Cup of Harmony 94 roleplay thread

[Libesia]

Libesia 1 – 2 Saperetia

45+3’ Yaya Soro

77’ Aapo Kauko
87’ Plamen Seppo

Yellow cards: Zwelikude Hlanganani

What is likely to be Libesia's final game of the tournament can expect a more sombre attitude than usual at the Kwabená Kobby Sports Stadium, and not just because the game falls on Remembrance Sunday. Barring extraordinary results Libesia will struggle to progress out of the group stage of the first (and, near certainly only) tournament they have hosted after a disappointing defeat to Saperetia in Hayaale. The game featured a trio of -o scorers, though it was another -o (in the form of a hippo, and several of their¹ friends) that made the match truly memorable with their presence. Yaya Soro did at least manage to register his first international goal, but the Cheetahs gave up a 1-0 half-time lead in increasingly farcical circumstances. StrayaRoos' high-scoring win over Germanic Cat means they need just a solitary point from the final group round fixture. More pleasingly for Libesian authorities, games have been generally well attended, weather has held fair, and the tournament has seen numerous exciting games including some very high scoring ones. LFF officials denied the 6-5 scoreline between The Kytler Peninsulae and the Martian Independent Republic was because improperly large goals had been constructed in order to accommodate the extremely number of characters in the fixture name. They had nothing on the whale thing, though.

Remembrance Day in Libesia is not a federal holiday, though it is in three southern states, including the largest, Hermanaria. Celebrations across the country are mixed. In the north and south, military parades are sometimes held and wreaths lain at war memorials. In the west, such displays are much less common, and in the east, it is not uncommon for the day to remark entirely unremarked upon. Many Libesians fought in the wars of the 20th century, but they largely did so in the pay of colonial armies, leaving a distinctly mixed legacy for modern Libesians. With Libesia's independence involving little in the way of full-scale war, the modern republic has few war heroes of its own to celebrate. Despite this, LFF officials have insisted all games on this day will be preceded by a minute's silence, with stadium announcers briefed to encourage respect from the crowd. Yet in Anobiana, the vuvuzelas and conches will likely fall silent not in remembrance of the honoured dead -- but simply for a lack of enthusiasm for a Cheetahs side that has hardly played like home favourites.

¹ Regrettably it was not considered advisable to attempt to sex the hippos, and thus gender neutral terms have been used.

[StrayaRoos]

After Matchday 1 was a flop, the Emus came back in style during MD2….admittedly that style was sorta giving Roosian fans a heart attack in a 5-4 win over Germanic Cat. But a win is a win, no matter how many extra 000 calls they triggered back home. So. Let’s talk about the match itself.

The game actually started sorta well, as the Emus scored two early goals in quick succession. Alana Kerr in the 14th minute, followed by Eva Ngadjuri in the 23rd, both off rapid counterattacks up the wing by Zane Vaerge. Then Germanic Cat pulled one back before halftime, as Konrad Engelbert’s initially mildly off shot deflected off the side of Urszula Chinwe and into the back of the net. But an own goal wasn’t going to be the worst thing in this match. That would have to wait for the second half.

The second half started with mild carnage. At least to the Roosian defence. Something that wasn’t the best in the qualifiers really showed it’s cracks as Germanic Cat ran riot at the start of the half. On the 50 minute mark, Engelbert got an equaliser and the goal he missed out on at the end of the previous half, thanks to a free kick just outside the box. Otto Haase then scored a brace, the first in the 57th minute, and the second in the 68th, to put Germanic Cat 4-2 up. Roosian fans were getting flashbacks to various other extreme bottlejobs in the past. Hell, the two states (Western StrayaRoos & Cove) whose emergency services departments release detailed data of 000 calls showed a notable uptick over the first 25 minutes of the second half. Yeah that isn’t good is it….

Thankfully (for both StrayaRoos’ health departments and the national team’s chances of qualifying to the knockouts), the Emus struck back. FAST. A careless penalty from a handball given away by Germanic captain Tiberius saw Eva Ngadjuri convert with ease, making it 4-3 in the 73rd minute. Then in the 82nd minute, Abby Haika got the goal she was so cruelly denied in the previous match (sidenote on the previous match - the Roosian media (mostly the tabloids) has been dining out on the pitch invasion and (alleged? Idk it didn’t look like one to me) riot after the Saperetia match for the past few days and honestly the most shocking thing is that the invaders still think the year-long ban from attending international fixtures is worth it….), heading a goal in off a corner. 4-4. Just one more to win it. And not to concede before or afterwards.

Cometh the hour, cometh Ollie Bagai. The 21-year-old had his finest hour in the dying moments of normal time. Receiving a throw-in from Haika, he took what most analysts would describe as an “absolutely stupid Hail Mary of a shot” from a tight angle and somehow. Somehow. It went in. Cue the second pitch invasion attempt in as many games. This time however it was only an attempt as the Libesian stewards had wisened up to the idea that maybe Roosians tend to overreact to these sorts of things so they had some extra hands on deck to stop the most passionate supporters getting on the pitch. Regardless of that, and after 5 nerve wracking minutes of stoppage time, the Emus had won! 5-4! Now they just need at least a draw against hosts Libesia, and to hope Germanic Cat have any result up to a 1-0 win over Saperatia. If they end up winning against Libesia then the results of Germanic Cat don’t matter.

[Serdtgyu]

Serdtgyu Squad
and Background



style mod -4.8
Trigramme SDT

Squad
All players selected from Serdtgyuan Elite Division
Age, height, accolades
1. GK Just Milhurn

22, 6’4, SED Goalkeeper of the year, SED TOTS, IAC TOTT, IAC Goalkeeper of the Tournament
Generally regarded as the greatest goalkeeper Serdtgyu has seen.
2. RB Kul Hyster
27, 6’1, 2x SED champ, 3x SED TOTS
Older brother of Nik Hyster.
3. LB Terrence Reag
31, 5’10, 4x SED TOTS
Veteran Defender
4. CB Demos Veris
28, 6’4, 1x SED Champ, 4x SED TOTS
Nations best defender.
5. CB Rikard Egul
32, 6’5, 4x SED champ, 10x SED TOTS
Old gen great center back passing the torch
6. CDM Inos Wesk
26, 6’0, 2x SED TOTS
7. (C) RWB/RM/RW Nik Hyster
23, 5’11, 1x SED Champ, 4x SED TOTS, SED POTS
Nations best outfield player by far, on track to be the goat.
8. CM Avuris Rex
29, 6’, 3x SED Champ 4x SED TOTS
Calm, controlling midfielder
9. ST Estede Gull
19, 6’2, 1x SED TOTS, Young player of the year
Breakout young striker, showing great promise
10. CAM Glovus Rekkir
39, 5’8, 8x SED Champ, 15x SED TOTS
Old veteran and mentor, helping coach the younger players.
11. LW Ervis Yumberg
21, 5’6, 1x SED TOTS
Young question mark, could cause trouble for opponents.
12. GK Red Wunstadt
31, 6’2, 5x SED TOTS
Aging keeper finally surpassed by his younger counterpart.
13. GK Derg Miskov
36, 6’1, 4x SED Champ, 7x SED TOTS
Old keeper only brought in case of emergency
14. CAM Danul Verskimonsti
20, 5’11, 1x SED TOTS
Young, fiery, aggressive
15. CDM Vranus Belud
27, 5’10, 1x SED TOTS
Hit or miss player, can be really good but very injury prone
16. LW/RW Zuvirm Eefkiv
16, 5’8, Youth Player of the season.
Top goalscorer in the U18 SED. Could prove impressive
17. WB Tetroni
Unknown, 5’10, Unknown
Subject arrived at training camp, showed promise. No other information is known.
18. CB Nort Sembul
29, 6’3, 1x SED champ
Run of the mill center back. Does the job when called upon
19. CDM Mik Rerun
18, 5’7, none
Promising young midfielder
20. ST Des Antov
35, 5’10, 3x SED TOTS
Bald, stocky striker. Wears long sleeves
21. LWB John Frelog
31, 6’2”, 3x SED Champ
Good at winning and distributing the ball
22. CM Sal Tuk
27, 6’0, none
Very solid midfielder, never received attention/awards he deserved
23. LB/RB Va Amonstun
23, 6’1”, 1x SED champ
Traditional no nonsense full back
24. CM Rushiv Xelom
27, 6’3, none
Fringe player that barely made squad, very flashy
25. CB Gigantu Exalargos
26, 6’8, SED fan favorite of the year
Lovable because he is incredibly tall, mainly used to get stuck in the back line and head the ball
26. WB Benev Tutic
30, 6’0, 2x SED champ, 2x SED TOTS
Mastermind, great vision and desicion making

Manager
Onir Savinsk
Savinsk is known for his defensive philosophy, which hinges upon the incredible skill of goalkeeper Just Milhurn. He has stated, “the philosophy is still the same. We don’t let other teams in easy. If they want to score they better be willing to die for it.” We know it’s a long shot but we’re gonna fight til we can’t anymore.

Kits

Home



Away



Alternate



Goalkeeper


(Goalkeeping kit was designed to distract opposing players)
(OOC: shout out to spized for the kit templates, so many options to customize I spent hours on it)
RP PERMISSIONS
If my opponent roleplays first, they may:
Choose my starting lineup: Y (pls check my dispatches to see what makes sense)
Choose my goalscorers: Y
Godmod scoring events: N
RP injuries to my players: Y
Godmod injuries to my players: N
Hand out yellow cards to my players: Y
Hand out red cards to my players: Y
Godmod other events: N

[Pomachetti]

8 o’clock news

The broadcasts starts. But instead of the usual well renowned voice of Íebhe Cielleogh after the intro scene, a short song:

“World Cup 102
Electric Boogaloo
Fight the group
9-8 oh we’re fooked

Cup of Harmony 94
Theatric Dinosaur
Hafa: lose
Banija: lose

Yep we’re fooked”

And then Íebhe Cielleogh

“Good Evening. I’m Íebhe Cielleogh and you’re watching the eight o’clock news with TVT Naecht. And you’re probably wondering what it was you just watched. Well, that is the latest jingle by local Mophtoan hip-hop group Fórtsebhen summarising Pomachetti’s second ever World Cup campaign. After a shocking two - one loss to Hafamerimët and five - three defeat to Cup of Harmony favourites Banija, all the marbles are on the final group stage match: Pomachetti CS United Adaikes. Pomachetti goes in with a whopping zero points and a distant dream of making it to the knockouts. But disaster: Aréosto Tacorbhí will not be in attendance at the games after a major event has him exam-ridden, having to complete a set of exams. We all know his importance at the games, and the eyes will be on Dúnel De Parseobhil’s stand in performance as manager going into the possibility last, and optimistically other Cup of Harmony matches as Aréosto uses his megamind brain to put pen to paper. And you can follow this on TVT Spúrt. Like, every kick of the ball and all that.”

[Libesia]

Cutoff for MD3.

