[Roleplays] :: World Cup 92

[Eshialand]

An Analysis of the Facts
Squidroidia 1-0 Eshialand

"Hey everyone!" Michael yelled as he came back to Releo's house.

"Ey, welcome back Michael..." Kenny replied. "Did you get anything from the hotel?"

"Actually, I did..." he handed Kenny the USB drive. "The receptionist was fangirling over the king so she decided to make a file on him..."

"Wait, Mraviov?" Kenny asked, noticing the label.
"Yeah, I guess that was the alias the king used at the hotel..."
"That's interesting... I found bank records with a Fyodor Mraviov on them even though no Aleiravan census since 1681 has had anyone named Mraviov..."
"Did the records list an address?"
"14 Alahoa Drive."
"Alrighty, I guess there's only one thing left to do..."

30 minutes later

"There we are, 14 Alahoa Drive..." Kenny said to Michael and Melissa.
"Wait, Kenny..." Michael asked.
"Hm?"
"How did you even get the bank records?"
"Oh, um... I may have asked Sarah Silver to hack the Bank of Eshialand."
"WHAT???"
"She's quite good it at you know... anyway uh--" Kenny knocked the door to distract Michael.

"Hello?" the king said as he opened the door. He didn't look exactly the same as he once did, but the crew still recognized him.

"William... thank god... it's me, Kenny!"

"Who's William? I've never seen you before in my life."

[Brookstation]

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I||II||III||IV|V|VI|VII|VIII|IX|X|XI|XII|XIII

The 20 is a blog series where authors of Brookstation's biggest football blog, The Beautiful Game documents the lives of some of the best players to have played in Brook soil. Aimed at inaugurating the 50th edition of the Harrison Shield, we document the lives of the players who define the top 20 football clubs in Brookstation.

DILWOYN MERIDION :THE PLAYMAKER

Dilwoyn Meridion was born into a middle class family in Essidise on 18th August, 1965. From his very childhood days, Meridion showed little interest in studies and rather spent most of his time playing football in the streets of Essidise. It wasn't until Meridion entered mid teenage that he would take football seriously. Influenced by a friend to try out for local club, Waffen, Meridion would finally take a shot and get selected as a reserve player for the youth side. Life wouldn't be easy for Meridion and at the mere age of 19, he would become a father, a mistake that would force him to take a more decisive approach on life in general.

Luckily enough for Meridion, he would gain his first contract with the club soon after this development. Now that he had the resources to support his family, it was upto Meridion to ensure his providings for the family and football being a pretty unconventional source in those days , Meridion would have a tough time adapting to it. Meridion was a playmaker, but he refused to work hard.

" Football in the 80s was not nearly as similar as football today. Football was more of a test of survival and with massive defenders waiting to cause damage, one had to be tough to survive. Meridion however, didn't take any of it into account and played like a lost wanderer on the field."- Ron Lee (Senior editor, Sports Today)

Very soon enough, Meridion would get an actual taste of football, suffering a devastating injury while playing against Grongen. The injury along with a loss in form would cause a significant halt in Meridion's career and it would be Bollonischian manager Raphael Miller who would ensure Meridion's recovery. Miller didn't merely recognise football as a sport but he viewed the game from the perspective of a tactician and Meridion was the perfect piece in his game. Miller would soon transform Meridion into a more complete midfielder and very soon Meridion would be seen dominating the field with his impressive footwork and playmaking ability. When Waffen would gain a direct promotion to the first division, several clubs would have their interest in the young playmaker, being well aware of the capabilities of Meridion.

In what would then be the biggest transfer from a second division club, Meridion would sign for Rottenham United in 1989. However, football in the top level was way different from the second division and the massive amount of competition already created quite a lot of pressure on clubs like Rottenham which fought for mid table finishes. Initially, Meridion failed to settle in the Rottenham side with almost everyone criticizing his stature and lack of physical ability. Within a matter of time however, Meridion would start figuring out the jist of Brook football and soon, Meridion would become the hero of his club, assisting in almost all his club's goal and managing the entire midfield lineup. Meridion would end up as the highest assister in the 1991 season. Despite winning the zonal championship in 1992, Rottenham were bereft of a proper team, a team that had the capabilities to bring a change and a change was required soon.

Ray Weir was a popular figure in Brook football. Weir was one of the few manager who had the privilege of managing a club like Hacienda in the 70s and although he failed to bring much glory to the club, his strict technique of managing was well known to the Brook crowd. By the 90s , Weir had lost most of his stature, struggling to find a permanent job and Weir's contract with the club would prove to be the perfect trade, beneficial for both sides.

Weir's first step would be to inject discipline within the club which would often be termed as "a band of hipsters" led by none other than Meridion in those days. Like all other players, Meridion didn't appreciate the arrival of Weir either for he knew that Weir was ready to take any measure to ensure the success of his club and that would mean that the carefree and butterfly days of Meridion was going to be over. Having gained such a popularity in a relatively young age, Meridion had gained quite a lot of pride and ego was something that was strictly out of Weir's scheme. Weir's first step would be to alter Meridion's ego. Meridion was now shifted to play at the position of an attacking midfielder and initially having troubles to adapt to the position, the proud Meridion would soon improvise under Weir's supervision. Weir knew that Meridion was a player with a lot of potential but a player who lacked the dedication to reap the gifts of football.

" I knew very well that I was the best player of the club, yet it was Ray who made me realise that i wasn't nearly a complete footballer. There was still a lot to learn and perhaps without his help, I would never become who I am today. "

For both Meridion and the team, Weir's reign would have an immediate and profound impact on the club. Starting from the very midfield under Meridion's captainship, Meridion would go on to become the top scorer in the Harrison Shield, simultaneously helping Rottenham win their first national title in 1996. It was an unbelievable achievement, especially for a club like Rottenham and despite the existence of superpowers like Other side of Paradise, Space Coast Rockets and an emerging Dreamland side, Rottenham managed to beat all odds.

Meridion's goalscoring exploits had already made him one of the best in the league and at the peak of his career, Meridion would end up captaining the side to numerous victories. Even if Rottenham could not gain any more silverware to their name, Rottenham would establish themselves as a pretty well built side in the league. For all the years to come, Meridion maintained himself as the leading figure of the club , propelling goals whenever he could.

Aged 34, Meridion's impressive form on the field would begin to wane and soon enough, Meridion had to hang up his boots. After his retirement however, the club would be honoured to see Meridion as a staff of the team. As the attacking coach of Rottenham, Meridion would inspire a new generation of footballers and with his expertise in the field, Meridion would mould the team's attacking lineup. Furthermore, being from an unprivileged background, Meridion knew the shortcomings of life and with the help of former teammate Alan Leonardino, he would find a charitable institution aimed at helping the unprivileged using football as a means of social change. Nowadays he spends most of his time spending time with the common society unlike most other retired players and one can even meet him at a park in his native Essidise. But , Dilwoyn Meridion will always be remembered as one of the greatest leader and playmaker who revolutionized Rottenham to what it is today.

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MORE FROM THE BEAUTIFUL GAME :
Ray Weir: The underrated master of the game
"We are ready to face Chromatika" says Browne as Brookstation approaches their toughest window for qualification
With the first half of qualification over, The Beautiful Game analyses Brookstation's performance so far

[Brenecia]

Brenecia 2 - 0 United Adaikes
(4-4-2) 12 - Corder; 2 - Sidle, 18 - Killen (22 - Fitz 76'), 6 - Staplewood, 25 - Reed; 7 - Carpenter, 4 - Briggs, 23 - Sitko (26 - Meskela 76'), 16 - Marusak; 14 - Tristram (24 - Korsak 76'), 13 - Stokes
Goals: Stokes 19', Carpenter 71'

Garbelia 0 - 3 Brenecia
(4-4-2) 12 - Corder; 17 - Hadley (2 - Sidle 66'), 18 - Killen, 5 - Shrine, 3 - Culpepper; 7 - Carpenter, 19 - Seager (4 - Briggs 66'), 23 - Sitko, 15 - Wake (16 - Marusak 75'); 21 - Lofthouse, 13 - Stokes (24 - Korsak 75')
Goals: Sitko 29', Killen 36', Lofthouse 53'

Brenecia 3 - 0 Huelavia
(4-4-2) 12 - Corder; 17 - Hadley, 18 - Killen, 5 - Shrine, 3 - Culpepper (25 - Reed 31'); 15 - Wake, 19 - Seager, 8 - Conway (23 - Sitko 72'), 10 - Byrne (16 - Marusak 84'); 21 - Lofthouse, 13 - Stokes (9 - Baker 84')
Goals: Byrne 41', Lofthouse 65, Baker 90+1'

Adab 0 - 1 Brenecia
(4-4-2) 12 - Corder; 17 - Hadley (2 - Sidle 74'), 18 - Killen, 5 - Shrine (6 - Staplewood 90+1'), 25 - Reed; 15 - Wake, 19 - Seager, 8 - Conway, 10 - Byrne (7 - Carpenter 74'); 21 - Lofthouse (14 - Tristram 66'), 13 - Stokes
Goal: Tristram 81'

For a few blessed weeks, the car-fire that was the sovereign nation of Brenecia was, very nearly... calm.
Finally, the fiery teamsters of Falkner, the unemployed former miners of North Hall, the smoke-belching industrial barons of Marque and the smugly green small business owners of Rozelle had something to unite them:
The Immortal Goalkeeper.

Phoebe Corder had been battling her whole career. She had been subject to the blessing and the curse that was being an academy goalkeeper at Northern Union. Great, you were at the premier football club of the nation! Great, you wouldn't have to slave down in the pits! But... did you actually want to play for your hometown club, or just wear a number 12 or 20 on the bench?
Now, Cass Farrell had broken through. A hometown girl who made good, even got a handful of Brenecia caps, but in so doing she outlasted and forced out dozens of other hopefuls. And one of them was Corder, quietly knocked off the books at 25 to go seek her fortune. In Astograth, so it happened. She landed at a good club, there, and at a good time, too. Brenecia was kind of like Northern Union; sometimes there was an unstoppable wonder-goalkeeper - there are people in Westpike bars who will die convinced that Mathis Woodgate was the best pure shotstopper the world had ever seen - but sometimes there was... a whole lot of nothing, really.
The A-League had a lot of foreign goalkeepers, and a lot of old local goalkeepers, and a lot of goalkeepers who just weren't very good. And not many clubs. So Woodgate passed the torch to the fallible Calhoun, who passed the torch to the world-class Wright, who passed the torch to the fallible Tanner. And behind Tanner, the BFA was flat-out looking for anyone who was so much as eligible for the eye-searing pink and yellow abomination that was their goalkeeper kit, the past couple decades.
So while they were still looking for what ultimately ended up being Sorcha Tanner, Corder got a Brenecia call-up in her mid-20s, for the first time, having never yet started a league game.

Fast-forward a couple years. The situation is more and more desperate; Tanner has a poor couple of years and a bunch of her approximate peers - Cove, Dundalk - are aging out. So the net gets stretched wider.
There's Cessair Meade, who landed on her feet in Vilita. The current number one, and she would only be 23 by the time the World Cup ran around. She could easily see five in her career. Most likely, she would make four.
There's Casper Harder, who nobody had even heard of. He himself discovered he had Brenecian ancestry on Football Manager, and phoned up the FA. Harder only played in Audioslavia's second tier, but he had a pulse, was under 30 and was getting regular minutes at a decent standard. If he turned out not to have Brenecian ancestry, new paperwork would have been found to make it the case.
And forgotten, somehow, was Phoebe Corder. "Oh yeah," said casual Brenecia fans when she was called up again. "Her." But the situation had changed. She was a regular at Ituraitz, at last, and performing well at that. She had gone from a sick joke emblematic of Brenecia's failure to produce and develop goalkeepers to a very viable first-choice.
Even so, Meade got the first few games. She did fairly well. But then Corder got between the sticks against the Tetrarchy. Nothing happened. At either end. So perhaps that was why - and it was - Derdriu Wright stuck her in the net again, versus the once-relevant 95X. Easy 3-0 win. United Adaikes? Bottom-feeders at home... no need to bench Corder. 2-0. Garbelia were winless, too, and stayed that way after losing... 3-0.
Okay. Four clean sheets from four, that was weird, that didn't tend to happen. In international football, goals just sort of flowed. And besides. The next games were Huelavia and Adab, representing serious competition for the top.
Brenecia destroyed Huelavia 3-0. Under the cosh, Corder made a handful of strong, impressive saves early, before Byrne sucked-punched them on the break and the Patriots cantered to victory in the second half.
But that was home, and Brenecia was always a fortress that right-minded people wanted to leave as soon as possible. Adab, away. At a cauldron. And there were Akaptaha and Yissakar, at the prime of their careers with a century of goals between them; there was Yargab, with over a century of goals on his own. And Emma Arthur, hitting her straps as a top-quality player in Chromatika.
Arthur, Yissakar and Yargab all came close, but it was Barzani off the bench who came closest to smashing the record. A perfectly-timed run caught a through-ball from fellow substitute Khoury, and an immaculate first touch let her glide beyond Killen but somehow, somehow, Corder made herself big, the ball slammed into her stomach and sent her somersaulting back with that blessed sphere held tight against her core.
And then Stokes snatched the win, three minutes later.
Immortal.

Corder was not the high-water mark of Brenecian goalkeeping. Meade wasn't there yet. Harder would likely never get anywhere near. But all three of them were comfortably better than Franca Connell.
Connell played in Nephara before that really meant anything, and played for Brenecia before they really meant anything, either. But her name was still etched into folklore, for Brenecia tragics and to stat nerds.
The sequence runs like so:
Brenecia 3 - 0 Alta Belleza
Kintratar 0 - 0 Brenecia
Brenecia 1 - 0 Sicoutimont
Swansea City 0 - 2 Brenecia
Brenecia 1 - 0 Kitsunia-Deese
Valanora 0 - 0 Brenecia
That's Kitsunia-Deese as in the respected regional power of the era. That's Sicoutimont as in 'Sicoutimont 7-0 Nephara'. That's Valanora as in Valanora. Away from home. And a decidedly mediocre Brenecia - a side that had never qualified for the World Cup, never come close, and was fresh off experiencing the high point of their existence, a Campionato Esportiva quarterfinal - blanked them all, and more, and were the last side in the entire world to concede a goal.
Here's the other thing. Brenecia - though they would earn five more clean sheets - finished third from a field of nine. They didn't qualify. They didn't even get into a playoff. And they didn't win a game at the Cup of Harmony. They conceded one goal in six group games at the Campionato Esportiva and did not make it to the knockouts proper; they came fourth from eight at the next set of qualifiers. Defence could only take you so far, which was something you could tell Ko-orenites for a long, long time until that very suddenly became an outrageously stupid thing to say.
Corder had played six full games for Brenecia. She had never been breached. But Brenecia still trailed Savojarna by a point.
And of course, now that people had started to believe, it was inevitable it would be breached. Sooner, or later; and probably sooner.
Still... Immortal Corder. People were whispering. People were excited. And that meant, for the time being, nobody was throwing bricks in the street...

