World Cup 94 [roleplays]

by **Farfadillis** » Thu Jul 27, 2023 1:54 pm

"Look, Marcelo, I'm in a foul mood today, so if you're gonna keep relaying reports about 'inexplicably well-coordinated forces completely outmaneuvering our overwhelmingly stronger and better-prepared forces while causing further damage to our supply lines' again it's better if you just shut it!" Terán exclaimed in exasperation.

"Noted." Marcelo nodded.

"You said there was a last bullet point from the northern report. What was it?"

"It, uhhh," Marcelo hesitated for a second, "it says the weather has been... sunny... in the northern front and thereabouts."

"Didn't you already say inexplicably harsh rains have been turning the northern front into a logistical nightmare over the last few days? That was bullet point six."

"Inexplicably harsh, uh," Marcelo could be seen sweating, "rains, yes, sir, but they have been sunny."

"I don't believe you, let me look at your report and read the last bullet point myself," Alex said.

Very quickly, Marcelo poured some gasoline over his report, then lit it on fire with a lighter he had in his other hand.

"Fuck's sake, Marcelo! This is the fifth time this week you've accidentally burned your report right as I was about to read it. Be less sloppy!"

"Yes, sir. I apologize."

Alex took a deep breath, visibly annoyed. "Ramiro, any news from the Banijans?"

"Still keeping up their end of the bargain. Ruperto Fôx remains an exceptionally crucial asset. That said, I have had a realization, Alex. The kraken waters being so... krakenless might prove a bad thing in time. Are we sure we still want the Banijans killing them off?"

Alex raised an eyebrow. "You think cutting off international trade would be a good idea during a war. Do I want to hear the explanation?"

Ramiro shrugged. "It's just a hunch, sir, no need to stress over it. I'm just uneasy about hampering our natural defenses so thoroughly. At this point, even the rats in Rülândéá could cause some serious damage with a half-competent naval attack and a good dose of luck."

"Are the Banijans also getting rid of krakens on the Rulandese coast?"

"No, sir."

"Then there's nothing to fear. The only foreign power interested in attacking us would be Yuezhou, and they're bluffing. Also, we'd destroy them if they tried an amphibious landing. I appreciate that you're trying to cover all bases, though, Ramiro." Ramiro nodded. "Josefina? Today is a good news day. You always alternate between bad news and good news for whatever reason. Tell me the good news. Yesterday's briefing was tough to swallow so this better be good."

Josefina, sweating profusely, began quickly reading through their report. "Our forces have failed to not not make an important breakthrough in order to gain ground at the Rulandese border. The mysterious weaponry
the Rulandese are employing is not not not not wreaking havoc, costing us as many men as last week, give or not give, take or not take a few. Our supply lines are ok whenever not full of radiation. City uprisings have proven less of a hazard with our position now further away from the relevant cities. We can probably keep this front running on this number of men for at least six more months before getting overrun by the biggest hellhole in this multiverse. Uh,"

"Josefina this is not quite the resoundingly good news I was expecting. Especially because I can parse quadruple negatives. Give me something good. I will send more men there, levy them if needed, if you give me just one good reason to think they'd help there more than in the northern front."

"Uhh..."

Alex stared her straight in the eyes. She looked down.

"It's... sunny at the moment?"

"... after the weather inclemencies of the last few weeks that have severely complicated logistics."

"No, I mean it's sunny here, in Puerto Farolero. That's gotta be good for your mood."

Alex pondered this for a bit. "You're right. It is good for my mood. Tristán, arrange for heavy reinforcements in the Rulandese front. Levy men, women and children, non-binaries, whatever, everyone you can from the towns and cities close to the Rulandese border. Exaggerate the threat if you have to."

"He doesn't have to." Josefina cut in.

"If you have to." Alex reiterated.

"Sir, if I may?" Marcelo raised his hand.

"Yes, Marcelo?!" A hint of extreme irritation could be noticed in Alex Terán's voice because he shouted that question while raising Marcelo both middle fingers.

"We could use more men in the north, too. A lot more."

"As far as I can tell, the North hasn't been beating you because of mysteriously catastrophically effective weaponry."

"It's a part of the equation, but it's not as ever-present as in Rülândéá."

"My point is, Marcelo. Ever since Tuskoles Yagaras and Ailaji Jiazha Jinding have been leading our enemy's war effort we have been absolutely outmatched on the tactical front. I don't want to send you more men unless I send a lot more men."

"Fine, send a lot more men, then, sir. If they manage a counteroffensive and unify fronts with Rülândéá, it's as good as over. Especially if they can coordinate how to use the Rulandese weaponry."

Alex Terán hurled a chair at Marcelo. A typical form of showing appreciation for constructive criticism in Farfadillis. "Fine, send all the reserves north, Tristán. We're going to overrun this Yue enterprise into the fucking ground and parade Yagaras' head on a stick for a whole month. That should be all for today's meeting. Anything else someone would like to add?"

"We should tell the Banijans we are in a highly complicated situation and are in dire need of more assistance. Farfadillis is fairly impenetrable information-wise so, to the outside world, we're probably resoundingly winning still. I think we might even want to ask for boots on the ground. Maybe some naval defense just in case."

"Don't be stupid, Ramiro. We'll ask for Banijan help if and when we need it. We cannot look weak. Besides, I get the distinct sensation we're very much still winning. Doesn't everybody else agree?"

The room fell completely silent.

"I'm noticing a distinct lack of a positive work atmosphere right now. We don't want anyone to be a bad fit for the upper echelons of Faroleran politics by virtue of getting executed via firing squad, do we? Anyway, I said: doesn't everybody else agree?"

"Yes." Everybody in the room replied rather non-committally.

"Louder, please?"

"Yes!" Everybody in the room reiterated, now louder but just as non-committally.

"You're all dismissed. Start doing your jobs better, please, there's a whole imperialist war of conquest slash war of defense against Rulandese and Indujan aggression on the line. Act like it."

With that, everyone left the room in a hurry.

Alex sat back, staring at the ceiling. "An amphibious invasion." He repeated to himself. "Ramiro sure has a very stupid imagination."

by **Independent Athletes from Quebec** » Thu Jul 27, 2023 1:58 pm

Independent Athletes from Quebec (IAQ) - World Cup 94 Team
GROUP C - vs. BANIJA, TIKARIOT, DELTE
26-PLAYER ENTRY

GK (3): Mederick Brown (West Couno Utd, TMB - Esperance Yeomen), Kang Gwang-Heui (Aminey SC, KOR - Forest City Athletic), Sandra Middleton (CAPTAIN - Brinemouth, NPH - Zenit Attawapiskat)

DF (9): Pierre-Karl Cizeron (CB - Liria, MYT - Perce Town), Joo Pil-Seung (LB - Frenei Tor, CMT - Kingston FC), Mariano Kang Mêndêlöíndçêl (LB/DM - Rulandea Kosta, FFD - Montreal Koreana), Hannah Kim (CB - Damogran, SRS - Traal Athletics), Noel-Hercule McKinley (CB - West Couno Utd, TMB - St. John's Arsenal), Pierre-Karl Miller (RB - RGS Athletic, EFL - Olympique de Rimouski), Sinisa Salihamidzic (CB - Montreal Koreana - Perce Town), Frederic Yabusele (RB - Atletik, MYT - Montreal Koreana), Brian Wilson-Didh (LB - Santranginus, SRS - Zenit Attawapiskat)

MF (7): Jean-Christophe Babin (Sabrefell Moths, NPH - Montreal Koreana), Mathinna Bouck (Rulandea Kosta, FFD - Montreal Koreana), Joelinton Dyxkeson (Brantisvogan, SRS - Jaglan Royals), Samuel McTavish (Lakewood City, TMB - St. John's Arsenal), Pyo Seung-Hye (Avondale City, SYL - Perce Town), Otis Tekaronhonte (Eivora Athletic FC, TKT - St. John's Arsenal), Rebecca-Anne Wawanolett (Chromatik, CMT - Zenit Attawapiskat)

FW (7): Hong Yeong-Sahm (Lhor, CMT - Tihon), Kate Huitema-Omeasoo (Istria City FC, BNJ - UI1877), Anna Korniloff-Kouyate (Atletik, MYT - PERCE TOWN), Eloise Kweon (Sabrefell Moths, NPH - CR Myeongju), Oberon M'bah-Pinho (Tihon, CMT - Kingston FC), Amina Salihamidzic Beckie (Kingston FC), Zinaida Woodcarver (Crisisbless, NPH - Montreal Koreana)

Starting XI vs. Banija (2-4-3-1)
S. Middleton (C)
Cizeron - Salihamidzic
Yabusele - M. Bouck - Dyxkeson - Joo P.S.
Woodcarver - Wawanolett - M'bah-Pinho
Korniloff-Kouyate

Likely Substitutes: DF Mariano Kang, DF Pierre-Karl Miller, MF Samuel McTavish, MF Jean-Christophe Babin, FW Kate Huitema-Omeasoo

SOCIAL SEASONS OF SHIN-GORYEO: SYNOPSIS

For those wondering about the Social Seasons, an introductory article about it is available here.

Year   Season  Month  City            Function
    1    Small   Oct.  Dongnae-Halifax Festival de Dongnae
Brief synopsis: Raoul-Christophe 'R.C.' Jang-Nolan meets his friend Louise and tells her that there will be a new film project of his that could be his 'finest work', but will likely require assistance from a specific studio. 
With a set plan for the presentation of the project, R.C. heads to the premiere at the Festival de Dongnae, where he lightly drops the notes of Rico Sierra, the Quebeco-Krytenian chair of the Monte-Sierra studio, of 'Barbenheimer'. 
Sierra finds it amusing, but informs R.C. to give about a month before deciding on the project.
Cutoffs to occur: July 1 (Louise) - July 3 (Raoul-Christophe) - July 5 (Festival Review)
---
    1    Small   Nov.  Joongyeong      Bal des Ballons
Cutoff to occur: July 7 - July 9
---
    1    None    Oct.  Hattmark        Testiculos Ceremony
Cutoffs to occur: July 27
---
    1    Large   June  Montevicio      Montevicio Emerald Ball
    1    Large   July  Joongyeong      Grand Prix de Joongyeong
    2    Small   Oct.  Joongyeong      Final Night of QBC Proms
    1    Large   April Joongyeong      Jongmyo Jerye
    2    Large   May   Songak          Athlone Gala
    2    Large   July  Adelphi Castle  Adelphite Festival

The Social Seasons of Shin-goryeo

PART 5 - Testiculos (?) - Raoul-Christophe Jang-Nolan

Two weeks have passed since Jin Zhi Xian, after being provoked to react off the confrontational behaviour of the Queen Mother at the Bal des Ballons, had decided to recommend Barbenheimer, Raoul-Christophe Jang-Nolan's latest film project involving a tragic nuclear scientist and his eccentric wife, to Montesierra. Despite finding the much-needed support for the film, and the Montesierra, a company that had been known for wanting to work with Jang-Nolan in multiple occasions, happy about it, these dreamers of the pink technicolour dreamland were tired, right at the beginning of the stage.

The trajectory where you inches closer and closer to doom, even as the war heads closer to victory on the other side of Blood Sea and in the Vatmark...

Raoul-Christophe was trying to figure out a right sentence to explain while sitting at a table inside the conference room at Jin's Haiguaidian mansion. It was a new, marble mansion with every bit of spaciousness and strong number of bizarre statues that a man of nouveau riche wealth and foreign taste would accrue, and Jang-Nolan found himself being reminded of a setting that he once designed for 'Resumption', an earlier film of his ten years ago about a circle of enthusiasts inside a dreamscape labyrinth.

While Jang-Nolan had spent the past twenty years rising from the ever-prominent Quebecois film industry, and him having won every honour and financial success expected thanks to 'Resumption' and subsequent Pomme d'Or winner 'Interplanar', there still existed a wide world of ideas and potentials that Raoul-Christophe knew he had to explore.

At times he missed the younger days, when him and his wife Magda Borowitz had lot more to figure out breaking into the cinematic world as a producer-screenwriter tandem. He still remembered how all of this, which came before the limestone mansions and the exclusive functions separate from the screenings themselves, had been more conceptual, and how the thrill of actualising them on each step, into something palpable would thrill him further. In those days he, who had hated using computer graphics unless to the very last possible measure, would try to save costs while bringing out the fullest of screenable impact.

'Feeling more sure about the film than three days ago, Raoul-Christophe?' a husky voice right in front of him entered into the picture, as Raoul-Christophe looked above to think back at him. It was Rico Sierra, the Krytenian chair of the Montesierra company, looking back at him. Of course, he wasn't alone - Jin Zhi Xian and company's executive producers, explosions afficionado Chae Sang-Beom and elderly Goh Seung-Jae, were watching him on the other side of the room.

'The majority of manuscript's already written, and Magda's still editing it back home,' Raoul-Christophe answered, his light frame reflecting that of a man whose work had weighed heavily upon his body. Him and his wife, who were practically inseparable in each other's worlds, had dedicated themselves to the complete build-up of their -scape, whether it be on historical adaptations or an extraterrestrial time-bender. 'Casting's also being figured out, though whether you would agree upon them, naturally, is another story, of course.'

The Krytenian, who was an Avides's ladies' man half a lifetime ago, raised his eyebrows. His marriage into the Quebecois basketball hall of famer, Heo Myeong-Yoon, had meant that his earlier reputation as an outgoing pop star had to be tempered and controlled a bit more, but his mannerisms had remained every bit with constant grins, beach shirts and groovy steps still present. He raised his left index finger and gave a light glare back at Raoul-Christophe.

'Show me who you have in mind,' said Rico. His vocal tone was very much like multiple waves of breeze, which gave a sense more that of tickles or sustained reminders, than stern words expected from a film executive. He, after all, was used to a bit more ubiquitously flirtatious nature of behaviour displayed by men and women alike in Joongyeong, the city of love.

Jang-Nolan then passed the preferred casting list of the characters to Rico and the producers, before leaning back. By the virtue of being technically offered, rather than offering his way towards the opportunity, and also having a vast majority of bigger names in nation and abroad open to work with him, Jang-Nolan knew he had some advantage in the casting choices. Several of them, after all, had also worked with him in the past films.

'Jim Brenson's a classic. Thoughtful man, definitely one with more exquisite glare,' answered Chae Sang-Beom, the younger brother of Tomcat-series producer, the late Chae Sang-Deok. 'Corentin Agbapu definitely sounds like your peculiar choice, wasn't it? There's got to be a good reason behind why he's portraying Ed-Philippe Menzies.'

'Menzies? The ruthless counterpart, the opponent back in Joongyeong, for not only Kenneth but Barbara Barbenheimer. Agbapu knows what death is, and adds the richness and grit to the cast like a well-aged wine,' Raoul-Christophe answered. 'So flip around the script and have him play the opponent role to Kenneth, eventually to the point of shootout.'

'I suppose so, now Mevlida Kusturica is the interesting one,' Goh Seung-Jae then raised. 'Jasno Odonelec's wife? The Mytanar model who since committing herself more to the film and the drama, has been the hottest ticket in Esca for past couple of years?'

'Correct, and she has the perfect kicks for the role, if anything.' Jean-Christophe nodded. 'Underrated even with the current era of fame, if you would ask me on that. Foreign - Barbara Barbenheimer came to Quebec while a teenager and spent her twenties travelling, let's reminder ourselves that this was in the 1930s - she knows how to portray, brings life out of characters, and has right energy level - a metal lover.'

'I suppose so, you are never wrong with them,' Rico looked back at Jean-Christophe. He seemed satisfied. 'Natalie Gregoris is Natalie Gregoris, so we know what to expect - she's shifted well genre-wise in the past decade.

'Yi Geum-Rahn and Florent Boitano will add class to the times we were talking about. I know we don't often discuss this, but with our home region of Anaia (Krytenia is only two hours' flight away from Quebec by outer AO flight routes) undergoing major conflicts lately, it does...reflect well with the times. We all know Florent Boitano's portrayed Frederick Sullivan (wartime Prime Minister also known for his friendship with his successor, then-leader of opposition Yves-Francois Ahenakew, think of Attlee and Churchill IRL e.d.-) multiple times before, and each time's gone gold.'

'Exactly so,' answered Chae Sang-Beom, right before being discussed. 'And the scenes themselves, don't get me wrong, sound solid in proposal. But now the question is less so on the ground, but where to stage all of this together...the scale itself would not be replicable without artificially bringing a million soldiers and additional technologies. I'm sure neither you, not even Jin would be able to provide for such.'

'That, exactly, is what we'll have to discuss for sure,' Jean-Christophe said in agreement. 'Replicating the nuclear weapons, and the so-called 'Barbie Villages', with hundreds of houses painted in pink to reflect the sunlight-absorbing roofs of those in Los Pueblos is fine. But replicating that, on Quebecois soil, would be impossible.'

'Even more so when there's a city of 200,000 living there and the actual Los Pueblos grounds nowadays off-access even for visitors,' Chae said. 'There is also the matter with finding enough cast to handle some scenes, like the ones involving the Valladar Westland fronts of the Southern Rushmori War, We'll have to find a place abroad...'

