A Tale Of Two Crescents - WC97 Roleplay Thread

ISideWith UK · by **Eastfield Lodge** » Sat Sep 07, 2024 9:38 am

40 years on from the last time the Imperial Commonwealth qualified for the World Cup finals, Eastfield Lodge will be making a long-awaited return to the largest competition in international football for only the third time in its history. But unlike the two previous appearances, this one is in unprecedented circumstances as co-hosts of the first ever 48 team World Cup, following the recent WCC amendment allowing for more flexibility of numbers of teams per finals of the competition

This year's World Cup competition is one that has renewed interest in international football across the Imperial Commonwealth like nothing before. When Eastfield Lodge first participated in the World Cup, back in qualifying for World Cup 49 that was held in The Babbage Islands and Newmanistan, there were high hopes that one day they could sit amongst the world’s best teams with time and investment, and it looked like it could pay off when they put a disappointing collapse at the end of qualifying for World Cup 54 behind them by fighting back to qualify for World Cup 55 in a group containing The Holy Empire, Rejistania and Unibot. Unfortunately the event was largely overshadowed by (somewhat related) domestic riots and the formation of an interdimensional portal through which the entire Imperial Commonwealth bled through. That was followed by 20 cycles of near misses and abject mediocrity, to the extent that Eastfield Lodge has gained a veneer of infamy as serial qualifying chokers and, as famed journalist Jeremy Jaffacake termed it, pioneers of “Logical Losing”.

That should have ended with the so-called golden generation of Eastfielder international football, a three cycle period where the national team qualified for World Cup 77, having won the 28th Copa Rushmori, coincidentally hosted by their current co-hosts Pasarga. A team spearheaded by one of the multiverse’s most well-known players in The Doctor, along with a core of Pasargan based internationals and RGS legend Tia Drenas leading the attack, saw off the Sunrisians, Sameba and a Eura team that was one of the best in the world at the time for what remains the biggest ever trophy won by the Eastfielder national team. Following that up with a qualifying campaign where the Imperial Commonwealth held off challenges from Turori, Brenecia and Savojarna to secure a place in the finals hosted by San Jose Guayabal and the Royal Kingdom of Quebec. However, neither finals appearance went that well, the first featuring amongst the worst every finals performances as the team crashed out with no points and a -10 goal differential, conceding four goals against all of The Archregimancy, Kulverint and The Babbage Islands, and the second only yielding a single point, holding future champions Electrum to a goalless draw with losses to Nephara and Schottia pulling that cycle to a close.

So how did this tournament come about? There had been rumours that the ICELFA were considering a bid to host another WCC tournament as a way of kickstarting domestic interest in international football, which has long been sidelined due to the relative success domestic clubs have been seeing on the international stage, starting with the Royals’ miraculous victory in the latter days of UICA and carrying through to VLC’s incredible Copa de Campeones win last season. With over 200 hundred professional teams in the Imperial Commonwealth, there’s plenty to choose from domestically, and with the national team failing at every hurdle, it’s no wonder people look elsewhere for their fix of victory.

As stated by ICELFA president Haider Reeve, the recent removal of the cap on the number of teams that can qualify for a World Cup very much accelerated those plans, and eventually an offer came from Rushmori neighbours Pasarga regarding a potential 48 team bid. Of course, the FA very much jumped onto the opportunity to cement themselves further into the history of the tournament, and also an opportunity to bring the love of international football back to the populace - 23 sets of travelling fans coming to the Imperial Commonwealth all at once would hopefully help get people backing the national team in higher numbers than ever before, and maybe in more unique ways than previously as well.

The government didn’t need to be told twice to get behind this project as well, promising early on to help fund any and all of the necessary infrastructure improvements required for this World Cup to go ahead. This was especially good news for the peripheral nationstates in the Imperial Commonwealth, as most of the large stadiums worthy of international competition were located within Eastfield Lodge itself - only Tavernia Stadium in Westmeadow Tavern could really rival the likes of the Memorial Stadium, Olympic Park and so on as venues on the grandest stage. Six stadiums were selected within Eastfield Lodge, down from the 8 previously chosen during Cup of Harmony 75 to allow for the six outside to be added to the pool. Tavernia Stadium would of course be the crown of those, but the likes of Niexai Lane which has often hosted international fans through club football competitions were rightly chosen to be upgraded as well.

All that’s left is for the performances on the pitch itself to enshrine this tournament as one to remember across the multiverse for generations to come. And who knows, with some luck, Eastfield Lodge can do the unprecedented and finally secure a World Cup finals win. Standing in their way are familiar foes in fellow Rushmoris Mytanija, and less familiar rivals in the shape of Banija and top seed Saint Eleanor. And for a squad whose main players are getting older without much sign of replacements breaking through the ranks, Robert Andrews very much has his work cut out, especially trying to convert a side that last year only managed a single point in the last Copa Rushmori into one that can be competitive on the world stage.

Likely line-up to play Mytanija (3-3-3-1)
Horak - Sky-Afzal, Guillou, Fawcett-Ferrand - Farrow, Lie, Begum - Fredrich, Lysander, Gebo-McGraw - Noble
Suspended: N/A
Injured: N/A

by **Vdara** » Sat Sep 07, 2024 9:56 am

Crests of Waves

Tedious. Scrappy. Unconvincing. All of these words had been used to describe Vdara’s qualifying campaign up to this point. Sitting 8 points behind group-toppers Crpostran - and only three ahead of chasers Aleirave - the results hadn’t quite been up to the high standards set by fans and pundits alike. And yet, here they were, sitting in a solid second place, with two matches against unfancied opposition awaiting them. To start, they would face the unranked Burikinia. Perched at the very bottom of the group, Vdara were naturally expected to put in a strong showing against the unranked side, but with the turmoil and inconsistency which had surrounded the team, absolutely nothing could be considered certain. Thankfully, due to some good fortune, victory was achieved - once more, in tedious, scrappy, and unconvincing fashion. Having scored just before the stroke of halftime, an unfortunate handball in the box meant that Burikinia were given an opportunity to equalise, which they did. The game would not continue at level pegging for long, as an overhit cross from Ferrero Fotellis sailed over his own teammates, over the head of the Burikinian keeper, and clattered in off the post. A moment of individual magic had hoisted the Vdarans in front once more, and he hadn’t even meant it. The score was now 2-1, and that was how it would remain. Fortune continued to favour the Vdarans once more, as Aleirave’s loss to Boring Paradise had ensured that they were safe in second place. A first automatic qualification for eight cycles had been secured away from home (with the help of results elsewhere), and the few fans that had made the long journey to Burikinia immediately took the opportunity to leap onto the pitch and celebrate with one another. Of course, the fact that they had finished second yet again did not matter one iota. In any other cycle, second place would have likely meant a nerve-wracking playoff match - which, on current form, they might well have lost. Not this time. Second was absolutely worth celebrating. As with the rest of the campaign, it had been tedious, it had been scrappy, and it had not been in the least bit convincing, but fans, players, and pundits alike could all now lovingly stare at the (Q) next to Vdara’s name on the table. Free at last.

The usual post-match debrief in the dressing room was put on hold for celebration’s sake, as Markos and his players bounced across the pitch to celebrate with their loyal travelling supporters, all kitted out in white, blue, and gold. The fans had given the team their fair share of grief, with Vdaran fans not known for their ability to keep their thoughts to themselves, but it just made the victory, the qualification, and the celebrations even sweeter. The gaffer would then take it upon himself to speak to the fans.
”I just want to start off by taking a moment to thank each and every single one of you for coming here, and for following us everywhere we go. It is an absolute pleasure to have such a dedicated fanbase, who aren’t afraid to show their emotions or raise their voices. You are our rock, our motivation to continue, our motivation to win. We couldn’t do it without you, so once again, thank you all. Now, let’s get on to the good bit. I’ve been managing this team ever since my predecessor was… well, how do I put this kindly. Relieved of his duties in the middle of a cycle. To many of you, this came as a shock. Truthfully, it came as a shock to me as well. It came as more of a shock when the head of the FA gave me a call to say he wanted me to replace him! I could have hesitated, I could have said that this job was too big for me, but I knew that in my heart that this opportunity might never come again. And thank fuck I took it. We’ve had some rough cycles together, but with this cycle, as well as the previous two, I’m happy to say that I’ve had the pleasure of leading this team past the qualifying stage more often than not. If we take a look back at some of those cycles, I’m always amazed that we made it. Of course, there is World Cup 95, where we came in from the Baptism of Fire after a long, bean-filled hiatus, and immediately decided to start as we meant to go on - challenged for the playoffs, and made it through the playoffs. After that, despite the spectacular achievement, you all kept your expectations modest, y’know? ‘Oh, maybe top 3 would suit.’ Somehow, we did it again, coming through the playoffs. And now, here we are. Automatic qualifiers, baby!”

The fans clapped and cheered as Markos stood with his arms outstretched, the players clapping behind him.

”What a feeling it is to finally say that. It’s been so long, hasn’t it? Since World Cup 89, it’s been all playoffs. As good as that is, it’s just so, so wonderful to be through to the next round with no fuss, no playoff nerves, none of it. We’re through, and that’s what matters! Of course, it hasn’t all been easy. As brilliant as we’ve been from time to time, results haven’t always reflected it. A draw here, a loss there, tight victories everywhere, et cetera. We wanted to top the group, but to put it simply, we weren’t good enough. However! We now have a clean slate. We will have a new group, with new teams, with everyone on zero points. Everyone on equal footing, everyone in it to win it. And with this, I just want to reiterate, here and now, that Vdara are indeed in it to win it!”

The fans cheered once more, drinks flying into the air.

”Let’s keep these good vibes going, and let’s aim to go where no Vdaran has gone before - the knockouts! FORZA VDARA, thank you all!!!”

Naturally, Markos remained modest with his expectations.

by **Pasarga** » Sat Sep 07, 2024 10:00 am

Groups G-L MD1 Cutoff

by **Saint Eleanor** » Sat Sep 07, 2024 10:01 am

OOC: Yes, I'm aware Lara's short sixty bucks on last time. That's because this was preceded by her adventures in Flavovespia, coming next matchday and ICly to be published on March 9th. ~~For the time being, I've asked Eshia to have a look over this one~~ Eshia has said that "everything looks alright to me," although I apologise to him as well as ESF for the extremely short notice of this roleplay.

Group of Six meeting (XXXIX) --- SAINT ELEANOR 3-0 Hetaru
Participants: Gentle Breeze, Reniira Clevinger, Stephen Mitcham ~ Bridget Coombe [C], Cathy Winchester [VC], David Key [ballot]
Location: A reasonably nice restaurant in New Lodger City, EFL

MAJOR MATCH EVENTS: Goldsmith 12 and 38, Emmerson 71. All players are, of course, available against Banija; our squad has behaved itself superbly well and had countless performances to match.

LESSONS LEARNED: Everybody agreed that this was "a really solid performance" (~ Stephen). There isn't much more to be said about the match, being almost as ordinary as they come, but I think this is what everyone wanted to see: we were effective in attack, concrete in defence, enjoyed the opportunities offered by new tactics, and brought out the best in the reservists. And, of course, we silenced the opposition.

RECOMMENDATIONS: The initial conversation was dominated by one thing, and one thing only: "Banija have come a long way since 1996, haven't they?" (~ Stephen); "we might be able to get another 0-0 out of them" (~ David). But this is not the all-dominating Banija of twenty years ago - you would do well to call it a competitive Banija instead; good enough to be Pot 2, not so good as to destroy everyone they see. This is indeed the first time they've automatically qualified for the World Cup since 2006. They won the trophy that year...
Banija operates "a more dynamic 4-2-3-1 than we have" (~ Cathy) - officially a 4-2-1-3, although that's George's plan, not ours. On the left, we have Graham Lawson; they have Layvin Son-Saka, "the bastardiest bastard" (~ Reniira). Everyone agrees he can go anywhere and do anything; without spending too much time on it, Rachel will be enlisted to provide backup on the right.
Blocking off Son-Saka can only get us so far given that we also have Werseo and Kagenda to deal with. Tighter zonal marking than usual, even if not strictly woman-to-man, is in order - the attackers need to be kept under arrest without our defenders finding themselves at an unusually high risk of getting "tricked" or caught out by them. Our normal experts should deal with them.
The defence is rather less remarkable, but "still generally dangerous" (~ Stephen). Felaraneta will start the match for various reasons: so he can earn valuable match experience; to further distract the Banijans who may have been expecting 1-11; as a swap that can be made in advance without too much disruption happening. As always, I may bring on other subsitutes - especially Woodward - as they are needed, but everyone agrees that our current setup more or less provides us with a good chance of a breakthrough.

I therefore present tomorrow's lineup: Richardson; Winchester, Launceston, Vickers, Davies; Coombe, Matsuda; Lawson, FELARANETA, CURRAN; Goldsmith.

MOVING FORWARD: "Hope and pray; I'm a good Catholic, please" (~ Bridget). Given the quality and reputation of our opponents and how far we've come, even just this cycle alone, I don't think anyone will be too disenchanted with the results even if we lose every game.
Having learned that all of Banija's kits - as part of a Nerio initiative - are made entirely from recycled ocean plastics, Reniira proceeded to ask how much it would help if she just dumped all of her plastic waste into the Sea of Good Hope instead of getting it recycled using the official channels. This plan was universally rejected as unviable and "a bit stupid" (~ David).

~ GB

The Grand Tour of Anaia - Aleirave: A tropical paradise... if you can imagine it

by Lara Torridge - March 12th 2006

Aleirave is a small place - small enough that, as you may have read in my last column, I got my money changed back in Flavovespia before I left and leaving me with all of $360. To borrow a turn of phrase from the world of gridiron, I have not been "flooding the end zone" with cash, although given the lack of any airport infrastructure, my journey there was rather wetter.

Exchange rate: not (quite) applicable

Having just gotten off the boat, gotten my passport stamped and been reliably informed that yes, in fact, only one day has passed - the border control officer wouldn't comment as to the veracity of rumours that time works differently in the oceans outside Aleirave - I decided that the first two things I needed to do were get myself a change of clothes and go to a local bar. And, as is my modus operandi, the first thing I do in the local bars is to ask the locals what they think of some important issues.

I have always found it striking that, despite the divide between Klysevians and Aleiravans in Aleirave's society, the national team is still managed by a Klysevian, Ivan Shakarov. I figured that the first thing I had to do was trace down a couple of Klysevians in the bar. The first one I noticed, about thirty years old and working an underpaid day job, insists that "we're doing great." The second one, about twice his age, looks at me suspiciously, then frowns a bit. The Aleiravans are anything between "satisfied with the football team" to "somewhat concerned about the whole state of affairs." All in all, though, it is not as huge a controversy as it was a few years ago.

