Cup of Harmony 88: Everything Thread

by **Pasarga** » Fri Apr 12, 2024 10:29 am

Choose my goalscorers Y
Godmod Scoring Events N
RP injuries to my players Y
Godmod injuries to my players N
Hand out Yellow cards to my players Y
Hand out Red cards to my players Y
Godmod Other Events N

Pasarga Roster
Nickname: Wanderers
Ranking: 18th
Most Caps: Mór Császár (196)
Most Goals: Ingþór Auðbjörnsson (124)

Kits

Home Away Third
Modifier: +1

Manager: Ingþór Auðbjörnsson, age 52
Assistant: Jürgen Eisenhower, age 50

Goalkeepers
GK: Tomáš Přibyl, age 33, Royal Jam FC

GK: Maja Topić, age 28, Brantisvogan

(F)
GK: Dalma Kollár, age 34, Tanrısal (F)

If there is one person who probably has their position on lock regardless of whoever is in charge of the national team, it would be Tomáš Přibyl, as the extraordinary keeper continues to make ridiculous save after ridiculous save at club and international level. The players who are backing him up seem to rotate on end but he has been the mainstay at the position and it is hard to make an argument against him giving how well he has played since he broke into the Royal Jam first team twelve years ago. In a theme for the team though, the players behind him have been shaken up, as Maja Topić gets rewarded for a good season with Brantisvogan and Dalma Kollár gets recalled back into the national team with a performance with Tani where they finished third in the SuperLiga as well as lifted the Cup Winner's Cup.

Defenders
LB: Slava Jakšić, age 28, Megabrantid

(F)
LB: Kati Máté, age 29, Jaglan Royals

(F)
CB: Margo Szôts, age 26, Syneca

(F)
CB: Annamária Sághi, age 29, Stein-los Turkish (F)
CB: Irena Horvat, age 28, Concord Heights City

(F)
CB: Ramih Juwain Nazari, age 23, Stein-los Turkish
RB: Mislav Ivančić, age 28, Alnio

RB: Veronika Fábián, age 32, Tanrısal (F)

While the defense was far from being at fault for the way that the team played during the qualifiers, there has still been something of a shake up in the middle of the defense as club form also forced a few changes to players in form. That includes calling up the starting defensive pairing at Stein-los Turkish, with Annamária Sághi getting the start and an odd quirk being that all but two of the defenders are women. Perhaps there is a bit of a truth into the rumor that Pasargan women have a bit of bite and attitude to them, allowing them to play in these physically aggressive and demanding roles. Partnering Sághi will be Szôts, while they will be flanked by Jakšić and Ivančić, the latter two having found their footing and flourishing abroad. Veronika Fábián benefits from Tani's great domestic season and gets recalled, even if she is not likely to see much of the pitch, but the former Marque fullback was once the darling on the right and will be happy to have one more go with the national team, even if both her and the team would have rather it been in the Finals.

Midfielders

RW: Kat Földessi, age 29, CA Paulinthal (F)
RW: Sumaiya Zakiyyah Aswad, age 28, Stein-los Turkish (F)
A/MC: Ilona Kárpáty, age 32, CA Paulinthal (F)
A/MC: Zágon Schmid, age 24, Tanrısal
MC: Moore Lafontaine, age 30, Stein-los Turkish
MC:

Alyssa Chenoweth, age 28, Stein-los Turkish (F)
MC: Mátyás Vass, age 24, Northbrook Diamonds FK

LW: Asztrik Biró, age 28, Mâ Âlâmëómë

LW: Mara Gyenis, age 29, Starksville Coastal

(F)

Thor knows when he is has made a mistake and he looks to correct that mistake by once more putting Kat Földessi as the starter on the right ahead of Aswad after the former has helped lead CAP to a pair of SuperLiga titles. The midfield does have some experience in it, with Ilona Kárpáty leading at the attacking midfielder role, while Lafontaine will be be the more held back player in the midfield. While he is by no means a destroyer like Thor might have wanted for the role, there are not many currently in the pool and will have to make due with a workhorse of a midfielder who can play up and down the middle. The left is the mercurial Asztrik Biró, who has seen a bit of change over the years with their time in Farfadillis but is rather professional when with the national team. He is probably the best player among the midfield bunch, having earned a starting spot with Mâ Âlâmëómë as a teenager and held on to that spot since, now entering into the prime of his career. If there is a difference maker in the squad, it is definitely the lad on the left with a killer left foot and good ability to finish when the option to pass or cross is taken away from him.

Strikers

ST: Nawar Taqwaa Bazzi, age 30, Stein-los Turkish
AMLC/ST: Bogdan Laszlo, age 23, Algolia

ST: Neci Lôrinc, age 29, Galatica
ST: Szalyk Mezey, age 24, Paulinthal FC

The attack was beyond poor during the qualifiers and the age of Salai was made evident for everyone to see, even if he was the one who was putting the ball in the back of the net more often than not for the side during the campaign. Regardless, he has been dropped for the team in the Cup of Harmony and the young pup of Bogdan Laszlo is promoted upwards and given their chance to start with Bazzi. The two behind the starters do not inspire much confidence and highlight the concern that Thor had with the national team pool before he was appointed as the manager of the team. Lôrinc is a simply goal scorer, some might even say that they are a bit of a poacher who relies too much on their speed and being in the right place at the right time. Mezey came out of nowhere with a good campaign with the Reds in the SuperLiga and got them to a sixth place finish while having double digit goals. They are likely not the answer long term for the Wanderers but they do provide the depth needed at the striker position for this tournament, should the team once more fail to find their scoring boots.

Tactics

Thor comes into the side and looks to merely right the ship rather than rock the boat like Orengo had when the Banijan took over, looking to build upon the stability that Mueller seemed to bring during their interim charge of the team. Thor maintains a four four two look but one where one of the midfielders often drops into a holding or screening position in front of the defense and allows the playmaker the luxury of moving forward with the more attack oriented players out on the wings. To make sure there is good link up, Thor is asking one of the strikers to play a bit more off of the other, which should allow both pressure on the opposing defense but also the potential for link up play with the midfield, so that the entire play of the team can be more fluid and less rigid than the previous systems employed seemed to dictate.

Captain: Moore Lafontaine
Corner Taker: Asztrik Biró
Set Pieces: Ilona Kárpáty
Penalties: Nawar Taqwaa Bazzi

by **Sarzonia** » Fri Apr 12, 2024 2:54 pm

After the Sarzonian national football team finished the World Cup 95 cycle with a 5-0-9 record during the qualifying stage and a shock appearance in the Cup of Harmony, the Incorporated Football Federation decided on doing more than simply making changes to a team that showed its lack of cohesion. Sarzonia managed a Round of Sixteen appearance in the previous Cup of Harmony edition before a third defeat to Xanneria ended Reynolds' tenure.

Incorporated Football Federation chairman Zack Wilson decided to employ a scorched Earth policy and replace the entire team. Nary a manager nor a player from the World Cup 95 cycle made it to the next one. Wilson knew he was gambling big time. Brady Reynolds was popular, and even though it was his decision to walk away, he'd hoped for at least a consultancy role in the next regime.

"My arse was on the line," Wilson said, noting that even his oldest son, midfielder Clayton Wilson was no longer part of the team, at least on the squad list. In the place of the veteran-laden squad that somehow finished fifth of eight teams in qualifying, there would be a team with only an Arrosian Regional Championship quarterfinals appearance to its name. The squad Sarzonia hoped to send to Mertagne or Huayramarca only had former goalkeeper Paolo Gomes on.as goalkeeper coach and Spencer Wilson, younger brother of Clayton and son of Zack Wilson as ties to the past.

The manager who guided the former "B" team would also gain his first World Cup qualifying experience. Caleb Rush was hardly expected to be much more than a transitional figure until a bigger name patrolled the sidelines. With an all-new side, an inexperienced manager and a low-ranked side, not much was expected of Sarzonia.

Then a funny thing happened on the path to a slow, painful rebuild. The Ko-orenite Krash, where a triple l-digit-ranked side not only were the first to dent the back of the Dragonflies net, but also pulled off a shock 1-0 result. When the Stars continued to get unexpected results and continued to build on their surprise performance, they would soon rue their away draw against Rea San Vegas, the sixth seeds in Group 18 for a reason literally no one could have anticipated. The Stars finished two points behind Ko-oren for the group title, and would have won the tiebreaker with the two points lost in the table in that match.

To compound the disappointment, Sarzonia's runners up position meant a one-leg playoff against Juvencus with a spot amongst the best 32 football teams in the multiverse up for grabs. It felt like a cruel joke to have to pin all hopes of qualifying on one match where a single bad bounce could eliminate all the hard work that went into a World Cup qualifying campaign for the ages. And then, to lose against lower seeded, though higher-ranked Juvencus in penalties made the joke all the more cruel.

However, no sooner than the team began to board their charter flight to return to Woodstock did the call from the IFF to divert to Tumbra. They were invited to compete in the Cup of Harmony. The sense of relief amongst the players was palpable, but not nearly as much as it was on the face of Rush moments before.

"Caleb, the Board of Governors has met and they wanted to express how disappointed they were that you didn't finish the job." Zack Wilson saw the look on Rush's face that was either confusion or anger mixed with something resembling resigned acceptance. He decided to lower the boom.

"They were upset that you I'M JUST KIDDING! The Board's absolutely ecstatic with your performance and the team's! You're doing a terrific job as manager and we couldn't be happier with how much improvement the team's shown. A 52-place jump in the rankings is an incredible accomplishment."

Here in Tumbra, the Stars will compete in Group C with the team facing, in order No. 69 Aleirave, No. 29 Elmyia and No. 95 Polar Islandstates. Of the three opponents, the only one that rings familiar to long ago Sarzonia supporters is Polar Islandstates. Still, Sarzonia are undeterred.

"Rankings didn't mean that much to us during the group stage," said Spencer Wilson. "When we were playing The Ochre Islands, we felt we had the better form even though they were ranked 44th and we were 112th. That result bore out."

Regardless of how the Cup of Harmony goes for these Stars, the feeling that this team are playing with house money remains and the team are eager to find out if they can cash in.

by **Cabo Azure** » Sat Apr 13, 2024 9:23 am

Cabo Azure National Football Team "As Maçaricas"
Now with the correct Portuguese direct article

GK Ambrosio Gomez     29 y/o  Olympic
LB Heitor Soares      31 y/o  Jolbonopolis United
CB Tobias M'Bah-Pinho 28 y/o  St. John's Athletic
CB Adalberto Furtado  26 y/o  Pesfield Trees
RB Amilcar Branco (C) 32 y/o  Vna-Chuhul Ravens FC
DM Miguel Gontijo     24 y/o  Kingston FC
CM Emmanuel Bastos    27 y/o  Honeybadgers
AM Rolando Florencio  30 y/o  Felswyr
FW Vasco Cardoso      29 y/o  Mountainside
CF Pio Mendonca       25 y/o  CSKA Quebec
FW Anselmo Santos     29 y/o  KT Moreazura

GK Vicente Leitao     30 y/o  Port Tacassam FC
GK Zeze Sapeteiro     26 y/o  Vna-Chuhul Ravens FC
CB Duarte Araujo      23 y/o  Pesepad Padangsambian
CB Mario Queiros      28 y/o  Ridgewell Rovers
FB Rodrigo Toledo     24 y/o  Destin Easterners
FB Lo Ferraz          24 y/o  Eivora Athletic
DM Telmo Andrade      26 y/o  Küsbon Town 
MF Salvador D'Cruz    25 y/o  Vantanoch FC
MF Pedro Beltrão      21 y/o  Tovaca Thunder FC
FW Felipe Magalhaes   24 y/o  Vantanoch FC
FW Tiago Ventura      23 y/o  Sielhafen 1.FC 
FW Tiago Borba        23 y/o  VS Frisia
FW Vasco Gouveia      31 y/o  Khalgarh Valley FC

The most pessimistic of Maçaricas fans will tell you that the team's failure to qualify for World Cup 96, together with its shock semifinal loss in the Copa Rushmori, is indicative of a wider downward trend, that Zanetti is a fraud who has coasted on momentum built by the sainted Paulinho, and that Cabo Azure will never return to its former glory. The most optimistic will counter that failing to qualify presents AJ Zanetti with an opportunity for a changing of the guard and the Cup of Harmony represents an ideal opportunity to trial new blood for a side that has gotten old fast. Perhaps most obnoxious, the both-sidesers will posit that a near miss of qualifying coupled with a deep run in the Cup of Harmony constitutes a regression to the mean, and that while Cabo Azure has neither the support nor the depth of talent to be considered an automatic World Cup qualifier, it is nevertheless impressive for a small island nation to have made three of the last five finals.

Ambrosio Gomez starts between the stakes for the Maçaricas and will continue to do so for the foreseeable future, barring any mishaps; his backups Sapeteiro and Leitao are as interchangeable as they are reliable. While the starting XI is projected to be the same from World Cup qualifying, the supporting cast has rotated to some relative unknowns, starting with Tumbra-based Mario Queiros at centerback. Queiros was an important part of his team's unexpected entry into the Champions' Cup and figures to play rotational minutes relieving the fixed starters of Furtado and M'bah-Pinho, the former being a dynamic centerback skilled at dispossessing attackers, the latter being a tall, athletic player who wins more aerial duels than he loses.

