Campionato Esportiva 38 — Everything Thread

[Doubeia]

Campionato Esportiva 38
Riena Half
Matchday 3 Results

Group A

Riena 0–1 Nova Anglican Admin Zone of Esportiva
Silver Spirit Dome, Nagato, Rinkai, Riena

The 14 Stars 1–1 Natanians and Nosts
Funami Metropolitan Stadium, Funami, Rinkai, Riena

  Group A                                  Pld   W  D  L   GF  GA  GD  Pts 
1 South Newlandia                            2   2  0  0    4   0  +4    6
2 Natanians and Nosts                        3   1  1  1    5   6  −1    4
3 Nova Anglican Admin Zone of Esportiva      2   1  0  1    1   1   0    3
4 The 14 Stars                               2   0  2  0    2   2   0    2
5 Riena                                      3   0  1  2    3   6  −3    1

Group B

Eshialand 2–3 Kita-Hinode
Hanamaru Athletic Stadium, Hanamaru, Suenaga, Riena

Mattheland 2–1 Xanneria
Minami Arch, Maihama, Suenaga, Riena

  Group B                                  Pld   W  D  L   GF  GA  GD  Pts 
1 Mattheland                                 2   2  0  0    3   1  +2    6
2 Irithoren                                  2   1  1  0    3   2  +1    4
3 Kita-Hinode                                2   1  0  1    4   4   0    3
4 Eshialand                                  3   1  0  2    4   4   0    3
5 Xanneria                                   3   0  1  2    2   5  −3    1

Group C

Tumbra 1–0 Gouvanarch
Seaside Field, Anzumori, Karen, Riena

Osterhalten 2–0 Damukuni
Eternal Summer Dome, Yarizakura, Karen, Riena

  Group C                                  Pld   W  D  L   GF  GA  GD  Pts 
1 Osterhalten                                2   2  0  0    3   0  +3    6
2 Tumbra                                     3   2  0  1    4   1  +3    6
3 Damukuni                                   3   1  0  2    3   5  −2    3
4 Lozho                                      2   1  0  1    1   3  −2    3
5 Gouvanarch                                 2   0  0  2    0   2  −2    0

[Riena]

Campionato Esportiva 38
Doubeia Half
Matchday 3 Results

Group D

Fhulghamous Peninsula 1–0 Esportivan Darmen
Town Hall Stadium, Queensland, Doubeia

Schimata 0–1 Slembana
Victoria Stadium, Fajar, Doubeia

  Group D                      Pld   W  D  L   GF  GA  GD  Pts 
1 Fhulghamous Peninsula          3   3  0  0    9   0  +9    9
2 Slembana                       3   2  0  1    2   3  −1    6
3 Doubeia                        2   0  1  1    4   5  −1    1
  Esportivan Darmen              2   0  1  1    4   5  −1    1
5 Schimata                       2   0  0  2    0   6  −6    0

Group E

Macbon 0–2 Restresas
The Igloo, Winterfalls, Doubeia

TJUN-ia 3–1 Hapilopper
Pomeranian Hub, Port Pomeranian, Doubeia

  Group E                      Pld   W  D  L   GF  GA  GD  Pts 
1 TJUN-ia                        2   2  0  0    7   2  +5    6
2 Hapilopper                     3   2  0  1    6   5  +1    6
3 Sylestone                      2   1  0  1    1   1   0    3
4 Restresas                      2   1  0  1    2   1  +1    3
5 Macbon                         3   0  0  3    3  10  −7    0

Group F

Kamijiro 1–0 Josifovo
Harriott Loft, Ethelfled, Doubeia

Dod Rava 5–4 Zeta Reka and Hugeltaldom
Sirotkin Stadium, Solvecere, Doubeia

  Group F                      Pld   W  D  L   GF  GA  GD  Pts 
1 Dod Rava                       2   2  0  0   11   6  +5    6
2 Kamijiro                       3   2  0  1    5   7  −2    6
3 Zeta Reka and Hugeltaldom      3   1  0  2    7   7   0    3
4 Josifovo                       2   0  1  1    3   4  −1    1
5 Vielfaltig                     2   0  1  1    3   5  −2    1

[Restresas]

Restresas beat a low and down Macbon 2-0 after 2 quick goals in the first half from Lane Sanchez in the 15th minute from a penalty, and Indiana Pablo from a great strike in the top right corner in the 5th minute. After that energetic start, the players noticeably were "playing with their food", or in other words to say that they were not taking their threat seriously whatsoever. Restresian Manager, 42.5 year old Wesley Nires, infuriated by this performance, nearly played the second half with 5 new players on their attack and defense, citing the "unbelievably poor form from our attack and defense from the 15th minute to the end of the first half."

The second half was a game where Restresas managed to keep the ball away from Macbon and allow them to have one shot on goal, but Restresas had only three compared to the 5 in the first half, and none of them were goals. The fans of course were happy about their team's win, and celebrated in The Igloo, but the players, soon after the traditional clapout by the Restresians in attendants, went to the locker room with a sense of unease in their eyes, something that some analysts noticed whenever it turned to post game.

Whenever the players entered the locker room, there was a tense feeling, and most felt that something inside of their manager, the man that has led them to this point, was about to burst. Around 2 minutes of pure silence seeped in, and then Wesley, fired up in fury, said this to his players: "What the actual fuck was that? Seriously, what in the everloving hell was that play that we had in that game?! Yes, you won, but you looked insanely sloppy, cocky, and there was absolutely 0 passion coming from you guys. You were complacent, and you know damn well that I expect 110% of you guys every time that you guys step onto that pitch!"

Another seeping silence stepped in after Nires' firey speech. Wesley, a legendary player of the "Offensive Giant" days of the Maresda Beavers in the mid to late 1000's, knows all too well about the traps that teams succumb to in these moments. Wesley responded with a comment from the other game in their group, which featured their two next opponents, and their passion in that match: "Do you know how fired up TJUN-ia and Hapilopper were today?" Everyone nods, knowing how important that game was to both teams. "They lost a beloved player for both of their nations, and they played their fucking guts out and left everything on the line for 90 minutes. They had the passion to beat anyone in their path, and our opponents coming up found their way past a team that plays very similarly to us by beating them on reckless mistakes. If we stand any chance against TJUN, we need to minimize the mistakes that Hapilopper made, and get rid of that complacency that I hated from you guys today." Wesley exclaimed.

Pablo Albu, a star in Traffic Conesa's system, stated in response that "We all know that we didn't play by our standards, and we can't afford this to hap-" Wesley abruptly interrupts Pablo, responding with an emotional comment: "Pablo, I don't think that you understand the stakes of this next match we have. This event is the first ever time Restresas will play international football, and therefore, this is potentially your only chance to change our perception about us this Campionato, and do you all want to lose so bad that your nation will be humiliated by the loss?" Captain George said in response: "HELL NO! Our message to the world hasn't come by yet, so why not lay it all on the line to help solidify ourselves as a threat to this mighty continent?" Everyone is fired up from the message from their captain and manager, and are ready for the challenge ahead mentally. "If you want your respect, it's not going to be placed in your lap from here on out," Wesley said. "THIS SHIT WILL BE EARNED FROM EVERY FIBER OF YOUR BODY AND ENERGY, YOU HEAR ME?!" Everyone yells "HELL YEAH COACH!!!" in acceptance and belief of themselves. "GOOD, THAT'S THE FIRE I LOVE TO SEE! See you on the practice field tomorrow, and if any of you don't bring your A-Game, you know what happens next, benching for you."

[Hapilopper]

Pomeranian Hub, Port Pomeranian, Doubeia
Campionato Esportiva 38 Match 3: Hapilopper v. TJUN-ia
The Nathan Ellis Memorial Match

At first, the start of the match in Port Pomeranian was among the most emotional anyone had ever seen. There were moments of silence, an applause in the 5th minute and charity donations. There were moments of goodwill between these two great rivals that it seemed that any sort of rivalry was going to go out the window for this match. It seemed, for a brief moment, that everything was going to be friendlier, more pleasant than normal. Someone forgot to tell Rod Cutt and Huntley McCullough that. Someone forgot to tell them that they were supposed to be playing a kinder, gentler game of football today.

In the 9th minute, Rod spotted TJUN-ian striker Fernandino rushing up the pitch with the ball. Rod shook his head and decided that Fernandino wasn’t going to go any further with that ball, nor would any TJUN-ian on this day. So he rushed up towards him - and with all due speed, threw his arm out and decided he was going to clothesline the striker. This was all well and good, and in most instances, Fernandino would have been sent to the turf with extreme prejudice. But there was a problem with this.

Huntley McCullough had the same idea.

Rushing down from another part of the pitch, Huntley threw his arm out at the same time. And in most instances, Fernandino would have been knocked cold by a double clothesline from two of Hapilopper’s rudest, most violent footballers. But maybe Fernandino saw it coming. After all, he was playing Hapilopper - and everyone had to be expecting something ridiculous in a Hapiloppian match. Seeing this, Fernandino dove forward to avoid receiving a double clothesline, got back up, continued dribbling the ball towards goal. For Rod and Huntley, it seemed like time stood still.

The replay showed Rod’s and Huntley’s eyes get wider than dinner plates as they realized that everything was about to go horribly wrong. They couldn’t stop themselves, but they could stop each other.

Two things happened at the exact same time. Fernandino fired the ball past Lou Hyde and into the back of the net.

And Rod Cutt and Huntley McCullough clotheslined each other, sending each other to the turf, knocking each other out.

It was 1-0 TJUN-ia. If Derrick Carlisle’s MemeWatch extended to football, the clothesline incident would have been at the top of the list. Both Cutt and McCullough laid there on the turf while the TJUN-ians celebrated their goal, slowly coming to. When they got up, they saw the referee, shaking his head and head coach Thom Perkins standing over them. Neither of them were impressed. Thom was half wondering if he was going to be playing with nine men for the rest of the match, and he was half wondering if he needed to blow two of his substitutions because two of his lead defensemen were being complete idiots.

“You know, there’s probably a good word I could use to describe you guys, but I don’t know if I could get my head up my ass far enough to be that stupid,” the referee said. “I don’t even want to give either of you two fouls because it’s like, you know what you dumshits did, right? I mean, look over there.”

The referee was pointing at the TJUN-ian celebration still going on.

“At this point it might be excessive celebration but I don’t even care because you guys are imbeciles!” the referee continued. “I mean, clotheslining each other?”

“You gonna give us a foul or not?” Thom asked, a little irritated at everything.

“Nah,” the referee responded. “I mean, if y’all took out that boy, I’d red card both of your asses but, nah.”

For the next few minutes, Thom looked closely at Rod and Huntley, making sure they hadn’t knocked themselves goofy from the botched double clothesline. Fortunately, they looked just fine, even if Rod might have busted up his lip a bit.

In the 27th minute, Stan McLamb and Ben Fairchild were kicking the ball between each other, playing an extended game of “keep-away” from TJUN-ian defenders. And this worked out as they ran towards the Jaguar goal. Finally, seeing an opening, Fairchild decided not to pass it to McLamb, but rather fired a line drive directly at the head of keeper Ivan Kozovikov. Fortunately, his shot was a little wide of the target of Kozovikov’s face. Even more fortunately, it landed in the back of the TJUN-ian net, making it a 1-1 tie. The match looked like it was going to be a classic, as most Hapilopper-TJUN-ia matches are, regardless of the sport.

But unfortunately for Hapilopper, they had just experienced their high-water mark of the match. Everything that could go wrong, did.

Just before halftime - matter of fact, the second minute of added time, Huntley McCullough blew his second chance and succeeded in pissing off everyone - from both teams. Kristina Bay, midfielder for the Jaguars, was waiting for a pass to come her way. The ball had come from Kozovikov, and was a high fly ball, just about at eye level as some fans in the upper deck. McCullough knew she was going to catch it, and decided that, for whatever reason, taking her out was the smartest course of action. McCullough got a running start, and at the very same second Bay bounced the ball off her head to control it, McCullough leveled her with a vicious shoulder tackle at full speed.

