Di Bradini Cup 16/U21WC37 Rosters/RPs/Scores

[Queer Poco el Mono Ara]

The first explosion knocked every guard off their feet. The second opened a gaping hole in the citadel wall. The King’s defenses had been breached and Rolento’s personal army had begun storming the final strong hold.

Armed with just their dress swords, the Ravens climbed to their feet readying themselves for the onrushing enemy. They came through thick smoke, climbing over rubble, their guns raised, not expecting the king’s guard to have so quickly regained their composure and be prepared to fight. As they strode through the cavity in the citadel wall the Red Beret’s were scythed down by the gleaming swords. The guards hacked and slashed and fought bravely, but with the numbers game being won by the opposition and the enemy possessing better weaponry, they fell back as the Red Beret’s finally began pulling the trigger.

Bullets riddled the Ravens, the walls, the floors, blood spattered and spurted and the dress uniforms of the king’s guard was a tattered rag atop a crumpled person.

Locked inside the meeting room, the king’s advisors braced themselves by the door. There was only a tiny bolt keeping the attackers breaching the door and the will of everyman inside it. Pressed up against the white wooden door, 12 desperate men stood shoulder to shoulder with the entrance pushing back against the force on the other side.

“Stand aside.” Spoke King Salifa Anton’I “Perhaps we had best face our attackers and try work something out.”

-----

The Under 21’s are doing their best to destroy the recent trend of Pocoan football sucking donkey balls. Taking 7 points from their opening three games of the Di Bradini Cup the Lil Whites are showing everyone back home there is still hope for the national team. After seeing the full team fail to reach the World Cup and make a hash of the group stage of the Cup of Harmony it’s fallen at the feet of the kids to kick start this next round of international football.

With the country bidding to host the Baptism of Fire, we don’t want the country to be swamped with giddy foreigners fighting for silverware whilst our own team continues to fall flat. The fact that the DBC final is still the pinnacle of the Pocoan football story isn’t lost on a nation who loves football and that was 6 editions of the under 21 world cup ago. Now may be the time to step up from that silver medal and claim the gold, especially with the current crop of players on show. Leading from the front line Augustus attacker Bart Wilson has bagged four of QPeMA’s 7 goals, it’s not just the Una Serie forward playing out of his skin, but Salaga keeper David a Guia whose two clean sheets have come on the back of some excellent keeping. But there are 11 players on the pitch at any given time and the eleven who have represented the country have done so to the best of their ability.

Up next for QPeMA, Silver Beach who sit second bottom having failed to pick up a point in their opening 3 fixtures and have managed only a single goal in 270 minutes of football.

[Bears Armed]

”Hwell, I’ve found the details for part of the U-21’s roster now: Karra had left a list of her proposed starting line-up for the team, and a couple of the substitutes too, tucked under her computer’s vole-mat… and it was tucked into a nenvelope that had been franked only two days before they left for Starblaydia, so it’s probably her actual final selection — or pretty close to that, anyhows — rather than just an earlier opinion.
“Here_”

(#1) Arra Thunderbolt _ Clan = Gunnar; Home team = Newton Arsenal, category & usual position = Goalkeeper, experience = 7 years; age = 20 years, left-pawed, fur = dark-medium brown. (She made her international debut, 4 years ago, as a member of the smaller-than-planned team that Bears Armed sent to DBC15… in which she actually played as a Defender, instead of as a Goalie.)
(#14) Orrchand o BorrWood _ Clan = Redwood, home team = Harr Burran Heroines, category & usual position = Goalkeeper, experience = 6 years; age = 20, left-pawed, fur = , tall even by Ursine standards (at a bit over 8 feet) and correspondingly wide (rather than “skinny”) as well but not by any means ‘slow’.

(#2) Beorra BigBear _ Clan = GreenWoods; Home team = Barrdenn Barbariennes, category = Defender, usual position = Right Back, experience = 7 years; age = 19 years, right-pawed, fur = dark-medium brown. (She made her international debut, 4 years ago, as a member of the smaller-than-planned team that Bears Armed sent to DBC15.)
(#3) Beorranna-Sarra o Urrset _ Clan = Urrset, home team = Confederal Engineers, category = Defender, preferred position = Left Back, experience = 4 years; age = 10, left-pawed, fur = reddish-brown & trimmed quite short .

(#4) Marra Charwin _ Clan = Harruorr Erruur, home team = Heroes’ Park Harlequins, category =Defender/Midfielder, usual position = Centre Back or ‘Lynchpin’ (i.e ‘Defensive Centre’), Soccer experience = 4 years; age = 20, ambidextrous, fur = light brown.
(#17) Sophia Urra Borrodirh _ Clan = Ostbora, home team = Urrvan’s Avengers, category = Defender/Midfielder, usual position = ‘Lynchpin’ (i.e ‘Defensive Centre’) or Centre Half, Soccer experience = 5 years; age = 18, left-pawed, fur = medium brown; Greek Orthodox Christian.

(#5) Anna Orestides _ Human; Clan = Arkhadianoi, home team = King’s University Konquerors (studying Ursinology), category = Midfielder, usual position = Midfield Right, experience = 4 years; age = 20, right-footed, hair = black; Greek Orthodox Christian.
(#6) Cierra o Vorross _ Clan = GreenWoods, home team = River City, category = Midfielder, usual position = Midfield Left, experience = 4 years; age = 17, left-pawed, fur = light brown with paler reddish highlights. (She made her international debut, 4 years ago, as a last member of the smaller-than-planned team that represented Bears Armed in DBC15, having travelled to that competition as a supporter but then been “drafted” to fill one of their vacant places due to her status as the ‘National Under-15 Keepy-Uppy Champion’…)
(#31) Urrthhra Aspen _ Harr'aynau; Clan = Redwood, home team = Mighty Redwoods, category =Defender/Midfielder, usual position = ‘Lynchpin’ (i.e ‘Defensive Centre’), Soccer experience = 4 years; age = 19, left-footed, hair = reddish-brown.

(#7) Urra um Karrai _ Clan = GhostBear; Home team = Barrdenn Barbariennes, category = Forward or Winger, usual position = Right Forward, experience = 7 years; age = 20 years, right-pawed, fur = light brown. (She made her international debut, 4 years ago, as a member of the smaller-than-planned team that Bears Armed sent to DBC15.)
(#10) Beorranna o Fizzbang _ Clan = Gunnar; Home team = Newton Arsenal, category = Forward, usual position = Centre Forward or Left Forward, experience = 8 years; age = 20 years, left-pawed, fur = light-medium brown. (She made her international debut, 4 years ago, as a member of the smaller-than-planned team that Bears Armed sent to DBC15.)
(#11) Harroya o SarnDale _ Clan = Herrchaum, home team = Merlchester Rovers, category = Forward, usual position = Left Forward, experience = 7 years; age = 20, left-pawed, fur = silver-brown. (She made her international debut, 4 years ago, as a member of the smaller-than-planned team that Bears Armed sent to DBC15, when she was on the ‘long list’ for selection and then “drafted” from amongst the travelling fans to fill one of the vacant places.)

(#12) Irryanna Khurayak’harnh _ Clan = Ostbora, home team = National University Tigers (studying Drama), category = Winger, usual position = Right Winger, experience = 4 years; age = 17, right-pawed, fur = silvery-blonde, smaller & slenderer than the Ursine average (even after taking her youth into account) but very fast on her feet and a very accurate shot…
(#13) Jaruspahty Mahaderera _ Tiggrarthrran (= anthropomorphic Tiger! She is similar in overall size to a typical Ursine female, but is a bit less heavily-built and a bit faster…); Clan = Tiggrarthrra, home team = National University Tigers (‘Pre-Medical’ student) , category = Winger, usual position = Left Winger, experience = 3 years; age = 19, left-pawed, fur = orange with black stripes. (She is the first of her people to represent this nation internationally at any level… but then they only joined the nation two years ago, anyhows…)

”H’rmm, I see she’s chosen to re-use all of the players from the last Di Bradini Cup squad who are still young enough.”

“Hwell, that side did fare rather reasonably there and then, even though the rest of the squad having got lost on the way there meant that they were always out-numbered on the field of play, so as they’ve all stayed in football since then — and almost all of them have moved up through the league system during the intervening years, too — that seems to make sense in [u]my opinion.”

“Oh, I agree too, for true: I was just commenting on the fact, not criticising the idea.”

[Starblaydia]

MatchDay Four
Results & Tables

Group A
Erathore 2-0 Meguroko
Silver Beach 0-3 Queer Poco el Mono Ara
Rejistania 2-1 Starblaydia

Group A                     P  W  D  L  GF  GA  GD  Pts
Queer Poco el Mono Ara      4  3  1  0  10   2   8  10  Q
Rejistania                  4  3  1  0   7   3   4  10  Q
Starblaydia                 4  2  1  1   9   5   4   7  Q
Erathore                    4  2  1  1   5   4   1   7  Q
Silver Beach                4  0  0  4   1   8  -7   0  E
Meguroko                    4  0  0  4   0  11 -11   0  E

Group B
Newmanistan 2-0 Tarrentum
Valladares 1-1 Christstan
Swartaz 2-1 Delaclava

Group B                     P  W  D  L  GF  GA  GD  Pts
Newmanistan                 4  3  1  0   6   2   4  10  Q
Swartaz                     4  3  1  0   5   2   3  10  Q
Tarrentum                   4  2  0  2   4   5  -1   6
Delaclava                   4  1  0  3   6   7  -1   3
Valladares                  4  0  3  1   5   6  -1   3
Christstan                  4  0  1  3   2   5  -3   1

Group C
Krytenia 1-2 Bears Armed
Cafundéu 3-1 Jesselton
Hossaim 1-2 Orlkjestad

Group C                     P  W  D  L  GF  GA  GD  Pts
Cafundéu                    4  4  0  0   9   2   7  12  Q
Bears Armed                 4  3  1  0   8   3   5  10  Q
Krytenia                    4  2  0  2   6   5   1   6
Hossaim                     4  1  0  3   4   6  -2   3
Orlkjestad                  4  1  0  3   3   8  -5   3
Jesselton                   4  0  1  3   3   8  -5   0

Group D
Saugeais 0-2 Al-Mumtaz
Pretty Awesome Persons 0-1 Osarius
Stuffed Taxidermists 0-0 Kazzoria

Group D                     P  W  D  L  GF  GA  GD  Pts
Osarius                     4  4  0  0   9   2   7  12  Q
Kazzoria                    4  3  1  0   6   3   3  10  Q
Al-Mumtaz                   4  2  0  2   7   5   2   6  Q
Pretty Awesome Persons      4  0  2  2   3   5  -2   2
Stuffed Taxidermists        4  0  2  2   1   6  -5   2
Saugeais                    4  0  1  3   3   7  -4   1

[Al-Mumtaz]

PHOENIX POST
The Holy Phoenix U-21 Qualified for the First Time

The match was notable for being the first time Al-Mumtaz had qualified in Di Bradini Cup. And this was also the first time Al-Mumtaz participate in Di Bradini Cup.