Fullbacks are a focal point of Azurean football, and team captain Amilcar Branco remains the prototype into his thirties; fast, marauding, overlapping. His recent dearth of goals has more to do with improved tactics than any shortage on his part, and he remains an important player in the TPL as well. Heitor Soares, who wears the nom de guerre "Bandicoot" when he plays in Quebec, is Branco's most frequent partner, a more conventional stay-at-home fullback, while Lo Ferraz splits the difference between the two and brings a speed and acceleration to the mix that can't be taught. Xanneria-based Rodrigo Toledo is a relative unknown, but figures to take over Marcelinho Costa's old beat as the go-to sub.

The midfield remains relatively unchanged, with only young Pedro Beltrao, unused for most of qualifying, remaining as a fresh face. Expect either Gontijo or Andrade to play as a fairly withdrawn CDM, covering the centerbacks and challenging attacking players, while Bastos provides ball service and Florencio does his damndest to get forward. D'Cruz is a competent backup for any of these positions and may see some starts on a rotational basis.

With the retirement of Cleto Silveira, Tiago Borba receives his first callup into what is still a crowded field of strikers. Expect a similar striker rotation to what we've seen the past cycle or two, except that Santos has likely displaced Cardoso in the starting XI. Mendonca is a goal-scoring machine, while Gouveia's reputation as a poacher belies his knack for playing with his back to goal. This attacking unit specializes in populating highlight reels with surgically precise finishes, but what the highlight doesn't show is the selfish play and complete lack of holdup that limits those finishes to a couple per game; both Cardoso and Florencio do their best to feed the ball to the strikers, but they can't do it alone.

MD1 vs. Wight
MD2 vs. Adab
MD3 vs. Valentine Z

My opponent, if they RP first, may do the following:
Choose my Scorers: Yes
Choose Scoring Events: Yes
Godmod Scoring Events: No
RP Injuries to my Players: Yes
Godmod Injuries to my Players: No
Assign Penalties to my Players: Yes
Godmod Other Events: No

Style Modifier: +5

by **Wight** » Sat Apr 13, 2024 11:30 am

Cup of Harmony 88
Wight
Tournament Squad

Not for the first time a small bunch of Wightlings left behind when the original Wight was run over by a catastrophic termination event have banded together at the Office of Slight Returns in Tapalupé City, Tequilo. They plan to revive the nation by assembling a football team from the survivors, descendents of non-survivors, other devils of Wight and Climo Coss. Who won the World Cup with Wight back in '65; and then again last year with Delte.

My opponent, if they RP first, may consider:
Everything permitted: Yes
Pick The Teams: Yes
Right to Reciprocity Reserved: Yes*

Attacking Modifier: +2.3
*If you do it, we might do it back. Or not. Hard to tell.

Home Colours: All Cemetary Night Blue
Away Colours: All Lord of the Hunt Red
Third Colour: All Stolen Gold

Nickname: Costello's Antiquarian Pitchblende Revivalist Casuals
Formation: Attack-minded 4-4-2

PLAYER/COACH: Climo Coss, who has twice won the World Cup and most other things besides
ASSISTANT: Horatio Limit, who was working in Taxhavn until being fired by St. Bernadine Athletic mid-season
TECHNICAL ADVISOR: Duke Aim, a devil of Wight, acting more as security detail

If you RP first feel free to select anyone from the squad for scoring, incidents, injuries, etc.
All club teams are based in Wight unless otherwise indicated.

Starting XI
#	Name					Ps 	Age	Club			PAEIPS *	Astrogoetia §

 1.	Luxulyan Ruanminor (Lux Minor)		GK	 35	Old Spittleians		Grafter		Goat		The Fool	The Explorer
 2.	FJ Cuckoo				DL	 29	Zennor Parish Rovers	Reliable	Leopard Seal	Strength	The Champion	
 3.	Clether Jones-Cade			DR	 35	Ogden's Circus		Fabricator	Butterfly	Temperance	The Caregiver	
 4.	Krakatoa				DC	 31	Zennor Parish Rovers	Volcano		Tasmanian Devil	The Devil	The Beast
 5.	Kim Densulene				DC	 33	Haïtiens (TEQ)		Showman		Eel		Eel of Fortune	The Performer
 6.[C]	Climo Coss ★				DMC	158	Mâ Âlâmëómë (FFD)	Irrepressible	Royal Jackdaw	The Void	The Trickster
 7.	Arthur Peashanks			AML	 29	Gravedigger FC		Grafter		Octopus		The Juggler	The Debater	
 8.	Sam Bansa				AMC	 36	Folkness Orchid 	Reliable	Goat		The Fool	The Explorer
 9.[VC]	Argentino Bear				ST	 34	Zennor Parish Rovers	Leader		Addersnake	The Empress	The Director
10.	Grippa Sparrowside			ST	 27	Moss FC (BSE)		Beast		Tasmanian Devil	The Devil	The Beast
11.	Lesley-Mindon Jawallawalla Junior	AMR	 16	Upper Cordial Youths	Brave		Octopus		The Juggler	The Debater

Reserves

12.	Runolf Prowse				DL	 29	Old Spittleians		Determined	Tawny Owl	The Clerk	The Inspector
13.	Senorix Róaldsson			DR	 30	Folkness Orchid		Showman		Worm		Death		The Artist
14.	Angwin Wilkes-Drift			DC	 28	Old Pandaemonians	Athletic	Octopus		The Juggler	The Debater
15.	Cass Reen				DC 	 30	Ogden's Circus		Reckless	Eel		Eel of Fortune	The Performer
16.	Titicaca Quinn				DMC	 27	Whelm Town Welfare	Extrovert	Eel		Eel of Fortune	The Performer
17.	Athearn GlenGuillemot			AML 	 25	Ursine Wanderers	Trickster	Royal Jackdaw	The Void	The Trickster
18.	Ereuthalion Alba			AMC	 26	Askaid Black Pieds FC	Ambitious	Fox		High Priestess	The Architect
19.	Dunlop Murray				ST	 35	Arkham Bus & Tractor	Temperamental	Dogfish		Justice		The Advocate		
20.	Feock Ogmasson				ST	 26	Extramarine		Grafter		Butterfly	Temperance	The Caregiver
22.	Fibula Dunmere-Warble			AMR	 35	Stockett Brigade	Brave		Dog		The Dog Star	The Protector
	
21.	Lavrean Carey				GK	 29	Spit City		Beast		Tasmanian Devil	The Devil	The Beast
31.	Iphicus Mongleath Oxheart		GK	 30	Askaid Black Pieds FC	Motivator	Fox		High Priestess	The Architect

[C]  Captain / [VC] Vice Captain
[★]  World Cup '65 & '95 winner
[*]  Personality As Expressed In Playing Style
[§]  Star signs, basically: see WC-96 RP series

Climo Coss
He's Won Everything

When I say he's won everything, he hasn't won the Cup of Harmony yet. But back in the wayback times, he won the World Cup for Wight, after winning the Under-15 World Cup and the Under-21 (Simeon de Brandino (as he likes to call it)) World Cup. At club level he won the UICA Champions League with Four-Bit Irregulars, and then went to Farfadillis and singlehandedly turned Mâ Âlâmëómë from a backwater hobby club to the Probably Better Than Raynor City United IMHO FWIW superclub we know today, winning everything in the burning country. After an extended retirement of about 120 years he returned through a slightly unbelievable time warp to win the World Cup again with Delte. The Office of Slight Returns, responsible for this iteration of the Wight Revival, were quick to repatriate him. Don't ask me how he's still playing at 158 years old. I just make this stuff up.

Luxulyan Ruanminor (Lux Minor)
Grobbelarious

No team is complete without an eccentric goalkeeper and Lux certainly ticks that box. He really has taken to the idea of ‘The Fool’, playing with a smile on his face, interacting with fans behind his goal (whether supporters or opponents), messing about at corners and penalties, going up for corners at the other end and often venturing well up into his own half, almost to the centre circle, when his team are in advanced possession. A typical Cappo, he seems oblivious to risk.

Sam Bansa
A Sophisticate of The Midfield

Sam Bansa is, by contrast, less demonstrative but his adventurous nature is more reflected in his very attacking instinct, often playing alongside or ahead of the forwards, confusing and losing his markers in the midfield. Sometimes he is described as having invented the ‘feint eight’ position, while others have called him the barb in the arrowhead - slightly back from leading edge, but the bit that does all the damage. He prefers the term ‘attacking midfielder’.

Ereuthalion Alba
The Future of Wight Football

Ereuthalion is unquestionably the quintessential Cuon - dashingly good-looking, a brilliant initiator of play at the heart of midfield, wholly unselfish, and representative of the future of the Wightling team, what with Sam Bansa being the elder veteran of the team who played as a youngster in the last abortive attempt to revive the old World Champions. A future captain, a future star, and a very straight posture. Some might think him arrogant, but he is merely self-assured and knows what’s best for everyone.

Iphicus Mongleath Oxheart
A Safe Pair of Hands

Iphicus too cuts an impressive jib - a sweeper-keeper of imposing height and physicality, he can play out from the back with every confidence when he has the ball at his feet, and he sees the positioning and the play ahead of him, he reads the game brilliantly. Like all good Cuons, he’s always very certain of his decision-making, because knows what needs to happen next. Not so young that you might call him the future of the Wightling team, he is surely the best back up you could ask for when you start to get nervous of Lux Minor’s shenanigans between the sticks and need a calmer hand at the tiller.

by **Cabo Azure** » Sat Apr 13, 2024 3:00 pm

Portelo
It was late spring in Princess Solveig’s twenty-second year when the Maçaricas fell 1-0 to Tero al Disco to crash out of contention for World Cup 96. The crown princess watched the match in a crowded pub in Portelo adjacent to Maritime University, in the shadow of the Colina Real where stood the royal palace, her home of the past half-decade. Shoulder-to-shoulder with her classmates, buzzed off the cheap lager that shared its name with the national team, she groaned in unison and spat Portuguese epithets when Álvaro Biaggi converted the game-winning penalty to dash her country’s hopes. It was, she reflected, the first time she’d felt truly Azurean, and it came mere months before she was scheduled to leave the country she would one day rule.

Going abroad for her education was hardly beyond the pale for an Azurean princess. The only members of the royal family who were entirely educated in Cabo Azure were King Manuel, who famously dropped out of Maritime as a sophomore only to return when he found out he was going to be king, and Princess Ronnie, who was a coast guard midshipman her entire time. Abigail, the queen mother, had spent her formative years in Cassadaigua rubbing elbows with the dearly departed then-Princess Cassie II, while Princess Alexandra went to undergraduate, medical school, and did her residency all in Montreal, Quebec and Shingoryeo. Solveig’s decision to do her undergraduate studies at Maritime was well-received, but it wasn’t a foregone conclusion, and the anthropology department at Inteachan was first-rate.

While she would have greatly preferred the Maçaricas qualify for their third consecutive World Cup, the Cup of Harmony was in many ways a better fit for Solveig’s schedule. For one, the World Cup would occur at the height of summer, when Solveig was set to be neck-deep in moving continents; for another, the Grim Reapers were competing in the World Cup proper, but the Maçaricas had a reasonable hipster following in Quebec and Shingoryeo. She could at least count on there being a few people with whom she could watch each Cabo Azure match, even if they were only watching for the novelty of watching a match with the princess.

After finals and graduation from Maritime, which was attended by the whole royal family with all the pomp that entailed, Solveig moved out of her dorm room, shipped most of her belongings to Quebec, and spent most of her days swimming and streaming television series on her parents’ couch in Sao Simone. Her father had the title of prince, but his day-to-day was more like a mid-level government functionary as he scrambled to find a replacement for Sonia Vargas in the role of football commissioner, a role she’d vacated upon her election to the premiership. Her mother’s practice as a social worker hadn’t changed much from Solveig’s youth in Graintfjall; she still had clients, and she still couldn’t tell their stories at the dinner table.

At first Solveig thought she would spend more time outside, walking the sun-soaked streets of Cabo Azure’s largest city, but she found it unlike Portelo, the tiny college town-cum-national capital that had wrapped her in its embrace these past seven or eight years. In Portelo it was a fact of life to see the crown princess walking the streets in a racing swimsuit carrying fins, returning from her morning swim along the perimeter of the island. She’d arrived there a gangly teenager and was leaving as a young woman, and as the people of Portelo grew to accept her as their princess, they also grew to accept her as a human being. Not so in Sao Simone. Early one morning she had made her way to the beach at Playa Silva to take her customary ocean swim, and even as the sun was rising, people had thronged her. So she used the VIP pass Marisol Silva had provided her to the pool at Villa Silva Athletic Club to swim laps early each morning, which was suitable for her fitness but did not nourish her soul the way swimming in the ocean did.

