World Cup 93 - RP Thread

[Sylestone]

Part One
Part Two
Part Three
Part Four
Part Five
Part Six
Part Seven
Part Eight
Part Nine

HOW TO TRAIN YOUR SENTIENT



Part Ten

Farrell Stadium, Avondale

---

”Last things, lads. Don’t worry about the Pesfield game today. I don’t want anyone on the field or on the bench trying to search for the result over there. It’s out of our control, and if we do not focus one hundred percent here, then Dunkirk will capitalise. Let’s just focus on getting the three points and then we can find out the result together. I’m sure that if we do win this game, the reactions of the crowd here today will certainly tell us. So let’s just go out there and do our bit and either way, we’ll have something to celebrate.”

In response, a chorus of encouraging claps rang around the room, knowing that this was it. Today would be the day they would give it their all to secure a berth in the next IFCF Rising Stars Cup - a by-product of being awarded the Potty League trophy. In some ways, Brett was aiming towards that rather than the title itself, for the experience of playing against fellow Under-21 players from some of the top clubs in the multiverse could only be seen as an excellent opportunity to discover where he is on a personal level, as well as provide much-needed experience. Of course, finally breaking the club’s apparent curse and finishing first in any sort of competition would be a tremendous achievement in itself, but Brett knew that bigger things were destined for this team.

Dunkirk Athletic themselves were a decent enough team - after all, they did finish in second place in the Potty League’s Eastern Division earlier in the season, three points behind the Lime Greens. Still, in the three previous encounters between the two club’s youth teams, two had fallen the way of those from Avondale, with one other being a rather boring 0-0 draw. Despite that favourable history, though, Brett knew that football wasn’t played on statistics and history. It was played in the present and in the present, anything could happen. The Wolves - a side of whom Avondale City’s senior team would play the following week in their bid to take home their first Toilet League title - had a history of being a right old nuisance just at the right time. This was by no means a game that Brett’s team was going to win by simply turning up.

One last glance at the changing room was all Brett took as he followed captain Jack Lawson out onto the field - the midfielder boasting the statistic of being the only eligible player in the Potty League with a cap for the Sylestonean national team after his surprise call-up to the Qualifying squad. After this game and next week’s shootout with the Wolves’ senior team, he would return to that squad for the final four games of their wildly successful campaign as the Sentients looked to make a late charge towards an unprecedented playoff berth, with winnable matches against Bongo Johnson, Rouyoute, The Cordian Isles and Tjorl all around the corner. But for now, Lawson and everyone else was focused here - this was what ultimately mattered at this moment in time.

A roar of appraisal from Farrell Stadium welcomed the two teams to the field as the pre-match ceremony got on its way, both squads sluggishly assembling beside each other, hiding their vexation from their faces. Sure, they knew the importance of all of the formalities, such as the honouring of the match ball in respect and apology before it was kicked around everywhere, but by this point in the season, it just seemed to be a slog.

In the blink of an eye it was over, though, and with a quick, flashy smile towards the stands where he knew his family and girlfriend were sitting, it began.

Hamish Tripp: Into the eleventh minute now, and it’s been a pretty dull game so far. Not that that’s a bad thing, or a strategy that doesn’t work, of course. After all, look at the Sentients go about their business at the Qualifiers. What are your thoughts, Alyssa?

Alyssa Laporte: Yes, well Mojmir Anac has come under scrutiny from foreign media due to the lack of goals scored but ultimately, that’s a point that I find myself strongly disagreeing with. Eight of our ten wins in eighteen games have come in 1-0 wins and if we’re achieving them half of the time as an unranked nation, then there’s not really much to complain about, is there? Anyway, here’s Brett Sarcav Jones on the counter…

Why the fuck did it have to be so goddamn hot? Like with the Toilet League, all matchday fourteen Potty League One games were played at the same time on the same day - a time that just happened to be 12pm on a hot, humid Sunday afternoon with temperatures approaching 38°C - the kind of conditions that almost certainly brought about those terrible evening thunderstorms on the Sylestonean coastlines. Due to the heat, Brett’s coach had instructed the boys and girls to take their time out in the middle and not wear themselves down too quickly, leaving them open later on in the game. But now, with Dunkirk wingback Holly Statton giving the ball away to Brett just beyond the midfield line, a little burst of speed and skill was necessary.

Placing his body upon the accelerator to try and move himself away from the intercepting path of defensive midfielder Grace Coveny’s, whose slide tackle completely missed everything to the jubilation of the home crowd, Brett began to look around, spying out his options. There was a couple of possible passes forward to Ryan Cecil and Charlotte Eastwood up front, while Stephanie Counsel and Jack Lawson had made runs on his left and right respectively. Before Pyo’s advice at the start of the season, Brett may have seen one or two of these possible passes but now, with all angles opened to him like doors, he felt as though the world was at his feet.

And judging from the assist he gave Charlotte Eastwood, it may well have been. The through ball dissected the Wolves’ central defensive duo of Brock Ferrari and Gabby West, allowing the striker to put on a burst of speed before sending goalkeeper Thomas Bramston the wrong way. On the sidelines, the substitutes released an enthusiastic cheer as Connor Downes clapped his hands together in celebration, willing to congratulate his players while not going over the top - although the goal did put Avondale City atop the Potty League, a goal from Pesfield would trump that again.

But Brett was a man on a mission. Four minutes later, he found himself some space in the midfield as Abbey Elphinstone’s clearance landed directly at his feet, taking it up the pitch in another devastating counter, his twig-like legs skipping off the turf at an alarming rate. As the crowd began to rise in expectation, he again scythed the ball through the defensive unit to Ryan Cecil but alas, it wasn’t to be this time, as Bramston got a full hand on it… but could only hit it out into Jack Lawson’s run up the right flank. Spotting the keeper off his line, the young superstar took a touch and let the ball take flight, grazing the edges of Bramston’s gloves before bouncing into the back of the net.

2-0 inside fifteen minutes. Despite seeming willing to conserve their energy in the heat, the Lime Greens had completely dissolved the backbone of this Under-21 Wolves outfit with two bursts of sheer brilliance. For now, their bit was done. It was now up to Chamberley City to score or hold the Trees over in Pesfield.

Not an easy job against a team boasting the services of Ja Dishwasher, Kai Henderson and Luisa Johnson.

* * *

Aaron Greene: Well Taj, this has been a mighty fine defensive effort from Chamberley, hasn’t it? They don’t really have much to play for and yet, they’re really putting their bodies on the line. A top four berth is out of their reach now, but they’re looked Pesfield’s match.

Taj Roxon: Absolutely. We’re into the 62nd minute now, and there hasn’t been a clear-cut chance all game. Avondale City fans will truly love this effort from the Stars. They’re certainly doing their bit over in Avondale aren’t they? 2-0 up?

Aaron Greene: Yep, completely dominant. This Brett kid seems a handful to deal with and I suspect we’ll hear a lot more about him in the future. Seems a pretty decent bloke as well, which is important. Anyway, here’s [Madeline] Bostock with the free kick from ten outside the box…

Taj Roxon: GOOOOOAL! What a crisp set piece that is, no one is stopping that. Chamberley City are out here doing the Lime Greens a massive favour! The celebration around Farrell Stadium are going to massive when they hear about this…

Ever since the start of the second half, the Lime Greens had followed the instructions as advised from their coach, simply passing the ball between each other and not letting the Wolves get away with it and score, hanging onto their two goal lead.

A couple of back passes in the 63rd minute and suddenly, Farrell erupted as one, players momentarily distracted in confusion. Thankfully, those sporting the blue and black of Dunkirk Athletic were equally disoriented, else it would’ve been very easy to steal the ball off Natalie Mein and put one back.

The notification had come through at the same time. Chamberley City had scored. Surely, with under half an hour to play, the Avondale City curse was broken.

Indeed, it would be the case. At 1:52 o’clock in the afternoon on that humid Sunday, the Avondale City Under-21’s finally opened the club’s trophy cabinet. Even those in Dunkirk colours gave the Lime Greens a moment of acknowledgement before they filed out of the stadium, leaving those on the podium to celebrate with their fans in peace.

But Brett had other ideas. Sure, winning the Potty League was an excellent feat - there would be no doubt about that - but he had other things to prepare for. Next week, a revitalised Dunkirk Athletic senior team would turn up to Kitchener Stadium needing a victory at the very least to give them a chance of avoiding a playoff against Felton Island for the final spot in next season’s Toilet League, with hopes skyrocketing after last week’s 4-0 thumping of the Pandas. Meanwhile, a win was all the Lime Greens needed to secure a second trophy within the week… but they’d been there before, and lost.

Brett was only nine years old in season six, when the Lime Greens succumbed to a 2-1 loss to Mid-Capital, handing Capitol Athletic the title on a plate. The memory was burned into him, clear as day. And now, it’d surely be partly on his shoulders to correct that.

---

Osarius vs Sylestone @ Somewhere, Osarius

Sylestone (4-4-1-1 → 5-4-1): Callum Holmes; Davis - Damasekara (Mornington 79’) - Washing Machine - Dishwasher; Stanton (Cayden Holmes 79’) - Bar Stool (Brown 65’) - Lawson - Jones; Love (Rodway 65’); Tumble Dryer (Strathfield 90+2’)

Osarius (4-3-3): Bucatini; Countess - Alexander - Ochoa (Uzo 46’) - Rose; Fox - Farahini (Hinkle 68’) - Rizzuto ( 34’) (Atanda 81’); Solomon (Madera 81’) - Barros - Longo (Thuram 68’)

Osarius 1-2 Sylestone
                                          Thuram 80’       Bar Stool 13’
                                                             Jones 50’

Sylestone vs New Gelderland @ Kitchener Stadium, Avondale

Sylestone (4-4-1-1): Brick Wall; Holt (Ironing Board 82’ ( 84’)) - Pearson - Hand Sanitiser - Toilet; Henling (Stanton 65’) - Paterson - Rodway (Fridge 59’) - Jones; Fleetwood (Keyes 65’); Strathfield

New Gelderland (4-4-2): Birdwhistle; Ben-Avi - Calder - Tuross - Apollo (Ryan 86’); Springsure (Nesheim 35’) - McKenna - Auren ( 61’) (Hume-Nelson 72’) - Prescott; Swan-Weiss - Longreach (Aphelion 86’)

Sylestone 0-0 New Gelderland

---

Starting Lineup vs Bongo Johnson @ Somewhere, Bongo Johnson

Cavendish; Ironing Board - Mornington - Faucett - Keller; Cayden Holmes - Paterson - Blair - Fullers; Keyes; Hightower

Starting Lineup vs Rouyoute @ Fiery Stadium, Dodle

Callum Holmes; Holt - Washing Machine - Hand Sanitiser - Toilet; Stanton - Bar Stool - Brown - Fridge; Love - Strathfield

[Saperetia]

Saperetia Out
Saperetia 2-4 Valanora

The fixtures do not granat the tream a break: Immediatly after taking on Flavovespia, the team has to play against the best team in the group: Valanora. Last fixture saw the team be beat 4-1, and fans hope pray that this does not follow again. Of course, it is hard to see the team do anything if the opposing decides to. Praying to not have another humiliating defeat, the SAP 4-3-3 lined up against the VAL something:

Saperetia: GK Yakim (C) DEF Ipatiy, Celso, Diyan, Achille MID Lacy, Knobes, Vilfredo ATK Gordie, Antoon, Titus

Valanora: We couldn't figure out the lineup that they were going with :/

The Valanorian team began with a pressing attack, scoring in just the 2nd minute wiht a cross and header. Just 4 minutes later, a solo run brough the score to 2-0, putting the Valanorians in a good position after just 6 minutes, basically crushing any remaining slither of hope that Saperetia could get a point out of the game. Though, they did decide to lay back to not expend a lot of energy on this match, meaning that no other actions were undertaken in the first half. When the second half began, not many excpected for the Saperetians to even score a goal. But, an almost immediate attack from Saperetia saw Titus assist Antoon to score an unlikley goal in minute 46. The Valanorians seemed to be unphased by this, though. What they were phased by was the 2nd goal from a shot from 26 metres by Antoon in munte 51, bringing the score to 2-2. They went to the "unphased" phase quickly though after two goals in quick succession, namely in minute 53 and 55, bringing the score to 4-2, which they decided was fair enough.

But with this loss and including other results, it has now been officially confirmed that the team cannot place itself in the top 3, and therefore can't qualify for the world cup. There are still matches to be played and there is always a next time, so many fans want this to be the beginning of a dynasty. Others are skeptical. What they can agree on though, is that the next match against Lashnakia will be easier to win than this.

Win In Break From Tough Fixtures
Lashnakia 0-2 Saperetia

Despite the loss in the previous match, many believe we will win against the worst team in our group, Lashnakia. They sit with only 1 win and not much is know about them or their squad, so it will be harder to access what tactics to play for Mouthenio. This small problem didn't stop us winning 2-0 at home, and the players will have that victory in the back of their heads as the SAP 4-3-3 lines up against the LAS 4-4-2:

Saperetia: GK Yakim (C) DEF Ipatiy, Celso, Diyan, Achille MID Lacy, Knobes, Vilfredo ATK Gordie, Antoon, Titus

Lashnakia: GK ? DEF ?, ?, ?, ? MID ?, ?, ?, ? ATK ?, ?

The Lashnakians decided to begin the game with attacking. This has made a lot of their fans very angry and been widely regarded as a bad move, as the Saperetians scored in just the 16th minute from an Antoon strike. This goal seemed to snap them back into reality as they immedialty went full defence as the Saperetians attacked, which led the entire first half to be just the Saperetians pounding the Lashnakian defence as they tried to score a goal. They were unsuccessfull as the score at half time was 1-0 for the visitors. In the second half, the Lashnakians decided to begin the second half with attacking. A 50th minute score from a cross from Vilfredo to Antoon reminded the why this had made a lot of their fans very angry and been widely regarded as a bad move. The second half then turned into a repeat of the first half as the Saperetians unsuccesfully sought after a third goal, as the end score stood at 2-0 for the Crimsonites.

We are out, so the next few games will be just for honour and ranking. But the team have stated that they will give it their all to give the fans an exiting end to an otherwise dissapointing qualifiers. The next game is against Pasarga.

[Audioslavia]

