World Cup 96 - Roleplay Thread

by **Tero al Disco** » Fri Mar 29, 2024 11:05 am

TERO DRAW TO A "DISAPPOINTING" SANNYAMATHLAND, BUT CONSERVE THE GROUP 19 LEAD.

Redacted by Nicolás Moritz.

March 27th, 2024

After their shock win over Saterun away from home, Tero al Disco dropped two points in the Marcelo Sassari versus the #107 world ranked team...I don't think this squad has convinced me yet.

Well, that's because, although the country from the region "Kepler 37 B" are almost 100 places above us, they were touted by the world press to let their countrymen down in group 19. They finished round 2 with one loss against Aphrilia, and we had a 100% performance from 2 fixtures. Would the team be able to carry their momentum to Inticuna or not?

The start of the match saw the teams playing relaxed, they didn't dare to shoot at goal with all their might. Yeah, they had 80 more minutes to score, it didn't matter much to go attacking like there was no tomorrow. However, after those 10 minutes (which is why I said 80 more minutes and not 90), Sannymathland gradually started to build more and more attacks. One problem for them was their inaccuracy. By the 25th minute, the TV scoreboard showed that they had only one shot on target out of 5. The Tricolor weren't attacking that well either; only by the 27th minute came their first shot, when Máximo Manet crossed it from the right and Miguel Napoliello headed it, only for ball to get easily into the goalie's hands.

In the 31st minute, a shot from one of the opposition's forwards, an almighty shot, deflected off Riese and was punched away by Castillo. That was Sannyamathland's first dangerous chance of the match. That was followed by a header by that same man 3 minutes later, which graced the crossbar and had gone out for goal kick. Then? For like, 10 minutes there wasn't a single shot, boring. Sannyamathland could've gone for more, but they couldn't. The Terense defense were defending well, the forwards had the same problem that the defenders had in their previous matches: they didn't have energy, they wouldn't run fast, they were tired, they whatever the hell. They couldn't do the damned offending. So that's how it was. Until...the next sentence doesn't go connected with the "until". The ref added 5 minutes of extra time. 5 minutes in the 1st half? I've never seen that happen. In the 47th minute, Hernando Lucero had won his team a corner. Napoliello would take it. It landed on Lucero's head, who couldn't head it well, so the ball bounced off the grass. It landed on Leonardi, centimetres away from the goal, and he slide-tackled it into the net, to make it 1-0 for the Teros. Woo.

If the first half seemed like Sannyamathland were the better team, then in the second half they would dominate it. Now Riese, Kuchler, Manet and Kunz, and the others had to test their defensive skills.

Or wait, how do I correlate "dominating the match" and "being disappointing" like I said in the headline? Well, they were still a bit disappointing. Their strikers were still inaccurate, and the Hirsch or the other Terense midfielders could easily beat the Soviet (?) counterparts with the ball; and a compliment to their defense, who stepped in when it really mattered, and so they slowed down the Terense attack. All that "defense challenge" aside, Sannya (that's my nickname for them) only had their first dangerous chance in the 58th minute, when their right forward ran away from Kuchler and Napoliello, so as to set up a cross. He connected with the other Soviet forward, who was wide open, and so proceeded strike it low towards the goal, which went past Castillo, and sigh, it was 1-1 in 58. Our defense had to wake up to not let that happen. Maybe that was when that "defense challenge" started?

In the 64th minute, I think Sannya showed us their potential. I think it was one of the prettiest build-ups I've seen covering for ABCD, starting from a free kick from the back, including lots of high passes/chips, headers, backpasses, the Terense defense not pressing them enough, or well enough, one-twos, triangulations, charges down the field, the oppositions' right-midfielder chipping the ball past a jump from Manet in the area, headed by their striker towards his fellow partner-in-crime, volley, and utterly ruined by Andrés Castillo, who decided to catch the ball from the latter striker's shot. Godspeed to him.

A yellow card for Kuchler in the 66th minute, hardly anything happening afterwards (anything but not Tero having a key chance), Cervantes suffering from a twisted ankle 4 minutes from time, so the Tricolor had to end with 10 players because of a lack of substitutions available, and Tero's defense holding their own in the second half's extra time, where everything could happen, were the sort of events that happened as the game was coming to a close. And it did come to a close effectively, with Tero al Disco and Sannyamathland drawing 1-1.

SUMMARY: TERO AL DISCO 1-1 SANNYAMATHLAND
Tero al Disco:

Lineup: A. Castillo | I. Kunz, M. Kuchler (C), C. Riese, M. Manet | M. Napoliello, E. Hirsch, L. Figueredo, H. Lucero | A. Biaggi, J.J. Leonardi
Manager: Alfredo Félix
Goals: J.J. Leonardi 45+2'
Cards: M. Kuchler X 66'
Injuries: S. Cervantes 86'
Subs: L. Figueredo -> F. Martini 55', I. Kunz and C. Riese -> D. Cuevas and F. Grosso 70', H. Lucero and M. Napoliello -> S. Cervantes and G. Durand 77'

Sannyamathland:

not available

Worldwide > WC Qualifiers > Group 19

# Team			M  GD  Pts
1 Tero al Disco		4  +3  10
2 Audioslavia		4  +4  9.
3 Cabo Azure		3  +3  7
4 Aphrilia		3  +1  6
5 Sannyamathaland	3  -2  1
6 Saterun		4  -3  1
7 Saltidia		3  -6  0

Matchday 4
Saterun 	2–2 Cabo Azure
Sannyamathland  1–2 Audioslavia
Aphrilia 	1–2 Tero al Disco

Matchday 3
Tero al Disco 	1–1 Sannyamathland
Audioslavia 	3–2 Saterun
Cabo Azure 	2–0 Saltidia

28/3/2023 21:53
Tero al Disco brush Aphrilia aside in preparation for Audioslavia and Cabo Azure matches
After an unconvincing draw at home to Sannyamathland, Tero al Disco bounced back to beat Aphrilia 2-1 away from home, keeping their lead over group 19 in the process... more >>

28/3/2023 21:45
Audioslavia go second after defeating Sannyamathland
Winfridh's Audioslavian side beat Sannyamathland 2-1 without any problems, as they get ready for the next match against Aphrilia and a possible first-versus-second clash against Tero al Disco... more >>

28/3/2023 21:44
Saterun draw with Cabo Azure after a miserable start
After losing their first three matches of qualifying as Independents champions, Saterun get a respectable 2-2 draw at home, to #20 Cabo Azure... more >>

27/3/2023 20:19
Tero al Disco have slightly the worse in a draw against Sannyamathland[/floatleft]
At Tero al Disco's Estadio Marcelo Sassari, the Tricolor drew 1 all to Sannyamathland, including a mediocre performance from star striker Alvar... more >>

27/3/2023 19:55
Kameron Boyd's new tactical approach "fails" as underdogs Saterun lose at Audioslavia.
In a match which saw five goals being scored, uncharacteristic with Audioslavia's hyper-defensive "post-football", their match versus Saterun finished with a 3-2 win. Th... more >>

What do YOU think will happen? Will Tero al Disco get spanked by Audioslavia?
Or will the Teros find a way to somehow shock the Bulls? Please i had to add this
interactive thing (in this case a poll) so i can get the sweet rp bonus before the first option happens

do you think this is cringe? yes, me too...

Tero al Disco brush Aphrilia aside in preparation for Audioslavia and Cabo Azure matches
After an unconvincing draw at home to Sannyamathland, Tero al Disco bounced back to beat Aphrilia 2-1 away from home, keeping their lead over group 19 in the process. This comes before Tero al Disco's two most important matches so far: against #34 Audioslavia and #20 Cabo Azure

Many fans worldwide were celebrating as Tero al Disco beat Aphrilia away at the Pallas Millenium Stadium in Pallas City, as the #193 ranked side in the world, and one of the fan-favourites (according to the fantasy sheet ig) are still unbeaten and in first place in group 19.

Back to the match: from matchday 2 it was said that it was going to be one of the key matches early on, as Aphrilia still had won their 2 fixtures; meanwhile, Tero al Disco had won 2, but had drawn against Sannyamathland. Aphrilia had one bye, Tero had not, so it would be a must-win for the Bresiman nation, since they would climb over the Tricolor.

However, Tero al Disco spent the first few minutes dominating the game. A dangerous chance came by the 8th minute, starting with Terense left-back Domingo Cuevas nutmegging Aphrilian midfielder Edward Elliot. Cuevas - in his first international appearance - gave a long pass straight to Alexander Cornelli. Cornelli's shot later hit the post and went out.

With the absence of center-back Steven O'Truffet for Aphrilia due to an injury sustained while training, made the Aphrilian defense not play in optimal form. Fortunately for them, O'Truffet was only out for this game in particular. But in this "game in particular", the centre-backs Amelia Haze and substitute Andrew Paxton had a bad performance.

The first goal for Tero al Disco came in the 19th minute, when a shot from Francisco Martini was deflected into the net by goalkeeper Phillip Karnwell, after being assisted by a long pass from Miguel Napoliello. The Nacional Terense right-back scored his second goal in about ten caps for the Tero al Disco national team.

36-year-old midfielder Erick Marshall had a chance denied when, after a counter-attack, the referee had whistled for offside, despite claims from Aphrilian players that Luciano Clotieri had deflected the ball with his shoulder after a cross from Nathaniel Rosberg.

The second goal from Tero al Disco, with 45 minutes gone, came in the form of a header from Alvaro Biaggi into a wide open goal. Assisted by a cross from forward Juan Jose Leonardi, he made Tero al Disco 2-0 and scored his 5th international goal for the team.

Only three minutes after the half-time break ended, captain Rosberg got one back from Aphrilia. Amelia Haze had crossed the ball to Nathaniel, which he headed it into the goal. Needless to say, that goal destabilised Terense defense, but they seemingly "recovered" after some time. In a game between two very defensive teams, it was 2-1 before the 50 minute mark

Tero al Disco manager Alfredo Felix opted to sit back, but not to exaggratedly waste time like he did versus Saterun. Meanwhile, the hosts' manager Christopher Vermont decided to make his team give their all to go and attack, but the Tricolor defense managed to stave off their opponents' chances.

This match wouldn't go without there being any controversy: in the 71st minute, Martín Kuchler made a challenging slide tackle on Brent Wallace. After a VAR check, it was decided that Kuchler touched the ball first, but by a very, very fine margin. Prompting protests by both Aphrilian players and staff. The fans were quick to voice their disapproval, as the referee recieved a slurry of insults, whistles and boos.

Strangely enough, 6 minutes later, the same situation happened. Alexander Cornelli was brought down by Amelia Haze, which prompted another VAR check, where it was also found that it was ball-first for Amelia and Alexander.

Aside from that, and despite some questionable subs made by Alfredo Félix, the match would come to an end, as Tero al Disco celebrated their win: they beat the Anchors by 2-1.

Box score for round 4 (this is independent of the multiversefootball.net report):
APHRILIA 1-2 TERO AL DISCO
Lineup: A. Castillo | D. Cuevas, M. Kuchler (C), F. Grosso, L. Clotieri | M. Napoliello, E. Hirsch, L. Figueredo, A. Cornelli | A. Biaggi, J.J. Leonardi
Goals: Francisco Martini 19', Alvaro Biaggi 45'
Subs: A. Cornelli, F. Grosso and L. Clotieri -> P. Tedesco, C. Riese and M. Manet 66', -> P. Tedesco and J. Salas 71', M. Kuchler and A. Biaggi -> I. Kunz and H. Lucero 81'

[*]Notes: Isaac Kunz suffered from a bruised knee the day before, which left him out of the game until subbed on in the 81th minute. Domingo Cuevas, Facundo Grosso and Hernán Beaufort made their international debuts

Projected squad (the players numbered 1-11 would be the preferred starting 11)

NOTES:
Luciano Clotieri suffered from a hamstring strain while playing for Solanet.
Gildo Durand can play both as a left-back, a center-back or a midfielder (actually, he's one of the second-string defenders in Gimnasia y Bala)
JJ Leonardi will have recovered from a groin strain by the time Tero play Audioslavia but he won't perform at full force. Maybe he could come in a substitute.
Sergio Cervantes suffered from a twisted ankle; he'll probably be out for five weeks.
I'm not a doctor, I just went into FM and copied whatever injuries the players had in my save. Sorry!!!

by **Sarzonia** » Fri Mar 29, 2024 11:23 am

What does a team do when they have a bye on a Matchday?

There are a lot of different answers to that question. For Caleb Rush and his Sarzonian national football team, they decided to give the team the day off. No training. No meetings. The weights room would require players to use their key fobs to get in.

The temptation after a disappointing result is to push the players hard. Require extra drills. Impose an earlier curfew. With eighth ranked Ko-oren and their extremely defence-oriented post football tactics on the docket, Rush wouldn't have been blamed if he'd required mental reps of his players. However, Rush was a realist. He knew no one outside the Sarzonia dressing room gave his team a chance, even in front of 105,900 full-throated Stars supporters at Dave Wilson Stadium in Woodstock.

Instead, the plan was to allow the players a chance to go out and soak up the Little Catherina neighbourhood the team hotel was located in. They would start their night at the Mom & Pop pasta shop run by a pair of Pacitalian immigrants at the site of the former Crusty Carl's. They would then visit a local high end bar where they had their choice of spirits from Sarzonia or its former regional neighbours in Delaclava or Pacitalia.

However, one player opted not to go out drinking. Spencer Wilson wasn't age-restricted; after all, 18 was legal age for everything in Sarzonia. Wilson wasn't interested in getting pissed on a match night even though Sarzonia weren't playing. He wanted to watch Ko-oren's match against Rea San Vegas and take notes. He knew Rush and the managerial staff were already working on trying to find a way past that defence, but he wasn't the fourth generation of Sarzonian football royalty for nothing.

The rest of the team were watching that match whilst a couple of the players were following the events in the Carpathia and Ruthenia-Labalia match, especially with Labalia itself being in ruins and a couple other players monitored the Ochre Islands-Saint-Jean-Jacques et Burnham-on-Stove contest. The ones watching the Dragonflies against Rea San Vegas were acting as fans for the most part. Wilson, meanwhile, thought more like a manager.

"You see that?" forward Kitt Morgan texted Wilson after Dragonflies forward Rex Archer tallied the 82nd minute goal.

"Yeah," Wilson texted back. "Hey, I've got notes to go over tomorrow."

