AOCAF Cup LXI - Everything Thread

by **Ko-oren** » Sun Aug 16, 2020 1:28 pm

A summer of sports with Leligun Thernasthen

Selpernim 22/Sweltersky 22

Amigerac
Two more days until I'm home. I misplanned just how long the AOCAF goes on for. In the meantime, I've come down with a little bit of food poisoning, but when you have it, it never feels like just 'a little', and it feels more like 'well, this is my life now' and I blame some rushed and undercooked food in Roufort. That made Marluire go by in a flash, and I can't wait to go home. Just past the miiinor heat wave going on there, I should arrive in Ferrovente the day after normalcy returns. Everything is nice, club sports start up again, and we get to see which teams relegate from the Top League for the first time. Could it be Branvon or Miradela to break apart the only city derby in Ko-oren? Also, attentive readers might have caught the accents from Etouille and Branvon disappearing (instead of Étouille or Branvón), for standardisation's sake. Only the 26 regular alphabet characters, together with dashes and apostrophes, are allowed in team names anymore, as defined by the style guide of most large publications.

On a more local level, several neighbourhoods and towns have had their names changed as well. The relevant ministries will put up signposts with the 'new' names, despite threats by locals to put the special characters on the signs anyway. I doubt it will confuse anyway, and it seems innocent enough. Étouille is by far the biggest name to be affected, as well as parts of Amillon (Gardatières), but the hardest hit part is Héninçon, which loses two special characters and will appear as Henincon... wait, that was a very bad move. 'Con' means 'idiot' at best, in French. It wouldn't surprise you that the ç was added to the list of 28 - now 29 - characters to be allowed anyway, and for sports teams, they'll just have to be renamed Aminey South, I suppose. Marção and Celoção were also affected, as parts of Ferrovente.

This all in a bid to standardise the nation further, and it's a nice segue into the status of the Gehrennan language outside of the capital cities of Gehrenna, Mayara, Senoren, and Maethoru. While it's spoken in their province, as well as some towns beyond it, and it's the language of the government and administration, the language is poorly spoken outside of there. That is, few people speak the 'standard', prestige accent of the prime minister, and a lot of people speak various dialect continuum varieties the further towards the eastern ends of the C-shaped mainland you go. It does its job well as our lingua franca, yet otherwise does a poor job unifying the nation. Still, it's the one language that everyone knows at least a handful of words in. You don't have a choice, really.

I'm not looking forward to the pile of mail for when I get home. It's one of those things that only strike you as you're about to be back. For a few days, I'll probably still be organising some photos and story hooks for future travelling. Some things I already want to mention is how few Touristic Canon things I went to and still had a great time. Something else I want to mention is how hit-or-miss some of our nation's smaller towns are. Either you're in an undiscovered gem, between gorgeous landscapes, with small, yet quaint and welcoming communities and restaurants, or you're in a town that's rightfully the size that it has. Not because of nasty people there, but because the town is dominated by a single factory or power plant, or because it's effectively a fork in the road: very useful in transport, but not making for lovely stops. Generally I've found that as you follow the coast, good places will be found, but there are plenty of exceptions to this rule. Not every coastal town is an out-of-the-way holiday destination. Sometimes they're just dead-ends, with a tiny fishing industry, with its population locked in between the hills and the sea, stuffed, crammed into the few streets that are possible between uninhabitable places. Other times, a town is located in the middle of nowhere with a good view of said nowhere. My own neighbourhood on the plains side of Ferrovente comes into mind.

These are the days when I think that everyone in this country is secretly, well, not a mental case, but someone limited in their own way by their geography.

Sorry, that shouldn't have come out the way it did. In my many travels to and fro, I've personally never found a single place where I thought I could settle down forever, let alone for five years. At the same time our communities are so small that it takes years to settle in and learn the local language, and when you're finally done, I get the urge to leave again. Something I'll always come back to is local culture, which in most cases comes down to local sports. Wherever you are, the national teams are followed widely, with kids playing football in the streets claiming to be Janoreirinthen or Duchemin or Van Schelven, playing until they're called in by their parents when the match starts. I wouldn't ever want to take this away from them, from us. That said, we're facing Banija so this individual tournament could just end tonight. Who knows. Hopefully we can stay in for a little longer, the AOCAF can be pretty fun. We've also got Baker Park and Chromatika nearby. We can't expect to defend our title, but we can at least try.

by **Valanora** » Sun Aug 16, 2020 6:22 pm

The time for mourning and grieving had come and passed, the nation had done so as a collective and now was presented with the task of building on the legacy that came before in hopes of continuing on that road of prosperity that had come before. The notion of moving forward was something all peoples from all the different corners of the Empire seemed to agree upon, standing still and continue to mourn was going to serve no one well in the long run. The problem came in that many people had different ideas about the proper road forward, as even the Emperor did not name his distant relatives as heir in his will with many believing this meant that the did not see them to fit to rule the Vanorian Empire. However without a named heir and the Raynors all gone as well, there is no clear person who has a rightful claim to throne, leaving the path forward to be very precarious as different ideas on how to provide a legitimate claimant to the throne without throwing the nation into civil strife being at the forefront of many peoples minds, particular those in the highest branches of government.

It seemed a taste in the democratic process in the election of Hector has really taken root in Sabine and Caddonia, as the region is advocating heavily for another election, as well as some of the mainland of Valanora. The disagreement however even among those branches are to whether or not elections for the Emperor position should be conducted on every death or just for establishing a new ruling dynasty. In the mainland, they see the election as a means to merely selecting a new ruling dynasty while those in Sabine and Caddonia think that there should be an election on every monarch death, that the throne should not be passed on through a dynasty but through the democratic process. Some crazier still think that the throne should be abolished completely and the country transition towards a republic with a President that is elected every few years. That seems to be the least popular of the ideas moving forward among the populace but there is a small, vocal minority that is trying to dismantle the throne in its entirety, though they are not expected to get much following, with most of the Empire more comfortable with the first two options.

Elsewhere the Marauders have won their group, though missing most of their usual starters in the last group game did see the team slip up a bit and let their opposition score thrice on them. It might be worth it though as some of the tired legs of the usual starting eleven were able to get rested and having secured a bye through the first knockout round and into the Round of Sixteen, afforded the squad that extra bit of rest. Little knocks and fatigue can quickly undermine a campaign in the Finals and the regional championship, with so many games in just four weeks time and any extra time that you are allowed to rest your players or nurse injuries can turn into a major boon. While their opposition was having to contend with another game, the Marauders were getting their best team together and in the prime position to hopefully make a run to the Final itself. With Laborious Hawk back from his short trip to the Empire to attend the funeral services of the Emperor, the squad will have their best player and captain back to forge forward at full strength for the Round of Sixteen Fixture.

It will be a fixture that will demand the best of the Marauders, as despite the comfortable nature of winning the group, because of the unique draw structure for the knockouts of this tournament, the squad is having to play a rather challenging foe in their first knockout match. That foe will be Siovanija & Teusland, yes the same nation that knocked off the Calcuttas in the World Cup of Hockey Championship series over in Quebec. Much like the Empire, Siovanija & Teusland are a nation with talented athletes in many different sports and their players are garnering much attention with their rapid rise through the ranks and their domestic clubs success in the IFCF as well. In truth, Siovanija & Teusland feel like a second coming of Banija, another Southwestern power that seems to be clearing hurdles in multiple sports with very little way of difficultly, making the subregion all that much more splendid but challenging for those who reside in it, across multiple different sporting championships and domestic competitions.

Siovanija & Teusland are a side who are not going to score a lot of goals, as evidenced by their simple one to nil match in the First Knockout Round as well as only scoring seven goals through the group stage. That being said, for their lack of scoring prowess, they are also quite difficult to beat at the back, a fact that many in the capital will know with Karl-Heinz Jager being a key force to the Raynor City United backline, with the side only giving up six goals through six games here in Equestria. In stark contrast, the Marauders will blitz you for goals, having scored sixteen goals through the group stage, a mark of just over three goals a game on average, but are slightly more likely to concede with ten goals conceded though three of those did come in the last match with much of the first choice squad being rested. It will be a contrast of styles, as the free flowing attacking side of the Marauders will look to break down the steel curtain of a backline that our southwestern rivals have, as well as a contest of a new rising power against that of an established powerhouse of both the region and world football. Will the Marauders show that class or will Jager and the rest of the Siovanija & Teusland side ride their ascendant momentum to a Quarterfinal appearance?

by **Northwest Kalactin** » Sun Aug 16, 2020 7:00 pm

Kalactanians Roll Past 9 Seed Dogsmouth

Northwest Kalactin 4-2 Dogsmouth
Goals: Dillan ‘18, Butler ‘42, L. Hall ‘45+1, Gilbert ‘63
Starting XI: Dillan, McCarthy, Sanders (Torres ‘82), Butler, Gilbert, L. Hall, Owens, M. Hall (Taylor ‘72), Martinez, Anderson, Romero

The Kalactanians have pulled a win against the highest rated team in the round of 24!
Coming in as the number 24 seed seemed like a rough draw for the Kalactanians, but in the end it was a blessing in disguise as they where able to beat Dogsmouth in a 4-2 thriller. Coach Damon Scheter had this to say about the game:

“I feel like we did the best we could out there and it ended up paying off, as we where able to outplay the Dogsmouth team and pull a win.”

The Kalactanian team excelled in defense, being able to score 4 goals against Dogsmouth, their high so far for the tournament.

Thomas Butler excelled and won man of the match for the Kalactanians, contributing 1 goal and 1 assist. The 18 year old is already able to compete with the best in the world on an international level, and we think there is much more to come. His teammate, Luke Dillan states this:

“Thomas is one of the most gifted players I have ever seen play the game, he is able to excel in almost every part of, athletic, skill and tactical. I think that him and Jimmy will make a very good duo at striker in the future.”

The matches goals mostly came down within very close quarters, with 3 of the 4 goals happening within 15 yards of the net. Mark Romero also has a good game, stopping 8 shots on target, and only allowing 2 goals. Mark Romero stated that ‘I had a stellar performance today, and I hope to build on it during the following matches’.

The Kalactanians will have a very difficult next match against the hosts, Equestria, a team which comes in with the number 1 seed in the tournament right now. We don’t expect to beat the Ponies, but we didn’t necessarily expect to beat Dogsmouth either, so anything can happen.

by **Chromatika** » Sun Aug 16, 2020 7:11 pm

AOCAF Play-In Round: Krytenia 1–1 Chromatika (1-1 AET) (1-3 pen.)

Goals: Kuznetsov '52
Starting XI: Tioux; Xioa - de Aea - Ken - Pomeroy; Marc - Armageddon (C) - Croix-Pierre; Kim, M.J.; Yuan - Thibodeaux.
Substitutes: Kuznetsov -> Corix-Pierre ('47), Chapman -> Xiao ('53), Ziniga -> Armageddon ('65)
Projected Starting XI vs. Baker Park: Tioux; Xiao - de Aea - Ken - Pomeroy; Marc - Armageddon (C) - Croix-Pierre; Kim, M.J.; Yuan - Thibodeaux.

EQUESTRIA - For only the second time in Chromatik history, Chromatika won a match in penalties.

It had been an intense match between Krytenia and Chromatika, two sides that were meeting for the fourth time in two World Cup cycles. Selaphie Kennedy had scored early, in the thirteenth minute off a deep cross from Murray Huinnisett; Vasiliy Marten Kuznetsov equalized in the fifty-second on a nifty one-two with Enigma Armageddon after coming on in the forty-seventh. Otherwise, Ferret Tioux had an outstanding outing in goal with six shots saved.

Extra time was a tense affair - Rafael Mendonca almost snaking one in the left corner to be parried away by Tioux - before the match went to penalties.

Krytenian kickers: Kennedy - Stevens - Mendonca - Horrocks - Eaton.
Chromatik kickers: Thibodeaux - Croix-Pierre - Kim, M.J. - Marc - Kuznetsov.

Kennedy went first. Tioux dove left, the ball went right. KRY 1-0 CMT.

Thibodeaux followed up, the ball hitting the upper lower corner of the net, Carpenter just missing out. KRY 1-1 CMT.

Stevens's shot almost went though, but Tiuox was able to get his left hand barely on it and parry it away. KRY 1-1 CMT.

Croix-Pierre's right footed volley was low and to the right, and Carpenter guessed wrong. KRY 1-2 CMT.

Mendonca's attempt sailed above the goal, and he ended up holding his hands. KRY 1-2 CMT.

Mi-Jung Kim was next, and her shot was directly to Carpenter, as she tried to game the keeper and he'd wised up. KRY 1-2 CMT.

David Horrocks, who had come into the game for Neil Smith, tried to fake Tioux left before going right. Tioux didn't fall for it, and snatched the ball out of the air. KRY 1-2 CMT.

With the chance to win the match, Orianne Marc stepped up to the spot. The winger had been decent in the match, with a few deep runs that didn't ultimately amount to much; he took a deep breath, ran up to the ball, and hit a medium strike toward the middle. Carpenter went left. The ball was through! Chromatika won! 1-3 CMT.

