A Tale Of Two Crescents - WC97 Roleplay Thread

[Libesia]

Almost all of the flatmates were going out to watch the game: Nick, Josef, Johanna, and Lara. The only holdouts were Max and Leon.

Max, because he was working on his essay.

“Why don’t you put the laptop away and come watch the football with us?” suggested Johanna.

“I can’t, I have an essay due.”

“What’s the essay?”

“‘Towards A Foucauldian Decentering of the Meta-Narrative of Ontological Fragmentation and the Hyperreal Construction of Identity in Late Capitalist Simulacra: Scorinating Groups 9 – 15 Before Groups 1 – 8 as Neoliberal Violence’: 10,000 words, due Monday.”

“Only 10,000 words!?”

“I know, there’s so much more to say! I’m going to have to really cut down. And the literature on it is already so extensive.” Max gestured to a huge pile of journal articles, book excerpts, editorials, and letters (and several cartoons, crudely drawn in crayon though not lacking for anatomical explicitness) to the editorial board of Transactions of the World Cup Committee.

“Good luck with that,” laughed Johanna sympathetically, before turning her attention to the other non-watcher, Leon, who had passed up an evening of international football to instead attend to the busy task of licking himself. Leon (full name Leon Trotsky) gave a grumpy mew as Lara ruffled his ears, and half-heartedly swiped at her with his tail.

“Alright, well, call us if you feel like joining us!” She gave Leon another pat, dodged a rather fiercer swipe from his paw, and headed to the door. Long blonde hair bundled into a loose ponytail, swimming in a Libesian Cheetahs shirt that was at least a men’s medium and consequently trailed nearly to her knees. She joined up with the other flatmates and prepared to head out for a fun evening on the town, just a group of happy young students having fun.

---

Explosions sounded and gunfire rent the air. Leon hissed in protest as a blast briefly bathed the apartment in red and rattled the thin windows, straining against the tight hold on him. The second year student was cowering under his desk, behind an impromptu fort made of stacked textbooks, and clutching Leon to his chest as much for his own comfort as to prevent the cat from bolting. A loud thud sounded from downstairs, and he heard the rattle of feet.

“This is it, Leon,” Max whispered, shivering as the cat hissed and strained against him. “We all knew this day would come. We tried to pretend it wouldn’t, we tried to act like we didn’t always really know this would come true. And now it’s here. My parents were right all along, I should have got out when they did, I never should have come back, oh god Leon, oh god, they’re here to kill us in our beds…”

His voice fell silent as he heard the inner door open. The footsteps, belonging to multiple people, were close now. Sweat droplets beading at his head inched down his head but he didn’t dare raise a hand to wipe at their ticklish tracks lest he lose his grip on Leon and give away his location to the mob of machete-wielding b–


His book-fort trembled as a hand pushed a hole in it. Specters of Empire: Deconstructing the Palimpsest of Post-Colonial Hauntology hit the floor with a heavy thud. A face loomed in the gap. A… white face.

“Johanna?” he whispered. “Johanna, you have to run! If they catch you, they’ll…”

“Max, what are you doing?” she asked in her normal speaking tone. “Why are you under the desk?”

“The gun fire! The explosions! Johanna, get in here and hide with me!” he urged, then sat up brave as he could and tried to sound strong as he promised, with lower wobbling: “I’ll protect you!”

“Max, those are fireworks.”

“Oh.”

“They’re celebrating! All over the city.”

“Ohhh.”

“The Cheetahs won! They actually won a game! First time ever. 85th minute, Muhammad Kaba, on as a sub! Libesia 1, Caribbia 0. The whole city’s partying. The whole country, probably!”

“Ohhhhhh…”

Johanna giggled. “Come on out, silly. You really should have come to watch the game with us, it was amazing!”

Max looked down at his lap. The pages of New Perspective on Fanon had been too waxy to mop up much of his urine, and the smell was still pretty pungent.

“No, I, think I’ll stay here for a bit. Just, you know. Wouldn’t want Leon to get spooked by all the noise.”

He stroked Leon, who yowled at him, irritated by his imprisonment.

“For Leon. Right…”

[Edsmontik]

NOT AT ALL EXPECTED AGAINST RECUECN
LIVE ON ISN NOW

After the 6-2 home win against New Fernia, the Edsmons are looking for more in the Recuecn game.
Just an hour ago, the Edsmon jet landed here, in Recuecn.
der-Ghavyr hopes for a win against the 56th ranked team, but it may be hard.
The Eagles will be trying their best for this game and upcoming ones too.
The likes of Xanneria, Recuecn, and Saint Eleanor will be there to stop the Edsmons from qualifying.
But can they qualify on their debut?
We just have to find out.
I'm Darnem Suiozden, and I'll be commentating this match.

---

NS WORLD CUP - QUALIFIERS MD6
LE STADE NATIONAL, RECUECN, RECUECN
RECUECN VS EDSMONTIK

PRE-GAME
The train was slow.
The only thing keeping the Edsmons awake were autograph asks.
The completely filled third car of the Klaẞe (Class) 103-2 was loud, but not from the train itself.
Fans were asking for autographs on shirts, shorts, cleats, socks, hats, on regular paper, on phones, and so on.
The 14-car train rolled into Airport West after an eighteen-minute wait between there and the last station.
"We're never getting to Terminal Y; we have to circle all the way around." Bervaign shouted above the fans.
"Well, we just have to hope that traffic speeds up. The line past Airport West only just opened up yesterday."
The Eagles hadn't even made it onto their flight to Recuecn yet.
They were still stuck 12 stops away from their station.
Fans continued to chatter, with the Eagles trying to keep some space so that they could at least stand.
"According to the Touvic Rail Center, there are about 10 trains in front of us all packed with passengers just trying to get to the Recuecn game." Ystermakt says, holding his phone to the others.
"We're never getting there." Wejikaj says in response.
An hour passed.
It was only about nine in the morning, and the game was scheduled to start at seven in the afternoon.
The Edsmons finally got on their jet and sat in their seats.
"Everyone knows who we are in Touve now." Javarqa says. "We'll get bombarded no matter where we go."
The Edsmons chatted for a while, and after nine total hours, they arrived swiftly in Recuecn.
"And one hour left, go, go, go!" der-Ghavyr shouted.

KICKOFF
le Stade National was packed.
Edsmon and Recuecian fans filled every seat that remained.
But the Recuecians outnumbered them by a lot.
Javarqa took a look at the many broadcasting networks filming this game.
He recognized one, Inter Sports Network, but everything else was unfamiliar.
Stading now in front of Recuecian captain Firaut, Javarqa got serious.
He couldn't let his mind wander.
The coin flipped, and landed perfectly for a Recuecn start.
Not good for the Eagles.
"Gud Lubreskinen," Javarqa called out to all of his teammates.
The "star" of the team Franky Adams set himself at the ball.
*TWEEET!*
Adams kicked the ball.

FIRST HALF
The Eagles would have to ease slowly into this.
Wolf received the ball, moving forward.
Rehcikt backtracked, preparing to move against the winger.
Wolf passed back to Theriault, who passed back to Wolf.
Wolf moved around Rehickt, passing to Adams, then sliding past Wejikaj with two simple touches.
Kizani approached him, and fast, putting the pressure onto Wolf.
But unlike what the Edsmons themselves would have done; Wolf once again passed back to Theriault.
Theriault, once under pressure by Wejikaj, passed down to the right-back Konig.
Even though none of the Eagles were there to pressure him, Konig still ended up passing farther back.
Cutrona received, getting Bervaign to move towards him.
He passed out to Bourguignon, who passed up to Adams.
The Recuecians continued passing and keeping possession, while the Edsmons followed them around.
Eventually, a small mistake from Daecher, Ghreksbvy intercepted.
A pass fell to Stuero, who jogged upfield a bit before sliding around Bourguignon.
He fired a pass back to Bervaign, but the ball just barely was tackled out of the way by Lapix.
Back and forth, the Edsmons traded possession with the Recuecians.
Overall, though, the Eagles barely touched the ball.
For the next few minutes, Wolf had a small chance, but a pass was stopped by Kizani.
On the Edsmon's right was Trommler.
He had gotten a close chance on goal, having beaten out both Edsmon center backs from a goal kick but lost possession to Jervanois.
The Eagles had only one attempt as of the time, with Ghreksbvy nearly getting the ball close to the net.
The only problem was, Cutrona's block had deflected the ball into Maktholm and out for the goal kick that could have put the Edsmons 1-0 down if it weren't for Jervanois.
The game continued on as the 10th and 15th minutes passed by quickly.
Recuecn held most of the possession, with the Eagles grabbing hold a few times.
"Hold out and use pressure mainly in the second half. Don't wear yourselves out so early on" der-Ghayr had told them on the crowded train ride to their terminal.
Not having possession would be fine, but the Edsmons would have to be careful.
Both sides were feeling impatient and looking for more but tried to somewhat obey their managers about saving energy to the end.
As more time passed, the Eagles only found themselves losing the ball in key areas and being forced to defend.
Trommler had managed a second attempted, but a lucky stop by Javarqa had led to der-Zyfragken getting his hands on the ball.
The Eagles would have to hold defensive for most likely a long time.
After the entire 20-minute mark slipped by, and both fanbases silent, the Recuecians started to apply more pressure.
With Wejikaj's failed attempt to get the ball up to Stuero and the others, a chance opened up for the Recuecians.
Lapix sent the ball to Wolf, who let it roll up to Adams.
Javarqa and Kizani moved in, defending where Wejikaj and Ystermakt were gone.
The rest of the Edsmons fell back, readying themselves for the next move.
der-Suiozkeafter watched Wolf closely, who was now moving closer to the goal.
"Darn, I'm keeping him onside. But who cares, what if he gets onside and I'm not there? Who knows how fast he is." Mavkrav muttered to himself.
In a quick chase, Javarqa ran against Adams to try and reach the still rolling ball.
After Adams reached, Javarqa kicked out his leg...
But it wasn't enough, and Adams tapped the ball, sliding right past him.
The Recuecians could score at any moment.
With Javarqa out of the way, Adams only had Kizani between him and the goal.
Steus Kizani watched carefully as the striker moved forward.
It seemed as it, the striker hesitated a bit.
"Take advantage!" Steus thought to himself, quickly diving leg first towards the general path of the ball.
And Franky shot, just slightly too late.
The ball slammed off Kizani, flying out to Ystermakt.
"Great deflection Steus. We have to defend better, the Recuecians could get a goal any time soon." Javarqa said, giving Kizani a pat on the back.
Ystermakt passed up to Ghreksbvy, who sent the ball right over to Wejikaj.
If pressure was applied against the Edsmons, they'd have to respond.
Wejikaj dribbled simply past Thériault, passing up to Bervaign, who passed back and forth between Stuero.
Once the ball was back to him, Bervaign attempted a shot, which was deflected simply by Kayserling.
Another failed attack.
The Edsmons and Recuecians seemingly wouldn't be scoring this half.
And just like that, the half slowly came to a close.
Neither team could grab anything for the remaining minutes, and so 0-0 remained the score.

HALFTIME
"Good start team, stay defensive, but do take every chance you get. Apply pressure and hold possession." der-Ghavyr said.
The Edsmons nod, drinking their water and rewatching first half highlights.
"If you are tired, remember the signal and use it. I'll get you off as soon as possible." he continues. "Anyways, that's it for what I have to say. What did you guys learn about the Recuecians?"

