NationStates Jolt Archive

Welcome, nations, to the Baptism of Fire. This football (or, as some of us call it, soccer) tournament will prepare your team for the World Cup qualifiers. You have been drawn into five groups, and each team will play the other teams in its group once, with one bye day. The top two teams in each group will advance into the knockout rounds. Groups A and B will play in Zwangzug; groups C and D will play in Liverpool England.

Links go to team rosters, if those are available.

Group A

Komekong
Dancougar (http://forums.jolt.co.uk/showpost.php?p=13380190&postcount=4)
Cadarnia
Fujisawan Territories
Lake Arrowhead

Group B

Yafalonia and Bazor 2 (http://forums.jolt.co.uk/showpost.php?p=13382059&postcount=13)
Naboombu Umbongo (http://forums.jolt.co.uk/showpost.php?p=13382187&postcount=15)
Kirrin Island
Wing Wang Woo (http://forums.jolt.co.uk/showpost.php?p=13383340&postcount=17)
Ashlaea (http://forums.jolt.co.uk/showpost.php?p=13378874&postcount=2)

Group C

Samcoa (http://forums.jolt.co.uk/showpost.php?p=13380479&postcount=5)
The Turkic Shahdom
Kalmykstan
Beer Served Here (http://forums.jolt.co.uk/showpost.php?p=13380499&postcount=6)
Bull_horns_rule

Group D

Gweridijongya
Loutra oreas Elenis
Blouman Empire (http://forums.jolt.co.uk/showpost.php?p=13380529&postcount=7)
Bonto (http://forums.jolt.co.uk/showpost.php?p=13382795&postcount=16)
Dinos Pizza

Scheduling (for groups in Zwangzug anyhow): the numbers refer to the order the teams are given. (Lake Arrowhead and Ashlaea, for example, are represented by 5)

Matchday 1: 1v5, 2v4, 3 bye
Matchday 2: 2v3, 4v1, 5 bye
Matchday 3: 2v1, 5v3, 4 bye
Matchday 4: 5v2, 3v4, 1 bye
Matchday 5: 1v3, 4v5, 2 bye

After a break, the winner of each group will play the second-place finisher in the other group in the same country. The winners of those games will meet in the regional finals, with those winners determining the overall finalists. When possible, scores will be posted on or around 1:00 UTC.

OOC: If you (as the players behind the nations) have any questions about what to do, feel free to post them here, preferably with "OOC" to denote an out-of-character comment. Otherwise, post your RPs (roleplaying posts) in response to the games (or, in this case, the draw). Also, post rosters to let your opponents know who they're playing. Along with rosters, it's common to post an RP permissions box to let your opponents know what they should or should not to do to your team if they RP before you do.

Choose my scorers? Yes/No
Yellow card my players? Yes/No
Red card my players? Yes/No
Injure my players? Yes/No
Godmode (http://ns.goobergunch.net/wiki/godmode.html#Godmode_in_sports_roleplaying) injuries? Yes/No
Godmode scoring events? Yes/No
Godmode other events? Yes/No

White salamanders football presents
The ashlaea white salamanders

Pos/name/#/Age/special
GK Aaron bradley #1 20 Captain
Ls Zaric Stavun(umlau) #2 26
Lcs Cederick roeling #3 22
Rcs Jared Laeshneart #4 17
Rs Jaret Laeshnaert #5 17
Lm Alan peters #6 19
Cm world b. Free #17 23
Rm Manny lerenitas #8 21
Ls Nancy drew #9 27
Cs Fred weasley #10 20
Rs George weasley #11 20

Subs
D Tenicia Martinez #12 22
D slayer #13 21
M Jack the ripper #14 27
S Aneesee Baker #15 30
S xavier Baker #16 30

Manager nomar Tinose Blue jerseys

Ashlaea soccer presents
The white salamanders
GK Aaron bradley #1 20 captain
Ld Zaric Savun(umlau) #2 26
Lcd Cederick roeling #3 22
Rcd Jared laeshnaert #4 17
Rd Jaret laeshnaert #5 17
Lm Alan peters #6 19
cm World b. free #17 23
rm Manny lerenitas #8 21
Ls Nancy Drew #9 27
Cs Fred weasley #10 20
Rs George weasley #11 20

Subs
D Tenecia Martinez #12 22
D Slayer #13 21
M Jack the ripper #14
S Aneese Baker #15 30
S Xavier baker #16 30

Manager nomar tinose
Blue jerseys

The Kingdom of Dancougar Black Wings
Manager: Pat French (Head Coach, Hazuki State University)
Home Kit: Black shirt with horizontal white stripe, black shorts, black socks with white top
Away Kit: White shirt with black lining on sleeve ends and collar, white shorts with black lining on leg bottoms, white socks
Preferred Formation: 4-4-2 with defensive bias, described from time to time as a 4-2-2-2

Probable starters have been bolded:

G - 06 - Zachary Brandenburg (Jr., Rizzi College)
G - 02 - Peter Hawkins (Jr., Pollock College)
G - 10 - Anderson Price (Sr., Yuki State - Helmsley)

D - 53 - Tayler Allderdice (Soph., Hayward College)
D - 41 - Brandon Barclay (Jr., Chastain College)
D - 51 - Terrance Dominica (Jr., Vasco College)
D - 55 - Haseo Kanata (Soph., Shiba State University)
D - 64 - Andrew Nance (Sr., Pollock College)
D - 66 - Kensuke Saegusa (Jr., Amada University)
D - 58 - Tony Travers (Sr., Yuki State - Helmsley)

M - 84 - Boris Boskov (Soph., Barynsk College)
M - 91 - Warren Carsdale (Jr., Muddy Banks State College)
M - 86 - Kano Futari (Jr., Hazuki State University)
M - 75 - Jon Holmes (Jr., Friedmann College)
M - 92 - Jericho Leyton (Sr., Chastain College)
M - 33 - Akira Morimoto (Soph., Hazuki State University)
M - 40 - Fred Naylen (Sr., Aiken College)
M - 80 - Toshiro Sanada (Jr., University of Juusenkitai)
M - 27 - Hikaru Waya (Sr., Ouran College)

F - 15 - Jeffrey Cale (Jr., Port Royal University)
F - 12 - Hideo Ikeda (Sr., Hazuki State University)
F - 19 - Ben Wiseman (Jr., Donovan Academy)

RP Box
Choose my scorers? Yes
Yellow card my players? Yes
Red card my players? Yes
Injure my players? Yes
Godmode injuries? No
Godmode scoring events? No
Godmode other events? No

UNION OF SAMCOA.
The Samcoa team boss Sylvain Marbach has welcomed the news that the national squad will play in Group C of the Baptism of Fire tournament. He says his players have a tough job ahead but insists that "no mountain is insurmountable". He has also announced the playing squad...

GK V Longo*
GK B Colbourne
GK J Yushchenko

DF M Friesacher*
DF B Topolanek*
DF L Cissokho
DF A Jansa*
DF F Guintoli

MF G Scarrott
MF M Tadic*
MF M Magnussen
MF P Czekala*
MF I Basso*
MF L Kostunica*
MF L Saldhana

ST M Kogler*
ST T Melandri
ST J Poelvoorde*
ST A Vincini
ST D Voso*

*First-team selection.

MANAGER: Sylvain Marbach (Samcoa Hurricanes / Union of Samcoa)

KIT 1: Brown with orange "tusks" appearing from the shirt sides to the front
KIT 2: Navy with orange "tusks" appearing from the shirt sides to the front

OOC:
All RP types permitted with this squad.

Beer Served Here Releases Roster for World Cup of Football

BREW CITY - Beer Served Here's roster has been finalized for the Baptism of Fire stage. This stage is the first step to qualify for the 39th World Cup of Football.

According to the newly appointed team boss, Bill Krabonchanski, some tough choices had to be made in order to field the most competitive team.

"We had a record number of athletes try out and it was hard to make some decisions among such talented men," Krabonchanski said. "Ultimately I think we put together a team that can compete with anyone in the world."

Beer Served Here will compete in Group C during pool play. Other teams in the group include Samcoa, The Turkic Shahdom, Kalmykstan, and Bull_Horns_Rule.

Roster

G - 01 Steve Beck
G - 08 Adam Busch
G - 09 Jose Alvarez

D - 24 Fred Miller
D - 28 Rob Antonucci
D - 31 Oden Samuelsen
D - 35 Diego Blanco
D - 38 Greg Weiss

M - 10 Ryan Smithwick
M - 17 Dan O'Hara
M - 21 Klaus Ludwig
M - 25 Pierre Joliet
M - 33 Paul Klinker
M - 41 Ralph Kzryzenski
M - 44 Ivan Nobokov
M - 45 Terry Swain

S - 16 Fabio Restivo
S - 20 Pete Bailey
S - 34 Rico Hernandez
S - 51 Ziggy Mycanos

Manager - Bill Krabonchanski

Home Uni - Alternating green and white vertical stripes on jersey, green shorts, green socks, black boots.
Road Uni - Solid green jersey, white shorts, green socks, black boots.
Alternate/third Uni - Solid orange jersey, green shorts, green socks, black boots.

OOC: Allow all RP types

Official Press Release from the FFB

The Football Federation of Bloumany (FFB), wishes to advise all interested parties that the team for the Baptism of Fire Cup, to begin Bloumanys campaign for the 39th World Cup has been selected.