Al-Mumtaz responded to early Sauegais pressure with forceful passing and aggressive attacks through Batutah. At first this effected to keep the fearless Sauegais, always looking to attack themselves, on the back foot.

With Batutah Al-Mumtaz always looked dangerous going forward. On 25 minutes he evaded a defender and rasped a shot onto the underside of the crossbar. It missed going over the goaline by just a yard.

Benoit Howard's side had the best chance to shock the Holy Phoenix after half an hour. Rico Firenze had space in the box - but skied his attempt over the bar. For some time it seemed goals might go in at both ends, as action was at one end, then another. But with tiredness Sauegais lost some discipline in defence and ran out of ideas in attack.

The challenge of the two superb Holy Phoenix defenders, Beta Nasian and Marcello Rey, proved too tough. The Holy Phoenix penalty area was almost impenetrable to the white shirts for long stretches.

Sauegais found no good opportunities to test Al-Mumtaz goalkeeper Mark Hames partly because they was unable to deliver crosses to target inside the box. Efforts on goal were restricted to shots from outside the box from Rico Firenze.

Only four out of Sauegais's 14 shots were on target. In contrast Al-Mumtaz had 18 shots; 13 were on target. This tells the story of a game in which two teams attacked a lot, but a vastly superior defence won.

James Matsushita scored the game-winner. On 39 minutes, he received a pass from a corner by Ishaq Lawess at the top of the area; in plenty of space, he curled it low and hard into bottom left corner of the net.

Jacques Martin made a number of good saves to keep the Al-Mumtaz ahead by just the one goal but could not do anything about Franklin Gutierrez's error on 83 minutes. Gutierrez's back pass was too short and Arkudia Mall rounded Martin to score.

Earlier, as Sauegais got desperate, Rico Firenze tried something to unlock the Al-Mumtaz defence: a solo run; powering past he got as far as the penalty area. Then he appeared to be fouled by Beta Nasian; the referee did not blow his whistle.

Syamea Madee, Al-Mumtaz coach, might feel this game, was a good work out for the Italians who were just a bit too superior for the Sauegais team on this occasion.

With this win, Al-Mumtaz was lock a place for the next round. And the next match is again Pretty Awesome Persons, second placed team. And the result of the next match, won't change anything for Al-Mumtaz.

And the Official Line-up for the next match against Pretty Awesome Persons is :
GK Mark Hames
DC Effendi Abdul Razzaq
DC Mahmud Mark
DC Firman Massambuan
ML Mellano Erkuo
AM Fauzan Abdul Hamid
MC Utsman Masyan
MC Ishaq Lawess
MR James Moriarty
FC Arkudia Mall (Captain)
FC Nobunaga Malik

[Cafundeu]

DIÁRIO DOS ESPORTES
Notícias de futebol e algumas notas sobre outros esportes para justificar o nome da publicação

---

The young Monopolists continued their great campaign, by winning two more matches in the Di Bradini Cup. The triumphs over Orlkjestad and Jesselton were already expected, thanks to the good form of the offensive duo of the Cafundelenses Rael and Conchis, and also because of the great potential of the team's midfield, which is considered by some to be even better than the one that won the competition the last time. But, right before the decisive match of the Monopolists against Bears Armed, which will decide the identity of the group winner, the Cafundelense squad gets involved in a controversy. It was discovered that a player agent known as Ubiratan Gallo is the agent of half of the squad participating in the Di Bradini Cup and, more surprising, he is also the agent of coach Renário. On the list of the players from the U-21 who have also a professional link with Gallo, are the starting goalkeeper Dinei, full-back Chaves and midfielder Camacho. It is widely accepted that the three players aren't playing well enough to keep their starting positions, and that, respectively, Cássio, Édson and Gabriel should play in their places. Now, the presence of Gallo may explain why Renário rejects the idea of changing the line-up even if the team can improve, and why some rather unknown players were called while others were left out for the desperation of the supporters. Was Renário forced to choose his agent's players, or are both involved in a plan to increase the value of certain players during the competition? Everything points out to this.

Offensive midfielder Paulinho, from Varzeano, was completely unknown in Cafundéu before he was called to the U-21 squad. His position was involved in an intense dispute between many players, even though the presence of Camacho, Tião and Régis was already guaranteed. During the pre-season matches, the midfielder André, who plays for Dunboor FC, was much praised by the media, but forgotten by Renário. The same happened with defender Danilo Bueno, from Bandeirantes, who was left out from the squad, while Renário called Gílson, who also has Gallo as his agent. Although these examples do not directly affect the performance of the squad, as these players would be only reserves, this sets a worrying precedent for future call-ups. Will some day we see a Cafundelense squad composed only of players who have a specific agent?

[Bears Armed]

"I've found it! I'VE FOUND IT!"

"Found hwat, precisely?"

"The complete roster for the squad that Karra has taken to the Di Bradini Cup, of ourse!"

"Oh, that: So where was it, actually?"

"Tucked inside this brochure from "Happy Feasting", you know, the catering firm? Did the finance commitee at BAAS hrreally authorise Karra to take a team of professional cooks along, instead of buying most of the team's meals as part of their hotel package?"

"Yes, because after what happened to the Belles in Somehwereistonia last year they felt it better not to take any unnecessay chances..."

"Hokay, I can scent that. Say, have the Somebodies got any closer to finding out who was responsible for that poisoning?"

"No. The authorities there seem to have settled on their own team manager's claim that our girls must have been ill rather than drugged as acceptable, and to point to the unlikelihood of anybody having developed a drug specifically to target Ursines, instead of actually bothering to investigate further... Afraid of bad publicity, maybe?"

"I do hope that that policy of theirs policy wasn't inspired by secret speciesist sentiments...
"Hr'rmm. But the local doctors who examined the Belles at the time clearly di think that it was a drug of some kind involved, hrright?"

"Hrright. A synthetic one that causes symptoms similar to Ergotism in humans, was hwat they said back then. I've done a bit of research since then, and apparently the stuff is known and used -- although widely illegal -- in many Human societies: Evidently the poisoner must simply have dosed the Belles' food or drink with a drug to which he had access anyhows, not knowing how it would affect us rather than them, and got lucky..."

"Hokay. So what's the stuff actually called, so that I can warn ALL of our sporting teams' medical personnel about it?"

"Hr'rmm?, Oh, it's name is 'Ellessdee' or something like that, although some humans simply call it 'Acid' instead."

"Hrright, I'll let them know.
"Ur'rmm... Any connection between the stuff and Valanora, bearing in mind that the Candelabrans call that nation "Ellesseff", is there?"

"I don't know. Good question, that, for true..."



(OOC: That was what I had in mind when I mentioned the comparison to Ergotism back when the incident actually happened, but evidently -- given that Somewhereistonia apparently didn't catch the reference,even despite the symptoms described in my RP then -- I over-estimated the extent to which the link between Ergotism & LSD is widely known...)

__________________________________________________________________________________


OOC: And here that roster, complete with notes, finally is _

As far as BA is concerned this tournament is taking place (IC) in 2049AD, and the qualifiers for WC52 will start in 2050.


National football organisation: ‘Bears Armed Mainland Association for Soccer’ (= ‘BAMAS’).
(Chairbear: Harroya ‘of the Rovers’ o Redwood [Chairbear of Merlchester Rovers S.C.; previously Captain of the Bear-Belles for some years…]]
National anthem: ‘Peace’.


All of the players are actual Ursines (i.e. anthropomorpic, bipedal Bears), except those whom I actually specify as being members of other ‘peoples’ instead. The Harr'aynau people are physically human (more-or-less, anyway, although inclined towards heavy builds & hairiness), but spiritually & culturally Ursine instead.


Manager & Chief Coach: Karra Caroline Thunder (female Human from Clan Gunnar, daughter of ‘Arri Thunder’ [who was the Belles’ first manager], played as a Midfielder in DBC13; graduated from National University [Council Groves] with a BSc in Sports Science, and has since added an MBA to that, was hired as an Apprentice Manager shortly before ‘Oxen Cup 14’ and then promoted four years ago; ran the team in DBC15 due to the unexpected absence of her superiors, and was appointed national Youth Manager a year later; age = 30, hair = fair, right-footed, tends to be serious most of the time but can rrreally party when she decides to let her hair down…)

Deputy Manager (Admin): Urradarra o SwanWater (female Ursine, from Clan GreenWoods; formerly Deputy Manager of the Heroes’ Park Harlequins, and more recently a staff member at BAMAS [as it then was], originally appointed to this job for ‘Oxen Cup 14’; age = 39, fur = medium-brown & quite long [but fashionably so…], left-pawed).


Doctor: Mitzi von und zu Steiffen (female Ursine, from Clan Kettar-Surra; age = officially 47 but ‘rejuvenated’ four years ago, left-pawed, fur = light brown.)

Physio: Gerrthra o Barrdenn (female Ursine, from Clan GreenWoods; age = officially 46 but ‘rejuvenated’ four years ago, left-pawed, fur = dark brown.)

Routemaster: Lieutenant-Colonel Harron o Harrha (male Ursine, from Clan BerryGlades and the Confederal Army’s General Staff Corps; age = officially 44 but ‘rejuvenated’ four yrears ago, left-pawed, fur = dark-medium brown & cut quite short: just appointed to the job, which involves handling all of the squad’s travelling arrangements.)