Some music to enjoy while waiting for scores: Mdou Moctar - Anar

---

Group A
Saperetia 1–0 Germanic Cat
StrayaRoos 1–0 Libesia
(scorinated by Zwangzug)

  Group A                             Pld   W  D  L   GF  GA  GD  Pts 
1 Saperetia                             3   3  0  0    4   1  +3    9
2 StrayaRoos                            3   2  0  1    6   5  +1    6
3 Germanic Cat                          3   0  1  2    5   7  −2    1
  Libesia                               3   0  1  2    2   4  −2    1

Group B
Kelssek 4–4 United States of Alpha
Rovenza 2–2 Pasarga

  Group B                             Pld   W  D  L   GF  GA  GD  Pts 
1 Pasarga                               3   1  2  0    6   4  +2    5
2 Kelssek                               3   1  2  0    7   6  +1    5
3 Rovenza                               3   1  1  1    7   3  +4    4
4 United States of Alpha                3   0  1  2    4  11  −7    1

Group C
Armatonisdaristan 1–1 Natkr
Taeshan 0–1 The Ko-orenite Constellation

  Group C                             Pld   W  D  L   GF  GA  GD  Pts 
1 Armatonisdaristan                     3   2  1  0    8   3  +5    7
2 The Ko-orenite Constellation          3   1  1  1    4   5  −1    4
3 Taeshan                               3   1  0  2    2   5  −3    3
4 Natkr                                 3   0  2  1    3   4  −1    2

Group D
Sajnur 2–5 Biyambi
Erroropolisish Paradystopia 0–2 Pyazhnaya

  Group D                             Pld   W  D  L   GF  GA  GD  Pts 
1 Pyazhnaya                             3   2  1  0    7   4  +3    7
2 Biyambi                               3   1  1  1    6   4  +2    4
3 Sajnur                                3   1  1  1    7   8  −1    4
4 Erroropolisish Paradystopia           3   0  1  2    0   4  −4    1

Group E
the Martian Independent Republic 3–1 Myrtle Beach
Lionsroar 0–0 The Kytler Peninsulae

  Group E                             Pld   W  D  L   GF  GA  GD  Pts 
1 The Kytler Peninsulae                 3   1  2  0    7   6  +1    5
2 Lionsroar                             3   1  1  1    2   2   0    4
3 Myrtle Beach                          3   1  1  1    4   5  −1    4
4 the Martian Independent Republic      3   1  0  2    8   8   0    3

Group F
United Adaikes 1–2 Pomachetti
Banija 2–2 Hafamarimët

  Group F                             Pld   W  D  L   GF  GA  GD  Pts 
1 Banija                                3   2  1  0   11   7  +4    7
2 Hafamarimët                           3   1  2  0    5   4  +1    5
3 Pomachetti                            3   1  0  2    6   8  −2    3
4 United Adaikes                        3   0  1  2    4   7  −3    1

Group G
Milchama 3–1 Commonwealth of Baker Park
Atheara 0–0 Austroguinea

  Group G                             Pld   W  D  L   GF  GA  GD  Pts 
1 Milchama                              3   1  2  0    4   2  +2    5
2 Commonwealth of Baker Park            3   1  1  1    7   8  −1    4
3 Austroguinea                          3   0  3  0    3   3   0    3
4 Atheara                               3   0  2  1    3   4  −1    2

Group S
Sudilia 3–1 Snestar
Saterun 1–2 Serdtgyu

  Group S                             Pld   W  D  L   GF  GA  GD  Pts 
1 Sudilia                               3   1  1  1    4   3  +1    4
2 Snestar                               3   1  1  1    5   4  +1    4
3 Saterun                               3   1  1  1    3   3   0    4
4 Serdtgyu                              3   1  1  1    3   5  −2    4

LFF official: "Bring me only the finest graphic artists in the land to prepare the bracket..."

Saperetia                    _____
Kelssek                           |
@ Kére Stadium                    |_____
                                  |     |
Armatonisdaristan            _____|     |
Biyambi                                 |
@ Stade Djoulde Dibumbè                 |_____
                                        |     |
The Kytler Peninsulae        _____      |     |
Hafamarimët                       |     |     |
@ Kwabená Kobby Sports Stadium    |_____|     |
                                  |           |
Milchama                     _____|           |
Snestar                                       |
@ Lamlarès Stadium                            |_____
                                              |
Pasarga                      _____            |
StrayaRoos                        |           |
@ National Football Stadium       |_____      |
                                  |     |     |
Pyazhnaya                    _____|     |     |
The Ko-orenite Constellation            |     |
@ Hasimou Biri Sports Complex           |_____|
                                        |
Banija                       _____      |
Lionsroar                         |     |
@ Stade de Liberté, Gbadokwa      |_____|
                                  |     
Sudilia                      _____|
Commonwealth of Baker Park
@ Mandlakhe Nqobizitha Stadium

[Sudilia]

MD 3:
Sudilia 3–1 Snestar
(Oluchi 22', Richardson 90+3', St-Onge 90+6' | Sjolund 85')
Stade de Liberté [Mitra Stadium], Moakou, Libesia

A TEAM WITH DREAMS AND MIRACLES!!!

Sudilia shock Snestar with two late goals to win the match and Group S, advancing miraculously into the Round-of-16!

Entering Matchday 3, Sudilia was up against the wall, only having a point after two Matchdays. It was a tough enough situation to be in, and taking on the Group leaders was another tall order. Yet, the team came to Mitra Stadium (40,000), in Moakou, determined to get a victory by any means necessary. Surprisingly, Coach Phaneuf did not change the starting XI, still opting for the same players. It seemed that he still expressed confidence in the team, hoping they can respond to the training and study the team did in the days prior. In a sold out crowd, Sudilia came out, looking for a miracle on the pitch.

Sudilia went out on the offensive from the get-go, pressuring Snestar and pinning them down towards their box. Yet, the defense would prove to be sturdy, blocking shots from the offensive line of Sudilia. And whenever shots would get past the defensive line, Calvaresi would make blocks and saves to send out to safety or for corner kicks, earning applause from the Snestaryan crowd. Eventually in the 22nd minute, a corner taken by Nakajima went into the box, where Oluchi beat his marker in Maritan to head the ball past the diving reach of Calvaresi into the goal, making it 1-0. The Sudilian crowd erupted in joy and passion, applauding the goal while Oluchi was mobbed by his teammates for the goal, while also giving Nakajima pats and hugs for her assist. Snestar was on the attack, pressuring from there, where the Sudilian backline would put in blocks and tackles to dispossess them and Reeves was instrumental with her blocks and saves as well. Eventually in the 85th minute a pass from Cremisi would get past Campbell (in for Alterman), and Sjolund would get the ball to give a low shot in between the legs of Reeves into the goal, making it 1-1. The Snestaryan crowd jumped with joy and passion as well, while Sjolund was mobbed by his teammates for the goal. Sudilia would not let this psychologically affect them, because they began to pressure more and more. Shots came in, blocks were being made and additional time began to come in. In the 90+3rd minute, a pass from Cadieux (in for Nakajima) would go towards the box, where Richardson got the ball, and gave a one-time shot in between the legs of Calvaresi into the goal, making it 2-1. The Sudilian crowd jumped and roared in joy at once, while Richardson grabbed the ball, doing The Cross and running to center goal, knowing they needed another goal to fully secure the knockouts. Snestar tried to pressure and attack, but the Sudilian defense stood strong, where a clearance from Khan would go deep towards center circle, with the Snestaryan left behind, St-Onge got the ball and began to run unopposed towards the Snestaryan goal, St-Onge went one-on-one against Calvaresi to chip the ball over the goalie into the empty goal, making it 3-1. St-Onge did The Cross while his teammates and the bench cleared out and mobbed him in joy and celebration, all while the Sudilian crowd jumped with joy and passion, making the stadium rumble from the passionate celebrations. Moments later, the match ended and Sudilia knew they were in the knockouts.

In the other Group S match, Serdtgyu upset Saterun 2-1, resulting in all four teams finishing with 4 Points (1-1-1), a rare finish in a Group Stage. Thus, by basis of goal difference and head-to-head, Sudilia win Group S, followed by Snestar in 2nd, Saterun eliminated in 3rd and Serdtgyu in 4th. It was an absolute miracle that Sudilia has won a Group Stage at a WCC-sanctioned event in their debut. Sudilia will take on Group G runners up in The Commonwealth of Baker Park, a team ranked much higher than the Sudilians. Coach Phaneuf was quoted saying "I'm so proud of this team for responding well after conceding that goal. They really played their hearts out for that advance and they earned it. We have a tough match against Baker Park in the coming days and even if we're not favorites, I know this team can go out there and put up a fight. Not many had us advancing from the Group Stage, but we're out here to win and all we can do is train, study film and take it a match at a time. We're playing with house money now and all we can do is go out there and shock the Multiverse. We hope to count on our fans once more and hopefully this great and historic run can continue."

Go Sudilia! Allez Sudille!

[Milchama]

"Well we made it"

"Yeah, we precipitated an unnecessary crisis and then won anyways"

"Pretty much"

"That was funny"

"It was"

"Did the MFA protest?"

"Surprisingly no though they did take a vote about whether to protest"

"And how did that vote go?"

"It failed by two votes"

"Oh my god, we almost protested our own victory"

"Yep, like I said it's a very deontological organization"

"You know, we're going to have to start RPing that more"

"Yeah, considering we just made up that rule yesterday it feels like rich ground to worldbuild around. What does a deontological football association do anyways?"

"It is a good question and one which will not be answered right now"

"Precisely"

"So, about that game"

"We looked good, huh"

"Really good!"

"Took a 2-0 lead within 20 minutes and never really looked back"

"No, we had more xG, more shots, more possession, more possession in the final third, we just bossed the game top to bottom"

"The thing I particularly liked was our pressing"

"Oh my god our midfield was so good! Especially Laila Miller, it was like a night blanket and she was everywhere"

"It's unfortunate nobody will get that bilingual pun until you just pointed it out"

"I know but it has to be done"

"Back to Miller"

"Ok, yeah, she was excellent! The other great presser was Agam Thun"

"It was like passing a lake with her"

"Goddamnit, another bilingual pun"

"Look, it's a good one"

"It is but one is more than enough"

"What else can we do?!"

"Not say bad puns"

"Never!"

"Fair enough"

"Of course we kinda overlooked Halam's two goals, Clashko with another assist and a fantastic goal in the second half"

"Yeah, I'm glad they finally played well because they really haven't since the halfway point of qualifying"

"Yep, while we didn't have it in the bag to qualify, we really should have qualified from that position"

"I mean with only group winners qualifying it made it much harder"

"Sure but even losing to whoever it was, winning the rest of our games would have helped us through"

"Yep but we know our ceiling"

"And we know our floor"

"So quarterfinals it is"

"Time to get the door"

"Good night"

"Good night"

"Come on You Warriors!"

"Let's Go Milchama!"

[Pasarga]

Alexander Kárpáty was less than amused by the match he had just witnessed with the Wanderers, barely scraping through the game with a draw. It was clear that the team was in need of some direction, a revitalization from the ground up if they were going to become what everyone in the Dual Islands hoped that they could become and not this mixed and match pot of ingredients. The individual talent was there in Alexander's estimation to be a team who routinely was qualifying for the Finals and perhaps even the knockouts with the expanded format, yet there seemed to be something missing to have all the pieces fit together. It was going to be quite the challenge to try and solve what it was that ailed the team, which hopefully watching the remaining matches that the team had here in Libesia would illuminate further the exact areas that were going to need the most help. While he had already decided that when he flew in that he was going to stay for as long as the team was still involved, he had done so with the impression it would be coming out of his own pocket. Instead when he had informed the PFA of his intentions after the Wanderers advancement had been made official, the federation informed him that they would be covering his costs for the trip.

As the soon to be manager of the team took his ride from the stadium and to the hotel where he was going to be staying for the next few days, he wondered if this had been the right choice. The CA Paulinthal job while it was stressful one, having the expectations to always be in the title fight every season, there was also a level of comfort to that job. The club had the funds and the pulling power to get nearly anyone that they set their sights on and had one of the best academies in the nation and perhaps in all of Rushmore as a whole, it was extremely well run from the top down. Alexander did not know what to expect from the PFA, if they were going to show the same kind of bottom to top consistency in the way every part of the unit moved for the betterment of the whole, that one part of the PFA would only act in their own best interests rather than working for the good of the entire program. Being compensated his costs for staying in the Cup of Harmony host nation was hopefully a sign that the federation would be more in line with the way that CAP was run and not the bureaucratic mess that a lot of the fan protesters seemed to think it was.