As Richard Velens went to shake Jerome Jaffacake-Phillips, he couldn't help but grin. If anyone was going to take down Krytenia, it had to be one that was managed by a Krytenian.

And so the Anomalies moved on to face...

Baker. Park.

The Bees - rapidly rising as one of the powers that be in both Atlantian Oceania and the world - are also fielding an "edited squad" for the AOCAF, testing out some players to see if they have any hope for the near future. Baker Park buzzed through Group D, winning all five matches and scoring twenty-two goals, only conceding eight. Baker Park also defeated Krytenia, making this the second team in a row from Group D that Chromatika will be playing.

The last time the two teams met, it was in AOCAF 56, where the Anomalies triumphed 2-0; since then, Chromatika has been through two managerial changers while Baker Park has continued their ascension. Now, the shoe is on the other foot - and if Chromatika were to win, it'd actually be a big upset.

According to the CFF, Velens and co. have already met their expectations for this campaign, and anything more will be extra. Can they get a run going?

by **Pluvia and the Saxean Isles** » Wed Aug 19, 2020 6:17 am

Magpies surprise in inaugural AO Baseball Series

Adrian Fraser, Marienburg Telegraph

Atlantian Oceania is a venerable sporting region. It is surprising, perhaps, then they have never hosted a regional baseball tournament, despite baseballing nations like Ko-oren, Banija, Sarzonia, Equestrian States, Hapilopper, Quebec, Delaclava and others calling it home. But they have at last, and the first-time tournament presented the opportunity for newcomers to the region like Pluvia to compete with the same hopes and dreams as giants like the Dragonflies or Banija. Even though most players on our team only compete at the semi-professional level, anything can happen in a small small tournament of 12 teams. The Magpies were sent to Banija as part of Group B, along with the hosts, the Royal Kingdom of Quebec, and the nation of Croblade. Early betting lines suggested that the hosts were heavily favored to advance, with the Quebecois in second and the Magpies and Croblade battling it out for the chance to not be in last place.

In game one, the Magpies took on the Royal Kingdom of Quebec. Nobody really expected them to win, except a few baseball diehards, or nutters, depending on your perspective. But right-hander Dominic Lowe did offer the Magpies the best chance to win. Lowe is the ace starter for the Marienburg Eagles of the PSIBL, and he led the league in velocity, wins, and strikeouts last year. Lowe ran into trouble early, conceding six hits and four runs over the first two innings to put Pluvia in a big hole early, and the deficit would ultimately prove insurmountable. Although Lowe only allowed one baserunner over the next four innings, the Quebecois starter held the Magpies to a single run over seven innings, the result of a Robbie Collins bunt base hit, a stolen base, a grounder to the right side, and a sacrifice fly. Going into the top of the ninth, Magpies relievers had surrendered two additional runs to put the team behind 6-1. Left fielder Philip Falkenburg led off with a solid single to center, and big Billy Bruce lined a double into the right-field corner to put runners on third and second with no outs. Bastian Thalberg hit a sacrifice fly to score Falkenburg and Bruce moved up to third. Joe Galloway followed up with a sharp single to right, scoring Bruce and cutting the deficit to 6-3. But Quebec's reliever recovered to induce a game-ending double play from Wil Lewis, and the Magpies went down to defeat in their first AOBS game.

Game two didn't look like it would provide any more hope than game one. While Simon Wells is a good pitcher by Pluvian standards, the Magpies were facing Banija, a top-5 team in the world and perhaps the best team in the region when it came to baseball. This was likely where the significant portion of their AOBS ended. But our team surprised, ambushing Banijan starter Suntukung Kandeh by scoring two runs in the first inning. Robbie Collins led off with a bunt single, and Kieran Kelly managed to coax a walk from Kandeh on the tenth pitch of the at-bat. Philip Falkenburg would strike out, but Billy Bruce pulled a ball down the first base line that hit the bag itself and spun crazily away from first baseman Yakuba Kah. Galloway scored and Kelly moved up to third, with Bruce remaining at first. Jacob King hit a sacrifice fly to score Kelly and make it 2-0, but Kandeh recovered to strike out Joe Galloway and end the inning. Simon Wells' 137 KPH fastball was unimpressive to the Banijans, but by varying its location and throwing mostly off-speed pitches, Wells gave up just one run in five innings. He did strike out four, but allowed seven baserunners, so manager Michael Griffiths decided to pull him and try to get through the last four innings with his relievers. Nico "Tiny" Taylor struck out two in his inning of work, and then Ashton Davies' screwball let him work around a walk to end the seventh without any damage. Rory Burke started the eighth, but while he struck out two batters, he also walked one and gave up a double. He then intentionally walked second baseman Chiki Uche to load the bases for catcher and eighth-place hitter Xaaf Geele. In came sinkerballer Davydd Jones, who immediately induced a ground ball to Kelly at second to end the inning and preserve the lead.

The Banijan bullpen is known to be shaky at times, and after Kandeh pitched seven good innings, Gibril Sowe entered the game. He promptly hit pinch-hitter Bastian Thalberg, and threw away Robbie Collins' bunt attempt, resulting in runners on third and second with nobody out. Kieran Kelly hit a sacrifice fly to score Thalberg and move Collins up to third, and with the heart of the Magpies' order coming up, it looked like they might be able to do some damage and really put Banija in a hole. But Sowe was replaced by left-hander Mamadi Corr, who struck out Falkenburg and got Bruce to fly out harmlessly for the third out. Veteran closer Julian Wells came on to try to preserve the lead and earn the save. Assefa Mulugeta was the pinch-hitter to lead off the ninth, and Wells got him to swing over a splitter for the first out of the inning. Obasey Mazzi singled and stole second, putting pressure on the right-hander Wells to get some quick outs. Momodou Joof hit one to the right side that Kelly made an excellent play on, taking away a hit and almost certainly a run with the speedy Mazzi on the basepaths. Mazzi moved up to third, and right fielder Jonkong Sillah stepped up to the plate. Sillah is the team's best hitter, and he worked the count to 3-2. Wells chose to throw his signature splitter, which Sillah hit well to center. But 440 feet is a long way, and while Sillah's fly ball traveled far, it didn't go over the fence, and Robbie Collins ran it down, making an excellent over-the-shoulder catch for the third out. This ended the game and gave the Magpies a shocking victory over one of the best teams in the world. Massive celebrations ensued, especially among the few hundred Pluvians and Saxean Islanders who had come to watch.

Game three would be the decisive game. All four teams in Group B were tied at 1-1, following the Magpies' upset of Banija and Croblade's defeat of Quebec. The winners of the third group stage game would advance, while the losers would not. The matchups were Banija against Quebec, and Pluvia against Croblade. The Magpies drew the early game, and right-hander Max Niehaus had his cutter, changeup, and curveball working early, striking out six in his first five innings and yielding just two hits and one walk. Meanwhile, Billy Bruce hit an RBI double in the first inning, and Philip Falkenburg hit a solo homer in the third to make it 2-0. Then, in the top of the sixth, Falkenburg and Bruce led off with singles, and Bastian Thalberg blasted an RBI double to make it 3-0. Joe Galloway hit a sac fly to make it 4-0, and Wil Lewis' RBI single scored Thalberg and made it 5-0, chasing the Croblade starter. Although Niehaus allowed four baserunners total in the sixth and seventh innings, no runners crossed the plate. Kieran Kelly hit an RBI single later, and nominal fourth starter Martin Wuertz pitched the last two innings to close out Croblade and send the Magpies to the playoffs.

Banija would defeat Quebec 5-4, earning the other spot in the playoffs. Pluvia will now face Chromatika, one of the best third-place teams from the tournament. The Chromatik team only won one game, but it was a 5-0 defeat of hosts Vilita & Turori, showing they have some mettle. They may be semi-professionals just like the Magpies, but they are not to be underestimated. As Pluvia's defeat of Banija showed, anything can happen in the AOBS and anything can happen in baseball. Advancement to the semifinals of the AOBS would be a massive achievement for the Magpies in their first-ever AO tournament, but Chromatika need to be vanquished first, and that is never a sure thing.

by **Equestrian States** » Fri Aug 21, 2020 9:28 pm

Round of 16 Results

Equestria 0–1 Northwest Kalactin
(Scorinated by Astograth)

Vilita & Turori 0–4 Audioslavia

Farfadillis 3–3 Flavovespia (3–3 AET) (6–5 pen.)

Valanora 1–1 Siovanija & Teusland (1–1 AET) (4–3 pen.)

Mriin 4–4 Lochario (5–4 AET)

Starblaydia 3–3 Sarzonia (3–3 AET) (3–1 pen.)

Baker Park 2–5 Chromatika

Banija 1–0 Ko-oren

Quarterfinals Fixtures

#16 Northwest Kalactin vs. #9 Audioslavia
at Wild Grounds (cap. 56,500) in Everfree

#4 Farfadillis vs. #5 Valanora
at Sky-High Coliseum (cap. 65,000) in Cloudsdale

#2 Mriin vs. #7 Starblaydia
at Grand Regal Stadium (cap. 81,955) in Canterlot

#14 Chromatika vs. #6 Banija
at Diamond Park (cap. 75,000) in Stalliongrad

by **Northwest Kalactin** » Sat Aug 22, 2020 1:55 pm

Top 5 Remaining Teams in AOCAF

1. Farfadillis
We believe that the Farfadillis team has the most talent that is left in the tournament, and that they should definitely be regarded very highly in terms of being able to win. The WC84 Championship showed us that, and we think they still have a lot of that magic left in them. It will be a large matter of wether they are able to beat Valanora or not, as the Eternal Empire could very well be one of the best teams left outside of them.

2. Mriin
Since Equestria was taken down by the Kalactanian team in the round of 16, the number 1 seed has not been an option to win the AOCAF. The number 2 seed, Mriin on the the other hand has just as much of a shot at the title than anyone else, with a Starblaydia team that can be relatively questionable in terms of skill. They will not have to face a team from the Farfadillis-Valanora match until the finals, so they have a strong shot at it.

3. Valanora
Despite having to play Farfadillis, the team captained by Hawke has a good shot at the championship this cycle, only having to face a few more hard teams before they can clinch. They played a close game against a rising Siovanija and Tuesland team, which just proved the sheer skill and talent of the team. The Farfadillis team will be an extremely hard and talented one to work around, but the Eternal Empire is as good as anyone.

4. Banija
This Banija team will be starting with a quite easy match against Chromatika, who the Kalactanians have a history- a good history with. The only reason they are not higher on this list is due to the fact that outside of Chromatika, they may have one of the toughest schedules to play against to get to the finals. The Banijans, now rated number one in the world will likely have to beat both Mriin and the winner of the Farfadillis-Valanora match to clinch a win, which will be very tough.

5. Starblaydia
Even though that we mentioned that Starblaydia could be questionable in skill, if they are playing consistently enough, they are as hard as anyone is to beat, having some of the best players and management there is in the region. Once again, Mriin will be extremely hard to beat, if they are able to get past them though, they can win. The reason they seem a lot lower than other teams is because they must play consistently against a tough schedule, which they can struggle to do sometimes.

by **Starblaydia** » Sun Aug 23, 2020 1:00 pm

"It makes me wonder just what sort of monstrosity he's going to come up with as the Sporting Director," Aaron mused, "like every team has to have his name on the kit, or he has to be in every squad himself and be credited with scoring all goals-"

"Don't," Ázëwyn cut in, "put it past him."

"Does anyone outside of... well..." Aaron tried to think quite how wide the net went, "us, know anything about what he was getting up to in Krytenia?"

"You know the media here," she replied, "the only time the Krytenians get reported about is when they can be dunked on."

"So, constantly?"

"Well, yes," Ázëwyn conceded the point, "but when it comes to your all-time record international goalscorer turning out in the shirt most hated by your people, you think that would make great click-bait, but the whole media just blacked out the information, like he didn't exist."

"Paving the way for him to triumphantly return," Aaron theorised, "with all the fanfare but a handwave of what he's been doing."

"And carte blanche to put his ideas, whatever they area," she shrugged for effect, "into full effect across the entirety of the Starblaydi football setup, from grassroots children's games all the way up to the national team."

They both shuddered involuntarily, in unison.

Valrauncion had played 242 times for Starblaydia, a feat bettered only by Ázëwyn Fëanáro herself (270), the versatile and classy defender Daeron Avathar (259), and the phenomenal goalkeeper Dacil Taniquentar (263). The four of them, along with the 240 appearances of the winger Soronúmë, had been the backbone of the Starblaydi side when the World Cup was in its mid to late 40s. This group of Starblaydi Elves, the Elenmacilnóre, had made their presence known in time for selection to the World Cup 44 squad. Immediately Starblaydia had won their fourth World Cup, with Valrauncion top-scoring with 11 during the campaign, including the opening goal in the Final against Cafundéu itself. Three tournaments later, with the same spine, Starblaydia had taken their record-breaking fifth title, Valrauncion again top-scoring with 18 goals, and Fëanáro herself scoring the winner in the Final against Valanora. By the time the World Cup was in its early 50s, the Starblaydi Elves took up most of the squad positions, because the human players simply weren't being developed by the under-funded SFA. The Elves bore the brunt of the responsibility to get Starblaydia into Finals, but after World Cup 57 it was all just too much.