Bert produced his grey badge to the suited man. Upon it were five words. "Project Sports Museum' were three of them, in magenta, in the top corner, 'BERT' was the fourth, in the middle, and just beneath it in the same bland serif font, the word 'SECURITY'.
"Bert" said Bert. "Security".
"You got a surname, Bert?" said the suit.
"I can't tell you" said Bert. "Security."
"Uh huh" said the suit, looking back at the badge, and then back at Bert, who was certainly a Bert. Berts are what happens when you carve the :| emoji into an off-grey slab of concrete. His face was featureless yet unforgettable, shifty yet unmoving. The phrase 'NPC' had gotten a bad rap in recent years due to the confused bleating of scared honkies and so the suit tried to figure out a better description of Bert, but aside from 'a bert' and 'an NPC' he could think of none. Aside form, perhaps, 'an NPC from a game from 1981'.
"So, how important would you say this room is?" the suit asked, finally.
"Top Security" said Bert.
"And is that you?" said the suit. "Are you 'top security'?" He tried hard not to make it sound sarcastic.
"Top Security" nodded Bert. "This is the room with the trophies and the Swan. It's Top Security"
The suit looked at the wall behind Bert. The trophy cabinet was almost entirely made of glass, and was hanging in the centre of a wall of about ten metres wide by four metres high. The cabinet, with its three rows of glass shelves, took up about half of the wall. In the centre, at the top, permanently lit from within the cabinet and without, were two World Cup trophies. Below them, a row of seven other trophies - four scale replicas of the old AOCAF Cup were place in groups of two, in the middle of them all was one newer, self-consciously more modern looking trophy representing the CAFA Cup. On the far right, the short, bronze version of the Baptism of Fire trophy that was used when Audioslavia won it. On the far left, the silvery Cup of Harmony trophy. At the bottom were a number of smaller trophies calling themselves 'Lyons Cup' and 'Trindl Cup' and, between them, the unmistakeable Glass Swan from that ancient Under 21 World Cup, sparkling in the sunlight from two large windows.
"And there are no weak points" said the suit, walking slowly towards one of the windows, hands clasped behind his back as if on a Sunday stroll.
"None" said Bert, :|ly.
"You're aware that a would-be thief might not be stealing the physical swan of course" said the suit, peering out of the window. "They may simply desire to destroy it to mess with the Audioslavian National Football team, probably more so the Audioslavian public"
"They'll have to go through me first" said Bert, squarely.
"They could" said the suit, "with a fifty gauge. From that bell-tower fifty metres away"
"That would infer a security risk" said Bert, oblongly
"Imply" said the suit.
"That would infer a security imply" said Bert, oblonglily, "and this room has been thoroughly vetted for security risks"
"So what about through that other window" said the suit, gesturing towards the second of two large windows in the 10x10m room, this is one also opposite the trophy cabinet. "There's another belltower right here"
"Anyone shoots this trophy over my dead body" said Bert
"I mean, if the first shot didn't hit the trophy directly after passing through your skull, I'd imagine so, Bert" said the suit, to himself. It wouldn't have paid to say it out loud. "There's also what appears to be a zipwire connecting that belltower to the roof of this building. Directly above this room." said the suit. He looked up at the ceiling and saw, once again, a large skylight in the ceiling, directly over the trophy cabinet.
"That skylight is securely locked" said Bert
"It's made of glass" said the suit. "What's up there on the roof? Anything?"
"There's nothing up there but some old fishing rods" said Bert, rectangularly
"Fishing rods?" enquired the suit
"Only place to keep them"
"The securely locked skylight is also, er, open" said the suit.
"Yeah well it's warm in here. We open it when it gets warm"
"Open it how, if it's securely locked"
"With this big stick with the turny thing, one sec" said Bert, retrieving a very heavy looking wooden stick that had been propped up against a wall
"Ah, with the stick" said the suit, watching Bert clumsily close and lock the skylight with the long stick. "And you keep this long heavy stick propped up against the wall that's next to the very fragile glass thing it's your job to keep safe?"
"Yep" said Bert. "Sometimes under the cabinet, but then it sometimes gets stuck in the grate"
"Yes" said the suit. "I was going to ask about the grate"
"Leads to a system of ventilation ducks"
"I think I know what you mean" said the suit, peering into the wide grate that appeared to be directly underneath. "Looks to be quite a bit of guano in that air duct"
"Yeah the birds get in" said Bert.
"How?"
"The duct goes to outside under that window" said Bert, pointing at the second of the large windows.
"Big enough for someone to climb into?" asked the suit
"Well there's a grate on the front. Very small holes"
"These birds have gotten in, though"
"Yeah the front fell off. It'll be getting replaced soon though"
"Righty ho. And this duct, it's wide enough for a human, and anyone standing on the roof of the garage in front of us could probably jump and climb into it right now, right?"
"I'd see them" said Bert.
"From below the window?"
"Cameras" said Bert, gesturing to a small room next door.
"Aha" said the suit. "I was going to ask what was in that room". Bert entered a code on a very expensive looking keypad, right next to the door. There must have been thirty buttons on it, yet the suit couldn't help but notice Bert had only used two of them. One had been the 'open door' button, the other, he assumed was the only key that didn't appear to have a number on it, despite being situated directly between the numbers 4 and 6.
"Twelve televisions, all showing a different camera. Two of them are outside, look" said Bert, sitting in a very comfortable looking swivel chair, directly in front of the screens
"So they are" said the suit, peering into the room. "And are you the only man who, er, mans these screens?"
"Only one qualified. Security."
"And are you the only man who watches over the Trophy Room?"
"Only one qualified" said Bert. "Security"
"Tell me again about the fishing poles, just above the skylight that's open when it's hot?"
"Yeah, a holdover from this building's previous purpose. Some of the stuff just got dumped or stored away. There's a little open hut on the roof with lots of fishing poles. And a thermostadt, weirdly enough"
"A thermostadt? For where?"
"For in here" said Bert. "You could make this room as hot or cold as you wanted from in that hut"
"That hut next to the skylight that you open when it gets hot" said the suit. "The one next to the fishing poles. The one above the glass trophy cabinet"
"Yes" said Bert, bertily.
"The cabinet itself is locked, isn't it?" said the suit."
"Always" said Bert. "Security".
The suit walked over, looked at the handle, the keyhole, and at the key sticking out of it.
"Locked with this key?" he said, removing it and putting it into his pocket
"Or this one" said Bert, fishing two out of his own pocket. "Or, er, this one"
"How many keys are there?" asked the suit
"Lots" said Bert. "Can't be too careful
"Smart" said the suit, nodding, and by now trying not to smile. "And this is all hush-hush, right? Nobody ought to know about the precise security practices in this room"
"Of course" said Bert. "OP Sex"
"I.. yes, quite" said the suit. "Well, Bert, it has been a most educational meeting, thank you for keeping this vital part of Audioslavian society so safe."
"Yep" said Bert. "It's my job. Mister... er..."
"Yeah you asked for a name and ID, and then I asked to see yours first, and your new security guard badge, and we both rather got carried away"
"Right" said Bert. "Do you have that iD?"
"I have my name, that's even better, right?"
"Er"
"Txo Zaldun" said the suit.
"Right" said Bert. "Oh, like the famous jewel thief?"
"Exactly!" said Txo
"Your mum must have had a sense of humour" said Bert, still blankly
"Yours didn't, I expect" said Txo
"No" said Bert. "I have a few jokes myself though"
"Oh?"
"Knock knock" said Bert, blankly.
"erm. Who's there?"
"Just checking" said Bert, with a :|
"Just ch.. oh"
"It's a security guard joke" said Bert. "Not particularly funny" he said, reinserting a small key back into the trophy cabinet, "but very secure"*

* I stole this joke, and indeed most of this character, from Simon Munnery's 'The Security Guard'

[Eastfield Lodge]

Dagan Airways Stadium, Concord Heights, Cassadaigua

It was fairly safe to say that the mood amongst the thousands of travelling Eastfielder fans was a bit subdued, at best. The team had been on a poor run going into this match, recording just a single win from their last five matches as their hopes of snatching a playoff spot from under the noses of the other four seeded teams competing for them had more or less shrivelled faster than a hiker on the Salt Lakes. Sure, this was a formidable opponent on paper, the second seeded side from Rushmori and two-time World Cup champions as part of their pedigree, but they were eminently beatable as demonstrated when the Imperial Commonwealth had defeated the Fillies in the reverse fixture, a surprisingly comfortable 2-0 win against the Dagans at home courtesy of Maisha Paree.

The Olympia striker wasn’t on the pitch this time though, the attack instead spear-headed by Wasps starlet Ramsey Dean-Jamal, and to good effect as well; the silence in three corners of the ground deafening when he latched onto Ashby’s defence splitting ball before dinking a shot over Stacie Thornton, capping off an opening ten minutes of Eastfield Lodge domination. The hosts would have some moments of their own following that opener, and Fortune Cammer very much lived up to his name when he played chicken with Chloe Anderson, the Dagan striker putting hearts in mouths of the travelling supporters when she nicked the ball off Cammers, only to fluff her lines and put the ball beyond the far post of the empty net. An equaliser was all too expected, but the manner in which it happened was just torture - Cristos Harding going right through the back of Anderson in the box, and completely unnecessarily. A red card later, Anderson stepped up to rectify her earlier mistake, feinting and sending Cammers sprawling.

It was all downhill from then on. The fans could only watch on in disbelief as what was a finely balanced game turned into a massacre - Anderson would grab a second goal within minutes, feeding off a Rachel Boldin flick-on from a drilled cross. And just before half time, the hosts sealed the deal, overwhelming Caroline Turcotte-Greene in midfield to nick the ball off her, Kelsey Werth playing in Boldin to make it 3-1. Changes at half-time, evidently to pack the midfield and stop the score from being ran up, proved to be ineffective - especially when Emmie Toure decided to play a pass straight into the path of Krystal Sherwin, the Northern Union player taking a couple of touches to set up a 30 yard rocket into the far corner. And then an insulting fifth goal, just to add to the injury so far, just after the hour mark was probably the final straw for the fans, some of whom stood up and left - the Eastfielder side were caught on the counter on a rare foray forward, Anderson completing her hat-trick with an insane 4-on-1 counter by rounding the keeper and dribbling the ball over the line.

For those fans that stayed behind, a brief reprieve from their doom and gloom came about 15 minutes later, as Aleta Armitage curled a beautiful 25 yard free kick into the top corner after she was fouled trying to cut inside Alyssa Marlin. Still, one last blow from the rampant Fillies near enough wrapped up this attempt at qualifying from the Eastfielders, with substitute Lacey Sherwood coming on to head home a corner just as the clock ticked into stoppage time. 6-2, a very much one-sided victory for the hosts, and for the Imperial Commonwealth, a qualifying campaign that was all but on the ropes.

---

MD11: The Cannaland Islands 1–4 Eastfield Lodge
Line-up (3-3-3-1): Gaber - Lillehammer-Lockwright, Salama, Debar (<> Da Silva 72’) - Toure (<> Hamilton 72’), Lie, Karson - Stevenson-Fury (<> Brewer 54’), Strand, Allred - Cyra (<> Dean-Jamal 54’)
Goals (Assists): Cyra (11’ - Allred), Allred (31’), Karson (57’ - Dean-Jamal), Brewer (84’)
Headline: Eastfield Lodge into playoff spots following emphatic Cannaland victory

MD12: Eastfield Lodge 3–3 Cabo Azure
Line-up (3-3-3-1): Cammers - Harding, Soriano, O’Lara - Turcotte-Greene, Duncan (<> Lie 67’), Begum - Ashby (<> Brewer 67’), Armitage, Bob (<> Allred 79’) - Paree (<> Dean-Jamal 79’)
Goals (Assists): Paree (22’, 29’ - Armitage), Bob (53’ - Ashby)
Headline: Cabo Azure fight back to snatch entertaining 3-3 draw

MD13: Zwangzug 3–1 Eastfield Lodge
Line-up (3-3-3-1): Gaber - Lillehammer-Lockwright, Harding, Soriano (<> O’Lara 81’) - Toure (<> Turcotte-Greene 60’), Lie, Karson (<> Begum 60’) - Ashby, Armitage (<> Stevenson-Fury 70’), Allred - Paree (<> Pryor-Sandoval 70’)
Goals (Assists): Paree (36’)
Headline: Eastfield Lodge well off the pace in Zwangzug

MD14: Eastfield Lodge 1–0 Tecoia
Line-up (3-3-3-1): Cammers - Harding, Salama, O’Lara (<> Debar 79’)) - Turcotte-Greene, Lie, Begum - Ashby, Armitage, Allred (<> Bob 66’) - Pryor-Sandoval (<> Cyra 66’)
Goals (Assists): Pryor-Sandoval (64’ - Lie)
Headline: ZPS fires Eastfield Lodge to narrow win to keep playoff hopes alive

MD15: Greater Kamilistan 0–0 Eastfield Lodge
Line-up (3-3-3-1): Cammers - Harding, Salama, O’Lara - Turcotte-Greene, Lie, Begum (<> Karson 45’) - Ashby, Armitage (<> Keckwright-Olivier 73’), Allred (Brewer 73’) - Pryor-Sandoval (<> Paree 45’)
Goals (Assists): N/A
Headline: Frustrating draw continues poor Eastfielder struggles

MD16: Eastfield Lodge 1–1 Aleirave
Line-up (3-3-3-1): Cammers - Harding, Salama, O’Lara - Turcotte-Greene (<> Toure 75’), Lie, Karson - Brewer (<> Stevenson-Fury 68’), Strand, Ashby (<> Bob 75’) - Paree (<> Dean-Jamal 68’)
Goals (Assists): Dean-Jamal (90+3’ - Lie)
Headline: Wasps star keeps playoff hopes alive at the death

MD17: Cassadaigua 6–2 Eastfield Lodge
Line-up (3-3-3-1): Cammers - Harding (32’), Salama (<> Debar 65’), O’Lara - Turcotte-Greene, Lie, Karson (<> Begum 45’) - Ashby, Strand (<> Toure 45’), Bob (<> Armitage 65’) - Dean-Jamal
Goals (Assists): Dean-Jamal (11’ - Ashby), Armitage (77’)
Headline: 10-man Eastfield Lodge swept aside by Cassadaigua

MD18: Eastfield Lodge 2–1 Sannyamathland
Line-up (3-3-3-1): Gaber - Lillehammer-Lockwright, Debar, Soriano - Toure, Duncan, Begum (<> Karson 65’) - Ashby, Armitage (<> Strand 78’), Bob - Dean-Jamal (<> Paree 65’)
Goals (Assists): Dean-Jamal (45+1’ - Bob), Toure (55’)
Headline: Hosts see off late Sannyamathland charge

Likely line-up to play Cormoe/Eraman (3-3-3-1)
Gaber - Lillehammer-Lockwright, Soriano, Debar - Toure, Lie, Begum - Ashby, Armitage, Bob - Dean-Jamal
Suspended: Harding (both matches)
Injured: N/A

[Kandorith]

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Shinonome Kyoai - International

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Hiyashi corporation announces sale of Shinonome Kyoai.

New developments in Hiyashi's strategy turn down renewal bids to fund longstanding partners and top-of-the-line media corporation any longer.
By Hiromi Sugihara
General

^{SHARE THIS:}

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As the redaction of one of the most prominent newspapers in Kandorith, we have to announce that from this day forward we will be ceasing publication following the termination of the partnership with the Hiyashi Corporation. The newspaper had been in operation for over 50 years and had established a reputation for quality journalism, investigative reporting, and coverage of social and political issues. Sadly our funding and cooperation came to an abrupt end after a critical board meeting of the Hiyashi corp.

The announcement of Hiyashi pulling out and selling all shares they held in Shinonome Kyoai came as a complete shock to our company, and editors and will surely be shocking to our viewers and readers too. For many years people have tuned in to our broadcasts and read our news as one of the most reliable and unbiased sources of news from the empire of Kandorith. From politics to sports and even lifestyle, Shinonome Kyoai has been a staple of reporting the truth to the people of Kandorith. The Hiyashi Corporation has been one of our main partners when it comes to funding our media group since the inception of Kyoai, and like many, we believed that it was an inseparable part of the Hiyashi family.

However, in the most recent statement released by the Hiyashi Corporation, the company announced that we would no longer be a priority nor a funded part of the future of Hiyashi. Due to, according to them, disappointing numbers and losing trust in the media they have been forced to pull out of media corporations entirely. The Hiyashi Corporation has stated that they are shifting away from any media corporations and will return to focusing on its core business operations. Hiyashi Corporation has stated gratitude and respect for the very long and productive partnership between Hiyashi and Shinonome Kyoai.

As a corporation, we express our sadness and gratitude at the same time, for the cooperation with Hiyashi. This is sadly the end of the Kyoai as national news media and we thank our loyal viewers and readers for every moment we were allowed to bring you the news from abroad and from within the empire. However, we do want to state the importance of independent journalism and we are fully pledged to keep the spirit of our journalism alive. This does not mean the end of Kyoai completely, it means the end of the current era of our media and a new era for how we report the news and the truth to millions of Kandorese people.

The closure of Shinonome Kyoai is a disappointing reality of our nation and has been met with concern among journalists alike. While there are fears for the status of press freedom and media pluralism in our nation, we ourselves will not end the fight here. Currently, a plan has been set up to restart as a completely independent media corp and rise up from the ashes anew. Kyoai will return in a new form and a new style to move along with the ever-changing Kandorese media landscape and will bring the most important news to the citizens of the empire once again. Alternative funding and business models have been explored and our editors and CEO have ensured that we can move ahead in this new form, without the funding of Hiyashi.

Despite all uncertainty in this situation and the challenges ahead, the legacy of Shinonome Kyoai and its role in shaping how the public perceives and views the news and media will live on. In the coming days, more information will be made available and we are aiming at keeping our current web address running for as long as possible. Shinonome Kyoai will return to the market in a new way, stronger and completely independent.

[West Barack and East Obama]

BARACK OBAMA'S NEXT TOP MIDFIELDER

Our Ninth Episode!

Welcome to the NINTH episode of Barack Obama's Next Top Midfielder! The talent show for these ten lucky people to display their talents in the middle of the park! We're down to three more contestants fighting for the last two spots in the Final Finals of Barack Obama's Next Op Midfielder! The next person to attempt to join Kemarbama Huth, Jacques Obamaheinz/Jake Obamaheimer and Obamadysseus Falcon in the final five is... Catherine Obamazine!

Catherine Obamazine is already a better athlete than most on the current West Barack and East Obama national team: her prowess as a swimmer for the Obamen has made her excellent at kicking. Known for holding the national record in 100m butterfly kick, Obamazine's speediness will be useful in sparking crucial counterattacks.

---

Master of Ceremonies: Please welcome our next contestant Barack Obama's Next Top Midfielder, Catherine Obamazine!

[audience applauds loudly]

Sergei: Welcome to the show Catherine! How are you feeling?

Catherine: Yuh, yuh. I'm pumped.

Zoey: Wow. Omaigod. Isn't it amazing to see a national hero on stage?

Catherine: Thanks dear. Wait, aren't you Lojan or something? Why am I a national hero to you?

Zoey: She knows who I am! She knows who I am! She knows-

Wolfgang: Yeah, anyways, what have you planned for us today to prove that you can be Barack Obama's Next Top Midfielder?

Catherine: I've got something really special for y'all. I'm going to rainbow flick this ball into the air, then hit it past that goalie with a rabona chipping right over his head.

Zoey: That sounds incredible!! Let's see it.

[audience applauds loudly as a goalkeeper and a ball are brought onto stage]

Catherine: Alright, watch this everyone.

[Catherine flicks the ball up in the air, and blasts it. The audience gasps as they see the ball whistle right past the post]

Catherine: Oh dear. That's not supposed to happen. Let my try that again.

[Catherine flicks the ball up in the air, but her foot misses the ball, causing her to slip down]

Catherine: Oh, fudge.

Zoey: Are you okay???

Catherine: Yeah, yeah, I'm fine.

Sergei: Can you just score already? We don't have all day.

Catherine: Yeah, yeah. This next one's going in though. Watch it.

[Catherine flicks the ball up in the air, but she accidentally heads the ball to her right, flying right onto Wolfgang's face.]

Wolfgang: OW!!!

[audience starts booing loudly]

Wolfgang: Alright, that's three chances, you're out. You're clearly rubbish and NOT Barack Obama's Next Top Midfielder.

Sergei: Yes, I agree. 2 out of 3 say you're out. Have a nice day.

Zoey: Hang on, hang on. That's a bit harsh. She can do a rainbow flick! That's better than like, the rest of the squad.

Wolfgang: Well, there's no point flicking anything up if you're not going to create anything from it.

Zoey: It's not as easy as it looks!

Wolfgang: Well, the competition is for people who can't just do the easy parts. We want the TOP midfielders.

[Zoey leans forward and smashes a button, which causes golden confetti to rain down on the stage]

Master of Ceremonies: Zoey Zaza has pressed the Golden B for Catherine Obamazine! Congratulations, Obamazine, you are through to the next round! Everyone, please tune in next Sunday for another great episode of Barack Obama's Next Top Midfielder!

Sergei: Woah. Golden buzzer? What the hell? I created this damn competition and never heard of such a thing.

Zoey: Oh yeah. It's like. In the fine print. I didn't even see it, I only noticed after I ran the the whole contract through a Text-to-Speech app.

Wolfgang: So... the whole time we could had buzzed in others? Darn it.

Zoey: Yeah. But look on the bright side! Catherine Obamazine is going to the next round woo!!!