He would be traveling with the team from Mostachar to New Malmesbury for the Round of Sixteen, it would give him an opportunity to get to try and know the players before he did official evaluations in the lead up to the Copa Rushmori. His briefs has talked about how the defense had been one of the stand out units of the national team over this World Cup cycle and yet in the last two games they had failed to live up to the praise that he been being laid upon them. It was up to him to see if there was some sort of mental block going on with these two matches or if the quality and styles of the last two opponents had found weaknesses in the backline that the rest of the competition over the last two years had not managed to uncover. The inconsistent attack had been anything but in the first three games of the tournament, all three games having seen the side score a pair of goals with striker Tímea Szôllôsi having gotten a goal in all three. Kelssek media had misidentified her goals in favor of Sief as well as Hertzog's goal as well, which had been a shame but such was the way these things sometimes went.

Consistency in the attack was going to be important Alexander thought to himself, as he had seen the bracket for the knockout rounds and it was not going to be an easy trek for the Wanderers to make it to the championship game and repeat as champions like they had been in their last appearance in the secondary tournament. Provided all things went as they expected, it would be the Wanderers facing off against Banija in the semifinal round, the two highest ranked teams entering into the tournament and only one having a chance to add a trophy title to their name. Before that though the squad was faced off against StrayaRoos in the the National Stadium, the largest stadium in Libesia at a touch over eighty-seven thousand strong in its capacity. Their opponents actually finished on more points than the Wanderers did but still finished second in Group A, only losing to the group champions Saperetia to advance out of the group as the expense of the hosts as well as Germanic Cat. The difficultly of this tie was not to be understated and he was hoping that the interim manager was paying attention to the strengths and weaknesses of the next opponent.

There was a part of Alexander that wanted to interjet now and take over the squad as they were headed into the knockout rounds but that was not the agreement that he had in place with the PFA, he was only set to take over once the squad was eliminated. It was not that Alexander thought that the interim manager was going a bad job but now that all of the formalities had been had and he had been hired on to do the job, he wanted to get down into the dirt and get to work. Having to merely be witness to the team rather than part of the squad trying to get the result did not sit well with him, perhaps that was why he had not stayed out of the game long after he retired from his playing career. Being idle felt inherently wrong and yet this was out of his hands, he had to watch and see what the Wanderers were going to do now that the margin for error had been erased. They had skated by through sheer talent alone in the group stage but the path ahead was going to require more intelligent and coordinated play from a side who in his own estimation was too individualistic at the moment. Would the consequences of their surroundings forge a diamond or simply reveal altered carbon underneath it all? That answer would go a long way towards helping him figure out his national pool moving forward. As a fan, he hoped that those answers were still multiple games away from being made.

[Lionsroar]

This is the RP Post about CoH MD3 for the CoH Ro16

Music of the MD (Darkest Hour (The Clock) by D-Block & S-te-Fan & Sub Zero Project):

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bs5aLFn ... rt_radio=1

Welcome to the Sports World of Großlöwenburg!

a proud germanic nation on the RP Map of Valsora in The East Pacific

Roster: viewtopic.php?p=44007900#p44007900

MD1: viewtopic.php?p=44018928#p44018928

MD2: viewtopic.php?p=44021751#p44021751

MD3: viewtopic.php?p=44026397#p44026397



>Großlöwenburg<

"Die Krone aufgesetzt (Set the crown up)"

Matchday 3: Großlöwenburg – The Kytler Peninsulae

---

Recap

Ups and downs, highs and lows, that is, quite literally, football in its purest form. And that is exactly how the first international season for the Löwenburg football team has unfolded. We started our preparations from a near-nonexistent level, only to reach a new peak thanks to the IAC. This high point leveled off slightly as we entered our first major World Cup (WC) campaign—a mixed run that saw the expected defeats against stronger sides, balanced by the expected victories over the two weakest teams in the group. Now, however, there’s a chance to add the perfect finishing touch: if the team manages to advance to the next round—the knockout stage—it will mark a brand-new high. Not only would we have succeeded in overcoming stronger opponents despite being the lowest-ranked team in the group, but we would also have achieved a remarkable debut, reaching the knockout stages in two out of three football tournaments. For that reason alone—hats off to the Löwenburg national football team, and best of luck!

---

In Kukuré National Stadium, Kukuré, Yolakuré, Western Libesia

Lisa skips a few steps ahead of Dulle again. By now, she’s actually come to look forward to these touristy excursions, a nice change of pace from the rest of the trip, offering the occasional chance to visit a stadium, but this first "Cup of Harmony" trip seems to have really captured her interest. Well, the host nation, Libesia, is certainly a far cry from Löwenburg, which is (currently) bone-dry. Wait, actually, maybe it isn’t. It’s the height of summer in Löwenburg (December); why on earth would anyone flee to the heat? Then again, you don’t get to choose, this World Cup cycle seems to be hitting every point on the temperature spectrum: from the chilly Edsmontik to the warmer Holy Empire, and now to the sweltering heat of Libesia.

There are some perks to this, as Lisa could surely tell you, she’s managed to pack her vacation with all the things she loves: drinks, culture, beautiful weather, and, of course… animals!

"We absolutely need a dog back home, Leon," she says, gliding past some stray dogs with an air of regal grace. "Or maybe a cat?" A cat trots around a nearby tree. "Actually, no, maybe a pig!" Dulle stops in his tracks, a pig? Lisa gives him a critical look. "You aren’t even listening to me properly. As usual… always lost in thoughts about football, even though I’m an important part of your life, too! It’s always the same with you. Always the same with men. My mother warned me…"

Dulle’s mind drifts off again. It’s time for another quick break at a café, a chance for her to sit down, have something to eat and drink, and rest. Maybe upload some Instagram stories, or whatever else she does. Perhaps, for once, Dulle might actually appear in one of her photos, instead of just more animals from today’s visit to the zoo. There will still be plenty of animals to be found in the stadium, and no, I don’t mean the fans.

---

Pre-Match

Großlöwenburg is in action, and everything is on the line. In their first and only home match of the CoH94 group stage, Löwenburg faces a formidable opponent: Kytler Peninsulae, the top-ranked side in Group E (with a ranking of 3!). The match will be held at the Kukure Stadium, a historic venue that once hosted top-tier domestic football before falling victim to a decline in fortunes. Now somewhat dilapidated, the stadium has a capacity of 40,000, though a full house is unlikely today; while Großlöwenburg’s international supporters' group, "Internationales Inferno," is set to arrive in full force and high spirits, the location is quite remote.

From a sporting perspective, the stakes are even higher. Großlöwenburg is vying for a spot in the knockout stage, a remarkable achievement in what is only their third-ever international season, and they are doing so against the group leaders. The qualification scenarios are intriguing: a win against Kytler Peninsulae would guarantee advancement, as would a draw, provided that Myrtle Beach loses their own match against the bottom-placed side, tMRI.

As for the opponent, though there is little to be said from a "Burgian" perspective, given that this is our first-ever encounter, it is clear that Kytler Peninsulae employs a strategy similar to our own, albeit with a more offensive focus. They favor an aggressive style of play, to which our players must quickly adapt to avoid being overrun.

Großlöwenburg

(4-2-3-1)

The traditional starting line. 

==================================================

                      [9]

            Ludwig von den Linden

           (Johannes Anton von Labrador)

 

                      [10]

                 Vincze v. Tibor

                 (Martin Balderu)

 

  [15]                                  [11]

Johannes Franzisk.                Georg Christopher

  (Jan Alcove)                  (Ludwig Western-Ho.)

 

              [6]             [18]

        Willi Zanzokavic  Stefan Ziegler

     (Samuel v. Lerida-B.) (Norbert Wilhelm-Mar.)

 

 

  [2]          [3]            [21]          [17]

Moritz Heiß  Victor v. Meine  Harold v. W.  Niklas Weise

(E. Ballester) (R. Dominik)   (F. v. Singen) (L. v. Lautern)

 

 

                      [1]

              Ingen-Liechtenstein

             (Philipp von Glauben.)

==================================================

---

In the stadium

'1

The ball rolls.

'9
Großlöwenburg versus KP. An intriguing match, though it’s likely that the defensive tendencies of both sides will simply cancel each other out, or perhaps it could turn into a real goal fest; who knows? That said, a goal fest is rarely the case for Löwenburg; in fact, there hasn’t really been a deluge of goals from them, with the sole exception of that match against The Macabees in the WC, where they channeled their pent-up frustration into six goals.

'18
The match is ambling along at a slow pace, with no significant developments to report. Both teams have a relatively even share of shots on goal and statistical output.

'28
Hardly any attacking forays so far, just a few inconsequential and rather harmless shots on goal, all of which have been easily dealt with.

'35
And so, the match continues to drift along. Löwenburg managed a quick attacking opportunity through Ludwig von den Linden, but it was thwarted. Löwenburg really ought to be more proactive, but they seem to be running out of steam.

'45
And so, the game drags on toward halftime.

HALF-TIME

An incredibly dull football match thus far. KP is resting on their laurels, effectively guaranteed a spot in the knockout stages, while Löwenburg appears somewhat resigned. A win would be the surest way for them to qualify, yet they have yet to wake up.

'46

The ball rolls again.

'50
The match is finally starting to pick up some energy, and Löwenburg is once again demonstrating its true identity: hard work, hard work, and more hard work. They are covering every inch of the pitch, challenging their opponents, and fighting for every ball. But KP remains very solid.

'52
Tibor tries his luck from distance, but the shot ends up unnecessarily in the hedges, or perhaps it hit one of the animals watching from the sidelines. In any case, it wasn't nearly enough.

'56
Even though Löwenburg is currently on the front foot, trying to make amends for a poor first half, they are still up against a superior opponent, a side that knows how to leverage its extensive experience, including in international play, to wear down its rivals.

'60
Still, things don't always go entirely smoothly; there are occasional turnovers that Löwenburg immediately tries to capitalize on, though, so far, without success.

'68
And, of course, KP shouldn't be underestimated either. They keep pushing forward, though without any major or decisive breakthroughs.

'73
As the match nears its end, Löwenburg seems to be running out of steam once again. Their attacking plays are slowing down.

'78
KP gains a dominant share of possession.

'81
They push forward along the flanks, but the ball sails well over the goal.

'93
And so, the match drifts to a quiet conclusion.

But for Löwenburg, it’s not quite over yet, the concurrent match between tMRI and MB is still ongoing. In a stunning turn of events, the bottom-placed team is leading 3–1. This could mean a miracle: thanks to this result elsewhere, Löwenburg would qualify. And when the final whistle blew, it had actually happened, Löwenburg is through to the knockout stages!

MatchReport

(4-2-3-1)

Man of the Match: VIncze v. Tibor

==================================================

                      [9]

            Ludwig von den Linden (7,6)

           (Johannes Anton von Labrador

 

                      [10]

                 Vincze v. Tibor (8,9)

                 (Martin Balderu)

 

  [15]                                  [11]

Johannes Franzisk. (7,5)                Georg Christopher (8,0)

  (Jan Alcove)                  (Ludwig Western-Ho.)

 

              [6]             [18]

        Willi Zanzokavic (7,0)  Stefan Ziegler (7,5)

     (Samuel v. Lerida-B.) (Norbert Wilhelm-Mar.)

 

 

  [2]          [3]            [21]          [17]

Moritz Heiß (7,0)  Victor v. Meine (7,0)  Harold v. W. (7,7)  Niklas Weise (7,0)

(E. Ballester) (R. Dominik)   (F. v. Singen) (L. v. Lautern)

 

 

                      [1]

              Ingen-Liechtenstein (8,3)

             (Philipp von Glauben.)