Have you ever heard of the tragedy of Valrauncion the wise? It's not a story the Starblaydi would tell you. It's a Krytenian legend.

Valrauncion, meanwhile, had already shown his mercenary side. He was the first - and so far only - Elf to leave the hometown club of Telcontarë for another side. While others eventually transitioned into administrative roles in various capacities, no other Elf ever played for anybody else, except Valrauncion. What's worse is that although his first destination was Soldarian FC, his second was to Ousevale Borough of Krytenia. He quickly became a legend at the Tigers and, when Starblaydia withdrew from international football at the end of World Cup 57, the KFA made a cheeky request to naturalise the striker and offer him a place in the cyan shirt. He immediately went on to score 19 goals in 23 appearances at the 58th World Cup for Krytenia, and quickly became a meme.

Krytenia wrote:
Choose life. Choose a team. Choose a colour. Choose a fandom. Choose a sky blue replica shirt. Choose watching from the stands, singing, overpriced beer, and curried brownies. Choose greying hair, high stress and semi-final defeats. Choose going to Polar Islandstates in the middle of January. Choose a Casaran ref. Choose cheap flights to the back end of wherever. Choose tracksuits and matching caps. Choose a season ticket at the Isserson. Choose highlights on KBS One and wondering what the fuck went wrong on a Sunday morning. Choose sitting on a plastic seat watching mind-numbing spirit-crushing defeats, stuffing a vindaloo burger into your mouth. Choose screaming at the end of it all, pissing your last in a miserable bar, nothing more than an embarrassment to the selfish bastards in purple. Choose no future. Choose life . . . But why would I want to do a thing like that? I chose not to choose life: I chose something else. And the reasons? There are no reasons. Who needs reasons when you've got Valrauncion?

ONWARD!

Though by the 48th AOCAF Cup he'd returned from Ousevale to Telcontarë, he was still turning out in the number 7 Cyan shirt regularly for his newly-adopted country, and by the 81st World Cup, the unthinkable happened and he took up the role of player-manager for Krytenia. It was utterly insane, and managed to last for barely all of a single World Cup cycle, when he resigned in a tantrum after eight Matchdays of Qualifying for World Cup 82. His club-hopping ended up at AC Izotz Zubia in Audioslavia, before now - apparently - being in Poafmersia (wherever that is) at Kistina Galaxy, who managed to be the highest bid out of a dozen clubs after the legend's service.

And now, this arrogant bastard, this cock (at least, as he is thusly universally described) was now back to lording it over people in the Starblaydi Football Association as Sporting Director - presumably while also collecting a pretty penny from the PFPA Premier League club side - and absolutely nobody had even the faintest idea of what his reign in this newly-created and incredibly important position in Starblaydi football would be.

But for now, as Lucy Saraviva scored Starblaydia's fifth and decisive penalty, the pressure was momentarily off. She'd put the finishing touch to the team going through to the Quarter-Finals of the 61st AOCAF Cup in Equestria. 3-1 on penalties after a 3-3 draw After Extra Time to Sarzonia, it was now a brief period of party time for fans of the most decorated national team in history. The next test was directly around the corner, as Mriin were on the cards for Ázëwyn Fëanáro's team. Or was it, also, now Valrauncions' team?

"If I were you," Aaron Cole said, "I'd positively shudder at the thought."

by **Northwest Kalactin** » Sun Aug 23, 2020 4:04 pm

Part 1
Part 2
Part 3

Secretary of State Luke Harrison Shot Hours Before Jason Mitchell Speech

The Kalactanian secretary of state has been shot just hours before Jason Mitchell will release a speech concerning the state of Northwest Kalactin. Civil Unrest has been taking place for over a month now, and many now believe that in the next few weeks, Northwest Kalactin will become an Anarchy. Jason Mitchell has been in power for 5 months now, and civil unrest has been brewing since he was elected, but it turned violent in the past few weeks. The military is now reduced to less than half its active service size that it was just weeks ago, due to many of the members of the force resigning and leaving the forces. Some have started to say- including a few Gold Coast Police members themselves, have stated that the force may just have hours left on the clock before the entire force completely falls on its side. The State Police has stopped trying to control any of the protestors as of 3 days ago. The entire Gold Coast Metro line stopped last week due to the protests, and it has not resumed since. Energy has been routinely shut off all over the country in the past few days, due to an inability to provide any electricity by government owned agencies. Jason Mitchell is expected to come out in public and make a speech soon, but he may delay it until tomorrow morning due to this very sudden news. Many people in Kalactin support the protests. One of them stated “look at countries like Paripana and Farfadillis, you don't see them having any problems like we have right now, especially a nation like Paripana. We should try to become like them, and have the people in power, no central government, just the people.”

The exact details of the incident are very blurry right now, but most sources agree on it pretty well. Harrison was driving back to the National Capital Building, after a meeting with the Kalactanan intelligence force. A much smaller security force was out there due to most officers not showing up because of the current state. A protester, with an assault rifle, recognized the car and started to shoot at it. A security officer opened the door to fire back at the protestor, but a shot went through the opening in the door and hit Harrison right in the elbow area. A second shot almost went right through the chest of Harrison, but it avoided him by mere inches and hit the hood of the car. The protestor was shot dead on the scene, but this has seen to have caused another civil uprising that is happening right around the capital right now. Around 6,000 protestors are around the capital right now because one of their allies was shot and killed. Harrison was not killed on the scene, but he has been rushed to a hospital. He is currently fighting for his life right now, but it is not clear whether he will make it through the night. We look forward to covering the speech tonight, and for now, goodbye.

by **Audioslavia** » Sun Aug 23, 2020 5:44 pm

Last to board the bus, Sean Patterick collapsed into a spare seat. He felt like he'd run as far and as hard as his players had. Still in a daze, he tried to process the events of the last two hours.

That had been a mugging. The football equivalent of a scoundrel snatching a handbag and running off into an alley.

First of all, a long, aimless ball up front fielded comfortably by Koranjo, nodding it laterally to defensive partner for the day Lohani Riiyaaw but Santiago Rosel had clumsily bundled over Riiyaaw trying to reach the second ball. The referee, out of position, inexplicably failed to blow for the foul and Rosel finished past Vernasa Sanamun for one-nil.

A shell-shocked Eel-Cat-Thing side succumbed to an Audioslavian counter-attack just two minutes later, with Rosel sprinting down the left and cutting the ball back towards the edge fo the area, where Erwin Spijkers was arriving. Spijkers took a touch to create some space for the shot and sliced a clumsy left-footed effort into the top left hand corner - it had been clear from the shape of the winger's body that he'd been aiming for the bottom left.

Four minutes later, another long ball, this time dealt with less than admirably by a Viliturorian defence. Rosel made a nuisance of himself, got his shin in the way of an attempted clearance and, when full-back Rojara Tiones kicked his ankle rather than the ball, Rosel had made the most of it, collapsing dramatically to the floor holding, alternately, his face, shin, groin, heart and knee. Rosel showed little sign of either of the five injuries as he claimed the ball for the spot-kick and launched it into the roof of the net. Eight minutes played, 3-0 to Audioslavia.

Vilita and Turori, the better team on paper, grass, sand, chrome or any other material you'd like to mention, took their time to grow into the game, and by the end of the first half had pinned the Bulls back to their own box, but that was always where Audioslavia were going to be when in the lead against superior opposition. The second half saw Vilita and Turori win twenty-three corner kicks to Audioslavia's one. That Moses Moxey managed to rise above the throng to nod home for four-nil on that sole opportunity - Audioslavia's only shot on goal in the entire second half - summed up the rotten luck suffered by the Vilitans, Turorians and anyone else unfortunate enough to be wearing the brown and teal that day.

Sean Patterick hadn't known what to say in the post-match interview, and had kept it simple. Well played lads took their chances in it to win it create your own luck onwards and upwards we go on could have been four-nil to them one of those games of two halves til the cows come home innit.

Behind him, those Audioslavian footballers not busy on twii.tur communicating solely via the use of the cry-laugh emoji were excitedly talking about the next round. A quarter-final, somehow, against Northwest Kalactin.

By all rights, Audioslavia should have the beating of Northwest Kalactin nine times out of ten. They reminded Sean of those proto-Farf teams of AOCAFs of old, cascading forward at every opportunity and naively falling into every trap the pragmatic Audioslavians laid for them. The Bulls had always preyed on teams that liked to attack, sitting back and waiting with a large black acme mallet to thwack opposition forwards on the head with. NK had scored three against Valanora, who themselves had netted four times, largely through exploiting the gaps the Kalactanians had left behind them, and that had to be Sean's plan for the game next week.

I mean, how good could Thomas Butler be really?

Sean blinked and wondered if, in smashing the Viliturians to bits in eight first half minutes, he and his team had used up every single bit of their luck.

by **Mriin** » Sun Aug 23, 2020 5:44 pm

aroundthehorn.mrn

The Battle of the North

Some of the less credible and, shall we say, opportunistic pundits in the sports world have taken to taking pot shots at the Equestrian hosts of the AOCAF over a litany of perceived "issues." The Mrii NT somehow ended tied up in some of this drama, as their eightfinals tie against Lochario happened to be spotted in the largest venue of the round: The Heart of the North, a whopping eighty-seven thousand seater (already bigger than any Mrii stadia) located in the lovely city of Crystopolis. A few tabloids--one rag from the cove in particular--felt slighted by this, as the Eelcats' matchup against Audioslavia would take place in a park a little over half the size and implying the cavernous confines of the Heart would be left barren. This smear to the integrity and quality of the Reavers, to the dedication of the Mrii fanbase, and to the quality of an unfairly oft-maligned Lochario side, it was all too much. And so Margaret made the executive decision to smite the Vilitians and the Turorians for their arrogance. They would find themselves on the business end of one of the most lopsided results in the tournament so far. And that scrap of a game, that throwaways garbage pile being hosted in Crystopolis? It's very likely to end up as the match of the tournament.

The Ginger Tigers have been a neat little surprise package in this edition of the multiverses' most competitive football tourney. Don't let a third place finish in the groups mislead you--they finished widely equitable to second-placers and founders of the ding dang tourney Krytenia, only slightly missing the mark on goal differential to get booted to a lower seeding. And then they'd go on to handle former Baptism of Fire champions West Pocono in the play-in round--notably the team that finished second in the Reaver's group. Blouman gaffer Michael Sallindy has worked wonders with his charges, having worked with them since midway through last cycle's qualifiers (though there's some rumors of the occasionally insubordinate getting gulag'd, but hey, if it works). His squad selection has very much been a "believe in the youth"-type movement, and anyone would be hard-pressed to say that's not paying off.

The match was a high-flying affair from the get-go, much to the delight of the throngs of fans that turned out to Crystopolis. Otalia found Mako a few minutes in, who'd take charge with a dazzling runaround of Welder before punching the opener past Vasquez. The Reavers would keep on the pressure, keeping the ball in the Locharian half and constantly making dangerous advances. Eventually Vasquez was forced to punch a speculative attempt from Malia over the bar, and the resulting corner featured Pia getting a crushing header for second goal of the match. Now, with that quick two-oh lead one might be thinking "oh, this is exactly the wash of a game that all those people had predicted. The Locharians are nobodies who could barely pick a regional competition a few cycles back and now they're going to get rolled over by a stronger team." And that's where you'd lose your easy wager.

Soladin struck back with the fury of a man trying to not get sent to a gulag, single-handedly making the Mrii much less confident in possession and giving the Locharian attack some much-needed life. Some clean one-twos between him and Ukarov created a yawning opening in the Reaver defense, which lead to an easy feed of Fousi who fopped the ball in to bring the deficit back to one. Brennan made the call to stiffen up at the back, and that was enough to contain the Tigers until halftime was called.

But the Tigers would not be caged. The Tigers were out. And It'd be Soladin himself who'd pop in the equalizer, scoring directly off a free kick earned via an over-eager Karii tackle. Tack on a squeeker of a tip-in from a goalside scrumble off Oiki's boot and suddenly the Reavers found themselves down a goal with thirty minutes left to play. It 'twasn't for long, however. The very next play would see Popo make a deep run along the touchline before Ukarov finally managed to box him in, to which Popo responded by just dumping in a cross for Tali'raia to chest down and convert. Things where level again, but of course level wasn't enough. And so the assaults continued.

That aggro back-and-forth play continued, but it seemed the defenses had been shocked back into paying attention and their keepers were grateful for it. Dinii would make only her second official save in this period, along with her third and fourth. Vasquez notched two up as well. But finally, Paarsimer caught a wrong-footed Rehin and was able to launch an effective counter thereby. It'd culminate in Otalia taking a back pass while lying deep and one-timing it into the corner of the net, a screamer of a shot that Vasquez simply couldn't reach. So, bam. 4-3 lead. Surely the Reavers can't fuck this up even further.