Security Chief: Urrthra MoonShadow (female Ursine, Silver-of-Night Clan; she is a ‘shabear’...), who doubles as the team’s ‘One Plus Seven’ chaplain.


“Mascot”: ‘The Wise Grorrfinn’ (male ‘TrueBear’; age = undisclosed [but considering some of his appearances in old stories apparently somewhere over 1’500, at least...], ambidextrous, fur = medium-brown).




Roster


(#1) Arra Thunderbolt _ Clan = Gunnar; Home team = Newton Arsenal, category & usual position = Goalkeeper, experience = 7 years; age = 20 years, left-pawed, fur = dark-medium brown. (She made her international debut, 4 years ago, as a member of the smaller-than-planned team that Bears Armed sent to DBC15… in which she actually played as a Defender, instead of as a Goalie.)
(#14) Orrchand o BorrWood _ Clan = Redwood, home team = Harr Burran Heroines, category & usual position = Goalkeeper, experience = 6 years; age = 20, left-pawed, fur = , tall even by Ursine standards (at a bit over 8 feet) and correspondingly wide (rather than “skinny”) as well but not by any means ‘slow’.
(#30) Theoderintha Urra Sighrehda’s-darthhrurr _ Clan = Marrl-Thuleann (in the Northlands), home team = Karne Konquerors, category & usual position = Goalkeeper, experience = 4 years; age = 17, left-pawed, fur = white. (Polar Bear ancestry, tall but not too heavily-built to be relatively fast…)

(#2) Beorra BigBear _ Clan = GreenWoods; Home team = Barrdenn Barbariennes, category = Defender, usual position = Right Back, experience = 7 years; age = 19 years, right-pawed, fur = dark-medium brown. (She made her international debut, 4 years ago, as a member of the smaller-than-planned team that Bears Armed sent to DBC15.)
(#3) Beorranna-Sarra o Daybreak _ Clan = Urrset, home team = Confederal Engineers, category = Defender, preferred position = Left Back, experience = 4 years; age = 10, left-pawed, fur = reddish-brown & trimmed quite short .
(#15) Arna o RedSun _ Clan = Red Sun (‘Free Sept’; in the Northlands), home team = NorthPorts University Derragharra, category = Defender, usual position = Left Back, experience = 3 years; age = 18, left-pawed, fur = very light brown with reddish highlights.
(#16) Christina o Marrnen _ Clan = WestWoods, home team = Wiston Wanderers, category = Defender or Midfielder, preferred position = Right Back or Midfield Right, experience = 3 years; age = 19, right-pawed, fur = dark-medium brown & relatively (stylishly) long; shows great promise as a footballer, but sometimes loses concentration; ‘Roman Catholic [ Nova Assisi]’ Christian.

(#4) Marra Charwin _ Clan = Harruorr Erruur, home team = Heroes’ Park Harlequins, category =Defender/Midfielder, usual position = Centre Back or ‘Lynchpin’ (i.e ‘Defensive Centre’), Soccer experience = 4 years; age = 20, ambidextrous, fur = light brown.
(#17) Sophia Urra Borrodirh _ Clan = Ostbora, home team = Urrvan’s Avengers, category = Defender/Midfielder, usual position = ‘Lynchpin’ (i.e ‘Defensive Centre’) or Centre Half, Soccer experience = 5 years; age = 18, left-pawed, fur = medium brown; Greek Orthodox Christian.
(#31) Urrthhra Aspen _ Harr'aynau; Clan = Redwood, home team = Mighty Redwoods, category =Defender/Midfielder, usual position = ‘Lynchpin’ (i.e ‘Defensive Centre’), Soccer experience = 4 years; age = 19, left-footed, hair =reddish-brown.

(#5) Anna Orestides _ Human; Clan = Arkhadianoi, home team = King’s University Konquerors (studying Ursinology), category = Midfielder, usual position = Midfield Right, experience = 4 years; age = 20, right-footed, hair = black; Greek Orthodox Christian.
(#6) Cierra o Vorross _ Clan = GreenWoods, home team = River City, category = Midfielder, usual position = Midfield Left, experience = 4 years; age = 17, left-pawed, fur = light brown with paler reddish highlights. (She made her international debut, 4 years ago, as a last member of the smaller-than-planned team that represented Bears Armed in DBC15, having travelled to that competition as a supporter but then been “drafted” to fill one of their vacant places due to her status as the ‘National Under-15 Keepy-Uppy Champion’…)
(#21) Garria White _ Clan = WestWoods, home team = WestPort WildCats [Junior League], category = Midfielder, preferred position = Midfield Right, experience = 3 years; age = 17, right-pawed, fur = very pale brown; Lowfurran Christian.
(#20) Dorra o Starrhkan _ Clan = Seabear (in the Northlands), home team = Harr Borran Heroines, category = Midfielder or Defender, preferred position = Midfield Left or Left Back, experience = 5years; age = 19, left-pawed, fur = light-medium brown.

(#7) Urra um Karrai _ Clan = GhostBear; Home team = Barrdenn Barbariennes, category = Forward or Winger, usual position = Right Forward, experience = 7 years; age = 20 years, right-pawed, fur = light brown. (She made her international debut, 4 years ago, as a member of the smaller-than-planned team that Bears Armed sent to DBC15.)
(#10) Beorranna o Fizzbang _ Clan = Gunnar; Home team = Newton Arsenal, category = Forward, usual position = Centre Forward or Left Forward, experience = 8 years; age = 20 years, left-pawed, fur = light-medium brown. (She made her international debut, 4 years ago, as a member of the smaller-than-planned team that Bears Armed sent to DBC15.)
(#11) Harroya o SarnDale _ Clan = Herrchaum, home team = Merlchester Rovers, category = Forward, usual position = Left Forward, experience = 7 years; age = 20, left-pawed, fur = silver-brown. (She made her international debut, 4 years ago, as a member of the smaller-than-planned team that Bears Armed sent to DBC15, when she was on the ‘long list’ for selection and then “drafted” from amongst the travelling fans to fill one of the vacant places.)
(#23) Morrwan Rangh’harr _ Harr'aynau; Clan = Rangh’hrarr [‘Free Sept’], home team = Mighty Marchers, category = Forward, preferred position = Left Forward, experience = 5 years; age = 19, right-footed, hair = crimson.
(#24) Marrai Longday _ Clan = Sun (Northlands branch), home team = NorthGate Nomads, category = Forward, preferred position = Centre Forward or Left Forward, experience = 4 years; age = 17, left -pawed, fur = blonde; a sometimes seems a bit ‘dizzy’ in personality.
(#25) Bruennhildhrurr o Thuleann oDarkDale _ Clan = Thuleann (in the Northlands), home team = AmmFarhr Adventuresses, category = Forward, preferred position = Right Forward, experience = 3 years; age = 17, right-pawed, fur = medium brown; likely to burst into [loud] song at the drop of a hat, but means well.
(#32) Marra-Charra o Thunder _ Clan = Gunnar, home team = Newton Novices [Junior League], category = Forward, preferred position = (any Forward), experience = 2 years; age = 16, ambidextrous, fur = dark brown.


(#12) Irryanna Kurraya’kahrn _ Clan = Ostbora, home team = National University Tigers (studying Drama), category = Winger, usual position = Right Winger, experience = 4 years; age = 17, right-pawed, fur = silvery-blonde, smaller & slenderer than the Ursine average (even after taking her youth into account) but very fast on her feet and a very accurate shot…
(#13) Jaruspahty Mahaderera _ Tiggrarthrran (= anthropomorphic Tiger! She is similar in overall size to a typical Ursine female, but is a bit less heavily-built and a bit faster…); Clan = Tiggrarthrra, home team = National University Tigers (‘Pre-Medical’ student) , category = Winger, usual position = Left Winger, experience = 3 years; age = 19, left-pawed, fur = orange with black stripes. (She is the first of her people to represent this nation internationally at any level… but then they only joined the nation two years ago, anyhows…)
(#26) Beorra o Hrram, Harr'aynau; Clan = March, home team = Wildfair Wildlings [Junior League], category = Winger or Midielder, preferred position = Right Winger or Midfield Right, experience = 2½ years; age = 16, right-footed, hair = russet; twin sister of #27, with whom she shares a rapport that makes them especially effective when working together.
(#27) Samarra o Hramm, Harr'aynau; Clan = March, home team = Wildfair Wildlings [Junior League], category = Winger or Forward, preferred position = Left Winger or Left Forward, experience = 2½ years; age = 16, left-footed, hair = russet; twin sister of #26, with whom she shares a rapport that makes them especially effective when working together.


_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _


Style Modifier (if they're being used?): Offensive, modifier = +2.5… ("A good offence is the best defence"...)
Their usual formation will include a front row of at least 5 (normally arranged as 3 strikers & 2 wingers), with 2 midfielders, 2 backs, and either a ‘Defensive Centre’ (whose starting position would be at the midpoint of an imaginary cross drawn between those other four non-forwards’ positions) or a third midfielder depending on the Manager’s decision before each match.

Usual starters = #1-7, 10-13;
Usual substitutes = #14 or #30 (alternately), #16, #17, #20, #23, #24, #26.


___________________________________________________________


Opponents may _

Choose my goalscorers: Y (but the Forwards, and then the Wingers, are likeliest to fill this role...)
Godmod Scoring Events: Y

RP injuries to my players / Godmod injuries to my players / Hand out Yellow cards to my players / Hand out Red cards to my players: Y to all, at least to start with, but remember what I've written here and keep it in limits accordingly... Any serious offences by my players would probably result in injuries to your players, and causing any serious injuries to my players would probably require such obviously-deliberate attacks that your players would get yellow or even red cards as a result too. Don’t kill anybody, or inflict injuries that would be serious enough to end careers, without checking with me & getting my approval (which is unlikely to be granted…) first.

Godmod Other Events: Y, I suppose, at least as long as you do so in an AMUSING way... but please remember that Ursines are fully sapient beings, as much as Humans are, not instinct-driven animals. Oh, and of course female Ursines are not sexually interested in Humans (of either sex), and it's very unlikely that female Harr'ayanau would be either. Please don't have them run amok or outright revert to animality, without checking by TG first, don't make assumptions about their views on politics or religion, and don't do anything that would make more than one of them incapable of playing in their next game...