BRENECIAN NATIONAL TEAM SELECTION - FORTNIGHT 6
Goalkeepers: 1 - Cessair Meade (Rammsissil, VIL), 12 - Phoebe Corder (Ituraitz FC, ASG), 20 - Casper Harder (Sparta Zijweg, AUD)
Defenders: 2 - Esther Sidle (SC Montfort, TLI), 3 - Nimue Culpepper (Sabrefell Athletic, NPH), 5 - Athelney Shrine (Falourr, EUR), 6 - Cerys Staplewood (Suttonville, EUR), 17 - Caoimhin Hadley (Sabrefell Athletic, NPH), 18 - Iucharba Killen (North Laithland, NPH), 22 - Patrick Fitz (Royal Rumiatzi, ASG), 25 - Shana Reed (Creed United, NPH)
Midfielders: 4 - Skaidrina Briggs (Southern Star), 7 - Kendra Carpenter (Wirr Tsi, CMT), 8 - Iseult Conway (Wirr Tsi, CMT), 10 - Katua Byrne (KT Itzalovalle, AUD), 11 - Lienke Covolan (Vermillion Rage, NPH), 15 - Maerhen Wake (1830 Cathair, AUD), 16 - Sylvia Marusak (Juavi FC, VAL), 19 - Tamara Seager (FK Arsika, MYT), 23 - Rajmund Sitko (West Cuono United, TMB), 26 - Vaida Meskela (Makosile, VIL)
Forwards: 9 - Siobhan Baker (Anomalies, CMT), 13 - Mor-Rioghain Stokes (Mountainside, EUR), 14 - Danand Tristram (Sabrefell Athletic, NPH), 21 - Jadwiga Lofthouse (Yassaca, SRS), 24 - Cyprian Korsak (Kingsgrove)

Sharktail 1 - 2 Brenecia
Brenecia 1 - 0 Captina Island
Savojarna 2 - 1 Brenecia
BYE
Brenecia 0 - 0 Karodin Tetrarchy
95X 0 - 3 Brenecia
Brenecia 2 - 0 United Adaikes
Garbelia 0 - 3 Brenecia
Brenecia 3 - 0 Huelavia
Adab 0 - 1 Brenecia
Brenecia vs. Polkopia
Brenecia vs. Sharktail
Captina Island vs. Brenecia
Brenecia vs. Savojarna
BYE
Karodin Tetrarchy vs. Brenecia
Brenecia vs. 95X
United Adaikes vs. Brenecia
Brenecia vs. Garbelia
Huelavia vs. Brenecia
Brenecia vs. Adab
Polkopia vs. Brenecia

[Eraman]

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Day 20 - Month 9 - Year 12

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Amish Kongassery arrested in Pemecutan

Ubung: Amish Kongassery was arrested by the Pemecutan police at the Ubung International Airport, Pemecutan when he wanted to board a flight to Anara.

According to a source close to the Pemecutan Police, they have been monitoring Amish Kongassery's illegal activities for the past three years and finally managed to arrest him along with evidence of $30 million worth of cash smuggled out of Pemecutan in his suitcase.

After being interrogated, Amish Kongassery appealed to be released because the money in question belonged to the Bendahara of Eraman, Tun Rendra Usin and he was only an agent to bring the money out to Anara to help ease the financial burden of the ruling coalition, the National Front in the upcoming elections in Eraman.

This arrest made Tun Rendra Usin furious and worried that he would be entangled following the arrest of Amish Kongassery with evidence and even more unfortunate when his accounts at several banks in Pemecutan were immediately frozen.

"Tun is really angry at the stupidity of Amish for carrying cash. Why not just transfer it online? I think our Bendahara is in danger," said a proxy of Tun Rendra Usin when he told his friend on the phone at a coffee house in a prominent hotel who happened to be overheard by a representative of Eraman Journal who happened to enjoy dinner there.

The arrest of this suspect surprised all parties, especially the Eraman Anti-Corruption Committee because Amish Kongassery cannot leave the country because his passport is in the possession of EACC on several charges of corruption with Sunil Chekavar.

Amish Kongassery who was previously arrested along with Tun Rendra Usin's partner, Sunil Chekavar will likely be brought before the High Court of Pemecutan today to face charges of money smuggling and money laundering.

The arrest of Amish Kongassery dealt a great blow to the Director General of EACC because the widespread rumors said that Sunil Chekavar's corruption case had been closed following Sunil Chekavar's own admission that he had paid a sum of $1 million through a senior EACC official who had previously closed Tun Rendra Usin's case in illegal logging activities.

Previously, Sunil Chekavar was often seen together with Amish Kongassery in Pemecutan and Southern Palm Islands to carry out financial transactions on behalf of Tun Rendra Usin.

But as the saying goes, as clever as a squirrel jumps, it eventually falls to the ground, Amish Kongassery got stuck even though he had successfully transferred large amounts of money before. Still, this time he was caught for recklessly carrying cash with an amount exceeding the allowed limit.

Tun Rendra Usin trusts Amish Kongassery so much because Amish Kongassery's father's company, Kongassery & Sons, has helped Tun Rendra Usin a lot in his era to build a career in the field of logging, especially renting barges to haul logs.

When Tun Rendra Usin was appointed as the Bendahara of Eraman, Amish Kongassery became the biggest player in the field of forestry, especially in Eraman.

The news of the arrest of Amish Kongassery did not surprise the people of Anara because he had shown extraordinary wealth and lived in luxury by owning at least five bungalows and 30 luxury cars, in addition to property bought in Pemecutan and the Southern Palm Islands.

"His sport rim is the same value as a car," said Badang, a mechanic who has been maintaining his car for the past ten years.

[Saint Eleanor]

World Cup 92 - eighth matchday of qualification
Saint Eleanor 1 (Katie O'Donnell goal 70')
Atheara 0

OOC 1: Although we haven't been remotely close to a split for about seventeen years now, my husband and I were still negotiating plans for division of property and custody (just in case!) way into my daughter's secondary school days. The last one of these, dated March 2012, has me getting the house and primary custody, but with the understanding that she'd visit her dad every week from 10am on Saturday to 2pm on Sunday or thereabouts. He wanted to stay in the local area to minimise disruption to her life (unwritten as it was); from what I remember, he was thinking more like an 8-10 minute walk between the two of us, although the kid would have probably loved it if that got whittled down to 80-100 seconds.

OOC 2: Despite what Launceston (a born-again Christian who still attends church every week, if she can) says, Saint Eleanor does not have no-fault divorce. It's only allowed in the event of domestic abuse, adultery, living apart for more than two years, or "other actions that cause the permanent, irrevocable collapse of the marriage which one or both parties to it have evidently carried out." Her parents divorced on account of the other-actions clause.

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Esther Launceston: "I don't want to chat up Lieutenant Mitcham anyway"
Chief Football Correspondent Jamie Rodgers talks to possibly the nation's third-best centreback about prestige, water and biology revision
Originally published on Thursday 16th August 2001

From a quick once-over, you would expect Esther Launceston to live a more stable, perhaps even a more obviously public, life than most. "Stable and public? Bold. My dad went to church with me every Sunday, my mum has little time for religion, he works hard behind the scenes, she's the Channel 4 weathergirl. And they broke up. I know that part of the SEFA teamsheet's supposed to be funny but I think I could cut it in the entertainment business, even though that would mean going to so many new places a year and feeling like I have to put on a good show every time inside... hold up."

Launceston's parents divorced in 1986 for what she insists were good-faith, even "cordial" disagreements; they started living apart, but only by a few hundred yards. "It's not that hard, really: I just go out the door, cross the road and take a left, cross the road again at the end of the street, turn right and my dad lives at the third house down. It takes a couple of minutes, but I'm really so thankful they live that close to each other; I've heard of children in much larger countries who have to make ten-hour round trips just to see the other parent. Technically, I was only supposed to be there between Saturday morning and Sunday afternoon every weekend, although I visited him on a lot of weekday nights because the Channel 4 weather forecast is at 9:30pm. Nobody told me off; perks of being an only child, I guess." Did her mother really ask her father to stop paying her child support? "Yes! July the 17th, 1994. With that said, C4 says she earns 125,000 a year. I'm on 130,000 now and I married my fiancé about three weeks ago so... no pressure?"

Despite thriving in middle-set classes at Whitehammer Community School and only missing two days in seven years, Launceston generally could not keep up with top-set teaching; only in geography was she able to hold down a regular top-set place. "I almost regret not asking to be homeschooled... almost. Firstly, I'm just thankful Mark O'Donnell had enough patience to be my geog teacher for four years - that's Katie's dad, by the way. Secondly, I was in most of Stephen's classes that last year, although he isn't too interested in football other than supporting Athletic [Saint Eleanor]; I don't want to chat up Lieutenant Mitcham anyway. Thirdly, I took both music and art; I had to drop one of the design and technology subjects for that privilege but I never really liked any of the DTs, not even textiles. And fourth, what I did was go to the bookstore a week after Year 12 began, drop $400 on the eight subject textbooks, I think, we were using - I still think it's the best 400 I'll ever spend - read them back-to-front multiple times, do the exercises, put in a few hours a day in the last few months and let the dominoes fall. Sir literally pulled me over on School Cert results day and asked what the hell a set two student like me was doing as the only person in the entire year group to get 90% in biology! A bit of a fluke result - I must have been competing for the top eight or ten on everything else, top two or three in the arts - but I digress."

What three games does she feel most influenced her development? "Saint Benedict's. Did you not ask me about Charles Trump '98 yet? The 4-3 against Deepchester should have been as much a warning as the 4-3 over Nyowani Kitara was - there were a few silly goals I know I should have worked harder to keep out - but we kept two clean sheets against a couple of okay teams and we thought we'd be fine against SBC. Nope! The first half was quite good; Cat[riona Roberts] was their top striker and I had the good fortune of looking after her. After a while, they decided that going long wouldn't be a good idea for various reasons - I'm six foot two now, she's something like five foot six the last I checked - and moved it through the ground. When I just cut out their passes, they outsourced distribution to Jack Long; he was good, but maybe they wanted me to think he wasn't my problem. In the end, he turned out to be nobody's problem, but Cat was really dangerous. When we went 1-0 up, she was almost rabid: not selfish, for obvious reasons, but she wanted the ball, she wanted to shoot, she wanted to set others up if they were well-placed, and there she was with the first, a ridiculous switcheroo I had no chance of responding to at the time. Norman Gilbert scored again, then Adam Boucher scored from out wide - definitely not my problem, either. When we got to extra time, I was looking forward to seeing how I could stop her; I'd assumed she was a bit tired, but she was active as ever and got to a low cross near the end of the first half. I should have marked her closer but the first-time effort wasn't a shot I was ever going to stop in normal circumstances!"

Second on her list is "the 1-1 draw at home to Fontvielle Impact when we made the Champions' League groups last year. Did I pronounce that right?" Almost, but not quite. "Maybe next time. But if we're talking about that competition - and that was indeed where I got my start for Athletic - I would have put forward the 2-1 win over Al Ain for obvious reasons, but this was much more important and symbolic. Firstly, Marco Hertel didn't try and fire a shotgun at me. Secondly, John Tresco scored about thirty minutes in to give us the lead - good header, I was there but didn't feel I was well-placed enough - although they certainly got back at us before the break. Thirdly, while we didn't know an awful lot about Impact, all indicators pointed to me having to do a lot of work. I obviously wasn't the only one doing it all, but I did work with Wlad Wlad quite a bit, he did his job very well, shut them down, we got our first point... and we got it against the reigning champions! The rest of the group stage wasn't ideal in terms of progression but if you're talking about how we started to improve, make ourselves look serious and competitive, this game would be a good starting point. If I wasn't doing my job, we'd look terribly embarrassing and be treated accordingly. Just don't talk about Southbay Riveria, if that's okay."

Her final choice is Athletic's 2-1 victory at Occidental Olympic three months ago. "I'd definitely say we were blowing hot and cold all throughout the first half of the season, but it could have been worse. I was told Olympic were rejuvenated but they were absolutely terrible for the first eleven! If you remember Mr Tresco from earlier, he happened to get himself suspended after being a bit too naughty during the disaster that was the Good Hope match. What happened was that Phil Ellis was given the call and I was pushed up to midfield to counter Steve Pilchard. If you've heard good things about Phil, they're completely justified; he knows his stuff, let's just say. Dominic Cooper had the early goal for Olympic, which was a bit of a surprise since they've largely stopped wing play in recent years. With that said, Steve's easy to stop if you keep watching him, don't move too fast, challenge when you think it's sensible, and ignore whatever his body language is telling you. I'd say I did well on this, our strikers gave us the lead, we held on and that would be another three points. Since then we've won all of our league games and we'll end up with another title if we carry on like this; actually, I can't guarantee anything but we're on a good run of form." Never mind Sylvia Hollenberg - does Launceston think she would make a good defensive midfielder? "Actually, Priscilla thinks I'd be perfectly fine there! It would just be in case of emergencies, however: the national team situation is confused enough that we're agreed I should stay in my lane and the club is well-staffed enough that Yelto-Aflan Ono most likely agrees I shouldn't normally be dragged forward."

Launceston, who only ever drinks water - "partially because Mum wanted me to, partially because it's good for me and I don't think I'd drink anything else" - joins a few other, admittedly less strict, teetotallers in the squad: Bridget Coombe, Melcheta Pazorzal, Georgia Wood and fellow new arrival Arielle Richardson. "Now that Bridget's left for Kelssek, we just meet up if we get the chance before home games, talk about current affairs, what the squad could do to improve with the resources it has, and similar things - and something to eat; we couldn't possibly forget that. I'm told the meetings used to be a bit more frequent, although I like them as they are and I'd definitely say there's a certain quality about all of them - a bit quiet, a bit niche in their interests for the most part, but they all know what they believe in and they always try their damnedest on the pitch whenever they can." Does she think the rest of the squad is good at controlling how much they drink? "Yes, but they'd still be responsible even if they weren't in the public eye. Exandra Davies likes a good pint herself, but she likes saying that the wildest drinkers in Saint Eleanor can't keep up with the least boozy Quebecois; she can be a bit silly sometimes, but she always does what the manager asks of her and you couldn't pay her to ruin the atmosphere. And Katie: she inherited dad's common sense and mum's flair and I'd say she's done well for herself."

Having played a couple of games so far, Launceston's latest start was against Atheara, where she kept a clean sheet but was brought off for Adam Francis shortly after O'Donnell scored for the hosts. "I can understand the decision; we have five centrebacks in the team and Liam West is a constant - I almost forgot to talk about him but it should suffice to say that he's one of the best defenders, and one of the best people, I could hope to play alongside. I'll admit I've talked to Wlad more than a bit over the past nine months or so about international football, what it means, why it matters, what I should do and so on; he wasn't selected for the Rekan team but hopefully I can carry that particular torch - for Athletic and the world. Platitudes aside, rotating who Liam's partner is from game to game is actually a sensible idea." But Denise Livingston hasn't been capped yet. "It's unfortunate Denise hasn't played yet, but hopefully she can get a few minutes in before the end of qualifying: she's the fifth choice, plays for Army and Navy who've been a bit down recently, but she won the Golden Backpack when I was around, we're the same age and she definitely has the potential."

Contrary to popular opinion, it is quite possible to be introverted and talkative - even if it does sometimes feel like having to listen to the same memories of the same thing. Esther Launceston is certainly both, and she would have a good working relationship with almost any other centreback if she had the opportunity: determined, focused, knowledgeable about the game, a positive influence - and yes, "good fundamentals." Still think she's one for the future? The odds are you'll have noticed her too late.

[Cardenao]

There’s still another half of qualifying There’s still another half of qualifying

Ahhh man this game. This silly silly game of football and being a fan, ust a lifetime of pain for a few fleeting moments of glory. Glory that escaped Cardenao in our World Cup match against Sendhang as the Blue and Golds suffered a devastating 1-0 loss that put qualification that much further out of reach. True, that might seem a bit extreme considering we’re only six points behind Gnejs and Ko-oren in the qualifying spot, but it is getting progressively difficult to realistically see a path forward despite the high level of play and noble effort of the Cardenaoan’s as a whole. No, none of us would think to blame them in any way shape or form, Scooter McNash’s team has been wonderful yet again, but it there’s an air of familiarity building, reminiscent of the 91st World Cup where, much like this World Cup, Cardenao put up stellar displays and came within a (somewhat long) whisker of securing qualification on our maiden voyage. While we are close to those qualifying spots, we are also quite far away sitting in 7th, 12 points behind the group leaders, and two points ahead of the 8th and 9th positioned team within our group. The lads will surely be happy to have had a conveniently timed bye matchday to rest a bit and get some tactical work in, for the real work starts now.