In most instances, a huge hit like this would have led to a massive brawl. And in most instances, a teammate would have stuck up for their comrade. But Ernie Stevenson, seeing what was about to happen, was halfway to the scene of the crime by the time it happened, having thrown down his headset and playsheet and was visibly irate as he got to McCullough. In fact, the referee - that same referee that had openly mocked McCullough and Cutt earlier - rushed over to give McCullough a piece of his mind, even as Ernie was screaming at him and forcibly leading him off the pitch.

“The fuck... what the fuck is your problem, McCullough?” the referee shouted as Ernie forcibly turned McCullough around to face the referee. “Get off my field and don’t come back!”

The referee held up a red card letting McCullough know he was out for the extremely blatant cheap shot, even as Ernie let the referee know that, in no uncertain terms, he would have ejected McCullough himself without the cheap shot.

On a more positive note, Bay got up under her own power and appeared to be fine, even as players from both TJUN-ia and Hapilopper checked on her. But for the Hapiloppian team - even the Hapiloppian fans, the incident denoted that a line had most definitely been crossed, and everyone was angry about it. Ernie, who was fuming about the hit, threw McCullough to Thom Perkins, who screamed at him for an extended period of time, even as the half came to an end.

It meant Hapilopper played with 10 men for the rest of the half, and would be without McCullough for the match against the very interesting newcomers Restresas. It also meant that Hapilopper, a man down, was unable to effectively defend against TJUN-ia’s mighty offense, and gave up two goals in the second half, giving the Jaguars a well-deserved 3-1 victory in the Nathan Ellis Memorial.

In the locker room after the match, no one on the team talked to McCullough - none of his teammates, none of the coaches, nobody. Some reporters asked him what happened, and he refused to answer, saying he needed to talk to his teammates first. But none of them responded.

Angrily, Thom Perkins threw McCullough under the bus to the media, telling reporters that the loss was on him and him alone.

“When you’re playing a top-flight side like TJUN-ia, you need 11 men on the field,” Thom groused. “You need all 11 men. You can’t afford to go down a man because they’ll take advantage. So when he’s going to go out to try to kill someone, he can’t be surprised when the referee throws his ass out of the game. This isn’t gonna happen again, mark my words.”

[Kamijiro]

The Bounce Back

The first matchday was a disaster of epic proportions - the food poisoning debacle followed up by an embarrassing 2-6 loss to Dod Rava. Since then, the team has picked up two wins, a 2-1 thriller against Zeta Reka and Hugetaldom and a signature 1-0 win against Josifovo.

The 2-1 win against ZR&H can best be described as a win snatched from the jaws of defeat. A deficit after just five minutes made the match seem like it may be over before it began. As soon as they went down, though, the team immediately sat back up and started pressing high, playing nearly perfect in the midfield. However, their attacking unit left a lot to be desired, as their chances were skewed wide. A half-time sub to bring on Soji Kokubun for Sandro Becker up top gave the team a much more balanced attack, with Soji able to soak up more pressure than his Porto counterpart and play his midfielders into attacking areas.

The first Kamijiroan goal came just this way - Soji Kokubun slipped the ball in for Nicácio Xavier, who had roamed all the way up from the midfield, Xavier was then able to pin-point the top right corner to even the score late on in the game. Right after kickoff, ZR&H lost the ball straight back to Kamijiro, with Katsu Fujiwara getting his foot in to break up a pass, which then made the whole team press forward. A well-timed back pass to Philippe Seraphin led to a cross into the box, with Soji Kokubun able to head it past the keeper. Two goals in two minutes saw the Kamijiroans take their first three points of the tournament.

The second win, the 1-0 against Josifovo, was a prime Raiji Kagawa masterpiece. Stifling defense prevented Josifovo from having any clear-cut chances - the lone big chance for their side was off of a slip from Thomas Beal, which allowed Konstantin Filipović to slip through into goal. Jokichi Asumi was able to get the ball wide, with his impressive reflexes coming into play - he sprawled out massively for the save, diving to his left and batting the ball around the post.

To top off the defensive masterclass, the counter-attacking play was a marvel to behold. Soji Kokubun had several chances in the first half, none of which got past Tome Budzakoski, but definitely loosened up some seams in the defense. In the second half, Raiji took off Kaneto Kanazono for Haruka Kagawa and opted for a double-striker set-up. This paid dividends late-on, with Katsu Fujiwara pinging a pass to Soji, who then flicked the ball onto Haruka. Haruka had the whole net in front of her, and she struck true, going for power to blast it past Budzakoski. The goal, another late one, sparked wild celebrations from the Kamijiroans.

These results have propelled the Kamijiroans into second in the group, with a match against Vielfaltig being their final matchup of the group stage (they have a bye in the final matchday.) A win guarantees at least second place. Thus far, Vielfaltig is 0-1-1. They took a 3-3 draw against Josifovo and an 0-2 loss against ZR&H, the two teams that Kamijiro has beaten. So long as the Kamijiroans line up another win, they'll dance on into the next round. See you after Vielfaltig.

Thanks for reading!
- Mike Redwine, Columnist for the Miraisaki City Times.

[Irithoren]

Partners wanted for preservation and research

As part of the adoption of Irithoren into the Esportivan Union, the island of Riahmanfaa was assigned to Irithoreni control. The island, in the middle of one of Esportiva's busiest waterways, is uninhabited save for a single lighthouse to guide ships manoeuvring between the mainland Tumbra is on and our own continent. Many smaller countries make up that coastline on our side, where cargo ships carry goods from southerly San Jose Guayabal, the Grearish Union, and South Covello to nations like Tumbra, Restresas, Riena, and many more not directly on the waterway.

Riahmanfaa is about half the size of mainland Irithoren, and known for its isolated plants and wildlife, and access to the island is restricted as not to introduce invasive species. The distance between Dhidiyah and the island, as well as the island's size, as well as the incredible volume of cargo passing by, have made control over the island a costly affair for Irithoren's growing yet fragile economy: our small coast guard/navy is practically split in three between patrolling Dhidiyah's harbour, patrolling the rest of the coast, and overseeing Riahmanfaa.

For that reason, the Fizairdah cabinet decided to allow a multi-year mission to the island, aiming to establish a base for the duration of at least three years, where the crew will carry out research tied to Dhidiyah University's biology department, but also maintain and operate the lighthouse. Dhidiyah University is looking for partners across Esportiva to fund the studies and looks to join a network of research universities for now and later. Meanwhile, the Irithoreni government is looking for regional funds for the coast guard/navy and to support the mission outright.

As Fizairdah announced, in her weekly radio appearance: "We're taking on a lot of expenses on behalf of the region, and while the harbour of Dhidiyah is seeing more traffic, we're not compensated enough to maintain the safety of the waterway. That's why we asked the university to share the responsibility, but that still means that the region - whose economy depends on safe passage - has to bear a tad more of the costs. We have gotten some funding from the Constellation, and in particular, Ko-oren, to safeguard the ecology, but that's not enough."

She was hesitant to answer further questions about how smugglers allegedly have chosen the island as a base of operations, making trips between unclaimed parts of both continents, and distributing goods from there into neighbouring nations.

[The 14 Stars]

Stars not aligning yet

Second match again ended up in a draw very sad pretty much just bad luck because the Wolves were the dominant team all match long and honestly they werent focused enough and fumbled good chances there.
First half was pretty much a complete drama and only in the second half after Beatrice Fiore and Chloe Simon were subbed in by coach Walcott the game was pretty quickly turned around and it was Joy Sol to everyone's surprise who scored our equalizer after good moving by Kira Blade then giving the back-pass to Sol at the edge of the box who shot it in.
Kira and Walcott both were quite unhappy with the teams preformance but also knew that currently they didnt have the best squad as the team was in a transitional period where many good players needed to gain more international experience and the veterans that have the experience are getting older meaning they are not as significant as they used to be but the new players need to rise.
So far not many of them have shown to rise to the challenge, Kira sometimes just really loved the old days with players like Nicolay Moon, Alan White, Maximillia Flare and many more with who she played but also Dereck Yale and Bryan Steeler as such.
Those really proven themselves on the field when the older guys were gone and right now players like Phillips, Edwards, Simon and more either didnt get the chance yet or just did not do it when they got the opportunity leaving the coach little choice.

On days like these she really wished not being out there on the field, as the press wanted her comments, her analysis her apology only because shes the most famous player and by chance the daughter of the association president.
Meanwhile her son Michael was sitting at home alone with his father, he didnt mind it she earned so much money he would never have to work anymore but still it felt really double at these times to be out here playing football while she wanted to be at home much more.
After the match Troy Rockwell asked her to go with him to a local Starsian bar and having nothing to do she agreed with a smile, Kira had played against Rockwell once in the final year of his career and as they entered the bar she was surprised to see alot of old Starsian players sitting around the table waving at her with a smile as they nodded for her and Troy to sit.
Julian Saturn, Nicolay Moon, Alan White, Klaus Meyer, Maximillian Flare and some more as they sat down with them the rookies probably were out training after the match given they still had a whole future ahead of them.

Nicolay Moon: ''Hey Kira how are ya? that match wasn't a real thing of beauty haha!''

Julian Saturn: ''Heck it wasn't i tell you we would have done better Nicolay, those rookies dont know to play though its always nice to Maddie play but she gotta work some more if she wants to reach more.''

Troy Rockwell: ''Well be happy i didnt brought the rest along you two, we're a bunch of old geezers now talking about how good the past was but the past is no more those were good years but now is now or aint it Kira?''

Kira Blade: ''Guess so, what are all of you doing here though, i did not expect to see so many of you here and i hope yall didnt come this way just to see me since that'd be such a timewaste haha''

Maximillian Flare: ''Nope, we're here for Christian actually to attend his farewell match as even some of us still have played with him back in the day especially people like Alan and Nicolay and after i was gone he became the main striker.
He had some big shoes to fill but he did it better then i've ever could ask, a strong man but with calmth and great team spirit!''

Julian Saturn: ''Thats true, but hey Kira when are you actually gonna retire, you arent getting younger either and you know how it goes either you go out or at some point they will boot you out honestly they did that with quite some players.''

Kira Blade: ''Honestly i don't know some days i love being out there but some days like yesterday i just want to escape it all but then again i really want to reach the next world cup even if it costs me everything.
I will be in my late 30s then, it will be my last and probably best chance to qualify for it, i wouldn't wanna miss that chance but if i have those days sometimes im even starting to doubt that and ive got a child back home aswell that wants me to be home.''

Nicolay Moon: ''True you've got little Michael at home there, well in the end its up to you i decided that 36 was a nice age also because there was so much competition at my spot that i wouldn't have been a starter and maybe not even called up for the next one.
Sometimes you need to let it go and i am very serious with that, you are the record international the oldest player of the national team and probably the best player we have ever brought to the international stage, better then Flare, better then Borov better then ol Marcus even and that says alot because that old man was worth watching.''

Julian Saturn: ''Hes right you need to make up for yourself how much you want to take, i do not doubt your ability but honestly it will not make you happy and it would not be fair for Walcott either if she had to field you at age 39......because by then your speed and skill have declined even further and there are plenty of better and stronger alternatives.
Only reason for her to select you at that age would be if the order came directly from Marcus and you know that he will do it if you express that desire Kira thats how corrupt the association is and why he plans on retiring once you are done as a player.''

Kira Blade: '''He plans on retiring? i did not even know that he never told me but i guess you are right there though i would only be selected for my name and just like Christian now i would most likely sit out all matches except the last one.
I renewed my contract this year with Adam he gladly wanted me to stay and i also talked with Walcott until i turn 36 nothing will happen she says but from there she wants to look at it year by year and see if im still capable of that level.''