______________________________________________________

Kit: This incarnation of the country’s U21 team wears the same [latest] set of designs that ‘ediraf’ produced for the “main” team _ See "here" for details.
Bears Armed has traditionally used base-8 arithmetic, for several reasons, and this has affected the set of numbers used for this team’s players: Also, the number “22” has deliberately been left unassigned out of respect for its first [& only] wearer who died a heroine’s death during the year immediately following WC444…


NOTES

Ursines may tend to be a bit less agile & slower to accelerate than humans on average, but this team's members were carefully selected so the gap between them & their opponents in this respect should be narrower than some people might expect. They do tend to have slightly poorer eyesight than humans, on the whole (although the members of both Clan Gunnar and the Sun Clan are generally an exception to this rule, and the eyesight of the latter group is actually often at better-than-human levels instead), so long-distance passes & shots at goal will tend to be rarer behaviour for them than they are for human teams... but their typical size & strength mean that when they're running with the ball it will probably take a very brave human -- as well as a very skilled one -- to tackle them successfully, which should balance that factor pretty well. They don’t jump very well, but then they’re generally rather taller than most Human players to start with.
They're physically robust, of course, which means that they're much less likely than humans to suffer injuries in falls or collisions. The females of this species are more even-tempered than the males, and the team's members will try to stay on their best behaviour not only in order to do well in this contest but also to impress upon the watching humans that Ursines aren't just "dumb beasts". They will not 'dive', or feign injury in other ways, because suggesting that they could be harmed so easily goes strongly against the grain.
Cold weather should pose no problem to them, even if there's snow or ice on the pitch, but tropical heat might prove awkward...

Unless our hosts at the match in question object, this team's members (including the designated substitutes for the match in question) will perform a [fairly short] ritual that's called the 'harrdiharr'[/url] on the pitch just before play begins... This is a traditional war-dance, meant to over-awe opponents, that has come to be a customary prelude for team games as well (similar to the [RL] New Zealanders' 'haka'...). : )
And, as has now been seen during various tournaments, some of our fans like to take drums — and possibly cow-horns, or other "musical instruments", too — along to the matches...

[Starblaydia]

Oops, should have done this last night

MatchDay Five
Results & Final Tables, 2nd Round Schedule

Group A
Starblaydia 0-2 Queer Poco el Mono Ara
Rejistania 1-1 Erathore
Meguroko 0-0 Silver Beach

Group A                     P  W  D  L  GF  GA  GD  Pts
Queer Poco el Mono Ara      5  3  1  0  14   2  12  13
Rejistania                  5  3  2  0   8   4   4  11
Erathore                    5  2  2  1   6   5   1   8
Starblaydia                 5  2  1  2   9   7   2   7
Silver Beach                5  0  1  4   1   8  -7   1
Meguroko                    5  0  1  4   0  11 -11   1

Group B
Delaclava 1-0 Christstan
Swartaz 0-0 Newmanistan
Tarrentum 2-0 Valladares

Group B                     P  W  D  L  GF  GA  GD  Pts
Newmanistan                 5  3  2  0   6   2   4  11
Swartaz                     5  3  2  0   5   2   3  11
Tarrentum                   5  3  0  2   6   5   1   9
Delaclava                   5  2  0  3   7   7   -   6
Valladares                  5  0  3  2   5   8  -3   3
Christstan                  5  0  1  4   2   6  -4   1

Group C
Orlkjestad 1-0 Jesselton
Hossaim 0-2 Krytenia
Bears Armed 1-1 Cafundéu

Group C                     P  W  D  L  GF  GA  GD  Pts
Cafundéu                    5  4  1  0  10   3   7  13
Bears Armed                 5  3  2  0   9   4   5  11
Krytenia                    5  3  0  2   8   5   3   9
Orlkjestad                  5  2  0  3   4   8  -4   6
Hossaim                     5  1  0  4   4   8  -4   3
Jesselton                   5  0  1  4   3   9  -6   0

Group D
Kazzoria 1-2 Osarius
Stuffed Taxidermists 1-1 Saugeais
Al-Mumtaz 2-0 Pretty Awesome Persons

Group D                     P  W  D  L  GF  GA  GD  Pts
Osarius                     5  5  0  0  11   3   8  15
Kazzoria                    5  4  1  0   7   5   2  10
Al-Mumtaz                   5  3  0  2   9   5   4   9
Stuffed Taxidermists        5  0  3  2   2   7  -5   3
Saugeais                    5  0  2  3   4   8  -4   2
Pretty Awesome Persons      5  0  2  3   3   7  -4   2

Second Round Matches
2R-1. Queer Poco el Mono Ara v Stuffed Taxidermists
2R-2. Newmanistan v Orlkjestad
2R-3. Cafundéu v Delaclava
2R-4. Osarius v Starblaydia
2R-5. Rejistania v Al-Mumtaz
2R-6. Swartaz v Krytenia
2R-7. Bears Armed v Tarrentum
2R-8. Kazzoria v Erathore

Quarter-Final Matches
QF-1: Winner 2R-1 v Winner 2R-8
QF-2: Winner 2R-2 v Winner 2R-7
QF-3: Winner 2R-3 v Winner 2R-6
QF-4: Winner 2R-4 v Winner 2R-5

[Rejistania]

From the blog of Maritil Hitaril:

Sistenha Samika

To the tune of LaIsla Bonita by Madonna.

Last night, I dreamt of Karela,
it all seemed like yesterday, not far away
scoring for sure wouldn't happen,
but Mahele'he's era it went away.

See the new era arise
of karelan compromise,
not great but not to despise
Sistenha Samika!
And when Starblaydia played
the score, it was quite high,
It reached my ear, it reached my eye
Say Kiera goodbye!

I still think they play Shetemai
even though the style might fail, it will prevail
because Lahidile'he - seems not quite to understand
It's out of hand!

See the new era arise
of karelan compromise,
not great but not to despise
Sistenha Samika!
And when Starblaydia played
the score, it was quite high,
It reached my ear, it reached my eye
Say Kiera goodbye!

[Al-Mumtaz]

PHOENIX POST
Holy Phoenix U-21 to the Next Round

Al-Mumtaz U-21 won the last group match against Pretty Awesome Person U-21 2-0 with last minute goals.

The Captain Arkudia Mall fired them ahead in the 73rd minute with a shot from just inside the box.

striker Nobunaga Malik tapped a second with five minutes left after the opponent had spent much of the game on the backfoot. PAP, who lost their previous match against Osarius, again looked far from confident in defence at the start as the math exploded into action.

With the Holy Phoenix pressing deep and gifted Nobunaga Malik giving defender John Rush a torrid time on the left wing, it did not take long for the Holy Phoenix to threaten when Fauzan Abdul Hamid flicked on a corner kick at the near post but goalkeeper Jake Marshall was well-placed to send it wide.

Al-Mumtaz should have grabbed the lead after 14 minutes when Utsman Masyan headed on a ball into the box and unmarked Nobunaga Malik managed to fire wide from six metres.

It took Al-Mumtaz the better part of the first half to settle in and while they created many real scoring chances, they did miss a golden opportunity four minutes before the break.

Malik combined with Arkudia Mall but hit the post with his left-footed shot and James Moriarty failed to beat PAP keeper Jake Marshall with the rebound from close range.
Al-Mumtaz keep improved as the opponent ran out of steam and threatened with a long-range effort from Fauzan Abdul Hamid on the hour.

The Holy Phoenix continued to push forward and were rewarded when Arkudia Mall controlled a cross from the left, found a rare few metres of space and beat Jake Marshall with a precise shot.

Nobunaga then sealed their win in the 85th minute, tapping in a Fauzan pass after Ishaq had started a quick break.

With this win, we finished the group stage on 3rd rank. And the next match will be against Rejistania, 2nd ranked team on Group B.
And this is the official line-up for the match against Rejistania :
GK Mark Hames
DC Marcello Rey
DC Mahmud Mark
DC Beta Nasian
ML Mellano Erkuo
AM Batutah (Captain)
MC Ken Ashad
MC Ishaq Lawess
MR James Moriarty
FC Arkudia Mall
FC James Matsushita

[Cafundeu]

DIÁRIO DOS ESPORTES
Notícias de futebol e algumas notas sobre outros esportes para justificar o nome da publicação

---

In the end, the perfect record on the first stage of the Di Bradini Cup, the group stage, wasn't achieved. But even without winning the dispute against Bears Armed, Cafundéu ended the stage as first, and now the Monopolists are the favourites in the next game against Delaclava. The controversies surrounding Renário and his agent seem to not affect the squad, and the coach denies to answer any questions, by saying: "I received full freedom in selecting the players to compose this squad, and as you can see my choices were great. Once again we are doing a wonderful performance and have serious chances of winning the title again." But CCFM President The Scout wasn't so happy to see the team involved in this confusion, and commented: "We'll have to investigate this. I can't deny that Renário is free to select any player for the squad, but if these choices came from a third person, than we can complain... after all, in this case it wasn't Renário the one selecting the players, and he should be the one doing this job. From now, we can only investigate this." While the CCFM doesn't reach conclusions on the case, the Cafundelenses may turn their attention to other issues. After all, they should be worry with the team's performance on the competition, and not with what happens on the backstage. Interviewing people on the streets about the Di Bradini Cup, we find some people with this mentality, who can talk about the matches played. One of them said: "Our previous match against Bears Armed wasn't very good, to be honest... I am not sure if the players got affected by the controversy surrounding them, or that they weren't too worried about the outcome of the match as we had already qualified... but the truth is that this was our worst match so far... Dinei made a serious mistake letting they score, and luckily we still have Rael's talent to bring us the draw, when the loss seemed so close. Now that we reach the decisive games, I am confident that we'll return with full strength and easily bring more wins."

