Di Bradini Cup 57/U21WC78 RP And Scores Thread

[Tumbra]

Tumbra 0-0 Vdara

TMB (4-2-3-1): 12 - J Portman, 2 - C Maartens (18 - J Chen, 80'), 14 - H Edwards, 24 - D Kavanaugh (20 - W Nicholson, 80'), 3 - H Haigh; 15 - T Fordham, 16 - R McLaren, 23 - G Tobiasson (10 - L Simonyan, 88'); 7 - A Sorengard (17 - J Berkenbosch, 74'), 9 - O Chalmers; 26 - S Trethewey (22 - J Ruelan, 74')

TMB scorers: Nil

Player of the Match: Lavrentios Mellatos (VDR)

A Look Back at the Di Bradini Cup 51 Squad — Where Are They Now? Goalkeepers and Defenders

Tumbra's successes in international football has a pretty positive record. The Black Eagles and the Junior Eagles together have amassed three regional titles, one Under-18 World Cup, one Under-21 World Cup, two Eagles' Cups, and a World Cup final run. That record — all of that achieved in sixteen years — is the envy of most in the world of football. While the team's triumph in the 51st Di Bradini Cup tends to fly under the radar — it pales in comparison to the Under-18 World Cup triumph, which heralded the arrival of many national team stalwarts onto the world stage, that Di Bradini Cup — won against Adab, on penalties — is, to many involved in that triumph, the sweetest they'd been involved in. Matchday goes through the subsequent careers of those twenty-three men and women who took the stage in Valanora all those years ago; and evaluates their careers after. This article examines the goalkeepers and defenders in that squad.

Goalkeepers

Victoria Jones
The national team number one made her debut in Brenecia, which was hardly an ideal place for her to hone her craft by most standards; but she credits it with properly toughening her up. Her reward after a tough few years in the A-League was a homecoming to Lakewood City, which stuck her in goal. Since then she's been named Golden Glove winner once, and has been a regular feature in team of the season listings; and has earned fifty-three caps for the national team and kept thirty clean sheets.

David Ager
The goalkeeper was touted for great things, ironically enough, at Lakewood City; but when John Lennon retired, he couldn't take the step up and Jones was brought into the fold to be the Skylarks' number one. After sitting on the bench for a few more seasons, he decided to leave for Macarthur City; but his move coincided with their downswing and subsequent relegation to the second tier. He's been with them since, even with Macarthur's surprise relegation to the third tier this season; he has reportedly been looking for a move back into the second tier of the Tumbran footballing pyramid.

Richard Russell
It's said that Richard Russell and Victoria Jones are great rivals; but off the pitch, they're good friends, and more than once have been spotted together in Lakewood. The United shot-stopper was thrust into a starting role early, when Louis Addison retired; manager Mark van der Brumen allegedly wanted to test whether Russell would "sink or swim", as he admitted in his memoir. Russell has swam, and swam respectably; he's now the starting goalkeeper for the best-ranked side in the world after the IFCF 17 season. On the national team, however, he is quite clearly second-choice; compared to Jones' 53 caps, he only has 23, but has an equally admirable 12 clean sheets in those 23 games.

Defenders

Annie Renton
Renton started her career in Cassadaigua, originally playing for Carthage United before transferring to Victoriaville City; there, she came close to winning the Cassadagan title but never did end up winning one. Eventually, she secured a transfer back to Serrapince; and is expected to be the starting left-back for the club, with the departure of Chris Finney. National-team wise, Renton has held an almost undisputed start on the left-back spot, a traditional problem spot for Tumbra; she has 70 caps at the role.

Chris Finney
Finney ended up being one of the left-backs who didn't leave Tumbra; at one point, when the national pool comprised of him, Sabine Kemp, Renton, and Nicholas Moss, he was the only one playing domestically. Originally from Ridgewell, Finney made a big transfer to Serrapince; he now plays for Straton, helping to get the faltering giant back on its feet at the age of 30. He's unofficially retired from the national team, saying "it's time to pass on the torch"; but during his time as a Black Eagle, he won 43 caps and scored one goal.

Stephen Kerr
There's not much to be said. He's been on the Tornados World XI quite a few times, is one of the reasons why Chromatik have been as strong as they are, and is one of the most dependable defenders in the world. Though his trophy cabinet is full of stacks, he's never actually won a Champions' League title — an agonising loss to Partisan Sjoerdhaven on penalties being the closest the Tumbran vice-captain has come to success. Now vice-captain for both club and country, Kerr has won an eye-watering 181 caps for Tumbra, and scored 7 goals; most of them headers.

Wendy Pritchett
Pritchett joined Renton in Cassadaigua, being signed to Columbia (no relation to the Tumbran club). She then joined Victoriaville City, spending quite a few years there, before making a much-awaited homecoming to Lakewood United. She speaks fondly of her time in Cassadaigua, saying it "helped to toughen her up," but most football observers would comment (and the same applies to Renton) that her years in Cassadaigua may have been something of a missed opportunity. She did end up graduating to the senior national team, winning 54 caps and scoring 2 goals so far.

Ricardo Wyatt
Wyatt's loyalty, pundits say, is what has bogged down his career. Clyde born and bred, the defender has spent his entire career with the Lions, and reportedly will play there until he retires or the club doesn't want him anymore. But Wyatt's time at the club coincided with a downswing in Clyde's fortunes, something that was reflected in his very brief national team career; 3 caps, 1 goal at centre-back. Does he rue not moving overseas like so many of his compatriots? No, he will say; Clyde Park runs in his blood.

Barry Hamilton
Infamous for his rather testy relationship with Kerr — the two were youth prospects at Straton until the latter decided to leave for Chromatik — Hamilton's career never really took off. The second player in this list to not win a national team cap, Hamilton eventually joined Sturrey Athletic, where he's still playing. His lack of pace has been something that's let him down; though him being described as "difficult to get along with" won't have helped his career either.

Tracey Mercurio
One of the two who ended up going to Quebec, Mercurio — as fast as her surname says, she likes to say — has become a stalwart at Kingston, staying there long after Julie Hardaker left the league. Mercurio and her opposite number, James Green, have had a chokehold on the right-back spot for almost the entirety of their careers; both complement each other well. Mercurio is more offensively-minded; Green more defensive. That partnership was what allowed for them to win the Di Bradini Cup back in the day; and that has allowed both to be national team stalwarts, with Mercurio racking up 86 caps and one goal.

James Green
Initially slated for stardom at Couno (red half), frustration over playing time led to him following in the footsteps of the women in the squad and seeking a career outside of Tumbra. He landed at Bavingtor FC in Flavovespia, a very fruitful partnership for them both; in the near-decade of their association, Bavingtor have been a regular winner of the Flavovespian league, and Green has earned regular call-ups to the national team as a result. Sixty-five caps and two goals have dotted his national team career so far, with more likely to come as he enters the prime of his career.

Tumbra v Abanhfleft

Starters: 13 - B Whittaker; 19 - J Chen, 14 - H Edwards, 5 - A Reid, 19 - A Devine; 6 - C Holsworth, 16 - R McLaren, 8 - M Russelar; 17 - J Berkenbosch, 9 - O Chalmers; 11 - E Vesper
Bench: 1 - C Moreau, 12 - J Portman; 2 - C Maartens, 4 - R Campbell, 20 - W Nicholson, 24 - D Kavanaugh, 3 - H Haigh; 15 - T Fordham, 25 - S Rushmore, 23 - G Tobiasson; 7 - A Sorengard, 21 - C Taggart; 22 - J Ruelan, 26 - S Trethewey

[Abanhfleft]

Any plans that Roman Aydarov might have had about wrapping up his time as manager of Abanhfleft’s under-21 team with a trophy under his belt, just like what Kate Bernanos did with her final tournament with the women’s team in the Jenna Raven Cup, looked like they were about to go up in smoke. When Roman had first taken a look at the draw of the 57th Di Bradini Cup, he believed that Abanhfleft had been drawn into a winnable group. Vdara had not been doing well in recent times, Conania was a newcomer, and the fight for the group could go down to the wire against Tumbra. But Roman really should have known better. Any time Abanhfleft was expected to have an easy time in a football tournament, more often than not that was the time that they were going to struggle.

Take the game against Vdara for example. Initial scouting reports had suggested that they intended to play an attacking style of football, something not unlike what Abanhfleft had been utilizing previously before Roman Aydarov took charge of the under-21 team. However, once both teams actually took to the pitch, once Vdara took an early lead through Nikolas Zografides, Vdara immediately shut up shop, battened down the hatches, and didn’t look like they were actually too bothered to either go for a second goal or actually play football anymore. There was defensive football, the kind that Roman Aydarov had been brought in to play, and then there was what Vdara utilized to defend their lead against Abanhfleft, which in Roman’s opinion is what should actually be called negative football. Once Vdara had gotten their one-goal lead, they showed no interest at all at even attempting to try to increase it. All they wanted was for Abanhfleft to not score, and they accomplished that by making sure that play was stop-start, with the Young Revolutionaries unable to build up any momentum.

It was a good thing then that Abanhfleft had become better at taking their opportunities during set pieces because if it hadn’t been for Joven Montelibano getting the telling touch on Brandon Jandoc’s free kick in the 25th minute then this could have gone down as one of the most brutally boring games of football ever played. Joven Montelibano’s equalizer practically forced Vdara to come out of the shell that they had erected around themselves in order to regain their lead, and this showed that they were actually capable of playing “good” football: free-flowing, attacking, focused on scoring goals instead of stopping the other side from getting in their own attempts. There weren’t any rumors of the Vdaran manager’s job being on the line as well, at least as far as Roman had heard, so he had no idea why the Vdarans would think that it was a good idea for them to go for one goal and then basically chop down their opposition to prevent any sort of comeback from materializing. But once Vdara scored their second goal (and as it turned out, the winning goal) through Aksan Hamzaoglu in the last seven minutes, Roman finally understood why Vdara had played the way they did, especially now that Abanhfleft had proven wasteful with the chances that they did create.

And then Abanhfleft walked straight into the trap that was believing that they actually had a chance of winning against the newbies Conania. Roman Aydarov had thought that Conania was going to be an easy victory for his team, but then he realized that his team was Abanhfleft. If it was any other team then it probably would have handily won against Conania, but Abanhfleft never had easy times with these newcomers, and Conania was no exception. Abanhfleft almost always had the upper hand for nearly the entire game against Conania, but it just seemed that every time that the Young Revolutionaries found the back of the net, it wouldn’t be long before Conania responded with a goal of their own. Fair play to Conania for not giving up whenever the odds were against them, of course, but it was also easy to feel frustrated for the Fleftic players. They wanted to get the win so badly, especially after Vdara shocked the group just a few days ago, but Conania just wouldn’t let them have it that easily.

Inevitably, the young Fleftics started taking out their aggression on the Conanian players themselves. Nothing so egregious as to warrant an immediate sending-off, but there was definitely a growing amount of malice behind the tackles as the game went on and Conania remained practically tied to the hip with the Democratic Republic. As a result, the Conanian players spent as much time as they could on the ground in order not to feel more of the wrath of the frustrated Young Revolutionaries, leading to a whopping eight minutes being added on to the end of the proceedings. However, those eight minutes might as well have been eight seconds given how Conania held firm against their onslaught. Abanhfleft had taken over possession in those final eight minutes, but they might as well had let Conania have the ball anyway given how few chances the Young Revolutionaries actually managed to create, and how they couldn’t even manage to convert said chances.

With only seconds left of the eight added minutes, Abanhfleft still had possession but was only passing the ball around the edge of the box. Maybe they were trying to find a way inside or maybe they had finally accepted the inevitable sharing of points; no one could really tell. The ball arrived at the feet of Gilberto Panay, an extra striker who had been subbed on in place of central attacking midfielder Neil Ibuos to give Abanhfleft more options up front. He wasn’t a player who was known for having a long shot in him, thought that was more because he hadn’t had the opportunities in his career to fire off a screamer. With time running out, Gilberto was at the point in which he was willing to risk it anyway as the team had pretty much nothing to lose. He cocked back his right leg and went for goal, hoping against hope that he had gotten both the flight and the curve of the ball just right and it would slip into the top corner.

CLANG!

“Panay goes for goal… oh, that was close! That was so close! That really should have been the winning goal for Abanhfleft, but luck has once again eluded the Young Revolutionaries! But the ball has been cleared away by Conania, and that’s the end of it. The points are shared between Abanhfleft and Conania, and it’s definitely not the result that Abanhfleft would have wanted. That match against Tumbra in the final group stage game which everyone thought would be for top spot has now just turned into a fight for survival, not just for Abanhfleft itself but also for Roman Aydarov, whose job has been the subject of much speculation going into the Di Bradini Cup. The fairytale ending that Aydarov might have wanted for his time with the under-21s could still end in a fiery blaze…”

          CONANIA 3 - 3 ABANHFLEFT          
      PLANO (37')       J. LAKANDULA (23')
  SICURELLA (50')       GATDULA (45+1')
     MARCHI (79')       ECHANDE (70')

[Vdara]

Start As You Mean To Go On

With a squad that seemed to have been hastily cobbled together from the country’s best academies, little was expected from the youngsters that made up the Vdaran U-21s. Nevertheless, the two games they had played had provided them with some positive results - a strong victory over Abanhfleft and a draw with previous victors Tumbra saw them in a promising position going into the final group game against Conania. Whilst not being a well-known nation amongst even the most enthusiastic of Vdaran geographers (provided they pronounce it correctly), footballing fanatics have noted that their main team has been pretty handy in the Baptism of Fire, with their strong form coming to an end in the Round of 16. Do these performances have any basis when it comes to judging their junior team? Absolutely not. Will we mention it anyway? Of course!

Dressing Room

“Conana… Conanana… Conanaia? How do you pronounce this mob?”

“Conania, boss.”

“These people did this deliberately. They know I struggle with big words. Always have done, since I was an itty bitty boy like all of you. Well, not all of you - some of you were itty bitty girls, after all. Anyway, we did alright to hold on against Tumbra, but we’ll need to up the ante here. If we screw this up and fail to qualify, nobody will want to buy any of you.”

“But boss… I’d quite like to stay in Vdara? I feel like I’d get homesick anywhere else.”

Filippis looked towards the anxious player, and palmed their concerns off as if they were nothing.

“Sorry, kid, we’ve already got you earmarked for Serrapince.”

“But…”

“They’ll pay you nicely, now shut up.”

“Boss, where’s that?”

“Kid, you think I know? I just look at the numbers! The euros light up in my eyes like a cash machine, ding ding ding ding! Don’t you want that? Don’t you want the allure of sweet, sweet cash in your hands? International recognition? Come on, kid, bring some ambition into account here! Nobody cares if you slug out your career at some middling Alpha League club - I know nobody cared about mine. But the guys who went abroad? God, they’re written into folklore. Aim high, for god’s sakes!”