Spending more time indoors invariably meant more time on her laptop, and one long afternoon she found herself watching the live stream of the Cup of Harmony draw. When the drawn-out production was over, she punched each of the Maçaricas’ opponents into a search engine and busied herself for several hours researching them.

by **Elmyia** » Sun Apr 14, 2024 8:10 am

The Overlap

And Massi stares at the sky. Lanziego makes it two. Audioslavia have dumped Elmyia out of the Cup of Harmony, barely getting out of second gear...

...McGregor burst through again, gives it to Rosenblatt, takes it back... OHHH it's a screamer. Butler never had a chance. Elmyia have left the backdoor open again, 4-1 down...

Full-time here at Griffin Park. Galli's late heroics will not move the dial, group stage heartbreak for this Elmyian side...

... horrendous! Mahardika has skinned Palm and had Girello on toast, Elmyia are surely on their way home

John Wood: Fifth time lucky? As we look to decamp to Tumbra Elmyia look to make it past the group stage of a WCC tournament for the first. Time. Ever. Can they do it? Telling me so, we have Iain McLeod

Iain: hi

John: and Maria Wright

Maria: Hello...

John: Well, let's great straight into it. Elmyia have done, shall we say, historically poorly in group stage, two World Cups and two Cup of Harmonys seeing them take an early bath. Is there a reason to think it'll be different this time Maria?

Maria: well... They're top seeds, so you'd think they'd have a hope no? I think there's various reasons, with all this dysfunction that seems to follow them about, to think they can't do it. But on paper they have the players, they haven't turned to rubbish overnight.

Iain: true, but I think, really, it's a hospital pass of a group. Polar Islandstates and Sarzonia, two somewhat fallen giants. Aleirave are top of pot 3.

John: Were any of them any good in qualifying?

Maria: PIS struggled... Their transition to fascism seems to have hobbled them somewhat though. But they won a DBC, so maybe some youth coming through?

Iain: yeah I think Ohm, Dementieva and Niemi could all still get the side to kick on. But they've not shown the same quality that shone through in those. Probably a helpful reminder that it's not easy to make that step up, can explain some of Elmyia's travails.

John: hmm true. And Sarzonia?

Maria: Yes they came incredibly close, made the playoffs. But Juvencus saw them off on penalties. Absolutely gutting for them. But, their players appear to be riding on somewhat of a high after an unexpectedly strong qualifying campaign.

John: so essentially, they spell trouble?

Maria: Yes. Big time.

John: hmmm, all very concerning. How are things in the Elmyian camp as they prepare to fly out?

Maria: Not great. I think the overall attitude of the press has possibly slightly over egged how bad, but the rift with the Italia Mosfleet players persists, meaning they're missing some key talent. I think they'll be disappointed with how the qualifying campaign went, the system didn't seem to do it for them.

Iain: Goes to show really there's no correct way to play. What Porras was doing before looked crazy, but ultimately seemed to be working for him. I must admit I thought the more structured approach could've helped the side have a bit more cover and that it might help them kick on. I guess that's why I'm am armchair pundit, because it didn't work at all.

John: That it didn't, was it a tactical issue that the system introduced, or is it a personnel thing?

Iain: Yeah, possibly the way those two interacted. I don't fully buy the argument that Jackie Froggatt is past it. But having her receiving so centrally and so deep wasn't a comfortable fit, it left them without much control and didn't give her much room to work with.

Maria: Iain, would you feel happier if they put her back on the wing and maybe put someone like Galli or Reid in the centre to firm them up?

Iain: It would make a sort of sense, but ultimately you need that wide player to track back a bit more and to stay wide. And ultimately, I think Froggatt is at her best when she can play further forward than most Elmyian players and drift into the channels from wide... Really you want her on the ball out wide in earlier phases and then centrally in the final third. Out wide she has more room to try something, and it matters less if she gives the ball away. And I don't think anyone can match her for movement in tight spaces around the box... But yeah, for this system she lacks a natural place.

John: Do you agree with Paul Reynard then Iain? Does Porras need to rip thing up and accommodate her?

Iain: haha well maybe I have a bit of sympathy on this. But no, I can see a reason to stick with the system and drop Froggatt. Would be a very bold move however.

Maria: I can't imagine she'd be a happy traveller if she was warming the bench though?

Iain: No you're probably right, if some of the dressing room rumours are to be believed...

John: Well quite. Are we expecting any other surprises on the plane?

Maria: Well Livvy Jennings has had another excellent season for Hellenic, Mia Benoit too. I think Jesca Blair is another option worth looking at, a solid alternative at left wing.

Iain: the thing to pay attention to will be if there's a system switch. If they went to a back four I'd imagine there'd be more room for another right back. Maybe Kastrinakis, he's been slightly unlucky not to have forced his way into contention.

John: Excellent! Well, the only real remaining debate is where to watch it. Of course the national broadcaster, EBA, are sticking with Grandstand and managed to get a bit of a cpup, with Benni Massi coming on as a star pundit. But, they'll be facing the insurgent Coruna TV Sport. And who've they got? It's only Massi's blood rival Paul Reynard.

Maria: A weird pair. Massi has shown after losing the Elmyian job he's still with it, an intelligent tactician. He's been excellent at Perce Town. Whereas Reynard, let's face it, he's box office for TV I'm sure, but I can't imagine him managing again.

Iain: I'd agree. Obviously the two were cast as rivals. Their Albion and Scolastico sides fighting it out at the business end of the season, to then vying for the Elmyia job, starring opposite each other as pundits for Elmyia's first tournament... But Reynard seems to have really doubled down on himself...

John: How do you mean?

Iain: well obviously his sides always enjoyed a bit of gamesmanship and we're physical... But in his successful period at Albion he really got a lot out of technical players like Froggatt... But now, the way he talks you'd think he's forgotten that football involves doing anything with the ball. He only talks about physicality and mentality. I think the game has left him behind.

Maria: It's such a weird contrast. I thought it was a bit harsh that Massi got pushed out of the national team job, but he's not exactly had to look back with regret, he's still at the top of his game...

John: well I won't ask you which you'll be watching! That's all we have time for this week listener, ciao!

by **Sarzonia** » Sun Apr 14, 2024 12:07 pm

The charter flight from Woodstock took a fair bit longer to arrive at their destination than usual.

Midfielder Layton George saw the flight approaching Clark and thought the trip was nearing its end. However, he'd been on enough flights to know that the descent from the sky wasn't beginning, or at least like that of an imminent landing at the airport, even though he knew the airport in Clark was a matter of minutes away.

"We're not landing yet? I thought we'd be based in Clark," George said. "It's the closest city to Sarzonia."

"At least in terms of the flights from Sarzonia," defender Ken Webb, the team captain said. His father was an air traffic controller and he knew enough to know that the limited number of flights from Sarzonia to Tumbra typically had Clark as their closest destination.

"We're landing in Nantwich," manager Caleb Rush said. "I spoke to my boss at the IFF," the Incorporated Football Federation, Sarzonia's governing body responsible for football. "We're going to set up headquarters there because it's less expensive than Clark." The reaction drew grumbles from a couple of players, but goalkeeper John Wells smiled. He was an avid naval buff and he wanted to see the naval museum in Nantwich.

"That works for me," he said. "I'm 19. I don't have a rich daddy paying my way on this team."

"Well, neither do I," Webb said, "but I've played long enough in Portland to want something other than a fleabag motel."

"I don't care where we stay as long as it's got free WiFi," forward Spencer Wilson said. "I don't need anyone waiting on me hand and foot. Just give me a comfortable bed, a mini-fridge with snacks I can eat and high speed Internet access and I'm happy as a pig in slop."

"Dude, I thought you of all people would want luxury accommodations," Wells said. "You're a fourth generation Wilson. I'd think you'd want a butler and a maid."

"And a masseuse," Kellie Larson, the new reserve forward piped in. "Your dad could've put us in a five-star hotel in Clark, but nooo, they had to do this on the cheap."

"We're not in the proper, in case you forgot," Rush said, putting his hand up. "We're staying in a three-star hotel that's near the practice pitch where we'll be working. We've got a couple of nice charter buses that'll take us to Clark for anything we play at Clark City Arena. We should be within relatively short walking distance of Nantwich Stadium at the hotel we're going to."

After the players checked in and went to their rooms, Wells decided he wanted to get out and explore the naval museum. His big brother was still at the academy and was awaiting his first posting on the ISS Clement, a frigate that had just finished a refit of its anti-aircraft systems to include radio scrambling technology.

"Just be back at the hotel by 1800," Rush said. "We're going across the street to a nice little seafood place I noticed."

"I'm allergic to seafood," Larson piped up.

"How bad?"

"Like, I could die sick if I'm even around it," she said.

"Change of plans," Rush said. "There's a steak restaurant a couple of blocks from the hotel. It serves vegan and vegetarian options for anyone who doesn't eat animal products."

After the rest of the team agreed, Wells decided to go exploring. He picked up a copy of the day's newspaper and read the latest debate on whether Tumbra should construct a third aircraft carrier. He chucked to himself. Roughly 30 percent of Sarzonia's defence budget was devoted to maintaining the mothball fleet in the event Sarzonia needed to defend herself or her overseas territories through its own naval power.

EIther way, most of the players were happy with what they saw of the hotel, even Webb, who was given his own room as the team's captain.

"I suppose this will have to do," he grumbled as he opened the door. As soon as he closed it and had a moment away, he took a seat on the bed and smiled.

"This'll more than do," he said out loud, satisfied that no one would hear his approval of the accommodations.

by **Saterun** » Sun Apr 14, 2024 2:50 pm

The plane rattled with turbulence as it descended into Kingsbury. The ancient city was spread out underneath them, with the Terenberg castle and Fletcher Park making the skyline instantly recognizable. They sure were playing their first game against a beautiful backdrop.

No, WCQ had not gone perfect, but there was some light to be found. Faced with an impeding crisis, Kameron had managed to reinvent his system and got a struggling Saterun side back on its feet. They had done well enough to be invited back to the CoH, but this was always a tricky competition for the Claws. Never had they even made it out of the group stage, and the shock eliminations of some of the better teams from WCQ made this CoH field even harder. Saterun had gotten a more forgiving group, but it would be far from easy.

Maksymillian Bates squirmed in his seat. He wasn't a very comfortable flier. Yes, he had knew the statistics, but they didn't do much to calm him. He had to focus on his football ahead. Although he had kept up his scoring rate, he hadn't been quite as empirical as hoped or expected. This CoH was also precipitated by a miserable club season, in which his team Real Anasb had finished a tragic 7th in the table and has been all but absent in the cups. He knew that it was probably a temporary slump, but he always had one eye on a potential move, and now seemed like it might be the time. He was expecting to draw international attention during WCQ, but it hadn't panned out that way. If he had a good CoH, it might work with his IAC performance and land him a sweet transfer. But he had to keep it all in perspective.

Fabian Cruz looked out the window to the city below. As he was about to embark on his second CoH, he reflected his career thus far. Years ago, he had been touted as one of Saterun's future stars. While he certainly was happy with the way his career had panned out, he was already 29 and could feel the youth start to wane. Real Anasb's car crash of a season had soured his mood, and now he had at least another three games. He liked Kameron, but it was weird playing for him on the NT one week and then battling him in the A. Liga the next. But he had to learn to balance.

Andrei Coiro sat calmly, listening to music. As one of the senior players on the team, there was an expectation of tranquility and wisdom on him. He did like to help the younger players, but sometimes he was pushed into a leadership role that he wasn't necessarily equipped for. Hans-Jürgen was a fine captain, and an excellent player, but he was still somewhat inexperienced and certain aspects of leadership would still sometimes default to Andrei, whether he wanted them or not. It was taxing. But he had to serve the team.

30 minutes later, they were on the ground and going through the airport. This team had picked up battle scars from WCQ, but they came out even stronger. It would be a real test, though, as their first opponents were WCQ foes Tero al Disco. They had tumbled with this team before, and there would be at least one final matchup before the cycle wrapped up. And it was up tot eh Claws to get the result and start this final tournament on a high.

by **Wight** » Tue Apr 16, 2024 3:57 am

The Office Of Slight Returns
Calle Tamarindes, Tequilo

Messrs. Couth & Ruly prepare for the Cup of Harmony

'Have you seen this fax?' said Mr. Couth - or was it Mr. Ruly? I can never be sure.

'Who is it from?' wondered Mr. Ruly - or was it Mr. Couth? You really can't tell the difference. I don't know if that is coincidence, or maybe they are twins from Monozygotia. Ah, Monozygotia. Remember them?

Anyway.

'It's from @user:tumbra.'

'The Cup of Harmony host?'

'The very same.'

'What does he or she or they want?'

'It's a group fax to all participants. How to win the Cup of Harmony, how to behave in Tumbra, protocols for communication, that sort of thing.'

'Sounds more like a Baptism of Fire cheat sheet.'

'That's what I thought,' said Mr. Couth or Ruly, 'but listen to this: "you should assume that the host of this tournament has never read a single roleplay of yours before," and also this: "not everyone knows the ins-and-outs of your roleplay arc, even if it is the best thing since sliced bread. Provide one to two-sentence summaries for arcs and previous episodes."'

