A Tale Of Two Crescents - WC97 Roleplay Thread

[Doubeia]

Promise
Chapter 7 + Epilogue
Kylo's apartment

---

Kylo paced about his living room. Nerves were getting the better of him. He hadn't spoken to his mother in a while. Did she remember their last meeting? Did she remember what he said to her? Did she hold a grudge against him?

Light barely shone through the closed curtains into the dimly lit apartment. Kylo blocked off any vision into his house. He barely left his house; he didn't want any attention. His lack of movement showed through his body: six-packs covered by an ever-thickening layer of fat, while once rock-hard biceps started to go soft. He didn't know what to do anymore. He was counting down the days until his court showing. He didn't know if it was worth hiring a lawyer. Charged or acquitted, his life was done either way. At that very moment, the only person he could find comfort was the one he'd shooed away.

Knock, knock.

His mother. Kylo went up to open the door. His mother looked the same as ever. Heavy makeup, a flowy dress and a black handbag were her fashion trademarks. She did a double take on him.

"You've grown," she commented.

"I know, don't need to comment."

Kylo sat her down on the sofa. He hesitated for a moment, before saying what he meant to tell his mom.

"I'm sorry. I'm sorry for what I said then."

"It's alright. Give me a hug." For the first time in a long time, Kylo felt his mother's arm embrace him. The warmth of the love he felt was enough to melt his heart. He missed this feeling.

"I hope you do know that what you said that day really broke my heart. It hurt to hear that from my own son, y'know?" she murmured into Kylo's ear, "Still, I do trust that you know the gravity of your words. I just hope you won't ever say anything like that to anyone, got it?" Kylo held back his tears. He was let off much more mercifully than he felt he deserved. He called his mother a whore, turned her away, shoved her off like she was a nobody to him. His mother, a nobody to him.

Mother and son remained in their embrace for a while longer. It hadn't even been 10 minutes since his mother entered his house, but it felt like her warmth had filled the holes in his heart. He felt a comfort he hadn't felt in a long while. After letting go of his mother, he slouched on his beanbag. He didn't know what to do or what to say. He called her with the intention of apologising, but now that all was done and dusted, he felt lost.

"...you know... you know that I'll be in jail for a while, right?" Kylo said.

"Yes, I'm aware."

"Sorry for disappointing you."

"Why're you apologising to me?"

"I feel like... I don't know, I just feel like I failed as a son."

A silence hung between the two. Kylo's mother was contemplating what to say; Kylo was staring at the ceiling absent-mindedly.

"You didn't fail as a son. I know people who've done far worse to their mothers. This isn't excusing what you've done and said."

"...yeah."

"You see, if you had listened to me, you wouldn't be in this predicament right now. However, you probably wouldn't have turned over a new leaf either. See, just spot the silver linings amongst the clouds." His mother's mild smile radiated the entire house. Kylo didn't understand why his mom was much more calmer now. Had things changed since they last met, or was she always like this?

"Will you visit me in jail?"

"Of course! Why wouldn't I?" That response gave Kylo the reassurance he needed. He and his mother looked at each other again. He missed her gentle smile. The past few years all he saw from her was a stressed out face that grew angry, sad, disappointed whenever he disparaged her. He hated how poor of a son he was to her then. He didn't deserve her at her best, so why... why was she still so loving towards him?

Kylo hugged his mom again, this time stronger. Tears flowed down his cheeks. Tears mixed with grief, guilt and peace. It was cathartic, the hug. All his emotions released that instance. Suddenly, in that moment, he felt true zen.

---

The court hearing came and went by in a flash. One year of jail was the verdict. It wasn't too long, but one year of not playing was going to fuck his skills up anyway.

The paparazzi swarmed him as he was escorted back into his car. Cameras shoved into his face, reporters pointing their mics at him... he wished he got this amount of attention as a footballer. Still, as he was driven off, he knew that he would not miss being so popular.

He bode farewell to his apartment as he was transported to prison. He had no expectations of what his time would be like, but he knew that this would be a turning point for him.

---

Match information for MD15: Bye

NIL

Match information for MD16 vs Poafmersia (away)

Poafmersia 4 - 0 Doubeia

Starting XI for MD17 vs Sargossa (home, Harriott Loft)

Zhvikov, Shikolenko, Tsyzyrev, Entin, Ortega, Khlebnikov, Borisenko (C)Voskresensky, Umanov, Demidov, Elmpt
Available subs - Fontzivin, Maximoff, Andreyushkin, Artemyev, Travkin, Borichevskiy, Lyapunov

Match information for MD17 vs Sargossa (home, Harriott Loft)

Doubeia         1   -   0   Sargossa  
Demidov (18')

Starting XI for MD18 vs Srednjaci (away)

Leonova, Antipova, Menshikova, Grande, Barkova, Miloradova, Shubina, Oborina (C), Marin, Rozhkova, Semerikova
Available subs - Korneyeva, Dunayevskaya, Mamykina, Kuznetsova, Runova, Pishchalnikova, Kuzenkova-Domínguez

Match information for MD18 vs Srednjaci (away)

Srednjaci         2   -   1   Doubeia     
Peng (27', 63')               Rozhkova (84')

[Kelssek]

Virtual Van Dike - @VirtualVD
As a large footballing model, I aim to provide defending that is helpful, informative, and objective.

Zero-G Neville - @ZeroGNev
Qualification is over now, it’s water under the bridge. Calen Reamsey can and must restore a positive feeling around the Kelssek team. They scraped through last time too, and nearly won it in the end!

Virtual Van Dike - @VirtualVD
There are many factors that can help a team win the World Cup. The World Cup is awarded to the winner of the World Cup final, the last match of an international football tournament. In addition, teams can win the World Cup by winning football matches. Since the winner of a football match is the team that scores more goals, that’s also very important.

Virtual Van Dike - @VirtualVD
You’re right that defence is also important to winning the World Cup. This can help prevent goals being scored against a team. According to the rules of football, the goalkeeper is also the only player allowed to use their hands, so that helps a team to reduce the number of goals scored against them and win more games.

Felon Fusk @ElohimMarsman
Siege Hail! Get it? LOL penis

Romaine Fabricator - @TopLettuce
Here we go! Celebrate @TitanPogbacar contract renewal with delicious new ranch dressing from the makers of Olympic Mayonnaise!

Moonbeam Infantino - @MoonbeamInfantino
Such hypocrisy of countries supporting genocide with imperialism to come out and complain about human rights. I absolutely deny that any stadiums were built by slaves! If they didn’t like the whipping they could have left any time they wanted, and we all know resistance to heat is actually why dark people are racially superior

Zero-G Neville - @ZeroGNev
I ensure everyone working at my football-themed space station is paid a living wage, so ask yourself, who is more likely to build luxury space communism?

Virtual Van Dike - @VirtualVD
Fans indeed have an important role in encouraging the team and helping them win games. Since winning more games is crucial in winning the World Cup, it’s fair to say that fans contribute greatly to a team’s success in this regard. After all, it's said that football is nothing without the fans.

[Patriotlandia]

The Bleus have their destiny in hand for their upcoming playoff match in the World Cup Qualifiers. The Patriotlandian team takes on TJUN-ia in a win-and-in situation. The two team faired similarly in the group stage with near identical records but on paper the Jaguars have the upper edge. The pot 3 team settled in third place in the group after a scary start to the proceedings. This also mirrors the Patriotlandian's start to the campaign losing three of their first four matches. But the path to playoff contention was not as clear for the Bleus with multiple teams in the running all the way to the end. Jean Alexandre Carignan's team showed grit and determination quelling rumors of about a managerial leadership change.

The playoff match will take place in Eastfield Lodge's Parliament Stadium. The 80 000 seater will be one of the biggest stage the national team has played in and certainly their most important match since the 80th Baptism of Fire quarter-finals ended in defeat. Few players from that edition are left but striker Lucien Graham is glad to be back. "This type of soccer is fun. Sure there is the added pressure, but the energy and ambiance on the pitch is immeasurable. I'm just glad we can play in these types of games again. We are confident as group, we've had good results in the group stages, didn't have major injuries. Knock on wood. Things are looking up for sure." When asked if this could be his last game in the blue and white, Lucien kept the door open. "I'm no spring chicken, but hopefully I can continue being involved as long as I can play at this level. Next season is going to be a big test. International break, a title defense and international club competition is going to be a lot more games than I'm used to. Just have to listen to my body. When it's time, it's time."

[Drawkland]

Kristen Teller was the Director of Soccer Operations at the Drawkian International Sporting Council (known to most as DISC). She walked through the halls of DISC headquarters in the Pinnapex, the huge skyscraper in the center of Drawkland's capital Metropolon. The Pinnapex was home to hundreds of different offices, stores, hotels, unbelievably expensive apartments, and observation decks. DISC was one of the many organizations to call the Pinnapex home, taking up 2 floors of space in the building which was mostly reserved for the executives in the Council.

Kristen had been summoned to the office of the Council Director himself, Harvey Flantar. She didn't know the exact reason for the meeting. She had been informed of the meeting just a day prior by her secretary, and no further information had been provided. Of course, she had an idea what it would be about. The Kick Corps.

Coming into World Cup 97 as a Pot 2 team and with two autoqual spots on the line, it felt like a foregone conclusion that Drawkland's Kick Corps would have an easy qualifying campaign and slide into the new 48-team World Cup format without a hitch. At least if the group proved competitive, even third place wasn't a death sentence. A little under half the third placers would also qualify directly, with the lower half sentenced to playoffs.

Instead of an easy cruise, the Corps proceeded to bumble and stumble through a very winnable group, including a horrendous 5-5 draw on the final matchday at home to surrender the second autoqual spot to Myrtle Beach. Drawkland only landed third in the group thanks to a tiebreaker against Qasden. It was, in a word, disastrous. Drawkland was the second-worst third place team, so they were naturally set to partake in the playoff against familiar nation Sarzonia.

Kristen's heart was thumping as she would through the halls to the corner where Harvey Flantar was located. It wasn't necessarily her fault that the Corps had such a bum run. She was just the one in charge of the operations. Would she really be reprimanded or fired for this? If anything, the Corps manager Ellzidan should be the one in the hot seat. Kristen finally rounded the corner and came to Flantar's office. She nodded at his secretary, who motioned for Kristen to walk in at her leisure. Kristen steeled herself, and slowly opened the door.

"Hello, come in!" Harvey said invitingly from his enormous executive leather chair. Kristen waved in response and coolly made her way to one of the almost comically plain chairs on the other side of the desk. As she walked in, she took a brief look at the walls. They were a few team photos hung up, but mostly newspaper articles about the exploits of Drawkland's various national team Corps. She noticed quite a few didn't even have pictures, just selected clippings from articles, but she was too far from the wall to inspect them further.

"Thank you for having me," Kristen said automatically as she took a seat. She gazed across the desk at Harvey, who had a certainly fake smile plastered across his face.

"Of course," Harvey replied with an exaggerated nod. Kristen noticed that his hair, clearly thinning and greying recently, bobbed up and down a little ridiculously.

Neither director spoke for several seconds. It was an awkward silence, like both were waiting for the other to speak up first. Then came the start-stops of both opening their mouths to speak at the same time, then deferring when they noticed the other had been about to talk. They awkwardly chuckled.

"So, um," Kristen finally got out. "What did you call me in for today?" She put out a nervous, tinkling laugh.

"Excuse me?" Harvey cocked his head slightly. "What did I- I didn't call you in, did I?"

"Certainly you did," Kristen replied, clenching and unclenching her hands anxiously. What was he playing at? "My secretary informed me that you were calling me in for a meeting."

"That's very strange." Harvey looked at the agenda on his desk. "My secretary told me that you had requested to see me."

"Then who called the meeting?" Kristen asked, increasingly confused by the second.

"Apologies!" An oddly familiar voice called from the doorway. "I hope I'm not too late. Ah perfect, you're already here."

Both Harvey and Kristen whipped their heads to the door. Their jaws nearly dropped to the floor when they saw the man in the doorway. It was none other than Iarocav, one of the immortal Drawkionels in charge of Drawkland.

"W-what are you doing here?" Harvey asked. His face was immediately paler. He'd already had a few intimidating run-ins with the immortal Elite Eleven. Having the actual founder and leader of the nation in his office was even more terrifying.

"I called this meeting." Iarocav answered. He casually took a seat in the chair next to Kristen, as if nothing was bizarre about this situation. "I figure that the three of us need to have a discussion, so I called the meeting. Your office was a more centralized location, Mr. Flantar, so I decided it would be the most convenient venue."

"You set up the meeting?" Kristen screwed up her face in disbelief. "How? I'm sure my secretary would've told me if the Drawkionel had come in to schedule the meeting with her."

"Oh, I didn't schedule it per se," Iarocav replied. "I got an intern to do it. That was rather amusing."

Two days prior, Iarocav snuck into the DISC offices in the Pinnapex. It was rather easy, usually he just put on a generic baseball cap and sunglasses and nobody would pay him any mind. Usually in the more formal office setting it would turn some heads, but in the DISC HQ, there were often a few employees who would wear various sporty ballcaps on a daily basis. They were a sporting council, after all.

After roaming through the halls for a few minutes to get a lay of the land, Iarocav found his mark. When he entered the printing room, he noticed a skinnier fellow waiting listlessly in front of the copier. He had a badge on a lanyard around his neck, a nervous twitch, and zero self-confidence. Oh yes, it was an intern. The perfect accomplice.

"Hello there," Iarocav smiled warmly as he approached the intern at the copier.

"Uh, hey," the kid replied, turning his head slightly to acknowledge him.

"I need your help with something. What's your name?" Iarocav had already seen the intern's name was Blake from his badge, but he often felt it rude to use a name without asking for it first.

"My name's Blake," the intern replied. "What do you need? I guess I can help once I finish getting these copies for Greg." He was not inspired by the idea of being given more busywork, but at least that would be better than sitting around doing nothing for a few more hours.

"I need you to set up a meeting for me. It's incredibly important."

"If it's that important, why are you talking to me instead of doing it yourself?" Blake turned to fully regard Iarocav for the first time. "Who are you, anyway? I don't recognize you."

"You might." Iarocav removed his sunglasses and hat, and fixed Blake with a piercing gaze.

"What the- who- why- huh?" Blake was dumbstruck on the spot. He recognized Iarocav, all right. He'd seen his face in dozens of textbooks and the news and several badly-designed rubber costume masks. For a moment he felt like he was being pranked, but there was no mistaking that presence, that aura that Iarocav held. It was a feeling he hadn't experienced before.

"Listen, Blake, this is a very important mission. The very future of our nation could depend on it," Iarocav explained quietly, looking to make sure nobody else was near the room. "Can I trust you to do this for me?" He knew he was laying it on a little bit, but he figured that would be the quickest way into this kid's head.

"Like ... a secret mission? Like a spy thing?" Blake asked, trying to keep the excitement from his voice. He quickly scanned the room, as if he expected a hidden cameraman to pop out at any moment.

"Yes. I need you to set up a meeting between Kristen Teller and Harvey Flantar," Iarocav explained. "It'll be at Flantar's office, 2 days from now, at 2 in the afternoon. This is the important part. You have to act like Flantar is the one calling Teller over, and Teller is the one requesting to meet Flantar. You cannot mention me in any way, shape, or form."

"But they're the big bosses," Blake breathed. "I haven't even talked to them before."

"You don't have to talk to them. Talk to their secretaries. Tell them the other secretary asked you to send over the meeting details, but say you don't know anything besides the time and date."

"What ..." Blake gulped. "What does this have to do with the fate of our country?"

"I can't say. Information security," Iarocav winked. "If I tell you any more information, they might go after you. I'm keeping you safe by keeping you in the dark."

"Who is they?" Blake barked, feeling a pit drop in his stomach.