It would be some time yet before the Dragonflies would land in Woodstock, but Wilson was more concerned about cracking the code against post football than he was about getting wasted or scoring of a different kind.

by **Crpostran** » Fri Mar 29, 2024 1:15 pm

[*] OOC: THE IMAGE OF PLAYERS CELEBRATING IN THE SCORECARD WAS GENERATED WITH THE HELP OF AI, ALL OTHER GRAPHICS HAVE BEEN CREATED BY ME

by **Josifovo** » Fri Mar 29, 2024 3:05 pm

Something about reading a newspaper and getting the news through those means makes them more trustworthy than internet news sources. It is true that Josifovo is somewhat of a backwards society, many attitudes can be seen as racist to one another or just stubborn enough to not accept change. While technology is making big strides, as does the Josifski economy all those years after the civil war, one thing is for certain, people love reading a damn sports newspaper.

Petko is one of those people, now aged 65, he is enjoying his first years as a pensioner. Before that, he was a simple engineer overseeing the construction of many roads and apartment blocks in his native Samuilovo. He had grown to love the sport of football since he was young, playing it on the streets, watching it on the television and now even seeing his nation's progress on the international stage. Josifovo, being small and fragile, doesn't have many avenues for happiness or optimism. It is true that even the Josifski people themselves would not expect their team to do so well in these qualifiers or even the Campionato Esportiva months before that. Petko was one of those shocked people, relaxing on the 7th floor balcony in his brutalistic apartment. With music playing on the background and a cup of warm Josifski coffee on his slightly crooked table he was reading the leading athletic newspaper in his country while his wife was shopping the essentials.

The newspaper he was reading was the Sportski Žurnal which is Josifski for Sports Journal, a newspaper even older than he was, approaching its 90th year in circulation.

Спортски Журнал
All the sports, by the people, for the people

EXCELLENT PERFORMANCES CONTINUE AS ZLATNI LAVOVI DISMANTLE SEMARLAND - NARROW ESCAPE AT BEARS ARMED AS TRAJKOVSKI COMES IN CLUTCH

People crammed up to the Stadion Ivan Angelov in Crnometinci to bear witness to an incredible showing of the Josifski team in Semarland, as they defeated the Anaian side in stunning fashion. A game that involved both teams playing with the head saw Josifovo be the winner of most aerial duels on the field, couple that with the home support, the 4-1 scoreline was justified. A brace of headers by Torov was the highlight of the match. Torov, who was pivotal in the game has been a stable substitution for the majority of his playing career for the Zlatni Lavovi, however he grabbed the bull by the horns with this brace.

No one particular tactical genius has been prevailing from the coaching staff. A cooperation marked by unity and mutual understanding has been the recipe for much of the team's success and recent flexibility when it comes to its playstyle. Despite Dobrudzhanski's increased recognition in comparison to the rest as first among equals, the voice of the rest of the coaches has been important in the shaping of the final decision. Something which he admitted himself following the last-minute victory at the somewhat controversially named NorthLands National Stadium in Bears Armed. The Ursines proved to be a difficult opponent, which they proved in the air, where Josifovo tends to be stronger at usually. Trajkovski's 88th minute rocket was what was needed to avoid a sticky draw against the Ursines. In an additional note, the travel to the stadium may have fatigued the players a little more than traveling to other stadiums as they had to enter through a "magical gate" instead of the usual portal or insanely long flight.

Next international break sees the team enjoying a bye for matchday 5, while matchday 6 sees the Zlatni Lavovi hosting the United States of Devonta. Many could wonder if the same form can be kept now that the team is on a 4 match win streak, as breaks usually prove to be make or break for a lot of teams. Seeing as how the Zlatni Lavovi are doing however, we could be seeing a deeper run than usual.

After reading it, all he could do was glance at the paper with a big smile before folding it back to continue drinking his coffee. It was going to be a beautiful day after all, a rare luxury in Josifovo.

by **Saterun** » Fri Mar 29, 2024 4:16 pm

Hans-Jürgen Becker walked into the home dressing room feeling satisfied.

They had just drawn level with Cabo Azure, the top-seeded team in their qualification group. Cabo Azure had also been the ones to pip Saterun to a play-off place in WCQ 91, the cycle in which the Claws came closest to the World Cup proper. Although it was tricky to adapt to, ganharbola allowed the team to play with more edge in their attack. They had show in against Audioslavia, and even though it had still ended with defeat, they put two past the two-time world champions. Hans-Jürgen himself had even gotten on the scoresheet in this game. As he saw the rest of the faces in the locker, he knew the team felt that same as him.

After they all came in, Kameron said a few words. This had been more like the team that had won the IAC. They had faced up against the best team on paper in their group, and had held their own. He would see them at 9 tomorrow for training. And that was it. Kameron rarely gave lengthy speeches. His team talk at the halfway point of the IAC final had been his longest to date, and even that was only a few minutes. But the shorter lengths arguably gave them more power. Each word meant more. At least, that was how Hans-Jürgen perceived it. But he didn't have time for philosophical analysis of speech tactics. He had to get to their airport.

Landing in 20 -Claudia. He was still half an hour away from Anasb International Airport. Damn traffic. He nearly got sideswiped as he tried to merge into the off-ramp. Even a scratch on his Suzon Callister 405 would have cost thousands of sols, so it was always better to avoid a collision. After about another 20 minutes, he had miraculously made it to the airport on time. Just as he pulled into the loading area, he saw Claudia step out of the airport. It had been a long time since he had seen her. Almost 3 months since her conference in Fontecoro. But she was exactly as he remembered. He had met her in HUElavia, in the hotel they were staying at. He had been so distracted with international games, but now he hoped he could focus on her for a bit. He honked, and she started over. When he got out, he wasn't exactly sure how to greet her. The last time he had seen her, they had been between friends and something else. Now, he didn't know. She immediately hugged him, but he still wasn't sure. But he saw something different in her eyes this time. However, they needed to get back to his apartment now. He could figure this out later.

Anasb truly was beautiful city to drive through at night, and Hans-Jürgen and Claudia had enough to talk about that the 45 minute drive flew by. After they had unloaded everything, Hans-Jürgen set up some dinner. He was by no means a cook, but did attend beginner culinary classes at the local community college in his spare time. He made boetzkillen, a pastry dish with chicken, rice, and spices. It was a Bnadatish, the northern culture of Saterun. Yes, Claudia's own culture may have been closer to Agrillistic, the culture of the south in Saterun, but he wanted to give her something new. She seemed to like it.

Dinner wrapped up rather quickly. Hans-Jürgen wanted to discuss something with Claudia, but she would be here for 2 more days before heading off to her meeting in Futsworth, so there would be plenty of time. And as much as he loved spending time with her, he was the NT captain. His mind was never far from football. And their next game, away at Saltidia, provided the Claws a good chance at their first win.

by **Drawkland** » Fri Mar 29, 2024 5:02 pm

DLK EXPANSION

For many years, Drawkian League Kickerball (DLK) has been the top level of soccer in Drawkland. Though the league has existed in some form for centuries, it has undergone many changes and modifications to its structure, schedule, and membership. One thing has remained consistent: DLK is a franchise league that does not sponsor promotion or relegation, unlike many other soccer "pyramid" systems.

The league structure featured for the last few decades was one that football (gridiron, that is) fans would find familiar. Two conferences, four divisions of four teams in each. While this format was popular with some Drawkian fans, the necessary scheduling algorithm resulted in a long season, and travel was complex. It also made it tougher for foreign fans to get invested in the league.

The largest issue came from the inclusion of overseas teams from New Drawkia. While the teams on the other side of the Navis Ocean brought in additional intrigue, it cost a fortune in travel expenses and logistical concerns. The teams from New Drawkia did gain fans and made more money overall thanks to the larger market impact of the DLK, but ultimately it was time to move on. New Drawkia reorganized into a pyramid system, with the now-former DLK franchises creating the top-level league for their nation.

The following teams no longer compete in DLK: Atildinite Whips, Cavson Models, Dalumar Waves, Dammenport Wind, Endertown Void, Miloden Witches, Shorban Shadows.

Seven out of eight teams in the "Outer" divisions in both conferences were now gone. The only survivor were the Darae-Sagut Starkians, who exist in the city of Darae-Sagut of the nation Starkian Towers. That nation is a protectorate of Drawkland, a small island off the coast that was not absorbed as an official territory of Drawkland due to a pact signed in the early days of the nation. With Starkian Towers being so close to Drawkland's mainland, they decided to remain with DLK.

With the New Drawkia franchises gone, this left a total of 25 teams left in DLK. The odd number is obviously not ideal, and with many Drawkian cities looking to hook into the soccer market, re-expansion was on the table. Soccer was originally the least popular of Drawkland's big four sports, but the boom brought by participation in the World Cup reinvigorated the league in the nationwide consciousness.

DLK decided to expand to 30 mainland teams, meaning that 5 expansion slots were up for grabs. The conferences were re-organized into two Unions, in hopes that the new nomenclature would help make this new era easier to define. The divisional structure would be done away with, so DLK will be composed of the two unions of fifteen teams each.

The schedule would be a double round robin (home and away) against teams in the same union, plus a single round robin against teams in the opposite union (home and away alternated year by year). This results in a 43-game regular season. Still on the longer side for most leagues, but shaving 7 games off compared to the old schedule is a definite improvement.

Five franchise openings available, and about a dozen Drawkian cities seriously in the running for them. Which teams prevailed? You all will find out in the coming weeks.

Some wonder if the change in league structure implies that DLK is looking more seriously at returning to international competition, competing in the IFCF. Drawkian teams have not participated in international domestic football since it was still being run by UICA, so it's hard to say. This new league structure may make it easier for foreigners to become invested in the league, and the fewer matches in the regular season could make it easier for top-level teams to participate in those international tournaments without suffering awful fixture congestion. DLK has not released an official statement, but the rumor mills have been churning. I suppose we'll find out someday!

by **Cassadaigua** » Fri Mar 29, 2024 5:29 pm

The Health of Cassie II,
by Natalie Stevenson, Concord Heights Times- Palace Affairs

It was ten years ago, when Cassie II, the former Queen of Cassadaigua, was forced to resign due to her handling of the annexation of the Cooper River Region. She was 73 at the time, and there was a lot of talk then that it was best for her to pass over the Crown to Cassie III (or Brianna, depending on who you talked too), to ensure a peaceful transition. Cassie II was in good health at the time, but people surrounding the Palace believe that it was soon after being made to step down, that her condition began to worsen. Soon after, it became known that she was suffering from dementia.

Now at 83, she is in the advanced stages of it, and will often not even be able to recognize her own daughter, Cassie III or any of her other children. It’s a difficult thing for the family to deal with, which any family that deals with such a patient can tell you. This disease affects everyone differently, and Cassie II has seen some of the worst decline in her condition over the last two years. That’s when it has become evident that she does not recognize her own family anymore, and will get argumentative with those who are trying to be her caregivers. Speaking, however, has become a very difficult thing for the former Queen, and even simple tasks such as eating are taking much longer for her to complete. This is what dementia will be in the latter stages, and that is where Cassie II is right now. At this point, it will often be said that the patient may be in their final days, making for a period of slow agony for the Royal Family.

There’s only so much you can do to care for someone that has a condition that has no cure, but her family is doing everything they possibly can, and that has been tough for them. Citizens of Cassadaigua desire to express their support for the former Queen, but at this point, Cassie II will have no idea who they are or what they are talking about. As you can probably imagine, she no longer sees herself as someone who used to rule the nation of Cassadaigua. Cassie III has asked for the people to instead show their understanding for the family, but to make any support, whether emotional or by means of a donation, to any charities nationwide that help those suffering from dementia. In a recent statement, Cassie III told the national populace that, “my mother, the former Queen of Cassadaigua, is ill at this time. As you all likely know, her cognitive ability has been greatly affected by dementia, but for a while she was doing well enough with it. That is no longer the case. The former Queen is struggling, so please pray for her and to keep her in your thoughts.” Cassie II’s older sister, Caitlyn I, who’s the mother of Brianna, is in better health at 87 years of age, but many Cassadagans can’t help to think that we may see a major generational shift in the royal family very soon. In a way, we are already there, since Cassie III, at 48 years of age, is already the Queen. Princess Brianna, among other members of the Royal Family have also expressed their sadness for the condition of Cassie II and have asked for support and understanding.

Should Cassie II pass away, there would not be much that would change about Cassadaigua as a nation, since she has not had any formal governing role for a decade. She had served as a mentor for her daughter for as long as possible, but over the last few years, even that has subsided. That does not mean that it would not be impactful on the nation, and for everyone involved. She is a national icon, and during her reign, she was instrumental in so many ways, including being the most assertive ruler in terms of establishing equality for men. While there will still be examples out there and studies done to show that there is not perfect equality, it’s as close as it has ever been, and it is at the point where Male Equality Now (MEN) is hardly ever heard from anymore.

Cassie II’s husband, Charles I, has been by her bedside throughout. He is one of the few people that the former Queen is still able to completely identify and talk with, even if the conversations do not seem to get anywhere. Charles I would also step down from any formal governing role when Cassie II would resign, and would make a lot of public appearances, commonly speaking at national collegiate graduations, and even took a tour of Gastineau four years ago, to explore the shrine that was constructed in honor of those who lost their lives. Recently, that came to an end, as he has become the primary caregiver for his wife.

Should any foreign leader wish to visit the former Queen in her final days, they are asked to contact Charles I, who will then make the appropriate arrangements. However, any leader who does visit should be advised that Cassie II will not recognize them, or the country that they are from.

Four points, and first place,
by Caitlyn Dufrense, Concord Heights Times

Team Cassadaigua played their second and third games of the World Cup 96 classification phase, including the home opener at Dagan Airways Stadium against The Erishlands. Prior to the game, former captain Morgan Rosenblatt, as well as Krystal Sherwin, who played in her last World Cup two years ago, were officially named to the Cassadagan Sports Hall Of Fame. That does not get them a plaque on monument wall at the stadium near the retired jerseys, but it is seen as an honor, nonetheless, that not many people will receive. Naturally, there is a lot of excitement around this team, as they look to improve on the lowest ranking that they have had since we returned to international play.

When it came time to play the game, the Fillies took control early, with Lexi McGregor picking up her third goal of the competition in just the third minute of play. The lead would balloon to 4-0 at half time, as Lauren Engle scored a pair, coming in the 16th and 33rd minutes, and her Rachel Wyman added the fourth goal in the 42nd. Now, the pink and black were clearly guilty of sitting on the big lead early in the second half, with The Erishlands cutting it to 4-2 after 62 minutes. That second goal was enough of a wake up call for the team, and they would not give up even another quality scoring chance for the rest of the game. Taylor Westfall’s first career senior team goal closed out the scoring in the 87th minute. Taylor joked after the game, that, “All I am going to tell my kids is that my first goal came in the 87th minute of a win in a qualifying home opener in Concord Heights. The fact that the goal didn’t really mean all that much will be conveniently left out.”