SECOND HALF
The Eagles knew they had to score this half.
In the locker room, the tea had one objective.
Get the ball to Stuero, especially when he's open.
The other attackers didn't exactly enjoy that, but with Stuero's powerful kick, there's no denying that he shouldn't be the one shooting.
So many thoughts rushed through each player's head.
It took the sound of the whistle to shake them all awake.
Bervaign fired a pass to Rehcikt, who dribbled forward.
Once confronted by Theriault, he looked forward and sent an unsuspecting cross straight back to Bervaign.
With a flick of his foot, Bervaign launched the ball right over Lapix.
Another flick, and the ball goes right to Stuero on the wing.
Maartin sprinted, receiving the ball and using his footwork to slide past Bourguignon.
"They won't be fast enough to catch me... hopefully." Stuero thought.
With a powerful kick with the outside of his foot, Stuero sent the ball right to the corner.
Firaut was not letting it past.
And with a strong dive, he caught the ball midair and proudly held it up for his team to see.
Stuero kicked the grass in disappointment, jogging back to his spot on the right.
"They won't be easy to get past." Bervaign said to Wejikaj. "Even with pressure. Stuero's shot was good, but the goalkeeper was able to stop it so easily."
Wejikaj nodded.
Firaut threw it out to Lapix, who quickly fed a ball to Wolf.
After a quick dribble, Wolf launched it high up for Adams.
But an interception handed the ball back to the Edsmons.
If they could hold possession long enough, they'd muster either a draw or even a win.
Pass after pass, the Edsmons kept possession.
Multiple times Bervaign and Stuero attempted shots but got nothing from them.
Firaut was very good at shot stopping, having blocked many powerful shots from Bervaign, Stuero, and Ghreksbvy.
The 50th minute sped by and eventually so did the 55th.
The Recuecians had managed to change the course of possession, dominating the game again.
Wolf and Adams as well as Trommler had made many advancements into Edsmon territory.
If der-Zyfragken had slipped up in one of the few chances the Recuecians had, the score might as well could be 3-0.
With the defense struggling to keep up, the attack attempted most of the work.
But with their crosses and down-the-wing runs being cut off, the Edsmons could really only attack in the center.
In the 57th minute, the Edsmons saw their first yellow card of the game.
A rough tackle from der-Suiozkeafter against Wolf resulted in a free-kick for the Recuecians.
Luckily for the Eagles, the kick was farther out, since they were only receiving from a goal-kick.
"I've had my fair share of scoldings, and really, do I need more?" der-Suiozkeafter says.
Every time an Edsmon got a yellow, or a red, der-Ghavyr scolded them.
Unless it was for a good reason.
The Edsmon's luck hopefully wouldn't run out.
Their spot in the group depended on it.
But it did run out.
In the 59th minute, Konig won a header.
Lapix received, dribbled past both Ghreksbvy and Ystermakt, and fed a ball to Trommler.
Trommler ran.
He fired a pass to Franky Adams when Jervanois got too close.
The game seemed to go into slow motion, with everything quieting down.
With a pass towards the post, der-Zyfragken was not able to react quickly enough.
The ball was smashed by Trommler.
It soared to the far post, catching Recha der-Zyfragken off-beat.
And the stadium erupted.
"GOOOOOOOOOOOAAAAAAAAAAALLLL!!!!"
The Recuecians, who filled up the majority of the stadium, were screaming, singing, and jumping.
It seemed over for the Eagles.
It was a dream turned into a nightmare.
The Eagles watched as Trommler celebrated, with the loud Recuecian fans cheering on.
Maybe the Edsmons wouldn't be beating Recuecn.
They couldn't even imagine a draw.
der-Ghavyr brought out players.
Wejikaj, Rehcikt, and Bervaign came out for Fruedenne, Aespana, and Utravak.
And the game restarted.
Utravak to Ghreksbvy, followed by a series of Edsmon passes.
A bit of dribbling, and Ghreksbvy steered clear of Trommler.
The Edsmons would try to hold out possession.
But Stuero thought differently.
"There's still time, fools, we must attack and try to grab one goal back!"
Minutes passed.
Seconds ticked by.
The Recuecians were not given a touch of the ball.
The Eagles always brought it back to the midfield and defense, despite what Stuero had suggested.
However, seemingly only one other player had the confidence that they could score.
Maktholm Ghreksbvy.
The Wounrderkild.
The Wonderkid.
Ghreksbvy dribbled alongside Stuero, calling for the rest of the Edsmons to help.
And after Stuero almost scored int he 62nd minute, the team seemed to finally wake up from whatever the trance was.
"Pressure is key!" der-Ghavyr called from the bench.
Aespana moved forward, receiving a pass and crossing all the way for Ghreksbvy.
A quick back-and-forth between him and Utravak, and the Edsmons were back up the wing.
One chance.
It could be the last one.
Ghreksbvy fired the pass.
Over the defense,
Stuero rushed ahead.
*BANG!*
He slammed the ball with so much power, that it sounded like a small explosion.
The stadium fell silent.
And the Edsmon fans exploded.
"OE!, OE!, OE! VDESMON!!!"
The ball was just too fast for Firaut.
Stuero front-flipped to the fans, saluting and sliding across the cool grass.
Aespana jumped on him, followed by Wejikaj and Ghreksbvy sliding in.
The rest of the team jogged over, pumping their fists.
They didn't stop hugging and celebrating until the referees told them to get back to their positions.
The rest of the game blew by.
All in all, no major events happened.
The Recuecians were desperate to win the match, feeding passes that were mainly intercepted or just couldn't get through.
But sooner or later, the Recuecians would find a way.
In the very dying minutes of the game, six minutes left on the clock, Franky Adams was there.
With beautiful footwork, he slipped right past Javarqa and found der-Suiozkeafter too slow.
All that was left was der-Zyfragken.
Stuero stopped in his tracks.
Clearly it was over.
der-Zyfragken got lower, spreading his arms and moving quickly towards the incoming Adams.
"Is he daydreaming? Shoot already! You have a free goal at this point!" der-Zyfragken said to himself.
Adams kept getting closer and closer, until Recha der-Zyfragken realized.
"Why am I not taking advantage?" he muttered.
With a quick swipe, he picked the ball right away from Adam's feet.
And that was when it seemed like Adams had come back to his senses.
Not too long after, the whistle blew.
*TWEEEEEET, TWEEEEEEEET, TWEEEEEEEEEEEEET!!!*

---

KEY MOMENTS
54' Yellow Card der-Suiozkeafter (EDS)
59' GOAL Trommler (RCN)
64' GOAL Stuero (EDS)

EDSMONTIK DRAW WC97QMD6 VS RECUECN

[Baggieland]

The Rumpus

The Drunken Mackerel pub, port of Brage, The Prosaic Union of Gnejs.

Sunny Austin: "Serving wench, more ale!"

Dundee Talke: "A toast! To the finest heist in Baggielandian history!"

King Alsqueak: "It's alright everyone, I'm paying… cos I'm fucking loaded now!"

The crew: "Yaar! A sea shanty C'ptain!"

Madame Xianggu: "I thought I heard the c'ptain say,"
The crew: "Pay me my money down,"
Madame Xianggu: "Tomorrow be our sailing day,"
The crew: "Pay me my money down,"
Madame Xianggu: "As soon as the boat was clear of the bar,"
The crew: "Pay me my money down,"
Madame Xianggu: "The c'ptain knocked me with a spar,"
The crew: "Pay me my money down,"
Madame Xianggu: "Forty nights, nights at sea,"
The crew: "Pay me my money down,"
Madame Xianggu: "The c'ptain bled every last dollar out of me,"
The crew: "Pay me my money down,"

Dundee Talke: "What a splendid shanty… more ale wench!"

Madame Xianggu: "Crew! Jettison whatever be in the hold, then load The Kiss of Death with all that booty."

Fandango Molineux: "Evil-doers and wretched rouges! Prepare to die!"

The Baggies seemed to be taken aback by the sudden appearance of the Molineux clan, Oddstein and a flotilla of goats. They shouldn't have been surprised of course, but that is what copious amounts of alcohol does to you. Fandango charged the Baggies, slipped on a goat turd, banged his head on a table and was out cold. The rest of the Molineuxs and Oddstein put up a good fight, alas, there were just too many Baggies and the plucky Gnejsians eventually laid in a bloody heap, straggled over whatever it was that the pirates had tossed out of the ship's hull. King Alsqueak approached the defeated Oddstein.

King Alsqueak: "You bastard! These people exiled you… but it was I that took you in and gave you a job. I allowed you to share my home even! This is how you repay my kindness?"

The king then urinated upon Oddstein. Yeah, that's about as uncouth as it gets.

[TJUN-ia]

The Random Rambles of a Jaguar - WC97 Qualifying Edition
with Killian Looker

Welcome back to this Random Ramble. Heading into the crossover between the first and second halves of this WCQ campaign, the Jaguars of TJUN-ia found themselves 5 points off the Top 3 - which was certainly not too far away by any sense of scale imaginable. Everyone knew that despite everything, we still had a chance of making it into that Top 3 and whatever lies beyond that - either the WC itself or a playoff tie on a neutral site - and that fact alone kept everyone sane. As hot as their seats have been at times, David Seems and Li Xiu Ying have a shot to shut that talk down for good...but could they do this? Only one way to find out...

The Matches
The final game of our first half would be up against the only team we were yet to face, the Polar Islandstates, over at the Stade de la Victoire in Roi Ville. Considering the points situation, the local crowd was encouraged to bring their A-Game to this contest and that is exactly what they did, chanting for much of the contest as they aimed to intimidate the WCC #69 side. There is no true science on the strength of the home crowd on the psychology of the opposing team but what I can say based on this game is that they do have an effect...because this game was one of the best performances TJUN-ia have ever pulled off in this difficult time we find ourselves in. Stephan Fiedtkou managed 2 in 10 minutes and Emmanuele Niemi got one back before half time before getting an equaliser in the 50th. After that we turned up again as Mikela Djé-Djé, Alisha Carlton and Paek Un-hui unofficially put things to bed before Youssef Nijgaard grabbed a late consolation. 5-3. With business going our way elsewhere, the gap was down to 4 points.

Just in time for the 3rd-place team to star in Act II of our homestand. Sudilia beat us at theirs on the opening day but now, it would be 4th hosting 3rd at the Estadio Universidad Carlandas. In what had to be the most important game the UAC has ever hosted to date, the fans were ready for revenge and an opportunity to blow this Top 3 battle wide open...and that is exactly what they got. The first 45 minutes were some of the most thrilling in our WCQ history as Fernandino broke the deadlock in the 23rd, Mikela Djé-Djé got the 2nd in the 42nd and Kristina Bay gota 3rd in injury time with a thunderbolt that rocked the EUC. The second half, understandably, was quieter with Ariane Mongrain getting one back in the 78th, but there was no was back into the game for Oliver Thompson's team. Mission Complete. Revenge was served in the UAC and because of that, we're back in this game. The Top 2 are running away with it, but we are only a point off 3rd with 7 games to go.

Reactions
Jubilation, to say the least. Holding our bottle in Roi Ville in a gutsy performance, followed by a first half of dreams in Carlandas? That sounds like a dream scenario, and so it is. Suddenly, TJUN-ia was firmly back in the WC Conversation and it certainly was well deserved. As things stood right now, Sudilia is only 2 points off a WC spot in the battle between the 3rds meaning that if we were to take that spot and our form improved, there is a chance that we can sneak into the big dance from 3rd. But that's a discussion for another time.

What's Next...
What is next is the fact that we are back in the hunt...and we need to take stock of that now. We must make the difficult trek to Wayr Stadium to face group leaders Zwangzug in a game in which any point taken will be seen as priceless, after which it's East Leaf in Rio Pacífico. Now then, peeps. We have to be serious now. Three points is a minimum in this situation, anything more would certainly help. GO JAGS!

---

SCHEDULE (Group 3)
MD1: @Sudilia (84) L 0-2 (T-8th)
MD2: vs Zwangzug (19) - Beregozera Stadium, Szensky L 0-1 (7th)
---------------Ramble---------------
MD3: @East Leaf (266) W 2-1 (7th)
MD4: vs Valanora (1) - National Stadium, TJUN-ia City L 2-3 (8th)
---------------Ramble---------------
MD5: @Megistos (UR) D 3-3 (6th)
MD6: vs The Godlands I (201) - Ke Kahua Pāʻani o Pua Aloalo, Kepu Manu D 1-1 (7th)
---------------Ramble---------------
MD7: @Equestria (Equestrian States) (108) W 3-2 (5th)
MD8: BYE (6th)
---------------Ramble---------------
MD9: vs Polar Islandstates (69) - Stade de la Victoire, Roi Ville W 5-3 (4th)
MD10: vs Sudilia (84) - Estadio Universidad Carlandas, Carlandas W 3-1 (4th)
---------------Ramble---------------
MD11: @Zwangzug (19) - Wayr Stadium, Rackham Range
MD12: vs East Leaf (266) - Estádio do Pacífico, Rio Pacífico
---------------Ramble---------------
MD13: @Valanora (1) - Hatire Memorial, Capri
MD14: vs Megistos (UR) - Zebra Stadium, Toropo/Almadinat
---------------Ramble---------------
MD15: @The Godlands I (201) - Ascended Stadium, Koroa City
MD16: vs Equestria (Equestrian States) (108) - Tiankong Stadium, Tiankong
---------------Ramble---------------
MD17: BYE
MD18: @Polar Islandstates (69) - Nasjonale Stadion, Franz Josef City

[Sarzonia]

I've got a bad feeling about this.