==================================================

Possession: Home 48 % - 52 % Guest (Kytler Peninsulae)

XGoals: Home 0,86 xG - 0,26 xG Guest (Löwenburg)

Shots: Home 6 - 7 Guest (Kytler Peninsulae)

Shots on target: Home 3 - 1 Guest (Löwenburg)

Referee: unknown

Attendance: 12,283 fans (around 3,000 Löwenburg)

Hype Level: 10/10

Fouls: Home 18 – 10 Guest (Löwenburg)

Cards: Home 0 – 1y Guest (Kytler Peninsulae)

---

Post-Match Interview

This time, it’s not Ludwig von den Linden standing shirtless before the presenter, he’s currently in the shower, but rather his teammate Tibor, who was also named Man of the Match. He has a towel draped over his shoulders and is beaming just as broadly.

"Yeah, it’s incredible once again. Really. We all kind of thought this might be our last game of the winter season… but, well, we managed it anyway. Through to the next round, one more match before we head home. Our next opponent will be incredibly tough, but we just have to give it our best. Maybe we can hold on until the end and reach a penalty shootout. Or, you know, we could just win 3–0 outright -- haha!" he says, laughing heartily into the camera.

As he speaks, several other teammates jump into the frame to join the celebration. The interview is cut short as a result.

---

The SportsStudio11

Before the camera pans to the classic sports studio of Sports 11, the largest sports broadcaster in all of Löwenburg, advertisements appear on screen. Classic Löwenburgian beer, car brands, and, naturally, well, what did you expect?, sports. The Löwenburgian league is currently in the midst of a long summer break before the first half of the new season kicks off. A couple of boxers are set to bash each other’s skulls in this Saturday. And then, finally, a commercial break.

The presenter sits opposite Petr, as always. "So, Petr, your take?" "Well, it was a rough match. In terms of pure skill, it certainly wasn't outstanding, but in terms of fighting spirit, absolutely top-notch. And that’s exactly how you have to play when you’re up against a superior opponent. Considering our tactics, they really put up an incredible performance."

---

Social Media

by: BurgischerPatriot
Fantastic game! #LöwenburgALWAYSFORWARDS

[box]by: Sports11-Fußballgramm

What did you think of the match, dear Sports11 community? #international #kp-lionsroar — answers sorted by popularity:

UlmerSpatz: I’m just a pigeon, so I can’t really say anything about it.

KICKOfficial: Big praise from us, too, what a match! Exciting, and you held your own, keep it up!

Spammer1: why am I not blocked yet

TABLE

Group E                             Pld   W  D  L   GF  GA  GD  Pts
1 The Kytler Peninsulae                 3   1  2  0    7   6  +1    5
2 Lionsroar                             3   1  1  1    2   2   0    4
3 Myrtle Beach                          3   1  1  1    4   5  −1    4
4 the Martian Independent Republic      3   1  0  2    8   8   0    3

---

The next opponent

Next up for the Burgian national team is a match against Banija, the winners of Group F. They have been dominant, remaining undefeated and topping their group with an impressive goal difference. The Burgian defense, in particular, will need to be at its best, we wish them the best of luck!

Ro16: Großlöwenburg - ? Peninsula

Group F                             Pld   W  D  L   GF  GA  GD  Pts
1 Banija                                3   2  1  0   11   7  +4    7
2 Hafamarimët                           3   1  2  0    5   4  +1    5
3 Pomachetti                            3   1  0  2    6   8  −2    3
4 United Adaikes                        3   0  1  2    4   7  −3    1

TABLE

Saperetia                    _____
Kelssek                           |
@ Kére Stadium                    |_____
                                  |     |
Armatonisdaristan            _____|     |
Biyambi                                 |
@ Stade Djoulde Dibumbè                 |_____
                                        |     |
The Kytler Peninsulae        _____      |     |
Hafamarimët                       |     |     |
@ Kwabená Kobby Sports Stadium    |_____|     |
                                  |           |
Milchama                     _____|           |
Snestar                                       |
@ Lamlarès Stadium                            |_____
                                              |
Pasarga                      _____            |
StrayaRoos                        |           |
@ National Football Stadium       |_____      |
                                  |     |     |
Pyazhnaya                    _____|     |     |
The Ko-orenite Constellation            |     |
@ Hasimou Biri Sports Complex           |_____|
                                        |
Banija                       _____      |
Lionsroar                         |     |
@ Stade de Liberté, Gbadokwa      |_____|
                                  |    
Sudilia                      _____|
Commonwealth of Baker Park
@ Mandlakhe Nqobizitha Stadium

German Original Wording (gow gooow gowww)

This is the RP Post about CoH MD3 for the CoH Ro16

Music of the MD (Darkest Hour (The Clock) by D-Block & S-te-Fan & Sub Zero Project):

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bs5aLFn ... rt_radio=1

Welcome to the Sports World of Großlöwenburg!

a proud germanic nation on the RP Map of Valsora in The East Pacific

Roster: viewtopic.php?p=44007900#p44007900

MD1: viewtopic.php?p=44018928#p44018928

MD2: viewtopic.php?p=44021751#p44021751

MD3: (this post)



>Großlöwenburg<

"Die Krone aufgesetzt (Set the crown up)"

Matchday 3: Großlöwenburg – The Kytler Peninsulae

---

Recap

Ein Auf und Ab, ein Hoch und Runter. Das ist sprichwörtlich Fußball in seinem pursten Sinne. Und auch so läuft die erste internationale Saison der löwenburgischen Fußballmannschaft. Wir kamen von einem nicht existierendem Niveau schlecht rein in die Vorbereitung, bevor durch das IAC eine Höhe erreicht wurde. Nur leicht flachte dieses Hoch danach ab, als es in den ersten richtigen WC ging, der durchmischt lief mit erwartbaren Niederlagen gegen die größeren Teams und erwarteten Siegen gegen die beiden schlechtesten Teams. Dafür wird jetzt, nochmal der ganzen Torte des fußballerischen Spielens eine Kirsche aufgesetzt. Denn mit einem potenziellen Einzug der Mannschaft in die nächste Runde und damit in die KO-Phase würde ein neues Hoch entstehen. Nicht nur wäre es uns dann gelungen uns gegen die stärkeren Gegner durchzusetzen als nominell Gruppenschlechtester, es wäre auch ein verdientes Debüt in drei Fußballturnieren zweimal die Knock-Out-Stages zu erreichen. Und auch deswegen, hut ab und viel Glück der burgischen Fußballnationalmannschaft!

---

In Kukuré National Stadium, Kukuré, Yolakuré, Western Libesia

Lisa hüpft erneut einige Schritte vor Dulle entlang. Irgendwie freut sie sich mittlerweile mehr auf solche touristischen Auswärtsreisen um, verglichen mit der ganzen Reise natürlich, auch mal gelegentlich in ein Stadion zu gehen, aber diese erste Cup of Harmony Reise scheint sie ziemlich zu interessieren. Gut, das Land Libesia als Host ist halt auch einfach mal ganz anders als das (aktuell) sehr trockene Löwenburg. Huh, nun ja eigentlich grad gar nicht. Es ist tiefster Hochsommer in Löwenburg (Dezember), warum flüchtet man dort in die Hitze. Nun ja, man kann es sich ja nicht aussuchen und diesen WC-Cycle scheinen einfach alle Temperaturen mitgenommen zu werden. Von dem kälteren Edsmontik zum wärmeren Holy Empire zum ganz warmen Libesia.

Hat auch einige Vorteile, wie ganz sicher bereits Lisa als Lied singen kann. Denn bei ihr im Urlaub wurde einiges gemacht was ihr gefällt. Trinken, Kultur, schönes Wetter und natürlich … Tiere!

„Wir brauchen unbedingt einen Hund zuhause, Leon“, sagt sie während sie an Straßenhunden fast schon majestätisch anmutend vorbeiläuft. „Oder doch eine Katze?“, die Katze trollt um den nächsten Baum. „Ach ne, vielleicht doch ein Schwein!“. Dulle hört auf, ein Schwein? Lisa schaut ihn kritisch an, „Du hörst mir ja gar nicht gescheit zu. So wie immer … immer nur in Gedanken beim Fußball, dabei bin ich doch auch ein wichtiger Teil in deinem Leben … immer das selbe mit dir. Immer dasselbe mit Männern. Meine Mutter hat mich gewarnt …“

Dulle driftet wieder ab. Es ist Zeit für eine nächste kurze Rast in ein Café zu gehen. Dort kann sie dann in Ruhe etwas trinken und essen und sich ausruhen. Instagram stories hochladen, was auch immer. Vielleicht ist dann endlich mal Dulle auf einem Bild zu sehen als immer nur irgendwelche Tiere aus dem heutigen Zoo. Genug Tiere werden dann auch noch im Stadion aufzufinden sein, und nein, ich meine nicht die Fans.

---

Pre-Match

Großlöwenburg spielt. Und es steht alles auf dem Spiel. Löwenburg trifft im ersten und einzigen Heimspiel der Gruppenphase des CoH94 auf den großen Gegner Kytler Peninsualae, den nominell Gruppenbesten der Gruppe E mit einem Ranking von 3! Löwenburg spielt das Heimspiel im nationalen Kukure-ischen Fußballstadion, Kukure Stadion aus. Ein traditionsreiches Stadion welches lange heimischen Erstligafußball gezeigt hat,e aber dann jedoch dem Misserfolg zum Opfer fiel. Mittlerweile ist das Stadion heruntergekommen und bietet nur noch 40.000 Zuschauern Platz, von denen heute die ganze Auslastung nicht zu erwarten ist. Denn auch wenn die internationale Fangruppierung von Großlöwenburg „Internationales Inferno“ mit voller Kappele und Lust auf das Spiel anreisen wird, es ist fern.

Sportlich steht jedoch noch mehr auf dem Spiel. Denn für Großlöwenburg geht es um den zweiten Knock-Out-Einzug im dritten Debüt diese internationale Saison. Gegen den Gruppenbesten. Und die Fälle sind kurios, denn Großlöwenburg kann sicher mit einem Sieg weiterkommen oder mit einem Unentschieden gegen KP, solange Myrtles Beach ihr eigenes SPiel gegen den Tabellenletzten tMRI verliert.

Doch nun etwas mehr zum tatsächlichen Gegner, auch wenn man dort aus burgischer Perspektive nicht viel sagen kann. Wir treffen zum ersten Mal auf unseren Gegner, der eine ähnliche Strategie wie wir fahren und wenn doch offensiver. KP hat durchaus einene aggressiven Playstyle, auf den sich die burgischen Spieler anpassen müssen um nicht überrant zu werden.

Großlöwenburg

(4-2-3-1)

The traditional starting line. 

==================================================

                      [9]

            Ludwig von den Linden

           (Johannes Anton von Labrador)

 

                      [10]

                 Vincze v. Tibor

                 (Martin Balderu)

 

  [15]                                  [11]

Johannes Franzisk.                Georg Christopher

  (Jan Alcove)                  (Ludwig Western-Ho.)

 

              [6]             [18]

        Willi Zanzokavic  Stefan Ziegler

     (Samuel v. Lerida-B.) (Norbert Wilhelm-Mar.)

 

 

  [2]          [3]            [21]          [17]

Moritz Heiß  Victor v. Meine  Harold v. W.  Niklas Weise

(E. Ballester) (R. Dominik)   (F. v. Singen) (L. v. Lautern)

 

 

                      [1]

              Ingen-Liechtenstein

             (Philipp von Glauben.)

==================================================

---

In the stadium

'1

The ball rolls.