Messrs. Couth & Ruly chuckled brightly. In the way you might if you were a serial killer and you just got a new axe off the Orinoco delivery driver. They called in the office intern, Georgie Gynn, who was just then assisting Easy Bennett at the... oh wait, you probably don't know about Easy Bennett and the the not-so-secret office affair, if you haven't been following 'The Gentlemen Interregnum' RP series.

So anyway they get Georgie to bring in the Diagram of the Wight Canon and roll it out on the table.

'I mean,' said Mr. Ruly or Couth, 'you can read any Wight piece as a standalone nonsense rhyme so good luck trying to fit anything into a canon like that.'

'Is he an idiot, or something?' wondered Mr. Ruly or Couth.

'"Well, perhaps not an idiot," he says,' said Mr. Couth or Ruly, 'but we should probably do a montage to help.'

'Alright then,' he continued, 'write this down please Georgie: we'll have a horizontal rule, then some 130% text, colour about... say... hex 165389...'

'Too dark?' wondered Mr. Ruly or Couth.

'Dark enough. We called it cemetary midnight blue on the roster sheet, so it has to be fairly dark. So, yes. Hex it around 165389. "The Gentlemen Interregnum" and then regular text "A Slight Return..."

And so on and so forth:

The Gentlemen Interregnum
A Slight Return

The Recap

A scruffy rented office above a launderette on Calle Tamarindes, in the shabby business district of San Mustardo. The phone is ringing.

‘Hello?’ said the intern uncertainly, finally locating it under a pile of yellowing newspapers on one of the director’s desks.

‘Georgie, that’s not the proper corporate greeting, is it?’ said the caller.

‘Yes, sorry, who’s calling please?’ asked Georgie.

‘It’s us, the Gentlemen Interregnum,’ said either Mister Couth, or Mister Ruly - they were hard to tell apart, ‘we’re back in business, apparently. Can you put the coffee on, we’re on our way in now.’ [/cut]

‘Well what about Esportiva?’ asked Mister Ruly - or was it Mister Couth - in his best old school BBC Received English. He twirled a mustachio speculatively. ‘You get a lot more for your money, what?’

‘But my dear fellow,’ said, err, the other one, ‘if it was about saving money, they practically give away whole island archipelagos in Ao these days. There’s even a couple of continents going spare.’ [/cut]

The country of Wight which existed in Ao was expelled for causing a zombie apocalypse, or at least for not helping to stop one, because as the Falcanians were apt to cite, ‘if you are not part of the solution, you are part of the cohort standing blindfolded against the wall who we are going to shoot now’. Wight the country was no more. [/cut]

Apoxian Les Jawallawalla was all lined up for a starring role in The Slight Return, and then - Anaialation.

What the hell happened?

Whatever or whoever it was, suddenly one sunny day just after Anaia had seceded from Ao, just after the Declaration of Foxchester, the intern Georgie Gynn let herself into the shabby office on Calle Tamarindes, to find the power was off and everything had changed. [/fadeout]

'That will have cleared that up for the perhaps-not-an-idiot. Should we also say something about the star signs?' wondered Mr... err... whichever.

'Might as well maximise our chances,' said Mr... other one, 'get this down, Georgie:'

Búa Rising In Myosophogos
Astrogoetianology

The Recap

We interrupted our story about the slight return of Wight - on several occasions - to delve into some astrogoetianology, which is a pseudo-science I invented to describe the birth signs and resultant personality characteristics of the Wightlings. In Wight, you see, they are a superstitious lot. Little wonder they consult the astrogoetianology readings every day in the Uncertain Times or the Daily Magic Mirror, two of the many newspapers that publish spurious claims about how your day will pan out depending on when you were born. 'Uh-oh! I have Búa rising in Myosophogos! Staying home in bed today, and keeping a bucket handy.'

- that sort of thing. In this series, we look at each of the signs in turn, who in the Wight squad fits where, and what that means for their chances in the World Cup. One day maybe I’ll make a whole chart of the planets and the constellations and the signs in a form that is easy to understand, but then again, I only just invented astrogoetianology and I don’t really understand it myself. It’s more a devils of Wight thing. You know. Made up stuff.

'Perfect. He can't claim he isn't up to speed on the astros now, can he?' said, um, one of the Gentlemen Interregnum, to the other, 'but I suppose we better say something about the football too, at least what happened so far.'

'Well @user:tumbra certainly seems to think that's important, and they should know, I suppose,' said the other Gentleman.

'Now where in Anaianation has Georgie gone?' wondered Mr. Couth or Ruly.

As it turned out, Georgie had decided to work to the clock and had knocked off at home time with Easy Bennett, leaving Messrs. Couth & Ruly to finish off the RP and lock up for the night. Hierarchies are really only a notional thing in Wight if you really want to get off work and go home for a squeeze.

'I just can't be bothered writing a new piece about how we failed to qualify for the World Cup and how the lads fought ferociously only to lose 0-3 to Juvencus who caught us when we were right down there at the bottom of the rank barrel and ought not to boast too much about it.'

Said Mr Ruly. Or Mr. Couth.

'Shall I get an AI text, no-one will notice,' he continued, 'and if they do we can just crpostyle it out.'

'Alright,' said Mr. Couth, or Mr. Ruly, dialling the old telephone, 'I'll just get Sixteen Bits on the line. It can knock something up for us in 0.00037632531 seconds or so, I should think. Hello? Is that you, old chap?'

The Cup of Harmony
Costello's Antiquarian Pitchblende Revivalist Casuals are back!

The World Cup Qualification Campaign

Although they started with zero KPB the team from Wight fought bravely in every match. KPB is the rank they held before they started the competition. They are sometimes known as the Wightlings and used to be called The Sondry Folk but for this World Cup they are known as Costello's Antiquarian Pitchblende Revivalist Casuals 'because reasons' - which is a favourite justification of Wight. On a bad day they did lose 0-3 to Juvencus, which delighted the Juvencans. The coach made some changes and did a passionate speech, and the team did better after that and collected some points. They played well enough to get an invitation to the Cup of Harmony, where they hope several insults to the host will be taken in jest and forgiven in the final analysis. Otherwise they will fail.

'That'll do nicely,' said Mr. Couth, folding the printout into an envelope, licking a stamp, and addressing the letter to @user:tumbra c/o Room 88, Dept. CoH, NSWC-HQ, Ko-oren.

'Fancy a tequilo or two?' said Mr. Ruly, fetching his crushed velvet parlour jacket.

OOC: No AIs were used in the making of this RP. That was pretend.
I did however use a spell-checker, which means I spelled pseudoscience correctly for the first time this cycle. A good start for the Cup of Harmony, I feel.

by **Squornshelan Remnant States** » Tue Apr 16, 2024 9:05 am

Undertow

Chapter 10.5
Salwan Mynhier

Press conferences ahead of the 88th Cup of Harmony in Tumbra got contentious this week, but not for the reasons you’d expect. For the second straight cycle, the Black-and-Reds, as second seed, have finished third in their qualifying group, failing even to make the playoffs. While their record each time was the best, among third placed teams, better even than several second-place teams, that’s little consolation to the fans who have now been waiting 30 years since the nation’s return to international football without a World Cup knockout victory. It’s especially baffling since the side has recently been nigh unbeatable closer to home, winning two of their last three outings in regional competition.

Manager Dudu Madeiros did have to handle some hardball questions, along with the expected variety of sophomoric headline puns, as did a few of the players. But none of the answers regarding the team’s shortcomings in qualifying caused the most stir of the day. That stemmed from a pair of questions that seemed quite innocuous when first posed, but the answers opened the floodgates of controversy.

The first came when Black-and-Reds captain Sevet-Ibilx Kai, whom the perceptive among you will note is a member of the large Qusma expat community in the SRS, was asked what appeared to be a real softball about the return of Qusmo to international football, and the potential for conflicting feelings about which nation he would want to represent. The SRS and Qusmo will, of course, be facing off on matchday one of the Cup of Harmony's first round. “I don’t want to sound insulting, but there really wasn’t much inner conflict, no choice to make really,” Sevet-Ibilx replied. I value my Qusma heritage, and I’m proud to be a member of our community here, but when it comes down to it, I’m Squornshelan. I also think it’s important, the strength in diversity that we have here, it’s something really valuable and I’m proud to contribute to that in my role as captain.” Sevet-Ibilx declining callup offers from Qusmo had already been a minor point of contention on social media at the beginning of qualifying, and his answer has provoked a new flurry of posts. No comment has been made as of yet by the Qusma FA, or their government, which is not particularly known for enjoying criticism or scrutiny.

Fresh on the heels of that moderate dustup, all hell broke loose after Black-and-Reds starting goalkeeper Radoslav Bláha spoke a bit more freely than Madeiros and likely many others would have preferred, when the subject of the recent mass shooting in Lublova. Bláha, a Lublova native and graduate of Lublova Reds youth academy, at first spoke somberly of the impact on the community of Lublova. He recalled a park not far from the site of the shooting where he’d played football as a child. Bláha concluded his answer, however, with a call to action for the authorities. “The situation is getting so bad in Lublova now, I hear from all my family there. We need the government to step in and stop these people coming over the border, bringing drugs, bringing weapons, we have to protect our people and our home.”

Needless to say there has been an outpouring of condemnation for Bláha’s comments online and in the press, with some even going so far as to call on Madeiros to dismiss him from the team, or for Myana to terminate his contract. Other more measured responses have still demanded that Bláha issue a public apology at the least, and have several have suggested he take some time to visit immigrant neighborhoods around the SRS, or even to partner with the Brighton-Vang Foundation or similar organizations to learn the stories of the many displaced people they have helped to rehouse. Sadly though, there has also been support for Bláha’s viewpoints, perhaps most notably from Molvanian state governor Todor Soltys, who since the Lublova shooting has been on the law and order warpath, stirring up anti-immigrant sentiment in his wake while seeing steady gains in the polls.

One can only hope that Bláha can find a way to move on from the obvious trauma of the shooting, and to learn more about the deeply complicated realities of immigration in the SRS, and that these twin media circuses do not do too much to distract a Black-and-Reds team that desperately needs a strong Cup of Harmony campaign to restore confidence, both their own and that of the public.

by **Kamijiro** » Tue Apr 16, 2024 2:12 pm

Player's Log: Katsu Fujiwara (pre-tournament)

Well, we've arrived - Cuono, Tumbra. The city's massive. From what I gathered in the pre-travel itinerary, this is the largest city in the country (and has some actual nightlife, f*** yeah). All I know is that apparently the f***in' nerds at the FA seem to think they can tell me what to do. "Oooh, Katsu, you're not 21 yet, you can't drink or party, even if it's legal there." My ass. They'd have to KILL ME to keep me from going to B*A*S*H. As long as it doesn't get in the way of my playing, why the hell do they care? They'd blow a gasket if they found out I went straight to a dispensary when I got here. That stuff's the only reason I even thought to write all this s*** down, anyway.

Anyway, we got into our hotel at some ungodly hour of the morning. Okami* is bankrolling the whole thing, so we're in some ritzy-ass resort for the whole trip. I'm still not 100% used to the high life. Hell, I had to get an ID before I even left the country, since I'd never needed one (I attached a picture below. I think I'm being sentimental.) Sure, I was middle-class as a kid. But this? This is some kind of upper-upper class s*** I'm not used to at all. I read up on the laws of this place prior to showing up - so I'm gonna make an assumption that the pretty ladies near the front of the place need some... money for honey. It's bizarre compared to back home. I've never seen a real-life nightlady** before, that stuff is usually hidden away in the s****y parts of Chamonix or South Central. I don't exactly plan on enquiring about their services, but... God, that's gonna be hard to control. Especially considering Wagner [Machado] and Soji [Kokubun] both went straight for it... and Soji's room is right next to mine... and the girls here are much better-looking than the ones back home... Okay, okay, enough. Let's talk about football so I don't let myself go running straight back to the lobby.

Either way, Raiji has been really lax since we got here. No formal practice until the three days prior to the first match against ~~Srej~~ ~~Snjed~~ ~~Sjen~~ SREDNJACI. God, how many non-vowels can you stick into the first six letters of a name? Five, apparently. I just hope I don't have to say their name in a press conference... based on the film I watched on the trillion-hour flight from Miraisaki Int'l, they just sit forward all game and attack. Whether or not that plays straight into our hands or completely f***s us is yet to be seen. Raiji's gonna have us play that ultra-defense thing, and either we're gonna shut them down entirely or we're gonna concede five. They have a lot of position coaches, but... in my experience, having those kinds of individual coaches makes it hard to work as a team overall. I think, based off of the World Cup quals, we should be balling the f*** out come matchday.

勝つ*** out.

* [translator's note: Okami is the Raijin-shi nickname for King Kaminari, coming from the kanji for king '王' and then a shortened form of 'Kaminari,' literally 'lightning,' but also the family name of the royals.]
** nightlady: a Kamijiroan colloquialism for a prostitute.
*** 勝つ: literally ‘Katsu,’ (his nickname) but also means ‘win.’