[scattered applause and boos from the audience as Catherine takes a bow]

[Naixi]

Where's Xi Wang? I'm thinking, where's Xi Wang? He's always around some corner, watching from some window, going up and down the little alley where I got my wares all laid out. I gotta have eyes on the back of my head, because he does. That is right, you can't take your eyes off him. Xi Wang will pop out of a trash can or poke his head out the door of one of these skyscrapers I got right next door to my little plot. He's always checking this whole show out, over right here, over right in my business. Always says, how much you sell, how much you got, where's the money, why you looking at me like that? These are just things I heard Xi Wang say, I don't know nothing about who he is or where he's come from or what he wants. I don't know. If I ever did know, I wouldn't remember.

Well then okay. He's late today. Or maybe he's early. There's a time that it is right now, if you have a watch or a phone or something that you can know it, but this old girl is busy selling replica football shirts, okay? I got the gold ones and the burgundy ones and the blue ones and the white ones and the pink ones and the black and brown ones. Those are the six I got. Xi Wang brings them by and I sell them. That's it. He's gotta show up at some point, he's always checking out my show down here next to the skyscrapers and he brings the shirts so I can sell them.

There's Xi Wang. He's looking fucking pissed. I go, great so you're pissed, what's new, how's it my problem. He goes, see here, you're a Roki piece of shit and I don't have to take that from you. I'm the guy in charge down here! I say well since you're in charge, you're in charge. You're in charge, Xi Wang, and you gotta sell these shirts. He says how many times I gotta tell you, my name isn't Xi Wang, bitch. Nobody fucking knows what happened to Xi Wang, and you says you don't remember. Me, I don't give a shit, he says. I don't give a shit what happened to Xi Wang, all I know is he's not me, so don't fucking call me that. You call me Xi Wang one more time I'm wringing your fucking neck.

Well now I'm fucking pissed, nobody calls me a bitch and this asshole's name is Xi Wang, sure as shit. So I say I don't care what your name is, I'm losing business while you ride my ass. Okay, he goes, so that's the big issue here actually, actually this is it, he goes. Your sales numbers are shit, Kosirothi, you're down here on the street all day and all your merch does is disappear, you're a liability, you're a shit saleswoman and why should I keep you afloat? Well you ain't looking at the sales for my CDs, I go, and he says CDs, you don't have no CDs. He says I never supplied a single god damn CD, not one. Well I got em, I say, and they're selling like hotcakes. Well where'd you get them, he says? I don't remember, I says. So they're selling like crazy but you don't know where they came from? That's right, numb nuts, I tell him. Don't you fucking call me Xi Wang and don't you fucking call me numb nuts, Roki bitch.

So yeah, I'm pissed. He's riding my ass. He's calling me names. One more of these replica football shirts goes missing without you bringing it the dough, and you're fucked, Kosirothi. I didn't do shit, I say. Xi Wang's like, you did plenty of shit, Roki slime. Fuck you, I say. Now where's my god damn restock? Restock, he says. All I see down here is missing shirt here, missing shirt there, and you want a fucking restock. I says yeah motherfucker, I need a restock. I need 3 of the pink ones and 6 of the white ones and 7 of the gold ones and 16 of the blue ones and okay, he says, let me stop you right there. First and fucking foremost, and he's pissed, I can't even stress how pissed he is. First and fucking foremost don't talk to me about the blue ones okay, because that's the fucking Naixi national team you're fucking talking about. I go, lot of fuck that matters to me, Xi Wang. He says I gotta sit through them leading three fucking times against Quebec and they still cough it up in the end. Watched the game with the boys, he says. And some fucking waste of time that was. Now tell me again how you're gonna get a restock when you're losing shirts not selling them. You'll be lucky to get a restock of teeth after I knock them all out, Kosirothi.

Come get me, Xi Wang, I go. And he shoves a finger in my face and has the nerve to tell me it's my last chance. He's got a lot of god damn nerve. So yeah, he stomps off. Asshole kicks my god damn motorbike on his way. Like he doesn't know I need that thing if the cops ever show up. This sales operation's gotta be mobile, and Xi Wang's trying to make me about as mobile as a turd in a toilet. You're a fucking asshole, Xi Wang, I tell him. He just gives me the stink eye as he's leaving.

Well that's where I'm at. Sorry god damn state. The customers are thinning out, a lot of it's the time of year. It's winter so it's gonna be raining. Raining all over my ass. Doesn't bother me, no, but the customers don't want to be wet. I got merch disappearing and nobody to come by and juice these sales numbers.

Oh and this shit gets worse. I'm sweating, I'm fucking pissed, I got Xi Wang on my ass, and then this shit happens. I look down the street, right. Mostly it's just the other street vendors and me. Well today there's a cop. Big old bony asshole. He's a block away, leaning against his motorbike. Oh yeah, he's got one too. He's got a motorbike too, but I promise you his big stick ass has got a motorbike 2 times nicer than mine. So he's leaning on his shit. He's talking to somebody. I go what the fuck is this, we got a rat? And there we go, it's a rat. Okay so no it's not a rat, but I don't like it, that's for sure. He's talking to this Rokikoliji. She's maybe 25, 30. Beautiful. He's chatting with her. Probably shaking her down too. No no, I think, the cops don't get away with shaking down vendors like her. Wait a fucking second, she's not a vendor.

No no, she's a fucking customer. So the cop stays where he's at. Just leans against his bike. Good, I says, he comes closer and my ass has gotta shut sales down for the day and that's just what I don't need. So here comes this customer. She stops at one big tarp. That tarp's got jewelry and shit. She doesn't give a fuck. Beautiful young woman and doesn't give a fuck about jewelry, now this is a suspicious situation, this is very suspicious. She doesn't give a fuck about the next vendor either. One, two, more. Okay, so then she stops. She's two tarps away from me, this Roki girl. She picks up a few CDs. Turns them over. Turns them over again. Sets them back down.

Well I'm fucking losing my shit over here, there's something not right about this. This girl is chatting it up all friendly like with a fucking cop and now she's looking at merch. And she's coming my way. She walks up. New shirts, I tell her. Oh, I don't follow football, she goes. I go, oh, I don't follow it neither. We got our own sports, our kind. I'm trying to be friendly with this girl. We got that same skin. Well she doesn't give a fuck. She's gonna walk away. So I'm losing my shit a little less, but I'm pissed again because this girl right here is just a god damn tourist dicking around Downtown. Got half a mind to say, this is my Downtown, go back to the countryside, you Roki hick.

She stops. She's looking right at something down on the ground. Something on my tarp. She kneels down. Maybe she's a customer after all.

Charlie Underdog Huerline, she says. Charlie Fucking Underdog Fucking Huerline.

Matchday 17

IAQ 4 ⇨ Middleton, Miller ⚽x1 (Verlaan), Kim ⚽x1, Cizeron, Ukaleq (Nianzou Jr.), Dyxkeson, Wawanolett (Yim), Woodcarver ⚽x1, Babin, M'bah-Pinho, Korniloff-Kouyate ⚽x1
Naixi 3 ⇨ Cai, Pao, Geng, Dong ⚽x1, Tian ⚽x1 (Yep), Xun (Fen), Dai, Yuen, Cao, Ye ⚽x1 (Hsieh), J.T. Jin

5' Goal ⇨ Ye (NIX)
13' Yellow Card ⇨ Miller (IAQ)
29' Goal ⇨ Kim (IAQ)
38' Goal ⇨ Tian (NIX)
47' Goal ⇨ Korniloff-Kouyate (IAQ)
48' Yellow Card ⇨ Geng (NIX)
50' Yellow Card ⇨ Cizeron (IAQ)
55' Goal ⇨ Dong (NIX)
57' Goal ⇨ Miller (IAQ)
60' Goal ⇨ Woodcarver (IAQ)
61' Substitution ⇨ Miller OFF Verlaan ON (IAQ)
69' Substitution ⇨ Tian OFF Yep ON (NIX)
70' Substitution ⇨ Ukaleq OFF Nianzou Jr. ON (IAQ)
76' Substitution ⇨ Xun OFF Fen ON (NIX)
78' Yellow Card ⇨ Yep (NIX)
78' Substitution ⇨ Ye OFF Hsieh ON (NIX)
80' Yellow Card ⇨ Fen (NIX)
82' Substitution ⇨ Wawanolett OFF Yim ON (IAQ)
95' Yellow Card ⇨ Cao (NIX)

Matchday 18

Naixi 2 ⇨ Cai, Pao, Shao, Dong, Tian, Xun (Fen), Dai ⚽x1, Yuan, Cao (Ti), Ye, J.T. Jin (T.H. Jin ⚽x1)
Yakk 0 ⇨ Khad, Sahkmar, Kirminov, Xi, Lhi, Openka, No. Ayil-Orbat (Tibie), Tsedinaat, Orgaat (Agart), Boryozov (Tinpeg), Oryaangabar

24' Yellow Card ⇨ Khad (YAK)
60' Substitution ⇨ Boryozov OFF Tinpeg ON (YAK)
67' Substitution ⇨ J.T. Jin OFF T.H. Jin ON (NIX)
69' Substitution ⇨ Orgaat OFF Agart ON (YAK)
70' Goal ⇨ Dai (NIX)
75' Substitution ⇨ Xun OFF Fen ON (NIX)
75' Substitution ⇨ Cao OFF Ti ON (NIX)
77' Substitution ⇨ No. Ayil-Orbat OFF Tibie ON (YAK)
87' Yellow Card ⇨ Openka (YAK)
90' Goal ⇨ T.H. Jin (NIX)
91' Yellow Card ⇨ Kirminov (YAK)

[Kelssek]

St-Louis urges focus for final charge

With four matches left Kelssek are leading their qualification group and manager François St-Louis hopes to clinch a direct qualification berth to World Cup 93 in his first cycle in charge. St-Louis said this was always his target and now is the time to keep cool heads to finish the job.

“This is a great position we’ve made for ourselves, but the job’s not done yet. This is where we need all of our focus to make it count. It’s all about the mentality now and this is where the teams that are strongest mentally come out ahead. This is exactly the culture and character we are going to show to finish this race,” he said after the match against The Gothanita Isles, which Kelssek won 3-0 on goals from Loïc Maçon-Petrault, Êzêkíl dí Völará, and Amber Docherty.

“I look at my own experience as a player, as a manager, it’s not about intensity, yes you must keep up high standards, but it’s about calm.”

Kelssek began the pair of matches by notching an important win against Indusse in Langlois in what has to go down as an excellent all-round performance. The breakthrough came after just 14 minutes as Ingrid Lambert picked up pass backward with Kelssek probing for an opening in their attacking third. With probably everyone else expecting her to find a passing option she blasted the ball at the net from 30 yards out and found the top corner of the net for her first international goal.

Loïc Maçon-Petrault had Kelssek two goals up with a composed finish as Colm Ó Tuathail put the Directus striker through on goal with a slide-rule through ball. But Indusse clawed a goal back with the last play of the first half. Ryan Terlock tipped Antonio Mersia’s shot wide. Off the resulting corner, Sampath Singh Aksinwala found himself with a free header and made no mistake from point-blank range. Kelssek had much better control of the match after the break as Indusse weren't able to capitalize on their breakthrough. There was a heart-in-mouth moment for Phillip Lozic as he deflected a cross inches over the bar with goalkeeper Ryan Terlock stranded, but it was a battling effort by the central midfielders to keep a handle on the game and force Indusse to play down the flanks where they were effectively nullified by the work of full-backs Nacuémiro Buené and Curtis Holman.

Marked diligently by the Indusse defence in the second half, Maçon-Petrault got one chance to put the contest to bed and took it with aplomb. Danielle Maradrogba saw her shot from the edge of the area blocked high into the air and her strike partner showed his physical side to get under the looping ball despite the pressure from two defenders. He might have been able to get a penalty had he hit the deck, but instead Maçon-Petrault poked the ball into space, escaped the grip of Mathias Paulson, and struck it cleanly past Steve Leghourn into the Indusse goal.

KELSSEK 3 – Lambert (14’), Maçon-Petrault (43’, 83’)
Terlock, Buené, Lambert, Lozic, Holman, Breault (Bray 75’), dí Völará, Ó Tuathail (Mann 64’), Hartpoach (Lafrenière 75’), Maçon-Petrault, Maradrogba (Ahmad 84’)
INDUSSE 1 – Singh Aksinwala (45+1’)
Stade des Pacifiques, Langlois (attn. 30,919)

---

THE GOTHANITA ISLES 0
KELSSEK 3 – Maçon-Petrualt (19’), dí Völará (33’), Docherty (50’)
Salinas, Earrach, Lambert, Camserhe, Barris, dí Völará (Lapierre 81’), Lafrenière, Docherty, Heer, Maçon-Petrault (Goh-Lemaire 67’), an Deòir (Lohánares 67’)

[Oberour Ar Moro]

From matchday 5 to matchday 12, Oberour Ar Moro's Dragoons played hale and heartily in their eight-match unbeaten run. But then at the Parade Grounds a 2-3 loss to Valanora seemed to be knocked out of their sails.

Oberour Ar Moro travelled on the road and got revenge on Lashankia with a 0-2 win, but both sides played listlessly. They then returned to the Parade Grounds and lost to Pasarga. They won a labored 0-1 victory over a Valladares side seemingly running out the string, but then lost their next match to Al-Tamazgha at home. In their most recent match they scored four goals against Abanhfleft, but allowed four goals in return. There was an opportunity in the 88th minute where a set piece led to the ball bobbling in front of the Abanhfleft goal. No player in red was able to get a hold of it, a defender got a toe on it and knocked it clear out of the pitch and no goal came from a perfect opportunity.

A 2-1-3 record over the last six games leaves Oberour Ar Moro fifth in their group, eight points out of a playoff spot with only four matches to make up the distance.

The Dragoons had been up and excited for their matches, but in the most recent six games many of their players looked unhappy, down, tired and anxious and stressed. The body language of the players on the pitch and in a dugout made it clear things were not right.

Iudicael Breut and Seguinus Tesserant de Linge were known as players whose chests were always out, acting arrogant and seemingly unafraid of risks or failure, but they appear to be more sluggish. Left winger Thomas-Augustin l’Establier has always looked disinterested on the pitch. If the results were fine, they would get a pass, but as things have begun to go less well, which has led to greater criticism. Pius Petitmesnil has always played with an edge, but in his efforts to drag the team kicking and screaming towards success has led to poor decision making.

Oberour Ar Moro football relies on their players moving and running and covering the pitch, but in the poor results of the recent matches, there appears to be more fear as players moved less. All of these footballers have incredible physical ability, but if their mentals start to fail them, what else do they have?

The back half of the qualifying schedule has lingered on like a bad year. It is not impossible for the Dragoons to qualify, but they don't appear to be in the headspace to do so.

[Brusseldorf]

Don: And we're live at the Fennec Stadia for what promises to be a thrilling match between Brusseldorf and Mytanija.

Sheila: That's right, Don. The Brusseldorfen team has been on a hot streak lately, but Mytanija is known for their strong defence. It's anyone's game.

Don: The whistle blows, and the game is underway. Brusseldorf with the ball, passing it around the midfield.

Sheila: But wait, Mytanija's Nurija Papez intercepts the pass and sends it up to Mirko Hranilovic on the wing.

Don: Hranilovic with a beautiful cross to Drazen Skara, who heads it into the back of the net! Mytanija takes an early lead, 1-0.

Sheila: That was a textbook goal, Don. Brusseldorf's defence was caught flat-footed there.

Don: Brusseldorf kicks off, trying to regain their composure. Michael Hernandez with a great run down the middle, but he's stopped by Mytanija's Bigger Mbala-Ekakia.

Sheila: Mbala-Ekakia is a powerhouse defender, Don. Brusseldorf will have to work hard to get past him.

Don: Mytanija with the ball now, and they're playing a possession game. Asmir Milosevic passes it up to Nenad Tejic on the left wing.

Sheila: Tejic with a great run, he's got some space! He takes the shot... and it's in! Mytanija scores again, 2-0.

Don: Brusseldorf is in trouble now. They need to step up their game if they want to get back into this match.

Sheila: Agreed, Don. But Mytanija's defence is holding strong. Semir Besak in goal hasn't had much to do so far.

Don: Brusseldorf is trying to get something going here. Teddy Wolfenden with a nice run down the right wing, he crosses it to Giroud Sidi in the middle... and it's blocked by Grigorij Savicevic!

Sheila: Savicevic is an excellent captain, Don. He's been leading the Mytanijan defence brilliantly.

Don: The second half is underway, and Brusseldorf needs a miracle if they want to come back from this deficit.

Sheila: It looks like Mytanija is content to play a defensive game and counterattack when they can.

Don: And that strategy is paying off. Mytanija's Omer Kuhar-Arh with a great pass to Deniz Ovsyannikov, who takes the shot... and it's in! Mytanija scores again, 3-0.

Sheila: Brusseldorf's defence is falling apart, Don. They can't seem to stop Mytanija's attack.

Don: Brusseldorf is making some substitutions, hoping to turn things around. Santa Dominguez and Boronia are coming in for Ricard Sciolan and Gabriel Lellouche.

Sheila: But it might be too little, too late, Don.

---

As the match entered the final minutes, Brusseldorf was desperately trying to salvage some pride, but it seemed like it was too late for them. Mytanija was comfortably in control, and they had already secured a comprehensive victory.

But Brusseldorf was not going down without a fight. They were still pushing forward, trying to find a way past Semir Besak, Mytanija's impressive goalkeeper.

The Brusseldorf fans were still cheering their team on, hoping that they could at least get a consolation goal. The players could hear their supporters and were giving their all, even though the match was all but over.

But Mytanija's defense was not giving Brusseldorf any space or time to create a chance. Grigorij Savicevic, Mytanija's captain and central defender, was organizing his defense, making sure they stayed focused until the final whistle.

As the referee blew the final whistle, the Mytanija players celebrated their well-deserved victory. The Brusseldorf players were understandably disappointed, but they still applauded their fans, who had stuck by them until the end.