Well it would’ve been nice if they had put in the hard work before losing to Sendhang, but the home team had performed admirably through the tournament thus far so it came as no surprise when they pumped a goal past Ray Holland in the 17th minute of play and sat back willing to defend their lead. The Cardenaoan players tried valiantly to get back into the game, with Juanma Saez and Chímo Ventura combining brilliantly in the first half two times to no avail, Haritz Larrainzar did find Ibai Acosta-Vargas with a great pass in the 43rd minute which the latter duly dispatched, only for the referee to correctly wave for offsides and bring an end to our best attacking move of the day.

The rest of the match was a fairly dull affair. Cardenaoan attacking attempts would quickly find themselves swallowed up and isolated by the Sendhang defense, petering out to zero success. The Sendhang attackers would pass the ball around but generally seemed certain the result would stand and preferred not to expend too much energy and manage their injury risk. Can’t blame them to be honest, it was just not our boy’s night. So it’s on to the next pair of matchdays where we take on last placed Atetancillo and group leaders Brookstation in what are yet more essential points for Cardenao to pick up.

At this point in the campaign I think it’s important we take every game as the come and just look at it in terms of those 90 minutes. It’s very easy to look at the current group table and simply multiply everyone’s points total by two, which paints a very ugly picture, but the reality is football isn’t like that. Remember 91? When we took 12 points from our first ten matches, then 23 from the final ten? Just have faith, play the came, let your positive play build on itself, and keep it simple stupid.

[Saint Eleanor]

World Cup 92 - ninth matchday of qualification
West Barack and East Obama 3 (Trent Vobama goal 43', Jenny Barracki goal 61', Lily Chobamya goal 89' [pen])
Saint Eleanor 0 (Sam Newbridge red card 88' or thereabouts)

OOC: The above details are consistent with WBEO's match report. It's a job well done and I don't intend on roleplaying the match beyond Francis' comments on the match in his interview, below.
The following sentences were originally part of Francis' comments but I left them out of the final RP because I didn't get permission from WBEO in time; I include them in this edit which I made around 1230 on Monday:

How does he react to reports by the BBC, the Obamen state broadcaster, that tacos were available to purchase at the Pentagram Underworld? "I thought I was supposed to squirt the forgetfulness serum into my mouth and then wash it down with some water. I couldn't tell you what it tastes like, mind. I had a taco once, at a food truck back in 1998. It was shit."

You are advised that Esther Launceston - not Newbridge and certainly not Francis - will be partnering Liam West at centreback against The Holy Empire.

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Aaron Francis: "I decided I had no reason not to. Zero regrets"
Chief Football Correspondent Jamie Rodgers talks to possibly the nation's third-best centreback about prest... uhhhhhhhh, you didn't give us the same copy for this and the last interview, right?
Originally published on Tuesday 21st August 2001

Aaron Francis - no relation to Will or Emma - was born to a working-class family that enjoyed a distinctly ordinary life in St Paul district, although they moved south to New St Paul in 1983. "It was New St Paul. What did you expect? Fancy buildings, fancy infrastructure, right next to the Polytechnic Institute, no war trauma, just sleek."

As it turned out, his time at the local Community School was far from fancy: "Boring. Dead boring. I made a few friends and a couple of them moved to Brightway out of curiosity, but like my headteacher said, I wasn't in school to make friends. I was in school to study. Did I study well? You're the judge: I was good at some things, okay at others, shit in art and design tech - but PE? Simply brilliant. I bothered to listen to the teacher, loved taking part, and was the closest thing they had to a leader in anything much, although they were under no illusions." They were right not to have been: NSP disappointed in the Charles Trump Shield of 1993 as they succumbed to fellow minnows Goldsmiths 2-1, a result he refers to as "unsurprising, given that I was one of the best players in a bad, bad, bad team. My shoulder buddy and I might have stopped it from being something like 4-1? That bad."

Having enrolled onto the Poly's sports science course, he quickly signed up for its league team, Juventud, and this is where his football journey really begins. "You asked everybody else their three biggest games, didn't you? My first big game is deffo up there: 1995, 4-0 loss to Olympic. I have no clue why I signed up without any prior experience in the Poly's internal tournaments but apparently a lot of people do, so I decided I had no reason not to. Zero regrets. Three games in, finally called up off the bench and my work, [Adam] Denby and [Dekamela] weMexala felt like big deals - they still are, but throw Samuel Short and Dom Cooper into the mix and you get big, big trouble. I was asked to mark Adam and I really tried my best; it was tiring but I reckon I got away with it for a bit over an hour, by which point it was 2-0 because we're Juventud and we don't pay attention most of the time. I shut off at that point, too, because I was yards away from the guy when he dribbled almost past the rest of the defence and scored. He won himself a second when both me and my mate were chasing him, ignoring Dekky because she didn't look like getting the ball, and then he just fired away when we weren't even close to nabbing him. Oh, and they didn't even have Steve Pilchard. Fuck's sake."

His next choice is another loss, but one which felt completely different: 5-3 away to Athletic Saint Eleanor in 1999. "Juventud was okay. I don't think you'll see anybody praising it more than that. But the Unicorn... when I joined, it was just picking itself up from a swamp that had several bazillion cubic feet of crap inside, shaking itself down, trying to get itself well-fed and I was there to watch it grow. So did my mum; she moved from a dodgy used-to-be-local restaurant to a good, newly-local restaurant. I mean, it grew most of the time. That game - what were we doing? I have no idea what the first half was all about but Melcheta [Pazorzal] cancelled out Fred Newton, nothing much happened, all well and good, 1-1 at the break, and when Cait[lynn] Jones put us up I thought we were good. We were not, in fact, good. Logan Hughes was fine - he somehow didn't let Nightingale in - but I was very wrong to neglect the other threats. Harriet Williams is first; I charged forward a bit, tripped her up and she cut us no slack from the free kick. Then Newts again: watching him for a while, I tried to chase him for a bit but when I almost got there he was thinking 'no, I should get this done first.' Wlad Wlad was a textbook example of how not to mark someone that's a bit taller than you: don't stand there, jump a little bit and hope the other guy won't notice because he will. Hattie's second was absolute genius and I wasn't close to her. Thankfully we got one back but I wouldn't want to relive that game. I don't normally fail to pay attention but that wasn't normal!"

To conclude, he goes for the 1-0 win that the Unicorn racked up against Sword and Shield near the end of the 2000 season. "Those were the first good Swoshers in a while, weren't they? Pity they had so many Uni students. Before that game kicked off, it was every team for itself in the race for the IFCF between third and seventh, hardly anything between them. I wasn't too interested in the other results, just looking at this one, and we would have been in good if we won. Anything else and we'd be down in the dumps. I won't talk about the goal, even though it was handy; instead, I'll just talk about the fact that Sword and Shield are far more regimented now than they were under Abraham Straw: all you have to look out for these days is one of Alexandra Marcus or, as I was very politely asked to by Ian Jones, Maddie Gordon and you're in. I don't know why I was asked to go after Maddie; Logan's the one who likes pushing forward but he thought we could expect to be surprised. Anyway, the whole marking thing might have thrown them off; Alex was okay but Maddie - the poor girl - didn't know what on earth she was supposed to do when she saw me marking her from that position, and normally kicked it forward to Jessica Martin, say. It looked like we were good odds for the top four come end of the season. Unfortunately the odds dropped to zero when we lost to Indy on the final day, and collapsing against Juventud a short while before that so-called crunch match wasn't a smart idea... although it would have been if I was born five years later."

Francis has earned himself a reputation for being hard and abrasive, but - for all intents and purposes - seems like a decent enough bloke while out of character. "Who should I talk about first? Ah - my teammates. Georgia Wood is quiet and would much rather be reading some book I'm not interested in, thank you very much, but when she does talk, she's probably irate enough you should listen. Melcheta Pazorzal is, to put it very simply, a lad: not the kind of omnistriker you see on every other football pitch these days, including the one at Dignity Cross, but does the job, does it well and with a sense of dignity. And also doesn't just get the same brand of coffee every time he does his shopping. Props to him." What about the ones he doesn't share a club with? "Jessica - yes, I know, you're going to call me a hypocrite, but she's a big presence wherever she goes, loves the game, loves her team, she's getting better with every year and I don't see her crashing and burning at all. Really, a lot of good people, but Jess stands out." Would he agree with Deputy Football Correspondent Jennifer Nolan's assessment, made at the end of last season, that 'to the extent that he is improving as a footballer, he is toning down his play, becoming more conservative and diplomatic to adapt to the typical Eleanorian style?' "Jennifer knows a lot about football and I'd say I've been less rash - but I was rash because I was learning as a footballer. I'm not learning as a footballer because I'm becoming less rash. I wasn't too good at philosophy in school but even I know that doesn't add up."

Although started against Sevendia and brought on as a late substitute against Atheara, Francis stayed on the bench - behind regular starters Liam West and Sam Newbridge - during Saint Eleanor's sorry 3-0 defeat to West Barack and East Obama. "I know Priscilla's okay with rotating the squad and at least three members of the team are going to talk about how we could have gotten a result against North Jimmy and South Carter, but pitching the same eleven players everybody knows about away from home against a team I think should have won the Baptism of Fire was sloppy! If what the BBC says about belly-aches are true, then... well, we are really not good. We need to step up, work together, get our stuff in order like I thought we were doing during the break for regionals, and cut out what little nonsense is still left." Who would he remove from the squad if he could? "I really want to say 'anybody who went to the University' for a laugh but I honestly feel uncomfortable naming anyone - even me. As far as I'm concerned, everybody's gelled well into the squad and going in and making changes now would just disturb the atmosphere: we've never just changed the squad in the middle of qualifying. What we need to do is find tactics that work, with players that work, and make sure it all works. The central midfield dispute is legendary and I won't rehash it but we should be talking about whether, say, Katie O'Donnell should still be a regular starter over the rest too."

As far as solidity goes, Aaron Francis could survive an afternoon in a furnace and come out just about unscathed. A responsible man with a tough, if superficially decent, start in all areas of life, he has taken to treating opponents with the dignity they deserve and the respect the situation warrants. It has added up for the Golden Unicorn so far - they have repeatedly challenged for international places during his time there - but nobody really knows whether he will be similarly impressive whenever he gets the nod for the national team. For security's sake, we should hope so.

---

Lieutenant Mitcham fears that WBEO defeat will "jeopardise the reputation" of Saint Eleanor
With the assistant manager back in Saint Eleanor, Deputy Football Correspondent Dominic Norman can exclusively report his concerns about Friday's performance
Originally published on Sunday 19th August 2001

National team assistant manager Stephen Mitcham has expressed concerns about Saint Eleanor's second-half performance against West Barack and East Obama, as the hosts scored twice and took advantage of a late Sam Newbridge red card to win by three unanswered goals. This happened despite reports from Obamen state-sponsored news outlet BBC - which no reporter at SESB, including Chief Football Correspondent Jamie Rodgers, has been able to verify - suggesting that many Obama Carers involved with the match, but not midfielder Charles Obama, had digestive problems during the second half.

"I cannot confirm or deny that anybody did anything at half-time," said the President's eldest son about the BBC's allegations, "but I try my very best to ensure that everybody on the Eleanorian team is in the dressing room, in order, listening to Miss Evans, and doesn't do anything dodgy." He added that "if these reports are true, they not only condemn our failure to bounce back against the Obamen, but also seriously jeopardise the reputation of the Eleanorian national team. Given our poor performance against New South Yukon and now this, I am seriously tempted to ask big questions of a lot of people - but I'll hold off a bit." He insisted that Liam West was safe as captain.

When asked whether he was similarly concerned about Sylvia Hollenberg's failure to score immediately after opposition goalkeeper Dwayne Obama collapsed, he was defensive, claiming that she was "forty yards out" and arguing that "Sylvia has an immense sense of fairness and justice; she would never take full advantage of an injured player's situation" - but claiming that she was in "a very similar position" when she scored in Sword and Shield's 2-0 home win against Tsear AC in January. However, the Saterunian team's stopper was fully fit and played the full 180 minutes of the Challengers' Cup preliminary round tie, which Arsenal won 4-0 on aggregate.

[Sendhang]

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3 things Sendhang should learn from Pemecutan to qualify for the World Cup

The success of qualifying for the World Cup several times makes Pemecutan the most successful team in the continent of Mandalanusa. Based on the current performance, Sendhang is currently seen as the team from Mandalanusa that has the most potential to accompany Pemecutan to the World Cup.

Here are three things about the success of Pemecutan that Sendhang can study ahead of the second round of World Cup qualifiers:

Playing Philosophy

Pemecutan has already adapted its own playing philosophy for its players from the very beginning. In short, Pemecutan already has its own DNA that will continue to be used even if there is a change of coach. Sendhang on the other hand is having difficulty displaying its true playing philosophy. The change of coach indirectly made it difficult for Sendhang to apply the philosophy of the game.

Quality Players

Players are an important asset to the team and Pemecutan managed to produce a line-up of very quality players who made an impact on the team. Something that Sendhang should learn is that they need to study the effectiveness of grassroots development programs to produce future players. Until now, there is no Sendhang player comparable to players like Leo Olivando or even Rama Karyadi.

Mentality of Management

Management needs to be more open and assertive about the team's journey and have a long-term vision. Like Pemecutan, their management is always relevant in targeting the team's mission every year and also takes good care of the players' welfare. Something that the management of Sendhang should learn from now on if they want everyone to have a good mentality is not to put constant pressure on the players.

Conclusion

Every year we always hear about the teams that will be the second team from Mandalanusa to qualify for the World Cup after Pemecutan. While Pemecutan has successfully qualified for the World Cup several times, Sendhang should be more open-minded and ready to learn from the success of Pemecutan that is able to compete alongside the giants of world football.

[Independent Athletes from Quebec]

Dr. Heo and the Portal of Madness

PART 11 - 선곡표

In the very next afternoon, Dr. Heo exited his rail ferry and was entering the art gallery alone, on the quieter part of the old quarters of Perce. Its blue sign, clean and in cursives titled ‘Gallerie-Leon-Pyeon’, was a quiet, two-storey art gallery that was once the home of the eponymous painter who had spent over sixty years in this pristine city.

As he was about to enter the gallery to see a rare exhibition of the ‘Painters of the New Millennium’, he was having minor recollections about the day that had so far passed him in the blink of an eye.

1. The Admiralty

Just down the road from where his father, Prof. Heo Jin of Univ. de Levis, there is the Francois Nelson-Ryong Coast Guards headquarters building (also shortened as Daebonyeong in Shingoryeoite Korean). It is a fairly straightforward, four-storey building with the old, traditionalist roofs and concrete walls painted a half-dozen times to appear genuin, but you cannot help but to wonder if a better alternative could have been found. Next to the complex, and on the properties surrounding, are older, smaller buildings - those that did not see the architectural bastardisation of the Daebonyeong.

Those properties, which were normally used as the soldiers’ dormitories and office buildings, too would see a lot of movements of soldiers and sometimes, would keep their lights open late into the night, for the existence of about two thousand islands on its coverage area had merited constant need for on-call staff. That said, there would be some weeks when the Daebonyeong would be usually quiet and the soldiers would be given longer time off instead. In most of those occasions had coincided with the traditional holidays such as Chusok and Lunar New Year, but also more westernised holidays such as Christmas and the Solstices, which was actually celebrated more out in the East Coast than in the two capitols.