'9
Großlöwenburg gegen KP. Ein spannendes Spiel, wobei sich vermutlich vor allem die beiden defensiven Tendenzen auscanceln werden. Oder vielleicht zu einem richtigen Torspektakel führen werden, wer weiß. Wobei das bei Löwenburg eher selten der Fall sein wird, aktuell gab es noch nicht wirklich ein burgisches Torregen bis auf das eine Spiel gegen The Macabees im WC; als sich der Frust wörtlich mit 6 Toren von der Seele geschossen wurde.

'18
Das Spiel plätzschelt langsam vor sich hin, noch keine großen Entwicklungen erkennbar. Beide Teams haben einen relativ ausgeglichenen Anteil an torschüssen und statistiken.

'28
Bisher noch kaum Vorstoße, nur bedeutungslose und eher harmlose Schüsse auf das Tor, die allgesamt bisher abgewehrt wurden.

'35
Und so tröpfelt das Spiel weiter so vor sich hin. Löwenburg mal mit einer Angriffschance schnell über Ludwig von den Linden, aber abgewehrt. Eigentlich sollte Löwenburg noch aktiver werden, doch irgendwie scheint langsam die Kraft auszugehen.

'45
Und so zieht es sich noch zur Halbzeit hin.

HALF-TIME

Ein tatsächlich unglaubliches langweiliges Fußballspiel bisher, KP ruht sich auf den bisherigen Punkten und praktisch schon als sicheres Mitglied in den KO-Runden aus, während Löwenburg irgendwie resigniert wirkt. Dabei ist ein Sieg das sicherste Mittel um noch hereinzukommen, aber aufgewacht sind sie noch nicht.

'46

The ball rolls again.

'50
Das Spiel beginnt tatsächlich ernergischer zu werden und Löwenburg zeigt wieder einmal was ihre Identität ausmacht: Arbeit, Arbeit, Arbeit. Rauf und runter wird das Feld bearbeitet, der Gegner umgehauen und gekämpft. Doch KP ist sehr stabil.

'52
Tibor versucht es aus der zweiten Reihe mit einem Fernschuss, der jedoch irgendwo unnötig in den Hecken landet. Oder einen der zuschauenden Tiere getroffen hat. AUf jeden Fall noch nicht genug.

'56
Denn auch wenn Löwenburg aktuell auf dem Vormarsch steht und nun versucht die schlechte erste Halbzeit besser zu machen, spielen sie immer noch gegen einen überlegenen Gegner, der es versteht zum einen seine ERfahrung in langen Spielen auch international und vor allem den Gegner auslaufen zu lassen.

'60
Doch so ganz ungeschoren gelingt das nicht immer, gibt es einzelne Ballverluste aus denen Löwenburg sofort wieder versucht starken Kapital zu schlagen. Bisher jedoch erfolglos .

'68
Und auch KP ist natürlich nicht zu unterschätzen. AUch sie stoßen immer mal wieder vor, ohne große und übermächtigere Erfolge.

'73
Doch gegen Ende scheint erneut Löwenburg etwas mehr die Kraft auszugehen. Die Spielläufe verlagsamen sich.

'78
KP erhält übermächtigen Ballbesitz.

'81
Und stößt direkt über die FLügel nach vorne, doch der Ball fliegt weit über das Tor.

'93
Und so tröpfelt das Spiel gemächlich zu Ende.

Doch für Löwenburg noch nicht ganz vorbei, denn das gegenständige Spiel zwischen tMRI und MB ist nicht zu Ende. Doch kurz vor Schluss liegt tatsächlich der Tabellenletzte mit 3:1 vorne. Was ein Wunder bedeuten könnte, denn durch diese fremde Leistung wäre Löwenburg qualifiziert. Und als der Abpfiff ertönte, war es tatsächlich passiert. Löwenburg steht in den Knock-Outs!

MatchReport

(4-2-3-1)

Man of the Match: VIncze v. Tibor

==================================================

                      [9]

            Ludwig von den Linden (7,6)

           (Johannes Anton von Labrador

 

                      [10]

                 Vincze v. Tibor (8,9)

                 (Martin Balderu)

 

  [15]                                  [11]

Johannes Franzisk. (7,5)                Georg Christopher (8,0)

  (Jan Alcove)                  (Ludwig Western-Ho.)

 

              [6]             [18]

        Willi Zanzokavic (7,0)  Stefan Ziegler (7,5)

     (Samuel v. Lerida-B.) (Norbert Wilhelm-Mar.)

 

 

  [2]          [3]            [21]          [17]

Moritz Heiß (7,0)  Victor v. Meine (7,0)  Harold v. W. (7,7)  Niklas Weise (7,0)

(E. Ballester) (R. Dominik)   (F. v. Singen) (L. v. Lautern)

 

 

                      [1]

              Ingen-Liechtenstein (8,3)

             (Philipp von Glauben.)

==================================================

Possession: Home 48 % - 52 % Guest (Kytler Peninsulae)

XGoals: Home 0,86 xG - 0,26 xG Guest (Löwenburg)

Shots: Home 6 - 7 Guest (Kytler Peninsulae)

Shots on target: Home 3 - 1 Guest (Löwenburg)

Referee: unknown

Attendance: 12,283 fans (around 3,000 Löwenburg)

Hype Level: 10/10

Fouls: Home 18 – 10 Guest (Löwenburg)

Cards: Home 0 – 1y Guest (Kytler Peninsulae)

---

Post-Match Interview

Diesmal ist es nicht Ludwig von den Linden, der oberkörperfrei vor der Moderatorin steht, denn Ludwig ist gerade am Duschen, sondern sein Kollege Tibor der auch gleichzeitig Mann of the Match geworden ist. Er hat sich ein Handtuch über die Schultern geworfen und strahlt ebenso breit.

"Ja, es ist wieder einmal unglaublich. Wirklich. Wir dachten alle schon ein bisschen dass das unser letztes Spiel in der Wintersaison sein wird … aber ja, wir haben es trotzdem geschafft. Eine Runde weiter, ein Spiel mehr bevor es dann nach Hause geht. Der nächste Gegner wird nochmal unglaublich schwer, aber wir müssen einfach unser Bestes geben. Vielleicht können wir es über die Zeit retten und im Elfmeterschießen. Oder wir gewinnen einfach 3:0 direkt haha", lacht er sehr herzhaft in die Kamera.

Während er redet springen mehrere andere Teamkameraden raus und feiern ebenso mit. Das Interview wird entsprechend abgebrochen.

---

The SportsStudio11

Bevor das Bild in das klassische Sportsstudio von Sports 11, dem größten Sportsübertrager in ganz Löwenburg schwenkt, ist Werbung zu sehen. Klassisches Löwenburgisches Bier, Automarken und natürlich, na ja, Sport, was hast du denn gedacht? Die löwenburgische Liga befindet sich gerade in der langen Sommerpause bevor es bald wieder mit der Hinrunde im neuen Jahr losgeht. Irgend zwei Boxkämpfer werden sich am Samstag die Schädel gegenseitig einhauen. Und dann endlich, Werbepause.

Die Moderatorin sitzt, wie immer, Petr gegenüber. "So, Petr. Deine Meinung!" "Nun ja, es war ein schlimmes Spiel. Sportlich wirklich nicht hervorragend, aber kämpferisch erste Sahne. Und das muss man ja auch so machen wenn man gegen eine ÜBermacht spielt. Verglichen mit unseren Taktiekn, haben sie ja vergleichsweise enorm aufgespielt"

---

Social Media

by: BurgischerPatriot
Fantastisches Spiel! #LöwenburgIMMERVORAN

[box]by: Sports11-Fußballgramm

Wie findet ihr das Spiel, liebe Sports11-Community? #international #kp-lionsroar answer by popularity sorted:

UlmerSpatz: Ich bin nur ne Taube, kann ich nichts sagen drüber.

KICKOfficial: Auch von uns ein großes Lob auf das Spiel. SPannend und stark dagegengehalten, immer weiter!

Spammer1: warum bin ich net geblcokt

TABLE

Group E                             Pld   W  D  L   GF  GA  GD  Pts
1 The Kytler Peninsulae                 3   1  2  0    7   6  +1    5
2 Lionsroar                             3   1  1  1    2   2   0    4
3 Myrtle Beach                          3   1  1  1    4   5  −1    4
4 the Martian Independent Republic      3   1  0  2    8   8   0    3

---

The next opponent

Als nächstes geht es für die burgische Nationalmannschaft gegen Banija, den Gruppensieger von F. Sie haben souverän kein einziges Spiel verloren und die Gruppe mit einer sehr hohen TOrquote getoppt. Vor allem die burgische Defensive wird gefragt sein, wir wünschen viel Erfolg!

Ro16: Großlöwenburg - ? Peninsula

Group F                             Pld   W  D  L   GF  GA  GD  Pts
1 Banija                                3   2  1  0   11   7  +4    7
2 Hafamarimët                           3   1  2  0    5   4  +1    5
3 Pomachetti                            3   1  0  2    6   8  −2    3
4 United Adaikes                        3   0  1  2    4   7  −3    1

TABLE

Saperetia                    _____
Kelssek                           |
@ Kére Stadium                    |_____
                                  |     |
Armatonisdaristan            _____|     |
Biyambi                                 |
@ Stade Djoulde Dibumbè                 |_____
                                        |     |
The Kytler Peninsulae        _____      |     |
Hafamarimët                       |     |     |
@ Kwabená Kobby Sports Stadium    |_____|     |
                                  |           |
Milchama                     _____|           |
Snestar                                       |
@ Lamlarès Stadium                            |_____
                                              |
Pasarga                      _____            |
StrayaRoos                        |           |
@ National Football Stadium       |_____      |
                                  |     |     |
Pyazhnaya                    _____|     |     |
The Ko-orenite Constellation            |     |
@ Hasimou Biri Sports Complex           |_____|
                                        |
Banija                       _____      |
Lionsroar                         |     |
@ Stade de Liberté, Gbadokwa      |_____|
                                  |    
Sudilia                      _____|
Commonwealth of Baker Park
@ Mandlakhe Nqobizitha Stadium

[Rovenza]

Rovenzan Review of Cup of Harmony Performance

After another medal at the Gold Challenge Cup, and a solid world cup qualifying performance for a nation entering qualifying for their first time, there were high hopes for The Emeralds at the Cup of Harmony 94. David Alfrederick and the RFA set their standards clear: round of 16 was the expectation. A quarter-final or semi-final exit would be incredible, while a group stage exit would be significantly disappointing. And where did Rovenza exit? In the group stage. The RFA will likely accept the result, and continue backing Alfrederick and the team. After all, they scored the joint-most in the group and conceded the least in the group, and if Kelssek had conceded just one more goal against either Rovenza or the United States of Alpha, it would be Rovenza heading into the knockouts. Against Kelssek, the team were slow, sloppy and missed chances, never really getting into the rhythm of the game. At that point, many said that Zayne Ugetha not being there would be a major issue. The Emeralds responded with a 5-0 win against the United States of Alpha, which silenced doubters. It was a dominant performance, which made them truly believe that the knockouts were calling. They drew to Pasarga, blundering a 2-0 lead, and finished 3rd, exiting in the group stage despite finishing on the same number of points as in the IAC. So overall, not a bad performance, but a disappointing result.