That was the first thought that crossed Bill Kelley's mind as his mobile phone rang whilst he was mindlessly doomscrolling. He wasn't part of the Sarzonian national football team's preparations for their away match against Katzeburg. He wasn't in his hotel room taking a shower and preparing for a night out with his mates.

It was his own damn fault that he was flying to Portland instead of Katzeberg. If only I'd shut up instead of running my mouth, he thought bitterly as he stared out the window of his cabin.

He wasn't homophobic. At least he didn't think so. He argued repeatedly that his problems with Spencer Wilson had nothing to do with Wilson being gay, and instead because he was a pretentious blue-blooded asshole who felt he was superior to all his mates.

It was the fantasy he told himself in an attempt to sleep better at night. And besides, he picked that club because there was no cover charge and he was friends with the bartender working that night. The bar didn't really discriminate against the LGBTQIA+ community. That would be against the law. They just ... didn't exactly roll out a rainbow carpet for them. But he was convinced Wilson would be welcomed as a star on the football team.

Rubbish. He knew the real truth. The club wasn't "restricted" in the sense that Wilson couldn't get in, but Wilson knew damn well what kind of place it was. But one other truth was showing itself that day Caleb Rush decided Sarzonia wasn't going to have a homophobe on its squad.

Kelley knew his tendency to run his mouth and speak without really thinking about the implications of his speech before the words spilt out for all to hear. And now, that tendency just bit him on his largest muscle, and here he was after reading a heated email from his agent fuming about the damage control he would have to perform on Kelley's behalf.

He grimaced, stuffed his mobile into his front right trouser pocket, hoping that it would bear the same result as taking food off a stove burner. He took a sip of the Mariner's Grog he'd ordered a few minutes before, then stared out the window.

The clouds the jet was flying beside were mesmerizing and provided a brief respite for a mind traveling faster than light. He pulled out the mobile again and began staring at his social media feed when he heard Roger Daltrey of The Who singing "Who Are You?" and seeing the telltale graphic indication of a phone number he didn't recognise.

He was tempted to just let the phone go to voicemail, but he felt for some reason that it actually was a call he had to take. He answered.

"Mr. Kelley, this is Gwen with the Chief Counsel's office," the voice began.

"Chief counsel?"

"For the ISFPA" Kelley's eyes widened briefly and flashed a look of surprise. Of course, she didn't see the reaction, but she would be able to pick up on it from what Kelley would say next.

"Oh!" The ISFPA or the Incorporated Sarzonian Football Players Association, the players union his agent had contacted on his behalf to explore the possibilities of either legal action or at least filing a grievance. Kelley had been in contact with his agent about the aftermath of his removal from the team, but the prospect of a lawsuit or grievance hadn't been discussed in any major depth.

"I just got notice from Mr. Caster that, unfortunately, we don't see a path forward for anything, lawsuit, grievance, any of that," Gwen said. "Labour laws are skewed in favour of the employer, especially when they've documented prior attempts to resolve issues leading to termination. In addition, the CBA gives managers leeway to act in what the CBA describes as "the best interests of the team."

Kelley was no dummy, at least where it came to whether there was a realistic chance of even so much as a grievance against Rush that would stick. The Collective Bargaining Agreement left the door open for action against an abusive or neglectful manager, and Rush was neither.

Kelley delivered a defeated sigh. He suspected that it would be a long shot to be able to file a winning grievance. The chances of a lawsuit going anywhere were even more remote.

"Thanks, Gwen," he said in a low monotone. He wasn't going to push his agent to contact a lawyer on his own accord. He knew his only shot was if the ISFPA challenged it on his behalf. When the call hung up, he put the phone back in the same trouser pocket and stared out at the clouds.

Meanwhile, Sarzonia would get a goal from Wilson in the second minute of second half stoppage time to deliver a vital 1-0 away victory and momentarily keep the current World Cup 97 qualifying cycle from slipping into irrelevance for a now-underachieving Stars side.

None of that mattered to a dejected Kelley, who pointedly was not watching his former mates or cheering for their success. If they failed and it cost Rush his job, he'd allow himself a strong sense of schadenfreude.

He had other things on his mind as the plane began its slow descent.

[Zenic]

"Who are these magicians you have in the analysis department here in Manacus?"

"The best of the best. Well, mostly. Obviously, being a government agency, we have a budget we need to adhere to but we scouted and interviewed strategically." Soo-min had stopped by the FZF headquarters to check in on Killian and the Survivors squad before some important meetings nearby. What meetings were those? That was need to know and most people around Soo-min did not need to know.

"An amazing turnaround, thanks in part to them. Now you've got the opportunity to both extend your lead over the 6 teams below you and close the gap against the top two teams. Definitely seemed like a pipe dream a few international periods ago." Killian chuckled with a bit of annoyance. "Indeed. A distant fifth place up to a hopeful fifth place and now a third place where we control our own destiny. I knew it would happen but definitely did not expect it like this. Three wins out of the last four games including back to back 3-0 wins is just nice to see," replied Killian, scrolling through some reports he had received recently. "Gentile came back in a huge way with a hat trick on the road against Of the Holy See while we got the unexpected trio of Trac, Devor and Seamons scoring against Delitai in the return match."

Soo-min gave a little clap of congratulations. "Starting off the second half of qualifying with a 2-0 record against an opponent is a good omen, if I'm not mistaken. And you got draws in the first matches against your next two opponents so winning records against three opponents is possible." Killian didn't respond as he looked over the scouting sheets for the next two teams: Baker Park and Adab. "Yeah, that would be nice. Though it won't be easy: Baker Park currently is on a hot streak and leads Group 8 while we face Adab on the road which is always a tougher challenge. Momentum will certainly help us and we do have history on our side nothing comes guaranteed." The two went silent in reflection until Killian

"Let's see what Zys can cook up."

[HOT-DAMN]

A WORLD CUP CAMPAIGN FROM A BAR
By Jennifer Perkins, the Buckridge Sentinel

KENSINGTON TOWN - A quiet, unassuming bar on the corner of Mill Lane and Waters Drive in Kensington Town looks like any other bar in the Buckridge area. There is no indication of the incredible story playing out inside the bar’s four walls, nor is there any indication from the regulars, at first glance, that something spectacular is happening there.

And even going through the unassuming red door of Laughing Dog Bar and Grill, it doesn’t look as if it is a place that houses the most incredible story of these World Cup qualifiers going on right now.

But, as bar owner James Eaton says, that’s the way he likes it.

“We don’t really like putting up too much of an image,” Eaton said from his familiar spot at the end of the L-shaped bar. “We’re a bunch of guys that like playing football, drinking beer and having a good time. That’s really all we are. We’re not world-class footballers, we’re not billion-dollar talents, we’re guys with day jobs.”

Eaton points at different people at the bar for examples of the “Average Joe” that compete for Laughing Dog in the World Cup qualifiers. He first points to two gentlemen on the other side of the bar. One, a man with a dark mullet hairstyle and a black t-shirt, is having a light conversation with a balding gentleman wearing a bright striped shirt.

“The guy in the shirt is the worst god damn arcade game player in the known world,” Eaton said. “He got the fire department out here because he accidentally blew up an arcade machine because he couldn’t win a single game. But he’s about the best midfielder I ever seen. And the guy he’s talking to? I’ve had to ask him to stop eating the pickled eggs because he’ll just gorge on them. But I’ll be damned if he didn’t get that hat trick against Indusse.”

Clifford and Downer: Unlikely Heroes

Eaton is talking about Jimmy Clifford and Charlie Downer. Clifford is the one that is forbidden from going near the bar’s new arcade machine, while Downer is the one with the voracious appetite. But yet, both have contributed to Laughing Dog’s successes in ways that felt impossible.

When asked about the arcade machine, all Clifford could do was laugh.

“It’s not that I’m terrible at it, it’s just that, you know, I get into it, and I want to succeed,” Clifford said. “I let my emotions get the better of me, one thing led to another, and next thing I knew the machine went boom.”

Clifford, a copywriter for leading advertising firm Allen and Company, said the World Cup experience has been unlike anything he has ever dealt with.

He explained the typical beer leaguer experience and how different it is from what they are facing competing in the World Cup 97 qualifications.

“It’s one thing to play guys like us on Sundays for fun,” Clifford said. “We’ll travel to places in the area, and we’ll play teams like ours. We’ll take to some field, play a casual - but competitive - game, and when we’re done, we all go to their bar or ours and we’ll run up a huge bar tab. It’s about as low-stakes as it gets.”

Downer, who works as a transportation analyst for the Buckridge City government, agreed with that assessment and compared the World Cup experience.

“We come out from under the tunnel and there’s tens of thousands of fans,” Downer said. “There’s television cameras everywhere and people with still cameras capturing your every move. You look around and you realize how big of a deal this is. A hundred thousand football junkies and God knows how many watching on the television. Kinda makes you wanna cry.”

But yet, both players have lived up to the challenge of playing in the world’s most prestigious sporting event. Downer scored three goals in the team’s stunning 5-3 victory over Indusse, one of the top teams in the group, and two more goals in the team’s recent 4-0 domination of Beepee.

“At the end of the day, these guys are humans just like the rest of us,” Downer said. “The only difference is they’re career footballers. We have day jobs.”

Clifford agreed, saying the World Cup experience has been so much different than what they expected, and different from what they were told.

“You know, it’s funny, everyone we spoke to said we’d get our asses kicked,” Clifford said as he sipped on his beer. “Everyone said we’d be lucky to tie with a team like Beepee, but here we are, fourth in our group, we’ve tied Kelssek, beat Indusse, and we’re capable of anything.”

Another member of the team - one that fits the bill of a footballer that doesn’t look like one - walks up. He is Zack Webster, another starting midfielder on the Laughing Dog squad. He works as a technician for the Venerable Television affiliate in Buckridge and looks the part, too.

“I don’t see why we can’t qualify”

If Webster is anything, he is confident in his abilities and those of his teammates. He acknowledges that his squad is punching far above its weight, but if it can keep doing that, it could have a chance to do something spectacular.

“I mean, we probably won’t make it,” Webster said. “We’ll probably be in the Cup of Harmony, but you know, I don’t see why we can’t qualify for (the World Cup proper). All throughout the qualifying, we’ve been told we can’t do it. We’ve been told we’ll get our ass kicked. But then we prove them wrong. I don’t see why we can’t keep proving them wrong.”

Downer contemplated what it would be like if Laughing Dog actually made it to the World Cup Proper being held in Pasarga and Eastfield Lodge this year.

“I mean, it’s unbelievable just to think about,” Downer said. “I just do this one game at a time and that’s all we do. But if it ever happens, I’ll tell you what it’s like.”

This is the first time that the World Cup Proper will feature 48 teams, up from 32 a year ago.

While some in the sporting media have said the increased field has “diluted” the World Cup, the Laughing Dog squad doesn’t see it that way.

“You’ve still got to be competitive to win it,” Clifford said. “You can’t just coast and hope you make it. There’s some damn good teams in our group. Mytanija’s in the group. Mainline Hapilopper’s in the group. Kelssek’s in the group. Indusse is in the group. It almost doesn’t seem fair that one of those teams aren’t even going to make a playoff run this year because of how deep this group is.”

“We are too,” Downer chimed in. “Maybe two of those teams won’t make it.”

Eaton, however, doesn’t even want to think of it.

“One moment we’re getting lost on a flight, we accidentally end up in Anaia and next thing we know we’re competitive in our World Cup qualifying group,” Eaton said. “I’m not even concerned with what’s going to happen next. We’re just going to go about this the best way we can.”