The final score was 4-0 to Mytanija, who had dominated the match from start to finish. Brusseldorf had a lot to work on if they were going to turn their fortunes around in the upcoming games. But one thing was for sure - they would never give up, and they would keep fighting until the end.

[PotatoFarmers]

Cap Nord 2–2 Poafmersia
Goalscorer: Tessa Bjarnesen 18' (assisted by Erle Sartini); Jordan Huerta 84' (assisted by Jackson Handris)
Lineup (4-3-3): Nicole Potts; Kilikina Lee, Nacro Astro, Diamond Byan, Xenophon Robson; Michael Jackson, Erle Sartini, Aapeli Shea (c); Tessa Bjarnesen, Dagur Lawrence, Bolívar Tamura
Substitutes: Jordan Huerta (Lawrence 60'); Jackson Handris (Tamura 71')

Poafmersia 2–1 Brusseldorf
Goalscorer: Tessa Bjarnesen 40' (assisted by Tamura), Bolívar Tamura 59' (assisted by Jordan Huerta)
Lineup (4-3-3): Nicole Potts; Kilikina Lee, Nacro Astro, Diamond Byan, Xenophon Robson; Michael Jackson, Erle Sartini, Aapeli Shea (c); Tessa Bjarnesen, Jordan Huerta, Bolívar Tamura
Substitutes: Sylvia Fusco (Shea 67'); Liina Williamson (Huerta 79'); Leonora Hall (Jackson 79')

Depivik 1–1 Poafmersia
Goalscorer: Tessa Bjarnesen 29' (assisted by Michael Jackson)
Lineup (4-3-3): Nicole Potts; Kilikina Lee, Nacro Astro, Diamond Byan, Xenophon Robson; Michael Jackson, Erle Sartini, Aapeli Shea (c); Tessa Bjarnesen, Jordan Huerta, Bolívar Tamura
Substitutes: Liina Williamson (Huerta 70'); Leonora Hall (Shea 81')

Poafmersia 5–0 The Karodin Tetrarchy
Goalscorer: Jordan Huerta 6' (assisted by Michael Jackson), 40' (assisted by Aapeli Shea), 64' (assisted by Erle Sartini); Tessa Bjarnesen 29' (assisted by Jackson), Bolívar Tamura 79' (assisted by Jackson)
Lineup (4-3-3): Nicole Potts; Kilikina Lee, Nacro Astro, Diamond Byan, Xenophon Robson; Michael Jackson, Erle Sartini, Aapeli Shea (c); Tessa Bjarnesen, Jordan Huerta, Bolívar Tamura
Substitutes: Min Berg (Sartini 74')

Sporting Daily
Jordan Huerta makes ammends for Depivik choke with hat-trick against Karodin Tetrachy
Fiskadaha - Jordan Huerta and Michael Jackson produces hat-trick of goals and assist respectively to sink The Karodin Tetrarchy, giving fans some confidence about the team ahead of a win-or-die trip to Banija.

After fans took to Chirper to complain about the team's struggles away in Depivik, veteran striker Jordan Huerta came out to apologise to the visiting fans for the team's struggles, and volunteered to pay for the ticket fees for the group of away fans, and provided an additional ticket for the team's home game against The Karodin Tetrarchy. This expense, as the Daily learnt, was shared among the entire team of strikers who played that game, and that the team hard practiced shooting and creating chances against their own defence squad during the training afterwards. The striker promised on behalf of the entire team that they would improve their offence capabilities ahead of the crucial run-in to the end of the tournament, and that the fans should not be worried. Indeed, his words came through as he scored a hat-trick at home in front of the 70,000 home fans in the stadium.

The opponents, eliminated from contetion at this stage of the qualifiers, came in with a goal of trying to make the Red Panjias drop points, or, in local slang, trying to be a "water ghost" (local legend has it that water ghosts pull others down with them to the bottom of the sea, therefore the slang). They pulled out a solid defence, marking key players such as the in-form Tessa Bjarnesen and Aapeli Shea. Putting 10 man in their own half, the Kaordin Tetrarchy was out to fustrate the team, just like how Depivik did just 3 days ago. But the Red Panjias, eager to close the gap on Mytanija and Banija, was determined for that not to happen, and quickly opened the scoring after Michael Jackson released Jordan Huerta on the left side of the field, past 3 opposition defenders, and beating the keeper. Later, Tessa Bjarnesen added yet another goal to her tally, with Michael Jackson again creating a perfect opportunity by sliding the ball through a gap in the opposition defence to reach Bjarnesen, who just about beat the offside trap on her way to goal. Later, Jordan Huerta made it 3-0 with another assist from Aapeli Shea, who worked with Erle Sartini in midfield to confuse the opposition defence.

With the Red Panjias eager to open up their goal difference in case they need it, they went really attacking for the remaining 45 mins, pushing forward with a high back line. And Erle Sartini helped produce the team's 4th, pushing forward a really nice indirect free-kick to reach the head of Jordan Huerta, who headed the ball in to score his hat-trick. 15 minutes later, it was Michael Jackson's turn to get his hat-trick of assists, catching the opposition leftback sleeping to lob the ball across to Bolívar Tamura, who took the ball in fron the right and slotted it straight to the left side of the goal, giving Poafmersia a valuable +5 Goal Difference in the race to the finish line.

Legend
Y - Unable to gain direct qualification, but can still advance to the playoffs
E - Eliminated

## Group 12                             Pld    W   D   L    GF   GA   GD   Pts   Form
 1 Banija                                18   13   4   1    48   17  +31    43   WDWDW
 2 Mytanija                              18   12   3   3    25    8  +17    39   DWLLW
 3 Poafmersia                            18   11   5   2    42   22  +20    38   DDWDW
 4 Cap Nord                              18   10   3   5    23   15   +8    33   LDDWW
 5 West Barack and East Obama            18    8   7   3    23    9  +14    31   DDDDW
 6 Trolleborg (Y)                        18    8   6   4    19   13   +6    30   DDWWW
 7 Ascvalion (E)                         18    4   6   8    21   27   −6    18   DLWLL
 8 The Karodin Tetrarchy (E)             18    4   4  10    17   31  −14    16   LDLDL
 9 Brusseldorf (E)                       18    4   2  12    25   34   −9    14   LWLDL
10 Depivik (E)                           18    3   4  11    13   31  −18    13   WDDDL
11 Lionsroar (E)                         18    3   4  11    16   39  −23    13   WLDDL
12 Magnecia (E)                          18    2   4  12    11   37  −26    10   DDLDL

With 4 matches to go, Poafmersia head to Banija aiming to secure all 3 points in order to keep the chances of direct qualification within reach. All 3 top teams aren't in the best of form, with Banija dropping 4 points in the last 5 games, and Poafmersia dropping 6. The Red Panjias have made a small target of trying to overtake Mytanija at the very least to get a better seeding in the playoffs, with the latter getting 2 losses in the last 3 games against Cap Nord and Trolleborg. Poafmersia has arguably the easiest run-in of the top 3 teams, with 2 home games against Lionsroar and Magnecia right after the matchup, and then a final trip to 5th placed West Barack and East Obama to finish up the qualification group stage. Mytanija has 2 home games against easy opponents as well, in The Karodin Terarchy and Lionsroar, but has a tricky trip to Banija in Matchday 21 that Poafmersia must pounce on. For Banija, their qualification chances is definitely in their own hands with 2 home games against us and Mytanija, but they continue to be favourites for the direct spot.

---

OptaPoaf's Fantasy analaysis of the week

This is a section released by OptaPoaf and published on major newspapers with sports coverage in Poafmersia. It features the Ko-oren Fantasy Game and what is the optimal solution based on results up to that matchday versus other entries currently on the list. ICy, 1 week = 2 matchdays.

Group 1: Juvencus (19.73 KPB) - 55 pts
Group 2: Naixi (1.75 KPB) - 38 pts
Group 3: Loyo (6.6 KPB) - 35 pts
Group 4: Farfadillis (32.23 KPB) - 50 pts
Group 5: Graintfjall (42.4 KPB) - 53 pts
Group 6: Ziwana (10.24 KPB) - 39 pts
Group 7: Aeragny (1.83 KPB) - 37 pts
Group 8: New Gelderland (8.16 KPB) - 42 pts
Group 9: The Holy Empire (30.63 KPB) - 54 pts
Group 10: Flavovespia (21.54 KPB) - 50 pts
Group 11: Pratapgadh (0 KPB) - 36 pts
Group 12: Poafmersia (18.62 KPB) - 41 pts
Group 13: Tikariot (21.81 KPB) - 48 pts
Group 14: Xanneria (6.98 KPB) - 51 pts
Group 15: Eraman (15.11 KPB) - 44 pts
Score: 673
KPB: 237.63

Group 1: Juvencus (19.73 KPB) - 55 pts
Group 2: Naixi (1.75 KPB) - 38 pts
Group 3: Loyo (6.6 KPB) - 35 pts
Group 4: Kimi-suomi (14.63 KPB) - 40 pts
Group 5: Kirungabi (2.33 KPB) - 26 pts
Group 6: Ziwana (10.24 KPB) - 39 pts
Group 7: Aeragny (1.83 KPB) - 37 pts
Group 8: New Gelderland (8.16 KPB) - 42 pts
Group 9: Darmen (11.63 KPB) - 43 pts
Group 10: Flavovespia (21.54 KPB) - 50 pts
Group 11: Pratapgadh (0 KPB) - 36 pts
Group 12: West Barack and East Obama (7.51 KPB) - 33 pts
Group 13: Tikariot (21.81 KPB) - 48 pts
Group 14: Xanneria (6.98 KPB) - 51 pts
Group 15: Eraman (15.11 KPB) - 44 pts
Score: 617
KPB: 149.85

Top 5 fantasy results overall:

1. Sylestone (237.36 KPB) --> 593
2. 金玉 耶蘇-亜里 (Jesus-Ali Kintama) (239.45 KPB) --> 590
3. gruen (229.48 KPB) -> 588
4. Shnowy Owlsh (238.07 KPB) --> 584
4. Audio (239.08 KPB) --> 584
6. Arrows and Swords (236.56 KPB) --> 574

Analysis of the week - In the closing stages, there are just some teams who are doing crazily well, and others who are just struggling to gain any traction whatsoever. Firstly, there is Xanneria, who is simply dominating Group 13 with 51 Fantasy Points at a cost of 6.98 KPB. Then there is New Gelderland, doing quite well as well with 42 Fantasy Points on 8.16 KPB. But there are stragglers as well. Eraman (15.11 KPB, 44 FP) must be surprised to be doing better than their region mates and Mandalanusa heavyweights Pemecutan (41.17 KPB, 39 FP) who are just struggling in a particularly crazy Group 3. Brenecia and Pasarga bounced back slightly from their poor early results, but are still at 33 and 35 FP respectively and doing poorly by FP standards. Starblaydia, who has maintain a national team for a time longer than any of us has been alive, is near rock bottom with 20 FP, while The Cordian Isles basically just shouldn't be selected at all. Also, how is Magnecia the worst performing team in Group 12 at 6 fantasy points?

Group 1: Oflia (0.08 KPB) - 3 pts
Group 2: CONGOlese republic (0.75 KPB) - -3 pts
Group 3: Millenhaal (0 KPB) - 0 pts
Group 4: Bollonich (6.14 KPB) - 4 pts
Group 5: Talamia (1.07 KPB) - -4 pts
Group 6: United Bongo States of America (0.42 KPB) - -5 pts
Group 7: Murphtannia (0 KPB) - -3 pts
Group 8: Quakmybush (5.84 KPB) - 5 pts
Group 9: Safiloa (0 KPB) - 3 pts
Group 10: Lashnakia (0 KPB) - -1 pts
Group 11: Novaros (1.67 KPB) - -6 pts
Group 12: Magnecia (3.83 KPB) - 6 pts
Group 13: Strayan Rus (1 KPB) - 1 pts
Group 14: Southern Palm Islands (3.2 KPB) - 3 pts
Group 15: The Cannaland Islands (0.92 KPB) - 5 pts
Score: 8
KPB: 24.92

[Eshialand]

The Eshialand City Journal
The Latest News, Just for You.

ELECTION 2026
Labbett Pledges to Increase International Affairs; Doesn't Rule out Moving Regions

With the campaign to fill the long-vacant position of Prime Minister, a seat which has remained empty since Fiona Reval was exiled from Eshian politics late last year, the Liberal Party's Kevin Labbett has made his first notable policy known: he wishes to end Eshialand's relative isolation from the global stage.

Eshian foreign affairs hasn't been on the most solid ground these past few years, with just a couple of international friendships to the nation's name, and the only international agreement the nation's been involved in being AORTA, which the king mainly signed for the sake of Aleiravan tourism more than anything else. Apart from that, there hasn't been much other Eshian involvement overseas, but Labbett has decided to go against his party's grain and pledged to change that.

It is unknown what he means when he says it, but he does say that Eshialand will "benefit greatly from having more foreign friends". When he was asked about Eshialand's location away from any other multiversal nations, he said, "well, that's not necessarily permanent", 5 words which sent shockwaves through Eshian politics, as a sign that he was seriously considering moving regions for the sake of international relations.

The Conservative Party's Melinda Tarry responded to this comment last night by saying that "Eshialand's isolation is its greatest strength in a dangerous world", which seemed to earn her quite a big deal of support among a population who aren't too keen on leaving their isolated safety. However, despite the Eshian public's lack of enthusiasm towards changing regions, many still back Labbett's statements, recognizing that good international relations are a valuable asset to have in a globalized multiverse.

How the regional question will play out over the course of this long campaign is still unknown, but many pundits will be watching to see what sort of rhetoric comes out of it, and whether Labbett or Tarry will be willing to move towards the center, for example with Labbett backing down on moving regions or Tarry changing her tune on international relations. Whatever happens, it will certainly be one of the debate points to follow for the duration of this campaign.

[Huayramarca]

A Day in the Life of: Paolo Manco

By Carlos Humala

Paolo Manco has been a player that can be defined as “resilient”, and continues to be so in his new role in the Huayramarcan National Team. A truly persistent person and footballer, one that has been since the beginnings of this project, one that had been always ready for action when needed from the managerial team, but despite not being a first choice for his position through the time, he has continued to perform in a great level in trainings, patiently waiting for the moment when he could turn a starter for the Condors. The time has come, Manco is now a starter of the team, a reward that looks like a changing point for him after all the effort done.

Paolo Manco has been invited to A Day in the Life, the program that serves as voice to humanise the footballers, to know their daily life side, their struggles and victories that have put them in the position they are enjoying in life; but also, for the special component of Paolo’s story, one that can have the potential to inspire those children who are dreaming to be Huayramarcan representatives.

In this episode, from the lands of Bubiyan and Warbah, we introduce you Paolo Manco. He was born at Pando, Cocoamarca; he is the sixth and final sibling of Martina Guerrero and Daniel Manco, a couple of landlords with small properties scattered through Cocoamarca. The family has always been involved in the business of cocoa production, aside from the harvesting of coca leaves for these people who suffer from soroche or altitude sickness. Paolo has been devoted to support his family through education and taking some accountability of the production coming from the properties.

We greet Paolo as he sits, as we expected, he had some cocoa with him and asked for somebody to prepare a glass of it. Milk and cocoa are a great combination and I told him about it, he said “We produce the best cocoa of Huayramarca and the best in Anaia, Family made! That’s how I say hello to people.” We thanked him and then started talking with him “So, your life revolves around football and cocoa, right?” Paolo said “Yes. First, we started with cocoa. I got used to it as my family has already like three generations of cocoa producers. Then, I got involved into football as a hobby, but it turned to be a passion and also a way to help my family to boost production with better techniques.” I asked him “How do you like it?” He said “Cocoa should be cold and mixed with milk. The one who serves you hot cocoa in summer hates you.”

Well, a cocoa authority has talked and we’ve got nothing more to taste the flavour of it, sipped it and I tasted something great, it was the milk who managed to spoil the strong taste of the cocoa. “Milk spoils cocoa a bit” Paolo said “It’s the right way. Cocoa shouldn’t be the star of it, it always needs some support from side ingredients.” Now, getting into the life of Paolo and his career “Did your family asked you to work in the business?” Paolo said “They didn’t active told me nor pressed me, they expected me to get involved as it is a quite interesting thing to do, let aside our privileged position in the business” That looks like a quite liberal approach from his parents, then I continued to ask “So, they helped you to get into studies and be able to study agriculture or something like that?” The answer was quite different from what I expected, as Paolo said “They helped me to study, yes, but they expected me to study administration in order to take the reigns of the business and bolster it for the future.”

Paolo was having some interesting support from his parents, they always trusted him to get in charge of the business and make it successful, but that came from an envisioned perspective that they would try to make it work. Paolo continued “Since the kindergarten, they noted that I was quite good with mathematics and all things related to numbers. They expectations were being met, but I actually didn’t know it, they just made me aim to that area of studies with subtlety.” I asked him “How subtle?” Paolo said “They made me get interested in numbers because they bought me a calculator as a toy, so I played getting numbers all of the nothing, also, I played with an abacus and got told how to use it.” It actually makes sense, as many transactions in the cocoa sector are made with help of an abacus, that in case of dealing with people that lack some mathematic literacy.

Paolo said “Numbers, I didn’t feel annoyed at it, I got used to them and consider that those were interesting. I learned the multiplication tables fast, then learned arithmetic and more stuff.” I asked him “Did you managed to get this paired with the business?” He said “Yes. I helped some of the caretakers and sellers at the estate to sell the product, I helped with calculations and data that could be useful to make the transactions safer and quicker.” And the abacus point just got confirmed, this is how some tourism can become handy, heh. “Did you share some time with other children?” I asked him, Paolo said “I did, as many of the workers were there with their children in order to take care of them or even to work, which is regrettable but I didn’t have nothing to do from my end by that time.” I asked him “How did you spend time with them?” He said “Football, the universal language of fun and entertainment.”