Following that, the pink and black made their way to Mytanija and played them to a 1-1 draw. Right now, Mytanija is draw happy, with a record of 0-4-0, and that allows us to be three points ahead of them with a game in hand. Don’t get too carried away, but we can remember the last qualifying period where it was the Fillies that were draw happy, and that led to them needing to dig out of a hole over the second half. We’ll see what comes of this. The lone Cassadagan goal in this game came in the 70th minute, off the foot of Lacey Sherwood, that tied the game at 1.

For more complete coverage of these games, please download the Concord Heights Times App for exclusive content!

by **Kamijiro** » Fri Mar 29, 2024 8:06 pm

Ugly Scenes in Kamijiro as Lightning Go Down Fighting - Literally.

Although the final score line suggests a close match against Baggieland, the Lightning were beaten handily by a much better side. However, the result was hardly the main talking point of the match, as Kamijiro had two players sent off late on for fighting with their opponents, who were clearly keen to avoid conflict. It was tough mudding for the Lightning, as they spent most of the match in their own half, trying to get the ball up the pitch to anybody in their colors, but to no avail. The frustration really mounted after Baggieland's Jeff Richardson headed home the first (and only) goal of the match. The Lightning quickly amassed fouls, breaking up play and trying to get the ball forward - classic route one football. The big scuffle that marred the match came shortly after, as noted hothead Sandro Becker was challenged pretty harshly by Jonas McAuley while trying to control a long ball from Marcus Aldridge. The referee gave no foul and play continued, but Becker got up and bee-lined it for McAuley and bowled him over from behind. This got the attention of both John Moore and Derek Pennington, who ran over to aid their man, but this just led to Marc Dijkstra (who had just subbed on) and Phillippe Seraphin also joining the fracas. From this point, things just escalated. The referee blew for play to stop. Both teams' security details and training staff got between the players, mostly ending the hostilities on the pitch there. However, in a bit of controversy, the referee only elected to book Kamijiroans, giving Becker a straight red, with Dijkstra and Seraphin receiving yellows. This ignited the home crowd - who then started chanting and throwing objects onto the pitch. The referee ended the match early at this point, seeing as it was already late on and there was a high risk of violence if the match continued. As such, the game was abandoned in the 88th minute, and Baggieland were awarded the three points. Kamijiro's Football Association will not appeal the ruling.

However, the next match week would be much better from the Kamijiroans, beating New Fernia by a score line of 0-1 away from home. New Fernia are much lower-rated than the Lightning, but they put up a staunch fight, playing a similar brand of football to the Kamijiroans, very much willing to sit back and soak up pressure. There were no major incidents in the game. The lone goal came off a deep cross from Hiroyuki Joshita, who hit a streaking Kaneto Kanazono in time for the attacking midfielder to head home a winner.

Due to the controversy of the match against Baggieland, an informal no-interview pact has gone into effect for the Lightning, so there are no quotes from Raiji Kagawa other than a thumbs-up and a nod after the win in New Fernia.

The official match reports are listed below.

Matchday Three:
Kamijiro 0-1 Baggieland
Events:
GOAL 48'    | (KJR 0-1 BAG) - J. Richardson
Yellow 50'  | (KJR) Hard foul - M. Aldridge
Yellow 55'  | (KJR) Manager misconduct - R. Kagawa
Red 87'     | (KJR) Violent conduct - S. Becker
Yellow 87'  | (KJR) Violent conduct - M. Dijkstra
Yellow 87'  | (KJR) Violent conduct - P. Seraphin
-- MATCH ABANDONED IN 88TH MINUTE. BAGGIELAND AWARDED WIN. --

Matchday Four:
New Fernia 0-1 Kamijiro
Events:
GOAL 67'    | (NFE 0-1 KJR) - K. Kanazono, assisted by H. Joshita
-- FULL TIME -- 

Other facts:
-- Kamijiro are fourth in their group, with five points through four matches. --
-- Kamijiro have not had a repeat scorer yet, with Kaneto Kanazono, Chikayoshi Muramoto and Phillipe Seraphin all recording one. --
-- The two players with assists are Katsuaki Fujiwara and Hiroyuki Joshita. --
-- The Lightning have collected 13 yellow cards in four matches --

In other Kamijiroan news, there has been a collective surge in interest for the return of the Premier League, the ex-Kamijiroan top flight which was abandoned following the split between St. Jerome and South-Central St. Jerome and the ensuing fallout. The national team's first win at the qualifying definitely brought up the percentage of interest. The Football Association will meet to discuss the details within the next few days. Due to the lack of current structure, there would likely be a draft to determine initial rosters. Stay tuned!

Article written by Allen Pierce of St. Jerome's Sports Journal.
Edited by Natsuki Watanabe of Raijin-shi Reporters Tribunal.

by **Sarzonia** » Fri Mar 29, 2024 8:29 pm

The first half seemed to take forever. The Ko-oren national football team were employing their extremely defence-oriented strategy, one the former nation of Rejistania would call karelan. They dominated possession during the first 45 minutes of their match against Sarzonia and were content to pass the ball and not make any risky forays beyond the centre circle.

Forward Spencer Wilson was watching the action unfold, scanning the pitch. He saw something.

"Coach!"

"Not now!" Caleb Rush responded, forcefully putting his right palm up in a firm, "stop!" motion.

"Coach, I found something!"

"Wait 'til halftime," Rush said. He turned his back to Wilson and rolled his eyes. If there's a hole in this system somewhere, I'll figure it outI, he thought. He looked out and didn't see a damn thing. He had no idea what Wilson could have possibly figured out that experienced managerial staff had yet to figure out. Probably some dumb bird He fanciedI, he thought. Or perhaps a nightspot where he can get his rocks off.

Two minutes after the clock reached 45:00, and three blasts of the referee's whistle signaled the beginning of halftime, Wilson waited for Rush to finish his interview with the sideline reporter and then power-walked briskly up to Rush.

"Coach! I figured out a weakness!" he said.

Guess I should humour him Rush thought, doing his best to prevent his eyes from rolling. "What you got?"

"You notice right here when their offensive midfielder is about to pass back to their d-mid, [central midfielder Geomraff] yCinrhadd makes this move every time. I, uh, we can force a turnover."

"OK," Rush said. He thought immediately Wilson was full of something until the 64th minute when a probing run by Stars midfielder Carlos Macias resulted in a turnover. Assistant manager Thad Knight showed Rush a video and made the same point Wilson did.

"Spencer told me that at halftime," Rush said.

"He is a Wilson after all," Knight said.

Regardless, Rush decided to send Wilson on as the next substitute. He turned to Wilson and said, "warm up. You're going in next." Wilson quickly threw off the warm-ups and began to get loose. In the 69th minute, Wilson was nice and ready. Three minutes later, he jogged on as a substitute for Holly Chambers as the Dragonflies defence jostled her roughly and limited her looks.

As the 85th minute ticked on the stadium clock, Wilson watched another Macias run result in a turnover. This time, the teenager was ready. He bolted forward, stole the ball and rushed toward the Ko-orenite goal. He sized up his shot and launched a rocket that cracked past Edou Bittencourt. The crowd erupted in cheers, beer spilled into the air, complete strangers high-fived and hugged each other. The Stars had a lead. The 112th ranked team in the football multiverse led No. 8 Ko-oren. Suddenly, the Dragonflies were in scramble mode, looking desperately for an equaliser as the mighty Dragonflies were suddenly down to a prohibitive underdog.

It would be up to goalkeeper John Wells to weather the storm, and weather it he did, making three of his five saves in the final four minutes of regulation and four minutes of stoppage. Finally after Wells punched a desperate cross out of harm's way, three loud blasts of the referee's whistle signaled the end. Sarzonia prevailed 1-0. The players enthusiastically hugged each other. Fans did too. Rush hugged his staff.

"Stars sting Dragonflies" read the next morning's Woodstock Daily Mail headline. "Ko-orenites Krash" read the headline in The Portland Press-Herald. It might not be the biggest upset of World Cup 96 qualifying, as 187th ranked Captina Island's 3-2 shocker over No. 12 United Mandaran States on Matchday 1 had the far greater disparity in ranks. But it still registered as a cataclysmic result.

And finally, after the hurly burly was done with the battle lost and won ere the set of sun, Rush knew the time had finally come.

Spencer Wilson was going to join the starting 11. He'd earned his spot against one of the sport's toughest defensive teams in a moment the country mat never forget.

by **Vyktoria** » Fri Mar 29, 2024 8:31 pm

WORLD CUP 96: VYKTORIA 1–2 AMENRIA

Vyktoria 1–2 Amenria
31' Sho (Yuichi)
49' Arland II (North)
88' Sho (pen)
Attendance: 47,918

Vyktoria lost to a resurgent Amenria at a near-capacity Stadium Vyktoria after a brace from vampire Nakajima Sho gave the home team a stark reminder of the World Cup's ability to connect the multiverse in the wake of Alexis Drake's mutliverse summit. Sho scored a cutback 31 minutes into the game, while Kevin Arland scored off an incisive pass from Steve North within 5 minutes of the second half, unfortunately for the hosts, Sho converted a late 88th minute penalty after Jack Hardy conceded an obvious handball trying to keep the ball out of the net and with it, got sent off with a red card for a unsportsmanlike conduct. His replacement will be Alexis Aaron for the next three games.

MULTIVERSE SUMMIT: ALEXIS DARKE PLANS NEW ERA OF MULTIVERSE DIPLOMACY
It all started with an EAS warning in Wyckham, and ended with one of the greatest successes of Multiverse Diplomacy in the Itavran Sector since it began isolation over five decades ago. Alexis Darke managed to fall into a polyamorous relationship with two of the pre-eminent forces of the Old Era, Luna Darke and Skyalian Drako, before meeting Sythini Rythorn of New Rythorn, Galzra Tymplyr of Jarokn, and Draconius Drako of the Drakonian Commonwealth of Itavr. The six leaders then met at the Presidential Palace in one of the greatest brainstorming sessions in Vyktorian history before creating the idea of the Multiverse Summit, a way for the Itavran Sector to re-open ties with the greater multiverse via sports and culture. Citizens are eagerly awaiting the public exhibition to be held across Indigo Bay. Wyckhamites however are expressing fury over being "screwed" out of a public exhibition, with only the private meetings to be held in Wyckham.

Project Kalliope: Stitching Time
Chapter 3 - The Limo Ride

OOC: This slice of life segment features old NexxusDrakonian characters, and is part of reintegration and retconning efforts in the Itavran Sector. It can and will feature dead characters, old nations, ancient references, and zero continuity. You have been warned.

As the six adventurers began preparing for the state visit, Alexis called their chief of staff, Malcolm Freeman. Malcolm answered and said "What's your ransom?" to which Alexis replied "I'm not kidnapped. It was a Project Kalliope issue, now I'm a demigod of spacetime or something. These people are weird."

Malcolm scowled on the other line while he texted some aides to pick them up from Luna's apartment. He knew the group was trouble, but not that level. Not superhuman AI project level. "Project Kalliope? Jesus christ dude, I told you not to touch that with a 100 foot pole. Were the polyamory rumours true?" said Malcolm. "No comment. That's private." retorted Alexis, disappointed that the question had even been asked. "Look, how many of you are there?" asked Malcolm. Alexis looked around before replying "Six, including multiple state visitors from the rest of the Sector. Turns out the sector has a lot of-"

Malcolm cut in with "Yeah, we know. You don't need to tell me. I'll get a 10-passenger limo and I'll come out with Megyn and a guard. Sounds like diplomacy across spacetime. I wish we'd been able to keep the appearance of normalcy going but... the Sector itself has been getting weirder." before sighing. "Fine by me, we've got Draconius Drako, Skyalina Drako, Galzra Tymplyr, Luna Darke, and Sythini Rythorn." stated Alexis.

"Holy moly... you have the Power Five. This is going to need me to dig up the monarchy's file. Dang it, you're making me work dude." replied Malcolm, stifiling a laugh. Alexis exhaled a half-laugh and said "I'll text you the address, then we'll get going. Just keep the media off my back. Put out an EAS warning or something via VBC. They've only got NSCAA on right now, and Indigo Bay Academy is getting their ass kicked."

"Will do. See you soon." Malcom replied, ending the call. A few moments later, the famililar SAME header tones of the EAS started playing on the TV. "The Commonwealth of Vyktory has issued a Shelter in Place warning for Wyckham. There has been a noted increase in spacetime anomalies around the Beltane Apartment Complex in Harrisville Street. It is known to the Commonwealth that multiple multiverse travellers and demigods live in said building, and a major meeting of said people is happening there. Please remain in your houses if you are in the city of Wyckham, as the meeting is expected to begin travel to the Presidential Palace via the Presidential limousine in the next fifteen minutes."

"Mask flies right off, normalcy is broken. Intriguing." said Gazlra, as the SAME footer ends the EAS alert. "Beltane Apartment Complex, could you get any more self referential, Luna?" said Draco. Luna blushed. "I might own the complex, but I assure you the naming has nothing to do with the 54th Baptism of Fire. It's just a coincidence we live in its penthouse." said Skyalina, almost laughing at her own metahumour.

"Metahumour? Jesus christ we've all seen beyond the fourth wall, haven't we? Seen the nothingness of our existence as bytes on a website, and creations in the mind of some trans woman in Brisbane. Luna and Nexxus literally being aspects of her, the rest of us contributing to her plurality and mental illness. This truly is the fuckiest of all minds and timelines." stared Draco directly into a secutirty camera, not realising everyone heard his monologue.

"Dude... are you talking to Kalliope?" asked Galzra. "Yeah. The Deus Ex Machina herself, but we're the machine." replied Draco, just as the presidential limo arrived and started honking. "We'd better get to ground level and begin transfer." stated Alexis, ignoring Draco's monologue as the six cramped into the lift and headed down.

The party eventually made it to the ground floor, where the fair-skinned, blond-haired Megyn Porter and the black indigenous Malcolm waited in the lobby. "You look like a mini cosplay convention." said Megyn. "But somehow this is the most normal thing I've seen Kalliope do as of late."

The adventurers nodded in agreement, then followed the pair into the car, as Malcolm sat silently, contemplating all the things that could happen. "So, Alexis. I didn't think the Sector would light up like it is, but here we are, reminded that opting out of the weird is impossible." said Megyn. Alexis sighed. "Yes, it seems we'll always be tailed by the old gods. Never expected something this meta out of Kalliope though, which makes us wonder what she wants." they said.

"I want you all to just do what you will do. I'm not interfering anymore. I'm an observer who sometimes puts its finger on the scale, but no-more." replied a melodic, robotic voice, somewhat like a vocaloid. "Kalliope has spoken." said Draco, as the limo began to pull up at the presidential palace.

"Let's get this show on the road then." replied Malcolm, opening the door to the limo.