'But where the hell would be possible?' Rico asked. 'No country in their right mind will gladly lend such a space and people away...'

by **Eura** » Thu Jul 27, 2023 2:04 pm

WORLD CUP 94 – QUALIFYING GROUP 12 – MATCHDAY 21
Eura 1-0 Brenecia
Scorers:
Singh 57
Lineup:
1. T Hammond
2. A Mason (sub Mills 90+4)
4. J Menard
15. K Sherwood (sub Phillips 85)
3. M Taylor
6. J Gates
8. O Vincent (sub Stewart 60)
11. O James
7. A Woodman (sub Marshall 81)
9. A Sharp
10. S Singh (sub Pearce 90)

ebc.eur/news/headlines=most_read
AUTOMATIC FOR THE (EURAN) PEOPLE
Gritty victory over Brenecia slips Eura into the World Cup

There is history here. Eura and Brenecia have clashed when it has mattered time and time again; in the most profound of ways at World Cup 75 when the shadow of war was descending on eastern Rushmore, turning eyes from a nine goal thriller, to the more fun and anarchic round of sixteen tie at World Cup 85 that offered only eight.

There would be no such goal frenzy in Bastion as Eura faced down Brenecia on the final day of qualifying for World Cup 94. Eura, after a tough few years at the highest level, had put the fate of the group in its own hands – but a calamitous 0-3 home defeat to Saint Eleanor on the third to last matchday meant that nothing short of victory would be required to avoid the playoff lottery, and secure Euran automatic qualification for the first time since World Cup 90.

Brenecia were operating under even greater pressure. A disastrous first half of qualifying had been recovered from slightly by improved form in the second period of the twenty game stretch, yet even with those wins under their belt, the Brenecians had to win (and hope for other results to go their way) in this game, just to make the playoffs. Otherwise, one of the great brawling sides of the game, constantly underestimated and forever punching high, would make a rare trip to the Cup of Harmony instead.

Understandably, it was a night beset by anxiety. Brenecia’s usual feistiness came to the fore early on as Carsby’s Ruadri Wheater and Hamish Jeong Harcourt put the pain on Eura’s strike partnership of Alex Sharp and Sophie Singh, leaving bruises and cuts in the process. Brenecia had the better of a scrappy first forty-five minutes and should have led after thirty. Another Eura-based player, the ever present goal threat of Mor-Rioghain Stokes, lofted over a golden opportunity from just ten yards.

Failing to break through despite their pressure, the Patriots were put on the back foot themselves in the second half, as the goals of previous fixtures between these nations failed to materialise. Instead, they would be separated by a sole moment of pristine quality. Just minutes after Sharp had skewed a shot wide with a virtually open goal, from just eight yards – almost another historic failure on the highlight reel – Singh arrived to save his blushes, squeezing the ball between Cessair Meade and the far post after a convoluted build up that Eura appeared to have squandered. A nervy forty minutes or so later, Eura were over the line.

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by **Graintfjall** » Thu Jul 27, 2023 2:23 pm

Nothing fancy, just a nice song for cutoff.

We Were Promised Jetpacks -- Thunder and Lightning

by **Delte** » Thu Jul 27, 2023 10:01 pm

Tikariot 3-7 Delte
Sports Correspondent Kim Samrodd at the New Skoðarhüb, Hartburg for the Skimpy Matchday Report & Negligible Detail Express (Friday Chipwrapper Special)

I won't dwell overly long on the finer details of this match, and it goes without saying that Enor Perro was our best player yet again while Young Henry Lightman looks entirely destined for stardom if only someone would read this report and sign him (for free, completely free), but certainly mention should be made of the valiant efforts by all our Reps to Not Get Embarrassed by the world number twenty national team. How one defines 'embarrassed' in a sporting context and to what extent they were successful might be open to interpretation, but here might be the place to introduce the traditional Deltic term dopplemort, which is that regretful embarrassment one has when one accidentally or without malicious intent causes the embarrassment of another. It's a sort of uncomfortable opposite of schadenfreude and a feeling that quietly undermines ones manicured stoicism. "I just didn't know where to look."

Probably the best place to look was in the back of the net, where the ball struck ten times in all (twelve if you count two disallowed goals - one each), equalling a Deltic record for most goals in a match whilst also becoming the most goals scored by the Reps in their first ever World Cup win. What happened to Tikariot? It was less a case of darkness descending than a red mist, with two dismissals in the first 45 minutes the only reasonable explanation for such an inverted result - defenders Kaisa Säfqvist and Walter Thomas receiving their marching orders for losing their hot heads in the bitter chill - and the Græntfjallers call this summer! Walter Thomas in particular was so scary-looking that his dismissal came as a great relief to Young Henry Lightman, who went on to score a hattrick in the lopsided match, while Perran Garimund - a rightback for goodness sake - scored a brace himself. Leading 2-0 early on, the Dark Tide never recovered from two quick dismissals and it really began to tell late in the game, with the Reps scoring four times in the last fifteen minutes.

I must say I was surprised to see Eddie von Dach rested in the rightback position and briefly hoped to get the call until I remembered I have been dropped from the World Cup squad entirely and am only here to report on the football, albeit briefly. Perran Garimund was on hand to fill the gap, and mostly succeeded in Not Getting Embarrassed by the Tikariots, which was nice.

Ready Player 18: Perran Garimund
Vignettes of The Representatives

Right fullback, age 25, for Oswark Town; occupation River Patrol Officer - there’s not a lot to being a constable in the River Patrol, which is the Deltic equivalent of the police force: some traffic calming on market days in Oswark town; the odd broken shop window after late night revelries on official party nights, when the Deltic calendar determines; stern telling-offs to teenage motorists who use the T5572 Valley Causeway like it was their personal racetrack; keeping records of the latest sheep-rustling incidents; that sort of thing. Crimes against the river, of course - such as exceeding the 5kph speed limit; littering; fishing out of season; unlicensed houseboating; failing to pay the River Tax. Lately there have been a couple of more interesting football-related commissions which were given to Constable Garimund on account of his being an amateur player of repute for Oswark United: latterly keeping an eye on the ediraf diplomat from Starblaydia, Mr. Raul Valk, to make sure he remains safe on his important mission to provide superior wicking kits to the Representative team - he does have a tendency to run into trouble even when trouble is almost impossible to find in the valley; and before Mr. Valk keeping an eye on Enor Perro who was not long out of lock up at the Auld Triangle and was required to go to Farfadillis for a Baptism of Fire last year on a special probationary licence. Of course Constable Garimund failed to bring him back from the wild country where he signed an unlikley professional contract with Rülândéá Kôstä, so that was something of a black mark against his record. Fortunately Enor does come home of his own recognisance to sign his parole papers, which keeps the Chief Superintendent off Constable Garimund’s back. The worse job in the River Patrol is Saturday night duty in Overtane, the village entirely occupied by Screvenors from the neighbouring Screve valley - an uncouth and unstoic lot, naturally inclinded to rowdiness, violence, and defiance of the River Patrol. Constable Garimund had to do six saturday nights in a row when he lost Enor Perro in Farfadillis.

Rake Teinton Women's Institute International Charabang
Far Faraway Correspondent & Travel Editor Sally Nuskcharde for the Shingarter Herald

I speculated in the last edition about what might happen once the lovely Men-People of the Prosaic Union, the PUMPs, had jaunted off to Búðarberg and left the WI to their own devices, and I couldn't have imagined how difficult things might get in downtown Hofvinger where the ladies found themselves ahead of the exciting match day 4 'Appointment With Destiny'¹ against World Number One, Banija at the TQG Langvöllur Arena. The charabang rolled up in Hofvinger off the back of thrills and spills but mostly thrills in Hartburg following the shock win over Tikariot, and off the middle of the Excellent Double-Decker On-Time Quietly-Quick Unfussily-Well-Serviced Comfort-Train Express with plenty of hours to spare and a lot of pent up energy after relaxing into a trip over and through the Alps² from Hartburg. Rampaging through the city centre lending library and being disgruntled to find there were neither Deltic language versions nor extra large print editions of all the Græntfjaller classics, nor anyone who could tell them what a Græntfjaller classic was, they proceeded to stage a sit-in at the library café on account of the ageist, anti-Deltic tone of the assistant chief librarian. Things got really out of hand when they started making jokes about tight foreskins and tender todgers, and the library staff had no choice but to call in the long arm of the law. Local police enforcement, not wanting to apply the hyper-punch gloves for fear of international uproar about blue-on-blue-rinse violence, or indeed use water cannons to disperse the trouble-makers on account of all the paper books in the antidiluvian analogue library, instead called on some foreign assistance. Perran Garimund was soon on hand to talk the WI out of the café and into reserved seats at the TQG, where space was hardly at a premium with Delte ranked so lowly in the World Cup and bringing only the WI with them for support. A character reference is allegedly being sought from the Gnejsian delegation which might be the only thing that prevents the women from being deported.

[1] - literally no-one called it an appointment with destiny, even the Reps. I just added that for drama, and then immediately regretted being overly-dramatic.

[2] - Far Faraway Correspondent Sally Nuskcharde is responsible for her own interpretation of public transport in Græntfjall and the artistic licence she grants herself without cause to research actual travel options; the Advertiser Group will not be held responsible for suggestions that a big fat railway line goes over the top of a mountain, or indeed under it, way out there in Rushmoria.

World Cup 81/82/83/84

Bees steal all 3 points in late show thriller
by Fiona Devlin, National Soccer Writer
for The Times

Reporting from Folte, Græntfjall:

Over the course of the World Cup qualifiers, the Baker Park National Team made liberal use of substitutions to give younger talent important match experience in addition to the usual reasons such as fatigue, injury or tactical necessity.

Elena Diaz came off the bench against Farfadillis in the final fixture during the first half of qualifying to score the winner and she repeated the trick at the OptiFone Arena in Folte on matchday 1 of the World Cup against Huayramarca, a header in the 85th minute to give BP a 1-0 win.

The end result on the scoreboard was the same, but the path to arriving there couldn't have been more different.
The weather in this part of Rushmore is notoriously changeable and that certainly was the case as the sides went through the warmup that started with a brief peek of the clear sky and ended with a steady moderate rain shower; at kickoff the precipitation has stopped, but would return in varying degrees of intensity throughout the 90 minutes. This brought out a rarely seen look for the women in the starting XI as they donned headbands to keep hair clear of their faces (Freddie Altman also donned an 'Alice band').

The wet conditions contributed to a heavier pitch than would've been normally expected and this seemed to affect the Condors both in possession and pressing forward although the drainage system was more than capable of preventing standing water.

The Bees shortened the depth of the midfield to the forwards, allowing Serena McDavid to step out in relief of pressure on both halves of the center of the pitch, with Carly Logan & Olivia Ryan starting alongside one another on the left for just the second time in over 4 years, and Paul Vetter teaming up with Altman on the right, joined by Ben Moorman in cameo appearances during stretches he & McDavid swapped positions alongside Chandra Mack. The Lajuno forward time and again asked questions of the Condor back four that struggled for answers to, breaking free for clean looks at goal in the 22nd, 28th and 32nd minutes from which she forced a save to be made, blazed over the cross bar and missed the target wide, respectively.

At the back, Rod Callaway was solid in net making four saves but commanding the box on crossed balls in the air and trusting his markers in open play to shut down options for opponents with the ball at feet.

The trio of Jerrol Allen, Magda Kucera and Charlotte Bauer have been rock solid when selected together and their performance against a Farf-style frontal assault where they showed calm decision making, technical prowess and a clinical execution of the offside trap—five times flagged, six other times the attack abandoned—earned all three high ratings from the media contingent.

The climatological conditions played a factor at halftime, as the Bees were encouraged to swap out socks, shirts worn under the jersey and the headbands if they wanted; the temperature and the wind were not problematic but the fatigue factor due to the heaviness of the pitch and waterlogged kits were discussed as players were asked how many minutes they felt they could continue at the current pace the team were playing.

Baker Park looked fresher as they emerged from the tunnel for the second half, as several players had taken advantage of switching into something dry, even it was only black headband (which 2 other men also added at the break) and for much of the first 10-12 minutes after the restart it was the Gold & Black side that looked like they would break through.

McDavid was the one player in the dressing room that reluctantly said she had maybe 15-20 minutes left, which was absolutely not seen as a sign of weakness by the rest of the squad; Serena McDavid was almost always among the players that covered the most distance over 90 minutes when the stats were broken down. Obviously under the conditions and how the first 45 minutes had gone, she deserved the benefit of the doubt when she felt she'd given everything.
The senior National Team squad are told repeatedly that playing at 75% of your capability because you want to be seen playing 90 minutes was counterproductive, that being honest and not risking injury is better for the entire team.

Kyle Baum came on after 62 minutes for McDavid, which carried over to the gameplan as both he and Moorman could swap positions in support of Mack; Ryan suffered an ankle injury 7 minutes later which saw Isabelle Wiley come in for the final 20 minutes.
Huayramarca brought themselves back into the match during this period from 60-75 minutes, as they finally were able to generate offense in the final third, but lacked a cutting edge as their forwards showed the effects of the on-again, off-again showers.

Diaz was introduced in the 77th minute in place of Mack while Lucie Shanahan was sent to warmup ahead of a replacement of either Moorman or Altman.

Manager Will Barnard and AM Zoe Montgomery elected to make one final all-out push for a goal by speeding up the pass rate with 7 minutes left in regulation, catching the Condors flat-footed and nearly out on their feet defensively. Altman's cross off the dribble gave Diaz time to find a gap at the back post, where she instinctively headed the ball straight down beating the keeper who was expecting an upper corner attempt.

The approximately 14,000 supporters from the Commonwealth sounded much like a larger proportion of the 49,000 than one might expect, especially at the restart when a chorus of “We are the Gold & Black” rang around the venue. Shanahan replaced the man credited with the assist on the next throw in with a quick peck on each cheek, then the match got chippy with several fouls given each way that required Mr. Wrawinka from Pasarga to draw a line, which Diaz was happy to cross nearly on the stroke of 90 minutes resulting in a yellow card.

Barnard was Jen Prescott's number 2 in AOCAF 60, which featured the 'Battle of Puerto Farolero' against Muradil in the group stage; it was the first post-Pam Scott squad and they reached the semi-finals after eliminating the two-times defending champions Equestria.
Perhaps he's looking to channel some of that team's energy into this current group stage, the first since succeeding his mentor and with a chance--if all elements fall into place--of a meeting with his other biggest influence, the manager of the reigning World Cup Champions.

The last few minutes of injury time saw BP retain possession across all areas, the final whistle anti-climatic among the opposing teams on the pitch under another moderate shower.

post-match comments:
BPNT Manager Will Barnard: "Gutty performance against the top seed in Group D. Did the weather play in our favor? I think you'd have to ask them (Huayramarca) how much it affected their side. We didn't plan with the weather in mind, but I think our players took it in stride."

Elena Diaz, scorer of the match winner: "Your first instinct is to direct the ball on a similar plane. But you watch video and see people miss the frame, you start to wonder 'if I head the ball down in the six yard box, isn't there a chance someone get's a boot on it?' In my case it bounced off the turf and into the net. Thrilled to get my first goal in the Finals in a win!"

Rod Callaway, Player of the Match: "I had a clean sheet (against Turori) the last time in the Finals, but this one feels special. The idiots sometimes get it right (laughs), and they should get credit for this award. Al, Magic, and the Gaffer, y'all know I Got You! (laughs)" ***

***

by **Nephara** » Fri Jul 28, 2023 4:16 am

"You know," said Tanith Xu, "it's really not so bad as you're making out."
Felixe Vetiver shrugged. Clonk. Again, she tossed her rubber ball against the ceiling and - snap! - snatched it as it came down.
"And that's a goalkeeper's exercise," Xu chided.
"Hand-eye's good for any position." Clonk-snap! "Anticipation. No wonder you're shit at headers."
"Ha." And she knew Vetiver wasn't joking, either. It was a serious point. "Well, only so many hours in the day."
"Sure. You'd have more if you didn't spend so much time sleeping around."
"Keeps me relaxed. Limber." Xu shrugged. "I'll have time to get tied down after my career's done. We're too much on the move for it here."
Clonk-snap! "Huh."
"What?"
"Thought you'd tell me to find someone. Settle down. I heard that from like six other guys so far."
"I'm not the first person you've come to for this?" Xu smirked. "You wound me, Vivi."
"Oh. Sorry."
"Not really."
"Oh."
"Flattered you apologised, anyway." Xu grinned. "Look, this whole thing... you took an interview honestly, and you'll never make that mistake again. It'll blow over. The moment people see you with a ball at your feet, the magic will do its job. Alright?"
"Mm. Do you lie through your interviews?"
"Well, no, but I'm a people person, Vivi. And an egomaniac. I like people prying into my life. It's flattering."
"Mm." Vetiver sounded less than convinced. Clonk-snap!
"Just relax." Xu glanced over from her bed, with some fondness. "It's what the boss would do."
"Mm." Vetiver sighed. "You're right. She's calm as hell, and I've no idea how she does it."

"You are FUCKING joking! No! NO!"
Demeter Constantine sighed, shook her head and started to head to the tunnel.
"Hey! HEY! REFEREE! REFEREE! REFEREE! REFEREE! Fuckin'... REFEREE! FUCK!"
The fourth official rolled her eyes. Even Tanith Xu grimaced, and started to wish she wasn't on the manager's side of the touchline. But she could recognise what Cantor was doing; getting in the referee's ear, making sure he would remember this, taking any competitive advantage. Planting the seed that this, maybe, was a call big enough to demand a make-up penalty down the line.
Trouble was, it wasn't. A careless second yellow, uncharacteristic, a lash of the boot to fell Navarro, snapping into a shin. He'd been about to run... straight into Vetta Roback and Anaximander Scales. It really was not worth a card, let alone a second... and now she was gone.
It wasn't stopping Cantor from pinching her fingers and directly insinuating corruption, but there you have it.