(O.O) · by **TJUN-ia** » Wed Apr 17, 2024 2:56 pm

The Random Rambles of a Jaguar - Cup of Harmony 88 Edition
with Killian Looker

Welcome back to this Random Ramble. Well well well, what do we have here? A Cup of Harmony invite, you say? You can forgive me for being a little surprised when the order to fly to Tumbra came through my emails. Sure, we did finish 3rd in our group and won half our games but after missing the invite list the past two times, it's understandable that people were cautious about booking their flights this time around. But here we are...back again at the tournament that decides who finishes 33rd. It feels good to be back but now, the mission is clear: get as many ranking points as possible so that we will enter the next cycle alright (though many here in TJUN-ia are hoping the new WCC Ranking Reform passes in the not too distant future). So with that in mind...what are we up against?

MD1: vs Vyktoria (106) - Stokers' Park, Fontwell
One of five teams outside the Top 100 in this competition, the BoF 83 Quarter-Finalists finished 4th in Group 9 behind Independent Athletes from Quebec, Pasarga and Amenria. The Maroon Dragons are led by Kevin Arland II and play a system that emphasises the All Out Defence leading to a coutner-attacking Gegenpress. We should be able to beat them, but you never know in tournaments such as these.

Drawkland (19) - Bencoolen City Stadium, Bencoolen
The New Kick Corps, a union of Immortals and Mortals that does not include the doofuses known as the 'Elite' Eleven (you can't be elite if you can't win shit), is now led by the legendary Ellzidan and returns Drawkland to its roots of an all-female NT. They missed out on the Group 6 win by 1 point to Tikariot before falling on penalties in the Playoff to Kelssek. This team always knows how to flounder, but they are still deadly...especially without those Eleven anywhere to be seen.

Bears Armed (84) - Bencoolen City Stadium, Bencoolen
All things may point to this game being the decider, so facing The Bear-Belles poses an interesting question. We have faced Bears Armed before, long ago during our infancy as a sporting nation, but these bears have only returned not that long ago...and are Top 90 already. Urrsara Northgate leads this all-female team and they finished 5th in Group 4 - behind Josifovo, Zwangzug, Squornshelan Remnant States and Semarland. How good is this team? It may be hard to tell until this game is 24 hours away...

So that's our path. Top 2 goes through, as is tradition. We'll certainly try our best, that's for certain.
I'd never thought I'd say this about the Cup of Harmony...but it's good to be back.
See you all next time. GO JAGS!

SCHEDULE (Group A, all games in Tumbra)
MD1: vs Vyktoria (106) - Stokers' Park, Fontwell
MD1: vs Drawkland (19) - Bencoolen City Stadium, Bencoolen
MD1: vs Bears Armed (84) - Bencoolen City Stadium, Bencoolen

by **The Kytler Peninsulae** » Wed Apr 17, 2024 6:51 pm

OOC context: I've managed to lose the save file for my domestic league, and then realised that this was actually really neatly able to be incorporated into an IC storyline given the Græntfjall crisis. So here goes...

The ongoing Græntfjall crisis has deepened in terms of its impact on the country's western neighbour. With Kytlerian energy production being geared essentially towards sustaining whatever's left of Græntfjall at this point, the ability to meet the country's own needs has become compromised - especially because lighter-than-usual winds on the Komodo Channel coast have badly affected output from the wind farms there.

As part of a drive to reduce "non-essential consumption of energy," Prime Minister Giisost announced the introduction of a four-day working week and the suspension of sporting events "on a temporary basis." The latter is set to cause significant disruption to the NSL season, and some have speculated it will never even be completed. If it is declared over at the current point, Roddens City would be declared champions, while FC Alaer, Real Santa Mordana, and Ranford & Willsbrook would claim the Challengers' Cup spots. Capitolians manager Victor Andrews, whose side would miss out on IFCF soccer by a point, said he is "incandescent" at the prospect. "The season should be completed come what may, because we have not had even schedules, and cannot do so until we've played 30 games. This is no basis for deciding the title, IFCF spots, or especially promotion and relegation."

The Kytlerian national team are still set to travel to Tumbra for the Cup of Harmony, but this has proven controversial, and no squad has yet been announced - which has caused some speculation that the team might withdraw, although a SO-KP statement insists that "this is not possible and would not be contemplated even if it was." Manager Andrew Patterson said that "all I can take care of is my job," but pointed out that he had named his 23-player squad for the tournament "and it has not been released yet. Make of that what you will." Several players have taken to social media to confirm that they have been included, notably including the currently-uncapped Ranford & Willsbrook defender Teun van Os with the message "I was never good at keeping secrets... no way am I hiding one THIS big from you lmao" attached to a letter from Patterson congratulating him on his call-up.

by **Sarzonia** » Thu Apr 18, 2024 5:10 pm

In the time since the Sarzonian national football team arrived in Nantwich, a couple of players on the team were curious about trying so-called Nantwich-style pizza.

"You mean they put the cheese on first and then they put the sauce on top?" forward Holly Chambers asked, incredulously. "Never heard of that before."

Goalkeeper John Wells nodded his head. "It's kinda like Wilmington-style pizza*," he said. "Similar concept, at least."

Defender Ken Webb looked incredulous. He was from Portland and had been to Wilmington several times, so he was familiar with both styles.

"It's not like Wilmington-style pizza. It's pretty much exactly Portland-style," they said. "In fact, that's one of the things I like about this city is how similar their pizza is to Portland's."

Midfielder Layton George arrived in the hotel lobby to find the majority of the team waiting for him. He gave a look like "what'd I do wrong?" when he noticed the strange looks on his teammates. I was exploring Clark."

"Are you crazy?" forward Spencer Wilson asked. "You know how expensive it is there?"

"Yeah," he said. "That's why I basically just explored the city. I didn't buy much except for this trinket for my mum."

"How much did that set you back?"

"About twenty bucks."

"Twenty dollars for that]?

"Yeah, well my mum loves stuff like that. She wanted me to bring a souvenir back from Clark, so I bought this for her. Dad was OK with getting something from Nantwich, so I got him a t-shirt."

Whilst the players were debating the relative merits of Nantwich-style pizza and the various similar pies in Sarzonia, manager Caleb Rush was busy with a spot of afternoon tea and the scouting videos he'd obtained about Aleirave, the first opponents for the Stars. He wanted to make sure he and the managerial staff discussed each scenario they could think of, be it whether the team was leading, trailing, or level at halftime, or whatever late-match situations they were facing.

"I want to be clear about who's marking whom," Rush said. "Let's make sure we're studying the tendencies of our opponents. I want Spencer to study their goalkeeper to determine if he's got any tells if we've got a player at the spot. I want us to make sure we know John's tells so he can throw off their shooters.

Based on the most recent squad list available, Rush knew his team would have their work cut out for them with the Seagulls employing a heavily attack-minded style. The youthful back four and teenage goalkeeper Wells would be severely tested. The pressure to get points against the team ranked directly behind them in Group C was palpable.

"Caleb! The team's downstairs in the lobby waiting for us," goalkeepers coach Paolo Gomes said. "We've got a walkthrough at 1000 tomorrow. Hopefully then we can install any last-minute changes to the lineup or determine substitutions then."

"I sure hope so," Rush said. "Anyway, I'm eager to try this Nantwich-style pizza. I wonder how it compares to Portland or Wilmington."

"From what I gather, it's pretty much Portland-style with a Tumbran name," assistant manager said.

"That works for me," Rush said. "I love Portland-style pizza."

[*OOC: Since Nantwich-style pizza's RL equivalent is Chicago-style deep dish pizza, I decided to make Wilmington-style pizza an equivalent of Detroit-style pizza.]

by **Legalese** » Thu Apr 18, 2024 8:06 pm

Perhaps it was time for another change, after all.

That had been Chogan Williams’s last thought as he drifted off on the flight home from Huayramarca, where the Legalese National Team fell in convincing fashion to Tumbra; a 5-2 shellacking that was close for the first few minutes on the pitch, and barely at that.

Within forty-eight hours, it was clear that change would have to wait.

Unsurprisingly, Chogan was at the Grind and Bear It when the message came in. He had traded in his aluminum travel mug for a ceramic piece made by a fellow co-op member as part of their contribution to the shop. The mug had a deep blue glaze, with a couple of slight imperfections -- a matte spot where his thumb rested, a couple of tiny brown splotches dotted across the lower half of the mug face itself. Not that Chogan Williams minded; when he first saw it, he thought the mug reminded him of the tea mug that sat by the side of his mother’s chair every evening when he was a kid. And somehow, it was always available when he decided to sit for awhile in the shop. As was one of his preferred spots -- a leather oversize chair in the back corner, providing him some comfort and solitude as he reflected on the qualifying campaign, and prepared for the Federation debrief.

As he finished a note (“keeping up spirits and cohesion in the face of expectations”), he felt his pocket buzz. Pulling out his device, he saw the text from Aisling Titterington, one of his assistant managers:

Boss, you should come over to the House. Debrief is postponed -- got word that the cycle’s not over yet for us.

The mug sat comfortably in Chogan’s hand, enveloping it in a warmth only matched by the atmosphere. For most trips during qualifying, if there was time to sit with a cup of coffee and think, consider, and potentially find inspiration for what to say when speaking to the team, the manager’s office in the visiting dressing rooms would have to do -- that, or his hotel room, with the only “adventurous” seen in the coffee was if whatever came out of the provided coffee maker would actually taste like coffee.

The travel and training schedule for the Cup of Harmony, however, made it easier to find the time for a better place. Chestnut Coffee -- a Tumbran chain, he’d been told -- went for a cozy motif, one that reminded him a little of his local. The chairs were sturdy and comfortable, if a little more generic -- lots of wood, with a look that suggested craft, but didn’t rule out mass production. A mark in the right direction, at least, was the cinnamon roll; the baked dough had a satisfying texture, with a filling that provided just enough spice and sweet, without exaggerating either. This would do.

He pondered over the approach at this point. Tactically, he felt good about what Aisling and Mikaela had suggested in the prep meeting back at home, with a focus on width in the midfield.
“What we know about Baker Park is that they’re not going to slip up much -- they’re too well-trained for that. A central three that stays firmly affixed to the center is going to be difficult to get around, and they press back as well, so we can’t just count on Gagan and Faron being able to move back and forth without issues -- we need them to be more like wing backs than they usually are.”

“Okay, then what do we do up front?” He asked. “Can we get more width somehow?”

Aisling pointed to the whiteboard. “We can. Just bring two slots out wide, and have them play further up. They’ll keep up some outside pressure, and perhaps blunt some of the talent advantage we expect by getting them out of their comfort zone.”

“But who will do that? Tommy Toal’s more of an indoor cat -- not too sure he can play wide.”

Mikaela didn’t even look up from her computer. “Correct. He’s a more natural center midfielder. Either he or AC’s going to have to come off -- we need Jack back to disrupt their triangle.”

“Wait, they also run the triangle offense? That’s kind of neat.”

“It’s a little different, skip, but yes. This is why we need Moses -- he’s responsible for the attacking mid in their version, with Gagan and Faron on the forwards. Farmer’s the last-line of defense, of course -- and could let one side of the wing go forward to start the counter.”

“So, what’s the pick between Tommy and AC?”

Mikaela looked up from her computer. “It’s not an easy choice. If we think AC is needed to play the transition from both sides, then it’s him no question. But if not, I might stick with Tommy -- he can be the solid core, and let Lindo pick a wing and be Lindo. Ash?”

“Yeah, that’s the rub. How do you want to play it?”

A week later, and he was still hedging his bets. In the run-up, he tried running both through the middle, while adding Roddy Nelson on the right wing to complement Lindo on the left. At this point, he still didn’t know who to pick.

As he contemplated that (let alone figuring out what to even say to the team before kickoff), he took another sip of his coffee, and took a moment to admire the mug. The deep blue glaze stared back at him, with a comfortable familiarity.

That comfort faded, as he recognized the brown spots on the side. Then he realized the spot under his thumb was flat.

by **Srednjaci** » Fri Apr 19, 2024 7:07 am

CUP OF HARMONY 88 TUMBRA

SECOND CUP OF HARMONY FOR SREDNJACI!

After completing the qualifications for the world football championship, our football team is turning to a new competition, the Cup of Harmony.
The eighty-eighth edition of this competition will be held in Tumbra. In history, our national football team played only once, at CoH 83. Back then, in 6 matches played, we won only 2 matches and we had 4 defeats.
We believe that this time we will be more successful.

Our football team is placed in group E with the teams Pasarga, Kamijiro and Oberour Ar Moro.
Our national team is the lowest ranked of all these teams and it will be very difficult for us to pass the group.

PASARGA - Pasarga is the best ranked team in our group. They are currently in the top 20 in the world, 18th to be exact. Pasarge won second place in its WC group with 21 points. Their attackers scored 16 goals, which makes them only the 5th attack in the group. However, the defense conceded 11 goals, which puts their defense in first place in the group. With these results, Pasarga went to the playoffs, but there they lost to Zwanzug on penalties. Pasarga is also a bigest favorite team of our group.