"Hah," says Tigers substitute Frin (figuratively, I don't have an actually quote from him). He'd come on to replace Ghittin, who'd struggled to get on the scoresheet even despite all the commotion. And casually Frin would bash home the match's final equalizer just as the added time of three minutes was announced. I can't fault him for wheeling away and tearing off his shirt. It's a huge moment for him, for his team, for the nation in general. They were this close to pulling off the upset of the tourney!

And then in extra time Solara came on and just fuckin' barreled through the Tigers defense before chipping the ball over a despairing Vasquez, who up until that point had had his defenders put up at least something of a fight to give him a reaction buffer. But the veteran goliath former captain was just having None Of This Shit, and her lumbering frame gave the defenders just enough pause for her to slip by even on her aged legs. It was a smart play from Brennan--some might have gone with the youthful golaith of Istria Saara, or the youthful speediness of Äzyr Faewin, but I imagine we'll see more of those two as we get deeper into the tourney. Against this specific opposition, the arguably over-achieving minnow, it was guile that was needed to save the day.

by **Farfadillis** » Sun Aug 23, 2020 6:34 pm

For most families in Farfadillis, one of theirs getting called up to the national team for the first time would be a huge deal. At the very, very least, a toast would be made, money permitting. Hugs would be shared, maybe some tears from the guy's parents, unable to contain their excitement. For twenty-two out of twenty-three players in the Farf squad, that had been true at some point. Rumor has it Aanderaa threw a party that ended with three dead, for example. He erred on the side of caution, according to some of his teammates.

Röémün, on the other hand, only got a "Huh? You too? Are you sure?" from his mother. It was hardly a surprise: she had never taken him to practice, or indeed bought him shoes. "Football's more your brother's thing, Röémün" had been her mantra throughout his childhood. She hadn't been mean to him, mind. She just hadn't ever considered him good enough at footy, unlike his brother. She was supposedly worried about his future, even when he managed to get a professional contract with Rülândéá Kôstä. The only matches of his she'd ever watched? Those against Mâ Âlâmëómë. To add insult to injury, Edmün had scored his fair share in those.

For most siblings, sharing a strike partnership for their country would be a dream come true. For Edmün and Röémün, though? They weren't really on speaking terms. Not really out of bad blood, but they'd largely ignored each other throughout their lives. Röémün didn't register in Edmün's radar, and Edmün registered in Röémün's far too much. Quîrijá's injury had given them an opportunity many would've killed for, and they couldn't care less about it.

You wouldn't have been able to tell from watching the game on the telly, though! It took them just ten minutes to score on the Flavovespians. A precise through pass from Çí Xôrí found a lightning fast Edmün at the end of it. The older brother ran all the way to the touchline while being closed down by Gardner. A skillful nutmeg later, a Röémün that had expertly snuck past the rest of the defense only had to slot it in. A brilliant play that would make their mother proud... of Edmün, no doubt.

The Flavovespians actually dominated for most of the game, specially in midfield. They managed to starve the two brothers of chances for over an hour after that. They also put three past the shaky Farf defense. A 3-1 loss to Flavovespia after the previous World Cup could possibly spell the end for Pam's tenure. But the two brothers came to the rescue. It wasn't quite a rescue, though: she'd been the one to make the bold decision of calling up Röémün after all. She was just collecting the fruits of her labor.

With twenty minutes to go, Faragó rue Cazade suddenly remembered he's the best player in the team, and unleashed a rocket of a shot promptly after stealing the ball from Buttery. The shot was good, but not perfect, and Meehan managed to save it. Röémün pounce on the rebound, though, and got to it just before May. Without enough space to shoot, he instead quickly turned and passed it to his brother, who smashed it past a recovering Meehan.

One would be forgiven for looking at a score sheet after the match and thinking Farfadillis turned up after the sixtieth or so minute. In reality, Farfadillis' second and third goals were very much against the run of play.

The equalizer finally came after Röémün was given a little too much space in the eighty-third minute. With a sudden turn, and using his strength and explosive pace to the fullest, he managed to get past May and find himself one-on-one against Meehan. He got to the ball just in time to flick it over the keeper, but found himself unable to finish his brilliant play as the ball rushed towards the touchline due to his rather heavy touch. Xíxì Êns he was not, and that was fine. He reached the ball right as it was about to go out for a goal kick, and sent it his brother's way while falling to the floor. With an empty goal at his disposal, Edmün scored the equalizer. "A fantastic shot!" Röémün was sure his mother would say.

Extra time featured an even more dominant Flavovespia team, which led to the two strikers not getting enough chances to make a difference. Somehow, the team managed to hang onto the result. For the penalty shoot-out, Röémün asked to go fifth, figuring he'd get the chance to score the winning penalty. He did score it. Remarkably, both teams all scored their first five penalties. For the sixth, Brian Buttery skied it. Edmün scored the sixth, sending a mediocre Farf squad to an undeserved quarterfinal appearance.

by **Valanora** » Sun Aug 23, 2020 6:39 pm

To achieve icon status not only within ones nation but across the entire footballing world, a person has to have a certain something about them that makes them a rare individual indeed, not just talent or achievements, but that little something extra that makes them enviable and so much more than just another one of great athletes that the world produces. To try and put words to that certain attribute is like trying to describe how the water is wet, how the sky is blue, or how animals defecate in the woods, it simply is and there is no real way of explaining what it is that these individuals possess, but you know them when you see them. There is without a doubt that the Eternal Empire has one of those individuals among its ranks, the legendary captain of the side of Laborious Hawk. A long time ago, a scribe once either in jest or perhaps in sheer awe of the man's skill suggested that words could never come to truly define Hawk's greatness and ability, yet rather it was his own attributes that would give words meaning instead. Hawk himself would likely laugh off the notion, yet there is no denying that he is one of the icons not just in Valanora but in the entire footballing world.

An icon of the game was the needle's difference in the AOCAF Round of Sixteen, with many fans still a bit glum about the draw that the side had been given despite winning their group, getting one of the most difficult of the knockout fixtures that was available to be drawn into, getting subregional rival of Siovanija & Teusland. Many in the Empire are already acquainted with this rising power in sports, with Raynor City United having their starting centerback be from the nearby nation, as well as the Calcuttas recently having played in the Championship series against the team during the World Cup of Hockey. Much as Banija before them, this southwestern neighbor has relatively quickly hit the ground running in all sporting arenas it feels like and the Marauders were going to have to contend with the new blood of the subregion if they were to advance into the Quarterfinals once more, just as they had during the World Cup a month prior. A few years ago, thinking the side would get back into the Quarterfinals of the team's two most important competitions seemed like a pipe dream, now it was only a single match away with players of great skill starting to come good for the Empire.

Their foes were fierce, their foes were ready, and their foes had nothing to lose and everything to gain from the fixture, were still in peak form having not had a break in the difficult schedule that tournament play provides. While the Marauders were nursing small knocks and fatigue, their foes had marched through a first knockout round to just be able to make it to the Round of the Sixteen in the first place, both thinking they likely had the advantage over the other due to the circumstances. Perhaps their foes were right, having opened the scoring just seventeen minutes in, with Lukas Tauscher putting his youthful exuberance and stamina to use and getting the opener. The Marauders were on their back foot under a hard press from their foes, yet they were not beaten just yet and after the half time whistle, the field began to tilt the wrong way for the opposition. Eventually Harlem Saxstrom put the finishing touches on a well crafted Vanorian move and brought the game level with just under half an hour to go. It seemed inevitable that the Marauders would grab a winner and dismiss their foes as upstarts, yet the winner never came despite the constant pressure of the Marauder attack.

Extra time whizzed by and you could see the legs getting heavy on the opposition players and yet for their tiredness, they stood tall and rebuffed each and every attack that the Marauders launched trying to find the winner. For a team that was likely both mentally and physically exhausted, you had to admire the way they were defending their goal and keeping the superior force at bay, leaning on a style that had worked quite well for their ice hockey counterparts. That defiance and resilience meant that the match was going to have to be decided by the dreadful way of spotkicks, a fate cruel to the loser and more often than not not reflective of the true balance of the sides. Each side had sent three players up and three players had converted, until Kogler had their shot saved but things were level again when Saxstrom's effort hit the wrong side of the crossbar and bounced out instead of in. Kramer stepped up to give Siovanija & Teusland the advantage, but a strong palm from the Vanorian keeper pushed the shot wide. Hawk stepped up and calm as you like with ice water in his veins took the penalty and floated it directly down the middle and underneath the crossbar, a small smile already on his face as he was turning back towards his teammates to celebrate their advancement.

The side would learn back in the locker rooms that they had survived a night of upsets, with many of the favorites falling victims to upsets in the round, including the hosts themselves who had entered the knockouts as the odds on favorites to win the entire tournament. With Equestria and Vilita & Turori eliminated, the field opens up quite a bit and all the teams remaining have to believe that it is there for the taking. For the Marauders, one strong team is replaced by another as well as another southwestern rival, the first one in fact in the form of former World Cup champions Farfadillis. Everyone knows what to expect when they faces the Farves, goals, goals, and more goals for added measure. Stopping the Farves from scoring is like trying to prevent the world from making a revolution around the star, it is not something that is feasible in the slightest. You have to outscore them, counter their every attack with deadly speed and precision of your own. It is not a type of game that the Marauders will enjoy playing but with a field open like the one before them and an icon leading the charge, it is not an obstacle that could not be overcome and the reward so sweet if it accomplished.

by **Equestrian States** » Sun Aug 23, 2020 8:43 pm

Quarterfinals Results

Northwest Kalactin 1–2 Audioslavia

Farfadillis 0–2 Valanora

Mriin 0–1 Starblaydia

Chromatika 1–1 Banija (1–1 AET) (3–2 pen.)

Semifinals Fixtures

#9 Audioslavia vs. #5 Valanora
at Grand Regal Stadium (cap. 81,955) in Canterlot

#7 Starblaydia vs. #14 Chromatika
at The Crownlands (cap. 92,955) in Manehattan

World Cup 81/82/83/84

© Sporting Times Daily 2020
Early exit not total failure--Dandalleion
by Fiona Devlin, National Soccer Writer

Although there was a measure of disappointment at the Commonwealth National Team's elimination in the Round of 16 of the AOCAF by Chromatika, the overall result was not seen as problematic when viewed in the larger picture of overall squad development.

Assistant Manager Friekder Dandalleion addressed the verdict rendered by the coaching staff upon returning to Baker Park, framing the experience in long-term progression for the squad that was limited in experience going in.

"We got a good amount of information on all of the players during our time in Equestria. The work put in during training and the performance in the group matches gives us better insight into the strengths and weaknesses of the men, and the staff will be able to make decisions on roster spots for future callups. Maestro (Ichi Tuzzzio) was pleased with the work rate and discipline shown during the tournament."

Moving forward from the regional championship, there will be a period of reckoning for some of the veterans in the NT player pool, and how much turnover will result from the play of up & coming prospects. There is bound to be another close look at the women's side of the NT setup in the near future under match conditions ahead of the leadup to Qualifying for the next World Cup in Drawkland and Newmanistan.

by **Audioslavia** » Mon Aug 24, 2020 5:48 am

The plan had worked perfectly.

For the Northwest Kalactin match, Sean Patterick had changed things up. Out went the marauding full-backs, Osorio and Puskas, and in came CA Paulinthal’s Angelo Castaldo at left-back and Holdenberg’s David Logan, nominally a centre-half, played out on the right hand side. The young, disciplined Logan offered little going forward, but would be there on babysitting duty to make sure Kalactianian firebrand Thomas Butler didn’t have it all his own way down that flank. The general plan, to soak the pressure and kill on the counter, should see the Bulls through if they could keep the enterprising Northwest Kalactin at bay.

It was touch and go for the first thirty minutes, as the light-blues moved the ball around at breakneck pace, trying to entice the Audioslavian defence out of position. Dalton United striker Jimmy McCarthy’s one-two with Steve Gilbert had broken the lines on the ten minute mark, only for the forward’s shot to cannon off the outside of the foot of the post with Stroud beaten. Logan’s lack of experience in the full-back position saw him out of position for a through-ball played down the flank, allowing Thomas Butler to latch onto the ball, cut inside and lay off a peach of a pass with the outside of his boot for Luke Dillan, whose shot was blocked by a lunging Leonardo Ceron, while on twenty-eight minutes a fierce cross from deep on the right was flicked over the despairing reach of Goran Stroud by the head of Murwelldobah FC striker Will Sanders, who could only watch as the ball clipped the top of the crossbar and disappeared into the stands for a goal-kick.

Northwest Kalactin had pressed on with renewed confidence but, in typical Audioslavian fashion, the Bulls ripped it away from them in brutal fashion.

Gilbert’s cut-back intercepted by Moses Moxey, whose short pass found Tigran Deschapelles. Deschapelles forward to Kyran Knudsen sprinting inside to the centre circle. Knudsen laid it back to Spijkers before sprinting off to the right, the opposite wing to where he normally operated, bringing the full-back with him. Spijkers found Rosel darting through the middle. Rosel, covered by both Matt and Lamar Hall, took a single touch before laying the ball off down the right flank into Knudsen’s path. Knudsen bore down on goal and shaped to shoot, but instead played the ball square. Santiago Rosel sprinted onto the ball and, although Martinez had made up the ground and made a lunge, was able to side-foot the ball into the corner. First blood Audioslavia.