So, the first ventures of a future National Team player came from a mere entertainment and ended being a significant commitment and experience for them. Paolo added “I started playing as a defender and I still continue to be one. I liked to take care of the goal, as we played in a hall room and I tried to protect delicate things such as flower pots, crystals, decorations, etc. That’s why I’m a defender.” We laughed as it is a quite anecdotical reason to became a defender; they played at a hall room and Paolo just wanted to have fun and take care of his family belongings, like a security guard.” I asked him, for fun sake “Did you ended breaking up something?” Paolo laughed and said “Haha, I did break up quite a lot of things, but the most delicate one was a piece of silverware that I damaged with a kick.” He continued “I did cry because I faked up that I twisted my ankle and fell over it, so I wouldn’t be punished by my parents. I tried hard to fake it but I failed, as I didn’t notice that it showed the effect of a ball impacting it. They didn’t stop me from playing football, but told me to play outside the house.”

It is relieving to see that he wasn’t punished, as in many cases, punishments can cut off a potential great career by imposing guilt and remorse in a child, generating traumas. Paolo continued “I did continue playing, still, with the same purpose of defending, but this time, my goal rather than the silverware of my family.” I asked Paolo about the late school years, here’s what he said “I loved to play football and the mathematics too. I ranked as the best student in maths, and also as a prolific defender in the Cocoamarcan School Championship, which is a traditional tournament of school football that was brought from people coming from the Cocoabo forest.” It is often said that Cocoamarca was one of the first zones of Huayramarca that got football quite developed, to the point of being known as “the factory of footballers.” Due to the fact that many cocoa workers bring their children to schools and get raised here, and also get involved into football.

“How did you get into the Huayramarcan National Team?” I asked Paolo, he said “Remember that I mentioned the Cocoamarcan School Championship?” “Yes” I said, he continued “Omar Caicedo was there with Rubén Condori, spotting players for the defence of the National Team, he noted that our school was performing nicely through the championship, as we were getting clean sheets constantly. I recognise that said situation boosted my chances, and I tried to give my very best to be in the eyes of those scouts that were representing the HFF, which I didn’t even imagined.” I asked “How the adventure started for you in the National Team?” Paolo replied “Omar approached to me and told me ‘you’re in for the national team’ I ran to tell my parents, who agreed but they wanted to talk with Omar, they did and Omar explained about it, and they were confident that my involvement with the cocoa business wouldn’t be stopped.”

I asked him “How did you continued to study while being with the Condors and with your football team” Paolo said “I studied a virtual university degree in administration, and then a masters in business administration with the University of Chuquiago. I also helped my family by sending funds to support the business, as I’m earning some good money, enough to help them to improve their production techniques, investing in advertisement and changing the labelling of the products.” Quite an interesting process for Paolo, as he did manage to combine education, football and his family business to make them larger and better, this in a rather competitive market of cocoa makers. Paolo continued “I often visit the estate, to make sure that the investments are working and giving a follow-up to the projects” I asked him “How things are running?” He said, in short “Quite great, and I’m happy of it.”

As he mentioned projects, I asked him “What did you do in the national team to be a starter?” He said “It was a big project, one that was hard because everybody is here for a reason, competing for a starting position is hard here as there’s a lot of competent people. I tried to do some exercising, more training from myself before the training and after the training, as I knew that I needed to the be best in stamina, performance, skillset, etc. I tried extra hard to get in, but I got a couple of matches, but I did still fight for it through hard work.” I asked him “Was there a point where fatigue popped up and made you almost give up?” Paolo was sincere and said “Yes, I was close to give up but I didn’t as my family motivated me to be the best, to perform as good as I use to do when it comes to mathematics.” Remembering a good moment of the past, something to make him grab energy and boost himself to perform better everyday, to keep him fighting. His family is special and was able to providing him moral support, be it through calls, visits, etc. They really want the best for him.

“How did you reacted when Blâás Âgínsôgnó told you that you would be a starter for the National Team?” Paolo said “I jumped and cried of happiness, as I knew that all the effort made and support received from the family had its reward. I had to be the best and I have to keep in the path of being the best, as I came here and I want to be here. I recognise that I might have highs and lows and that a teammate may perform better than me, if the manager decides to take me to the bench, I’ll accept as I want Huayramarca to win and not my ego to do so.” A positive attitude from Paolo, as he is almost getting ready for the match against Bubiyan and Warbah, quite an interesting one as Huayramarca is now standing as the last unbeaten team in the Qualifier, then we asked him about the streak, he said “I don’t care about it, I want to do my best and my team to do the best to achieve our dreams of qualification and performing to the highest level at the World Cup.”

Paolo was leaving, but we asked the traditional question “Any ritual before the match?” He said “Well, I did it in front of you and you didn’t notice, hahaha” as he showed his glass of cocoa now empty, then he said “I enjoy drinking cocoa as I get relaxed to play football” He left and got into the bus, right into the stadium that would see Huayramarca finishing its 17-game unbeaten streak finishing with a deserved 2-0 victory from the locals, who were able to suffocate the Huayramarcan offense successfully, and also taking advantage of the defence.

Paolo talked with us and said “We have talked with Mr. Âgínsôgnó and we are aware that we must not cry over this, we must correct the mistakes, recover and get the work done to come back to the path we’ve been walking on through the Qualifier. There’s a couple of great matches coming (Sudilia (H) and Farfadillis (A) in the penultimate Qualifier window), so we must be ready for it, that means to cure our scars and be ready for action for the next window. Mr. Âgínsôgnó recognised so and said “We get over this, we walk stronger and we have to do our job, that’s it!” For the next episode, a truly interesting story comes from Santiago Chumacero, one of the stalwarts of the Huayramarcan defence through all its WC history.

[Brenecia]

It turned out that changing one person couldn't undo a drift a generation in the making.
Erin Camden was one of the best Brenecian managers in history. She'd built one dynasty in Northern Union, and maintained another in AFC Treason. She was a good tactician and a firm disciplinarian but, most importantly, one of those manager who knew how to whisper into the ear of top players and squeeze that little bit extra quality out of them, make absolutely sure they can do the best they can.

Trouble was: where were Brenecia's top players?

Brenecia was often derided as having a low skill ceiling, but that didn't actually track. Brenecia's depth was, traditionally, weak. There were never many top-class Brenecians around, but there were always some. Often enough.
That was dwindling, now.
Who truly played at a top club? The fullbacks, Culpepper and Hadley, both played for Sabrefell Athletic. Idina Alderwood was a squad player for Sabrefell Moths, and Skaidrina Briggs sporadically got on the pitch for Zozi, mostly helping to kill games off late on. Topmost of all, Maerhen Wake was a mainstay for an all-conquering 1830 Cathair, the one real player Brenecians could point to and say they maintained a place at the top of the game.
There were other players in top leagues - Wakering was riding the rising tide in Kelssek, and as ever there were a smattering of players around the Zenith and Goldleague - but the fact was that it was not especially surprising to see, as now looked all but certain, Brenecia miss out on the World Cup again.
And lo, that familiar refrain: 'lol brenecia'.

Most of Brenecia thought they could somehow make it work, but Camden had arrived without any delusions that Wright was a bad manager. If anything, Wright's downfall was that she was a manager on the level of the squad: a top A-League manager, not someone proven at the very top, and the local league simply was not of that level. And sure, there were things Camden could do to improve the team from the off. She could coax Alyce Kearney into the picture, and cap-tie her almost immediately. She could drill the side to play domineering, physical football, but also to back themselves to keep the ball and find more avenues to goal. And she'd found a way into the ears of some of these players, even if she wouldn't be seen dead with them at AFC Treason. Deft, technical Jeong and bruising brawler Wheater were a promising centre-half partnership, Jeong offering a confidence on the ball lacking from the incumbents, Wheater providing the pace to make up for it. They made mistakes, yes. But the ceiling was high. Mor-Rioghain Stokes had a brilliant mentality, that mixture of arrogance, cynicism, ruthlessness and professionalism that all the best strikers had. She was not among the best strikers. But she thought she was, and in short bursts, she could manifest that. And, given that she was a Nephar who had represented Brenecia through blood, she could relate to the players of that background in the squad; Jeong (via Quebec), but also Alderwood and the midfielders Kearney and, crucially, Lienke Covolan. They tended to stick together, and that cliquing wasn't exactly helpful, so Camden helped grease the wheels. By forcing them to hang out with other squad members. Like they were all nine-year olds.

Still, ruminating over her circumstances didn't matter. She was here to get results, and Brenecia, some-fucking-how, were meant to get results. Trouble was, at this stage, she was sweating over just seeing if the BFA could scalp up the traditional bribe to get into the Cup of Harmony.
The Patriots were waning. Interest, too. She had to rage against the dying of the light, somehow. But how?

[Cardenao]

Chímo's Christening (Part 3)
(Part 1, Part 2)


AI generated image

“What the hell was that???”

“Chímo.”

“Chímo! The fuck is wrong dude hello?!?!”

“Wha……what?”

“The fuck do you mean what? Fuck’s sake man you just drifted off in the middle of the drill are you having a laugh?”

“I…No. My bad, I’ll get it right, let’s run it back.”

The sound of a whistle sprung the drill into motion, Chímo ran down the right wing before cutting inside towards goal where a perfectly chipped ball from Haritz Larrainzar was moving towards. He stepped towards it, put his foot out like he had 10,000 times before and………the ball cannoned off his shin and soared out of bounds. The 21 year old goalscoring star smiled sheepishly at his teammates and scratched the back of his neck.

“Chímo, front of the line give it a go again, I need you putting the ball in the net!” Barked out national team manager Scooter McNash. He understood a foundational truth of football, to beat the other team you have to score more goals than they do, and, with his highest goalscorer in Chímo seemingly having lost his touch, Scooter was a little nervous going into the final four matches of the World Cup qualifying campaign.

To be clear, there was zero percent chance for Cardenao to go through. Well maybe…1.093% at most and that relied on a whole lot of other final results going their way. No, the World Cup dream was all but dead. Again. Scooter needed to keep morale high though, there was the Cup of Harmony to look forward to, and the next World Cup cycle would absolutely have the expectation that Cardenao would qualify for the Big Dance. But that would be hard to do so long as the nation’s great young hope, Chímo Ventura, continued to mistime just about everything on the field.

The whistle blew again and Chímo once more streaked down the wing, another perfect pass from Haritz, who was in the form of his life, which Chímo neatly controlled and brought to his feet.

‘Flair then smash it in,’ went his thought process.

One on one with the keeper and Chímo scissored right and the keeper went right, he scissored left and the keeper went left, he scissored right and the keeper went left and signed himself over to fate as Chímo had an open goal.

He had put a bit too much power into his final scissor kick and was trying to bring his weight back central so he could fire off a shot, but he planted his left foot a little too far forward and, as he went to “smash it in” he found himself slipping down and firing the ball a good seven feet over the bar.

Chímo layed on the ground, staring up into the clear blue sky. He could hear the waves of the Itsasoan Sea smashing against the shoreline of Bajo La Nariz, a small yet modern town south of New Cardonia. It was very peaceful, he could almost close his eyes and doze off listening to the breeze penetrating these south side trees. Peaceful aside from the sounds of Hartiz yelling at him.

“Three times Chímo, three times now I’ve played it perfectly to you man. You fell asleep, you couldn’t control shit, now you’ve blasted it and our hopes into the next cycle!”

“Hartiz that is enough!” Yelled Scooter McNash, sensing the pot about to boil over. “Everyone take seven to get your heads clear, we’ll met back up center circle and go over the gameplan.”

‘Thank fuck,” Chímo thought to himself as he sprung to his feet. He saw Juanma Saez start to head his way, undoubtedly to offer some of his ‘expert striking opinions’ and tell Chímo how easy it was to score. He waved Juanma away and bee-lined to the locker room, his only goal to get his fanny pack.

Once inside the locker room, Chímo got his pack out and poked his head out the door, looking left and right. Coast was clear, nobody was coming. He shuffled back inside and went into the bathrooms, running into the nearest stall and closing it.

Cardenao’s golden boy ruffled though his belongs and smiled as his fingers felt the plastic baggie, which he pulled out. The small, clear bag had marijuana plants stamped on it but it contained anything but that green goddess. No, inside was 1 gram of pure, crushed Cardenaoan bam bam, the national party drug Yacaré. Chímo got his house key out and dipped it in. He made sure to fill in the grooves of the key, gotta maximize surface area after all, and pulled it out. Plugging his left nostril with his head bent, he put the key to his right nostril and snorted in. As he did, he straightened his head and looked up at the ceiling, patting the key to get any yacaré he hadn’t managed to snort up. Chímo took a deep breath and felt that comfortable elation spread through his body.

He looked in the mirror and flexed his muscles, gritting his teeth as energy blew through his veins and he knew, without question to be 100% fact, that he was the fucking man. Chímo blinked and found himself back at the locker, slamming it shut with his fanny pack safely inside. He walked back over to the bathroom mirror, the fluorescent lights were so bright in his eyes now, and he looked up into his own eyes reflected by the mirror. In an instant, the toilets in the background flowed down the walls and mixed into the tile floor, which now flowed like a reverse waterfall back into the toilet, carrying so much shit and toilet water that mixed in the mirror with the water in his eyes and cascaded down his body, with Chímo now seeing geysers of sweat as black as the ink of a squid erupting from his pores.

"FuuuUUUUUCK!" he yelled out as he tore his eyes away from the mirrors and focused on the stream of water coming out of the faucet. He laughed at himself, Salvadore had told him to NEVER look himself in the eye in a mirror when on yacaré, said you see your true self at that moment. 'What bullshit.’ Chímo splashed some water on his face and flexed his legs and arms, feeling the sheer power and ability he had within.

“You uhhh, you good man?”

Chímo froze, who the hell was that?

“Chím, you good?” It was Salvadore Hendrix, the half Quebecois leftback for the national team who had taken Chímo under his wing when he was just a 16 year old in the Baptism of Fire team. Who had facilitated Chímos first usage of yacaré at the PlayToy Mansion. Chímo looked up at Salvadore, smiling like the drugged up idiot he was.

“Ohhh shit man no way!!! Hahaha noooo way [laughs so hard he starts coughing] Chím, you’re not blizted right now, are you??”

Chímo, still smiling and very aware of the euphoric feeling coursing through his veins, the feeling of all of ability as both a footballer and young, rich national icon. Everything was his as long as he put the ball in the fucking net. “What’s up Hendo?”

“You’re fucking druggedover you little shit!” Chímo breathed up a sigh of relief, Hendrix didn’t realize he was pretty fucking high right then and there. He took a blink before responding.

‘Damn that sun is bright,’ Chímo thought to himself as he pulled off a slick elastico and kept the ball at his feet. ‘Wait what the fuck?’ He swore he had just been in the bathroom with…

“That’s what Marco Hertel was saying! No more footballs allowed in whatever wing of the PlayToy Mansion you’re in. No footballs but so many women and so much booze I was starting to get a little worried lil bro!”

Chímo hesitated in his step and started to turn away.

“Hey man I’m being for rea–” Salvadore Hendrix was cut off as Chímo snapped his body back to the right and effortlessly nutmegged him.

“Yeah you just worried I’m gonna keep doing you like that! I’m having my fun man, just blowing off some steam, I learned from the best of them, I learned from you,” Chímo said to Salvadore, with the two of them laughing it all off.

Blink.

“So we know they like to defend hard on this side whenever the opposition have the ball in this area of midfield. Diego, if you can slow the ball down in that area for a second, take a pausa and feed Haritz, that should open up the field for us. Haritz, Chímo will be open on the left wing, so keep chipping that pass through and we will have an opportunity to score. Just be sure to put the ball in the net Chím!” Scooter McNash said, partly joking and partly really needing his leading goalscorer during this qualification period to re-find his touch and find it immediately. Sure Cardeano was effectively out of the tournament but there was still KPB to be accrued and honor to be won.

“I’ll do it right fucking now let’s go.” Chímo spat out. He wasn’t pissed at Scooter calling him out in front of his team, no he was pissed at himself, missing all those easy touches, those shots earlier. Fucking “leading” his team to their two worst defeats of all time, 8-2, 5-1. He had lost those games.

“Haritz,” Chímo took a breath, seeing the trees shimmer in purple and feeling energy and power in his body. “Hartiz feed me the ball, let’s do it.”

Blink.

The ball was falling through the air, perfectly weighted. Chímo could see the rotations, see the ball falling through the air and where it was going to be. The sun was glinting off it but his eyes held true and as time seemed to dilate to slower then slow, he started whipping his right foot up to meet where he knew the ball was going to be right…about…now.

Chímo smashed the ball into the upper corner of the goal before ripping his training jersey off and letting out a guttural yell to the non-existent fans that seemed so real to his eyes.

“The hell is his deal?” Team captain Deigo Valenzuela asked Salvadore Hendrix.

“Who’s to say man, who’s to say?”

[Valanora]

Why do the Marauders always have a navy or blue kit? Throughout the many years that the Marauders have been playing international football, there has been a constant, and that there is a navy or otherwise dark blue kit as the home strip. This has been the case for the near two hundred years that there has been a national team representing the area of the Eternal Empire, but few have actually ever had the clarity to ask why that is the case. The away kits and third kits when there is one change like the coming and going of the tide, but the home kit has ever been the same and there has to be some reason for that to be the case right? The Marauders simply would not just choose dark blue as their home kit for no other reason that they liked the color, right?

Well, yes of course there is a reason as to the color of the kit, it was no arbitrary choice due to someone's fancy or to be unique or really anything in that sort of nature. Rather the answer is honestly a bit of a simple one when you come down to it and that is because navy was the color of the flag of the Elven Security Alliance when the Marauders first took to playing their games. The current flag is primarily a white flag but the navy is still there in the form of the iconic crossed sabers of the Empire, ever present in the nation even after it has far evolved from its original structure. That flag, which was updated a few decades to a more artistic take on the nation and what it symbolizes, had navy as the background base of the flag and it is why almost all Vanorian team to this day usually play in a navy or blue/dark blue home kit when presented the opportunity to. It is the smallest measure of national pride that is afforded the athletes and teams from the Empire, to earn those colors and be able to represent the Empire while wearing them. There likely will never be a time where there will not be a blue home kit for the Marauders as long as that tradition holds true.