But, keeping our interviews, we discovered that people just like the one of the previous comment were exceptions. The majority of the Cafundelense supporters want to see the team doing well, but not exactly because they want this squad to return home with another trophy... but because they want to see the players from their clubs receiving international recognition and winning trophies. A Central United supporter pointed out this fact: "I watch every game of this Di Bradini Cup, but just to see the beautiful moves of Rael... I was impressed with his ability during the previous competition, and can't wait to see him doing the same thing for my Central United... I am sure we have the next big thing in our club!" A Clube Comercial supporter also showed a similar level of excitement, but his reasons were a bit different: "I think that Camacho is a very good player, he received some chances in the Primeirona, and these matches for the Di Bradini Cup are great to give him more experience and to refine his abilities... these matches will turn him into an excellent player." A SC Lasft supporter said: "To see Raimundo Nonato holding alone entire offensive sectors for being the only defensive midfielder makes me proud of supporting this team. When he's substituted, the game loses a lot of its sense for me." Another interest of these club supporters is with signings, as one said: "Many of these young players play in clubs with less prestige... I am sure our club's president is watching them, and there's some expectation to see one or two of them in our team next season."

[Kazzoria]

Samuel sat down in the little cafe by the river. It was getting late now, close to turfing out time, and he was sat down with a cup of coffee. He could see his reflection in the window and he could also see the waitresses cleaning up the background. The reason he had come to such a desolate part of town to even to him was unknown, he had wanted a coffee and he decided to have a look around the city. He had so far had seven coffees, but he was still a little bit drowsy. He had nearly finished his coffee and was thinking about going home now instead of going on to find more coffee.

Samuel looked into the window, then the door opened. He glanced over and saw a man in his 40's. The man walked over to the counter and the cashier told him that they were closing. The man in his 40's asked for a lot of money and drew a knife. He stabbed the cashier to death and then stole the entire content of the cash register. The man in his 40's ran over to Samuel and stabbed him in the arm. The now wanted criminal ran out of the shop and Samuel collapsed to the floor. It would be another 10 minutes before the manager came back in to find the dead an unconscious bodies in the cafe, and when he did he fainted.

It was 5 hours later that Samuels team mates heard from the Starblaydian hospital, by then they were all tired from staying up and very upset about his probable death. They were all very thankful to hear he was fine, but were pretty pissed off when they heard they wouldn't be able to see him for another week while he recovered. Meanwhile at the hospital the doctor were working hard to get Samuel some blood. He had lost a couple of pints of it and would take a while to recover from it, his football career however could take a lot longer to recover.

[Queer Poco el Mono Ara]

The Whites breezed through their game against Silver Beach, putting three past their opposition with League I’s Duncan Oliver bagging a brace before half time and the win was rounded off through tough tackling midfielder Angel Martinez who powered home a header mid-way through the second half.

The following game was a clash between The Whites and our gracious hosts Starblaydia, who, if memory serves correctly, we have never lost to in under 21 competition (not that we have actually played the full team at any stage in World Cup quail or the World Cup proper).

The match finished 2-0 and The Whites claimed top spot and ended another game with a clean sheet – that totals 270 consecutive minutes of play without conceding a goal for David a Guia who must be catching the eyes of Una Serie managers.

QPeMA advance into the second round to face Stuffed Taxidermists, who reached the knockout round as Group D’s final qualifier, coming in 4th after 3 draws and two loses. After 5 games unbeaten and having shut the opposition out in four, the match up against Stuffed Taxidermists seems to be a golden ticket into the quarter final – but we know all too well that looking gift horses in the mouth has often resulted in the team being shit on (just look at yet another Cup of Harmony debacle where the Whites were second seed in the entire competition and failed to advance out of the group stage).

-----

There was absolutely no access to the meeting room as the King sat down to discussions with General Rolento. He had banished all his advisors, whilst the General had shooed his military from the room.

The tension in the building was off the charts, secretly the parliamentary heads were still hoping their military would mount a decent rescue attempt and repel General Rolento’s Red Berets, however time was slipping away as the King signed over power to a psychotic despot. Fingers were tapping on walls and feet were pacing up and down the tiny room the MP’s were being contained in. The handful of sweaty men were rung out, as nightmare days went this one ranked pretty highly on the scale. A full scale war had broken out outside of the so-called secure citadel they were locked in; the attackers had breached the citadel and held them at gunpoint and now, their lives weren’t guaranteed, even if the King handed over power to General Rolento.

-----

On a deserted dock in the Rushmori Island nation of Palacios and Rodallega stood two men, staring out to sea. There was no movement, everything was laid flat like glistening blue paper. The sky was identical, apart from a black shape coming closer and closer to the pair. One dressed in a suit jacket and tidy pair of shorts, the other in tatty work jeans, stained with a wood treatment solution and a lose fitting linen shirt. His tanned skin had begun to crack after years spent in Palacios and Rodallega.

“I’m going in!” said the scruffier looking of the two.

“Are you crazy? We’ll never be there in time, plus what the hell are you going to do, you’re a former Una Serie footballer turned private detective.”

“And I’m the best. But I’m not going in alone, I’m taking a team.”

Above Giovanni a helicopter swirled, its rotor blades scattering the assorted debris of the helipad. Grit, dust and other micro fine molecule sized bits of crap found their way into Gio’s eyes. There was no point rubbing, there’d just be more crap blowing about in the air.

The helicopter hovered above and lowered a rope ladder, there was no time to land, Lua Vamoa was a four hour flight away from the island of Rodallega, Palacios and Rodallega.

The man in the suit jacket looked aghast as Giovanni took hold of the rope ladder.

“What the hell are you planning?”

“I dunno yet. But were going to stop that mad man.”

[Newmanistan]

Stacey Keisler had thought about the trip to Starblaydia, but deep down, she could not separate herself from the World Baseball Classic. That is where her passion was, and as long as her daughter was still just 13 years of age, she was going to have to deal with it. It was tough for Courtney, who while her mother was doing local interviews (given she is still a celebrity), Courtney was kicking around a football and wondering what it would be like to also play that sport. It wasn’t much, but she couldn’t help but begin to notice that she seemed to be able to get the ball to go wherever she tried to kick it. One afternoon, she went up to a couple of her friends who play on her high school football team and wanted them to see what they thought of her. The team’s goalkeeper laughed it off originally and told Courtney to take a shot from the penalty spot. Her first shot going into the net was nothing. Anyone could do that. But then again, and again, and a trend was born as her friends cheered from the sidelines. The school goalkeeper couldn’t believe it. She had never faced a shooter this good before, and told Courtney that. Of course, Courtney thought she was just being nice so they players got the football coach to watch and he had her go through a series of drills. The coach was amazed and told Courtney that she would have a spot on the team easily next year if she wanted too.

But baseball was supposed to be her life, as after all, that’s what her mother told her, and she did kick ass as a pitcher as well. However, in Newmanistan, soccer seasons and baseball seasons do not run congruently in school so there was no reason why she couldn’t play both. Would mom agree? It was time to try. Courtney decided that she would wash the dishes for her mother without her asking and she even cleaned the living room a bit, but mom figured she was up to something by doing this and waited for whatever the question would be. Did she want to go to a party with college kids? Get her belly button pierced? Or worse, was it something that could distract her from baseball?

“Mom, I have been thinking and I want to play football, or soccer, for the school too and I think I can do it since it doesn’t run at the same time as baseball. A lot of kids play two sports.”

Stacey paused. Maybe that was better then her wanting to go to a secret booze party. “I know that there are kids that play more then one sport, but those are just the kids that aren’t real good at one like you are. You know where you should be.”

“I do, mom. Many great gridiron players play basketball in school and do great in both. I just want to do something a little different. If I’m not pitching in the non-baseball season, then who really cares? I’ll still practice.”

Stacey was about to rebuff that with a response that she wouldn’t want her daughter suffering an injury in soccer that would hinder her in baseball, but suddenly something came over her. “Courtney, let’s go to Starblaydia. I’ll let you watch a game live and see if you really want to do that. The Rockets are in the second round against some nation I have never heard of before and they will probably win. The baseball team has wrapped everything up in qualifying, so it couldn’t hurt. Let’s go. Pack your things, its on very short notice.”

Courtney was stunned but thrilled. They left the next morning, and despite Stacey getting hit in the head with soccer ball kicked by some kids who were bored and waiting for their delayed flight, it was a smooth trip. It was weird, not to be recognized. A family of Newmanistanians walked by her in the hotel, glanced, but thought there was no way it could be her, and moved on. Being in Starblaydia began to get other thoughts in Stacey’s head, most concerning Courtney’s real father, Jeremy McAllister, Jr, that she had never told her daughter about. But she knew what Jeremy’s dad did here. Maybe Courtney should know. But she couldn’t. How, could she explain it? How then could Junior explain it? It wasn’t a simple matter, because then every tabloid in Newmanistan and probably One Big Island would pick up the news story. Stacey excused herself and walked down the hallway to call Jeremy to tell her she was in Starblaydia, and in the city of (wherever we are). On the other end Junior replied, “I’m here too.”

Was it time?

[Tarrentum]

They said it couldn't be done, that the Tarrentian youth football progam was too lax and not very good. Yet Dlartanina Daestegwen, the Manager of the Tarrentum National Team, looked down at the field of practicing youths and smiled. Though this wasn't her team, they had defied expectations of the world community. The team had made it to the next round of the Di Brandi, escaping elimination.

She was impressed with the performance of Lawrence Cotam. The young man, 18 (only a tiny drop in the river of life compared to her Sylvanae lifespan) and full of vigor, had led the squad in Goals with 3. While he scored the first goal of the tournament for Tarrentum, it took him until the final game against Valladares to net his final two. In fact, Daestegwen had already penciled his name in to her notebook. A potential fresh body for World Cup 54.

Then Brice Ferro, a finely chisled goalkeeper from the Vardin Mountain ranges. Daestegwen found herself (of 150 years) oddly attracted to Ferro. She suspected that he had to have some of the "elvish folk" - as the Tarrentians called the Sylvanae - in his blood. Probably 8th generation mix. But still, his playing skills were remarkable, for a Tarrentian. He had let in 5 goals over the 5 matches but it was the shots that he had stopped that were most impressive. Due to a weak Tarrentian backfield Ferro was run roughshod and had to make some truly acrobatic and daring saves to keep his club in most matches. Yes, that would be another one to pencil in.