It would be around then, in middle of Winter, that Dr. Heo and his family would have been in town to visit the patriarch of the family in the Daebonyeong, just as a very light strip of snow would coat the roads and the roofs of the hill in heat of the Lunar New Year. While growing up he would remember how transformational they had looked and how their presence, surrounded by an outer ring of the family workshops of rare crafts and would remember them vividly.

The silvery layer of snow, almost like a bridal sappho that humanises the city at the very top of the mountain! Aided by the outer wing of steel, iron and rare items that I would one day want to learn.he would think as the young child, who had yet to move to Centralis, Electrum, for his father’s doctorate, would look at the headquarters in awe. As expected from the son of a former admiral, his father would redirect him away from the sheer scale of the building, preferring to redirect them to the city’s fifty museums or the nearby islands with the ever-joyful grandpa, a man of society but whose commitment to family hadn’t exactly come along.

Of course nowadays he would do this less, with his grandfather the Admiral having passed into eternity when he was 17 and the grandmother 41. His father, who had always dreamed of leaving the city he had graduated from as a valedictorian, rarely visited them since, and so has his mother.

Combined with his brother’s job as a teacher in Pahkatequayang, on the other side of Quebec, this had meant that it would eventually come down to Dr. Heo, the most nostalgic of the two children and five grandchildren who had left the town, visiting his cousins and nephews. Whether he was happy about the task was one thing, for his sense of duty had more or less covered his inner, personal opinions about his rural cousins. Sometimes, however, he would still reflect on how the light coating of snow and how the city that he had only visited twice to thrice a year would impart such a memory on him.

2. The Port

Let’s be honest, the ferry train’s going to vanish in Quebec & Shingoryeo in a matter of next two decades. This was something that quickly became apparent to Dr. Heo upon his disembarkment as he felt the antiquated air of the train ferry vanish outside of the first-class carriage.

Nobody was denying that there existed some sort of an awkward, pre-modern charm to the train ferry. Once a prominent service promoted by the Quebecois National Railways, the thrice-weekly service looked long outdated and past its shelf life, simply in the ways it would roll out of the Platform no. 1 and be shunted to the fifty-year old ferry that was exclusively designed for this very service. Everything about it had smelled awful, slow and even unneeded, and the risk of a delay or an accident, especially in times of turbulent weather, were simply too high to be ignored - which had spoken for the very reason Dr. Heo had found himself outside - with a full luggage and not just by his own body.

He, however distinguished he may have been on the surface, was not the only one who looked stern, silent and unhappy about the delays Alongside him at the station’s waiting room there were about forty-to-fifty passengers, mostly of a middle-aged cohort, who too had waited for their train to come. Sitting on the waiting station, they would find themselves for waiting for a solid hour or two before the train crew, that consisted of two conductors alternating duties, two technicians and a four-member crew manning the restaurant car and refreshment services, would enter. The crew members’ wet clothes, even after a minute of walking from their carriages to the waiting room, and the thunder and lightning heard outside more than enough to suggest there would be a postponement.

Stuck in the middle of the thunderstorm that had struck one of his favourite cities, Dr. Heo couldn’t help but feel the sense of literary creation passing before his eyes. To him, it had not exactly come in the form of fulfilling duties, as many of the neo-realist writers had intended, or even tried to provide a convenient, useful approach with the ways old formalists had intended. For him, his personal interest had instead become finding the tiniest joys of the most unexpected of coincidences and through the fault of the stars and the clash of the waves he would find life’s joys blossom. In doing so the roughest of thunderstorms would be able to show the deepest fragilities of a young girl on top of the rocky cliffs, or the strongest of the strongmen would save his own life through an accidental teardrop he had once shared. It was, in some ways, a good reflection of the train ferry’s one-day delay, for he would allow to find himself a gentle, solitary solace in the city he would mostly remember for familial reasons. Thus a relief.

There is no doubt that this rail ferry between Perce and the small island of Bel-Havre was on its way out. With it so will the rail service from northern Acadie to the city, marked by financial pressures against the QNR, thereby necessitating the formerly-loyal passengers to head to the port or even north for their way outside of the province.

Perhaps some Quebecois writer of foreign-sounding surnames, in his attempt to address the slow but distinct passing of time, would want to locate the values those rail ferries held and one day end up here to see one, an old carriage with the familiar, blue bunk beds of the second-class infamy. Then he, most likely a postgraduate or an early-career researcher, would look further into the digitised records once in his cosy departmental office. He would start digging further into the patterns of weather-related delays that had occurred predominantly over the 2055-56 year.

In a search of the days long bygone, he too would try to immerse into everything the train had once carried, from the hopes and dreams of a Bel-Havre man heading to Joongyeong, to that of an elderly man heading home for the last stop of the journey that was his life. Every line, every word and even every misspelling of the passenger that was accidentally left on the carriage would be cherished for future research - whether the long-deceased passenger would like it or not - and the historical cycle would continue.

[Graintfjall]

Britonesia – 1 (0)
(60’), (73’)

Græntfjall – 1 (1)
Björnólfur; Alyssia, Grímúlfur (89’ Tom ), Asbjørn (31’), Jasmijn (84’) (89’ Jan ); Tinni, Danny (76’ Johanna ); Vanessa (76’ Valtter ), Steinar (51’), Sara (c) (71’ Kæja ); Röskvi

“what a disappointment”. The verdict of North Cassadagan journalist Jack Stewart on the Snow Wolves seems pretty fair after stumbling to a 1–1 draw against 10-man Britonesia, the dropped points meaning they fall behind Tikariot in the group table. Johanna Álvgeirsdóttir, spitting nails after a late penalty shout was turned down, expressed her ‘disappointment’ in rather franker terms after the whistle, and will be suspended for the next international window as a disciplinary punishment. The whole episode put a sour note on what should have been a celebration of Asbjørn Vilbjörnsson’s emergence. While beaten to the punch as the first second generation Snow Wolf by Lea-Sophie Ørjansdóttir, who was capped during an experimental Eagl’e’s’ Cup squad, Asbjørn – son of Baptism of Fire winning captain and Molding legend Vilbjörn Hjörleifursson – looks set to be the first second generation Snow Wolf of real note. He played a pretty flawless game in Eyvar Mathiasson’s absence, and scored with a towering header from a corner as the Snow Wolves, for once, turned around their set-piece curse. Only to then revert to form in the second half as they failed to defend a corner, costing them two points that will make the rematch against Tikariot all the more significant in what could be a group-deciding Pavolan derby. Along with Johanna, the team will also be missing Jasmijn Spiderlair, who pulled up in the last minute of the game with a tweaked abdominal muscle.

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Kaija was a petite woman wearing three inch heels, yet she still managed to outsprint her towering bodyguards, crashing through the doors of Defense Department Emergency Room ‘A’ (ADDER) while they were still halfway back down the corridor.

“How is her Royal Highness?” she meant to ask, though the assembled staff were able to interpret what actually came out, “How is Hairy Lioness?”

“She’s fine, ma’am,” answered a colonel standing by a tactical map of Jabal Akhdar displaying potential bombing targets. (To avoid any unnecessary collateral damage, schools and hospitals were shown with yellowy-red crosses, while military targets were shown with reddish-yellow X’s.)

“False alarm?” huffed Kaija, noting the general lack of panic among the various military and intelligence personnel in the room.

“Not exactly. The Queen did have an episode in Kaedeki, but the situation’s been resolved.”

Kaija took a seat at the head of the table as her staffers Auðlín and Kimberley finally arrived. As her two most important staff they were allowed access to ADDER, normally restricted to civilian personnel.

“I had that in the car. ‘Episode.’ What does that mean?”

“Ma’am,” a Foreign Ministry staffer she recognized as covering the Sonnel Desk took over. “She attended a welcome banquet in Kaedeki and she had an adverse reaction to the shrimp fried rice.”

“Shrimp fried rice. I’m cancelling an address to the Save the Rainforest coalition because the Queen didn’t like the fucking prawns?”

“Uh, shrimp, ma’am.”

“What’s the difference?” asked an Air Force colonel-general, looking up from his notes on the Jabal Akhdar plan where he was carefully abiding by use-of-force limitations on civilian casualties by circling clean water treatment plants in greeny-blue and switching to drawing rings around terrorist command and control sites in bluey-green.

“Shrimp are smaller, I think?”

“Interestingly,” cut in a staffer from the Foreign Ops unit of GIB. “There’s actually no taxonomic difference between the…”

The steady thudding of Kaija’s head on the desk disrupted what had promised to be an enlivening discussion.

Sensing her boss’s frustration was reaching mug-threatening levels, Kimberley asked: “Was in anaphylactic shock?”

“Nothing so severe, just a bad coughing fit. She was treated by her, hmm, personal physician.” Everyone around the table coughed and shuffled papers. Dr. Hildar Náttúlfsson had been treating the Queen for several months. His willingness to attend to her at very late hours seemed to be the distinct selling point of the handsome doctor. “We’ve received another transmission from the relay satellite. She’s resting now, and will be continuing on to Drawkland tomorrow.
“Now, when we say ‘tomorrow’, do days work the same in Sonnel? It’s a different star, after all…” The Navy officer turned to the GANAX liaison, who had been distracted using Qardinal to search for ‘difference between shrimp and prawn’ and looked up, bemused. His first sight was Kaija’s withering gaze so he quickly ducked his head back down again.

“We’re sorry to have alarmed you, ma’am,” said the GIB domestic security attaché, whom Kaija considered the most competent and least condescending of her security briefing team, her sex being perhaps not entirely coincidental in either regard. “But ever since the heart attack we have a standing policy to alert the Prime Minister immediately in case of any medical events involving the Queen.”

“I think that would be a pretty good policy to have anyway,” said Kaija acidly, before her brain flickered to life as, recovered from her sprint, she was finally getting enough oxygen. “Wait, heart attack?”

She glanced at Kimberley, who shrugged, aghast, and Auðlín, who drew a long beat, and then made an exaggerated shrug. She narrowed her eyebrows.

“I thought you knew. Mr Fritzson said…”

---

Kaija had left ADDER after signing off on some drone strikes (they told her to put an exclamation mark by the ones they should hit and an upside down lowercase letter i next to the ones they should avoid) and returned to the Elliptical Office. The panic had soured the day’s campaigning for her, and she asked Kimberley to contact the lobbyists from the Bundoko manufacturing company who wanted to discuss trade issues, and ask them to push the meeting to another day. She was not wholly surprised to discover that Aron Fritzson had arrived before her and was waiting outside wearing a vaguely disarming smile. Auðlín, hangdog, shuffled in after her.

She tossed down her binder and kicked off her heels, flumping down into the couch. Flumping? Yes, flumping.

“Mr Fritzson, always a pleasure”

Auðlín stood by the door, while Aron took a seat on the opposite couch; she pretended not to notice that he made a point of choosing the right hand cushion.

“It’s been a day,” she sighed, “And I’m too tired for games.”

“Indeed. At least we can rest easy that the Hairy Lioness is quite well.”

Auðlín flinched, and even Kaija couldn’t keep her tired face from twitching. How had he…

“At least it wasn’t a heart attack.”

“Ah.” Aron sat back.

“Just tell me,” she said. She sounded exhausted.

“It was when you were Foreign Minister,” he began quietly.

“Zóphonías was PM?”

He nodded. “You were overseas on a trip selling military contracts to a friendly foreign regime.”

“Where?”

“Jabal Akhdar.” Aron smiled.

Kaija screwed up her nose and, prompted by the memory of the trip, unflumped (it’s what we’re going with) herself and approached the drinks trolley. It was one of the few items of furniture she’d retained from Zóphonías Juliusson’s time. She began pouring herself a wodka. “Continue.”

“She had a small cardiac event. And with God’s grace she recovered, long to reign over us.”

“Just a tiny little heart attack.”

“Why yes,” he deadpanned. “They stabilized her within minutes and two weeks later she was out on unicornback again.”

“Why was I never told about this?”

“Like I said, you were out of the country.” Kaija was still pouring.

Auðlín spoke up. “And Mr Juliusson felt that there was no need to widely circulate a message that would no doubt cause widespread panic and uncertainty in view of certain constitutional considerations.”

“So he kept it to himself. And you.” She had finally poured enough, for round one anyway. She took a sip and returned, glass in hand, to the couch, where she folded herself up barefoot with an admirably liquid grace.

“I didn’t go on the Jabal Akhdar trip,” he reminded her. Auðlín wasn’t a male name. And while Kaija had always treated him with dignity and respect (or, the indignity and disrespect she heaped on him was purely professional, never personal) there were other regimes, among them the Akhdaris, less understanding even Græntfjall. “I was staffing ADDER for you. The call came in, the whole thing was handled that night. In the morning, Mr Fritzson asked me to keep it close and, as she made a full recovery…”

Kaija had her doubts. She knew, for a start, there was a reason Aron had chosen the right hand cushion was because of what she’d been doing on the left hand cushion two weeks ago, and who with, and how it was he knew that… But she couldn’t find a fault in his story, and it was true that for the last two years of his premiership Zóphonías had barely spoken with her. And he’d always been close to the queen, regardless of their political differences.

“I’ve always been told she’s in excellent health.”

Aron nodded. “I would assume she wouldn’t have been sent on a spacetrip were she otherwise.”

She looked to Auðlín, and back to Aron. “Just a teeny weeny itsy bitsy heart attack.”

“Sarcasm doesn’t become you, Kaija.”

Her eyebrows, and what lovely eyebrows they were, shot up. “You haven’t called me that since I became Prime Minister.”

He spread his hands. “We’re drinking, with our shoes off.” Actually he was dry and beshoed, but she took the hint and nodded to the trolley. “I thought this was an informal moment.” He rose to help himself, leaving her to stare at his sofa, and the cushions that had been witness to another informal moment of her own.

Aron gestured to Auðlín, who shook his head. It wasn’t that he didn’t feel comfortable drinking with Kaija; it was that he’d sooner bite down on the cyanide pill himself than accept a drink from Fritzson.

She looked over, and nodded. “Thank you, Auðlín. You can go.”

“Yes, ma’am. Tomorrow, you have the Coast Guard visit, then Paralympíusambands Græntfjalls about sporting opportunities, then you’re sitting down with the chairman of UDP, followed by remarks at the High Court…”

“Is it all in the diary?”

“Yes, ma’am.”

“Then let’s talk about tomorrow. Good night, Auðlín. And tell Kimberley she can go home.”

“Yes, ma’am.” Auðlín nodded to Aron without making eye contact, and withdrew.

Aron had served himself a small sherry and returned to the couch, choosing the right hand cushion again with exaggerated caution.

“So, if we’re being informal, Kaija.”

She’d once seen a nature documentary about the Kijani jungle. Chimpanzees hunting monkeys. The smile the bloodstained primates had worn as they feasted on their kill reminded her of Aron’s.

“We are.”

“Why don’t you tell me why this bothers you so much.”

“Why I’m alarmed that I wasn’t informed that our head of state, the high priestess of our national civic religion, the single most important woman in the country, had a serious medical event that was kept from me?”

“If she dies, she dies.” His glass practically frosted at the rim from the coldness of his words. “What business is it of yours? Are you spending your extensive free time training for a side business in cardiology?”

“You worked for the Queen for…twenty years?”

“Oh, a long time, a long time. But now I work for you.”

It was the most upsetting thing he’d said all evening. And perhaps the only completely true thing he’d said all evening, too.

“Why didn’t Zóphonías want word getting out?” she asked quietly.

“Why do you think?”

“Because he was worried if it emerged she was in hospital, Kassandra would have her smothered with a pillow.”

In the silence that followed, he took a sip of his sherry. She got a strong sense he detested the taste, and had simply chosen it because he knew it was her husband’s favorite drink. “And you summoned me because you don’t like the idea we’re one bad shrimp away from that eventuality?”

Kaija nodded.