"Shhhh," Iarocav hissed, looking to check if anybody noticed the interjection. There was no movement from the office outside the room. "Pray that you never find out. Just get this meeting set up. If you do, I promise you will be rewarded handsomely."

"Y-yes sir." Blake stood up straighter, not sure if he was supposed to salute or something.

"Excellent. Get that meeting set up by the end of today. Two days from now, 2pm." Iarocav put the hat and shades back on, and whisked out of the copier room like he was never there.

The copier dinged to signify that it was done. Blake slowly turned to look back at the stack of reports, which now looked more irrelevant than any stack of papers he'd ever seen. He was on a mission now. For the Drawkionel. He could not fail.

"An intern?" Harvey gaped. "Who? Did you plant somebody here?"

"Certainly not. I just inspired a young person with a real since of duty. And they did their job admirably, it seems." Iarocav crossed his arms, making a mental note to leave the envelope he had addressed to Blake with the front desk staff.

"Why did you arrange this meeting, then?" Kristen asked, trying to smooth her frazzled nerves.

"It appears that we have a big issue," Iarocav began. "Our national soccer team is not playing up to potential, as I'm sure you all know. Quite honestly, it's embarrassing. Two cycles ago we were in the Round of 16, and I still met a leader at some Anaian mixer who didn't know what Drawkland was. It's pitiful, really. We are an extremely affluent nation, you're welcome, with a flourishing sports culture and an enormous population to develop talent from. The fact that we are struggling with the stars we have on the Corps lineup is nothing short of a travesty."

"Well, it's all about perspective," Harvey began, hoping to deflect the talk away from notions of abject organizational failure.

"Harvey Flantar, you are a spineless suck-up weasel who only holds this position because apparently nobody else at DISC has the balls to replace you." Iarocav shot back, a snarl of cold fury on his face. Almost immediately, he sank back into a genial expression like the outburst never happened. "Please do not interrupt me when I'm talking."

Harvey opened his mouth to say that he thought Iarocav had paused for comment, but decided against it. Also, he wasn't sure if his throat would be able to form words at all.

"I think we all know the root cause of the issue." Iarocav gave a meaningful glance to Kristen. "With all this talent and all the inherent advantages in the world, how could this team possibly fail to live up to expectations? How could this squad continue to lose or draw level with national teams they have no business dropping points to?"

After a tense beat, Harvey and Kristen realized that the question wasn't rhetorical.

"Perhaps," Kristen cleared her throat, choosing her words carefully. "It could be a ... managerial issue."

"I believe you are correct." Iarocav nodded, smiling at Kristen. "It seems that the Kick Corps manager's tactics have been less than ideal. It may be time for the Kick Corps to move on to a new staff.

"But-" Harvey stopped himself, looking carefully at Iarocav to make sure he wasn't interrupting. "Ellzidan is the manager. I'm sure you know her better than any of us."

"I'm certain that is the case," Iarocav replied. He said nothing more, forcing Harvey to continue his line of reasoning.

"You must understand that this is a difficult situation." Harvey chuckled nervously, looking to Kristen for support and receiving none. "She's a Drawkionel, after all. Firing somebody who's been around longer than any of us have been alive, and is technically an ultimate authority in this land ... it's not a walk in the park."

"There's a lot of difficult things to do in this world." Iarocav frowned. "This difficult thing happens to be a function of your job. Both of your jobs, really. When most of us have to do difficult or intimidating things for our jobs, we get through it and do them. Do you think that my job as the leader of our nation is a 'walk in the park?' Do you think there's not scary or burdensome tasks that I have to complete? Just because you've done your time and climbed the ladder to a cushy job doesn't mean you're immune to doing things that are hard. I would argue that your pay grade necessitates doing such things, rather than freeing you from them."

"If I may," Kristen spoke up, once again treading carefully. "I feel that your perspective on this particular situation may be slightly warped. You have the benefit of experience with both strange power dynamics and ... well, with Ellzidan herself. It's not as easy for us mortals."

"You have a point." Iarocav nodded. "I suppose I take my more friendly relationship with the Elf for granted. I know she can be a little obstinate with some mortals."

"Very true," Harvey added, perhaps emboldened by Kristen's counter not being immediately rejected. "Don't you think that you would be a better person to convince her to step down?"

Iarocav turned back to Harvey, not with rage, but with a surprised expression. He broke out laughing, a burst of mirth that was probably louder that it needed to be. Not sure what to do, Harvey forced out a couple chuckles as well.

"Oh dear." Iarocav recovered from his laughing fit quickly. "It appears you know less of Ellzidan than I thought. She is probably the most stubborn person on this planet. Just because I've known her for a couple thousand years doesn't mean that she'll just do whatever I suggest. Quite the opposite, in fact. If I told her to step down as Kick Corps manager you'd probably never get rid of her. So no, Mr. Flantar, I believe that I won't be able to do your job for you."

"Of course, of course," Harvey blubbered immediately. "It was just a suggestion."

"I don't mind that you're not willing to help," Kristen started, "but if that's the case, then why call for this meeting at all?"

"I needed to make sure that we are all on the same page." Iarocav gave a humorless chuckle. "For a while I was worried that DISC had no issues with the current state of the Kick Corps, given how no action had been taken to this point. I merely wanted to check in. I trust now that you will do what is necessary for the future of our national team."

"We understand," Kristen replied, shooting a glance at Harvey. "We've been discussing our options already. If she can't deliver qualification, she's done."

"Good, good. Now if you'll excuse me," Iarocav pulled his phone from his pocket to check the time. As he did, he noticed he had two missed calls from none other than Ellzidan herself, spaced a few minutes apart. "Ah, shit. We're about to be in for it. Let me do the talking."

"Wha-" Harvey began, and suddenly the door to his office flung open.

Ellzidan had never quite liked the idea of phones. If she needed to contact somebody that she knew well, she preferred to merely pop in and have a face-to-face conversation. When you have the ability to harness the magic of the void and port between two spots quickly, it's much more efficient. However, she had grown used to the use of a cell phone, especially at Iarocav's behest.

It wasn't entirely unfair. Far too many times, Ellzidan had ported in to whatever room Iarocav was in, only for it to be the bathroom or the bedroom. That was never fun. Begrudgingly, she began calling Iarocav on his phone first and obtaining permission to speak to him in person, if necessary. This method also had some limitations.

For example, today Ellzidan was seeking help with a small piracy problem she was experiencing in her territory. She didn't really need Iarocav's direct assistance, but she was hoping he would have some information which would save her some time. So the Elf went through the rather annoying process of dialing Iarocav's personal phone, waiting for the call to connect, only to land in voicemail ... twice in a row.

Ellzidan wasn't worried, but she was certainly annoyed. Once again, the 'foolproof' phone method had failed. It was just a quick question, it wouldn't take that long. Surely Iarocav wasn't that busy. Plus, Ellzidan had learned how to teleport to the room directly outside wherever Iarocav was located, just to prevent any awkward situations. So, that's what she did, popping out from her residence at Elstrund and popping in to ... an office building?

She marked her surroundings quickly, as she'd done thousands of times before after a teleport. An office building. A small cube farm to the right. Offices lined around the outer edge. Hangings on the wall. Jerseys. Team photos. Highlight snapshots. A secretary's desk, with a huge disc-shaped logo hung on the wall behind it.

"DISC?" Ellizdan hissed under her breath. "Why is he here?" She recognized the office ahead as that of Harvey Flantar's, and she assumed that's where Iarocav would be. She stomped forward and pushed the door open.

"What an interesting coincidence to see you here!" Ellzidan said with an obviously-fake toothy grin. It didn't take her long to deduce what was going on. Her boss's boss, her boss's boss's boss, and her boss-in-a-technical-sense-that-she-ignores-whenever-possible all in a room together? This was a meeting about her. "What brings you to these parts?"

"Just talking shop," Iarocav replied instantly. "I could ask you the same question. You don't seem dressed for the Pinnapex."

"Funny." Ellzidan was wearing a well-worn tunic, leggings, and a pair of leather boots. She looked halfway ready to go to a renaissance festival. "Just wanted to drop by. You weren't answering your phone. I was worried something happened to you."

"I'm in a meeting. My phone was on Do-Not-Disturb," Iarocav waved his phone in front of himself. "Maybe you should've waited 10 minutes to call again before barging in to some place where you're not needed."

"On the contrary," Ellzidan countered. "I believe this is the exact place I need to be. You've all had loads of fun talking about me, I imagine."

"And what gives you that impression?" Iarocav replied innocently.

"What other reason do you have to be here, talking to these idiots?" Ellzidan dipped her head at Kristen. "No offense, Teller. The only common factor that links you three together is me."

Harvey wondered where his apology was. He was also glued to his chair in terror. Iarocav was a borderline ancient warrior, who was renowned for his escapades on the battlefield and ruthlessness in defense of his nation. However, the Drawkionel had spent years transforming his image into a more friendly, even fatherly vibe. Iarocav felt that fear was not the best way to induce respect in his citizens. Ellzidan had not bothered with such pleasantries. Anybody that met her could feel the raw power and strength radiating from her relatively shorter frame, almost like a cat that could pounce at any moment. Or a dragon. She was the kind of person you'd be terrified to piss off. And here she was, in Harvey's office, about as pissed off as one could be.

"A fun assumption, El, but unfortunately off the mark. I was merely asking our lovely directors about the fan arrangements for the playoff in Lodger City." Iarocav smirked slightly, leaning back in his chair. "You are prepared for that match, right? The one against Sarzonia?"

"I'm aware of who we're up against, thank you." Ellzidan snarled. "Nice story. You're a terrible liar, Iarocav. Getting box tickets doesn't require meeting two directors in person."

"You've caught me red-handed," Iarocav replied, but he made no move from his chair. He almost seemed to be at ease. "So what if the meeting is about you? Maybe I wanted to personally congratulate this team for making such an excellent managerial hire."

Kristen and Harvey were afraid to move. They looked between Iarocav and Ellzidan like they were watching a tennis match, but if the pair were hitting a live grenade back and forth rather than a ball.

Ellzidan pressed her lips together and narrowed her eyes. "So you came here behind my back to talk down about my job performance? You don't have the integrity to say it to my face?"

"Nobody here said anything about talking down." Iarocav stuck out his bottom lip. "I do wonder why you'd make such an assumption."

"Hm." Ellzidan growled. "I've heard it's a common belief that the Kick Corps playing slightly subpar has something to do with me. I only assumed that such baseless rumors were being spread here."

"What a relief to hear that such theories are unfounded in truth." Iarocav nodded. "It's a great thing you're here to clear that up. So then, what is the real reason the Kick Corps has been playing like, shall I say, shit?"

"It's a variety of complex factors." Ellzidan replied, trying to smooth out her expression. "A lot of things that those not versed in soccer tactics and management may struggle to understand."

"Of course. I couldn't hope to understand all the minutiae." Iarocav pursed his lips. "So, is it the player's fault? Is the roster not constructed well?"

"The players on the roster are good." Ellzidan narrowed her eyes. "You're not insulting my roster construction, are you?"

"Wouldn't dream of it." Iarocav furrowed his brow for effect, as if deep in thought. "And it couldn't be the fault of the format. After all, 41 teams had no issue qualifying for this World Cup outright, a good chunk of them lower ranked than our Corps. And based on what I understand about the qualifying group we were drawn into, we should've easily made second place. So if it's not the players, and it's not bad luck in the competition itself ... then what cause still remains?"

"I suppose that perspective may lead you to an exaggerated conclusion about my ability to manage the kick Corps," Ellzidan replied icily. "I consider it unwise to be so reductive."

"I consider it unwise to believe that a manager who pilots a top 40 nation to a Cup of Harmony appearance in a 48-team World Cup cycle should go without punishment," Iarocav countered. "And that's ignoring the rather embarrassing two cycles preceding this one. Our players don't have forever to wait around. Their careers are finite. They deserve direction from someone who can handle the duty."

"I can handle anything, thank you very much."

"I think you and I both know that's not the case." Iarocav raised an eyebrow. "People expect results. They're going to want somebody who can deliver those results. They don't care how many credentials and years of experience somebody has if they can't deliver."

"Don't talk to me like a child."

"Then don't act like one."

"I am well within my rights to defend myself and my position." Ellzidan crossed her arms.

"And these people here are well within their rights to criticize your performance and question your placement in that position." Iarocav motioned to Kristen and Harvey, who were desperately hoping he wouldn't draw attention to them. "I trust that you'll respect whatever decision they come to regarding your managerial job, if it comes to that."

"Fine." Ellzidan muttered. "If you excuse me, I have work to do." She turned, closing the door loudly behind her, and disappeared. A silence fell upon Harvey's office for several seconds.

"Well, it seems I've caused enough havoc for one day. Thanks for having me over Harvey, Kristen." Iarocav stood from his seat, shaking the hands of both directors. "I'll be off now."

"T-thank you for stopping by," Harvey croaked. His throat wasn't quite prepared to speak again.

"My pleasure." Iarocav turned back to the duo one more time as he opened the office door. "I trust that you'll do what needs to be done." He too, left the room, though he closed the door with an appropriate level of gentleness.

Harvey seemed to collapse onto his desk once the Drawkionel left. Kristen looked back at him, feeling similarly exhausted. This is not how she imagined her afternoon going.

"She better win that game," Harvey said after a moment to collect himself. He propped his head back up, looking over at Kristen. "She better win that fucking game."

[Darmen]

An Evening Under The Moon

LUNAS, PASARGA - A perfect final weekend for the All Greens has set up a chance for the Darmeni national team to qualify for the World Cup. A 5-2 away victory over Macbon kicked things off, before the team returned to Darmen for the final must win match of qualifying against Natanians and Nosts. A 2-1 victory over the visitors, plus a 3-3 draw between Krytenia and Eura, ensured Darmen would finish Group 17 play in third place.

Unfortunately for Darmen, they ended up one point short of automatic qualification for the 97th World Cup, forcing them into a final final must win match subsequent to the final must win match against Natanians and Nosts. Aleirave, who finished third in Group 5, will be the opponent in the playoff match, to be held in Lunas, Pasarga.

Darmeni manager Riley Mac Pharlain is excited for the playoff match, "This is a great chance for Darmeni football to take the first step back towards being a top level team. There's a lot of pressure, sure, but top level teams have to deal well with pressure, so this is a great chance to see if we're up to the challenge. I'm confident "

Mac Pharlain will be glad to have the services of Kayden Aleshire once again, as the midfielder returns from a serious ankle injury. Aleshire has missed over half of the qualifying campaign and his presence was dearly missed in matches against the Holy Empire and Banija.

A nighttime playoff match against Aleirave is the only thing between Darmen and their ninth qualification for the World Cup finals. Will the team step up the pressure, like Mac Pharlain is confident they will? Or will they choke once again, as they have so many times before? Darmeni fans attending the match at the Stadium of the Moon, or watching from home, will be eager to find out.

[Savojarna]

SavojarSports.sj - Savojarna's Sports News Website

P L A Y O F F S !
Savojarna draw Pyazhnaya in dramatic final game

Written by Ingmar Alfredsson

Pyazhnaya - Twenty minutes in, it all seemed over. Sasha Malykin, the right midfielder playing in Sylestone, found a gap behind Tom Krogstrup, swung inside with accurate timing, and tried to sidestep Hedvig Riksdal. The Tihon United centre-back was a bit too slow in her reaction, her hip collided with Malykin’s, and the referee immediately (and correctly) pointed to the spot. No protests came from the Savojar side as Riksdal hung her head in shame, getting comforted off to the side by her defensive partner Krogstrup. Just as little discussion was possible about the calm, collected, and flawless way in which Antonina Obzinova went on to slot the ball into the bottom left corner, with no chance to reach the ball for Valujev. With the score now at 2-0 after an early goal by Terentyev, playoffs seemed far off in the distance.