Even with all that said, I am decidedly unprepared for life in Aleirave, even if not by a terrible margin. A couple of people ask me why I'm not wearing so many clothes. One asks me what must have gotten into me to leave me so skinny. I end up on a rugged grassy pitch, where I have a bit of a kickabout with an assorted group of locals; I'm not told until a couple of hours later that I was actually playing on the site of the national team's stadium.

In the end, perhaps possessed by my earlier adventures in Vdara, I decide I'd like to see if any of the locals are taking guests. I rapidly match myself with a married fifty-something couple: he's involved in the construction industry, or what little of it there is; she looks after the house; their children are all grown up and have flown the nest to Eshialand, of which Aleirave is a territory - a "Special Administrative Zone". Both are now running their home as a homestay, although given the low rates of tourism, I'm apparently their first guest in a few weeks. They serve me dinner, explain to me what I should know (although I remind them I got plenty of cold, hard lessons earlier in the day), and make me a bed which - despite its constitution - manages to top some of the ones I've stayed in elsewhere in the region.

Day 1: Summary

What I wore: one of my short-sleeved shirts, denim hotpants, and a pair of trainers
What I spent: seven dollars
What I've got left over: 95 Eleanorian dollars for emergencies; 353 more Eleanorian dollars for everyday spending[/i]

It looks like, as well as being courteous, my hosts are also morning people: they've left for me today's issue of the Lahaira Reporter for when I wake up at the relatively nice and leisurely time of 9am. Today's front-page story: how will Aleirave, population around 50,000, cope with an influx of hundreds of Eshian preppers? I try to explain to the housewife - without avail - that there are around 90,000 black people in supermajority-white Saint Eleanor. Instead, the family decide to take me on an unscheduled excursion to one of the prepper camps, which is about as rural as you can get on a small island with a heavily-populated capital.

A couple of the people there are impressively decked-out and would probably survive a full-throttled invasion of the Eleanorian Army (not like it would do such things, anyway). But the rest are a bit of a ragtag bunch, some of whom have just brought fancy-looking tactical gear and some canned food. All are evidently unhappy about the dangers posed by Eshialand's planned move from Atlantian Oceania, but not all of them can explain what they think will happen, how Delaclava managed the move to Sonnel, or even how the Quebecois survive. I am left with no choice but to dismiss the entire two-page spread as being lurid conspiracy nonsense and wonder whether, in turn, Aleiravan journalism would survive any increase in standards.

Aleirave is, very obviously, not a touristy place. You can probably imagine what the restaurants, the bars, the souvenir shops and the football stadia are all like. For starters, the menu consists of seafood, seafood, seafood and more seafood. I decide I'll have a big fish, with prawns on the side, and thoroughly enjoy both; it's a struggle to get all the bones out of the fish, and a far cry from the fried fare I enjoy back home, but it's well worth writing home about too.

Unfortunately, my journey has to come to an end, for want of adventure. I let And so it is back on the boat, headed far to the west, wishing I could have apologised to the Flavovespians for not promptly giving their boat back. I secretly hope that Montesina will be somewhat more bearable, more recognisable, perhaps even more united than this. But, given who I am and where I've been, there's no room to complain.

Day 2: Summary

What I wore: the same as last time
What I spent: ten dollars
What I've got left over: 95 Eleanorian dollars for emergencies; 343 more Eleanorian dollars for everyday spendingi]

by **Tero al Disco** » Sat Sep 07, 2024 10:01 am

STORY OF MY LIFE PART 7 - MARTÍN KUCHLER

Juan Martín Kuchler, b. 1992 in Cruz de Malta, Casuarinas.

So... Tero al Disco have qualified for the World Cup for the first time in their history, in only their second cycle competing (although actually the World Cup to be played in Eastfield Lodge & Pasarga is the first one to feature 48 teams...but like, who cares about that. The only thing you've gotta do in situations like this is to puff out your chest). Because of the Terense population's general unfamiliarity with the World Cup, the change in teams didn't come as much of a surprise as it would've been in other countries who have played more than Tero al Disco's two cycles, but it was a quite welcome one for the fans here.

It started out as a superb first half to the WCQs, in which, although Alfredo Félix was undecided as whether to put Braian Rico or Andrés Castillo as a definitive first-string goalkeeper, the team had a spectacular defensive showing, with 6 clean sheets between the two. The second half was shakier, though, as they'd drop points by losing to Yuezhou, Tikariot, and the Ochre Islands, as well as drawing to Alexandrianonisimo. Still, the first 8 games of the group, as well as defeating the worse teams in the second half paid off, as they'd come into round 18 all but auto-qualified, even if they finished third in the group. As they travelled to Anaia to visit the Ochre Islands, they'd wind up losing by 2-1, which in all honesty was quite a shock. Still, they finished as one of the 7 best 3rd-placed teams, and they'd earn their first ever ticket, hopefully the first of many.

In a completely unrelated move, we will now go back to your regularly scheduled programming. In one of our last episodes, we've gone over Braian Rico's hometown of Laiquén, in the province of Auguria, and now we're going to travel just east of the northern province, where we'll find neighbouring Casuarinas. Now, in the Terense consciousness, the provinces of Casuarinas and Auguria are considered brothers. The reason for this is more likely to do with osmosis, and because "well when I was drawing the map the two were kinda close to each other and were tucked in the northeastern part", and (apart from that) they mostly share the same culture. This has to do mainly with both provinces' regional gastronomy, including [url=https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Empanada]empanadas[/i] casuarianeñas/augurenses, a variety of the Terense pasty which (aside from meat), is chock-full of potatoes, being quite bigger than the average Terense empanada.

Anyways, the province of Casuarinas and the city itself (named after the river of the same name which passes through it, as well as going across the northern borders of Tero al Disco) is one of the economic centers of the country, with the local economy mostly centered around the growth of subtropical crops in the northern plainlands, such as cotton, rice and cotton, but also (as it's located in a transition zone between temperate and warm climates) the weather still allows for the growth of some amount of wheat and soy. Its economic bases of wealth have allowed the city to be an industrial center and, in recent times, to attempt to be a technological center, which has gone somewhat well for them, it must be said.

Martín Kuchler was born in the year 1992 in the town of Cruz de Malta, not in the city of Casuarinas itself (which gets its name the casuarina tree, which grows in abundance around the area), but rather some 40 km to the west of the provincial capital city. After living for 7 years of his life in a semi-urban/semi-rural environment like the one in Cruz de Malta, his family decided to move hundreds of kilometers, to the capital city of Tero al Disco. Adapting from the wide streets and large houses of his hometown to now living in a department smack in the center of Tero al Disco's biggest city, in a neighbourhood like El Poste, was admittedly hard for him. However, he would come closer to this dream...how do I say this...thing. If you don't know, the neighbourhood of El Poste is where Gimnasia y Bala was founded, its home neighbourhood. From day one, Kuchler was an ardent Gimnasia fan, and he lived only blocks away from Gimnasia's spiritual home, the Estadio Ernesto Forli.

That seemingly inspired him to become not only the imposing sweeper that his friends identified him as, but also a superb player from the day he moved to near Gimnasia y Bala's stadium. At age 9, he signed up for the Gimnasia youth academy. The club's president at that time, Ernesto Velasco, attempted to open up el Celeste's youth academy significantly in a bid to produce more youth players that could debut one day in Gimnasia's squad. Kuchler, as he was rising through the ranks of the youth categories, showed his leadership capabilities to the coaches and the other youngsters around him, and, as time went through (with an unremarkable trip through the youth ranks otherwise), it seemed like Kuchler would debut at any time with Gimnasia.

And eventually with 17 years old age he managed to make his first appearance with the first team, after being subbed on in the 85th minute against Moncloa. Needless to say, he couldn't do anything significant in those last few minutes. After not going on the pitch the next round, he would later make his first start with Gimnasia y Bala, a game against relegation candidates Defensores de Salto. That match was remarkable for two reasons: first, in the 10th minute, Defensores' attacking midfielder Enzo Krawiec, whilst pressing the young sweeper, made a very late lunge/jump into the ball, stomping his knee and actually fracturing it, with Kuchler ending up out for 6 months. The other one was that Gimnasia actually ended up winning by 9-0.

After the treatment went wrong, actually, he was loaned off to Laureles, where he would stay for the next two seasons: 2010, and 2011. After a great performance as a sweeper for Laureles in the two seasons, regardless of the final position that the club from Moncloa may have ended up in, he would end up being bought back by Gimnasia y Bala for season 2012. Season 2012 would be when Gimnasia won the last of 3 titles in a row. And Kuchler would experience the time when Gimnasia actually surpassed Nacional in number of titles won: they would be champions in 2016, 2017, 2019, and 2021.

by **Ko-oren** » Sat Sep 07, 2024 11:41 am

Gelogathingun's First Nuthapitharud*

With Abodhiru Gelogathingun appointed Prime Minister, the two-season window opens for her to get her eight-point platform in the media, to get her cabinet sorted and appointed, and the official transferal from the old cabinet to the new cabinet done.

*Two seasons. That, in the Gehrennan calendar, is 146 days. A season is two months of 36 days (6 weeks of 6 days each), and each season ends with one holiday that isn't counted as part of a month.

Gelogathingun already was a very senior member of the previous cabinet under Laurderinthen, so there will likely be continuity under the ex-Foreign Minister in many areas - those being Ko-oren's position in Anaia, a policy spearheaded by her, as well as continued focus on tourism as a driving force of the Ko-orenite economy, and maintaining the current level of investment in the periphery in the fields of energy, sustainable agriculture, and education, and a policy in major urban areas of pushing further population growth out to nearby cities. However, where Laurderinthen and Gelogathingun have always clashed, is the integration of parliament in the meritocratic legislative process, where Laurderinthen had opened the door for the democratic parliament to propose legislation. It is expected that Gelogathingun will swiftly close that door. Furthermore, Laurderinthen had significantly increased the size of the cabinet from twelve senior ministers and twenty-four juniors to eighteen senior ministers with fifty-four juniors, modeled after the Tumbran and Euran, and to a lesser extent the post-war Mertagnian systems. Having been part of that large a group, Gelogathingun had criticised the cabinet's size while praising the fact that even smaller policy areas enjoyed a permanent focus.

The Eight-Point Platform: once a twelve-point platform - as twelve is always the standard number in the Gehrennan sphere of influence - ministerial candidates and appointees are expected to present their most important topics in the form of a short list. The shorter, the better, hence eight instead of twelve these days. The points should not only be new investments, plans, and policies, but must also include continuations of current programmes where they form an important part of the new candidate's platform. It is not unheard of to see someone campaigning with an 8PP that is exclusively comprised of topics that are already being worked on.

The expectation for Gelogathingun's first two seasons is that she'll announce fewer senior positions but broadly maintain the same number of junior positions, shuffling around some posts to match her attention to energy and tourism. She will also have to account for Ko-oren's recently established navy and air force: under Laurderinthen, the post of Minister for Defence, Navy, and Air Force was hastily created, but it will have to be a mature part of the new cabinet, much like the navy and air force are mature parts of Ko-oren's (recent) history and present.

The Ministry of Census, Data, and Statistics has polled on what the public thinks should be on the 8PP (multiple answers allowed, percentages add up to more than 100%)

56%: Extend road network and improve accessibility of rural communities
47%: Improve affordability of healthcare
44%: Tax burden (cost of living)
36%: Furthering the democratic cause (extending parliament's permissions for proposing and voting on new legislation and budgets)
31%: Slow the democratic cause (reducing parliament's permissions for proposing and voting on new legislation and budgets)
27%: Stop extensive ecological (research) projects, focus on simple and proven measures
25%: Limit immigration from Anaian and non-Anaian nations
22%: Improve (economic) Anaia ties
15%: Demilitarisation
11%: Push Ko-orenite values in Anaia (climate legislation, ethical and fair meritocracy)

Immediately from the first point of the list, Gelogathingun might be at odds with the nation in terms of top priorities, though either way transport is a major talking point. Earlier, the government has said that more extensive road networks within cities are almost certainly going to cause bottlenecks given how public transport-oriented the densest neighbourhoods are. For better connections between the edges of cities and the rest of the country, the government is only willing to consider low-emission or emission-free traffic, and constructing roads next to existing rail connections as not to cut up the landscape more than it already is. With Ko-oren's growing population and more intensive traffic between important places, a wholesale upgrade of transport capacity is needed either way.

As for points two and three, which both concern affordability - and to a lesser extent, point six as well - people lament the Koronas that flowed towards new projects, designed to put the country on the map regionally as a high-tech trading partner. Minister Aegepise of Revenue and Tax has previously dismissed complaints, pointing towards calculations saying that almost every Ko-orenite household is supposed to break even, claiming that the current tax code is still up to the job. Whether Gelogathingun will reappoint him for the position will betray something about how the new cabinet wants to be viewed by citizens, in particular those with average and below-average household incomes. Even if Aegepise is correct, the less-than-professional response wasn't taken lightly by large parts of Parliament. Minister Raupostinden, once in the running for Prime Minister, already has an 8PP ready for his original campaign but can easily adjust it for his current/previous position: healthcare. In it, affordability is a major issue, with prevention instead of visits as a pillar, but more important financial measures such as giving out less medication, and requiring hospitals to check if a certain procedure or study has already recently been done and using that study instead of conducting a new one, as difference makers.

Government's New Visual Identity

The ministry of Information and Communication has not waited for a potential new minister and has gone ahead with its planned new visual identity, to be completely implemented before Gelogathingun's full cabinet takes office. Instead of a large amount of logos and styles, a single visual should indicate that a government - national, regional, or local - is involved.

They took three national symbols - the sun (yellow), the dragonfly (green), and flora (blue) - and combined them into one striking scene, then outlined it using already defined colours, and left space in the sun for any further indications if needed. Specific uses and designations are expected to follow soon. According to one member of staff who was involved, they started with a visual of Ko-orenite heraldry - namely, six coloured stripes of fabric in lieu of a flag - but scrapped the messy results.

by **Tikariot** » Sat Sep 07, 2024 12:40 pm

Cain slammed the man onto the altar, pinning him down with one hand while using the other to tighten the straps that would hold him in place. The man squirmed, but his strength was waning, and Cain’s grip was unrelenting. Once the straps were secured, Cain removed the gag, allowing the man’s cries to fill the room. He revelled in the sound, letting it fuel his twisted sense of purpose.

He picked up a large, jagged knife from a nearby table, its blade strangely pristine compared to the bloodstained rest of the cabin. The man on the altar pleaded incoherently, his words a jumble of terror and pain, incapable of forming a rational thought. Cain ignored him, focusing instead on the precision of the act. He placed the tip of the knife against the man’s chest, just above the heart, and pressed down slowly, relishing the sensation as the blade pierced flesh.