Northwest Kalactin tired throughout the second half as they chased the game, with Audioslavia resolute in defence and stingy with possession when they were able to get some. The Bulls made little progress when they had the ball, whereas the Kalactanians always looked dangerous when in possession, and that finally paid dividends on seventy-six minutes as Cacho failed to properly clear Butler’s cross, allowing Jimmy McCarthy to find the rebound, take a touch, and sweep the ball into the opposite corner from sixteen yards out.

Northwest Kalactin were back in the game, but the light-blues had tired considerably in their quest for the equaliser. They had, according to the stats, had 65% possession for the first seventy-five minutes of the game, but enjoyed less than thirty for the final ten minutes as a young and physically fit Bulls side showed off their stamina. Santiago Rosel had a penalty shout turned down for clumsily tumbling over his own feet when trying to dart past Larry Martinez, and substitute Rickson Marañón had a shot well saved by Mark Romero, but the killer blow came on eighty six minutes, with Marañón and Moxey combining to open up space for Olly Masiku to arrive into, collect the ball and chip it over the advancing keeper for 2-1.

As expected, the match had reminded Sean Patterick of those early fixtures with Farfadillis in AOCAFs way back when. Cycle 63, a hyper-attacking Farfadillis team, buoyed by home support and still riding the high of having knocked out champions Pacitalia, brutally dispatched 4-0 via a cascade of second half goals as the Farves simply ran out of fuel.

Cycle 66, first round, Farfadillis opening the scoring, Audioslavia hitting three in reply, Ichi Tuzzio making it 3-2 before the break, but again, in the second half Audioslavia became stronger and the Farves had nothing left to give. 5-2. The sides met in the semis later on, Farfadillis again took the lead, Audioslavia again rallied in the second half. 3-2. A cycle later, in the World Cup quarter-final it had been the same story. 4-3 to the Bulls.

The Farves, of course, wouldn’t stay young and naive for long. Having gone oh-for-four against Audioslavia in the 60s, they went two-and-two in the seventies and, by now, had added three AOCAF Cups and a world championship to their trophy cabinet. Audioslavia hadn’t been in the same league as Farfadillis for years now. In the future, the same would be true of Northwest Kalactin. Better than Audioslavia? Not yet, but soon.

Thinking of history, Sean Patterick’s thoughts naturally turned to that which existed between Audioslavia and Valanora.

Two and two, two and two, one and one, two and… and?

Audioslavia’s RiVaLrY with Valanora had started in cycle 29. Okay. The so-called rivalry hadn’t started then, but that was the scene of the first matches between the two. Audioslavia had won both, taking the first 4-2 and the second 4-0, in what is still a record defeat for the Eternal Empire. Valanora had bounced back with two wins of their own, 5-0 and 2-0 in Audioslavia’s single-cycle return to the World Cup in the 37th edition. That 5-0 was Audioslavia’s record defeat.

Onto cycle 64, an AOCAF Cup final win for Audioslavia in Valanora by the same 4-2 scoreline, and a shoot-out victory in the semis of World Cup 67. Two more wins for Audioslavia.

The next AOCAF Cup, and a shoot-out victory for Valanora in the knockouts, before cycle 71 would see the Bulls lose comprehensively to Valanora in another AOCAF Cup final, losing 5-2 on a forgettable night for the northeasterners. Two won, two lost. Two won, two lost.

The Bulls beat the Marauders in cycle 73’s AOCAF Cup. Valanora beat Audioslavia in cycle 78’s, before two first-round victories in cycle 82, first in the AOCAF Cup, 3-2, and secondly on a memorable night for Audioslavia wherein, after having beaten Starblaydia in the opening game, they dispatched Valanora 3-1 in the second match to officially escape that Group of Death. Two wins on the bounce for Audioslavia.

The pendulum of the northeast/southwest dErBy would naturally have to swing back, and so it did in the last World Cup. Audioslavia, needing at least a point to have a hope of progression, were comprehensively out-played and out-thought by a relaxed Valanora side. Audioslavia, like the Farfadillis sides of old, had been too tense, too keen, and had paid the price. The Marauders had given them two dollars to go to the shop and buy some sweets and had slammed the door as soon as we’d left the house.

The pendulum was in mid-swing. All logic dictates it would finish the swing with a Valanora win over Audioslavia in the upcoming semi-final, restoring balance in the universe. It didn’t matter to Sean that the laws of inertia would dictate that the Bulls would almost certainly win the next one or two matches of the RiVaLrY. He wanted this one. Who knew which unsuspecting soul would be in charge for any future Bulls/Marauders game.

If Sean could take solace in one thing, it was that Valanora were currently in the process of bucking trends. They predicted the Farves would score on them in their second-round matchup - because Farves always score. It’s what they do - and held them to zero goals in a 2-0 win. They’d performed beyond their expectations in the last World Cup, went into a quarter-final with Baker Park expecting to overwhelm their opponents and had lost out. Perhaps the Vanorians would extend their trend of confounding trends to losing to the Bulls? But then if the trend of confounding trends is itself a trend… oh no.

Patterick had fired up his side before that losing encounter with Valanora in the World Cup. This time called for a different tack. A calm approach. Let’s not go all out. Let’s not lose our shape. And when we play our usual anti-Valanora tactics - diving, elbowing, shirt-tugging and generally being complete arseholes - we should do it because we’re looking for a narrow mental advantage, not because we secretly like elbowing elves in the ribs.

Audioslavians always figured they knew the cheat-codes when it came to the elves. Vanorians probably figured they knew the same thing about the Bulls - don’t get dragged out of position, ignore the small, ugly, smelly dark-haired git with the stupid accent saying shit about your mother as you lined up for a corner kick, turn the other cheek, rise above the chaos, know that a quick passing move on the edge of the box is going to work much better than a slow build-up, and for the love of god trip them if they get on the counter. It would therefore behoove Sean to do something the Vanorians weren’t ready for, and Sean Patterick figured the Vanorians weren’t ready for Eurico Da Rosa.

by **Ko-oren** » Mon Aug 24, 2020 10:54 am

A summer of sports with Leligun Thernasthen

One week later

Ferrovente
It's been quite the journey, one I'd be happy to make once again. Maybe next time, we'll go towards the western coast instead. Or maybe we'll do a more cosy trip along the bay cities, who knows. I never had to worry that the world would run out of sports. Once I was home, the AOCAF was not over yet, and I planned to watch the quarterfinals and onwards with friends and family from my home in Finisterre. Assuming the Dragonflies would make it there. Big assumption, apparently. Banija eliminated us while I was waiting for the train back from Amigerac, on the province border, to Ferrovente, and that was a strike through most of my 'welcome back' parties. The AOBS continued on, after group play on our own archipelago - and archipelago it was, with games played in Teragaseki and Echizen. Not the mainland. Maybe the government is learning to include some of the smaller places in its home venue selections.

Anyway, we wanted an AOCAF final, but we got at least the AOBS semifinals. 3-0, we moved on to a single knockout game in Vilita, versus Delaclava, resulting in an 8-5 win for the haphazardly selected team. The original plan was to have some sort of under 23 team, then learning a lot of players weren't released by their clubs, the association then resorting to grabbing players off the minor league teams - who were happy to let them go, for some reason - and now the team is about 90% under 23 with some out of place 30+ year-olds. We're not complaining, at least it's a tournament we're still in. Versus... let me get this right, a team I've never heard of and that's saying something... Pluvia and the Saxean Isles. Banija and Northwest Kalactin are the other semifinal - and please let us beat up Banija in whatever comes next.

The AO Bowl was another tournament scheduled to run alongside the AOCAF, but for American football. Not as much of a presence in southeastern Ko-oren, a group of players that fell just short of the Olympiad demonstration event, with some university drop-outs, lower league players (that are still hugely talented, thanks to our small league size), and Salamantic Universities Professors (our NSCF team) feeding into it. Placed in the Championship Group (hey! Sounds like our national league... and the AO Bowl colours are too familiar as well...) and coming in second there, the Surrogate Dragonflies did appear in the quarterfinals anyway - only the group's winner had a bye straight into the semifinals. This spot would go to Legalese. A 30-27 'walkoff-TD' win later, we're in the final four versus Turori, with aforementioned Legalese in the other semifinal. Versus Quebec of all teams, so there is a chance for an all Northwestern Final up next.

As more or less expected, the AOBC, the B for basketball, was a less successful affair. Basketball never regained its status, and remains only popular in the larger cities on the bay - if you can call it popular. A quick group stage exit versus Delaclava and Banija ended our hopes there.

When in doubt, blame Banija, apparently.

In between those, it's full Olympiad time for me.

Next AOCAF, I should be touring the region, actually.

by **Starblaydia** » Tue Aug 25, 2020 1:30 pm

There always comes a moment, as a coach, where you can't believe your eyes. Play on the football field, particularly at international level, develops in a myriad of mostly predictable ways, given the available experience of the participants in a reasonably similar environment. Sure, the odd completely out-there occurrence comes along every so often, but not that often. Entire tournaments can go by without the kind of uncommon occurrence where you just stare, open-mouthed, in disbelief at the events unfolding before you. If you're lucky, those sorts of things happen in your team's favour. If not, you can only stand there with tens of thousands of fans at your back as weird shit happens.

It was one of those moments for Aaron Cole. Standing in the technical area, arms folded, barking out orders on behalf of his manager. Ázëwyn Fëanáro certainly had her moments of standing on the touchline, pointing and yelling, but in general she was far too cool, calm and composed to be doing that sort of thing. That's why she had Jerzy 'The Chef' Makuszewski before, and that's why she had Aaron now.

The game was 0-0, drawing into the final few minutes of the Quarter-Final of the 61st AOCAF Cup, in Equestria. Starblaydia were on the attack against their regional rivals Mriin, who were ranked second in the region and one of the favourites for this tournament. Starblaydia, six times winners of the tournament, had unfortunately the millstone of 'several' generations since their last championships in this competition, the oldest and most prestigious of the regional cups, hanging around their next to drag them down under the weight of historical expectation like always. So, when Lucy Saraviva's shot from outwide the penalty area was gathered low at the feet of Dinii Eduun in the Mrii goal, this was not unexpected. Unhelpful, if anything, to Aaron's blood pressure, but not outside the realms of possibility or too far contrary to the prediction of the dreaded xG - 'Expected Goals' - statistical modelling. But when the Northern Stallions and Mriin goalkeeper decided to hoof - no pun intended - the ball out of the area, this was also a perfectly reasonable action for a goalkeeper to do in order to start a fresh attack in the dying moments. The fact she nearly took Starblaydi striker Marcus Jimenez's head off with the ballistic path of the ball, however, was the first sign that this was out of the ordinary.

Marcus, fairly predictably, questioned the trajectory of the football. Also predictably, it involved questionable and pointedly questioning phrases such "What the fuck do you think you're doing?", "Who the fuck do you think you are?" and similar inventive and exciting uses of the word 'fuck'. Marcus may even have invented a few new ones on the spot. He was, however, in addition to being exceptionally angry, also a remarkably clever footballer. His wild gesticulating and language to make a docker blush didn't combine itself with any threatening physicality, so the referee dismissed it as good old 'banter' and waved play on. The ball, at this point, was arcing its way well into the midfield.

Along came Noah Kranendonk, Starblaydia's dashing young defensive midfielder, who's job it was to deal with this sort of high ball dropped in just his side of the centre circle. Over he trundled, watching the flight of the ball and instinctively calculating in his mind when and where he should jump to be able to head it back from whence it came. All very normal stuff, except for the fact he slipped taking his final step before the jump. Skidding onto his backside along the damp grass, the ball did indeed bounce off his head, just not quite as intended. It was diverted, quite powerfully, along a much shallower flight path, directly toward the Starblaydi goalmouth. Starblaydia's two seasoned central defenders, however, stood watch like two towering colossi. Falka Kuamolainen, the languid veteran captain in her 101st appearance in the purple shirt, alongside the hulking, slathering beast - in relative terms - of Arn Renatovic. Either defender could have easily collected the ball in their stride and began another attack, and they both attempted this. Unfortunately, unlikely and entirely unheard of, however, they collided together before getting within five yards of the ball. The two defenders went down like the proverbial sacks of potatoes, scrambling on the floor to both get up, each hindering the other, wide-eyed and focusing on the ball sailing merrily by, with a look on their faces that simply communicated "Oh, no. That's bad."

When something uniquely unhelpful to your side's chances of winning a football match happens, just like that, you always hope that there's no opposition to capitalise on the mistake. You hope and pray that you eyes will scan across the field to the danger zone and there won't be a player in the white shirt with blue pinstripe and gold lettering rushing in to pick up the ball and do whatever they wanted with it. You're desperate for it not to be a fresh-faced young substitute with all the running in the world left in their legs, and definitely not someone with something to prove on the world stage by showing up a World Cup Hall of Famer managing the opposing side with a name entirely similar to theirs, and a play style that has been remarked upon to be similar as that of the aforementioned manager in their playing days. Definitely not.