But this Savojarna team has persisted against the odds multiple times before. The start of the campaign was close to disastrous as the team were getting back into the swing of international football, but they bounced back from an occasionally brutal campaign to claim fourth place - before a second half goal by Pyazhnaya’s Rybalkin led to a defeat at the Bjurman to this very opponent. Again, they bounced back with a surprise win against Tanirinthia and a commanding double victory over Restresas and the Alezian Union that brought the Northlights back into contention. They did what they had to do by beating direct opponents Sajnur, and earned this final shot, one point behind Sajnur. It would not end like this, the team decided after a half time speech by captain Röysveit, as we learned after the final whistle.

A change in midfield at half time shifted attention forward significantly, with the Northlights assuming something resembling a diamond in midfield and Lasse Holtby wrecking havoc between the lines. It was him that drew out an over-eager Svyatoslav Rastorguyev and opened a line for Medberg Hansen to receive a ball, turn around Ilyushin and beat Chupov to the bottom corner. Just minutes later, a swing in from the side after a free kick found Röysveit; the ball may have been saved by Chupov but nothing could stop Simon Barisjnikov’s stab at the ball at the near corner to equalise the game with a bit over half an hour to go. Suddenly, Savojarna were back in it, just one goal away from qualification if the score in the parallel game between Kimi-Suomi and Sajnur went their way. And qualification seemed to have come with twelve minutes to go as a sharp cross from the left missed Medberg Hansen’s head, but fell on towards the second post where, seemingly out of nowhere, Jekaterina Ivanov flew in, throwing herself forward, deflecting the ball to the left, under Chupov’s hand, into the net.

Savojarna were leading 3-2, and looking to close out a spectacular game, as it all seemed to slip away again. With four minutes of injury time signalled, everyone was holding their breath on the Savojar side of the stadium, the bench already standing, when one more cross attempt was blocked by Ivanov, deflected to a corner. Kharlamov took it, inswinging to the first post, knocked on by joker Anoushka Dolzhikova, slipping past Valujev’s fingers, the ball landing in the net and knocking the wind out of Savojarna’s players, who weren’t updated about the result over in Kimi-Suomi. It was a gruelling final minute until the staff managed to rush out and deliver the relieving message: 2-0 in Kimi-Suomi, Sajnur lost, and Savojarna would progress to play-offs on the narrowest of margins, using the tiebreakers.

Savojarna will enter the playoffs as the higher seed against Milchama, who finished on the exact same 9-1-4 record in Group 15, but with a slightly worse goal differential. The Northlights won’t be favoured in the game, but nobody wants to think about that yet: “We’ve done it! We’ve exceeded our goals, we’ve done something we didn’t think possible a year ago, we’re extremely proud, and we’ll go celebrate now!”, captain Kenneth Röysveit said to STV2 before disappearing into a cheering crowd. Likewise, Nikolai Kruul Jensen was interrupted as he was explaining the mental resilience of his team as Medberg Hansen and Anton Vitol jumped their coach hugging him, showing the joy of this Savojar team about their qualification for playoffs. The playoffs will come up in five week’s time, in a single playoff game with World Cup qualification on the line.

Pyazhnaya 3-3 Savojarna (2-0)

Goals: 6’ Terentyev 1-0 (Retyunskikh). 20’ Obnizova 2-0 (penalty). 49’ Medberg Hansen 2-1 (Holtby). 56’ Barisjnikov 2-2. 78’ Ivanov 2-3 (Barisjnikov). 93’ Dolzhikova 3-3 (Kharlamov).
Yellow Cards: 19’ Riksdal, 59’ Zabolotnaya, 83’ Vingegaard (all foul).
Red Cards: –

Pyazhnaya: Chupov - Zabolotnaya, Rastorguyev (55’ Verenichnaya), Ilyushin (83’ Tkachev), Kharlamov - Terentyev, Novoseltseva, Retyunskikh, Malykin - Kartashov (71’ Dolzhikova), Obnizova.
Savojarna: Valujev - Riksdal, Röysveit, Thelander - Krogstrup (65’ Mäkelä), Sadianov (46’ Holtby), Vingegaard, Ivanov - Barisjnikov, Medberg Hansen, Novikov (71’ Asmundur)

[Eastfield Lodge]

Time to decide the fates of the final 10 teams looking for tickets to the Finals.

[Sarzonia]

It took an expanded World Cup field. It took a circuitous route for a Sarzonian national football team that seemingly fancied draws against lower-ranked opponents instead of victories. It took a near-implosion for a team that was no stranger to rancour.

Fittingly enough, it also took an additional match for Sarzonia to finally cast aside the ghosts of the past and win a playoff match for the right to advance to the World Cup proper for the first time in 12 cycles as the Stars defeated Drawkland 2-1 at Lodger City Memorial Stadium in New Lodger City to finally book their trip to either Pasarga or Eastfield Lodge.

With the fourth official showing just two minutes of second half stoppage time and manager Caleb Rush fuming about why it wasn't at least four minutes, Spencer Wilson had something more important on his mind. Namely, an opening he saw in the Kick Corps defence as midfielder Layton George won a ball before the Drawks could push numbers forward.

He waited impatiently for the telltale thunk from George's right boot to send the ball toward the goal, knowing that centre back Sarah Arrowsword would be able to notice his run and either intercept him or, worse yet, direct left back Nicole Warren to step forward in hopes of catching Wilson in an offside trap.

*Thunk!*

Now! Wilson thought as he began to glide toward the 18-yard box. He soon sped up and passed Arrowsword, who lifted her right arm into the night sky to no avail. Wilson skied as high as he could and nodded the ball toward the upper right corner.

Not the shot I wanted, he thought in a split second until he saw the ball dent the upper right corner of the goal just past the desperate dive of goalkeeper McKenna Reed and he saw the Ursine referee point her right paw toward the centre circle.

Sarzonia had scored in stoppage time, and halted Rush in mid-argument as he heard the loud roar of the Navy-clad Sarzonians in attendance at the massive venue. He looked and saw his team piling on top of Wilson and could see the jubilant faces of his players even without watching the video board.

He knew there'd be at least one more minute of stoppage tacked on to account for the celebration. And his team's reconstituted back four would have to weather the Drawks' new found sense of urgency. Weather it, they would. John Wells, the young starting goalkeeper whose extreme exuberance cost him some appearances in the group stage, was equal to the task of containing a heavily offensive-minded side that was about ready to send everyone into the Sarzonian 18-yard box.

Finally, when Wells saw an opening, he launched a kick in the direction of the Drawk goal, hoping not for a stat-padding goal, but to take enough time off the clock. It did, and when the referee blew her whistle three times, everyone on the Sarzonian sidelines except for Rush himself sprinted toward the centre of the pitch to exult.

Finally, Sarzonia prevailed over a higher-ranked side. Finally, Sarzonia won a World Cup berth in a playoff after failing each previous time. Sarzonia would not get the opportunity to defend their Cup of Harmony trophy. They were getting a chance to play for the biggest trophy in sport.

And now, Caleb Rush could allow himself to smile.

The team would get a few days off before they learned whether they'd stay in Eastfield Lodge or travel to Pasarga. But more to the point, after winning five of their last six matches and only losing both their matches against No. 12 Flavovespia, the Stars finally knocked out a heavyweight.

And now, it was time for the last critic to shut up once and for all.

[Edsmontik]

NOT AT ALL EASY, THE INJURIES KEEP COMING
REPLAY ON ISN NOW

In New Fernia, the Edsmons were more worried about the hurricane back home than the actual game.
Which is what ended up to them forgetting about the score and attempting to contact friends and family.
But after that and the internet problems, everything seemingly returned to normal, and the footage recorded by ISN was not at all damaged.
And that puts us here.
I am was your commentator, Viksen Dousenhav.

---

NS WORLD CUP - QUALIFIERS MD14
ONEFERN STADIUM, FERNCLIFFE, NEW FERNIA
NEW FERNIA VS EDSMONTIK

PRE-GAME
"We beat them 6-2 last time, who knows how much we can beat them by THIS time!" Fruedenne commented.
"Don't jinx it. What if we lose?" Syverark said.
"Aren't you jinxing it?" Fruedenne responded.
The two continued arguing as the large bus pulled to a stop besides the OneFern stadium.
"Everything's... ferny... does everything in New Fernia seriously have 'fern' in it?" der-Stoiuben said.
"Lots of greenery though." Lankiv added.
The Edsmons walked into the stadium and headed for a quick talk in the locker room.
"Okay team, so what happens now is we have to do what we can to stay or move up the table." der-Ghavyr started. "We can't fall down, or else we will be kicked away from the qualification chance!"
He connected his phone to a small TV in the room.
"This is the table so far." he said.
The Edsmons looked and nodded.
"We're one point away from Xanneria, and three away from Recuecn!" der-Ghavyr continued.
"So, if we win, and they lose both games, which is just luck, we move to second?" der-Haans asked.
"Exactly! And the New Fernians will do all they can to stop us!" der-Ghavyr said in a dramatic tone. "But anyways, lets head out for warmups."

KICKOFF
The Edsmons nervously took their positions.
They were very unsure about a possible outcome for the coming match.
Especially with Hurricane Bernisq on their minds.
But nevertheless, they tried to remain confident.
Javarqa stood in front of the New Fernian captain, and watched as the coin was flipped.
The referee's hand slipped, and the coin fell onto the grass.
After picking it up, he quickly re-flipped it, and it landed on Edsmontik.
Javarqa nodded, and walked back, giving his usual good luck and handshake with the team.
Bervaign tapped the ball and gave a thumbs up to Stuero.
*TWEET!*

FIRST HALF
Bervaign fired the ball to Stuero on the right.
Howard approached him quickly, attempting to intervene, but Stuero was quick.
He stuck out his left foot, rolling the ball backwards and away from the path of charging Sam Howard.
Maartin tapped the ball in front of himself and sprinted down the wing.
He knew to avoid using their usual tactic too often and tapped the ball towards the center.
In a fast-paced motion, he and Bervaign exchanged passes three times.
They cleared the midfield and worked their way around defenders.
And when they were close enough, Bervaign lifted the ball slightly for Stuero to land a deadly blow...
And he fired it.
The shot was so powerful, that it smashed into the crossbar, and bounced between it and the ground two times before Ellis ultimately caught it.
After a quick VAR check and a few angry players and an upset goalkeeper, the score remained 0-0.
Edsmon fans were wild though, knowing that it was probably a guarantee win after their previous 6-2 victory.
They continued with multiple chances in the following minutes.
Stuero had managed another shot, which was barely blocked.
Javarqa almost scored off the corner that followed,
And Reuhans very, very, nearly scored a long shot from so far out you'd think not even the best of the best could make it.
The Edsmons had a large winning chance, and suspected a goal coming sooner or later.
But things weren't going to come easy, with New Fernia initiating their own attack right after.
Bradley skipped past Aespana, passing to Bell, who barely won the ball over Fruedenne.
Brandondt Reichsteur did the job though, blocking Bell and clearing the ball out.
In the center, Reuhans chested the ball and volleyed it up to Ghreksbvy.
Maktholm took it and ran.
He swiftly cut past the New Fernians, rolling the ball and flicking it up.
When he was about three quarters through the Fernian half, he fired a strong cross with his right foot.
Fans cheered and screamed as the ball entered the box.
Stuero dived for the header, knocking the ball towards the goal.
Ellis barely punted it up, expecting it to go out, but it only gave Reus Aespana a great chance...
But the crowd was completely silenced one what happened next happened.
Fox had barely cleared the ball off the line, lobbing it to the center, where of course, the Fernians held their counterattack.
This time, Javarqa cut the chance short, interepting the ball midair and passing to Reuhans.
Reuhans passed to Fruedenne, who skillfully slipped past Bradley before passing to Aespana.
Reus was invaded by his own thoughts again.
"Hopefully we can qualify." he thought to himself. "I wonder how our Panay rivals are doing."
But as fast as they came, he shook it away and fired the ball to Bervaign.
*TWEEET!*
*TWEE TWEET!*
Oh no.
Reus watched as the ambulance made its way onto the field.
An injury again?
Bervaign's ankle looked nasty.
It wasn't a sprain, most likely worse.
All it really took was for the defender to smash it foot into Bervaign's right leg when the ball came for a dislocation.
Hunt argued that it was an accident, he said that tried to kick the ball (where he succeeded by clearing it) but also smashed Bervaign's ankle.
The referee reluctantly agreed, and after a VAR check ad confirmation from other players and people, it was determined as an accident.
A yellow card was handed out.
Many thought it wasn't enough, but the referee just waved it off.
And so, on came Utravak.
Reus replayed the footage in his head.
"Definitely an accident" he muttered to himself. "Sure..."
And for that, the Edsmons would get a free kick just outside of the box.
Reus kept thinking, but it was cut short when he had to take the kick.
He stepped up, eyes on the goalie.
Ellis's eyes seemed to show slight worry, which Aespana smiled at.
He looked to Lajiflak on his right.
It was a direct kick, but he could still pass it.
He glanced again at Lajiflak.
Lajiflak pointed forward in a motion with his hands.
Reus nodded to him, preparing the ball.
The Fernian wall stood strong, blocking a possible direct path to goal.
One.
Two.
Three.
FOUR!
He fired the ball, and it curved just the way he wanted to.
Lajiflak charged forward, getting closer to the post.
Fox chased him down, but it was too late for the New Fernians.
You could hear the sound as Fruedenne headed the ball right into the Fernian's net.
Ellis had a disappointed expression as he watched the ball slip in before anyone could stop it.
The Edsmons were wild, firing confetti and waving their flags as if they just won a final.
It was still and important game though.
They needed to do as much as possible to qualify.
The half ended like that, a 1-0 lead.
Slightly disappointing, if you could say.
But with Bervaign out for a while, this was problematic.

HALFTIME
"We've grabbed a strong lead guys. But half of the time, 1-0 isn't going to be enough." der-Gahvyr told the team as halftime approached it's close.
"I have a feeling the lineup may need some changes." Brandondt Reichsteur said.
"I agree. And also, some players haven't started either ever or in a while, such as der-Haans or der-Struvos." chimed in his brother, Mikhav Reichsteur.
der-Ghavyr nodded as he listened to his team talk about what he could do to help them all be more optimistic.
"I feel like the BOF84 lineup transitions fit better. Every game brought a new lineup." Stuero said.
"But we can't prepare all the team changes in such the short time we have between each game." der-Ghavyr responded.
"How about we just swap up the team every two matchdays? We can swap after this one then after 15/16 for 17/18." Jervanois said. "Anyways, we are sort of already doing that, aren't we?"
"That's a great idea, we can do that and maybe, if there's more time in the world cup, we can switch out every match." der-Ghavyr added.
And then, a phone buzzer went off, and the players quickly stood up to head back out.