The game had gone well, to that point. Too much chaos from a Cormorant perspective, granted. But it had got off to the ultimate start. Xu dispossessed (flattened) Couto and slung a diagonal ball across to Madita Brewer, who simply turned inside and walloped a ball long beyond Mok.
The joy didn't last long. While the fans at home were still in the middle of their post-goal reverie, Amezcua slipped in past a few green shirts and toebashed home a clever throughball from Si. Holden and Roback and Strand shouted at each other, looking for someone to blame before the booming voice of Anaximander Scales cut across them all and told them to shape up and get over it.
Good call. The next, quiet minutes saw the Cormorants stabilise, before a sudden ball over the top let Loeher run free, and her cross, taken on the run, found Ravil Kulesza in flight. Headed down into the turf, bouncing sharply past Mok; 2-1 up. Took less than ten minutes for it to be three, in somewhat fancier fashion. Often was, with Felixe Vetiver on the pitch. A true difference-making goal, racing down past two yellow shirts before pulling hard on the handbrake, dragging the ball back, freeing up space and whipping a low shot past Mok. When she should probably have cut across to the open Kulesza, but nobody could fault her a little tunnel vision, after a run like that.
3-1, no complaints. Well, perhaps one. Tiamat Holden hobbled down the tunnel at half-time; she'd been running on fumes since receiving a crunching challenge from Gounelle. Swain came on. No dramas, though the physio bellowed at her for risking making it worse; Holden only shrugged. "I'm Treason, I'm 'ard enough." Then, more pragmatically. "And I wanted to save the substitution slot."
Well, fair enough.

They'd been on track to simply make a professional job of it. And then... well... they'd done this.
Thanks, Demeter.
Now Cantor had a yellow card, too. Perhaps it could've been a red, but she'd allowed herself to be escorted back to her line. And now it was ten on eleven, World Cup, crunch on...
Crunch in. So followed Xu, anyway, in turn following Constantine into the book. Sebold, the substitute Anharbour, Kulesza... slices of cheese all 'round.
By that point, the nation of Nephara had already let out its collective gasp. The woman to be sacrificed for Constantine, and the introduction of Seeker Biscan, had been... Felixe Vetiver. But it was Vetiver that needed to be kept fresh... and it was Kulesza that was the more adept target man. Surprisingly, and contrary to popular opinion, Vetiver was not strictly superior to all other Cormorants at all aspects of play.
They held on tight... until the 76th minute. By then, they were mentally exhausted; the Huelavians had pushed hard, smelling blood and confident in their ability to get back in the game. Su Xuan had come off the bench and was causing no end of trouble, and as she cut inside her near-namesake Xu, the Nephar could feel herself stretching, realising it was a mistake even as she kept on extending her leg, forming a curse in her mouth as she missed the ball and got all of Xuan's calf, pulverising her on the edge of the box...
... of course she still argued the point with the referee, but she didn't hide the guilt well.
Rossi-Rignoni stepped up for the penalty. Strand guessed right, sprung to her left, masterfully flicked the shot onto the post and watched helplessly as Rossi-Rignoni converted the rebound.
3-2 up. Ten minutes to go-- oh fuck, did they seriously already concede? And it had been Xuan, again, racing through the middle as nobody picked up a diagonal cross from Aveiro, though Swain came agonisingly close. Xuan crashed through; Xuan smashed home. 3-3. 83rd minute. Fuck.
And it had been Xu's woman, though she could not feel much guilt over it. She had not been at fault. But it was the principle of the matter...
They didn't have much time left. Pointing fingers could wait.

Kulesza on the centre circle. Back to Petra Anhope, now the nexus of the Nepharan attack. Anharbour down the right. Nephara weren't backing down, they weren't content for a point. Trouble was, neither were Huelavia. Worth risking one point in pursuit of the three. Anharbour was pressed down by Aveiro, lazily dispossessed. Swain came in to bail her out, a sliding tackle taking the ball out to nowhere. Not nowhere, Si. But Si's touch was heavy. The ball was now with Roback. She turned, sent it to Scales. Sent it to Xu, recycling possession, classic U shape. Xu gunned forward. Space had opened up, now. Biscan. Anhope. Biscan. Xu. Loeher. Anhope. Anhope sat on the ball for just a moment too long. Nascimento. Could the 18-year old make the difference? No. Biscan flattened her. Swain, Biscan, Roback. Vetta Roback licked her lips... few chances opening up, and Rossi-Rigoni bearing down on her. Back to Strand, then, who thumped a sweeping ball down the left. Tanith Xu, again. Minutes running down. Fucking damn it. Now or never. Xu ran. One-two with Anhope-- aborted, shoulder-check from Xuan. Yellow card. Referee was flamboyant about it, and worse, slow. Xu swore at everyone. Took the free kick fast-- it was blown back. Referee wasn't done with the yellow card. Xu vibrated with impatience. Ready now, you puffed-up fuck? Even Cantor was keeping her mouth shut. Okay. Ready now. The whistle went.
And... go.
No point going short, now, Huelavia had had the opportunity to set up. But Xu's left boot had a lot of power in it. She thumped the ball forward, past the midfield, straight into the box, and immediately ran after it like under-fives football. Green and yellow shirts leapt for it - Roback was in the box, and just about beat Tarragona to the ball, but Ardance beat Kulesza to it, heading it back where it came. Anhope thumped in a low, hard shot but it caromed off... someone's shin - Roback's, a replay would reveal, as the centre-half gunned back for home and lucklesly got in the way. But why were replays playing of this moment? Because off Roback, it went to Xu, faster than she expected, but she somehow got it under control, killing it in a single touch and then dragging it past the man coming after her - she didn't recognise faces or names, anymore - to Loeher, then back to Xu, and things were opening up now, she felt a shove in the back and stumbled, should have gone down, should have gone down, but some bloody-mindedness kept her on her feet. She should've cut the ball across the face of goal, but she saw it, the angle opening up, Mok shifting his weight to anticipate the cutback, everyone was anticipating the cutback, it was the only thing to do but in this split second of split seconds, she threw her body - already falling to the ground - into putting the full force of her boot through the ball, sweetly, inside the inside post, rippling the roof of the net from the inside and rolling in.
And then momentum won out. Xu fell over and tasted grass, and then nine other people fell on her. So, after a time, did Strand, not normally known for her shows of exuberance but making the effort to sprint in from goal. But it was okay, down there, alone with her thoughts.
First among them: "It would be kind of funny if they equalised after this."

Huelavia 3 - 4 Nephara
(4-4-2) 1 - Strand; 2 - Holden (17 - Swain HT'), 5 - Roback, 6 - Scales (22 - Vine 90+1'), 3 - Xu; 13 - Brewer (7 - Anharbour 67'), 15 - Constantine (s/o 57'), 24 - Sebold (8 - Anhope 67'), 11 - Loeher; 9 - Kulesza, 21 - Vetiver (19 - Rosziter 58')
Goals: Brewer 5', Kulesza 29', Vetiver 37', Xu 87'

Injuries: Holden (thigh, precautionary)
Suspensions: Constantine

Lineup vs. Flavovespia
(4-4-2) 1 - Strand; 17 - Swain, 5 - Roback, 6 - Scales, 3 - Xu; 13 - Brewer, 4 - Biscan, 24 - Sebold, 11 - Loeher; 14 - Berenguer, 21 - Vetiver

by **Audioslavia** » Fri Jul 28, 2023 6:11 am

It Myt Not Be Enough
Audioslavia’s Tame Goalless Draw with Mytanija May Have Sealed Both Teams’ Fates

When you first set your eyes upon Audioslavia’s first World Cup group in a generation, you might have seen this match as the most winnable. Ranked a few places below us, victims of Alababall in the last Cup of Harmony, similarly defensive, although not to the same rigorous extent, Mytanija were our best chance of three points, as we were theirs.

It was possibly our one opportunity, even if for only a quarter of an hour, to attack a team. To get forward, rattle the sabre around, mutter something about our opponents fighting like dairy farmers. Instead, both teams reverted to type. Stodgy in defence, cautious in attack, banking on mistakes that never really came. The stakes weren’t yet high enough to risk everything. They will be on matchday three, sure, but then we’re playing one of the world’s best sides on their home turf.

In the end, the best, bumsqueakiest chances fell to Mytanija. There was Drazen Skara on thirty minutes, pulling a chipped ball down via a flick of the left foot and using the right to side-foot the ball past Creighton, all in one movement, but watching the shot trickle wide. Skara would almost provide the opener before half-time, latching onto a diagonal ball across the area, taking a touch, bringing the goalie out to meet him at the edge of the six-yard box, playing a square ball but watching in anguish as Everton Bolding recovered ahead of Gannot to hook the ball away. For Audioslavia, chances were almost nought. Four shots on goal, none on target, all a midfielder picking the ball up thirty yards from goal, getting it out of their feet, smashing it, knowing they’d hit it high and wide, cursing and trotting back to the halfway line.

Neither side are exactly inconsolable after the point. Pemecutan and Kelssek will be favourites going into the next two games, but a win against just one of them might prove enough for either side to progress. Hell, if we play our cards right and draw our next two games, we might even be able to progress on three draws. I’d tell you exactly how but, hey, nobody is actually interested in that.

—

The <Insert Number> Weirdest World Cup Group Stage Finishes In History!
Number <=int[total entries]*0.72> Will Shock You!

Read this article to the end for <the big reveal / the secret / maximum manipulation of algorithm (delete before publishing)>

Over the last 93 World Cups, 423 different nations have gone to battle over the oldest and most cherished prize in multiversal sports: The NS World Cup trophy. To date, only fifty teams have won the title, fifteen of which will be taking part in the first round of World Cup 94. Two groups contain three former champions each, which is a joint-record for the World Cup, though the fact that World Cup 24 contained two groups of three former champions each is arguably more impressive. Rejistania (12, 17, 18, 23), Liventia (8) and Commerce Heights (15) took part in Group G while Group D was home to Bedistan (21), Eauz (16) and Vilita (20).

Although records from the first rounds of World Cups 1 and 2 have been lost, we do have access to data from World Cups 3 to 93, and it’s that data that we’re going to analyse, beginning right now because this is the second paragraph of the article and I’m told I have to start showing pictures by paragraph two or the Bullsfeed audience might get distracted by their life.

Here’s Every Possible Finish to a World Cup Group

No group has ever finished with all teams recording three draws each, but it’s possible

We’re not sure why 9, 6, 3, 0 is the most common First Round group. Perhaps it’s due to each group being seeded, which suggests the top seeds should win all their games, the second seeds win all but one, and etc. It may be because wins are more common than draws. It may be because <third reason, think of one before publishing>.

What’s clear is that there are three Unicorn groups. Finishes which have only happened once in the long history of the World Cup.

World Cup 57 Group C: 5, 5, 5, 0

Everyone draws! Except you, Pays de Horreur

This chart is pretty easy to follow, but I’ll explain it anyway because by now you’ve been conditioned to see images between text as just well-earned rests for your brain after reading an entire sentence. The pattern on the right shows the results from the group. Pays de Horreur lost all three games, so all three of their squares are red. Sorthern Northland drew against the second and third best teams in the group, so their first two boxes are amber, while they get a green box for having beaten PdH. Clear? Oh, you’ve already moved onto the next picture? Okay never mind. Either way, it’s clear what happened here. Sorthern Northland and Cassadaigua both beat Pays de Horreur by two goals, Qazox only beat them by one. Goal Difference may have only been the third tiebreaker after Points and Head-to-Head, but it was enough for them to be eliminated despite not losing.

You might expect 5 points to be enough to qualify from the average group but, on average, a team finishing second gets 5.04 points, so technically not.

World Cup 39 Group C: 4, 4, 4, 4

Literally a Lottery

With hindsight, it appears the two teams progressing from this group were the favourites, but that isn’t the case. Az-cz were the number one ranked team in the world, with Demot a solid tenth. As it turned out, the succession of wins, draws and losses for each team resulted in a group that couldn’t be sorted by any metric at all. A draw was held, and world number 55 Starblaydia came out of the hat first, followed by Candelaria and Marquez. Az-cz’s name were then draws out of the hat for the third-placed team, and Demot fourth (just to prove the Demot ball was in the hat in the first place) and that was that.

World Cup 14 Group G: 9, 2, 2, 2

Okay, you can’t have our 9222 group yet, the 9222 group needs an introduction.

So Gesamtkunstwerk isn’t only the unofficial name for Audioslavia’s Job Centre, but a former footballing power from the early days of the World Cup, They qualified twelve times between World Cups 4 and 16, though never made it past the second round. They used up their luck early.

Here they are in World Cup 5 Group H

Qualifying for the second round on three draws is a rare feat, achieved only nine times. It’s vanishingly rare, but we only know that through hindsight. Gesamtkuntswerk might have figured they’d stumbled on a winning tactic. Here they are trying the same thing in World Cup 11 Group G, only a cycle after having finished fourth, behind Liventia, on two draws and a defeat.

World Cup 10 Group D

Come on now, Liventia, you’ll never qualify on just two points.

World Cup 11 Group G

Second time not so lucky

Not so fast there, Gesamtkuntswerk. Giant Zucchini had the exact same plan. After a 1-1 draw on the final day, the NSWC decided the two should play a penalty shoot-out, which the Zucchinis won.

In World Cup 12, Liventia would try to emulate their former group mates.

On this occasion, rather than a penalty shoot-out after a matchday three showdown between Timway and Liventia, the NSWC ordered the match to be replayed. Why? Who knows. Either way, Timway won, and Liventia were out. But both they and Gesamtkuntswerk would have one more crack at their masterpiece.

Put it in a museum

It’s a ‘try not to get smashed so hard by Kingsford’ competition, and Liventia pull through, losing by one instead of two.
You may be sat there thinking ‘but surely those teams didn’t plan to try to get through on only two points’ but this article says otherwise.

Up next on Bullsfeed: Are you scrolling mindlessly through clickbait news sites wrongly? A Semarlandic professor thinks so! His fourth finding will amaze you! Click here to continue not doing anything productive.

by **Ko-oren** » Fri Jul 28, 2023 6:27 am

Dragonflies at WCQ 94: Rarely good, but always reliable

That's our first cycle done under the leadership of a three-person head coach committee, following the sacking of Katherine Davenport. Now it's all up to various ex-players in their mid-40s: Tomoviko Mivune, Alan Brogley, and Zezonmerul Hosorthaunden. The trio looked to continue Davenport's legacy to an extent, while being a bit more frivolous with their day-to-day squad choices. The broad layout was done by the selectors, a group of people who haven't changed for over a decade, but the selection of who should play is still in the hands of the head coach(es). Davenport's direction was a continuation of Juliasterinthen, in turn building on the foundation laid by Antonescu in the 70s.

The stats look pretty good: 35 goals scored, 9 conceded - a bit on the high side but with 20 qualification matches, what can you do. Bittencourt valiantly defended our goal, usually with the same five-person back line in front of him. Stability has always been the name of the game here. Mulvahil, Van Schelven, and Mallerbury - not the youngest group of centrebacks but certainly up to the task. A few games were played by a centre-back trio of Lavaud-yLleamaid-Hoevink, which isn't much better in terms of age but with so many good centrebacks of nearly any age - why not go with the ones that have best managed to combine experience with athleticism? And that gives us a lot of late 20s, early 30s players for the position. Mellowby, Aedil, and Todaka will have to wait in the wings for a bit longer.

The fullback positions are a bit trickier: on the right side, we don't have a perfect option, so Mizuno and Aiamara each started 9 games. The future at this position is a little TBD. On the left side, Van Kalvenhaar is it, but Kaji and Haggigana are storming on to the scene - have they considered switching sides? Because both could have picked up a few caps on that wing if they wanted to.

The motor of our 35-goal scoring squad was the midfield. Ever flexible, Laza is now a mature option for width, Entatingun continues to dictate tempo and direction of play, while yCinrhadd does most of the work box-to-box, freeing up all three of his colleagues. Abbagan, Aoriene, or Dhentigun will be the fourth midfielder to match the style of the day: Abbagan for width, Aoriene for attacking depth, and Dhentigun for defensive security. The latter wasn't really the lock we hoped to see versus Huayramarca and Naixi, with those four games resulting in a grand total of zero points, and so the Laza-Abbagan wider option became a more and more accepted way to form the midfield. Abbagan ended up leading the team in assists, with Aoriene supplying one fewer, and Entatingun and yCinrhadd - given the sheer amount of minutes played - were joint third.

The scoring was done by the revolving door at the single striker position. Archer picked up 8 goals, Aomelirea did 6, Bonstirthinden managed 3 as well as 5 assists, and Lignanier got 4 goals, all from crowded boxes. Aoriene led the midfielders in goals with 4, and then the remaining 10 goals came from various players all notching one or two. No own goals this time.

The results were solid if a little boring, and the play style was solid if a little boring as well - smaller teams had no answers (that's 15 wins) while the bigger teams were creative and skilled enough to make us pay for our one-dimensional play (that's 5 losses). All in all, the campaign enters in 12th place out of 37 in goals scored per game, 11th in goals allowed per game (making this quietly a very good cycle), and 13th in points per game. After last cycle's 3rd place in the qualifiers, we've gone back to our standard diet of 2nds. This means we haven't topped our qualification group since WC91 - hardly complaint-worthy for most teams but we've come to expect a bit more. That said, the combination of an interim head coach(ing committee) and an aging core of players that nobody really knows how to deal with (it was too early to move on, but we're past their primes), it feels like we've postponed the inevitable for a cycle or so, but we really need a coach to come in with a plan to prepare the team for the late 90s.