So when Äzyr Faewin, wearing number 22 for Mriin, was sprinting onto the ball and into the gap left by the calamitous collision of the central defenders, Aaron Cole was in that moment of not being able to believe his eyes. She was poetry in motion, striding forward in the great long gait of her near-namesake, galloping through the open field towards the Starblaydi goal. Cosmo Leopoldi, green of shirt and gloved of hand, had a decision to make. Should he sprint towards her and try to narrow the angle and close her down? Or should he stay back, make her come to him, give her time to make a decision about a shot and hope that she over analyses it and ends up- nope, he's closing her down.

Faewin saw this and immediately made her own decision. With very little backlift, she clipped the ball with the tip of her boot and sent it sailing, a lazy lob well over the tip of Leopoldi's despairing leap, so high above him that he didn't bother to raise his arms to try and stop it, but could only land on his toes, turn and watch the ball drop through the Canterlot evening air. It span and curved its way towards the goal, dropping and seemingly taking forev-

Whack!

It ricocheted off the crossbar, bounced two feet away from the goal line, and delicately into the arms of Cosmo Leopoldi like a father cradling a newborn babe. And, in the spirit of most father's holding a tiny child, their first instinct was to give it back to its mother immediately before something terrible happened and they got a disapproving look for it. Äzyr Faewin still had her head in her hands, looking up to the sky over what might have been and what almost was, as Cosmo Leopoldi took a step behind her and absolutely launched the ball downfield with a throw like the arm of a trebuchet whirling around. This was no 95 kilogram projectile that had to travel up to 900 metres, however, this was a 15 ounce ball that had to travel approximately 100 yards downfield.

Normally everyone on a football pitch has their eyes on the ball, but at this point several players seemed to be distracted. Whether bemoaning Faewin's miss, admiring the two defenders untangling themselves, or something else, the ball's flight path, low and fast, was undisturbed until it reached the chest of Hope Roshanak. Starblaydia' current leading striker with thirty-three goals, she chested the ball, dampening the ballistic power of the long throw, turned 180 degrees to face the Mriin goal and took one touch of the ball with the outside of her left boot, knocking it into her path as she began a flat sprint. Although defenders came to cover the sudden thrust into the heart of their defence, they were too far away to be able to stop the powerful right-foot shot that blasted the ball towards the Mrii goal. Any half decent goalie standing there would have either punched or plucked the ball safely out of the air at waist height, but currently Dinii Eduun was still arguing with Marcus Jimenez, positioned to the left of her six yard box. Marcus has just gotten to the meat of his argument, namely the "Oh yeah? You and who's fucking army?" part of the verbal fencing, when Eduun broke off their tête-à-tête to try and stop the ball going in. She wasn't able to. Starblaydia had the lead in the dying seconds of the match.

Aaron Cole, standing at the sidelines in the technical area, arms closed, closed his mouth. It was only for the fraction of a second, though, long enough for his brain to send the message to the rest of his body to start cheering that instinctive, gutteral "Yeah!", along with the thousands of Starblaydi fans in attendance, as he punched the air with both hands and leapt across the line and onto the pitch.

"Football, eh?" Ázëwyn Fëanáro asked her assistants, sitting on the bench with a bemused smile of her own amidst the chaos all around her. "Brilliant."

by **Valanora** » Tue Aug 25, 2020 7:14 pm

Sean Smørdal has had something of a peculiar career, being the most notable young talent in the Empire after the Elves had disappeared, being a young player in the Raynor City United system. However there was a Qasden national team keeper in their prime ahead of him at United and the chances of him supplanting them seemed slim, so he decided to take his career overseas, moving to Starling of Nephara. Perhaps had he been more patient, things might have turned out differently, as it was, he had to still battle to grab the number one shirt at Starling, being a rotation starter for a few years before finally laying full claim to the number one shirt. All the while he was wearing the number one for the national team, even when he was not getting consistent starting time in Nephara, more because there was simply no one else who the national team could call up or remotely rely on. He was a national team start but a mere rotation player for his squad and many inside the Empire and outside of it said in not so hushed whispers that he was the major weakness with the squad.

Like most players, as he started to get the bulk of the playing time at his domestic side, his international form began to pick up as well, with solid if not spectacular performances the usual standard from the young man. While having the occasional howler of a game here or there, he was slowly becoming less of a liability and more of just another one of the players in the squad, if perhaps a bit maligned for when things did go wrong with the national team. It is a bit harsh now to think of a lot of the undue criticism that Sean suffered through those four or five years where the side was wildly inconsistent and he was on the wrong end of a few games where the defense in front of him was far from their best. However it is the keepers who usually get the brunt of the criticism when a side concedes more goals than what they are expected to, perhaps that is why they call the goalkeeper position the most lonely position in all of football and a position where only the mad and eccentric seem to strive in, where you need short term memory loss to keep your spirits up if things do go awry.

Enter the Quarterfinal fixture against Farfadillis, a national team and playerbase that is (in)famous for their offensive prowess and ability to score goals. A match of the Farves against the Marauders is typically billed in the prematch buildup as a match of an avalanche of attack meeting the methodical pressured attack and that goals are to be scored in bundles. Apparently no one gave Sean the memo, as he pulled off a match that will no doubt go down as the best match of his career, denying the Farves at each and every turned. The keeper played like a man possessed, as if he was already in the minds of the attackers as they bore down on his net and he predicted their shots before the ball had even left the laces of their cleats. Powerful shots were parried over or around the woodwork, while floated crossed were easily caught, and low drives were easily smothered by the man between the sticks. If you are to have a match of your career, their are few better places to do so than against one of the best offensive teams in all of football or in the Quarterfinals of the most prestigious of the regional championships.

With Smørdal denying the Farves at every attack, that meant that the work of the attacking players was lessened, as they need not track back as often to cover for the defensive unit. Pánfilo Veliz was made for a moment like this, where he is allowed to maraud freely down the wings and drift inside to put pressure on the opponents backline, and so he did when he was brought on as a substitute to start the second half. Not four minutes into the half and Veliz was undressing the whole right side of the pitch with his dribbling ability and it left Hawk and Hatsune both a bit of space at the top of the box. Hawk pulled a dumby run that allowed Hatsune to get a clean shot on net and it was driven in hard and low to the left side to open the scoring. The match was then well and truly won in the seventy-fourth minute when Veliz drifted in from the wing and put in a through ball that Thor Møller easily ran onto, rounded the keeper, and calmly slotted home into the open net. With Smørdal playing at the top of his game, the match was won and the Marauders emerged victors in a surprising fashion against Farfadillis.

Now the side takes on Audioslavia and by all accounts, the pendulum of results between the two sides swings back and forth in such weird ways that one might even say that the fates are playing games with us. The Marauders bested an Audioslavia side that needed a victory on matchday three in the group stage of the Finals to advance, it was a game that the Marauders hoped would announce their intentions to once again be among the world's elite. Unfortunately two matches later, Baker Park spoiled the party with their upset of the side, knocking the Marauders out a round before they had expected to be. A month later, it is Baker Park who was eliminated early and the Marauders who are now in the semifinals, yet Audioslavia is due a victory if the pattern of their results stays the same. The Audioslavia playbook says to get under the Marauders skin with dirty tactics that you expect from a bunch of low skilled has physical players rather than the footballing elite. They however are used to a stoic, methodical side from the Marauders, they are not used to the flamboyancy of Pánfilo Veliz, who will be given the start and the task to just attack at will and use that dribbling and crossing talent to harass the Bulls into submission, if it is possible.

by **Equestrian States** » Tue Aug 25, 2020 9:29 pm

Semifinals Results

Audioslavia 0–0 Valanora (0–0 AET) (3–2 pen.)

Starblaydia 2–0 Chromatika

Third Place Playoff

#14 Chromatika vs. #5 Valanora
at The Crownlands (cap. 92,955) in Manehattan

61st AOCAF Cup Final

#9 Audioslavia vs. #7 Starblaydia
at the Stadium of the Two Sisters (cap. 98,625) in Canterlot

by **Starblaydia** » Wed Aug 26, 2020 6:40 am

Sorry not sorry. Here's the reference.

by **Audioslavia** » Wed Aug 26, 2020 7:07 am

Full time of extra time. One hundred and twenty minutes of huffing and puffing and neither House Elf nor House Git had been blown down. Lottery time. Once again, Sean Patterick would go cap in hand to Lady Luck’s loanshark service and ask for just another day to pay back the enormous debt he’d accrued. And it was quite a debt.

Approaching the stadium on the team bus, he’d quietly clenched his fist and uttered a silent come on as the first drops of pitter-patter rain had flecked the window next to him. Two minutes later, thunder rolled. It rolled a six*.

Sharp elbows, gamesmanship and being a niggly douche is often a great equaliser for more modestly talented Audioslavia national sides such as the current one. If Valanora had proven anything in their comfortable and comprehensive steamrollering of the Bulls in the last World Cup it was that the death-by-a-thousand-pricks method of cheating wasn’t necessarily a powerful enough technique to completely level the playing field, especially when your opposition are capable of playing football, well, more capably than your own. Sometimes you need a little help from above. For some, that means god. For Audioslavians, that means rain, and lots of it.
 Sure, a soggy pitch necessitates playing the ball in the air, and despite the tenacity and athleticism of the average Audioslavian footballer not nearly being enough of a match for the ‘being six foot something’ of the average elf, a muddy pitch doesn’t half stop more skilled opponents from playing football.

Patterick had initially figured the ace up his sleeve to be the skilful and unpredictable Eurico Da Rosa, the playmaker he’d planned on utilising to give the Bulls an edge going forward, but as the rain kept falling and the dressing room window misted over, obscuring the view to the pitch entirely, he made a last-minute adjustment to the team sheet. Gone was the 4-1-4-1 formation. 5-5-0 would make a return. The formation that had gained him a reputation for being a cowardly villain in the last World Cup would prove to be his masterpiece in this AOCAF Cup semi-final.

David Logan would stay at right-back instead of Osorio, with Puskas reinstated at left back. Rastelli and Ceron would be joined by Alejandro Consuegra in defence.

In midfield, Cacho would retain his role of doggedly chasing the ball wherever it went (Cacho generally didn’t like you to call this approach ‘dogged’. He didn’t like the equating of his role as the shield of the defence to that of an angry Jack Russell) and would be joined by fellow DM Ariel Skidoomacher in defensive midfield. The rangy Moses Moxey would patrol the centre ground, with Kyran Knudsen remaining on the left and big striker Santiago Rosel shifted out to the right. Spijkers, an ever-present so far, or Rickson Marañón would have been better suited to that right hand side in normal conditions, but Rosel’s power made him better suited to the turf, and retaining him on the team sheet would make it appear that the Bulls were sticking to their normal formation.

As the match progressed, it became apparent that team selection hadn’t been so important after all.

The highlight of the first half was probably the sight of Aszterik Puskas sliding for the ball to try to prevent a corner, only for the ball to come to an abrubt stop in a particularly wet piece of turf and for Puskas’s slide to carry him into the advertising hoardings, over a particularly harsh looking bit of concrete. The dead ball would be taken control of by Yuki Hatsune, who would steady himself, look up, attempt to take the ball forward and slip on his face. Audioslavia goalkeeper, seeing that Hatsune had temporarily been taken out of commission, would take the opportunity to tear out of his area and boot the ball into touch, slipping as he did so, narrowly missing the prone Hatsune and sliding into Puskas, who had found his feet and was unsteadily making his way back onto the field, only to be hilariously upended by the enormous flying goalkeeper. Laborious Hawk took the throw-in quickly, straight to Panfilo Veliz, the young wildcard winger who, despite the conditions, had caused Puskas all kinds of bother on that flank. Veliz shot the ball high towards the empty net. Stroud, struggling to free himself from Puskas’s limbs, tried to scramble back but to no avail, as the ball fell from the sky with the rain and, much like the rain, landed in a puddle in front of the goal and stayed there, a foot in front of the line. Stroud pounced on it like a fat kid jumping into a pool, just before a racing Thor Møller got to it. Luckily for Stroud’s sake, Møller jumped over the goalie and tumbled into the goal net.

Throughout the second half, Valanora tried to press home thier height advantage. With the Audioslavian lines naturally venturing closer and closer to their own goal, those high balls into the box would become more and more effective, and the marauding 6’5 figure of Hawk more and more of a threat. This, however, was where Goran Stroud came into his own. A six feet and four inches, Stroud was easily the biggest Audioslavian on the pitch, and if there’s one thing Stroud liked more than anything, it was making sure everyone knew that his penalty area was his back yard. Cross after cross would be collected, punched or otherwise propelled away from the box by a keeper spending more time on the edge of his six yard box than in his actual goal. He was almost caught out twice, once from a deft lob from Harlem Saxstrom, once by a fierce Hawk long range shot that he was completely out of his position for, but was relieved to see the first hit the ceiling of the net and the second cannon off his left-hand post and out for a throw-in.