Rovenza 2-2 Pasarga
Rovenza: Soțh 18’, 34’
Pasarga: 71’, 89’

[Saperetia]

The Central Chronicle
---------------------------
Sailing To Victory
Saperetia 1-0 Germanic Cat

The final matchday is upon us. The team has already secured advancement into the knockouts and the only thing to see is which opponent it will be. Any point here will ensure that the team will win the group and will play the team who finished 2nd in Group B, that being either Pasarga, Kelssek, or Rovenza. United States of Alpha is the final team in that group but they are already out. A defeat by one goal combined with a one goal victory for the StrayaRoos in the other match will mean that we will finish the group equal on points and equal on goal difference, with us winning the H2H tiebreaker. If there is a victory for the Cats or Emus in either match by more than 1 goal, then we will end up 2nd on GD, ending up with a Ro16 matchup against the winner of Group B. Fans are of course hoping for a result against Germanic Cat, against whom we so far have a 2-1-1 record, all four games coming in qualifiers, the first two in the centennial edition, and the latter two in this cycle. It is the only team that was lower ranked than us that we dropped points to through a home draw in these qualifiers. It could have been worse, but we eventually finished three points shy of the playoff spots, meaning that the draw did not have an impact on our qualifying odds. While it is still a tough match, like all of our matches in this group have been, there is hope in the fact that we beat the StrayaRoos in MD1 after losing both times we saw them in the qualifiers. The two matches so far have also had quite the theming to them, with instead of buses blocking goals like the qualifiers, it was hippos. We have been lucky that the two teams from our fellow qualifying group have been specifically the two against whom the buses were not brought in, meaning that neither had experience with something large that isn’t Hranislav blocking the goal. Or Helge. Or Dirtwizard. Speaking of the lineup, it is noticeable that Silivia has rested most of the squad in preparation for the Ro16. The entire defence and midfield are not the starters while the front three are still there, either because Silivia is not planning on attacking or because he wants to make sure those three get their shooting training in, as while we have been winning, which is an improvement over the goal drought during the qualifiers, we have not been winning by much and fans remain with stress until the very end of the match. Now while this is fantastic from a marketing perspective, it is not as good from a sporting perspective. But if the team is going to keep you on the edge of the seat until the very end, that seat may very well be a seat of “The Sailboat Stadium”. Or to give it its proper name: the Stade de 10 Avril in Bouponé, where the group stage would end for the crimson. Despite its reputation as a bit underdeveloped for a stadium, this was nothing for those who were there in the Kukuré National Stadium, where part of the stadium was developed as a zoo (unintentionally). And as such, fans still flocked to Libesia to support the team as they watched the SAP 4-3-3 line up against the GCT 4-2-1-2-1:

Saperetia: GK Dirtwizard DEF O'Connel, Simon, Ante, Simmage MID Hardin, Sarri, Shah ATK Jacques (C), Seppel, Seppo

Germanic Cat: GK Süter DEF Schwanberger, Assarah, Tiberius (C), Dietrich MID-DEF Krüger, Kramer MID Haase MID-ATK Nowak, Marquardt ATK Engelhardt

Just like the second match in the qualifiers, the Cats were not going down without a fight, and were rather looking forward to the Saperetian goal. Silivia’s decision to switch out the back line means that the Cats still have a chance for victory. And a victory may be very important if the other match ends without an Emu win; A draw there and victory here would put both on four points, with GD then coming into play. A 1-0 victory would send the Germanic Cat still packing, as a tied GD meant that H2H would go in favour of their opponents, who beat them 4-5 in the previous matchday. Any victory by a larger margin would mean that they would finish ahead. But if the hosts manage to eke out a victory, then it all depends on who has the bigger margin, as their GD is tied. A tie in GD would require a coinflip as the teams drew 1-1 in the opening match of the tournament. All of this did require them to first beat the crimson in front of them, as without a victory all the calculations would be for moot. Dubaise’s team tried to recreate the tactics that gave them the opening goals in both the qualifying matchdays, one in twenty minutes, the other in just five. But the Crimsonites were not quite the pushovers this time round. The Germanic Cat continued bashing into the defence, but like running face-first into a hippo, this was not moving anything. The cats did have the luck that no sudden hippo was deciding to perch itself on the goalline, meaning that if they got past the defence and goalkeeper, they would have a goal. Unless it was offside. Or a handball. Or illegal. Or if someone had committed a foul in the buildup. Or if the ball was out of bounds. Actually, scratch the “illegal” part, I think this team proved in the last CoH that illegal was legal if you just gaslight enough, which probably explains why the Ministry of Sport has suddenly bought up large amounts of gas reserves with taxpayer money. What could not be gaslit out of existence was the match and the fact that the cats were attacking and crimson defending. There was one change compared to the previous two matches, namely being that the cats did not manage to find the goal immediately. Dubaise had tried to re-find the tactics that worked, while Silivia had adapted the tactics that didn’t but left the parts that won the game unchanged. The result, at least in the short term of the first half hour, was that the game was still a scoreless draw, which was an improvement for the Crimsonites. If they just continued this way forward they should have the win in the bag. For now, they remained on the defence and held off the Cats, tiring them out, in a strategy similar to what they used in the match against the Cheetahs. And why should it now work? It’s two teams, both having nicknames that are felines that start with a C. And they are football teams. More than enough similarities that Silivia evidently thought that the same strategy could work again. Or because he had played the Cats twice before in a short while, meaning he knew what their strategy was going to be, how to counter it, and where their weak points were so he knew what to exploit to get as many goals as possible. You never know what is going inside that man’s head. The Crimsonites managed to hold out until the end of the first half, including the adjoining injury time, to end the first half of the match in a scoreless draw. Silivia and Dubaise headed off with their teams to talk tactics in the dressing rooms, hoping both that their tactic would be the one to break the stalemate. The Saperetian room was guarded by guards to make sure that they were not harbouring hippos that could be used to gain a tactical advantage over the cats. Fortunately, or unfortunately if you’re the Libesian authorities, the Saperetians did not need to deploy any tactical hippos (although Silivia denied having any to deploy), as “The Sailboat Stadium” got a visit from a sailboat that perched itself right in front of the goal that Dirtwizard had to defend for the second half. Of course, the suspicion of who caused this immediately went to one of the two teams, and they vehemently denied having anything to do with this. The Libesian guards had all of their men inside by the Saperetian dressing room or the bus, meaning nobody saw how the boat actually got there. Aside from the spectators. But they were not important, so the authorities decided they were untrustworthy. One person who could state what happened was a Libesian man who was found by officials in the boat. He stated that he had been in the waters by Haayale and that he suddenly found himself here “due to a strong gust of wind.” He was taken into custody for trespassing and lying to officers, and to perform an investigation whether this was part of an operation by a certain nation, while ground staff tried to remove the boat from the playing pitch. This was easier said than done as the keel and rudder had lodged themselves finely into the ground, and part of the mast had lodged itself underneath the crossbar (somehow), so pulling it up would require removing the goal. This idea was supported by Silivia, who wanted to pull off this plan, but only after the referee had begun the second half. That was denied, so the boat stayed there, the referee reasoning that “there was enough space left for balls.” The Germanic Cat team protested this, while the Saperetians got to strategizing around this development. Silivia was happy that at least this time it was not him arguing with the referees. As the match restarted, he brought on Camilo for Hardin, Inget for Sarri, and Carloza and Damjan for Simon and Ante to bring some fervour into the side. The second half looked a lot like the first half, except that it was the other team attacking now. The Crimsonites thought the Cats were not weakened enough to try and go in for the blows. The first fifteen minutes were fully in the crimson’s expectation, as they got many chances to pull ahead. Unfortunately, like it always is with this front three, nobody managed to hit any shots. Again. Silivia then subsequently substituted Seppel for Kauko in ‘66 to mitigate the problem with the most effective goals per minute player in the squad, and to bring energy to the front three. Immediately after his substitution, Kauko tried a couple of solo runs but was stopped by the Cat defence every time. In ‘77 he moved as if he was beginning another run, but passed back to Jacques who then drew in the defenders, allowing him to pass it over them to put Kauko 1-on-1 with Süter, and he put the ball in the net and gave crimson the lead, the only thing separating them and the first perfect group stage in the nation’s history being 13 minutes of time. And while many would have expected the team that held its opponent at bay for 77 minutes to be able to hold it at bay for 13 more minutes, it would become harder with just 10 minutes to go, as Carloza managed to get a straight red for a foul that caused substitute Moll to go off injured, giving the Germanic Cat a free kick and a man advantage in the final part of the match. The free kick luckily went far over the bar, but the Saperetians now had to contend with this situation. The federation, which prioritizes defence so much over attack, of course decided to go pay offensively to try and put more goals up on the Cats. Why now of all times to go aggressively? Nobody had an answer for that except the man on the sideline. Perhaps it had something to do with the bus hippo sailboat blocking a goal of The Sailboat Stadium. Whatever the reason was, the tactic disrupted the attacks of the Cats and kept the final moments in balance between the two teams, allowing the Saperetians to walk away from the match with a goal, victory, and one man suspended.

The victory means we end the group stage on 9 points, the only team in this cup to do so. Whether this is an omen of things to come or pride before the fall, we will have to wait and see. Silivia was confident in regards to the ability of his team. “I believe we can go far.” Others were a bit more reserved. It was true that we had a good run last time round but we are right now in heights not seen before. Since our previous victory over Germanic Cat until this one we have gone and won every game, chaining a streak of six, at minimum now doubling our best victory streak ever, that one being a three in the middle of the BoF and another three halfway through WCQ 101. Now, one of those was a friendly, but we all know friendlies count towards records when it’s convenient and don’t count when it is not. Silivia always seems to have this tendency to be just close enough in tournaments to get people excited, then to fail miserably, but when you then look back the tournament was not that bad. When this strategy will fail at some point, he will have to try and pull himself out of the dug hole he has created, unless he leaves the managing position before this comes to pass. Which of the two exits he will have we cannot say and we will have to wait. Speaking of waiting, ahead lies a foe we have met once before. We played Kelssek in the previous edition of the CoH in the group stage, where we shared points on the final day, creating a draw that had to be resolved by the flip of a coin, which we tactically won. The match itself was a one-sided one, where the Saperetians used the tactic of “5-4-1” to defend against the onslaught, which probably explains the 0-0 scoreline. It was also the last match before stuff went off the rails, as the next match was that one in Bellvale against Kamijiro. Someone will have to emerge victorious from this matchup, even if it is a draw, and people wonder, if that team is the Saperetian one, whether stuff will go off the rails again. Then again, there is the question about whether it has not already. There has been quite the influx of hippo-related merchandise into our nation, and we may have a slight idea why. Another person who may have ideas is Silivia, who has experience against this Kelssek side from the previously mentioned encounter. Whether he will go defensively or try something new with the attack, or defence now that Carloza is suspended, is left to be seen. One pundit claimed that he knew what Silivia’s tactic would be. He claimed that Silivia would drive his bus into the Libesian parliament, before he was cut off by a book flying into his face, acknowledging that the talk about overthrowing the Libesian government had gone far enough, and that it was time to focus on other matters. Like who the best hippo was in Saperetia, because that was apparently more important than a revolution.

Goals
Seppo, Kauko (2)
Assists
Jacques (2), Sarri, Inget (1)
Cards
Carloza (1R 1Y)
Tournament MVP ranking
1st - P. Seppo; A. Kauko; E. Jacques (2) | 2nd - S. Sarri; S. Inget (1) | 3rd - Everyone Else (0) | 4th - I. Carloza (-4)

[StrayaRoos]

And after two games that weren’t the best results, the Emus finally got into a groove and progressed to the knockout stage of the Cup of Harmony, beating hosts Libesia 2-1 to knock them out of the tournament.
The Emus struck first again, this time in the 34th minute, as Eva Ngadjuri got her third for the tournament off a fairly straightforward effort by Haika to return the ball up the pitch after the Libesians attempted to clear it, as she received the clearance, then ran to the side of the box before crossing it to Ngadjuri’s feet. 1-0. And despite some decent efforts by both sides, that’s how the first half ended.