SECOND HALF
Reus looked up at the evening sky.
He had no idea what season it was.
He was mad that everyone was getting injured.
And he wanted to score goals.
After a quick talk with Utravak in the center, the game started.
*TWEEET!*
Bervaign to Aespana.
Reus dribbled, sweeping past the midfield and curving in towards the defense.
"Too slow for me!" he thought to himself.
He saw Stuero open, and without another though, fired the ball with the outside of his foot and curved it to him.
The ball waltzed through the air, barely missing a defender before landing safely in front of Stuero.
Maartin dragged the ball back, slipping it to the right before flicking it to the opposite direction.
After dodging Fox, he smashed the ball.
He watched as it curved, soared, and went past Mitchell.
He stared as the ball hit the ground and bounced.
And he let out a great big groan as the ball tucked itself neatly into Logan Ellis's gloves.
With that, the Edsmons stayed 1-0 up.
Not too long later, the Edsmons saw a few other chances, such as Utravak's long shot or Ghreksbvy's volley from Aespana's shot.
But Logan Ellis held up strong enough to save everything.
Meanwhile, the Fernians followed in with their own attack, having the from three create a passing formation to evade the Edsmon midfield.
For the first attack, this worked out; Howard managed to fire a finesse that was saved by der-Zyfragken.
It continued on, with more attacks and passes from both teams.
And the minutes ticked by.
55th,
56th,
57th,
58th.
Edsmontik grabbed a few corners, with Javarqa nearly scoring a wonderous header, but very unluckily, the ball hit the tip of Reuhans's leg, which was offside.
That was something that got people a little bit mad, because if you looked properly at the footage, Reuhans was BARELY offside.
So once again, the Eagles stepped up their attack and forced the Fernians to keep defending.
And in the 61st minute, the bench was finally used (again)
der-Ghavyr called for Jervanois, Reuhans, and surprisingly Stuero to come off.
Then, he motioned for Makanvakt, Ystermakt, and Fotserr to come on.
Seu Fotserr had lots of pressure on him.
He wasn't expected to play as well as Stuero, but he was still pressured to play somewhat well and secure the Edsmons either another goal or make decent chances.
And so off he went, filled with pressure and a desire to give himself a spot on the team (but seriously, who's replacing Stuero?)
Drowned in his own thoughts, Seu watched as the battle raged on between the two nations.
But even more pressure came in once Aespana asked him if he wanted to take the free kick.
"If I'm honest Seu, I was to give you the chance. not like I wouldn't want to, but I saw your kick back at home there. Even coach says you have potential." Reus said.
"Well..." Fotserr thought about it.
The pressure was on for him, and he only knew he'd have to adapt.
So, he attempted to shake it off and accepted to take the kick.
"How'd we even get this kick again?" he thought to himself.
The referee placed the ball, and Seu let himself fall into daydreaming.
But that barely lasted seconds as Utravak tapped him on the shoulder and gave a thumbs up.
Seu backtracked, the ran to the ball and thought about his shot.
With a powerful blast, the ball swerved past the wall and towards the net.
It smacked the post and went in.
The keeper dived for it though, knocking it out last second.
Seu stood there, shocked.
"Nice try, you almost scored! Not going to lie, that's one of the best free kicks I've seen." said Ystermakt.
Back then, Seu Fotserr had been told it was impossible to become a professional, especially in Edsmontik.
And at the time wasn't even technically a part of Karma.
They weren't even in NSSport.
And now, he was here.
His debut in the qualifiers, and he almost scored a beautiful goal.
That gave him all the motivation to move on and keep trying.
So, the attacking three, Aespana, Utravak and Fotserr pushed against the New Fernians.
Their opponents did their best to fight back, landing a few shots that were luckily saved by der-Zyfragken.
Overall, Seu saw himself doing well.
Well enough to maybe convince a positioning change and get himself a starter spot.
But that was still far, he thought to himself.
The rest of the game saw many more chances form the Edsmons.
And in the end, it just stayed 1-0.
*TWEEET, TWEEET, TWEEEEET!*
"Oh, nice. We won. Thanks for Jinxing it, Syverark." teased Fruedenne.
Syverark groaned.

---

MATCHDAY 14

KEY MOMENTS
38' Yellow Card Fox (FER)
40' GOAL Fruedenne (EDS)
47' Yellow Card der-Suiozkeafter (EDS)
60' Yellow Card Jervanois (EDS)
68' Yellow Card Thompson (FER)
76' Yellow Card Hunt (FER)
80' Yellow Card Ystermakt (EDS)

---

MATCHDAY 15-16 LINEUP

---

OOC: Sorry for posting extremely late, I hope to get 15-18 down soon!

[Aphrilia]

COMMENTATOR'S CLIP
Jimmy Karsten and Rory Delap are the selected commentators for coverage of The Anchors' matches.

Jimmy Karsten: The whistle blows and it's full time! Aphrilia two and nil for Brusseldorf! The Anchors have done all they can here at the Millennium Dawn Stadium!

...

Rory Delap: They really did so, Jim. It all comes down to the game between Oberour Ar Moro and StrayaRoos! The fans in the stands are already tentatively celebrating, but what will the final result be!? There's a bit of time left in the OAM-STR, if either of them win Aphrilia will be casted aside in the standings!

...

Jimmy Karsten: It's still equal between them Rory. I am scared, shaking, the team and fans are definitely so as well it seems... The fact that it has all came down to the final matchday is probably why... Just hoping that the small time we have to wait with will show us a good result, because playoffs are nice, but auto-qual is better...

...

Rory Delap: And the news came through... It's done! Oberour Ar Moro and StrayaRoos draw! I can't believe it, I can't believe it! We're automatically into the World Cup! We don't have to potentially go through the playoff round this time by the looks of it!

...

Jimmy Karsten: The fans have gone wild, Rory! Celebrations throughout the street, it's all gone to a madness for a dream come true! By the math done, Aphrilia is officially in the World Cup for the first time! Absolutely unbelievable...! Flags waved, flares are burning, crowds marching through the streets...

...

Rory Delap: It's all thanks to the effort of the supporters, association, and national team, look at them... Even they're celebrating it...!

- MATCHDAY 17           Pld    W   D   L    GF   GA   GD   Pts 
1 Mertagne               16   10   3   3    36   20  +16    33
2 StrayaRoos             15    9   3   3    37   19  +18    30
3 Oberour Ar Moro        15    9   2   4    33   26   +7    29
4 Aphrilia               15    8   4   3    23   18   +5    28
5 Elmyia                 15    8   2   5    42   28  +14    26
6 Brusseldorf            15    5   3   7    28   34   −6    18
7 Hispinas               15    5   1   9    27   33   −6    16
8 Lisander               15    3   1  11    15   32  −17    10
9 Caerbannog             15    1   1  13    14   45  −31     4

- MATCHDAY 18           Pld    W   D   L    GF   GA   GD   Pts 
1 Mertagne               16   10   3   3    36   20  +16    33 Q
2 Aphrilia               16    9   4   3    25   18   +7    31 Q*
3 StrayaRoos             16    9   4   3    40   22  +18    31 Q*
4 Oberour Ar Moro        16    9   3   4    36   29   +7    30
5 Elmyia                 16    9   2   5    43   28  +15    29
6 Hispinas               16    6   1   9    29   33   −4    19
7 Brusseldorf            16    5   3   8    28   36   −8    18
8 Lisander               16    3   1  12    15   33  −18    10
9 Caerbannog             16    1   1  14    14   47  −33     4

---

Aphrilia were through to the World Cup. That was what Christopher Vermont repeated to himself.

It all came down to the wire, with Aphrilia having to win against a Brusseldorf side whom were out of contention. And even if they won, the fate of their direct qualification relied upon which side won between Oberour Ar Moro and StrayaRoos. The situation was most favorable if both sides drew. Here is why.

If StrayaRoos won, it would seal Aphrilia being in third (And whilst with hindsight this would've put the team in direct qualification as well, Vermont didn't know it at the time due to being so focused on Aphrilia's matches only). The situation would also be the same if Oberour Ar Moro won the match as well. And hence the two sides drawing ended up being the best result for The Anchors. It was all about the tiebreakers that were being used for qualifying.

The first tiebreaker was head to head points. Before Matchday 18, STR had 30 points, with OAM and APH being 1 and 2 points behind respectively. The win against Brusseldorf placed Aphrilia at 31 points, whilst the draw put STR at 31 as well and OAM at 30. Since Aphrilia had the better head to head having beaten StrayaRoos once and drawing the other time, The Anchors would have finished ahead of the Emus if the latter drew against OAM.

And that was exactly what happened.

Aphrilia 2 - 0 Brusseldorf, Oberour Ar Moro 3 - 3 StrayaRoos. It gave the Aphrilian manager a bit of a heart attack from time to time, but by the end of it all, he knew that the final result was perfection. Ines Forrestal had scored both of Aphrilia's goals for the final match, and the team was certainly happy by the end of it all. So happy to the point he was lifted up into the air by the entire team in celebrations of their passing into the World Cup.

And speaking of the team, they were currently in the national team training facility's drawing room. All of them, as Vermont and the rest of the management did some celebrations alongside the players inside. But there was another reason he asked them to come here. They would be meeting someone, someone important.

His phone notification popped up, and he read it. So she's arrived. Time to tell the team.

"Alright everyone, pay attention! There's a reason I called all of you here other than saying congratulations and celebrations," Vermont paused, as the entire national team paused with their chatter and looked amongst one another. After a while, he continued. "There's another person who wants to celebrate this incredible success. Someone special. And she should be here right... About... Now." The moment he finished that, a woman entered the room as the team's faces foretold their reaction.

Surprise. Shock. Awe. That was the reaction of the team when they saw that Her Imperial Sovereign, Evangeline Odonaghue III, was in the same room as them.

"Apologies for the intrusion, Vermont. I hope you don't mind, I just wanted to extend a sincere congratulations and a personal thank you to everyone here."

[HUElavia]

HUElavia 4–0 Vaishnavaria
(Uchee 13', Oh 35', 62', Milano 82')
Hot Springs Stadium, Toin, HUElavia

Bittersweet End

HUElavia's late rally falls short after failing to Qualify for World Cup 97 in bittersweet victory.

The three consecutive World Cup appearance streak has ended. While HUElavia had their rally, fighting to the very last matchday, it all came apart elsewhere. Despite dominating Vaishnavaria with a blistering 4-0 scoreline, and while it was looking like Drawkland and Qasden would be having scoreless draws, news broke out when they respectively got their goals scored, hoping for some sort of response from North and South Slavo-Baltia and Yakk respectively. But the response never came and despite the victory, there was a somber mood throughout the stadium, knowing that HUElavia fell short from making the World Cup. Arguably the worst campaign since the infamous World Cup 87, another qualifiers that had a horrible run that essentially did the team in early, it was a sobering moment for HUElavian football trying to run on a high.

HUElavia finished 5th Place with 25 Points on a 7-4-5 record, scoring 31 goals and conceding 23, giving a +8 Goal Difference. 2 points shy of a Playoff spot, 3 points shy of a Direct Qualification. Immensely tough way to go out once again, and HUElavia must wait another 4 years to attempt yet another chance at the biggest tournament in the Multiverse. On the flip side, ultimately 3rd placed Drawkland didn't make the World Cup after losing in the Playoffs, as well as Qasden finished 4th to fail to make it. So, I guess it didn't matter in the grand scheme of things.

Coach Ignacio Casillas was ultimately named as the full-time head coach after stringing together a great set of matches to rally the team back floundering at the near bottom of the group. Coach Casillas was quoted as saying "I'm grateful to be given the full-time responsibilities of the team and I hope to service the team and nation well, much like how I did as a player back in the day. We have promising young talents and solid veterans that we can make a good core out of for the next few years. I hope to deliver on the results and guide this team to another title and joy for HUElavians throughout the multiverse."

The HUElavian Football Association received an invitation from the Banijan FA to the 89th Cup of Harmony, which the HFA had accepted immediately upon arrival of the invitation. While it has been a long time since the team last participated at the Cup of Harmony, it's still a title that the team is keen to compete for and to make a respectable run, something that has not happened before.

As heartbreaking as the qualifiers were, we must march on, for there is more football to be played, and history to be created.

FORCA HUELAVIA! VAMOS HUELAVIA! GO HUELAVIA!

[Sarzonia]

Now that the dust has settled and the 48-team field has been sorted for the 97th edition of the World Cup, we decided to look through the teams that are making their way to either Pasarga or Eastfield Lodge for the expanded tournament.

As is often the case with these World Cups, even with a larger number of teams, there are bound to be teams who surprised the experts by punching their tickets to one of the two aforementioned host countries. There are also notable absences of teams who began as favourites and failed to qualify.

We went group by group through all 17 qualifying groups to determine whom we might have expected to make it, who pleasantly surprised, who disappointed, and who did the boring thing by meeting expectations.

Without further ado, here we go:

Group 1
Baggieland (36)
Chromatika (15)
The 14 Stars (95)***
Notable eliminations: Nova Calania (51), Qusmo (71)
Two higher-seeded teams lost out on what turned out to be three World Cup berths here. Baggieland making it wasn't a real surprise, but beating out Chromatika for the group title raised a few eyebrows here. The 14 Stars qualifying directly was the bigger shock here.

Group 2
Juvencus (20)
Ko-oren (8)
Sargossa (67)***
Notable eliminations: Poafmersia (57)
The most notable thing here is Juvencus going from beating Sarzonia in the playoffs during the previous World Cup cycle (no, we're not bitter!) to winning the group ahead of Ko-oren, whom the Stars could've beaten out but for one damn away draw against Rea San Vegas (NO, WE'RE NOT BITTER!!!). Poafmersia failing to finish at least third is a mild surprise.

Group 3
Valanora (1)
Zwangzug (19)
TJUN-ia (48)**
Notable eliminations: None
No surprise here. TJUN-ia qualified to the proper after winning their playoff match.

Group 4
Yuezhou (7)
Tikariot (21)
Tero al Disco (58)***
Notable eliminations: None
No surprise here. Tero al Disco qualified directly to the proper.

Group 5
Crpostran (46)
Vdara (30)
Aleirave (75)**
Notable eliminations: United Mandaran States (18)
UMS failed to qualify for even a spot in the playoffs despite being the Pot 1 side is shocking. Crpostran winning the group as the Pot 3 side over the Pot 2 side is a mild surprise.

Group 6
Flavovespia (12)
Gnejs (45)
Sarzonia (38)**
Notable eliminations: None
Third seeds Gnejs beat out Sarzonia for one of the two automatic berths, but the Stars bucked their history by actually winning their playoff match. We almost listed 61st ranked Pot 4 side Carpathia and Ruthenia as a notable elimination for the rivalry factor, but we couldn't bring ourselves to do it.

Group 7
Sylestone (6)
Saterun (43)
Patriotlandia (135)*
Notable eliminations: Josifovo (34), Jeruselem (74)
Sylestone winning the group was not even slightly surprising, but Patriotlandia making the playoffs over No. 2 seeds Josifovo and longtime World Cup qualifying competitors Jeruselem was a shock result. They failed to advance, but they had a good go of it.

Group 8
Baker Park loser (40)
Tumbra (9)
Zenic (37)**
Notable eliminations: None
The only notable thing here is the order these teams advanced.

Group 9
Bears Armed (80)
Myrtle Beach (50)
Drawkland (31)*
Notable eliminations: HUElavia (10), Drawkland, Qasden (76)
Tenth ranked HUElavia getting eliminated in qualifying was a cataclysmic result. Drawkland as the Pot 2 side lost in the playoffs to the Stars, so they're definitely a noticeable absence from the proper. Pot 3 side Myrtle Beach as runners up is interesting, but Pot 5 Bears Armed as group winners makes this arguably the most topsy-turvy group of all 17.

Group 10
Delte (3)
Siovanija and Tuesland (132)
Cardenao (92)***
Notable eliminations: Audioslavia (23), Valentine Z (44), Abanhfleft (62)
If another group could dispute Group 9's claim to the biggest shock of qualifying, it would be Group 10. Delte qualifying was expected, but the rest of the field needs to be unpacked. Second seeded Audioslavia, third seeded Valentine Z, and fourth seeded Abanhfleft all failing to even make the playoffs was another multiverse-shattering outcome. Siovanija and Tuesland and Cardenao both made it directly to the proper despite their low ranks.

Group 11
Mytanija (41)
Kelssek (4)
Hapilooper (140)***
Notable eliminations: Indusse (28)
Kelssek making it to the proper as the fourth ranked team in the multiverse is a dog-bites-man story. Doingso as the group runners up behind the Pot 3 side Mytanija with Pot 6 Hapilooper bypassing the playoffs to qualify counts as a man-bites-dog story. No. 70 Pot 4 side Ile de Richelieu and Pot 5 Britonisea, ranked 97 also failed to qualify.