The young Sylvanae Manager had no hope for the team against the Ursines of Bears Armed. She knew her own kind had enough of a job against the "Grizz" as the Tarrentian youths, in their hubris, were calling the Ursines. She smiled to herself. Sylvanae's were just agile enough to compensate the intensity of the Ursines...young humans with little football background would be trampled.

Such is football here.

[Osarius]

AcademyDropout.osr | Blog

So, I flew over to Starblaydia to watch the Flying Sparks. Its summer, and I had nothing better to do, what with the senior squad failing in the Cup of Harmony again (at least we got out of the groups this time, though) and no domestic footy.

Anyway, I hadn't really thought about it until someone pointed it out to me, but... the Flying Sparks are the only team in the competition with a 100% record. Looking at the groups, it could just be that they got lucky with the draw though, because - no disrespect to their group rivals - it looks like they got the easy group, to be honest.

Although I do like watching the youngsters play more than the seniors these days, I've been distracted lately and only just caught the replay of the Kazzoria game - close one! - and then I arrive here (on the understanding that our guys (and girls) are in the last sixteen, only to find out they drew the bloody hosts.

Not all doom and gloom, though, folks. They can win it this time. I know some of you who are long-time readers will remember I wrote off the team's chances in DBC14 - and the Flying Sparks ended up facing "the purple peril" in the final, losing in a narrow 0-1 defeat. This time, I won't do that. Let's look at the team. They play a much more balanced style than the seniors, they have a solid team ethic and understanding, great tactical awareness, and one of the most influential players in Osarian football today as their captain.

What's that? You disagree with my praise for Ayanna Barca-Carthy? Hrmm... let me explain.

To the right is Ayanna Barca-Carthy's passing stats for the Kazzoria match, which I think was the toughest matchup the Flying Sparks have faced so far. That's Barca-Carthy playing in her natural role, instead of havng to sit deep like she does when we play 4-4-2, or when Roberts drops into midfield. Now just look at the area she covers (the entire middle third, from left to right) and the accuracy of her distribution (66 of 75 completed). She'll never be a "destroyer", thats what Turner was on the pitch to do in that game. She'll never be a "creator" either, that was Pepito's role. What she does, though, is link the two together. She is the clear link between defence and attack in the team. If you were to draw the positioning of the attackers and defenders on top of that passing map, they'd be right on the edges or outside the area in which she made those passes from and to.

If you watch her, too. She never holds the ball for longer than she has to. If she has the ball for more than a few seconds, its a surprise. The team know that when she has the ball at her feet, she can see and pick out whoever makes the right movement in an instant. The team looks like it is built around the idea that "if Ayanna has the ball, we are in control". And it works.

Unlike the Osarian strategy of the late 2170s, where di Corradi focused all attacking play through Jermain Lewis, Montblanc's method actually doesn't make Barca-Carthy an obviously integral member of the team. Her work is done quietly. If you notice her, she's probably not doing her job properly. Want proof? When did you notice her in the Kazzoria match? The shot she had saved? Probably the only time, right? That's because the rest of the time she was acting as the bridge. And I bet not many of you noticed who made the 40 yard diagonal pass to Romario Roberts which led to the winning goal in he 84th minute too. Go back and watch it.

I think that if Montblanc keeps that setup, and has Ayanna operating in the gap, she might have to make more tackles and interceptions to keep a strong Starblaydi midfield under control, but that will be the key to winning the game. And I'm certain she can do it. The only problem is that Montblanc would have to sacrifice one of his in-form attacking players to accomodate the inclusion of a defensive player behind Barca-Carthy. Not sure if he's brave enough to do that yet.

So, if I were in charge, I'd go with the same back four, Turner, Ayanna and Pepito in the middle, with Phelps, Martelli and Roberts attacking. Shoot me an email on robycormega@academydropout.osr and let me know your XIs for the Starblaydia game.

Till next time, people!



((OOC: That is actually a modified screenshot of Michael Carrick's passing chalkboard for the Man Utd vs Fulham game last season, if anyone was curious or in case that would affect RP bonus, as I technically didn't make that))

[Newmanistan]

Stacey and Courtney Keisler decided they would head to the field to watch the Rockets practice in the morning of the day of the game. Since Courtney is dating a player, she had all the information as to when and where the practice would be, and without question her boyfriend, Shawn Franklin was simply tickled to death to have her in Starblaydia, and in this very city where the game would take place. It was a closed practice, so security originally made it difficult for the Keislers to get to field level. Fortunately for them, a security guard in the background noticed Stacey Keisler and informed his co-worker that she is a high-status Newmanistanian so that it was probably ok if she watched the Rockets practice. Keisler grinned as that security guard asked her for an autograph. A Starblaydi that follows baseball? Well, kind of. Turned out he was born and raised in Milchama, so that would explain that.

With that, the Keislers made their way down to field level and behind the sideline where the Rockets seemed to be huddled together. Immediately, Stacey and Courtney’s eyes went in different directions. For Stacey, it was noticing that Junior (little J-Mac) was also watching the practice. For Courtney, it was towards her boyfriend Shawn, who as a reserve still had never gotten in a game, and hadn’t even dressed for one. Shawn smiled as he poured a RocketAde for starting 20-year old defender Lenny King and wanted to make his way over but he knew that would be taboo.

“Go ahead, kid.” Said King. “I can see the excitement in your eyes. We can pour our own RocketAde, or better yet, have Kris (third-string goalkeeper) doing it. I’m sure he can multitask and pass out towels and pour our drinks.” Shawn chuckles and smiles as King continues, “I know that’s your girl. And I know your girl is Courtney Keisler who’s gonna kick ass in the World Baseball Classic. We’re all a team here, no matter if you’re playing or not.” King walked away and went to coach Tremblay and apparently told him. Coach smiled and patted his defender on the back as they continued to run drills.

Courtney grinned as her boyfriend walked over,

“I can’t believe your mom wanted to do this. It’s so awesome.”

“Yeah, it’s amazing. I want to play socc... football for school. Ever since that day we were messing around before you headed out here and I was kicking the football around. Well then I did it with friends, and they wanted me to do it on the school goalkeeper and I did and then the coach saw and said that I would definitely be on the team. I think mom is coming around to the idea. I really like football.”

“That would be so awesome. I guess there are girls that are like real good too. Like if you were from Cassadaigua.”

“Yeah. Just like in baseball. Are you gonna play?”

“No. Well only if like a bunch of people get hurt but I wouldn’t want to see that.”

(The small talk continues. Meanwhile, Stacey Keisler tries to avoid walking over to Junior, but since this is a closed practice, there would be no camera or media types around to take pictures. Junior seemed to think the way, and then realized that this was a great opportunity for them to chat.)

“That’s Courtney?” Junior asked.

“Yeah, she’s really getting an interest in football. As long as she knows baseball comes first....”

“Does it have too?”

“You saw her in the Cup named after me. She was outstanding. Baseball is her future, and if we’re gonna keep all this tight-lipped, she can’t play football because then people would wonder why and the tabloids would be all over it.”

“She’s a cutie. Sometimes I wish... wait, I really do wish I could have been there more for her as her father.”

“Yeah it would have been a lot different. I can understand and I do wish sometimes we could tell her the truth now too, but then that opens up a whole new problem of explaining to her why we lied about it. Not to mention the tabloids.”

“Wouldn’t it be something if Newmanistan had a player do both the World Cup and the World Baseball Classic?”

“I guess, but let’s not go calling her a World Cup type person just because she wants to play football a little bit.”

“I’m just dreaming. I suppose.” (Junior walks over to where Courtney and Shawn are chatting with Stacey close behind.

“Hey Courtney. You know who I am right?”

“Yeah, you’re Jeremy McAllister, Jr. A legendary football player.”

“Yeah. I guess that’s what I am to you. (Sighs) Well your good at football?”

“I think. Well a high school coach told me yes that I was like really good.”

“That might not be by accident, Courtney.” Junior stops even though he wanted to say more. After practice, let me see what you got. (Stacey and Shawn smile).

The practice finishes and Junior has Courtney run several drills against a few reserves on the Di Bradini Cup team, including her boyfriend. Stacey watches as her daughter appears to be very successful with them. At the conclusion, Junior tells Courtney she did a great job, and Courtney goes back to chatting with Shawn. Junior goes to Stacey.

“If she plays high school football, I feel sorry for the other kids. She’s got game!”

“Well I.... I....”

“Can I get back in her life?”

[Bears Armed]

(from the 'Sports' section of 'The Bear Necessities'...)

unfortunately ended in a rather boring draw.


And now in the meantime, as promised, here is a list of our national U-21 Football Team members' preferences in the field of Ice-Cream _

Nu.	Name			Favourite flavour
01 	A. Thunderbolt 	Rum-&-Raisin
14 	O. o BorrWood 		Raspberry
30 	T.U.Sighrehda’s-d’r. 	Bilberry
02 	B. BigBear 		Maple-&-MurrnNut
03 	B-S. o Daybreak 	Summer Fruits
15 	A. o RedSun 		Vanilla
16 	C. Marrnen	 	Orange Sorbet
04 	M.Charwin 		Honey
17 	S.U. Borrodirh		Maple Mead
31 	U. Aspen 		Orange Sorbet
05 	A. Orestides 		Pistachio
06 	C. o Vorross 		Cinnamon
21 	G. White 		Vanilla
20 	D. o Starrhkan 	Effbark 
07 	U. um Karrai 		Solace Chamomile
10 	B. o Fizzbang 		Green Cha
11 	H. o SarnDale 		Chocolate
23 	M. Rangh’harr 		Vanilla
24 	M. Longday		Strawberry
25 	B. o T. o D	 	Raspberry Ripple
32 	M-C. o Thunder 	Chocolate
12 	I. Kurraya’kahrn 	Maple-&-Cherry
13 	J. Mahaderera 		Solace Chamomile 
26 	B. o Hrram		Effbark
27 	S. o Hramm		Effbark

[Starblaydia]