Further stat-diving reveals that Mivune, Brogley, and Hosorthaunden were creative in setting up the squad. Playing wider than the entire Davenport or Juliasterinthen era, as those two nearly always opted for a DM-CM-CM-AM diamond, while we often saw two wingers, a playmaker, and a box-to-box work horse in this cycle. There was plenty of continuity from the previous era, though, by maintaining the overall 5-4-1 structure and changing gameplay quite a bit depending on personnel, in particular the striker. With Bonstirthinden, we were nearly 5-5-0, while with Lignanier, Laza and Abbagan played much further up to supply the Alara striker with crosses. The defence played a little high up, at least in contrast to the last three or four cycles, but nothing special compared to the cycles before that.

Fans have 'seen this one before'

Excitedly yet unfazed pointing at TVs ("Hey, I've seen that one before!") went on across the archipelago after the Dragonflies snuck a single goal into Sylestone's net and then held on for a 1-0 win. Then, after a 1-0 win over the pot 4 nation, the inevitable 1-0 loss to the pot 1 nation follows, after which we have to get a point in the final game to get into the Round of 16 on goal difference, while expecting the pot 1 team to smash the other two teams enough to make the goal difference advantage ours. If the Dragonflies feel particularly ballsy, they'll even beat the pot 3 team for a solid, sweet, stable six-pointer to run into the woodchipper that is a group winner in the Round of 16. History also dictates that that team will most likely go on to the final and maybe even win it.

Fans are elated at the early win ("It's a must win, but you... still... uh, must win it") but expressed their disappointment after the 1-0 loss to Græntfjall. "We gave it our all, made barely any mistakes, but we just couldn't force anything on the counter," the Ko-orenite head coach by committee will say in the post-game press conference, "we've kept teams like these scoreless before but it's a coin flip whether you manage it on the day." The modern day national team can certainly look back at some good clean sheets in the past, but a look at the 94 qualifiers will tell you that no, this team cannot keep teams of that caliber scoreless. Out of six games against the best opponents of our qualification group... five were lost 1-0. "This team just doesn't have that dawg in em," we heard a Farfian supporter say in the fan village, completely out of place given we play in Græntfjall and his team plays in Kelssek.

The Farfian, however, is right. About our team. Not about his travel plans, or the flare he set off among several asthmatic fans, but maybe, just maybe, a fan of a team that's all about belief and conviction about the game is right about our team lacking a certain flair (who didn't lack flair, that's F-L-A-R-E, was the Farfian, who had just set one off to the tune of several dozen coughing fits).

The real, true football fan, though, knows that the Ko-orenites are right. Football is not to be enjoyed - it's to be won. It's a solvable equation leading to a few simple truths - truths that have been the core of our game plan since the first time we qualified for the World Cup as a naïve team with a balanced approach. We only shifted further back and we started winning more games. "We know what we're good at and we've planned it so that we can play to our strengths while also putting pressure on our opponents," the head coach by committee would also go on to say after the 1-0 loss to Græntfjall. "We don't need an answer to their gameplan if they can't first threaten ours."

It all came to conclusion in the round three game against Eura, which will have finished either 1-0 for Ko-oren or a dismal 1-1, in which case the 3-1 win by the hosts over Merson's Euran XI will have come in handy. That pits the eleven captained by Van Schelven, in his last big trick before retiring (or at least being benched in favour of younger, quicker defenders, built to go toe-to-toe against increasingly fast strikers), against the winners of Group B - Pasarga - which gives the Dragonflies a fun history lesson as that's a team we've both lost to and beaten in World Cup knockouts before, but alas, this time it's all a rocketship to the Moon (symbolised by, respectively, the arrow on the flag, and the moon on the flag) with Pasarga reaching the quarterfinals. A 2-1 loss to the Wanderers follows, and then it's back to the drawing board for the KFA.

But let's not get (too) ahead of ourselves. We're looking forward to a close match in match two and then the decider in match three, before we're wondering who should lead an aimless Dragonflies squad into the CAFA.

Meanwhile, real connoisseurs of the game will have tuned into Audioslavia versus Mytanija, two other proponents of the winning style of football. They understood the assignment a bit better than the Sylestone Squad, and respectfully played out the honorable 0-0 draw. This affront to the game by the Sentients, while much appreciated for table reasons, will do a number on our respect for them as a football team.

by **Cassadaigua** » Fri Jul 28, 2023 12:31 pm

Not the result what we wanted, but also not the worst
by Caitlyn Dufresne, Concord Heights Times

Throughout the nations of Kelssek and Graintfjall, stadiums filled up to capacity as fans sought out to witness the greatest sporting spectacle that exists. That's a big statement, but consider that it's coming from someone who watches their country participate in all of the major sports competitions, and it is something that I sincerely believe. It is merely because it is so challenging to get to this point, as there are commonly over 150 nations, and often more, that look to make this final field of 32. This is not like the World Baseball Classic, where we just saw a field of 42 nations get shrunk to sixteen for those playoffs. It was difficult in that competition to find their way, and some nations that performed well never made it to Cassadaigua. Now consider that it is two times, if not more difficult to be one of the nations that make it to the World Cup, and you will see exactly why I believe what I do.

The stadium of Bowreach, in Vickery is one of the venues that have been awarded hosting rights, although it is a rather small facility for this kind of competition. Yes, you will find smaller, but this stadium is only able to seat 37,861, and there is not a smaller site on the Kelssek side of things. This did not make it easy for the two fanbases, our own from Cassadaigua that was very eager to see their heroes in their return to the World Cup, and the other from Elmyia, who were looking to attend the first ever World Cup nation in the history of their nation. Despite the obstacles that they may have had getting tickets, it was good to see that many from each found their way to stadium, and once the game started, there is no reason that this smaller stadium could not have one of the great, memorable games of World Cup play. There are many stories of personal success on the Elymia side to get where they have made to this point and I'm sure you could read about them pretty quickly. On the side of the pink and black, it was all about being back.

The team took to their sideline, giving high fives to all of their fans that were within arms reach, or for any passionate neutral that wished for one, as they made their way. Chen Huikang smiled, as someone who was fired from his homeland team as they looked to go a different route, he never knew if he would be back to the World Cup. For some, it may seem like he has been the manager of the Fillies forever, given what he has already accomplished, but it has really only been just two years since he was in the World Cup, and managing Yuezhou, In street clothes, injured goalkeeper Stacie Thornton was on the sideline as well, no longer needing to be on crutches, but also knows that she will not be able to play in this World Cup. That role has belonged to Stacey Schalberg, and the star of Grande Mountain has done a fantastic job since taking over. Elsewhere on the team, some were experiencing this for the first time, while others may have been there before, albeit in a different role. On the other side of the field, a group of players that had realized their dream, and now wanted to take those next steps as we all want to do. The referee summoned the players to pitch, as it was now game time. To a loud cheer from everyone in attendance, no matter who they were rooting for, we were underway from Vickery!

Right from the start, it was very clear that each of these teams wanted to get the early advantage on the other. With Chen Huikang since he took over, we know that this is common for him as a tactic, and he really has not backed from it all the much even though the book is out on him now that he likes to do this. However, the Elmyia side, led by manager Porras, was looking to pour it on early in the game, too. That is not unusual for his team, as they have been known for utilizing a highly offensive approach ever since qualifying began. They scored 62 goals over their 20 games, and finished third in Group 13, behind Pemecutan and Yuezhou. It was suggested by some that manager Chen might be more familiar with the Elmyia side due to watching Yuezhou, but Chen shot that down in an interview pretty quick, "I would love to say that I had been closely following Group 13 play, but honestly, I was not. My focus was always with the Fillies and the potential opponents that we were playing. I mainly checked the scores of Yuezhou and watched highlights, but I did not sit there analyzing that group. We do have scouts checking things like out, but it was not me." Elmyia got here after winning a penalty shootout with Drawkland, further suggesting that the Drawks used up all of their luck hoping for a round of sixteen win in the World Baseball Classic, that the sporting Gods, also known as Margaret, were not going to let them have this, too.

The first goal of the match was eventually scored by the Fillies, coming in the 14th minute, and following a period of exciting back and forth action. It would come from a corner, and a picture perfect delivery from Kaitlin Millikan into the penalty area. Elymia seemed to have this well covered, but precise placement by Chloe Anderson would result in the big goal. It took fourteen minutes for the first goal of the game, and fourteen more for the second, as Elmyia picked up a 28th minute equalizer*. They would then go ahead by a goal in the 36th, only to have Lexi McGregor tie it all back up in the 42nd. Yes, this was looking like a wild one, and making us wonder how many more goals would be scored in the second half!

Well, there would actually be no more goals scored in this one. Both managers, even though they like the offensive, attacking style, likely went over some strategy to tighten up the midfield. The back and forth action seemed more like a hockey game than a soccer game over the first half, and that likely had to change. It would be the Fillies that seemed to take the greater approach on slowing the game down in the middle third of the field, with a substitution of Marquis Miles for Krystal Sherwin clearly indicating that the team wanted to be better, but we also saw Lauren Engle replaced in the 55th. This was more of a surprise, but if you looked at how she played in the first half, it looked like she may have been trying a little too hard to make a big play, and that was leading to some mistakes. Her twin sister Chrissy took over her spot. You'll lose some offensive potential with that, but Chrissy is thoroughly capable of putting in the net themselves.

Gina Whittingham, a one time teammate of Hailey Meyer, with Zenit Attawapiskat of Quebec got some excellent second half chances, but Stacey Schalberg was able to come up with the needed saves. Hailey actually knows a couple of these players pretty well, because not only is she Whittingham's former teammate, she is a current teammate of their captain, Kit Simmons with Kingston FC. So, it would make sense that Meyer would be entered into the game as a substitute, and that seemed to help matters from the 65th minute on. The best chances over the final 15-20 minutes were by the Fillies, and both Lexi McGregor and Shannon Cunningham had great chances. But just as Schalberg stepped up in our goal, Ian Garavakos did for Elmyia. Just like that, a game that seemed destined for a 5-4 type of result based on the first half, would end at 2-2.

Elsewhere in Group F, Zwangzug and Farfadillis also played to a draw, which would have been a nicer result for our purposes if we got three points out of this one. Now, our attention will turn to the Zebras, and this time we will be at the 71,358-seat Waterfront Dome in historic Kirkenes. We hope to see you there!

*- OOC to host: While I have the permission to name Elmyia's scorers based on their permissions, the person who scores a nation's first ever World Cup goal is special, and something I am going to let them decide. So, I am purposely being vague on this, for that reason.

by **Yue Zhou** » Fri Jul 28, 2023 2:22 pm

World Cup 94 Group Stage MD1: Yuezhou 3 - 3 Valanora
Yue Starting Lineup: Zhao; Lu, Hu (Deng 76), Yuan, Dong (Pu 68); Wan, Zhaxi (Fang 76); Jiang, Mingsdottír Zhang (Guo 65), Luo (Lin 65); Liang
Goals: Ludwig 11, Mingsdottír Zhang 29, Holt 38, Jiang 57, Liang 62 (pen), Hawk 81
The Dragons stunned Valanora by coming away with a share of the spoils in a back-and-forth affair on the opening matchday of World Cup 94. While the Marauders showed their class both early and late, Yuezhou's attacking talent (and a few lucky bounces) allowed them to escape with a point despite the Marauders dominating the final half-hour of the match.

Lothas Ludwig's position on the Vanorian national team has been somewhat unsettled this cycle, but the veteran striker was trusted by Dan Eastwood to lead the line yet again on the world's biggest stage. He immediately repaid his manager's faith in him: after an initial period of prolonged pressure on Zhao Deliang's net, he was able to slip past Hu Jiewen and latch onto a speculative through-ball from Laborious Hawk to give Valanora the early lead. Yuezhou recovered somewhat from their early jitters, but Valanora still looked to be more likely to score again until Kara Mingsdottír Zhang found an equalizer out of nowhere. The young midfielder floated into a dangerous position, received the ball, and turned Pierre Wisniewski inside-out before slicing through the box and firing past Obermaier for a splendid individual goal. The joy wouldn't last long, though, as Eastwood's Marauders continued to have their way with the Yue defense. Zhao did well to keep multiple must-score chances out of the net, first a one-on-one opportunity for Palminger and then Andreas Bjerk open at the far post for a cross. But the former People's Choice Testículo had no chance when Julia Holt powered through his near post from a close distance, putting Valanora up 2-1.

Elaine Ashdown didn't make any substitutions or change the team's shape at halftime. But whatever she did do clearly energized the Dragons, who looked the better, more disciplined team for the first fifteen minutes of the second half. Just as the pressure seemed to be letting up after Mingsdottír Zhang's would-be second wondergoal hit the post, Yuezhou struck to the tune of two goals in five minutes. First, Jiang Jieren tested Günter Obermaier from just outside the box, a test that the Ulsa goalkeeper was unable to pass as Jiang's sliced shot narrowly evaded him and found the net. Then, Mingsdottír Zhang was brought down in the box by Louise Løvoll, with Liang Wei sending Obermaier the wrong way with the resulting penalty. Suddenly, Yuezhou found themselves ahead against the five-time World Champions with just half an hour to play. Shocked out of what might have been some post-halftime complacency, though, the Marauders hit back hard, Zhao being tested many times as the Dragons were forced back into their own box time and time again. It was clear that they couldn't hold completely - with none other than Laborious Hawk delivering in the clutch to equalize - but they managed to halt the advance just enough to escape with a point.

previously in yzh
previously in ffd
several weeks later
above Puerto Farolero, Farolera
He knew it wasn't ideal, given that he was rapidly descending towards enemy soil, but Lieutenant Zhang Ruoyang was still pretty confused about his mission.

It wasn't that the Yue Republican Army was poorly organized at all. They had been battle-tested in the Civil War and in Nyowani Kitara, and since then a relatively militarist government kept the supplies flowing and the units well-drilled. And this particular operation had been thoroughly planned ever since Brigadier General Lin had brought the plans to the President's desk a few weeks ago. The issue was that the mission itself - as well as Operation Swallow as a whole, to be honest - was simply insane.

Zhang still didn't really get how an amphibious landing anywhere in Farfadillis was possible - weren't they surrounded by krakens? And even if an amphibious invasion were possible, why were they immediately going for the capital of Farolera instead of trying to set up a beachhead somewhere not as defended? Zhang had asked his commanding officer about it but had been told that he only needed to concern himself with his mission. Then again, given that his mission was to parachute into Puerto Farolero and help disable some critical defenses before the landing, it was in his vested interest that the rest of the YRA actually made it to shore, so the least they could do was reassure him.

Zhang had become worried very quickly that the wind was blowing him off course. Brigadier General Lin and the rest of central command knew the risks of dropping paratroopers into Puerto Farolera - it risked losing the element of surprise that came with such a wild landing. To compensate, they'd decided to send more paratroopers, but give each one only a few hours to complete their mission. It was immediately becoming apparent that relying on weather forecasts in Farfadillis was not the best way to run an operation. Hopefully the pilot had compensated properly, but even then, it was likely that his platoon would be scattered across the city.

He landed with a muffled oomph and immediately toppled over. Unwrapping himself from the parachute, he looked around and found himself in a residential district similar to, but definitely not, where the rendezvous point was. A quick check revealed he'd landed about a mile away, so he set to walking. His destination was closer to the beach - aerial and naval superiority could be established basically immediately, but there were a few token defensive positions by the beach where the Farolerans had set up weaponry in the event of an amphibious landing.

Above him, an apartment light flicked on, and a window was pushed open. Zhang tried to duck into the bushes, but he hadn't reacted in time.

"Yuezhou!" A young man shouted from above. Zhang said nothing. "Hey, I can see you! It's okay!"

Zhang tried to mime with his hand to shut up, but to no avail. "Are you here to invade Farolera? You're going to need more people!"

"I, uh," he started in what little Faroleran he knew.

"I know Yueyu, you're good! And I'm not going to snitch or anything. Hey, Lucila, bring Virgilio and the camera! There's a Yue soldier guy down on the street!"

Zhang took off.

He was only the third guy in the platoon to make it to the anti-ship missiles. It turned out that they didn't even need three guys.

"Hey, we're all good. It doesn't even work," Wu said when he got there. Indeed, the missiles in the readiness center, which he found out later had been unlocked when they'd arrived, ranged from "broken" to "a pile of metal parts on the floor".

"What do we do now, then?"

"Wait until morning."

The three of them looked out onto the beach of Puerto Farolero and into the inky depths of the Mar del Fuego.

"Wasn't any need to send us here, really," Wu said with a sigh. "Farolerans have no idea what's about to hit them."

by **Flavovespia** » Fri Jul 28, 2023 2:48 pm

Flavovespia made the perfect start to World Cup 94, as they beat the group’s top seed and World number 4 ranked side Turori. The goalkeeping and defence of Flavovespia was top notch, and they struck in attack when the opportunities were created, to net themselves a famous win.

It was the same starting XI as that 6-1 win over Valentine Z that took Flavovespia to the World Cup. Nathan Crewe was to start in goal, and youngsters Stan Scott-Wilson and Charles Adams were trusted on the biggest stage of them all. There may have been nerves, but the whole squad looked ready as they lined up, with the anthems playing, and a sea of yellow and black in parts of Griffin Park. Flavovespia’s fourth World Cup campaign was about to begin.

Turori made the better start of the two teams. Going into the World Cup after an unbeaten qualifying campaign, it was not hard to see why they were doing so well. Fluid passing and lots of good runs were pulling Flavovespia around, with the three midfielders needing to drop back and cover. Lutara Makakio was proving a particular handful for Flavovespia, and it took good saves in the 11th and 18th minute from Nathan Crewe to keep it level.