KAMIJIRO - Kamijiro is a nation we know little about except that they have problems with pronunciation, especially when it comes to our nation.
Well, let's help them Srednjaci (Sread-neea-tsee). Maybe it will be easier for them in the future to pronunce our name. Furthermore, they belong to the group of football teams that did not make the playoffs, just like us. Kamijiro had 5 wins, 5 draws and 2 losses in their group. They play very closed, which can be seen from the statistics. They scored only 12 goals and conceded 9. With 20 points they were in third place in the group. Kamijiro is currently the 66th soccer nation in the world.

OBEROUR AR MORO - Very familiar opponents against whom we played a long time ago. Oberour Ar Moro were the worst of all the teams in our group in their qualifying group to go to the world championship. From 12 matches played, they won 4 times, had 3 draws and had 5 losses. They won only 15 points and had a negative goal difference, 23-28! With this result, they were finishet as 5th team in their group. However, they are also a better ranked team than us, they are currently in 78th place.

by **Saint-Jean-Jacques et Burnham-on-Stove** » Fri Apr 19, 2024 8:17 am

Tapirs takes the Cup of Harmony path

Woodstock, Sarzonia - On matchday 13, Saint-Jean-Jacques et Burnham-on-Stove received Rea San Vegas at Burnham Grounds in Burnham-on-Stove. Burnham-on-Stove is a woke nation known for their hatred on nationalism and patriotism. Meat and cars are banned and cis gender people are frowned upon. Totally opposed to the patriotic nation of Saint-Jean-Jacques-sur-Mer where tapir meat is largely consumed. Saint-Jean-Jacques et Burnham-on-Stove attacked at the 4th minute when Charlotte Gibouleau-Beaudoin made a header pass to Frédérique Goudreau-Luneau who heads it past Goalkeeper #1. The Tapirs increased their lead at the 26th minute when Nathan Fauteux-McGrath scored on a free kick. Rose Van der Jagt made a cross to Louis-Philippe Berlinguette, at the 28th minute, and he kicks the ball into the net. The Jean-Jacquois and Burnhamese scored again at the 42nd minute when Frédérique Goudreau-Luneau received the ball from Allie O'Hara and kicked it into the goal. Rea San Vegas finally was on the board at the 63rd minute when Player #9 scored on a header pass from Player #11. The Tapirs increased their lead at the 68th minute when Nathan Fauteux-McGrath passed to Kyle Klingenberg who shot from 35 meters and scored. The final score is 5-1 Saint-Jean-Jacques et Burnham-on-Stove.

On the final week, the Tapirs travelled to Sarzonia. It was like a playoffs game before the playoffs. The winner goes to the playoffs and the loser may or may not get invited to the Cup of Harmony. There was a possibility of the winner of this match going directly to the World Cup if Ko-oren would lose against the Ochre Islands. The final score was 2-0 Sarzonia with Spencer Wilson scoring both goals. Ko-oren didn't lose against the Ochre Island so Sarzonia was alive for at least another match, a playoff game against Juvencus. Saint-Jean-Jacques et Burnham-on-Stove takes the Cup of Harmony path.

GAME SUMMARY vs Rea San Vegas

4th    GOAL ST-JEAN-JACQUES ET BOS   Frédérique Goudreau-Luneau assisted by Charlotte Gibouleau-Beaudoin 
26th   GOAL ST-JEAN-JACQUES ET BOS   Nathan Fauteux-McGrath (free kick)
28th   GOAL ST-JEAN-JACQUES ET BOS   Louis-Philippe Berlinguette assisted by Rose Van der Jagt
42nd   GOAL ST-JEAN-JACQUES ET BOS   Frédérique Goudreau-Luneau assisted by Allie O’Hara
63rd   GOAL REA SAN VEGAS   #9 assisted by #11
68th   GOAL ST-JEAN-JACQUES ET BOS   Kyle Klingenberg assisted by Nathan Fauteux-McGrath

Burnham-on-Stove has no real cheese. All they have is vegan cheese, also called “ fauxmage”, derived from the French word for cheese “fromage”. The word “faux” means “False”, so it’s literally false cheese. So I tasted gluten free plant based crap which I spreaded on real bread full of gluten. 1/10. In Sarzonia, they had much better cheese, real cheese. Before travelling to Sarzonia, I asked my buddy Billy Bob, who lives there, some questions about their cheese via telegram, but unfortunately I’ve lost it. I tasted some cheese, it was like cheddar cheese and I liked it. 7/10.

Final cheese rankings

St-Jean-Jacques	    10/10
Carpathia & Ruthenia 9/10
Aztec Confederacy    7/10
Sarzonia             7/10
Rea San Vegas        6/10
Odlegla Ziemia       6/10
Ochre Islands	     5/10
Ko-oren	             4/10
Burnham-on-Stove     1/10
Shanzhou              N/A
Labalia               N/A

Paul-André Veilleux

Cup of Harmony

Straton, Tumbra - Saint-Jean-Jacques et Burnham-on-Stove no longer officially exists since Nova Calanian nations formed the United States of Nova Calania, but because they signed up for the World Cup qualifications before the merger, they has to participate under the former name. Saint-Jean-Jacques et Burnham-on-Stove is in group G with Baker Park, Legalese and Abanhfleft.

Baker Park (38) won many youth and regional cups and are a regular World Cup proper participant. Their highest finish is a 4th place at World Cup 85.

Legalese (101) is an old nation but their only notable result is a 1st place at Cup of Harmony 55th. I believe they’ve qualified for the World Cup a couple of times but never reached the top 3.

Abanhfleft (70) has no notable achievements in football but they always performs well.

Saint-Jean-Jacques et Burnham-on-Stove (48) never qualified for the World Cup and are a 1st time Cup of Harmony participant.

Based on ranks and history, Baker Park should be the favorites, but other nations shouldn’t be underestimate. Legalese surprised everyone in their group with a good record that granted them a spot at the Cup of Harmony. About Abanhfleft, I’m repeating myself, but they're always performing well.

Schedule
MD1: Saint-Jean-Jacques et Burnham-on-Stove (48) vs Abanhfleft (70) @ The Eagles' Club, Straton
MD2: Saint-Jean-Jacques et Burnham-on-Stove (48) vs Commonwealth of Baker Park (38) @ Serrapince Park, Serrapince
MD3: Legalese (101) vs Saint-Jean-Jacques et Burnham-on-Stove (48) @ Serrapince Park, Serrapince

Starting XI vs Abanhfleft - The Eagles' Club, Straton
Manager: Gilles Bourguignon
Starting XI: GK Bleau-Bean - SD Alyssa McCaskill - CD Tristan Gibouleau-B - CD Guerrero Lopez - SD Nathan McCaskill - DCM Fauteux-McGrath - SM Charlotte Gibouleau-B - SM Scarlett McCaskill - S Berlinguette - S Goudreau-Luneau - S O'Hara

Paul-André Veilleux

by **Aleirave** » Fri Apr 19, 2024 8:28 am

The Aleirave Football Association
Baptism of Fire LXXVIII Champions
Roster for Cup of Harmony LXXXVIII

OOC: All players in blue are ethnically Klysevian, all players in red are native Aleiravan.

The island nation of Aleirave is a rather small one, with a population of barely 50 thousand, located by a sea they know as the Retakono Me'a, or the sea of mystery. The only islands that were anywhere near them seemed to sink under the sea a couple years back, leaving them as the most isolated nation in the region of Anaia.

The nation of Aleirave was originally founded by Fyodor Tereyev, who was a puteshestvennik (or "traveller") from Klysevia, about 350 years ago. His descendants ruled the island up until the year 2023, when Alexandr Tereyev was shot and killed by a lone gunman in a peaceful protest. Since then, the island has been ruled as an Special Administrative Unit of Eshialand, effectively acting as its own democratic nation within a nation.

Qualifying was, in a word, a trainwreck.

Obviously, 17 points from 12 matches wasn't going to cut it. 10 points out of playoff contention? Absolutely abhorrent. Once again, the seemingly endless cycle of Aleiravan "recovery" was starting up again, and what better way to begin it with a good ol' fashioned Cup of Harmony?

Nickname: the Seagulls
Trigram: ALR

First international: Audioslavia 4-0 Aleirave (CAFA II)
First win: Aleirave 6-3 Space Laser Dinosaur Robot Pirate Land (CAFA III)
Best win: Aleirave 6-0 Unpleasant (BoF LXXVIII)
Worst loss: Audioslavia 4-0 Aleirave (CAFA II)
Most goals for: Aleirave 7–2 The Cannaland Islands (WCQ XCIII)
Most goals against: Eraman 8-5 Aleirave* (WCQ XCI)
Highest-scoring match: Eraman 8-5 Aleirave* (WCQ XCI)

*This result also represents a scorigami, a score that had never occurred in the previous 90 cycles of World Cup competition.

Home stadia:

The Old Grounds, Lahaira (capacity: 100). (Used for MD1 vs. Sawenia, MD6 vs. Abanhfleft, and MD9 vs. Lisander)
The Old Grounds are the original home pitch of the Seagulls team, and one that's hosted impromptu football matches for the people of the island ever since time immemorial. Recently a few seats have been installed to help make things more comfortable for attendees, but the original feel of this field remains the same as always: a quaint reminder of island life.

Union Stadium, Lahaira (capacity: 60,000). (Used for MD4 vs. Chromatika, MD12 vs. West Barack and East Obama, and MD14 vs. Equestria)
Union Stadium is Aleirave's new, floating stadium, one that looks like someone stuffed a soccer pitch onto a large aircraft carrier and put 60,000 seats on it. Thanks to some hefty funding from Flyfr.esh and M.esh founder Tony Beaujoleil and a sketchily-obtained government project known as Project Upsilon, Lahaira's first proper stadium comes in this floating form factor and, after debuting on the mainland's shores, it will float on to the Anaian isle to be the home of Aleirave's biggest-ticket events. Since the capacity of the stadium is greater than the population of the island, you'll never have to worry about having room for visiting fans, however Lahaira's accommodations may not be enough to support 10,000 travellers, so be warned, there may be some camping involved with your trip. Or, alternatively, you could stay with some locals, who are always willing to let people into their homes. Just note though, this stadium won't always be here, as when the Seagulls aren't using it, it floats back to Vaynorth in mainland Eshialand to host home matches for the Owls there as well.

Manager: Haulafo PAKA'ULA (M, 58)
Some fans have a lot of doubt in Haulafo Paka'ula at this point, but the team has none. He's the original architect of this team and a father to the family they've made together. He's embraced the Aleiravan spirit of quick, agile football, where positions don't really matter so much as making everybody mesh together as a single unit. While in the past he may have doubted himself to the point of resigning before 2027's World Cup Qualifying, he's back in business and ready to prove to the world that this island really can be among the best.

Assistant Manager: Ivan SHAKAROV (M, 63) (on leave for this tournament, will be explained in my first RP)
When Haulafo Paka'ula resigned, it was Ivan Shakarov who stepped up to fill the void, and results-wise, he did a pretty good job of it, leading them to a 6-3-1 first half before Haulafo took the reins back. While Manager Paka'ula may not have wanted to call him back, there was no denying that he could be the missing link to make this good team a great one, so he gave him a second change to manage the team, albeit in an assisting capacity. While he may not have nearly as much experience at the international level as Paka'ula does, he's made waves before, and he can make waves again, and hopefully can bring the absolute best out of this team.

Formation: 3-4-1-2
Style: +4

GK #1 Falena RUKIPIATO (F, 32)

Oleg PONIEROV

Tehieko FEHIFELA

LB #4 Yekaterina OLAYEVA (F, 33)

RB #5 Piheve EVATENE (M, 23)

Serani NA'ELERU

CB #11 Tefei'o TESUNA'E (M, 29)

Grigori ZHENTONIOV

Sergei BYALKO

LM #2 Efineha TESUNA'E (F, 29)

RCM #3 Aleksandr VRALETSKY (M, 34)

RM #8 Valeri TYONKO (M, 31)

LCM #12 Nakelia LIFEVANEKA (F, 24)

Lunaha FUSERAKA

Nusene FAVENOKU

Pavel RASTENIUK

Ma'uho KATEHOVI

ST #10 Neraveke HO'UMINALU (F, 27)

ST #13 Fyodor VESHCHIK (M, 26)

Terale FIASALA

Valentina RESNYEVA

Renasetevo NANERIKEHA

AM #99 Ivefela NOSELELA (F, 30)

RP Permissions
If my opponent roleplays first, they may:
Choose my starting lineup: Yes. The players in bold are the default starting XI, but take these more as suggestions than anything else. Always feel free to mix things up!
Choose my goalscorers: Yes.
Godmod scoring events: Yes.
RP injuries to my players: Please TG me and I'll determine the severity.
Godmod injuries to my players: No.
Hand out yellow cards to my players: Yes.
Hand out red cards to my players: No more than one per match without TGing me about it first.
Godmod other events: Please TG me first, but most likely yes.