Di Bradini Cup 16 - Second Round

Second Round Results
2R-1. Queer Poco el Mono Ara 2-1 Stuffed Taxidermists
2R-2. Newmanistan 1-0 Orlkjestad
2R-3. Cafundéu 3-1 Delaclava
2R-4. Osarius 2-0 Starblaydia
2R-5. Rejistania 1-1 Al-Mumtaz (AET, FT 1-1, Al-Mumtaz wins 4-2 on penalties)
2R-6. Swartaz 1-0 Krytenia
2R-7. Bears Armed 2-0 Tarrentum
2R-8. Kazzoria 0-1 Erathore

Quarter-Final Matches
QF-1: Queer Poco el Mono Ara v Erathore
QF-2: Newmanistan v Bears Armed
QF-3: Cafundéu v Swartaz
QF-4: Osarius v Al-Mumtaz

Semi-Final Matches
SF1: Winner QF1 v Winner QF4
SF2: Winner QF2 v Winner QF3

[Newmanistan]

In the hours that had passed between attending the practice and the game against Orlkjestad, both Stacey Keisler and Jeremy McAllister, Jr were thinking and pondering possibilities to themselves that might allow Junior to get back in his daughter’s life, but it was such a complicated issue. As highly successful athletes in their heyday, they both thought they had the answers to life’s little problems, and the bigger ones that could get out of it with money, so to speak. But this was something that they were never prepared for, even if they thought they had the right answer. After all, the plan had worked and Courtney has lived a successful life and the two Newmanistanian sporting icons were able to keep their one night stand a secret to the Empire, and thus never have to handle all of the questions the tabloids and legitimate media would have about how they could have a child but not be a couple. One scenario that did come up is that they could begin a relationship now, as you can never be too old to do that, and both are single. That way Courtney becomes their child and she wouldn’t have to know the truth. But in order for that to happen, they had to be committed to it. Jeremy had rented a luxury suite (assuming they exist at the stadium it was played in) and invited Stacey and Courtney over. Yeah, that would get the tabloids attention, but it was a starting point. It was also a test, but no one wanted to use that word about it. Besides, the timing seemed good as surely the news media had more meaningful things to cover such as the occupation of former Secristani cities by Newmanistanian forces, or the World Baseball Classic.

While there was the odd Starblaydi here and there who was able to recognize Junior, they didn’t seem to want any more then a quick autograph, so they weren’t hassled too much as they made their way to the luxury suite. Stacey wasn’t used to this bit about being not recognized, but that didn’t mean she wasn’t enjoying it. The three sat down, with some other friends as well as the game kicked off with Orlkjestad, and it was the kind of game that wouldn’t change the minds of people who might think that football is a boring sport.

“This is really interesting to you, Courtney?” Stacey joked.

“There’s more going on out there then you realize just because it’s 0-0,” Junior was quick to retort.

“It’s ok, I guess. I mean you can see that everyone is working hard out there and they are constantly running.”

Junior resumes, “It’s like in baseball where maybe not everyone understands what pitching is all about. The communication you have with your catcher, the different types of pitches, the different speeds of each pitch, pitching from the stretch. All of those things that are so important but the casual fan might not realize, well it is no different in football. This is like a chess match right now. It’s 0-0 and both teams are trying to establish themselves.”

“Yeah I bet. Shawn (her boyfriend) tells me that it is a lot harder then it looks.”

Stacey intervenes, “Yes but pitching is a lot more complicated. When you have the ball, you are in control, the game centers around you. There’s no position in sports that allows you to control what goes on.”

(As the first half comes to a close with still no goals, the three exchange a bunch of small talk and Junior offers to get a soda for all three of them, and they oblige. But as Junior attempts to walk out the door, he is greeted by cameras, microphones, and Newmanistanian reporters wanting to ask him questions and they would probably not be about the game. Cameras have obviously caught these three in the luxury suite together, and all of these journalists want to be the one that breaks the story, because there just had to be a story. He did what he could to sidetrack, only offering his opinion on the match, regardless of the question. Junior signaled to a security guard to get these people out of the way, and he did, with the guard also offering to get the sodas for the three of them himself. Once back in the suite, Jeremy sat down with Stacey and Courtney again to try and talk about the game, but both he and Stacey knew that if the media was that bad right here and now about any time they were near each other, then they would be out of control if they ever wanted to tell Courtney the truth.

About five minutes into the second half, Newmanistan picked up a goal from Aaron Huckabee. They applauded, and Junior spent the next 10 minutes explaining to Courtney what had happened and things the Rockets may do now to protect the lead. The game to an end, with the score 1-0 in favor of Newmanistan).

“You two gonna stick around for the next match?” Junior asked.

“Yeah!” Courtney exclaimed.

“Well I don’t know, the Classic is in the playoffs now, it’s getting tighter.”

“Yeah I guess.” Courtney answered.

“Too bad, it should be a dandy against Bears Armed.” Junior said with sly grin, intending to convince them to stay.

“Is that the country with like, human-like Bears?” Courtney asked.

“Absolutely! You can’t miss that!”

Stacey intervenes, “You mean they are actual Bears, and they play sports?”

“To make a long story short, yes. Surely you have heard of them.”

“Yeah, but they don’t play baseball. I guess Bears can’t play baseball.”

“It would be fun to pitch to a Bear!” Courtney said, as the conversation becomes about the uniqueness of the next match.

“Bears must not have the needed patience to play baseball, even if they are human-like. Well, I guess we will stay for it.”

“Yay!”

[Cafundeu]

DIÁRIO DOS ESPORTES
Notícias de futebol e algumas notas sobre outros esportes para justificar o nome da publicação

---

As expected, the Monopolists are in the quarterfinals of the Di Bradini Cup, after defeating Delaclava by the scoreline of 3-1. Cafundéu's goals were scored by Rael, Régis and Gabriel, continuing the trend of the team of alternating goals from Rael and goals from all the other players, be them defensive or offensive players. But the biggest evolution of Cafundéu wasn't the one of Renário's squad, but the one of the nation's supporters. Even after the Cafundelense squad won the Di Bradini Cup in the last edition, the number of people following youth competitions wasn't so big, especially in comparation with the support of other competitions. The commemoration on Lasft's and Cafundó do Juta's streets was discrete, and not all the members of that squad are remembered today. But, during this edition of the cup, things began to change. It is still unknown if the controversies surrounding the team have brought some extra attention to the Di Bradini Cup, but the basic fact is that the media and the football fans are following the event, the players began to be recognized for their efforts and even the biggest television channels are abandoning popular programs to show the matches instead. The positive athmosphere created back in Cafundéu is supposed to affect positively the team, with the fans having confidence on the Monopolists and even some travel agencies are preparing to bring fans for the next matches of Cafundéu, even if it ends being only one, the next game versus Swartaz.

Talking with the director of Globo Multimedia, Alberto Aragão, about the increased interest of the Cafundelenses on the Di Bradini Cup, he commented: "We were expecting this to happen after Cafundéu won the entire competition the last time, but the audience wasn't so high when we showed the first match of this edition. Things only started to change when the Monopolists proved that the team wasn't good only that time, but that the current team is good too... I think the supporters thought that the Di Bradini Cup victory was an isolated case, and that Cafundéu would soon return to poor performances at youth level... didn't happen, and the interest grew, as after all they are looking at the future of the country." And the owner of a famous travel agency, Humberto Guimarães, talked to our newspaper with a smile on his face: "The first group to follow the quarterfinal match was formed in just one day after we announced that we were preparing the trip. Sometimes it is difficult to achieve this even for a TQCC match. We hope that the Di Bradini Cup can become a new way of profiting through tourism related to sports." For the ones worried only with football, this information means nothing if the team doesn't perform well, but for the usual Cafundelenses, this may be the best benefit of the cup: profit is coming, and the national companies are finding means to receive more and more money.

[Al-Mumtaz]

PHOENIX POST
The Next Will be a Revenge

Al-Mumtaz won a dramatic penalty shootout to claim a place in the quarter-finals at the end of an enthralling struggle in Di Bradini Cup with the score tied at 1-1 after extra-time. Ironically it was Rejistania's scorer Karela Ti who missed with their fourth penalty to seal the Al-Mumtaz side's 4-2 victory, and Kesisxa Jeu having seen his attempt saved as well. The Holy Phoenix scored with all four attempts.

It was a notable triumph for the Holy Phoenix who had never before competed in a Di Bradini Cup. Syamea's team had been overrun in the second half but found their feet and plundered a magnificent equaliser through Arkudia Mall late on. They now will face Osarius in quarter-final at 7th matchday.

Rejistania started confidently and it was clear Juri Melinkova was going to enjoy some freedom down the left. In the sixth minute Karela Ti invited her to run on to a through ball with her marker left standing. It was a great chance but Mark Hames saved well with his legs.

In the next instant a free-kick high up the field was rolled into the path of Jiaela Iemuaina as the Al-Mumtaz defence slept. Fortunately for them Ken Ashad had read the danger and was back to cover.

It all proved a preamble to the inevitable Rejistania goal. Again it was poor defending that gifted them a generous amount of room. When a short corner was played to Juri Melinkova he was able to run several metres with nobody challenging. When he squared the ball across, Karela Ti was on hand to side-foot the first goal on this match.

Nothing had been seen of Al-Mumtaz's Striker, Arkudia Mall and James Matsushita though they did break out to land their first shot of the game with Batutah aiming high and wide. Normal service was quickly resumed as James Moriarty, operating down the right. moving infield before forcing two saves from the goalkeeper.

Al-Mumtaz did improve near the end of the first half but their efforts foundered on a rock known as Jena Ky who twice came in with well-timed and determined challenges.

The second half proved a reversal of what had gone on before with Al-Mumtaz now finding some confidence and taking control of the game. Batutah worried Lanik Sainu momentarily from distance but the goalkeeper pulled off a good save high up by the left-hand post.

James then had a chance as a long ball bounced high and threateningly inside the penalty area but there were enough defenders to rescue the situation.

Then in the 79th minute came a memorable equaliser. A free-kick was rolled into the path of Arkudia who unleashed a lethal strike which flew into the top corner of the net, leaving Sainu helpless.