To be continued...

by **Zenic** » Fri Mar 29, 2024 8:31 pm

“The Survivors look to carry the momentum from the huge win against Jeruselem as they travel to Raspotochje for matchday 5 before coming back to battle Al-Tamazgha in front of their fellow citizens of the Empire.”

After checking up on the latest news regarding the The Survivors, Emperor Cuauhtémoc lowered the volume on the tv and laid his head back down on the soft, fluffy pillows of his bed. At least he was getting some pleasant surprises from the sporting squads: an unexpected win against a big opponent and a good chance to get into third place (if not second) should they defeat their next two opponents. Doing so would make the second half of qualifiers SIGNIFICANTLY easier as they would dictate their own fate. Too bad it wasn’t that easy running an empire.

Before ascension, Cuauhtémoc had seen the ins-and-outs of the position from his predecessor, Professor Proctor. How the job wasn’t as grandiose as the literature and motion media made it out to be. Of course, most people knew that but they didn’t know just how unglamorous and jading it could get, especially when you chose to not wield with an iron fist. Essentially, it was as bureaucratic as you can think of. The last few months had simply been: meeting > paperwork > meeting > paperwork > sport related event > paperwork > meeting. During the reconstruction, sports had been the only real relief the Emperor had so naturally he was able to bond with those who worked directly with him and the citizens he would occasionally interact with. It worked miracles for his approval ratings in the youth demographic.

God, he even started to think in bureaucracy. Sometimes he felt that the only thing keeping him in the role was his military training. It allowed him to keep his sanity while also not showing his weariness in public: at least, a bit better than the last few Emperors. Only in private areas like his bedroom was he able to be completely himself and truly express his frustrations / hopes as just Santiago Cuauhtémoc, not Emperor.

There was one idea that some of the more experienced ministers had been throwing around: having Consul Justo Felipe attend some or most of the meetings. Historically, some of the more ‘educated’ Emperors had their likewise ‘educated’ Consuls attend meetings in their place and provide concise reports of said meetings. That way, the Emperor could attend to other tasks at the same time. Of course, Emperor Cuauhtémoc had the Consul himself plus Minister Professor Proctor (former Emperor) advocating for this but the current Emperor felt that it was important that he be in each of these meetings during the reconstruction period. He was open to allowing Consul Felipe to take over most meetings once out of said period but there was concern (from the Emperor himself) that he would go insane before then.

But, the more he dwelled on it, the worse the thinking got so might as well get as much sleep whenever he could to keep such thoughts out. This upcoming week was another gauntlet of meetings and paperwork: all essential but still quite draining even for the most fortified of minds.

by **Recuecn** » Fri Mar 29, 2024 11:50 pm

The first time Franky saw Gerauld in months, he was hobbling out of a golf cart and struggling to manage a pair of badly-sized crutches. Franky, the leading goalscorer for the équipe nationale, had last seen Gerauld, the team's star goalie, when they had played together at the IAC. Together, they'd led their team to a third-place finish, not bad for their small nation. Reçueçn had never been a big name in football, although they'd had their ups and downs, strokes of fortune both good and bad. Franky and Gerauld had been together through it all, ever since that Baptism of Fire so many years ago--it was a miracle they were still playing together, but time had a weird way of standing still in Reçueçn.

Back then, they'd been rivals, players for Reçueçn's two biggest teams, Reçueçn FC and Association Genève. Both of them were very loyal to their clubs and still played for the same teams, but after a dozen years on the national team together, they'd developed a firm friendship that had overcome their old club rivalry. Franky had watched Gerauld's daughter grow up--she was nine now--and she was beginning to play too now, always choosing the striker role and following in Franky's footsteps, rather than her father's. Franky would watch her games whenever he happened to be in Reçueçn City.

But Franky hadn't seen her or her father for a couple months now--not at all, since the accident. Gerauld, while out for a bike ride just before the start of World Cup qualification, had broken his leg when he was hit by a car. He was just now starting to be able to walk again--as long as he didn't put any weight on his leg, the doctors said. And so here he was hauling himself around on a pair of too-tall crutches, desperate for any chance to get outdoors or participate in any physical activity at all, really. Franky had been in town for practice with the national squad, and Gerauld had cajoled him into slipping away for an afternoon to hit up a local golf course. "Golf will be fine," Gerauld had promised a skeptical Franky. "I just have to stand there, hit the ball, and then you can drive me around in the golf cart. It'll be fine."

Looking at Gerauld now, Franky was starting to have his doubts. Gerauld hardly looked like he could keep his balance, let alone swing a club. Franky saw him helplessly staring at his golf bag, his arms already full with his crutches. Franky walked up and put an arm (gently) around Gerauld's shoulders.

"Gerauld, it's so good to see you again!"

"You too, Franky! How's it going?"

"Good, good, but we miss you at practice! I just came from the stadium. All the boys say hello."

"Aw, tell them I miss them too. I'm so glad you could make it; I've been looking forward to this all week." Gerauld's eyes were shining with a keen energy.

"Me too," said Franky. He glanced at Gerauld, then the clubs in the back of the golf cart, then back at Gerauld. "Let me grab those for you," he said, and grabbing the bag, slung it over his shoulder.

"I appreciate it," said Gerauld, with obvious relief. "I'm still not used to these things." He gestured with the crutches. "I think I should be able to set them aside to swing, it's just walking I still need them."

"Sure," said Franky, still dubious. "Why don't you go first then."

The pair teed off, one after the other. With his driver in his hands, Gerauld seemed more stable, and he put his weight into the follow-through convincingly, in a way Franky wasn't sure his doctor would approve of.

"Nice drive," said Franky.

"Thanks."

They clambered back into the golf cart and Franky began to drive down toward the fairway. "It must be nice to finally be outdoors, on your feet again," he said. "Or have you been back up and at 'em for a bit now?"

"Not really," said Gerauld. "Still lots of sitting around. So yeah, it's great to have a chance to practice being on my feet again. The doctor says I won't be back at full capacity until sometime next year, though."

"Ah, I'm sorry to hear that," said Franky. "It would be great to have you back in goal for Les Licornes. And I'm sure Reçueçn misses you too."

"Yeah, I guess they do," said Gerauld. "Although Les Licornes seem to be doing just fine without me."

"Yeah, Estienne really stepped up," said Franky. "And the boys in the back have been putting up a solid wall for him pretty much. It's at my end of the field we're having trouble."

"Hey, you scored against Legalese a few weeks ago."

"One goal in four games is not enough. Not enough from me, definitely not enough when you consider it's the only goal anyone on the whole team has scored since qualifying started. Like Coach Tremblay used to say, you need at least one goal per game if you want to win."

Franky spotted Gerauld's ball in the middle of the fairway and stopped the golf cart. "Which club do you want?" he asked.

Gerauld eyed the distance to the green from the cart. "Could you hand me the three-iron, please?"

Franky grabbed the club and brought it over as Gerauld limped over to his ball. He tossed the crutches on the ground and taking the club from Franky, tried a couple practice swings. Again he put more strength into his actual swing than Franky felt was wise, but the striker didn't say anything. Instead, grabbing his own clubs, he walked over to his own ball, a few yards away, and he too gave it a swing. Both of them had managed to land their balls on the green.

Franky got back into the golf cart, where Gerauld was already waiting, and started to drive them up to the green.

"Any special plan for the game against Brannfjord, then?" Gerauld asked. "I know your game's this weekend."

"I'm sure Bonheur's cooking something up," said Franky. "But it can't be too far out of the usual, because he hasn't given us any specifics yet."

"Well we're all rooting for you," said Gerauld. He paused as Franky stopped the cart, reflecting for a moment before he climbed out. "Maybe I shouldn't tear up the green with my crutches," he wondered aloud.

"I'm sure it's fine," said Franky. "Surely they wouldn't begrudge an injured man his crutch."

"Ah, I'd feel bad," said Gerauld. He reached around backward to grab his putter and hopped over to his ball. He was only a few yards from the hole, and knocked it in without any trouble.

Franky had a worse lie, and crouched down to scope it out. He squatted there, propping himself up with his putter and peering over his ball at the hole. He was almost startled when Gerauld spoke up again.

"When I said we're all rooting for you," said Gerauld, "I just meant my family--Samantha and Rébecca and I. But really, it's the whole country. Everywhere I go, people are talking about Les Licornes. At work, at the bar, in the park... the whole nation is cheering for you."

Franky smiled wistfully up at Gerauld. "Thanks, mon ami. I hope you know... they're rooting for you too. We need you out there. Take care of yourself and get well soon, okay?"

Gerauld laughed. "Well, thanks."

"I'm serious," Franky said, his voice stern. "Take care of yourself. You have to promise. I don't want you exerting yourself too much, making your leg worse, and then not being able to play until it's time for the Cup of Harmony. We need you back during qualifiers so we can make it to the World Cup."

"Okay, okay!" Gerauld laughed. "I promise!" He held up his hands in surrender, but without his crutches, he was off balance, and he wavered for a moment, teetering on his good leg. Franky leaped up to catch him, but Gerauld caught himself on his putter as if it were a cane. "I'm fine, see!"

Franky shook his head and clicked his tongue. He returned his attention to his putt, and after a moment's focus, knocked it in. He strode over to the hole and pulled out both of their balls. He gestured toward the golf cart. "Well in that case... hole two?"

by **United Mandaran States** » Sat Mar 30, 2024 12:43 am

Part I | Part II

Road to Unification

Part III-A : A Series of Elections - Majegau Part

Several states were holding their general election before the unification process even started. These elections were considered important to see how the politics have shifted in the area. 5 out of 8 Mandaran states were holding their election before the process. Three of them were Pemecutan and its former states, Manguwirajya and Petang Islands. And the other two were Toluiwa and Gili Anakan. Each of which have its own voting system. Pemecutan and Manguwirajya continue to use FPTP. While Petang Islands use a mix of FPTP and party-list proportional representation. Similar to Petang Islands, Gili Anakan have a mixed system but the different is a third of its parliament members are appointed by the King. And Toluiwa use party-list proportional representative for its lower house. Among them, only Gili Anakan who have unicameral parliament. While amongst the bicameral country, Pemecutan and Manguwirajya upper house are appointed by the King. In Pemecutan case, it is appointed with the approval of Rajya Sabha.

1786 Manguwirajya General Election

Manguwirajya held their election the earliest between the five. It was schedule after the pass of Naturalization Act which change the country name back to Manguwirajya. It was recognized as Kanginan before. Political experts mentioned there were 2 major events that affecting the country's election. First, is the anti-Pemecutan wave as the result of Pemecutan's Ratu Hawir Bhuja scandal. Second is their secession from United Pemecutan. Both events, however, affect both political sides of Manguwirajya. The first event give rise to the nationalist party such as Pesamuan Surya Mandala (PSM, Surya Mandala Union) and Partai Jaya Dharma (PJD, Great Dharma Party). While the second event strengthen the support for the current government who is led by a coalition of Pesamuan Krama Rahayu (PKR, People's Prosperous Party) and Partai Demokrat Manguwi (PDM, Manguwi Democratic Party). Thus, making the experts predicted a tight contestation between both sides. For the Uma Rakryan, Manguwirajya's lower house, 90 seats are being contested with 46 seats for majority. Three provinces were seen as the battleground, Mengwi, Abiansemal and Sempidi Provinces where 55 seats being contested. Provinces such as Gerana, Caturpuri and Taman Punggul are PSM hold. The rest, Kerobokan, Kerobokan Kelod and Munggu Provinces are PKR hold.

The results were quite interesting. In the holding ground, PSM success to secure majority in Gerana and Caturpuri while Taman Punggul was evenly spread between PSM, PJD and Partai Bhuana Raya (PBR, Great Universe Party). On the other hand, PKR secure the majority of their holding provinces. However, PSM success to gain the most seats in Mengwi defeating PKR who did it in the previous election. With the result, PSM won the most seats in the election with 29 seats. While PKR placed second with 24 seats. As predicted, PJD supports increase because of one of the events. The party won 5 seats or 3 seats more than the previous election. On the other hand, Partai Gadang-Gading (PGG, Green-Ivory Party) drop their seat from 3 in the previous election to only 1 seat. Unfortunately, the coalition of PSM and PJD were not enough to secure the majority in the Uma Rakryan. Their combine seats are only 34. It's even lower than PKR-PDM coalition who secure 38 seats. However, PSM party leader, Pande Ngurah Adi Wirahadi is determined to secure a majority seats in their coalition. Talks are made between PSM leader and other party leaders such as PBR, PGG and SMM (Semeton Muslim Manguwi, Manguwi Muslim Brotherhood) to create a huge coalition. PBR and PGG decline to create a solid coalition however they are ready to support PSM in the government. On the other hand, SMM agree to join the coalition. With the decision, King of Manguwirajya, Cokorda Ratu Mangu Maruti, give permission to PSM leader, Pande Ngurah Adi Wirahadi to establish the government. With the support of PBR and PGG, the government control 49 seats of Uma Rakryan.

Uma Rakryan
Party Composition

Party                     Code     Seat
Pesamuan Surya Mandala     PSM     29
Partai Jaya Dharma         PJD      5
Semeton Muslim Manguwi     SMM      3
Government                         37

Partai Bhuana Raya         PBR     11
Partai Gadang-Gading       PGG      1
Government Support                 12
Government Total                   49

Pesamuan Krama Rahayu      PKR     24
Partai Demokrat Manguwi    PDM     14
Opposition                         38

Independent                IND      3
Crossbencher                        3

1786 Pemecutan General Election

Pemecutan general election was held after the election of Pemecutan Ratu Hawir Bhuja, the Paramount King. The election selected 135 members of Krama Sabha, the lower house of Paruman Agung, Pemecutanian Parliament. While the upper house, Nagari Sabha's 45 members were appointed by the Paramount King with the approval of Rajya Sabha. Nagari Sabha members are nobles. Pemecutan government is somewhat unique. It has 2 head of government who have an equal power. The Patih Agung and Patih Madya. Patih Agung is selected from the members of Nagari Sabha. While Patih Madya is usually the leader of the winning party in the Krama Sabha.