Manager: Luke Danner

Goalkeepers

#1. Henry Burner (GK) (28)
#23. Johnathon Marton (GK) (24)
#31. Jason Old (GK) (31)

Defenders

#2. Sam Kiamar (SW) (25)
#3. William Walker (CD) (22)
#4. Ahron Bricker (LB) (27)
#5. Richard Moaninton (RB) (20)
#41. Adam Issacs (LCB) (23)
#32. Henry Lorona (RCB) (28)
#25. Leonard Clappis (CD) (21)

Midfielders

#6. Steven Holdings (CM) (23)
#7. Alexander Lightfoot (LM) (27)
#8. Johnathon Flimar (RM) (21)
#88. Lord Jason Konogger (CDM) (22)
#30. Christopher Notting (CAM) (26)
#20. Kane Localman (LCM) (24)
#35. Maximillian Granis (RM) (28)
#49. Thomas Noble (CM) (27)

Forwards

#9. Christopher Speed (CF) (18)
#10 Martin Fox (ST) (20)
#11. Jack Junkson (ST) (24)
#15. Anthony Williams (ST) (27)
#19. Johnathon Seltard (LS) (25)

The FFB also wishes to announce that after much heated debate, two public competitions, a fan membership election as well as a court case the team uniform has been selected.
Home Uniform: Shirt, Red horizontal band on top and bottom quarter, thin royal blue horizontal band underneath top red band, thin green horizontal band above bottom red band and in the middle a gold horizontal band. Shorts, Black with thick white stripe down either side. Socks, Red
Away Uniform: Shirt, White. Shorts, Black with thick white stripe down either side. Socks, Royal Blue

RP Box
Choose my scorers? Yes
Yellow card my players? Yes
Red card my players? Yes
Injure my players? Yes
Godmode injuries? No
Godmode scoring events? No
Godmode other events? No

OOC: I was wondering if I could get the address for previous World Cups/Bof forums so I can see how to properly RP as well as seeing how games and results are played and presented? Also I may not be able to access a computer for the next 5 days and I hope that this won't affect the games

OOC: Here (http://forums.jolt.co.uk/showthread.php?t=541838) is the link to the last BoF. I'd recommend looking at The Pazhujeb Islands RPs, there are pretty much the pinnacle of BoF RPing. They tick all the right boxes

Length, Creativity, related to the Match, and most importantly interesting.

In the BoF and WC you want your RPs to be fun and interesting to read. Hope this helps all participating nations.

OOC: Basically what Baz said. I was in the same group as The Pazhujeb Islands for World Cup qualifying and it was a pleasure to rp games against them.

But remember be your own nation, be creative and most importantly have fun doing it.

Good luck to everyone participating.

Host announcement - We'll begin with Matchday One this weekend.

sorry bout dat up therehad whole theang nwritten but computer disfuncked and thought it hadnt been saved so did it again

JAKE: This telecast is brought to you in high definition on DSPN-HD... Now, on this special edition of DSPN College Gameday Built By Construction Hut, we take a look at the Dancougar Black Wings as they approach their first international competition - the 26th Baptism of Fire tournament, in Zwangzug and Liverpool England. Hello, everyone, it's good to have you here, Jake Matthews along with Dee Torso and Dirk Spiceroad, we welcome you to this special Baptism of Fire edition of College Gameday. So, guys, we're going to jump right into it. Pat French, the Hazuki State coach, almost unanimously appointed by the college conferences to head this team. Obviously, very different task from those he's faced before. More importantly, is he the right man for the job?
DIRK: Yeah, I think so. He's used to having good talent at Hazuki State, so he's definitely got the parts he needs to build this into a quality team. The most important thing to note, though, is his ability to build cohesion. When you go through as many players as you do as a college coach, it's difficult to remain consistent from one season to the next. He's been able to do that.
DEE: Five titles in six years, if that isn't consistent, I don't know what is. This is a guy who has a very clear picture of the game he wants to run. Good, solid defense, a few creative guys up front to provide the chances. They don't come often, but when they do, look out.
JAKE: They came often enough this past season, 40 goals for his team en route to the title. Most of those went to forward Hideo Ikeda, who headlines the Black Wing offence.
DEE: Hideo Ikeda is an excellent finisher. Get him the ball inside the eighteen and you're going to get a quality shot out of him. And next to him, Jeff Cale out of Port Royal, he's a bundle of energy. I think his mobility can keep defenders second-guessing, and use that to create chances.
JAKE: One of the things we were talking about before is that we were surprised that he's looking to bring out the 4-4-2 when the team itself is made up of lots of defensive specialists, in the midfield particularly.
DIRK: I want to draw some attention to Jericho Leyton, the senior out of Chastain, who's probably going to get the captain's band for the first match. He is not afraid to mix it up on any part of the field. And he was the anchor of that team - he has excellent recognition and knows how to direct players on the fly, he knows when he needs to pull back on defense. Boris Boskov, the other guy in the middle, sophomore, played very well this season for Barynsk, but didn't get too much exposure outside Igor Valley. But he's fundamentally sound and is excellent controlling the ball.
DEE: Let's not forget who else they've got on that line - Akira Morimoto, another Hazuki State product. This kid's a sophomore, but he's phenomenal! Five goals and twelve assists on the year, most of them coming from set pieces. He's deadly accurate and loves to push forward, and when he comes out of nowhere like that, defenses need to scramble, and that only creates more openings.
JAKE: Morimoto getting the nod over two seniors, Naylen and Waya. Benching Waya, in particular, surprised me. Is that Pat French showing some bias there, you think?
DIRK: I don't think he is. When you line the players up, and look at who was most productive this season, Akira Morimoto is easily one of the top two, three midfielders in the nation. He plays with a little more finesse than Waya, and he takes more risks, which are what make him so dangerous on the wing.
JAKE: Risk-taking, not exactly in Pat French's model, however, but they made it work during the regular season. What about experience, are you concerned at all that French is starting two sophomores in midfield, arguably the most important third of the field?
DEE: No. In the Baptism of Fire, everyone's a clean slate. They're all nervous, they're all as experienced as the next guy, so you have to go with talent. Boskov and Morimoto are mature players, and if you need to, there are quality players on the bench. You mentioned Naylen and Waya, there's also Warren Carsdale out of Muddy Banks, another low profile guy who played solid football this season.
JAKE: Good stuff, guys, we're going to take a short break. When we come back, we'll talk defense. You're watching DSPN College Gameday.

ANNOUNCER: DSPN College Gameday, brought to you by Construction Hut. When it needs to get done right, hit the Hut.
JAKE: Welcome back, everyone. Moving on to the defensive side of the ball, no shortage of options for the manager here. We were surprised that Vincent Magnus, the sweeper down at the Royal Academy, was left off the squad despite keeping his team on the right side of the result for most of the season, almost single-handedly.
DEE: Well, he was on that shortlist drawn up by the committee, but Pat French doesn't like to play sweepers. What was it he said?
DIRK: It was "Sweepers encourage irresponsible football," and that's a statement I only partially agree with. As a defender, if you know someone has your back, you have a little more leeway in terms of pushing up, challenging the ball, and making a stop. But at the same time, if that doesn't pan out and you leave one guy to deal with a mess, things can turn on you very quickly.
JAKE: But let's look at the guys he picked, specifically the two seniors, Nance and Travers.
DEE: These were two guys in a very tight league race, for Pollock and Helmsley, best defenses in the national, by the way. They just didn't give up goals there this season. They've got natural leadership ability, they keep cool under fire, and their conditioning is excellent. Andrew Nance, keep an eye on him, he's been known cheat forward as the game goes on, make it more difficult for opposing forwards to stay onside. He likes to get opponents out of their game, and if he can get on the same page with his line the way he did at Pollock, things might get very interesting.
DIRK: Yeah, but going back to what we said about irresponsible defense, that doesn't really fit into Pat French's gameplan, either. He doesn't like to run things like that, he focuses on solid, consistent play at the back. He'll pack the box if he needs to. Kensuke Saegusa is the kind of guy French likes. He's poised, doesn't make too many mistakes, no silly giveaways. Same with Barclay.
DEE: And, hey, don't forget the young guys, Kanata and Allderdice, on the bench. They can inject some serious energy into a game.
JAKE: So when you put that all together, what we have is a fairly solid team, two defensive midfielders in the middle of the field to help the back. There's youth all around, but what do you think about the goalkeeping selection?
DIRK: Well, it's good to see credit given where it's due. Peter Hawkins and Anderson Price, who gave up the second-fewest and fewest goals in the nation, are solid picks with good reflexes and awareness. The third choice, Brandenburg out of Rizzi, knows how to keep the team in a game.
DEE: And let me say this. Even though he gave up a few more goals during the regular season, Peter Hawkins has a conference title. And nobody made more clutch saves this year than he did. He faced an awful lot of shots.
JAKE: And since Pollock and Helmsley were short on the offensive side of the ball, their play was crucial to their success. Final thoughts on the roster, guys?
DEE: Overall, the committee did a good job of picking talent from a large number of sources - 23 players from 16 schools, when it would have been easy to take four of five from one place, four or five from another. Each player brings a little something special to the field, and that's important, because you want the other guys to keep guessing what's next.
DIRK: Yeah, and I'd like to add that because they spread it out so much, there aren't that many players here who have gone up against each other in league play. Even without that, though, they understand how important it is that they pull together and bring their best game. They're not likely to play against other amateurs come tournament time.
JAKE: The draw is out, the schedule to come. For more, you can point your browser our way, dspn.dan, keyword Baptism of Fire. Sportscenter is coming your way next.