The player slumped backwards a bit, distraught at their dreams being ripped to shreds by the bald man in front of them. But really, it was no biggie - Filippis just wanted the best for them, so that in future he could hold his CV high and say ”give me that job, I’m the best, I’m the daddy of management” among other high praises. He wanted the Vdara job, and any time Moustakakos slipped up, he was going to bang his fists on his desk and demand it. Until then, however, he was a rather lowly employee of the Vdaran FA, and he would have to know his place. What better way to earn your way up, though, than to coach some youngsters to victory?

[Valanora]

Matchday 3

Group A
Carpathia and Ruthenia 2–1 Lisander
Commonwealth of Baker Park 0–2 Valanora*

P Group A                 Pld    W   D   L    GF   GA   GD   Pts 
1 Carpathia and Ruthenia    3    1   2   0     5    4   +1     5
2 Valanora                  3    1   1   1     4    3   +1     4
3 Baker Park                3    1   1   1     5    6   −1     4
4 Lisander                  3    1   0   2     5    6   −1     3

Group B
Quebec and Shingoryeo 4–0 Devonta
Farfadillis 2–3 Polar Islandstates

P Group B                                   Pld   W  D  L   GF  GA  GD  Pts 
1 Polar Islandstates                          3   3  0  0    7   3  +4    9
2 Farfadillis                                 3   2  0  1   11   7  +4    6
3 Quebec and Shingoryeo                       3   1  0  2    6   5  +1    3
4 Devonta                                     3   0  0  3    3  12  −9    0

Group C
The Kytler Peninsulae 2–1 Cabo Azure
TJUN-ia 1–0 Aphrilia

P Group C                                   Pld   W  D  L   GF  GA  GD  Pts 
1 The Kytler Peninsulae                       3   3  0  0    5   2  +3    9
2 TJUN-ia                                     3   2  0  1    5   3  +2    6
3 Aphrilia                                    3   0  1  2    1   3  −2    1
4 Cabo Azure                                  3   0  1  2    3   6  −3    1

Group D
Semarland 0–0 Saint-Jean-Jacques et Burnham-on-Stove
Cardenao 0–1 Yuezhou

P Group D                                   Pld   W  D  L   GF  GA  GD  Pts 
1 Semarland                                   3   2  1  0    4   1  +3    7
2 Saint-Jean-Jacques et Burnham-on-Stove      3   2  1  0    2   0  +2    7
3 Yuezhou                                     3   1  0  2    2   3  −1    3
4 Cardenao                                    3   0  0  3    0   4  −4    0

Group E
Vdara 3–1 Conania
Abanhfleft 0–1 Tumbra

P Group E                                   Pld   W  D  L   GF  GA  GD  Pts 
1 Vdara                                       3   2  1  0    5   2  +3    7
2 Tumbra                                      3   2  1  0    2   0  +2    7
3 Abanhfleft                                  3   0  1  2    4   6  −2    1
4 Conania                                     3   0  1  2    4   7  −3    1

Group F
Squornshelan Remnant States 2–1 Saterun
Vyktoria 1–5 Zenic

P Group F                                   Pld   W  D  L   GF  GA  GD  Pts 
1 Zenic                                       3   3  0  0   10   3  +7    9
2 Squornshelan Remnant States                 3   2  0  1    9   9   0    6
3 Saterun                                     3   0  1  2    5   7  −2    1
4 Vyktoria                                    3   0  1  2    9  14  −5    1

Group G
Sylestone 0–1 Bears Armed
Siovanija & Teusland 4–2 Crpostran

P Group G                                   Pld   W  D  L   GF  GA  GD  Pts 
1 Bears Armed                                 3   2  1  0    4   2  +2    7
2 Siovanija & Teusland                        3   2  0  1    5   3  +2    6
3 Crpostran                                   3   1  1  1    5   6  −1    4
4 Sylestone                                   3   0  0  3    0   3  −3    0

Group H
Tikariot 3–3 VonHoolia
Huayramarca 2–1 The 14 Stars

P Group H                                   Pld   W  D  L   GF  GA  GD  Pts 
1 The 14 Stars                                3   2  0  1    9   5  +4    6
2 Huayramarca                                 3   2  0  1    4   3  +1    6
3 VonHoolia                                   3   1  1  1    4   6  −2    4
4 Tikariot                                    3   0  1  2    7  10  −3    1

*Scorinated by Mertagne

Round of Sixteen Fixtures
Carpathia and Ruthenia v Saint-Jean-Jacques et Burnham-on-Stove @ Orange Gate Falls, Monaven
Polar Islandstates v TJUN-ia @ Turmondale Grounds, Raynor City
The Kytler Peninsulae v Farfadillis @ Metropolis, Ibini
Semarland v Valanora @ Rose Gardens, Kareen
Vdara v Huayramarca @ Caddo Park, Caddo
Zenic v Siovanija & Teusland @ Haramos Park, Cartmot
Bears Armed v Squornshelan Remnant States @ Raynor Memorial, Hondo
The 14 Stars v Tumbra @ Tiradir, Gladerial

[Zenic]

“After winning Group F, the Youthful Survivors will travel south to take on The Goldhorns of Siovanija & Teusland at Haramos Park in Cartmot.”

As the news coverage of the latest Di Bradini Cup results played on the television, FZF president Luke Killian looked over the bids and estimates for the repairs / reconstruction of several stadiums for use in the domestic league that he was tasked to restore at the behest of the Minister of Sports, Alaia Dimi. Luckily, places like Memorial Stadium and Lord Coohen’s Park simply needed some minor repairs before they would be safe for games to resume. Others were not so fortunate: places such as the International Globe and the Arena at Lotven suffered direct hits during the conflict or were used heavily as a refugee camp so repairs were expected to take substantially longer.

This put Killian into a predicament: delay the start of the league until all available teams were ready or commence the league in a diminished format before building back up to full strength season after season. It slowly started to look like the latter option may be the only option as some of the teams from the Premier League of the Empire and Amateur Championship had been shut down for several years now and others were in ownership limbo, effectively being owned by the local government and run for as cheap as possible. The federation and Ministry would have to negotiate with existing ownership to either: ramp up investment into their teams, convince the reluctant ones to sell their teams, or find new ownership (domestic or foreign) for the ownerless teams.

At the moment, the new league had around 14 clubs that could be brought up to acceptable levels within a few months, split between the former PLE and ACZ. Waiting would allow them to have every team start in the division they were in before the hiatus began while starting would probably force a haphazard 14 team first division. Should they go with the 14 team temporary league, they would have to have a format that relegates the bottom 2-4 teams to the second division once it picks back up in order to balance the divisions out. If possible, the ICON would love to avoid that situation.

In the meantime, Killian had some phone calls with prospective new owners to acquire the available clubs and give himself a better idea on how quickly he could get the necessary clubs up and running. Unfortunately, once he had that figured out, he would still need to work on rebranding the league system, potentially assisting in rebranding clubs that wish or need to relocate, and negotiating new tv deals (domestic and international). But, as the computer speakers played the little jingle to signify an incoming video conference, Killian turned his focus to schmoozing and dealing.

One headache at a time, he thought as he pressed ‘Accept Call’.

[Polar Islandstates]

SOUR CHERRIES
Volume Two; Chapter 9
ix.Sebastian
Volume One
i.Alexsandr - ii.Jasmine - iii.Stina - iiii.Federico - v.Jos - vi.Silas - vii.Marta - viii.Filip – ix.Sebastian - x.Ingeborg - xi.Aino - xii.The Twelfth
Volume Three
** ** ** ** **

“Thor’s Beard,” stammered Alexsandr, “am I ever relieved to see you, Sebastian, er, you’ll forgive me if I don’t get up?”

“Of course, of course,” said Sebastian, waving his hands dismissively as he took in the sheer amount of tables, chairs, and relative strangers between the two of them.

“Sorry, you two know each other already?” asked Jasmine, confused.

“Sebastian here and I have been contacts for a long time,” smiled Alexsandr, “back when I thought I could lead a revolution by myself, before I found myself woefully out of my depth and clueless as to where to go, with only an embassies worker in my contact book and no idea whatsoever of who to go to next. I’ve no doubt Sebastian here did his best at distributing the money I sent, but, I think it was there that I started getting disillusioned.”

Jasmine smiled warmly, “and then of course, you met me and got scared when I suggested we take you off the leash.”

“Oh, I’m still terrified,” clarified Alexsandr, “but seeing Sebastian here does at least make me feel like I might be on the right path after all.”

“And what was it you said you did?” asked Silas, shaking Sebastian’s hand warmly and trusting his judgement of character.

“I worked for the Remote Embassies Initiative at one point,” explained Sebastian, “they sent me out to Valanora to deal with Emmanuele Niemi after his accident whilst on u-21s duty, and then that later put me in touch with Federico over there during the subsequent World Cup campaign, but of course he doesn’t remember me, which, I don’t blame him for at all.”

“I remember a woman, mostly,” offered Federico apologetically.

“That would’ve been Charlotte, yes. My old boss. Temporarily, anyway,” explained Sebastian, “I was drafted into that division really, seeing as none of that entire department would’ve been able to explain the offside rule, whereas I’m a long-term sufferer of it...”

He flashed his FKRA Norregaard season ticket from inside his wallet, putting it down on the table alongside his coat and hat.

“And, now?”

“Well, now, the remote embassies are of course being made less remote. So, I’ve had something of a promotion.”

“Sorry, I’m behind here;” interjected Jos, “’remote embassies’? What’s a remote embassy?”

“An embassy that doesn’t require me to be in the actual nation, is the short answer,” said Sebastian, “the long answer is, well, a bit longer, but it basically boils down to the same thing.”

“Why wouldn’t you need to be in the same nation? Same nation as what?”

“Right,” said Sebastian, settling in for the longer haul, “so you know a regular embassy? With an ambassador and everything? To help the citizens abroad? Yeah, not so much of an issue when you have closed borders. There were ambassadors, don’t get me wrong, but their roles were limited and the administrative staff that surrounded them were tasked mainly with the upkeep of one person and one person only; the ambassador.”

“I suppose with no citizens abroad...” said Jos, catching on.

“Exactly, so. What was the need in a full-on embassy? Waste of money, right? Except that one day...” Sebastian clicked his fingers on both hands for emphasis, “suddenly there was. Suddenly, the nation was open because The Party said so. And so, equally suddenly, and also equally because The Party said so, there were hundreds and thousands of Polarians being sent abroad to usher in a new wave of foreign money into the nation. Oh, sorry, did I say the quiet part out loud? I meant, ‘to build bridges and reinforce international ties’. Only, turns out the problem with having gaslit your entire population into thinking that ‘foreign equals bad’ for an entire generation is that nobody really wants to go, and those that are persuaded to don’t really know what to do when they get there. So, all of a sudden, people like me, people who were very closely watched indeed for having picked topics like foreign politics or Rushmori history at university, are massively in demand. Except there’s not enough of us to go around, and even if there was, there’s no way of suddenly snapping your fingers and having fully-fledged consulates spring up around Rushmore and beyond. So, I’ve spent a lot of time in video-calls over the past few years.”

“Makes sense, I suppose,” said Jos, thinking about his own potential future role, “so presumably there are some people who understand communications networks after all.”

“I wouldn’t be so sure,” said Sebastian with a dismissive curl of his top lip, “I spent a lot of time talking to foreign techs about bandwidth.”

“But now you’ve been promoted?” asked Silas.

“Well, in that the idea of having a physical presence in all these countries has been shown to be a good one, I suppose,” conceded Sebastian, “so who better to aid with the setting up and expansion of the old ‘ambassador support teams’ into a proper embassy than someone who’s already been doing the job over the phone already?”

“Well, congratulations, I suppose.” Said Silas.

“Thanks, although it’s turned out to be more work than I thought for. Originally I was only being asked to be in charge of the planning and implementation of my previous ‘zone’ in Terranea, but turns out I’m quite good at it, so I’m being dragged all over the place at the moment. Something of a firefighter, I guess.”

“Oh?” asked Jasmine, smiling.

“Pavola, The Vatmark, The Goose Coast... You name it, I’ve been there recently, and might well have to be again, if you catch my drift...”

Jasmine and Silas looked at each other and then back to Sebastian.

“Say, how much contact would you say you have with foreign dignitaries as part of your job?” asked Jasmine.

“Oh, not much actually. I generally spend my time with the Polarian staff, or their ‘home nation’ counterparts.” He answered. “There are the odd official event with foreign diplomats that I get invited to, with increasing frequency as my roles develop, actually, but that’s about it I think.

“Damn,” said Jasmine, perfectly unison with Silas, albeit with one key difference.

“Great,” said Silas.

“What?” asked Jasmine, confused.

“Well we don’t want Mr Jung here talking through official channels, do we?” clarified Silas, “That’s kind-of the whole point? Whereas, Sebastian, correct me if I’m wrong, but would you say an awful lot gets said off the record, in these situations?”

“Oh, for sure,” nodded Sebastian in turn, catching on instantly, “but of course the only things that get back to The Party are what’s happening officially. So far as I know, anyway. It’s possible there are other people feeding things back but, I have a fairly good idea by this point of which ambassadors are the more, shall we say, enthusiastic Party members.”

“Oh?”

“Yeah. Don’t look for any help from Astograth, basically.”

“Oh. Well that’s, disappointing.” Said Jasmine sadly.”

“Not officially, anyway. The ambassador there is a first-wave card carrying lunatic, and the ‘Grathi administration are always going to go for the status quo. As far as I can see it, anyway.” sniffed Sebastian. “But that doesn’t mean there aren’t plenty of other good politicians out there, neutral as far as they can be, who would tell their foreign counterparts the whole truth when push came to shove.”

Alexsandr was impressed, despite himself. He knew Sebastian was growing up, and had been too busy to keep in touch recently, but this display of self-assured fact delivery and casual revolutionary talk was a far cry from the slightly nervous penpusher he’d first got to know back in Jan Mayen. Back then he’d been the leader of the ‘campaign’, of course. Green in his own way and totally naïve about what regime change might require. But now, with Alexsandr’s cold feet being just about held at bay by the persuasive rhetoric that Silas and Jasmine were deploying, he found himself totally convinced by Sebastian’s character. He wasn’t being cocky or arrogant in any way, but simply confident. Maybe they really could pull this off, after all?

“And these ‘messages’ of what’s happening back home,” said Jasmine, “you’re happy you could tell those to the right people?”

“At the right time,” smiled Sebastian.

“You make it sound so easy...” muttered Stina.

“Oh, it won’t be,” added Sebastian, cutting across her with a shake of the head and raised eyebrow, “I know full well what’s going on here. This isn’t an overnight job. We can’t do anything quickly here, and nothing is going to change overnight. I could fly out to Eura tonight and play some cards, but they’ll take months to be ready. Years, even. We’re planning a garden here, folks. You’ve got to plan ahead for something to fill out and plug the gaps by planting it now. We’re gardening. Sowing seeds to reap later on.”

“I like this guy,” smiled Silas, pointing at Sebastian but looking at Alexsandr, “where on earth were you hiding him?”

“I honestly didn’t even know he was in the country,” shrugged Alexsandr, “last we spoke we were pausing our endeavours until we worked out what was going to happen with this upcoming vote. Come to think of it, why were you hiding from me?”