For all of Turori’s pressure, they just couldn’t find a way through, and Flavovespia began to build back into the game. 10 minutes from the half time break, Flavovespia struck gold. Stan Scott-Wilson’s long ball forward down the right flank was kept in play by Jonathan Bagshaw, and he charged down the wing, almost hugging the touchline. Dribbling past Moumouni Verre'elali, he sent in a whipped cross towards the penalty spot. Adrian Jones ran in, and with a great leap and a great header, steered the ball out of reach of Derizi Amatopa and into the back of the net. Against the form book and the play of the first half, Flavovespia had taken the lead to the delight of the travelling fans and all the millions watching at home. This was what being at the World Cup was about for them.

Turori fought hard in the final 10 minutes of the first half, but had no way through, to leave it 0-1 at the break. The team talks from both sides would be crucial, any early second half goals, or the right or wrong substitutions would be so key. Turori started the second half much like the first, the ones with more possession, but there was a bit more sense of urgency, as they were fighting from behind. The passes were quick and probing, but more of them this time simply rolled out of play, or fell to one of the Flavovespians.

It would prove to be a misplaced pass that was the undoing of Turori. In the 63rd minute, Kieron Player expertly intercepted a pass aimed just too close to him. With great awareness, he quickly pinged the ball forward, finding Michael Cole running at speed down the left and looking to cut inside. Michael Cole did just that, and with a well placed shot, beat Derizi Amatopa to find the back of the net. Flavovespia had doubled their lead, and they were in dreamland now.

In the latter stages of the game, Flavovespian fans were watching with baited breath, waiting to see if Turori could find that first goal back into the game, that’d allow them to charge for a potential equaliser or even winner. However, with every attack goalkeeper Nathan Crewe or a Flavovespian defender cleared away, belief kept on growing that this opening group stage win would be theirs. Flavovespia had learned from the opening parts of the game, and looked well drilled now, and just too hard to break down.

The full time whistle blew in Griffin Park to the delight of Flavovespia, The Eels had been stung by The Hornets. Against a side who had gone unbeaten in qualifying, and could have very valid reasons to think they could go far, Flavovespia were able to come away with a victory. It was just the second ever in a World Cup for Flavovespia, and it’ll be well remembered, in the history of famous Flavovespian football games. Earlier in the day, HUElavia vs Nephara was a high scoring encounter, with Tanith Xu scoring a late winner for Nephara after some frantic play. Flavovespia will take on Nephara next in the capital, and a winner in that game will be so much closer to the knockout stages. Can Flavovespia spring another surprise and get much close to the World Cup knock out stages than they’d ever been before?

Provisional starting line up:
WC MD2: Crewe, Lyons©--Cookson--Taylor--Scott-Wilson, Adams--Player--Goldstone, Cole--Jones--Bagshaw

by **Zwangzug** » Fri Jul 28, 2023 8:41 pm

The Spenson Star

Much has been said, and will be said, about the complicated (non)correlations between national team and league/association strength. For those who have followed the spectacle that is the S-FPL, it might be even more jarring to see that Zwangzug's idiosyncratic 1./ is currently (by IFCF standards) considered "stronger" than both the Farf and Banijan sides of that confederation, compared to the relatively comprehensible surprise that Kate DiMarini's side is allegedly third in the world and Yuan Zilai's "merely" fifteenth.

But some of the unstated assumptions underlying the so-called Lopez Principle revolve around intangibles such as "cohesion" and "narrative." To wit: postulate a society where there is not much economic development or infrastructure. Perhaps the governing powers are not friendly to freedom or human rights. It is not the sort of place where safe, clean, accessible stadiums can be counted on to host regular league matches, week in, week out. Individuals wishing to pursue a career in professional sports would probably prefer to leave these environs for the more organized, not to mention glamorous, leagues regulated by the IFCF.

There might not even be a large number of players ready to compete for spots on the national team. But what they lack in number, they make up in spirit. They come to know each other's styles very well, training together week in and week out, because they have no alternatives. They become acquainted with each other's neuroses and backstories, however traumatic, and develop a deep-rooted sense of camaraderie. However ambivalent they may be about the flag they play under, they at least trust each other as brothers and sisters in arms (feet?) When World Cup time rolls around, and rich celebrities from other countries briefly come together to practice as a unit for the only time in two years (or however long), they unexpectedly find themselves routed by the force of the Plucky Underdogs' ability to play as a unit.

Given the ongoing, shall we say, situation in Farfadillis, it would be tempting to project this dynamic onto la Vherderoja, and use that as an excuse as to how they managed to salvage a draw when Zwangzug looked the more capable side for most of the game. And again, that would be inaccurate. Remember, Farfadillis isn't one strife-torn nation, it's ten strife-torn nations that don't even like each other, and there's no indication that having the opportunity/being forced to play on the same team has dampened that sentiment among the players themselves.

Cixin Nguyen, no stranger to big games, got on the board first, with a goal in the twelfth minute. Odalis Pokéésé had kicked it out of play, Meredith Ryland took another impressive throw-in and found the feet of Chester Hildegard, who tapped up to Nguyen, who beat an out-of-position Wîjkár. Zwangzug had the better of possession for most of the next half-hour, but Julia MacEacharna in particular found it difficult to get the job done. (This is not, of course, saying anything about Bigtopians in general; Jordan McKinney was pressed into a more defensive role than he's used to, but did well in tackling Jôs Sürréo on several key occasions.) At any rate, the Farves were able to equalize in minute 40. Lihonhegeí Aixenxó, who'd been pressured hard by the relentless Ashley Fillmore-Gaul all afternoon (and also pressured by several teammates/rivals looking to take his spot), sent Ketevan Igreli tumbling the wrong way, and the score held.

After the halftime break, Zwangzug took a more cautious, defensive approach, yet nevertheless continued to look confident on possession again. It was Valerie Waugh who coolly strode forward to tap in a short pass from Lukas Helsen-Roan, nine minutes after the break.

Of course, having one person who scores all the goals and leads by example with the armband is tempting fate in a narrative sense, so the Farves promptly made her pay. After a Vâásk Çêwé shot was deflected by the tireless Meghna Imomenba, Dénes Robineau smashed home the rebound in minute 76. Ženeva Kilgallić, who is half-Nepharan and therefore probably hated by all of her teammates equally (?), almost got a stupidly overdramatic winner in minute 90+1, but Igreli flopped onto it and secured the draw.

"Look, Farfadillis is a--a team we all have a lot of respect for because we've seen them around and know they can play," said Waugh phlegmatically. "No matter what they might be going through off the field, these are the challenges you're going to face in the last 32. We were able to keep pace with them but we need to focus on our fundamentals, playing defense the way we want to, that's going to be key especially against a team like Elmyia who we know can attack too."

"I was impressed by the support from our fans who made the trip," said Saroj Kinnar. "And by 'impressed' I mean 'relieved they didn't try to speak Frankish and embarrass themselves,' unless there's anyone from Logrove here. Just eat your bagels and keep your mouths shut, guys."

World Cup 81/82/83/84

Re-visiting the Overachievers Awards

The final matchday results that occurred after the original announcement of the Overachievers Awards has forced the committee to submit a supplemental follow-up to correct the record, with apologies to those nations that have fallen out of contention. All errors are solely the responsibility of the organizers.

11th seeds—Woooohaaaaa. This has been a good cycle for the pot 11 gang, which is made of unranked nations that have returned after a hiatus and newcomers that either didn't participate in the Baptism of Fire or crashed out early. Polar Island States in Group 12 is the big winner here, as they sit in a position to make the final 32; Camarinia (10) is midtable, Torisakia (3) and Greater Cebu (2) are returners with United Hawkland (1), North-Khrakozia (7) and The Spartan Dominion (14) all punching above their weight.

SUPPLEMENTAL-- North-Khrakozia (7), The Spartan Dominion (14) and Greater Cebu (2) slipped out of the three place improvement zone over the final couple of fixtures, so they have to be relegated from the list.

10th seeds—This has a breakout cycle for many in the BOF 81 class, with Lionsguard (5), Dantopia (15), Elvitoes (7), Snow & Ice Caps (10), and Dystopian Reich (8) all claiming a fair share of scalps along the way, with The 14 Stars (14) also back.

SUPPLEMENTAL—The Cherven Cities (2) replace Snow & Ice Caps here, who were victims of a tight race in mid-pack of Group 10 and New Dascos (9) jumped a spot at the end to add to the 10 seeds' pride.

9th seeds—Still more BOF alums here with Evinea (10), BOF winner Kamijiro (13), Sinyal (9),Dod Rava (6) and Manmeath (2) bringing the pain to higher ranks nations, and a returner in Brusseldorf (1)

SUPPLEMENTAL--Sinyal (9), Manmeath (2) and Brusseldorf (1) also fell victim to narrow margins that meant big shifts.

8th seeds—There's usually not a lot to separate pots 6-8 and there is usually not many eights that can make the jump into contention, but it's not unheard of as shown by 95X (4)

SUPPLEMENTAL—Polkopia (9) leapt up at the last hurdle to join the Overachievers List.

7th seeds—Stevencouisn (1) will and Ranoria (7) might make the cut in this group.

SUPPLEMENTAL—we feel a bit like a jinx to Stevencousin, who dropped to 5th on the final day and out of contention.

6th seeds—Now we're getting into lofty territory, as these are nations seriously battling for a top 3 finish that could earn them an invite to Graintfjall or Kelssek, with Sajnur (8), Pluvia & The Saxean Isles (4) and Sharktail (3) all closing in.

SUPPLEMENTAL—Sharktail hung on to earn a playoff spot, but the others fell short, although Archalit (7) came from nowhere to earn a surprise berth (and a spot on this list).

Commiserations to all nations that saw a result go against them that dropped them unexpectedly farther down than they imagined.

The Overachievers Selection Committee will undergo a full ~~intervention~~ investigation in order to prevent a repeat of this embarrassment in the future.
_________________________________________________________________________________

Proto-Calania derby key to Group D?
Scott McCrae
The Mail on Sunday Chief Soccer Writer

Baker Park and Vilita will face off for the fourth time in history--and first since their confrontation at New Skoðarhüb in Hartburg at the same stage of World Cup 91--each with their destiny in the current Finals securely within reach; both Atlantian Oceania nations came through victorious in their opening fixture, meaning a win by either side would still leave the loser with the ability to advance on the final matchday with a win while a draw would bring other permutations into consideration.

Both the FAC and the Football Association of Vilita have expressed a preference that the roof at the Fjisfjing Stadium in the Altendalur suburb of Hintersfjordur be closed for the match which would mitigate any weather conditions expected in the port city.

Alonzo Boyle will celebrate his 50th National Team appearance by wearing the armband as Will Barnard will make a complete rotation to the starting XI; Olivia Ryan is the only question mark on the bench after suffering a twisted ankle against Huayramarca, but will be a game time decision as to availability.

The Bees have won four consecutive matches since their 1-0 defeat to Xanneria in qualifying and are unbeaten in 19 of 21 fixtures during the World Cup cycle.

Lineup vs Vilita:

McCormack; Bruce, Edmonds, Schulman; Park, Olivera, Shanahan, Boyle (C); Price; Gibson, Harris

by **Valanora** » Sat Jul 29, 2023 5:46 am

To say that the Marauders are disappointed with having managed to only come away with as draw in their opening match against the Dragons of Yuezhou is a bit of an understatement. While every match in the tournament is a difficult one and an important one, it was the match against the Rushmori outfit that was thought to be the difference in making it out of the group stage or having the unfortunate repeat of what transpired last cycle where the Marauders flamed out in the group stage despite having a top three ranking to their name and dreams of the sixth title. The thought was that if there was going to be any match where the side could afford to drop points in the group stage, it would be the match against Tumbra, with the Esportiva outfit sitting at rank nine compared to the Marauders own eight, making it the most difficult game in the group for the side on paper. A draw or loss against Tumbra was going to be the end of the world so long as the Marauders did as they were expected to and put the other two teams in the group to the sword and gather the remaining six points, allowing them to progress forward into the knockouts with confidence and form. That plan now is out the window and a new battleplan needs be drawn or else the bitter taste of an early elimination will once more be upon the lips of the Marauders.

The game started out well enough with Ludwig getting a goal for the Marauders, it was the type of strike that has helped the striker be one of the leading goalscorers in nearly every Finals that he has managed to appear in, barring just last cycle with its obvious early exit not allowing the forward the opportunity to rack up as many goals. Even when the Dragons pulled level again, there was a feeling within the stadium and from the team that grabbing the lead again would not be a question of if, but a matter of when with how well they had been playing. Thus when Julia Holt managed to slot home a second goal for the team and put the side up again, it was not a great shock but rather what had been the anticipated outcome. A deserved lead at the halftime break is the sort of performance that the Marauders of old would have held on to and put their foot to the throat of Yuezhou, suffocating them out of the game completely. Unfortunately for the team, that was not what came to be and instead the Dragons seemed energized in the second half and were putting the Marauders on the back foot, grabbing a quickfire brace around the hour mark. A need for heroics arose and none other than the last remaining member of the hero quartet was the to make good, with Hawk netting the equalizer after a near on barrage most of the last half hour of the match in the eighty-first. Yuezhou then lucky that the side could not find a winner in the dying moments and the points split between the two.

There is a lot to unpack from the performance, the lack of discipline and ability to keep up the pressure at the start of the second half allowed their opponents to not only get back in the game but put them on the backfoot, surrendering the lead and trailing themselves. It is not the sort of performance you expect to see from a side managed by Eastwood, who before last cycle's infamous group stage had turned everything he had managed into gold and win trophies with seemingly at will. The ability to grab the equalizer though does show the sort of fightback that you would have hoped to see from the side, although not managing to climb all the way back to grab the full three points is a bit of a disappointment considering the dominance that the side had over an hour of the match. A cause for concern was the defense not being able to rise to the occasion when they were being tested by Yuezhou when the Rushmoris were on the ascendency. This is a defensive unit that on paper is supposed to have patched over the normal defensive frailties of the squad and yet were perhaps the most culpable in the Marauders not coming away with all three points in the opening tilt.

The dropped points is a rough thing as it now turns what was supposed to be a supposedly free hit game against Tumbra into a near must win, as is the final game with Brookstation but first Tumbra has to be focused on and overcome if the last match is to hold value. Tumbra were ruthlessly efficient in their opening match and showed none of the problems that were seemingly plaguing them in the first half of the qualifying campaign, having perhaps rode in on form from the fight back in the second half to be the team in the group who is at their best right now. Four goals against Brookstation is a worry for the Marauders whose defense was not what the side was hoping to be in the first game and if the Dragons were able to pull them apart like they were able to, then it stands to reason that Tumbra may be able to do the same. The resolve to not lose though is quite strong but there is a difference between playing not to lose and actually playing to win, which now must be done and done well if the Marauders are to grab the needed three points. A second consecutive early exit in the groups would not only be terrible for the Marauders rank but it risks tarnishing the legacy that Dan Eastwood has earned as a manager over the last three decades. That is something the Euran does not deserve and this squad will be fighting their hearts out to try and prevent.

by **Pasarga** » Sat Jul 29, 2023 6:19 am

The need to open strongly was hard pressed into the Wanderers before the beginning of the tournament, with Orengo hammering it home into his teams mind that they had to start off on the right foot if they were to have a chance at redemption from what had happened over the past two years. Most of the team was part of the Wanderers teams that had failed so spectacularly in the previous Finals and the Copa Rushmori and they bore the brunt of the shame and ridicule for how poorly the team had performed in those tournaments. The call to try to make amends for those results, as well as perhaps for letting their position at the top of the qualifying group be toppled over on the last matchday, was extremely high for most of the squad and with the Banija managers' influence, they were feeling good about themselves and how they might perform in the tournament. Still, despite the relatively positive vibes within the camp heading into the first matchday, this was the World Cup Finals that they were about to compete in, and unexpected results were par for the course in the tournament and doubly so in the first matchday where the wait for the opening kickoff might have frayed nerves.

All the mental hype for the Wanderers seemed to pay off though, as Elek Salai was on the scoresheet in the first three minutes, after a brilliant bit of passing work from the midfield allowed the striker to run in behind and chip the keeper who had rushed out to attempt close down the angle on the Zozi striker. It was the perfect start for the side from the dual islands and their fellow Rushmore side seemed stunned by the early goal and were quickly being outworked and outhustled all across the pitch. Keen to press the advantage, the Wanderers peppered the Dandelions goalmouth for the first half hour of the match, before a spilled shot landed at the feet of Ilona Kárpáty and the CAP midfielder quickly tapped it back home to double the lead with twelve minutes left in the first half. Perhaps thinking that the game was already in hand, the Wanderers were caught back in the forty-first minute when the Union broke out in a counter attack and Phaedo Svensson was able to round Tomáš Přibyl in the Wanderers net and put the ball away cleanly. It was a lifeline for Gnejs and a warning shot to the Wanderers who saw their lead halved going into the halftime break.