[Milchama]

"So we're 8th"

"What do you mean?"

"We're 8th in the third place qualifiers"

"What does that mean?"

"It means that we would miss out on auto qualifying by 1 spot and have to go to the playoffs"

"Oh that sucks"

"Exactly"

"Is this a vast conspiracy against us?"

"Yes, there is no possible other explanation for us not quite being good enough at football other than vast conspiracy"

"Ok, I'm glad we're in agreement on this very obvious point"

"Yes we are"

"What is the grand conspiracy?"

"To stop Milchama from making the World Cup"

"Why is there a vast conspiracy to do that?"

"Mostly because they think these RPs suck and would rather not read them"

"Is that why we didn't make the CoH last time?"

"Probably"

"Is this disillusionment?"

"Oh no, I still enjoy making the RPs but apparently others don't like reading them"

"Is this you begging for attention so that people in TGs and on Discord will say, 'yes Mil, we actually like your silly RPs'"

"Nah, we already know they're polarizing because people tell me all the time they're polarizing"

"Fair enough"

"By the way did you see the continuation of the conspiracy in baseball?"

"What do you mean?"

"Despite winning 2 games we were told we won 1 game and were eliminated from the WBC"

"Wow that only furthers the conspiracy"

"Everything is part of the conspiracy"

"Us complaining about a minor tick in terms of when groups come out?"

"Part of the conspiracy"

"ESF responding, reasonably"

"Part of the conspiracy"

"Us not responding because we didn't want to make it worse but hopefully making it obvious that it wasn't a big deal?"

"Part of the conspiracy"

"That this is mostly meaningless drivel"

"Part of the conspiracy"

"Great, it's all a conspiracy all the way"

"You know what can stop it?"

"Stop being dumb"

"That and Margaret"

"Right her"

"So let us pray"

"Yes"

"Say what I say and do what I do"

"''Ringa pakia!''
''Uma tiraha!''
''Turi whatia!''
''Hope whai ake!''
''Waewae takahia kia kino!''
''Ka mate, ka mate''
''Ka ora, ka ora''
''Ka mate, ka mate''
''Ka ora, ka ora''
''Tēnei te tangata pūhuruhuru''
''Nāna nei i tiki mai whakawhiti te rā''
''Ā upane, ka upane''
''Whiti te rā, hī!''

"Now repeat after me!"

"Forini! Forini!"
"Finidi! Finidi!"
"George! George!"
"Oh Brother! Oh brother!"

*They strip and run around for 14 minutes*

"We pray the Margaret of SnubNose 38 and Random Number God that you may deliver us victory over all infidels that we face in international play"

"Sacrifice the Rubber Chicken!"

*Swoosh of an axe and the chicken is dead*

"Margaret we pray that you take this sacrifice of a rubber chicken in good faith and that by your deliverance Milchama does well in all international competitions"

"Come on You Warriors!"

"Let's Go Milchama!"

[Langenia]

Noticias: Deportes A Historic Defeat And Historic Victory Two historic games marked Match Days 9 and 10 played at home for Los Azules including their worst-ever defeat at the hands of West Barack and East Obama and then their largest margin of victory so far in a game over Caribbia. Calls for coach Enrique Vargas to resign or be fired and for goalkeepers Eduardo Arnal and Isidoro Alvarado to be cut from the squad reached a fever pitch after a 4-0 defeat at Diego Talaman Stadium meted out by a strong and experienced West Barack and East Obaman team. As if attempting to quiet the media firestorm or simply expressing frustration over the way their World Cup qualification campaign has been going, the Langenian national team would then inflict a 7-2 blowout win against Caribbia, silencing the critics for now and snapping their four-game losing streak. West Barack and East Obama, who are currently 22nd in world rankings, would begin the scoring on Match Day 9 with Lily Chobamya's corner kick being headed in by center-back Nossu Obamadamus at the 11th minute. With West Barack and East Obama continuously foiling Langenian attacks and counterattacking, Los Azules fullback Pablo Molina's desperate attempt to stop the opposing team's onslaught would result in him conceding a handball in the penalty area, allowing for Fred Olibama to score off a spot kick in the 33rd minute. Down 2-0 as the second half began, Los Azules would attempt to make a comeback as Oscar Galindo and Raul Guzman performed a series of one-two passes to penetrate the opposing defense and allow for Guzman to end up one-on-one with Obaman goalkeeper Dwayne Obama. Unfortunately, Obama would manage to best Guzman, blocking the striker's shot and then throwing himself in the way of the follow-up to prevent a golden opportunity for the Langenians. Now desperate, the Langenian attacks seemed to continuously fall apart and give way to Obaman counterattacks, and Ivan Elvira's poor slide tackle would foul Obaman midfielder Brett Pogama and give away a free kick. Lily Chobamya would put the ball into the back of the Langenian net in the 56th minute in a kick that curled over the Langenian defenders and past Eduardo Arnal. In the 89th minute, Los Azules would undergo one last indignity as Fred Olibama would dribble past the Langenian defense to score directly on Arnal one last time, ending the match 4-0 in favor of West Barack and East Obama in front of a silent and grieving home crowd. Perhaps sensing blood in the water, Caribbia would seek to attempt revenge on the Langenians at Diego Talaman Stadium as they scored an early goal in the 12th minute on Match Day 10 on a header from a corner kick. Unfortunately for them, they would awaken something within a frustrated Langenian team eager to snap their losing streak. Raul Guzman would score the first Langenian goal of the game off a spectacular overhead kick from a corner to tie the game in the 19th minute. This marked the beginning of a volley of Los Azules goals as Daniel Gallegos sent the ball rocketing into the Caribbian net in the 24th minute. Oscar Galindo would put his name on the score board with two goals at the 29th and 37th minutes that were the results of successful penetrations of the Caribbian defense allowing the Langenian captain to score directly from within the penalty area. In the 48th minute, Galindo would get another goal after rainbow flicking the ball over a defender to score again from directly within the penalty area, completing a hat trick. Guzman and Gallegos would be substituted off for midfielder Ernesto Cambro and striker Juan Magrina, who would each proceed to score after slotting in crosses from Oscar Galindo and Rafael Semprun at the 63rd and 80th minutes, respectively. Caribbia would end their match scoring an 87th minute chip shot to give them a second goal that was without celebration. As the final whistle blew the score of 7-2 provided a form of vindication to a struggling Los Azules side, with the thousands of fans cheering the long-awaited victory, and a historic one as well. Los Azules players and staff surprisingly declined to talk the media after the win over Caribbia, allegedly due to a media blackout imposed by manager Enrique Vargas. They remain at sixth place in their qualification group even after the 7-2 win, likely a result of their previous 4-0 loss to West Barack and East Obama. This is indicative of the challenges that they will continue to face in a tough qualification group, with Match Day 11 away against heavyweight Huayramarca who handed Los Azules a defeat earlier in their campaign. Match Day 12 will see a rematch against Libesia, who the Langenians previously bested 4-3 in a close game. Upcoming Los Azules Matches MD11: Huayramarca vs Langenia MD12: Langenia vs Libesia

[Xanneria]

The following is taken from a picturebook entitled "The Railroads of Xanneria" a sister publication of "The Railroads of the Yak Empire"

---

XANNERIA - 3
Young' 38'
Burnes 55'
Haddix 80'

---

EDSMONTIK - 3
Wejika 43' 84'
Steuro 77'

XANNERIA - 1
Burnes 11'

---

NEW FERNIA - 0
NONE'

[Flavovespia]

The Pyramid
Level 3

Level 3, National League Division 1, and the history of this level is quite varied. From 16BU to 8BU, Level 3 was effectively the United and Eastern League Division 2, a League that despite the name, was nationwide and partially merged into the then GWNFA pyramid for a brief period. When the GWNFA system collapsed, a new Level 3 was established in 2AU, taking in the 14 top sides outside the inaugural GWFA (now FFL) League system, and the bottom 2 of the 1AU National League 1. It was National League 2 in 2AU, before a change to simply National League in 3AU. For 8AU, Level 3 split into the Western League and Eastern League, before the formation of National League Division 1 in 30AU.

The jumping between formats has always been a slight point of contention at this level, however the key benefit is the professionalism and competitiveness of National League Division 1. Fights for promotion, playoffs and relegation can go right down to the wire, and even clubs with semi-pro backgrounds who have recently gone pro, can challenge. Conversely, even former Super League sides can struggle to escape here. Clubs who’ve been in the Super League here in the IFCF era, but are now Level 3 include Croxlich and Narrock Wood United, along with one time Super League club in 1AU, Johns Park. Alstone, Oxwich Wood and Hadford Dacorum meanwhile, are examples of smaller clubs, even semi-pro at times, punching above their past weight.

Weekly salaries of more than £1000 per week are not unheard of at this level, and squad size is 23. Plenty of players here are in their prime, but there’s a fair few ex-Super League stars or academy players, and even the odd former international from time to time. The stadium size guideline is 2500 capacity, although the minimum standards are no greater than Level 4. It’s a contrast between Stadia built for the Super League, and the little grounds with barely a few stands in them. 2 games a matchday get televised at this level, and plenty of casual fans recognise teams at this level.

Cup runs for these sides are a dream, especially in the Flavovespia Gold Cup. The run to the semi finals by Langpool Capton a few seasons back was a dream for them, and has helped propel the team upwards. Like Level 4, the Level 3 teams enter in Round 1, where in the Flavovespia Gold Cup they’re the big guns for one round. In the League Cup ambitious sides at this Level are a tricky fixture to visit for the top 2 tiers. Probably the most famous League Cup run of them all came from a Level 3 side, in 21AU Boll Lake Mariners won the League Cup despite their minnows status, a dream come true for the club.

Whilst over the years this level has been tinkered with, National League Division 1 now sits in a stable position. A League where some fallen larger clubs and ambitious smaller clubs can fight to the final Matchday for promotion. A foundation for professionalism in football in Flavovespia, and proof the nation can comfortably support at least 3 national tiers.

[Hapilopper]

Center Street Pub, Hapilopper City
A day after World Cup 97 Qualifying Match 9: Hapilopper 2-1 Indusse

Thom Perkins, happily recovered from the flu he had suffered before the Ile de Richelieu match, had returned to the sideline after the Indusse match, just in time to watch his Haps take a crucial 2-1 victory over Indusse over at Capital Stadium and put the team in second place in the group - a place that Thom didn’t expect he’d find himself in. With this day, the day after the match, an off-day for the Hapiloppian team, Thom decided to make the most of it.

Center Street Pub in Hapilopper City had been, for many a year, considered the popular go-to spot for the football community in the City. Located just below street level of one of the City’s many high-rise buildings, people had to go down a staircase and through a nondescript door to enter what was hardly the flashiest place in Hapilopper City. It was certainly not a place that catered to the younger population, and more often than not, loud parties that came in and became the center of attention realized that their behavior was neither acceptable nor normal in Center Street. Instead, you had footballers, journalists and other individuals looking for a quiet place to have a drink and chill out.

This was the kind of place where the world’s top footballers could rub elbows with a random person on the street and not feel harassed. And that’s why Center Street was so popular among the footballing crowd.

And that’s why Thom Perkins came here time after time. He walked in, bellied up to the bar and realized that Ernie Stevenson, his assistant, had the same idea. Figuring they could spend a moment together and contemplate the upcoming second half of the qualifying campaign, Thom moved over right next to Ernie, who silently nodded his head acknowledging who had moved over.

“So, I never got to thank you for covering for me on such short notice,” Thom said. “There was no way I could have made it out there, the way I was feeling.”

“No problem,” Ernie responded. “I saw the way you were, you weren’t doing anything.”

“So, tell me something, we’re halfway through, we’re doing something pretty great to begin with, do you think...” Thom started.

“Think what?” Ernie asked.

“...I kind of don’t even want to say it,” Thom trailed off. “But, you know, this campaign has gone so much better than we expected. This campaign has gone beyond our expectations, you wouldn’t suppose we might have a shot, would you?”

“Sure we do,” Ernie responded without hesitating. “There’s something about these guys that I really like. I saw it in the Esportivan series. I see it now. Look behind you.”