“Mm?”

“The disguise,” gestured Alexsandr, “why didn’t you just, take it off earlier?”

“Come to think of it,” said Federico, “why are you even here, of all places?”

“Same reason as Marta,” nodded Sebastian, “well, no, okay not exactly the same reason, but, I was also led to believe that a meeting of the Viljallans SC Valhallan Supporters Group was going to happen today, and I’m going to Tikariot in the next few weeks, so I was hoping to get a headstart on some Valhalla-sympathetic contacts out there that I could lean on. By the way, Marta, I don’t know if we’ve been set up by the same person but I’ll settle up for whatever value they told you they’d pay.”

“Like hell you will,” said Alexsandr, to a grateful smile from Marta, “I’ve got that, but why the disguise?”

“Well, same reason you keep jumping up, Alexsandr, I suppose,” continued Sebastian, “and the same reason you all need to get better at keeping your voices down. Once I realised there was nobody here that had even heard of Viljallans, I kept my head down in case it was a sting or something. Then of course, you walked in, and whilst that didn’t immediately dispel the idea that it still might have been a trap, Jasmine there popped up and started gabbing away, and then by the time the rest of you appeared I figured it had just... gone on a bit too long. And the longer it went, the more awkward it would become.”

“How uniquely Polarian of us,” chuckled Stina, “the idea that a revolution almost didn’t come together because of social embarrassment...”

“Although,” said Silas thoughtfully as the gentle laughter died down, “that’s not a bad thought. Do you think we should... you know.”

The rest of the group followed the direction of Silas’ subtle nods in the direction of the last remaining person in the café who hadn’t joined their increasingly large group in the corner.

“For completeness, if anything else?” offered Jasmine, surrendering to whatever fate had brought them together.

“I suppose so?” agreed Alexsandr, warily.

“We only have grassroots and OO left on my wish list, after all,” said Jasmine, “and if she was trouble, we’d’ve known it by now, surely...”

Despite the obvious risk, there was nonetheless something of a devil-may-care attitude amongst the group by now, and the collective will was definitely leaning towards bowing to the inevitable. Silas stood up and walked over, clearing his throat, but just as he was about to extend a hand and introduce himself to the stranger, the door to the café crashed open with a bang that startled everyone.

Any fears that this was a raid however were soon extinguished when a tall, lanky youngster, with pink and purple dyed hair and an impressive collection of facial piercings burst into the café, clutching a handful of colourful leaflets in one hand and a ripped poster along with an open bottle of beer in the other.

“Marta! You old tart,” shouted the youth with a cackle, “you been holding out on me? What’s this about a contact?!”

Slamming the poster down on the counter, the youngster looked behind it for Marta, and, seeing nobody, turned around confused. Spotting Marta with a group of people of wildly different ages and appearances seemed only to confuse the youngster further, who took a swig of the beer, belched loudly as if to underline this confusion, and then used the bottle to wave at the assembled crew.

“Okay then Marta, who’re your friends. You been having orgies again?”

There was a gentle ripple of shock where Alexsandr could practically hear the eyebrows raising one by one, such was the pregnant silence whilst everyone expected someone else to talk next.

“Well, she’s certainly not OO...” said Federico quietly, announcing what everyone except presumably Marta was thinking, although with an inside knowledge that nobody else there was aware of.

“No,” came a voice from the corner.

Ten sets of eyes whipped round. The woman that Silas hadn’t gotten as far as shaking the hand of was standing up, slowly but assuredly, and was making sure to raise herself up to her full not inconsiderable height, punctuating the move with a tap of her steel-toe-capped boot against the floor.

“She isn’t OO,” she continued, “but I’m rather afraid I am...”

** ** ** ** **
Volume Three
i.Alexsandr - ii.Jasmine - iii.Stina - iiii.Federico - v.Jos - vi.Silas - vii.Marta - viii.Filip – ix.Sebastian - x.Ingeborg - xi.Aino - xii.The Twelfth
Volume One

[TJUN-ia]

The Random Rambles of a Jaguar
with Killian Looker

Can you talk about the U21s? Sure. You know what, considering they just qualified for the DBC Ro16, let's dedicate the 3rd episode of this little thing to the Young Jaguars...and some of the questions I have seen relating to Philip van Oosterend and his program. Before I start, I want to say is that personally I'm indifferent when it comes to the U21s - we need a player pathway to develop the next generation of Jaguars in this Esportivan Era we are now in and the U21s haven't failed in that mission just yet - but some people have reservations about this system and I want to talk about them here.

Where is the fluidity?
Now this is an interesting one that comes about in most TJUN-ian teams, but especially in football...and for good reason. TJUN-ian football can be split into 5 tiers of players - Starters, Tier 1 Subs (who are a part of tournament squads), Tier 2 Subs (available in qualifying), U21 Starters and U21 Subs. No matter who you are or your position, you will fall into one of these five tiers. Most don't mind this system as it brings about stability and both David Seems and Li Xiu Ying have earned the right to pick their favourites, but others feel that our U21s aren't getting many opportunities to shine in the Jagaurs as they are mostly stuck in T2 Subs until things open up above. In my opinion, maybe adding some fluidity could improve our fortunes on the international stage...but we will never know for certain until we try something different.

What about U18s?
The DBC isn't the only youth competition out there as the U18 World Cup is in the middle of its 21st Edition right now. Some people have suggested that the future of TJUN-ian football may lie with the U18WC, either alongside the DBC or as the main focus of the Young Jaguars from here on out. Now with this one, I'm sceptical. Sure, more game time for the prospects can only be a good thing, but would adding a 6th and 7th tier to this pyramid make things even worse in the logjam debate? It could work, but I'm not certain.

Is Philip van Oosterend next in line?
There has been talk about when, eventually, Seems and Li go...and who might be in contention to replace them. As the head coach of the U21s, van Oosterend is seen os the clear favourite right now and for good reason - but could he work as Jagaurs manager? That is hard to say right now, but there certainly is potential in both him and his brother Max.

That's all I have for now. See you next time (if there even is a next time).

TJU 1-0 APH
Sylvia Usabyimana 56'
Next up: Ro16 vs Polar Islandstates

---

SCHEDULE
MD1: vs The Kytler Peninsulae L 1-2
MD2: vs Cabo Azure W 3-1
MD3: vs Aphrilia W 1-0 (2nd/2-0-1/6pts/+2GD)
Ro16: vs Polar Islandstates (B1)

[Tumbra]

Abanhfleft 0–1 Tumbra

TMB (4-3-3): 13 - B Whittaker; 19 - J Chen, 14 - H Edwards, 5 - A Reid (4 - R Campbell, 79'), 19 - A Devine (3 - H Haigh, 79'); 6 - C Holsworth, 16 - R McLaren, 8 - M Russelar (23 - G Tobiasson, 88'); 17 - J Berkenbosch (7 - A Sorengard, 84'), 9 - O Chalmers; 11 - E Vesper (26 - S Trethewey, 84')

TMB scorers: Johan Berkenbosch (80')

Player of the Match: Rachel McLaren [TMB]

A Look Back at the Di Bradini Cup 51 Squad — Where Are They Now? Midfielders, Wingers, and Strikers

Continuing off from last time, this article now examines the subsequent careers of the midfielders, wingers, and strikers in the squad. This squad is full of heavy hitters and players who eventually graduated to the full national team; of the eleven players examined last article, only two didn't manage to win a single cap at all.

Midfielders

Trudy Harrison
Harrison was the star of her under-18 squad, and was the best player in this tournament as well. Sinking the decisive fifth penalty against Adab which won the Junior Eagles their first, and to date only, Di Bradini Cup, her career with Chromatik has seen the club win several Red League titles, also reaching the Champions' League final (in which they lost to Partisan), and is the captain and most famous name on that squad. A similar level of success has crossed her national team career; even at the age of 30, she already has 190 caps for the Black Eagles, and looks set to eclipse Vincent Hicks' current standing of 211.

John Lawrence
Lawrence was another player who broke through at Straton at the same time as Barry Hamilton and Stephen Kerr; the solid midfielder, however, never did manage to get called up to the national team. Now 30, he's moved to West Couno United, where he plays as a deep-lying midfielder who transitions play from defence to offence; and is one of the hardest workers on the pitch, says manager Samara Kaniatarii. He's also quite infamously media-shy; choosing not to give interviews when he can avoid it and reportedly speaks of football as a "day job" rather than a passion, as so many others do.

Susan Monaghan
The scrawny Southport native would end up starting her career, also in Brenecia — though she was spared the up-and-downs of Brenecian midtable football, joining the Northern Stallions and quickly becoming one of the best in Brenecian football. That promise would earn her a transfer to Sabrefell Athletic, where she would end up winning the Jade Boot — for best player in the famed Nepharan Zenith. The exodus of foreign players from that league, and Athletic's reluctance to offer her a new contract, however, meant she would end up leaving. The latest transfer window sees her move back home, to Lakewood City; where it's expected she'll be the major creative presence and finally be the successor to Phil Cole the club have been begging for forever. She made her debut for the national team quite quickly, too, and has amassed 72 caps and 11 goals so far.

Valerie Morris
Morris came through at Delphi — which is a historical district in Serrapince, albeit one that has been lost to time — and eventually secured a big-money move to Lakewood City. The consensus was that she was a talented playmaker in the middle of the field; what writers have come to less of a consensus about is whether she attained her full potential at City or not. A relatively long, if sparse, national team career — thirty-three caps and three goals, spread sporadically from the twelfth Eagles' Cup to qualifying for the ninety-fourth World Cup — saw her performances respected, but she never really anchored a spot on the national team like Harrison had. She now plays for West Couno, having left City just this year; and looks set to revitalise her career with the Pilots.

Ian Robertson
Robertson is now universally considered to be the latest bloomer on the team; he struggled to break through at Nantwich, the club where he played during his youth career, and decided to stake his future on a risky transfer to Ridgewell Rovers, a team stuck in the mire of the lower midfield. It was a move that paid off, surprisingly enough; having been scouted by Desmond Clarke, widely considered one of the most wily managers transfers-wise in Tumbra, he broke through into the Ridgewell midfield, forming a partnership with Nepharan Malachite Riester. He has since been integral to the rise of Ridgewell up the ranks; and has been rewarded for it, in part, with appearances starting in the World Cup 93 cycle. Since then, he's picked up 57 caps for the senior national team, is held in great esteem as the successor to Vincent Hicks (even though he's only four years younger) and looks set to be the starting midfielder for Tumbra, at least for this cycle.

Mark Finnemore
"Mark is a one-of-a-kind player," said manager Marco Giuliani when Finnemore completed his transfer from Hesham to Couno. "His effort on the pitch is often not seen, and he flies under the radar, but he brings an intelligence and gentleness to the game that shows he respects the game and its tactical background." Often lambasted for lacking speed — his Dream Team card on Ultimate Football has often been seen as "discard fodder" due to his high overall but low pace — Finnemore has anchored the Couno Rangers' midfield for the better part of a decade, relying on his tactical awareness and vision to stop marauding midfielders and wingers from advancing too far. His specialty is interceptions and positioning — the often-cited retort to his lack of pace being that he simply doesn't need it — has seen him win one league title with the Rangers, and pick up sixty caps for the Black Eagles. In one of Tumbra's most competitive spots, defensive midfielder, he's stuck around far longer than someone often dismissed for his lack of pace would seem to be by gamers.

Wingers

Valerie Wells
Valerie Wells would start her career at Swangard in Quebec, which, to her, was about "the furthest place from Fontwell I could probably have been thrown." She got closer to home after a few years, with a multi-million dollar transfer to AFC Treason in Nephara; and achieved success there, though it did come at the tail-end of a dominant era for Nephara's most successful club. She's now home, as are many Tumbran stars in Nephara, in Tumbra — having signed for Lakewood United, as the long-term successor to the now-retired Kendra Considine, stealing the fire away from one Tobias Grandelius — who was originally expected to fill that spot. National-team wise, she's had a fruitful career — 151 caps and 26 goals — and has the fourth-highest number of caps behind Harrison, Kerr, and someone else who's coming up.

Alistair McGarry
McGarry's career is probably the greatest disappointment in this list; and that's not something thrown around lightly. Starting his career at the unfancied Glenmont team in southern Hamilton, he soon rose in skill and popularity after this Cup; which earned him a transfer to Clyde Park, then a high-flying side who'd themselves lost their own shining star, Neil Fraser, to Lakewood City. McGarry was expected to perform immediately; but he didn't. He spent half a season as a starter, and then was brutally taken off the team. Some say his confidence never recovered from that, and was eventually sold to Colbrook City a few years later, where he's stayed since. He's reserved and doesn't often give media interviews, though rumours have seeped through that he's considering an early retirement from the sport. He never made it to the national team.

Lynne Crossley
Starting at Strathcona, Lynne would go on to be the major player in their one Kelssek title charge; before a few bad seasons and a general exodus of foreign players of Kelssek would see her land at Crossroads, in Chromatika. Often seen as the least-well performing of the three clubs near the capital of the country, Crossley would spend a few seasons there before moving to Chromatik to link up with both Harrison and Kerr, being a part of their latest Challengers' Cup final run. She's won 115 caps on the national team, with her career progression impeded a bit by the other giant on the right wing — Robin Vaughn — but she's made the right wing her own.

Richard Baker
Baker was originally touted for great things at Nantwich, but injuries set his career back substantially; that and the signing of Luo Nanwei at Nantwich put a substantial block in his career that he wasn't able to get over. Eventually, Baker, despite being rated for his goalscoring abilities, left for Colbrook — where he's team-mates with Alistair McGarry. It's been a relatively disappointing career so far for someone so highly-rated; and that's been reflected in his lack of callup opportunities for the national team, though considering how stacked right wing has been on the national team, perhaps it's not entirely a disappointment.

Strikers

Nick Riordan
Possibly the highest-profile name on this team-sheet, this Di Bradini Cup was actually Riordan's second Di Bradini Cup. His striking instincts were on show even through this tournament; the striker with a cannon of a right foot would land four goals in the nine games of the tournament. He would, of course, become Tumbra's starting striker for nearly a decade, amassing 182 caps and 82 goals; but his national team career would end in spectacular fashion as he walked out on the national team in the middle of World Cup 95. That event has basically ended his national team career, and he is considered toxic in Tumbra; so much so that no Tumbran team was interested in him when Nephara had a huge exodus of foreign players. He now plays for Atletik in Mytanija, at the age of 31; but his national team career, according to every source, is definitively over.

Julie Hardaker
Julie Hardaker has always been a strange figure in the national team. Equally adept at right wing and as a striker, Hardaker has been a wildcard when it comes to positioning; being deployed as both a right-winger and a striker for both club and country. Making her debut for Perce Town, she was mentored by Tumbran legend Daniel Galbraith; she then secured a big-money move to Myana, where she plays today under former Tumbran national team manager Marco Hemmings. National-team wise, she's picked up 51 caps and scored 13 goals; an impressive return for someone who's often been overlooked as one of the key members of this Di Bradini Cup side.

