, Helen welcome to the team!"

Virginia's welcoming of Helen led the group to break out in cheers and claps as the former soccer player thanked the Deputy Editor.

"And you too Blake!" Virginia added on, which led to another round of cheers and claps as Blake also thanked Virginia.

"What's Blake's role here, anyway?" Emma asked which led the surrounding group to feel incredibly uncomfortable.

Blake opened his mouth to respond, but Virginia spoke before he could do so. "Emma! Don't be unkind, we must make Blake feel welcome here with us." Emma scoffed, which Virginia ignored, while Blake tried to open his mouth to say something, but Virginia continued on. "Now I'll get to all of your roles, but I want to start with Helen." Virginia gave everyone, especially Emma a deathly glare, as though to dare them to object. She was an incredibly kind and thoughtful woman, but she could be strict and stern if she wanted to be, it was this balance of both which had gotten her this far. No one dared say anything, and she continued on. "Helen, as you all might know is a former soccer player on the Hopalian National Team, she recently retired and is joining us on the staff." Virginia addressed the room, and then looked at Helen as to address her in specific. "Helen, Editor Whitney has decided to give you column where you'll write about every. I don't think he wants a long-winded article, just something concise, easy to pick up and read. Something short, just a brief overview of the game, a piece about something key players and performances, your thoughts coming from your personal perspective as a former player. Again not something too long, it doesn't even really have to be an article in the traditional sense, it can just be something like jot notes, with maybe a little introduction." Helen nodded, before Virginia turned to Simon. "Simon and I will be there to help you. Simon, you can just continue doing what you've always done, which is analyze games, just continue what you've done for so long. We might give you some space to input your thoughts and notes, but what I really want you to do is to help Helen, and anyone who might need it in an article. Helen, I'll also be there to help you, I'll look over your stuff, you know help guide you through writing this and our objectives for it, but in the end it's your article." Virginia looked at Helen and Helen nodded.

"What about us reporters?" Emma asked, "Since we're no longer writing the articles about the matches. What are we to do?"

This time it was Virgil Galentino turn to speak before Virginia could, "I would assume, the Boss wants us to do interviews and the like, you know work on the bigger picture stuff."

"Thank you, Virgil." Virginia sighed at Emma's obstinance. "Virgil's right," there was a glimmer of hope in Emma's eye as she said this, hoping that she could finally start working on important stuff in her mind. "Editor Whitney wants you to conduct interviews and look at the broader picture sort of stuff." Virginia thought for a moment before continuing, "Yeah, you should set an interview with John Ashcroft, ask him about a wide range of stuff, but particularly about funding for a U-18 National Program, I want an article on that, and I think that should be your top priority for this trip."

Virgil and Blake nodded, as Emma spoke up. "Point taken. Now about Blake, are you going to explain him?"

Virginia sighed once more, "Emma, don't be unkind, Blake's a member of the team now, well at least for the trip." Virginia said now sounding more tired than harsh. "Blake is on a trial run to be a senior reporter, a probation period of sorts. He's been brought on by Editor Whitney and this was his idea."

"Ohhhh." Emma said and Virginia ignored it.

"Alright that's about it, are there any questions?" Emma looked like she was about to say something, but then thought better of it, everyone else shook their heads. "Okay, you can all go now." Virginia said before sighing.

As they exited the hotel conference room, Emma Delaney caught up with Blake Speere as they headed back to their rooms.

"Hey, I just wanted to catch up to you to say that I hope there are no hard feelings after what happened in there. I just... I get so caught up something that I can come off as being a little rude. So if I offended you I wanted to apologize to you." Emma looked at Blake innocently for a moment shortly before continuing without giving Blake the chance to respond. "It's just it's a tough ladder to climb, journalism in Hopal I mean, I'm 36 and I've just made it up. I have a friend, Betty, Betty Cortroyd you might see her around the office sometimes, she's an assistant, she's 59 and she's still not achieved her dream. And you're what, how old are you? And you're here."

Blake gave out a half-chuckle, half-sigh before responding, "I know how hard it is to climb the journalism ladder in Hopal. I'm 29, and yeah, I'm not quite sure why I'm here really, instead of your friend Betty." Blake sighed before continuing, "You see, I, I lived my whole childhood in Hopal, had what you would call a normal childhood experience back home. Then I went abroad to study journalism, I wanted to explore, travel the world so I did that for a few years. After graduating I got a job at a local paper near the university covering sports. I got bored after a while, I moved to the big city worked a few PR jobs. A few weeks ago I, home just called to me, and so I came home. I thought I'd work in PR again for the Hopalian National Team or the Hopalian Olympic Committee, I even applied there. But when I got home there was an offer from Brian Whitney himself giving me this test run of sorts, and my family wanted me to take, my uncle in particular. And I wasn't one to turn something like this down, so I took it."