Throughout extra time, an increasingly breathless Valanora became more wasteful in attack, and Patterick rang the changes in attack, bringing on Spijkers and Marañón for a dog-tired Cacho and defender Consuegra, as Audioslavia finished the game back in their 4-1-4-1 formation. Rosel managed to register a first shot on target for the Bulls in the 116th minute, bringing a reaction save from Sean Smørdal from a near-post header, and Knudsen would almost grab a late winner from a low shot that ricocheted off the foot of the post and stuck fast in a puddle directly in front of a relieved Smørdal.

Full time of extra time. Lottery time. Lady Luck opened the door, looked Sean Patterick up and down and said ‘you’ve got Goran Stroud, what the hell do you need me for?’

As Thor Møller stepped up to take his, and the game’s first penalty, Goran Stroud stood on the edge of his six yard box, staring a hole in the approaching striker. Arms outstretched, legs apart, like a particularly frowny Vitruvian Man who’d read a book about mindgames and was practicing on his cat. The referee blew his whistle, Stroud retreated back to his line, Møller jogged forward and swept the ball casually into the top corner, with Stroud stood there, again having resumed his pose, not even watching the ball as it sailed past.

Rickson Marañón for Audioslavia. A sprint, a slip, a mis-hit. The ball somehow slicing into the bottom right hand corner with the goalkeeper’s dive impeded by the shifting mud beneath his feet. 1-1.

Laborious Hawk approached. Stroud assumed the position on the edge of the six yard box once more. Hawk smiled through one corner of his mouth, winked and, after Stroud had taken three steps back, smashed the ball hard to Stroud’s right, with the goalkeeper guessing correctly, but a full foot away from the ball as it rocketed over the line an inch inside of the post.

Next up came Moses Moxey for Audioslavia, nervously playing with his collar as he waited for the referee’s signal. Moxey ran through and side-footed the ball to the keeper’s left. Smørdal guessed correctly but was cautious in his dive so as not to slip as before, and could only direct the ball onto the back of the post with his fingertips. 2-2. Cue Goran Stroud’s T-pose routine. Whether this put Harlem Saxstrom off her routine as the striker ran up for her shot is anyone’s guess, but either way, Stroud stayed in position and watched the ball skim across the turf and onto the foot of the post, bouncing back out towards the striker, who put her head in her hands for a second before shaking it on her way back.

Santiago Rosel for Audioslavia. A slow run up but a powerful shot into the roof of the net above where Smørdal had been standing. Smørdal had crouched down on Rosel’s run-up, preparing to get as much purchase as possible for his dive. Rosel hadn’t noticed this. He’d been busy staring at the ball and daring it to try not travelling as quickly as possible in the general direction of the goal.

Eivind Strømmen hadn’t been on Sean Patterick’s list of ‘will probably take a pen if it comes to that’, but here came the burly centre-half to get some no-nonsense put-the-sodding-ball-in-the-net penalty taking done. Strømmen paid no attention to Goran Stroud’s antics, jogged up to the ball and launched it into the stands to the cackling approval of the Audioslavians stood there.

Audioslavia’s own shit-house defender Leandro Ceron repeated the trick a minute later, to the disgust of the same gaggle of Audioslavians.

Amalie Gundersen, a late Vanorian substitute, arrived to take penalty number four for the Marauders, and for the first time Goran Stroud’s presence would truly be felt, sprawling to his right and batting the ball away from the goal, drawing the Audioslavian staff onto the pitch in celebration and bringing a roar from the ten Audioslavian players in the centre circle, who became nine as Kyran Knudsen jogged towards the penalty area. Knudsen, being a bellend, paused his run-up twice before chipping the ball to Smørdal’s left. The keeper, watching intently, bounded over and caught the ball cleanly, rolling it back to the penalty spot with disdain and walking away.

Still 3-2 to Audioslavia, Goran Stroud went over to his goal-line, cutting out the mindgames routine entirely. Whether or not Jakob Larsen took this as an affront isn’t clear, but either way, the big midfielder’s run-up was impeded by a particularly soft piece of turf and, rather than jog back and retake the run-up, which the referee would have been fine with, decided to try to awkwardly side-foot the ball to Stroud’s left. Stroud guessed where the Vanorian was trying to do and launched himself in that general direction, getting his knee in the way of the shot and screaming in delight as the ball ricocheted out towards the corner of the area.

Audioslavia had supposedly been bound by fate to lose this match, what with the whole pendulum thing, but fate had given the heavens a shake and added just enough randomness for the Bulls to succeed.

Having dispatched Vilita & Turori and now Valanora, Audioslavia would be going to the final to play the other of Atlantian Oceania’s historical heavyweights. Fate may have been being kind to Audioslavia, but the message was clear.

*’Thunder rolled. It rolled a six is a line from a Terry Pratchett book. It’s a good line, but doesn’t really work on a roleplay forum. Rolling a six is usually bad for roleplayers.

**OOC: Neither I nor Star have finished RPing, so no early cut-offs please

by **Audioslavia** » Wed Aug 26, 2020 5:09 pm

10 Things that Encapsulate the Audioslavia vs Starblaydia Rivalry -
Number 7 will shock you!!

Brace yourselves for the returns of Blackberries, Dubstep and the far right being fringe and ignorable, because if the combatants in tomorrow’s AOCAF Cup final are anything to go by, we’re about to go back to the early tens. Any second now you might even see someone cutting about in a shirt with ‘Kirola’ written on it.

Audioslavia haven’t won anything of note since having spiky hair was a normal haircut for a person to have, and the last time Starblaydia’s trophy cabinet needed to be opened Netflix was making most of its money by sending DVDs by mail. Nevertheless, it appears the heady days of relying on the housing market are back as, this time next week, the streets of either Cathair or Jhanna will be full of people looking upwards and pointing and saying “that bus doesn’t have a top, I’ve never seen that before”

For those of you under four hundred thousand years old, I have some news for you: Both these teams used to play football very well. People from other countries used to point at Starblaydia and Audioslavia and say ‘my aren’t they ever so good at football’ and those people weren’t pointed at, laughed at or otherwise ridiculed.

Here, because as a journalist who still has hair I don’t know how to write an article without reducing the topic to a series of unrelated bullet-points, is a short guide to the rivalry. Claret versus Purple, Jaffacake versus Di Bradini, ~~Kirola~~ ediraf versus ediraf, Bulls versus We’re Too Cool For Nicknames. Audioslavia versus Starblaydia.

Audioslavia Versus Starblaydia Is…

1 - …Ignacio Borjon celebrating being sent off
With 20 minutes to go in the opening game of World Cup 82, Audioslavia were desperately holding onto a meagre two-one lead against a Starblaydia side that, due to typical Audioslavian shit-housery, had been reduced to ten men - A young Rickson Marañón had dived pathetically to the ground to get Arnold Navarro sent off early in the second half.

Ten-man Starblaydia, though, were running Audioslavia ragged and, on seventy minutes, Austin Dashwood arrived at the edge of the area to drill home the equalizer, with keeper Luca Zanardi well out of position from having initially flapped at a cross. Dashwood hit the ball cleanly but saw his shot saved by the fingertips of a diving Ignacio Borjon.

As we wrote at the time: Wait, what?

Celebrity Love Archipelago’s no-necked francophone ****boi Ignacio Borjon had taken on the mantle of goalkeeper and had dived to save the shot at point-blank range, leading to his being sent from the field by a referee for three reasons:

Three Reasons Why This Celebrity Love Archipelago Runner-Up Got Red Carded In This Local Derby! You Won’t Believe It When We Tell You What Number 3 Is! Please Read All Of This Inter-Article Article Because Otherwise We Might Not Maximise Our Ad Revenue And What Kind of Journalists Would We Be If We Didn’t *snip*

1 - …He Had Handled The Ball
He had handled the ball.

2 - …You’re not allowed to do that
You’re not even allowed to do that

3 - Also even if he was the goalie, he was outside the area, so it would still have been a sending off
Mate.

Upon learning that his infraction had happened outside of the penalty box, thereby giving Starblaydia a short-range free-kick rather than a penalty, Ignacio Borjon celebrated like he’d just scored a goal, or just scored with Chantella, 19, 36-24-36 from Crossport, who just loves to have fun and also to have a good time and also she just likes to be a free spirited person and also she’s a pisces lol.

Audioslavia would go on to win the game, despite the disadvantage of only having exactly as many players as Starblaydia.

2 - ..That Time Starblaydia Got Knocked out of the World Cup by Other Starblaydia

*record scratch*
Hi. I’m Tiberius Starblayde, former Lord Protector of Starblaydia, and you’re probably wondering why I have that scowl on my stupid face? And who’s that guy? Why that’s Lord Rikaard Van Honjiik. Who’s he, an Eredivisie Pro Evo regen? No, he’s the Minister for Sport for Starblaydia and he might have killed Ceri Salisbury - that’s his best friend Robb Di Bradini next to him who, yes, is also looking at him like he’d like to repaint his picket fence an interesting shade of bastard. What’s that in the corner? It’s a television, and on the television isn’t the game Starblaydia are playing against Nedalia, no, it’s the game that Audioslavia are playing against a team that is now called ’Starblaydia’ but back then was a different country called Nova Britannicus. Yes, it sounds like it should be the name of an encyclopedia for unreliable mid-nineties hatchbacks, but it’s actually a football team that’s scrapping a draw against the Bulls. The final whistle has, actually, just sounded, so Nova Britanicus have just got the draw, and that point has put them ahead of sixth-ranked Starblaydia in Group D, so that’s Starblaydia out. Because Starblaydia managed to draw a match they weren’t playing.

What happened to Tiberius, Rikaard and Roberto Di Bradini? Well Tiberius is dead, lol, and I’d tell you what happened to the others because, what am I, made of Research Time?

3 - ..And The Other Times the Bulls Gored Starblaydia on the Opening Day

One of the reasons Starblaydia needed Other Starblaydia to win that day was because First Starblaydia had lost on the opening matchday of the World Cup to Audioslavia by three goals to one. They’d done as much in World Cup 17, too, with a 2-1 loss to the Bulls, who were back then called the Slaves. Keep up. In World Cup 17, both teams made it through to the knockouts, but while 6th-ranked Audioslavia were upended by unfancied Aquillana, Il Viola Vile, as literally nobody called them back then, defeated favourites Europa Britannia to make the quarters, losing out to a team called Melmond. We assume voodoo was involved.

The Bulls beat Starblaydia 1-0 in the first game of World Cup 78 before, in cycle 82, that Borjon hand-ball kept Audioslavia’s 100% opening-day-of-the-World-Cup record in tact.

Five percent of World Cups start with Audioslavia beating Starblaydia. Fun fact, no?

4 - …Starblaydia Winning it on Audioslavian Soil

This isn’t a fun fact. Audioslavia were knocked out of World Cup 25 on their home turf by a Rejistania side that, a week later, couldn’t find their way past Di Bradini’s Starblaydia. Audioslavian soil was the scene of Starblaydia’s maiden World Cup victory, and the purples would only go from strength to strength from there, picking up four more titles over the next 21 cycles to become, along with Vilita and Valanora, the most decorated World Cup side in history.

Audioslavia wouldn’t get even a sniff of that for nearer 40 cycles.

5 - …Welcome Back and Fourk You

Audioslavia’s golden age were the immediate years after their return to international football in cycle fifty-nine, winning the Baptism of Fire tournament by beating Karditan (I wonder what happened to them?) and reaching the final of their first two forays into the AOCAF Cup, losing the first to Pacitalia and winning the second against the much-missed Andossa se Mitrin Vega.

The Bulls were full of confidence going into the opening matchday of the next AOCAF Cup, fully expecting to coast the group and retain their trophy. On that opening day they were to play Starblaydia, perhaps wondering if their World Cup hoodoo on their opponents stretched to the opening day of this tournament too.

Starblaydia 4, Audioslavia 0.

It did not.

6 - …The Match We Do Not Mention

A funny thing happened when Krytenia played their 1000th ever game in world football: They were still an irrelevant turquoise afterthought. Nevertheless, the Krytenians managed to win that 1000th game, and they did so against a team that… sick-bags at the ready… were called Audioblaydia.

Audioblaydia’s team were, as the name suggests, comprised of a mixture of Audioslavians and Starblaydis, The likes of Joe Copeland (ask your dad) or Dragan Kryznjak (ask your mum, and then perhaps your oddly tall and oddly dark brother that your dad eyes suspiciously whenever Kryznjak is on TV) turned out in claret, white and purple (don’t put those vomit-bags away yet) to lose 2-0 to the Krytenians, for whom Valrauncion was playing. I imagine he had a good old gutlaugh about that one after the game.

7 - …Jeremy Jaffacake Not Celebrating Audioslavia’s Win over Starblaydia because He Was Frantically Throwing Hard-Drives into a Bucket of Water

Audioslavia’s opening-day win over Starblaydia in World Cup 78 was the second time the Bulls had bested the Bastards that cycle. The first came in cycle 78’s AOCAF Cup, where a lacklustre Audioslavia were drawn into the same group as a frankly awful Starblaydia side who would lose 2-0 to the Bulls on the way to a sixth-placed finish in the six-team group.