Tumbra v The 14 Stars

Starters: 12 - J Portman; 2 - C Maartens, 5 - A Reid, 14 - H Edwards, 3 - H Haigh; 6 - C Holsworth, 8 - M Russelar, 10 - L Simonyan; 17 - J Berkenbosch, 21 - C Taggart; 11 - E Vesper

[The Kytler Peninsulae]

The Farfadilis reputation for youth development is strong enough that Kytlerian top-tier club Vengife Town picked up a teenage player from one of their academies effectively sight unseen. (And Aji Loj Zhuyu remains a mystery box even now, given his injury-hit first season.) Their Under-21 side ought to be among the favourites at every Di Bradini Cup.

But the Di Bradini Cup doesn't really do "favourites." It's mercilessly unpredictable that way. And after the Polarians beat them 3-2 to claim top spot in their group and continue their quest towards becoming the first back-to-back DBC winners since Cosumar, the Farves are now faced with an octofinal meeting with a Kytlerian side who hold a 100% record and far fewer fears than you might expect given the context of that first paragraph.

"They have weaknesses, at least defensively, we can exploit," insisted Paula Foster, who is taking temporary charge of the Kytlerian U21 side in between her day job with the AFC Edencliff club that has provided many of its key players. "They're always looking for goals, but I don't think they have the balance that I think we do. We just have to remember not to force the issue, they're going to give us chances and given what they can do going forward we know we have to take them."

That assessment is certainly backed up by La Vherderoja's group stage. No team scored more than their 11 goals in group play; the seven they conceded was a worse defensive record than four teams who finished bottom of their respective groups, and the Squornshelan Remnant States were the only other side who escaped their group allowing more than five. This is a team who truly seem to believe the best way to hold on to a lead is to score another goal to make it bigger, and considering the popularity of such an approach among many nations at senior level as well, you could almost call it at least adjacent to the current international soccer meta. But, as senior national team manager Andrew Patterson - who got that job after taking the Under-21 side to the quarter-finals of the last DBC - put it, "there will always be a place for balance, for defensive diligence. Paula is more attack-minded than me, we've seen that at Edencliff, but she's not foolish, and more to the point she's got midfielders and defenders available to her who definitely aren't foolish. You look at what (Ceedast) Baspaalt does as the holding midfielder, (Oliver) Vandome gets stuck in, and even the front three - they press well as a unit, they aren't just goalscorers or goal creators for each other, they create mistakes (from opponents) as well."

And they're doing all this, remember, without Vincent, the jewel of this new Kytlerian generation. Plenty more teenagers are coming through the ranks in the NSL and the Gregg's League level below that, and the only reason there was not an U18 World Cup entry was a deliberate bid not to expose some of these players to the added demands of an international offseason tournament. Maybe, just maybe, the Kytlerians are going to end up with their own youth development reputation at this rate. They're certainly on track.

[Saint-Jean-Jacques et Burnham-on-Stove]

World Cup 96 roster analysis

Ianisle, Valanora - I'm still in Valanora to cover the Under 21 team. Saint-Jean-Jacques et Burnham-on-Stove had a 0-0 draw against Semarland and both teams are tied, however, Semarland have a higher goal difference and they're 1st and we're 2nd. Once again, Anne-Élisabeth Mongrain had a terrific game, blocking all 11 shots on target.

The Jean-Jacquois and Burnhamese made the round of sixteen and will play against Carpathia and Ruthenia in Monaven (Yes, a train ride!). Guillaume Castonguay will be back in the starting XI after serving a one game ban for having two yellow cards (and a red one) in matchday 2. However, Zhang Hao Yu has a knee injury and will miss at least two weeks of activity. Haley Dockendorf Salazar will replace him against Carpathia and Ruthenia and if the Tapirs win, she could remain in the starting XI for the quarterfinals.

GAME SUMMARY

No goal

Let's analyse the World Cup 96 roster. I'm not a soccer expert, I'm currently studying a bachelor degree in journalism at the Université nationale de Saint-Jean-Jacques-sur-Mer but I think my knowledge in soccer is good enough to analyse a roster.

In goal, there is no surprise there. Serge Bleau-Bean is the uncontested starting goalkeeper since the creation of the national team. Neither Threadgold or Moineau, currently #2 and #3 can take over eventually.

There is a surprise at side defender. Both Félix and Nathan Bourguignon (coach's two sons) will sit on the bench and play as subs. Nathan McCaskill, 23 years old, has been selected on the starting XI instead of either one of the two sons. McCaskill will play on the right side while verteran Emily Schmidt will be on the left side. Tristan Gibouleau-Beaudoin and Renato Ramirez De Jesus are on the starting XI at cental defense. The McCormack sisters, Pierre-Antoine Bigeault-Généreux, now at 36 years old, and 3 young players will join the Bourguignon brothers on the bench.

No surprise at midfielders. Scarlett and Alyssa McCaskill will play side midfielders while Nathan Fauteux-McGrath will be the defensive midfielder. Charlotte Gibouleau-Beaudoin is expected to play a bigger role despite she's not in the starting XI. She can replace at both central and side midfielder. Gockley, Klingenberg, Baumgartner and Ng will sit on the bench with newcomer Rose Van der Jagt who has a bright future.

The three strikers remains unchanged with Frédérique Goudreau-Luneau being the central striker and Louis-Philippe Berlinguette and Allie O'Hara playing on both sides. Clara Kurtz will be on the bench along with rookies Lily-Rose Malboeuf, Megan Klingenberg and Rosalie Clairoux. I'm very happy for my friend Lily-Rose who cracked the team roster. We met two years ago in Valanora Banija, it was our first DiBradini Cup, as a footballer for her and as a journalist for me and we became friends.

Chloé Bellefleur

[Carpathia and Ruthenia]

In a game that went down to the wire, it turned out that heads we win

As the minutes began to count down and the final whistle blown at the Valanora vs Baker Park match, eyes began to turn to the current Group A table and with Carpathia & Ruthenia and Lisander equal on points, and drawing currently (meaning equal in head-to-head), some commentators began to erronously state that Lisander would progress as things should due to having scored 5 goals in the tournament so far as compared to Carpathia & Ruthenia's 4. However if things stayed the way they did currently it would in fact be decided on the flip of a coin. All Carpathia & Ruthenia's hard work in the tournatment so far would come down to the fickle flip of fate. Gioachino Brunetti obviously preferred to take matter's into their own hands, or more specifically their own head as rising gloriously to meet the lofted ball from a free kick given in the dying moments of the match, headed the ball into the top corner to not just remove the need for tiebreakers, but sending us expectedly top of the group.

After a well deserved celebration though we'll need to refocus on our round of sixteen match against Saint-Jean-Jacques et Burnham-on-Stove and although progressing top of the group has given us in theory the "easier" draw Saint-Jean-Jacques et Burnham-on-Stove with be no pushovers remaining unbeaten with two wins and a draw and only themselves in second place due to a coin-flip for placement.

By Margita Ongaro
CBC Ruthenia

Carpathia and Ruthenia 2 - 1 Lisander              
  Brunetti 74'      FT       Misano 3'   
 Brunetti 90+6'                              


The Battleground, Raynor City, Valanora

[Valanora]

It was not the group stage that the youth team was hoping for after having made the Final in the previous edition of the tournament, falling late in the first game at the Battelground, failing to find their shooting boots against fellow Arrosian side in Carpathia and Ruthenia, and then facing down another Arrosian region mate in Baker Park in a must win to advance. The opening game against Lisander will be one that will have a lot of talking points for fans, as they saw three goals called off by the officials for what were criminally close offside calls. On another day, they could have possibly had hit five or even six against Lisander if those decisions had gone their way and not the way of Lisander, who had two of their goals questioned for themselves being marginally offside as well. That sort of opening win would have likely provided the momentum the team would have needed to get those better efforts against Carpathia in the second match where they hit the woodwork a handful of times and saw another two goals properly ruled out for offside calls again, once more leaving the fans quite frustrated and fretting heading into the final group stage match.

Baker Park had been seen to be open in the first two games, having given up four goals between their opening two matches and the Marauders knew that if they could just hold their runs a little better and work a few more opportunities in the box, the chances would be there to covert. However the bigger concern was on the backend, where the side had far too easily conceded goals to Lisander in the opening game before seeing a more promising performance in the second match. As it would be, the Marauders would be dominating the possession early and seeing off an early chance by Baker Park, Tobias Propst easily clutching a weak shot to his chest. A few minutes later, Mathis Hovland cut in from the left hand side and wiggled past his defender before beating the keeper at his near post between his legs with a well placed shot with enough pace to get through before the save could be made. In the second half, right as he was about to be subbed off, Gabriel Sørensen was slipped in behind the defense and made no mistake with his low shot in the far corner. It was the insurance goal but Propst would only have to make two more saves the rest of the match to see the side into victory and scrape their way into the knockouts.

In the knockouts they will face former regional rivals Semarland who topped their group despite just four goals to the good and are coming off a game where they were held scoreless. While on the surface that seems like it might bode well for the Marauders, they are also a side that only were forced to concede once in their group and are unbeaten through those first three games. It will be a clash of conflicting styles as the Marauders will want to try and control the game and push on to the attack while it seems Semarland is more content to hold for long portions of the game before striking hard on the counter attack. It is a game in which the team from the Empire has to think that the home advantage should see them through but they have already been upended twice on home soil and needed the heroics on the final day to even make it this far. Nothing can be taken for granted and I would not be surprised to see a more cautious approach from the Marauders to start the game or perhaps even a tactical or formation shift if they can not find a way to break down their staunchly defensive opponents.

[Vdara]

Plenty Company At The Top

It was goals galore in Vdara’s final group stage match, as they swept Conania aside with a comfortable 3-1 victory on Vanorian soil. In truth, not much had been expected of their adversaries, but the Vdarans nevertheless gave it their best efforts, with Grazzja Le Brun netting a memorable hattrick. Akadimia Valletta’s young full back, who came on for an injured Kostas Panides, had the Conanians on strings, with Ismailov in nets left bewildered by the young Maltese’s ability.

”I honestly don’t know where it came from,” began Le Brun. ”I don’t think I’ve ever scored three goals ever, never mind in one game! Who knows, maybe I’m just Her, y’know?”

Vdara’s youngsters return to action against Huayramarca in the Round of 16, where Caddo Park will play host to a fixture many have labelled as “on television”, and “maybe something to watch in the background”.

[Valanora]

Round of Sixteen
Carpathia and Ruthenia 2–2(3–2 AET) Saint-Jean-Jacques et Burnham-on-Stove
Polar Islandstates 3–0 TJUN-ia
The Kytler Peninsulae 2–1 Farfadillis
Semarland 3–5 Valanora*
Vdara 1–1(1–1 AET) (5–6 pen.) Huayramarca
Zenic 1–1(1–2 AET) Siovanija & Teusland
Bears Armed 1–0 Squornshelan Remnant States
The 14 Stars 0–1 Tumbra

*scorinated by Ko-oren

Quarterfinal Fixtures
Carpathia and Ruthenia v Polar Islandstates @ Hatire Memorial, Capri
The Kytler Peninsulae v Valanora @ Donna Cathedral, Mar Sara
Huayramarca v Siovanija & Teusland @ Hellgate, Raynor City
Bears Armed v Tumbra @ Aranfield Bridge, Everlin

[Tumbra]

The 14 Stars 0-1 Tumbra

TMB (4-2-3-1): 12 - J Portman; 2 - C Maartens (18 - J Chen, 88'), 5 - A Reid (24 - D Kavanaughn, 88'), 14 - H Edwards, 3 - H Haigh; 6 - C Holsworth (15 - T Fordham, 84'), 8 - M Russelar, 10 - L Simonyan (23 - G Tobiasson, 80'); 17 - J Berkenbosch, 21 - C Taggart (9 - O Chalmers, 80'); 11 - E Vesper

TMB scorers: Ellen Vesper (62')

Player of the Match: Ellen Vesper [TMB]

FLASH DEBATE: Are the Development Player slots in the T-League helping or harming youth player development?

Harrison Armstrong
EDITOR - IN - CHIEF

This edition of Flash Debate centres around the status of the Developmental Player slots in the T-League, Tumbra's top flight league. Currently, four slots per team are required to be opened per Premier Division team for players aged between 17 and 21. These players must be Tumbran citizens, or be dual nationals with Tumbrans. When this plan was instituted, it was a rare moment of reconciliation between former TFF President (and incumbent T-League Chief Executive) Heather Cartwright and current TFF President Joseph Beresford; the relationship between the league and federation had hit an all-time nadir after the league split from the auspices of the federation.

But four years after the scheme's introduction, its effectiveness has been up for debate. Sure, giving Tumbran youth talents a guaranteed pathway to the senior team is a good thing. Youth players gaining their own registration status meant they now didn't have to form part of a manager's calculations when it came to squad registration. Before the addition of the slot, youth players could either languish in the youth teams, and possibly be forgotten about, or occupy a valuable squad position and risk managers exposing inexperienced players to the rigour of senior team football. The development slot meant that players could train with the first team, and potentially come on in certain situations (The T-League has a 12-player substitute bench, of which 5 may be substituted on in 3 occasions excluding half-time), netting them valuable gametime and experience. Yet there are some who argue that this new classification almost certainly kills the idea of the teenage sensation breaking into the first team at a remarkably young age, stifling prodigies of pathways to grow as managers will almost certainly leave players there until they're 21.

To settle this, we decided to hold a flash debate — in written form, of course, debating the merits and demerits of this system. The two sides of this argument are contributed by two guest contributors to this week's edition of Matchday. Newark Argyle manager Edmund Barton, who is also the former Under-18 national team manager, will make the case that the Development Player slots are good for youth development in Tumbra. On the other hand, former Swangard Athletic and FC Inter Nantwich manager Daniel Galbraith will seek to make the case that the Development Player slots are not good for youth development in Tumbra. Each has been asked to limit their response to a thousand words.

Letting talent develop at its own pace, and letting our valuable talent develop in a safer environment — that's what the Development Player system can help Tumbran football achieve.
EDMUND BARTON
Manager of Newark Argyle, former manager of Tumbran Under-18 national team

Speaking as the former manager of the under-18 national team — and, not to overinflate my credentials, but having led them to five semi-final appearances in six trips both abroad and across Tumbra — I reveal here for the first time that I was indeed involved in discussions to create the Development Player system that the T-League has. Whether that disqualifies me from further making my case, I feel, is beside the point — after all, I am not being asked to deliver an impartial take on the system, but rather serve as a defender of the system. And defend it I shall; I feel that in this form, the Development Player system allows for Tumbra to nurture its own talent, makes sure that Tumbran clubs value Tumbran talent, and gives Tumbran youths a guaranteed passageway from the maelstrom that youth football can be. That last part is particularly potent, and was the main reason why I pushed so hard for its introduction when Tumbran football saw fit to turn itself on its head in the first place; it is what I shall focus on here.