Maximillian Flare: ''We are not here now to talk you into retiring but yeah these guys known how it feels and i felt you should know the trust because we known the truth and we also know that the generation before us, Broskov, Marcus, Borov, Mustafir, Muller, Karazhan etc all those guys that are the upper side of our former team are part of that corrupted generation.
They knew in World Cup 88 that we would be unfit to play like that and they knew Christiana's powers would go haywire she also has children though and those already have expressed interest in following their mothers footsteps.
But fact stays the upper old generation is corrupt and our generation now and in our late 30s and in the 40s will be leading our sport in the future and we together want to do this the right way and pave the way for a healthy development.''

Kira Blade: ''I understand you yeah, i mean my father is kind as a person but when it comes to business sometimes he really just looks at what benefits him the most and i also told him that when he was the coach of our team.
I did not need his help i had skill of my own and in my early years i always felt forced to prove that but now i have my own name and fame i increasingly am disgusted by it and i sometimes would wish it was gone that i was just another mediocre player.''

Troy Rockwell: ''Yeah we get that feeling, in any case just think about what we told you honestly and now its Christian but between now and a few years we will be sitting at a bar in another nation then being there for you.
When you make the decision i am sure you will get the biggest farewell in Starsian history because you made history, you made football inspiring millions of players all across the nation good, mediocre and bad you inspire them all.
Your inevitable end as a player will not be the end of your history it will be also the begin of a new era for you and football.

But hey now lets grab another drink!''




This talk made her think alot about it, not because she didnt wanna quit but because she feared her life after quitting to have no job and sit at home watching those young guys and girls on the field but on the other hand thats life.
Life is something you cannot stop the years count the competition here goes on and they wanna qualify for the next round at all costs and for now that would be her focus but meanwhile she would certainly consider all her options for the coming years, the 97th world cup was attractive but how realistic of a goal was it really? would she reach it?

[TJUN-ia]

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

Welcome back to this Random Ramble...and welcome to the Nathan Ellis Memorial Game. This was expected to be an emotional time as both TJUN-ia and Hapilopper celebrated the loss of a footballing icon in some style. The fact that Mantfombi Dlamini was wearing #05 for the very first time, out of respect for the Head Coach For Life of the Haps showcased just how serious we were taking this game, this moment, this honour. Black armbands were out in force on top of the memorial kit the Haps now wear and after the national anthems, a minute's silence was held with a special shirt for Ellis held up by the TJUN-ian team. A staggering $5 million (V4.75 million) was donated to a charity of Acting Head Coach Thom Perkins' choice and at 5 minutes on the clock, both sides observed a minute's applause in Nathan's honour. It was all very emotional, very real - two foes dropping weapons to honour one of their own.

The Match
And then we played football. The game both teams played afterwards was supposed to be muted compared to previous Haps vs Jags encounters across the sporting world - no need for Drake Stevenson or Derrick Carlisle here, we all thought, but then as things progressed, everything just descended into chaos. Fernandino avoided a double clothesline from Rod Cutt and Huntley McCullough to score past Lou Hyde to make it 1-0 in the most bizarre fashion possible. Ben Fairchild got the equaliser past Ivan Kozovikov later down the line but in injury time of the 1st half, shit really got dirty as Huntley McCullough shoulder-charged Kristina Bay and got sent to the dressing room by the ref with the red card. David Seems was pissed, Ernie Stevenson was pissed and it was practically a godsend that the half time whistle was around the corner. After that incident, TJUN-ia had the 11v10 PowerPlay and used it to great effect, with Stephan Fiedtkou and (surprisingly enough) Bay herself completing the 3-1 win in this Memorial...but Bay also made no mistake in reflecting in what happened post-match: "Same old Haps, getting in their own way - even in a game we dedicated to one of their own. Maybe Nate would've liked that, but not me...and next time they try and pull that one off, they'll regret it."

Reactions
Beating the Haps in this manner made up for the 4-0 drubbing the Jaguar Knights took to Hap City Chess Club in South Newlandia, but things certainly got viseral online. What was supposed to be a game where the weapons were put away turned ugly fast, with #SameOldHap trending on TJUN-ian twii.tur throughout and after the game. Because sometimes, rivalry can be brought up in the simplest of things. As for Kristina Bay, many are now wanting to die for her - which shows how powerful the microphone can be, you know?

Up Next...
Back to simpler times, 1-1 debutants Restresas are up next as our campaign moves to The Igloo in Winterfalls for the remainder of the group stage. GO JAGS!

---

SCHEDULE (Group E, Doubeia)
MD1: vs Macbon (15) - Pomeranian Hub, Port Pomeranian W 4-1 (1st)
MD2: BYE (2nd)
MD3: vs Hapilopper (26)* - Pomeranian Hub, Port Pomeranian W 3-1 (1st)
*Nathan Ellis Memorial Game
MD4: vs Restresas (UR) - The Igloo, Winterfalls
MD5: vs Sylestone (1) - The Igloo, Winterfalls

[South Newlandia]

Diaz-less Elephants struggle, but pick up three points

South Newlandian star striker Angela Diaz had to be substituted off at half-time in the Elephants’ opening game against the Natanians and Nosts after colliding with Mikhail Ioan Ionescu. The South Newlandian was taken off the pitch with a head laceration, with many worried about a potential concussion.
Ever since, the Elephants and manager Han Rouyang have been cagey about the status of the Star Unicorn striker. When the squads were announced for the second game of the group stage, with the Elephants taking on the Nova Anglican Admin Zone of Esportiva. Han made only one change to his starting lineup – Diaz was missing. She was listed as inactive, with youngster Donald Baumann taking the start.

Against the lowest-ranked team in the group that isn’t also hosting, the Elephants struggled to really get going in Funami, treating the fans to a borderline unwatchable first half. While South Newlandia did dominate the possession (around 60% for the first half), they only tallied three shots on goal in the first 45 minutes – none of which posed a significant threat to the goalkeeper. On the other side, Edward Khan wasn’t exactly busy, either, even as the underdogs continued trying to poke the Elephants with counter-attacks.
Han decided that there needed to be some changes at half-time. Jacqueline Behera, who had provided a good spark in the opener, and Brittany Edwards took the field, replacing McCoy and Mary Romero. Even after some tactical adjustments at the half, the Elephants struggled to create chances.

One of few effective players on the pitch was Matias Vaz down the left side, who balanced his defensive duties with some creation sparks. In the 64th minute, one of those would give the Elephants their best chance of the game yet, with Vaz dribbling down the left side near midfield, before passing to Johnson, who would quickly pass back to Vaz. Making a rare excursion to the other half of the pitch, Vaz found Lombardo in central position. The midfielder found some space with Seidel and substitute Sloan pulling defenders towards them, and the Nova Aegis midfielder decided to take his chance with a shot from distance. Headed for the upper corner, the ball was saved by the goalkeeper, giving the Elephants a corner that ultimately wouldn’t amount to much.

With time dwindling, the Elephants continued to try to push everything forward, looking for three points. That opened up some room for their opponents, who were able to put pressure on the Ellies with increasingly frequent counter-attacks. With just about 15 minutes to play, one shot by an opposing striker was out of reach of goalkeeper Khan, but the crossbar preserved the shutout for the pachyderms before Kenzo Harrison was able to clear the ball.

Less than ten minutes remained when South Newlandia was awarded a corner kick. Brought in by Luisa Johnson, the ball curved dangerously inward. The goalkeeper hurried out of the net trying to clear the ball, and briefly succeeded at that, but the ball ended up with Voigt on the right side, who played it right back into the penalty box. There, Aadi Seidel gave the ball to Lange-Parker on the left side. Trying to clear the ball around the edge of the box, a defender mainly got the left ankle of the Elephant, who quickly fell. The referee immediately pointed towards the penalty spot, awarding South Newlandia their second penalty in as many matches, and no attempts at persuasion by the defenders would change his mind.

Once again, the responsibility would fall to Levin Voigt. The Capitol Athletic striker had a golden opportunity to give the Elephants a late lead in a difficult match. His penalty was shot towards the left, neither powerful nor accurate enough to beat the goalie, who had guessed the corner. However, the shot was too hard to catch outright, and the ball was instead blocked straight back where it came from. With the ball almost falling onto his foot, Voigt had no trouble to place the ball into the now-empty right side of the net to give the Elephants a seemingly insurmountable lead that they would not relinquish.


South Newlandia headed to Independence Lane for bye-day friendly with Sylestone

The Elephants are currently on their way to face tournament favourites Sylestone in a friendly match in Millsburgh, Tumbra. Both teams are not scheduled to play on matchday three, and are looking for a way to keep their squads in rhythm in a low-stakes match. Notably, the travelling South Newlandian squad does not include star striker Angela Diaz.

[Doubeia]

Promise
Chapter 0: Epilogue

Author's note: this RP took place 10 years before current events

---

"Pass the ball! I'm open!"

Football had always been Kylo's favourite sport. It was as if Kylo was destined to be one with a football, the way it gracefully danced around his feet, at his will. In a way, it was like the superhero cartoon he always liked to read. If Fireball had the power to control light and fire, and Freezeron the power to morph ice to his liking, then would Kylo be Footballman? After all, it seemed as if Kylo had the power to pass, kick, dribble the ball a way no one else could. Kylo liked to think about it. He liked thinking about other worlds. In his words, “The Mega Men universe is so much more cooler than here!”

Right now, however, Kylo didn’t have the time to fantasise about being alongside his favourite superheroes. He was in probably the largest football match ever. It was colossal to so many degrees: he’d never seen this many people watch him play, and everyone seemed like they were enjoying the game! Of course, it was because Kylo was in the finals of the state football competition. At least for the U-14 division. Kylo’s school had slain many giants on their path towards state championship. Kylo remembered scoring many, many goals. He liked scoring goals! It was fun to bamboozle the defenders with his dribbling, dash towards the goalie, and then simply chip it over him. Everyone said that he was the reason why his team had made it so far. Kylo didn’t really know what that really meant, but it had to be good!

However, as Kylo continued to play on the grimy pitch, he suddenly felt much less confident. The other school was way better than his; they had possession for practically the entirety of the patch, and they had even scored once! Whenever his teammates had the chance to pass the ball to him, they instead decided to dribble the ball and get promptly tackled. It was frustrating. Why didn’t they want to pass him the ball? He could score!

The more Kylo witnessed his teammates being unable to bring the ball forward, the more he contemplated sitting deeper to help his team win the ball. After all, once he had the ball, all he had to do was to make a run for the goal! When he moved closer to the centre circle, his teammate nudged him to move away. When Kylo didn’t move away, instead going for a tackle that was destined to fail, his teammate hissed at him in annoyance.

“You’re not supposed to be here,” the teammate spat, pointing towards the opposing goal, “This is my position.”

“I just wanna help…” Kylo replied despondently, trudging back to his forward position.

Maybe I should just stop trying to be a hero and just play according to my position, Kylo thought. His coach wasn’t the nicest, and was especially a bitch when it came to positioning. The last thing Kylo needed was to get a dressing down for playing in a more central position. Still, Kylo couldn’t shake off the fact that he could do something, and he needed to. His team were obviously trying their best to fend off the opposition, and it wasn’t as if their efforts weren’t paying off. His team could have been behind by 3 or more goals, but solid defending reduced that gap to only one. Their hardy defending didn’t change the fact that Kylo was having very little game time, much less than he was used to. Any time he tried to be more involved he’d probably be shooed off like he just was.

Kylo began to feel anxious. He didn’t want to be deadweight, but at the same time he’d always been instructed by his coach to always stay up front. It was a dilemma between going by his principles or sticking by what he’d been instructed. A regular Doubeinese boy his age would be more rebellious and go against his elders, but Kylo was deathly scared of his coach. He knew how devilish the big man could be when his instructions were left unheeded, and the last thing he needed was to be punished. Kylo didn’t want to think about that, though. What was most important was to focus on the game, and capitalise on any opportunities that came…

But that opportunity never came. The first half transitioned into the second, and the game was still stuck on that one goal deadlock. As the opposing team tired themselves out, Kylo’s team started to find more opportunities to get back on level terms. The opposing team started to employ a higher block, leaving Kylo and his wingers enough space to start a counterattack.