"Hmm.." Emma wondered, "Do you ever think why a position like this would be offered to you? I mean as I said there are plenty of people within the Hopal Herald who have dreams of becoming journalists and they aren't this opportunity. So why you? Do you think?"

"I don't I haven't really thought about it. My uncle was the one who really encouraged me to take it, and he's always been a suspicious person in the family. Not that he stood out within the family specifically, it's just his work, he never talks about it, and refuses to do so. So it might have something to do with him." Blake shrugged.

"Hold onto that thought" Emma said. "Well I'll see you around I guess" she said before walking to her room. Virginia had been following them, hoping to talk to Emma after what happened in the conference room, but after hearing their conversation thought better of it.

The Hopal Herald Sports

Hopal Triumphs Over Drehda 3-0 (Helen's Thoughts)

Hi there, I'm Helen Hernandez, I'm a former professional soccer player who was part of the Hopalian National Program and played for the Hopalian National Team at multiple tournaments across the multiverse. I'm covering the 17th RTC Under-18 World Cup from here in Gortolekua as part of my new column: Helen's Thoughts. After every match you'll find me here giving me some of my thoughts and analysis giving you a rundown of the game's key moments and performances from my personal perspective as a former soccer player. Team Hopal's future will be proven here in Gortolekua as these teenagers on the Hopalian U-18 Team try to prove themselves here as Hopal's future. Follow me as I breakdown every Team Hopal game here at the 17th RTC Under-18 World Cup. Starting today with Hopal's 3-0 victory over Drehda.

Uma Frey was on fire in that match, going into his third and last Under-18 World Cup. He got all three goals, a full hat trick for Team Hopal this game. He's coming in here with something to prove, hoping to win something for this U-18 team before he turns 19. He established himself as a superstar all the way back in U-18 World Championship 11 and now he's trying to cement that status. He was full of energy pacing up and down the pitch, involving himself in almost every play for Team Hopal. It seems apparent he's training himself as a good all around players as well as a flashy goal scorer, and he's really becoming the quarterback of this more dynamic offensively-minded team. Every goal he got all three times, he saw an opening in front of him and he just took it, getting three goals out there. But it'll be interesting to see how he fares against some stiffer competition as he continues his development.
This was Oliver Paris' first match as the starting goalkeeper of the Hopalian U-18 team, he's just 15 years old and the pressure seemed to really get to him at times. I know what it's like at big international tournaments, there's a lot of pressure on you to perform, and especially as the sole goalkeeper that pressure is heightened as the final line of defence against a goal for the other team. And at 15 years old I can't imagine it's easy for him to shoulder that pressure, and he did seem overwhelmed at times.
Uma Frey tried to talk him through at times and it seemed to help, Frey after did become a superstar at the 11th Under-18 World Championship at 14 years of age, so he does know what Paris is going through, and it helped. Frey really is emerging as the captain of the team, helping and guiding the youngsters out there on the pitch at what is some of their first major international tournament and helping them shoulder that pressure, as well as leading them playing the game itself and acting as a sort of surrogate coach playing the game, and John Ashcroft did seem to approve, or at least didn't acknowledge it, but I know John Ashcroft and for one of his star players whom he knows closely, that is approval.
Back to Oliver Paris, his play itself was fine enough. Not spectacular, but he's young and he'll learn. He takes a lot of risks and there's opportunity for some real spectacular plays, but he needs to learn risk assessment. But there's a lot of potential there, and I'm excited to see him play more.
The Hopalian defence though covered for Oliver Paris. 18 year old Centre Backs Ken Harris and Greg Morehavel have a lot of experience, and saved Oliver Paris some real embarrassments swooping in at times to save him. But overall they prevented balls from getting to the net a lot of the time and acting like a trap, retrieving the ball before it could get to the net, which really served as a last resort throughout this game.
The team overall there isn't much to say, they worked well together, they were dynamic and had a lot of chemistry. With Uma Frey leading, they were a good offensive group which pressed and pressured the Drehda team and John Ashcroft's philosophy seems to be working out.