A handful of Hapiloppian players were having a few beers at a table near the back of the bar. Herb Watts, the midfielder with a taste for trash television was sitting there with Tad Winslow, the goal-scoring midfielder. Winslow had a legal pad with him and appeared to be sketching a few things. Also with them were Ben Fairchild, the fast-driving striker, Scott Roundtree, the least-assholish starting defender on the squad and Rod Cutt, the most-assholish starting defender on the squad. All appeared to be having a good time.

Thom nodded his head and then looked back forward. He then looked at Ernie and smiled.

“Do they know we’re here?” Thom asked.

“Nah,” Ernie replied. “I made it a point to not bug them. They don’t need a coach near them at all times. They’re not going to start trouble and they’re not going to cause any problems. I don’t want them clamming up nor do I want them feeling like they have to put on a front because I’m here or you’re here.”

“So, don’t buy them a round?” Thom asked.

“No,” Ernie said. “Unless one of them sees us. I don’t want shit to get weird, you know? They chose to do this on their own.”

“Got ya,” Thom responded.

The players never knew Thom and Ernie were there. They kept to themselves and the others in Center Street left the players alone. And that’s why Center Street was so popular among the Hapilopper City footballing community - just like how Andrew’s Pub was so popular among the racers of the City.

“But do you know why that’s so good?” Ernie asked.

“Tell me,” Thom said. “I think I know what it is, but I want to hear it from you.”

“Sure,” Ernie said. “I’ve been in locker rooms where guys can hardly stand to be around each other. I’ve been in locker rooms where I don’t speak to anyone because no one can stand to speak to anyone. And they sure as hell don’t get together at Center Street to have some cold ones. I’ve been in locker rooms where teammates threw punches at each other and not enjoying a beer together. The fact they’re doing that? That’s fuckin’ huge, Perkins.”

Thom nodded his head.

“And that’s why I’m optimistic,” Ernie said. “These guys have gelled. You can’t force that and you can’t teach that.”

[Commonwealth of Baker Park]

© Sporting Times Weekend 2024
Bees control their own destiny for returning to WC
by Mindy Cartwright, National Soccer Editor

The Baker Park National Team made the turn at the halfway mark of World Cup 97 Qualifying with a pair of victories that pushed BP back into the top spot in Group 8 that also provide a cushion against the trailing pack.

The doubleheader fixtures at the BBP National Stadium were significant in the chase to snap a two cycle streak of not making the field for the World Cup Finals by maintaining the momentum that's carried the side to seven straight victories in WCQ, last achieved in World Cup 91.

It was a set piece extravaganza that sent the Bees past Adab as Erika Riley found the back of the net from 24 yards out on a free kick just seven minutes after halftime, and Michael O'Connor heading home from a Rob D'Alessandro corner 12 minutes later which provided enough offense take all three points; four days later United Hawkland provided the opposition, standing toe to toe against BP once again but unable to break through as Beth Rossi kept a second straight clean sheet—the third straight shutout after a 22 match drought in WCQ—with Andrea Kirby's seeing eye shot to the top corner on the near side the lone tally.

Baker Park have gone unbeaten since their matchday 1 away defeat to United Hawkland and will head into the toughest part of the return fixture list with away dates in Zenic and Tumbra sandwiching the visit of North Ohanran Valley Union to Rogers Stadium.

BP will make their second appearance at Philosophia Colisseum in Manacus looking to improve upon the 1-0 loss they suffered on the final matchday of WCQ 96; the home side struggled after their 4-4 draw at the CONAGCO Stadium but have found better form as the second half of the tournament gets underway.

Lineup vs Zenic MD 11

Cotterill; Andrews, Lohmeyer, McKenzie; Park, Garfield, Vetter ( C), Prince; Grayson; Hardison, Riley
subs: Dickerson, Taylor, Schulman, Morris, C. Logan, D'Alessandro, Morgan, Ikiedieze, Khan, Sonjini

Lineup vs NOVU MD 12

Dickerson; Frost, O'Connor, Taylor; C. Logan ( C), Ryan, S. Logan, A Boyle; Phan; Ikiedieze, Sonjini
subs: Duffy, Schulman, Milner, Flannigan, Douglas, Howard, Romero, Cohen-Abdullah, Khan, Engels

[The 14 Stars]

Starsian new era

As the elections go on the team comes together more and more, Keire Walcott organizing things very well and she invests alot of time connecting the rookies and the veterans through off-time activities for teambuilding.
This not only creates a good atmosphere but also really connects the players, yes it does cost a bit more money but the sponsors are happy to provide as long as the team keeps sight of the world cup qualification.
Its their goal, the teams goal, the sponsors goal, the coach's goal and even the nation's top priority at the moment because they really think they have a shot at it this time even better then last time but they also know tough opponents await.

In the match against the nation called Quakmybush a nation we faced earlier long ago we started strong as Phillips and Schulz each score early goals only to be overturned by Quak's forwards.
First a corner poorly defended out of reach for Davis goes in, its clear that it was poor defense from Olsen who had not communicated correctly with Zaratti which caused the forward to get free and get the opportunity to score an easy goal on us.
You would think improvement would appear but it certainly was not the case, a second goal was scored this just being very well played despite good defense this was a perfect combination leading to a opportunity from the edge of the box which was scored, this followed by right before halftime a sensational strike from a free kick into the top corner out of reach for Emily Davis as they overturned two goals in a single half.
This was far from good, Keira was quite angry at the poor defensive choices.
Keira Walcott took out Olsen and replaced her with the very person that lost her starter spot to Olsen, Jade Williams hoping that Jade could bring more stability and calm to the defense while also bringing in Iris Olivier believing she currently has what the team needs most......creativity to break open this match and another rookie also making her debut.
Selena Corson the daughter of Doran Corson was at last making her debut on the international stage subbing in for Joy Sol hoping with new young players a more bold and creative team would appear for Walcott.
In this very second half this indeed unfolded as they young players got to work and Williams stabilized the defense having better communication with Zaratti after years of experience where Olsen yet had to work on that, the team quickly equalized thanks to Iris Olivier and this same Iris Olivier went on to score two more goals each served by creativity of Selena Corson and beautiful assists from Lina Hansen the other young player that was making name and fame on the field as the young Starsians played together beautifully.
They overpowered and overcame Quakmybush leaving them behind with a 3-5 defeat as the Wolves took home the 3 points gracefully in a post game interview most of the Wolves saying it was a tough game but everyone pulled their weight and pulled through.
Julio Reyes his ideology to really create a team feeling and to stay close to the team identity and take new players into that quickly also worked wonders on the senior team and would boost him towards the elections even if Flare still was a favourite.


On the 10th matchday Nova Calania was the opponent and the Starsians started off with the regular starting eleven nothing special, the match got under way and the teams were pretty evenly matches throughout the first half.
It was only at the end of the first half when Nova Calania took the lead scoring once out of a great attack where Zaratti was a second too late to prevent a shot but it went past Davis and in the back of the net.
They were again behind during half time, however Nova Calania was a creative opponent, alot of creativity would not work against them so she needed something straightforward but also more physical game in the team.
This called for changes Eva Weber was replacing Grace Edwards for that in the defense while Hansen was taken off to make room for veteran Ozan Karazhan who had more physical game then young female player Hansen who was fast and technical and Schulz was making room for Lukas Lauritzen the young striker who would make his second appearance this tournament.
Again the subs worked wonders and in the second half three goals were scored and all of them were scored by Lauritzen who played a formidable game with a header from a corner, a rebound from a free kick and a counter-attack set up by Kira Blade letting him get a one on one with the opposing goalie to score a hattrick marking an unheard second match for this young player, he was a great talent up and coming but even now already making his name in the Starsian history books earning the team 3 needed points in their qualification.

In a post match interview they were looking towards the rematch with the Qusmo team and this is what the coach, captain and Lauritzen said.

Interviewer: ''Qusmo's team was last time overwhelmed by the young and vibrant style of playing however this time they will be prepared, how are the Wolves going to take down this opponent and secure more points?''

Walcott: ''Well there is not always a solid answer, sure they are talented but as shown they also have their own achilles heel and if we can play a good game and our style of football fast paced and energetic i believe we can win.
We must not let them get into the game, if we do that we're having a bigger problem as they are no joke they are ranked higher for a reason.''

Interviewer: ''Can you tell us anything about the line-up, any changes?''

Walcott: ''Im certainly not saying anything on that, it will be a surprise for everyone.''

Interviewer: ''Do you think your team has the right to qualify for the world cup and will be able to do so?''

Walcott: ''Yes i believe it, they have worked hard for years to get to this point and the current look of things is good but we must not get carried away thinking we already have it in the bag.
We yet have to play nations like Qusmo, Baggieland and Chromatika and we need results from them aswell if we really want to have a shot, if we cannot beat the best we will not qualify thats how cruel it is, but i believe this team if they play well and focus can qualify.''




Interviewer: ''Kira as captain how do you look on the team preformance today?''

Kira: ''It was a real team effort just like last match no matter whether you are a starter or reserve we need every single player and those two matches clearly showed that even our reserves are important as they changed our game and made us win.''

Interviewer: ''How do you look at the rookies? are you afraid of losing your spot to them or being diffrent from them?''

Kira: ''Not at all, im very proud of them and they really are a talented bunch ready to take over soon, we are currently living our dream but all of us at one point sooner or later will have to admit that we can no longer play the role we want.
However right now our rookies must learn and gain experience in matches like these, they will need that experience to bring themselves to even greater heights then what we currently have achieved.''

Interviewer: ''You soon face Qusmo again, their team hosts alot of veterans just like you and the last time your young players pretty much ran circles around them do you find it hard to watch such a team?''

Kira: ''Their team holds alot of experience, that is a choice their coach makes to choosen experience over youth but the downside is that their younger players will not gain the experience like our youngsters on this tournament.
I look forward to a great match with them, they are fair players and i know that they did not injure me on purpose, that was really an accident and those happen in football but i hope to last the whole match this time.''



Interviewer: ''Congrats on the win Lukas you must be pretty pumped about scoring a hattrick like this.''

Lauritzen: ''Yes its awesome to score those goals and help my team win but also a big thanks to the team preparing those goals and giving the correct pass and assists i needed thats something a striker must never forget.''

Interviewer: ''Do you think you deserve a place as starter? all rookie players have been doing great this tournament''

Lauritzen: ''Honestly as much as i would love it i think it would not be right, i respect players like Kai and Chloe and they have worked years to get to their level and i have alot of time ahead of me so i believe i will get my chances.
Im glad my friends do good too though, i really enjoy playing with players like Lina, Iris, Johanna and Kimora all of us are very excited to be here and we hope to learn alot from the older players.''

Interviewer: ''Next is Qusmo as a big game, do you think you get a starter spot?''

Lauritzen: ''I would be surprised if i did honestly but if the coach believes she needs my abilities on the field i will gladly do it ofcourse, i am honoured to be allowed to make my debut at this age and play a key role in a game like this.
I think against Qusmo we got our chances but focus is key, if we dont focus we will waste points and we cant afford that now.''

[Kanzlia]

Double disaster at home
STORY OF THE DAY – SPORTS

SZBEDANSK, KANZLIA – The Exiles spectacularly lost back to back matches against Vdara and Panay Islands and Guimaras - both times at home.

It's several nights to forget for Kanzlian supporters as the team let down the entire country with back to back defeats in Matchday 9 to 10. Playing at home against Vdara, the nicer side of West Vdara, secured a 1-0 victory at the Stadia Szbedansk to the dismay of 45,000 home supporters. It was a match which saw Nick Hesselink start, even after his disaster against Aleirave. Many have put the blame on Hesselink who was subbed out in the 75th minute.

The next game against Panay Islands and Guimaras also ended badly with the Carabaos leading by one goal before half time from an effort by Ricalde. The 19 year old would score again in the second half with a spectacular long range effort. Ending the game 1-2 in favour of Panay Islands and Guimaras.

With the back-to-back defeats, the Exiles remain firm on 4th place but the gap between 3rd place Aleirave had increased to 4 points and 5th place Panay Islands and Guimaras encroaches Kanzlia with a precarious one point gap separating the two. The +1 goal difference will not help in the 3rd place qualification so for Kanzlia to comfortably qualify is to finish 2nd in the group. Vdara currently sits second with a gap of 7 points from Kanzlia. Or score 7 without conceding any in the next game. We don't want to be a sourpuss but that is realistically impossible.