Sure enough, Kylo’s team equalised early into the second half. A long ball was played to his team’s right winger, and with ample space to make a run for goal, he dashed towards the opposing goalie. As Kylo ran towards goal, he tried to signal towards his teammate that he was open. He shouted and yelled, waved his arms, but it was to no avail. His teammate didn’t seem to catch the drift and instead continued to run for it. Kylo was frustrated. Where was the teamwork? Why was his teammate so selfish? When his teammate reached the edge of the box, he crossed the ball to the other winger, who managed to score a nifty volley into the top right hand corner.

Kylo couldn’t argue, it was a very good goal. Still, he couldn’t help but feel that his teammates didn’t really like him that much. Why wasn’t he passed the ball? He could score just as well! As he walked back to his half, he received a rough shove from the assister.

“Ow, what was that for?” Kylo indignantly asked.

“You’re a dumb fuck. I didn’t pass you the ball because you were offside,” his teammate responded, “Stop thinking the world revolves around you.” Kylo was left to digest those very few words. They were bitter words to swallow, and Kylo wasn’t sure what to think of it. Whatever, no time to think about this, there’s a game to play.

The opposing team, impressively, managed to get back in front. Maybe Kylo’s team was too complacent after that goal, because the defending leading up to the goal was “absolutely shabby, bollocks”, if he had to put it in his coach’s words. They might not have forgotten how to defend, but they did forget how not to defend after scoring.

As the clock ticked closer to full-time, Kylo started to feel even more anxious. He’d been nothing but a floating presence. He couldn’t help with the defense because he was allocated the striker position, and he was left with nothing but to watch his team nearly lose it again. He didn’t want to stand around doing nothing. He wanted to do something, even if it wasn’t a goal. An assist, a godly pass, anything that could help his team claw back a draw! Kylo kind of liked the idea of being his team’s hero. The thought of being the man to save it all when his team really needed… It sounded very cool. It made him feel like a superhero, like Fireball or Freezeron! Maybe, just maybe he could become Footballman as well! All it took was for someone to–

“Kylo!”

As Kylo was jolted awake from his daydreaming, he saw a ball fly over his head. He then turned to look at where the ball was headed: the opposing goal. Wait, this was his chance to shine! He jolted towards the ball, intent on winning it. On his trail, however, was an opposing defender also coming for the ball. Kylo might have been pacey, but the defender had trains for legs. Kylo managed to catch the ball first, but he had to virtually sprint towards the goal while being pursued by a vicious defender.

“I’m here Kylo, pass the ball!” It was the same teammate – David – who had refused to pass him the ball for the first goal. Kylo knew the safer option was to pass the ball; David was wide open and in a legal position. Kylo wanted to prove a point though. He wanted to show these freaks that he wasn’t just a nobody, he was Kylo Zhikin, star striker for Ludyets Primary School! Kylo decided to ignore David’s calls and continued on his run. As the goal grew wider, so did the goalie, and Kylo could hear the defender’s footsteps stomping behind him. As the defender stretched his right to push Kylo away from the ball, Kylo stuck out his left elbow and struck the defender’s chest.

“Argh!” The defender fell in a fit. He clutched his chest in pain while moans of agony left his lips. Kylo didn’t care, though. He was on a 1v1 with the goalkeeper, and he needed to score this one.

“Ref! That’s a foul!” The goalie shouted in solidarity with his fallen teammate. No whistles were blown, however, so Kylo continued his charge for goal. He could hear the opposing goalie yell some insults about how he was a dirty brat, but Kylo cared naught about it. When the goalie came out of position to sweep the ball, Kylo promptly did a pirouette around his figure. The goalie had been outplayed, and now there was an open goal. Usually, Kylo would take his time to calculate his angles and shoot, but he had been agitated the entire game and really wanted a goal, so off his shooting boots went.

Kylo struck the ball. Bang. It hit the post and ricocheted back into the keeper’s arms. Tweet, tweet, tweet. The full-time whistle had sounded. The match was over.

Kylo could only stand in disbelief as he saw his failed attempt. To add salt to the wounds, he had no more chance to make up for it. The match was gone. He lost.

In Kylo’s peripheral vision, he could see a ball being flung towards him. He stepped away just in time for it to narrowly miss his face.

“That’s what you get for being a dirty fucking cunt!” Kylo knew it was the opposing goalie who said that, but truthfully he didn’t care about what anyone else had to say. He’d failed. He didn't score. He lost his school the championship. What would the people back in school think? Mom? Coach? His team? He’d disappointed so many people because he missed one simple open goal. As he finally turned around, he saw a crowd forming around the defender he’d elbowed. It was kinda touching that the opponents went to check on their teammate instead of celebrating right away. He walked towards them, wanting to apologise to the defender. However, he was stopped in his tracks by one of the defender’s teammates.

“Go away,” she merely said before pushing Kylo so hard he fell back. That was mean. Kylo figured the opponents didn’t want him to ruin their party, so he walked back towards the dressers. As he heard the cheers of the opponent school, he couldn’t help but feel even worse. That should have been him and his team! If only he had scored, then the game would go to penalties, and his team was crazy good at them!

During the post-game talk, the aura in the room was obviously very dim. Kylo felt like all eyes were on him, and it wasn’t a good feeling. It was as if everyone was glaring at him. As if it was his fault that the team lost.

“Well, I know it’s very disappointing not to win the match. Trust me, I feel the same. I’m not going to address the elephant in the room yet, but I feel we could take away some positives from the game…” the coach was much more understanding than expected. Kylo expected him to rip into the team, but there wasn’t any of that. It wasn’t as if Kylo was paying attention to anything that was being said anyway. All he could think of was that scenario. What if he had taken more time to shoot? What if he wasn’t so rushed? What if he passed the ball to his teammate?

After the post-game talk, the coach spoke to him in private.

“You know what I’m going to talk about, right?” the coach asked. Kylo slowly nodded.

“I know you didn’t really have that many opportunities, but I can’t say I wasn’t disappointed by what you did then,” he continued, “Of course you’re going to feel the pressure, last minute and all, but you should ha–”

“Coach, I was really trying though, like I–”

“Don’t speak when I’m talking!” the coach ferociously admonished. Kylo quickly zipped his mouth.

“As I was saying, you should be less selfish in those types of situations. David was open. Why didn’t you pass it to him?” Kylo stopped to think for a moment. Should he tell the truth? Should he say that it was because he wanted to score and not let David touch the ball? Would Coach flip out? Before he could formulate a response, the coach spoke once more.

“I know you’re better than this, Kylo. Buck up,” the coach stood up from his kneeling position and walked away. Kylo followed suit behind him. As Kylo changed and packed his bag, he suddenly felt someone grab his shoulder and turn him around.

It was David.

“Why didn’t you pass me the ball just now, you freak?!” he yelled at Kylo. David seemed very, very emotional about everything. One could see the fire, the fury in his eyes as he bellowed at Kylo. Kylo didn’t know how to respond. He couldn’t bullshit an answer on the spot, but his actual motives would probably anger David even more.

“Answer me!” David continued to yell, “Stop being a fucking pussy!” The more David screamed – and perhaps taunted – the more fearful Kylo felt. David was starting to sound like a certain someone. He didn’t want to hear any more of David’s tantrums, and certainly did not want to recollect suppressed memories. Kylo made a run for it. He ran, and ran, and soon he found himself in the middle of the football pitch. It had just started to pour, and the stadium was almost deserted. Soon after, David followed, charging towards Kylo at full speed. As Kylo saw the bull called David approaching him furiously, his feet were stuck to the ground. Why couldn’t he move? Why didn’t he move?

David kicked and tackled Kylo down with the sole of his flat show. Kylo took a blunt hit on his torso and tumbled down. David loomed over Kylo’s puny figure. Then he kicked Kylo. And he kicked hard.

“Ouch! Stop! I’m so sorry!” Kylo pleaded as he covered his butt with his hands. David, meanwhile, continued to plough at Kylo with no mercy, forcefully kicking his arms, legs, everything. Suddenly, Kylo felt like he was at home again. At home, lying on the floor while his step father would incessantly pummel his entire being because he was being only a little annoying. However, he wasn’t at home, and David definitely wasn’t his step father. Why did the two seem so similar though?

As David assaulted Kylo like no tomorrow, he hurled insults that no one could ever imagine using. Kylo never knew anyone could be as hurtful as his step father, but David was a strong contender. The more David continued his attacks, the more Kylo started to conflate his step father with David. How could the two be so alike even as different people?

“Stop, stop, please stop,” was the only thing Kylo could eke out of his mouth as he desperately tried to stop David. He hated David. He hated this. He hated his step father. He didn’t want to relive this, but it seemed as if David was the reincarnation of his step father. The stadium was his home for that time being. It felt too close to home, too familiar. Kylo tried to crawl away. His body was hurting from David’s kicks, and he didn’t get very far before being knocked down by David.

“You think you’re so strong? You think you’re so cool for doing tricks and scoring goals?” David spat, “That’s all you can do, bitch. Come on, show us one of your moves. I got my ball with me.” David threw his own ball at Kylo. By then, a crowd of children and parents had huddled under the shelter by the field, watching the two. Kylo felt absolutely humiliated. He was tattered, dirty, and wet, and now David wanted to make a show out of him. Still, fearing further repercussions (such as more kicking), Kylo got himself up. He hadn’t even stood up before David pushed him down with his foot.

“You think you’re the king shit, huh?” David taunted, “You’re so fucking weak you can’t even stand up, sissie! Why not grow up and become a man!” David flexed his buge biceps at Kylo. “This is why your dad left you! This is why your mom’s a whore!”

That was the last straw.

Kylo, whilst on the ground, pulled David’s leg and brought him to the ground. David was unprepared, and seemed a bit shocked as Kylo climbed over him, hand over David’s neck.

“Shut up about my mom! Shut up!” Kylo shrieked in David’s face as tears and snot ran down his face. Kylo hated when people brought up his family. He already knew that his family wasn’t the healthiest, and he really didn’t need anyone to reinforce that. David kept on laughing in Kylo’s face, as if he wasn’t the one who was about to get strangled.

“You think you’re the shit!” David snickered, “Your mom’s a whore, your mom’s a whore~” As David sang his stupid tune, Kylo tightened his grip around David’s neck. Suddenly, David was gleefully singing anymore. As he felt his airpipe close, he started to frantically choke for air. He tried to brush away Kylo’s arm, but Kylo stood strong. Of course, he wasn’t going to kill David, but a lesson or two could be learnt. Before Kylo could release his grip, however, he suddenly felt a sharp kick on the back that sent him far, far off.

Kylo looked up to see a burly, intimidating figure loom over him.

“You touch my son one more time, I’ll fucking let you know, so fuck off!” threatened what seemed to be David’s father. Kylo couldn’t even muster an apology, but it probably wasn’t needed since David’s father left to tend for David. David seemed perfectly fine, however, and seemed to be unaffected by Kylo’s attempt at strangling him.

As the father and son left, David turned around to spit at Kylo.

“Fucking pussy,” David jeered, stuck out his tongue and left with his father.

Kylo could only stare in disbelief as he saw the two silhouettes leaving his line of vision. As he lay on this wet grass pitch, beaten up and shaken, tears streamed down his eyes like a waterfall. He hated everything that happened today. He hated his blunder. He hated David. He hated his step father.

Did he really deserve this?