Football Association of the International League of Yafalonia and Bazor , unofficially it is also known as Football Association of the International League (FAIL), but as Football Associal of the International League of Yafalonia and Bazor 2 is too weildy, most people call it fail.

FAIL's HARD Inter-International Team is Headed up by Yafalonia's Narin Valandar, and Bazor 2's Bob Tresgovsken.

Foward - Racheal Kneal(Bazor 2) - Rachael is known for her goal celerbrations, they leave alot to the imagination as she somehow makes people think she'll whipp of her top with-out ever doing so.

Defender - Umar Ventrarar (Yafalonia) - Big, tough, and stupid. He's pretty much your prototypical center defender. What he can't knock down, he runs over.

Defender - Barelien Koliensar (Yafalonia) - Less big and less tough, but he's still pretty stupid. Instead of trying to run things over, he tries to "surreptitiously" knock people down, resulting in a lot of fouls and a lot of cards from the referees.

Defender - Delorad Karhadoris (Yafalonia) - Much bigger, much tough, and a lot less stupid. He's pretty much the best defender on the squad, since he's actually good at knocking people down and taking the ball away. Plus, as an added bonus, he can actually pass a bit, too.

Forward - Alerian Doriak (Yafalonia) - He's rather abrasive and rude - he gets involved in lots of fights with referees, as well as with his managers, and his fellow players, and his fans, and those women who all want him very much, and his parents (though he regrets those), and his gardeners, and his pet bunny rabbit (he's named it Bunnicula), and you get the idea.

Midfield - Daris Caollan (Yafalonia) - He's actually the governor of a province in Yafalonia and Bazor 2 - he's a politician and has run for office. In fact, the only reason he's even got on the team is because he managed to start a petition and pressure the government, and do all kinds of things like that.

Midfield - Raethar Vanlaez (Yafalonia) - Caollan's running mate. He spends his free time as a male model.

Midfield - Frederick Hammerstead(Bazor 2) - Not afraid to get dirty, Frederick is never clean, infact somehow he manages to damage almost anything he comes in contact with.

Midfielder - Johnson Wolgenager(Bazor 2) - Wears glasses on field, he isn't blind or needs them, but he blieves they make a fashion statement as well as "You nerds, you can a soccer hero too." However it seems the amount of nerds actually being at soccer is, low, very low indeed, but that doesn't stop them virtually simulating soccer online.

Defender - Harry Delany (Bazor 2) - Harry, is oddly very long, he stands 211cm (7' 3") perhaps more at home in the basketball ring, his long legs make for great control of the ball, and greater talking range as well.

Keeper - Graham Noh'arms(Bazor 2) - Graham is notable in the team for the lack of arms, apparently after an altercation with King Arthur in which he lost his arms (claiming it was only a flesh wound). Graham gave up hs job as the black knight and started playing football. "You don't need arms for football!" That's his famous quote, however one might argue you need arms for being a goalie.

RP Permisions. Everything allowed. GODMODING ENCOURAGED FOR HUMOUR!

Mr Spoon stared down at his computer. They wanted a roster. They wanted a list of his squad. They wanted a list of footballers.

But Mr Spoon didn't have a roster, he didn't have a squad, he didn't even have more than 2 interested nationals at the trials - the burly Flying Squirrel landlord Stanley Butterbarrel and his 15 year old step-son Finbar. A strip? Mr Spoon panicked, his budget was already spent on a whistle and the "magic sponge". He glanced down at the yellow pores beside the desk. 10 WHOLE coconuts the multiplying trick had cost him from the Magic Shop he pondered, yet he was sure that's what the commentary had specifically spoken of? Forget the kit, without a squad Umbongo would have to withdraw anyway.

Suddenly, in the darkened study, Mr Spoon's weathered black phone began to ring. Mr Spoon reached across tentatively.

"Mr Spoon speaking?"
"Why hello, my name is Don Antonio Lorenzo"
"Erm hi Ant-"
"I hear you have a private plane charted to Zwangzug tomorrow, would I be correct"
"Why yes, I'm looking for volunteers to play in the......"
"Listen to me quick Mr Spoon, if we were participate in this erm "football game", we get to fly out of here tomorrow, no questions asked capiche?"
"I'm sorry..what?? we??"
"Yes, there are ten of us are wishing to make an escape-- sorry escapade into football"
"10, but that's, that's bril-"
"The names of the 10 are on your desk, under the sponge"
"But how did-"The phone was dead.

Mr Spoon pushed the sponge aside and sure enough a neatly folded letter lay underneath. He had just begun typing when the weathered black phone rang once more.

"Why hello" spoke the same dulcit tones of 10 minutes previously
"Yes Mr Lore-"
"Unfortunately there is a need for an ammendment to your squad list"
"Why yes Mr Lore-"
"I'm afraid Jumpy Al Gallo has been involved in an unfortunate fishing accident"
"But............."

The phone was dead.

NABOOMBU UMBONGO
Nickname - The Bongos
Markings - non-bibs

Staff
Manager - Mr Spoon
Half-time oranges and magic sponge - Mrs Spoon

Squad (12)
GK Stanley Butterbarrel (captain)
RB Finbar Butterbarrel
CB Butt Ugly Louie
CB Shifty Fabrizio DiMarco
LB Bruno the Shark
RM Alphonso the Mouth
CM Angelo Rubberface
CM Don Antonio Lorenzo
LM Toby Lerone
FC Mickey "Twinkle-toes" Cardez
FC Skinny Jack Tagliano

NB - Jumpy Al Gallo is no longer able to participate following an unfortunate fishing accident

TRAVELLING SUPPORT (2)
Nigel Wiggle
Keith Barnyard

Choose my scorers? Yes
Yellow card my players? Yes
Red card my players? Yes
Injure my players? Yes
Godmode injuries? Yes
Godmode scoring events? Yes
Godmode other events? Yes

The Community of Bonto is enthusiastic about participating in their baptism of fire football match. After reaching the regional championship finals of the Riviera dei Fuori, the expectations are now pretty good.

The streets are going to be empty because everybody is going to be in front of their computers to see the first match via streaming on the Internet (use of electromagnetic spectrum for TV frequencies has been deemed as obsolete and reallocated).

Democracy is a great thing, and we definitely love it, but voting the components of the roster via an Internet election has some counter-indications. We only have one central defender, and four left wings. Next time, we'll find some better idea.

The star of the team is the 34-year-old Torriglia, who decided to conclude his acclaimed career in the team of his native town and announced will resign after the world championship. With his great technical skills, and having played in the three biggest teams (Priamar, Ponente Potente and Levante Imperante), everybody in Bonto loves him.

The roster (probable starters in bold):

Goalkeepers

1 Marco CAMPINI (Ponente Potente), 33 years, 232,325,156 votes
12 Francesco LAGORIO (Veloce), 25, 120,523,753
22 Gabriele CANTELE (Alassio), 29, 87,234,251

Defenders

2 Carmelo GIULIANO (Ponente Potente), 32, 215,234,123
3 Lazzaro DE VINCENTI (Veloce), 33, 198,342,533
4 Elio BERTUCCI CASTELLI (Ponente Potente), 23, 194,235,145
5 Enrico BARALE (Priamar), 31, 163,234,124
13 Pierluigi RIVA (Levante Imperante), 27, 124,377,5558
14 Fausto LEQUIO (Priamar), 26, 82,861,197
15 Gianfranco SOSSO (Levante Imperante), 29, 63,575,997

Midfielders

6 Flavio OPIZZO (Priamar), 25, 207,375,263
7 Fabrizio PALEOCAPA (Priamar), 22, 204,305,451
8 Renzo TAGLIABUE (Ponente Potente), 34, 176,355,232
11 Mirko PIAVE (Priamar), 27, 163,684,725
16 Pasquale SACCOMANDO (Priamar), 26, 133,840,604
17 Camillo NOVELLI (Ponente Potente), 32, 103,350,563
18 Antonello RAVERA (Ponente Potente), 30, 74,689,028

Attackers

9 Fabrizio SORMANO (Priamar), 32, 221,423,124
10 Angelo TORRIGLIA (Orco-Feglino United), 34, 249,345,234
19 Luigi BARBERO (Priamar), 33, 187,670,933
20 Rossano SECOMANDI (Ponente Potente), 28, 184,504,257
21 Vincenzo FIORILLO (Ponente Potente), 25, 161,556,127

Trainer:Gianluca PIAVE (the father of Mirko Piave, a former good midfielder himself).