If you wanna collaborate on a match, just TG me! I'm open to all collaboration!

Lastly, please don't use pictures in your RP and say they represent my players. Trust me, they probably don't.

by **Aleirave** » Fri Apr 19, 2024 9:20 am

Tomorrow's Hope

"Haulafo..."
"I know Ivan, I know..."

The two coaches, along with their team, were getting ready to board a flight from Eshialand City -- Aleirave being far too small to have interregional travel to anywhere except mainland Eshialand -- to Nantwich, Tumbra for their first Cup of Harmony match.

"You tell me you know but then you don't make any changes!"
"Listen, I know everything you're saying, you've said it a thousand times... 'we need better performances', 'we can't keep getting fourth out of seven'..."
"But it's all true!"

Haulafo let out a large sigh before even attempting to respond to that comment. "Listen... I know you've seen some modicum of success with pushing this team to 'perform their best', but I really don't think that's what they want at the end of the day."

"They want to go to the World Cup, don't they? Don't you??"
"Of course we do, of course... but we don't want to burn ourselves out on the climb."
"It's better than making no climb at all!"
"No, Ivan, it really isn't. You need to realize that maybe... maybe we're just taking things at our own pace. We'll get there, but not with people like you yelling at us to change."
"Then how do you plan on getting there???"
"I don't know Ivan... but maybe we're better off without you for now. The Cup of Harmony is just for fun anyway, we don't need all this performancemaxxing in our lives."
"...you'll remember this."
"I'm sure I will, and I'm sure you'll have a great time telling us exactly what to do for CAFA Cup... but until then, enjoy Eshialand, hey? I heard it's pretty great on the mainland."

Once the plane had taken off, the team began to notice that Ivan was strangely missing. "What's going on..." the Tesuna'e twins asked in unison.
"Oh, nothing... Ivan just needed to take a bit of a break."

by **Qusmo** » Fri Apr 19, 2024 9:50 am

Qusmo hopes to build on recent progress, historical successes at Cup of Harmony

After a long absence, Qusmo has returned to the world of international football, & its national team will compete in the eighty-eighth Cup of Harmony, fifteen editions after its most recent participation in the tournament in which it has enjoyed the most historical success. After a difficult transition, Qusmo has emerged wealthier, more powerful, & inarguably better under the stead of its stronger & exceedingly durable new government. Qusmo’s government has graciously bequeathed additional privileges to its citizens over the past few years, & football has been one of the most prominent aspects of pre-KMSQ Qusma society to be re-permitted.

Of course, there have been some growing pains. Qusmo endured a truly dismal Copa Rushmori XLV campaign, followed by a mercurial start to World Cup 96 Qualifying. However, Qusmo picked up form with four consecutive wins to close its qualifying campaign, each with an identical starting XI — a collection of players which two-time former Galacticos Manager of the Season Tlanx-Nulzk Hal will certainly hope to be able to rely on in Tumbra. Despite having an unranked national team, backed by no domestic league at all, Qusmo defeated every team in its group at least once — including, just in the second half of the team’s qualifying campaign alone: former World Cup 67 champions Polar Islandstates; former World Cup 84 champions & back-to-back World Cup semifinalists Farfadillis; & qualifying group winner & World Cup 96 debutants Tanirinthia. Though they are still the lowest-ranked team in Group H, they have accumulated momentum that gives them hope to advance through a difficult group stage.

Qusmo is welcoming a new dawn — & the football team which represents it will symbolize that glorious new future which awaits all Qusmi’y. Glory to Qusmo, glory to Qusmi’y.

Personnel

N°   Ps     Name                  Pronouns   Age     Club                                 Caps   Gls     Notes
 1   GK     AZELD-KRESP Tla       they/them   31     Dorival (TMB 2-09)                      2     0     Also eligible for Tumbra
12   GK     KARAR-FALAX Zev       they/them   34     Northern Union (BRE x-xx)               7     0     IFCF Champions League 2 & 17 champion; Super Cup 2 & 17 champion; UICA Youth Cup 25 champion
25   GK     YAMAJ-ZORNO Mal       they/them   37     Nile Bridge (EFL 1-04)                  5     0     
 3   CB     IBILX-IRTIX Ono       they/them   36     Northern Union (BRE x-xx)               7     0     IFCF Champions League 2 & 17 champion; Super Cup 2 & 17 champion; UICA Youth Cup 25 champion
 4   CB     NEXEV-PILTA Val       they/them   33     Nyva Zvornik (MYT 1-13)                 8     0     Also eligible for Mytanija
13   CB     GAVAZ-AJARK Tez       they/them   26     Yassaca FC (SRS 1-11)                  10     0     Also eligible for Squornshelan Remnant States
17   CB     OLORZ-NEXEV Zev       they/them   26     Emerald Coast AC (SRS 2-02)             2     0     Also eligible for Squornshelan Remnant States
15   LB     XELEZ-MATEZ Wek       they/them   20     Olympia Arkintoofle (SRS 1-09)         13     1     Also eligible for Squornshelan Remnant States
20   LB     OTOLN-PRANT Ezi       they/them   35     Northern Union (BRE x-xx)               7     0     IFCF Champions League 2 & 17 champion; Super Cup 2 & 17 champion; UICA Youth Cup 25 champion
16   RB     Ash BETVA              she/her    29     AFC Corvistone (NPH x-xx)               9     1     Also eligible for Nephara
21   RB     WANAR-XERAL Zyn       they/them   35     Nyva Zvornik (MYT 1-13)                 5     1     
 2   DM     Ida SEVET-STOKES       she/her    32     AFC Corvistone (NPH x-xx)               7     0     CB/LB/DM; records do not include 14 previous caps for Nephara
 5   DM     INTOV-GELAN Nun       they/them   30     Ituraitz Victory (ASG 1-11)            12     0     DM/CB
 6   CM     JERAT-FORZU Mal       they/them   30     Sivolvia Capitalizt (SRS 1-01)         10     2     Also eligible for Squornshelan Remnant States
14   CM     WANAR-XALAN Tla       they/them   25     Golden Unicorn (EXT 1-09)               6     0     
18   CM     PILTA-BLONZ Yol       they/them   31     Fraser Valley (TMB 1-15)                6     1     Also eligible for Tumbra
 7   AM     HELEK-PERTZ Zev       they/them   29     Megabrantid SC (SRS 1-03)              17     5     Also eligible for Squornshelan Remnant States
 8   AM     RAXAT-AVARN Zev       they/them   37     FK Vlaikograd 1896 (STL 2-03)           3     0     Also eligible for Siovanija & Teusland
22   LW     BELAJ-RILAN Dar       they/them   22     Latrobe Athletic (KSK 1-03)            16     4     LM/LW; also eligible for Squornshelan Remnant States
11   RW     PILTA-OXOLT Can       they/them   30     Emerald Coast Raiders FC (TKT 1-19)     9     2     RW/ST
19   RW     ILINX-WINAD Bel       they/them   28     Hawthorne United (XAN 1-05)            10     3     CM/AM/RM/LM/RW/LW
23   RW     YOLTZ-JONTO Cel       they/them   36     Emerald Coast AC (SRS 2-02)            11     2     RM/RW; records include 2 pre-KMSQ caps for Qusmo; UICA Youth Cup 25 champion; also eligible for Squornshelan Remnant States
 9   ST     CULAK-ZELEZ Guv       they/them   20     KFX Halazem (SRS 2-09)                  3     1     ST/LW/RW; also eligible for Squornshelan Remnant States
10   ST     SEVET-MATEZ Fox       they/them   28     Olympia Arkintoofle (SRS 1-09)         11     3     Also eligible for Squornshelan Remnant States
24   ST     XILIT-OXOLT Mal       they/them   30     Fraser Valley (TMB 1-15)                7     3     Also eligible for Tumbra
Manager     TLANX-NULZK Hal       they/them   75                                                         Former manager of KF Qastyr (QUS), Saltstead, Savigliane, & Starblaydia

Tactics

Tlanx-Nulzk will nominate the following players to start on matchday one against Squornshelan Remnant States:
.                       Xilit-Oxolt
     Belaj-Rilan                           Ilinx-Winad

                Helek-Pertz
                                Jerat-Forzu
                        Intov-Gelan

Otoln-Prant                                     Wanar-Xeral
                Nexev-Pilta     Gavax-Ajark

                        Yamaj-Zorno
Tlanx-Nulzk’s teams play in a dynamic, aggressive, high-pressing 4-3-3 shape. Historically, the system has been at its best with dynamo centre midfielders who can make a difference in both boxes and everywhere in between, as well as a technically gifted forward line which can equally create chances for each other or put those chances away. Fullbacks will not push very high in attack, but Tlanx-Nulzk’s goal is to liberate the rest of his squad to have freedom with the ball.

Kits

The official kit supplier of the Qusma national team is the Starblaydian-based enterprise ediraf. Though many expected Fuzpon Qusma to select uni·q to win the new Qusma national team contract, the federation has opted to equip the team in the same kit in which they competed in World Cups 82 and 83, as a link to Qusma footballing heritage.

Culture

Gender: All people of full Qusma descent are nonbinary and androgynous and use they/them pronouns. Male or female Qusmi’y generally are children of multinational heritage.
Names: For those with traditional Qusma names, family names are followed by given names.
Nomenclature: Qusmo refers to the country of Qusmo itself, Qusma is an adjective for something that is from or of Qusmo, a Qusmi is a person who is Qusma, Qusmi’y are a group of more than one Qusmi, Qusmi Bez is the title of the leader of Qusmo, & Qusmu is the native language of most Qusmi’y.

Competitive record

Qusmo debuted in World Cup 80 Qualifying and qualified for World Cups 82 and 83, but it had not played any more recent fixtures until this cycle. Qusmo had advanced out of the group stage in each of the first six tournaments it had played in, but it has been eliminated in the group stage of its two most recent tournaments: World Cup 83 & Copa Rushmori XLV. Still, the original vintage of Qusmo’s national team had its greatest successes at the Cup of Harmony: after being eliminated on penalties in the round of sixteen in Cup of Harmony 72, its debut tournament, Qusmo advanced all the way to the semifinals of Cup of Harmony 73 before finishing third. To get there, Qusmo recorded what is to date its only quarterfinal win: a one-nil victory at Stalliongrad’s Diamond Park against Squornshelan Remnant States, Qusmo’s first opponent at this edition of the tournament. Can Qusmo continue their positive momentum from the last few matches of World Cup 96 Qualifying, or even summon up their magic from previous editions of Cup of Harmony squads, & challenge the best of the rest of the Multiverse again?
Competition                    M    W    D    L        P/M    W%    GF   GA    GD
All-Time Record              149   74   26   49       1.66   50%   220  187   +33
Competitive Matches          114   60   19   35       1.75   53%   169  131   +38
WCC-Sanctioned Matches        96   55   14   27       1.86   57%   153  107   +46
Cup of Harmony                11    8    2    1       2.36   73%    18   10    +8

Technical details

Permissions: Anything short of godmodding, death, or permanent injury; feel free to DM me to ask or talk about anything
Style modifier: +2

by **Kamijiro** » Fri Apr 19, 2024 11:27 am

Player's Log: Katsu Fujiwara (training days and the club)

I guess I'll write a bit more to get the nerves out. It's weird. When we lost out on the chance to go to Mertagne and/or Huayramarca, I kinda thought I wouldn't really care about this cup. But the more we train and build up for the first match, the more nervous I get. Hell, I barely felt any nerves going into the World Cup Qualifiers - maybe because we came in with no expectations. But now it feels real. Like we have to do well, like the country expects us to do well. Maybe over-achieving is gonna make this harder on us in the long-run. I mean, I love competing and all, but just look at what happens when countries constantly have high expectations and burn out their players by constantly pushing them too hard.

I did manage to get out to the club. And honestly, it was fun and all, but f*** me was it loud. I had to leave after like 30 minutes because I couldn't even hear myself think. I managed to get bottle service (I literally pulled up my own Wiki page to prove I was who I said I was) and that was nice and all, but I couldn't help but feel like everybody there was so shallow. I mean, I guess I did go to a nightclub - I got what I was asking for. Pretty girls, loud music, low lights. Either way, I was out of there shortly thereafter. I hopped on an express train to Harren and went to the casino, where I actually did pretty well for myself, I netted a four-digit number playing three-card poker before deciding to bounce out.

I was back into my resort room by 0230 and despite having drank plenty between the club and the casino, was able to get up and at 'em at 0700. The first team meeting since we got here was pretty relaxed, but I could tell I wasn't the only one who had gone out last night. Philippe [Seraphin] was drifting in and out of sleep - I dunno if he was hungover or just tired. Soji [Kokubun] had multiple... 'love marks' on his neck. I just had money in my pocket. We had a nice team breakfast at the resort and then headed out for training. We went out to some local school's field and had a bit of a kickabout and some light training. Raiji's insisting on keeping it light until after the first match, insisting it'll make it easier for us later on when we're trying to qualify. I'm used to Akito Miura's hard-ass approach from Raijin-shi. So, this is a strange feeling - we haven't really had full team practices as a national team until now. What we were doing before was mostly just get together for games and then go back to our Premier League teams for training. But after coming so close to qualifying, Okami wanted to make the team more formal and together.