As mentioned though, the away kit and the sometimes used alternate have seen a multitude of different colors across the years, it is often where the kit manufacturers take a little leeway and try something a bit more risky than the home strip. However for all the different colors and pattern combinations that have adorned the Marauders kits, there are still a few colors that the team has never worn to this day. Perhaps the most prominent of these is orange, with it even being quite the rare kit color in the domestic pyramid, with only a handful of the two hundred fifty-six club teams wear orange or a shade that could closely resemble orange. Other unused colors in the Marauders history include yellow and brown, with the yellow being one that is a bit controversial depending upon your outlook. There are many who would claim that gold is a shade of yellow and as a result, the Marauders have worn it, as they have had many kits with gold trim or as a secondary color. Yet even if you consider that to be fair, it has never been the base color of a kit and always used as an accent or for a pattern design.

Color can often be considered part of an identity and it is clear that the Marauders have and will likely always have that navy identity, keeping a piece of the past ever present even for those who might not recognize its significance. It will be interesting to see how things change though in the future with the away and third kits, if the Marauders stray away from the current red as the away strip and if they will ever use kit suppliers not located in a "rival" nation. It is a bit of a quirk that outside the very seldom used domestic suppliers, all of the Marauders kits have come from suppliers located in nations that have considered themselves to be rivals of the team at one point or another, even if the feeling might not have been mutual. That of course being JMC from Krytenia, Ediraf from Starblaydia, and then Kirola of Audioslavia. With kit suppliers seemingly in short supply the last decade or so, one might wonder where those next kits will come from, whenever the VFA decide to switch from their current outfit.

[Tikariot]

-- The Tikariot Second League is covered by Eamonn Flanders and Robert McNamara --

The Tikariot Second League has always been a very competitive league, which became even more competitive after the contraction of the Tikariot Premier League to 20 teams and the subsequent reduction of the promotion/relegation race to three teams from four. Season 107 promised to be the maybe most hotly contested to date, not just with the relegated teams Morannon Athletic, Varakoula Warriors and Baraldhur AFC, but also recent arrivals such as Ancarea FC, Anhedron Wanderers, Ysgrann Bay Eagles, Vilharady Owls, Valnohar Rovers, Veriasod Wolves or the Chromatika-based Vna-Chuhul Ravens that were only promoted two seasons ago and have invested heavily into the team with no less than six Chromatiks joining their ranks.

A poll before the season saw Baraldhur, Morannon and Ancarea as the top three favourites for the promotion, while on the other end, Toroyra, Tovaca, Vltava and Imyalore were viewed as the prime candidates for the bitter drop into the Tikariot National League 1.

While the beginning of a season always is marked with volatility and therefore the table has to be taken with a grain of salt, the top 5 after five matchdays saw one big surprise in the promotion spots in form of the Tovaca Thunder. Marked as one of the most likely to go down, they sat in second position, even on points with the Anhedron Wanderers, who's mission for re-promotion after their shock relegation in season 103 has turned into a far longer-term project than anticipated. Tovaca, on the other hand, had spent the first 50 seasons in the TPL, but were relegated in the first season that the league was opened to promotion and relegation and have not seen the top tier since, even dropping all the way into the fourth division in the decades since. On the other end of the table, The Zhelmagor Society and Morannon Athletic surprisingly were in the drop zone in an unforeseen start to the campaign.

Tikariot Second League       Pld    W   D   L    GF   GA   GD   Pts 
 1 Anhedron Wanderers FC       5    4   0   1     6    3   +3    12
 2 Tovaca Thunder FC           5    4   0   1     6    4   +2    12
 3 Vilharady Owls FC           5    3   1   1    13    7   +6    10
 4 Varakoula Warriors FC       5    3   1   1     8    5   +3    10
 5 Fiurach Phantoms FC         5    3   0   2    12    7   +5     9

After matchday 10, the landscape had considerably changed. While the Wanderers were still occupying the top spot with a three-point lead, it was two far less likely teams in the other two promotion spots with one of Tikariot's most storied clubs, Viathyn Park AFC, and the Vna-Chuhul Ravens. As many were expecting, Tovaca's brief foray into the upper echelons of the league did not last, and they had dropped to ninth at this point with only four points from the last five matches. Zhelmagor and Morannon also still were in the relegation zone, which did cause a fair bit of dissent among fans, especially in the Saburnian capital.

Tikariot Second League       Pld    W   D   L    GF   GA   GD   Pts 
 1 Anhedron Wanderers FC      10    7   1   2    15    9   +6    22
 2 Viathyn Park AFC           10    6   1   3    18   15   +3    19
 3 Vna-Chuhul Ravens FC       10    6   1   3    17   16   +1    19
 4 Vilharady Owls FC          10    5   3   2    22   14   +8    18
 5 Baraldhur AFC              10    5   3   2    12    7   +5    18

Five matchdays later, Baraldhur AFC had risen to the top of the table, reinforcing their claim as one of the top favourites for immediate re-promotion. Despite losing good parts of their squad, going into full rebuild mode, the blue and yellow had found their stride, but the league was as close as ever, with Anhedron one point behind, and Vilharady, Viathyn Park and Emerald Coast another behind. The fact that Zhelmagor and Morannon were still at the bottom of the table was a growing concern, leading to the first two high-level sackings of the season.

Tikariot Second League       Pld    W   D   L    GF   GA   GD   Pts 
 1 Baraldhur AFC              15    9   3   3    24   14  +10    30
 2 Anhedron Wanderers FC      15    9   2   4    18   14   +4    29
 3 Vilharady Owls FC          15    8   4   3    38   24  +14    28
 4 Viathyn Park AFC           15    8   4   3    28   20   +8    28
 5 Emerald Coast Raiders FC   15    9   1   5    19   14   +5    28

Another strong string of games saw Baraldhur extend their lead to four points, strengthening their position ahead of Vilharady and Veriasod, who continue their momentum to pursue their return to the TPL. Vilharady have been one of the steadiest teams so far, having been the only club to sit in the top 5 for the whole season to date. Veriasod, on the other hand, had pushed into the promotion zone for the first time, beginning to stake their claim to be a forerunner in the promotion race. Despite the new coaches, both Zhelmagor and Morannon were still in the relegation spots, however, with some upward trajectory starting to show.

Tikariot Second League       Pld    W   D   L    GF   GA   GD   Pts 
 1 Baraldhur AFC              20   12   5   3    30   17  +13    41
 2 Vilharady Owls FC          20   11   4   5    45   28  +17    37
 3 Veriasod Wolves FC         20   11   4   5    23   17   +6    37
 4 Emerald Coast Raiders FC   20   11   3   6    26   17   +9    36
 5 Viathyn Park AFC           20   10   5   5    35   25  +10    35

Moving past the halfway line, Baraldhur continued to forge ahead, adding another point to their lead, which now saw them being chased by a pack of V's, with Viathyn Park and Veriasod in the promotion zone and Vilharady and Vna-Chuhul waiting in the wings. Baraldhur and Viathyn Park also had built up very positive goal differences, further strengthening their position in the title race. Morannon also finally had made progress, having risen to 20th position, but something else interesting was happening at this level. Ten matchdays ago, the Anhedron Wanderers were sitting in second position with 29 points. Now, they were 18th with 32 points, on a streak of ten winless games, making the alarm bells go off.

Tikariot Second League       Pld    W   D   L    GF   GA   GD   Pts 
 1 Baraldhur AFC              25   15   6   4    43   25  +18    51
 2 Viathyn Park AFC           25   13   7   5    44   26  +18    46
 3 Veriasod Wolves FC         25   14   4   7    31   25   +6    46
 4 Vilharady Owls FC          25   12   6   7    53   41  +12    42
 5 Vna-Chuhul Ravens FC       25   13   3   9    44   36   +8    42

The Wolfpack was not playing around, surging ahead and past Baraldhur to take the lead after 30 matchdays, taking 13 points of a possible 15, while Baraldhur only managed to get 6. The race for third position had heated up as well, with Viathyn Park and Vna-Chuhul only separated by three goals while Vilharady had slipped back, but still remaining in the top 5, keeping their hopes alive. At the bottom, Morannon had slipped back into the relegation zone, with Anhedron barely hanging on. On the other hand, The Zhelmagor Society seemed to have hit their stride, climbing five spots. At this time, Morannon, Toroyra, Vltava and Imyalore were occupying the relegation spot.

Tikariot Second League       Pld    W   D   L    GF   GA   GD   Pts 
 1 Veriasod Wolves FC         30   18   5   7    40   25  +15    59
 2 Baraldhur AFC              30   17   6   7    53   33  +20    57
 3 Viathyn Park AFC           30   15   8   7    52   31  +21    53
 4 Vna-Chuhul Ravens FC       30   16   5   9    58   40  +18    53
 5 Vilharady Owls FC          30   14   7   9    58   48  +10    49

The Veriasod Wolves remained one of the hottest teams of the league, adding another 12 points and expanding their lead on Baraldhur to six points. Viathyn Park also had put a four-point buffer between themselves and Vna-Chuhul and Vilharady. Behind the top five sat another pack of five teams close together, keeping the pressure on the leaders, with Varakoula, Emerald Coast, Ancarea, Fiurach and Ysgrann Bay staying in striking distance. Morannon also saw a sudden chance in fortunes, gaining 13 out of 15 points and jumping to 15th position in the process. Anhedron, however, had hit 21st and after a great start to the season had reached the point of no return for their coach.

Tikariot Second League       Pld    W   D   L    GF   GA   GD   Pts 
 1 Veriasod Wolves FC         35   22   5   8    54   29  +25    71
 2 Baraldhur AFC              35   19   8   8    61   38  +23    65
 3 Viathyn Park AFC           35   18   9   8    63   40  +23    63
 4 Vna-Chuhul Ravens FC       35   18   5  12    66   53  +13    59
 5 Vilharady Owls FC          35   17   8  10    67   55  +12    59

Going into the final stretch of the season, Veriasod continued to go from strength to strength, further expanding their lead, making themselves the ultimate forerunner to return to the TPL after three seasons in the second tier. Viathyn Park had moved up to second, pushing Baraldhur to third with the Vna-Chuhul Ravens also closing in. Vilharady was still holding on as well, but the teams behind were also getting closer, making for an ever-increasingly exciting run to the finish line. With six matches to go, Tovaca, Toroyra, Vltava and Imyalore were occupying the relegation positions, with several other teams still remaining in 'contention.

Tikariot Second League       Pld    W   D   L    GF   GA   GD   Pts 
 1 Veriasod Wolves FC         40   24   7   9    62   32  +30    79
 2 Viathyn Park AFC           40   20  10  10    73   48  +25    70
 3 Baraldhur AFC              40   20   9  11    67   47  +20    69
 4 Vna-Chuhul Ravens FC       40   19   9  12    71   57  +14    66
 5 Vilharady Owls FC          40   18   9  13    70   67   +3    63

In a dramatic last few matchdays, the promotion race saw the Veriasod Wolves hold on to their lead and take the title despite only gaining three points out of the last six games. With a strong finish, the Vna-Chuhul Ravens managed to pull ahead and move into second position, seeing the Emerald Coast-based team return to the TPL for the first time in 41 years, bringing Black Raven Technologies into the Tikariotian top flight. Also returning for the first time in 51 years is Viathyn Park AFC, a 6-time TPL champion that has one of the largest fanbases in the country. With a lot of heartbreak, Baraldhur AFC ended up missing out on their immediate return to the top flight by three points.

On the other end, Toroyra, Vltava and Imyalore were some of the expected candidates for relegation, but the fourth team was somewhat of a shock, especially after their outstanding start of the season. Instead of returning to the TPL, the Anhedron Wanderers are now facing the harsh reality of competing in the third tier next season, a severe blow to the club.

Tikariot Second League       Pld    W   D   L    GF   GA   GD   Pts 
 1 Veriasod Wolves FC         46   24  10  12    65   38  +27    82
 2 Vna-Chuhul Ravens FC       46   23  10  13    79   62  +17    79
 3 Viathyn Park AFC           46   22  12  12    85   56  +29    78
 4 Baraldhur AFC              46   21  12  13    73   54  +19    75
 5 Fiurach Phantoms FC        46   21   7  18    67   58   +9    70
 6 Vilharady Owls FC          46   20  10  16    78   75   +3    70
 7 Emerald Coast Raiders FC   46   19  12  15    73   57  +16    69
 8 Ancarea FC                 46   19  11  16    59   55   +4    68
 9 Varakoula Warriors FC      46   17  15  14    65   70   −5    66
10 Ysgrann Bay Eagles FC      46   17  13  16    58   50   +8    64
11 Pharaeo AFC                46   16  14  16    86   81   +5    62
12 Dhalhora Heartland FC      46   17  11  18    79   78   +1    62
13 Valnohar Rovers FC         46   17  11  18    78   88  −10    62
14 Fort Cafragilis FC         46   16  12  18    66   77  −11    60
15 Olan-Araa Bay FC           46   17   9  20    70   82  −12    60
16 Nagoush FC                 46   16  11  19    54   53   +1    59
17 Morannon Athletic FC       46   15  14  17    74   76   −2    59
18 Meriador FC                46   16  10  20    44   43   +1    58
19 The Zhelmagor Society FC   46   15  13  18    48   56   −8    58
20 Tovaca Thunder             46   15  11  20    49   51   −2    56
21 Anhedron Wanderers FC      46   13  13  20    58   85  −27    52
22 Imyalore Arrows FC         46   13  12  21    30   51  −21    51
23 Vltava FC                  46   13  11  22    33   58  −25    50
24 Toroyra FC                 46   12  12  22    57   74  −17    48

The promoted teams are:

[Guanacasteca]

David Arellano was mad after not getting the desired answers from the Rushmori Community on his support request for the languishing army, which now had to resort to fear-mongering operations to keep the little control they still had in the North of Guanacasteca, although, they continued to exert some sort of mental control against civilians due to the trauma inflicted during their tyrannical rule, a scar that it is difficult to cure and to forget. Arellano ordered a group of commandos to search for David Alpízar in Tibás, the instructions were clear, he wanted him alive or dead, but he didn’t want Alpízar causing trouble against his plans of ruling the República Guanacasteca at his own will and imagination.

Tibás, Southern Guanacasteca - 06/06/2003 - 10:04 p.m.

The group of commandos send by Arellano had managed to arrive in Tibás. It was a difficult task due to the tremendous amount of rebel forces waiting for any military commando to kill them, they had to get into the forest surrounding the town, as it was the best way to get into the heart of the Southern Region. Marcos Quirós and Andrea Ortega, two of the most experienced soldiers that Arellano still had at his control informed him about the infiltration “King, the pawn talking. Operation Chess is commencing, we are getting near the black king a step by time. Infiltration successful, now we are trying to search for where he’s hiding or a pawn that can send us with him.” Arellano replied and said “Ok, pawns. Keep moving and be aware of your surroundings, I need you all of you concentrated. Alive or dead, that’s the objective! King out.”

The soldiers dispersed in three groups, trying to search for a potential hiding place of Alpízar or some rebels that might guide them towards him in a way or another. One of the three groups noted that there was some suspicious activity, some of them crouched and waited for some minutes to see what was happening, but it was a couple of drunkards wandering in the forest; the group sighed and one of the members said “Ugh, I’d love to be in that position now.” He was hit in his forehead by Andrea Ortega, who said “Get into the game or die.”

Soldiers from the other two groups reported nothing, as they weren’t close to any finding, yet a group of them was about to find a surprise, but not the one they expected to see. A group of rebels had set a trap in the ground that has been covered by leaves, it was hiding a mechanism of sharpened wooden trunks, which were at the bottom of the pit. Nobody was noticing the ground, a beginners’ mistake from people that has, supposedly, being trained in the “best war fighting conditions” according to Arellano, but nothing has to be trusted from him, a deceptive officer capable to do anything to rob money and get a life plenty of luxury. One of the soldiers who was moving at the front stumbled and activated the trap, making the whole group falling into the pit and being killed instantly due to the injuries caused by the sharpened woods.

Meanwhile, group two and three casually found themselves, they merged and continued to search for any trace of Alpízar, then they noted that there was a hole, for their surprise they noted the whole group 1 dead by the trap… Ortega, furious at the finding, talked with Arellano and said “A whole group of our fools just died at a trap?” Arellano raged and didn’t answer anymore, as he couldn’t believe what had happened to that part of the team.” Then, Quirós observed a whole block of rebels getting into a nearby building, they tried to approach silently after the rebels had entered to it, then asked for a telescopic sight to spot for somebody, then they saw Alpízar and said “The black king is there, at the window.” Ortega called to Arellano and said “We have detected Alpízar, king. We have got the black king on sight” Arellano said “Have you already killed him?” Ortega replied negatively, but Arellano continued “Call me until you have him” Ortega threw her radio, then picked it up and told Quirós “Shall we kill him?” Then Ortega said “We want proof of killing; we need to force the rebels to get out and kill them.”

As that was said, a rebel was coming and had to be killed through a stab at his stomach, then his body was thrown into the pit where the group 1 was lying dead. Then, Quirós said “Push and kill all the rebels in the building” The whole group remaining pushed into the building, trying to find a way to kill Alpízar and the rebels who were standing between the army group and Alpízar himself. As soon as the rebels noticed, they started to shoot the army officers, then Alpízar noted weird noises from the first floor and said “What’s going on?” Carolina, one of his assistants said “We’re being raided and attacked by the military.” Alpízar took his hands to his face and started to lament “We need to get this building safe; we need to continue with the revolution.” The instructions were clear from the rebels, they needed to protect Alpízar at all costs, as he was being a key factor for the cause of the revolution.”