Cain's movements betrayed neither nervousness nor remorse, moving the knife with almost surgical precision, performing his dastardly deed [OOC: Readers can fill in potential blanks at their own risk.]. The man tried to escape the cold steel but to no avail. Cain watched with cold detachment as the life drained from the man’s eyes, just like the crimson liquid that ran down the ridges of the altar, his body going limp under the weight of the straps.

After the last tremors of the body had ebbed away, Cain untied the straps and dragged the body to the end of the altar, underneath the spout of the wine press. With methodical care, Cain operated the press, the gears turning with a heavy clank. The stone began to descend, crushing the lifeless body beneath it, forcing the blood from the corpse into the vats below. The thick, red liquid poured from the spout, filling the containers with a sickening splatter. Cain watched in rapt attention, his breath steady and calm, as the ritual reached its crescendo.

When the last drop had been drained, Cain stepped back, admiring the results of his handiwork. The altar was slick with blood, the body beneath the press a mangled, unrecognizable heap. The vats below brimmed with the crimson liquid, the culmination of his work. He allowed himself a moment of satisfaction before turning to the second cage.

The unconscious victim would soon awaken, only to find himself facing a similar fate as his brother, but not quite. His body would remain flawless, ready for the stage. But for now, Cain let the anticipation linger, knowing that the ritual was far from over.

Cain walked to the throne of bones and sat down heavily, the rush of adrenaline pumping through his veins. He looked at the cabin, which he had so painstakingly transformed into his personal landscape of terror. He had not always been Cain, but his past had faded away into the mists. His only memory of his former life was burnt into his mind, indelible, festering, slowly crushing his former personality, making room for Cain to move in. This memory was of his brother, the trigger for his transformation. He had always played second fiddle to him, for as long as Cain would allow him to remember. He was the firstborn, the prodigal son, the heir to the proverbial throne.

Nothing Cain would do would ever be enough, regardless of how much effort he put into it and from a young age, a deep-lying, festering hate developed, which had taken root and anchored itself deep within his psyche. Of course, being constantly exalted and put on a pedestal, his brother would look down on him, belittling him, enjoying his power, enabled by the parents to whom he could do no wrong.

Cain's calm was wavering, the anger beginning to boil up. A movement caught his peripheral vision; the figure in the second cage was stirring. A smile crept onto Cain's face.

The Mad House of Cain demanded more, and he would deliver.

by **Valanora** » Sat Sep 07, 2024 12:55 pm

Can you count to three? That is going to be the question for the Marauders to answer as they open up their campaign here in the expanded World Cup in Group C, traveling to Pasarga and for the third time this cycle they will be taking on TJUN-ia, with both previous encounters coming up as victories for the team in navy. The team finished off their qualifying campaign with a convincing win over East Leaf, getting one back for the lost points that the team suffered at the end of the first half of qualifying, and in doing so secured the group title away from Zwangzug, following the Marauders impressive victory in the previous matchday in Zwangzug. It was an unblemished qualifying campaign but one that had its up and down periods all the same, Millet has not managed to win over any of her detractors with the qualifying campaign where those peaks and valleys as well as the continued lack of expected production from the defense under the Ko-oren born manager makes her position ever under fire. It may be telling that the VSC has yet to contact the representatives for the manager about extending her contract beyond the end of the upcoming ARC, when her contract is set to expire.

However as has been true since time immemorial, a good World Cup Finals run will erase all of those bad memories and bring skeptics and critics into being believers and supporters, especially if the team manages to finally capture that elusive sixth title that has been missing for longer than it took the team to win its first five trophies. That trip to getting the trophy gets more difficult now, with an expanded World Cup adds an additional round in the knockouts, where a Round of Thirty-Two has been instituted and the eight best placed third placed teams will advance out of the group on top of those who finish in the top two of the group. It adds another hurdle in a journey that has felt at times both a dream as well as a nightmare, though the Marauders are privledged to have the "problem" of not being able to add to an already record-tying five World Cup titles as well as numerous other records that they earned during their prolonged time in the competition. Every game is the other team giving them their best shot, it is simply a fact of the game and one that the team has had to deal with for near over fifty cycles now since their dominance during the 40s era of the competition.

The Marauders enter into the Finals as the number one ranked team in the world, much the same as they did in the qualifying campaign, and they are of course the first seeds in their group. Placed in the Pasarga half of the draw of Pasarga-Eastfield Lodge, the team will play its first two group stage fixtures in the port city of Lunas on the island of Peynol before going further inland on matchday three to play in Stilinkeep. After their third match with TJUN-ia in the Stadium of the Moon on matchday one, the team will do battle with third seeds Saterun, before facing second seeds Eshialand in Stilinkeep on that last matchday of the group and will be hoping that they have their progression into the knockout rounds well and truly secured before the matchup between the top two seeds. As the top seed and the number one ranked team, there is a lot of expectations on the the Marauders to mow through the group but that sort of thinking by the team is what enables them to be found out and upended, which while more forgiving in this format presents its own challenges. You do not want to be having to rely on being one of the best third ranked teams, you want to have handled your business and secured that progression through a top two finish.

That pressure will rest on the shoulders of Imre Haaland, who will be quite comfortable with playing in Pasarga, the striker having finished his third domestic season in the league and having been the golden boot winner and league winner in both his first and latest seasons. He is the hope for which the Marauders and the fans rest upon and his ruthless and relentless goalscoring streak shows why that is the case, having learned important lessons in his youth with being mentored by players like Laborious Hawk and Lothas Ludwig, the latter having finally hung up his boots between last World Cup and this one. The defense individually has all the talent in the world but the lack of ability to be a cohesive unit under Millet is a major concern, especially as they leave the immensely talented Tobias Propst out to dry far too many times. While the goalkeeper is a step up and a real force between the pipes, perhaps the best keeper the pool has had in a generation or two, even the best keepers still need a competent defense in front of him. The defense perhaps needs a bit more solidity from the midfield, especially out wide, with tracking back and providing clean outlet lanes to escape from pressure when it does arrive.

The promise is there in the talent, Laborious Hawk is still the captain and this team is still among the best in the world on paper and even with results from the up and down qualifying. Focus is the important factor, keeping their eyes on what is in front of them and not what might be down the road, keeping each step of the process as important as the last. Thinking yourself above the team in front of you has too often lead not just the Marauders to being upset but far many other top tier sides. Each game is its on litmus test, asking you how much do you want it, how much are you willing to dig deep to provide that effort to get the result asked of you. TJUN-ia will be laying everything on the line to try and steal a point if not all three from the side, to prevent the team from taking all three matchups between the two sides this cycle. It is hard to beat a team three times, especially when they are going to be highly motivated like TJUN-ia is like to be, yet an opening day victory against a side with everything to play sets the stage for the next game and then the game after that. Each game is a building block and this team looks to be ready to start construction.

by **Mytanija** » Sat Sep 07, 2024 1:02 pm

MYTANIJA 1-3 EASTFIELD LODGE

MYT: Ovsyannikov 68’

MYT: 1. Vasilevski; 2. Jesenko (sub. Beganović 45’), 3. Mbala-Ekakia (c), 4. Vlahovljaković, 5. Lusamba; 7. Vdovichenko (red card, second bookable offence 40’), 6. Papež (sub. Stanoev 82’), 8. Šaranja (sub. Gicić 71’); 10. Ovsyannikov; 9. Issoumou (sub. Kovačec 71’), 11. Papić–Papratović (sub. Stojadinović–Srpkinja 42’)

The Lodger City Memorial Stadium was packed to its limits, 150,000 fans creating quite the din for the opening match of Eastfield Lodge’s World Cup on home soil for the very first time. Mytanija had usually had the better of matches against their Rushmori rivals down the years, but the difficulty of this specific occasion was not lost on anybody wearing a hooped shirt out on the pitch, nor was the grandeur of the stage. Potap Vdovichenko had tried to take it all in, belting out Polje Ruža proudly alongside all his teammates prior to the referee blowing the whistle to get the game started.

Now he stood on the pitch, his boots sinking ever so slightly in the lush grass, with his mind floating somewhere above the game that was going on around him. Mytanija were 2-0 down, the hosts had started like a greyhound out of the traps, and frustration gnawed at him with every minute that passed.

Sundus Gebo-McGraw had slotted home within the first ten minutes, getting his country’s home World Cup off to an incredible start by getting on the end of a sharp counterattack which caught the Mytanar defence napping. Their defensive record during qualifying had been dismissed by some as a mere byproduct of Ermin Držić’s slightly more aggressive in-possession approach. It had come back to bite them here, though, with Mytanija completely open and a determined opposition punishing them. The roar from the crowd had been deafening, comparable to the atmospheres Vdovichenko experienced each week in the 1. Prvenstvo - this was the unique environment of international football.

Eastfield Lodge were 2-0 up inside half an hour, Harun Farrow, the Langlois Océanic utility midfielder doubling the hosts’ lead with a flicked header from a free kick, exploiting a lapse in Mytanija’s marking. Držić lost his mind on the sideline, someone would be getting a severe dressing down at half-time, though Mytanija captain Bigger Mbala-Ekakia had a headstart out on the pitch. Nnamdi Lusamba, Mumin Jesenko and Irfan Vlahovljaković all got an earbashing. The natural result of the worst start Mytanija could have hoped for.

Now, with the half dragging towards its conclusion, Vdovichenko felt his patience slip away, like sand through his fingers. He wiped sweat away from his face, turned to trudge back towards the halfway line and glanced up at the huge scoreboard. 2-0.

“Come on, Potap. Concentrate here!” Nurija Papež, Vdovichenko’s most experienced midfield partner shouted across to him, cutting through the air. Potap barely heard him. The start had knocked the stuffing out of the young midfielder. It was not how he had expected his first World Cup to start. The hosts seemed able to punish every single Mytanar mistake, whilst the team in hoops barely managed to string a set of passes together. It was a strange experience given the attacking fluidity Mytanija had displayed throughout qualification.

A few minutes passed before Eastfielder wingback Leyton Begum received the ball whilst moving into a central midfield position, Vdovichenko went to close him down and the experienced full-back managed to make a clever touch to evade Vdovichenko’s lunging attempt at a tackle. Potap turned and looked to get back level with Begum, always fighting a losing battle as the Eastfielder moved away, though Potap felt he could win the ball if he could just poke a foot in. The attempt, slightly from the side and slightly from behind, was not a dangerous tackle per se, but it was one which referees had been trying to eliminate from the game. Begum went down, the referee blew his whistle and Vdovichenko knew what was coming. He stood up slowly, chest beating a little faster, staring back at Begum as if to say ‘get up then, it wasn’t that bad’.

“Potap, what the fuck are you doing?” Mbala-Ekakia had turned his attentions to Vdovichenko now, jogging over to confront his young teammate. “There was no need for that there, don’t be getting pointless bookings!”

The referee, stern-faced, brandished a yellow card. It wasn’t unexpected, but the sight of the card hardly helped Vdovichenko’s mood.

“Calm down. Now.” Bigger muttered, his voice low but firm, the Atletik legend was a commanding figure and when he spoke people usually listened. He grabbed Potap’s arm, forcing him to look him in the eye. “We can’t afford to lose a player here, we’re 2-0 down, nothing silly. We need you on the pitch.”

“I’m fine,” Vdovichenko replied, turning to jog back into position as Eastfield Lodge readied themselves to swing a cross towards the Mytanija box. The gritting of his teeth and clenching of his jaw told a different story. Mbala-Ekakia made a worried look towards Ermin Držić on the sideline, though the distance between the two perhaps made the look less effective than necessary. The big defender quickly turned his attention back to the game, his organisational skills very much needed lest Mytanija concede another. The game resumed and Mytanija defended solidly, knowing a third goal would truly kill the match off.

A few minutes later, an opportunity came for Vdovichenko to win the ball in the middle of the pitch, and it was Begum in his sights again, the wingback consistently coming inside. This time Vdovichenko won the ball cleanly, a sharp and precise pickpocket manoeuvre just as Begum thought he might have a chance to venture forwards. The ball popped out to Denis Ovsyannikov, slightly nearer to the halfway line and, for a brief moment, in a position which Mytanija might be able to exploit. Potap saw the opportunity and sprinted ahead, desperate to provide Ovsi with an option.

He surged past the halfway line when he felt a tug on his shirt, it was subtle, off-the-ball, but enough to break Potap’s momentum. He tripped slightly, stumbling to the turf and gesturing wildly to the referee – only just catching up to the play – as he did so. When Lacina Issoumou failed to get onto Ovsi’s through ball, the referee blew his whistle to bring the play back.

“It’s got the be a foul ref, come on!” Potap shouted in Terranean, getting back to his feet. The whistle had come, but he almost felt like it was half-hearted, and there didn’t seem to be any yellow card coming either. “No yellow ref? Come on man.”

“Go away,” the referee replied, gesturing for Vdovichenko to move away from the foul and up the pitch, before adding: “Unless you want another yellow.”

“What a joke, are you serious?” Potap said, incredulous, turning away slightly before shouting back at the referee. “Probably been paid off by this lot hosting the World Cup, eh ref?!”

The referee appeared frozen for a moment, his eyes narrowing as if considering the weight of the accusation made by young Potap Vdovichenko. A young, frustrated footballer, making his first start at a World Cup. And yet, he could not let that sort of dissent go. The referee blew his whistle, the piercing shrill rising above the din of the crowd before a ripple went around the stadium. The sense of expectation as everybody realised just what was happening. The referee pointed at Vdovichenko and angrily beckoned at him to come back, before turning to Bigger Mbala-Ekakia and asking him to come over too. Both did.

“Captain, number seven is on a yellow and has just made a serious show of dissent towards me, I’ve got no choice but to give him another yellow and send him off.” The referee said firmly.

“No, ref, come on..” Mbala-Ekakia protested, but it was too late.

“No.” The referee said, pulling the yellow out and holding it high above his head in Potap’s direction before reaching into his back pocket for the red card, and doing the same thing with that. A hush fell over the Mytanar players and time seemed to stop for a second. Vdovichenko stared at the referee, his body rigid in anger and shock. Mbala-Ekakia tried his best to remonstrate with the referee, but to no avail.

“You can’t be fucking serious referee?!” Potap said, throwing his hands in the air. “How was there no card there but then there is for that?!”

The referee was unmoved, he pointed towards the tunnel, his face set in stone. Potap’s young teammate Irfan Vlahovljaković rushed over to push him away from the referee.

“Potap, come on, don’t make this worse.” He said, grabbing him by the arm. “Just go.”