“Remind me, isn’t Hurricane Kassandra currently blowing through Cardenao?”

She doubted he needed reminding, but acquiesced all the same.

“Then unless her pillows have acquired warp travel capability…”

“Kassandra may be a gin-soaked halfwit,” she said. They really were being informal. “But her husband is…”

---

“Commander Gunnlaugur Rikharðsson,” announced Sigurhans Þormarsson, Græntfjaller Ambassador to Cardenao.

With relations between Atlantian Oceania and Græntfjall currently on frosty terms owing to Græntfjall trying to, you know, bomb Atlantian Oceania, the Crown Princess and her new husband had been pressed into duty doing a little diplomatic fleshpressing.

Wearing his full navy dress uniform, with a chestful of medals – none of them ceremonials, all of them earned in blood – he made for a striking figure as he did his bit for God, Queen, and country, by grabbing the hand of the Foreign Minister Mateu Hollacruz and shaking firmly. Well, God and country, anyway.

Behind him, Kassandra looked elegant in her floor-length Skúlína Skúladóttir designer dress in dark red. She’d limited herself to just a couple of glasses of dark red beforehand so she almost able to stand up straight unassisted. Bringing up the party’s rear was Aaron, her son, looking sullen as ever at being dragged on a foreign trip with his mother and new stepfather.

“Aaron, this is Alejandro Van Hallahan,” Gunnlaugur introduced the young man to the business magnate. “This is Prince Konradsson, though he generally goes by Aaron.”

The boy grumpily stuck out a hand to shake as Gunnlaugur moved back to take his wife’s arm. She was talking to Sophie Beumer de la Cruz, wife of President Otamendi.

“…shrimp fried rice? Shrimp? Am I to accept, as God’s own truth, that the sea’s very own abominable and chittering roach, was the one who took wok into hand and fried the rice?”

They had been two quite big glasses of dark red.

---

Aaron was picking at his food, shoulders slumped to the table.

President Otamendi had introduced the dish to them as la’hallan, hailing from the Ocean of Ayes. Græntfjallers liked their fish, so it had been a good choice on their hosts’ part, but Aaron was always fussy.

Gunnlaugur knew it was for him to play the role of evil stepfather, the harsh military taskmaster barking insults at the spoiled princeling, but, against type, he cared for the boy. He leaned over and whispered.

“Don’t like it? Wait until your mother’s looking away and scrape it onto my plate, lad.”

“Then what?”

The boy was bored, Gunnlaugur. Not that he could blame him. A diplomatic dinner was not the most riveting experience for a child.

“I’m sure no one would mind if you went back to the room. Is there a Snow Wolves game on tonight you could watch?”

Like all Græntfjaller boys, Aaron was soccer mad. He shook his head.

“No, they have a bye this week.”

“A bye? Hmm, that’s no fun.” Gunnlaugur decanted a small measure of wine from his glass into Aaron’s. No harm for a growing boy.

“No,” said Aaron bitterly. He did seem to perk up at the sight of the wine, though. The kraken-shaped apple didn’t fall from the tree, as the admittedly clumsy Græntfjaller expression ran.

“I know how you feel,” admitted Gunnlaugur. “Sitting on the sidelines, unable to act. Thirsting for action.”

Aaron looked up. His stepdad was doing his Weird Voice again.

Gunnlaugur winked. “Don’t worry, lad. There’ll be play, soon. An exciting game.”

“When?”

“Soon, Aaron. Very soon.”

[Vilita]

FOOTSPORT ASSOCIATIONS OF VILITA & ELECTRUM - WC92 ✓

@FAVE92

Man, opening ceremonies would get pretty confusing if Kandorith, Aleirave and Rouyoute all qualified...

#CUTOFF :: #GRP_8-15

[Cheetahs and reptiles Coalison]

Facts about Cheetahs and reptiles Coalison

Fact number 2:They have their own orthography

Some of you might have realized Natanians and Nosts has its own prescribed orthography for the English language.But what is not widely known is that Cheetahs and reptiles Coalison also has its own orthographic gudelines,which is easy to realise when one encounters a piece of text from the country,aimed internally or personally instead of externally.This is somewhat less obvious to realize when one has previously heard someone from the Esportivan country speaking.



Facts about Cheetahs and reptiles Coalison is a blog by a Natanians and Nost girl and boy pair who would like to share a bit about that little-known country.Expecting to be updated weekly.

[Guanacasteca]

IC: This is an editorial column from La Prensa Libre, a newspaper from the República Guanacasteca, a populist-minded editorial line is followed here.

To the tune of: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QnQbmB6KXME

A tradition of almost 180 years, linked to the power, fear and respect from the populace towards the military had been built. Assassinations, executions, tortures, corruption, blackmailing, etc. the putrid elite of the Guanacastecan Armed Forces would do everything they could to remain in power, to keep a stronghold on their actions and businesses across the nation. Resembling a mafia, the army isn’t supposed to be an institution people could feel comfortable and pleased with their job, it is a sort of a secret for many that the hate towards this institution is insane, a hatred that could be, easily, felt from the deepest corner of their souls due to the atrocities made.

But today, October of 2002, things are starting to change for good as people aren’t fearing the military, for much of the chagrin of those at the elite of the force, their time is ending and they aren’t able to notice it, winds of change are coming and nobody will stop them, not even those in the elite.

The mountain breeze from the Cordillera Madre, the endless Guanacaste Lake, all of those have been witnesses of the atrocities of the wars fought by the army, most of those fabricated wars to keep the money flux going in the direction of the elites, no matter if they were sacrificing young people, even forcing children for recruitment and make them fight a war they didn’t wanted to take part of. Those days that are in the memory of the survivors of the wars, remembrances in the form of traumas and nightmares that are tormenting their lives now and then, that will continue to do so until they’re buried in a plot of land.

Endless traumas, be those psychological or physical ones, won’t let those people recover from a suffering they didn’t opt to take, they had to take it at the point of a semi-automatic rifle or a machine gun, they often lived for war or death would await them. No chose for those who had to fight and bear in mind the suffering of their families at home, those who wouldn’t know anything of their beloved ones, since they didn’t have a chance to communicate in the best of the cases, or they would end their lives in a burial pit… There’s no way for anybody to support the Guanacastecan Armed Forces unless they are benefitting from it, through dark money passages, cleansing, etc.

Those endless journeys of walking, or even slower than that, with heavy equipment, backpacks and against their will in a battle created for the delight and benefit of others, part of the systemic injustices that Guanacasteca has suffered through its life as a Republic. Strolling right into the path of death, “the one who kills with guns dies by the hand of guns” says an old Guanacastecan idiom to address karma, something that the Armed Forces had begun to pay, by the most brutal of all means possible. The attack on the barracks of Diriamba was more than a mere stern alert message, it was the announcement that the idiom would become true, karma would hit them where they would suffer more, in their beloved ones too.

Around 1,500 people died in those attacks and in the subsequent revolt that the city of Diriamba had the following day, people were losing their fear to the Armed Forces and the Police of Guanacasteca. The long path for freedom had begun, a path of authentic liberation from the grip of corruption, suffering and death in the shape of those wicked institutions. It was the third year of a new cycle, a new millennium and things looked bleak for those in the wrong side, people’s power has awakened, and they will pay their consequences in a painful way.

Those who utilised innocent people, to the suffering of their beloved ones, are now paying with the blood of their beloved ones… Ah, how the coin flipped to the other side now! They can’t stand it, but c’est la vie. Une vie vraiment cruelle, no way to oppose to it, just to slide in the flow of the happenings and what she (life) has to offer you. One day you’re on the top, the other day you’re down and done! That’s a phrase the people of Guanacasteca could scream at the faces of those corrupt military officers while dying, they haven’t any choice than to accept the fatal turn of events.

People aren’t sure about the new direction from the winds, perhaps those coming from the west and the north of Pavola, they could condemn the act of liberation from the people or actually support it; but there’s something for sure, the beast of the army won’t die easily, they’ll pose fight and there will be need for a new war, perhaps the battle finale and the needed mean to finish this for once. Finishing with the misery and suffering from the Guanacastecan people is something that should happen sooner or later, a people and a nation can’t be in a perpetual state of torture and slavery, they will seek for freedom as soon as possible.

It is the time, brothers of Guanacasteca, lets show those dirty scum who is the one in charge. We, the people, the ones who pay their taxes, the ones who always add to the deadly tally in wars, those who suffer the most, those who are fed up with war and seek freedom, lets rise in arms and finish them! It is our time, it has been 179 years, it is the time to rise for once and settle the score in our favor, better than The Pigs from the National Football do, let’s play this war, play ball and let’s win it for once. Por siempre y para siempre ¡Arriba Guanacasteca! Come on us all!

[Ceni]

City Centre | Ceni | Rushmore | World | Opinion | Politics | Sport | Business | Arts & Lifestyle | Travel

Ceni and Delaclava announce bid for Cup of Harmony 84

In a ceremony held in front of the portal connecting Sonnel and Rushmore, the Football Associations of Ceni and Delaclava jointly announced their bid to host the 84th Cup of Harmony alongside World Cup 92.

Appearing alongside their counterparts from Delaclava, Minister for Culture, Art and Sport Marius Sauvageot and Director of the Cenian Football Association Fonak Orisenel jointly introduced their plan for the tournament, which will involve much the same plan as the Copa Rushmori previously hosted with The Isles of Avon, where the bid ceremony took place.

"Delaclava is well-equipped to host an event of this caliber, and we know they will be capable partners in hosting," said Orisenel.

Ceni has a known propensity for hosting international tournaments, and rumour has it that the country is looking to host a World Cup within the next two cycles to announce its rearrival on the international football scene. Despite some criticism on the return of investment for hosting international tournaments, Sauvageot and Orisenel noted that the tournament will not require the construction of any new infrastructure.

Most immediately, the bid partnership emerged from the Pronghorn Cup that Ceni and Delaclava contested before qualifying started for World Cup 92. As readers of this papers well know, the site of that cup was devastated by a bizarre series of happenings in the qualifying match between Quebec and Mercedini, and Sauvageot reached out to his counterparts in Delaclava to commiserate. "And just like that, we went from wallowing in our misery to discussing a bid," he said.

But more broadly, Ceni chose to work with Delaclava on this bid in part to reinvigorate and solidify its relationship with Sonnel. "Obviously, the portal incident dampened our relationship somewhat, but this bid shows that the sporting relationship continues, and will not be damaged by things like that," said Sauvageot.

Indeed, the choice of the site for the announcement was purposeful to emphasize those themes. "We chose this site to mark both the connection between Sonnel and Ceni, marked by the portal, as well as our desire to overcome the portal incident that devastated our national team," said Orisenel.

The bid includes a starring role for the controversial Westgreen Park stadium, which opened several months ago to massive fanfare yet underwhelming attendance. Although the stadium has hosted the recent Copa de Campeones final, it has been criticized as a white elephant given the lackluster demand for world-quality football on the western side of Ceni.

"Westgreen Park boasts a beautiful design from our own Cityscapes Architecture, an extremely sustainable architecture and a beautiful playing experience," said Sauvageot. "Why wouldn't we show that off to the multiverse?"

In World Cup qualification news, Ceni will next host StrayaRoos Barrier Islands in the very same stadium.

Reactions to the bid in City Centre have been somewhat muted, with some residents noting the surfeit of international football being played in Ceni recently and others bemoaning that they will have to choose between a Cup of Harmony in Ceni and a World Cup in neighbouring Electrum, less than an hour's flight away from airports in Cenial, New Oxford or Santiago de Ceni.

And of course, a major competitor might be the television and the couch.

Then again, this all depends on whether Ceni and Delaclava win the bid, reminded Orisenel. "We hope, if there are any international representatives in attendance or reading a news report, that they read over our bid thoroughly and vote for Ceni and Delaclava to host this competition."

"Pretty please?" he added, and the assembled journalists and spectators laughed.

[Squornshelan Remnant States]

Squornshelan Remnant States - 1
Bongo Johnson - 0

Goals:
SRS: Ness 80'

Lineup: 
SRS: Krusan; Bakken, W. Harkhan, Bedrosian, Halfariani; Nisarizo, Arikansky (Sevet-Ibilx 70'); Stern, Koshelev (Zazagan 66'), Eanain; Ness (Hedberg 87')

North and South Vietnam - 3
Squornshelan Remnant States - 5

Goals:
SRS: Fridtjofs; 20', 56', Damnagoras; 36', Yonte; 44', Bucvarov; 84'

Lineup:
SRS: Heiskanen; Nyberg, Titov, Bucvarov, Musta (Malgos 45'); Tabur, Zazagan; Bondarov (V. Harkhan 80'), Damnagoras (Nisarizo 74'), Yonte; Fridtjofs

Schedule and Results

FRND: SRS 0-0 DRK @ Ripper Stadium (cap. 40,000), Constantinople, New Gesem
FRND: SRS 1-2 CBP @ Ripper Stadium (cap. 40,000), Constantinople, New Gesem

MD01: RAN 2-1 SRS @ Smith Field (cap. 19,050), Richardson, RAN
MD02: SRS 3-2 SCO @ Radlov Arena (cap. 76,800), Brantisvogan, Megabrantis, SRS
MD03: YZH 3-3 SRS @ TBA
MD04: SRS 0-0 PYA @ Black Raven Field (cap. TBA), Yassaca, Sivolvia, SRS
MD05: BRP 3-3 SRS @ TBA
MD06: SRS 4-3 TLI @ Castle Street (cap. 57,300), Jaglan, Algolia, SRS
MD07: KAN 0-1 SRS @ Empress Masumi Stadium (cap. 90,000), Tenkyo, KAN
MD08:     BYE
MD09: SRS 1-0 BGJ @ Synesoft Arena (cap. 46,950), Syneca, Sivolvia, SRS
MD10: NSV 3-5 SRS @ Tiên Sơn Stadium, Đà Nẵng, NSV
MD11: SRS  v  SRG @ Chernov Stadium (cap. 57,600), Viltvodle Megabrantis, SRS
MD12: SRS  v  RAN @ Raftel Park (cap. 59,870), Chalesm, Megabrantis, SRS
MD13: SCO  v  SRS @ SuperNerd Wants To Fight Video Game And Computer Store Stadium, (cap. 42,000), Riverview, SCO
MD14: SRS  v  YZH @ Slavnareczpospolitastadion (cap. 61,230), Lublova, Molvania, SRS
MD15: PYA  v  SRS @ TBA
MD16: SRS  v  BRP @ New Rudlit Arena (cap. 31,200), Rudlit, West Flania, SRS
MD17: TLI  v  SRS @ LTI Stadium (cap. 75,000), Montfort, TLI
MD18: SRS  v  KAN @ Vogsphere Arena (cap. 90,000), Vogsphere, Isle of Squornshelous, SRS
MD19:     BYE
MD20: BGJ  v  SRS @ TBA
MD21: SRS  v  NSV @ Ralph Wilson Memorial Stadium (cap. 48,700), Han Dold City, Han Dold, SRS
MD22: SRG  v  SRS @ Estadio Generalissimo Joaqín Delgado (cap. 108,879), Soluca, SRG

World Come Undone, Part 12
Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4, Part 5, Part 6, Part 7, Part 8, Part 9, Part 10, Recap, Part 11
“It seems logical that he who supports total war in principle cannot complain of a war against civilians. The crux of the matter is whether total war in its present form is justifiable, even when it serves a just purpose. Does it not have material and spiritual evil as its consequences which far exceed whatever good might result? When will our moralists give us an answer to this question?”

A false lull settled in after the initial clashes between Imperial Marines and revolutionaries. The well-equipped and highly disciplined marines had generally done well, but had only faced the boldest of the revolutionary groups, not the most capable. There had also been very few meetings between the two forces before the arrival of winter snows sent the insurgents back into the mountains and left the marines generally confined to the cities. Instead of the revolutionary forces, it would be the inhabitants of the five occupied ports: Damogran, Vassilian, Syneca, Arkintoofle, and Brantisvogan, with which the marines would contend during the winter months.