Scouting players at the under-18 level is a different beast from scouting at the senior level. At the under-18 level, what you mostly have to work with is potential and unrealised talent; there is, bluntly speaking, often quite little in the form of actual ability. But that is natural and understandable; these are, after all, children. They may have been moulded by their time at parent clubs who may have given them a schoolkid contract; but that may not be the case for everyone. It is very easy to misjudge a player for having much more potential than they do, and at the same time commit the reverse error; misjudge a player for having far less potential than they actually do. The latter, to my knowledge, has never happened; but most of those misjudged for having far less potential than they actually did would quite likely have not made it through the grinder of youth football.

That is the second part of it. I describe it as a "grinder" because the youth football juggernaut in Tumbra is simply insatiable. It picks up dreams, consumes them, and spits them back out at regular intervals, dashing the hopes of many who may have grown up watching stars on the television and wishing to one day shine under the brightest of lights. It leaves youngsters with a sense of inadequacy, and has, at times, been linked to increased rates of issues linked to mental health and inadequacy. To their great credit, football clubs often take it upon themselves to help those who may not have made the cut transition into other walks of life, or secure an education back at a post-secondary institution. But even for those who make it, and show enough potential, having these guarantees is not enough. The signing of a professional contract at the age of 17 is a life-changing decision that is not easily altered; and the years of 17 to 21 are the most critical for a player's development. A single injury here could spell the difference between being retained and being let go; footballers at this age may have begun to settle on a position, but nothing can be finally settled yet. These years are crucial for development, especially in a player market that is so loath to let players go on loan to lower division teams for youths to gain valuable experience.

That is what the Development Player slot helps to deal with. The most important things the Development Player slot have done for Tumbran youth footballers are: provide a safe pathway and a space for them to grow as footballers, accelerate their transition into senior football, yet lets them develop at their own pace while giving them an incentive to improve. By giving a player a development slot, it allows a youth to train alongside the senior team and lets them know what is expected of a senior squad member. By giving a player a development spot, it represents a commitment by the player's club to the development of said player. (I originally advocated for development players to not be able to be sold to other clubs, but this did not make it into the final version of the plan.) By giving a player a development spot, it takes some of the pressure off the player to develop as quickly as possible to keep up with their senior team compatriots as directly shoving them into the senior team would. It lets a player know that they are on the cusp of making it — this age is also one where a player can be easily distracted, after all — and could compel them to redouble their efforts. Managers no longer need to worry that their star player's backup is a spotty eighteen year-old, fresh out of the academy, that the club wants to hone, and yet has exceeded every level of junior football but still has several steps to take to reach the level of a competent backup; they can go scouting around for a proper backup while letting the youth have a run-out during cup or lower-stakes games, which will do far more for their development in the long run by giving them confidence. Teaching a player to swim, rather than throwing them into the depths of senior football, is the key.

The Development Player spot may not be perfect — it may overly systematise the format in which players develop, and gives managers an excuse to sell youths a tantalising tale that their time may be on the horizon while continually choosing to rely on established talent, blocking a full graduation to senior squads — but as a method of developing Tumbran youth talent, keeping Tumbran youth within Tumbra, and offering them a pathway that will offer them much greater assurances than if they were to take their talents elsewhere, the Development Player system is far from the worst we could have done.

A closed-minded system that's reduced opportunities for Tumbran youths — that's what the Development Player system has done to youth football.
DANIEL GALBRAITH
Former manager of FC Inter Nantwich, Swangard Athletic

Personally, I find it hard to believe any forms of nationalist sabre-rattling about nurturing Tumbran talent within Tumbra. That is the main justification that I heard for the Development Player scheme back when I was manager of Swangard Athletic, and back then I did not quite believe it. Nor do I now, really. Yes, it is true that I utilised the system heavily when I was Nantwich manager, but I can still critique a system that I took part in — otherwise it would be ardently hypocritical for, say, a Communist to critique the capitalist economic system that we find ourselves in, for said Communist, often by virtue of their birth, is often forced to partake in the system for their survival. Critique from within is often important, and I feel the need to express criticism of the system in the perhaps vain hope that it could be reformed. I feel that in its current form, the Development Player serves as a placebo to more deep-seated issues that Tumbran youth football may have, and does little to solve those problems, but paper over the cracks instead. Yes, it is better than not having a system like this at all, but I hardly think that abolishing the system altogether is the way to go about it; I merely feel that it should be less restrictive, and the so-called positive points of the system de-emphasised; for they may not be as positive as we think.

Many of the best names on the current Tumbran national team developed overseas. To prove this point (and fit within the thousand-word limit) I need only mention their surnames. Harrison, Kerr, Wells, Crossley, Mercurio, Monaghan, Renton, Pritchett, Jones, Hardaker. All these names mentioned developed outside Tumbra; they were given opportunities outside Tumbra to grow, and they grasped them with their own two hands. Fast forward to the modern day, however, and we hardly see any of those stories anymore. Generations of Under-18 World Cup teams go to far-flung countries to show their work, and sign contracts with teams back home. This is because the Tumbran Football Federation not only encourages local teams to sign them to professional contracts, but outright gives priority to these local sides when vying for these signatures. Tumbran players are a rare commodity on the international market; perhaps by design (having had personal experience of the laborious paperwork procedures involved), perhaps by a lack of imagination by Tumbrans to spread their wings and play overseas, but overall you rarely find Tumbrans developing overseas these days.

This, I feel, is in part because of the Developmental Player slot. It gives Tumbran players a crutch to fall back upon, that instead of relying on the lottery of an overseas transfer and asking Tumbrans to bravely step into the unknown, they can have a safe box. Yes, players can develop quickly, and quickly become accustomed to how Tumbran football is played; but since when has unfettered isolationism from the global game been a good way to inculcate players into it? We speak of the T-League as a place where the world's best can play, and our ranking reflects that; but why, then, has the league become increasingly less friendly to foreigners, first by cutting four teams from the league, then by gradually phasing them out? The opportunity for Tumbran youths to spread their wings, go overseas and develop, has disappeared, because they are simply incentivised to come home, sit in a little box labelled "For Future Use", and give an opportunity for those in power to proclaim that they are helping youth development when they are stymying it instead. Tumbrans will not grow if they are simply exposed to Tumbrans; they must be given opportunities to play against Farves (of all ten ethnicities), Chromatiks, Sylestoneans, Mytanars, Quebecois, Mertagnians, and so on. Only then will they learn about the roughness of the world's game, both at its core and perhaps its peripheries.

Not only does the system disincentivise players from trying — because of its utterly absurd nationality requirement, which allows for Tumbrans to know they are guaranteed spots no matter what they do, if their club deems them good enough — but it also allows for managers to even forget the box that the development players have been stuffed into. Managers were once forced to rely on their youth players if they were deemed good enough to make the step up. This translates into a sink-or-swim situation, and I know that in quite a few cases this may not be healthy for players. But in sports, where depth is everything, this is also an opportunity. We lose an opportunity for a player to prove themselves in a situation when needed. It allows managers to go out and sign a twenty-something who may have already hit their potential — I often hear the word "serviceable" bandied about — but it puts more blockages in the pathway to a senior team squad. So if players are disincentivised from going offshore, and if players have roadblocks placed in front of them onshore, what good can the system do, really?

The system is not irredeemable. Players can be told about the benefits of staying in Tumbra, but they must also be informed about what staying in Tumbra might entail. The quasi-exclusivity period that local clubs get to sign these young, impressionable players must also end. And finally, the absurd nationality requirement must also go; if the T-League is to truly become a world-class league, we must develop other nations' players as the 1. prvenstvo, League Number One, and Tikariot Premier League have done. We must trust others with our youth; and we must develop others' youths for them. Then, and only then, will we ever be able to bring opportunity to make our precious youth world-class. In its current form, the Development Player system papers over the true problems in our youth football system, and must be reformed for it to be effective.

Bears Armed v Tumbra

Starters: 12 - J Portman; 2 - C Maartens, 4 - R Campbell, 14 - H Edwards, 19 - A Devine; 15 - T Fordham, 8 - M Russelar, 23 - G Tobiasson; 17 - J Berkenbosch, 9 - O Chalmers; 22 - J Ruelan

[Siovanija and Teusland]

Starting the biggest match of your life on the bench was not an ideal situation for Marjan Trstenjak. He came into the tournament as the back-up in the right wing position to Steffen Berlin, but hoped that after a great performance in the 4-2 win on matchday 3 of the Di Bradini Cup - with 2 assists to his name in the win - he might’ve earned a starting place in the Round of 16 tie with Zenic.

Instead, however, when the team sheet came out, Trstenjak was back to the bench. He couldn’t be too mad - Berlin was one of the top players in the team, with a great reputation, and he was a likable guy. But every footballer who gets to this level believes he is the best, no questions asked, and Trstenjak was no different.

What he hated the most was having to watch, without being able to make much of a difference. The team knew Zenic would be a tough challenge - undefeated in group play, including a massive 5-1 win over Vyktoria on the final matchday. This was a side ready for the playoffs and hoping for a deep tournament run. Raphael Klopfer had focused on instilling a never-say-die mentality in the team before the game, and also conditioning. “This is the type of game that is likely to go beyond 90,” the manager had said.

So for Trstenjak watching along, every time the opponents touched the ball in the attacking third, his stomach filled with dream - and similarly, whenever the Goldhorns held the ball in Zenic’s third, it filled with excitement. He couldn’t be out there with the team, but he could support as much as possible from the bench.

”As Apel’s pass is intercepted by Jurica, and the Goldhorns are in trouble now as Zenic attack, here comes the shot…ooooh, it’s just gone wide! That was an excellent opportunity for Zenic in the early stages of this one!”

”Here comes Hans Gruber, driving this Goldhorns team forward on the counter-attack, Zenic are struggling to get bodies back, Gruber over to Uwe Seidl who fires a shot…. Tipped over the bar, an excellent save by Yeong-Su Chaeyoung!”

”The corner swings in, but there is Erwin Sanner with a textbook clearance to keep it away from the Goldhorns’ penalty area”

”Uwe Seidl is furious with the referee, he’s been tripped up and he feels he should have a penalty right now! Raphael Klopfer is a calm figure on the touchline, urging his boys to play on - I must say, it looked quite borderline from this angle, and certainly not a guarantee. The referee, however, waves play on - no penalty”

All of these moments, and many more, brought plenty of emotion for Marjan - but mostly just dreading the fact that he couldn’t leave his mark on this game, at least not yet. And then…

”Here’s Seidl now, he’s looked dangerous in this first half, he turns and fires a quick shot and oh it’s gone in! Uwe Seidl has beat the goalkeeper, it’s 1-0 for the Goldhorns! Siovanija & Teusland in the lead just on the edge of halftime!”

The substitutes all sprinted down to the corner to celebrate along with the team - absolutely the perfect way to finish the half! By the time Trstenjak took his seat on the bench again, his mind was a bit more at ease - this we can work with, he thought. Just keep building from here, we’re playing well. Raphael Klopfer’s message was the same at half-time: let’s keep this going.

But, fortunately or unfortunately, football is a game that 2 teams play: and Zenic came out of the halftime break an inspired side. They pressed the Goldhorns hard, with a long stretch of dominating possession and a few great shots in on the target. Siovanija & Teusland tried to break out, but just couldn’t do anything - Zenic were playing for their lives in this tournament.

”Kenji, who has been so excellent in this second half, has options as he moves towards the top of the box…the pass is played out for Kiki, who makes a great run…Kiki! You felt it was coming, there it is! Zenic have equalized, 1-1, with 30 minutes still on the clock in this one, and anything can happen!”

Now it was back to those feelings of dread - unease, perhaps, the better word. Luckily for Trstenjak, he wouldn’t need to wallow on the bench much longer. It was right after the goal that Klopfer beckoned to Trstenjak and a few others to start warming up, and it was in the 83rd minute that Trstenjak, finally, got to take his place on the pitch. He didn’t feel too nervous - at least, that was what he told himself. His first touch of the ball was a good pass for Uwe Seidl, that the striker fired in as a good shot on target that just failed to beat the keeper.

The final whistle arrived, and just as the boss had predicted in the days before, this one went all the way. And if you asked Marjan Trstenjak what he remembered about extra time, the answer would be ‘very little.’ It all seemed to blur together. With the minutes ticking by, he was preparing mentally to take a penalty. Then came the moment he’d remember forever:

”Here comes Hans Gruber, who has somehow found an extra boost of stamina inside to drive the Goldhorns forward one more time. The 116th minute, could this be a decisive chance for the Goldhorns. Gruber powers forward, and slots the ball over for Marjan Trstenjak, Trstenjak has fresh legs you know, Trstenjak runs past his man, Trstenjak shoots - OH IT'S LOVELY! Marjan Trstenjak! 2-1! The Goldhorns lead here at Haramos Park! In the dying minutes of the match, with so much pressure, with penalties seeming inevitable, Trstenjak has done it for Siovanija & Teusland!”

On the pitch, he barely reacted - there were still 4 minutes to go, here, and Raphael Klopfer had done well to instill a ‘it’s not over till it’s over’ mentality with the team, even when in the lead. But when the final whistle blew? Trstenjak could truly celebrate his excellent achievement - he had just fired the Goldhorns to the Quarterfinal at the Di Bradini Cup.

[Polar Islandstates]

"I think that's a horrible thing to say."

The 'Nijgaard-Niemi' partnership was always going to be a tough act to follow. After proving the strength of their understanding in consecutive Di Bradini Cups, propelling the Chicks to back-to-back finals, both had made the seamless move to senior football with the Terns almost instantly. The two had had an almost telepathic relationship, to say they’d never played for the same club and only met up at international camps, and they were – unsurprisingly – the pair that Zhamaletdinov had basically built his tactic around. Nobody sincerely expected them to be easily replaced, and even though Roald and his strike partner Volkhardt Grief had established themselves on the fringes of their respective clubs’ first teams, you couldn’t just snap your fingers and create a partnership. Not like that. Not again.

Even so, Roald Eike-Rasmussen hadn’t expected it to be this difficult. Whilst Volkhardt had raced to four goals in the tournament already, scoring in all three group stage matches, Roald was yet to get off the mark. Loïc Nousiainen had chipped in with one, as had Wojciech Baptiste and substitute strikers, Marten Soldner and Victor Weiss – the latter scoring a dramatic late winner in an otherwise dead-rubber against Farfadillis in the group stage, but Roald, for all his status as probably the better thought of talent in the striking ranks of the roster, was fluffing his lines.

Trying to emulate either Niemi or Nijgaard had turned out to be a lot harder than expected. Trying to control the game from up-front was an intensely difficult thing to do, and he wasn’t sure how the previous pair had managed it. Certainly, both he and Volkhardt had been trying their best and making runs, but it was certainly the case so far that it was the midfield dictating things.

He’d gotten out of his rhythm, was the problem. He knew as much. The boss had told him as much. And yet, there he was, timing his runs wrong and snatching at chances.

‘What would Niemi do?’ had been the all-too-dominant thought running through his head. Overthinking things wasn’t like Roald, and he was starting to play within himself as a result, never coming close to fashioning a scoring opportunity in the final twenty minutes of his ineffective second half against Farfadillis. A totally anonymous performance.