“This is ridiculous!” Potap yelled, eyes wide and almost desperate. This was not how he imagined his first World Cup game would go. Even as he conceded on the matter and began to trudge towards the sideline, his teammates still swarmed the referee, pleading, shouting, trying to do anything to get him to reverse a decision which left Mytanija 2-0 down and a man down against the World Cup hosts. Things had already been bad, but now they had gotten a lot worse.

Ermin Držić, usually stoic, was livid. He stormed to the fourth official and raged in his face, perhaps lucky to not automatically receive a booking himself.

“He’s ruined this game!” Držić screamed, his voice carrying across the pitch. “How can he get a yellow there when it’s him being pulled back off the ball?! When we’re on the counter? Awful decision!” But no amount of protest was going to change the decision and everybody knew it.

Ermin Držić composed himself slightly as his young midfielder came closer to the touchline. He knew that his reaction could inform the narrative around Vdovichenko after the game. If he went ballistic at the 22-year-old then a media frenzy could form around him, looking to scapegoat him for the decision and putting all the blame for Mytanija’s terrible start to this match on his young shoulders. If Držić put an arm around him, said that it was a stupid thing to do to yell at the referee, but that it was a horrible decision then Vdovichenko could perhaps avoid the worst of the media opprobrium and the media could even help to foster a bit of a siege mentality.

Držić intercepted Potap as he reached the sideline, placing a firm arm around his shoulders and pulling him in close, half-embracing the midfielder.

“You’re better than that, Potap.” Držić said, his voice calm. “You can’t lose your head like that; the game is bigger than you and we need you out on the pitch. Never give the referee a decision to make.”

“But gaffer, they should have got a yellow there!”

“I know they should have, Potap.” Držić said firmly as the pair got closer to the tunnel. “I completely agree, but you can’t shout at the referee like that. We all know what they’re like, they love to make a decision if they can. Not again, okay?”

Vdovichenko nodded, though his jaw remained clenched. As he disappeared down the tunnel, the weight of the moment crushed him. He knew that the media reaction would be huge, the consequences wouldn’t end with Mytanija perhaps being on the end of a bad beating. Back home he could be remembered as the kid that lost his cool when his team needed him. He hoped people saw the other side of it, it was a terrible decision not to book the Eastfielder.

The rest of the game was played in a bit of a haze, with Vdovichenko deep in the bowels of the stadium waiting for it to end. At half-time a few players had thrown furious looks his way, though they mostly just ignored him and Potap wasn’t sure what was worse. He knew that they would also be grimly focused on trying to stop things getting worse out on the pitch. In the second half Mytanija managed to pull one back even whilst down to ten men, Denis Ovsyannikov, the ever-reliable talisman, latched onto a loose ball outside the box and walloped in a goal which gave his side hope.

For a moment Mytanija believed again, but Eastfield Lodge were on home soil and were determined to have their fairytale, scoring a third goal to put the game out of reach in stoppage time. As bad a start to the World Cup as anyone in Mytanija could have imagined. The draw in the other game at least meant that nobody else was too far ahead, but this had been – on paper – the most straightforward game for the Mytanars. Saint Eleanor and Banija were higher seeded sides with a lot of quality in their squads. Getting a crucial victory against either would be difficult. They’d have to do it without Potap Vdovichenko, he’d be suspended for the Saint Eleanor match, and Potap himself wasn’t sure whether the manager would see fit to put him back in after his loss of composure in the opening game.

by **Edsmontik** » Sat Sep 07, 2024 1:58 pm

THEY DID IT! SECOND IN THE GROUP OF DEATH, QUALIFIED AUTOMATICALLY
LIVE ON ISN LIVE NOW

Today, we have three reporters across Edsmontik.
Millions of Edsmons watched the 18th matchday, which resulted in the win they needed to qualify automatically.
At watch parties, Edsmons fired confetti rockets (and some got detained for it), celebrated by launching beer into the air, and were so loud that nobody could sleep.
It sounded as if Edsmontik had won both the world cup and BoF.
But that's probably a long way, as later on ISN Reporter Reoic Tredemein will be discussing Edsmontik's group.
Meanwhile, let's meet Utrov Ysembreiar just outside of Central Touve.

Utrov: Good evening ISN, just less than an hour ago, the Edsmon game against Xanneria ended, but fans are still going crazy here. As you might have just seen, somebody just fired a confetti rocket, which is pretty dangerous, so we recommend to anyone watching that's on their way to the party right after to be careful and watch out for those confetti rockets. They aren't illegal but firing them into or near crowds of people can get you detained or fined. If there are injuries or in the worst case, death, you will get arrested. Moving on, as you see there are many, many people, hundreds and possibly thousands here at 9:17PM as of now, everybody is celebrating, about 45 minutes have passed as of now since the game has ended.

That was Utrov Ysembreiar in Central Touve, not let's move to Sovzsetrav, Skejiver for a look on how other people are reacting.
Daliesia Ibrehekt will be reporting.

Daliesia: Hello and good evening, everyone! It's a little chilly up here in Skejiver, but nevertheless people are out here celebrating in summer clothes! Just now tables have been set up, but there are definitely less people than in Touve. But that doesn't mean there are still many people! We do have a whole aucton set up tonight though, as you can see by these posters, they've already started it, and just over there we see a signed Stuero shirt going for over 4,000 Vdesmonyvus right now! That's a little over 1,000 NSD for folks outside of Edsmontik. But that price is rising, and so is the temperature as Edsmontik begins to enter May. That's all in Sovzsetrav, thank's for watching ISN!

That was Daliesia, now we will move on to Hoeldsen, Holdenberrg.
Jerov Dewoust will be covering Southern Holdenberrg tonight.
Jerov?

Jerov: Good evenin', we got lots of Edsmons down here at the beach, and up in that big set up tent over there, many have been eating or just playing around. I believe they don't plan to leave soon, but there is a boat show to keep em' all entertained. Just like Skejiver, we got a few auctions out here, selling some shirts, cleats, and more. As of now, they're selling some collectible cards that I believe are worth over 600 Vdesmonyvus. We got a few fireworks and confetti launchers, lots of police due to a bit of unrest, but otherwise everything is going well out here. They told me that all streets leading to this beach are closed off, and my oh my there's lots of traffic. No parking for anyone, you'd have to take the rail network to get out here. That's really it for what's going on, goodnight to everyone!

And that was Jerov, reporting from Holdenbergg.
Moving on, we have our star of tonight, Reioc.
Good evening Reioc, and what do you have to say about Edsmontik's world cup group?

Reioc: The Edsmon Eagles definitely do not have an easy group. They have to face off against 30 ranked Zenic, 17 ranked Zwangzug, and the hardest to beat, 4th ranked Kelssek. This will most likely be the Edsmon's toughest opponent for a while. Predictions go harsh against the Edsmons, with only a few sites believing the now ranked 70th team may finish even third or above. If you thought the qualifiers were harsh on Edsmons, as they were second lowest ranked, Group D may just be the real group of death for them. Winning a game here would mean everything for the Eagles. Zwangzug and Kelssek will 100% be more experienced and harder to beat. Their most probably win would most likely be against Zenic, ranked 30. But even then, chances are low. But hey, if they could draw and beat Xanneria and Recuecn, they could definitely put up a fight against the stronger teams. Their first opponent will be Zwangzug, so let's just see how that turns out."

And that's all for tonight, thank you for sticking around on ISN.

MATCHDAY 17

KEY MOMENTS
19' GOAL Jervanois (EDS)
30' GOAL Stuero (EDS)
42' Yellow Card HAK CM (HAK)
61' GOAL B. Reichsteur (EDS)
80' Yellow Card HAK LW (HAK)
85' Yellow Card Ystermakt (EDS)

MATCHDAY 18

KEY MOMENTS
10' Yellow Card der-Suiozkeafter (EDS)
33' Yellow Card Iowa-Burroughs (XAN)
47' GOAL Aespana (EDS)
52' GOAL Young (XAN)
60' GOAL Reuhans (EDS)
68' GOAL Ross (XAN)
72' Yellow Card Selltick (XAN)
78' GOAL Stuero (EDS)
81' GOAL Stuero (EDS)

NSWC GROUP D MD1 LINEUP

by **Cardenao** » Sat Sep 07, 2024 1:59 pm

Goalkeeper

Kai Chidubem (La Escuela)

In a word, Kai Chidubem has been good. Sometimes spectacular, sometimes head scratching, but overall? Good. This young man plays with all the confidence in the world and we saw that as he looked fearless even in a large loss to Delte and a high scoring draw with S&T, that’s the sort of attitude you want in your keeper. Very excited to see what the future holds for the lad, Francisco Martini Marley’s constant tinkering with the defensive line ahead of him surely didn’t do Kai any favors, so with a solidified back four for the Finals……well let’s not get too ahead of ourselves.

Leftback

Moustir-Yves Almeny (La Escuela)

27 year old Moustir-Yves Almeny came back into the team and didn’t miss a beat, he’s been great through the qualification campaign and will be vital to any success (aka hopefully one or two points) achieved in the Finals. He’s a great wingback out on the left side, equally capable in attack and defense with his speed, positional awareness, and ability to both dribble the ball and put in a tackle have solidified his status as one of the most important players on the team with his well-rounded excellence. He’s speedy, strong, good in the air, he knows when to push forward, when to stay back, and how to make it all work together. Honestly he’s one of the best players on the team: Moustir the King, long live.

Centerbacks

Reagan Phillips (CD Azzada)

There’s something about Reagan Phillips that doesn’t jump off the screen. You don’t see him doing a last ditch tackle, you don’t see him losing his composure at the decisive moment, you don’t see him making a mistake……and that’s exactly what you want from your centerback. He is Mr. Reliable, he’s cool under pressure, he passes the ball through the press like it isn’t there, he drops smartly to cover space, you never really worry about him and that’s why he’s earned a position as the clearcut number #1 CB for the team. Mr. Reliable, that’s the best way to put it.

Vittorino Seve Dioli (Alexandria United)

Vittorino Seve Dioli has been a very pleasant surprise as he’s used his incredible athleticism to solidify his position as a starting centerback for the national team. Let’s be clear, his strengths are limited to his athleticism, he is not a technical player. Sure, easy short passes he can complete, but he’s not going to break the line or set up a deep play but by the Gods……Vitto is a pure athlete and he knows how to use that to maximum effect. This allows Reagan Phillips to focus more on possession retention and line breaking passes knowing he’s got Vittorino Seve Dioli to clean up the mess. It was a welcome change when Vitto took the starting position from Humberto Argamunt who is a fine player but slow as hell, so the turbocharged VSD fits the team’s profile much better.

Rightbacks

Salva Perez (Club Valentino)

Salva Perez has been an absolute stud out on the pitch, shoring down the right flank with his unique blend of power, physicality, and pure speed despite only being 5’6 in height. He has a great sense of balance in positioning, knowing when Moustir is pushing high and he needs to stay back, or identifying the right opportunity for himself to burst forward up the right flank and hit in an early cross, or have a crack at goal. For all his defensive ability, Salva Perez loves to contribute in attack as well, though this does lead to him occasionally getting caught out, most notably in the game against Audioslavia. He’s a good lad, a great player, and you can count on him to consistently turn in a 7/10.

Defensive Midfielder

Telmo Andrade (Küsbon Town)

Telmo Andrade has been a revelation at defensive midfield with the 27 year old’s performances drawing comparisons to that of a prime Diego Valenzuela in the early days of the Blue and Golds. Calm, cool, and collected as hell in the heart of our possession scheme, Telmo is rarely fazed or put off his game as he confidently patrols his defensive zone before being a metronome in offense. It would be great to play on the same team as Telmo, knowing he’s always available as a relief option, knowing he can find your feet from short and long range, knowing that he’s a solid destroyer in the midfield, he’s great, you gotta love it!

Central Midfielder

Ricky Delafont (Mayflower FC)

The 26 year old Ricky Delafont of Mayflower FC has absolutely exploded onto the scene in the qualifiers with his silky dribbling, sharp eye for progressive passing, and generally exquisite play style. Fans will remember his Man of the Match performance in the draw against S&T as every single play flowed through him, a promising sign considering this is Hartiz Larrainzar’s last World Cup. Ricky Delafont is a like-for-like replacement in terms of playstyle though Ricky is currently a level or two or three below peak Haritz performances.

Attacking Midfielder

Haritz Larrainzar (Port Rhovanyon AFC/TKT)

Speaking of Haritz Larrainzar, let’s talk about the Port Rhovanyon legend himself. At this point in the 32 year olds career we can easily crown him as Cardenao’s greatest ever player. Impeccable passing, tantalizing movement between the lines, a wicked shot, accurate freekicks, he’s the prototypical smooth operator in the midfield role and that has led to several Tikariot Premier League titles with 126 goals and 110 assists in 278 games……Christ. He is a legend of the game in Tikariot and Cardenao and his performances in the qualifying campaign proved that he is still absolutely deserving of that title with nine assists and four goals in the 16 games. Three more games Maestro, 270 minutes in the World Cup Finals. I know we have no right to make demands of our most legendary player, but I do pray he has a Finals performance worthy of his quality and that he can go out with his head held high. By winning the World Cup for us.

Left Winger

Dani Anselmo (CD Azzada)

It’s been an interesting, sometimes incredible, sometimes invisible World Cup Qualifiers for the silky 25 year old who has a knack for making football look elegantly simple. Dani Anselmo is not the fastest player on the field, but his speed of thought and ability to execute his ideas means he plays as quickly as the speediest one out there. His best strength is by far his dribbling, particularly in one-on-ones where he likes to shift the ball to his right foot before pushing it out of the defender’s reach. Dani has developed a great connection within the attacking unit thanks to his quick, progressive passing, his eye for through balls, and his general interconnecting play with Haritz and Ricky Delafont. Sure, the on-paper numbers aren’t there quite yet, two goals and three assists don’t really reflect Dani Anselmo’s on-field contribution.

Striker

Juanma Saez (Parakleion Firebirds FC/TKT)

I’m not sure what we were all thinking before the qualifiers started but clearly we were under some sort of collective idiocy in saying Juanma Saez would do anything other than easily reclaim his spot as the national team’s starting striker. The Big Juan still has it in the twilight of a career that saw him bang in 190 goals and 45 assists in 279 matches for the Firebirds and by far the Cardenao national team’s leading goalscorer, and he’s proved it again this World Cup. His nine goals in the qualifiers were enough to lead the team as Juanma showed a lot of guile to make up for a decline in his physical ability. He still has a rocket of a left foot and a right foot that I could just kiss for how delicately it curls the ball, he smashes the ball in with his head, he’s just your classic yes man get that ball over the line and Cardenao will forever love him for that.