Their objective during that time was to strengthen their hold on those five cities and their immediate surroundings, prepare supplies and logistics for future operations, and land additional forces to be ready for the spring offensives. Dozens, eventually hundreds of supply deliveries were made, through the teeth of winter gales, and not without loss of ships and lives, to build up stockpiles of fuel, food, ammunition, and all the things an army on the march needs. So great were the demands of the marines, in fact, that shipments of civilian goods were seized an diverted by the Imperial government, and rationing restrictions were tightened across West Squornshelous, but most especially in the five marine-occupied ports, where local supplies were also commandeered by the marines.

This hoarding of resources by the marines, combined with a steady flow of more and more of them into each of the ports very quickly made them much more hated than the army, rather complacent and lenient by comparison, had ever been to this point. Numerous protests against the rationing and austerity measures are staged, and are swiftly put down by military force. There are few instances of shots being fired, but the Marines could hardly be described as gentle, and refraining in most cases from the use of actual deadly force was about as much restraint as they exercised.

The clashes began steadily to escalate in size despite invariably severe actions by the local commanders, and the Imperial government took action to curtail things. Not, as a sane government might, by removing such large concentrations of troops from civilian population centers. No, instead they passed a series of punitive new regulations aimed at intimidating the citizens of the west, and the port cities in particular. If they could not be made fully to cooperate, they would at least be legislated into submission. Possession of firearms, already restricted, is banned altogether. On top of that, the homes, vehicles, and even the persons of western citizens would now be subject to search at any time, for any reason. Further, civilians can be detained indefinitely by any member of the military or law enforcement.

The immediate result of these laws, perhaps aided by a particularly cold and snowy winter, is that the streets are cleared. The Imperium’s leaders patted themselves heartily on the back for a job well done, leaving the laws in place. As abuse of the broad-ranging powers granted to the military would steadily grow throughout the winter months, so too the resentment, which had not been quelled by the new laws but only driven into dormancy, smoldered and festered into outright hate.

[Natanians and Nosts]

-After this match against Aleirave,I am here with Márcus Mihai Torjenescu,who scored the winning goal,his third goal for Natanians and Nosts,and just left the field.Good night!
-Good night.
-So the team is performing average and the attaack has been weak,do you have any comment on this?
-We do try our better,and the 5-4-1 is not really offensive-minded,but this "average"* results we have been having,are quite better than the last campaigns our teams has had at the WCQ.I was not able to score many goals,and I surely do hope to score many more,but on one side,the team has been winning by just one goal.On the other,we have the best deffence in our group,if memory doesn't fail me,and we have lost by just one goal also.
-Thanks for your words mr. Márcus Mihai.And here comes Cláudius Júlio Weiß,our sweeper.So sweepers are an uncommon position,but somehow fitting in this team,what is your analysis of today's match.
-The team played well,the crowd was great in supporting us,but things got a bit complicated after that Nanerikeha guy entered.The first period was dominated by them,but on the second period we could put our football to good use and even score a goal,creating two other good opportunities after;but we did nearly concede when Nanerikeha nearly got it in,fortunately,for us,it was quite too far outside.
-Okay thanks for your input Cláudius Júlio.
-Thank you for giving me this opportunity.




*He did the quoting fingers with his hands.

[Bears Armed]

It is now four days after the Belles' first-leg qualifying game against Turori, a 'home' match at Wimbley, in which they surprised some people by holding that team -- which is currently not only this groups' top seed but also ranked at #1 in all the teams registered with the NS World Cup Committee -- to a draw... and that despite themselves being the group's eight-plus-three'th [and bottom] seed.
Their immediate celebrations are over, however, and tomorrow the players return to the practice field: Only three days remain before they must play another match, this time travelling away for it to a nation named 'Zeta Reka and Hugeltdom' with which none of this country's Bears have had any contact before signing up for this tournament. The latest ''World Survey' report on that nation is reasonably favourable, making it out to have a democratic government that leaves its people fairly free -- although maybeso subjected to more extensive bureaucracy than most Bears would consider tolerable -- and that does a good job of looking after the local environment.
Then again, that same Survey's report on Bears Armed itself is not entirely correct. It claims that this country's population is well over thirty billion in number when it is really only around twenty million strong, for example; and it and it greatly overestimates the country's level of industrialisation, while greatly underestimating the living conditions, and health, of the industrial workforce... and, indeed, greatly underestimates not just the general health of the population as a whole but their average lifespan as well. Bears who consider this matter usually conclude that the Survey's staff don't carry out many in-person inspections, and just rely mainly on some computer programme that extrapolates from what data the Survey does manage to obtain according to a set of one-size-"fits"-all rules and whose basic algorithm for thus determining current population sizes is badly flawed... So, who knows how far out its description of that next destinattion might be?

Ah well, at least they know where that nation is, in the region named 'Esportiva' that is home to numerous nations involved in international sporting contests, and the locations within the coumtry of the three stadiums that its team is using for their 'home' matches during these qualifiers... although not, as yet, which of those three sites has been chosen for this game...

And that match will be the last of the 'first-leg' ones, with months to pass -- in Bears Armed, at least, no matter what the situation in other lands outside this region -- before the season during which the 'second-leg' games are to be played. The first of those matches will be an 'away' game too, facing the team of Aleirave against whom the Belles could manage only a draw when playing at Wimbley in this season, but that was before Krystall and Sermharn realised why the Belles were under-performing and Sermharn placed extra blocking that effect... and Aleirave's own overall performance during this season has been rather underwhelming too, so even with their opponents having the 'home crowd' advantage this time the Belles -- while trying not to become over-confident -- are a long way by far from expecting certain defeat.
(The team's mystical protections will be renewed before that season commences, of course, and fresh offerings will be made to Margaret.)

So, tomorrow the Belles resume practice, and Krystall will be needed at Wimbley in her role as the team's Chief Physiotherapist, but tonight she is visiting Sermharn in his Council Groves townhouse or -- as he sometimes refers to it -- his 'sanctum'. Rather than spend most of the evening at a concert or a play, with dinner in a restaurant, they have been simply listening to a recording of a Swing band's concert that Sermharn has obtained -- by means that he hasn't explained so far -- from a different 'Reality': It's the Benny Goodman Orchestra's first concert at Carnegie Hall [in New York City], with a number of other highly talented musicians joining them for certain numbers and even a jam session, in the year [by that world's calendar] of 1938... and Krystall agrees with Sermharn that it was well worth listening to. (OOC: I used to have two recordings of that concert myself. One of them had the sound quality "cleaned up" but with the one or two worst-recorded tracks cut out rather than cleaned and with the spoken introductions to the various numbers -- and to the concert as a whole -- also cut, the other featured the entire concert -- including those introductions -- but more-or-less "uncleaned". Either way, it was indeed [in my own opinion] well worth listening too, and I recommend it to any of you who don't actively hate Jazz or Swing... Alas, RL problems mean that I no longer have those reordings [or many others from my former collection, neither], but if ever I obtain control of a working & reliable Time Machine... ) Their meal consisted of a selection of dishes from around the country, each relatively small in size but sufficiently numerous that together they were enough to sate even a healthy Ursine appetite. Now the servants have cleared the table, except for the cheeseboard, the fruitbowl, and a few other small items that might be wanted later on, and have shut the doors behind them as they left the room.

Sermharn lifts a bottle of a drink called 'Methegrynn', which is a herbally-flavoured version of mead, from a side-table. He opens this, holds it out towards an unused glass that remains close by Krystall's place at the table, and looks at her with an enquiring expression on his face. She makes an affirmative gesture, and he pours a portion for her followed by a portion into another glass for himself. He stands the bottle back down on the side-table where it had been previously, then raises his glass towards Krsytall who mirrors that action with her own glass. Simultaneously they speak a traditional toast, wishing each other -- and both of them together, as well -- various blessings. (Unfortunately the actual wording of this toast doesn't translate easily from the Ursine language, so I won't try giving you a version. [Okay, I admit this, actually I haven't yet worked out exactly what it says...) ]) They both drink down some of that mead.

"Delightful company, delightful music, delightful food.." Krystall murmurs. "Now, you said that after we'd eaten that meal you would satisfy my curiosity as well, by explaining that "hwho and what I am" line you use about yourrself occasionally and telling me your 'secret orriginn' story?
"I won't try to insist if you've decided since saying that that you'd hrrather keep this information from me as you do from most other people -- or is that even 'all other people', except for Grimdark and Berrond I presume? -- instead? I do understand that revealing such a deeply-held secret isn't somethng to do lightly..."

"I'll tell you for true, dear-heart," replied Sermharn. "But I must admit to a certain amount of curiosity myself. Would you mind telling me, first, hwhat ideas about my orrigins you've alrready hearrd suggested?

[Eura]

WORLD CUP 92 QUALIFYING – GROUP 4 – MATCHDAY 9
Eura 6–0 Olastor
Scorers:
Sharp 14, 56, Vincent 22, Singh 28, Malone 38, James 76
Lineup:
13. J Hewitt
4. J Menard
25. Q Phillips (sub Hart 82)
5. T Green
16. O Vincent (sub Brown 78)
8. V Robshaw (sub Stewart 73)
11. B Malone (sub James 60)
10. S Singh
7. A Woodman
14. A Sharp
9. S Robson (sub Brookfield 65)

WORLD CUP 92 QUALIFYING – GROUP 4 – MATCHDAY 10
Sudilia 1–3 Eura
Scorers:
Brookfield 30, Vivier 62, West 67
Lineup:
30. V Simm
21. M McKenzie (sub Barnes 51)
19. J Byrd
15. K Sherwood
27. M Hart
23. E Reeve (sub Marshall 51)
28. T Matthews (sub Robshaw 80)
24. G Stewart (sub Brown 66)
20. B West
17. R Brookfield (sub Robson 69)
26. T Vivier

---

Analysis (Bastion, no particular political leanings, fortnightly magazine)
RIVER REPUBLIC'S HIGHWAY STRIKE REVEALS A LOT ABOUT THE COOPER RIVER WAR

Construction workers on Cassadaigua’s Highway 41 will have known there are risks to choosing to work in the disputed Cooper River region. Nevertheless, videos on social media showed shocked looks on their faces as they watched a large column of smoke rising from their new road extension. It soon turned out that the River Republic independence group had pulled off an audacious move, setting off a large vehicle borne improvised explosive device (VBIED) under a brand new flyover that would allow another road to cross. The blast brought down the flyover, blocking the road and likely setting back construction by weeks.

Occupation authorities were quick to condemn what they described as an act of terrorism, though local reporting suggests there were no civilian casualties as that part of the road is not yet in use. Unfortunately for the occupying government of Princess Brianna, and the central government of Cassie III, this was not some aimless terrorist outrage. It was the latest example in the second prong of the strategy behind the ongoing insurgency – the targeting of any infrastructure that represents and can sustain occupation. The Highway 41 extension aims to cement Dagan control over the western end of what they call the Northern Territory, before stopping at the natural barrier of the Cooper River.

Aside from the immediate practical impact on construction, this bombing sends a message to the Dagan regime that it faces a difficult task in protecting the infrastructure projects that are crucial for their wider goals. The failure of military reserve units guarding the highway will be seen as a cause for concern on that front. Crucially, the section of road struck by the Republic is not deep into Cooper River territory – instead it is relatively close to the border with Cassadaigua proper, signalling that the Republic now feel confident enough to attack targets throughout the entirety of their region, not just on its fringes.

This new found confidence and reach is significant as the Republic has spent much of the past couple of years being cautious, mounting low intensity resistance punctuated by occasional high notes, downing a helicopter or some other action that would cause multiple Dagan casualties. Many supporters of the group have reportedly expressed concern that its leadership have been too cautious, allowing the Dagans to settle in not just militarily, but in terms of the administrative and political institutions on which their occupation is built. Even a confected “national team” has been entered into World Cup qualifying for the Northern Territory, despite a number of countries protests.

But if you pull back the curtain, it is clear that the occupying authorities are not as comfortable as they seem, and that the Republic may have quietly built a substantial power base across the Cooper River region. A very significant development in the past few months is that Dagan troops have largely stopped patrolling the streets and villages in the region, instead settling in to fixed positions at newly established military bases around the region, especially the northern end of it. There has been no apparent criticism or challenge of this in Cassadaigua (a peril of lacking democracy, perhaps?) but independent analysts at this publication and elsewhere have raised their eyebrows.

A Euran defence official speaking anonymously tells us that the Euran MoD were “scratching their heads” as to why their Dagan counterparts had thought this was a good idea. “They probably think it saves them manpower, brings down the casualty rate by reducing opportunities for Republic attacks on isolated patrols, and has a hearts and minds value in making their military presence less obvious and invasive. All perfectly good justifications. The problem is that, by retreating into these isolated bases, they are creating a vacuum. Before, the Republic had to operate in the shadows. Now they can take much of the territory without firing a shot.”

In essence, by abandoning the countryside and cutting back on the kind of basic military activity that is needed to maintain an occupation, Dagan forces appear to have gifted the Republic the freedom to do what they have needed to do since formation – build a power base across the entire region rather than only on the banks of the Cooper River. Supply routes and movement of insurgents now flow freely between villages and valleys, untouched by Dagan troops who are sitting behind walls somewhere else. Whole settlements are being liberated by the Republic without a response. It is this unmolested extension of the Republic’s reach that has probably enabled them to make such a dramatic intervention in one of the hardest bits of the region to operate.

What are the options from here? For the Dagans, this bridge attack may increase pressure on the army to get their troops out of their bases and making their presence known. But the Republic is now more ever present in the region – troops leaving their bases were unlucky if their patrol was attacked in the past, whereas now it will be the norm to be ambushed on a regular, even daily basis. It’s a tricky dilemma for the occupying government. But if they do nothing, the consequences could be very serious indeed. The already shaky legitimacy of the Northern Territory entity could be shattered completely if Dagan officials turn up to villages to collect tax or perform other duties, only to find their flag in the mud and a new one hung overhead.

There are also cascading military risks. One thing the Republic have been unable to do effectively so far is attack Dagan supply convoys. But without a big ground presence outside of isolated strongholds, convoys of trucks can now be savagely picked off with hand-held rocket launchers by cells of insurgents. They could cover the entry and exit points of the strongholds, towns and anywhere else the Dagans need supplies to sustain their occupation. The only option the Dagans may have now is to resort to large scale use of airpower, a course they have refrained from taking so far. It would give them the ability to restrict the Republic’s movements more effectively – but only if the Dagan air force is up to scratch, and it is inevitable that there would be a spike in civilian casualties caused by Dagan airstrikes, making it more difficult to win the hearts and minds of the population.

For the Republic, there are also risks; controlling the countryside is great, but if they do not take advantage then they will never be able to evict the Dagan forces. The insurgency is now set to enter a phase where they will have to be more organised and co-ordinated than they have ever been. Yet the opportunity provided to them now is undeniably a big one. If they can make the rural bulk of the Cooper River region a no-go area for the Dagan military for the foreseeable future, then the annexation will never be able to complete, and the Dagan government may be forced to negotiate. The Northern Territory could also be forced to collapse as an entity if its main bases and administrative centres are effectively blockaded from their supply routes by roaming revolutionaries.