[Fhulghamous Peninsula]

The Fhulghamous Peninsula’s campaign to defend their Campionato Esportiva championship couldn’t have possibly gotten off to a better start than they could have imagined. There had been some doubts and worries that the Colonists wouldn’t be able to continue the momentum that they had during the previous Campionato in South Newlandia as many players from that title-winning squad announced their retirement (either from only international football or all of football), leaving Donovan Chase the unenviable task of plugging in the gaps with players of equal (or hopefully even better) quality. As it turned out, finding better replacement for most of the team’s departures was easy enough, as a lot of them had come from a time when the Fhulghamousian Football Association was adamant that only players in the colony’s semi-professional and amateur leagues could actually be called up. This ban on players in foreign leagues had been lifted long before Donovan Chase took the job as Fhulghamous manager, meaning that he was now free to call up those he believed to be the best Fhulghamousian players for the job. However, being a better football player wouldn’t really mean anything for the Peninsula’s title defense if they couldn’t build chemistry with the players who had already been called up before, but at least Chase would have two years to integrate the newcomers before the Colonists would actually have to defend their title.

Meanwhile, while all of that was going, Donovan Chase also spent some time under the learning tree of one Gennady Chernenko, currently the manager of the Abanhfleft women’s national football team. Chase had already been picking up pointers from Chernenko when the latter had been asked by the Samahang Futbol ng Abanhfleft to “consult” for the management of the country’s men’s national team. The SFA had seen what Chernenko had been able to do for the Lady Revolutionaries in the Jenna Raven Cup and wanted to see if he could at least help to do the same for the men’s side of things, which had not had much success in the World Cup qualifiers or the Independent Associations Championship. While Chernenko was off “consulting” for the SFA, Chase took the time to join the consultation process, hoping to pick up some more tips and tactics on how to further shore up the Colonists’ defense for the next Campionato.

The Fhulghamous Peninsula’s first lineup in the 38th Campionato Esportiva, against Schimata, looked little different from the one that they fielded against Sylestone in the final two years ago. It was still the same flat 4-4-2 that had become a trademark of the Fhulghamousian team across different managers, the same 4-4-2 that had been criticized for being too stodgy, too defensive, and not creative enough. But Donovan Chase had added his own touches to the tactic upon his arrival, most notably the ability of the formation to switch to a 4-2-4 when going on the attack. Chase also had his players pressing further up the pitch than other practitioners of the 4-4-2, with the mid-block providing what he believed to be a good balance between defensive solidity and increased chance creation. Of course, there were also a number of new faces suiting up for the Colonists, most notably striker Cosmas Stamatelopoulos, who played his club football with Locomotive Imgortur in Abanhfleft. Stamatelopoulos would serve as the new strike partner for Alibek Sokolov, replacing Anselmo Iñiguez who announced his retirement from international football the day after the Peninsula won the Campionato Esportiva.

Partnering up Sokolov and Stamatelopoulos would appear to be a master stroke in both tactics and team chemistry, at least when looking at the defending Esportivan champions’ opener against Schimata. The champions of Esportiva played like, well, champions. They made sure that Schimata played according to the Fhulghamousian game plan and not their own, and with the formation’s ability to transition to a 4-2-4 in the attack, the Schimatans were practically overwhelmed for the whole ninety minutes. That said, the striker partnership of Alibek Sokolov and Cosmas Stamatelopoulos was the key to it all as the two of them combined for four out of five goal contributions in the game. Cosmas could have even had a hat trick, and Sokolov a hat trick of assists to a single player, if not for the Schimatan goalkeeper parrying the ball away, though this was only as far as the feet of Vladislav Mukhin who tapped it in immediately afterwards and getting the credit.

Things were going well for the Fhulghamous Peninsula so far. Too well, in the mind of one Silas Babalioutas. The moment when everything starts to fall apart is somewhere over the horizon; he could feel it in his bones.

---

  SLEMBANA 0 - 3 FHULGHAMOUS PENINSULA  
                 SOKOLOV (8', 53')
                 STAMATELOPOULOS (44')

[Tumbra]

A selection of news articles from around Tumbran media.

Black Eagles get over first-day struggle with two subsequent wins

ANZUMORI: Tumbra's search for their fourth Campionato Esportiva title was boosted as they took a second consecutive won from Gouvanarch in Anzumori, Riena, with the Black Eagles sailing past northern Esportivan country Gouvanarch on a warm evening in Anzumori, located within the third largest prefecture in the country. The narrow 1-0 win belied the control the Black Eagles had over the game, especially when it came to shutting down the Gouvanarchais attack. Team manager Michael Campbell remarked after the game that Tumbra "had played its game to perfection," and that midfielder Victor Leighton's goal in the sixteenth minute of the game was key in Tumbran football's strategy of "putting games to bed."

Tumbra were able to get several more opportunities on goal, but the efforts of the Gouvanarchais goalkeeper denied Tumbra a larger margin of victory. Of more importance to the Tumbran national team was an injury suffered by defender Stephen Kerr, which will rule him out of Tumbra's final group game against Lozho, whom the Black Eagles defeated in the third-placed play-off in the previous edition of the tournament. But Campbell said that Kerr's injury, which will likely last until the quarter-finals of the tournament if Tumbra makes it that far, provides an "opportunity" for other members of the squad to step up.

Campbell is expected to field a first-string line-up for the final group stage game against Lozho, with the possibility of Straton midfielder Rachel McLaren playing a large part in Campbell's game-plan. McLaren impressed in Tumbra's 3-0 win against fellow Esportivan nation Damukuni, with the 21-year old winning the Player of the Match award after scoring a goal and assisting another in that blowout victory.

Former Labour Deputy Leader David Hardcastle wins presidential election

STRATON: David Hardcastle will be Tumbra's 31st President, and the first from the Labour Party since Kelia Campbell was elected in 2020 — eighteen years ago — as exit polls showed him winning by a slim but decisive margin over the United Party's candidate, Adam Scanlon, 52% to 48%. Hardcastle spoke at a post-election event in Straton, promising to be a "President for all Tumbrans" as Scanlon phoned Hardcastle to concede shortly after midnight after the runoff election. While the role of President is mostly a ceremonial one with reserved powers, the job also has significant advocacy powers and presidents that are from the same party of the government of the day often have a role in the policy-making process. Hardcastle, while largely seen as a Labour loyalist, is expected to push for reforms to the position including an abolition of the one-term Presidential term limit and for the president to be elected in a single round — albeit with preferential voting — in a change from the runoff system that elections for President have utilised since the founding of the Republic.

Social Affairs minister says new housing projects, more balanced work-life relations "key" to improving fertility rates in country

HOXFORD: Speaking in front of a newly-inaugurated public housing project, Minister for Social Affairs Claire Barker re-iterated her belief that cheaply available public housing projects played a "key" role not just in easing the country's seemingly-endemic housing shortage, but also in "improving the fertility rates of the country," sparking a bout of mirth in Tumbra as some christened her the "Minister for Babies." When asked about her statements, Barker stood by what she said in Hoxford, and said that the "fertility rates of the country depend a lot on how easy we make it for Tumbrans to raise children here — from housing, to education, to opportunities, and fairness for both parents." Barker has been at the forefront of a policy push to encourage a four-day working week, mainly by shortening the work week to 35 hours, in order to "get more people into the workforce" and "encourage a better work-life balance." Shadow Social Affairs Minister Marcus Crawford ridiculed Barker's push, saying that the "most important thing to improve fertility rates is to provide a safe society for all, where parents can be clear that they can bring their children up without too much meddling from the Government." Tumbra's total fertility rate (TFR) dipped beneath the replacement rate of 2 for the first time in 2036, and as of 2038 stood at 1.9.

[Riena]

The Riena Sentinel

---

Campionato Esportiva 38: Riena 0-1 Nova Anglican Admin Zone of Esportiva
Limp loss puts Haneda under further pressure

---

• Riena: None
• Nova Anglican Admin Zone of Esportiva: Opposition player (70')

Riena's struggles in the Campionato Esportiva continued with a second consecutive capitulation, this time to unheralded opposition in Nova Anglican Admin Zone of Esportiva, as Cocoa Haneda's woes deepened.

On a fine day at the Silver Spirit Dome in Nagato, a listless Riena tried and failed to make any significant headway against the bottom team in Group A. Although the Wavelets were able to dominate possession, as has been typical of their style of play under Haneda, they lacked a cutting edge up front. Riena's front three, who have been frustratingly inconsistent throughout the Campionato, once again forgot their shooting boots at home, misfiring badly even though they had no lack of service. Riena's profligacy was perhaps best exemplified ion the hour mark, when Meruto Mercerian, left completely unmarked from a set piece, contrived to sky the ball over the opposition goal from barely five yards out.

Errant finishing and a lack of defensive concentration proved to be fatal for the Wavelets in this match, and so it proved when one of the Nova Anglican forwards made good on a counterattack to deal a telling blow. Riena, flooding forward to attack a corner, had left themselves horrendously exposed at the back. The lapse was a critical one. The ball was swiftly despatched up the field towards the Nova Anglican front three, who found themselves with a glorious opportunity to run at a depleted Riena defence. It was an opportunity they did not pass up. Mihane and Nagara found themselves powerless to stop the Nova Anglican advance as the opposition cut through the Riena defensive third and finished smartly past Suzutsuki.

It had taken Nova Anglican Admin Zone of Esportiva nearly half an hour into the second half to register their first shot on target, but in the end, a single shot on target and a single goal was all they needed to secure victory over a hapless Riena. Finding themselves on the verge of defeat after having dominated the game up until that point, Haneda threw caution to the wind and rang the changes, making a triple substitution in an effort to swing the game back in the Wavelets' favour, but it was to no avail. Their opponents were able to defend their lead with a degree of comfort for the rest of the game, with the only nervy moment coming when the substitute Shimanto struck the base of the post with a speculative long range effort.

For Riena, a second successive defeat after their collapse against Natanians and Nosts means there will be plenty of soul-searching in RFA headquarters in Nagato. Questions continue to hang over Cocoa Haneda's head like the sword of Damocles — and this limp defeat will only have served to intensify criticisms of the young manager. On the RFA's part, there will surely be doubts as to whether they have made the right choice in entrusting Haneda — who, despite her reputation as one of the most celebrated Riena internationals as well as a talented, if green, manager — with the momentous task of assembling a functional national team. As national team manager, Haneda is effectively in charge of developing and cultivating a new generation of Riennese players, and thus far, Riena's performances in the Campionato under her tutelage has only served to cast doubt on her qualifications for the job. There are already some clamouring for the RFA to reverse course and sack Haneda before more damage is done, but thus far, the RFA hierarchy have not wavered in their support of Haneda — following Riena's latest defeat, the RFA issued an official statement overnight insisting that Haneda retained their full confidence, and that they would not countenance her sacking at the moment.

Yet Haneda herself will only be too aware of the pressures and responsibilities that come with the Riena hot seat. The simple fact of the matter is that a promising, if callow, Riena team is teetering on the brink in the Campionato, with a desperately poor record of just one point in three games. Barring a minor miracle, it is almost certain that the Wavelets will be eliminated upon the conclusion of the group stage — and with a bye on the final group stage matchday, they could even find themselves mathematically eliminated if they do not win on demand against the rampant Group A leaders in their final match of the group stage. With Riena having almost nothing to play for except pride at this stage, all eyes will be on their performance against the Elephants — will Haneda be able to finally coax a performance out of her despondent charges, or will Riena fall to a third consecutive defeat that would confirm their early elimination from the Campionato?

One thing is for sure — all eyes will be on Cocoa Haneda and her charges at the Funami Metropolitan Stadium.