Right Winger

Chímo Ventura (Royal PFC/DAR)

Chímo Ventura, the boyhood prince who looked set to make a name for himself on the international stage is turning 30 at the time of publication and it’s safe to say that never quite came to be. While the talent has always been clear, off the field issues frequently including the Playtoy Mansion and CAD-E meant Chímo had an unfortunate knack of getting in his own path to success. Now with the wisdom of maturity, we have been lucky to see the most complete form of Mr. Ventura and he has been happy to return to the right wing position to facilitate Juanma Saez being fckn Juanma Saez and owning the striking position. Chímo drifts way infield though, basically acting like a second striker and he’s got himself five goals and three assists as he moves across the right side of the Cardenaoan attack.

ISideWith UK · by **Eastfield Lodge** » Sat Sep 07, 2024 3:18 pm

Right, cutoff time to kick off the Pasargan half of the Finals.

by **Delte** » Sat Sep 07, 2024 10:21 pm

Delte 2–5 Siovanija and Teusland
Trainee Sports Correspondent Pola Bedeloe at King Iqbal II Stadium in New Lodger City, Eastfield Lodge for the Skimpy Matchday Report & Negligible Detail Express (Sports Section)

I won't dwell overly long on the finer details of this match but things unravelled pretty quickly against the Goldhorns as Ida Spankhurst's Representatives lost a group stage match for the first time since '94 and were again well beaten by the much lower ranked nation, having suffered defeat to the Siovanijans and Teus in qualifying. It is also the first time the Stoic defence has conceded so many goals since a 4-5 reverse to Zwangzug, also in '94 during qualifying, and brings to an end a 13-game unbeaten streak. But all records aside, it leaves the Delts in a dire position with - on paper - harder games to come. Is this the end for Ida Spankhurst and the Women's Institute project to control everything? As with qualifying, it marks a terrible start to the finals, but unlike qualifying there is hardly any time to put things right. Late consolation goals from the amateur strikers Irki Mynster and sub Chipper Osgood prevented this from being a record defeat and put the faintest shimmer of respectability on the final scoreline. They also served to underline that the professionals in the team were less effective than the postman, the pilot and the platform roustabout. Where do we go from here? Ida has two games to save her reputation - and her job - with calls back home to drop all the 'overpaid dandies' and select only the farmers, mechanics and highways engineers to dig the Reps out of a hole.

The Revenge of Patch-Ironing Robot #371
9/12 - The Dark

The life of Deltic football kit influencer and ediraf Regional Sales Manager Raul Valk hangs in the balance as… well, you probably know that bit by now.

So. A content warning: undoubtedly this is the saddest episode in the whole adventure of the escapee patch ironing robot, and I can hardly bring myself to write it for laughs. This is the story of how Patch Ironing Robot met an old woman called Rvani Spidnytsi, who was running away from terror but could not escape.

I will skip the part where the runaway killer robot flees the scene of its illegal arrival at St. Bernadine International Airport and spends a couple of months pretending to be a dustbin and other undesirable street furniture while it figures out how best to complete its journey to Delte. I’ll also skip the bit where it realises the best course of action is to head to the commercial-industrial docks in Oranjestadt, northern Taxhavn, to hang about for a couple more months with some hardy stevedores who don’t seem overly awe-struck with its one-tonne, three metre frame just so long as it does all the heavy lifting on the docks. I’ll jump straight to the part where it stows away on the container ship Flintham soon bound for Deltemouth, and uses its attached acetyline torch to open up a container where it discovers Rvani cowering in the dark and finding cold comfort in the sudden gift of seeing. What with a one-tonne three-metre killer robot breaking in with a burning torch, and all that.

Some time before all that:

Rvani Spidnytsi had been all around the world but had seen none of it. I’ll skip the part where, as a young girl back in her homeland, she watched twenty soldiers of the invading Ottomany army frog-march up the lane to her family small-holding, steal all the food, execute her grandfather and her father, take her eldest brother captive and her eldest sister’s innocence, and frog-march away again. I’ll skip the part where, a few years later, her eldest brother, a ragged runaway rebel leader now, returned at the head of a column of the Vuchinian Liberation Front, stayed for a week with his comrades, ate them out of house and home and didn’t raise an eyebrow when one of the comrades shot their only cow for fun before they all marched off to liberate the country from the dirty Ottoms. I’ll skip the part where, a few years later, a troop of the Golgostan army, hell bent on eradicating Ottoms everywhere and driving out the Vuchinian Liberation Front to bring Vuchinia into the peaceful fold of the Zykotic Zoviet Republikz - the ZZZR - turned the small holding into a small garrison, making her family slaves and executing her captured elder brother; and also the bit, some while after that, where the garrison was bombed by the Royal Saxe-Gotha Air Force which killed her mother and elder sister as well as most of the Gogolstani soldiers. I’ll jump right to the bit where some smugglers from Scythica, a few years after that when she was by now old and ragged and broken and alone and always hungry, came and offered her a better life in a place she’d never heard of, in exchange for disgusting favours and what little money she had left. They drove her to a city she’d never seen before, took her to a port, locked her in a container with a little water and food, and promised she would be in the tropics of Vilita in no time at all, and oh, had she brought her sun screen for the beach?

Rvani Spidnytsi didn’t know what sun screen was and she worried about that for a little while but then forgot. Her food ran out but she was used to being hungry. The end was near now, because it wasn’t long before the water ran out too and there was nowhere left to put her toilet after the buckets the Scythican traffickers had left her were full and overflowing. She had been in the dark for so long she couldn’t remember what seeing was until a spark glittered in the empty container that had been her prison. And then another, and another, and suddenly a thousand sparks. Someone was coming to get her.

A three-metre, one-tonne killer robot. An angel of death. Not what she’d hoped for, on balance. Oh well, if it had to be this way… she was ready to give herself up to the inevitable. She had made her peace.

‘WHOAAAA! Who the hell are you?’ said a startled Patch Ironing Robot, in Universalese, when it saw the poor old woman approach it, hands held out in surrender.

‘I am Rvani Spidnysti,’ said the old woman in a rising, querrelous tone, ‘and I am ready for death! I am not afraid any mo -’

‘Ssssh! Keep it down will you?!’ said the killer robot, leaning back to take a peak outside, ‘you’ll have them all up here poking about.’

I will skip the part where Patch Ironing Robot welded them back into the container but agreed to keep a light on, even if it was only a flashing light it stole from an airport passenger assistance cart back in Jhanna, because Rvani begged it. I’ll also skip the part where Rvani told Patch Ironing Robot her whole life story, which was exceedingly and relentlessly bleak for 24 hours and 336 miles to Deltemouth harbour. I’ll jump straight to the bit, near the end of the journey, where poor Rvani noticed Patch Ironing Robot had sprung a leak in two of its visual input lenses.

‘Oh its nothing,’ said Patch Ironing Robot, ‘just a bit of dust setting off my cleaning sensors, is all.’ It wiped away the leaking fluid with a cotton hanky Rvani lent it.

by **Gnejs** » Sun Sep 08, 2024 1:29 am

Whatever happened to Sverker Danielsson?

Part nine: Subjective validation

I started walking, because that’s what you do when you find yourself in the middle of nowhere. The field was barley and radiated like a sea of old gold being stroked by a setting sun, the winds moving over the glistening surface creating waves and ripples that were almost sensual in nature. It made me think of young lovers and promises made in heat, filling me with ambivalent feelings of grief and hope. Then I was reminded of my old Friend Martin and how he always used to end every conversation by asserting «Sting fucking sucks» and I was snapped out of it and kept moving towards what I felt like was the ocean and a vague notion of salubrity.

The fields eventually made way for gravel that in turn had to admit defeat when asphalt made its entrance. At the end of the road I encountered a sign that screamed „Welcome to Waterloo Ho!“. The exclamation point, I would later learn, was not there as a way of strengthening the initial welcome of your entry but rather an integral part of the name as such, meant to illustrate the inherent excitement and romanticism of this cove by the sea; the sign continued speaking, in a smaller and italic font, of how the beauty and recognized health-giving qualities of these parts had attracted visitors since time immemorial. A new road guided me towards a cluster of small and rickety stone and wooden houses in faded pastel colors that extended from a few kilometers inland and up to some adjacent hills where they were more sparsely distributed. In the middle of the settlement was a condensed area of slightly larger buildings, whereas the considerable waterfront marking the edge between cove and unending ocean was bereft of anything resembling residential housing. It was rather littered with hotel-like structures in an architectural blend that can only be described as schizophrenic, and most, if not all, looked utterly abandoned and the mix of urban decay and environmental reclamation provided an eerie sensation of a place that one day just ceased to be.

I only saw one establishment with a hint of life to it, located on the very end of the beachside promenade atop a large cliff overlooking a partially submerged forest. I contemplated going up there to see if a weary traveler could be offered lodgings, but as I walked through the small town I started encountering residents that made me forget about the castle on the hill. A young boy with a disturbingly pale face came up to me and said «Faith is torment, did you know that?», and I thought about the difference between people abandoning places as opposed to places abandoning people. I reached a larger square and more people seemed to materialize out of thin air. A grand collection of them were centered in and around a park of sorts where a pool of black goo was surrounded by 12 young sycamore trees. I made my way over there and soon walked among them, and they were all discussing the upcoming game of football that was to be played just a stone's throw away at the bottom of the hills. It was the annual Waterloo Cup - or WC for short - contested for more years than most could count between the two teams Waterloo Ho! United and Dandelion Town FC. The former outfit was a bit of a cocky upstart, only a few centuries old, but had completely dominated the last decades, whereas the latter had been around since before Waterloo became Ho! and was named after an old fountain, shaped like a dandelion, that used to be the centerpiece of the old town square but was now long gone due to perpetual vandalism and replaced with a apothecarium clad in gray eternit. There was a new coach and a new star player in Dandelion Town, which was the talk of the town, and fans felt like they could maybe finally stick it to those uppity Ho! United people. I ended up sucked into the crowds and followed them as they marched towards the field where the traditional battle would take place.

The game had just started when I arrived. The pitch had no stands or bleachers, and people just stood in droves along the sidelines. The uniforms were all wool, the ball brown leather and the keepers wore those sixpence flat caps. Town played in plain golden brown jerseys while United had regally looking deep indigo stripes over an egg-white bottom. Dandelion Town had the clear initiative and dominated the field, and I was struck by an acute sense of dejavu by watching them play. The high pressing by the forwards, the controlled movements, the unemotional defending from the front; it was clear to anyone that knew anything that they were playing Stoic Press football, invented and championed by renowned valleyman Enda Clentin.

My mind was further twisted when I laid eyes upon the new Dandelion Town coach, because before me stood none other than Enda Clentin, although not quite. It was the bespectacled and clean-shaven man you’d expect, with the prominent forehead, receding hairline and the trademark round, thick-rimmed glasses, but there was undeniably something off. I eventually realized it was the eyes, with their lilac-tinted gray color. Those were the eyes of Sverker Danielsson. I had his appearance committed to memory from the information package the Ministry had provided, and his eyes had always stood out. Even though I had been warned his appearance might be altered in an attempt to make him look like Enda Clentin, what I saw caught me completely off guard because for all intents and purposes the man before me was Enda Clentin. And I suppose it wasn’t much of a surprise to find out who the new «star player» was, because I quickly recognized the flowing black curls of Göran Drake. The former Lokomotiv Esaias and national team player, nicknamed «The Drake» after his career-ending injury propelled him into a madness that culminated in kidnapping Danielsson, was a commanding presence on pitch in his false stoic nine position. He seemed to have made a full recovery from those brutally crippling injuries, a fact to which one of the locals merely shrugged and said «because Wight».

It was not much of a contest in the end, and Dandelion Town FC ended their drought when ••Enda Clentin•• guided them to winning the WC. The fans filled the pitch and hoisted both Drake and Danielsson (or Clentin, depending on how you looked at it) up high, and the looks on both their faces were of pure joy. You instantly got the feeling that this was a deeply significant event. The culmination of a story that started a long time ago. A somewhat anticlimactic pinnacle of something a long time in the making; an ambiance which I can only describe as a sort of dignified melancholy. In earnest, the significance of the event would likely be lost on most, because that is often how these stories play out around these parts. I suppose for those people this all makes about as much sense as garden gnomes playing football.

by **The 14 Stars** » Sun Sep 08, 2024 5:15 am

Reuniting with an old friend!

And there it is the draw, The 14 Stars will be facing a series of strong teams with as most important name......Sylestone.....yes the nation of Sylestone thats also the native country of Keira Walcott the current Starsian head coach.
They are currently ranked 5th in the world and an impressive opponent with a strong defensive game, Starsians would describe such a team usually as a bunch of cowards but their ranking showed that they certainly weren't pushovers.
They would be playing their matches in the country of Pasarga.
This nation was known as a pair of islands usually isolated pretty much a country faraway where they had never been or heard from, but they went here to meet the world's best and the opening ceremony was pretty heavy for the Starsian players, they had never done something like this before and Kira Blade would lead her team in that ceremony together with Federico Zaratti.

Keira Walcott after the draw was announced was immediately caught by interviewers wishing to know her response to her team having to play against her native country and how she would prepare for such a task.
However Walcott usually was pretty calm, also now she did not seem impressed by the storm of questions headed her way, a few years ago she would've maybe panicked but Walcott had grown as coach and as person exponentially in the Starsian country.

Interviewer: ''What is your plan against Sylestone, is it painful for you to play against your own nation? will you play diffrently against your native country?! please you gotta give us something!''

Walcott: ''Look whether its Sylestone or Sarzonia or any other nation all of them that were placed in our group are just our opponents and there is no bigger rivalry regardless of where my roots may be.
We will prepare extensively for the match against Sylestone coming up and it will be interesting and memorable thats for sure, but don't think that i will treat them any diffrent then another opponent as that would be a wrong approach, thats all i wish to say on it.''

Next day practice began, Sylestone was a defensive team so practice was on offense standard situations such as corners, free kicks among others how to attack and how to also defend them as they unlike qualifier teams wouldn't show mercy.
They all had seen Chromatika earlier lose with a record amount of goals, Walcott had analyzed that match and she realized very well that if this team suffered a large loss now not only their dreams but also their confidence would be shattered.
It was her responsibility to prepare them for realistic scenario's and thats also why she was gonna field the most experienced players this time because there was simply no room to experiment with players like Lauritzen or Frazier.
Their job was to learn from this experience and make more tournaments, but right now the most important thing was keeping the team's morale high in the face of drastically stronger opponents.
That afternoon she sat down with Kira Blade and Federico Zaratti her two key players and leaders for next match tactical meeting.