Regardless, a 3rd place finish will still allow Kanzlia one chance to qualify but with a bad goal difference, let alone our low ranking, the Exiles will remain firmly the worst team in the 3rd place qualification. That is if we finish third at the end of it.

"Disastrous." remarked pundit Johan Letos.

[Juvencus]

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

OVEREXERTION IN SPORTS: A CASE FOR LA SQUADRA

As World Cup cycles are an annual phenomenon in Juvencus, the honor of being bestowed la squadra's jersey means the player has to play many more games than any non-international. Games with clubs for Serie A, for Copa, for international competitions, both the IFCF and FFI kind and on top of that, playing most international breaks until the end of the season. A tiresome lifestyle, despite the amount of rotations in both club and country, as most international players tend to play a minimum 70 games by the end of the season, although this number could be much higher.

As previously stated, rotations are commonplace, especially after the foundation of la squadra back in cycle 77 all the way back to 20 years ago. While Juven humans are of a different cloth to normal humans, with their physical differences lying mostly in higher stamina and faster sprint speed, 70 games are bound to have their impact to the human body regardless. This can also explain inconsistences in the way they play, with high peaks of form and lengthy plateaus against opponents that should be easy to defeat. While no excuse for underperforming, this has profound consequences in the way the team performs.

The purpose of this article is in conjunction to FC Piluzzi's lengthy performances in the Challengers Cup, topping their group, becoming only the second Juven team to both appear in the competition and to top the group. Players like Acquati and Teixeira are pivotal to the squad, as they are for la squadra. With Teixeira having gotten injured in the game against Doubeia and bound to miss 3 league games, as well as the important match against Poafmersia, this has brought debates all over the Juven sports world.

Indeed, the usage of a second team in the Independents Cup is to reduce and mitigate such exhaustion, but the extra resting time used for the main players, many of which are abroad, is of no use for Juven teams and more of a burden. Specifically, seeing many of their otherwise non-internationals get an extra 7-10 games in the season RIGHT before the qualifiers for IFCF competitions could be disastrous. Seeing as only champions have managed to find their way to the group stages of a competition and beyond, these clubs could be right.

Even with the rise of Juven footballers in general, club football still remains the nation's weakness. Despite investment in academies, streaming rights and better tactics, playing time in a competitive enviroment is always an issue that is hard to combat, not because of the overabundance of talent but because of the overabundance of matches. In the future, there are considerations to increase the squad sizes both in the Campionato and la squadra. However for now, the current team size as it stands is what should work, both according to Gaetan and many more conservative critics. Other approaches include the creation of different supplements that could enhance the players' performance legally and reduce likelihood of injuries as well as other improvements in medicine to make sure to mitigate injuries as much as humanly possible. However, rest will have to wait for many players, especially la squadra legends such as Callejon or Kouyaté.

[Recuecn]

Bonheur Relié, ÉNRF manager, spent most of his working hours at le stade national. The ÉNRF training facilities were located there, all of Reçueçn's home games took place there, and Reçueçn City was, in general, usually the best place for national events, even if it was located at the extreme west end of the nation. So almost any event that involved the équipe nationale happened in the capital.

However, le stade national was not the only building devoted to soccer in Reçueçn City. There was Stade Carl III, where Reçueçn FC played, and the much smaller Hôtel Chapelle-Pré, a venue which gave its name to its own club. Les Raptors had their stadium, and there were many smaller fields as well for semi-pro and amateur teams. The sport also boasted more than just stadiums and arenas: the Ministry of Sport itself was located with the rest of the government in the old, gothic castle on top of the hill at the heart of la vieille ville.

But the newest building of all, and the one where Bonheur Relié found himself today, was the headquarters of the FNRF (Fédération Nationale Reçuecienne de Football). The building had been erected just a few years ago in the banlieue--only a few blocks, in fact, from le stade national. Relié had been at the stadium this morning, so he hadn't had to travel very far to make it to the FNRF for the errand he was running this afternoon.

Heissler, Relié's assistant manager, had taken over duties for the afternoon in his boss's absence. Relié trusted Heissler implicitly, although the two had very different styles. Heissler seemed to be a bit more compassionate to the players, although Relié wasn't sure he was demanding enough. But the assistant manager's approachability had made him a favorite with the team as well as the federation. Relié thought Heissler was popular enough that if the time ever came that Relié would be forced to leave the position, Heissler seemed the obvious candidate to replace him.

Relié tried not to let that kind of thing weigh on his mind or affect his relationship with his colleague, but sometimes he could not avoid thinking about it, and when he did his thoughts were often tinged with a little jealousy he was not proud of. This afternoon in particular, Relié found that he kept picturing the announcement of Heissler's accession to the position of manager, imagining it over and over and trying to predict different people's reactions in his mind. He tried to put the thought out of his mind, but found himself unable to focus on anything else. Relié blamed the distraction on his being here at FNRF headquarters.

A few cycles ago, the FNRF had promoted Relié from "Interim Manager" to "Manager", and although they had never put him under too much pressure, they had of course needed to put an end date on his contract. The federation's solution was to make the contract good through the end of World Cup 97, at which time it would come up for "reevaluation". But no one had ever addressed what that reevaluation would look like or what the requirements would be if Relié wanted to keep his job. Relié feared it might simply become a popularity contest--one he was sure he would lose.

All of this ran through his head as he stalked through the halls of the FNRF headquarters. He'd had to drop by in person today to drop off some paperwork and have some last minute conversations with the organizers and coordinators ahead of the upcoming game against Xanneria. Somewhere in this building, there was a meeting room where he was supposed to be right now, but despite knowing he'd probably been in that room before--wherever it was--Relié couldn't seem to find it. Instead, he was lost in the labyrinthine halls of the FNRF, peeking around corners and hoping he wouldn't run into an official on the wrong committee who might sack him on a whim.

Relié turned a corner and saw a figure in the hall ahead of him, taking a drink from a nearby water cooler with his back turned. Relié was about to slap his pockets, pretend he'd forgotten something, and go back the other way, when he realized that he recognized that haircut. He paused, then stepped forward.

"Franky?"

Frank whirled around and spat out his water.

"Sorry, coach!" he spluttered, as he scrambled to grab some paper towels from a nearby table and start wiping up the floor. "I did not expect to see you here."

"Yeah, I mentioned I had a meeting with the federation," said Relié. "That's why Heissler took everything over at the stadium. That's where I thought you were right now. You're not at practice?"

"Uhh... sorry, I think I forgot to tell you. But I told Coach Heissler before I left, that I had to be here for a meeting." Franky seemed confident, which was a good sign. Relié had had far too many opportunities to see him looking guilty and sheepish.

"You're in the meeting?" Relié was incredulous. He flipped through some of the agenda notes he was holding in one hand. "I don't see you listed as one of the attendees."

"I'm not, technically," said Franky. "I got this administrative assistant position from a temp staffing firm I signed up with. My latest assignment has been working here whenever I have time."

"When in the world is that?" asked Relié. "You're playing an international football match later this week, you know."

Now Franky's classic guilty look returned. "Usually when I'm not busy--usually not during practice, or before games. But they said this meeting was incredibly important and I HAD to be here for it, so here I am I guess."

"And what do you actually do during the meetings?" asked Relié.

"Lots of note-taking. A little bit of audio-video support when people do presentations. Anything the clients ask me to do, really."

"And who are your clients?"

"The FNRF."

"Wait." Relié couldn't believe what he was hearing. "So you work for my bosses?"

Franky grinned. "I guess I do."

"Oh no." Relié put his head in his hands. "My own players are going to be bossing me around. What is this world coming to?"

Franky put a hand on his shoulder. "Don't worry coach! I've looked in your dossier--it's all very good stuff. And take it from me, someone who's been job hunting a lot lately--if you do lose your job, then we can maybe do job applications together or something! I'll try to keep an eye out for you. But if you'll excuse me, this meeting is really very important, so I should go now!" And without any further explanation, Franky trotted off down the hall, leaving Relié once again lost in the bureaucratic maze, and in his thoughts.

[Savojarna]

SavojarSports.sj - Savojarna's Sports News Website

Northlights suffer setback in race for 4th; Kruul Jensen positive over first half of qualifying

Written by Ingmar Alfredsson

Sjoedrhavn - Any optimism in the Savojar camp regarding qualification was always justifiedly mild given the six point gap to Sajnur in third place before this weekend, but there were some reasonable hopes of beating Pyazhnaya at home given that Savojarna held the advantage in the table over them, and had their audience behind them. In any case, it was an important match in the race for 4th place that, given the way the table currently looks, coach Nikolai Kruul Jensen had declared to be the team’s goal for this campaign.

“Fourth place would be a notable over-achievement compared to the rankings of those teams. Now, of course, we’ve had our ranking artificially deflated a bit by not playing internationally, but at the same time, we’ve had to make many changes. This isn’t the smooth operation the Savojar team was back under Mikaela Rangren, we are coming out of a scandal that affected many players directly and has harmed their level by robbing them of international competition for two years. We are coming back from a difficult spot, and beating teams like Kimi-Suomi and Pyazhnaya would be a testament to the Northlights truly coming back and healing”, he said when asked if he still had his eyes on the World Cup. That statement from the press conference should quickly come crashing back in the game.

Savojarna started well into the match, setting up in a slightly more defensive than usual stance with both wingbacks playing closer to a back five to counter Pyazhnaya’s offensive style. The Northlights controlled the game well, and set some dangerous counters with Novikov near-missing the goal in the 21st minute and Rasmus Medberg Hansen being arguably denied a penalty half an hour into the game. At half time, the stats showed a slight advantage in possession for Pyazhnaya, but a lead for Savojarna in the shots and corners departments as well as in expected goals, although 0.7 to 0.45 told us we weren’t exactly looking at a match for the highlight reels.

An hour in, it still felt in many ways like we were waiting for the Savojars to finally score that goal they needed, with the game slowing down and Pyazhnaya getting frustrated while the Savojar public surged into Mytanarska, but it all came tumbling down shortly thereafter with a lost ball in midfield, where Vingegaard couldn’t control a long pass and had it stolen away by Misha Retyunskikh. Jarmolenko, who had played a flawless game until that moment, was overrun by Terentyev; the following cross may have been headed away by Röysveit, but this didn’t stop the just subbed in Taras Rybalkin from securing the ball and firing it on goal to go in despite Valujev’s best efforts. Savojarna struggled to get it back on after the goal, going through a ten minute slump before Röysveit headed the ball against the post after a corner and Lasse Holtby, playing on the right wing, missed by about thirty centimetres in the final moments of the match to seal a painful 0-1.

Nevertheless, the voices of the Savojars were positive after the game when asked to look back on the whole first half of the campaign. Captain Kenneth Röysveit said: “It hurts to lose and it always does, but we’ve done a good job out there and it was unlucky, we’re proving we’ve still got it at the international level. We’ve played the way we wanted to, and really all we were missing today is a goal”. Striker Rasmus Medberg Hansen: “I don’t think I had my best game ever, I should have done a bit better with my chances, but also that’s football”. When asked about the penalty situation in the first half, he still argued his case, but accepted the decision: “I’m not sure what exactly happened, or what the referee could see. Simon’s pass was sharp and their guy was right next to me, Ilyushin I think. I was gonna let it bounce to keep him away from the ball, he leaned into me, and suddenly I felt him against my leg, I couldn’t get to the ball. Normally that’s a penalty but I can’t see what he did exactly, it’s bad luck in the end. The referee decides, but if that’s a goal, we have a good chance to win”.