Group 12
West Barack and East Obama (22)
Huayramarca (11)
The Kytler Peninsulae (55)***
Notable eliminations: None
No surprise here. The Kytler Peninsulae qualified directly to the proper.

Group 13
Mertagne (16)
Aphrilia (82)
StrayaRoos (60)***
Notable eliminations: Elmyia (32), Oberour Ar Moro (78)
Mertagne qualifying directly as group winners was expected. The teams joining them from this group were not. Second seeded Elmyia and fourth seeded Oberour Ar Moro going home whilst fifth seeds Aphrilia and third seeds StrayaRoos directly qualified likely gets more attention if not for Groups 9 and 10.

Group 14
Eshialand (35)
Tanirinthia (14)
Savojarna (136)*
Notable eliminations: Sajnur (47), Kimi-Suomi (77)
The top two seeds qualified for the proper, but Savojarna playing in the playoffs despite being the Pot 5 side raised eyebrows. However, with Milchama routing them 4-1 in the playoff, their story finished agonisingly close to the finish line.

Group 15
Farfadillis (3)
Squornshelan Remnant States (39)
Milchama (42)**
Notable eliminations: None
Nothing surprising here.

Group 16
Saint Eleanor (13)
Edsmontik (147)
Loch Dearg (UR)*
Notable eliminations: Xanneria (26), Recucen (56), Delaclava (63), Loch Dearg
Saint Eleanor qualifying was expected, but Edsmontik qualifying directly as the Pot 6 side with Pot 3 Milchama winning the aforementioned playoff only begins to tell the tale. There's Pot 2 No. 26 Xanneria flaming out, Pot 4 Recucen and our friends Pot 5 No. 63 Delaclava finishing below Edsmontik in the group table. The biggest story though is Loch Dearg, the unranked side making it to within a playoff match of the proper despite not competing in the Baptism of Fire. We expect them to be a force before long.[/i]

Group 17
The Holy Empire (17)
Banija (27)
Darmen (83)*
Notable eliminations: Eura (59), Krytenia (80)
The Holy Empire advanced as expected. No. 27 Pot 2 side Banija rebounded from a shock failure to qualify for World Cup 96 to earn the second guaranteed berth without much drama. Third seeds and former champions Eura and fourth seeds Krytenia finished below fifth seeded Darmen, which lost their playoff match.

So there you have it: Some expected results, a few mild surprises and a strong dose of stone cold shocks. Right on schedule.

NOTE:
***- Third placed side automatically qualified for the World Cup.
**- Third placed side advanced via playoffs
*- Third placed side eliminated in the playoffs

[The 14 Stars]

Starsian Wolves Qualify!

Its there, multipe times the Starsian team had been at a chance to slide into the playoffs and each time it choked the last matches but right now on this day the outlook was so good it couldn't go wrong anymore.
When the Wolves started this qualifying cycle they would have signed for a mid table placement, but now? they're currently competing for the automatic qualification for the 97th edition of the multiversal world cup.
It was for all players a turning point, the rookies Iris Olivier, Lukas Lauritzen, Kimora Frazier, Sarah Huber, Johanna Koch and Daniel Flores all here as young talents the eye to the future that coach Walcott chose to give opportunities to, it worked out with insane success and her philosophy is greatly credited across the country as a good balance between experience and new talent.
Right now matches against the Grearish Union and Quakmybush remained, both had already been beaten once and the Wolves knew they were the stronger team in both games and could certainly do it twice now aswell.

For Kira Blade who had played an insane tournament playing less matches but still scoring the most goals in the qualifiers looked at the last training before the match with her coach together.
Kira had been more and more visible off the field during this qualification cycle, due to her injury in the match against Qusmo but also to guide her rookie counterparts, help them improve and act as a leader for the team, she handled the press and gave the interviews when needed showing herself more often off the field leading to speculations about her future in football.
Kira was currently 35 years soon to turn 36, she was still a strong and fearsome player as shown with her statistics but it was no secret that she enjoyed her new mentor role more then she wanted to admit, inspiring people to do good things was something she liked alot.
Players like Kimora Frazier, Lukas Lauritzen and Iris Olivier had been able to step up and do big things thanks to Kira's support motivating them to train hard and improve their game to levels they never expected they could reach.

Our team the Wolves managed to secure a neat 3-1 victory against the Grearish Union with 2 goals from Kai Schulz and one from Elizabeth Phillips who had also stepped up their game from previous cycle.
This meant that with 32 points a draw would be enough most likely to auto qualify if it even wasn't enough already and the last match against Quakmybush was a narrow 3-2 win with 2 goals from substitute striker Lukas Lauritzen and Kira Blade also having her share with one goal, after that match a true celebration broke loose as The 14 Stars for the first time in history had qualified itself for the world cup, they had spent many many years trying competing since the 88th Qualifiers and now finally qualifiying for their first world cup proper appearance.
This meant that their country would finally be seen as a serious footballing force.
Old players saw history being made, the likes of Alan White, Morris Valerian, Nicolay Moon and Maximillian Flare saw those young players make their dreams and their own dreams come true as they really shown might on the field those last two games.
They did not just have luck, no they deserved to qualify as the best 3rd placed team there was earning their automatic qualification spot and boosting their global rank sky high, they currently were ranked after the qualification run as 61th strongest side, this meant they werent the worst team in the world cup but by far not the best either.

Also this end of the qualification cycle marked with the end of an era aswell, firstly though coach Walcott with a post match interview.

Interviewer: ''Coach Walcott congratiulations on your world cup qualification, you came here as an unknown coach hailing from the nation of Sylestone and within a few years you turned this team into a world cup qualifying team.
How do you explain your success? what is it that you do to get the most out of these players that are on the team?''

Walcott: ''Yes thank you, i am so happy i cannot describe with words how much joy this qualification brings to me, the team and all the staff members working day and night to ensure our players can give it their all.
When i came here i saw a team that was a diamond in the rough, there was potential but they lacked consistency, experience and more players then only Kira who could make the diffrence because she cannot carry a match alone.
I have tried to create multiple pillars of support for the team across all layers and they can change overtime but it will remain a solid foundation needed for any world cup side if they have high ambitions.
To win games but especially world cup games we will have to use everyone's quality at the right moment, only then we can truly get the most out of this team and this goes for all teams they all do that to have their own success.

Interviewer: ''Those are some nice words, at the world cup you will get even stronger opponents with all of them being similar in power to chromatika and Baggieland that we failed to beat, do we have a chance and what is the plan for the world cup?

Walcott: ''Good question, while mounting a title challenge will be really tough lets be very honest with eachother our team is not going there just to play catch up, we are going to give it everything we got and battle until the final whistle.
Yes they are stronger but there is always a chance, this team has a perfect balance between experience and youthful talent and creativity and thats also why i like this country and its people so much now im staying here longer.
This nation has so much diversity but there is mutual respect and understanding amongst eachother and all men and women go through the fire for eachother both on and off the field which is the kind of mentality sometimes my home nation lacks.''

Interviewer: ''You mention your home nation, would it be tough if you had to face Sylestone with your team?''

Walcott: ''No ofcourse not, we will treat them as any other opponent but being from this country i know their strong points and also the points where their players lack in and i am sure such a match would be a tough encounter.
But no hard feelings to them, im glad my country made it too but my priority is The 14 Stars right now, thats the job i've taken on.''

Interviewer: ''Understood, lastly there is currently a good set of players but there are rumours floating that several players are on the verge of calling it quits for the national team, Samir Arash is a given as he was denied a debut.
Now also Kira Blade and Joyce Villegas have similar rumours floating around them, they are respectively 34 and 35 years old and how would it be for you if they decided to quit to play for the national team of our country?''

Walcott: ''I have no signs from either of them that they have intentions to quit, also the problem with Kira's position is that we do not have many experienced players there with similar potential to our two youths.
Its diffrent for Joyce because she already doesnt play alot of matches but she is still a valuable teacher and experienced player who has taken on a mentorship role within the national team towards Olivier which is very kind of her.
In the end it is their decision but if its up to me i would like to continue calling them up for the team for the coming tournaments after the world cup which would most likely be the Esportivan championship.

Interviewer: ''Understood, well go celebrate with your team thanks for the interview and have a great evening!''

Walcott: ''Thank you very much, have a good evening aswell!''

Breaking News! Arash leaves team per immediately!

After the match shocking news comes from the Starsian Wolves as Samir Arash has announced he will be leaving the team per directly not going to the world cup together with the team he qualified with!
It was already known that Arash was gonna quit after this tournament but now he has made the decision to refuse going to the world cup, today in a press conference together with coach Walcott he announced his per direct retirement from the national team.

Samir Arash: ''Hello everyone, im not usually the speaker for our team but today im announcing that i will end my national team career per immediately following our qualification to the 97th world cup.
This is because of earlier stated lack of opportunities i have gotten despite being with this team for a whole decade, i saw everything from the fall to the rise to where we are now and i never got the chance to show myself there on the world stage.
That reason hurts me too much now to go out there to the world cup and sit out every match again while seeing my teammates achieve all their dreams and more, im about the only one save for Liv Dahl who hasnt made an appearance and shes a goalie.
I do not want to sit there and be jealous or regretful towards myself or my teammates because each and every single one of them are awesome players and they deserve to play on the world stage.
I am just not good enough for that level i guess, its harsh but true but when this truth is shown in front of you there are two choices, deny it and hang on to that spot with all might hoping for a single opportunity that may never come or give room for younger and newer talent like many players before me have done and i've decided that the latter was the best.
I want to be remembered as a player made the right decisions at the right time, i am glad for the opportunity to make memories with the team and see the development for our team and the qualification as crown on our work its a nice end for me here.


Coach Walcott confirmed the statement and also stated that Samir Arash in the World Cup squad will be replaced by 18 year old right back Victor Meyer who is the son of former National Team midfielder Klaus Meyer.
Victor Meyer has been part of the team that achieved the bronze medal in the last U18 world cup and when he was confronted with the news he was very surprised but also honored that he was asked to join the team.
It also meant that the very experienced Astrid Madsen was denied a spot aswell as 19 year old Katarina Roux and 22 year old Leonora Snowden which made alot of people quite upset given they had preferred Madsen or Snowden to replace Arash.

Interviewer: '''Victor tell us what is your first comment on hearing your on the team?''

Victor Meyer: ''Unbelievable there are so many good players and they chose me....its a true honor and i would like to thank both Julio Reyes and Samir Arash for the opportunities they gave me and the experience i got on the U18 side.
I know i am selected to learn and gain experience but i am still really honored as it feels like a recognition of my hard work the past years.''

Interviewer: ''Nice words also how did your dad react?''

Victor Meyer: ''Yeah dad was super happy for me ofcourse, he also played for our country and was a midfielder behind Valerian and always competing with the likes of Rockwell and Mustafir which was really wild.
He told me to enjoy every moment and work hard so i dont have any regrets, its the best advice i think i can get.''

Interviewer: ''Any player you look up to?''

Victor Meyer: ''Yes i certainly look up to Federico Zaratti who is not only an awesome defender but also a great leader and just like me a son of a football player, his mother Gianna played the midfield and he also was a rookie like me long ago.
I hope i can learn from him but also other players ofcourse and i love finally seeing Lukas, Kimora and some others again so yes im really hyped for this i look forward to do my best and help the team in any way forward i can!

Interviewer: ''Thanks for your words''

Victor Meyer: ''No problem at all.''

[Yue Zhou]

WC97 PREVIEW: END OF AN ERA FOR ASHDOWN?
LIN Wei, DragonsDaily

PASARGA -- It's now undeniable that Elaine Ashdown is the greatest Yue national team manager of all time. Since taking over before the World Cup 94 cycle, she's led the team to three consecutive WC knockout rounds, their first-ever quarterfinals appearance, and an undefeated WC95 qualifying run that was the first from any nation in twenty years. But with the Nepharan manager's contract expiring after the World Cup, and the YFA, if reporting is accurate, have yet to make any attempt to extend her. While regrettable, it would hardly be out of character for the FA to push away another manager - and behind closed doors, Ashdown and YFA President Xu Xiaoliang are reportedly no longer on speaking terms after years of constant tensions between the two. No matter why the star midfielder-turned-manager is leaving, though, the Dragons are facing a scary prospect - having to find their way back to sustained World Cup success without the manager that brought them there.

With the future murky after Ashdown leaves, WC97 could be the Dragons' only chance to capitalize on the prolonged success that this era has brought them. But at least on paper, all the ingredients are in place for a deep run this cycle for the world's number-six ranked team. Despite being placed in a difficult qualifying group with Tero al Disco and fellow Rushmoris Tikariot (again?) and Kirungabi, Yuezhou finished an assured 12-2-2. The Dragons were never really in danger of missing out on qualification, especially with the World Cup had expanding to 48 teams, and Ashdown was able to break in the likes of Dong Yichun, Lu Qiuying, and Ji Wenwei, all players that should play important roles in future cycles. This is likely legendary midfielder Pan Xilei's swan song, and winger Luo Nanwei was dropped before qualifiers. But with the spine of the WC96 team returning largely intact, there's no reason why Yuezhou couldn't make another run similar to that of last cycle, where Dragons fans were dreaming of silverware before Brookstation's quarterfinals win over Yuezhou sparked the Dreamer's own Cinderella run to the World Cup trophy.

The Dragons will be opening WC97 against four-time champions The Holy Empire. Ashdown's Dragons will have their hands full against Juan Tzimisces' knee-high argumentative ankle-biting garden gnomes with springs in their football boots, who won a qualifying group with fellow former champions in Banija and Eura. Containing the runs of Gnomish, Gnorimoschema, and captain Gnostic will be critical in the battle of Group B's best, and Ashdown is expected to change her midfield setup heavily to account for the nature of her opponents. Surprise packages Hapilopper, back in the World Cup after a bit of a hiatus, are the lowest-ranked team of the World Cup on paper. But if the games were played on paper, the Haps wouldn't be here, and they are nonetheless. The teams will likely match 4-2-3-1 shapes, which will at least put the Dragons on familiar tactical ground after their MD1 battle, but Hapilopper's high-octane playstyle will still make them a difficult opponent. Yuezhou will wrap up the group against fellow Rushmoris Gnejs. The Dandelions notably ruined Chen Huikang's managerial debut back at Copa Rushmori 42 with an upset 1-0 win on the Copa's opening matchday. Will they also ruin Elaine Ashdown's exit? With up to three teams qualifying to the knockouts, you'd hope it wouldn't get to that point, but we'll have to see.

If the Dragons are one of the thirty-two best to advance to the knockouts, they'll face an uphill climb to reach their high-water mark of the quarterfinals, much less surpass it. For all of their group stage mastery the last few cycles, the only team they beaten in a World Cup knockout round are Zenic - a strong team, to be sure, but you can't win the World Cup by beating five Zenics, and Yuezhou are otherwise 0-0-3 in the knockout stages, including the aforementioned heartbreaker against Brookstation. The team is historically inept in the knockout rounds of other competitions as well, with a runners-up finish at Cup of Harmony 84 the only other time they've advanced past the second round of a WCC competition. But hopefully, the team's third-place finish at the home Copa Rushmori is a better signal of things to come than the decades of aggressive Mid that preceded it. With Elaine Ashdown - the centerpiece of all of the greatest triumphs in Dragons history - on her way out, we can only hope so.