Walcott: ''Good we know we are playing Sylestone, they are 5th in the world and defensively strong but the truth is even their offense is world class and if we do not watch out we will get overrun on counters.''

Blade: ''I see so thats their secret, coach i know you are from Sylestone so....i gotta ask how do you feel about this match honestly as i know ur keeping up an appearance for the media but we know you longer.
You are facing a tough time i can see it, i also had to go through a tough time earlier but i got out of it, im sure you can too.''

Walcott: ''Its just very double....the thing is that i failed as a coach in my country but here for some reason i manage to have success after success and i know it sounds selfish but i dont want to embarass myself in front of my country.''

Zaratti: ''Thats nothing to be ashamed of coach, i didnt hear the whole story but i know indeed that when they hired you there was no certainity that you'd be able to bring this team back to its feet but you did and look now.
We are stronger then ever before, we are at the biggest tournament in the multiverse, we couldn't have done that without you.''

Walcott: '''Thanks...i hope we can really pull off something this tournament, anyway my plan is to field the veterans the first match to ensure a stable result since i think both of you saw the chromatika match.....i dont want that to happen to us.
If we lose with big numbers the confidence of the younger players will be pretty much gone, i dont like to admit that we are unable to beat them but it will be very very hard to beat a team like Sylestone because their quality is all over the field.''

Zaratti: ''Yeah you have a point, no one wants a big loss on their debut we want to play a good match play our game and see what comes of it we all agreed to not expect anything from this world cup.
We didnt even expect to qualify so now we're here anything really is a win for us what we do here.''

Blade: ''Well not anything Federico we did not come here to lose, we will play our hearts out and battle till the end to show the world that we belong at the top of the world with our team but expecting more is not sensible.
So coach, who is gonna play tomorrow? i assume me and Federico as veterans are certainly in your line-up if you want consistency?''

Walcott: Davis on goal,Saturn on the left Williams and Zaratti as center backs and Edwards on the right side.
Midfield will be Karazhan, Sol and Raharinaivo and the forwards Blade, Schulz and Villegas.

Blade: ''You are actually gonna play Joyce? i mean shes good but why her over Phillips for this game coach?''

Walcott: ''Don't leak this yet but its not sure Villegas will continue after this season for the national team and she is a consistently strong player who deserves this match as a crown on her career.
You know they are pretty much even in skill so this is a personal preference of mine, i believe it to be the best option and if not i always have substitutes ready to come on and Phillips certainly is one of those with a chance.''

Blade: ''Whoa....Joyce is quitting? i didn't know that yeah she never told me even though we are pretty close...i guess she still struggles with that perhaps and i also thought about it coach but, i feel my work isnt done yet.
But in order to secure my spot i want to work hard and earn it, i dont want a spot just because i am Kira Blade.''

Zaratti: ''Thats good to hear Kira but yeah its sad that Joyce might leave us...we had many veterans leave where other players now slowly start stepping up even though we certainly still have some veterans capable of going a long time.''

Matchday

Starsian Line-up

GK - Davis
LB - Saturn
CB - Williams
CB - Zaratti
RB - Edwards
LM - Karazhan
CM - Sol
RM - Raharinaivo
LW - Villegas
ST - Schulz
RW - Blade

Before the match started the in the stadium the Sylestoneans could hear the chant of one name by the Starsian fans which was the name of the Starsian coach Walcott the fans from the 14 Stars chanted her name through the stadium.
A sign of appreciation and respect for the Starsian head coach who was playing against her own nation today, she didnt recognize most of those players some of them seen in the league but not more then a distant memory for her.
Coach Walcott gathered her own team after the national anthems and stood in the middle of the circle as she spoke.

Walcott: ''Alright boys and girls this is it, we are at the world cup the largest tournament there is and we're playing Sylestone today.
I want to thank you all for your efforts and contributions to get us to this stage, whether you are a starter or reserve, a veteran player or a rookie who just got his or her first call up this season for the team.
Everyone is important in this team, i can say alot more but.......give it all you've got and you will never regret it!

Guys come on lets go!

Team: YES COACH!

All players ran out on the field, they were nervous for their world cup debut and it was visible, even always calm and collected Kira Blade now was slightly nervous as this was unknown terrain even for her.
They would be playing teams far superior to them, they had done that earlier but always lost easily and this time it felt like they had a chance because they finally had improved a whole lot from what they previously were.

Our team kicked off in a match that would start off with both teams seeking for gaps, weaknesses but it seemed no team on the field here had any as Zaratti had the defense under his command and he was playing very well today.
Interceptions, steals and bringing the Sylestoneans out of their rhythm was the first step and that was working out wonders as the Starsian team even got a chance to shoot with Joyce Villegas aiming for the wide corner but the keeper tapping it out.
A corner kick was given, a good header by Williams but again the goalkeeper followed by a rebound from Kira Blade but this one got cleared by a defender and this went back and forth the entire first half without much problem.
Emily Davis saving one after the other aswell, she was the top goalie playing in Krytenia after wasting one year in Xanneria where she played below her level but now she showed her supriority.

During half time only one substitution was made, Ozan Karazhan was taken off and replaced by Lina Hansen because it was clear that Karazhan just didn't have it today and Hansen should be able to bring creativity too.
This worked well but in the end it appeared that the Sylestonean team was just a size too big as in the 78th minute a corner was headed in past Davis marking the only goal that game but a crucial one that lost the Starsians their opening match, further it was an exciting and clean match certainly and the Starsians played their best match ever holding most of the match their own against the 5th ranked team in the world and in the 85th Villegas was subbed out for Iris Olivier as a fan-substitute.

After the match Walcott was asked for a response to the loss

Walcott: ''We played our very best, i am proud of the players and their efforts as they held their own for a long time against a top 5 team which in itself shows that this team is capable to surprise and evolve with each match.''

Interviewer: ''Today also a player of Avondale your old club was on the bench do you have any words for Avondale?''

Walcott: ''Not really, i heard that they are currently doing pretty good so if anything all i would like to congratulate them on newfound success and hopefully they can continue to build on that success.
I think at the time i just didn't have experience to handle the situation but i tried my best, i have learnt and grown alot here in the Starsian nation where people are more direct, realistic and no-nonsense an reality sometimes hits pretty hard.''

Interviewer: ''There has been speculation of you eyeing a next career step between now and a few years, are there any things in the air?''

Walcott: ''No not at all i love my current job as coach here and i will continue to build on this teams new generation the coming years, i think you are reading way too much gossip.''

Interviewer: ''uhhhh sure...do you have any words for the Sylestonean team and how do you feel towards them?''

Walcott: ''I feel that we are fair rivals in the game but we also are fellow countrymen and women, that will not change and i respect them and the current Sylestonean team and i hope they will go far into this tournament.
I would like to congratulate them on their win most certainly but also state that they will hear more from this team thats for sure.''

by **Aleirave** » Sun Sep 08, 2024 7:40 am

Counting the Minutes
Aleirave 3-3 Huayramarca

tick, tock, tick, tock

knock knock knock...

“Who is it?” Refilene Adari’ena was far more wary of letting people into his office than he was before. He had been burned before, so now he wanted to know everyone who was coming in and out of the room.

“It’s me… Nikita…”
“Oh, my apologies, come right in.”

Nikita had been one of Refilene’s advisors from the very beginning, and he knew this man was loyal to a fault, no matter what sort of scandal was coming his way, unlike some of the other people who had been showing up to his office as of late…

“What are you up to, Governor?”
“Just trying to figure out how many days I have left before everything collapses… do you think the boat ride to Eshialand City would be two days or three?”

“Probably two, but listen… you know that if you just own up to everything that’s happened, you can probably stay out of jail at the very least. Maybe you won’t be able to hold on to the office, but such is the way things are, you know?”

“Is it even worth it at this point? They have all the evidence they need, everything is out of my hands. I am going to get arrested, and so are–”

“When it comes to matters such as this one, there is so much they would like to know, so much that you and only you would be able to tell them. Just listen to them, and tell them everything!”

Is this it? Refilene thought, even Nikita is not on my side anymore? The thought that the one person outside his own family who had been most loyal his entire career could possibly suggest turning state’s evidence… was anyone even on his side anymore?

“Nikita… I would suggest you leave my office now. For the good of everyone.”

“Listen, they were here, what, yesterday? So one more day for them to get to Eshialand City, two days for them to do the investigation, two to get back, they’re here banging down the door on Wednesday or so hauling you off to jail and that’s it. But if you tell them what they need to know, you might be free, and then you can focus on fixing things! I promise this is all for your own good.”

Refilene had a good think about it, but he just didn’t want to give up anything. This was a matter of pride for him. “Please leave my office. Let me be for a while…”

Nikita obliged and left Refilene’s office, still worried what would happen to his friend should he choose not to flip and reveal what he knew… but there was nothing he could do at this point. The governor’s future was in his own hands, and he was choosing to throw it all away.

Baggieland 3-3 Tero al Disco, Parliament Stadium, Lodgertia
Aleirave 3-3 Huayramarca, Olympic Stadium, Mount Salt City

“That’s a lot of goals and not a lot of winning…” Josh Seametzle remarked upon seeing the results of Group K.

12 matches were played in Eastfield Lodge on Matchday 1, of which half of those had one team scoring exactly three goals, and half of those were 3-3 draws, exciting matches ending in basically nothing of note.

Two of those 3-3 draws just so happened to be in the Seagulls’ Group K, with the other one being between Juvencus and Baker Park in Group I. Other results such as Siovanija and Teusland beating Delte 5-2 and Farfadillis putting 7 past Chromatika cemented this as a high-scoring day for sure, but in Group K that high-scoring led basically nowhere.

And for Hualafo Paka’ula, he wouldn’t have it any other way.

This was the Seagulls’ first match in their World Cup Finals history, against a Pot 1 team in a regional rivalry matchup, and they didn’t lose. That alone was a win in their manager’s eyes, and even if they lost to both Baggieland and Tero al Disco later on, this campaign would still be a massive success from that one upset point alone.

But, of course, they would do their best to not lose the next two, and that all started with getting a good result against Baggieland. The result against Huayramarca was the fuel for the fire of optimism, and it was time for that burning fire to bring the light of victory.

“We’ve made it here, and we’ve proven that we can perform like the best of them.” Haulafo told journalists in the post-match press conference. “Now, it’s time for us to fight like hell to get the knockouts. If we can draw Huayramarca, we can win our other two matches, and we can get into the final 32. It’s all a matter of playing our best and showing the world what Aleirave is made of… and I don’t mean sand.”

by **Baggieland** » Sun Sep 08, 2024 8:38 am

King Alsqueak

An Uncouth Story

King Alsqueak and the pirates had been promised that 'strange creatures, not like anything seen before' could be found in the Kirkham district of Sylestone. His Majesty was certain that these 'abnormalities' could be cured by his healing touch. As the party ventured deeper into Kirkham…

Madame Xianggu: "I don't be seeing nothing here; not even one person."

Sunny Austin: "Yaar! That yokel must have been pulling our legs… some kind of Sylestonian joke that only Sylestonians get!"

King Alsqueak: "Be patient. I have a feeling in my water that we shall find what we're looking for."

Dundee Talke: "Oh gross!"

King Alsqueak: "What is it?"

Dundee Talke: "Look, someone's left a chamber pot right here by the side of the road. How disgusting!"

Madame Xianggu: "Just as bad as our tow-rags!"

Suddenly chamber pot turned around, its large googly eyes bedazzling everyone present.

Sunny Austin: "Urgghh! What are those strange hideous eyes?"

Madame Xianggu: "Kill it!"

Chamber pot: "Please don't hurt me. I am Chamber pot, the mayor of Kirkham and leader of all the sentient beings."

Was this black magic? How could a chamber pot speak and have googly eyes? Was this an affliction that the king could cure?

by **Tumbra** » Sun Sep 08, 2024 9:16 am

Tanirinthia 1–3 Tumbra

TMB (4-3-3): 1 - V Jones; 2 - A Renton (18 - H Kennedy, 84'), 4 - S Kerr (24 - B Proudfoot, 81'), 14 - H Edwards (5 - W Pritchett, 77'), 19 - J McCreary; 6 - T Harrison (15 - L McCormick, 81'), 8 - V Leighton, 16 - S Harrington; 7 - V Wells, 9 - L Crossley (21 - H Colvin, 77'), 11 - C Henshaw

TMB scorers: Charlotte Henshaw (26', 84'); Victor Leighton (38')

Player of the Match: Charlotte Henshaw

Macaronia Park
Eastfield Lodge

This was a grudge match; there was no doubt about it. Of course, it had been Tumbra's own fault that they hadn't been able to score past Indusse, and guarantee their place in the knockout rounds in the last World Cup; or, for the more xenophobically-inclined, it had been the Holy Empire's fault for conceding six — six, for God's sake — against Tanirinthia that had given them the advantage on goal difference. Whatever it was, the mood was dark, moreso on Tumbra's side.

"Tumbra are always known for playing physically; or, in football terms, playing the heel in world football," Gameweek's Robin Vaughn had said before the match, the former national team stalwart having decided to put on a pair of glasses for his second World Cup in the presenter's seat; looking much more comfortable and composed after his first outing for the Tumbran Broadcasting Corporation's show two years prior. "And there's a lot of unresolved endings from the last time they played, where the game ended nil-nil."

Unresolved endings, thought Valerie Wells as the game once again ground to a halt early in the second half after Jude McCreary had flown in on Ferris Dixon just a bit too much for the referee's liking. There was a ban on listening to pre-match commentary of all kinds in the dressing room — it had become a sort of rule that listening to those sorts of things would doom the squad — but she couldn't help herself. Robin would know about unresolved endings; he'd ended his national team career on an unresolved ending of its own, a loss against now-fallen giants Turori permanently a black mark against what had been a stellar career. So was hers, Valerie smirked as she got into position for the free kick; her own career was rapidly approaching its close. She could sense that the time when players were given a pat on the back and told that they'd best seek employment elsewhere (the currently in-vogue city for players past the age of 33 was Ridgewell) was coming for her. It wasn't too long ago that she was sympathising with Lynne Crossley, her opposite number on the right flank, that Robin coming back for the World Cup at home was unfair for her career development; now the two of them understood why Robin had come back, desperate for one more chance.

But time made an enemy of all sportspeople; and endings were often left unresolved. Few got their happy endings; most stepped off the stage, having to be content with scant success and much more disappointment. Nephara's sudden departure from the World Cup, for example, had robbed Felixe Vetiver of the title many had thought was about to be served up to her on a platter; Quebec, despite a litany of talent, had only ever made one semi-final in sixteen attempts at the World Cup, while illness had stolen Hapilopper's Nate Ellis' chance to see the team he'd given so much to do well. The world was cruel and unfeeling at the best of times; sports, being both a microcosm of the world and operating on a much condensed timescale, tended to be even more so.