As the group managed to enter the building, the rebels started to shoot and kill some of them, they were taking heavy losses as the rebels knew the building and any potential hideout spaces to shoot without being on sight. As they were on disadvantage, grenades start to fly in order to damage the building, which was in poor conditions, but those weren’t able to cause significant damage to the infrastructure, that meant that they needed to continue pushing and kill Alpízar or take him with them to the North, no matter what. Some of the rebels spotted Quirós and Ortega, and told Alpízar about it, he said “Ah, Arellano’s most loyal dogs.” Alpízar though about the impact Arellano would suffer if he found out that they were taken as hostages, now the order was to kill them all and kidnap Ortega and Quirós.

Some of the rebels found the couple hiding, trying to get cover, they were threatened and had to drop the guns as they saw a group of rebels, they threw their weapons and had to move with the rebels, meanwhile, the other fighters were being outnumbered and killed by the rebels. In what has been, perhaps, one of the worst decisions taken by the army or its members during the war, both Ortega and Quirós came to the presence of Alpízar, who immediately took a glass of beer, smashed it against the couple and knocked them down. After a couple of hours, when the situation was now calmed, the couple came back to reality, one that materialised, perhaps, a nightmare for them. Alpízar ordered Ortega to call Arellano, she refused, then Alpízar kicked her at her face, Quirós tried to jump over Alpízar, but the latter shot him at the leg of the former, falling down and making Ortega to call.

“King, this is pawn… We’ve been checkmated.” Said Ortega, while Alpízar talked “Do you wanted me to be killed by rookies? You need something better, they aren’t good.” Said while loading his gun and shooting both of them at their heads, Alpízar said “Bullets of lead at their heads, a good place for the bullets to relax. Bullets that will make us free from the rule of the gorillas, free from tyranny. Arellano, you’re next, you’ll die, you’ll rot in hell.”

Arellano stopped the conversation, he was furious and started to cry in frustration, then he said “Are we really done? are we really finished?” Some of the officers asked him what had happened, then he said“ The whole group was killed, Alpízar killed, by his own hand, Ortega and Quirós” the rest of the soldiers were shaking in fear, as they were seeing how their castle of privileges was crumbling down, this due to the lack of preparation from the army members, due to their unmeasured need of taking power of everything and not being efficient enough to help the nation to achieve success and progress, instead, they murdered many innocents and karma was hitting them hard now.

[Qasden]

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Community Haven
Gaff Against 'Gabi Brings Qualification to a Groaning Fault

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By Tex Preston

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With 6 matches left in a rather ambitious campaign, the premier squad of the Qasden Association Football Association has found itself squabbling with Ceni for the chance to squabble with Adab. Mere draws separate the Vans from a spot in playoff competition, a far cry from Tumbra and Chromatika, but a position which uniquely places the Principality at a proper opening. After a largely successful first half of the season, Valentijn Munson found herself back at Murderers' Row, a string of closely-ranked opponents who she had surprisingly little problems in dispatching last go-around. The return trip seemed no different, at first, with the Blue-Reds taking out Talamia and Natanians in back-to-back goalfests; a flashy and entertaining match to watch, a nightmare for the PR folks of the clubs our defenders play for. In the end, we stood 5th, our fate highly determined on a match-up against the Pot 5 nation and temporary, parasocial rival, Gyatso-Kai. Beating the Bisons was a necessity to get to Position 3, but the Row is more than a single cell, a lesson and observation we desperately so should've paid more attention to going past our bout with the Nosts.

Following victory at Stadion Nacional, Calcio Calico donned their home colors once more to tango with the Baptism of Fire Champions, Kirungabi, at the Community Greens in glitzy Qad City. The entertainment and economic hub of South-TVC Eastern Qasden has been a place desiring the cycle to end with a positive record, the stadium now sitting at a 1-0-1 courtesy of wins and losses to Cheetahs and Yuezhou, respectively. The Colorful Calico Trophy may be ours, once again, but that's not a meaningful hardware in the face of a completely different competition. The Greens needed a show, one as passionate and invigorating as the star-studded city it adorns. What followed was indeed a match, but it was one most unwelcome. Since the last encounter with the volcano crests, the craftily assembled handiwork of Cyril Kamembe found its footing once again, keeping the Rushmori newcomers in the running for playoffs despite early ouchies. Hovering above a now eliminated Canadian Dominion, the match was do-or-die for the rainbows (not actual nickname, I believe) with defense mattering as much as a bank vault's would. The 90 minutes would see this defense vehemently walling off a growingly restless Qasdonian offense, denying chance after chance despite the opportunities the Blue-Reds were able to get. The home defense, on the contrary, were just as horrid as they had been, allowing the Kirungabians multiple chances to crack through Thurstan, including 2 goals which would seal the deal in a brutal blank-out of an Azeurian nation not wanting to relive its despair. 0-2 would see an immediate review of the careers of any unnamed Qad defense coach, and Munson's neck felt closer to the pike than ever. The L, while not affecting the country's position number, forced a 6-point disparity between us and playoffs, meaning our only way up the rungs now would be a total win-out. 15 points in 5 matches, it's a doably impossible task that many-a Qads were not ready to do about with. Regardless, it's all the campaign has left, and with the win-or-go-home mentality thoroughly installed into the cat-loving mindsets of fans, the Vans made their way over to Gyatso-Kai, the first of many judges, juries, and executioners aboard a permanent Murderers' Row.

The Bisons, despite being 2 spots below us, were suspiciously level when it came to goals and goal differences, being 3 above and completely equal to us, respectively. Qasden were fortunate enough to beat their cross-region two-time rivals in the home leg at Stade de Solis, but the herd's aggression rumbled like thunder throughout that match just like it has it this one, the stadium of the Avatarian Republic's finest bellowing in a deep and voracious cacophony of vocal vocaloids and other associated members clamped in cotton drapes of red, white, and yellow. Calcio Calico needed all the stops pulled to deny these adoring fans and their loving families from reaching the childhood dream of qualification, but even then, the brakes were faulty enough to make this gambit a gasper. The Avatarians fought ferociously, their attack-heavy tactics making mince meat of our already lackluster defensive routine, bruising up Zinnia's sides from all the reaching she's had to do to keep the team afloat. The offense, for their part, kept themselves to a tee with their Bison counterparts, giving No'Bell and Bone ample opportunities to make headways towards Hamada Roshi and his home's net. The game found itself stranded at 3 apiece until an ass-clenching breakthrough of impossibly descriptive maneuvers lunged a one Shug de la Fontaine into the recent history books as the temporary savior of the campaign. The whistle blew at 4-3 in favor of the Cats from the Riverside, a celebration as joyous as it was intensely relieving. 5th, or at least, a finish above a stronger team was guaranteed. Still, even with the win, the 4-point gap with 3rd is in dire need of closing. The Row keeps on calling, and with it, the next targets bearing their necks are ones the Vans need to bite now more than ever. Canadian Dominion, soon to occupy Merellin Park in Elder, find themselves out of the contest, now with nothing to lose. The Geese, despite a disappointing cycle, are primed to take some faces down with them to the CoH, and with the kitties needing every scrap they can get, the fight for Qasden's lives is no honking matter. In its wake, however, looms the biggest bad this crack at the quali has led to, the cherubs chosen to guard the gilded gates since the early days of the campaign: Adab. The Adabians have found themselves in lockstep with their ability to keep onlookers away from the third place position, bitch slapping an anxious Cenian side from their attempt of usurpation. That attempt now, squarely, lays in our hands, to take on a giant holding a great, flaming sword. Braving and conquering Adab City Stadium is the magnum opus of our campaign, a draw, while certainly appreciated, isn't feasibly enough to make the great leap forward. Margaret be praised, the fates need our defense to wall up and keep the ball out. For 90 minutes, let them succeed.

That is all for this calm before the storm. Can the Vans outlast the toughest that Murderer's Row has to offer? Would the Adabians identify Qasden as the same threat the Principality loosely identifies itself? Stay tuned, stay updated, and stay alert for more drama dumping, piped in lukewarm from the streets of 93!

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[Turori]

Turori Sport Report

World Cup 93 Qualifying Matchday 17 :: The last time the Turori National Team headed into a two-game stretch against Strayan Rus and Inkwellistan, they would come away with their highest scoring two-game stretch of the campaign thus far, winning the two matches by a combined score of 8-1. At the time, the Eels were in the midst of a 9 game winning streak but in the seven games since the Turori National Team have won just 3 games, tumbling from the Top of the Group 13 table and into dire straights on the verge of dropping out of the Top 3 and potentially missing out on the World Cup without even a fighting chance in the playoff rounds.

Thankfully, the Eels and their fans were confident that they could use the two game stretch against teams ranked outside the Top 200 in the World Cup Committee rankings to establish a new winning streak and get back into the contention for the Top Spot in Group 13 and the spot in the World Cup 93 Finals that would go with it. The circumstances against Strayan Rus were a little different the second time around, however, now playing on foreign soil and having to deal with an already-eliminated opposition that were simply out looking for a signature result to justify the effort they had put in to the campaign.

After forty-five minutes of action without a goal, it was once again time for Turori National Team head coach Tarek Edgeli to make wholesale changes. As the Eels returned pitch side following the break, four players who had not started the match were now making their way onto the field. Kala'a Yuliizala the 33 year old Colonial Sile forward would come in to change up the attacking look while Jungle Strike FC's Nua'oma Aikiki would take a seat on the bench. In midfield, Edgeli would introduce Cuoabaza Orani'aoa and Kinabo Telioa in hopes to create better chances from the possession that the fresh legs would earn. Finally, Edgeli would make a change in defense with youngster H'munao Cagomia making way for the more experienced Planio'o Nrujsa, an insurance policy for the Eels to help protect their lead and potentially steal a winner on a corner kick, Nrujsa having previously delivered five career goals from corner kick scenarios for the National Team.

Eventually the Eels would get the goal they needed to separate themselves from their opponents but it would take until the 71st minute and it was a bit of fortune for Turori as Loala Inkabu intercepted a wayward backpass by a defender who wishes to remain nameless for Strayan Rus. The goalkeeper too would be embarrassed and wishing to remain nameless after rushing out to cut the angle down on Inkabu but tripped over their own two feet allowing Inkabu to walk the ball into the goal.

While it was enough to ensure the Eels would come away with all three points - critical points as all will be at this stage of the qualification campaign, it certainly was not a confidence boosting result for the Eels who already face a difficult fight in the Group 13 table.

 Turori 1 - 0 Strayan Rus	
	Turori Goals:	:: 71' Loala Inkabu              
	Stats :: Turori 	:: Possession: 57%:: Shots: 3:: Corners: 6 :: Strayan Rus :: Possession: 43%:: Shots: 3:: Corners: 4
	Turori Lineup :: 	Derizi Amatopa, Amakli Inuro'o, Karek Edgeli, Moumouni Verre'elali, H’munao Cagomia (Biliki Rona'atu'i 67'), Kiidallen Aeroluzzi (Cuoabaza Orani’aoa 45'), Tulaki Rauogba (Kala'a Yuliizala 45'), Naraiza Ruaplal (Kinabo Telioa 45'), Trenian Omalizo, Nua'oma Aikiki (Planio’o Nrujsa 45'), Loala Inkabu

World Cup 93 Qualifying Matchday 18 :: The Turori National Team had an opportunity to reset as they returned to their home base in Eelandii to prepare for their Matchday 18 fixture against Inkwellistan. If there was any game that looked on paper to be an opportunity for the Eels to re-establish their confidence levels this was certain to be the game. The first leg on the road in Inkwellistan was one of the Turori National Team's greatest victories to date, a 6-1 result that would see two players - Tsinuzpa Rana’aiao and Lutara Makakio score a pair of goals and find themselves on the verge of an extremely rare Turorian hattrick. While neither player could seal the deal in the final minutes against Inkwellistan, Nua'oma Aikiki would finally get the recognition a few games later against Oscioru scoring Turori's first Hat-trick of the campaign. Now, with a match against Inkwellistan at home, every Turorian goalscorer was eyeing the back of the net hoping to join Aikiki on a very short list of Turorian players who have scored a hat trick for the National Team.

Unfortunately, much like against Strayan Rus, the Turori National Team struggled to get things moving in the first match. Even with some changes including starting all but one of the players who had come on at half time in the prior match against Strayan Rus, Turori still struggled to create quality goal scoring chances in the first half. The Eels would switch from a 4-4-3 System Turori formation to a 3-5-2 formation more familiar to those fans of the Vilitan National Team in the second half, hoping to see a change in their fortunes. The change would pay instant dividends with the Eels scoring just 5 minutes into the second half through Tsinuzpa Rana'aiao. The fans were on their feet as they were expecting that the flood gates would have opened and it would be a second half full of goals but that simply never materialized. Once again, Tarek Edgeli's Turori National Team would close up shop after scoring the goal, Locking Down and securing the three points with no possibility of a mistake down the stretch. While the 1-0 result may have left some in the stadium a little disappointed, in the end it was the 3 points that were the only important outcome for the Eels and they picked up all of them.

 Turori 1 - 0 Inkwellistan	
	Turori Goals:	:: 50' Tsinuzpa Rana’aiao              
	Stats :: Turori 	:: Possession: 57%:: Shots: 5:: Corners: 3 :: Inkwellistan :: Possession: 43%:: Shots: 5:: Corners: 7
	Turori Lineup :: 	Timaala Hualtia, Karek Edgeli, Moumouni Verre'elali (Lutara Makakio 62'), Amakli Inuro'o, Planio’o Nrujsa (Loala Inkabu 45'), Naraiza Ruaplal (Kiidallen Aeroluzzi 62'), Tulaki Rauogba, Lumlao Noauryua (H’munao Cagomia 45'), Cuoabaza Orani’aoa, Kala'a Yuliizala, Tsinuzpa Rana’aiao (Nua'oma Aikiki 69')

World Cup 93 Qualifying Group 13 :: Despite picking up a pair of victories, the Turori National Team were unable to cut into Tikariot's lead of Group 13 as the Owls would pick up comfortable victories over Oscioru and Atheara to keep their two point advantage over the Turori National Team. While the status quo was maintained between the leaders. Among the challengers there was a major shakeup as the head to head battle between the Commonwealth of Baker Park and Krytenia was decided in favor of the Bees who fought hard on the road to take a 1-0 win and three points from the encounter to slide back into the 3rd position, 3 points behind the Turori National Team and moving 4 clear of Krytenia offering some clarity in the Group 13 Playoff Race. With both Tikariot and Krytenia still to play the Island Emirate of Turori, the Bees realized there would still be an opportunity for them to sneak in and win the group if results could go their way.

For the Turori National Team, it would be a matter of winning the games they need to win over the remainder of the campaign. Before their high stakes matchups against Krytenia and Tikariot on the final two matchdays of competition, the Turori National Team will face off against the Cheetas and Repitles Coalision in Esportiva before returning home to face Montaña Verde - with both teams having already been eliminated from contention for a berth in the World Cup Finals and left to fight only each other for the pride of being the best team in the bottom half of World Cup 93 Qualifying Group 13.

[Pasarga]

Being a kid with a weird name and funny accent can lead to certain troubles while trying to grow up, particularly when trying to grow up in place known to be a bit of a difficult place to grow up as it was. Cathair was no Torgos, Stein-los, and it definitely was no Paulinthal, but it was one of the most important cities in Audioslavia and home to some of the best clubs not just in the nation but in the entire sport. Bogdan Laszlo was the first son of Jirar and Miriam Laszlo, a pair of Pasargans who had decided to move from Torgos shortly after marrying and ended up in Cathair after doing some traveling across the world, settling down in the Audioslavia city and taking up working class jobs. Football was not supposed to be in the cards for Bogdan, he was supposed to go to university and get a white collar job that would be able to support him and whatever family he ended up having. Fate though has a funny way of interfering in the best laid plans of parents and children alike.

Growing up in Cathair, there was a bevy of different footballing clubs that the Laszlo family could have thrown their support behind. Had they been like most Pasargans, it would have likely been 1830 Cathair, looking to go with one of the most successful and historic sides as the club to support, it was one of the reasons that most of the traditional clubs back in the dual islands were often those in the top half of the SuperLiga table. Yet something called out to Jirar that he should instead pick a different club, to not be like everyone else back home would be and instead he decided to support Shamrock Cathair, eventually becoming a season ticket holder and often would take Bogdan to the matches when he could afford the extra ticket. These occasions were moments of pure joy for Bogdan, it was a reprieve from a difficult situation growing up, with no shortage of bullies looking to make fun of his weird name and weird accent that was not commonly heard in Audioslavia. Football though, it has a way of uniting people, and for those ninety minutes, Bogdan was merely another fan cheering on their team.

Bogdan's interest in the game grew with each and every one of this trips to the ground increasing the love that he was beginning to have for the game. Seeing this interest bloom, Jirar offered to enroll Bogdan in a youth league setup to see if he had any talent in the game that he was showing so much interest in. Despite no other athletic talent being found in the family, Bogdan showed remarkable aptitude for the game and began to score nearly a goal a game with his youth team after they moved him from an attacking midfielder up to the striker position. With a bit of pace about him and a penchant for scoring, he was looking to be a natural goalscorer, even if he showed a preference for playing in a more withdrawn role that at the head of the attack. His goalscoring prowess though could not be ignored, even if playing as more of a false nine than an out and out forward and those exploits eventually got him noticed by the clubs in Cathair.

While nearly every one of the clubs in Cathair offered him a spot in their setup, there was only every going to be a single winner after all the precious memories that Bogdan had made as a child. When Shamrock Cathair offered him a place at the club, with no assurances that he would ever make the senior team, Bogdan jumped at the chance to play for the club that he had grown up supporting and his father had taken him to see at every opportunity. While still not in the first team yet, Bogdan has caught the eye of the Pasarga national team setup and his raw skill had him earn a call up to the Di Bradini Cup, where he was able to get on the field for a handful of minutes. It was not enough of a showcase to really display his talent but just being called up brought a swell of pride for the young Audioslavia born striker, even if he had never set foot in his home nation before. His parents had talked a lot about their homeland and it was instilled into Bogdan, who has taken his few minutes as motivation to continue getting better so that he could earn that spot in the senior team of Shamrock and potentially get to start if he is called up again to the Young Wanderers.