Nikolai Kruul Jensen showed pride in his team despite the current sixth place in the standings. “The group is tight, and we are playing well even when we lose. The squad showed resilience when they came back against Kimi-Suomi and held up against Tanirinthia, and we’re not favourites against them. I feel the squad is clicking better and better, and we’ll try to improve game after game”. When asked about the upcoming duel with Eshialand, currently top of the group following a spectacular win over Restresas, he showed cautious optimism: “They are topping this group and won the first round against us. But we’ve grown better, they just had a bit of a shock tonight, and they’ll have to come here next while we don’t have to travel at all. We’ll prepare well, set up our tactics, and come out swinging. We’re not afraid of anyone, we’ve never lost by more than two this campaign, and we’ve always found some weaknesses to get some goals and give the top teams something to think about. We know we aren’t favourites, but we still want to upset them”. The Eshialand game will take place in three days, at the Bjurman, at 20:45 Sjoedrhavn time, live on STV2.

Savojarna 0-1 Pyazhnaya (0-0)
Nationalstadion Carl Gustaf Bjurman, Sjoedrhavn. Attendance: 71’938

Goals: 67’ Rybalkin 0-1.
Yellow Cards: 33’ Medberg Hansen (complaining), 51’ Vitol, 84’ Gryaznova (both foul).
Red Cards: –
Remarks: Savojarna without Ivanov (injury) and Sadianov (yellow card suspension). 79’ Röysveit (SVJ) hits post.

Savojarna: Valujev - Riksdal, Röysveit, Thelander - Krogstrup (79’ Mäkelä), Vitol (57’ Vantanen), Vingegaard, Jarmolenko - Barisjnikov, Medberg Hansen, Novikov (71’ Holtby).
Pyazhnaya: Chupov - Zabolotnaya, Rastorguyev, Ilyushin, Kharlamov - Terentyev, Novoseltseva (53’ Rybalkin), Retyunskikh, Malykin (71’ Chukreyev) - Kartashov, Obnizova (80’ Gryaznova).

[Aphrilia]

The meeting went as well as Christopher Vermont hoped for.

Jessica Rhine-Faust, Kyra Von Kachel, and Erica Gillingham will be on the senior national team in the future. Not only that, Rhine-Faust will be the future captain... Hopefully so. Though with the reasonings that he can provide, he's convinced that the team and the rest of the staff will support his decision. As for the other players that perhaps need to be replaced, well, he has other ways to find players besides calling them up from the Under 21s. It's how he scouted a lot of the players for the first iteration of the national team back in 95. He's accepted that these players will come and go, as well as the fact he may leave the from managing the team in the future. And speaking of the team itself...

Matchdays Nine and Ten had come and pass. The Anchors grabbed another win and draw, but this still left them in fourth place. The difference was that this time they were only a single point behind third place, which was currently being occupied by Oberour Ar Moro whom had recently received their bye day. More points, and perhaps even a win against them would prove to be valuable for the team's standings in the group. The Anchors still had a top tier defense in Group 13, and their offense was slowly but surely starting to pick up. If there ever was a time for the team to push forward harder than ever, it was likely coming around the corner. But Vermont still had some thoughts about it.

He proceeded to get up from his seat and leave his office.

The national team training facility had a room specifically for the managers to craft up and devise tactics and to teach the team regarding the planned strategies that were conjured. As he headed there, thoughts were lingering on his head. He entered the room and quickly got to work, wiping off the old tactics on the whiteboard and grabbed a marker to conjure new ones. As he was doing so, he pinged and texted the entire team (Well, at least the ones still in the facility confines since it was resting) to come to the drawing room. Once he was done, players started coming into the room. At the end of it, only 16 of them came, but they were some of the tea's key players like Rosberg and Campton, at least.

"Alright, relay this to the rest once we're done. I've devised a few tactical variations on how to go forward for the rest of the campaign."

[Kimi-Suomi]

Ouch Indeed.
We have now lost three games on the bounce.
Ella Ciuru did us in. Twice.

@Pyazhnaya, vs Eshianmaa. Let's see what we can do from here.
NOSTA KUIN HUUHKAJAT!

---

SCHEDULE (Group 3)
MD1: BYE
MD2: vs Pyazhnaya (86) - The Nest [Pesä], Kimi Kaupunki L 0-1 (7th)
------------------------------
MD3: @Eshianmaa [Eshialand] (35) - The Eshialand City SuperDome, Eshialand City L 1-3
MD4: vs Libonesinen [Libonesia] (UR) - Galaktien Colosseum (Colosseum of the Galaxies), Lumikukkulat W 5-1 (6th)
---------------Ramble---------------
MD5: @Tanirinthinen [Tanirinthia] (14) L 2-4
MD6: vs Alesialainen Liitto [Alezian Union] (UR) - The Nest [Pesä], Kimi Kaupunki W 2-0 (4th)
---------------Ramble---------------
MD7: @Restresas (154) D 0-0
MD8: vs Savojarna (136) - Galaktien Colosseum (Colosseum of the Galaxies), Lumikukkulat L 2-3 (6th)
---------------Ramble---------------
MD9: @Sajnur (47) L 1-2
MD10: BYE (8th)
---------------Ramble---------------
MD11: @Pyazhnaya (86)
MD12: vs Eshianmaa [Eshialand] (35) - Galaktien Colosseum (Colosseum of the Galaxies), Lumikukkulat
---------------Ramble---------------
MD13: @Libonesinen [Libonesia] (UR)
MD14: vs Tanirinthinen [Tanirinthia] (14) - Galaktien Colosseum (Colosseum of the Galaxies), Lumikukkulat
---------------Ramble---------------
MD15: @Alesialainen Liitto [Alezian Union] (UR)
MD16: vs Restresas (154) - The Nest [Pesä], Kimi Kaupunki
---------------Ramble---------------
MD17: @Savojarna (136) - Nationalstadion Carl Gustaf Bjurman, Sjoedrhavn
MD18: vs Sajnur (47) - The Nest [Pesä], Kimi Kaupunki

[West Vdara]

Channel 2 Kanaria

”Comrades, as a nation we celebrate wildly this evening, as yet another victory falls into the clasps of the hands of the Vdaran Western Territories! Ranked thirty-first in the world, the national team with a penchant for the number seven no doubt thought they would sweep our great team aside, but this was NOT the case! Indeed, victory came rather easy at the Great Amphitheatre of the Proletariat, as our glorious and proud nation proves its status as a top contender in the sphere of world football. Such a glorious era of sporting heroism we have the privilege to be living through, comrades! Sadly, due to suffering from some food poisoning, our usual sporting correspondent and patriotic comrade Stavros will not be able to tell you all about this wonderful fixture. Instead, we took the opportunity to speak to YOU, the people, about the match!”

The screen cuts to pictures of some randomly selected fans outside of the home stadium following the match.

”West Vdara is glory greatest country! West Vdara the best! West Vdara on top of world! Glory greatest country!”

“Before each match, I like to predict that we will win by two or three goals, so I was slightly disappointed with this one. However, a glorious victory is a glorious victory, and it is truly fantastic.”

“We starved ourselves for three days so that we could stand at the front of the queue to get in here - it was worth it! The only things keeping me awake are the adrenalin and the remnants of my fingernails!”

“DON’T BELIEVE WHAT THE GOVERNMENT TELLS YOU! THEY DON’T WANT POWER FOR YOU, THEY WANT POWER FROM THEMSE-“

The screen abruptly cuts to black, before returning to the usual background.

”And that’s enough from us for today! As you can see, a lot of rowdy, rambunctious fans who can’t always watch what they are saying thanks to the sheer excitement of victory. Indeed, our home heroes will be hoping for victory once more, as they will travel to HUElavia to face the team they so resoundingly defeated earlier on in the campaign. We can’t wait to bring you all the information from this - kalispera, comrades!”

[Elmyia]

The Beaucester Gazette
Porras rediscovers 'il fantasma' as Blair dhines
Attacking balance brings 3 wins in 4 as Eomyia too group

So what was the panic for? Elmyia have finally headed to the top of their group as Porras has found, or perhaps refound, the balanced attack that won the Copa Rushmori. Bringing Froggatt back into the lineup for games against lower ranking nations increasingly looks like a mistake for the first half of qualifying, her increasing lack of pace and unwillingness to put the yards in seem to increasingly count against her. Jesca Blair, starting now with Vesper Benedetti and Livvy Jennings seems to provide what Elmyia need from their attack.

Previously, the longstanding combination of Rossi, Whittingham and Froggatt for games had worked excellently at times, but with Froggatt's declining gifts a rejig, one that delivered Elmyia's first major trophy not long ago, was needed. All three players are quality, and Rossi is definitely a superior operator to Jennings, but it's the function of the whole, rather than individual talent, that makes the team. Froggatt lifts out for reasons that have long been stated, the other two lift out less obviously. Whittingham's obvious talents in hold up play and sitting on the backline should be a strength for games, such as the ones against Brusseldorf and Caerbannog, where Elmyia dominate the ball. Indeed she does pin the centre backs, opening up a pocket of space behind her. The fact it is behind her is crucial, Blair isn't interested in space in front of the backline, she wants the space in behind. With midfielders in Marinos and Spalding starting most games, that doesn't leave much in the way of players who will make best use of this.

Benedetti, meanwhile, likes to drop off the line. A pest in the box at points, it is his willingness to drop into the hole and pull defenders out that aids and abets Blair's own style. Kostas Rossi, with Benedetti deep, also then forms an awkward fit. Whilst he's excellent, he just isn't willing to adapt his game as Jennings. Where she will happily hold widths, carry out decoy runs and be available for a wall pass, he wants to get in behind, try a flashy cross or shoot from range.

Blair's own attributes have really come to the fore recently, and seem to be getting refined down to a small number of quite specific characteristics. She doesn't touch the ball much in build up, her range of passing can be quite limited. She also can't really shoot from outside the box or deliver an accurate long cross. She's not physically combative, and she struggles one on one against a full back. What she excels at is sneaking away, getting the ball behind a disorganised defence, and then either shooting or cutting back. She struggles to dribble on the ball, but is rapid off it. She also acts as a willing presser and covers well despite a lack of knack for tackling. Clearly her negatives are worth tolerating for the positive however, 6 goals and 3 assists in 4 games speaks for itself. Her shooting is clinical, she regularly outshoots her expected goals, and her cutbacks appear more precision than most, finding the feet or Benedetti, Jennings, Spalding or Kastrinakis more often than you'd expect from someone merely fizzing it into the right areas.

In these qualities, Porras has resurrected a type of Elmyian player most thought long dead, il fantasma (the ghost). Elmyian football has long been haunted by this figure (geddit?) with Luca Spaletti, namesake of Italia's stadium and the consensus pick for the greatest Elmyian footballer of all time. In the 60s and 70s Elmyian football had many, including Spaletti and many cheap knock-offs. Teams would almost all play a 5-1-2-1-1 formation. It was all unbelievably turgid at times, the 5 would sit very deep as cover, with no width.

Despite this, most Elmyians over the age of 60 still claim that it was a better, more entertaining era of football. Il fantasma would drift around in front, trying to pick up a loose ball to either dink for the striker to shoot, or letting loose from range. Spaletti genuinely had a knack for evading the attentions of the opposition and making use of this. For most other clubs the fantasma would mostly find themselves kicked in the air by the defensive midfielder. The most famous of these, William Murray, was called the ghost buster, and older Mosfleet Albion fans will still wistfully hark back to theany occasions he booted Spaletti miles up in the air and kept him out of the game.

The era that came after saw fantasmas fade slowly. Teams started to find that, if you dropped another midfielder deep and put them both on the fantasma you could effectively stop most of them. Even Spaletti started to struggle as he wound his career down and found 3 players trying to kick lumps out of him. The middle became congested and little value was left in these players.

For a more comparable example to Blair, i.e a winger, it would take until Spaletti chanced his arm at management. With no space in the middle, fantasmas seemed to be replaced across the league with a far more functional class of midfielder. That made those left dirt cheap. He picked up two and had the novel idea of placing them out wide. Suddenly they had space to go into once again, and many found an afterlife (geddit?) with Spaletti and his imitators, ghosting in behind fullbacks to pick a shot or pass.

Blair, of course, has some key differences to players of this era. Firstly, her diet comprises much fewer cigarettes, late nights and fried foods than her predecessors. She also has pace in such quantities that they would likely believe her an Olympic sprinter. She also has to contend with less congestion at the back than the heydey of defensive Elmyian football. Other than that though, she fits the mould rather well, exciting then for those who enjoy a tenuous link back to our history. She may be running a bit hot currently, but with big fixtures still to come against StrayaRoos and Oberour Ar Moro, Porras will need her to deliver.