Despite the success to lead the pathways to the region's unification, the current government was heavily criticized for several incidents such as Ratu Hawir Bhuja's scandal, the secession of Manguwirajya and Petang Islands and the single currency act that might be implemented immediately. Those incidents were heavily affected the current government's popularity. And leading to the election, it can be clearly seen. Both the popularity of the monarch and the government decrease significantly. In this election, 20 political parties were joining in, not including the independent candidates. All but 4 parties are group into 4 big coalitions.
Garda Nasional (GN, National Guard)

Pesamuan Jaya Giri (PJG, Great Giri Union)
Pesamuan Pandu Nagari (PPN, State Guidance Union)
Partai Rakyat Semesta (PRS, Universal People's Party)
Parta Pemecutan Bersatu (PPB, Pemecutan Unite Party)

Aliansi Demokrasi Nasional (ADN, National Democratic Alliance)

Pasemetonan Krama Agung (PKA, Great People's Brotherhood)
Partai Giri Sosial (PGS, Socialist Giri Party)
Partai Demokrasi Liberal (PDL, Liberal Democratic Party)
Gerakan Pembaharuan (GP, Renewal Movement)
Gerakan Pemuda Pemecutan (GPP, Pemecutan's Youth Movement)

Revolusi Hijau (RH, Green Revolution)

Partai Palemahan Agung (PPA, Great Palemahan Party)
Masyarakat Jaga Subak (MJS, Subak Defender Community)
Partai Wana Segara (PWS, Forrest and Ocean Party)

Aliansi Kelompok Minoritas (AKM, Minority Group Alliance)

Partai Masyarakat Cendana (PMC, Cendana Community Party)
Masyarakat Palmyria Bersatu (MPB, United Palmyrian Community)
Aliansi Mitra dan Soma (AMS, Mitra and Soma Alliance)
Aliansi Rakyat Yue (ARY, Yue People's Alliance)

After the result was announced, PPN won the most seats with 31 followed by PJG with 28 seats and PKA is third with only 20 seats. The result was a total blow for PKA who lost 9 seats from the previous election despite they are contested in more seats. Under United Pemecutan, parties from Pemecutan only contested in Pemecutan proper which have 92 out of 125 seats. On the other hand, PPN shocked everyone with an increase of 19 seats from their previous results. While PJG add 3 more seats from previous election. A total of 13 parties won at least one seat this election which is a huge increase from only 7 in the previous election. Some new parties that winning seat are Partai Demokrasi Liberal (PDL), Gerakan Pemuda Pemecutan (GPP), Masyarakat Jaga Subak (MJS), Partai Wana Segara (PWS), Republik untuk Pemecutan (RUP) and Partai Islam Pemecutan (PIP). Aside from them, 9 seats were won by independent candidates, the same number as the previous election.

Krama Sabha
Party Composition


Party                       Code    Seat
Pesamuan Jaya Giri          PJG     28
Pesamuan Pandu Nagari       PPN     31
Garda Nasional              GN      59

Pasemetonan Krama Agung     PKA     20
Partai Giri Sosial          PGS     15
Partai Demokrasi Liberal    PDL      3
Gerakan Pemuda Pemecutan    GPP      1
Aliansi Demokrasi Nasional  ADN     39

Partai Palemahan Agung      PPA     13
Masyarakat Jaga Subak       MJS      7
Partai Wana Segara          PWS      1
Revolusi Hijau              RH      21

Partai Masyarakat Cendana   PMC      1
Aliansi Mitra dan Soma      AMS      1
Aliansi Kelompok Minoritas  AKM      2

Republik untuk Pemecutan    RUP      3
Partai Islam Pemecutan      PIP      2
Independent                 IND      9
Non-affiliation                     14

Despite winning the election, Garda Nasional (GN) was not securing the majority seat in Krama Sabha. With 59 seats that they've won they are 9 seats short from majority. PPN leader, Komang Agus Trunajaya, start the talks to gain support. He aimed for a grand coalition with Revolusi Hijau while also getting closer with AKM party members and the non-affiliation parties. The talks with Revolusi Hijau were failed as the coalition has decided to join ADN to become opposition. It means that the opposition already have 1 seat more than Garda Nasional. Fortunately, Trunajaya was able to secure cooperation with AKM members. However, all 5 councilors elect from RUP and PIP have decided to become crossbencher together with all 9 independent councilors. With this result, Trunajaya with his Garda Nasional-Aliansi Kelompok Minoritas grand coalition can only secure 61 seats in Krama Sabha or only 1 seat more than the opposition. Despite this fact, the new Ratu Hawir Bhuja still granted him to establish the new government. Trunajaya is by then elected as Patih Madya of Pemecutan. On the other hand, Patih Agung is selected between the new members of Nagari Sabha. The 45 members are appointed by Ratu Hawir Bhuja with the approval of Rajya Sabha. All the members are independent. The largest support is given to Count of Pabean, Ki Gusti Ngurah Wirayasa.

1787 Petang Islands General Election

Petang Islands have to postpone their election following the forces abdication of the king and the change in the country's government from monarchy into republic. Despite the change, most of the government structure are still the same especially the bicameral parliament. The difference is the member of the upper house who is also elected directly by the population rather than being appointed as when they are as a monarch. Another difference is in the seating allocation. In the new system, each municipality has to be represented by at least one seat in Pesamuan Warga, the lower house. Thus, enlarge the number of Pesamuan Warga from 50 to 56 seats. While the upper house, Pesamuan Kuta is fill by 1 member from each municipality totaling 27 members. With this new system, Petang Islands adopted a mixed electoral system. FPTP is use for municipality which elect only 1 seat. There are 17 municipalities using this method. While the rest, 10 municipalities use party-list proportional representatives. And for Pesamuan Kuta use FPTP. A total of 6 parties joins the election not including the independent candidates.

Petang Islands Parliament
Party Composition


Pesamuan Warga
Party                    Code   Seat
Partai Petang Jaya       PPJ     23
Partai Rakyat Bersatu    PRB     21
Partai Buruh Petang      PBP      8
Partai Bahari Jaya       PBJ      2
Partai Hindu Jaya        PHJ      2
TOTAL                            56
Pesamuan Kuta
Party                    Code   Seat
Partai Petang Jaya       PPJ     15
Partai Rakyat Bersatu    PRB     11
Partai Bahari Jaya       PBJ      1
TOTAL                            27

The change in the government greatly affected Partai Rakyat Bersatu (United People's Party) votes as the party is affiliated with the monarch. They lose 4 seats from the previous election. Another losing party was Partai Buruh Petang (Petang Labour Party) who lose 2 seats. While Partai Bahari Jaya (Great Ocean Party) and Partai Hindu Jaya (Great Hindu Party) gain 1 seat each. On the other hand, Partai Petang Jaya (Great Petang Party) gain a staggering 13 seats. Despite winning the election, PPJ failed to secure majority in Pesamuan Warga although they confirm the majority seat in Pesamuan Kuta. PPJ leader, Made Puja Prabawa, meet leaders from PBJ and PHJ to establish coalition. However, despite with both additions, they are still 2 seats short from majority. With this, PRB and PBP who get the majority with 29 seats secure the confidence from the combine parliament. PRB leader, Made Satya Wirabuana is then sworn to become Petang Islands new Prime Minister. This situation create a hung parliament in Petang Islands for the first time in the country's history.

by **Tumbra** » Sat Mar 30, 2024 1:55 am

Tumbra 4-2 Auprussia

TMB (4-3-3): 13 - B Cvitkovic; 28 - M Boullogne, 4 - S Kerr (30 - B Byrne, 83'), 5 - W Pritchett, 3 - T Mercurio; 6 - T Harrison (15 - L McCormick, 77'), 8 - I Robertson, 16 - V Leighton; 7 - V Wells (17 - E Robertson, 77'), 21 - A Pearson (9 - L Crossley, 68'); 11 - C Henshaw (26 - J Hardaker, 68')

TMB scorers: Victor Leighton (14'), Ian Robertson (39'), Audrey Pearson (42'), Julie Hardaker (82')

Player of the Match: Ian Robertson [TMB]
Arjunnagar 0-1 Tumbra

TMB (4-2-3-1): 12 - R Russell; 28 - M Boullogne (2 - A Renton, 84'), 20 - Y Lawson, 5 - W Pritchett, 3 - T Mercurio (31 - Shim SY, 74'); 15 - L McCormick (42 - H Hindmarsh, 74'), 34 - E Sváfnisson (8 - I Robertson, 79'), 10 - S Monaghan; 7 - V Wells (17 - E Robertson, 79'), 9 - L Crossley; 22 - E Maddison

TMB scorers: Edward Maddison (11')

Player of the Match: Susan Monaghan [TMB]

Nine points from three games as Tumbra gear up to face second seeds Saint Eleanor in "most crucial game"

STRATON: Speaking upon the Tumbran national football team's return from their game against Arjunnagar, national team manager Michael Campbell praised the Black Eagles' play in their games against the sixth and seventh seeds, but that they now needed to focus on what would prove to be the "most challenging window" of World Cup qualifying. Having amassed nine points from three games played so far, Tumbra are now joint top of Group 15 along with second seeds Saint Eleanor — whom Tumbra will play in the next international window.

The games against seventh seeds Auprussia and sixth seeds Arjunnagar proved to be relatively routine affairs for the Black Eagles, with neither side putting up much of a fight against Tumbra. The Auprussia game did prove to be slightly tougher than the Arjunnagar game — Campbell praised Auprussia's side for "playing with experience and daring which sides from lower pots rarely have when going up against first seeds," after the Auprussians scored two in the second half to narrow Tumbra's advantage from three goals to just one. Ultimately, striker Julie Hardaker — experiencing something of a career renaissance at Myana — would put the game to bed after an impressively hit shot which would power past goalkeeper Morten Gallis.

The Arjunnagar game would go somewhat similarly, though an early goal from striker Edward Maddison would ultimately put the game to bed early. Rarely venturing out of their own half, except to put pressure on the Arjunnagari, Tumbra ended up playing a confident game in which they held control of most of the ball but not really pressing their one-goal advantage; something that Campbell perhaps singled out for criticism after that game. "I have always believed in not playing with one's food; if we have the ball, we should do something with it, lest it come back to bite us after."

Tumbra will have their most challenging game of the entirety of World Cup qualifiers — away at Saint Eleanor, the northern Anaian nation — in the next qualifying window. One-time World Cup participants, the Eleanorians' most famous football players on this squad is defensive midfielders Sylvia Hollenberg, who plays for Atletik in Mytanija, and Bridget Coombe, who plays for Athletic Saint Eleanor. Tumbra are expected to field a first-choice line-up for the game against the second seeds; and Campbell has warned of letting Saint Eleanor overwhelm Tumbra. The game will be broadcast live on TBC One.

Election campaign thrown into chaos after explosive Bencoolen Globe article alleges United leader Max Young's past infidelity, affair with intern

KINGSBURY: Three days out from Election Day, the United Party's campaign — one that had renewed confidence after polls showed it within a whisker of re-taking a lead in polls — has been thrown into chaos over an explosive article in the Bencoolen Globe which alleged that United prime ministerial candidate Max Young had an affair with an intern whilst he was Premier of Georgia. The article, which has pictures of him with the un-named intern — who has had her details censored for privacy — was published in the Globe's morning edition, which also carried a detailed biography of Mr. Young in the run-up to election day. Written by Straton-based journalist Jennifer Lee, the article painted a portrait of Young as a conservative crusader whose rhetoric on family values was completely incongruent with his lifestyle both as Premier of Georgia and as leader of the Federalist Party

The United Party could not be reached for comment, though a planned campaign appearance in Kelder, in southern Dartmoor, was abruptly cancelled after the article's publication on Thursday morning. Labour, the main centre-left opposition party, refused to issue a statement when asked on the issue, saying that it was an "issue for the United Party to deal with." A statement from the Alliance candidate in Young's prospective constituency, Carrington, on Mr. Young's 'personal indiscretions' was later hastily deleted, and the Alliance has also confirmed that it will not be commenting further on the issue.

"How Mr. Young responds to the allegations will likely determine whether he wins the election or not," says Assoc. Professor Prakash K. Jeyaretnam of the University of Couno. "The story is well-backed up, so calling it fake will likely backfire; I assume that Young's silence means that they are quietly figuring out how best to respond to the allegations and procure a response." United campaigning seems to have gone on as per normal, but speeches had a notable drop in references to Max Young; instead focusing on local policies. United hold a slight first-preference polling advantage over Labour, but are largely level on the two-party preferred vote which will truly decide the election. It is currently unknown whether this last bombshell will affect the campaign, if at all; though Labour look most likely to benefit from this scandal.

Questions remain over the future status of the Northlands as First Minister agitates for faster integration

PORT WILLOUGHBY: Northlands First Minister William Pryce today made a statement calling on the next federal government of Tumbra — whether Labour or United — to make clear its plan on the integration of Northlands as a full state of Tumbra. Pryce, of the moderate unionist Northern Democratic Party, issued the speech on the front steps of Government House in Port Willoughby — the territory's capital — in a bid to get the "glacial" state of integration moving.

The Northlands will elect five non-voting delegates through the single transferable vote system to the next House of Representatives; this number is up from the three it was entitled to from 2029 and 2033. Pryce, however, said that this compromise between "full elected representation" and "a mere colonial possession" was not a long-term solution for the Northlands; and that the next federal government needed to pay attention to the north. Tumbra, which expanded its borders into the Northlands in 2026, has had an uneasy time in charge; first in seeing off a terrorist insurgency, then in communal violence between Tumbran migrants and local citizens who have moved into the two largest settlements in the Northlands, Port Willoughby and Blackthorn, which resulted in the murder of a delegate who had engaged in particularly divisive rhetoric in the House of Representatives.

Neither Labour leader Bertram Andrews nor United leader Max Young have responded to the speech; it is understood that the Northlands is not very high on Andrews' priority list, while Young has spoken at length on ongoing security commitments to the region, but

Tumbran Railways set to introduce non-stop sleeper service from Straton to Fontwell via Couno

STRATON: In a bid to compete with low-cost domestic airlines, Tumbran Railways looks set to introduce a sleeper high-speed train service from Straton to Fontwell, with only one intermediate stop in Couno. The service, which was announced by Tumbran Railways Chief Executive Officer Jack Melling at an event at Straton Central station, will help ensure that customers "will be able to move from one side of Tumbra to another, while sleeping on board a comfortable bed, all within eight hours."

High-speed rail is an integral part of Tumbra's transportation infrastructure, but has come under increasing competition from low-cost budget airlines promising fast, cheap transportation across the country. The service is widely expected to be a premium-economy alternative to the low-cost airlines, promising much added comfort at a small added cost. Melling included details of the service after questions from the media; it is expected to have one train per night departing from Straton Central station at ten at night; making one intermediate stop in Couno at midnight, before a non-stop six-hour service to Fontwell, taking the North Coast Main Line through Nantwich up to Westmond. A return service is on the cards, but demand will have to be "suitably assessed" before any such service is put into operation.

"This service is set to be the first in a few offerings we are looking to offer for night-travel," said Melling. "We hope to be able to offer a safe, very much more comfortable travelling option for travellers at a small premium fee; using the trusted brand of Tumbran Railways' high-speed network to diversify our service offerings." The first service is expected to begin on 1 September, the traditional starting date for new services offered on Tumbran railways — a quaint historical tradition dating back to the issuance of new railway timetables on this day.