So it was this that led vice-captain Valentin Brunel to make his barbed comment as the unchanged team lined-up in the tunnel before their knockout match against TJUN-ia.

“C’mon lads, let’s focus yeah,” he’d called over the general hubbub of anticipation, “going to be a tough ask without only one man up-front...”

Several players had stopped to look at Valentin at that, including the captain, Valentin Ernst, but Brunel’s eyes were fixed firmly on the back of Roald’s head, who turned in slight shock.

“I think that’s a horrible thing to say,” sniffed Volkhardt, who’d known Valentin at Surtsey, but Roald just held up his hand to silence him and turned back around, narrowing his eyes and steeling his face.

Right.

If he was going to get jibes from his own teammates, he was just going to have to prove everyone wrong wasn’t he?

And so began the most all-action performance of Roald’s international career, bar none.

He was everywhere. Making runs, coming deep, receiving the ball from Loïc more often than not, stinging the goalkeeper’s palms, and threading balls through for Volkhardt or the full-backs to chase. He was the first line of defence, tormenting the TJUN-ia backline as he hassling and harried every loose ball, even getting yellow-carded within the first ten minutes as he dove in on TJUN-ia goalkeeper Gloria Pon, who was in the process collecting a backpass outside the box, in a classic ‘let them know you’re there’ style tackle.

He’d been told to calm it down after that, with several confused looks between Zhamaletdinov and Jansen on the bench as they tried to work out how best to harness but not hinder this new-found energy from one of their two strikers as he flashed yet another snapshot just wide of the post.

With such intensity, it was almost inevitable that Roald would need to slow down at some point however, and that’s exactly when he struck. Allowing the defenders to think he was easing off by jogging to the sidelines and taking a drink, followed by three or four minutes of aimless jogging, he suddenly exploded back into life.

Coming deep, he collected the ball from Valentin with a knowing glance, and quickly laid it off to Wojciech. Turning on the spot and dialling up the pace, Roald sprinted beyond the defence and waited in an offside position for a pass he knew wouldn’t come, sending the defenders into a spin of confusion. With Wojciech instead passing the ball out to the overlapping Mika Jensen, all Roald had to do was time it right. With Loïc hanging back in space, he made a diagonal run across the expected run of Volkhardt, receiving the ball and playing it back towards Loïc. Accelerating past the defensive line like a rugby break to receive the expected return-pass, Roald pointed into space as if to pull the ball back to Volkhardt, causing the defence to second-guess themselves, only to continue around the advancing keeper without breaking stride and rolling the ball into an empty net.

Exploding with joy, all synapses firing, Roald punched the air as if it could feel it, letting all his frustrations from the previous three games burn away. Mobbed by his teammates, he saved his best stern look for the advancing Valentin Brunel, only to see the midfielder advancing towards him with a broad grin and a double fist-pump.

“Knew you had it in you, Roald,” he said into Roald’s ear as the two embraced.

“You sly dog,” laughed Roald in return.

“Stop pretending to be Youssef. Be Roald.”

Roald nodded earnestly. It was simple advice, but cut straight to the heart of why he’d been struggling. This, thought Roald, was probably why Valentin was vice-captain to the other Valentin.

Having broken his duck, the floodgates opened, and Roald couldn’t stop getting into good positions. Everything was going through him, with Volkhardt a mere spectactor and provider of distraction at times. Roald scored again before the half-time whistle – this time a deft header as he left his marker for dead and leapt to send a whipped cross from Loïc back in the direction it had come.

He saved the best for the second half however, after he’d been chopped down on the edge of the box by a tired and frustrated Abu Alkas on the edge of the box. Loïc and Wojciech were both standing over the ball, keen to add to their own tallies for the tournament, but with the free kick sitting more or less dead-centre, it was in a slightly awkward place for both the right footed drives of Baptiste and the silky left foot of Loïc. Roald decided to quietly take up an unassuming place on the edge of the wall, facing side-on and looking for all the world like he was waiting to run in on any rebound form the keeper. Which he was.

Moments before the ball was played however, he noticed the amount of space behind him, and quickly shared a look with Loïc. Back-pedalling furiously, he entered the space, just in time for Loïc’s quickly taken free-kick to roll gently to his feet, much to the surprise of everyone else, including Wojciech’s. Without needing to take a touch, Roald took one step forwards, planted his left foot in the ground and drove his right leg forwards with enough speed and power that he left the turf entirely in his follow-through, joining the keeper in watching the ball the whole way as it whistled, straight as an arrow, into the top corner of the goal and billowing the net, crashing into the long-arm-jibbed camera in the process.

A hat-trick for Roald, and a hat-trick of assists for Loïc.

‘Maybe that’s the partnership I should be focusing on,’ thought Roald as he enjoyed the celebrations and congratulations of his team-mates, ‘never mind Volkhardt; he and Wojciech can do their own thing...'

Roald was substituted soon after, for a good reason this time, and to a standing ovation from the bench. Finally, here was a game where he had taken events by the scruff of the neck and emulated the performances of Niemi and Nijgaard that had propelled the Chicks to the title in the last edition of the tournament. Zhamaletdinov needed not one but two strikers that were happy to do that, and as he sat down with his carefully balanced recovery drink, pleasantly worn out form his exertions, he caught a smile and a nod from the boss that indicated satisfaction.

The jubilant scenes at full time included Roald striding back onto the pitch to retrieve the match ball, only to be beaten to it by Valentin Brunel. Collecting it from the referee, he handed it to Roald with a smile and a wink.

This time, Valentin said nothing. He didn’t need to.

[Carpathia and Ruthenia]

Adessi brace completes comeback against a much hyphenated side

It may have taken until the 115th minute of the match for Carpathia and Ruthenia to actually take the lead in this match, however what was important is that they held it after then and Carpathia and Ruthenia are through to their very first ever Quarterfinals of a major competition. This does bode well for the future of football in Carpathia and Ruthenia and perhaps one day some of these players will be the first to us to the Quarterfinals of the World Cup proper.

After an explosive start the to match in which three goals where scored in fourteen minutes it seemed likely that we could see a very high scoring match, however after Saint-Jean-Jacques et Burnham-on-Stove took the lead for the second time after a power header from Castonguay, Saint-Jean-Jacques et Burnham-on-Stove not only took the foot off of the gas pedal, they flat out parked the bus, leading to a frustrating rest of the first half for both neutrals and Carpathia and Ruthenia. However with the substitution of Sára D'Amore in for the second half giving Carpathia and Ruthenia four strikers on the pitch, the wall was eventually breached in the sixtieth minute with Adessi being given too much space outside of the box and able to curl the ball into the back of the net. The momentum kept up on the Carpathia and Ruthenia side however normal time wasn't enough to convert that pressure into a winner, and with Saint-Jean-Jacques et Burnham-on-Stove firmly putting the handbrake on and playing for penalities it seemed that it may end up that way until Adessi once again spotted a weakness in the defence and ran clean through on goal slotting the ball confidently past Mongrain.

Next we face the formidable Polar Islandstates, but no matter the result our players can hold their heads high and be proud of what they have achieved in this tournament

By Margita Ongaro
CBC Ruthenia

              Carpathia and Ruthenia 3 - 2 Saint-Jean-Jacques et Burnham-on-Stove
             Brunetti 15'      AET       Guénette-Velazquez 9'   
     Adessi 60'                Castonguay 23'
 Adessi 115'                             

Orange Gate Falls, Monaven, Valanora

[Valanora]

The anticipation before the match between ourselves and Semarland was to expect it to be a bit of a cautious approach by both and not to expect quite a few goals or the sort of free flowing football that some might be accustomed to from at least the Marauders. Semarland had come into the match with quite a nice defensive record but had also not shown a lot themselves going forward, with their last group stage game being a dull nil all affair, but was enough to secure them the group title. The question was could the young Marauders find a way to unlock the Semarland defense while holding their own defensive shape that had held rather steady since their opening match against Lisander. After all if Baker Park had been unable to find a way to break past the Vanorian defense, then it stood to reason that the struggling Semarland attack was not likely to find an easy time of it either and the team could look to start to build a gameplan that could focus on getting the most of their opportunities in the attacking half. Knock in two or three of those chances that they were likely going to produce, then it should be a win.

It was not the greatest start though as those plans for the Marauders quickly became unraveled with Roshane Redbridge grabbing a brace with two wonderful individual efforts inside the first ten minutes of the match. It was a huge shock to the system as the team was put on the backfoot and had to rethink their entire approach to the match, luckily on the eighteenth minute Thilde Åberg was able to dispossess Dujon Mundle and then chip Mahlakai Clark to get the Marauders on the board and calm the shaken nerves of the players and fans. It was the shift in momentum that the team needed as they started to boss the midfield, with the giant Olaf Myrhe intercepting a pass and launching it forward for Edwin Schjelderup who then headed it down to Gabriel Sørensen with the Chromatika based striker putting his laces through it to bring the tie level. Edwin was then brought down in the box on a corner minutes before half time and took the awarded penalty, the Blades striker sending into the left corner while Clark went right and the team was now up a goal heading into half time.

The goal by Åberg really was the shot that brought the Marauders back to life after being shellshocked by those two early goals from the Semarland number nine, and the edge of possession and attacking threat continued for the side even after the halftime whistle. Redbridge did try to complete his hattrick and bring the sides level in the fifty-fifth but Tobias Propst was up to the task and turned the shot around the post, before easily catching the resulting inswinging corner. It would be a missed opportunity that would soon be a moment of regret for Semarland, with Zack Sjöberg getting a goal from the edge of the box with a late run in on a deflected corner. Drake Rinaldi would get a fifth for the Marauders in the seventy-fifth minute, just a short while after coming on and opening his account for the tournament and securing the win. Semarland tried to push everything forward late to scrape their way back into the match, which resulted in Latrell Honeycombe putting a scramble in the box into the back of the net in the eighty-sixth, but it was too little too late and the Marauders escaped the eight goal thriller as the victors.

Now into the Quarterfinals and any potential easy opponents are now gone and the Marauders will have to be ready for a far better effort from any of their opponents moving forward in the competition. That begins in earnest in the Rushmori squad from The Kytler Peninsulae, who slipped past our neighbors of Farfadillis in the second round after topping Group C in the group stage. Any team that can limit Farfadillis to a solitary goal has to be reckoned with and the side will be once more thinking about ways to get in behind their defense and getting balls into the opposition area for easier to convert opportunities. The defense had a bit of a shambling effort against Semarland and it might result in a change or two as the team tries to steady themselves and show that the Lisander and Semarland games are not truly representative of their ability and effort where the matches against Baker Park and Carpathia and Ruthenia are, the latter who also mad the Quarterfinals against Rushmori opposition. That opposition being the holders of the competition in Polar Islandstates and should they win and the Marauders win, would set up a rematch of the Final in the Semifinals, an enticing tie indeed if the side can find a way to get an entire game with the best foot forward.

[Valanora]

Quarterfinals
Carpathia and Ruthenia 1–3 Polar Islandstates
The Kytler Peninsulae 0–1 Valanora*
Huayramarca 1–1(1–2 AET) Siovanija & Teusland
Bears Armed 1–2 Tumbra

*Scorinated by Mertagne

Semifinal Fixtures
Polar Islandstates v Valanora @ Angelotic Temple, Longview
Siovanija & Teusland v Tumbra @ Artani, Mar Sara

[Tumbra]

Bears Armed 1-2 Tumbra

TMB (4-3-3): 12 - J Portman; 2 - C Maartens, 4 - R Campbell, 14 - H Edwards, 19 - A Devine (3 - H Haigh, 84'); 15 - T Fordham (16 - R McLaren, 82'), 8 - M Russelar (25 - S Rushmore, 82'), 23 - G Tobiasson; 17 - J Berkenbosch (7 - A Sorengard, 68'), 9 - O Chalmers; 22 - J Ruelan (26 - S Trethewey, 68')

TMB scorers: Glenn Tobiasson (34'), Matthias Russelar (75')

Player of the Match: Matthias Russelar [TMB]

Under-21 manager Thomas Branting confirms that he will step down at end of tournament; focused on "ending tournament on a high" as manager linked to several T-League clubs

EVERLIN — Coming off the high of reaching a third Di Bradini Cup semifinal, Tumbran Under-21 manager Thomas Branting rather put a damper on post-match celebrations by announcing that he would be departing the post of manager after three cycles in the job. The move was not entirely unexpected — Branting's original contract was for three cycles — but in doing so, he now joins the ranks of managers like Edmund Barton, Edmund Finnegan, and David Gough in attempting to move into club management after spending time with the Tumbran youth national team set-up. Two Di Bradini Cups and an International Festival of Youth Football (an invitational sponsored by the Ashburn family, the owners of Lakewood City) have seen the former Pomeroy Mountaineers player and coach achieve mixed success with the Under-21 team; though when asked to take a retrospective on his career, he was quite mellow. "The Polarians are the darlings of world football, and the International Festival was more of a friendly tournament," he said. "I don't blame the players for any of the losses under my tenure. Sometimes football just happens."

The move came in the wake of a somewhat nervy 2-1 win over Bears Armed in Everlin, which saw the team concede their first goal of the tournament. Goals from Glenn Tobiasson and Matthias Russelar, however, put the team in solid control of the match; and Branting praised the performance as a "confident" one. When asked about conceding their first goal of the tournament, Branting was considerably more nonchalant. "As long as we don't concede more goals than we score, it's fine by me — I'm more concerned about the overall result and how we played, as ever."

Tumbra's next opponent will be Siovanija & Teusland, the southwestern Arrosian country making their return to international football after a near decade-long hiatus. The Goldhorns and the Junior Eagles will play each other in Mar Sara, one of Valanora's larger urban areas. They will go on to face one of the Polar Islandstates, defending Di Bradini Cup champions, or Valanora, the losing finalists from the previous edition and long-term custodians of the tournament, in either the final or third-placed playoff. "I'm hoping our players will be able to give a good account of themselves," ended Branting. "They shouldn't be worried about me leaving my job, but trying their best in the semi-final and whichever final match we end up in."

Matthias Russelar, Player of the Match against Bears Armed, confirmed that Branting had told the players about his decision to leave the national team set-up before the match. "It wasn't really shocking, because we'd heard of rumours flying around before the tournament," said the FC Inter Nantwich player. "To have it confirmed is something else, and I think our team is just going to be focused on our last two matches before the start of the season."

Who will replace John Riedweld at Lakewood City? Haines put down as provisional favourite as T-League gears up for managerial merry-go-round

STRATON — A gaunt-looking John Riedweld's announcement that he will be stepping down as Lakewood City manager has set off what seems to be an almighty game of merry-go-round, as the Tumbran managerial market looks set for its greatest shake-up in the IFCF era. Riedweld, 62, did not give any reason for his impending departure, but the noticeably thinner Lakewood City manager seemed to hint at it being health problems when reading a prepared statement at the club's media centre on Tuesday morning. The Lakewood City job — which has been Riedweld's for over twenty years — is widely seen as one of the most demanding in Tumbran football. Club owner John Ashburn, of Ashburn Industries, paid tribute to Riedweld that same afternoon, but said nothing about the search for his successor. Matchday understands, however, that while Riedweld leaving his job sometime in the next five years was almost a given, him doing so at the age of 62 has caught the club somewhat unprepared, and the club are only in the early stages of seeking a replacement for the long-serving manager.