Orengo though, he's not Pasargan, and he was not able to fall into the same trappings as many Pasargan managers might have had with the team having been given a bit of suckerpunch before the halftime whistle. Instead of worrying about a repeat of mistakes, he was encouraging his players to continue and play the game that they had been playing that had allowed them to dictate the flow of the game and had control of it for most of the first half. The words seemed to sink in for the side and in the fifty-ninth minute, Asztrik Biró had broken through the defense of the Union and and put the ball five hole on the keeper with a deft but powerful shot to reestablish the two goal cushion. Salai would get a second in the seventy-first minute when he rose to head in a corner from Biró, putting the game to bed, or so the Wanderers thought. The Dandelions fight back hard in the last quarter hour and were able to peg the Wanderers back for a second, but it came in the eighty-seventh minute from Cornelis Ceder. It was a good effort but it was too little too late for the Dandelions, who could not find two more goals in the remaining few minutes with the Wanderers clamping down on possession and seeing the game out.

That was the easy part though, the Wanderers getting the three points that they needed from the opening match was all well and good, but it came against the fourth seed in the group and one of the worst teams in the World Cup if you go by ranking. The next two matches are where the intensity will be increased and the squeeze of intense pressure intensified upon all teams, as those who dropped points on the opening matchday scramble to try and salvage their tournament before it truly has begun. The other fixture from the group saw Chromatika show a bit of spark that seemed to be missing from their qualification campaign, edging out the Squornshelan Remnant States, who now get to turn their fury on towards the Wanderers. The Atlantian Oceania side comes in as the favorite for the tilt, having blitzed through their qualifying group with some gusto and are the two seed to the Wanderers second. On paper their offense looks to have an edge over the Wanderers as well as seems to play favorably against our defenders, especially the fullbacks who prefer to play further up the field. Orengo will have to show some of what set him apart from Pasargan applicants for the position to get the team in the right mindset for the fixture and see about pulling up the applecart with an upset that would see the side all but confirmed for the knockouts, the very goal of the team entering into the tournament.

by **Tumbra** » Sat Jul 29, 2023 6:28 am

MATCHDAY! Magazine — World Cup Box Scores
Brookstation 2-4 Tumbra

TMB [4-2-3-1]: 1 - Nick Barker; 2 - Annie Renton (18 - Chris Finney, 45'), 4 - Ian Ashburn, 24 - Yvonne Lawson (20 - Christine Whitfield, 72'), 19 - James Green; 6 - Trudy Harrison (15 - Mark Finnemore, 79'), 8 - Vincent Hicks (16 - Ian Robertson, 72'), 26 - Natalie Coleman; 17 - Rebecca Haines (7 - Valerie Wells, 84'), 9 - Lynne Crossley; 11 - Nick Riordan (22 - Charlotte Henshaw, 84')

BRO scorers: Leon M. Robles (22'), Tavian Tudorache (29')
TMB scorers: Rebecca Haines (16'), Lynne Crossley (48', 90' + 1'), Chris Finney (62')

Player of the Match: Lynne Crossley [TMB]
IT might have been a nervy game, but Tumbra escaped a skirmish with Brookstation having scored four goals — one of them in extra time — to end the opening day of World Cup 94 in the lead of a hotly contested Group H. It was clear that the Brooks weren't leaving anything to chance — they were playing a full-strength line-up, against a Tumbra squad that was mostly unrotated — but Tumbra would strike first, and draw first blood. Rebecca Haines would score the game's opening goal — cutting in on the left and taking a shot on her right — to put Tumbra 1-0 ahead. It was a brilliant piece of play, with Vincent Hicks setting up the cross into the box by passing to Natalie Coleman.

Just six minutes later, however, Brookstation would strike back; with Leon Michael Robles, the talismanic striker of the Brookstation team, firing in a shot from close range after Moussa Wague left Annie Renton for dead on the right flank; the right winger firing in a low cross to the striker, who took his finish with aplomb. Whizzing past Nick Barker, Tumbra were now level with the new boys; and they didn't look like they were about to stop. Indeed, they didn't — Tavian Tudorache scored Brookstation's second just seven minutes later from a free kick just outside the box.

Thus Tumbra went into the break 2-1 behind; an ominous sign for the Tumbran campaign. Annie Renton, complaining of a hamstring pain, was pulled off at half-time for Chris Finney; not entirely coincidentally, Tumbra's defensive performance would improve sharply. Renton commented after the match that she'd probably been "nursing the injury and just hadn't realised" that she was carrying an injury; which confirmed that she would be out for the potentially group-deciding game against Valanora. But thoughts of Renton's injury were distracted by Lynne Crossley, just three minutes after the resumption of play; who, effectively playing as a second striker, sprinted in to receive Nick Riordan's pass and slam the ball into the back of the net, past Lance Logan. Tumbra were level; and just after the hour mark Chris Finney's head would rise above Geovani Angeles for a free kick to put the Black Eagles back in the lead. What followed was thirty minutes of nail-biting defending before Crossley again scored, putting the game to bed.

It was a game that was much closer than the scorelines admitted; despite Tumbra playing their counterattacking strategy to near-perfection, the two goals conceded early in the match proved a headache for the Black Eagles to deal with. Tumbran national team manager Peter Gabriel later remarked that this was the "first time in a while we'd conceded two," referring to their defeat against Mertagne, but "at least we showed enough gumption and strength to come back from being two goals down."

Tumbra next face five-time World Cup champions Valanora, with the team facing a Marauders side looking to come back from the brink after being held to a 3-3 draw against Yuezhou on the first matchday of the World Cup. With the exception of Renton, Tumbra are expected to deploy a full-strength squad against the Marauders in a must-win game that will see Tumbra try their best to be in the driving seat for the crucial third matchday of the World Cup.

Government left without majority as Nationals end Coalition agreement, resign from Cabinet; new elections likely
All major news outlets

STRATON: The government is "on the brink" as the National Party collectively resigned en masse from their positions in government and took up positions on the Opposition benches, The move comes after the Liberal government announced the nomination of Lucas Clark, the former Leader of the House, to take up the position of the next Vice President of Tumbra. Quite notably, however, while most of the National Party grandees left the government benches — including most of the Clearmont and Hamilton branches of the party — most of the northeastern members of the party, and former Deputy Prime Minister Jon Blair have stayed put, triggering a crisis in the National Party where the National Party seems to be split between supporting and opposing the Liberal government.

The two most powerful members of the National Party's rebellion against itself — former DPM Blair and Health Minister Tom Gregory — have expressed a wish to stay put with the Liberal Party, and have reportedly been considering leaving the Nationals and joining the Liberals along with the rest of the National rebels. Regardless, the government's majority has now disappeared, and new elections look likely. Labour have reportedly welcomed an opportunity to "clean the decks"; the Liberals wish to take the steam out of the Nationals' charge by undercutting them, while the Nationals are reportedly in talks with several other parties on the right to form an electoral alliance that could take on the Liberals in certain key seats.

The nomination of Lucas Clark, however, is expected to pass without many hurdles; the Labour Party in the Senate have already said they have no "principal disapproval" of the Clark nomination, and wish to return the Senate to its "normal functioning state" amidst a political crisis that could radically and fundamentally change the governing arithmetic of Tumbra.

Valanora
Previous Appearances: 60 First/Latest Appearance: 33/93 Best Result: Champions (5x - 40, 42, 43, 52, 61)
Manager: Dan Eastwood Key Player: Laborious Hawk
vs Tumbra: Matchday 2 @ Latrobe
VALANORA. What's there to be said about them that hasn't been said already? They're statistically the best nation of all time in the World Cup. They've got an immortal elf in midfield. They, alongside Nephara, and increasingly, Graentfjall, are part of that club of nations that have the moniker of "always in contention for the World Cup" plastered upon them, showing the fear with which they're regarded. And yet this match looks to be a tactically intriguing one, far closer than perhaps the Marauders would like to admit, with Tumbra given the advantage of momentum while Valanora's World Cup campaign started off with a stutter against the Dragons of Yuezhou. Names like Lothas Ludwig, Ralph Winter, and, of course, Laborious Hawk are household names around the world; and whilst Vanorians are a rare sight in Tumbra's football division (and vice versa), the country does recognise their strength.

So how did they get here? Surprisingly, they had to come through the playoffs; which meant that one unlucky side had to be matched up against the southwestern juggernauts of the region. That side ended up being Group 1's third-placed team, Mertagne; and a narrow victory for the Marauders plonked them in Pot 1, and in Tumbra's sights. It was a self-proclaimed inconsistent qualifying campaign for the Marauders; losing to Archalit and North-Khrakozia, while drawing against Geektopia, Eraman (twice) and Aeragny meant that it ended up being Quebec & Shingoryeo securing the golden ticket to the World Cup. That inconsistent form has seemingly continued with the opening day draw against Yuezhou; but it's once again Tumbra's game to lose as they have the slight advantage of momentum. Both teams are equally favoured to win at about 40%, with the chance of a draw at 20%. With the two teams separated by just one rank, this will be the closest match, rank-wise, in the entire World Cup.

by **Pemecutan** » Sat Jul 29, 2023 7:25 am

Part 1 || Part 2 || Part 3 || Part 4 || Part 5 || Part 6 || Part 7 || Part 8 || Part 9 || Part 10A || Part 10B

Sukra Kliwon Wuku Sungsang, Pawukon 1785

The Heavy Loss

Neorvins, Kelssek - Pemecutanian football fans were all in tears and upsets after the referee blow the whistle which ended the first match of World Cup 94 group stage. The team have to admit their opponent and the co-hosts superiority after they were being crushed by 5-2. The match was high tense. But it was clear by everyone who's watching that Pemecutan side was being dictated by Kelssek right from the start. The result however continuing their losing streak against Kelssek after their first meet in previous World Cup edition. The loss also extends their worst World Cup proper opening match started with 1-2 loss against Kandorith in WC 92 group stage. Their journey in this WC edition will become more heavier as they will have to win the next two matches. But can they do that?

We saw two different results from the history of the team. In WC 92, Pemecutan was able to make a comeback and win their next 2 opponents and advance to the knockout stage. But in WC 93, they were losing with only a single goal from Cabo Azure, their second opponent before winning a dramatic match against The Holy Empire (still becoming their only meeting where Pemecutan win the match). With this quite balance results, we can't be sure will Pemecutan be able to maintain their performance in the next match or continue in the losing path and leave early just like the previous edition. During the after-match interview, Manager Surya Agung Pramana was apologizing to their fans for the bad performance. He said that they will make it up in the next match. The fans however look very upset. They are dream big for this World Cup as it is the international match after the team winning their first title in the regional competition. With the team failing in Eagle's Cup, the fans are hoping that they can do better in the World Cup. But the huge 2-5 loss against Kelssek seems to make them worry. Last edition was the team worst performance in WC proper where they were exit in group stage. TV commentator and football enthusiast, Putu Gede Satriawan said there's something odd with the country's team. When they were made a great performance in international stage, they were worst in regional and vice versa. "It seems like we can't get them both all at once," he added.

The next match, Pemecutan will be facing Audioslavia. They have met twice in previous play-off stage of World Cup qualification stage where it was ended with a win and a draw for Pemecutan. But the pressure is higher for Pemecutan in this meeting. This is their chance to continue in the competition. A win will give them room to breathe while a draw will make the last match even more intense for them. And all of this will be decided tomorrow in Breton, Kelssek which become the venue of their match.

Into the Future

Bhagawanta, Rarungan - Today, Patih Madya Ngurah Agung Kusumajaya went to Rarungani capital Bhagawanta for attending the annual meeting of The Mandaran Council. Together with him are 10 Pemecutanian MPs which have a seat in The Mandaran Council. This year meeting will discuss about the continuation of integration plan and the single currency implementation between its members except Pemecutan. Pemecutan government has decided that it will hold the implementation of the new currency, Mandar, until the end of constitution amendment. In the meantime, the country agrees to accept Mandar as a legal currency in the country. This new currency itself is pegged to the Pemecutan Rupiah, Pemecutan official currency at 1 Mandar equal to 0.5 Pemecutan Rupiah.

The meeting will continue to discuss the best plan for integration after the single currency implementation. Some of the main issues that will be discussed such as combine military, a single passport and the most important is the status of both Jading and Gili Tangkong. Both entities are currently an overseas territory of Pemecutan which are acquired from Cakranegara and Soracana Islands respectively as a result of Pemecutan involvement in both countries civil war. Cakranegaran delegation loudly voiced for the handover of both entities to their rightful owner. And they have campaigning it throughout Mandaran to get support from the other members. On the other hand, Gili Anakan recently claimed Gili Tangkong as part of their country. This claim is based on the fact that Gili Tangkong geographic position which lies to the north of Gili Anakan. And geologically, it is part of Gili Anakan island group. The claim however is challenged by Cakranegara government. Pemecutan itself has their own agenda for both entities. This agenda will be discussed in this meeting.

Yes, of course. It is part of our plan of combine military command. The detail will be revealed later during the general meeting. And I hope the Council will agree with the plan.

Muhammad Ali Sukmahadi
Pemecutan Minister of Defense

The meeting is planning to be held for two weeks. Aside from the general meeting, another side events are also held. Some of the side events are;

Economy Ministerial Meeting, a meeting for all Economy Minister of the members countries. The main issue of the discussion in this year meeting is about tax and migration control.
Ecotourism for Mandaran, a meeting between Tourism government agencies or ministries with the tourism workers. The main issue is the implementation of ecotourism to combat global warming.
Connect Mandaran, a meeting between telecommunication agencies or ministries with telecommunication corporation to discuss the plan to connect all members with a faster internet and telecommunication connection via undersea cable.
Preserved Mandaran, a meeting between conservation agencies to discuss the plan to save endangered species in Mandaran including Giri myna, green turtle and Mbojoan rusa.

Other news

Tennis for All
A three-way meeting between tennis association of Pemecutan, Rarungan and Soracana Islands for a possible of unified amateur and junior tennis tour. The meeting will also discuss Soracana Islands athletes' future in NSTT. Kanginani and Petanggi delegations are also present.
Holiday is Here
The largest holy day in Pemecutan is coming next Wednesday. Galungan. And the country is stopping much of its public operation for two weeks. However, it is also the peak of the country's trade and economic activities. The holiday will be starting on Sunday and ended on Saturday next two weeks.
And Teruni Pemecutan 1785 is ...
Kadek Ayu Suda Anjani from Alas Magalak was crown as Teruni Pemecutan 1785 in the ceremony held in Kayubihi Conference Hall, Jematang. Teruni Pemecutan is a major domestic beauty pageant in Pemecutan and it is already in its 65 year this year. Anjani won the 17th crown for Alas Magalak which strengthen their position as the most successful state in the beauty pageant competition.
Cold Days
Pemecutan is facing the coldest dry season in its history. A record of -8^oC was recorded at Mount Besuki third base climbing route. The cold days are an annual phenomenon because of the wind from southern hemisphere which experience winter reached the country. However, this year the temperature has been drop significantly. Event the usually hot city, Ubung also experiencing the coldest day in the city's history. Yesterday, the temperature in the city reached 20^oC which is lower then the previous record of 22^oC.

by **Kelssek** » Sat Jul 29, 2023 8:20 am

The groans and jokes when Neorvins was announced as the venue for Kelssek’s first World Cup home match in the current era were predictable. The federal capital is often maligned as boring, sanitized, and devoid of personality, much like the government technocrats it is home to. Sure, the Bank of Kelssek Monetary Experience won a museum of the year award – but what kind of deranged mind thinks something so educational can be a good time?

Nothing genuinely exciting really happens there, other than the times where there is a revolution or terrorists trying to murder the prime minister, so that means something actually interesting goes on at most once every 50 years (thankfully). Many people outside the country think Kirkenes or Outineau is the capital, and why wouldn’t they? Naturally, the choice of Stadium of the Workers was sure to infect Kelssek’s historic match against Pemecutan with the capital’s inevitable staid boredom.

Boy, oh boy, was that wrong.

Firstly, the atmosphere was electric, though of course people inevitably sneered that it was because people from other parts of the country travelled there as Neorvinians are born incapable of anything more expressive than polite applause. Actually, why are people so freakin’ mean and cringey about this? It was a full stadium and the presence of both the president and prime minister – or more to the point their security details – couldn’t dampen the mood.

As for the football match itself, it was a mess, it was a wild ride, Kelssek ended up winning comfortably, which was good, but until the last ten or so minutes when all 22 players seemed just to have run out of energy and Kelssek were firmly in control, it was just heart-attack stuff.

“You can say I’ve lost a step, but I don’t think so,” Colm Ó Tuathail had said in one of the many pre-tournament interviews the captain had been subjected to. “Maybe I’ve got to pick the right times a bit more, I can get past most anyone still.“

The roar of the crowd certainly played a part as the Kelssek players started the match like they’d crushed several cans of energy drink followed by a triple shot espresso. Well, actually that would have probably resulted in rushing the team to Confederation Hospital for caffiene posioning, but the frenzied pace that they started with prompted the coaches to repeatedly get onto the touchline and make expansive “calm down” gestures.

Although deployed as a number 10, inspired by the frenzied mood Colm Ó Tuathail found himself drifting into his old position down the left flank and rolled back the years to dart past Septiandi Rai Putri and fire a cross into the box. Loïc Maçon-Petrault was closely marked but the ricochet as the Pemecutan defender got in to tackle fell kindly into the path of Tegan Earrach’s run and it was a simple finish from the right-back that had the stadium erupting.

The come-down from the sugar rush was harsh and Pemecutan struck back almost immediately. It was a press gone wrong, with Issac Lafrenière getting over-enthusiastic and leaving a big gap in the middle. Rama Karyadi had acres of space to run into when the ball came his way, and slid the ball to Irfan Rahadi who got behind the defensive line and hit it first time past Maraipu into the net.