OOC:

Choose my scorers? Yes
Yellow card my players? Yes
Red card my players? Yes
Injure my players? Yes
Godmode injuries? Yes
Godmode scoring events? Yes
Godmode other events? Yes

The DR of Wing Wang Woo is delighted to participate in this tournament. With its only previous experience of international football the llama land international league (19 victories in 46 tournaments), Wing Wang Woo will start as underdogs but hope that we can prove our doubters wrong and progress. Star player Steve Bowie will captain Wing Wang Woo for the first time, having recently lead Wing City to their first league title since 2001. He has also won the LLCC (Llama Land Continental Cup) twice and has consistently been the highest scoring midfielder in the WWWPL 9Wing Wang Woo Premier League)

And now, Wing Wang Woo proudly presents our squad:

Goalkeepers

1 Steve BROWN (Wing City) Age 25: 37 caps/0 gls
12 Jackie O'HARA (Merton Town) Age 18: 4 caps/0 gls
22 Johnny MARR (Leyton Town) Age 40: 99 caps/ 0 gls

Defenders

2 Gary JOHNSON (Wing City) Age 22: 12 caps/2 gls
3 Peter POTTER (Aston Rovers) Age 29: 54 caps/0 gls
4 Elliot JOHNSON (Lassa Town) Age 19: 3 caps/0 gls
5 Frank MITCHELL (Wing City) Age 30: 36 caps/1 gl
13 Anton MARTINS (Dylanshire United) Age 26: 5 caps/0 gls
14 Daniel ROSE (Aston Rovers) Age 24: 25 caps/0 gls
15 Nigel MCINTOSH (Aston United) Age 28: 34 caps/ 0 gls

Midfielders

6 Phil DONNELLY (Bullingham) Age 21: 11 caps/1 gl
7 Steve BOWIE (Wing City) Age 26: 42 caps/17 gls
8 Robert CAMPBELL (Dylanshire United) Age 35: 60 caps/11 gls
11 Stuart BLAIR (Merton Town) Age 18: 1 cap/0 gls
16 Andrew THATCHER (Wing City) Age 30: 51 caps/6 gls
17 Nicky STUART (Aston Rovers) Age 21: 10 caps/4 gls
18 Oscar HARRISON (West Stanton United) Age 29: 62 caps/13 gls

Attackers

9 Syd BARRETT (Wing City) Age 24: 32 caps/18 gls
10 Peter HARRISON (Wing City) Age 27: 52 caps/12 gls
19 Kevin SHORTHOUSE (East Stanton) Age 18: 2 caps/1 gl
20 Ross BULL (Aston United) Age 36: 99 caps/37 gls
21 Jack FORSYTH (Lassa Town) Age 22: 13 caps/3 gls

Strongest line-up (4-4-2): Brown,G. Johnson,E. Johnson,Rose,Potter,Stuart,Donnelly,Campbell,Bowie,Barrett,Harrison

Manager: Mike Little: Former international striker (71 caps/33 gls) won the league 13 times as player and manager with Aston Rovers,Wing City,Dylanshire United and West Stanton United before taking over as Wing Wang Woo manager in March 2003

Home Kit: Red shirt, White shorts & socks

Away Kick: Black shirt, White Sleeves, Black Shorts, White socks

OOC:

Choose my scorers? Yes
Yellow card my players? Yes
Red card my players? Yes
Injure my players? Yes
Godmode injuries? Yes
Godmode scoring events? Yes
Godmode other events? Yes

LITTLE PREPARES FOR BAPTISM OF FIRE

Wing Wang Woo manager Mike Little has told the press of the preparations his team have made for the Baptism of Fire tournament. Little told the press "We've been drawn in a difficult group, but everybody in the squad believes we can progress. Wing Wang Woo are the most succsesful nation in the llama land international league, and we hope this experience will be enough." Little has lost just five out of forty-two matches as Wing Wang Woo manager since replacing the unpopular Harry Crawford in March 2003. Most recently, Little inspired Wing Wang Woo to an amazing 11 game winning run that saw them cruise through last years llama land international league, although that run was halted last week when the league opened with Wing Wang Woo drawing 2-2 with guest nation Mo Land 3.

how long till the 1st round of international tournaments?

OOC: About three hours.

who is Wing Wang Woo up against first?

Naboombu Umbongo: the full schedule is now in the first post, thanks for asking.

ah ok cheers

"Dude... I'm bored." Russ swung his chair around to face his roommate. "Summer semester sucks... nothing's happening. Nobody's here."

"Yeah," replied Peter. "I guess we could... go watch the football game?"

"Oh right, that Baptism of whatever," Russ said. "I guess that's a good way to kill two hours. But then what?"

Peter looked around the room and thought for a moment. His eyes settled on a video camera sitting idle in the corner of the room. He looked at his computer monitor, grinned, and turned back. "What do you say we HIT TEH INTARWEBS?"

"The what?"

Russ Pauli and Peter Klingenschmidt are students at the University of Helmut, one of the top schools in the predominantly Germanish part of the Kingdom of Dancougar. They're not academics by any stretch of the imagination, so to help them in their quest to eliminate boredom, they've enlisted the aid of Professor Friedrich von Steuben, with the results presented for your general bemusement:

"So, we're in the Baptism of Fire tournament, which is apparently for the noob teams of the world," Russ began, squinting to read the words scrawled on the whiteboard behind the camera. "We wanted to try and pin down our team's chances of winning this thing."

"You would imagine that everyone's got an equal shot, right, since everyone starts on the same page," continued Peter. "But there's lots of complicating factors at work, and here to help us determine a good way to measure potential is Professor von Steuben. Prof, thanks for, uh, being in our movie."

"Zees ees for eenternet, yes?" von Steuben asked.

"Yes, professor, you'll be famous, and stuff," Russ answered.

"Ah, vell zen, let us look at ze fektors," von Steuben began, holding up a notepad to the camera. "Es you ken see, ze..."

"Umm... are they going to be able to see that?" asked Russ. "That's like... tiny."

"I can zoom it, one second," Peter said, adjusting the camera. It now centered and focused slowly on the professor's notepad, which was clearly a shopping list of some kind.

"Ze fektors, in zees cahp, ees luck und writink," von Steuben continued, pointing to the first bullet point on the list, lederhosen. "Zee sports peoples, zey do ze talkink about ze players und ze gemms, und lots of good talkinks, in ze writinks, edd to ze luckinks."

"So, fashionable German legwear in suitable quantities..." Peter began, reading off the list, before Russ slapped him upside the head.

"Now, ze DEE-ESS-PEE-EHN, zey hev ze Gemmday, und zey had ze talkinks, in ze writinks, on ze team," von Steuben said. "Und I sink, und zees ees my sought, zat ze probability of ween ees due to frequent, conseestent use of ze vord 'solid.'"

"Of course, that makes sense, most of what sports guys say is mad lib anyway, right?" Russ said. "You know... player is an adjective position, with positive property, other positive property, and subtle positive property that will become important in a later discussion of the away goals rule."

"So, the best way to win is to describe the team as built for solid solidity, solidifying solidness solidly!" Peter concluded, throwing the camera a fake smile. "Thanks, professor!"

Bob Tresgovsken was sitting somewhere behind a desk on a chair, where it was or the surroundings where not important. What was important however was the fact that he was doing work. The Roster had been completed and sent off, and now it was time to look at who they were facing.

"Ah, Ashlaea, " he said out loud "Who the heck is Ashlaea." he thought in his head, it wasn't like they had any real knowledge of what was going on in the outside world while the civil war was still going on, and anyway technically the civil war is still going it's just suspended for now.

The first game was soon and he'd have to get 10.93 flights. The 11th flight involved being kicked out with a parachute so he could make the first game on time. What an interesting life being the co-head of FAIL was.

When he finally arrived at the match... He got on a publc phone, somehow it accepted his payment despite having no idea what the currencywas for enough time that he could mnake a decent international call home.

"Hi Josy."

"Yeah."

"What do you mean they haven't provided information about their players. We even told them about Graham Noh'arms, who has no arms."

"You don't even know what position they're playing in?"

"Ah damnit, This is going to be a farce."

"What, you saying it already is? Huh, what do you know."

and with that the call ended and Bob was there ready to see just how well, or how poorly the FAIL HARD team did.

RP cutoff for groups A and B: RPs after this will not count towards Matchday 1. Scores will be here shortly.

Group A

Matchday 1
Komekong 1-3 Lake Arrowhead
Dancougar 6-1 Fujisawan Territories


Group B

Yafalonia and Bazor 2 1-1 Ashlaea
Naboombu Umbongo 2-0 Wing Wang Woo

OOC: I'm assuming one matchday each day, scores at 1 UTC? E.g. matchday 2 is tomorrow, RP cutoff at that time?

OOC: I'm assuming one matchday each day, scores at 1 UTC? E.g. matchday 2 is tomorrow, RP cutoff at that time?

It will be one matchday a day, but scorination times might vary by a couple of hours as we can't guarantee we'll always be available at 01 UTC. We'll try our best to keep the gap between matches as close to 24 hours as possible.

This is also the MD1 RP cutoff for Groups C and D.