WCQ96 QUALIFIERS SQUAD FOR TUMBRA V EURAN OCEANIAN TERRITORIES, SAINT ELEANOR V TUMBRA -- Full Roster
Goalkeepers: 1 - Victoria Jones (Lakewood City), 12 - Richard Russell (Lakewood United), 13 - Branko Cvitkovic (Serrapince)
Defenders: 2 - Annie Renton (Serrapince), 18 - Hazel Kennedy (Couno Rangers); 4 - Stephen Kerr (Chromatik, CMT), 5 - Wendy Pritchett (Lakewood United), 14 - Christine Whitfield (Myana, CMT), 24 - Belinda Proudfoot (Lakewood United), 29 - Michael Hutchinson (FC Inter Nantwich); 3 - Tracey Mercurio (Kingston, QUE), 19 - James Green (Bavingtor, FVA)
Midfielders: 6 - Trudy Harrison (Chromatik, CMT), 32 - Mark Finnemore (Couno Rangers), 42 - Heather Hindmarsh (Newark Argyle); 8 - Ian Robertson (Ridgewell Rovers), 16 - Victor Leighton (Lakewood City), 33 - Wendy Thomas (Alnio, CMT); 10 - Susan Monaghan (Lakewood City)
Wingers: 7 - Valerie Wells (Lakewood United), 17 - Erin Robertson (Couno Rangers); 9 - Lynne Crossley (Chromatik, CMT), 21 - Audrey Pearson (Rülândéá Kôstä, RÜL)
Strikers: 11 - Charlotte Henshaw (Lakewood City), 22 - Edward Maddison (Avondale City, SYL), 26 - Julie Hardaker (Myana, CMT)

Schedule: @ DAR, Bye//v AUP, @ ARJ//v EOT, @ EXT//v ERA, v DAR//Bye, @ AUP//v ARJ, @EOT//v EXT, @ ERA
v ARJ: Fontwell; v EOT: Nantwich; v DAR, v AUP: Couno; v ERA: Lakewood; v EXT: Straton

by **Cabo Azure** » Sat Mar 30, 2024 5:42 am

Cabo Azure 2–0 Saltidia
Starting XI: Leitao | Soares, M'bah-Pinho, Araujo, Ferraz | Andrade, Rathbone, D'Cruz | Silveira (C) (goal 29'), Magalhaes (goal 45+1'), Ventura
Substitutes:
A strong performance by a rotated squad to show the depth this roster has. Old friends like Rathbone and Silveira showed they can still contribute at a high level, while Magalhaes scored a banger late in the first half to ice the game and Andrade and Araujo played lights out against the outmatched Saltidia offense. Three points from a win, two points of goal differential, and backup keeper Leitao keeping a clean sheet are all excellent, but what sweetens the deal from this match is keeping the starters rested for Saterun, sure to be one of the toughest tests yet in this qualifying campaign.
Saterun 2–2 Cabo Azure
Starting XI: Gomez | Soares, M'bah-Pinho, Furtado, Branco (C) (off 67')| Gontijo, Bastos (off 67'), Florencio (goal 44')| Santos, Mendonca , Gouveia (goal 65')
Substitutes: Andrade (on 67'), Costa (on 67')
And now for your regularly scheduled national team. The Macaricas drop their first two points to a robust Saterun side at Racetrack Road, yet it's hard to fault them. The Claws were ready for them, with Dalca keeping Mendonca so deep in his pocket that the first goal of the match came from outside the eighteen as Florencio exploited a gap and beat Abiatti top-shelf. The Claws would equalize early in the second half, only for the Azurean attack to characteristically overwhelm them in the box and allow Gouveia to score one of his tap-ins. Two defensive substitutions meant to preserve the lead were not enough as Thiago Esparza burned backup fullback Marcelinho Costa to score on an almost-empty net for the second equalizer. Sharp spotters will also note this is the first time Mendonca has worn the captain's armband, taking it when Branco was subbed off.

Projected Starting XI vs. Sannyamathland: Gomez | Ferraz, M'bah-Pinho, Furtado, Branco (C) | Andrade, Bastos, Florencio | Gouveia, Magalhaes, Mendonca
Projected Starting XI @ Aphrillia: Gomez | Soares, M'bah-Pinho, Araujo, Branco (C) | Gontijo, Bastos, Florencio | Gouveia, Mendonca, Santos

Joaquin Drake was used to being on the outside. His family was descended, distantly, from the royalist Long Marchers who’d sought asylum after their countrymen had started the trend of killing kings, theirs and others. For a dozen or more generations, the Marchers of Portelo had been at the epicenter of Azurean political life, advising the House of Portelo and guarding them in their palace. In that time they’d learned Lusitanian and intermarried with indigenous Azureans to the point they were no longer distinguishable by name, appearance, or accent, save for a few surnames like Drake and Rathbone that survived, but the Marcher bloodlines remained strong all the same, most notably in Portelo.

Their poster boy at the moment was Seth Rathbone, midfielder for CF Portelo and the only domestic-based player to receive consistent call-ups to the Macaricas’ senior side. Seth’s family was connected–his cousin Noah was the king’s seneschal–and his reticence to pursue an overseas contract was borne out of a desire to remain close to the heart of Azurean politics. Other Marchers were in politics like Joaquin or academia, where they formed an important part of the Maritime Mafia, a royalist balance to the staunch republican politics of Luis Fonseca and his cronies. Over the centuries, the Marchers had played a central, if subdued, role in the story of the Azurean monarchy, as if resolved that their adopted kings would not suffer the same fate as the kings of the land from which they originated.

Joaquin himself had been in politics from a young age. A Maritime alum, he’d been involved in the underground student organizations that opposed the CGT, the junta that had ruled during the interregnum and participated in some of the only active resistance campaigns in those days. He’d been ignorant, as were most people in those days, that Dr. Abigail Fonseca, professor of political science, was the dethroned Princess Abby, but he’d marched in the streets of Portelo carrying banners of Adolfo II and Reinaldo I. After graduating, he’d taken a dull but well-paying job in insurance, assessing risk for Cabo Azure’s major shipping lines, and continued his political activities.

When the CGT finally came down and King Manuel was crowned, he’d been one of the few to defect to the Partido Syndicalisto, the Lagostim-based opposition party that sought stronger bilateral ties with other Terranean nations and, ultimately, Cabo Azure’s accession to the Common Rushmori Community. The PS had less to recommend it upfront than its rivals, lacking both the insider knowledge and tradition of the CN and the deep pockets of the AN, but Joaquin saw what others did not. The reinstatement of the monarchy had led to the rescinding of decades-old sanctions against the CGT which had, in turn, affected the opening of Cabo Azure to the rest of Rushmore. The PS was the only party that saw this coming and pivoted accordingly, adjusting their platform to include an outward pivot that would benefit everyday Azureans and big businesses alike.

The PS had been in opposition from day one, but it had put the major parties on notice a couple of years back when it pushed through a trade deal with Eura, conventionally a country Cabo preferred to keep at arm’s length along with Nephara and Electrum. The party line for both the AN and CN had been against the deal, but the PS had wheedled it into a deal too good to refuse for many backbenchers in both parties, especially those from the outer islands whose participation was valuable to the parties in government. Should the vote for the Euran trade deal be replicated in the next Assembly and premier elections, then the AN would find themselves out of government for the first time.

by **Juvencus** » Sat Mar 30, 2024 6:01 am

Il Scudelliano is under new management, one that presents the news about la squadra as it should instead of being a third party newspaper that supports the team only when it wants, and will remain that way until further notice

DRAW AGAINST SREDNJACI SEES GLI ATTACCANTI WITH ITS SPIRITS STILL UP

A Takanobu Tavano strike was enough to make all the efforts of the team through the match fall all over them . A matchday's worth of opportunities was simply cut by a well-prepared Srednjaci side. The flow of the ball seemed to be both existent within the game and also effectively cut off. Ceferino Audiol, a center piece for this Juven side was the only one provided opportunities because, despite Srednjaci's tactical preparation, he is the only one who could rise above it skillfully. They say the individual works of a player are not enough for a team, however a quick counter-attack led by substitute Mehmet Kurtuluş who was on his debut game led to a goal scored by Ceferino Audiol in the 89th minute following a through-ball by the former.

Results like that are normally no source of concern as they can happen to the best teams by random teams, a tale as old as the game itself. However, Gael Gaetan has been struck with a lot of criticism following the team's performance against Srednjaci. However what is to be praised is that despite being countered tactically, he found leeway to lead the team to a much important point so that the team will not fall too far behind on the race for top 2. With Qasden in sight, la squadra will be looking to start a much-needed winning run to the much-coveted playoff spot, if not threaten Brookstation for top spot.

Seeing as a lack of rotation was not the solution against any of the teams faced so far, a heavy rotation will be given the chance to prove itself against Qasden and in the following game against Sea Dome as well. A return to the pre-Madeiros rotational tactics might not be a surefire way to establish much-needed dominance, however it could serve as a wake up call to the stars of the team and also serve as a reminder that no spot is permanent. In a move unprecedented for Il Scudelliano, here is the lineup for the game against Qasden:

Starting XI:
GK: Tiago Gomes
CB:Pau Puig
CB:Ignacio Lopes
CB:Urbà Pujals
CDM:Raul Viejo
CDM:Sara Ponce
RM:Simon Oliveira
LM:Fantasia Bergoglio-Bertolini
RF:Gennaro Munir
LF:Xavi Gasol
CF:Faustino Audiol

With such a rotation, there are a few names that stick out like a sore thumb. For example, Ceferino's brother Faustino Audiol will be taking his spot. That is to ensure Ceferino gets rest, following a tough schedule in the Tumbran T-League, on which he is a leading force for his team Serrapince's chase to the championship. Faustino Audiol has been vital for his team in his own right and getting his first start for the national team is a big step for him. Tiago Gomes instead of Ungaro, Imeri or Wright is a risky choice, however seeing their mishaps in the previous games and friendlies could make the competition for the goalkeeping spot more interesting.

As for the rest of the team, the entry of youthful players is giving la squadra a chance to show the explosiveness it has come to be known for. In addition to that, those players will be looking to maintain a high-tempo game, exactly up to Gael Gaetan's standards. Such players are dangerous from all directions and giving them time could showcase just how deep the team's talent really is while giving young players a lot of experience. In a do-or-die match at the Stadio Gianluca, it is time for the team's first major victory at AC Pomena's stadium.

SONNELIAN POPE DEMETRIUS X DEAD AGED 90

Pope Demetrius X(born Jorge Mateus Princi), leader of the Juven Catholic Church for 19 years is found dead at the age of 90. The cause of death, as announced, is due to old age. The Ordo Cardinalis et Papa Sonneliae claims that Pope Demetrius X has "found his home with the Lord."

A spiritual leader for hundreds of millions of people all across Sonnel and beloved by many. Demetrius X had been pivotal in society's spiritual awakening and return to faithfulness and in church following a crisis of young people distancing themselves. In addition to that, he had been important to society's progress towrads mutual understanding between different linguistic groups and to the promotion of Juven Unity through faith in the Lord, working towards the elimination of discriminatory behavior and racism.

His body will lie in state at the OCEPS' Saint George's Basilica for millions of faithful to observe. While his funeral is currently planned and in the works and will likely take place within the coming week. Pope Demetrius X's death has not only sparked a wave of mourners but also given an emergency warning to all cardinals to vote for the new Pope to take over the keys left behind by His Holiness.

by **Audioslavia** » Sat Mar 30, 2024 6:58 am

The Living Daylights
Referendum could Revolutionise Audioslavia

In some cultures it's guns that occupy this special place in the nation's heart.

One side of the political divide points to its people's origins as wild adventurers, free to go wherever they want, say whatever they please and practise whichever religion they choose, without interference from any so-called 'guvmunt'. And if the powers that be over-reach in any way, well hey, a gun is a powerful diplomatic weapon. The other side of the divide says it wants the same thing, knowing that the only diplomatic weapon more powerful than guns is the democratic vote of the people carrying them.

In Audioslavia it's time.

Our forebears, by which we unfortunately mean the people that lived earlier than us and not the bears that are in front of us, aged four years every cycle. That's just how people lived back then. And bears too, probably. One cycle you'd be three years old and playing with cars in front of the TV while your dad shouted some words you'd never heard before at the people on the screen. The next cycle, you'd be seven. You knew what a World Cup was, and that your team was the one in dark red, the one with the 'zero' next to its name at the top left of the screen, and that the words were very old and not repeatable in front of grandma. Next cycle you'd be running home from the last day of primary school to catch the opening day of the World Cup, you'd experience the highs and lows of your team pitting their wits against the greatest the multiverse had to offer. You'd count down the days to the next World Cup, excited at what drama would unfold, only to find yourself fifteen years old and watching a tournament without your own nation. The cruelty of it. How could your country not qualify? They were the protagonists.

By the time you were 19, you'd probably figured out that not only was your team not the protagonists, but that every other nation had vastly different ideas about all manner of things. If you're Audioslavian, then you'd have realised by now that one of those things was 'time', and that a foreign kid who'd watched that aged-three World Cup with you was now only 11. He'd just finished primary school, you were putting shifts in at the mill. And that this was the norm.

It's at about 19 or 20 years old that you realise that this was not some physiological thing. This was a choice. It's the 'old way', one practiced by almost every culture on earth in the fabled 'pre-jolt' and 'jolt' eras of human existence. Almost every single culture had, at some point, switched to the 'new way'. Two years per cycle. A longer life for each and every person, with no drawbacks.

And both of Audioslavia's political parties were against any change from 4 to 2.

"It's not fair" said one. "What about people who had already done their time? They shouldn't have to watch as the new generation get a handout"
"It's how we've always done things" said the other. "If four years per cycle was good enough for Great Dead Man then it's good enough for us".
"Think about sufferers of CCI" said the first. "Convenient Character Immortality is rarer in 2-cycle nations. Would you really want someone like Jeremy Jaffacake to die?"
"Actually don't answer that" said the other, hastily. "But what about housing? How will you get on the property ladder if people take twice as long to die?"

Every time it has been brought up, throughout history, the idea has been shot down. Unworkable. How would anyone cope with the change?

And then the Daylight Savings Bill happened. Grumpy ruddy-faced rural back-bencher Rosemary Garfunkle had ratified a bill to reinstate 'Daylight Savings Time' to Audioslavia, a thing that had been done away with generations before as a waste of time and energy. Only she'd plagiarised the bill wholesale from a similar one elsewhere, including the bit about how each cycle was two years long. The bill went through, and a four-day argument happened over the next two days. When all was said and done, the bill was repealed, but replaced with a referendum. In only a matter of weeks, the following question will be put to the Audioslavian people:

Audioslavia has always experienced Four Years Per Cycle. Should the Nation switch to Two Years Per cycle?"
▒ Yes ▒ No

Both parties have mobilised. Staunch centre-right blowhards The Party have come out with the slogan More Four Years, while flash centre-right wankers Audacity have opted for Eschew The Two. Everywhere you look, billboards and advertising hoardings and commercials on television and radio are imploring the public to vote No.