Now the mood was tense and there was a sense of high drama. Kelssek found their feet but struggled to find quality of the final ball, wasting several promising attacks with mis-hit passes or dribbles into dead ends. Then Pemecutan struck a hammer blow and took the lead in the 41st minute, sending the teams into the dressing rooms with Kelssek down 2-1.

Coaching instructions had evidently included something like “don’t start like that again”. Kelssek started the second half with a more patient, controlled approach. Êsêkïl dí Völará had the next incisive moment as he won a loose ball and played a one-two with Bryan Hartpoach to advance down the right side channel. Dí Völará cut the ball across the six-yard box for Loïc Maçon-Petrault who got scythed down by a defender, and Kelssek would probably have had a penalty had Thor Ibrahaim Ahmad not been free at the far post to immediately put it away.

Then it was celebrations as Kelssek took the lead off a corner kick. The obvious targets were well covered by the defence, but Colm Ó Tuathail picked the less obvious target: Issac Lafrenière darting into the box to the far post to score with a glancing header.

Pemecutan surged back and Kelssek were in trouble when Naucémiró Buené blocked Satria Wiradarma’s cross with the most blatant handball we’re likely to see at this tournament. Penalty kick to Pemecutan, giving them the chance to level the scores again at 3-3, and perhaps to seize the momentum. Maybe Leo Olivando could have sent it a bit higher but take nothing away from Jenas Maraipu’s spectacular dive at full stretch to tip the shot wide. It was a brilliant moment to add to a gem of a season for the young goalkeeper, and the Anglian Derby rivalry was put aside as the Burnaby captain Buené was first to embrace the Kirkenes goalkeeper for bailing him and the team out.

That turned out to be the decisive moment of the match, although there was still plenty of time to play, as the combination of the shift in mood seemed to give Kelssek new energy while knocking the stuffing out of their opponents. Loïc Maçon-Petrault gave the team a cushion and then Mason Karven, long derided as the “wrong” Karven because his cousin Eva was much better, finished the scoring when he made the most of the back-line’s tired legs on his World Cup debut.

KELSSEK 5 – Earrach (19’), Ahmad (48’), Lafrenière (55’), Maçon-Petrault (71’), Karven (84’)
Maraipu, Buené, Lambert, Lozic, Earrach, dí Völará, Lafrenière (Younes 80), Ó Tuathail (Breault 67), Hartpoach (an Deòir 87), Ahmad (de Landa 80), Maçon-Petrault (Karven 80)
PEMECUTAN 2 – Rahadi (21’), Kusuma (41’)
Stadium of the Workers, Neorvins (attendance 66,249)

by **Eura** » Sat Jul 29, 2023 8:20 am

WORLD CUP 94 – GROUP A – MATCHDAY 1
Graintfjall 5–3 Eura
Scorers:
Sharp 19, 34 (pen), Vincent 74
Lineup:
1. T Hammond
2. A Mason
15. K Sherwood (sub Phillips 45)
5. M Hart
3. M Taylor (sub Doherty 87)
6. J Gates (sub Cole 55)
8. O Vincent
11. O James
7. A Woodman (sub Roberts 62)
9. A Sharp
10. S Singh (sub Holden 87)

emplor.eur/main/sport/football
GLAMOROUS CHAOS DOES EURA NO FAVOURS
Beautiful attacking football paired with poor day at the back as Graintfjall win

Eura were once known in their peak for crushing teams with exceptional displays of adventurous verve. Now, in an era where the Falcons have hit a long rough patch, it tends to be disciplined, low scoring performances that have characterised their good moments. There was none of that display on the first day of the World Cup, as Eura netted three but shipped five against Graintfjall’s greatest generation, a difficult start to Eura’s attempt to progress past the group stage for the first time since World Cup 86.

When the two sides met in the 42nd Copa Ruhmori they shared a bunch of goals as well, drawing 3-3 before the Snow Wolves triumphed on penalties. Sophie Singh had been one of the scorers in that game – she had a hard time for much of qualifying for this World Cup, only to pick up form later in the campaign, scoring the winning goal against Brenecia that would ultimately seal Eura’s progress to the finals. Last night she was wearing the captain’s armband at the Eagl’e’s’ Club stadium, after Jack Menard was declared unfit for the opener due to an ankle injury. Eura would miss him dearly.

The game took place in Aigsvinger, a city that sits at the heart of Graintfjall, in a newly built mega stadium celebrating Graintfjall’s Eagles Cup 15 championship. It also could be taken to represent a golden age in Graintfjaller football, which has blossomed beyond the initial Igrene Cantor era and brought both World Cup and Copa Rushmori trophies to the country. Perhaps a golden age for the nation too, though that would surely be politically contentious within the country – an Amy Yarley-esque dominant female leader, advancing technology and now hosting a World Cup.

Lying under the surface, there are also tensions here. The nation has suffered a number of international setbacks, such as its overstretch in Atlantian Oceania; a skeptic might see a metaphor in the stadium as an over ambitious white elephant, built when times were good without foresight for when times are bad. At times Graintfjall has been at loggerheads with those close to home and beyond, including Eura. Strident confidence has often been the response, a desire to push back against the world and reshape it, but failure to do so or any perceived retreat can be damaging. A political scandal is brewing here after the Ministy of Defence quietly handed out a spy plane contract to Mansley Systems, about as potent a symbol of the rival Euran military-industrial complex as any.

Nevertheless, whatever is going on off the pitch, Graintfjall can be very happy with what is happening on it, and its one area where the Eurans and others are currently falling behind. A telling gap in ambitions has Graintfjall aiming for a second World Cup title, and Eura aiming to simply become competitive at the tournament again after years of poor performance, structural weaknesses (the subject of a much delayed government inquiry) and, quite often, sheer bad luck. Eura do at least have a renewed sense of optimism under the unexpectedly successful reign of Glen Merson as national team manager.

Merson seems to share that optimism after overcoming a genuinely challenging qualifying group, with Eura clearing a mental hurdle by getting one over a close ranking rival (Saint Eleanor), a dangerous in-form dark horse (Polar Islandstates) and a favourite against which Eura has a mixed record (Brenecia). Maybe that is why Eura came out swinging against Graintfjall, Owen James attempting a fearsome strike from 35 yards less than a minute into the game. Eura pushed up on the flanks, with Molly Taylor and Ana Mason both looking to get in behind the Snow Wolves’ fullbacks and cause some trouble. Unfortunately, this left some very exposed centrebacks in their wake, and Eura’s naivete soon cost them as Bastion superstar (and Snow Wolves captain) Kæja Finnvarðsdóttir swept in behind them to score an easy opener just ten minutes in.

Eura’s troubles grew when Finnvarðsdóttir wreaked havoc again just a few minutes later, getting the ball out of her quick feet just outside of the box, laying it off for Járngrímur Náttúlfsson and watching on as the young Coret Hawks striker blasted the ball through the legs of embattled Euran goalkeeper Tom Hammond. It was a killer blow for Eura; even Euran footballing pedigree can’t magic up a comeback from 2-0 down against the second ranked team in the world. Merson stewed in his technical area, no doubt regretting not having pursued a more cautious strategy, perhaps even resorting to the five at the back of the Oslograd era.

Step forward Alex Sharp, so often Eura’s saviour these days, in the family tradition of course. He didn’t seem that threatening in the 19th minute, wandering aimlessly around in the Snow Wolves half with Eura defending a corner at the other end. As he slumbered back onto the right side of the last defender a huge clearance from Taylor began to come his way. Sharp waited to meet the header with París Vilgeirsdóttir approaching behind to challenge him. The slightly scary looking Vilgeirsdóttir thundered in to intercept. She was surprised to find Sharp leaving the ball, running off to the side, having spotted that its arc would have it land further down field, essentially duping the defender who had been looking at him rather than the ball.

It was a bizarre interlude of village football for a World Cup game, but it bore results for Eura, as Sharp gunned down the pitch to control the ball, push onwards to goal with Vilgeirsdóttir trailing in his wake, and cheekily chip home the finish over Ásólfur Nilsson. Hope for the Eurans. From there, the first half descended into an anarchic squabble of a game. Graintfjall were briefly 3-1 up as Finnvarðsdóttir scored her second (she won Player of the Match to no-ones surprise) before Singh won a dubious penalty, converted with aplomb by Sharp. Just moments before half time, with the game in the balance at 3-2, Kevin Sherwood’s horrible game got worse as he brought down Náttúlfsson in the box, and he could only fume as Finnvarðsdóttir completed her hat-trick from the spot.

Eura had not done themselves any favours with their defensive performance in the first half and changed strategy in the second, adopting a counter-attacking posture and sitting deeper while Sherwood was hauled off for Quentin Phillips. It was too little and too late. With half an hour to go, Atletik Thessia’s Amandara Navinsdóttir Thakur finished off a sublime passing move that unlocked an exhausted Euran defence, making the score 5-2 and dousing any hopes of a Euran comeback. It was the ruthless culmination of an excellent attacking display from the Snow Wolves, even if their own defending left much to be desired, as evidenced by their hapless failure to mark Oscar Vincent as he headed in a consolation third from a 74th minute corner. Eura have lessons to learn ahead of what is now a must win game against Sylestone at the Florus Stadion in Altendalur.

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by **HUElavia** » Sat Jul 29, 2023 10:44 am

HUElavia 3-4 Nephara
(Amezcua 6', Rossi-Rignoni 76', Xuan 83' |Brewer 5', Kulesza 29', Vetiver 37', Xu 87')
Macquarie Docklands, Latrobe, Kelssek

Choke at Last Gasp

HUElavia opens up WC 94 with a loss to Nephara after nearly mounting a comeback late in the match.

After 24 years, the day had finally arrived: HUElavia playing at the World Cup. Coming into the match, HUElavia was one of the surprise teams to make the tournament, even more so being seeding as Team 1 in Group G, giving them the rights to host three "home" games. The left end of the stadium was draped in HUElavian colors as thousands of fans flocked to Kelssek to cheer on the team in their return. Given the difficulty of the group, Coach O'Reagan opted for the A-Team, who had been solid during the qualifiers, to take on Nephara, while the team came out in their bright yellow uniforms.

The opening goal came in the 5th minute when Xu dispossessed Couto and sent a pass towards Brewer, gave an inside turn and sent the ball past Mok to make it 0-1, sending the Nepharans into great cheers. Nephara could barely get a chance to enjoy that lead as 50 seconds later, Amezcua got past Nepharan defenders and sent a blistering shot past Strand into the goal to make it 1-1. Amezcua was mobbed by her teammates, while the HUElavian crowd jumped up in celebration to make the stadium rumble from the cheers at the team's first goal in 24 years. In the 29th minute, Loeher was running with the ball when they sent a cross into the box, where Kulesza gave a header past the reach of Mok into the goal, making it 1-2, and the Nepharans were in glee over taking the lead. In the 37th minute, Vetiver ran past the like of Gounelle and Tarragona, gave a quick turn, and gave a low, curving shot past Mok into the goal, making it 1-3. The Nepharans looked happy and complacent, while O'Reagan shouted orders and asked the team to calm their nerves and push forward. At the half, HUElavia had one of the uncommon instances of staring down a 2-goal disadvantage.

The second half saw both teams trade shots and blows left and right, with Nephara trying to extend the gap, while HUElavia wanted to close it. The resolution of the match would fall in the last 15 minutes, as in the 76th minute, Xuan (in for Amezcua) was on the ball cutting into the inside, when Biscan clattered Xuan in the box, and despite protests from the Nepharans, the referee pointed to the spot for a Penalty Kick. Rossi-Rigoni stepped up and was saved by Strand, but the ball fell back and Rossi-Rigoni slotted it into the goal, making it 2-3. The HUElavian crowd jumped up in cheers once more while Rossi-Rigoni ran to the ball and got it to run back to center circle, while his teammates patted him for the goal. HUElavia was now seeking more and more blood, wanting to get the equalizer, which eventually the moment arrived. In the 83rd minute, Aveiro was on the ball when he sent a cross into the box, where Xuan got the ball, blasted it past Strand into the goal, and it was 3-3 within 6 minutes. The HUElavian crowd was jumping with grand cheers once more, while Xuan was mobbed by her teammates for the goal and the comeback. Despite the joy, HUElavia's euphoria would not last long. In the 87th minute, Nephara built up a massive set up to build up play, which eventually led to Loher giving a pass to Xu, who was nearly taken down by Ardance, but stayed up and sent a diving shot past a diving Mok into the goal, making it 3-4. The Nepharans were in joy, which led to Xu being mobbed by her teammates and the bench, while the HUElavians were left dejected from what could have been. Despite trying to start some attacks, Nephara held out and HUElavia's return to the World Cup was welcomed with a heart-breaking loss.

With Flavovespia upsetting Turori 2-0 in the other Group G game, Flavovespia leads Group G with 3 Points (1-0-0, +2 GD), followed by Nephara in 2nd with 3 Points (1-0-0, +1 GD), HUElavia in 3rd with 0 Points (0-0-1, -1 GD), and Turori in 4th with 0 Points (0-0-1, -2 GD). HUElavia and Turori will play against each other in what is essentially an elimination game, with the loser likely being eliminated. Pundits say that HUElavia is likely to lose, but the team uses that as motivation to possibly produce an upset. The team has been training diligently since that match and studying film to learn from their mistakes and seek to get their first points in this World Cup. The fans are enjoying their time in Kelssek, traveling between the cities and enjoying the local culture and history of the northern country. The team will be wearing their Alternative Uniform for the match, despite being the home team. Here's to hoping HUElavia can produce one of the biggest upsets in recent memory at the World Cup.

FORCA HUELAVIA! VAMOS HUELAVIA! GO HUELAVIA!

by **Saint Eleanor** » Sat Jul 29, 2023 10:47 am

OOC 1: Inferred Vilitan starting lineup (3-1-4-2; assuming TEST MANAGER's thinking EXT's made of tougher stuff): Sanamun; Klizlo, Sebapilo, Tiones; Vulitn; Samii'i, Miateal, Rokopolis, Kasslin; T. Tlikara, Refiami.

OOC 2: The contents of the below RP (not the match report) have dated epically. It was ICly published a year before we even knew what was happening in the playoffs, never mind now.

Channel 4 presents THE RACE TO THE WORLD CUP - World Cup 94, first group game
SAINT ELEANOR 3-5 VILITA (Rick Goldsmith 32 and 55, Natalie Monaco 87; Riku Kasslin 12, Clarana Refiami 25, 42 and 66, Fyin Miateal 74)

Report by Candy Hewitt, Channel 4 football analyst: Clarana Refiami's hat-trick proved to be Vilita's star ingredient at the Fljarkfjall Arena in Þingsnitz, Græntfjall, as the Jungle Rebels cooked up their biggest opening-day win since the 84th World Cup in 1991 - the last time they made the tournament's final. It was in contrast to an admirable team performance from Saint Eleanor, held up by Rick Goldsmith though it may have been in large part, which would have proven enough for a result on any other day but instead leaves them in pursuit of two improved performances if they are to make it out of Group D.
Endur Rotropii, the de-jure Vilitan manager, may not have been present, but their Jungle Rebel project, set in motion in the same year Priscilla Evans began her little strategic revolution, firmly lives on. If today's result is anything to go by, it will survive for another two years and they may well rear their head in place of the "Test Manager" that every fan going insists has been in the hotseat on TWII sooner rather than later. The zip from a capable Vilita was immediately clear: Refiami dragged a good starter chance further than that would have wanted, only for Riku Kasslin to bail them out from the wings with a petite yet effective weave that left them in good stead to open the scoring.
The Eleanorians were too late to click into gear, and it showed painfully. By the time Refiami scored their first of three - a smart first-time drive that glided into the corner at short range - Goldsmith had struggled his way to a single, lacklustre shot on target, not helped by the consistent but reasonably-high press that the more defensive Vilitans were enforcing on himself and his teammates. When he did pull one back, his effort was a pale imitation of Refiami's: pale in terms of power, positioning, placement, even in terms of how Vernasa Sanamun got to it. They managed to get a glove on it; John Bailey never did when it was his turn.
One of the hallmarks of Evans' management has been to only work out what to do at the wrong time, should that bear reiterating. Dragging the play out wide, surely the masterstroke of all masterstrokes, was not even considered until a fairly late juncture in the first half. This may have been due to the teething problems Cathy Winchester and Exandra Davies were facing in getting the ball up in the first instance. The quiet, sarcastic one was already guilty of not paying enough attention to Kasslin. The loud, somewhat obnoxious one - bluntly - gave away possession to Sami Samii'i with minutes until the break; faced with glory for themselves, they opted to bunk a cross towards an able Refiami instead.
Perhaps too desperate to claw back the 3-1 deficit they had started the second half with, Saint Eleanor threw as many resources as they could into securing a point. This amounted to very little, for the while it was tried. Goldsmith had certainly notched again - but this time, it was with a banging effort from outside the area. The wide strategy had once again proven to be as inept as some had feared; Steve Pilchard, joined by Pazorzal and now his new man up front as the only scorers in Eleanorian World Cup history, was the true creative powerhouse, filing along more promising chances than anyone on either side. Even the nominally-defensive midfield was fighting for its metaphorical life.
Vilita's smart, zonal marking, like almost everything else they did, was miles apart from Saint Eleanor's more person-centred defending. Bridget Coombe did an exemplary job of making Fyin Miateal know their place. Lydia Nicholls, only here on account of Sylvia Hollenberg's suspension, did not exactly pay too much attention to Trezisi Rokopolis. First the Yeaddin Owls star pitched a speculative pass to Refiami, who turned almost on the spot to beat Sam Newbridge and then Bailey for the hat-trick - their second in four World Cup Committee games, albeit this time with far less drama. Then not even ten minutes later, holding onto the ball for a seemingly aimless few seconds, they let Miateal break past Coombe, embark on a strong dribble then slot a refined shot into the bottom corner for an incredible - surely insurmountable - 5-2 lead.
This Vilitan side were certainly not ones for giving up, favourites with a massive lead they may have been. It needed something special to make the final result even look respectable and while a couple of attempts were made by both teams in the dying minutes to score just one more, the final consolation would belong to the White Stars. With Tim Brandon forced to cut inside to counter a backtracking Lentali Purama, his swift identification of Goldsmith eventually resulted in a quick pass-back to Natalie Monaco, who became the first Eleanorian woman to score on this stage with a good long-range chip that managed to bamboozle Sanamun. Call and response is an important musical technique. Vilita had gotten all the notes in the right order while Saint Eleanor might as well have been wishing they were at the Cup of Harmony again on a few occasions.
Paradoxically, at the start of the day, Vilita were seen as a possibly moderate obstacle while Huayramarca were the colossus that had to be gotten past. Now the Atlantian Oceanians have proven to be the stumbling block - while the Anaians could prove to be Saint Eleanor's way out of their quandrary, having suffered a late capitulation against the Commonwealth of Baker Park. Here is not where their fate will be sealed; given the resilience they showed today, there is every chance it may prove the opposite. But it is where their strength, their self-belief and their abilities will be tested to the limit. The White Stars gave themselves hope at this stage six years ago; they will be expecting, never mind asking for, it in a few days.