Matchday One (Liverpool England region)

Group C
Samcoa 9-2 Bull_horns_rule
The Turkic Shahdom 2-4 Beer Served Here

Pos Team P W D L GF GA GD Pts
1 Samcoa 1 1 0 0 9 2 7 3
2 Beer Served Here 1 1 0 0 4 2 2 3
3 Kalmykstan 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
4 The Turkic Shahdom 1 0 0 1 2 4 -2 0
5 Bull_horns_rule 1 0 0 1 2 9 -7 0

Group D
Gweridijongya 3-1 Dinos Pizza
Loutra oreas Elenis 4-3 Bonto

Pos Team P W D L GF GA GD Pts
1 Gweridijongya 1 1 0 0 3 1 2 3
2 Loutra oreas Elenis 1 1 0 0 4 3 1 3
3 Blouman Empire 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
4 Bonto 1 0 0 1 3 4 -1 0
5 Dinos Pizza 1 0 0 1 1 3 -2 0

(Random highlights with voiceover)
ANNOUNCER: This... is Sportscenter!
SCOTTY: The Black Wings take the field against the Fujisawan Territories, Dancougar's international debut! See whose nerves held in this Group A clash.
KENNETH: Other action in the Baptism of Fire's busy first day, from fishing accidents to parachute men, we saw it all. And who put up nine in their first match? Sportscenter, now!
(Fancy title screen! Da na na, da na na!)
(Studio)
KENNETH: Welcome to the program, Kenneth Prime along with Scotty Furr. All the big football news of the day coming up... Scotty, do I smell the pungent odor of athletic supporters and bluegrass?
SCOTTY: It must be a fire... OF BAPTISM!
(Highlight reel begins as they voiceover)
KENNETH: You know, I think, that you reversed that. Opening match for the Dancougar Black Wings, Group A against the Fujisawan Territories. Shaky start, here's a rip on goal four minutes in, and Hawkins with the extension, punches it wide! Settling down, 14th minute, free kick from twenty five, and Akira... MORR(rollllllll!)RRIMOTO! Curls it over the wall, top shelf, one nil to the Wings.
SCOTTY: Wicked vision to spot that. Hideo Ikeda, 22nd minute, stepover into space, top of the box, and nobody's going to stop that. He gets the goal, it's two nil. Pretty play in the midfield, Holmes just controlling the ball, rolling it on the line... you know, the lines are in play.
KENNETH: (deadpan) That's good to know?
SCOTTY: (chuckling) Five minutes before the half, still two nil, Ikeda takes the wall pass from Cale and bangs it home for his second, and it's three nil. Coach French, pumped!
KENNETH: Fujisawan trying to stay in the game right before the half, Hirotaka Shibukji breaks out from the corner, and he's brought down by Tony Travers. Yellow card, free kick, and Hawkins is beat by Shibukji. Three one at the half, and it's a ballgame.
SCOTTY: Circle wipe to the second half, Jeff Cale making trouble on the left side, beats the offside trap and goes in on goal. Look at the timing on that... we can do that, we have pause. Very close, but it's four one. Fujisawan letting it slip. Clumsy defense in the back, and Morimoto pounces on that. His second, five one, and the kids are all right.
KENNETH: Then there's Hikaru Waya. He's pretty good, too. Comes on for Morimoto in minute 73, and ten minutes later, he's on the board with this effort. Low, kisses the inside post...
SCOTTY: Kisses?
KENNETH: (unphased) ...and the Black Wings, winners, six goals to one. Boris Boskov also picked up a yellow for a tug in the first half, he and Travers still expected to start the next match.
SCOTTY: Kisses?
(Interview clip)
PAT FRENCH: We were able to create a lot of chances, but more importantly, we had the luck and the skill to finish. That game could have swung either way for awhile there, and once we settled into a rhythm, I think we showed what we can do when we're on form.

Russ Pauli and Peter Klingenschmidt are students at the University of Helmut, one of the top schools in the predominantly Germanish part of the Kingdom of Dancougar. They're not academics by any stretch of the imagination, so to help them in their quest to eliminate boredom, they've enlisted the aid of Professor Friedrich von Steuben, with the results presented for your general bemusement:

"All riiiiiight," Russ said, clapping his hands, "thanks to the fifteen of you who left comments on the last video. We are especially in debt to you, Bongman388, for your constructive criticism of my mother; rest assured that the problem has been addressed."

"Anyway," continued Peter, "no apologies after the Wings dialed six in the first game, good way to say hello to the rest of the world. Who we got next, Cadarnia?"

"Yeah, the guys with the bye," replied Russ. "So they'll have fresh legs, plus video of us, so they might have an edge."

"It's up to you, the fans, to cut into that!" Peter said. "So with us now, to tell us about ways to pump up the volume, Professor von Steuben."

"Yah, eets most emportant, es ze fens, to mek ze teem feel like eets home gemm," von Steuben began. "But ve hef ze rules zat leemit ze travel overseas, yes, so only fiftin, maybe tventy percents of ze shtadium ees filled vis our fens."

"So we don't have strength in numbers, what can we do instead?" asked Peter.

"Most common vay vee build ze eedentitis, ze fens vear ze team keet," von Steuben, reaching into his bag. He pulled a soccer jersey over his head. "Es exemple, I ver zees jersey for... err... 'La Galaxy.'"

"What is that supposed to be, Spanish or something?" asked Peter. "I mean, I failed that class, but at least I know that words that don't end in 'o' end in 'a,' that's like a rule."

"Yeah, great example, Professor, except for the part where it contains none of our team colors," added Russ.

"Eet ees goot exemple of ze ishue, ze Black Ving keet, zey peek eet too late to let ze asletic peoples make ze jerseys for ze fens," von Steuben answered, admiring how yellow and comfy he was. "Zees nice... So zey vear ze keet of zer college temm, perheps."

"They were still pretty loud at the last game, though, after the first few goals," Russ said. "Singing the anthem and stuff like that, that worked okay."

"Yes, und I sink zees vould help," von Stuben replied, pulling a black towel out of the bag to wave over his head. "You get sousands of zees, so zat you hef big sections of ze shtadium vis loud fens SPEENINK ZE TOWEL!"

"That would freak people out, man, seeing that," Peter said, grabbing another towel and joining the professor in a hearty spin. Russ gave them a weird look. "Yeah, like that! And they'd be all like... 'Oh man, here come the Dancougar Black Wings, this is going to be horrible!'"

"Ooo, zat ees vat ve call eet," said von Steuben. He and Peter turned to face each other and chest bumped.

"The... Horrible Hand-Towel?" asked Russ, scratching his head. "Doesn't exactly roll off the tongue... come on, that's so silly, that can't POSSIBLY work!"

Zwangzug RP cutoff, matchday two...

Group A
Dancougar 2-0 Cadarnia
Fujisawan Territories 1-2 Komekong

Pos Team P W D L GF GA GD Pts
1 Dancougar 2 2 0 0 8 1 7 6
2 Lake Arrowhead 1 1 0 0 3 1 2 3
3 Komekong 2 1 0 1 3 4 -1 3
4 Cadarnia 1 0 0 1 0 2 -2 0
5 Fujisawan Territories 2 0 0 2 2 8 -6 0

Group B
Naboombu Umbongo 0-1 Kirrin Island
Wing Wang Woo 1-1 Yafalonia and Bazor 2

Pos Team P W D L GF GA GD Pts
1 Kirrin Island 1 1 0 0 1 0 1 3
2 Naboombu Umbongo 2 1 0 1 2 1 1 3
3 Yafalonia and Bazor 2 2 0 2 0 2 2 0 2
4 Ashlaea 1 0 1 0 1 1 0 1
5 Wing Wang Woo 2 0 1 1 1 3 -2 1

Group C and D cutoff for MD2.

Matchday Two (Liverpool England region)

Group C
The Turkic Shahdom 2-0 Kalmykstan
Beer Served Here 0-2 Samcoa

Pos Team P W D L GF GA GD Pts
1 Samcoa 2 2 0 0 11 2 9 6
2 The Turkic Shahdom 2 1 0 1 4 4 0 3
3 Beer Served Here 2 1 0 1 4 4 0 3
4 Kalmykstan 1 0 0 1 0 2 -2 0
5 Bull_horns_rule 1 0 0 1 2 9 -7 0

Group D
Loutra oreas Elenis 1-2 Blouman Empire
Bonto 6-0 Gweridijongya

Pos Team P W D L GF GA GD Pts
1 Bonto 2 1 0 1 9 4 5 3
2 Blouman Empire 1 1 0 0 2 1 1 3
3 Loutra oreas Elenis 2 1 0 1 5 5 0 3
4 Gweridijongya 2 1 0 1 3 7 -4 3
5 Dinos Pizza 1 0 0 1 1 3 -2 0

Beer Served Here Shut Out by Samcoa

LIVERPOOL, ENGLAND - Beer Served Here is searching for answers after falling to Samcoa two-nil on the second day of matches in the Baptism of Fire Football Tournament.

"We had our chances in today's match," said Beer Served Here Manager Bill Krabonchanski. "However we can not win unless we play like we did in the first match."

Krabonchanski is referring to Beer Served Here's victory over The Turkic Shahdom in which Beer Served Here scored four goals.

Goalkeeper Steve Beck saved 15 shots on goal but allowed two in the loss.

"This was a team loss," said Beck. "If I stop those two shots we manage a draw. A couple shots bouncing our way and we're talking about a win in today's match."

With the loss, Beer Served Here falls into a second place tie with The Turkic Shahdom in Group C. Samcoa, the only team in Group C with an unblemished record, remains on top of the standings. Beer Served Here takes a day off today before their matches against Kalmykstan and Bull_Horns_Rule.