If the Dagans do push back and come out of their strongholds, the insurgents will have an alternative, grimmer route to victory. They could surge their activity for a limited period, hitting the re-emerging Dagan forces with a series of heavy attacks, hoping that this will culminate in enough army dead and wounded that the media and political elite in Concord Heights will decide their occupation is too costly, and seek a deal on the Republic’s terms. This may be tempting for the Republic, but it would be in their own best interests to resist it. Such an operation would be high risk – the Dagans professional soldiers, backed by airpower and armour, might cripple the Republic’s armed wing if it exposes itself by attacking the Dagans full on. It might also bolster the Northern Territory by showing the Dagans are willing to go all the way to hold it. Even if the Republic’s attack did succeed, Cassadaigua’s elites seem committed to this project and reluctant to back down.

The better option is the “slow death” one – let the occupying army sit in its bases, slowly take over the region, cut off the occupying troops and then, before anyone knows it, the River Republic will have effectively won. Large scale battles or assassinating the leadership (Brianna is generally well protected, but no target is invincible) might make Republic leaders feel good, but only their current course can win the war. Whether allegations of Euran support are true or not, it seems the guns are still flowing to the Republic, making it more realistic that they could pull this off. Conversely, for the Dagans, there is only one clear option from here – redeploy troops and take a more active role in controlling the region. Casualties will increase and the local population will be resentful. But if they do not, and simply try to ignore the Republic as it hollows out the façade of the Northern Territory, they won’t know its all over until its too late.

[PotatoFarmers]

Kimi-Suomi 3–2 Poafmersia
Goalscorers: Jordan Huerta 24' (assisted by Jackson); Min Berg 40' (assisted by Byan)
Lineup: Nicole Potts (c); Kilikina Lee, Nacro Astro, Diamond Byan, Jacqi Equine; Michael Jackson, Min Berg, Aapeli Shea; Tessa Bjarnesen, Jordan Huerta, Leontiy Seet
Substitutes: Xenophon Robson (Equine 70'); Erle Sartini (Shea 82')

Poafmersia 1–1 Hapilopper
Goalscorers: Jordan Huerta 43' (assisted by Lawrence)
Lineup (3-4-3): Nicole Potts (c); Cindy Oriol, Diamond Byan, Kelefe Hans; Leonora Hall, Michael Jackson, Erle Sartini, Valentin Gotti; Liina Williamson, Jordan Huerta, Dagur Lawrence
Substitutes: Liadan Holmström (Byan 45'); Magreta Rym (Sartini 60'); Agapito Murphy (Williamson 60')

Links for the 2112 Elections series:
Part A (Before the Polls): (Short) Prelude | Cochas and Democracy Front | Ramadau Trish and Farmers League | Nitrishi-pai and Makara Party | Piskn and Tikahs | Dalaris and Bijara Party | Gikash and Congress Party | Hitimatias and Kibi Party

Part B (Aftermath): Polls Closes | Hung Parliament Procedures | Prelim Results

"So, could we have a summary of the 5 states that released their results last night?"

"President sir, it seems that the Kibi Party has made some improvements here and there in the 4 states. The results were supposed to end in favour of us in some of these states." The secretary drew up a table that showed the final results in Bikasta and Piskn. "In these 3 states, the Kibi Party's tallies improved. In Bikasta, we went up from 77.3% last election to 78.67%, which gives us 1 more seat in the state council as compared to before. We also earned a few hundred thousand votes in Piskn, allowing us to gain 1 more seat as compared to last election too. Among our main opponents, the Congress Party lost 3 seats in Bikasta while they gained 1 in Piskn. Democracy Front gained 2 in Bikasta, but was wiped out in Piskn. Makara Party lost 2 in Bikasta and 1 in Piskn."

"Sounds good," muttered Johnny Herbet, Minister of National Development. Herbet was also the leader of the party in Piskn, and he was quite pleased to see the votes in the state increase.

"We go on to Dalaris, which is our biggest gain thus far. We gained 10 percentage points in terms of votes, brining us to 44 million votes, and putting us at 66 seats. Congress Party overtook Makara Party to be 3rd in the state, but all 3 states are taking 3 seats apiece." He points at the chart, which the Cabinet nodded with huge satisfaction. He moved on to Forche. "We lost a bit of votes here, in fact, 5 percentage points, setting us back by another 4 seats overall. Congress Party, the main opposition here, lost half their tally, dropping from 20% last election to 9.73% this election, and getting only 7 seats instead of the 15 they got last election. Democracy Front went from 1 seat to 7, while Makara Party went to 5 seats."

The room was rather excited at this point, with lots of chit-chatting going on at the back as they reviewed the table presented to them. "It doesn't seem to great, we lost our two-third majority by 1 seat based on the tally, but I am sure we don't really need it for the duration of our term in the state," said the President. "What was the last state?"

The room died down immediately following the question. It suddenly became rather silent, given the importance of the next state, Nitrishi-pai. It has became the modern battlefield of chaos in the elections, with the parties frequently clashing with each other during their rallies in the state. Though the state only has around 44 million votes, control of the original center of technologies has been seen as important in terms of gaining political capital. Preliminary polls indicated a 4-way fight at the top, with all 7 national parties having enough political capital to cause chaos in the state.

"It doesn't look...too great, sir." The secretary muttered. Feeling the tension in the air, he quickly switched to the tab comprising the tab of the state, which stated it is currently at 99% votes counted with some spare ballots left fighting for. "This one came out in the early morning, and the news reported that some parties like the Congress Party are also quite surprised at the results there." The table does paint a picture of chaos. The state was ruled by a coalition between Makara Party and the Congress Party, and while they lost a total of 6 seats, Kibi Party also lost seats, falling to 4th in the state with Democracy Front overtaking them on the chart. Socialist Party dropped down to 6th, while Bijara Party made a surprise 30 times leap to collect 8.74% of the votes, up from the hundred thousand votes they collected the last time out.

"Well, Pikashru." A voice was coming the back of the room, and everyone turned around to see that it was Taylor Cothen, Minister of Industrial Relations, who is also the leader of the party in the state council. "We did predict that our votes will stagnate quite a bit around the 8 million mark, though while dropping by more than a million votes in net count looks quite bad on us, we also note that the situation is no batter with Congress Party not interested in a 3-way coalition with Democracy Front; while the Makara Party-Democracy Front alliance still doesn't have enough to form the state government. We might still have a chance at returning to the government side there should we be able to talk about an agreement with Congress and Bijara, which will get us to 36 votes and very cloe to the line."

Everyone in the room did some calculation. Well most people did. Pikashru didn't bother counting, because he knew very well that there wasn't enough to cross the 38 seat line. "Well that's unfortunate," he replied. "I think internally we should probably review the sentiments that this state of people have given us, and decide how we should proceed in the state." In his mind, alarm bells were ringing, as that might indicate problems in Cochas and Hitimatias, who are also very reliant on youth votes. To him, he just hopes that the majority count there would be enough to help the overall national tally; and prevent the loss that some political analysts predicted at the start of the election.

[Electrum]

FOOTSPORT ASSOCIATIONS OF VILITA & ELECTRUM - WC92 ✓

@TheTurnip

Finally today's the day where some teams will perform much worse than usual. Hallelujah. #WC92 #WoahThere

#CUTOFF :: #GRP_1-7

[Baggieland]

One Day After School

Ms. Varg: "Lars darling, do you have any homework to do today?"

Lars Varg: "No Mummy, I did all my homework at break-time."

Ms. Varg: "You're such a smart little boy. I guess you'll have plenty of free-time tonight. What are you planning on doing?"

Lars Varg: "I'm going to make another video and then post it online for all my followers to see."

Ms. Varg: "That's nice. What are you going to make the video about?"

Lars Varg: "About Goran McEnroe, and what a meanie he is."

Ms. Varg: "Lars honey, you've already made a million videos like that. Why don't you do something different for a change?"

Lars Varg: "No! He's a meanie and I hate him!"

Ms. Varg: "Now Lars, I've already told you that 'hate' is a very strong word. It's okay to dislike someone – for a short while, until you work out your differences – but we don't hate anyone, okay?"

Lars Varg: "He's a meanie and I hate him and I hate him and I hate him!"

Shore Party: "YAAR! Hand over your kid, we be kidnapping him! YAARRR!"

Ms. Varg: "MY BABY! MY BABY!"

Luckily There is a Police Officer Nearby

Ms. Varg: "Officer! You've got to help me! My son has just been kidnapped by some smelly, manky, pirate-submariner type… things!"

Officer: "A kidnapping. Right, you're going to need Appendix C, Part 2 of form GCC41. Oh and don't forget the sub-section too, let me just check that for you. Sub-section 2A, kidnap by a family member, nope. 2B, kidnap by a stalker, nope. 2C, kidnap by a former colleague in order to cover up a corruption scandal, definitely nope. 2D, kidnap by an axe-wielding maniac, nope."

Ms. Varg: "No, wait! That's it, 2D. Those guys were armed."

Officer: "I'm sorry Ma'am, but they clearly had cutlasses, not axes. Plus, I would need to see a psychiatrist's report determining whether or not they are legally classified as maniacs. Well, we seem to be in a bit of a conundrum, don't we? It appears that there is no provision under Gnejsian law that applies to being kidnapped by smelly, manky, pirate-submariner type things. I suggest you contact your local MP and ask him – or her of course – to raise this issue at the next available parliamentary session. I understand that this must be frustrating for you Ma'am, but Gnejs is a nation of laws, and adherence to these laws is what separates us from those uncouth nations such as Baggieland."

Ms. Varg: "Uurrgghh! But they're right there, you can still see them at the end of this street, heading in the direction of the harbour! DO SOMETHING TO SAVE MY BABY!"

Officer: "Ma'am, you're acting hysterically. I am going to have to ask you to calm down or I'll have to taser you."

Ms. Varg: "Uurrgghh!"

**BZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ**

Onboard HMS Onslaught

Lars Varg: "What's this do?"

Captain Fletcher: "Don't touch that."

Lars Varg: "What's this do?"

Captain Fletcher: "Don't touch that… No! You went and touch'd it. You've blown the ballast kid! Now we have to dive again. We just commit'd a crime, so we need to stay submerge'd. Huh, prepare to dive… again."

Lars Varg: "What's ballast?"

Captain Fletcher: "Well you see son, when a submarine is on the surface… "

Lars Varg: "OH BORING! What's this do?"

Captain Fletcher: "Don't touch that."

Lars Varg: "What's this do?"

Captain Fletcher: "Don't touch that… No! You went and touch'd it. You just fold'd away the snorkel kid. We need that up!"

Lars Varg: "Submarines have snorkels?"

Captain Fletcher: "Well you see son, when a submarine's batteries need to be… "

Lars Varg: "OH BORING! Why am I stuck on this lame rust-bucket? If I'm going to be kidnapped, I want to be kidnapped somewhere nice. When I get back home to my WIFI I'm going to rate this submarine one star. DO YOU HEAR ME! ONE. STAR."

Lieutenant Hamilton: "Capt'n, your quarters be having WIFI, let's stick the kid in there and get him away from us."

Captain Fletcher: "Right, sit here kid. There be the computer, but don't go touching me Submarine Commander online game. It took me ages to get where I am."

One Minute Later

Lars Varg: "MISTER! I think I accidentally deleted all your high-scores!"

Captain Fletcher: "What? All me high-scores… gone! And where are all my skins? My submarine had angel wings on the conning tower and over-sized sexy lips on the bow… all deleted ye little landlubber!"

Lars Varg: "It's not my fault, it was an accident!"

Captain Fletcher: "Huh… Lieutenant Hamilton, how are the negotiations going to exchange this brat for Landsman Øye?"

[Juvencus]

The Second Great War of Unification(1876-1892)

In the dire times of conflict, agreeability with the government was not required in order for a soldier to be drafted to the frontlines. If anything, that was the last consideration in any military power involved in the war's plans. While rare occurence in the Juven State, as people were nearly unanimously pro-unification of all Juven peoples, the same could not be said for the Independentists. The ideas of Unification between the Juven people had enamored a lot of men and women in the independentist states. So much so that many were willing to desert in their first opportunity at earlier stages of the conflict. However, after the events in Matejo, people feared retribution by their own monarchs and reluctantly fought against the cause they originally intended to represent. Repression of expression was commonplace in places like Scudelli or Torona. The latter would be paying the price, however, as people would finally protest against their own King.

The Entrance of an Emperor, by Clementina Aliberti ~circa 1900's

Chapter 21: Siege of Torona(October 2nd, 1881)
Part 2: The Willingness of Surrendering
"This war is not between people, but between the wills of the powerful. With God and the folk all on our side, however, we are unstoppable. Endurance is paramount, remain vigilant in the face of death, people of Juvencus and join the effort." Elected Monarch, Gianluca IV addressing the Toronese post-conquest of the city

The earlier advancements during the day had pushed the Toronese to a dead end. The Juven were finally pushing inside the -now partly destroyed- city and fights were breaking out in every single road and part of the city. It was a messy bunch of encounters between people that did not see any purpose in their fights against people whose lives depended on it. But the defensive prowess showed by the Toronese and Scudelliano forces was not to be joked. Several more organised fights happened in more open areas. But urban fights were the main type of battles happening in the city.

Wanting to avoid the same fate of the people of Vinceti at the hands of the Scudelliano, many Toronese civilians saw this as a chance to finally embrace their pro-Unification stance. They approached multiple soldiers both Scudelliano and Toronese and urged them to surrender. While this seemed to work to quite a few of them, others were very much inclined to fight to the bitter end. This would result in many civilians paying the price by the same soldiers that were meant to protect them from the siege in this first place.

With Gianluca IV of the Juven State leading the push towards the palace itself, King Alberto IV was waiting for him patiently on the other side, by the gardens of the palace, which was a relatively open area. Gianluca IV was an exceptional fighter, taking down multiple Toronese and Scudelliano soldiers without a scratch, boosting the morale of his own soldiers in combat. This lead to most quartieri of Torona to fall under Juven control by the afternoon, including the port itself. The last stand was not going as planned and finally, it was time for the greatest part of the battle. That was the entrance to the Royal Palace of Torona itself.

The gates were instantly destroyed with a cannon shot and a charge led by Gianluca IV flooded the palace with Juven soldiers facing off against the last line of defence. The palace guards of King Alberto IV himself were strong fighters but unable to deal with the influx of Juven soldiers that finally outdid them all. But perhaps the most legendary part of the battle was a duel between Gianluca IV and Alberto IV. In which they both shot each other in the knee but decided to swordfight to end it once and for all. While Alberto IV sliced the the shoulder of Gianluca IV, the latter would manage to deliver the final blow to both him and to Torona itself. With its King dead, the people had no other choice but to capitulate the city. The remaining pro-independentist soldiers would have to run away from the city.

One would expect that the civilians would not exactly welcome their new occupiers, however the Toronese welcomed Gianluca IV with open arms. Such a welcoming gesture sent shockwaves across both sides of the conflict, signaling other pro-unionists to take arms to join the conflict. However, the remaining Toronese and Scudelliano forces would not give up the fight that easily.

Battle Outcome: Total Juven victory! Torona falls!

The Juven State: The Juven State: 60,000 troops, 85 cannons, 1,357 casualties, 2 cannons lost
The Royal Kingdom of Quebec: 10,000 troops, 25 cannons, 452 casualties
Independentists: 95,000 troops, 120 cannons, 6,550 casualties, 30 cannons lost

[Chartistan]

For all intents and purposes, Valanora was a monster. That was their way to close a first half off. Did Chartistan expect to be the underdogs to the Eternal Empire once more? Of course they did. Did they expect a 6-2 beatdown? In the most agonizing way.