The second half started with a somewhat controversial disallowed Libesian goal, as Ashfraf Messaoudi was deemed to be offside and having interfered with the defence as Cudjoe Nsor scored, so VAR said nope. This led to consternation among the home fans, as whether Messaoudi actually was restricting Forsberg is up for debate, but for us it’s a good thing so we’re not commenting. Lucas Pewo used this chance to double the Emus lead in the 54th minute, weaving up the pitch relatively unmarked and converted a straightforward shot. 2-0. Libesia then attempted to fight back. As you’d expect for a team about to be bundled out of their home tournament winless in the group stage. And the Emus looked like they were struggling to keep up with the assault sometimes, as usually they’re the ones relentlessly attacking their opponents goals. And late in the game Libesia got their consolation. Mikhail Tsekani headed in a corner in the 86th minute, this time with none of his teammates being offside while “interfering with the defence”, making it 2-1. However, it wasn’t enough. Even if they’d scored a stoppage time equaliser it wouldn’t be enough actually. And so, the Emus continue their record of a perfect group stage qualification rate in WCC tournaments. Next stop, a round of 16 tie with Pasarga.

[Hafamarimyht]

Dnïvači Ahöjkravjë Pa Darvun Däs Hafamari Qualifyca

Draws Are Enough for Hafamari Team to Qualify

Kwabená Kobby Sports Stadium, Anobiana, Lashindae– The Hafamari team has qualified for the round of 16 in the Cup of Harmony 94, though the journey to get there wasn’t quite as victorious as might be expected. True, they began the tournament with a win over Pomachetti. Unfortunately this set expectations that the team wasn’t quite able to meet in their matches against United Adaikes and Banija. Both games ended in draws. Still, a record of 1-2-0 was good enough to escape the group stages and move on to the next part of the competition.

It also gave Doman Dezbänetka more chances to prove himself as the starting striker for the team. He scored the tying goal against United Adaikes as well as one of the goals against Banija, the other being scored by his substitute Riha Melusöj, her first goal since joining the national team at the beginning of the Cup of Harmony 94.

The team’s round of 16 opponents come from the Kytler Peninsula, a formidable team who won their group, albeit with an identical 1-2-0 record. Players and fans are optimistic for a good outcome, though of course a certain level of apprehension still simmers beneath the surface. “We have a definite chance,” says Dezbänetka. “We just have to find a better rhythm than we have been. We can’t draw anymore, we have to win.”

[Kelssek]

“...so all in favour. Good. We’ll defer the report to next week. Next item...”

The Football Kelssek board meeting was moving mercifully quickly, at least until they reached the part of the agenda that read “Other business”.

“So as you know, Moonbeam Infantino has been kidnapped,” began Louis, Football Kelssek’s general counsel.

The Football Kelssek executive board did not in fact know, and greeted this with comments like “He’s been WHAT?”, “When were you planning on telling us?”, and “Finally”.

An even more shocking revelation was that a former national team player who will remain anonymous because, duh, had arranged for this to protect Moonbeam Infantino against being assassinated, reasoning that one should use organized crime to combat organized crime. And that this wouldn’t have any negative repercussions whatsoever.

“This is not yet public and if anyone asked, we were just going to say something like, well, he went on some meditation retreat that caused him to lose his grip on reality – which actually happens to a lot of people. Unfortunately, this has become rather more complicated because, well, the person who arranged the kidnapping is now making demands, and I will have them on my phone momentarily.”

This time the board was silent, because there really was nothing further to top this set of disclosures. Louis placed the phone on the boardroom table, and a very modulated "Hello?" could be heard.

"You're with the Football Kelssek board now. We're ready for you to state your demands," Louis said.

“The ransom is that you will create a special training programme in which 200 of the top prospects at the U18 level will be hothoused in a purpose-built facility and undergo training drills in an elimination-style, high-pressure environment, with the goal of producing one top striker talent. Any player who fails at this will be permanently barred from playing for Kelssek.”

“Where did you get this idea from?”, asked Geraldine Hess, suspiciously.

“Well, there was this TV series, where people who need money are given a chance to win a fortune by playing schoolyard games, but versions where they get killed if they lose, like, imagine if you play rock-paper-scissors where losers get their limbs cut or crushed, or pass-the-parcel but with grenades, and the survivors get millions of thalers. I think it’s called, The Starving Games.”

“Oh. No, that’s not it, but I know what you’re talking about. You’re saying that you consider a brutal satire in which people are forced into life-threatening situations and unconscionable decisions for their own survival to be a model for player development.”

“I know it sounds melodramatic, if but you’re not in the top five in your position in your own birth year, you effectively have no chance of playing for the national team anyway.”

“That wasn’t the point I was making...”

"Geraldine, can you not argue with the kidnapper, please?"

Someone else hoping for the violent death of a despised colleague said, "No, please do."

[The Ko-orenite Constellation]

The Constellation's recent forays into further unity have been delayed by an influx of new member states. There have been suggestions to create a two-speed Constellation: one for nations that have been a member for over 3, or 5, or 10 years, and one for newer members. There have been suggestions to pause expansion for a while, because internal matters must be settled first. But both are ignoring the huge steps that have been made in recent history, particularly with the Treaty of Tergan, which has provided to the Constellation a council of day-to-day management. The council's biggest improvement has been that no further treaties have been necessary to settle simple matters - those things have simply been handed over to their capable management.

That said, a new Treaty is always in the works. Not in the least because a city will get to stamp its name on it, immortalising it in the Constellation's annals immediately. That also means that the host will not allow the treaty to fail: it might take years to get back into the rotation. The next treaty, as far as the powerful nations in the Constellation are concerned, is about which matters are for the Constellation to rule. The bigger nations would like to see a clear deliniation that leaves them in charge of the large and important things - healthcare, of course, but they'd also like to keep a lot of political matters close to home. The smaller nations are happier with more political integration. Chanmingoren and Mercatoren - usually on opposite sides of any matter - see eye to eye as they're both big, but places like Talmagoren - otherwise a subsidiary of Tarören - and Vesturvindoren have been vocal about letting the Constellation dictate as much as possible to ensure shared legislation. Mercatoren has played both sides of the debate at times - they see the merit of shared legislation because it means that trade across borders will be standardised - but they've since moved towards a strong distaste of Constellation overreach.

Others, again, are looking for a judicial side to the Constellation: there is a shared Council that gets to decide things, but when rules are broken or decisions go wrong, currently, nobody can be held responsible. It is Ndugutisaoren that's been very loud about this - they're the legal experts - but so have Meia-Armadoren, who see a shared judicial branch as insurance against their own messy internal politics, or Isidoren, who also have internal strife along ethnic and religious lines. A third party's neutral judgment can mean real progress over there. That's in stark contrast to Isidoren's counterpart Églantinoren, who are a very similar nation in everything except that they have drawn a very clear, thick line around their core populace and judge everyone according to that group's culture and religion. That could never work in Isidoren. Both approaches leave something to be desired, but for stability, Églantinoren's approach is successful, at least.

The older nations of the Constellation are looking for further meritocratic integration. After all, that's why the Constellation exists, before the economic focus took over. Irithoren, Arhoren - and allies Devanagoren, Murdhanyoren, and Yuktaksoren - and the professors of Synephoren are constantly trying to keep the Council to the meritocratic basics. A central organisation to determine who can serve on the Council, for instance. Or standardising degrees across territories.

But it's the Council that now gets to call what the next Treaty should be - or if expansion is still on their mind- and they've been pretty quiet on the matter as of yet.

[Biyambi]

UNION: THE KAMBUWE REAWAKENING
BEFORE KAMBUWE PART 8

There are few men who have succeeded in changing the course of an entire football club, and Ntakhwa Kambuwe is one of them. Under the Biyambian businessman and philanthropist, Lithiana Orera (The Beautiful Lady) underwent a transformation unlike any other in Biyambian, Ziwani, and Mandalanusan football. Lithiana Orera shade her old name for a new one, and rediscovered her glory in a new identity. An identity of professionalism, commercialisation, world-class coaches, remarkable talents, and an unprecedented collection of domestic and regional honours. He brought success, dominance, glory, respect, joy, and inevitably, moments of sadness. He brought greatness that had not been seen on the shores of the Ziwana Archipelago since the extraordinary days of Dean Dundunza in the 1970s and 1980s. This is the story of Mansanduni Union (Birnin Select) in the era of Kambuwe.

In the 2013-14 Liga Malikiy season, Birnin Select had a resurgence that surprised many. They were title contenders for the first time since the 2010-11, keeping up with the big boys of the league and giving out thrashings indiscriminately. Their performance that season saw the club qualify for the CMFA Champions League for the first time in club history. That Mansandunian team was full of stars; commanding striker Jean-Marc Mourgine, flamboyant winger Abdulaziz Haqawi, holding midfielder Hashaan Casimir, excellent keeper Jean Kane, and the captain Francis ‘Hukula’ Chiwaya. But within a few months, the team that had brought joy to many was no more. Jean-Marc Mourgine, Abdulaziz Haqaqi, Hashaan Casimir, Jean Kane, and two others lost their lives whilst returning from national duty when their plane was shot down. Captain Francis Chiwaya was involved in a car accident whilst escaping Mrima Nlluwa at the start of the Ziwani Civil War, an accident that forced him to hang up his boots after making 246 appearances for Lithiana Orera, scoring 162 goals and providing 76 assists. And after stabilising president Ovaha Yaka passed away, the club was left without a strong leader and financial backing. In the aftermath of the tragedies that befell Lithiana Orera, the club decided to elect an executive committee to oversee its affairs, with Utuna Namalima elected as committee chairperson.

One of the first decisions the EXCO (Executive Committee) made was to appoint former Mapale wide forward, Iriila Moopoli as Sporting Director. Former captain, Francis ‘Hukula’ Chiwaya was appointed as manager of Limuru.

The new Sporting Director, Iriila Moopali had a great challenge ahead of him. Birnin Selects’ debts were over half of its revenues, and had just lost several key players that needed to be replaced. Fortunately, Lithiana Orera was able to attract one of Mandalanusa’s largest fintech companies, Yulupale. Yulupale secured the clubs naming rights in a multi-year deal worth ₴525m (£10.5m). The teams official name changed to Yulupale Select. The club also changed its official colours to Yulupale’s colours to the disappointment of the fans with the Birnin Select National Supporters Committee expressing their dismay in the media. With funds secured, Iriila was able to bring in second striker James Chima for ₴6,750,000, right back Mada Kalua for free, centre back John Chibwana for ₴7 million, and midfielder Randashi Makala for ₴3 million.

With the signings, Yulupale Select manager, Yampa Mwetakali was equipped with the necessary talents to compete once more, and compete he did in the recently formed Bolaliga Mtethela A which replaced the ZFL Liga Malikiy due to the Ziwani Civil War. And compete he did. After 7 league games Yulupale Select was 2nd in Mtethela A, 1-point from first place, and a cup run away from lifting their first piece of silverware since the 2010-11 season. However, the club’s fortunes would soon change after Yampa Mwetekali was sacked for having an extramarital affair with the wife of club sporting director, Iriila Moopali. Assistant manager Daniel Jimu replaced him but he was unable to win in four games. Following a 3-2 defeat by Teuila City, Daniel Jimu was dismissed in early November. Nethi Ikopo replaced him but his arrival brought no improvement whatsoever and he was gone by the third week of November. Daniel Lungu became Yulupale Select’s third manager of the season before Daniel Jimu returned for another attempt at rescuing the team. But no manager was able to achieve a win after Yampa had been sacked, the terraces went wild with speculations with certain fans believing Yampa had cursed the club when he was sucked by burying three monkeys on the Pela Stadium pitch. Relegation was confirmed in December. Yulupale Select finished with 19 points from 22 games, 4-points away from safety and rooted at the bottom of Mtethela A.