And yet there are serious concerns about Yes winning.

"It's preposterous" said one Audacity politician. "People shouldn't be allowed to vote to live a longer, more fulfilling life"
"Think of people who have married foreigners" said another. "You're consigning them to a future where they have a 50% chance of having to bury their loving husband or wife"
"It's like turkeys voting for christmas!" said another.
"I have strong temporary beliefs" said another politician, in arguably the truest sentence any politician has ever said.
"Audioslavian football is doing badly" said another. "At least wait until we have a good team"

That last part is arguably untrue. Despite losing on the opening day of World Cup 96 qualifying, the side have won their last three and remain with strong odds of reaching at least the playoffs.

"And think of our football league" said one politician, who requested to remain anonymous on account of his being firmly on the side of 2PC. "If our players age slower, then they'll be worth more money elsewhere. Think of the cash-flow into the struggling domestic game. Think of the likes of Kjartan Lunquerque playing for Audioslavia for twice as long.

"But think of history" said another, finally. "Should the National Team appearance records of Kajaxo Imaslavii and John Ryan be beaten, just because the new generation gets to play longer? It'd be unfair"

The referendum to accept or reject Rosemarian Time will take place on the 18th of October. Should the referendum pass, the new temporal circumstances will be imposed on the following day, the 25th of May.

by **Aphrilia** » Sat Mar 30, 2024 7:30 am

An Idea From Thought And Emotion

There were about seven people currently huddled within a group and in a room where they all were sat down.

These seven people were Phillip Karnwell, Ines Forrestal, Nathaniel Rosberg, Steven O'Truffet, Kevin Lacey, Kennedy Christonson, and Amelia Haze. Two other people were present on a video call in Sarah O'Winchester and Theo Cooper. Now, one may be wondering what these nine people were doing in a room with eachother? The simple answer is that they were discussing something. The long answer was that Rosberg invited all of them into his room, claiming that they had something serious that they all needed to talk about. O'Winchester and Cooper couldn't come in person, but the two settled on having a video call so that they could still attend. Meanwhile, Karnwell was within his own thoughts.

They were all discussing the team's on-field tactics, specifically regarding their build up. It's common football knowledge that Aphrilia has a slow build-up, an agonizingly slow build-up some would dare say. Rosberg had a feeling that during the team meeting after their match with Tero al Disco, manager Christopher Vermont wanted to discuss this with the entire team, but didn't really have enough time. So rather than burdening the team management and staff with this, he decided to take this into his own hands considering he has also been getting involved with the management regarding training and whatnot. The discussion so far really wasn't going the way Rosberg wanted, Karnwell could tell with a quick glance.

"Maybe we just change our build-up play to a fast tempo?"

"No, you idiot. We need to be able to change the pace of our build-up, but make sure to keep it slow."

"How slow is too slow? Some critiques say we have too slow of a build-up, others say it's just right."

"Hmm... How do we know to switch our tempo anyway?"

As the discussion was not going far, really, Forrestal decided to snuggle up with Karnwell as Rosberg drank some coffee to just try and ignore this entire situation. Everyone else meanwhile was continuing the discussion. Inside his mind, Karnwell was thinking about all of the points that everyone was saying. From knowing to switching the tempo to understanding what pace to play, what roles each player would play when the switch happens and much more. It was a bit nauseating for someone like him to think about since his usual job was to just protect the goal. But Karnwell understands that since he was invited to this, he needed to be able to help in a way for the benefit of the team.

Luckily it wasn't as painful to think of, in regards of everything that needed to be taken into account thanks to his girlfriend. It still feels weird for him to call Forrestal that, but that wasn't his main thought as of now. Now that he was thinking a bit more clearly, he started making things click and connect. From the start up until the end, how this new tactic would work. Taking everything into account alone was something he would do first, and then the rest would be able to put their own input. To Karnwell, what he was developing inside of his mind was a rough draft of a much more complex strategy. But for now, he'll have to put it into words on a paper so everyone can understand it.

"Cooper, pass me a pen and paper. I have an idea, and it might be ridiculous enough to work."

MATCHDAY 4
Aphrilia 1 - 2 Tero al Disco
Francisco Martini (19'')
Alvaro Biaggi (45'')
(48'') Nathaniel Rosberg

by **Doubeia** » Sat Mar 30, 2024 8:46 am

Annals of Doubeia
Chapter IV

28 June, 634 ME
An excerpt from Yeshua Krupin's online diary entry. Yeshua Krupin was the last New Tvoygradian president before the country's fall.

I kinda expected this. It feels so weird to leave the country I was supposed to be in charge of, but I think a huge burden has been lifted off my shoulders. I don't really know why I was chosen to be the leader in the first place. Wouldn't Marco make a better leader? I don't really know what Mom and Aunt really see in me. I really hate this bullshit. I'm so glad I'm out. It just feels like I have to bear the brunt of the decisions others make like... for fuck's sake I didn't like create any of these laws or anything.

Anyway, the view from up here is quite sad. Was the rest of the country this... dull? I've never been to this part before but it's not like I would want to anyway... Government duties are so overrated though. I don't even know what happens in a parliament hearing actually, like I just go along with whatever my mom says. I don't know why Second Uncle looks at me a bit weird, but he also looks at Mom the same way so maybe he just hates the both of us. Whatever.

Lately I've been wondering how stacked my personal mailbox has gotten. I don't really know how people have gotten my postbox details, but it seems like people just hate me. I can't blame them, they probably live in shitty conditions, but they brought that upon themselves for not working enough to get out of their situation anyway. Alina (editor's note: his wife) says that the populace has become more hostile towards us and it's becoming more dangerous to go out. Thank god we have private jets, though. Can't really imagine driving amongst them; it'd be hell.

Shit, I really hate flying long distances though. I don't even know where the fuck I'm going. Mom said we're going to some island owned by great-grandpa or something. It's supposed to have all the luxuries of what we had, and then some. I'm most excited about the beaches, though. I feel the beaches are gonna be so calm to be on given how deserted it seems to be.

Shit, I just looked out the window and I saw people going around the garbage in the landfill. That's disgusting as hell, like why would people even dig through trash? I swear people in this nation are really fucked in the head... Sometimes I remember how my high school teacher used to tell us about how the family he lived beside used to pick up and sell trash for a living. I don't fucking know how they even got a house to begin with, but the way that people make money with literally trash is kind of commendable. I don't really know why they're selling trash, though. Like you could just start selling some food or something and people would still come, and it's much better than trash.

Fuck, I'm getting dizzy. My head hurts, but I think I have a few pain killers. Local pain killers are kinda ass though, like they just don't cure shit. My school friend said that foreign medicine was far better and more effective, but Mom would kill me if she saw me with one of those. She says that that'd be hurting great-grandpa's legacy. Kinda dumb.

Maybe I should just stop writing. I probably need to sleep. I hope we reach the beach when I wake up, though! I really need by summer air or whatever.

Yeshua Krupin died in a plane crash 14 kilometres off the western New Tvoygradian coast. The plane was on route to the Euthymian Islands. This diary entry was recovered on Krupin's personal site.

by **Ile de Richelieu** » Sat Mar 30, 2024 8:50 am

Two wins in a row!

Sankt Hans Havn, Richelieu Øy - After losing 1-0 on matchday one against Eshialand, Île de Richelieu travelled to Captina Island and won 1-0. On the following week, the Bears welcomed Bostopia in Sankt Hans Havn and beat them 2-1. On matchday 2 against Captina Island, there is not a lot to report. It was a slow paced game with both teams focussing on ball control and with both goalkeepers making the highlights. Île de Richelieu scored at the 25th minute when Ulfhild Lillegard-Omdahl made a header pass to Rose-Émilie Bouthillette who kicks it into the net. The final score was 1-0.

GAME SUMMARY

25th   GOAL ÎLE DE RICHELIEU   Rose-Émilie Bouthillette assisted by Ulfhild Lillegard-Omdahl

On the following week, the Anaian nation of Bostopia travelled to Île de Richelieu. They somehow have a low rank for a nation of their size, compared to Île de Richelieu who'se ranked 84th with a population of 543 inhabitants, The Bears opened the score at the 33rd minute when Asbjørn Lillegard-Omdahl made a short pass to his twin sister Ulfhild Lillegard-Omdahl who kicks it past Richard Lyons. Bostopia tied the game at the 58th minute when James McDadson made a header pass to Frank Rover who heads it into the net and the game is tied at 1-1. Borghild Eggum kicks the ball at the 86th minute but it touches Jake Wilkinson's arm in the penalty area. It's a penalty for Île de Richelieu, Rose-Émilie Bouthillette kicks the ball and it's in! The Bears won 2-1.

GAME SUMMARY

33rd   GOAL ÎLE DE RICHELIEU   Ulfhild Lillegard-Omdahl assisted by Asbjørn Lillegard-Omdahl 
58th   GOAL BOSTOPIA   Frank Rover assisted by James McDadson
86th   GOAL ÎLE DE RICHELIEU   Rose-Émilie Bouthillette (penalty)

Somehow I feel prejudiced against Bostopia and I don't know why and I feel guilty but it's not my fault and I believe the population in Île de Richelieu is biased towards Mertagne and we are all victims of fake news and even this newspaper, the Dagbladet, have reported fake news which favors Mertagne in the past and I'm so sorry. On matchday 5, the Bears will travel to Sargossa and they will receive United Mandaran States on week 6. The starting XI remains unchanged.

Kjellfrid Thorkildsen

by **West Barack and East Obama** » Sat Mar 30, 2024 8:57 am

BBC OFFICIAL REPORT: Trent Vobama Farewell Tour Kicks Off in Hawaiilem

By Books Correspondent Barackderson Boober

New Barack City, West Barack - Former captain and starting centre-back of the West Barack and East Obama National Football Team and PE teacher Trent Vobama has embarked on the first leg of his farewell + book launch + book signing + meet + greet tour in Hawaiilem Shopping Centre's Baracks & Knobble this Saturday. Vobama, who also served as the first ever captain for the West Barack and East Obama National Cricket Team, was greeted by a thousand dedicated fans clamouring for signed copies of his autobiography, Becoming Trent Vobama.

"It's truly an honour to be back here," said Vobama. "Back in my day, I'd used to kick a ball around and nail down my skills so I could pursue my dreams. By myself, of course, you wouldn't see me breaking any team sports rules." When asked to clarify whether he ever envisioned an Obaman football team even forming and making its way to the World Cup finals, he had this to say: "Oh, I never had full-time sports in my dreams. Nope, my dream all along was to be a PE teacher. For some reason, I really loved standing outside in the elements and shouting at other kids at a young age. I also really loved learning about obscure sports no one liked and raging when someone talked back to me. Once they told us about PE teachers at career day, I was sold! But dreams don't last forever. Now, I must commit to my deal with my publishers by traversing the nation to sell books. Sorry kids, the next time you'll see me in high school ever again will be at a class reunion."

As Hawaiilem was the hometown of Vobama, his arrival was highly-anticipated, and he was given a warm welcome by friends, family and fans alike. While tickets to the event sold for thousands of dollars, all fifty of the front-row seats were reserved for Vobama's friends and family, signifying his steadfast loyalty that he expressed in his years as captains of the cricket and football national teams. Copies of Becoming Trent Vobama were sold out within minutes in both the Baracks & Knobble and other bookstores across New Barack City, with the book expected to be the #1 NBC Times bestseller for the next five months at least.

"I can't believe I managed to get my hands on a copy of Becoming Trent Vobama. The cover feels like it's made of solid gold and encrusted in diamonds, the pages are soft and velvety, and the spine looks even stronger than mine when I had to carry my sixth form group project members to an A!" squealed excited customer and massive Trent Vobama fan LeBarack Obgama. "I haven't even read a book since then, but I'm excited to feast upon this. I'll have every letter imprinted in my brain for life. That is my promise."

Life after retiring from the national football team couldn't be better for Trent Vobama at the moment. With replacements Charles Obama and Nossu Obamadamus leading the team to a 4-game unbeaten run with only one unfortunate goal allowed so far, Vobama's absence won't be worrying anyone, least of all himself! He has an exciting new life and a wonderful national tour right ahead of him. What could go wrong?

works? · by **Abanhfleft** » Sat Mar 30, 2024 10:06 am

Gennady Chernenko’s first match in charge of the Abanhfleft women’s national football team was, for lack of a better word, a disaster. The Samahang Futbol ng Abanhfleft had made his appointment official just in time for the team to get ready for the start of the qualifying cycle for the 96th World Cup. After once having been ranked as high as the sixties in their heyday, the Lady Revolutionaries had now dropped all the way down to 125th place in the rankings, a consequence of how the country’s downturn of fortunes resulted in a seemingly self-fulfilling prophecy of mediocrity begets mediocrity. Many fans of the national team could still remember the days when the likes of Aleirave and West Barack and East Obama were newcomers to the World Cup qualifiers, and now both those nations had moved above and way beyond Abanhfleft, and now the Democratic Republic was set to face both of those teams in their qualifying group. Worst of all, Abanhfleft’s opening qualifier was against none other than WB&EO, the second highest ranked team in all of Group 5.

Unfortunately, because the SFA took their sweet time to confirm Gennady Chernenko’s appointment as Abanhfleft manager, he didn’t have the time to properly scout the talent pool, and so he ended up calling up basically the same 23 women that Kate Bernanos had called up for the 5th Jenna Raven Cup. One could make the argument that Chernenko should have been doing his homework even before his appointment had been made official, but the thing was that there had only been two months between Bernanos leaving the job and the SFA choosing Chernenko as her successor. Some of the more cynically minded would even suggest that Chernenko was the SFA’s last choice, and he only ended up getting the job because literally everyone else on the Samahan’s shortlist had turned down the job offer for a variety of reasons, most of which boiled down to “Abanhfleft is so poor at football that not even the best managers in the multiverse can bring your team back to relevancy.” Nevertheless, there was a small number of fans who came to Chernenko’s defense, saying that it was better that he know what he actually had to work with before he made his own changes and stamped his own style upon the team.