The announcement seems set to add to a potential carousel of managerial appointments over the next T-League season — the fourteenth since Tumbra began sending clubs to the IFCF — amidst rumours that Couno manager Marco Giuliani could also be on his way out as new owner Thomas Kim reportedly wishes to clear house. With the announcement that Thomas Branting will also be leaving the Tumbran Under-21 national team, with a likely entry into club football, Matchday rates the likelihood of several personalities to take on the City job.

CHRIS HAINES
The Ridgewell Rovers manager is the current darling of Tumbran managerial personalities, having brought the nation's northern stalwarts from being midtable fledglings to an IFCF Challengers' Cup position, utilising a combination of shrewd transfers and clever tactics to achieve this. Yet his approach to football differs somewhat to Riedweld's — most notably, Haines prefers a very direct approach to the game, as compared to Riedweld's more cerebral method of advancing the ball, slowly. Yet Haines' CV is impeccable (a half season at Newton aside), and his earlier jobs have already shown his ability to be fluent in different tactical styles. Matchday also understands that Haines is looked upon very favourably by Riedweld, and the two are known to share a very close relationship off-field. What adds further credence to Haines to City happening is the fact that Ridgewell Rovers have already been in contact with the departing Under-21 manager Branting, in a clear sign that they could be preparing for Haines' succession. 5/3.

THEODORE HOUGHTON
If Lakewood City want a guarantee to carry on the lineage of John Riedweld — somewhere in Ranorian gridiron there exists the concept of a "coaching tree" which tracks which coaches mentored who — then Theodore Houghton would probably be the best choice. The former national team defensive midfielder has served as assistant manager to Riedweld for quite a few years now, and the gruff-faced, bearded Houghton could be City's best chance of continuing Riedweld's style. But City brass are reportedly unconvinced by Houghton's lack of top-flight experience; and Houghton himself is said to be considering a change of club at the end of the season, eager to carve a name for himself at a lower-stakes job, either overseas or in the T-League 2. He could be called upon either as an emergency choice should City not find anyone suitable for the job, however, or as a transitory figure if the club wants to wait for more figures to become available. 4/1.

SAMARA KANIATARII
She's moved clubs once within Tumbra — what's to say she can't do it again? The Quebecois West Couno United manager has brought great success to the club that's traditionally been second best to the Rams in Red in the eastern half of the city, but a poor second-half showing last season exposed cracks in her leadership, with the title-winner apparently being "on notice". Kaniatarii would be a somewhat left-field choice, but one that brings with her proven title experience and one that has experience with managing a very strong squad with lots of depth — something that City has. It helps, too, that her contract is up at the end of the year; City would be able to give her a smooth ride into the top job. Should Kaniatarii depart the West Couno job, however, the understanding is that she would probably seek to take on another job outside Tumbra, but nothing is certain. 8/1.

MARCO GIULIANI
The other Couno manager, the Savigliano has led Couno to a Premier Division title (back when it was still called that); but with a new owner at the helm — Lithico^TM-backed Thomas Kim — there have been reports of an acrimonious relationship between the two over the future direction of the club. Giuliani is set to stay on for at least this season, but all bets are off beyond that. However, what could possibly be a sticking block for this particular appointment is Giuliani's own loyalty to Couno — the current squad is essentially his football in his own making, the result of being given a virtual carte blanche over affairs under old ownership — and the fact that Riedweld and Giuliani's relationship has been historically acrimonious, with the two trading barbs on the media and on the pitch when their two sides have played. Still, a possibly wantaway Giuliani would provide the same level of star-power as Kaniatarii, and John Ashburn would also be likely to give the naturalised Savigliano as much control over the affairs of City as he wishes. 20/1.

ROBIN VAUGHN
Could the winger transit straight from playing into management? The winger has indicated that this upcoming season is likely to be his last at City, but offered no indications either way as to whether his departure would lead to retirement of an overseas gig. Managers transiting straight from playing into coaching isn't unheard of — just ask Dan Crosby at Sturrey — but Vaughn has given little indication that he's interested in the coaching side of the game, and it is highly unlikely City, known for well-planned decisions sometimes made years in advance, would give the job to someone with absolutely no coaching experience whatsoever. But the allure of managerial tenure could prove to be an adequate seductor for Vaughn, and the appointment seems to be one that scratches the itch of a lot of football romantics, considering Riedweld himself became manager just a few years after he retired. But there's little credible chance this happens. 60/1.

SOMEONE ELSE?
Plenty of names could be on the transfer market come this time next summer. Chromatik (nation, not club) manager Lev Repin looks set to depart the northern Anaian national team at the end of this World Cup cycle. Chromatik (club, not nation) manager Jannick Kontiola could possibly be convinced by the idea of a new challenge, having won almost everything there is in the Rainbow League series. Yuezhou manager Elaine Ashdown could be on the market too, as could any number of high-level managers, depending on the fortunes of their clubs. The chance that City could come up with a true left-field choice depends not just on what they want; but also the market for managers, which is reportedly growing increasingly ripe even despite a reported downturn in transfer window activity worldwide. We'll give this a 3/1 chance.

Of course, speculation is fruitless at this point in the game; the notoriously secretive Riedweld is expected to be part of the decision-making process to choose his successor, and the manager has been known to make decisions that look baffling at the time of their appointment; but come through sooner rather than later. So rest easy, Vaughn-to-City fans; he might become Lakewood City manager yet, and there's still plenty of time to enjoy the last year of the Riedweld era.

Are Tumbrans too afraid to step out of their comfort zone? Readers respond to Matchday debate between Edmund Barton and Daniel Galbraith

Following the last issue of our magazine, which featured a spirited debate between Newark manager Toby Barton and former Nantwich manager Daniel Galbraith, several readers decided to send in their own take on the topic. We've published a few choice responses from readers in this issue.

Mr. M. Grant, 72, Washington
Firstly, I'd just like to put it out there that the two managers have made superb points both for and against the system as it stands. I do think that while there's a need to safeguard youth spots so Tumbra can properly nurture its talents, there's also a need to let players grow in perhaps uncomfortable environments. I think what Mr. Galbraith ignores is the possibility that a player that gets sent overseas to continue their development may not develop as hoped, and fall into obscurity rather than rising to the challenge; but this seems equally likely to happen should players stay in Tumbra. Indeed, as he rightfully points out, being handed an opportunity on a plate may yet exacerbate this lack-of-development we see. Players need to learn how to step out of their comfort zone, really — that's the main thing I took away from the debate. All the protection in the world won't do anyone any good if players won't take opportunities into their own hands.

Mrs. A. Smith, 46, Couno
When I read about the issue of having development slots in football, I was instantly reminded of the long-running debate in Tumbran politics as a whole about free trade and protectionism. In this case, Mr. Galbraith seemed to take the side of free trade, while Mr. Barton seemed to take the side of protectionism. Both make good arguments, it must be said, and it left me in quite a quandry over my stance on the issue — I was quite ardently in favour of the system until Mr. Galbraith's rejoinder of the unintended consequences of the system forced me to consider otherwise. I think Mr. Galbraith makes very good points on how to reform the system, but I disagree that it should be done away with entirely — ultimately, if a Tumbran team is raised overseas, how Tumbran can they really be?

Mr. C. Chin, 55, Macarthur
I found myself disagreeing quite vehemently with Mr. Galbraith's take on the issue when it came to sending players overseas. Not only do we lose control over their development, but we also cannot control the quality of football being played elsewhere in the world. Leagues like Brenecia's A-League could have been quite devastating for Victoria Jones or Susan Monaghan had they suffered early injuries in their careers, possibly impeding their progress. Tumbra has a world-class development system on its hands, and elucidating clear pathways for our young boys and girls can only help that development system become even better. We should be looking out for our own, first; and hunting for players with high potential worldwide when we have a veritable treasure trove of players at home will only end up with our national team running on fumes sometime in the future when we really need it.

Siovanija & Teusland v Tumbra

TMB (4-3-3): 12 - J Portman; 2 - C Maartens, 5 - A Reid, 14 - H Edwards, 3 - H Haigh; 6 - C Holsworth, 8 - M Russelar, 16 - R McLaren; 7 - A Sorengard, 9 - O Chalmers; 11 - E Vesper

[Siovanija and Teusland]

Score!

FutureWatch

Teusland’s Top 5 Academies: #5-2

With the Goldhorns gearing up for the Round of 16 in the Di Bradini Cup, let’s continue our look at some of this nation’s top football academies with ranks 5 through 2 for football academies in Teusland.

#5 - SW Stahlberg

The Westmark and its mountains are famed in Teusland’s sporting culture: the massive mountains where generations of alpine skiers honed their craft, the endless kilometres of paradise for cross-country skiers, and the frozen ponds and lakes that see the region have an incredibly high rate of hockey players playing professionally compared to any other region in Teusland. Winter sports are the MO here - and one doesn’t immediately associate the region with football development. However, it would certainly be wrong to ignore it entirely - with an impressive system of development from clubs here including, of course, former Republikaliga winners SW Stahlberg.

The ‘Great Stahlberg’ of the early Republikaliga days was built on a commitment to relentless attack - and that philosophy carried over into the youth academy, too. Michael Ribbeck made his first-team debut at the age of just 17, and went on to become an all-time legend for the club - leading them to their sole Republikaliga title - and for his country, remaining Siovanija & Teusland’s top goalscorer of all time. And while Ribbeck is the name that comes to mind first, you can’t also ignore players like Lutz von Bergen, the winger who was a stalwart for the Steelworkers club for over a decade. Stahlberg’s willingness to put trust in their youth players - just as they did with Ribbeck - is one big reason for their high ranking here.

Stahlberg have a reputation for developing attacking players that suit the club’s general philosophy - and while the club have a long legacy, it’s also ok to admit that the products have been a bit weaker since the beginning of isolation. There are no SW Stahlberg youth on the Di Bradini Cup team, nor on the U18 World Cup team - and instead, 2 players from Stahlberg’s biggest rivals, Stahl Sterzing - including Uwe Seidl, who looks like a future star in the making - are there. However, every club goes through some years with less fruitful harvests from the academy, and with the pedigree of coaching and track record of excellent development at Stahlberg, there’s no reason to worry.

#4 - FC St. Jakob

Let’s be clear on one thing first, before we go any further - St. Jakob have an excellent academy, one of the best in the country, and the Nordviertel as it is known always seems to feature many players on lists of ‘best players under 18’ in the country. The Saints have produced legendary players like Dennis Brotzmann, among a long string of greats in their storied history. But it is fair to say that #4 in Teusland would be a difficult ranking to accept for the club from the biggest city in the country - they have the potential for so much more.

St. Jakob, the metropolis, the one Teus city with more skyscrapers than timbered houses, and one of the most important entry points to the country with its biggest airport and a port that remains the #1 in terms of tonnage in the country. The city is multicultural, with Banijan and Farf communities amongst its districts as well as people from all over Siovanija & Teusland who work in the various industries of the city. And FCSJ have always been a top club, winning 22 Teus championships and 11 President’s Cups in the historic era. Since then, however, it’s been a bit more dry: a President’s Cup and two top-4 finishes all they have to show from the Republikaliga era, and they have failed to control their Regionalliga in recent years.

For a city with so much potential, where are they falling short? Recruitment is an issue - with such a large population in their catchment area, sometimes the Saints feel they can be a bit picky, which comes back to bite them. Jesper Porsche, for example, is perhaps the finest player in the country right now - and he was born quite literally a 5 minute walk from the Nordviertel campus. St. Jakob rejected him for being too small, Felsenkirchen took the chance instead, and now Porsche is a starter for the Goldhorns and a multi-time national champion. As the only top-tier club in St. Jakob for many years, they also failed to capitalize on the success of diaspora clubs in the city: Rulandea Karlsbrunnen, for example, formed by Farf refugees in a southern district of the city, has 2 players on the U18 roster where St. Jakob only had 1. St. Jakob also do not have a player on the Di Bradini Cup squad.

There are still things they do very well, of course, and St. Jakob are highly respected in this world. The club brought over a great deal of coaches from FC Teussen Stelburg’s academy in the pre-Republikaliga era, and this created an atmosphere where the development of good technical midfielders was a strong point - see Dennis Brotzmann. Due to the wide catchment pool, however, St. Jakob are a bit of a ‘jack of all trades’, with national teamers like Ole Sauer (GK), Leo Heiden (LW), Brotzmann (CM) and potential future star Marko Goss (CB) all coming from the club’s academy.

#3 - 1912 Stelburg

The first of two Stelburg clubs on the list, 1912 and their Oststrasse academy are a timely inclusion - Raphael Klopfer, the manager of the U21 Goldhorns who have reached the semifinal of the Di Bradini Cup, is arguably their greatest-ever product and is currently a coach at the club’s academy. Klopfer is the biggest name to ever come out of the academy - the national team’s captain for so many years, and part of some of 1912’s greatest-ever squads - and is a key example of what Oststrasse is most famous for.

Edgar Steimle, Klopfer, Pierre-Louis Lotbiniere - for many, many years, the Goldhorns’ backline was in fact 1912 Stelburg’s backline. The academy is full of prominent coaches who specialize in development of defenders, and the 1912 player typically fits certain molds: for full backs, one with incredible speed who is strong in both attacking and defending roles, and for centre-backs, one who is incredibly strong on the ball and excellent in distribution. While hated rivals Teussen pioneered the ‘Teus centre back’ archetype, 1912 have perfected it, and even today the club are excellent at producing defenders. One only needs to look at the excellent performances of Rolf Gellner, the starting right back for the junior Goldhorns, to see this fact.

Beyond just defenders, however, 1912 are a well-rounded academy and players like Egon von Stein, one of the country’s top young midfielders today, and historically Gerold Tegeler who became a great winger as part of 1912’s glory years in the Republikaliga era. One important area, however, seems to be missing from their history: forwards. It’s quite ironic, given Teusland’s reputation in general for developing these players, but 1912 have not had a true home-grown talent in this position in a long time. Rafa Mesmer was the club’s top scorer in the Republikaliga era, but he came from Marlesee’s academy. In fact, 1912 have not had a home-grown forward score more than 20 goals in a season since Thomas Weiss did it in the 1989 Teus championship winning season - that’s 30 years before even the Republikaliga era. There is hope for young Liam Merz, currently, who is looking strong in the academy - but the lack of development in this position prevents the Bluebirds from being truly elite like the two clubs ahead of them…

#2 - FC Felsenkirchen 1879

In our internal office poll, Felsenkirchen did far better than anyone would expect. Being honest with ourselves, anyone who knows anything about Teus football knew that FC Teussen Stelburg would come #1, so the fact that Felsenkirchen universally swept the second place votes, and even earned some first-place nods, is impressive. Felsenkirchen, as the biggest club in northern Teusland (we’re sorry, Rotmunde fans), have always had a strong youth development program, but it has really excelled even further since the beginning of the Republikaliga era - a well-timed golden generation, plus large investment in facilities, has seen Felsenkirchen grow to truly compete with Teussen on this front.