Starting 11 for MD2
GK Oliver Paris 15 M
LB Mark Summerfield 17 M
CB Ken Harris 18 M
CB Greg Morehavel 18 M
RB Pat Dacy 16 M
LCM Garrett Moritz 17 M
CDM Justin Thomas 18 M
RCM Harry O'Connor 17 M
LW Uma Frey 18 M
RW Halyna Waro 17 F
CF Josh Davys 16 M

Schedule
MD1: vs Drehda - W 3-0
MD2: vs Adab
MD3: vs Tjorl

by **Chromatika** » Fri Aug 19, 2022 7:11 pm

RTC U-18 WC 17 MD2: Chromatika 2-2 Huayramarca
Goals: Tahahanjeragnen '15, Allison '88
Starting XI (4-3-1-2): Sourtois; Griffin - Sæsdóttir, H. - Sæsdóttir, N. - Tehahanjeragnen; Françine-Miklavivec - Mesic-Mizayaki (C) - Bjarnhéðinsson; Dillon; Xuen-Zhukov - Allison.
Substitutes: Illario -> Sæsdóttir, H. ('51), Félix -> Dillon ('62), Saburo -> Tahahanjeragnen ('71)
Summary: Xena Allison equalized in the eighty-eighth minute, and the Young Anomalies were lucky enough to escape with a point as Huayramarca dominated possession and the Chromatiks were left with making counterattacking runs. Thankfully, they did just enough for the point, but it was a sobering reminder that they'll need to improve if they are to actually do well in this tournament. The expectation for this side is the Quarterfinals, and they have a good chance to achieve that goal; however, sloppy defending and losing possession will not help.

The Twin Towers: The Græntfjaller-Chromatik Twins

Even from a distance, it's hard to not notice the presence of Hrönn Sæsdóttir and Nana Sæsdóttir. Though only sixteen, they are both six feet four (193 cm) and still growing. Hrönn, the older sibling by five minutes, has freckles and windswept-bleached blonde hair with piercing green eyes, while Nana is the one with auburn hair, brown eyes, and a mischievous grin that never leaves her face.

Born to two Græntfjallers that moved the Chromatika after the Rainbow Revolution (they settled in Chromia), the twins were first introduced to football when they were nine. Their parents didn't support the idea of choosing it as a career until three years later, when it became clear that they were quite good at the game - especially the physicality of what it took to play defense, the clearing of crosses into the box, and the stamina to keep going for the whole game.

Two years later, they were in the Chromatik Youth Academy, the Academy for those who weren't old enough to join the Chromatik U-18s (Chromatik don't start anyone that isn't at least fifteen). They then sat on the bench for one season, and as soon as they became a part of the Chromatik U-18s starting roster (the best youth club in Chromatika), they landed on the radar of the Chromatik National Team.

Hrönn is the more brutal, physical of the two; she doesn't mind getting her hands dirty and getting a few cards thrown her way. She likes to lay down the law and press on when the opposition folds. Nana, on the other hand, is a bit more cerebral, practically suffocating her mark with proximity and nagging behavior. As a tandem, they are lethal - and it's going to be fun to see just how much of an impact they can make on the Chromatik game going forward.

Nobody will be as good as Henri de Aea at his age, that is true; however... these twins are something else.

World Cup 81/82/83/84

© Sporting Times Weekend 2022
Final day sees many with all left to play for
by Fiona Devlin, National Soccer Writer

As the final fixtures of the group stage of the 17th RTC World U18 Championship are set to get underway, the places in the knockout round are very much up for grabs in nearly every group.

Group A
The host nation seem to be safely in as they take on Banija, who need a win or a draw along with a Graintfjall loss to eliminated Cassadaigua to advance.
Group B
Newcomers Elymia take on second placed The Finntopian Empire knowing they are guaranteed at least a top two finish, and their opponent need just a point to hold off Sierra Grand, who would need a 3 goal margin of victory against Poafmersia
Group C
Qasden need a win over eliminated Oberour Ar Moro unless both they and Arjunnagar lose or draw
Group D
Chromatika and West Barack & East Obama are tied with 4 points as they meet, with Zeta Reka & Hegeltaldom against Huayramarca both on just a single point. A draw between the leaders is the simplest scenario to see them both through, things could get tricky with a clear result in both matches.
Group E
Tumbra certainly assured themselves the top spot with their 8-0 win Oclea, who will be Baker Park's final opponent, unless they are defeaated by The Cordian Isles, who would jump into the top two.
Group F
This is the one group where all four sides have a chance to get into the Round of 16, with Hopal against Tjori and Drehda against Adab
Group G
Ceni are assured of advancing, as they will finish with the defending champions Mertagne, who are eliminated. Abanhfleft and Cardenao will fight for the other spot between themselves
Group H
Eastfield Lodge look like the class of the entire field, winning 5-1 and 6-0 and will play HUElavia who need all the points to have any chance of passing Geektopia, who will need just a point against the Independent Athletes from Quebec to be safe.

RTC Under-18 World Cup 17 [rosters/RPs/results]

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