---

Riena (4-3-3): Suzutsuki; Kisaragi, Skamandros, Ishikari, Mihane; Kirikaze, Nakiri, Nagara; Mercerian, Nekoda, Yuzuriha
Substitutes: Kamikata, Akeboshi, Kotonoha, Shirasu, Kazamaki (74'), Owari (74'), Sorasaki (80'), Shimanto (74')

Nova Anglican Admin Zone of Esportiva (4-3-3): data unavailable
Substitutes: data unavailable

---

[Doubeia]

Campionato Esportiva 38
Riena Half
Matchday 4 Results

Group A

Nova Anglican Admin Zone of Esportiva 2–4 The 14 Stars
Silver Spirit Dome, Nagato, Rinkai, Riena

South Newlandia 0–1 Riena
Funami Metropolitan Stadium, Funami, Rinkai, Riena

  Group A                                  Pld   W  D  L   GF  GA  GD  Pts 
1 South Newlandia                            3   2  0  1    4   1  +3    6
2 The 14 Stars                               3   1  2  0    6   4  +2    5
3 Natanians and Nosts                        3   1  1  1    5   6  −1    4
4 Riena                                      4   1  1  2    4   6  −2    4 — ELIMINATED
5 Nova Anglican Admin Zone of Esportiva      3   1  0  2    3   5  −2    3

Riena eliminated as they cannot achieve 3rd place in their group regardless of the result of the MD5 matchup between Natanians and Nosts, and Nova Anglican Admin Zone of Esportiva.

Group B

Kita-Hinode 2–1 Mattheland
Hanamaru Athletic Stadium, Hanamaru, Suenaga, Riena

Irithoren 3–1 Eshialand
Minami Arch, Maihama, Suenaga, Riena

  Group B                                  Pld   W  D  L   GF  GA  GD  Pts 
1 Irithoren                                  3   2  1  0    6   3  +3    7 — QUALIFIED
2 Kita-Hinode                                3   2  0  1    6   5  +1    6
3 Mattheland                                 3   2  0  1    4   3  +1    6
4 Eshialand                                  4   1  0  3    5   7  −2    3 — ELIMINATED
5 Xanneria                                   3   0  1  2    2   5  −3    1 — ELIMINATED

Irithoren qualify for the Round of 16 as they will minimally finish as the four best third-placed teams regardless of MD5 results.
Eshialand and Xanneria are eliminated as they cannot achieve 3rd place or higher in their group.

Group C

Gouvanarch 3–2 Osterhalten
Seaside Field, Anzumori, Karen, Riena

Lozho 1–0 Tumbra
Eternal Summer Dome, Yarizakura, Karen, Riena

  Group C                                  Pld   W  D  L   GF  GA  GD  Pts 
1 Osterhalten                                3   2  0  1    5   3  +2    6
2 Lozho                                      3   2  0  1    2   3  −1    6
3 Tumbra                                     4   2  0  2    4   2  +2    6
4 Gouvanarch                                 3   1  0  2    3   4  −1    3
5 Damukuni                                   3   1  0  2    3   5  −2    3

[Riena]

Campionato Esportiva 38
Doubeia Half
Matchday 4 Results

Group D

Esportivan Darmen 0–0 Schimata
Town Hall Stadium, Queensland, Doubeia

Doubeia 1–2 Fhulghamous Peninsula
Victoria Stadium, Fajar, Doubeia

  Group D                      Pld   W  D  L   GF  GA  GD  Pts 
1 Fhulghamous Peninsula          4   4  0  0   11   1 +10   12   Q
2 Slembana                       3   2  0  1    2   3  −1    6   Q
3 Esportivan Darmen              3   0  2  1    4   5  −1    2
4 Doubeia                        3   0  1  2    5   7  −2    1   E
5 Schimata                       3   0  1  2    0   6  −6    1   E

Group E

Restresas 1–2 TJUN-ia
The Igloo, Winterfalls, Doubeia

Sylestone 1–0 Macbon
Pomeranian Hub, Port Pomeranian, Doubeia

  Group E                      Pld   W  D  L   GF  GA  GD  Pts 
1 TJUN-ia                        3   3  0  0    9   3  +6    9   Q
2 Hapilopper                     3   2  0  1    6   5  +1    6
3 Sylestone                      3   2  0  1    2   1  +1    6
4 Restresas                      3   1  0  2    3   3   0    3
5 Macbon                         4   0  0  4    3  11  −8    0   E

Group F

Josifovo 1–1 Dod Rava
Harriott Loft, Ethelfled, Doubeia

Vielfaltig 0–1 Kamijiro
Sirotkin Stadium, Solvecere, Doubeia

  Group F                      Pld   W  D  L   GF  GA  GD  Pts 
1 Kamijiro                       4   3  0  1    6   7  −1    9   Q
2 Dod Rava                       3   2  1  0   12   7  +5    7   Q
3 Zeta Reka and Hugeltaldom      3   1  0  2    7   7   0    3
4 Josifovo                       3   0  2  1    4   5  −1    2
5 Vielfaltig                     3   0  1  2    3   6  −3    1   E

[The 14 Stars]

Winning the lottery ticket

As the final days of the group stage of the campionato Esportiva drawcloser the group we are in is complicated and so far our results have been a bit less then we had hoped for but there is still the opportunity to turn it around.
Today's match against Nova anglica could change everything, as the Wolves ready themselves for another match the opposing team does not seem too impressive despite being a long standing name in the region and we are the newcomers and not even on the continent, Starsians live in their own universe making them very disconnected from the rest of Esportiva.

As Kira Blade our captain readies herself she still thinks about the talk she had earlier with the old teammates, soon she would lose another old teammate in the national team and then she would be the last one left of their generation.
Players like Zaratti and Villegas in their 30s came after those first two seasons of struggle, Christian had been there the second season after the old men retired following their failed WCQ 88 campaign and it looked really long ago when she thought about it, coach Walcott announced all starters but ofcourse no changes from the usual line up and there was really no reason to change it either, the team was not the problem but she was not sure if they would get out of the group they needed to beat the elephants and win this one.
Kira and her team started walking towards the field as she was welcomed by a roaring crowd of (majority) Starsians who had en masse bought tickets for every Starsian match and filled the stadium for like 75% of the capable space.
Nova anglica won the kick off and they started the game, their playstyle wasnt very special, just your average football national team not bad but also not a team they had much to fear about and this would soon also be made very clear in the score as after 30 minutes roughly the Starsian Wolves were leading by 2 goals both scored by Kai Schultz who had been a menace for their defense.
Before halftime the Starsians really dominated and the opponent got better too even scoring once with (insert player) placing a shot precisely in the lower corner outside the reach of Emily Davis.

Referee whistled for halftime as coach Walcott seemed content with the match so far however for those knowing coach Walcott a little bit she had most likely studied both every Starsian match but also Sylestone's matches to see if she could bring some of that knowledge into use, they weren't one of the better Esportivan teams for nothing after all and the Starsians were still up and coming.
In halftime it was announced that Schultz would be taken off in favour of Christian Fourseasons allowing the veteran playing his last tournament to make some very appreciated minutes and to everyone's shock Jade Williams was taken off but later it turned out she had a minor injury and in her place would be playing Freja Olsen a player earning her wage in Auprussia at Pontmeosont, she was very successful there but hasn't been able to have similar success in the national team.
In the second half first off it went quite wrong with (insert player name) quickly scoring the equalizer which really seemed to annoy the coach as she used a 3rd substitution taking off Lina Hansen and replacing her with Ozan Karazhan a more experienced midfielder as she hoped more experience there would be enough to keep off the offense of the opponent.
This worked and soon another goal would follow this time it being Elizabeth Phillips scoring our 3rd goal and it wouldn't be over yet as Christian Fourseasons would seal the deal in the 84th minute with a fourth goal marking a very strong appearance of Fourseasons, he knew the end was near for his international career and to score a goal like this was certainly a positive note for him here.
After the match it also appeared the country of Riena was already out now of the tournament, reason for the reporters to take this matter up with no one else then Iris Olivier who last time had already predicted this pretty much for them.

reporter: ''You heard the new that the nation of Riena is out of the tournament?''

Olivier: ''Are they? well yeah it doesn't surprise me i already said last time that they should use this as a practice but i heard they did pretty decent so i hope to see more of them in the next world cup qualifiers or perhaps the IFCF.''

reporter: ''You have won against Natanians and Nosts now but the next match is against the Elephants against South Newlandia and Angelia Diaz one of our league's best strikers and the most successful foreigner all time.
Does that make you nervous to go up against such a strong team with a long standing history in the region?''

Olivier: ''Not nervous but certainly excited they are formidable opponents and i have played against Diaz she is a great player but also a very kind woman with a great heart and i look forward to see her on the field!''

reporter: ''thank you for the interview.''

[Kamijiro]

We're Moving On!

The group stage has not yet concluded, as there's one matchday left. The group stage is over for the Kamijiroans, though - they have no more matches. However, mathematically, the Lightning have qualified, as none of the teams between three and five can catch up on points. As to whether or not the Lightning move on as the one-seed of the group is yet to be seen, as Dod Rava can catch up with a win.

A solo goal from Soji Kokubun saw the Kamijiroans past Vielfaltig, another signature 1-0 win.

Raiji Kagawa gave short answers at the press conference, another signature for him.

"You're moving on. Excited?"
"Yeah. Of course."
"Anything to note from this game?"
"Nah. We won. Kept a clean sheet. Happy about it."
"Well, thanks for your time."
"Yeah. Have a good one."

Well. That's Raiji for you. See you soon!

- Kai Takagi, football blogger for Miraisakisport.net

[South Newlandia]

Elephants lose, look lost, are looking for answers

Losing to Sylestone just makes sense. When the Elephants travelled to Tumbra to take on their Esportivan Rivals in a Bye Day friendly, they entered as heavy underdogs against arguably the best team in the region. Losing 0-2 was a very predictable result, with the Elephants getting completely shut down by a disciplined Sylestonian defense. They would have just two shots on goal, with neither of them seriously threatening goalie Ryan Macleay. The biggest chance came when his Pesfield teammate, South Newlandian Luisa Johnson, just decided to uncork a shot from deep, nearly 30 meters from goal. That might’ve just been out of frustration, with the Elephants struggling for 70 minutes at that point and recently down two goals (60’ Freeling, 66’ Gallagher). That shot missed the crossbar by mere inches, a shot that Macleay would’ve had no hope saving if it had been perfectly on target. Otherwise, the Elephants had Edward Khan to thank that the deficit wasn’t even larger, and that the Ellies were even in the game for the first hour.

Well, clearly, the Riennese team took some notes. The hosts entered the match in Funami virtually eliminated, but that would not be deterring the home crowd, determined to see the Wavelets pick up at least one win. (Sidenote: The CE hosts standing on 1 point entering the final group match, where they win when it doesn’t really matter anymore? Seems oddly familiar)
Cocoa Haneda and what one reporter called “the longest list of auxiliary coaches I have ever seen – I’m pretty sure they built the stadium with fewer people than that” clearly took some notes and had their 4-3-3 formation playing more defensively to some extent, hoping to slow down the South Newlandian attack still surrounding Baumann and Seidel.

For the first thirty minutes, you might have had a better time just watching the Riennese fans doing their fan chants and choreographies, because the actual game would probably not actually give you much. Both teams seemed wary of playing too aggressive, waiting for the other to make a mistake. Baumann tallied four touches in first half an hour, two of which resulted in passes right to a Wavelet.
One thing the Elefans would be getting out of this game was the knowledge that Angela Diaz still exists. After she was removed from the game against Natanians and Nosts, she had been absent for the past two matches, and would not enter the field in this one, either. In a press conference before the match, coach Han and Diaz revealed that the South Newlandian striker had suffered a severe concussion during the collision, and had been resting and recuperating in order for a hopeful return for a match very important to her – the final game of the Group Stage, against her adoptive home, the 14 Stars.

Without her, the Elephants’ attack has looked stagnant at best, and Miku Suzutsuki didn’t have too much trouble in this one, either. Close to half time, the game finally started to become slightly more interesting, but it was mostly the hosts getting to work. Youngster Mercerian pushed the ball down the left side, leaving Kenzo Harrison in the dust before playing the ball into the back of the defense, where captain Kikikaze was lurking. Now with the ball and open space, she kept her head up, finding that the Elephants had abandoned their guard of Nagisa Nakiri. The open midfielder fired on the goal of Khan, and it was only thanks to a spectacular flying save that the Elephants didn’t enter half-time already trailing against the unranked Wavelets.
For the second half, Han made three changes, but none of them seemed to change the fortunes for the team in green. Instead, the Riennese became increasingly bold and confident in their attacks, knowing that a win over the vulnerable Elephants would be very possible here, and might even preserve some outside hope of somehow sneaking into the knockouts. Disaster struck for the Elephants in the 63rd minute, when midfielder Jacqueline Behera ended her first start for the pachyderms prematurely. Arriving too late into a tackle of captain Kikikaze, she picked up her second yellow card for the foul, forcing the group leaders to finish out the match a woman down, with about half an hour still to play – plenty of time to find a goal.