As was usually the case whenever Abanhfleft, there were many theories as to why that happened, which was usually what fans who couldn’t accept that perhaps their team was never going to be as good as they remembered loved to do. Oh, the girls hadn’t had the time to get to know their new manager and how they were supposed to play. Oh, the girls wanted to impress the new manager, and that’s why they looked more like they were playing for themselves and not as a team. Oh, we never really stood a chance against WB&EO, and Gennady Chernenko wanted to see how the girls would react to such adversity. And maybe those fans did have a point with each and every one of their points, but usually it was the point involving the fact that the other team was simply better than Abanhfleft’s that was the most pertinent and most accurate. That didn’t mean that those who were actually involved with the team from manager to the players themselves were pleased with the result. Heck, some would even admit to being furious. There was always a hope that the so-called “new manager bounce” would take effect and give the Lady Revolutionaries an early leg up in the World Cup qualifiers, but clearly that was too much to ask for, especially against a side like West Barack and East Obama.

With Abanhfleft receiving a bye in the second matchday of the World Cup qualifiers, Gennady Chernenko took the opportunity to have the women’s team play a friendly against the Fhulghamous Peninsula behind closed doors. Many theorized that Chernenko’s insistence on playing without any fans in attendance was another way for him to get to know his new players, so to speak, and this time in an environment that wouldn’t be affected by outside factors such as crowd noise and reactions as much as possible. In that match, which eventually ended as a 2-2 draw, Chernenko had started off with the 4-2-3-1 formation previously utilized by Kate Bernanos, and the same formation that the Pridnestrovian had fielded for the disastrous game against the Obamans, but within twenty minutes or so he began tinkering with the formations and the player roles, trying to find what was going to work best with the players that he had on hand. And while the result of the friendly match itself wouldn’t have inspired a lot of hope in spite (or perhaps because) of Chernenko’s tinkering, the manager himself seemed to be a lot more upbeat after the end of the friendly. “Now I know what I need to know about this team,” he was reported to have said.

A few months later, in the next international window, Abanhfleft was set to go against Equestria and Sawenia. Equestria used to be one of the top teams in the multiverse when Abanhfleft first integrated itself into the greater multiverse, but much like the Democratic Republic, the Equestrian States had gone into a sporting decline since. But unlike Abanhfleft, Equestria had managed to slow down the slide and even clawed back a few places, such that once again the Ponies were ahead of the Lady Revolutionaries, but all of that said, they were still only the 100th best football team in all of the multiverse. That didn’t mean that the Ponies didn’t pose a threat to Abanhfleft; of course every team posed a threat to the qualification chances of every other team in their group. It just so happened that Abanhfleft had proven itself to be more vulnerable to falling to defeat against other teams in and around them in the rankings in practically every World Cup qualifying campaign they had played. And that wasn’t even getting into their other opponent, Sawenia. Sawenia hadn’t really covered themselves in glory in their Baptism of Fire campaign, winning only of their five games in the group stage, and that one victory that they had notched was against Comardo, a classic “one and done” team that had qualified for only one multiversal sporting tournament before disappearing from the face of the earth and never being heard from ever again. But despite such a poor performance, Fleftic fans know that that was no guarantee that Sawenia was going to be an easy three points for their team.

Despite all of this, many people still expected Gennady Chernenko and his Lady Revolutionaries to get maximum points in this international window. Perhaps for another team going up against Equestria and then Sawenia, that would have been the easiest thing to do, but Abanhfleft winning against both teams was a different proposition altogether. Both the men’s and women’s teams didn’t have the best track records against Equestria and underperforming Baptism of Fire teams, but that was the reason why Gennady Chernenko made those tactical alterations in that closed doors friendly, right? It had to be the reason. Which was why, when Chernenko named a lineup and formation against Equestria that was literally the same one that played against West Barack and East Obama, one could have heard to collective facepalming all over the country. He had all of that time between the loss against WB&EO and the couple of months between the two international windows to come up with his own tactics and formations, and he still chose to stick with what his predecessor made before him. A lot of Fleftics could only sigh and prepare themselves for yet another underwhelming and disappointing World Cup qualifying campaign.

At least the Lady Revolutionaries ended the first half of their game against Equestria 0-0. It was a massive improvement over being 2-0 down against the Obamans and 2-1 down against the Fhulghamous. It now appeared as if the hope was to contain the Ponies as much as possible and maybe try to hit them on the counter, a la classic defensive and counterattacking Pridnestrovian football. But then Gennady Chernenko surprised everyone by subbing off the central attacking midfielder for another central defender at the start of the second half, and the fans finally got a glimpse of what was going to be the Lady Revolutionaries’ new tactic and formation from that point on: 5-2-3, three center backs with two wingbacks, the two midfielders sitting in front of the defense to give them easy options to distribute and/or clear the ball, and then the trio of attackers could operate as one striker flanked by two wingers or literally three women jostling around inside the box. No one really knew what to make of this new formation; it was somehow both very defensive and quite attacking at the same time. Scoring goals hadn’t really been a problem for Abanhfleft in recent years, but they definitely could improve upon their defensive solidity, and it would appear as if Gennady Chernenko had taken note of these and created a formation that would do both things at the same time.

And almost immediately, the tactical shift would pay dividends. Just five minutes after the start of the second half, Mae Wilbanks, ever the tricky right winger, used the presence of her fellow forward players in the box to her advantage by escaping her marker and pouncing on a loose ball in order to stick it in the back of the net. And once that happened, the floodgates opened up, and the goals started coming in waves. At the end of the day, Abanhfleft were victors of their first qualifying match against Equestria by four goals to none. And it wouldn’t stop there. A lot of people, despite the win over the Ponies, were still skeptical that the Lady Revolutionaries would actually be able to win against Sawenia given Abanhfleft’s lackluster history against underperforming Baptism of Fire and “one and done” teams, but now it would seem as if Gennady Chernenko had found a formation and tactic that would carry the team past these so-called “banana peels,” at least for the moment. It still couldn’t stop the women from scoring an own goal during such a game, and once again it would be Evridiki Kontos who would leave Sawenia with the notation o.g. next to her name on the scoresheet. A small price to pay, but if this was what it was going to take for Abanhfleft to finally start winning football games on a consistent basis then so be it.

         ABANHFLEFT 4 - 0 EQUESTRIA         
     WILBANKS (50')
    KELLERMAN (61')
   BERNARDINO (78')
  McGLAMERY (90+2')

            SAWENIA 1 - 3 ABANHFLEFT            
  KONTOS (83' o.g.)       KELLERMAN (22')
                          FAUSTI (59')
                          MIREILLES (78')

by **Alasdair I Frosticus** » Sat Mar 30, 2024 10:25 am

A STATEMENT FROM THE KRAZY KLOWN KOLLEGE

Dear Mundies,

The Krazy Klown Kollege would like to protest in the strongest possible terms the utterly unacceptable sequence of events on Matchday 3 at the VdarArena, one of these SOULLESS ENORMODOMES that shows EVERYTHING THAT'S WRONG with mundy multiversal sport, and why we should be cutting ourselves off from further participation in this TERRIBLE CHARADE.

It was totally and UTTERLY INAPPROPRIATE for the referee to send off our captain BoJo the Clown in the 54th minute with the match finely poised 1-1. Obviously WE SHOULD HAVE WON. That we didn't win shows the depths of iniquity to which the WORLD CUP COMMITTEE DEEP STATE is willing to sink in order to try and prevent our INEVITABLE FINAL VICTORY.

Any fairminded entity watching the match will be forced to concede that BoJo was simply EXERCISING HIS FREE SPEECH when he referred to the referee as a 'contumacious ninnyhammer' and 'lickspittle black-clad cockwomble' after Kyprianou equalised for Vdara, and furthermore that BoJo slapping Kyprianou on the posterior and stating that she has a 'FINE ARSE' was only meant as a piece of gentle teasing and a PLAYFUL GESTURE of recognition towards a fellow athlete, however indubitably hot she might be. Furthermore, BoJo throwing a custard pie into the face of the referee immediately after the playful and not in any way, shape, or form sexist slap was only meant as a sign of respect for the referee, in the hope that he would enjoy BoJo's multiverse-renowned custard pie-baking skills.

We wish to make it clear that we feel the red card IMPINGED ON OUR FREEDOM OF SPEECH, which should be WHOLLY AND UTTERLY UNACCEPTABLE in any WCC-sanctioned tournament. From now on, we suggest the following guidelines as to what should be ACCEPTABLE BANTER directed at referees:

1) Anything we say should be wholly permitted in any and all settings, no matter how much it insults the opposing team or officials; trying to stop us from being rude to a wide variety of people is WOKE CANCEL CULTURE.

2) Anything we dislike should be immediately banned, and should result in the opposing individual being sent off; if this is one of the match officials, then we should be able to supply our own referee for the rest of the match.

3) We should no longer be forced to play away matches. Away fans are clearly BIASED AGAINST US, and any home field advantage should only be allowed to happen in our favour.

4) We should be allowed to display as manner banners and slogans as we like if must continue to play away matches.

5) Away supporters attending our home matches should be banned from singing, displaying banners, or making any sounds or gestures of support for their team.

6) WE SHOULD BE ALLOWED TO TYPE THINGS IN CAPITALS FOR EMPHASIS WHENEVER WE WANT TO; WHICH IS A LOT.

Only through these six steps can OUR FREEDOM OF SPEECH BE PROTECTED on our terms; which are of course the only terms that matter.

While we wait for the WCC to accept our perfectly reasonable terms, we must insist that the BIASED AND UNFAIR Vdara result should be overturned, and a 8-0 default victory should be awarded to the Krazy Klown Kollege in recognition of this UTTER TRAVESTY.

In closing, we would like to note that there was absolutely nothing wrong with the results against East Leaf Islands and Darkmania since these result in Holy Empire victories, and therefore by definition finished with the correct result.

Signed:

Twinkle the Dunce
Yucko Jester
Stucco Stumble
Bubbles the Bafoon
Patchey Noodle
Mr Quarters
Doink Wambo
Booboo Tumble
Baffle Muckle
Doodles Von Honkerson
Dingo Shakes
Kimbo the Fool
Stinky Tubs
Giggles Bozo
Ziggy Pennywise

And captain Bojo the Clown

Attached brief handwritten note from Holy Empire Manager Juan Tzimisces:

Sorry about that; just ignore them.

by **New Fernia** » Sat Mar 30, 2024 10:31 am

CBC New Fernia | Sports > World Cup 96

The Fernians walked out onto the pitch versus Kamijiro ready and recharged after their bye on matchday three. What did they do while on bye? Mostly pray. A little bit of training. That probably explains why, when they got on the field, they were stumbling around for the first 90-ish minutes. So, the whole game. Of course, the defense being below their usual status means they were just average, so they were still able to block the goals. Unfortunately, one ball shot by Kamijiroan midfielder Kaneto Kanazono slid past the defense and the hands of Ellis and landed Kamijiro a goal in the 67th minute.

The score remained the same for the remainder of the match and landed New Fernia another loss. This comes despite the fact that, in the previous matchday, Kamijiro got four yellows and a red against their players (and their head coach), giving them a loss and a very unhappy fanbase. Thankfully, there is very little hooliganism in the New Fernian fanbase (primarily because nobody really cares that much- why risk your life over football), and the match today went by without a hitch.

Matchday 4 | Group 13
OneFern Stadium, Ferncliffe, New Fernia | 75F Clear | Kickoff 6:00 pm | Attendance: 38,425

New Fernia 0

1 Kamijiro

67' Kanazono

by **Valanora** » Sat Mar 30, 2024 10:34 am

Three games into the qualifying campaign and it is all things as expected for the Marauders with three wins from three and having already had their bye for the first half of the campaign. An away trip to Gorutimania was the latest venture for the side from the Empire and they were able to cruise to a nice four to one victory over the hosts and showcased how the team has been performing to start the campaign. A domination of possession as well as shots with Hadi Lundström already having four goals to her tally. The United striker might be on the last time of her being a starter for the national pool but she is still showing all the reasons why she has been United's treasure over the last decade and has earned that spot on the starting eleven of the national team. Imre Haaland has also chipped in with three goals off the bench as the young starlet continues to push to get the starting nod when Hadi's time at the top finally does come to an end, although he had a bit of a pull back in his latest domestic campaign, showing that there is still some growth to be had for what already is an extremely talented player.

Emeline Millet's World Cup stint has gone much better than her initial tournament with the ARC, perhaps the regional tournament was just the place where she needed to feel out the team. It also had to be a huge adjustment going from the anti-football mindset that is so prevalent in Anaia and in Ko-oren especially to the beautiful game way that Vanorians see the sport and just sport in general. The players also have had to get used to a new person at the top and how they were going to interact with them and instruct them how to play, with there definitely a few players disgruntled in the change of formation as it likely meant stiffer competition for places on the team, particularly at the already fairly stacked striker position. The defenders in the pool likely more openly embraced the change as the fullbacks and wingbacks were no longer required to learn how to play a centerback role, although usually the form of a wide centerback, in order to be part of the national team pool. Adjustments from both sides had to happen and although if that is why the team failed to play up to their standard in the ARC, that they have been able to hit the ground running here at the start of the qualifying campaign is well and good. While wanting to be successful on all fronts, having a disappointing regional outing so that the team has better cohesion going into the World Cup is a small price to pay in the long run if it brings success and a chance at the elusive, mystical sixth.

Behind the Marauders in the group, the fallen Rushmori giants of Eura are trying to reestablish some of that long held glory and belief of simply being better than everyone else with seven points from their opening trio of matches, but they have lacked the same sort of explosiveness that the Marauders have had going forward. On the other hand, they have been a bit more sure at the back and the Marauders will be hoping that sooner rather than later they will be able to tighten things up in the midfield and defense to give opponents quite a diminished view in front of goal and the amount of opportunities that arose in the first two outings of the campaign. Valentine Z and fellow Rushmori outfit Ceni also sit on seven points and it will be interesting to so how the three teams duke it out for what is perceived to be a battle for second spot, if the Marauders do continue to win out and take the group as it is expected of them, though both sides have played four games and yet to have their bye unlike the Marauders and Eura. Having already bested Valentine Z once, the side will have the confidence that they will be able to pull a result when they visit them later in the campaign.

Ceni makes its trip to the Eternal Empire in the upcoming international window and it is a big game for both sides, as a win for Ceni brings the Empire back into the touching distance of the group of three teams who are chasing it while also giving Ceni true credentials to try and get out of the group. However on the otherside, if the Marauders do hold serve and continue to be excellent on their home ground, then the gap widens and they will have bested two of the teams that are trying to give them the most trouble in the group. Wins over Ceni and Valentine Z in the first four games would be a real show of intent and give the side both the morale boost as well as that aura of being inevitable that once seemed to be around the team during the height of their dominance over the competition. It gets a bit easier in the second game of the window though, but it is an away trip and this time to Boring Paradise, who currently sit second to last in the group with but a solitary point to their name. It is a game that the side simply must pull all three points from and should, to the point where it would be quite likely that some rotation might happen including allowing Haaland a shot at starting for the senior team.

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