Play restarted. Valerie darted right, searching to make herself available for Victor Leighton; McCreary correctly dispossessed Dixon enough for the referee's liking, and she tracked back, trying to rid herself of her marker. Tumbra were leading 2-1; it was just after the hour mark, and the team seemed comfortable to ride the game towards the end. Tanirinthia were being outclassed; Tumbra weren't giving an inch to them this time round, and it showed. The Black Eagles seemed to be playing even more physically than in qualifying, and Tanirinthia had ratcheted up their own physical play seemingly in response. It was an ill-tempered game; and she had no doubt there were going to be many more stoppages in play before the end of the game.

McCreary to Leighton, Leighton to Harrison...Harrison to Leighton again. Leighton moving his way past the midfield, keeping the ball to himself. Leighton to Harrington, Harrington to Crossley, Crossley taking the ball and surging; Crossley on the floor after a brutal tackle that saw her rolling on the floor away from the ball. Perhaps an exaggeration; but Valerie knew that to get any good decision these days you had to play it up for the cameras a bit.

She exhaled as she came to a rest, the referee blowing for a free kick. Wiped the sweat from her brow. Waited on the far end of the penalty area. Waiting for the moment where the ball would be sent in, and —

Up and over her head.

Nobody ever said Tumbra were any good at free kicks.

by **Crpostran** » Sun Sep 08, 2024 9:40 am

[*]NOTE: AI-Generated image used in the scorecard, solely for aesthetic purposes. Apologies for the short-RP, busy with exams

by **Saterun** » Sun Sep 08, 2024 3:28 pm

An Exploration of Saterun Tactical Identity: Part 5
By Kalvin Hsemer

It's no secret that the Saterun national football team, more commonly known by their nickname the Claws, are deeply tied to the Saterun domestic scene. After all, nearly all of the players on the NT play in the A. Liga, and Saterun had never had a foreign manager. This was pretty obvious once Kameron Boyd took over, as he nearly perfectly imported his Futsworth United playstyle to the NT setup. Even before him, however, both Abbas Yousafali and Martin Freeberg implemented tactical styles from domestic clubs. That's why the NT tactics have been developing in line with domestic progresses, now more than ever during the Boyd era.

By the time the national team was playing significant fixtures, the kick-and-run had been all but wiped out. It still existed on the fringes, but no serious professional or ever amateur team used it. The Claws began their first iteration under a heavy passing style, coached by Martin Freeberg. Freeberg had a pretty uneventful reign, never challenging for really anything on the multiversal front. Turns out, he was in the wrong sport, as after he was sacked he took over Portura State's basketball program and lead them to a NSCAA final 64 berth. He stays on today, even if college basketball isn't as big as it used to be. Freeberg used a mashed-up mangle of the leading domestic tactics at the time, most notably Tsear FC's distinct possession style and Anasb FK's pressing.

Yes, Freeberg did have an internationally unexperienced team, but his performance was poor. After WCQ 90, Freeberg was relieved of his duties and in came Abbas Yousafali. Yousafali didn't have any coaching experience at the highest level, so it was a risky decision for the SFF, but it initially looked to have paid off. WCQ 91 has gone down in Saterun football lore as the craziest qualification cycle ever, and the one in which the Claws had come closest to WC qualification before this recent cycle. It started out a little worse than usual, but sometime around the halfway mark things just started to click. Saterun beat opponents such as HUElavia and Chromatika, and drew current runners-up Pemecutan twice. had things not fallen apart on the final day, away at Kimi-Soumi, the Claws would have sneaked into the playoffs.

Yousafali never got that close again, and his frequent failings in the IAC and CoH eventually led to Kameron Boyd being brought in before cycle 95. Yousalfali focused quite heavily on passing, as with Freeberg, although towards the end of his reign he began preparing his squad to transition to fluid movements. Yousafli made almost no changes in his side, keeping similar players to Freeberg. The primary innovation to come from the Yousafali era was a slightly more defensive shift in overall play. Saterun were still an attacking team, but the overly forward play of Freeberg often left the Claws exposed at the back. Kameron Boyd has kept that more cautious approach throughout his time on the NT.

We discussed Boyd at length in the first article, so I want to stay on Freeberg and Yousafali here. There have been many discussions about the extent to which each was a tactical innovator, but the truth is that they both were, at least a a basic level. Freeberg initiated the first ever NT tactics, and Yousafali made his own improvements. Critically, transition periods in between NT managers have historically been very painless. Although Boyd brought in his own style, he largely kept the team unchanged for his first cycle. This minimizes the slump in form that seems to always come with a change at the head.

Player soles have also started to shift, even if on a cycle-to-cycle basis the players are mostly the same people. The wingbacks have had the biggest shift, as they started to be more attacking near the end of Yousafali's time at the helm. This worked out great for Avishai Demare, who was naturally more attacking and certainly filled that role on the club side, but it wasn't the playstyle of Saveli Holst. Once Fabian Cruz, who was definitely on the attacking side, broke through, it made sense for Kameron to play him over Holst, even though Holst was cumulatively the better player. Glenn Lundquist has been flourishing as the midfield workhorse, while Andrei Coiro orchestrates the attack. Before, these two primarily played the same ball-winning role.

Although the national team may seem like a completely separate entity, it is in fact very closely tied to the domestic evolution of Saterun tactics. This is especially true now, as the manager and every player except one also work in the A Liga. Next week, I'll try to unravel where innovation comes from, and will take a look at the traditional football hotbeds of the East and South. See you soon.

by **Tikariot** » Sun Sep 08, 2024 4:42 pm

The rain came down in torrents, a low pressure system moving in from the Xandrian Sea, hammering the streets of Carathyr with an unforgiving ferocity. Wind howled between the buildings, sending fallen leaves skittering across the pavement like restless spirits. The moon was hidden behind layers of thick, turbulent clouds, and the night sky was ink-black. Streetlights flickered, their dim, yellowish glow barely penetrating the wall of rain.

Sergeant Raymond Hastings pulled his collar tighter around his neck as he stepped out of his car, a gust of wind slamming the door shut behind him. His boots splashed in the growing puddles on the uneven asphalt. His breath turned to mist in the cold night air. Fall's vicious hold on Carathyr was unrelenting, and the weather tonight mirrored what he thought of the city: abysmal, bleak, and decaying.

The call had come in around midnight. Another body. Another victim. Another godforsaken night of dealing with this case that had been bleeding away the last vestiges of his professional drive just like Cain bled his victims.

Hastings trudged forward, the rain relentless as it soaked through his coat and his spirit. He could already see the flashing blue and red lights of the patrol cars further down the alley, their colours reflected by the rain. The alley itself was a narrow, grimy corridor between two decrepit buildings. It was a perfect place for the latest of Cain’s victims - a forgotten corner of the city where no one went unless they had to.

A young officer stood at the mouth of the alley, looking pale and visibly shaken, clearly his first experience with Cain. Hastings didn’t bother to ask his name. He’d been through this routine too many times.

"Sergeant," the officer said, his voice barely audible over the rain.

Hastings ignored him and pushed past him. The rain didn't matter. None of it mattered anymore. Not after everything he'd seen.

The alley was lit up by harsh portable lights set up by the crime scene unit, casting the slick cobblestones in a light that was far too bright and unnatural. Hastings could see the body now, illuminated in the almost white light. The victim, as usual by now, was naked and arranged in that same grotesque pose that had haunted Carathyr for months now—the Vitruvian Man. Arms and legs spread wide, forming two overlapping circles on the ground. The signature.

Something wasn't right, though. The word Cain next to the victim was missing. Had it been washed away by the rain or was this every city's and police department's worst nightmare - a copycat killer?

Hastings stepped closer, his boots splashing in the shallow pools of rainwater mixing. The victim’s skin was almost translucent in the artificial light—pale, thin, and stretched tight over bones. Like the others, this man had been drained completely. No blood anywhere. No sign of struggle. No sign of where it had happened. Just the empty shell of a person left to be found.

He crouched down, his knees cracking, and studied the victim’s face. Sunken eyes, hollow cheeks, a ghastly, skeletal expression frozen in death. Whoever this man had been, he had been gone long before his body was dumped here. Hastings could feel the weight of despair pressing down on him. Another one. Another goddamn body.

"How long has he been here?" Hastings asked without looking up.

"Hard to say," came the response from the coroner, who had just arrived on the scene. "No more than a couple of hours, I'd guess. The rain makes it difficult, but the body’s cold, and there’s no rigor mortis left."

Hastings straightened up, groaning as his back protested the movement. He was too old for this. Too tired. Too done. The Cain case had sapped the last bit of energy he had, not that there was much in the first place. He had seen some terrible things in his time, but this? The sheer brutality combined with the almost clinical precision was something that could bring the most hardened officer to his knees. Whoever Cain was, he was no ordinary killer.

He turns to one of the officers. "There's no 'Cain' written in blood." The officer wordlessly points behind Hastings. As he turns around, he sees the dreaded four letters scrawled on the wall of one of the buildings, underneath a tattered awning. Cain wanted to ensure his signature wouldn't be washed away.

The rain drummed incessantly against the rooftops and windows above, turning the alley into a river. Hastings stared at the body, feeling that familiar dread gnawing at the edges of his mind. It was the same scene, over and over again. And they were no closer to finding this monster than they had been when the first body turned up. All they had were these clues—these sick, twisted displays of some ritualistic obsession and now the knowledge that Cain seemed to target brothers.

"Any ID on him?" Hastings asked, though he already knew the answer. Cain’s victims never had IDs.

"No wallet, no phone," one of the detectives replied from the sidelines. "He’s clean. Just like the others."

Hastings nodded and sighed, his gaze still fixed on the lifeless form before him. The rain kept falling, washing away what little evidence might have been left behind. But he already knew there wouldn't have been anything anyways, it was almost as if Cain knew they would be looking for. He felt the cold creeping into his bones, but he didn’t move. There was nowhere to go. Nowhere that would make any of this make sense.

He closed his eyes for a moment, letting the sound of the rain fill the silence in his mind. He contemplated going to his car and starting to drive. Away from Cain, away from Carathyr. But something kept him here, even though he had no idea what it was. It definitely was not ambition or taking personal joy in catching a criminal.

"This city’s rotting," Hastings muttered under his breath, not caring if anyone heard him. "Rotting from the inside out."

As the coroner brought in the gurney to transport the latest victim to the morgue, Hastings looked on emotionless, trapped in his personal nightmare. A life that had fallen apart, a career that had come to a halt and a killer that went beyond anything he'd ever seen. And with each new victim, even every new day, he felt the last shreds of his will to work slipping away.

The rain fell harder now, as if the heavens themselves were weeping for the dead. But Hastings couldn’t find it in himself to feel anything anymore. Not rage, not sorrow—just an overwhelming numbness. Cain had taken that from him too.

by **Sarzonia** » Sun Sep 08, 2024 4:51 pm

Caleb Rush may be relatively new to international football, but he's no dummy.

Two trips to the Arrosian Regional Championship knockout rounds with one resulting in a silver medal, two World Cup qualifying campaigns and one Cup of Harmony trophy were all well and good. A managerial record of 23-8-6 also was impressive on paper.

And yet, Sarzonia were playing in the World Cup proper after 11 times when the Stars missed out on the sport's ultimate showcase. The Incorporated Football Federation withdrew from World Cup 87 after Taeshan were announced as a co-host, then the IFF opted not to send teams to either World Cup 93 or 94.

The other eight times, Sarzonia just weren't able to earn their place with World Cup 86 and then unranked Yuezhou outpacing the Stars and World Cup 96 missing out after a playoff loss to Juvencus were the most jarring of circumstances, but now the porridge was just right.

Sarzonia's first opponents in Group F, Mertagne earned their way into World Cup 97 after they'd previously received the automatic berth as co-hosts. It was Mertagne's third consecutive World Cup group stage appearance after consecutive group stage eliminations.

"The real work begins now!" Rush said as he huddled with his starting 11 prior to their taking the pitch against the 18th ranked team in the footballing multiverse. Sarzonia would have to guard against a team that were eager to advance to the knockout rounds for the first time.

Rush found himself looking down at reserve defender Tyler Hoskins to give him instructions as he saw team captain Ken Webb hobbling after a tackle. During Rush's instructions to hand the captain's armband to Lucius Wesley, the Sarzonian half of the Stadium of the Sun crowd in Belja erupted with their loudest cheers of the night. Rush looked up at the video board and saw forward Kitt Morgan being mobbed by their teammates.

A smattering of neutral supporters joined the appreciation of Morgan's cheeky strike that saw Green Goblins goalkeeper Rhiannon Fawn angrily punch the net with her right fist. The 68th minute tally came despite the higher-ranked Mertagne control the run of play during the entire first half and the first 15 minutes of the second half.

Rush folded his arms and stood to the right of the covering protecting his substitutes and managerial staff. He was a bundle of nerves, even though his young goalkeeper John Wells had been more than up to the challenge, saving seven shots up to that point.

However, with Hoskins on for Webb, it would be more difficult for the relatively young back four to keep Green Goblin attackers from sizing up the goal Wells was protecting. However, this would prove to be Wells's shining hour as he again turned back the best Mertagne had to offer.

Finally, after a stressful four minutes of stoppage time that stretched to six, the referee's whistle mercifully called the proceedings to a finish. Sarzonia escaped the Stadium of the Sun with a 1-0 victory that seemed to leave the Green Goblins feeling burned.

"We'll take it," Rush said at his opening press conference. "It may not have all the style points you'd want, but in this business, three points is three points."

"Coach, you saw that Sylestone defeated The 14 Stars in their match. What do you plan to tell your players about the Hawthornes?"

"They're a strong side," Rush said. "We know they're an extremely defence-oriented unit and scoring opportunities are going to come at a premium. We'll be studying them to see what, if anything we can exploit when we have possession."

"Any concerns about Sylestone seeking revenge for the Aussie Rules World Cup?" Rush paused for a moment, stopping himself from making a smartass remark.

"No," he said. "There hasn't been an Aussie Rules World Cup for a long time. I don't expect the Hawthornes to think about that in relation to this match. We've got enough to deal with just thinking about this code without pondering another one we don't play."

Sarzonia may not have had the signature victory during this World Cup cycle during qualifying, but they now had consecutive wins against higher-ranked opponents. For that streak to extend to three matches, the Stars know it will take all 11 players having a great night against Sylestone.

"There are no more traps," Spencer Wilson said. "It'll just be giants from here on."