BOX SCORE

1 2 F
Beer Served Here 0 0 0
Samcoa 0 2 2

First Half
No Goals Scored

Second Half
57th Minute Samcoa - Kogler
88th Minute Samcoa - Voso

Shots on Goal: Beer Served Here 12. Samcoa 17
Saves: Beer Served Here 15. Samcoa 12
Attendance: 73,063

Dancougar 2:0 (1:0) Cadarnia

Goals: Brandon BARCLAY (DAN) 36', Hideo IKEDA (DAN) 62'
Cautions: Andrew NANCE (DAN) 22', Jericho LEYTON (DAN) 50'
Sent Off:

Dancougar Lineup:

Hawkins

Barclay Travers(Y) Nance(-52') Saegusa
Dominica(+52')
Boskov(Y)(-82') Leyton(-74')
Holmes Carsdale(+82') Naylen(+74') Morimoto

Ikeda Cale


BILL: Pardon the interruption, but I'm Bill Harbough. Jack, the Black Wings are two and oh! Are you excited?
JACK: I'm Jack Marengue, and I'm as stiff as my pre-show eye-opener. Woo!
BILL: Do you have any intermediate settings, something other than idiot?
JACK: I might, but you'll have to find them first.
BILL: I'll pass.
JACK: You would. Welcome to PTI, boys and girls. On today's show, Bill and I talk about the venerable World Cup of Icing Sport and why exactly we need to designate a hitter. But we start with the latest out of Zwangzug. The Dancougar Black Wings didn't blow anyone away in their two-nothing win over Cadarnia, but six points from two games is pretty good. Lots of positives to take out of this one, especially when you remember that Cadarnia had the first day off, so they got the extra preparation.
BILL: Definitely, and there was a lot to take away from this game. The big thing for me, though, was the isolation they got on Akira Morimoto. Akira wasn't given too many good looks, and I think he tired himself out trying to get into space and make plays.
JACK: He made good on that corner, though.
BILL: That's true.
JACK: He found Barclay cheating up on the back post, and put it right on his head.
BILL: But Jack, if the Black Wings are going to be a threat, Akira needs to be more effective, he can't just wait for dead balls.
JACK: I don't see it being a big problem, I actually think this is the kind of game Pat French wants to play. Nothing fancy, run it a few yards, play it square. Pack the back, don't let the opponents get the ball inside twenty. I counted, Cadarnia only got eight shots on goal the entire match, and Hawkins made easy work of them all.
BILL: So you're telling me that I should be happy about two-nil over six-one.
JACK: I'm saying you should be happy because it's three points, they did a lot of things right. Six-one, it's nice, but there's no way that even the best teams are going to do that day in, day out. Cale did come close to making it three, and shot wide. It comes down to good bounces sometimes, which can turn a nice win into a rout or the other way around.
BILL: There was still some sloppy defending. Two more yellow cards, to Nance and Leyton, and Leyton's was a particularly lazy foul, a push when he had help behind him. Jack, this is not what I like to see, and that's the more experienced players on the team getting saddled with yellows. Two games in, and already four guys are on the edge, and two of them are senior, starting, defenders.
JACK: That is a bit worrisome, but I thought French was going to need to sit them, anyway. Remember, the college season ended in December. The most work these guys get in the spring are exhibition games, and those come few and far between. This is the first major action for these guys in several months, and they're tired. You can see the intensity they're trying to bring, but they need the responsibility to manage their own fitness, and that, if anything, is my primary concern right now.
BILL: Next game is against Komekong, who have a win and a loss, what do you think?
JACK: I don't know what to think. I was trying to get some information about this team, but their national federation's website, you would expect something from that. But all I got was a page about domain piracy and a link to cheap herbal Viagra.
BILL: This Group A that we're in, this is probably the most unknown group of the bunch. Teams show up, and you're not sure if they're actually the one you're supposed to play. I want to say that I like our chances, but you don't know which team is going to show up - the one that lost to Lake Arrowhead, or the one that beat Fujisawan.
JACK: We're taking a break, when we come back, we talk pucks! Hopefully, we'll understand the two line pass by the end of the segment.
ANNOUNCER: Pardon the Interruption, brought to you by Sir Alec Lite. That's no moon, that's great taste, fewer calories!

King Daniel folded the morning newspaper under his arm and waltzed into the main hall. A host of advisers and staff bade him good morning as he made his way to a large reclining couch. "Pleasant news, gentlemen, another victory for the team."

"Indeed, sir, the news has been all over it. The loosened restrictions on international travel are still taking some time to push through, though."

"We were going to direct some of the discretionary funds in the budget to arrange additional charter flights to... Zangzug, was it?" asked the king. Dancougar was, admittedly, not a nation that could claim to be on top of the international scene. But those around him understood what he meant, as there had been an intense discussion the night before regarding the correct pronunciation of the host. The consensus was that the 'w' had to be silent; there was no way that combination of letters made a sound.

The court's resident chesspert chuckled silently to himself, while the court itself collectively wondered why they still kept that goon around.

"Those are taking some time to deploy, unfortunately."

"I do hope we can fill more of the stadium for our next match, the level of support is not enough to cheer our players to the next level... oh, while we're on that," said the king, reaching into his pocket and extracting a patch of black cloth, "I read on, 'the internets,' that fans have taken to waving these black hand-towels in support."

"Indeed, sir, they are like a sort of permanent, stationary confetti."

"... Yes, well, I would like, during matches, for government offices and my residences to have black draped from the balconies and windows where possible."

"Very good, sir."

"And I have also heard that the people do not receive DSPN, and can not watch the matches at home?"

"No, sir, the baseline service paid for with tax credits does not include it."

"Then for the duration of the tournament, regardless of our team's performance, we must make it available."

"Very good, sir."

"One last item, what is the progress of the National Stadium's construction? It must be ready for the beginning of qualifying matches."

"Well..."

At the construction site...

"So... we just bought the Construction Hut."

"What, all of it?"

"Yeah, I figured that was easier than going through and picking out stuff."

"Huh... so, uh, that's great, but we need steel for the main body."

"But I figured we could use these lovely windowpanes for the royal box, and we can even put a gazebo in the..."

"Get me the goddamn steel!"

"Right, right..."

Disappointment in Wing after poor start

Fans all over Wing Wang Woo's capital city have been remonstrating against the poor start that their national side has made to the Baptism of Fire tournament. Star man Steve Bowie has shone but otherwise WWW have been hugely disappointing, losing 2-0 to Naboombu Umbongo then drawing 1-1against Yafalonia and Bazor 2. With WWW bottom of their B of F group and also struggling in the llama land league, for the first time since his appointment manager Mike Little is under intense pressure. Many believe it is already too late for WWW to gain a respectable group position, and many squad members have publicly badmouthed Little's tactics. If WWW don't get it right in their next game, there will be trouble for Little,Bowie and each under-achieving squad member.

Rp cutoff, Zwangzug, matchday 3...

Group A
Dancougar 2-0 Komekong
Lake Arrowhead 3-2 Cadarnia


Pos Team P W D L GF GA GD Pts
1 Dancougar 3 3 0 0 10 1 9 9
2 Lake Arrowhead 2 2 0 0 6 3 3 6
3 Komekong 3 1 0 2 3 6 -3 3
4 Cadarnia 2 0 0 2 2 5 -3 0
5 Fujisawan Territories 2 0 0 2 2 8 -6 0

Group B
Naboombu Umbongo 1-2 Yafalonia and Bazor 2
Ashlaea 1-2 Kirrin Island


Pos Team P W D L GF GA GD Pts
1 Kirrin Island 2 2 0 0 3 1 2 6
2 Yafalonia and Bazor 2 3 1 2 0 4 3 1 5
3 Naboombu Umbongo 3 1 0 2 3 3 0 3
4 Ashlaea 2 0 1 1 2 3 -1 1
5 Wing Wang Woo 2 0 1 1 1 3 -2 1

Matchday Three (Liverpool England region)

Group C
The Turkic Shahdom 0-3 Samcoa
Bull_horns_rule 3-2 Kalmykstan

Pos Team P W D L GF GA GD Pts
1 Samcoa 3 3 0 0 14 2 12 9
2 Beer Served Here 2 1 0 1 4 4 0 3
3 The Turkic Shahdom 3 1 0 2 4 7 -3 3
4 Bull_horns_rule 2 1 0 1 5 11 -6 3
5 Kalmykstan 2 0 0 2 2 5 -3 0

Group D
Loutra oreas Elenis 1-2 Gweridijongya
Dinos Pizza 0-1 Blouman Empire

Pos Team P W D L GF GA GD Pts
1 Blouman Empire 2 2 0 0 3 1 2 6
2 Gweridijongya 3 2 0 1 5 8 -3 6
3 Bonto 2 1 0 1 9 4 5 3
4 Loutra oreas Elenis 3 1 0 2 6 7 -1 3
5 Dinos Pizza 2 0 0 2 1 4 -3 0

Dancougar 2:0 (0:0) Komekong

Goals: Jeffrey CALE (DAN) 58', Akira MORIMOTO (DAN) 80'
Cautions: Tony TRAVERS (DAN) 18'*
* Second yellow, suspended one match
Sent Off:

Dancougar Lineup:

Hawkins

Barclay(Y) Travers(Y) Nance(Y) Saegusa(-68')
Allderdice(+68')
Boskov(Y) Leyton
Holmes(-71') Morimoto
Naylen(+71')
Ikeda Cale


The locker room was vibrant as the reality sank in - with nine points, the Black Wings could finish no worse than second. The only face that showed the slightest bit of disappointment was Tony Travers, whose second yellow barred him from playing in the final first round match. "It's okay, man, it's okay, you'll be fresh for when it counts!" said Nance, giving his teammate a pat on the back.