---

TEAM WITH NO STREAK
A parody of Freak On A Leash by KoRn

[Dr. Lucas Combbrush]
Something takes the game from me
Something lost and seldom seen
Every time I start to believe
I lose a game, points taken from me, from me
Games's constantly screwin' with me (You gotta win tonight)
Can't they chill and let this team be? (So do I)
Can't I take that 6-2 away? (You gotta win tonight)
I tried consoling today all in vain, in vain
Sometimes they can't cross in space
Sometimes it's the games I can't trace
Sometimes I can feel the disgrace
You'll never see us fall from grace
Something takes the game from me
Them and I are barking trees
The wrong ones for us to pay
Something takes the game from me
Managing a team with no streak (You gotta win tonight)
Feeling like it's reached the peak (So do I)
How many times have I let this repeat (You gotta win tonight)
I never score all threes, all threes
Sometimes they can't cross in space
Sometimes it's the games I can't trace
Sometimes I can feel the disgrace
You'll never see us fall from grace
Something takes the game from me
Them and I are barking trees
The wrong ones for us to pay
Something takes the game from me

[Commentary]
Boom, in goes one to Valanora
Then boom, in goes one to Valanora
Then boom, in goes one to Valanora
Then boom, in goes one to Valanora
Then boom, in goes one to Valanora
Then boom, in goes one to Valanora
Then boom, in goes one to Valanora
Then boom, in goes one to Valanora
Then boom, in goes one to Valanora
Then boom, in goes one to Valanora
Then boom, in goes one to Valanora
Then boom, in goes one to Valanora
Goal!

[Dr. Lucas Combbrush]
So score, manage the damn team-a-boo
Score, the goals they score
So score, manage the damn team-a-boo
Score, the goals they score
Score, manage a damn dream-a-hoo
No, the goals they score
Score, manage a damn team-a-hoo
Score, the goals they score
Something takes the game from me
Them and I are barking trees
The wrong ones for us to pay
Something takes the game from me
Game from me
Game from me
Game from me

[Nephara]

Cassadaigua 1 - 2 Nephara
(4-4-2) 12 - Strand; 2 - Kovac, 5 - Clevinger, 6 - Scales, 3 - Lind (25 - Xu 75'); 13 - Brewer (7 - Anharbour 75'), 4 - Southsea, 15 - Sauber (23 - Swainsona 81'), 11 - Loeher; 24 - Reisinger (9 - Kurtishi 81'), 21 - Vetiver
Goals: Brewer 44', Vetiver 73'

Thirty minutes in and the pressure was already mounting. Not that Cantor could feel it. This was the shit. Prowling the touchline in the genuine cauldron that was the, uh, Dagan Airways. Well, that was Concord Heights. That flowed a little better.
And this was a properly good Dagan side, too, with Rosenblatt having been one of the best Zenith players - maybe the best - of the IFCF era. The Dagans had shifted from 4-4-2 to 4-3-3; Nephara had shifted from 4-2-3-1 to 4-4-2. On the flank, Krystal Sherwin, who usually played on the left for Northern Union, tucked into midfield, while Madita Brewer, who played centrally for Union, drifted to the right. Oh, and Aranea Provost, arguably Nephara's best-ever goalkeeper, had been dropped. There was a lot going on, here.
There was high-octane, energetic football. There were world-class players strutting their stuff, denied by forceful, assertive defending. The Black Bloc Flock was demonstrating their understanding and appreciation of local customs with a rousing and musically complex chorus of "Fuck the Queen // Fuck the Queen // Fuck the Queen, fuck the Queen // Fuck the Queen", leading to a number of short and jocular conversations with stadium security. This was the stuff!
... and that was the Pass. The one that had haunted Cantor's dreams. Suddenly, she was taken out of her football-reverie. The away end hushed, the home fans went wild, as Sherwin hacked down her club teammate Brewer and drilled a long, instinctive pass between the lines. Chloe Anderson raced out behind Clevinger and Scales; Lind tried to foul her, coming in hard with her shoulder to try and bring her down just outside the box, but Anderson shrugged it off, only with an eye for goal. And as Strand raced out, putting seemingly impossible pressure on her, the angle to goal narrowing, narrowing further...
... she found it regardless, poking it around Strand's leg, and Cantor watched in horror as the ball rolled ever so slowly, clanked against the post, and rolled back over the line.
About three seconds later, Kovac slid into the net after it. Ah, well. It was the effort that counted, son.

Felixe Vetiver stood at the centre circle, the ball under her heel, and took a moment to breathe deep and take in the atmosphere.
Here she was, the best player for arguably the most successful nation of the modern era (here defined as: since Nephara joined WCC), having arrived from 1830 Cathair, the most despised superclub of any era. She did not often get to experience 'losing'. But it was important to take it in. She did not like it. It was a powerful motivator.
She looked at the woman alongside her. Vasya Reisinger was vastly inferior to her. And she had far less NRI*. But she was tough and strong and ruthless, and more clever than people gave her credit for.
Vetiver was not a motivator. In public appearances, her complete lack of charisma was almost awe-inspiring. Her emotional range did not, generally speaking, extend beyond diffidence. But here, she gave it her best shot. "Defi**?"
"Yeah?"
"Let's score," she said, "a fucking goal."
And then, taking advantage of new and heretical rule-changes, she lumped the kick-off straight at Thornton.
... who caught it easily. But she felt a point had been made.

Vetiver tried to take other, less speculative shots, but naturally she was the first player marked down by the Dagan defence. They knew not to overcommit, either. And they knew how to deal with her drifting into midfield; Rutland would drop off her and Werth would pick her up, clearly rehearsed in training, the efficient bastards. But other players still looked to her. She found space where she could, she dodged, dived, ducked, and dipped away from traffic, and when the decisive pass came to her...
... she stepped over it, because Reisinger, she knew, was in behind.
It tripped up Werth, and Rutland, who had just dropped back, was out of position. Hogan activated, slamming into Reisinger's back, but she was already looking for the next pass and oh, look, here was Madita Brewer gunning it into the box. There was Sherwin chasing her, knowing from their club chemistry Brewer would try to pull that. Reisinger's pass wasn't good, and it bobbled on the turf; Brewer needed to cut inside, an instinctive street-football move that threw Sherwin off, bought Brewer valuable space. Rutland chest-checked her, but Brewer refused to be bullied, but the space was closing...
... it opened for Vetiver. A toe-poke between Rutland's feet - a loud bellow of "NUTTYYYYYYYYYY" from the GBF - and Vetiver somehow found her way into it in the middle of traffic. Attention turned to her and away from Brewer. Things were frantic, now. Vetiver passed to Brewer. Nobody was on Brewer. And she'd just broken into the box-- no, inches shy, like she was going for a basketball three. And she found it, drilling her strike past Thornton into the bottom corner, on the fringe of half-time, and sending a small chunk of the crowd into raptures. Not quite as much as the nutmeg, but still, a substantial amount.

Cantor screamed some inspiration at them at half-time and they were ready to go out again. The speech had been good. The goal had been better. The blood was up, and Sauber immediately showed it with a vicious challenge on Rosenblatt that deservedly drew a yellow.
"Okay, lads," said Cantor, "little too intense." Nobody listened. The away fans certainly didn't, turning their hands to geopolitics with a perplexing round of "Cooper River is Nephara".
The press was brutal. Werth was flattened, again by Sauber. Lind hacked down Stanton; again, a deserved card. And the free kick from Rosenblatt was brilliantly weighted, but Medusa Strand came out hard and fast to claim, almost murdering Anderson in the process but it was okay, because she was a goalkeeper. Oddly, first blood went to Morgan Rosenblatt, who elbowed Loeher in the face, hard and almost certainly accidental, a natural motion to shield the ball smashing into the young winger's cheek. No yellow card, probably the right call, but it fuelled a sense of indignation in the fans regardless as the physios fussed over Loeher for a couple of minutes, slowing down the momentum that had been building for Cassadaigua.
They would never get it back.
It was Loeher who would steal it, fifteen minutes later, finding space outside Ward, beating her with raw pace and power, vindication of Cantor's faith in her. She looked up and drilled in a cross, and Reisinger stooped to head it. A magnificent, scrambling reflex save from Thornton denied her, but Vetiver was first to react, hammering the ball into the unguarded net. Not the finest goal she'd score, by any stretch, but on the occasion? Against this opponent, away from home? With Nephara in poor form? It might be one of the most crucial, and she celebrated accordingly, throwing off her usual introverted manner.
In the aftermath, Igrene Cantor threw on Tanith Xu. Her international debut, a 20-year old defender behind a winger who had turned 21 only three weeks prior. Anharbour came on, too, in the hopes that her raw pace would find gaps behind Cassadaigua as they opened up.
They didn't. She didn't take a shot. But she didn't have to. Through a relentless onslaught, the defence held firm. Xu stood fast. Kovac and Strand, the gambles, paid off. And Clevinger showed she was not past her best.
Nephara were, officially, back.

* Name Recognition Index. In the Twiiscape, a more potent indicator of a player's ability than their ability.

** Reisinger picked up the nickname 'Defi' at about sixteen, after a physical education class. She professed to be ashamed of it, but it never actually stopped her saying 'yea my mates called me Defi' at all introductions.

NEPHARAN NATIONAL TEAM SELECTION - FORTNIGHT 6
Goalkeepers: 1 - Aranea Provost (Spartangrad, EUR), 12 - Medusa Strand (Chromatik, CMT), 20 - Toxothea Sebring (Crisisbless)
Defenders: 2 - August Kovac (Crisisbless), 3 - Radeka Lind (Jinja City FC, BNJ), 5 - Reniira Clevinger (Herzegovina City FC, BNJ), 6 - Anaximander Scales (Brinemouth), 17 - Tosca Meadows (Brinemouth), 18 - Sven Copperhead (Crisisbless), 22 - Ettard Mitteager (AFC Treason), 25 - Tanith Xu (Myana, CMT)
Midfielders: 4 - Cassander Southsea (Brinemouth), 7 - Kestrel Anharbour (Crisisbless), 8 - Renate March (Herzegovina City FC, BNJ), 11 - Arachne Loeher (Wirr Tsi, CMT), 13 - Madita Brewer (Northern Union, BRE), 15 - Tasha Sauber (Spartangrad, EUR), 16 - Isolde Reader (Myana, CMT), 19 - Sonya Belltower (Sabrefell Athletic), 23 - Kurtis Swainsona (Revolutionaries, EUR), 26 - Lindse Kvasina (Istria City FC, BNJ)
Forwards: 9 - Davor Kurtishi (AFC Corvistone), 10 - Bravura Harper (Ulsa, EUR), 14 - Idina Slazenger (Tihon, CMT), 21 - Felixe Vetiver (1830 Cathair, AUD), 24 - Vasya Reisinger (West Cuono Rangers, TMB)

BYE
Nephara 2 - 0 Tjorl @ The Gauntlet (Treason)
East Murbley 0 - 4 Nephara
Nephara 5 - 1 Koronavia @ Phoenix Rise (Corvistone)
Xitizian States 0 - 0 Nephara
Nephara 1 - 0 Reçueçn @ Farham Arena (Sabrefell)
Kelssek 0 - 0 Nephara
Nephara 1 - 2 Mertagne @ Eagle's Club (Brinemouth)
Saterun 0 - 5 Nephara
Nephara 3 - 3 Pluvia SI @ The Gauntlet (Treason)
Cassadaigua 1 - 2 Nephara
BYE
Tjorl vs. Nephara
Nephara vs. East Murbley @ Farham Arena (Sabrefell)
Koronavia vs. Nephara
Nephara vs. Xitizian States @ Phoenix Rise (Corvistone)
Reçueçn vs. Nephara
Nephara vs. Kelssek @ The Gauntlet (Treason)
Mertagne vs. Nephara
Nephara vs. Saterun @ Eagle's Club (Brinemouth)
Plusiva SI vs. Nephara
Nephara vs. Cassadaigua @ Farham Arena (Sabrefell)

[Delaclava]

Britland 2–1 DELACLAVA
Rodriguez (o.g.) 71', Brouillard (o.g.) 85' | Anagnakis 53'
Rodriguez; Meñica, Zhusupov, Gouin, Barker; Temirkanov, Brouillard, Tudor (Lindblad 46'), Martin (Demirjian 46'), Anagnakis; Khautov (Meyer 87').

A shocking comedy of error for the Phoenixes, although rest assured no one's laughing after the epic collapse in Britland. The easy games have long looked not quite as easy, and although Vangelis Anagnakis got on the board early in the second half, it was never a comfortable lead. The Phoenixes have had a tendency to get crowded in this new formation in the defensive zone, and it all fell apart rather spectacularly in the last twenty minutes with two own goals getting past Carlos Rodriguez - one of his own hand. This game very much needed to be three points: the loss may be an early death knell.

---

Togonistan 0–0 DELACLAVA
Cloarec; Baxayev, Champagne, Zhusupov, Barry; Bartoš, Brouillard (Dillon 82'), Lindblad (Tudor 62'), Demirjian (Martin 46'), Kovalev; Meyer.

Although the Phoenixes showed more urgency and controlled possession throughout the game, the offense looked jumbled and the chances they managed to generate were well-handled by the Togoni keeper Afu Ahoeito. The uproarious Yellow Warriors crowd pushed their team across the line to steal the point against a top team at home.

Ishutin dismissed after lackluster road trip

The Delaclava Football Association has announced the dismissal of Delaclava national team manager Boris Ishutin following the team's scoreless draw in Togonistan.

"It gives us no pleasure to make a move like this," admitted DFA president Roman Ivanovic. "Frankly, this is a breaking point for us. We're at 11:59 pm of this season. We tried to be patient for a long time, but we were at a loss for what else to do.

"We regret letting go a manager that has been so historically significant for this team, and we thank Mr. Ishutin for his service to the program."

Ivanovic, of course, was referencing Ishutin taking Delaclava back to the World Cup for the first time in seventy years in what was his first season with the team. Ishutin had been lauded for his ability to rein in the aggressive, reckless style of the team he inherited, and to harness their skills effectively against the world's top teams. However, concerns about Ishutin's placement grew long before this qualification cycle after Ishutin's UFL team, Coldwater, needed to win a playoff to avoid relegation, while the Phoenixes again performed poorly at what became the team's last AOCAF Cup.

Anonymous reports from players and observers indicated that beyond Ishutin effectively controlling the team's tactics, his directions were too restrictive and prevented the squad from playing organically; furthermore, that there was a significant communication breakdown as Ishutin's messaging became much less clear and he would show greater frustration with mistakes.

Although these concerns did not immediately manifest as Delaclava won its first four games to charge to the lead in Group 6, they have since gone 1-3-3, have been shutout in three of those seven games, and have fallen out of playoff contention. After the Phoenixes lost 2-1 to Britland, who was placed last in the group and had previously been winless, it was believed that Ishutin's tenure would not continue and that he was only allowed to keep his job until he returned home from Togonistan.

Ishutin was not available for comment.

He will be replaced by Edward Ekdal, the current manager of Catherina FC. Formerly of Steckholl United, he took the prestigious role following the death of Johannes Detmer, and Catherina FC has won two of the past three league titles under Ekdal's direction. Ekdal previously managed the under-21 national team at DI Bradini Cup 50; the Ashlings won one of three games and showed promise in a tough group. Current Phoenixes Rahmonberdi Zhusupov, Drystan Tudor, and Alexander Temirkanov were among the members of that team.

Ekdal said in a phone interview, "I am happy to take on his responsibility. My hope is to get the team believing that they can win again, and allow them to play in a way that feels comfortable and natural. This is a difficult position for their team, and our best chance is to go for broke, dare to be excellent."

However, Ekdal insisted he is in only serving as a caretaker of the team, and expressed his desire that the Delaclava Football Association look outside its borders for the next permanent candidate. "Things aren't the way they were a decade ago. Nearly every one of our national team members is playing abroad, most in highly sophisticated and challenging leagues. Humbly, I respect my own capabilities and the capabilities of many of my peers in the league, but we don't work with the level of talent across the board that you see in Nephara, Eura, places where our players are going and playing quite well. The DFA needs to find a manager of that caliber. We are incredibly talented, but we will not win on talent alone."