The relegation led to instability within the club, with the National Supporters Committee calling for the resignation of the clubs executive committee. However, the Yulupale Select Trustees Board would turn down the supporter’s request. Things would turn ugly when two rival camps would violently clash at Ndunikana Sports Village that left several supporters in the hospital. This action would lead to Yulupale pulling out as sponsors at the end of the season, leaving the club in financial turmoil. That same season, in February 2015, Pela Stadium was bombed, forcing Lithiana Orera to play at her much smaller ground at Ndunikana Sports Village. On the pitch, Select came close to escaping Mtethela B on the first attempt. Select finished 4th in the Harvest 2015 Season, missing promotion by a single place. But that represented their high point in their final years before they eventually imploded.

The following season Lithiana Orera left without a sponsor and struggling to pay her players would fall to 7th place, and the following season the club would finish in last place, being relegated to the 3rd tier of the Bolaliga. That season the protests against the executive committee intensified, with the club’s offices being closed by the National Supporters Committee (NSC), and the NSC organising game boycotts to force the EXCO to resign. Amidst the protests one name begun to echo in the terraces. To the Lithiana Orera faithfuls, this man represented a potential saviour, someone who would not only reawaken the club but lead it to new heights, thus restoring the club to its former glory. That man was Ntakhwa Kambuwe.

[Libesia]

Apologies for the slight delay, wrong kind of hippos on the line.

Cutoff for Ro16.

Some music to enjoy while waiting for scores: Sona Jobarteh - Gambia

---

Saperetia 0–0 Kelssek (1–1 AET) (2–3 pen.)
Armatonisdaristan 5–6 Biyambi
The Kytler Peninsulae 1–3 Hafamarimët
Milchama 1–1 Snestar (1–1 AET) (8–7 pen.)
Pasarga 2–1 StrayaRoos
Pyazhnaya 2–2 The Ko-orenite Constellation (2–2 AET) (3–4 pen.)
Banija 2–0 Lionsroar
Sudilia 1–1 Commonwealth of Baker Park (1–1 AET) (4–1 pen.)

Quarterfinals

Kelssek v Biyambi @ National Football Stadium
Hafamarimët v Milchama @ Kére Stadium

Pasarga v The Ko-orenite Constellation @ Mandlakhe Nqobizitha Stadium
Banija v Sudilia @ Lamlarès Stadium

[Saperetia]

The Central Chronicle
---------------------------
Bracket Preview

Good morning, afternoon, evening, or whatever time it is for you when you are reading this. We (Me, the unpaid intern) here at The Central Chronicle are (am) here to preview the bracket that stands before the 16 teams (as of time of writing, hours before the first matches of the Ro16 kick off. We (I) don’t know if this will be published before or after the matches) that have advanced to the knockouts of the 94th edition of the Cup of Harmony. Half of the teams are gone, and each round half of the remaining teams will have to bid farewell until one remains as the champions of this edition.

Share by pot
Out of the four seeding pots, the most represented is pot 1. No big surprise there. 7/8 teams made it through, with only hosts Libesia going out in the group stage. The highest rank team to go out is Pomachetti, 9th highest. Pot 2 has “only” 4/8 teams remaining. Surprisingly, pot 3 has only 2 teams while pot 4 has 3 teams remaining. Had the hosts not been given a pot 1 berth, this discrepancy could have been even bigger, with Saperetia moving out of pot 3 into pot 2 and StrayaRoos out of pot 2 into pot 1, leaving in descending order 8, 4, 1 and 3 teams. If you were to colour the bracket accordingly, this is the result:

Saperetia                    _____
Kelssek                           |
@ Kére Stadium                    |_____
                                  |     |
Armatonisdaristan            _____|     |
Biyambi                                 |
@ Stade Djoulde Dibumbè                 |_____
                                        |     |
The Kytler Peninsulae        _____      |     |
Hafamarimët                       |     |     |
@ Kwabená Kobby Sports Stadium    |_____|     |
                                  |           |
Milchama                     _____|           |
Snestar                                       |
@ Lamlarès Stadium                            |_____
                                              |
Pasarga                      _____            |
StrayaRoos                        |           |
@ National Football Stadium       |_____      |
                                  |     |     |
Pyazhnaya                    _____|     |     |
The Ko-orenite Constellation            |     |
@ Hasimou Biri Sports Complex           |_____|
                                        |
Banija                       _____      |
Lionsroar                         |     |
@ Stade de Liberté, Gbadokwa      |_____|
                                  |     
Sudilia                      _____|
Commonwealth of Baker Park
@ Mandlakhe Nqobizitha Stadium

Legend: Pot 1, Pot 2, Pot 3, Pot 4.

One thing that is immediately noticeable is that out of the eight Ro16 matchups, seven include pot 1 teams. All of them managed to avoid each other, and this was not even a case of “each winner plays a 2nd placed team, and all pot 1 teams won” as teams such as Pyazhnaya, Milchama (both pot 2), Sudilia (pot 3), and Armatonisdaristan (pot 4) won their respective groups. Quite impressive. The only matchup that managed to avoid any pot 1 team is Saperetia vs Kelssek, also the closest “pot derby” as Saperetia is 1 seeding spot off of Kelssek’s Pot 2, same situation with Pasarga and StrayaRoos. That former match and the neigbouring match of Armatonisdaristan vs Biyambi combine together for a list of 4 teams in 4 separate pots.

Of the two bracket halves, the upper one is slightly easier, as they have a pot composition of 3-2-1-2 compared to the lower’s 4-2-1-1, swapping a pot 1 team for a pot 4 one. This is also reflected in average seed number, 13,5 against 10,375 (lower = harder), even more so taking into account that the hosts got a pot 1 berth and pulled the bottom teams up in seeding.

In terms of fans at the grounds, the lower half does have it better. All pot 1 teams in the upper half must contend with stadiums with a capacity between 40.000 and 45.000, towards the lower end of the capacity spectrum. On the lower half, only the Stade de Liberté has a capacity in this range, the other three all having a capacity of 54.000 or more. The largest stadium in Libesia, the National Football Stadium, with a capacity of 87.218 is allocated to the lower half (although it is to Pasarga vs StrayaRoos, the match with the closest two teams in terms of seeding). Only the Kére Stadium where the Saperetians will take on Kelssek beats the trend of the upper half with a capacity of 60.000, the only one above average. Speaking of averages, this means that a match in the lower half will have about 12.500 more spectators than one in the upper half.

Of course, it goes without saying that all the analysis here is done on the Ro16 matchups. As soon as they are done, everything will change so hard that this analysis will be laughably outdated. Probably. That’s how it always is when I do statistics.

TL;DR
The upper half is the statistically easier part of the bracket, based on the Ro16 matchups. Statistics. Yay.

Summary Table

Metric	Upper Half	Lower Half
Pot Composition	3-2-1-2	4-2-1-1
Average Seeding	13,5	10,375
Average Stadium Capacity	46.937,5	59.554,5
Difficulty	Should Be Easier	Should Be Harder

Yours sincerely,
Statguy07

I most likely made at least one mistake here, please TG me if you spot anything.
This is separate from my RP’s, another one is coming. That is also true if I lost/lose to Kelssek. F it, lost it anyway, use this as inspiration for your own RP.

[Sudilia]

Ro16:
Sudilia 1–1 Commonwealth of Baker Park (1–1 AET) (4–1 pen.)
(Xing 11' | Applegate 64')
Mandlakhe Nqobizitha Stadium,  Lebowana, Libesia

Dreaming and Moving on!!!

Sudilia survive and outlast the Commonwealth of Baker Park with a historic penalty shootout victory!

At last, the 3rd ever knockout match in Sudilian Football history was upon the National Football Team. It was a miracle that Sudilia managed to advance after the late dramatic victory over Snestar to swipe 1st Place in Group S and make the knockouts. Running on the high of the victory and advance, Sudilia was taking on Group G runners up in The Commonwealth of Baker Park. A team that had twice as many points that Sudilia had in the rankings, Baker Park was a high favorite for the match. Yet, the team came in determined and confident to put up a good fight, especially after taking down Snestar. if they could take them down, why not Baker Park? The A-Team was back once more, their 4th match starting, but the team grew as the tournament progressed and with thousands of Sudlians making the trip, it was time to go out there and shock the Multiverse.

Baker Park tried to control the match from the get-go, yet Sudilia would tackle and get clean possession of the ball, pressing forward quick, looking to get a goal and take that coveted lead. In the 11th minute, Nakajima was on the ball when she crossed the ball into the box, where Womack headed the ball down, but Xing appear unopposed to give a one-time shot past a sprawling Longstreet into the roof of the goal, making it 1-0. The Sudilian crowd erupted in a wave of joy and passion, jumping and applauding at the goal while Xing was mobbed by her teammates with hugs and pats for the goal. Baker Park began to attack more and more, yet the Sudilian backline would stand strong, blocking shots and making crucial tackles. Even at points where a player would get past the defense, Reeves would make important saves and blocks, grabs as well to get applause from the Sudlian crowd. Despite the barrage the team had to defend against, there would be counter attacks sent forward, especially towards St-Onge and Richardson, who would take shots throughout the match, looking to break past Longstreet for another goal, only to be denied by the goalie. Eventually in the 64th minute, a corner was taken by Chamberlain that floated into the box, where Applegate towered over Alterman to head the ball past the fingertips of Reeves into the top corner of the goal, making it 1-1. Applegate was mobbed by his teammates with the Parkers in the crowd jumping and celebrating with joy. Despite a tense 2nd half from there, nothing more would come from it, and additional time awaited both teams.

And came and went did extra time go. Neither team really wanted to mess up, really tightening their defense, blocking shots, even after substitutes were made. Some shots would come within distance to either goal, but nothing would budge, and after 120 minutes of football, penalties were upon the two. Sudilia would win both coin tosses, opting to shoot first, along with shooting towards their goal in front of the Sudilians. St-Onge would step up first, and send Longstreet the wrong way to slot it into the top corner, 1-0 to Sudilia. Delacroix would step up for Baker Park and take a shot that Reeves barely got a fingertip to, but it went in, and it was 1-1. Xing would come up next, giving a good run up to hit the post and have it ricochet into the goal, making it 2-1. Kaeppler would come up and Reeves would pounce on the ball, sending it out for the first miss of the shootout, getting a large reaction from the Sudilian crowd. Roth (in for Nakajima) would step up and give a low shot that barely went past the fingertips of Longstreet into the goal, making it 3-1. Chamberlain would come up next, needing to score to keep them alive, and she ran up, only to hit the crossbar and out it went, getting a loud cheer from the Sudilian crowd, with match point to the Sudilians. Up came Oluchi, who kissed the ball and stepped back, doing the Cross in hopes for a goal. He came up and chipped the ball over a diving Longstreet into the center of the goal, making it the definitive 4-1 shootout victory. The team and bench ran to Oluchi, mobbing him with a hug and pats all around, with the Sudilian crowd jumping with joy and passion for the cheeky panenka and advance.

In the other Round-of-16 match that was important to follow, Banija beat Lionsroar in the earlier match in the day, 2-0, setting up a historic Quarter-Final against the former World Champion. Coach Phaneuf was quoted saying "I, much like the rest of Sudilia, am proud of this team. They fought hard for this victory, they stood strong and really pushed Baker Park to their limits. Fortunately, we earned this victory in an agonizing way, but I'm glad they didn't let the conceded goal get to them psychologically. They really played their hearts out and we've shown we belong in this tournament. We have a massive match against Banija, likely our biggest match yet in our history, but I want to ground my players and help them train and study film well. We may not be favorites, but again, we're playing with house money and all we can do is go out there and shock the Multiverse once more. We can only hope to continue giving great memories to our wonderful fans and stay in this wonderful country of Libesia a little bit longer."

Go Sudilia! Allez Sudille!