Der Park has some of the newest, most advanced facilities in the country, and a progressive policy that encourages their broad network of scouts to think outside the box. That’s how two of the club’s biggest legends were found: Jesper Porsche and Lothas Ludwig. Porsche was marked as ‘too small’ and ‘not physically gifted enough’ to succeed by the FC St. Jakob academy, but Felsenkirchen’s scouts recognized his great skill on the ball and developed a program for him to take advantage of the club’s weight training facilities to develop his strength. In the case of Ludwig, the club had identified him as an extremely skilled young talent and, recognizing that he would likely be a good cultural fit, made the effort to bring him over from neighbours Valanora at a young age. Porsche and Ludwig both went on, of course, to become stars in Felsenkirchen’s league title campaigns and have achieved great success thereafter - Ludwig also won the Young Galactico award during his time in the academy.

Felsenkirchen’s academy is most famous for the ‘golden generation’ of players who captured the IFCF Rising Stars’ Cup title, became the feature of a famous RBC Sports documentary focusing on the team and Felsenkirchen in general, and went on to graduate the vast majority of players to the first team. Paul Steinhausl, Florian Krukenberg, Per Holtz, Dieter Rosberg, the names go on and on - today’s first-team squad, considered the strongest in the country, is made up of 8 academy graduates alongside 3 foreign players. Felsenkirchen coaches are told to trust academy players, to give them first team opportunities when possible to encourage their development, and this has proved a winning strategy for the Blues.

The ethos of the club itself - that hard work will always triumph, effort is everything, actions speak louder than words - is reflected in the academy, where Felsenkirchen youth players are respected across the country for their commitment to the shirt, and ability to fight until the very end. Der Park doesn’t have the glamour of Hochzoll, Teussen’s academy in Stelburg, but it does have that rough edge that ensures Felsenkirchen’s elite players have strong mentalities - again, all part of the club’s identity, coming from a blue-collar port city.

Felsenkirchen’s academy cannot just be seen as one ‘golden generation,’ as many Rotmunde and Teussen supporters like to claim. Often referred to as the ‘Galactiko-club’ in national media due to the excellent foreign players the club has employed over the years, one must not forget names like Johannes Mandl, one of the great strikers of the Republikaliga, who came from Der Park long before any talk of a golden generation. And in the Di Bradini Cup side making waves at home after an excellent performance, Reiner Werkner has earned some goods minutes off the bench and Arnold Apel has gone from ‘future star’ to ‘star.’ The vice-captain of the national side has been rock solid in defence, playing all 240 minutes of the knockout stages so far, and has a highlight reel amount of tackles and blocks through the tournament so far.

Without a doubt, Felsenkirchen have one of the top academies in the entire country, and are second only to the most legendary club in the history of Teus football - not bad, not bad at all, and the club are only going up.

Everyone at Score! FutureWatch wishes the Goldhorns the best of luck in their semifinal match with Tumbra - you have done the nation proud getting this far in our return to international youth football, so let’s give it everything again (hopefully over 90 minutes, as our collective hearts can’t take 120 again) to pull off a result! If we survive the match, we’ll be back with the #1 ranking for Teusland’s top academy!

[Polar Islandstates]

There were never any guarantees in football, Erik knew that, but there were even fewer in youth team management.

It was an issue that started with the question of "what is the job all about"? Performance? Development? Success? Was he training these players for the rigours of senior international football? Or was it simply a competition to see whose youngsters were best? A shop window for the mega-clubs.

He saw it as a mixture of all three, truth be told. He wanted to win, sure, but he most of all wanted his player to enjoy themselves, and to be the best that they could be. And if that meant winning tournaments, or that the players would be well readied for senior international football, so much the better.

It was no mean feat, really, steering the Chicks to a third consecutive DBC semi-final. They’d reached the final the last two times, of course, but Erik wasn’t so arrogant as to think that was something he wouldn’t have to work to achieve for a third time. As ever, nothing was guaranteed, and they were going to be facing a Valanora side that was going to be intent on avenging their defeat from the final of the last edition. It made for an intriguing match-up on paper. Gone was the tormentor of the Chicks from the previous final – hat-trick scorer Emre Haaland – but gone too were the inspirational partnership of Emmanuele Niemi and Youssef Nijgaard up front for the Chicks, whose two goals apiece had dragged the unsettled looking team of youngsters over the line just when the home crowd looked to be turning the tide in favour of the hosts.

Erik watched his young charges being put through their paces by the coaching staff in the final training session of any note before the game. They’d done the slower one for the television cameras earlier, and there would be a loosener and tactical session tomorrow morning before the game, but this was the final chance to really work on some moves and, crucially, some set pieces. Roald’s third goal against TJUN-ia had come from a well worked set piece, and both Ruben and Volkhardt had scored from corner routines in the quarter-final against Carpathia and Ruthenia. Loïc had added a third in the dying minutes to make things comfortable with a technically perfect half-volley, but it was clear that set pieces were becoming something that the Chicks could lean on. Erik wondered idly if it had been noticed yet by opposition coaches that he’d put in a call to Finn Kirkkegaard at Aasiaat and borrowed his set piece coach for the duration of the tournament. Certainly, little Tomas Olsen was working his magic so far, and as Erik watched from the sidelines, he witnessed Ludvig Altermatt almost knock Valentin Ernst clean over as he accelerated onto the ball with his leap, commandingly nodding it past Edgar in the goal.

“See that, Vauxhall?” asked Erik, nodding his assistant’s gaze in the direction of what had just happened. “He knows what he’s doing.”

“Very important,” agreed Vauxhall, “it’s not even like Valentin is a pushover, either. They’re both big, sure, but Valentin must have a decent bit of height on Ludvig, not to mention several kilograms.”

“It’s that power they’re bale to generate.”

“Aye, I suppose when you’re the size of Tomas, you have to learn how best to compete in the air.”

It was true, Erik had to admit. Tomas Olsen had had a middling career during his playing days, never quite managing anything beyond a few appearances from the bench in Divisjon Two, and spending most of his time flitting between Divisjon Three and the Challenge League for his various clubs. But at only 168cm tall, which was small for any centre-back let alone one trying to make a living in the Polarian leagues, he’d had to work out the best techniques for competing in the air. ‘Spring-heeled Tomas’, they’d called him. Erik remembered playing against him later in his club career as he himself worked down the leagues in order to keep playing, and finding much to his surprise that despite the almost twenty centimetres difference in height between them, he didn’t win a header all game. The man was a genius at leveraging every last percentage of advantage he could from his physical, something he was now passing onto Erik’s charges. Couple that with his intelligence and ability to create routines that a gridiron coach would’ve been proud of, and you had all the makings of a top class set pieces coach. True, he was never going to get the peak of performance from these players that he was able to get from the squad at Aasiaat Harbour, where a whole off-season’s worth of plosive exercises and study sessions meant the Pilots still topped the charts in terms of both attacking and defending set pieces last season, despite their league position, but even in these few short weeks, he was creating waves.

Erik sniffed and wandered back to his laptop, leaving Vauxhall to supervise things and raise an eyebrow as the shortest member of the squad – Olof Clausen – became the latest member of the squad to win a header against one of their giant centre-backs with the Olsen take—off technique, and thought about his tactics for the coming game.

It would have to be an unchanged line-up. Obviously. There was no other question in his mind. True, it would be exactly what the Vanorians were expecting, but whether the line-up was predictable or not, it was still the best line-up Erik had at his disposable. If the punch was good enough, it wouldn’t matter how early the opposition started planning against it.

Rieland was the better of the three goalkeepers, and had made two superb saves in the quarter-final whilst the score was still one-all, boosting his confidence just in time for a semi-final performance.

Ernst, Herzog, and Altermatt were beginning to predict each other’s movements and responsibilities on the pitch far better than they had done at the start of the tournament, and with Mika Jensen on one side proving to be as dependable and low-maintenance as expected, Erik was entirely comfortable in continuing to play the relative wild-card of Jari-Andrej Coia on the other. He was unpolished, sure, and a season in Divisjon One would surely be of benefit to him before he joins up with his new parent club in Mytanija, but rarely had Erik met a player so willing to work and learn on the training ground. The boy had a tremendous chip on his shoulder about something or other, but it was nice to see him putting it to good use. At least he could be sure this wasn’t a player motivated by money, anyway. It was a shame, if anything, that the transience of the under 21s meant he wouldn’t get more time with the lad. He had a distinct impression he was witnessing the polishing of an absolute diamond starting to happen.

The midfield practically picked itself, with Loïc Nousiainen, Wojciech Baptiste, and Valentin Brunel all near the standard needed to be picked for the Terns already. Erik tended to doubt they would be, with new manager Federico Aalto clearly having a lot on his mind at the moment thanks to the meddling of the government, but he knew the Chicks’ winning performance would come from here if it was going to come at all.

He was also less reserved about his strike partnership than he had been previously. Roald and Volkhardt had scored eight goals between them now at this tournament, which was not a bad return at all considering, even if Roald’s had all come in one fluent flourish in the round of sixteen. He’d like to see the young lad from Axel Heiburg score more evenly, or at least look like scoring more readily, across a wider range of moments but, ah. That was consistency he was talking about now. You don’t tend to get consistency at this level. Not when they’re all whisked away when their age says they have to be.

Instead, it was the bench where he was concerned. Not at the quality of the players there; you didn’t make the Chicks squad if you didn’t have quality to spare. No, instead, it was the nature of the players. Erik’s preferred tactic meant certain players doing certain things at certain times. With Niemi and Nijgaard, he’d been blessed. The team was built around that partnership, and they’d shone as a result. It had helped also that they’d managed to get two full tournaments in before they ‘graduated’ up to the senior team.

But Roald and Volkhardt had had to work harder to fit into the same system. They’d been trying to fit into the layouts that Erik had set up for them already, but it hadn’t worked. Not at first. Square pegs and round holes. Each individual player wasn’t going to adapt their whole persona and technique to fit into a new system, not immediately. Maybe over a season or so you could eke that out of a player. Or with experience they could gain the knowledge of how to play multiple roles. But neither time nor experience were on Erik’s side here.

Instead, having adapted his tactical plan ever so slightly to accommodate the best eleven players he had at his disposal, Erik was now left with the possibility that any replacements he made were not necessarily going to fit into this new system. Not square pegs into round hole so much as round pegs into a square hole that used to be round.

What chance did a bench that was already fairly empty of ‘game-changers’ have when you were putting them into a situation they weren’t used to?

And yet, Erik loved his job.

He sat at his laptop under the make-shift awning, and gave Tomas a ten minute signal with his hands when he looked over beyond Vauxhall, who was stood with his arms behind his back looking more like a sergeant major observing his troops than a football manager.

Erik scanned the list of names in front of him one more time, and sent it to the secretary. He was early, almost a full day early, but there was no point beating around the bush. That was the squad. That was his job.

Development and preparation, balanced with success.

How much success? Tomorrow night would tell.

[Valanora]

After the barnburner that had been the Round of Sixteen, Kasper Volheim was hoping for something for tactically sound and structured in the Quarterfinals but knew that their opponent proved a big step up in the difficultly that they had just been exposed to in Semarland. That was the nature of the beast, the way that these tournaments went especially once you had advanced out of the group stage and into the intensity that was the knockout phase. Each match became more difficult than the last, each a greater test than anything you had faced up to that point, and each the most important match of the tournament thus far which would only get more important the more rounds you advanced to. He sometimes wondered if these sort of tournaments were right for the youth players of clubs, if perhaps there was too much emphasis on getting results out of the players than trying to develop them to be the best players they can once they found their footing and then entered into their prime. Were tournaments like the Di Bradini Cup and the U18 World Cup subjecting these prospects to too much football and at too young an age and risking them burning out early in their careers or never truly blossoming into whom they had the potential to become?

There was a lot of football to be played in the modern day, with your international tournaments of the pair of youth World Cups, the World Cup qualifying and Finals itself, the regional tournaments as well as the independent association tournament, then on the domestic side you had league play, usually at least one if not multiple domestic cups, and if your team qualified for international play there was usually at least four more matches to the calendar with that to. Was the game becoming too overwhelming with too many matches and risking running these players into the ground and in doing so making their careers end sooner and for the youth players to perhaps never find their ceiling when results are placed above the need to develop. The movements by some federations to shrink their leagues and restructure them to reduce fixture congestion was a good move and for that Kasper had been proud that the VFA had been among the first to do it when they switched every tier to a sixteen team division requirement, even if there was one division or eight in the tier. Adding in with the elimination of the Navy Cup, or the league cup as many called up, and players on Vanorian teams had a way of lasting longer or having more to give at the end of the season than their peers.

The game against the Rushmori opposition played out much like he had expected it to, much more tighter and structured than the wide open affair between themselves and Semarland had been. The challenges in the midfield were crunching and the battles for the fifty-fifty balls were rough but within the rules of the game by both sides. Neither side wanted to be the first to blink and allow their opposition an opportunity for a good scoring chance and it made for perhaps unattractive viewing but it kept the game even keeled. Even at the break and content with a gritty first half but knowing something else was needed in the second half, Volheim rolled the dice and decided to bring on Drake Rinaldi for Edwin Schjelderup up top to offer something different. It was evident at first but the younger striker was finding small gaps in the Rushmori's defense and that slow battering and probing eventually saw the break as Rinaldi was fed in by Sørensen and moved to shoot but laid it off instead for Zack Sjöberg, whose late run from the midfield had a gaping maw of a net to drill the ball into in the sixty-eighth minute. It would be the opener and the only goal of the contest, one where the Marauders were not at their prettiest but it had been almost ruthlessly efficient in getting the job done that needed to be done to advance.

The reward for that efficient victory and progression into the semifinals? It was going to be none other than the holders of the competition and the team whom had defeated Kasper and his charges at the last time of asking in the Final, when they had been brought to the precipice by the immense talent that is Imre Haaland. The striker aged out of the program and was now blasting in goals for his club and the senior national team, although the Polarian side was without a few of their key cogs that had won them the title as well, though they had almost effortlessly walked their way into the semifinals. Revenge was not on the mind but rather how tall of a task it was going to be to ask of his players to find a way past this reemergent giant of the game who had returned from isolation as if nothing had happened and could very well be contending for a World Cup title in the near future. The defense was outstanding, their attack was nearly as ruthless and efficient as the Marauders, and they had the know how of winning these tough games. Home advantage might prove a small tipping point but this was a monumental task and Kasper knew it, but the squad would have to relish the challenge if they were to not let the magnitude of the task overwhelm them. The game was as much mental as it was physical and if he kept the spirits high, they could find victory against the mightiest of foes.

[Valanora]

Semifinals
Polar Islandstates 2–0 Valanora*
Siovanija & Teusland 5–6 Tumbra

*Scorinated by Ko-oren

3PPo
Valanora v Siovanija & Teusland @ The White Fortress, Gladerial

Final
Polar Islandstates v Tumbra @ The Battleground, Raynor City