[Xanneria]

XANNERIA TOURISM GUIDE : Houston, Tacoma

xMapit is the most popular 3-d map service in Xanneria and they will be providing the street level images used in the following RP

Through use of street level mapping tools, the Xannerian Tourism Association will be presenting viewers like you with a chance to learn all about Xanneria. We will be usinsing xMapit a street level mapping service used primarily in Xanneria and other Esportivan and Rushmori nations.

Tacoma and Houston Metro area!

A Hill

A lovely lil' hill

As you come into outer limits of what is known as the Houston Metro Area you are greeted with scenes like these. This is Mortimer Hill. Mortimer was named after the rancher who owned the property.

The Mesa of Mesa's

Off in the distance lies a very popular climbing destination.

Tabletop Mesa, is a popular hiking destination. The Main attraction of Tabletop Provincial Park, the Tabletop Hiking trail attracts visitors from all over Xanneria and even foreign tourists from Esportiva.

School Days!

Suburban Schools like these pop up as fast as the suburbs do.

One thing about Houston is, that it is one of the fastest growing areas in Xanneria. Despite being in the far northern reaches of Xanneria, people who want to experience a healthy lifestyle and fresh mountain air come to Houston in droves. This also means rapid expansion of suburban areas in Houston as we see here with the suburb of Glennfrye. This Highschool was built in 2023 and shows the typical suburban school architecture of places like Glennfrye and other fast growing towns in Xanneria.

Vroom Vroom!

Home of the Northern Nationals!

Live life Quarter Mile at a time at the legendary High Hill Raceway. A drag strip, this facility is home of some of the most feirce competition for quarter and eighth mile racing. Every June the Xannarian Quarter Mile Association host a major Hot Rod event called the Northern nationals here in High Hill.

Somethings Brewing!

A former company town turned workout bro paradise!

The town of Goldwyn is a former company town, turned suburb. Once the domain of Goldwyn Brewing, Goldwyn is now more than that. Here you can get some Fish Tacos, go Hiking or take a factory tour!

Choo! Choo!

Train Tours are 15 minutes back and forth

The Tacoma Railroad Museum is located about 5 minutes outside of downtown Goldwyn. Here a collection of old Mountain railroad steamers still roam the rails, but now they do so as a tourist attraction.

This calls for Uniformity!

Don't worry the name is off the sponsor Uniformity, Xanneria's largest workplace Uniform provider

Uniformity Stadium is home of one of the most well known sports teams in Tacoma. The Tacoma Sky! The Sky play in the XBA or Xannerian Basketball Association. The XBA is usually labelled as the 4th most popular of the 6 major sports behind Gridiron, Football, Auto Racing and Baseball and is currently seeing huge levels of popularity in the Nation.

Skyline!

The Houston Skyline!

As Seen from the local theme park, Vistalands! Houston is by far one of the most beautiful modern cities when it comes to its skyline. Although this photo is facing eastward, views can bee even better if viewed facing the western part of the city!

XANNERIA - 3
Sequin 23'
Burns 71'
De Longi 44' (OG)

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ANCHERION - 0

XANNERIA - 2
Burns 25'
D Hailey 70'

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HUELAVIA - 3
Amezcua 10' 39'
Aveiro 66' (PK)

[Sendhang]

93RD WORLD CUP QUALIFIERS
Matchday 18

The huge 7-1 defeat at Pemecutan was a wake-up call for Sendhang. It was a major blow to the Rice Farmers' hope of qualifying to the World Cup but the team reflected on what went wrong and worked hard to ensure the team was better prepared for future matches.

Sendhang immediately set the record straight with Polkopia after the defeat at Pemecutan with a 2-0 victory before another 1-0 home win over the Gothanita Isles. With two home wins and two clean sheets, the players had long forgotten the tragedy in Pemecutan. They then continued their strong form with another 1-0 win at South Covello getting them to 6th place in the group, only 1 point behind Pemecutan in 2nd place with 4 more matches to go.

With Tanirinthia, British Covelandia, Gnejs, and Indusse still coming up for Sendhang, the players were hopeful that they were on a good track to secure one of the playoff spots. But all the while Teuku Salahudin was left on the bench, with the head coach, Teuku Irfan preferring to play the veteran striker, Gusti Sing Nggawe as the lone man up front in the last 3 wins.

"My time will come," whispered Salahudin to himself trying to be positive.

Gusti Sing Nggawe was in good form for the national team, scoring 2 of the 4 goals in the last 3 matches. With Salahudin firing blank on the club and international level, Teuku Irfan had no choice but to pick the 35-year-old striker over Salahudin. The veteran striker offered something different than Salahudin, with a better physique and more clinical finishing, the head coach was expected to start Gusti Sing Nggawe in the remainder of the qualifiers.

[Graintfjall]

7 Ways Græntfjall Could Still Fail To Qualify For The World Cup

Two days ago, we went for a hubristic "the kids are alright" story, and the kids duly drew 2-2 with Canadian Dominion, so this time, we're going straight negative. Yes, on the surface Græntfjall are in a strong position. But what could still go wrong?

1. Græntfjall could lose all their remaining games, Yuezhou could win all their remaining games and end up with a better goal difference margin than Græntfjall, thereby sending Græntfjall to the playoffs, where they could lose.
Mathematically the only way for the Snow Wolves to miss out on the finals, and thus significantly less interesting than all the other options, but listed here to avoid getting a letter from the Akshually Brigade. Græntfjall's back loaded schedule means a bad run across the last four games is certainly not impossible -- as well as the Dragons, they play Adab and Ceni. But with Kæja Finnvarðsdóttir in sublime form, Eyvar Mathiasson and Mímir Waltheofsson fit again, and newer players like Erin Marshlily and Lotte Leonardsdóttir filling in more than capably for the mysteriously missing Tinni Grímólfursson, losing 4 from 4 would be disastrous, and in fact be a national record.

2. Græntfjall could be forced to attend the Cup of Harmony.
Græntfjall is bidding to host the Cup of Harmony and already announced their intentions to invite themselves to said tournament should they win the hosting rights. At this point, in the current climate of feverish legalism, the WCC could decide to force Græntfjall to honor said invitation, thereby invalidating their World Cup berth. Why the WCC would choose to do this isn't entirely clear.

3. Græntfjall could choose to attend the Cup of Harmony.
Græntfjall has an awful record on home soil. Their Cup of Harmony 36 campaign was ill-fated from the start, they were crushed in the IBC36 and WCoH42 playoffs, they lost their own Handball World Cup final, and they lost the first game of their home CoH 5-0. Though they did eventually win that tournament, it was not on home soil but in Krytenia. Græntfjall could decide to try to put right their record of home underachievement and head to the Cup of Harmony with a point to prove. And then, finding it being hosted by Zwangzug and Cardenao, announce: "Oh, bugger."
OOC: Edit: I 100% genuinely wrote all of the above having literally forgotten about winning the World Cup at home. Oops.

4. Græntfjall could be disqualified for off-field issues.
Military adventurism. Tightening rules on immigration. Rumors of extraordinary rendition and torture at shady bases overseas. Also, the whole throwing another country's president out of a helicopter thing. There's plenty in there that's covered under that most universal of rules, Don't Be A Dick.

5. Contractually obligated "all eaten by krakens" option.
Insert contractually obligated laughter here.

6. The World Cup could be cancelled.
We've had 92 editions, it's been a good run. Maybe it's time we all tried something new like croquet or wine tasting or learning to play the balalaika. In a grand gesture, Tumbra and Chromatika could just sunset the tournament.

7. The asteroid could smash into the country and wipe out the national team, plus all available replacements
Oh yeah, whatever happened with that arc?

[Independent Athletes from Quebec]

Independent Athletes from Quebec (IAQ) - World Cup 93 Team
WINDOW 11A-12A - vs. Geektopia / @ Yakk
26-PLAYER ENTRY

GOALKEEPERS (3): Joh Seung-Mook (Brattleboro FC, CDG), Seung-Myeon Kravitz-Hyeon (Montreal Koreana), Clemence Moussenguet (CSKA Quebec)

DEFENDERS (9): Goh Hak-Seong (Olympique de Rimouski), Devlyn Harris (Sporting Ittuributa, ASG), Coralie Higgins-Mah (CSKA Quebec), Clement Mattern-Soh (Perce Town), Noel-Hercule McKinley (West Couno United, TMB), Benoit Nianzou Jr (Deportivo Junin, VLD), Bastien-Luc St-Onge (AS Beszieres, VLD), Brian Wilson-Didh (CSKA Quebec), Klara Verlaan (FC Inter Nantwich, TMB)

MIDFIELDERS (7): Mathinna Bouck (Montreal Koreana), Pengsoo Brown (Lanar, CMT), Arsene-Michael Litt (Liria Prirzen,), Samuel McTavish (Lakewood City, TMB), Camille Oh-Chainey (CSKA Quebec), Jean-Philippe Vaillancourt (Couno Rangers, TMB), Yim Dong-Heui (Bohemians Metropolis, VLD)

FORWARDS (7): Hannah Currie-Masson (Leaside Lions), Kate Huitema-Omeasoo (Istria City FC, BNJ), Eloise Kweon (Sabrefell Moths, NPH), Johann Ludvigsson (Admiral Storevik, SVJ), Otis Tekaronhonte (Eivora Athletic FC, TKT), Nathalie Thormeyer (Swangard Athletic), Ruby Vanderley (Lanar, CMT)

Dr. Heo and the Portal of Madness II: Map of the Problematique

PART 2.4 (36) - Wayfaring Stranger

It was then that a solitary light was turned on, revealing the librarian of Reading Room no. 24601.

'Hello, dear guest,' said the librarian, the Huayramarcan speaking in a strong Costeno-accented Spanish, as Dr. Heo let go of his grasp on the sheet. Fortunately for him, their location meant that he was able to understand the language that he otherwise would not be able to understand. 'You must be the Quebecois man I was told of ages back. I assume that you must have come here for the Book?'

As the longsheet glowed while floating in the air, Dr. Heo looked back at the librarian, a small-ish man of 170cm in his fifties, as the librarian turned on the lights. It was an ancient, beautiful room built in the reconstructionist style with the columns and the walls carved from both wood and stone to the days predating the colonisation period. The reading room itself did not have a chair, and there only existed a small desk at the far end, but the carved figures themselves were moving enough with animated expressions of their own. This alone suggested Dr. Heo that this wasn't so much of a reading room, but could be used for other purposes.

The librarian looked back at him, him wearing a cloak made out of silk and silver and golden ornaments all over his body. He was amused to see that Dr. Heo did not respond at the very spot.

'You know this paper,' Dr. Heo answered back, his voice dropping a bit to that of a bass, as he pointed his finger back at the paper. 'Must have been either a work of forgery based on my own life, or that somebody else wrote it as a chapter within the greater book of destiny.'

'Go on,' said the librarian before asking back at Dr. Heo. 'Wait, are you looking for the Book of Vishanti or something?'

'Such does not exist in our world, and I don't know what is this Vishanti you are talking about, old man.' said Dr. Heo, pointing out to us dear readers that this side of the interrealm portal did not exactly have the exposure to the marvels of Benedict Cumberbach. 'But the level of details that document went about with the way me and my late wife Maureen 40 years ago, that is not normal. We all know Samuel Laetner’s a Lautner, Maude is Maureen, and Dong-Woo me. Basic attempt to pretend that this was somebody else’s story. Who is the narrator behind this?'

'Because this isn't a Vishanti, and it doesn't exist here,' the librarian said. 'But keep reading because you will notice something. It may be a story of your own life, to some degree, but also one about how to resolve a dark-hold-esque situation like those back in your homeland which, if you would believe me, affects those here as well....'

As an observer who watched my friend suffer, I am incapable of providing an accurate portrait of Maude and Dong-Woo as a narrator should. Samuel Laetner, the father of future Hall-of-Fame Quarterback Ian-Nolan Laetner, wrote to his future-wife, Laryssa Berkowitz, that Dong-Woo, a man of 'constant eccentric temper' seemed happy when around the 'sweet, smart' Maude'. Of course, those labels can be misleading, even when considering that Samuel Donovan Laetner's father is one of those most critical towards Maude. I knew Maude Turner for longer, for exactly twenty-eight years: I saw how she could be so charming and yet repellent, so smart and yet shallow, and most importantly far-reaching and yet blind.

One thing stood true however, and it was that Maude, in the ways she had treated her episodes of these fateful occurrences, always looked to tamper with matters of life and death that were delicate in nature, in order to attain what she would want. Of course she didn't exactly know where this kind of fortune or misfortune had come from, but eventually her undoing as a part of product twenty-six years after a meeting that had originated from a single, twelve-person module she had taken as a junior year.

But that lack of awareness wasn't exclusive to her either - this was a product of my era, between late 2000s and early 2010s, when the previous years' hopes were supplanted by the uncertainties of ever-revolving doors in everyday life, from the Year of Three Kings and the Felixian Liberation War, to economic stagnation. One that also coincided with the Grim Reapers' ascendancy to their first ever World Cup qualification, and a half-decade period in which musical trends seemed to be stuck in a disambiguated mix between the optimism of 2000s and the urban grime of mid-2010s. This was what enabled the symbolists to gain power and inspiration alike, whether it be on the dual-metropolises of Joongyeong and Songak, or in the tiniest of college towns somewhere isolated. Uncertainties brought possibilities both fruitful and dangerous, and thus kicked off the obsessive aspect of it all...

[A section was scribbled off by a scribe -e.d.-]

....Now we go back to September 2012. Dong-Woo was a college senior (or redshirt junior, if we go by athletic definition), with short hair, fast feet and strong sense of his fingertip that made him highly desirable as a sabreur. Dong-Woo wasn't exactly the most athletically-inclined among his peers, however - not that the fencers hold such reputation in Quebec, or anywhere really - and found the studies of late Modern Vatmark, in particular the intellectual and cultural histories of Novopetrogradian Empire more appealing. Those were the times when the world of athletics and culture were still relatively separated from one another, a symptom of excessive specialisation among student, student and student-athlete population that had occurred for over half-century up to that point. Being a Songakian with desire to head into bigger places, he embraced the escapist aspect of his upperclassman days with liberty, and thus met people freely. It only made sense that he would meet Maude Turner that way.

Oh, if only those matters of first encounter could have been so easy - for feelings to be understood and for the risks to be taken in the name of the potential! But dear reader, you would have to remember that the status love held as an object and ideal with absolute values was weak, even more so on the backdrop of the costly war that while ending up a significant Quebecois victory over the Felixian Nazis, did cost few thousand lives.

In this case, Dong-Woo found herself on the charms of Maude for her sanguine self, where her ability to sympathise and provide the spark of happiness, a natural feature coming from a decade of experience as contemporary dancer, caught his eyes like an oasis. In turn he would find himself in anticipation, his national team status and commonwealth-travelling ways shrugged as routine that deserved no more than regular footnotes with Ibids, and appeared to her with one-tenth of his true self.

In the two months that would pass between Dr. Shchvabrin's first week of module to the moment, there was nothing but the dance of the flowers. The sparks of love in the air with neither admitting, while their friends would wonder with suspicion of own, it truly seemed as Maude would add colours to Dong-Woo's life. I still remember encountering them heading home one day, her wearing a red, dress with her straw hair glistened, while he kept his suit loose while walking with a haze of inspiration in his eyes.

Of course if only the story between them were that easy with the air resolving itself with Maude being one bit resolute in her self! But that's not what it happened, dear reader, for she simply did say that the time wasn't right when he asked her. Maude lied to Dong-Woo for she had found his love, one that had come from a deep, spiritual element that had emerged later in his undergraduate life, in fear of commitment. In the world of dancers, models and the fashion shows that ran rampant in those early-2010s of affluent students, his world as a spiritual sabreur and an academic-in-making did not make so much sense to her as the gap between the two was built within seconds.

And those around them, both his friends and her friends, would try to console and advise him and say 'you will find somebody else my friend!'. But those aware of the do-or-die nature of the work knew that all those words sounded futile, no more than a loss, as he would find himself in plain darkness of the world that was neither living nor dying. By that point all became too clear that Dong-Woo would have to get out or pass into eternity, one that had either meant emigration or death, to preserve his sanity and honour....

It was November 16th, 2013.

At the end of that section, falling just short of his suicide attempt, Dr. Heo looked back at the librarian, whose gaze did not change in colour or concentration. 'Les Catacombes par Rodion Karpovitch? 1939 Magnum Opus of literary criticism about the Petrogradian modernists?' he asked. 'It is clearly inspired by the critic, who I have written many articles and a book about, but to emulate Karpovitch's warning language, that of mediatory voice...'

'That is not of my particular interest, nor should that concern you so much,' the librarian answered, as the lights were turned off again. 'But the paper you had just read is just a visualised form of "this book". One that doesn't actually exist unless you actualise them as part of yourself.'

Dr. Heo felt the silence penetrate through him and numb his mouth. Then, after a minute, he finally came to think a bit more carefully about what this book had implied. He blinked and then opened his eyes again, his consciousness still only seeing the darkness but with different sensation felt on his clothes.

He looked below, only to see that his clothes had changed into a black, veiled coat. 'Well that feels different.' Dr. Heo said, his body feeling lighter than usual.

'You will actualise this book of yours, by finding what you and your nation are looking for,' the librarian answered. His face looked lot more stern this time around.'But don't think that you are alone in this. There are many souls out there looking for the peace in their minds, and definitely the creators of our worlds, both yours and mine, are no different. After all, there's got to be a reason why my creator, who brought back to us the vision of Tupac Amaru, brought you here. Ain't no living man coming here without a reason, and especially not people like you.'