Al-Mumtaz were really buzzing now and Sainu was called into action again and again as the Holy Phoenix shot from far out. Ky's uncharacteristic slip almost allowed James in but another defender was there to shut out the daylight.

After the dull extra time, Al-Mumtaz won 4-2 on Penalties.
The Next Match will be against Osarius who beat us 3-1 on 1st matchday and it will be a Revenge
The Official Line-up for the match against Osarius :
GK Mark Hames
DC Marcello Rey
DC Mahmud Mark
DC Beta Nasian
ML Mellano Erkuo
AM Batutah (Captain)
MC Ken Ashad
MC Ishaq Lawess
MR James Moriarty
FC Arkudia Mall
FC James Matsushita

[Bears Armed]

"So, the list's posted now, Coach? Who do we face next?"

"Hr'rmm? oh, it's Newmanistan -- the 'Rockets' -- for us..."

"'New-manistan', eh? Does their "grown-up" team say that it comes from
'Old-manistan' instead?"

"Grooooan..."

"Heyyah, I thought that that was a good one: Say, do these 'Rockets' start fast but then burn out verrry quickly?"

"Urrgah! That's enough joking around for now, you need to CONCENTRATE. Yes, their names might seem a bit funny to some of you, but these aren't a set of opponents who could safely be taken fairly lightly, like some of the others whom you've already played against. I realise that because they sat out the last World Cup some of you might be a little bit too young to remember the fact, but that country's 'grown-up' team is one that's given the Bear-Belles themselves reason to respect its potential over the years... and loook at their current Under-21s' record here: They came out of the group stage on the same number of points as us with the same numbers of winds, draws and losses and only a slightly worse goal-difference... Hokay, so they've just faced one of the same sides whom we played against earlier and their victory over those wasn't quite as 'decisive' as ours had been, but that's probably because of the fact that they seem to favour a slightly greater emphasis on defence than we do as well... Which isn't to say that they can't produce a verrry convincing attack when they want to, though, because they clearly can. So, you will rreally need to give it your best out there, ALL of you -- all of those who I decide will be taking the field, anyhows, and if one or two of the current starters don't improve their attitude to proper teamwork during the next few day's training then that line-up might be changed a bit from last game's one -- if you rreally want to win.
"You do want to win, am I hrrighht?"

"YES, COACH!"

"Hokay. We'll mainly emphasise more practice at passing and receiving passes this afternoon, take a half-watch break for tea, and after that you can do some work on getting your 'harrdiharr' more impressive too from then until suppertime..."

[Osarius]

AcademyDropout.osr | Blog

Surprise star of the show last night against Starblaydia, I think. Who would have thought it? Federico Agnelli. Like most of you, I would have assumed that the biggest threat we had on the right flank was Enrico Martelli... and I can only assume the Starblaydi thought so too. Rico was marked tightly all game, and had a tough time of it, if we're honest. But, it was the double marking on Martelli that seemingly allowed Agnelli to shine.

I know some of you are already questioning this one, so I have the proof again. Agnelli spent more time in the Starblaydi half than one would expect from a full-back - even an attack-minded one like he is - as displayed by the chart to the right (the top one, that is). The chart shows his tackles made during the game (the most successful ones by any Osarian player) and you'll notice that more than 50% are in the opposition's half.

This happened because he was given more freedom to move forward, as Martelli was often double marked. Martelli himself actually played very intelligently. It looked as though he noticed that he was being targeted, so he moved into dangerous areas a lot to draw defenders out of position. This freed up acres of space on the right flank for Agnelli, who exploited it. The second chart (the bottom one) shows Agnelli's passing in the same game. Not very successful with his crossing, admittedly - although I'd blame that on Montblanc choosing to play Speranzo (who is a little goalpoacher, really) as a lone forward ahead of Roberts (who is a big, strong lad and a proven targetman). Regardless, the number of balls put into dangerous areas by Agnelli is impressive in itself. The white arrow on the passing chart shows the assist Agnelli got last night, btw.

"What about Barca-Carthy's influence, Roby?" I hear you ask. "What about her awesomeness you spoke of?" I hear you cry. Well... if we were exposed on the right flank when Agnelli went forward, why didn't Starblaydia score on the counter? That's right. Super Ayanna. I don't have a chart for this, but if you know how Starblaydia play, you'll know they don't often do that Royal League kick-and-run stuff. They like to play that "proper" football, and build up through the midfield. On refelction, perhaps it was their stubborn refusal to stray from their principles that was their downfall. When you have Marvin Turner and Ayanna Barca-Carthy hounding your midfield, it's going to be tough to really create much... no matter how good you are.

Another player who had a big game last night was Pepito. Aside from scoring the first goal, he was half the reason Turner and Barca-Carthy were able to keep the pressure on. You see, with someone as tricky and skilful as Pepito pressing on your midfield and back four, you'll naturally try and have someone stay deep to keep an eye on him... Starblaydia did this, and it left them short handed in the midfield battle at times. This effectively allowed Barca-Carthy to take a little longer to pick out her passes, or wait for the fullbacks to get up the pitch to support the attack.

Back to the Speranzo thing. I think that was Montblanc's only mistake last night. He opted to go with the proven goalscorer rather than think tactically and let his midfielders pick up the goalscoring slack - which they did anyway - in what I think was a pretty naive move. Expecting Speranzo to stand up against two centre backs is silly, he struggles to win physical battles against one. Roberts would have been able to bully them a bit, knock them around and maybe force them to bunch up on him, opening gaps in wider areas... who knows? I can't really complain too much though, Montblanc is trying to shift opinion of Osarian football away from the idea that we're just a physical nation of bullies who lack technical skill... so I get it. Even if I would rather we won ugly than risk losing to play beautifully. Reminds me of something Benni Watson once said to me, something he'd heard from Willem Hamel and Benedict di Corradi - which leads me to believe its a Geert Bakker original - "Losing beautifully is still losing" ... He's not wrong, is he?

Next up is Al-Mumtaz, who the Flying Sparks already beat once in the groups. Tough team though, that Batutah kid is dynamite. If we didnt already have Gremio, I'd want Grasshoppers to sign him. I'd still love to see him in the King's League though... any ideas who could use him? Or any other youngsters from abroad for that matter... Let me know your thoughts on robycormega@academydropout.osr

Final thing... the King's League transfer window closes soon, and I hear there are a few big transfers about to happen. Allegedly, Remy Bonriou has had a falling out with Willem Hamel at Firewood, and they've lined up a winger from The Babbage Islands to replace him. Can't see it myself. Big club, but not that big yet, are they? We'll see, anyway.

Till next time, people!


((OOC: Fair RP note... The charts are again taken from the guardian's chalkboards service, based on statistics from premier league matches. The "tactical analysis blog" thing is based on the concept behind - and the actual content of - various Zonal Marking articles... too many to list, if I'm honest. Its an educational blog, don'tcha know.))

[Starblaydia]

Di Bradini Cup 16 - Last Eight

Quarter-Final Results
QF-1: Queer Poco el Mono Ara 2-0 Erathore
QF-2: Newmanistan 0-1 Bears Armed
QF-3: Cafundéu 2-0 Swartaz
QF-4: Osarius 2-2 Al-Mumtaz (AET, FT 1-1, Al-Mumtaz win 5-4 on penalties)

Semi-Final Matches
SF1: Queer Poco el Mono Ara v Al-Mumtaz
SF2: Bears Armed v Cafundéu

[Al-Mumtaz]

PHOENIX POST
The Holy Phoenix to the Semifinal

Yet more knock-out midweek cup drama on Starblaydia. Al-Mumtaz just don't do mundane when the lights go on.

The statistics barely scratch at the surface of the previous 120 minutes. Batutah went some way to putting into words the bewilderment of all concerned: "Who wrote that script?" Clearly someone with a twisted sense of humour if you are Arkudia Mall, who ended up a winner despite twice missing from the penalty spot. His success record before last night was 18 out of 19.

Al-Mumtaz's top scorer atoned for his first miss - an apologetic effort in the first half of extra-time which Marco Corradini barely had to dive to save - by putting the Holy Phoenix in front for the first time on 101 minutes with a close-range follow-up after Coraddini had beaten out Batutah's drive.

Harvey Decker , the Osarius central back who was fortunate to remain on after fouling Batutah in the prelude to the Holy Phoenix's first penalty miss, unexpectedly forced the shoot-out by hookingAl-Mumtaz's cross with three minutes remaining.

Mark Hames's save from Pepito' opening to the 12-yard lottery gave James Moriarty a chance to further make amends, only for him to hit the post. Matsushita was not so profligate and won the tie after Osarius keeper had kept out Marvin Turner's kick.

"I hope Mall's penalty taking's not been rumbled, he's usually so good. I couldn't believe it," added Batutah, who headed the Holy Phoenix level from a Ishaq Lawess cross 25 minutes after half-time.

It restored parity after Osarius's impressive start had been rewarded by a 23rd-minute opener from Romario Robert, the forward the beneficiary of some woeful marking to accept a Pepito pass and fire a shot beneath Hames from a dozen yards.

Arkudia and Matsushita might have won it as they both struck the woodwork in the last 10 minutes of regulation time. "I had a sneaky feeling it was going to be that sort of night," Syamea Madee, the Al-Mumtaz U-21 manager said.

"We showed a lot of bottle to win it," he added.
"I have to be very proud of the performance, We stood toe to toe with them for most of the match."

"We didn't half put some effort in," he added. "I wanted to hug everyone of them afterwards, but they were hot and sweaty and I've got a new suit on."

Goals: Romario Robert (17) 0-1; Batutah (69) 1-1; Arkudia Mall(95) 2-1; Harvey Decker (117) 2- 2.

Man of the match: Batutah

The Next match is against Queer Poco el Mono Ara , who beats Erathore 2-0 on previous match.
We didn't expect anything again, because we have did great for this tournament, but we will do the best. said Batutah.
The official Line-Up for the match against Queer Poco el Mono Ara :
GK Mark Hames
DC Marcello Rey
DC Mahmud Mark
DC Beta Nasian
ML Mellano Erkuo
AM Batutah (Captain)
MC Ken Ashad
MC Ishaq Lawess
MR James Moriarty
FC Arkudia Mall
FC James Matsushita