[The Ko-orenite Constellation]

At one point, a single territory named Taloren was one of the big names of the Constellation - before the addition of Chanmingoren, Uruashoren, Ndugutisaoren, and Mercatoren. Internal politics has since left the country very difficult to govern, and the result was a soft split between the 20 or so people groups that made up the territory. The 20 groups banded together in four new territories, of which one kept the name Taloren despite not inheriting much of the population, industry, agriculture - they have the Taloreni heartland and cultural heritage, though. That's something that the Taröreni were happy to cede if it meant keeping all the factors that could propel them into centre stage. Exactly: the population, the industry, the agriculture. The two remaining territories ware Talmagoren and Terähören, which both control considerable area but with small populations as custodians of the land that sought some autonomy away from Taloreni cultural hegemony and Taröreni economic hegemony.

And so it was the Taröreni who were approached about playing in the World Cup qualifiers. Nearly two million people and they're pretty good at football (and other sports). Maybe not as good as Ndugutisaoren and Ko-oren itself, but it's - probably - on par with Cang Prathoren, the top echelon in Isidoren, the strangely quality league of Ostfalen & Hinterpommoren, and the long tradition of good play in Shahrbanoren. We say 'probably' because no actual serious play goes on between the territories.

Either way, Tarören consists of two regions - originally for the two peoples - named Anarkan and Samana. Anarkan, and the Anarkani, have the industry, the mining, the agriculture, and have their own internal politics in the city of Namankand at the foot of the mountains that separate Tarören from Taloren. Grand grey stone city walls contain a surprisingly colourful old town: inns that centuries ago homed caravans who made the trek over the mountain passes, markets with goods from all over the Constellation, brightly coloured tiles and windows. Other cities include Balkhand, an even rougher version of Namankand tucked even deeper into the hills, Shakhal, and Qarara, regional markets from where the area of Samana is supplied. Samana has a few stretches of coast, and two quaint cities sit right there: Belki and Görpe, towns that have grown immensely in the last decades but can't hold a candle to the two cities that dominate not just Samana, but also Tarören, and previously Taloren as a whole. It's Tergan, governing the inland with a stranglehold on spices, cattle, and the traditional engine behind the economy. They're not entirely obsolete: its food is still important, and their tea is shipped all over the place. That has given rise to a richer gentry making Tergan a weird mix of pastoral and posh. The other city is Sülüzer, which sits closer to the coast and to Belki and Görpe. Sülüzer has the palaces, the fortresses, the historical nobility, the art, the culture, though not always the money.

---

*  Tarören Lig-A         Pld    W   D   L    GF   GA   GD   Pts 
 1 Sülüzerspor            36   17  13   6    57   42  +15    64
 2 Namankandspor FK       36   18   8  10    55   43  +12    62
 3 Çayizderespor          36   16  10  10    64   46  +18    58
 4 Findiyerispor          36   17   6  13    59   51   +8    57
 5 Bularhisarspor         36   16   8  12    58   46  +12    56
 6 Terganspor             36   15  11  10    58   54   +4    56
 7 Atanpasaspor           36   14  11  11    56   58   −2    53
 8 Karanbeyspor           36   10   7  19    47   58  −11    37 Relegation
 9 Belkispor              36    9   9  18    43   56  −13    36 Relegation
10 Mursalkanspor          36    2   9  25    32   75  −43    15 Relegation

A rare two-level pyramid, the Lig-A is pretty cutthroat between teams from Sülüzer and Tergan. You'll recognise where Sülüzerspor and Terganspor are from well enough, but Çayizderespor, Karanbeyspor, and Mursalkanspor are all Tergan clubs as well - though you can see that doesn't account for much this year - while Findiyerispor and Bularhisarspor also hail from Sülüzer. Normally the two are somewhat evenly matched even if Sülüzer had all the goals this year. Namankand is the pride of the entire Anarkan region.

*  Tarören Lig-B         Pld    W   D   L    GF   GA   GD   Pts 
 1 Balkhandspor FK        36   21  10   5    72   41  +31    73 Promotion
 2 Akpasarayspor          36   18  11   7    72   45  +27    65 Promotion
 3 Tarörenspor            36   19   7  10    58   41  +17    64 Promotion
 4 Akdalerspor            36   15  11  10    52   44   +8    56
 5 Görpespor              36   13  10  13    47   51   −4    49
 6 Tasodspor              36   11  11  14    53   61   −8    44
 7 Nurhazarspor           36   11   9  16    58   75  −17    42
 8 Avarmusluspor          36   10   8  18    50   66  −16    38
 9 Samanaspor             36    7  11  18    47   69  −22    32
10 Göneslispor            36    7   8  21    55   71  −16    29

It shouldn't surprise but there are more clubs from the two big cities here. Nurhazarspor, Akdalerspor, and Tarörenspor are all Tergani - with seven out of twenty clubs you'd expect them to be more dominant, maybe, or exactly as thinly spread as it seems right now. Akpasarayspor and Samanaspor are Sülüzeri, with the latter the club from the city's nobility, hence the terribly ambitious name. Balkhandspor FK always looks like they should be a bigger force than they are. Tasodspor are a complete wildcard: them and Avarmusluspor are the other two Anarkani teams.

[Indusse]

OOC: The Copyright message at the end of the post has been used from the standard copyright message from multiple books.


The World Cup isn't the only thing that's bringing nationwide attention in Indusse. Bookstores in Indusse is facing shortage of supply for the recent bestseller, "The Half Blood Saga I" by Akiho Banwari. Multiple bookstores have reported that the stores have been raided by the so called "readers". Due to the high demand for the book, the publishers with the permission of the author decided to digitalize the book. Now, Readers can get to read the book online through "LexiRead™" by purchasing it.

LexiRead™ > Web Edition

Close [x]

---

The Half Blood Saga I
Chapter I
Origins

---

The sun rose over the rolling hills of Fararah, casting a golden glow across the sleepy town. Seventeen-year-old Adael stirred in his bed, his eyes slowly opening as the sun light reached through his window. Near his bed, there stood a beautiful Quetzal looking at him.

"Wake up, sleepyhead," the bird chirped, its voice surprisingly human-like. Adael groaned, pulling the covers over his head. "Five more minutes, Miha." The Quetzal jumped into Adael's chest. "Your father's already in the courtyard. You know how he gets when you're late for training." With a sigh, Adael threw off the covers and swung his feet to the floor. "Ok, alright. I'm up."

As he dressed, Adael could hear the sound of his mother Mehrea, preparing breakfast in the kitchen below. The smell of freshly baked bread was in the air, making his stomach growl. Adael who was all dressed up by now, ran down stairs and Miha followed him. "Maa!" called Adael. Mehrea turned from the oven, her face lighting up at the sight of her son.

"Good morning, my dear," she said, placing a warm loaf on the table. "Eat quickly. Your father's waiting."

Adael gulpe down his breakfast, then hurried to the courtyard where his father Azahl, stood above a rock. "You're late," Azahl said, his voice sounded pretty tough. "Sorry, Father," Adael replied, bowing his head slightly. Azahl nodded, then stood in a fighting position. "Let's begin. Show me what you learned yesterday."

For the next few hours, both the father and soj practiced the martial arts that is Native to their statte. Conseqh is what it is called as, and Azahl was a master in it. As they were taking a rest, Azahl placed a hand on Adael's shoulder. "Well done, son. You're improving quickly." Adael seems to be pretty happy at the rare praise. "Thank you, Father," he said.

Suddenly, A voice called from the street. "Adael! Are you done yet?" Adael turned to see his best friend, Ashear, leaning against the gate. Her long dark hair was tied back, and her smile did say that she was one of the mischievous in the town.

"Go on, don't make her wait" Azahl said, waving his hand. "But be back for dinner." Adael grinned, running to join Ashear. Miha soared above them as they walked through the busy streets of Fararah. "So, what's the plan for today?" Ashear asked, putting her arm through Adael's. "I thought we could explore the old ruins near the river valley," Adael suggested. "Unless you're scared?"

Ashear laughed it off. "Me? Scared? Never." As they walked to the ruins, they noticed that the royal guards patrolling everywhere. The State used to be peaceful, but that is not the case anymore. There's something wild happening but isn't much known. As they reached the ruins, the sky became dark. Miha flew down and said "This is enough, let's go back. It seems like we may get caught in the storm." Adael replied, "You're scared, aren't you? There's no storm anywhere." Ignoring Miha's advice, both of them walked inside the ruins. Suddenly they hear the rumbling of rocks and heavy winds. The sky seems to get violent. Suddenly a tree falls in front of them and number of bats fly out of it. Frightened, Adael and Ashaer runs back to the town.

To be Continued...

---

Copyright © Akiho Banwari.

All rights reserved. This book or any portion thereof may not be reproduced or used in any manner whatsoever without the express written permission of the publisher except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.

http://www.lexiread.org

[Kelssek]

HOT 1-3 KSK / Reamsey praises team’s progress in dominant win

Calen Reamsey sounded a note of obstinate optimism, insisting Kelssek’s win against Hapilopper Overseas Territories shows the team is starting to click as they moved into the second half of the World Cup qualifying campaign.

“We found last time out that this is a team that’s pretty dogged on the field and we didn’t have the right cohesion on our side. As the players have developed an understanding, you saw the improvement today. There’s obviously still a lot more to progress, but I’m starting to see things I like,” said Reamsey after the match.

The result means Kelssek are in third place and still not in the automatic qualifying spots. However, they are two points behind first place and the win over the dark horse debutants ensures a five-point buffer that could keep Kelssek in the hunt. While there should rightly be a lot of caution about concluding all is well after an away team against an unranked side, the players indeed delivered a fluid performance and were able to dominate possession in a way they failed to do in the first meeting between the teams.

Zoé Goh-Lemaire opened the scoring after 17 minutes, applying the finish after being put through on goal when Titan Pogbacar intercepted and capitalized on a misplaced pass in the midfield. HOT-DAMN drew level when the one error in Kaiden Pépin’s otherwise impeccable performance let Haywood steam into the penalty box and leather a shot past the onrushing goalkeeper Alison Troczynski.

Pépin made amends in the 64th minute off a corner kick, heading the ball right onto the goal line with the bounce taking it pass a couple of scrambling attempts by HOT-DAMN players to hoof it clear. Sammy Mao dribbled into a dead end but was able to squeeze the ball out to Maelle Sarada in space for a third goal in the 86th minute, and the striker will be glad to have broken her international scoring drought especially with starts for her club side hard to come by at the moment.

Kelssek captain Ingrid Lambert was keen to emphasize that while this was a team that surprisingly held the Voyagers to a draw in Kirkenes, this win is nothing to be satisfied about. “Job done, but we managed a win against an amateur side. Reputedly, a recreational team, though I’m sure we’ve all heard the speculation they must be more than that, but let’s not get ahead of ourselves, now we have to refocus for the final stretch.”

Qualifying now moves into the decisive phase as the next set of fixtures includes cheetahs, reptiles, and an away day to second-place Hapilopper.

HOT-DAMN 1 – Haywood (46’)
KELSSEK 3 – Goh-Lemaire (17’), Pépin (64’) Sarada (86’)
Troczynski, Jouppi, Durocher, Lambert, Usher, Pogbacar, Pépin (Licea 80’), Obident (Mao 73’), Goh-Lemaire (Cutter 73’), Sarada, Heer (an Deòir 60’)
Player of the match: Kaiden Pépin

Tonight’s TV highlights
9:30pm TÉLÉ-BEAULAC – THE BLEAKEST KINK TV-MA
A steelworker’s efforts to collect worker’s compensation are derailed by an array of incredibly lurid sexual fantasies. Frankish with Anglian subtitles. Starring Sara McAdam and Gérard Part-Dieu.

8pm KBC1 – HOUSE OF THE SNAPDRAGON PG
Members of a rich, powerful, and dysfunctional family struggle for control of a microchip empire.
103: Food for Thought – Rhaenyra suspects Leon is falling victim to a cult, but the reality is even worse than she imagines. Greg seeks the truth behind the missing lobsters. Drones go awry as Jason spies on Macaulay.