If you’re imagining that the ~~famous~~ ~~notorious~~ buttflap Jeremy Jaffacake had a good chuckle about that result you’d be wrong. Jeremy Jaffacake had started the game as WCC President, but ended it scrambling out of a window and into a waiting helicopter as the WCC offices were raided by a group of agents who were aggressively curious as to exactly what had happened to various large sums of money. Whether or note said money had been pilfered by the Jaffacake in order to bribe referees, pay for lapdances or bet on Potato Futures (a stock option, not a Hinodejin footballer) remains unknown. What is known is that the agents broke into Jeremy’s office to find no Jeremy. In his place, a bucket of water holding bits of broken-up hard-drives.

He’s probably innocent. I accidentally watched four minutes of Krytenian football the other day and did the same thing to my tablet.

8 - ..Captain Kirk Besting Tiberius
Audioslavia manager Sean Patterick has already been on the winning side in an Audioslavia versus Starblaydia AOCAF Cup knockout match, specifically, he was the goalie in the quarter final in Cycle 72 where the Bulls bested the Purple Peril on penalty kicks.

Then-manager Alexander Kirk, nicknamed Captain Kirk from his playing days wearing the armband for the national side, noted in the post-match press-conference that he had 'singed Tiberius Starblayde’s beard'.

‘Tiberius Starblayde didn’t have a beard’ said the crowd.

‘Who cares he’s dead anyway’ Captain Kirk very much didn’t say. He was right though. In Universal Forum Time, the old Lord Protector had popped his clogs five years previously. Almost to the day, but not close enough for me to be able to do anything with that.

9 - …Audioslavian footballers starting every AUD-STB game by flagrantly disrespecting Starblaydi culture

The Raiigar is, aside from one of many hipstery references to formerly popular TV series Game of Thrones invented years before the TV show made it to air, a war dance performed by Starblaydi sports teams before international contests. General practice for an opposing team, if said team isn't full of complete bellends, is to respectfully observe the performance without appearing disinterested or appearing to try to stare down the Starblaydis. Audioslavian footballers are, of course, complete bellends, and so before tomorrow’s game you will, if you look carefully, see Audioslavia’s footballers mocking the ~~Primark Haka~~ Raiigar by dramatically and awkwardly mimicking its stomps and slaps and chest-beating and chanting the words to patacake patacake baker’s man.

Bellends to a man, but our bellends.

10 - …Karsten Eiger ****ing blootering it
Audioslavia beat Starblaydia in the final of World Cup 63. Karsten Eiger scored the winning goal. But then, that’s etched onto your soul forever, isn’t it?

Did You Like This Article? Why not consider doing something literally nobody in their right mind would ever do and pressing ‘yes’ when we show you, for the billionth time, that pop-up that says ‘do you want to receive notifications from Bullsfeed.co.as?’. Obviously nobody has done that yet, but we’re wondering what would happen. If you click ‘yes’ you’ll find all sorts of late-stage journalism garbage such as articles entitled ”Have You Been Wiping Your Arse Wrongly All This Time? Here’s a long article about something tangentially related to that utter nonsense question which, by the end of the article, we will still not have answered, but by then you’ll have clicked on one of the fifty links in the article so it’s cool” and also ”Which Celebrity Just Died? You’ll be kind of confused and frustrated when it turns out it’s not the one in this fucking picture” and ”You’ll never guess what this celebrity looks like now! but it turns out they just look older than they did and maybe fatter."

Also, to wish Sean Patterick's Audioslavia luck for tomorrow's game, click 'like' and smash the subscribe button on our new series The Moron Initiative, in which we'll use Apple's iMaps app and some royalty-free dubstep to illustrate famous moments in world football, such as that time that Bedistan player wore a hat or the scintillating 1-1 draw between Nedalia and Halfassedstates in World Cup 19! Also, check out the new miniseries 'memorable moments in Krytenian football', where Episode 1 of 1 describes that time they had to wear purple but got all cross and then they didn't wear purple.

World Cup 81/82/83/84

AOCAF 61 Final--Normal Service Resumed?
Scott McCrae
The Daily Mail National Football Writer

Reporting from Canterlot, Equestria:

When Audioslavia and Starblaydia face off at the Stadium of the Two Sisters in the Final of the 61st AOCAF Championship, it will reflect a shift of the center of power in the region that has been increasingly southwest oriented for several World Cup cycles.

Three of the four semi-finalists in the current tournament hail from the northeastern corner of Atlantian Oceania, after a run of sustained success by nations situated in, or adjacent to, the 'Glorious Southwest'; the previous edition of the championship that pitted the GSW vs the Legendary North East in group play served as a transitional shift in the balance of power, as centrally located Mriin & BP battled with Ko-oren & Cosumar for the title.

The finalists have a long standing rivalry that is both geographic and competitive; separated by the aptly named Straight of Champions, their mutual antipathy/loathing/begrudging respect has endured through the ups & downs of both nation's soccer history.

Chromatika and Valanora will face off to determine who will supplant Baker Park as the reigning bronze medalists ahead of the final day grudge match that will determine the best side in the multiverse's strongest and most successful region. It will certainly draw the biggest TV audience save the World Cup Final, and the result will affect the landscape of the sport over the duration of the upcoming World Cup cycle.

by **Starblaydia** » Thu Aug 27, 2020 2:13 pm

OOC: The wrestling opening is inspired by this famous promo building to the match that the previous poster was also referencing.

"...the only difference was, I was doing real good - Yeah - I was kontrapuntzeking like a champion - Yeah - but guess who shows up, for no reason at all, to get his grandstanding and hot-dogging in? You, man. You, Star Di Hogini - Yeah! - You just couldn't stand to sit back with your feet up and watch the champion in action! Well look at this, primadonna! Star Di Hogini, not only are you a hot-dog, a grandstander, a showboat and a primadonna, but you're a liar, too! You told some of the biggest lies that I ever heard of, in my whole life! You said the Champions League would never be in a dangerous position! You broke that promise, didn't you Star Di Hogini? And who had to come in, and make that critical save? The Audio Man, Randy Slavage, covering for Di Hogini again! And let me tell you something, you said you loved me like a brother, well listen to this one... I HATE YOU! I HATE YOUR GUTS! AND THAT'S WHAT'S GONNA BE LEFT, ALL OVER THE MAT...

<click>

"Well that was somewhat excessive," said Ázëwyn, as Aaron Cole switched the TV off so they could begin their strategy meeting. The AOCAF Cup 61 Final was just around the corner, and they had to put the last few tweaks to their game plan in order. At this level of the competition, everything could hang in the balance on just a single play in a single moment, and any fraction of a percentage they could swing the match in their favour was something to be looked at and implemented.

"Oh, that's just to whip up excitement among wrestling fans," Aaron replied, "they have to sell tickets for these things, you know, make every big match into some long-running blood feud with, like, sixteen years of history, or something."

"And, of course, they're all mates when the cameras are off."

"One does voice-overs on the other one's idiotic projects, yeah," Aaron confirmed, "it's dumb, but I like it."

"Quite." Ázëwyn said, not entirely specifying which part of the sentence she was agreeing with. "Did you see the papers, I mean, news websites today? Audioslavian ones in particular?"

"Not particularly?"

"Well," she slid a sleek black tablet displaying the Bullsfeed website across the table to him, "they're going with history, even the clickbait places."

"It is a long history," Aaron said absent-mindedly as he skimmed the paragraphs, flicking with a finger to scroll the article and occasionally tapping to close one of the many pop-up ads for Turorian Webcam Sluts and Krytenian male 'enhancement' pills, which was a weird combination of targeted ads, but always an exciting 11 letter word, "this little rivalry goes back, what, something like three hundred years to the first meeting in World Cup Finals?"

"Two hundred and seventy four," Ázëwyn corrected, "and Ahmed Ol-Wairain was the scorer for a 46th-ranked Starblaydia against a 6th-ranked Audioslavia on Matchday One of World Cup 17."

"SDB not on the scoresheet?" Aaron looked surprised. The legend of Simeone Di Bradini's playing was bordering on mythology at this point. Even though Aaron himself had better stats than arguably the most famous player in world footballing history, having played in eight more games and scored ten more goals, even the mention of that time period assumed that the particular Di Bradini in question was astride the world like a colossal genius. In reality, he was just the best, perhaps even going as far as to say talismanic, striker of an up and coming team climbing the rankings, paving the way for future players to achieve at the very highest level. Storied though he may be, they are still just stories, and Simeone Di Bradini had never lifted an international trophy as a player for club or country.

"Nope," she shook her head slightly, "not until the 3-0 over NEWI Cefn Druids, then again in the last sixteen win against Europa Britannia."

"That must have been amazing to watch."

"Nope," her head shake was more pronounced this time, "pretty dreadful journeymen, bar J.J. Stark and Simeone, they weren't all that good to watch live. Rodriguez Da Silva was alright in goal, Ceri Salisbury down the right flank behind Stark was a nice link up and dead ball threat, but the rest were just trying hard and doing their best with what little talents they had. Fairly effective team along the way, though, even if they couldn't beat Sarzonia. Or Iansisle. Or The Lowland Clans. Or Melmond. Or Audioslavia."

"Them again."

"Indeed," Ázëwyn shrugged, "but did you notice anything about our media?"

"Only that they're surprisingly low key about this final," Aaron offered, raising his shoulders in a matching gesture.

"Not a single one," she said, placing her hand delicately on the table, "is banging on about the past."

"That's... unsual," Aaron said. It really was; usually when the Starblaydi team came to a final, or a big, storied opponent against whom they have a ton of history, news outlets like the Jhanna Chronicle or the Daily Llama would be full of historical comparisons, all-time records, ancient co-incidences and omens to augur the direction one way or the other. The first meeting in Kaze Progressa in Starblaydia's first World Cup Finals match, the World Cup 63 Final, the AOCAF 53 defeat that ushered in a revolution at the SFA and Ázëwyn herself brought into her current job, the AOCAF 36 trashing, and many more. It was ingrained in Starblaydi journalism to talk about the past. To be fair it was a long and distinguished past, but at what point had it tipped that the journos talked about the history more than the future? Somewhere along the line it had become a crutch instead of an inspiration, a reason why success should come instead of the drive to actually achieve that success, and a millstone around the neck to drag them down, rather than achievements to look up to. Somewhere along the line, though, the ex-professionals, experts, interested onlookers, loudmouths and grifters - most of whom fulfilled more than one of those descriptions - had flipped it back around the other way, and moved away from resting on their laurels.

Looking back at what she had achieved, it was a fifth appearance in a Final for her teams. Two Under-18 Finals, an Under-21 Final and a World Cup Final were now joined by a Regional Final, all in the past fifteen years. Up until this point, however, the teams had only won a single one of those showpiece matches, the 7th Under-15 World Cup. Runner-Up at the 8th edition of that youth tournament, immediately follwed by Runners-Up in the World Cup. A year ago, her Under-21 side were Runners-Up to Valladares, and now they faced one of their old rivals, Audioslavia, in yet another Final. Historically, Starblaydia were not too bad at all in Finals, winning a little more than half the time, but recently not so much.

Perhaps that was the secret. They were one of the best teams in history that hadn't actually improved upon that history since the concept of modernity had begun at World Cup 47. The Vanorians, of course, had caught them up and then entirely blown past them in every single metric except 'major championships won', which is straw-grasping at its absolutely pedantic, bloody-minded finest and even then this 'success' only earns you half a point in the Untitled Elf Game. The Vilitans had caught them, too, with a team more dominant in the late 70s and early 80s of the World Cup than Starblaydia had even been, even in their pomp. Aguazul and The Holy Empire had both claimed four titles each in the time since Starblaydia had their record-breaking fifth, and that's without even mentioning successes in the intervening years from the likes of Osarius, Northern Sunrise Islands, Equestria, Schottia, Eura... and Audioslavia.

Them again.

From barely inside the top fifty in the KPB, Ázëwyn Fëanáro and her Starblaydia team had proven that the only way of climbing back into the world's elite was on the back of their own performances, setting out a bright future for themselves. With the construction of the new national elite performance centre - the oversight and administration of which hopefully couldn't be ruined, even by Valrauncion - Starblaydia were in a good place to move onward. Perhaps the Krytenians rallying cry had it right, after all: when you can't rest on your past glories, there's only stepping forward into the bright future that you have to build for yourself. This team were building it, brick by brick, for themselves, just like Simeone Di Bradini's side had done centuries before. This might not be the team that wins these glories, though. That might have to wait for the future, when taking that one extra step to championship gold falls to the next team or the next generation of players. A loss tomorrow against Audioslavia will not be all that much of a setback for a side who are still going about proving that they belong at the top table of the sport. Five Finals in sixteen tournaments paints its own picture, one that a Runners-Up medal would still highlight rather than detract from, even if it is in the same, renamed, stadium that Starblaydia failed to win the World Cup in exactly a decade ago.

They still wanted the winner's trophy, of course, and Ázëwyn Fëanáro and Aaron Cole were determined to do their best to make it happen. Not only for themselves, but for their players, for their fans and for the entire country of Starblaydia, so used to international sporting success but starved of it for so, so long.

AOCAF Cup LXI - Everything Thread

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