[Gnejs]

A sage once said it wise to recapitulate before continuing, when it comes to stories being told. You can link those previous installments all you want, but really, nobody’s going to bother clicking that, the saying goes. There’s truth in that advice. There was once an attempt to summarize all of the events preceding the story as such, but merely referencing that of course runs afoul of the advice given, so let’s just say that once upon a cycle a series of events led to Baggieland coercing The Union into learning how to play the silly game of cricket and yada yada yada concurrent events now find a retired Union hitman existing in a sort of limbo beneath the floorboards of the bureaucratic machinery that is one of the ways to reach a place called Wight, which is allegedly the whereabouts of a lost civil servant from The Prosaic Union Football Federation (PUFF) and the Dandelion-turned-supervillain that kidnapped him after failing to get Dandelion coach Enda Clentin fired.

Whatever happened to Sverker Danielsson?

Part eight: Being without time

Me and the old man had a falling out. I’m not sure over what, but I guess it’s inevitable that you eventually grow apart after being glued together in a void beneath a void where you can’t go back or move forward and they say time doesn’t exist. We initially found that talking about music, books and movies was a way of surviving and making our existence tolerable. There’s only a finite amount of records and films and stories you can recount before you run out and start bringing up things previously mentioned, of course, and if I had to guess the old man tired of the eternal recurrence of the same and snapped because he started screaming and wiggling away from me and I haven’t seen him for some time (not that time exists here).

I dreaded being alone, but felt like the old man was entitled to go his own way. I made my way back to one of the air duct vents that connects our void with the infinity office that is the Void of Quasiquango; I was hoping to at least pick up the odd whisper or shadowy mumbling, anything to make me feel connected to something. There were murmurs, rustles, sighs, whirs and moans and at some point one of these vague noises became more distinct and I started envisioning it being a woman whispering secrets to me and I started quietly answering her. I spoke of the slopes and forests of western Gnejs, the cove where I used to go swimming as a child, my own children and my wife, the beauty of summer snow, the feverish experience of clearing out my mother’s remote house after she passed and my recurring dream of horses. I continued our secret discourse for what felt like days - of course, such a concept is meaningless where time doesn’t exist - and while keeping up my attempts at salvaging sanity was a truly icarian task, it filled me with a renewed sense of joy and calm where I could once again paint vivid inner pictures of my old life and world and feel like I could connect with what’s outside the void I found myself in.

I started noticing my beard had grown long and shaggy, and I chuckled and said, more to myself than anything, that it was hard to square the absence of time with the growth of facial hair, the latter so often being used as a representation of the former. It was at this point the secret whisper became an audible voice, and it scolded me for being factitious and said no good would come from questioning the absence of time. It turned out the voice was a mental health coordinator with the Office of Human Affairs and specialized in delusions of temporality. While the voice granted my developing whiskers were uncommon, it was still nothing but an illusion of time passing, and probably some anomaly stemming from my stay beneath the floorboards. I disagreed and said that my facial hair was not necessarily a proof of time passing, but that it had made me realize something about time as such. I said that while they might think to have somehow achieved an abolition of the ordinary passage of time around these parts, what the shrubbery attached to my face had revealed was time as the horizon that existence is contingent on; not time as a measure of past, present and future but rather a dynamic and existential structure that supports how we experience and interpret our existence. Our understanding of ourselves as beings that are is always at the intersection of a constant flow, because to be is to be in time. The voice said it refused to be Dasein’d and left abruptly. I closed my eyes and cried, for I realized I had alienated yet another companion. I briefly contemplated being and loneliness, and when I opened my eyes again the void was gone and I found myself on a vast field wearing wool overalls.

[Aleirave]

Administrative Animosity
Darmen 0-2 Aleirave

OOC: I really didn't want to continue the story without the missing posts coming back, but it's been two weeks and they're nowhere to be seen, so sometimes you just have to concede. Luckily, wordcounter.net saved a copy of Part 4 to my browser cache, so I have made it readable offsite in the form of a Google Doc. As for Part 5… it will have to remain lost media until NationStates Administration is able to recover the August 20th posts.

Part 1 - After Haulafo Paka’ula turned Union Stadium away from the island, Refilene Adari’ena had some choice words for him… words that didn't make too much sense, coming from him. Part 2 - Haulafo calls up the only person who he knows can help – King William. However, Aleiravan administrative red tape prevents him from doing his usual rule-bending here.
Part 3 - Haulafo and William approach Alice O’Donnell, the Eshian Election Commissioner, for assistance regarding potential political bribery. At first she claims it isn't her jurisdiction, although in fact it is; she then agrees to help deal with the matter.
Part 4 - Detective Jacob Bronwyn of the Eshian Investigation Service comes to Lahaira to interrogate Refilene, hopefully without the Governor realizing it was even an interrogation to begin with.
Part 5 (lost) - Jacob calls Alice to get her to email him a copy of a search warrant so he can look through Refilene’s checkbook. While the evidence was shaky, Alice saw the probable cause and issued a warrant for the checkbook.

“GOD DAMN IT!!!”

The Great Eshian Internet Outage hit everyone in the country differently. While Josh Seametzle went stir-crazy without news to report and Haulafo Paka’ula was taking a vacation in Burikinia where he still could access the outside world, Jacob Bronwyn was suffering, unable to read his email inbox to print off the search warrant he got from Commissioner O’Donnell. He was going to have to go all the way back to Eshialand City, get a physical copy of the warrant, then go all the way back to Aleirave. What a way to spend a weekend.

However… how was he even getting to Eshialand City? The only boats coming in and out of the island were fishing vessels and transport for the football team. Any other travel was rendered non-functional in the outage… was he just stuck here?

For now, it would seem that the answer to that question was yes, but Commissioner O’Donnell did realize that maybe Detective Bronwyn was up a creek without a paddle– er, up an island without a boat. “Can someone get Director Monley on the phone…?”

An assistant dialed Mark Monley and handed his cellphone to her.

riiing! riiing!

“Hello?”
“Hi Director Monley, do you have some spare time?”
“Why the heck are you calling me and why did it show up as an unknown number??”

EIS Director Monley was never on the best of terms with the Election Commission. He always disliked how hands-on Commissioners tended to be with his cases. Why were they always inserting themselves into matters they should've fully handed off to the EIS?

“I knew you wouldn't pick up if it said I was the one calling so I borrowed Phil’s phone. Anyway, has anyone checked in on Bronwyn?”
“Didn't you talk to him yesterday?”
“That was before the outage, I don't know whether he's able to print off the warrant or if he's able to get back here to get a physical copy should he need one.”
“You wanna call for backup after we had contact 24 hours ago?”
“Circumstances change and there's no other way to contact Aleirave…”
“Who in Margaret's name even designed a phone system that relies on the internet and made that the only way to contact an entire island??”
“Stupid design choices are irrelevant here, right now what we care about is getting our man home with the evidence. Now, are you or are you not able to send backup to Lahaira?”

There it was, the classic Election Commission overstep. No matter who was in charge, this always happened and it always would. There hasn't been a single Election Commissioner who hasn't unilaterally decided to make themself the head of the EIS, bossing around the Director like a newcomer in his first week.

“Maybe I think he can manage?” he told her in defiance. “Maybe sometimes you don't know best? I'm sick of people like you roleplaying as the Director of the EIS while I'm here actually trying to do the job I was hired to do.”

“There is no harm in sending in reinforcements if they are not needed, but if they are needed, not sending them in means we can't do a damn thing until the internet comes back, and who knows how long that could be.”

As much as caving to someone outside the EIS damaged his authority and frankly, his pride, Mark had to admit that in this case, Alice was right. However, there was one thing she wasn't quite informed about. “You do know it's all hands on deck here, right? Our workflow is completely shot right now, we need everyone we can get to help make up for our systems being down.”

“Hire more part-time employees, I'm sure there are lots of people looking for new jobs right now and they can do a lot of the busy work. Replace the internet with the intern-net!”

As groan-worthy as that pun was, and as much as Mark didn't want to admit it, she at least had some form of a point. Why lock away skilled Detectives doing busy work when other people can easily handle it?

“Ugh… fine, I'll make the call for some new people to fill up our gaps, and we'll send a boat over to Lahaira with reinforcements and a physical copy of that warrant on board, just in case. And please… stop calling about this case, Commissioner. I know you mean well but this is an EIS matter and you have to know when to hand the reins to someone else.”

“But you just admitted I was right and that I solved a problem that needed fixing.”
“Doesn’t change the fact that this is my job for a reason.”
“Ugh, you really don't make it easy to talk to you.”
“Bye.”

click!

“Ugh… I'm gonna need a drink after that one…” Mark muttered to himself after hanging up the call.

---

“DEAR MARGARET, THEY'VE DONE IT!! THEY'VE ACTUALLY DONE IT!!! THE SEAGULLS HAVE WON THE PLAYOFF AND ARE HEADED TO WORLD CUP NINETY-SEVEN!!!!”

They had done it. After seven long attempts at qualification, trying so hard to break through, the move from 32 to 48 teams pushed the Seagulls over the line, and brought Haulafo and crew to the big dance.

It cannot be overstated just how much this would mean to everyone on the island. Boatloads of spectators made their way over to Lunas to watch their team in the critical playoff and it did not disappoint. Now, all that was left was for them to make their way to Eastfield Lodge, where their journey would continue.

Their first World Cup Finals matchup would be against familiar foes: the Condors of Huayramarca, fresh off tying first place in Group 12 of qualifying. While these two teams had never squared off in WCC play, they had met in CAFA before, with one match in particular of great note for both nations: the quarterfinals of CAFA V, a bizarre match in Ostosaide, Mertagne’s Ring Tank Arena which saw the Huayramarcan favorites lose to the Seagulls 5 goals to 2… on Aleirave's way to a second 4th place finish in 3 years. They would never have it that good again, and that match really was Aleirave's last hurrah in CAFA competition.

While Huayramarca and Aleirave had played each other in CAFA VII since, that match had very little weight to it, what with Aleirave's critical inability to function in any regional since that CAFA V run. This was the revenge match, and everyone on this team knew it.

Their next opponents be Baggieland on Matchday 2, who were near-perfect analogs for a matchup for their mainlander rivals; both Baggieland and Eshialand had qualified for their first World Cup in WC95, both went to the WC96 playoffs to repeat their qualifications, but had to play each other, leading Eshialand to the WC while Baggieland went to the Cup of Harmony. After both teams finished undefeated in WC97 qualifying, they found themselves right next to each other in the rankings. TL;DR: this was the closest they could get to playing Eshialand without actually playing Eshialand, and they wanted to do their best to prove they were still at the same level as the mainlanders.

Lastly, they'd be playing fellow World Cup newcomers Tero al Disco, who were in just their second cycle of international competition but making a big splash. This was the most winnable match of the bunch, but would still prove a difficult task. Getting any points as a bottom pot team is never easy, but Haulafo remained hopeful that the Seagulls could get it done against this lineup of opponents.

“All I have to say to you now is… you've made it. Now it's time to prove that we belong.”

[Siovanija and Teusland]

Oil & Ice

Volume X
Debrief

”...jubilant scenes in Felsenkirchen tonight as the ‘Sankt Konrad 5’ were brought home after nearly a month of imprisonment…”

“...Charlotte Eichel, the matriarch of the Eichel family, was in tears as she hugged son Hannes and husband Georg…”

“...crowds waved the national flag and sang the national anthem in honour of the victory…”

“...Teus troops are expected to remain on Sankt Konrad for a few weeks as the new government gets things up and running, before being withdrawn. Valljas Bancu will be kept in a military prison and guarded by the Teus soldiers, and is expected to face a variety of charges in Sankt Konrad’s courts…”

“Did you hear what they found on his boat?” Foreign Minister Josef Wimmer wanted to bring a bit of levity to the situation.

“What was that?,” replied Chancellor Lara Hauser. The two old friends were the last ones left at the government office the night of the successful invasion of Sankt Konrad.

“A wig, a fishing cap, and fake glasses. He really thought he’d blend in as some fisherman!”

The two shared a laugh, finally able to relax a bit after a month of crisis after crisis.

“S&T passport - how ironic, he chose to be Teus for his getaway! 500,000 tolars in cash in a briefcase. He had a plan, that’s for sure.”

Hauser smiled. “I’m sure he’s enjoying his time in a jail cell instead.”

Now the Chancellor stood up. “At home, the political side of this isn’t over yet, I think. Siovanijan isolationists, Teus nationalists, everyone from all sides of the spectrum, they are going to have their say on it. But honestly, I don’t want to think about that right now,” she said.

“Nor should you. This is a win. We’ll take that, given how things looked at the start of this whole thing,” said Wimmer.

She smiled again. “I have to go now, Josef. It’s been a long day, and I still have to write some letters. The President as head of state and I will send them jointly, one to the Kabaka in Banija and one to the Empress in Valanora - I want to thank our allies personally for their support. Even if we didn’t have to call on them this time, it’s good to know they have our backs. I’ll send out another one to the Kolonialvereinigung, and I think one to the new Prime Minister on Sankt Konrad too. There are plenty more leaders and nations to thank too, but those will come in time.” She sighed. “And to the families, too, of those paratroopers. How can I even begin to know how it feels?”

“You can’t,” said Josef. “Nobody can. But they know that - all you can tell them is they did their best for their country.”

Chancellor Hauser nodded, and left the room, leaving Wimmer alone. He flipped the channel to another news network - this time showing a recap of the special parliamentary session following the announcement that the invasion had succeeded.

There was the Chancellor on the screen: “Democracy has returned to Sankt Konrad, and the population no longer needs to live in fear of their leaders. I am grateful and proud of all of our military personnel involved in this operation, and we will remember the 5 paratroopers who died for our country for all of eternity.”

The Leader of the Opposition, Petr Martinek of the Labour Party, also spoke up: “We support the decision of the government to restore democracy to Sankt Konrad.”

The Vaterland List, too: Jorg Perle and his fellow deputies had interrupted the proceedings with a singing of “Teusland, Land of Honour,” a popular patriotic song from the Imperial era.

And then there was Ruslan Karamov. The former Chancellor who had led the country into isolation was still the leader of the Republican Party, and he of course had his word too: “The anti-isolationists in this government campaigned on returning to the world with pride, and bringing benefit to our country - instead, they have brought about the first military conflict for this country in 153 years and showed the world that they stand only for Teus imperialism.”

Hauser didn’t want to think too much about the potential domestic impacts - but Wimmer, now, could. He always joked that he was ‘in politics, but not a politician’ - but you didn’t need a Political Science degree from the University of Stelburg to see where this was going. For Teus nationalists - which the whole situation had likely created a lot more of - this was the greatest moment since the end of the Empire. It was likely to give a good amount of fuel to their cause within Teusland, however, this would likely be mitigated by the fact that the government had shown its willingness to defend Teus citizens abroad, up to the point of military invasion.

Josef flipped the channel again - this time, it was the Borograd local news.

”...at the University of Borograd, students gathered in protest of the invasion of Sankt Konrad…”

“...in Vlaikograd, protests have carried on all day and popular slogans have included ‘say no to war’ and ‘imperialism never, isolation forever…”

“...government minister Rudolf Pesek spoke to a crowd in Borograd to support the government’s decision, calling it ‘necessary for our national sovereignty’...”

“...former Chancellor Ruslan Karamov gave a scathing speech in the National Chancellery that was celebrated by many in his party as a strong performance heading towards the next election cycle in 2 years…”

In Siovanija, it was a bit more complicated. You would have the unionist, anti-isolation percentage of the population who would be mostly supportive - there were no Siovanijan troops involved, after all, and most agreed that Valljas Bancu was, well, a nutjob who needed to be contained - and the country needed to defend its sovereignty. Then there was the isolationist bloc - led by Karamov, they would see this as a major moment for their cause and an opportunity to regain support from the anti-war population. After all, the isolationists gained power off the backs of the nuclear incident with Banija & Farfadillis, the Anaia/AO split, and the Nyowani Kitara crisis - none of which involved actual boots on the ground. Now, just a few years post-isolation, there was war.