It did not take that long, and it would be Emiri Nekoda delivering the ultimately decisive blow. Once again, the pressure came from the left with Mercerian driving the ball downfield on the side now additionally weakened after losing Behera. The Elephants had adjusted tactically, or at least attempted to do so, by shifting substitute McCoy more centrally, but that just opened copious amounts of space on both wings. Despite playing with fresh legs after entering in the 56th, McCoy could not keep up with the much younger Riennese, who then placed a great cross into the middle, where Nekoda rose higher than defender Romero. Khan was without a chance against the header from close distance, and the Elephants found themselves trailing 0-1, a player down, and with only about ten minutes left. Discouragingly, there wasn’t even any real fight to observe out of the South Newlandian squad, who seemed almost resigned to their fate, and will now enter the final match against The 14 Stars still looking to secure a spot in the final 16.

[Restresas]

Wesley enters the lockeroom after a half hour press conference with the media, and he has a smile on his face, even after a hard defeat...

Marcus, the captain who messed up at the end of both halves ponders this to himself before asking the coach himself... "Wesley, that smile on your face... why do you have it...?"

Wesley replies effectively by stating: "That... is a good question captain Jones, but I must say... hell of a job out there on the field tonight. Even though we all have our heads down now, we will know that this is a great achievement for us in due time, as this is the evolution as a team we needed to get to that next level."

Pablo Albu, a vocal contributor to the team, stated the obvious implications of our next match: "Sir, I understand, and trust us, that game gave us even more fuel to our fire, but why is this the next step we need, instead of the Sylestone game, among other times that it could have been done?"

Ghoerge Bus, a great goalkeeper for the champions Capitolul had a similar remark: "Indeed, there are a lot of things that went right that match, but why was this the step we needed to evolve as a unit?"

Wesley, understanding the confusion of the players, but understanding their fire, gave another emotional speech: "This is your evolution to becoming a player in the Esportivan community because you don't just have fire... you can control it. unlike those dumbass haps, we aren't reckless with our play and we don't come out on the field to leave in controversy because of our poor decision making. We are in your face, and nonstop on the aggression, but we don't lose our tempers easily and we do not sacrifice our nation's peaceful ideals by going nonstop aggressive..."

Indiana Pablo, noting the play of the haps last game, mentioned:" But we're playing them next, how do we beat them? They play reckless and we won't leave uninjured."

"Simple," the manager said. "We maximize our opportunities to either force them to make those reckless mistakes and we be smart enough not to fire back. I loved the way we played today, and me and their manager both agreed that we both played fucking amazing. We play like we did today, we win against them and force them to watch on the sidelines while we claim knockout glory by luck going our way."

Everyone leaves with their fire being ignited still, even after the loss, especially by Indiana, who scored the equalizer in the 55th minute, but tripped, leading to the counterattack that lost them the game.

"Coach, can I have a second with you?" he says.

"Absolutely," Wesley responds. "What's up?"

"Coach... I let you down, and... I don't want that to be our reputation, as a team that makes small mistakes and loses, despite our talent level... I hate that I was the reason we lost that game, and you know it." Indiana exclaims with disappointment in his voice.

"Indiana... You were the reason we played so well, despite that mistake. That swing of momentum that goal gave us was enough to turn the tides into a very back and forth match that will be remembered. I never accept those huge mistakes, but understand that there are plenty of mistakes by teams that are considered better than us that are similar to what you did. As long as you never hold back, you'll only gain my respect, just as you did today." Wesley calms him down and responds.

"Coach... thank you. I'll see you tomorrow for training." Indiana shortly replies.

"See you then young man!" Wesley replies, as they part ways until tomorrow's training.

[Hapilopper]

Pomeranian Hub, Port Pomeranian, Doubeia
Leading up to the final match of the Campionato Esportiva 38 Group Stage: Hapilopper v. Restresas

Sitting in a grandstand seat at the Pomeranian Hub, Ernie Stevenson and Thom Perkins was holding court with a handful of Hapiloppian reporters as the hours drew near to the last match of the group stage - the Haps, a team with something to prove, against the newcomers from Restresas - a side that it seemed the Hapiloppians had a bit of an affinity with. Ernie, a retired footballer - and one of the most prolific goalscorers in the history of Hapiloppian football - felt contemplative as he watched members of the Hapiloppian squad casually do a run-through.

“This is a team with a big future,” Ernie said as several reporters nodded their heads. “I’m not just talking about our boys - I’m talking about these Restresas boys too. I think they’ve got a lot of upside to them and I think in about five or six years, we’ll be talking about them as World Cup threats. Certainly I’d peg them as a favorite to win the Baptism of Fire if they’re in it.”

It seemed as if a lot of the Hapiloppians were in a loose, casual mood - but not all of them. Some noticed that Rod Cutt, the lead defenseman of the squad - the guy that wore the Number of Violence - was feeling a little more intense than usual. As if someone had taken a leak in his breakfast cereal or if he had woken up on the wrong side of the bed. But he was looking ready to bash someone’s head in. And some of the reporters saw that.

Ernie and Thom saw it too as they watched practice unfold. Thom noticed as he motioned for Rod to come over.

“You’re a little more keyed up than usual, everything OK?” Thom asked Rod.

“Yeah, good, bossman,” Rod replied. “Ready to kick some ass tonight.”

“Alright, well, don’t do that literally,” Thom replied. “We’ve lost one defenseman and I don’t need to lose two.”

After Rod ran back to continue practice, some of the reporters asked Ernie about Huntley McCullough, who was not on hand in Pomeranian Hub.

“He lost his shit,” Ernie replied. “It’s a problem we’ve got to take care of. We’ve got players that are, passionate as they are, sometimes they just go over that crispy edge and you’ve got to get them back. He’s back at the team hotel, hopefully he realized his mistake and hopefully we’ll have him back having learned his lesson. I’m just glad that lady from TJUN-ia didn’t get injured. Because that, I might have kicked Huntley’s ass for that.”

“His loss is going to be felt tonight, though, isn’t it?” a reporter asked.

“Yeah,” Ernie said matter-of-factly. “It really is. You can’t... you can’t just lose your shit like that and think you won’t face the consequences. He fucked up. He knows he fucked up. It’s like when your kid stuffs peanut butter in the video player or when someone suggests your kids would be clueless morons. Now that’s fucking up.”

Thom looked over at Ernie with an interesting look.

“That’s an interesting comparison,” the reporter said. “Where’d that come from?”

“Didn’t come from anything,” Thom responded. “Stevenson, a word in private, please?”

“Yeah, sure,” Ernie said. “A word in private.”

A little bit later, Thom and Ernie found a bathroom where no one else could hear them. Thom was fuming at Ernie for suggesting that - not long after Thom had joked on the phone with Jimmy Eaton, the head of those beer leaguers that got lost in Anaia, about little kids joining a national team after he, through one strange circumstance or another, actually had to sub in a child to play for the Kensington Town Soccer Club, that beer league team inexplicably playing in the CAFA.

“Ernie, you want to explain? You want to explain why you brought that up?” Thom asked.

“You brought my kids into it,” Ernie responded. “You joked about my kids being morons, and I don’t appreciate it at all. I thought what you said was offensive and I’ve been pissed off about it since you said it.”

“Then why didn’t you say anything to me?” Thom asked. “Why the fuck did you say something like that to the media? They’re gonna find out what went on and they’re gonna put two and two together!”

“Because you shouldn’t have said what you said in the first god damn place,” Ernie snapped. “It’s not on me to say something, it’s on you to not say what you said. You may not have meant it, but I took it like you implied my children were useless and I don’t appreciate it.”

“Ernie, I didn’t mean that at all,” Thom said, almost pleading for forgiveness. “I was joking with Jimmy Eaton...”

“Well, that shit shouldn’t be a joke!” Ernie yelled, loud enough for someone to hear outside. “You don’t joke about a man’s kids like that, asshole!”

“OK, fine, fine, I’m sorry,” Thom responded. “I’m a little on edge right now and I think we all are. Huntley fucked up, we’re trying to do the best we can here and we’ve got this team that could whoop our asses tonight, you think I’m sleeping easy myself? Jesus Christ, Stevenson, we’re trying to make up for lost time. We’re trying to get back where we belong and here we are tearing each other down.”

Ernie nodded his head. He was still pissed at Thom, but he could see where he was coming from.

“Yeah, we’re all trying to get by,” Ernie replied. “Just... let’s do this one day at a time. One match at a time. But don’t ever make fun of my kids like that again, you dig? I’ll forget who you are for a second and I will whip your ass if you do, you got me?”

Thom nodded his head. As he thought about it, he understood why Ernie was so pissed off.

[TJUN-ia]

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

Welcome back to this Random Ramble. After the chaos of of that fateful game against Hapilopper, many were hoping for a return to simpler times in the battles to come. At least, that was what David Seems and Li Xiu Ying were hoping for. Kristina Bay, by contrast, was still harping on about that tackle even as eyes turned to what was to come. So with all this said and done and the shadows of the past in view, let's play some football...shall we?

The Match
The Igloo in Winterfalls would play host to our remaining games in Group E, starting against debutants Restresas. Despite their 1-1 record entering this contest, this was a game we were expected to win...and to that effect, we did. But not after a fight. Paul Albu took the lead after only 5 minutes into the contest and the first half blocks from Marcus George really frustrated everyone, but the second half would bring more joy. The wall finally broke and Kristina Bay would be the one to break it in the 67th, with Dakota Monroe scoring the eventual winner in the 81st. It wasn't easy at all, but a win was a win...and just like that, TJUN-ia's progression to the knockout stage was confirmed.

Reactions
Qualification is always a cause for celebration, especially at 3-0, but this game wasn't exactly "to plan" considering who we were playing. Many felt frustrated that we didn't create more chances in the first half, while also understanding that a win was a win and they should be happy with that at the very least. Kristina Bay has become an overnight sensation in TJUN-ian culture and with her passion helping them along, who knows what could be coming up next.

Up Next...
It was a good thing we secured progression already...because now, we have one more game left. THE game left. A date with the #1 team in this region based on the rankings - Sylestone. You don't need to tell us how hard we expect this one to be. Playing the #1 seed doesn't normally go well. But considering we are already through no matter what, we have nothing to lose. GO JAGS!