⨷ ⨶ ⨷ ⨷ ⨷ ⨷ ⨷

Thirty Years of Eleanorians - 2000: "I've never seen Saint Eleanor at the World Cup"
Published by Clara Morwood on May 24th 2005

If you're willing to cheat, Tom Brook was alive to see Saint Eleanor play at a World Cup - albeit not too impressively, only earning a single win in the group stages and (in the eyes of some) throwing away qualification at one of the last possible moments. Still, he has never been able to watch them at the top table. "I have not TVed until I was four years, one year ago. It was not the football but I saw that in the really cold nation for a special friends cup a few days later and it was really fun. All of the teams were scoring and my team did not win. We have really good players and will win in the next cup, I think."

Saying that Saint Eleanor will win anything in 2006 would be optimistic. They are far from certain to be the best team at the Cup of Harmony, should they make it again, and would be the first team in modern history to win the World Cup on their second attempt - beating out Albundania and Pemecutan's runner-up finishes - if Brook's predictions prove out there instead. "I know very, very little about football but I hear everything about our team and how everybody there is good so I think we will win a lot of games. This is a good team and it will play good and I want to see them at the big cup."

While the side will have to navigate twenty games in order to make the finals, the opening batch of five games have already been played. Despite recent wobbles, they still augur well for Saint Eleanor, who lead the qualifying Group 12 table just ahead of higher-ranked teams Brenecia and Eura. "I saw some of the games on the TV and we were good. Really good. We always moved the ball where there were no enemy people, we had the ball back from enemies who did not use the ball well and we normally score with the ball, which is not what my dad said he expected from the new big people at the team but he says it is good to help us win."

Both of Brook's parents support Sword and Shield - they work in non-academic, and generally clerical, roles for the University - and he is happy to call them "the best team" when asked, despite not knowing too much about the squad. His confidence in the national team is clearer and shines through more. "My mum and dad say you should always support the Eleanor first and then your league team. They always followed the big team and say a lot about how good the people on it are. I am learning how to use football today and in the future, and I do not know the players very well like who wears what shirt and number. I will learn about all the players and think about who the best one is later."

And although Saint Eleanor's recent back-to-back appearances in the Cup of Harmony have stuck in the craw of many loyal - and older - fans, it has not seemed to bother the youngster. "I think the friends cup is a good thing because we can make our learning as players better and do good in the big cup that happens before it in every two years. If we make the big cup and do bad, I do not like it. If we play in the friends cup or the big cup really good a lot then we are better to win the big cup in the future and that will make me very happy."

by **Tikariot** » Sat Jul 29, 2023 11:01 am

Part 1 of Darkness Descends
Part 2 of Darkness Descends
Part 3 of Darkness Descends
Part 4 of Darkness Descends
Part 5 of Darkness Descends
Part 6 of Darkness Descends
Part 7 of Darkness Descends
Part 8 of Darkness Descends
Part 9 of Darkness Descends
Part 10 of Darkness Descends
Part 11 of Darkness Descends
Part 12 of Darkness Descends

The figure looks imposing, unmoving, a dark shadow in a glacially white cavern. For a bit nobody is moving, trying to come to terms with who is in front of them.

“I guess it’s time.” The Shadow says lowly, turning toward his companions, studying their faces. They look apprehensive, their eyes fixated on the fallen angel.

“It’s not as if we don’t have a choice, do we?” Alistair mutters.

With a nod, The Shadow takes a deep breath and starts walking toward the stone bridge leading up into the ice cavern. They pass by the frozen betrayers, doing their best to avoid looking at the anguished faces. The ground is pure ice, slippery, and treacherous, forcing them to take very small steps, their feet numb from the cold. The closer to the stone bridge they get, the colder it gets. Every breath now is painful.

“I sure hope that bridge isn’t frozen, too…” Myfanwy says lowly.

Unfortunately, her hope is not fulfilled as the stone is covered by a sheet of ice, almost translucent. They very carefully try to make their way up the slope, their numb hands and feet not helping their plight. Progressing agonizingly slow, the bridge seems to stretch further as they advance. After what feels like an eternity, they feel the slope taper off.

Ahead of them lies a large circular cavern made from pure ice. And in its centre stands a tall figure with what seems like an avatar of sorts behind. The figure in the front is towering over them, but the winged creature right behind is even twice its height.

“The man they call The Shadow.” His voice is booming through the cavern.

“Lucifer.”

“I have been following your journey and I must say, I am impressed you made it all the way here.”

“I did not have a choice. Now all that stands in my way is you.”

Lucifer laughs. “What makes you think I am standing in your way?”

“You have what I need.”

“You mean this little bauble?” He lifts his hand, the ring looking tiny between his fingers. “What do you expect you have to do to get it?”

“Whatever it takes.”

Lucifer laughs again. “What would you say if I gave it to you?”

“Give it - to me?” The Shadow’s voice is full of doubt.

“Indeed.”

“Evil creatures don’t just give things for free.” Sanford interjects.

“I feel a little insulted for you to call me evil, Sanford.”

“H-how do you know my name?”

Lucifer shrugs. “Comes with the territory. But no, I am not evil, regardless of what everybody keeps saying. But yes, I will give you the ring you so desire.”

The Shadow looks at him with a furrowed brow. “But why?”

“You don’t belong here. Look at the circles you have gone through. None of them are innocent. They all have sinned. They deserve whatever torture they are experiencing. You came here to right a wrong.”

“But you are Lucifer.”

“Yes, the fallen angel. Yes, yes, I know, I caused sin and war and everything. But as I said, you don’t belong in any circle.”

He holds out his hand. The Shadow looks at his companions and slowly steps forward, walking toward Lucifer. He reaches forward, palm upward and Lucifer drops the ring.

“Now go.”

“But where do I go from here? The prophecy did not say anything.”

“The Thunderforge. Follow your path and you shall find.” With these words, he turns around and leaves the quartet alone. Myfanwy, Alistair and Sanford walk up to The Shadow, who is staring straight ahead.

“Are you ok?” Myfanwy asks, putting her hand on his shoulder. He takes a while before he raises his hand to put it on hers and nods.

“Yes, I-I’m ok. Let’s finish this.”

Line-up for Match Day 2 against the Independent Athletes of Quebec

by **Gnejs** » Sat Jul 29, 2023 11:46 am

Killer Bob’s summer holidays

…holidays are always challenging because you look for a setup that ideally satisfies the needs of the entire family, and obviously booking an all-inclusive down on the continent somewhere is clearly something that ticks all boxes because the kids get theirs, there’s pools and natural waters with that azur shade, the alcohol is cheaper and the weather’s always warm and honestly that’s really what you want out of summer. It’s expensive though, flying down there. We could travel by boat of course, which is somewhat less of a financial punishment, but then you’re stuck for days on the boat. Granted, the alcohol is cheap and there’s most likely a pool, but you can’t count on the sun showing up for many of those nautical miles and besides the kids often get seasick and I’m done wiping up puke from the floor. It’s not like we absolutely cannot afford a trip down there, but it would strain us and that strain would be particularly prominent right when “everyday life” kicks off again sometime in mid-august and that’s a depressing enough time as is and I really don’t need worrying about money on top of all that.

So we decided to use the old car and drive around for a bit. We don’t have any cabin or summerhouse ourselves, but we do know a few people that do. The best house is a really quaint little cottage right by the white sand beaches on the southwestern tip of Ängby, but unfortunately it belongs to my wife’s brother’s father-in-law and if we were to stay there we’d need to do so together with Steve and his family and I can’t stand him so I vetoed it, much to the displeasure of the wife and kids (honestly I wouldn’t be surprised if we somehow ended up going there anyways). Fuck that, there are other places we can go and we did. They’re not as nice maybe, but nice enough and the people owning them and letting us stay are at least tolerable.

We spent about a week on the northwestern slopes with the Anderssons and their kids. It rained constantly but we had a decent time with many hours of board- and card games, among other things we did a UNO-tournament and I won, which was nice; I respect the Andersson kids because they don’t cheat and they face defeat gracefully (unlike fucking Steve’s brats). Other than that we read a lot of books, and I managed to finish two treatises by Johann Steingenwitt I’ve been struggling with for a while, something I considered a personal victory. Other than that nothing much out of the ordinary happened apart from that one night when Anders - the father of the family we were visiting - asked me if I wanted to do drugs and run 10k across the slopes and I said yes, because such an utterly random thing to ask caught me completely off guard, especially since I’ve always viewed Anders as a very traditional Unionist with a slight rightist bent - fucking boring, that is - but man was I wrong. We started by swallowing what clearly seemed like too many pills and then Anders started blasting a very stressful and energetic song from a portable speaker he had strapped across his chest, and then we just started running frantically and the song just repeated itself over and over again in an infinite loop and it was horrible until we got about 3k into it and the world just started to melt and I experienced vivid pictures of anthropomorphized ⊬ and ∄ sodomizing a duckrabbit that was either laughing or crying depending on how you look at it, and there was a choir of angelic children singing and throwing inanimate objects at the worst Enda Clentin look-alike I’ve ever seen, and then we just kept dancing all night until Anders had some kind of seizure and I just sort of dozed off and awoke around lunchtime the next day with that infernal song still playing and completely soaked in rain and vomit but feeling surprisingly well-rested. All in all I was very pleased with the week because it felt both productive and socially gratifying.

We traveled inland afterwards to stay with an old Friend of my wife’s and her family at their old repurposed smallholding on the edge of The Interior. The rain had finally subsided, but then we had to deal with mosquitoes and while my wife descends from a long line of bog dwellers I’ve always been more of a City boy and the itching was slowly driving me insane. But it wasn’t all bad because the World Cup is on and The Dandelions are playing for the first time and I suspect my wife’s Friend and her husband are highly functioning alcoholics due to their hefty supply of blotwine that they kept offering me, which made for a very nice combination all things put together. The kids have all gone crazy with what the papers are calling Clentinmania and World Cup fever and kept playing the official Dandelion94 song constantly. They were all convinced we would bulldoze Pasarga in the opening game and chided me for my slightly more pessimistic take, and said you should always always go into every game visualizing your team triumphing, something which seems like a surefire recipe for profound disappointment if you ask me, and sure enough The Wanderers came out on top and all the kids started crying, but really it was a good game and The Dandelions played well and it’ll be exciting to follow the upcoming fixtures. The Anomalies of Chromatika are up next and that’ll surely be a trial as well - of course, it’s the World Cup - but you never know.

That would’ve been a great vacation. We could go down to Græntfjall and Maigburg and watch The Dandelions play Chromatika, and then travel with them up to Hofvinger for the final game. I suspect the family would not be too keen on going there though, as they didn’t particularly enjoy Maigburg the last time we went, and besides: the money. Anyways, I truly enjoyed our days in the woods and the sun even battled its way out from beyond the gray clouds, but about four days in I was snapped out of my vacation mode and had to deal with work stuff because this really annoying lady from one of the other departments calls me and demands I deliver select sets of data; I had forgot I promised a few people I would assist with producing graphs, data and blocks of texts in mid-July, something that seemed like a straightforward thing back in June, but now sets off a very certain type of anxiety. Seeing as I didn’t think to bring my computer, I had to take our car and return back home, leaving wife and kids most annoyed and disappointed, but I smoothed over most of it by promising them we’d travel down and spend a few days with Steve and his family when I was done, so we’ll end up going there despite my best efforts.

Working from home wasn’t all that bad and I managed to sort most of everything in under two days, so then I just relaxed for a bit and I even managed to write some passable RP’s for the BBCode forum sports tournament I’m currently in, and that’s a good thing because I’m up against this really weird opponent where the setting is this material sort of afterlife and everyone’s supposedly dead and the level of meta is so intense I’m starting to lose track, but they did win the World Cup once so best to not leave anything to chance. And then last night there was a very intriguing development in these lazy summer days, because a Friend of Steve called me up to inquire if I could take on a hit. It’s no one less than Enda Clentin himself. The hit, that is, not the Friend. The Friend is Göran Drake, yes the Lokomotiv Esaias midfielder, although he insisted on being called “The Drake” when we spoke. You gotta love The Drake, and the money is really good; bagging those leaves would allow me to bring the entire family for a week or so down on the Terranean coast or maybe even further south. Or, another possibility, down to Hofvinger and the game against the Squash Remnants. But Clentin’s all the way off in Delte, and besides, do I want to off the man responsible for bringing The Dandelions to the World Cup for the first time? I just don’t know. To complicate matters further, an hour later I was approached by a shadowy figure when I went out to buy some milk - obviously some kind of deep state government type - and they propositioned me to take out “The Drake”. The money was less impressive, but there’s always a certain sense of financial security working for the state, because they always deliver what has been agreed upon, whereas a clearly mentally unstable “The Drake” seem like more of a gamble. But then again, working for the government? That’s a whole new level of Faustian stuff that I’m not sure I want to get tangled up in, because at the end of the day it all comes down to what kind of semi-retired assassin you want to be, and…

by **Saint Eleanor** » Sat Jul 29, 2023 12:11 pm

OOC: This is the last of the first-person Thirty Years articles, albeit with much help from the interviewee's parents. Beware.

World Cup 94 - Group D, first game
Saint Eleanor 3 (Rick Goldsmith goals 32' and 55', Natalie Monaco goal 87')
Vilita 5 (Riku Kasslin goal 12', Clarana Refiami goals 25', 42' and 66', Fyin Miateal 74')

Thirty Years of Eleanorians - 2001: "I did not pull on his leg or his shoes, that is wrong"
Published by Frank Butcher on May 29th 2005

OPAL and Intershop dominate the Eleanorian supermarket industry, with just over two hundred stores between them in a nation of 550,000. There are still plenty of independent groceries here and there, however - and anyone who wasn't at DV Johnson's in Trident one Saturday in February will have missed out on something. As Patrick Tring explains, "my daughter was getting very, very bored in the shop and couldn't find anyone he liked, so he tugged on the wide trouser leg of one of the other people in the fruit and veg aisle - and everything surrounding it - in the hope she'd have some fun."

The playful three-year-old, whose actions were caught on CCTV and later broadcast on national television, is clearly seen trying to drag a man in formal Army dress to the ground by holding onto his leg for a number of seconds. "I have had to tell Izzy multiple times at home that you cannot just try and attack people at random because it is not okay. To see her doing this to an Army man was just distressing and I had to tell her off a lot. From the looks of it, though, she's following through with the promise she gave me not to go doing this sort of nonsense any longer."

Sergeant Joe Benson, the victim of young Isabella Tring's sneak attack, was visibly uncomfortable at the time - but his concerns were allayed after the Tring family gave him reassurances, too. "Just telling Izzy what and what not to do wasn't enough. Joe goes around the local area a bit so I thought when he's off duty, ask him around for a coffee and talk about what my daughter did to him. He was understanding and said he had two children of a similar age at home but they preferred to play with things like cardboard boxes, not other people. He also said that Izzy had come closer to hurting him than some of the criminals he'd had to fight against, which isn't the most relaxing thing you could hear but still telling of how far my daughter's come. Especially not to listen to me like this!"

Patrick's wife Alex wasn't on the scene - she holds down a seven-day-a-week admin job with the district council - but was much less concerned about the incident when she heard about it. "Toddlers can't be prosecuted or detained by the Army, even in Saint Eleanor. Obviously I don't want Izzy keeping up this sort of behaviour as she grows up and navigates society, but I feel like it's my duty as a mother to respond in kind so I just gave her a few minutes of verbal telling-off and called her back at dinnertime. My husband's the disciplinarian and he took away a few of her favourite toys for a week or two."

Nor does it look as though Isabella is going to be apologising any time soon. "I was bored! When someone says I can't go in the car and I don't know what I want to eat for dinner, do you think I will stand and wait? The man said there was no wrong in what I did and I need to grow and learn in the world first! I think Mum and Dad did what is right but I did not like it and it was not what they should have done to remind me not to pull people who are walking without me asking them."

World Cup 94 [roleplays]

WCF-94 G2

Thirty Years of Eleanorians: 2000

Thirty Years of Eleanorians: 2001

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