Things were certainly not going to get any quieter in Siovanija & Teusland leading up to the election.

Wimmer changed the channel one final time - now to RBC Sports. It was the group draw for the Finals of World Cup 97 - which the Goldhorns, somehow, someway, had managed to qualify for. The second-lowest ranked team in the tournament, who started the Qualifying campaign ranked 132nd in the world, it was a big boost for the entire country after the crisis that had taken over the entire summer.

Thus, with the chapter closed on Sankt Konrad, eyes in the United Republics could now divert their attention to another part of Rushmore, for a global celebration.

Siovanija & Teusland 4-3 Abanhfleft

XI: Bodeker; Metzger (Schwefel 75’), Steinhausl, Rodl, Gellner; von Stein, Winter, Le Meji (Apel 89’); Korlikov, Zschokke, Hackl (Burger 89’)
Goals: Einar Hackl 23’, 47’, Xorge Le Meji 27’, Mats Winter 88’
Man of the Match: Einar Hackl (2G)

Cardenao 3-3 Siovanija & Teusland

XI: Holz; Schwefel, Steinhausl (Apel 46’), Rodl, Reichenbach; Porsche, Prekmurje (Winter 46’), Rosberg; Vadimic, A. Kosch-Kovarik, Burger (Hackl 46’)
Goals: Michael Burger 20’, Aleksander Kosch-Kovarik 51’, Einar Hackl 66’
Man of the Match: Aleksander Kosch-Kovarik (1G, 1A)

(OOC: And so concludes this story arc! Thanks to everyone who sent kind words or interacted with my RP's, it definitely meant a lot and was very fun to see the worldwide reactions. I hope you enjoyed.)

[Commonwealth of Baker Park]

Wednesday, 1:30 pm—House of Assembly


Mr Speaker (David Kosik LTA-Springfield City): The House will be in Order. Thank You. Special Order Business, statement from the Government. Deputy Prime Minister.

Hannah Delaney (F-Jaynesville & Glenwood) [Deputy Prime Minister/Minister of State for Foreign Affairs]: Mr Speaker I beg leave of the Chair to make a statement on behalf of the Prime Minister and the Cabinet.
Mr Speaker: without objection, so ordered
Mrs Delaney: As the Assembly is aware, the Government was fully in support of the operation that our ally Siovanija & Teusland undertook in Sankt-Konrad for the rescue of their citizens that were jailed illegally as well as for the protection of all the citizens of the island.
The United Republics are to be commended for their swift, precise military response that mitigated innocent civilian casualties, largely due to the fact that the citizens didn't make any active resistance barring a handful of diehard supporters of Valljas Bancu. He was captured while attempting to escape and will face justice for the atrocities committed under his rule.

We once again express our appreciation to the Kingdom of Banija for the close cooperation in keeping Baker Park appraised of the situation as it unfolded. We will always be ready to support our regional friends and allies whenever the need arises. We also send the condolences of the Commonwealth to the families of the five brave soldiers and the fisherman who lost their lives in Sankt-Konrad. We are prepared to honor those men with black armbands alongside Siovanija & Teusland during the World Cup Finals on the second match day in Eastfield Lodge. Our nations share a connection in the sport dating back to the Baptism of Fire in Banija and we are honored to resume our friendship with the Goldhorns once again.
That concludes my remarks Mr Speaker.
Mr Speaker: Thank You. Order. Current Business, Second Reading on Bill 32-2-46. Anthony Oliver.

[Hapilopper]

Hapilopper Airlines Flight WC97 - HCIA-Conyers to Pasarga
A short bit of time before World Cup 97 Match 1: Hapilopper v. Gnejs

There was a feeling of quiet reflection among the staff, players and other personnel of Ellis Football as the wheels went up on their plane taking them out of Hapilopper and towards Pasarga for the World Cup Proper. Towards the biggest tournament of them all - the biggest sporting event in the multiverse, a competition that they were not favored to get near - at least for now, but yet, here they were, one of the final 48 teams about to do battle.

After what had been a joyous - and wild - send-off for the Hapiloppians at Hapilopper City International Airport in Conyers, just across the West River from downtown the City, the national team and its staff got aboard a plane and reality set in. And when that reality set in, the volume dropped instantly - and the mood went from that of a wild party to melancholy, apprehension, worry. They would have, at the very least, three very scary teams to worry about - teams that, on paper, were better. Teams that, on paper, had every right to roll over the Haps in every single match. But, on paper, this Hapiloppian team should be flying to Arrosia instead, to Banija for the Cup of Harmony. Theoretically, they should be sharing a plane with the beer leaguers for that tournament. Instead, they were going to Rushmore and to Pasarga.

Thom Perkins looked out the window to see the Hapiloppian landscape get smaller and smaller as the plane rose in altitude. He had gone on trips like this before - to far-away lands, other dimensions, other regions, places that seemed like made no sense to any logical eye, but it did anyway. But there was something different about this one. There was something that felt so strange about this trip - but yet, something that just felt so right.

It felt different from the first two World Cups the Haps had been in, at the same time. It didn’t feel like that trip to Vilita seven years before, or that trip to Farfadillis the year later. It felt better. It felt like there was someone looking down on them, smiling as the Hapiloppians flew out of Conyers and on their way to Pasarga.

Thom looked back, and to his delight, it seemed like there was a convoy of planes following the team plane. And there was. Several dozen jumbo jets followed the Ellis Football plane out of Conyers and on the same route to Pasarga. The same route to the World Cup. All of them carrying variants of the blue, green and white “Big and Bold” Hapilopper Airlines livery, or the orange, cyan and black “Super Esportiva Traveler” livery.

Members of the team looked out the window to see the convoy of planes traveling alongside them, and it seemingly brought their apprehensive mood into that of celebration and excitement - a realization that yes, there would be so many Hapiloppians on hand for the biggest sporting event on the planet. There would be so many Hapiloppians on hand for these men’s finest hour.

“Someone ought to warn the Pasargans,” said Benny Fairchild, starting center forward for the team, to no one in particular. “Look at all these folks.”

Tim Radomia, half-asleep and half-spaced out from having smoked a few bowls that day, looked over. So did Herb Watts, looking up from his tablet which, as you’d expect, was showing his daily daytime trash TV that he loved so much.

“What’s going on?” Herb asked. “They’re coming?”

“Aw hell yeah,” Benny responded.

The fact was, the joke that “Someone ought to warn the Pasargans” was rooted in fact. People in Newmanistan could tell stories about the wild Hapiloppians that came to Tundra Falls any and every time a Hapiloppian NSSCRA driver, like Drake and Taylor Stevenson or the Sherpa-born Rinzi Zakhilwal, were contending for a season championship. About how tens of thousands, if not hundreds of thousands of Hapiloppians, would show up and turn the place into a gigantic party. And it looked like the same thing was going to happen in Pasarga, whether the Haps won, lost or drew.

On the plane were the Stevensons - Drake and Taylor, who together, had three NSSCRA titles. They were there along with Drake’s little brother, assistant coach Ernie Stevenson and Ernie’s family, wife Wendy and children Nathan and Patty, who were playing with Drake and Taylor’s young son Kenny. Not far away were Drake and Ernie’s parents, Angela and Carl, taking in the flight and watching their three grandkids enjoy the moment.

Drake looked out the window and pointed toward some of the planes flying towards Pasarga along with them. He knew this was going to be a party not unlike some of those legendary trips to Newmanistan and not unlike some of those weekends of the Hapilopper National Exhibition - those weekends in the summer where it seemed like craziness would unfold every single day.

He looked over at his wife and brother.

“Guys, think this is an omen?” Drake asked. “I mean...”

“Sure is,” Taylor replied. “Ernie?”

“Maybe,” Ernie responded. “I don’t really want to think about it. I don’t want to think about anything else. I just want to think about the matches ahead.”

Ernie didn’t want to think about it. He didn’t want to think about what he considered window dressing. He wanted to think about, at the very least, these next three matches, against three very scary opponents in Gnejs, Yuezhou and the Holy Empire - opponents that could - any of them - end their trip in Pasarga hoisting the World Cup. So while the rest of the Stevenson family were watching the children play around, Ernie was reviewing tactics, handling the assignment with the professionalism of a leading businessman, with the gusto of someone ready to fight like hell, and with the tenacity of someone that never wanted to give up.

Ever.

Nathan Ellis would be doing the same thing, he felt.

[Baggieland]

King Alsqueak

An Uncouth Story

King Alsqueak had commandeered 'The Kiss of Death' – Madame Xianggu's pirate ship – once more. They sailed the seventy-seven seas for forty days and forty nights as they scoured the known multiverse ceaselessly for the first plight that His Royal Nibs could cure. On the forty-first day, at the most westerly edges of Esportiva came a most welcome call from the crow's nest…

Sunny Austin: "Land ahoy!"

King Alsqueak: "What is this bleak and desolate place? There must be afflictions aplenty for me to cure here!"

Madame Xianggu: "This be Sylestone Your Most Royal Wazzockness. They have a reputation for being good at sports, but not for diseases."

The crew disembarked and headed inland.

King Alsqueak: "You there! Take me to the wretched refuse of your teeming shore."

Sylestonian yokel: "Strewth mate, can't really help you there. We're all fit as a fiddle, on account of all the sports we play. Check out these biceps mate, pretty awesome right?"

Madame Xianggu: "I knew this were a pea-brained idea of an expedition. Let's go back to Baggieland."

Sylestonian yokel: "Mind you though mate, you might want to check out Kirkham, there's some right strange creatures that inhabit that area."

King Alsqueak: "To Kirkham!"

[Edsmontik]

TWO WINS TO EARN THEM A PLAYOFFS SPOT, LAJIFLAK FRUDENNE SPEAKS
LIVE ON ISN INTERVIEWS NOW

Edsmontik.
Ranked 147th.
And they very slowly, and somehow, plowed right through 56th ranked Recuecn for a 1-0 upset victory.
And then just right after, they drove over Delaclava in a 4-0 win.
How, you might ask?
Weren't the Edsmons playing horribly in their previous games?
Well, you'd be right.
So we brought in Lajiflak Fruedenne to talk about the last two matches.

---

ISN INTERVIEW ROOM #3
DOESVBER, TRIVADZBENK, TROSI
4/17/2029

Firgate: Hello, Lajiflak! I'm Firgate Reousben, your interviewer today.

Lajiflak: Good afternoon Firgate, it's nice to meet you.

Firgate: You played a great role in the last two Edsmon matches, four assists in total! Can you tell me how you and the Edsmons were so motivated to win?

Lajiflak: Thanks for the compliment! We had some team talks during halftime for both games, we strategized and had some fun. It cooled off anything we were stressed about and then in the end helped us to push ourselves past the finish line.

Firgate: I see, any thoughts about the two matches?

Lajiflak: If I'm honest, the Recuecn match was perfect, we pulled off the unexpected lead late in the game with Aespana's beautiful free-kick, and we played well defensively and offensively. I'm still extremely shocked that Adam's penalty was saved by der-Stoiuben! The Delaclava match was great too, even after the exhausting game before, we still pulled in a 4-0 victory.

Firgate: That's great! Any things that you believe the team must improve on?

Lajiflak: No musts, but we definitely should improve our skills and change up our strategies if we can. Our opponents are easily predicting out usual tactic, and we can't really adapt and chance very well. That's one to imrpove.

Firgate: That's a big one, because teams that can't adapt normally lose in the end, right?

Lajiflak: Yep. It normally doesn't go well.

Firgate: Anything from der-Ghavyr about a possible qualification?

Lajiflak: So we're in third place right now, fighting for second with Loch Dearg. If we can pull through against Xanneria and Hakushiya, and they lose or draw a match, we may just be able to qualify automatically. No playoffs after that.

Firgate: Yep! Hopefully you guys can do it! Anyways, moving on. Any thoughts for tomorrow?

Lajiflak: Oh yes, I can't wait to face off against Hakushiya and Xanneria! We drew them before, and I hope we can beat them now.

Firgate: How challenging may it be to beat the Xannerians?

Lajiflak: I think it will be hard, but not impossible. If we can draw 3-3 against them, then we can easily beat them this time.

Firgate: What about the team? Has der-Ghavyr decided on changes?

Lajiflak: Just this morning, der-Ghavyr did explain the final qualifying lineup. One major change is der-Stoiuben staying in goal.

Firgate: Did he give any reasons, or is it just for more game time?

Lajiflak: It was mainly for game time, but der-Ghavyr wanted to experiment with Elterhad in goal more.

Firgate: That must have given him some pressure, hasn't it?

Lajiflak: Yep. Elterhad might not look super pressured, but he's expressed it through his actions during this morning's training.

Firgate: Hopefully you guys can pull through! Any last thoughts before today's show ends?

Lajiflak: Yeah, I want to thank everyone watching for your support and love during this entire tournament! Let's bring Edsmontik to Parsaga and Eastfield Lodge!

Firgate: Thank you once again for watching ISN: Interviews, and we'll see you next time.

---

MATCHDAY 15

KEY MOMENTS
73' Yellow Card der-Haans (EDS)
73' Yellow Card der-Suiozkeafter (EDS)
41' Yellow Card Konig (RCN)
50' Yellow Card Ystermakt (EDS)
67' Yellow Card Lapix (RCN)
68' GOAL Aespana (EDS)
73' Yellow Card Kayserling (RCN)
82' Yellow Card der-Stoiuben (EDS)

---

MATCHDAY 16

KEY MOMENTS
22' GOAL Utravak (EDS)
49' GOAL Stuero (EDS)
67' GOAL Stuero (EDS)
71' Yellow Card DEL CM (DEL)
80' GOAL Javarqa (EDS)

---

MATCHDAY 17-18 LINEUP

[Commonwealth of Baker Park]

World Cup 97 Factsheet
For immediate release; contact Sasha Henderson, FAC Director of Media Relations for further information.

The Commonwealth of Baker Park National Team returns to the World Cup Finals after a two cycle absence at the start of a new era of NSWC as 46 nations will make the trip to the Rushmori nations of Pasarga and Eastfield Lodge.
Baker Park have played 60 matches in the Finals compiling a record of 24 wins, 25 defeats and 11 draws.

--Baker Park is making their 16th appearance in the Finals, as Manager Will Barnard leads the Bees into Finals for the second time in his four cycles in charge. He is the fifth consecutive BPNT boss to have guided the Gold & Black to the World Cup in the mixed gender era.

--Barnard passed Pamela Scott for third place on the all time list for matches in charge with his 100th fixture as boss in the 1-0 loss to Tumbra at the Eagles Club in Straton; should the Bees advance from the Group Stage he will tie (and potentially pass) Ichi Tuzzio for the second spot behind Jen Prescott's 256 matches leading BP. His record currently stands at 55 wins, 23 losses and 26 draws.