"All right, all right, settle down!" called French. "Three wins are nice, but that doesn't give us anything. The next game is for placement, so get some rest, it's business as usual until we're done." The team cheered in reply, with Morimoto and Ikeda giving their coach a pat on the back as he passed by. They were used to winning conference titles, but this was a surprise to everyone.

"No way I'm not enjoying this!" declared Leyton, the big midfielder. "Think he'll let us out on the off day?"

"Doubt it," replied Ikeda. "What did you have in mind?"

"You seen some of the girls around here?" Leyton asked. He let out a whistle, and a few of the guys threw him a look of general agreement. "We keep winning, we get visibility. They know who we are, man."

"And I suppose your brilliant mind is already formulating some deeeeelicious pickup lines?" asked Barclay with a smirk.

"Whoa whoa, take it easy on him, the man needs some words first!"

Meanwhile, in the Kingdom of Dancougar...

The king woke up after another party at the court celebrating the team's continuing success. He knew that the most difficult matches lay ahead, but even these few wins were bringing joy to people from all walks of life. For some reason, though, the halls of the royal palace were draftier than usual. Chilly, even. He looked around him and noticed a break in the wall created by a line of jacks, creating about an extra foot of vertical space.

"Um... why are these all here?" he asked to the first passerby.

"Ah, sir, during the celebrations last night, you requested that we raise the roof. We did it last night while you were asleep and hope it is to your satisfaction."

"You... do know that wasn't meant to be taken literally, right, it's just a saying?"

"A thousand pardons, sir, we naturally assumed that..."

"If I had started with, 'By royal decree,' then it would have been a command. I mean, this is a cheap way to cool the place, but I doubt it's very... stable."

"Shall we return the roof to the building?"

"Please do."

"Very good, sir."

"Blody Heck! We finally won something, no thanks to those penalty handing out Yafajerks." Exclaimed Bob quite excitedly at the end of the match against Naboombu Umbongo.

"You want to say that again?" said the bulk of a man known as Umar Ventrarar, a Yafalonian Central defender who was roughly the cause of about 1/3 of total FAIL HARD's team penlties, a large figure and growing rapidly every match.

"I will, YAFAJERK! Wanna piece of me huh, huh, Wanna piece of me. Come and try to take a piece of me!" Umar was confronted by Graham Noh'arms, the keeper of the team and Bazorite. Umar totally forgot about Bob's slight and just laughed at Graham. "You and what army? 'armless, you don't even have any arms!"

"But I have legs, I'll kick you!" Graham stated as he ran over to Umar and started kicking him in the shins. This didn't seem to phase Umar at all who just glared down at the legs of the keeper, and looked at his face. He just grabbed the leg and he easily ripped the leg out of the socket. "HAh, I'd like to see you kick me now!"

"Bah, Tish only a flesh would I'll hop at you."

At this time Bob's face was really perplexed... "He should be dying from blood loss."

"Anyone can see he's not bleeding, and people say I'm dumb!" retorted Umar.

There was nothing that Bob could say to that, he was burnt by Umar, something which just shouldn't happen.

"Right. Off with your other leg then!" Umar exclaimed as he ripped off the other appendage.

"Tis only a flesh wound. I'll bite you!" Graham said as he fell forward biting Umar on a very sensitive area.

"Gah! Get it off get it off, Kill it, Kill it!" exclaimed as he danced around the room scared something might happen to little Umar. With a struggle the two of them finally exhausted themselves.

Graham Noh'arms in pieces all over the floor and not a speck of blood anywhere and Umar Ventrarar exhausted on the floor "Well, I'm glad we've got a bye next matchday!"

Rp cutoff, Zwangzug, matchday 4

Group A
Lake Arrowhead 2-2 Dancougar
Cadarnia 0-3 Fujisawan Territories


Pos Team P W D L GF GA GD Pts
1 Dancougar 4 3 1 0 12 3 9 10
2 Lake Arrowhead 3 2 1 0 8 5 3 7
3 Fujisawan Territories 3 1 0 2 5 8 -3 3
4 Komekong 3 1 0 2 3 6 -3 3
5 Cadarnia 3 0 0 3 2 8 -6 0


Group B

Ashlaea 0-2 Naboombu Umbongo
Kirrin Island 1-1 Wing Wang Woo

Pos Team P W D L GF GA GD Pts
1 Kirrin Island 3 2 1 0 4 2 2 7
2 Naboombu Umbongo 4 2 0 2 5 3 2 6
3 Yafalonia and Bazor 2 3 1 2 0 4 3 1 5
4 Wing Wang Woo 3 0 2 1 2 4 -2 2
5 Ashlaea 3 0 1 2 2 5 -3 1

JAKE: This telecast is brought to you in high definition on DSPN-HD... Now, on this special Baptism of Fire College Gameday, the Black Wings can clinch the group with a win today. We have all the latest news out of Zwangzug and Liverpool England. Hello, and welcome to College Gameday Built by Construction Hut. In about an hour, the Dancougar Black Wings will take the field against their final opponent of the first round, Lake Arrowhead, in the stadium right behind me. The towels are waving already as fans stream inside, and we will have full coverage of the game following this presentation. Jake Matthews, Dee Torso, Dirk Spiceroad; guys, I'm sure you can feel it, this team is excited.
DEE: And they've earned it, they've gotten in done in the first three games, and a tie against Arrowhead today all but clinches first in the group. But Arrowhead has played some very good football, two wins from two matches, they can't ask for more than that. It's going to be a great game, I think.
DIRK: It will be, because Arrowhead also knows that placement is at stake. They control their own destiny right now; a win puts them in the driver's seat, they have another match still. We can say that the Group A winner will emerge from this match, how clear they'll make it for us remains to be seen.
JAKE: The big questions today, speculation over the lineup. Pat French has made it clear that they're going for the win, but you have Travers out with a second yellow, and your playmakers are tired, plus a lot of them are on a yellow. Advancement is secure, so do you rest your starters?
DIRK: Not all of them. I think it's important that some of the guys be fresh, the defense especially has looked tired the last few days, and that's been leading to some of those bad fouls. But in midfield, you need to keep those guys in the rhythm they've developed. Morimoto was back on form against Komekong, he had that late goal to ice it, and he was finding space again, which is what you like to see from your playmaker.
DEE: Yeah, I agree, some of the guys I think can take it, and guys who sit will end up with two matchdays off, and I think that's a good way to go into a knockout round. What I do want to see, though, is bring in some of the younger guys on defense, and get them some experience. It would also be nice to see Waya and Naylen get some playing time in midfield. The seniors have earned their spot on the team, and they've done well as subs, I'd like to see them get a little more broken in.
JAKE: But guys, going back to the yellows, a few bad plays could see as many as two or three starters pick up suspensions in the same game. And the injury bug has thankfully stayed away, but as fatigue mounts during the tournament, we're may see that play a factor. The guys on the bench, should they get overworked now when they might have to step up and start later?
DIRK: Well, that's precisely why you want to get them into the game. In a high pressure situation like that, you don't want to come in cold. You want to have a good feel for the turf and the speed of the game, and you're not going to get that in just practice and a few sub-ins.
DEE: Dirk, I agree with you, one hundred percent! There's talent on this team that hasn't been utilized yet, and the longer they sit, the less effective they'll be down the line. The Wings have done very well so far, ten goals in three games, but there's times they've looked shaky. And the ability to plug in someone off the bench, and have him be in the fame of mind to be effective right away, that's power. That's depth.
JAKE: Good stuff, when we come back, we'll pump up the volume. Jericho Leyton, miked up for the Baptism of Fire. You're watching this special edition, of DSPN College Gameday...

(OOC: Bah, just missed it!)