World Cup 81/82/83/84

BP, Goldhorns meet in key Group I matchup
Scott McCrae
The Mail on Sunday Chief Soccer Writer

Siovanija & Teusland continued their return to international soccer with a 5-2 win over World Cup 95 champs Delte to set up an important matchday 2 all-Arrosia derby with Baker Park.

The Bees earned a point against Juvencus at Vorgan Park with a 3-3 draw that puts BP in position to climb to the top of the table if they can get a win against S&T; with the top eight third placed teams advancing to the knockout stage, 4 points seems like a fairly safe total towards finishing in the top 32.

The third straight draw between the Gold & Black and gli attaccanti was another feast for the fans of high scoring soccer, as both sides held the lead during the course of the 90 minutes that saw two changes prior to Shelby Engels' 79th minute equalizer that closed out the scoring.
Gael Gaetan made one significant change in the starting XI for the Sonnelians, as Luizinho came in on the right side of the forward line for Gilberto Soares; the Juvens started out in full flow as they raced out to a lead after only 11 minutes, Sara Ponce opening the scoresheet with a well placed shot that beat Beth Rossi to her near post and could've made it two four minutes later when Luizinho missed from inside the box.

BP finally had the run of play start to move in their favor, as Carly Logan and Shelby Engels both sent shots just over the bar and Juan Carlos Ungaro stopping David Coleman stone cold from inside the six; Freddie Altman chose just the right moment to get his first tally in this WC cycle off a brilliant individual effort that saw him skip past Ponce and dip the ball just under the bar out of the reach of Ungaro in the 33rd minute following a period where the Bees had Juvencus pinned in their own third for long stretches.

Controversy in the 43rd minute preceded BP taking the lead to the dressing room, Carlos Coste looked to have cleanly tackled Serena McDavid in the box but the VAR asked the sentient referee Mr Dehumidfier from Sylestone to have a look and it was determined that Coste did clip the heel, and a penalty was awarded, which McDavid slotted home after Coste saw yellow—it was unclear whether it was for the infraction or for dissent—to make it 2-1; for McDavid it was her fourth goal of the campaign in seven appearances and the 38th international goal of her career, moving her to within one of tying Quinton Harris for 7th on the NT all-time list.

The second half began with gli attaccanti still a bit on the back foot and it could've been 3-1 five minutes in when Logan grazed the top of cage but the momentum began to shift back towards the team in red and just before the hour Ceferino Audiol had leveled the score at 2 with an elegant finish.

The next 10 minutes saw wide open attacking from both sides and James Hardison replace David Coleman in the 67th minute. The stalemate was broken three minutes later as Audiol got his second of the match with a strikers goal that left Rossi handcuffed. Cyndi Garfield replaced Paul Vetter prior to the restart and her first touch nearly leveled the scores again as she forced Ungaro to turn the ball behind his goal.

With fifteen minutes left, Rob D'Alessandro replaced a cramping Ryan and the combination of he and Garfield in the center of the pitch seemed to give the Bees a jolt of energy as the press began to creep further upfield which saw the Juvens get a bit sloppy with the ball; D'Alessandro picked up an errant pass and found McDavid at the top of the arc, who turned and laid the ball into the path of Engels advancing at full pace, and the Greenlea United Ladies star hit it first time past the keeper, sending the 11,000 Gold & Black Army supporters behind the goal into a frenzy.

Will Barnard elected to close up shop with 7 minutes left by bringing Michael O'Connor on for Engels to shore up the defense and pulled the midfield back; Juvencus heaped pressure on the BP defensive alignment but only a corner kick handled easily by Rossi was the net result of the attacking posture.

Juvencus 3      	Baker Park  3 
Ponce  11'		Altman 33'
Audiol (2) 58', 70'     McDavid 43' (Pen)
			Engels  79'

lineup vs Siovanija & Teusland

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

by **Hapilopper** » Sun Sep 08, 2024 5:58 pm

Albrecht Road, Stein-Los, Pasarga
World Cup 97 Match 1: Hapilopper 2-2 Gnejs

Thom Perkins walked to his perch on the sideline of Albrecht Road and contemplated life for a minute. The match - Ellis Football’s first of the World Cup Proper - not the qualifying, but the proper - seemed so surreal. For a brief second, he felt like he didn’t belong. He felt like he was somewhere he had no place being. He should have been in Banija getting ready for the Cup of Harmony, not here, getting ready to be one of the 48 greatest footballing teams in the multiverse, playing in the biggest sporting event of them all.

And that feeling hit him for a bit, before a few Hapiloppian players walked past. It was still a half hour before the start of the match, and the team was going on its final warmup. Not far behind was Ernie Stevenson, assistant coach of Ellis Football. Ernie put his arm around Thom’s shoulder and a huge smile emerged on his face.

“You know something, Perk?” Ernie said. “We got ourselves into this mess. I don’t want to get out of it.”

Thom looked at Ernie and nodded his head. A smile came about his face too.

“I don’t know how this is going to go but damn it all if we’re ain’t gonna have the time of our lives,” Ernie continued. “I mean, the World Cup! The World God Damned Cup! And we’re in it!”

“Hell yeah,” Thom said.

“I mean, think of all the guys that dreamed of being in this moment, all the nations that wished they could be here - not just this year but dating back to the beginning of time - and they never made it. Yet we’re here, and we’re here for the third time. I sure hope it won’t be the last,” Ernie said. “My grand dad would be so proud of me if he ever knew I was here.”

Ernie was talking about a man named Drake Stevenson - not his older brother and the multiverse’s most prominent race car driver at the moment - but his grandfather he never knew. The man his older brother was named for. 67 years before, Drake Stevenson the first was set to be the lead striker for the Wreckerian national team when they made their international debut at the 30th World Cup. But then Drake went missing, captured by right-wing True Wreckerian forces in the midst of the Wreckerian Civil War and was never seen or heard from again. Without their leader, Wreckeria’s team floundered from one bad result to the next in that qualifying run. Wreckeria disappeared from the international scene for the next 54 years, struggling to keep their own house afloat as constant fighting plagued their world.

Ernie got a little wistful as he thought about the grandfather he never knew. He knew that he’d be proud of his two grandkids - Drake, the greatest race car driver in the multiverse, and Ernie, the assistant coach of the miraculous Hapiloppian team.

Thom knew it too, as he turned his head to look at his assistant.

“You know something?” Ernie said as he looked at his boss. “They got us here, but it’s up to us to move it forward. There ain’t no time like the present, and there ain’t no time like now for us to get it done.”

Thom nodded his head. It seemed trite and lacking substance, but he was right. There was hardly any time like the present for the Haps. And there was hardly any time like now for the Hapiloppians to show what they were made of. And what a roster they had to get the job done. Thom looked over and saw Stan McLamb, the embodiment of “Win the Whole Fucking Thing” - so much so that he had it tattooed on his left arm.

Stan had a crazed look on his face - even more so than normal. It was a look that indicated harsh, fanatical determination to get the job done. A determination to advance. A determination to show the world that Ellis Football was here to stay, and a determination to show the world that Ellis Football was going to be a force to be reckoned with.

A determination to show Gnejs, Yuezhou and the Holy Empire that just because they were the lowest-ranked team in the entire World Cup, the biggest underdogs of the entire tournament, they weren’t going to be pushovers. They weren’t going to roll over, collapse, play dead and let everyone else have it. They were going to fight like hell, regardless of the outcome.

And it was that determination showed during the 90 minutes (plus injury time) of play. The Haps, so it seemed, had something, anything, everything for the Dandelions from Gnejs. It was the kind of match that had everyone on the edge of the seats - and people gasping in delight, in horror and in suspense.

It wasn’t the kind of match punctuated by dirty play or bad calls by the referee, but it was the match where any time a Hapiloppian thought he had an advantage - the kind of advantage that would have netted the Haps three points instead of one - a Dandelion would come in and swoop it away. This kind of play led to much terror and gnashing of teeth for fans across the multiverse - including one fan, whose picture made the front page of the Lake Sprague Picayune the next morning.

The fan, enjoying the match at Chattahoochee’s in downtown Lake Sprague, was pictured accidentally smashing a beer bottle as he gripped it way too hard, out of pure tension from watching the match. The picture showed beer and glass flying through the air as the fan’s look of horror gripped him - obviously the Gnejsians had taken away whatever momentum the Haps were trying to build.

When the final whistle blew, Thom was a little bit relieved. He was relieved that his team had not made a total ass out of themselves - as someone told him later that the squad from Chromatika had against Farfadillis - and that the other Group B match, the Holy Empire and Yuezhou, had also ended up in a draw. It meant that the Hapiloppians, a third of the way through their World Cup group stage campaign, was still very much in the thick of things. And they’d need to be at the absolute top of their game as they got ready to take on the other two teams in the group.

They had heard stories about the Holy Empire - and the rumored knee-high argumentative ankle-biting garden gnomes with springs in their football boots. This was leading to some interesting conversations in the team meetings, but these conversations, at least for now, were circling back to the topic of Yuezhou, a team supposedly without a leader, as their head coach and head of the national football association were supposedly not on speaking terms.

“Who gives a shit?” Thom asked. “That doesn’t mean they can’t perform! Lord knows Dom Probst and I have had arguments in the past, that doesn’t make my job any more tenuous than it was before and it doesn’t mean y’all can’t do your job. For all we know those two got into it over some spat over a bar bill.”

“Speaking from experience, Perk?” Ernie asked.

“Yeah, that bastard told me he’d cover our $350 bill at Center Street but then he ran off, saying he forgot his card,” Thom responded. “Stiffed me. I paid it but then I gave him the itemized bill the next morning.”

ATTN: Thom Perkins,
Due Today -Probst

Kiss $25.00
My $145.50
Ass $420.69
You $0.02
Dipshit $49.99

A copy of the "itemized bill" Dom Probst gave Thom Perkins after Thom complained about getting stiffed at Center Street the night before.

“What’d he do?”

“He gave me an itemized bill of his own,” Thom said.

by **Kelssek** » Sun Sep 08, 2024 6:06 pm

KSK 4-2 ZEN / Voyagers find groove after early scare

When Zoé Goh-Lemaire slotted her shot into the goal to open the scoring, Kelssek had maintained possession for practically all of the previous 11 minutes. It was a spell of control and discipline that began from the indirect free kick they’d been awarded after Zenic thought they’d gone a goal up after 21 minutes, only to have video review chalk off the goal for a marginal offside.

It was in some ways a reprieve and a jolt that Kelssek needed, forcing them to focus on what was at stake here and shut out the swirl of chatter that has surrounded the team for the past few months. In the end, the goals from Zoé Goh-Lemaire and Kaiden Pépin, in the second half, capped a top-class performance from Kelssek of the kind that was all too absent in the qualifying run.

Zenic initially took the game to Kelssek, and had clearly developed a plan to catch out one of the main weaknesses of this team. They baited and then played through the press to draw Kelssek’s players out of position and exploit the spaces. Veteran winger Rory Joseph picked up an early yellow card with some uncharacteristic frustration as he sliced into Burley Trac with a very late tackle 15 minutes in.

“It’s fair to say we were not right mentally in the early part of the match. Preparation is one thing, but the opponent always gets a say, and you have to respond to that. Zenic started well and we got rattled too easily. It’s up to us as the leadership group, for the players with more experience to lead the way,” said captain Ingrid Lambert in the post-match interviews.

Lambert will have been glad her error didn’t end up sending Kelssek a goal down in that early stage. Attempting to intercept a ball though the channel, she was beaten to it by Giuseppe Allegri Gentile, putting Zenic into a three-on-one situation with her defensive partner Timo Thomsen isolated. Thomsen took an aggressive option to close in on the Passerine striker, who did well to spray the ball out wide for Nakazawa Shinji. Shinji sat down goalkeeper Jenas Maraipu with a cool first touch and placed it expertly inside the far post – but after an agonizing video review was ruled to have been offside by a toe.

This was a wobble that helped to steady Kelssek. They managed to find passes that were missing in the early going and Lionel an Deòir hit the upright with a long shot just four minutes later. It was perhaps the encouragement he needed as he volleyed a line-breaking pass from Titan Pogbacar at Saúl Mosley, which Zoé Goh-Lemaire was well-placed to snatch and strike the rebound into the net.

Kelssek kept the pedal to the metal after the half-time break and seemed to finally find the adjustments needed for the press to work. Rory Joseph harried Kian Hodge into a poor clearing attempt, which Titan Pogbacar collected and switched the play to the left flank. Kaiden Pépin timed his run to perfection to get on the end of Lionel an Deòir’s cut-back for a well-struck finish that had Mosley throwing his hands up in the air.

Pogbacar had a goal of his own shortly afterwards, with a free-kick that was helped past the Zenic keeper when it deflected off the wall. Sammy Mao scored his first goal in the national team shirt when a miscue in the midfield saw Terence de Landa intercept the ball and jab it through the channel to put the Shearwater speedster through on goal. Some of the plaudits must be tempered somewhat as a four-goal lead seemed to create a lot of complacency. Zenic grabbed a goal back when Thuan Byford helped himself to a free header off a corner, and a clumsy foul by Chike Obident at the edge of the penalty area gave Zenic a late penalty that was put away by Giuseppe Allegri Gentile. It will be a spell of play that Kelssek could well rue if goal difference ends up playing a role in the final standings, and a reminder of the fragility that still seems to dog this squad.

Kelssek manager Calen Reamsey was certainly happier at the end than the beginning of the match, and refused the bait when one journalist pointed out Kelssek ended the match giving up two unanswered goals. “As a coach you never want to say it’s perfect, but that’s the kind of performance that we’ve been working towards,” he said. Fans of the Voyagers must hope will continue through this tournament.

KELSSEK 4 – Goh-Lemaire (32’), Pépin (56’), Pogbacar (62'), Mao (77')
Maraipu, Bastien (Buené 87’), Lambert, Thomsen, Usher, Pogbacar, Licea, Pépin (de Landa 63’), Joseph (Mao 72’), Goh-Lemaire (Sarada 87’), an Deòir (Obident 72’)
ZENIC 2 - Byford (81'), Allegri (pen. 89')
San Daros, Paulinthal (attendance 60,805)
Player of the Match: Titan Pogbacar

KBC One - @KBC_TV1
Tonight on House of the Snapdragon: S1E07 “Octopus’s Garden” (new episode). Struggling with the prototype, Jason reaches a tipping point at the seafood market. Rhaenyra suspects the priestess manipulated Leon into buying a ranch. Investors vent their fury.

Moonbeam Infantino - @MoonbeamInfantino
Greatly enjoying the delicious burritos in Paulinthal, such a wonderful exotic culture everyone can experience thanks to football!

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