The next goal is to win this Cup. If we can do that, it would go a long way in stamping our intentions for the next World Cup. Raiji's got one last cycle on his contract. If we qualify, I suspect he'll sign on again for another couple of cycles. We also have more than a couple U-18s that look really promising at their clubs right now, so we might be set in the long-term. If all goes well, I think we could really bust some heads at WC97 or WC98.

勝つ out.

by **Pasarga** » Fri Apr 19, 2024 12:24 pm

To say that the Qualifiers were far from the way that Thor had imagined them going or how the fans of the Wanderers had believed that they would play out would be quite an understatement given the status of the team as a first seed. The inability for the attack to play up to their level consistently, something that has been consistently been an issue for the Wanderers over the last decade or so, played a huge role in that and is in large part the reason why the team failed to live up to their billing and top their qualifying group, merely able to back their way into the playoff. No goals and failure to convert from the spot during the ensuing shootout against Zwangzug in the playoff further highlighted all which was seemingly wrong with the team. A decrease in goalscoring with Thor's shift into a more possession based system compared to Orengo was expected but the team lacked clinical finishing to take the chances that they were converting, which was still an issue even under the former Banija manager and the more free flowing attacking system that he had the Wanderers using under his care.

It is a bit brutal but things have to change with the Wanderers and sooner rather than later, as such the talisman of much of the last decade in Elek Salai was left of the roster completely and in his stead in the starting eleven comes the young prodigy Bogdan Laszlo. The Audioslav born attacking midfielder and striker has never lived in the dual islands but when the youth national team offered him a call up in the Di Bradini Cup a few years ago after he broke through at Shamrock Cathair, he was quick to answer the call with affirmation. It is a bit odd for someone who was not born in the nation to be the national team's best hope for the upcoming few cycles and is perhaps the up and coming star player from the team, though he still has a bit of room to grow. That growth might need to be here in the Cup of Harmony if the side is to find the scoring touch that the team will need to play up to their billing and to advance out of the group. There is no goal of trying to repeat as Cup of Harmony champions, after the team failed to qualify last time through the playoffs as well, but progression into the knockouts and from there seeing what the side can do.

On paper it is a group that the Wanderers should be able to navigate through, being far and away the best ranked team in the competition but whether the players will once more play with all their heart as they did last time out when the side was under the care of interim manager and former national team hero Michael Mueller. Thor is a hero but the feeling of desperation feels different this time around, with the team knowing that Thor will still be here for the Copa Rushmori and for the next two World Cup cycles so long as the floor does not fall out from underneath the program under his care. There was a real sense of desperation and desire from the team last edition where the team was playing for the shirt as well as pride, that might not be the case this time with the team likely to be going through quite a bit of flux through the next few years. If Salai can be left out of the team while he was still the leading scorer for the team during the qualification process, then it really does show that no one on the team has their position secured, which could work against Thor or could actually have the team play for their position in the upcoming cycles, which include the Copa Rushmori in a months time.

The group does have a bit of a Rushmori flair to it, with three of the four sides hailing from the region, including our own Wanderers highlighting the trio from the home region. They are joined by Srednjaci, the fourth seed in the group, as well as near on neighbors Oberour Ar Moro in the group and from the region, the latter being whom the side will have to contend with in their first match. Being the third seed should give the Wanderers a bit of hesitancy in the matchup, as they have witnessed the ups (as well as the downs) and Oberour Ar Moro over the years and they seem to be on that upward swing at the moment. The excellent defense is going to be put to the test and Thor will see if the changes that he made there will be vindicated as they are going to likely be going at the Wanderers with a highly attacking and free flowing system that looks to put pressure on the wings and fullbacks. Mislav Ivančić and Slava Jakšić are going to have their work cut out for them but if they can replicate their club form, the team should be able to soak up the pressure and hopefully the rejigged attack can find their footing and grab a few goals to open the tournament on the right foot before playing second seeds and fellow group title favorites Kamijiro on the second matchday.

by **Carpathia and Ruthenia** » Fri Apr 19, 2024 2:03 pm

Carpathia and Ruthenia Cup of Harmony LXXXVIII Squad
(Style Mod: +2)

Formation of the Starting XI

Staff
Manager:

Brelk-Xeral Erv
Assistant Manager:

Marisa Novák

Starting Lineup
GK: Federica Antonini (20 caps/0 goals)

DF: Panni Verona (3 caps/0 goals)
DF: Szevér Naldi (20 caps/1 goal)
DF: Delia Alinari (2 caps/0 goals)
DF: Loris Kövér (20 caps/0 goals)

MF: Ottavia Lecce (20 caps/0 goals)
MF: Anastagio Brunetti (20 caps/1 goal)
MF: Lucia Vinci (7 caps/1 goals)

FW: Clara Bassi (c) (20 caps/11 goals)
FW: Róza Crocetti (7 caps/3 goals)
FW: Rebecca Pék^† (20 caps/6 goals)

Substitutes
GK: Marina Voltolini (0 caps/0 goals)
GK: Efisio Rapallino (0 caps/0 goals)

DF: Lazzaro Cino (3 caps/0 goals)
DF: Rosalba Selmone (3 caps/0 goals)
DF: Ermanno Ruzsa (4 caps/0 goals)
DF:Grazia De Marco (0 caps/0 goal)
DF:Fabrizia Buffon (0 caps/0 goal)

MF: Adél Alemagna (20 caps/0 goals)
MF: Giannino Pugliese (3 caps/0 goals)
MF: Salvatore Piccirillo (3 caps/0 goals)
MF: Franciska Büki (5 caps/0 goals)

FW: Annunciate Mondo (3 caps/0 goals)
FW: Gioachino Brunetti (0 caps/0 goals/5 U21 caps/4 U21 goals)
FW: Vida Ildiko (0 caps/0 goal)
FW: Alberto Sabbatini (0 caps/0 goal)

^† Penalty taker

........Home Kit........................Away Kit....................Goalkeeper Kit

Other Information
Fan's Temperament: Good-natured (They will not react violently to a loss and lay siege to the host's city)
Team's Temperament: Normal (Every now and again one player might get sent off, but they are not going to hack/beat up the opposing team as a strategy)
Manager's Temperament: Positive and upbeat, they will go to bat for their players anywhere, anytime, any way, all the way.
RP Permissions: No godmodding goals or killing my players

by **Carpathia and Ruthenia** » Fri Apr 19, 2024 3:03 pm

Carpathia and Ruthenia hires first ever overseas manger

Well there we have it folks after months of speculation we have our answer the FCCR has hired Qusmi Brelk-Xeral Erv as the manager of the Carpathia and Ruthenia national team and in doing so has hired the first ever overseas manager for a national team at any level. This should not have been a surprise as an option as the FCCR did announce at the beginning of the search that they were not limiting themselves to our borders saying that it was an outdated notion that the national team could only be managed by a citizen of Carpathia and Ruthenia and the job is simply that; a job and one that we should not limit the candidates that might apply especially if we are wishing to keep up the progress the national team has been making on the international scene.

So what do we know about Brelk-Xeral Erv? They certainly have the pedigree having managed teams at an international level both nations and clubs, and they have won silverware with a CAFA win with Krytenia and a Campionato Esportiva win managing the Brenecia national team at the national level as well as guiding Qusma team Atlov Juzuna to a UICA Youth Cup trophy.

So we know they have the pedigree, but what of their style? Well those worried Carpathia and Ruthenia might be drawing back from passionate attacking football need not fear, Brelk-Xeral Erv has played plenty of attacking minded teams in the past (some even more gung-ho than our normal style) however where they will differ from recent lineups will be the introduction of the back four something that they have held as a guiding principle and given how our defensive lineups have been caught out this is probably a good thing to sure up the defence while carrying on our attacking mentality.

And what of the squad, Brelk-Xeral Erv is known for their sticking by the players and the squad through thick and thin and although not known for coming in a shaking an existing squad up with several of the players retiring themselves and those not starting to creep up in age, the squad will most likely have a few new faces in for the upcoming Cup of Harmony and even more new faces in the next World Cup qualifying campaign where there biggest question will most likely centre around the goalkeeper position with Federica Antonini pushing towards 40 by the start of the next campaign and no other goalkeeper having an any experience on the international stage.

As for the Cup of Harmony this will be the breaking in period for Brelk-Xeral Erv as they get to know the squad, the fans and the critics in the press. The FCCR are clearly looking to invest in this new manager given them an initial contract to cover the next three qualifying campaigns, so I say let’s give them the same investment give them time to get their feet.

By Margita Ongaro
CBC Ruthenia

by **Cassadaigua** » Fri Apr 19, 2024 3:49 pm

World Cup set to begin,
by Caitlyn Dufresne, Concord Heights Times

The twin World Cups are set to begin with the “A” Group taking place in Mertagne and Huayramarca and the “B” Group exclusively being hosted by the nation of Tumbra. During the classification phase, Cassadaigua found their way to the World Cup 96B competition in Tumbra and the draw has placed them in Group F. This means that any Cassadagans wishing to attend will have to find their way to either Kingsbury or Newton, which are in the Southeast portion of the nation. Neither of these locations have a stadium that is particularly massive in its capacity, with Newton’s Novena Park only able to seat 32,000 people. That’s a far cry from the 86,000 that it was able to host back in the day. 23 of the 24 teams in the Premier Division of the CSL play in a stadium that seats more people than Novena Park, and the only one that doesn’t is Deslauriers Stadium in Gastineau and that’s just because it’s a newly constructed stadium in “North” Cassadaigua. Fortunately, when the stadium assignments were provided, it was shown that Cassadaigua will end up playing all of their games at Kingsbury’s 45,000 Fletcher Park. That will do better for the traveling Cassadagan fanbase! The Fillies will be opposed by The 14 Stars, Saterun, and Tero al Disco within this group.

Surrounding the actual team, the biggest story will be whether or not this is the last competition that sees Chen Huikang be the manager of the club. The performance of the team in the classification phase was not that great, and that would have any manager on the hot seat when you have high expectations. What makes it different is that this is the last competition for CASE President Stephanie Sweeney, who announced that she was stepping down from the position at the end of the cycle. Therefore, that means that the person who decides whether or not to make a managerial change will be entirely different, and a new CASE President, whoever they may be, may very well want to bring in their own people. We outlined a list of who will feel the top candidates are to replace Sweeney, and remind readers that the President of CASE, like any other national sports organization, is specifically appointed by Queen Cassie III. Therefore, Sweeney could not simply promote her Vice President, Kristen Speller, to replace her. Speller is a candidate, but just “one of them”. The Queen says such a decision will take time, and a replacement would not be named before the conclusion of World Cup 96B. The recent passing of her mother, Cassie II, also figures to take some of the urgency away from finding a replacement quickly. Chen Huikang has been asked about his job security time and time again, and his most recent response on the matter was, “As I have said, it is an honor to be the manager of the Cassadagan national team, and I hope that it continues for a long time. But if this ends up being it, I will forever be grateful for the opportunity.”

Overall, Team Cassadaigua has many players in the low to mid 20's, therefore, many of them have plenty of experience with Chen Huikang as their manager. While some players, such as captain Tiffany Brown, have come out and expressed their support for the manager, others, such as leading scorer Lexi McGregor, have not made any comments about it. When prompted about that, McGregor told reporters, “You all want to keep stirring up some sort of controversy about everything, don’t you? Why am I going to be sitting here and worrying about what happens in the next tournament? We got a tournament to play in Tumbra and that’s all I give a (expletive) about right now.” We know that Lexi is always free to speak her mind, but not giving a vote of confidence to Chen whenever she is asked does make people think that she may want a different leader. Not sure why that would be exactly, since Chen does employ a tactic that makes Lexi at her best. Other young stars, such as Lacey Sherwood, told reporters, “It’s on us to execute. If we execute, we can beat anyone in the world with any coach in the world.” Some will disagree with that assessment, but confidence is always a good thing.

One would think that the Fillies should be a contender in World Cup 96B, but there are no certainties with this team, at all. On paper, they are the ones to beat in the group, but when play officially kicks off, you know that you can officially throw any ranks of anyone out the window. Perhaps, that might be the case even more so during this competition, as some people have been suggesting that there is a very “wide open vibe” that they are getting when looking at the field that will be playing in Tumbra. Said one fan, “If you bet on sports, the World Cup 96B field will eat up all of your money. I would highly suggest saving it. If you think people like Pasarga, Drawkland, or Baker Park are going to steamroll the competition, you are going to be wasting a lot of your money. There will be longshots that win, and maybe many of them. If you can pick the right one, you may look like a genius, but I couldn’t begin to tell you what longshot is the best to pick right now. Maybe look at media coverage and see who may be the best that way.” As far as Cassadaigua is concerned, don’t expect any changes from what we had seen in the classification period. It is all about execution, and a whole lot of luck.

May Margaret be with the Fillies.

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