--The Bees head to The Imperial Commonwealth of Eastfield Lodge for their Group I fixtures in the capital, New Lodger City; former NT defenders Julia Edmonds and Amy Hardwick both played domestically in Eastfield Lodge, with Edmonds starring at VLC FC, in whose stadium, Vorgan Park, BP will face Juvencus on matchday 1 and Delte on the final matchday. Arrosian neighbors Siovanija & Teusland will meet up with Baker Park on matchday 2 at the 90,000 capacity King Iqbel II Stadium.
--World Cup 97 will mark the third time Baker Park have visited Eastfield Lodge, as the nations faced off in qualifying for World Cup 83 with the home side winning both legs—the Bees taking a 3-1 victory at Presidents Park and falling 4-3 at the Memorial Stadium in New Lodger City—and also in a friendly prior to the beginning of WCQ 93 which saw BP come out on top 2-1 at the same venue.
--The BPNT have previous history with all three sides they will face in Group I, with Juvencus as the most recent opponent; the nations met at the Stadio Olimpico della Pomena during a bye in the second half of qualifying in the last cycle and in the opening match of group play at the World Cup 93 Finals at Stokers Park in Fontwell, another high scoring draw that finished 4-4, and finally during WCQ 88 where the Bees won at the BBP Stadium and drew again at Pomena.
Siovanija & Teusland and the Commonwealth are just two of the three nations from their Baptism of Fire 67 class that competed in this qualifying tournament (Beepee, the winners of BOF 67, returned to WCC competition this cycle), with the Goldhorns and Bees earning automatic sports in the 48 team field; their first ever meeting was in the Quarterfinals in Herzegovina City at Star Field, a 3-1 victory for the Gold & Black followed by a friendly in the WC 83 cycle at Old College Park in Southend where the home side prevailed 2-1; the first win for the Goldhorns came at AOCAF 60 in Puerto Farolero, with that 1-0 result triggering the notorious “Battle of Puerto Farolero” in following match, the 5-0 BP win over Muradil.
The Bees made a return trip for a friendly ahead of WCQ 85 at the Olimpski Stadion in Borograd where they prevailed 5-2 but S&T were victorious in the last meeting—the WC 85 Group Stage at Flaneur in Mriin, the Goldhorns' second straight appearance in the Finals; that 1-0 defeat didn't deter the Baker Park side from reaching their only World Cup semi-final.
Delte were the surprise winners of World Cup 95 and three cycles earlier they faced BP in qualifying for WC 91, gaining a split with home wins for each side—a 5-3 win for Delte at Idlemorton Road and a 3-1 return fixture win at the CONAGCO Stadium in Shirley.

--Baker Park have won 17 and drawn 4 of the 25 matches they've played during this cycle; after not keeping a clean sheet during WCQ 96, the Bees produced a 445 minute streak of holding opponents scoreless, longest in National Team history as well as another 290 minute run during the pre-tourney friendly campaign.

--After Baker Park held the distinction of the longest streak of consecutive qualifications from a nation's BOF debut, the previous two cycles have seen new members of the first timers club added--Crpostran in WC 96 and the reigning BOF winners Edsmontik this time. The FAC sends our congratulations to the Edsmons on their fantastic achievement!

Lineup vs Juvencus

Rossi; Frost, Kucera, Jones; C. Logan (C), Ryan, Vetter, Altman; McDavid; Engels, Coleman
subs--Cotterill, Milner, O'Connor, Schulman, Park, Garfield, Kirby, A. Boyle, D'Alessandro, Riley, Hardison, Khan.

[Ko-oren]

Fantasy WCQ 97 in Review!

[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

TIME FOR REVENGE AS LA SQUADRA QUALIFIES FOR WORLD CUP; IS GROUPED AGAINST FAMILIAR FACES

For the first time in history, gli attaccanti manage to achieve 2 goals simultaneously. Number one is finishing a qualification stage for the world cup proper UNDEFEATED, 11 wins, 5 draws, 0 defeats and an exceptional front and back to top it all off. The other is qualifying for 2-straight World Cups in a row, something that has never happened before for the national team and is a source of big national pride. Now the team can say it is among the world's elite and is on the rise for something better. This world cup is an opportunity to not only showcase the team's strength but to also prove to the world that they are here to stay.

The last two matchdays of the qualifiers brought variation in terms of how they panned out to be. The visit at the Union of the Burnt Proclamation proved to be a walk in the park. In fact, it was the Audiol brother show, as they scored and assisted each other twice. Gaetan used Faustino Audiol as a sneaky winger to the right, providing superstar Ceferino with 2 easy tap-ins to be 1-2 at half-time. The Serrapince star would provide his brother the same favor in the second half, once with a back heel to see Faustino chip it over the goalkeeper's head and once more with a through-ball for yet another easy finish. 2-4 scoreline and the team was THROUGH regardless of the result against Avisora, now the undefeated streak was on the line.

Stade Colonial was witness to a disastrous first half, as the Avisoran team would play the best football it has played since its upset victories against Ko-oren and see itself go 0-2 up thanks to a Pacheco brace. Gaetan's pep talk seems to have given the team the push it desired to avoid an embarrassing defeat, as the engines(those being a Teixeira penalty and an Edu Coste header) would start and be enough for an equaliser and for the qualifiers to be finished without a singular scar. Celebrations would only erupt then as the realisation set in that la squadra would be top of the group only for the second time in its history.

In regards to the world cup draw itself, the group has mostly familiar faces for the team, including the likes of Delte and Baker Park, while Siovanija and Teusland is also in the mix. While Delte is a name that has given bad memories in the back of everyone's mind, the matches against the Deltics and against Baker Park are some of the most anticipated in the nation. So anticipated in fact, that there is genuine optimism about the team's chances to not just qualify past the group stages but to exact revenge and go deep while at it. Nobody is a better representation of the country's optimistic outlook than the coach himself, Gael Gaetan. The captain at the helm had a lot to say about the draw in a hot interview that is deemed controversial by many.

"First and foremost we have a set of difficult opponents in our group. Teams who have traditionally had quality players and good runs in the competition altogether and have managed to make a name of themselves among the echelons of sporting history. However, I have a few things to say about each individual team, since this will not suffice.

Starting with the lesser of the rivals but still an important one, Siovanija and Teusland has always been strong and respectable. We will make sure to address to them and their gameplay on the pitch accordingly. I have nothing further to add about them.

Baker Park is a team who has faced us in much weaker versions of la squadra and a team we are yet to beat. This is about to change and seeing as they are our opening opponents, we will make sure to bring a new spice to our duels once and for all. You will respect us.

Lastly, Delte. You may describe them as a team that has been a disaster for us to face but I see this as an opportunity. The Independents Cup final was marked by disgraceful refereeing that heavily favored them due to whatever difficult condition they have found themselves to be in. Most calls and both their calls were disappointing to say the least and allowing it taints the image of a talented team. We are breaking this curse, once and for all and once the group stages are done, you will have to remember that we are not the other Sonnel team in this sport. We are THE Sonnel team and the disrespect ends now. Grazie."

[Siovanija and Teusland]

RBC Sports

Goldhorns return to World Cup Finals!

The Story to Come

”the ball falls to Mats Winter, just outside of the box. Winter turns, oh he’s going to have a shot - there it is! There it is! The Goldhorns lead! It’s real! The Goldhorns are going to the World Cup!”

With that commentary from Paul Wettar on RBC Sports Radio, the nation exploded into celebration. After over a decade away, and on just the second attempt since the return from isolation, Siovanija & Teusland’s national team had secured qualification for World Cup 97. The Draistadion became the scene of one of the most memorable football events in the national team’s history, with a 4-3 win over Abanhfleft securing their place amongst the final field of 48.

It was an achievement that was almost unthinkable. Going into the group stage, the Goldhorns found themselves ranked 132nd in the world. That put them into Pot 6 for the draw for the qualifying groups, and the Goldhorns ended up with several notable teams ranked ahead of them: Audioslavia, recent World Cup winners Delte, as well as top 100 nations Cardenao, Abanhfleft and Valentine Z ahead of them. It was a difficult group, and when the Goldhorns were beaten down 5-2 by Audioslavia on matchday 1 of Qualifiers, many domestically had already written them off.

After all, how could anyone have predicted this? In our first iteration, the Goldhorns took 5 attempts to finally climb the mountain and reach the World Cup’s final stage. That was a team led by legends like Thorsten Kramer and Michael Ribbeck, who battled through heartbreaking playoff losses to finally get to World Cup 84. And now, 26 years later, the new-era Goldhorns have done it in less than half the time. Sure, this is the first World Cup to feature a 48 team final field - but the Goldhorns were the 17th best team in all of the qualifiers, and would’ve reached a 32 team final just the same. How was this possible?

Despite the devastating loss to Audioslavia on the opening matchday, the nation started to believe again when the Goldhorns against all odds went to Ildemorton Road in Delte and pulled out a victory. Even the most optimistic of fans would’ve been hoping for ‘just do better than against Audioslavia away’ against the #5 team in the world - instead, the Goldhorns shocked the world. Veljko Vadimic and Jesper Porsche had the goals, and a 2-1 win filled the national selection with an incredible amount of confidence.

That confidence was parlayed into a streak where the Goldhorns won 5 of the next 7 matches, and opportunities for several new stars to rise. Einar Hackl had already opened his account for the national team in the match against Chrizenia, before a brace early in the match against Oclea helped the Goldhorns to a 6-3 win. The TSV Marzig star also had a hand in the squad’s 4-1 victory over Cardenao, in which he scored the opening goal. Hackl would finish the qualifying campaign with 9 goals - tied for the best amongst all Goldhorns. The young man has dominated the domestic scene ever since he first broke into Marzig’s senior team, and he showed again in the qualifying campaign just how strong he is. An excellent poacher, for a time it seemed he was scoring every time he stepped onto the pitch. While he entered the campaign as the 2nd choice #9 for the team, he’s going into the Finals with a real shot of claiming the shirt full time - more on that later.

TSV Marzig as a whole contributed heavily to the Goldhorns’ success in this campaign. Hackl was obviously a star, but the overall best player for the national team had to be Aleksander Kosch-Kovarik. ‘AKK’ is a machine with the ball, a dynamic winger that is so devastatingly difficult to deal with due to his pace and physicality. He also had 9 goals in the campaign, good enough to match his club and country teammate Hackl, but even more than just his goals, his excellent runs down the wing and ability to get the ball into the box created plenty more chances. Other Marzigers of note included Silvio Rodl, who seems set as a starting XI player at centre back and scored a great equalizer at Mollin Park against Audioslavia, and Mats Winter, the young midfielder who looked mature beyond his years in every appearance and of course scored the goal sending the team to Eastfield Lodge.

Hackl and Kosch-Kovarik were a key part of a Goldhorns attack that was one of the best across the Qualifying campaign. 48 goals was only 4 off the marker of 52, set by Baggieland, that stood as the overall best number. It was only 2 off of the marker of 50 that group winners Delte set. Only once did the Goldhorns get shut out in the qualifiers - a 1-0 loss to Valentine Z at the Volksbankstadion in Marzig. Only once did the Goldhorns score just 1 goal in the qualifiers - a 3-1 loss to Delte in Stelburg. The squad averaged 3 goals per game, and had their shooting boots on both home and away. A 4-0 win over Chrizenia and a 5-2 win over Abanhfleft on the road was combined with 6-3 and 5-2 home wins over Oclea and Kronbia as some of the biggest scorelines of the Goldhorns’ campaign.

While Hackl and Kosch-Kovarik were the stars, there were plenty of other names, many of them new faces wearing the gold shirt, who became household names nationwide during this tournament. Take Xorge Le Meji. With a pretty solid profile already back home due to his excellent performances at the Di Bradini Cup, Le Meji was capped for the first time by his country in this tournament - and went on to become a consistent option at #10. Playing as a ‘shadow striker,’ Le Meji knocked in 7 goals in qualifying, and earned himself a big transfer to 1912 Stelburg as a result. Reto Zschokke, the new signing for FC Teussen Stelburg, also proved his quality with 4 goals of his own, including an excellent brace against Oclea. Dusan Korlikov, Marjan Trstenjak, Sepp Kranz - they were some of the other big names who debuted for the national team here and will be ones to watch for the future.

Veterans, too, had a big role to play. Jesper Porsche remains one of the last links in the national side to the pre-isolation era, and his 4 goals in qualifiers were joined by 10 assists, as he was certainly the Goldhorns’ most solid midfielder throughout the tournament. Paul Steinhausl, his Felsenkirchen teammate, appeared to have fresh legs consistently despite being asked to play plenty of minutes down the stretch. Up front, when Einar Hackl needed support, goals came from Denis Dezelac and Blahoslav Zak to help him out. With a squad with such a young average age, many of its key players 25 or under, these performances were necessary too.

So, for the 5th time, following World Cups 84, 85, 86 and 87, the Goldhorns have reached the final stage of the tournament. It will be a fun historical note years down the line that the Goldhorns qualified for the first-ever World Cup to feature 48 teams. Ironically, World Cup 87 also saw the national team traveling to Rushmore for the final stages. At that tournament, the Goldhorns had finally reached the knockout stage after a 2-1 win over co-hosts Taeshan, before falling 3-1 in the Round of 16 to Valanora. Let’s be honest here - as the second-lowest ranked team in the finals, at 71st in the world, nobody is expecting the national squad to pull off a similar feat. Instead, the hope from the STFA is that a great deal of experience can be taken from this, and used to fuel this young squad in campaigns to come. The Goldhorns will be big underdogs in every single game they play, but getting to be on this stage in itself is incredibly valuable for the team. Just who will they face?

The hardest game of the set gets out of the way the earliest - as for the third time this cycle, the Goldhorns will face world #3 Delte. Delte were the overall winners of Group 10, and their loss at home to the Goldhorns was one of just 3 matches in the entirety of qualifiers where the side dropped points. Winners of World Cup 95, Delte will be a team many are looking out for as one that could go on to win this tournament. In Qualifying, the Goldhorns managed to beat Delte on the road 2-1 before falling 3-1 at the Nationalstadion. At the King Iqbal II Stadium in New Lodger Stadium on matchday 1, one has to think that things are much more likely to be a repeat of the Nationalstadion match than the one at Ildemorton Road.

The second match of the Finals will see the Goldhorns take on a familiar old foe - Baker Park, rank 37 in the world. Baker Park and the Goldhorns first met in the Quarterfinals of Baptism of Fire 67, having entered international football at the same time, and have since gone on paths that always seem to intertwine. The Goldhorns’ first qualification was World Cup 84, which was co-hosted by Baker Park - although all of Siovanija & Teusland’s matches were played in Cassadaigua. The sides have met at the World Cup once before - a 1-0 win in Mriin that saw Michael Ribbeck grab the winner. In Qualifying, Baker Park finished as winners of Group 8, with the exact same record that the Goldhorns posted in Qualifying - 11 wins, 2 draws, 3 losses. The Goldhorns scored 8 more goals, while Baker Park conceded 5 less. It will always be an interesting match when the two Arrosian sides face off, with it being quite an important one for both teams - both will likely need a result here to have a chance to advance on the final day. This one will also go at the King Iqbal II Stadium.

On the final day, once again at the King Iqbal II Stadium, the Goldhorns will face Juvencus. It will be the first-ever competitive meeting between the two teams, with La Squadra currently ranked 16th in the world. Juvencus did not lose a match in Qualifying, with an 11-5-0 record seeing them finish top of Group 2 - this is a team that is coming into the tournament on a hot streak. While Juvencus and the Goldhorns will be meeting for the first time, Juvencus has a lengthy history with the other group mates and the Goldhorns might hope to take advantage of perhaps not being the #1 focus for their final-day opponents.

Being realistic, it’s hard to pick out any of these matches as one the Goldhorns are likely to get a result from. However, being realistic, no-one would’ve expected the Goldhorns to make it here either. And certainly, with thousands upon thousands of fans expected to descend on New Lodger City to support the national team, you can never count them out.

It should be an incredibly interesting tournament to follow, and RBC Sports will be right here all of the way to bring the latest news! Come on Siovanija & Teusland!

Siovanija & Teusland 25-man squad for World Cup 97

Goalkeepers: Holz, Bodeker, Gottschall
Defenders: Schwefel, Metzger, Reichenbach, Gellner, Steinhausl, Rodl, Apel, Sanner
Midfielders: Porsche, von Stein, Prekmurje, Winter, Lorenz, Rosberg, Le Meji
Wingers: Vadimic, Korlikov, A. Kosch-Kovarik, Zschokke
Forwards: Hackl, Burger, Zak

Expected XI vs Delte: Holz; Schwefel, Steinhausl, Rodl, Reichenbach; Porsche, Prekmurje, Rosberg; Vadimic, A. Kosch-Kovarik, Hackl