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SCHEDULE (Group E, Doubeia)
MD1: vs Macbon (15) - Pomeranian Hub, Port Pomeranian W 4-1 (1st)
MD2: BYE (2nd)
MD3: vs Hapilopper (26)* - Pomeranian Hub, Port Pomeranian W 3-1 (1st)
*Nathan Ellis Memorial Game
MD4: vs Restresas (UR) - The Igloo, Winterfalls W 2-1 (1st/Q)
MD5: vs Sylestone (1) - The Igloo, Winterfalls

[Doubeia]

Campionato Esportiva 38
Riena Half
Matchday 5 Results

Group A

The 14 Stars 1–3 South Newlandia
Silver Spirit Dome, Nagato, Rinkai, Riena

Natanians and Nosts 1–0 Nova Anglican Admin Zone of Esportiva
Funami Metropolitan Stadium, Funami, Rinkai, Riena

  Group A                                  Pld   W  D  L   GF  GA  GD  Pts 
1 South Newlandia                            4   3  0  1    7   2  +5    9 — QUALIFIED
2 Natanians and Nosts                        4   2  1  1    6   6   0    7 — QUALIFIED
3 The 14 Stars                               4   1  2  1    7   7   0    5
4 Riena                                      4   1  1  2    4   6  −2    4 — ELIMINATED
5 Nova Anglican Admin Zone of Esportiva      4   1  0  3    3   6  −3    3 — ELIMINATED

Group B

Mattheland 0–1 Irithoren
Hanamaru Athletic Stadium, Hanamaru, Suenaga, Riena

Xanneria 1–1 Kita-Hinode
Minami Arch, Maihama, Suenaga, Riena

  Group B                                  Pld   W  D  L   GF  GA  GD  Pts 
1 Irithoren                                  4   3  1  0    7   3  +4   10 — QUALIFIED
2 Kita-Hinode                                4   2  1  1    7   6  +1    7 — QUALIFIED
3 Mattheland                                 4   2  0  2    4   4   0    6
4 Eshialand                                  4   1  0  3    5   7  −2    3 — ELIMINATED
5 Xanneria                                   4   0  2  2    3   6  −3    2 — ELIMINATED

Group C

Osterhalten 1–0 Lozho
Seaside Field, Anzumori, Karen, Riena

Damukuni 2–1 Gouvanarch
Eternal Summer Dome, Yarizakura, Karen, Riena

  Group C                                  Pld   W  D  L   GF  GA  GD  Pts 
1 Osterhalten                                4   3  0  1    6   3  +3    9 — QUALIFIED
2 Tumbra                                     4   2  0  2    4   2  +2    6 — QUALIFIED
3 Damukuni                                   4   2  0  2    5   6  −1    6
4 Lozho                                      4   2  0  2    2   4  −2    6 — ELIMINATED
5 Gouvanarch                                 4   1  0  3    4   6  −2    3 — ELIMINATED

[Riena]

Campionato Esportiva 38
Doubeia Half
Matchday 5 Results

Group D

Schimata 1–0 Doubeia
Town Hall Stadium, Queensland, Doubeia

Slembana 2–1 Esportivan Darmen
Victoria Stadium, Fajar, Doubeia

  Group D                      Pld   W  D  L   GF  GA  GD  Pts 
1 Fhulghamous Peninsula          4   4  0  0   11   1 +10   12  Q
2 Slembana                       4   3  0  1    4   4   0    9  Q
3 Schimata                       4   1  1  2    1   6  −5    4  E
4 Esportivan Darmen              4   0  2  2    5   7  −2    2  E
5 Doubeia                        4   0  1  3    5   8  −3    1  E

Group E

TJUN-ia 3–1 Sylestone
The Igloo, Winterfalls, Doubeia

Hapilopper 1–0 Restresas
Pomeranian Hub, Port Pomeranian, Doubeia

  Group E                      Pld   W  D  L   GF  GA  GD  Pts 
1 TJUN-ia                        4   4  0  0   12   4  +8   12  Q
2 Hapilopper                     4   3  0  1    7   5  +2    9  Q
3 Sylestone                      4   2  0  2    3   4  −1    6  Q
4 Restresas                      4   1  0  3    3   4  −1    3  E
5 Macbon                         4   0  0  4    3  11  −8    0  E

Group F

Dod Rava 1–0 Vielfaltig
Harriott Loft, Ethelfled, Doubeia

Zeta Reka and Hugeltaldom 0–1 Josifovo
Sirotkin Stadium, Solvecere, Doubeia

  Group F                      Pld   W  D  L   GF  GA  GD  Pts 
1 Dod Rava                       4   3  1  0   13   7  +6   10  Q
2 Kamijiro                       4   3  0  1    6   7  −1    9  Q
3 Josifovo                       4   1  2  1    5   5   0    5  E
4 Zeta Reka and Hugeltaldom      4   1  0  3    7   8  −1    3  E
5 Vielfaltig                     4   0  1  3    3   7  −4    1  E

[Riena]

Campionato Esportiva 38
R16 Qualification Permutations

  Seed                                   Pld    W   D   L    GF   GA   GD   Pts 
1 Mattheland                               4    2   0   2     4    4    0     6  Q
2 Damukuni                                 4    2   0   2     5    6   −1     6  Q
3 Sylestone                                4    2   0   2     3    4   −1     6  Q
4 The 14 Stars                             4    1   2   1     7    7    0     5  Q
5 Josifovo                                 4    1   2   1     5    5    0     5  E
6 Schimata                                 4    1   1   2     1    6   −5     4  E

Tiebreaker notes

• The tiebreakers used for determining the four best 3rd placed teams are, in order of precedence — points, wins, H2H GD, GD, scorinated match using RP bonus only (draws off).
• Damukuni placed ahead of Sylestone on scorinated match using RP bonus only.
• The 14 Stars placed ahead of Josifovo on scorinated match using RP bonus only.

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Campionato Esportiva 38
R16 Seeding

   Seed                                   Pld    W   D   L    GF   GA   GD   Pts 
 1 Fhulghamous Peninsula                    4    4   0   0    11    1  +10    12
 2 TJUN-ia                                  4    4   0   0    12    4   +8    12
 3 Dod Rava                                 4    3   1   0    13    7   +6    10
 4 Irithoren                                4    3   1   0     7    3   +4    10
 5 South Newlandia                          4    3   0   1     7    2   +5     9
 6 Osterhalten                              4    3   0   1     6    3   +3     9
 7 Hapilopper                               4    3   0   1     7    5   +2     9
 8 Slembana                                 4    3   0   1     4    4    0     9
 9 Kamijiro                                 4    3   0   1     6    7   −1     9
10 Kita-Hinode                              4    2   1   1     7    6   +1     7
11 Natanians and Nosts                      4    2   1   1     6    6    0     7
12 Tumbra                                   4    2   0   2     4    2   +2     6
13 Mattheland                               4    2   0   2     4    4    0     6
14 Damukuni                                 4    2   0   2     5    6   −1     6
15 Sylestone                                4    2   0   2     3    4   −1     6
16 The 14 Stars                             4    1   2   1     7    7    0     5

Tiebreaker notes

• The tiebreakers used for determining seeding are, in order of precedence — points, wins, H2H GD, GD, scorinated match using RP bonus only (draws off).
• Damukuni placed ahead of Sylestone on scorinated match using RP bonus only.

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Campionato Esportiva 38
R16 Fixtures

Fhulghamous Peninsula versus The 14 Stars
Silver Spirit Dome, Nagato, Riena

Slembana versus Kamijiro
Seaside Field, Anzumori, Riena

Irithoren versus Tumbra
Minami Arch, Maihama, Riena

South Newlandia versus Mattheland
Funami Metropolitan Stadium, Funami, Riena

Osterhalten versus Natanians and Nosts
Victoria Stadium, Fajar, Doubeia

Dod Rava versus Sylestone
Sirotkin Stadium, Solvecere, Doubeia

Hapilopper versus Kita-Hinode
Pomeranian Hub, Port Pomeranian, Doubeia

TJUN-ia versus Damukuni
Town Hall Stadium, Queensland, Doubeia

Procedural notes

• The standard 16-team bracket, found here, is applied to determine R16 matchups.
• Irithoren versus Tumbra/South Newlandia versus Mattheland, Dod Rava versus Sylestone/TJUN-ia versus Damukuni are redrawn fixtures to avoid group stage rematches.
• The R16-1 winner will face the R16-2 winner, the R16-3 winner will face the R16-4 winner, the R16-5 winner will face the R16-6 winner, and the R16-7 winner will face the R16-8 winner.

[Doubeia]

OOC Note: This was supposed to be posted before the MD5 cutoff; ICly the final matchday hasn't occurred yet. The results at the bottom of the RP are not part of the article.

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The Phoenixes whimper out of CE38 on home soil, manager's scathing remarks causes online controversy
Jaden Rhukov
8 July 711

FAJAR, Doubeia — Doubeinese Men's National Team (DMNT) manager Will Petrov expressed his dissatisfaction towards his players' performance during their 1-2 defeat to defending champions Fhulghamous Peninsula. The loss meant that mathematically, the Phoenixes could not be able to achieve at least one of the four best third-place teams come the final matchday, and was thus eliminated from the knockout stages.

After a palpitating 4-4 draw against Esportivan Darmen which saw braces by Kylo Zhikin and Ambrose Demidov, the Phoenixes went into their game against Fhulghamous Peninsula knowing that winning points was vital for their charge to the round of 16. However, they proved to be toothless against a much more experienced and seasoned opposition which was reflected in the events of the game. The Fhulghamousian offense was a constant threat to Jude Zhvikov's goal as their constant presence in the Doubeinese box meant that all hands had to be on deck for the defense. Although starting with the regular 4-2-4 attacking formation, Petrov implemented a hyper-defensive formation with both wingers dropping deep to aid with the defense. The game was mostly played within the Doubeinese half, with counterattacks into the Fhulghamousian box rare as the Phoenixes struggled to push the ball forward.

Both of the goals by Fhulghamous Peninsula were scored by their vice-captail Alibek Sokolov in the first half. The first was a clever volley from the edge of the box during the fourth minute of thegame, while the second was a header from a corner kick close to half-time. During the entire first half, the Phoenixes took only one shot: a worldie from Hugo Borisenko that was destined for the stars. During half-time, Petrov made the unusual decision to substitute attacker Demidov out for defensive midfielder James Krysov, essentially transforming the initially attacking 4-2-4 formation to a more defensive 4-3-3. The swap proved to be useful as the additional defensive support and Krysov's defending acumen meant that the Fhulghamousians failed to find the back of the next for the second half. However, the defending champions showed their worth, as they held 73% possession for the entirety of the second half.

The DMNT and Ethelfled City FC were dealt a heavy blow to their attacking options as Kylo Zhikin was felled during a counter-attack by Fhulghamousian defender Marcelino Anaya. The former, having taken a huge hit to his left knee, fell down immediately after the tackle. Even as he was being stretchered off Zhikin was still seen writhing in pain. Anaya was soon red carded, but he was soon joined by Madden Tsyzyrev who instigated a fight against Anaya and some other Fhulghamousian players. Despite Tsyzyrev's muscular build, the only thing that came out of the skirmish was a red card for the Phoenixes' starting centre back. He now holds the unfortunate record of being the first Doubeinese player to be red carded in an official match. One for the pubs! The injured Zhikin was deemed unfit to continue playing, and so he was substituted for Demetrius Elmpt, whom by far had not played a single minute in the competition.

Julian Umanov did well to convert the subsequent free kick into a classy goal as the ball curled from the left into the top right hand corner. In spite of Umanov's strike which might as well be goal of the competition, he could not bail out the Phoenixes as they continued to be beaten in by the Fhulghamousians.

After the match, Petrov, in a twist of events, refused to shake hands with Donovan Chase, the gaffer for the Fhulghamous Peninsula team, instead choosing to stomping off into the dugout. Soon after, leaving spectators could allegedly hear a very much irate Petrov screaming at his team. During the post match press conference, Petrov told reporters that "the team's performance was a disgrace to the thousands of Doubeinese who came to watch them play" and that "he would never allow the team to be humiliated like that". While not much is known about what Petrov told the DMNT during the post-match cooldown, videos taped of them walking back out to the sidelines and apologising to the remaining Doubeinese supporters soon went viral on Doubeinese media.

Doubeinese social media has been divided on the issue. Some claim that Petrov was being "too harsh on a team that had not played a single minute of competitive football", while others asserted that "the players needed this kind of harsh criticism to motivate themselves". What has been set in stone, however, is that both hosts, Riena and Doubeia, are out of contention for the knockout stages coming into the final matchday of the group stage.

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MD1

Doubeia 0 - 1 Slembana
              unknown (39')

MD2

Esportivan Darmen 4 - 4 Doubeia
Sims    (27', 62')      Zhikin (6', 45+1')
Paulson (37')           Demidov (68', 73')
Dirix   (86')

MD3

BYE

MD4

Doubeia     1 - 2 Fhulghamous Peninsula
Umanov (69')      Sokolov (4', 44')

MD5

Schimata         1 - 0 Doubeia
Callopoulus (16')