Dancougar 2:2 (1:2) Lake Arrowhead

Goals: Jericho LEYTON (DAN) 20', ANDERSON (LAH) 28', ANDERSON (LAH) 33', Boris BOSKOV (DAN) 83'
Cautions: Andrew NANCE (DAN) 33'*, Kano FUTARI (DAN) 58', WILLIAMS (LAH) 68'
* Second yellow card, misses next match
Sent off:

Dancougar Lineup:
Hawkins

Barclay Allderdice(-64') Nance(Y) Kanata
Dominica(+64')
Boskov(Y) Leyton(Y)
Naylen (-62') Sanada(-74')
Morimoto(+62') Waya(+74')
Wiseman Cale


JAKE: ... Aaaaand welcome back to those of you who just finished our bonus coverage of the Fujisawan Territories three-nil win over Cadarnia, and before that, the Dancougar Black Wings fought back to a two-all draw with Lake Arrowhead. You're watching the College Gameday Postgame Show, Built by Construction Hut. Guys, Pat French rested a few of his guys, but the defense was looking pretty shaky without Tony Travers in the middle.
DIRK: I think he got overconfident, and this team came out like it, sort of just kicking the ball around and trying to send a message right off the start, and when Leyton got that goal twenty minutes in, what were we all thinking? Another win for the Wings.
DEE: But the defense couldn't find the answer for that big man up front, Mista Anda~son! He followed that rabbit hole to the back of the goal, Hawkins had no chance against that first shot, hard and low away from his dive. And five minutes later, Andrew Nance comes flying in with the clumsy tackle, that's his second yellow of the tournament, and Anderson capitalizes on the free kick. The defense was rattled, and instead of fighting back, they started to get away from their game plan. They thought it was going to be easy.
JAKE: Very easy to fall into that trap, especially when things have been going your way all tournament long.
DEE: You know, Arrowhead was asking the questions up until French began bringing on his reserves, and the guys just weren't answering. Wiseman was ineffective. Sanada was ineffective. Tony Travers was the glue on that back line, without him, this team looked lost and wasn't building anything.
JAKE: They'll have him back for the next match, but without Nance, can you see the same thing happening again, Dirk?
DIRK: It very well might. Pat French will have some work to do on the off day. Morimoto and Waya coming in at the end, they started pushing up more and creating more chances, that's the kind of game they needed to play, and it opened up for Boskov at the end to get the equilizer. But now, teams are going to be questioning these guys' depth. In the next round, the Wings are up against talent of the same quality, if not better. They have to step it up.
DEE: Some silly play in the back, losing control of the midfield, they got lucky that they got a point out of this game.
JAKE: With that, Lake Arrowhead has a shot at first place, but they'll need a six goal win to do it. Meanwhile, Pat French has some extra time to prepare for the elimination round, let's hope he makes good use of it. That will do it for us here from Zwangzug, the final once again, Dancougar two, Lake Arrowhead two.

Matchday Four, Liverpool England region

Group C
Bull_horns_rule 1-0 The Turkic Shahdom
Kalmykstan 0-3 Beer Served Here

Pos Team P W D L GF GA GD Pts
1 Samcoa 3 3 0 0 14 2 12 9
2 Beer Served Here 3 2 0 1 7 4 3 6
3 Bull_horns_rule 3 2 0 1 6 11 -5 6
4 The Turkic Shahdom 4 1 0 3 4 8 -4 3 E
5 Kalmykstan 3 0 0 3 2 8 -6 0 E

Group D
Dinos Pizza 1-0 Loutra oreas Elenis
Blouman Empire 1-2 Bonto

Pos Team P W D L GF GA GD Pts
1 Bonto 3 2 0 1 11 5 6 6
2 Blouman Empire 3 2 0 1 4 3 1 6
3 Gweridijongya 3 2 0 1 5 8 -3 6
4 Loutra oreas Elenis 4 1 0 3 6 8 -2 3 E
5 Dinos Pizza 3 1 0 2 2 4 -2 3

Beer Served Here Nears Berth in Knockout Stages

LIVERPOOL, ENGLAND - Beer Served Here's footballers are one step closer to the knockout stages of the Baptism of Fire tournament following a three-nil win over Kalmykstan.

Striker Fabio Restivo scored two goals and midfielder Ryan Smithwick added one goal and an assist for the scoring in the match. Goaltender Steve Beck saved 14 shots in a solid effort on the defensive end that frustrated the Kalmykstan side throughout the match.

"It was a solid all-around effort thoughout the match," said Beer Served Here team manager Bill Krabonchanski. "We still have some work to do to reach the knockout stages but right now we are going to enjoy this victory before tomorrow's match."

With the win, Beer Served Here eliminated Kalmykstan from contention for the knockout stages. Beer Served Here's next opponent is Bull_Horns_Rule, who defeated and eliminated The Turkic Shahdom by the score of one-nil. Currently Beer Served Here and Bull_Horns_Rule are tied in the points standings with two wins each. However Beer Served Here holds the advantage in goal differential meaning that they can clinch second place in the group and advance to the knockout stages with either a win or a draw.

"We're just concerned about playing hard tomorrow and going out with a win," said Restivo. "We know that we are in for a tough fight and expect Bull_Horns_Rule to give us their best shot."

BOX SCORE

1 2 F
Kalmykstan 0 0 0
Beer Served Here 2 1 3


First Half
17th Minute - Beer Served Here - Restivo
40th Minute - Beer Served Here - Smithwick

Second Half
67th Minute - Beer Served Here - Restivo

Shots on Goal: Beer Served Here 19. Kalmykstan 14
Saves: Beer Served Here 14. Kalmykstan 16
Attendance: 73,063

Rp cutoff, Zwangzug, matchday five...

Group A
Komekong 2-0 Cadarnia
Fujisawan Territories 0-1 Lake Arrowhead

Group B
Yafalonia and Bazor 2 2-0 Kirrin Island
Wing Wang Woo 0-4 Ashlaea

Which would give final group tables of

Pos Team P W D L GF GA GD Pts
1 Dancougar 4 3 1 0 12 3 9 10
2 Lake Arrowhead 4 3 1 0 9 5 4 10
3 Komekong 4 2 0 2 5 6 -1 6
4 Fujisawan Territories 4 1 0 3 5 9 -4 3
5 Cadarnia 4 0 0 4 2 10 -8 0


Pos Team P W D L GF GA GD Pts
1 Yafalonia and Bazor 2 4 2 2 0 6 3 3 8
2 Kirrin Island 4 2 1 1 4 4 0 7
3 Naboombu Umbongo 4 2 0 2 5 3 2 6
4 Ashlaea 4 1 1 2 6 5 1 4
5 Wing Wang Woo 4 0 2 2 2 8 -6 2

had not Lake Arrowhead and Kirrin Island ceased to exist. With them eliminated (or receiving an eighty-point deduction), Komekong and Naboombu Umbongo take second place.

Thus, the regional semifinals will pit Dancougar against Naboombu Umbongo and Yafalonia and Bazor 2 against Komekong. There will be a one-day break before the knockout rounds.

This is also the RP cutoff for groups C and D, the results of which will appear here shortly.

Group C
Samcoa 3-1 Kalmykstan
Beer Served Here 2-0 Bull_horns_rule

Pos Team P W D L GF GA GD Pts
1 Samcoa 4 4 0 0 17 3 14 12
2 Beer Served Here 4 3 0 1 9 4 5 9
3 Bull_horns_rule 4 2 0 2 6 13 -7 6
4 The Turkic Shahdom 4 1 0 3 4 8 -4 3
5 Kalmykstan 4 0 0 4 3 11 -8 0


Group D
Gweridijongya 2-1 Blouman Empire
Bonto 2-1 Dinos Pizza

Pos Team P W D L GF GA GD Pts
1 Bonto 4 3 0 1 13 6 7 9
2 Gweridijongya 4 3 0 1 7 9 -2 9
3 Blouman Empire 4 2 0 2 5 5 0 6
4 Loutra oreas Elenis 4 1 0 3 6 8 -2 3
5 Dinos Pizza 4 1 0 3 3 6 -3 3


Knockout matches in Liverpool England: Samcoa vs. Gweridijongya and Bonto versus Beer Served Here.

OOC - sorry guys I've been in Amsterdam for the last 3/4 days - will try to catch up for the second half of the tournament!

"Winner, winner... cheeeeeeee~icken dinner!" declared Hawkins, digging into his meal. Matchday five was a day off, and some of the team had decided to kick back before the next game. This was a chance to sample some of the local cuisine, which was more agreeable than what they would get back at team headquarters.

"You sure that's a good idea?" asked Morimoto, armed with a salad fork and a meal which met all PETA standards. "The last thing we need for you is to be bloated."

"Relax, this is good and lean," said Hawkins, taking a big mouthful. "Bethides, I needth pwothein fwo mah legths."

"Of course you do..." Morimoto sighed, plunging his fork into a tomato.

"So, Jere, how go your plans to hit the town big time?" asked Barclay. "Still waiting for your chance with the ladies?"

"You bet!" Leyton replied with a smile. "We make it to the finals, I'll make this happen. Any of you guys want in, I got lines to spare!"

"I will certainly sleep easier tonight knowing you're an ace matchmaker, but I'd prefer that you keep the day job," laughed Ikeda.

"Hey, Pete, you ever think it's weird how we never eat dude chickens?" asked Barclay. "Like, a dude chicken isn't even a chicken."

"Ah, I have, and it's not bad!" Boskov answered. "Back home, we always kept a small garden and a few animals when my dad couldn't get work, so we'd always have food. Well, rooster died one day, and it was so bad that month, we had to eat him. And it was quite tasty."

Barclay's face broke out into a huge premeditated grin, as if a horribly lame joke was about to be launched right into his teammate's face.

(On-screen clock graphic)
JACK: We're going to spend the next Five Good Minutes with the man in charge of Dancougar's international footballing debut. He's the head coach of Hazuki State University, and now of the Black Wings, Pat French. Pat, nice to have you on the show.
BILL: Pat, we have to ask why you changed up so much in the Arrowhead game. We knew Travers was going to be out, but you benched a lot of effective players even though you needed the points for placement. The results went your way in the end, but still, how can you justify cutting into your own momentum?
PAT: Well, Bill, the general idea was, of course, to get some of the guys on the bench some playing time and get them used to the pace of the tournament. Unfortunately, they didn't all step up, the coordination wasn't as good, and we had some problems until we brought on Akira and Hikaru in the second half. Now, while you might be tempted to say that I changed too much at once, I say that it shouldn't matter as much for players of this caliber. You need to be ready to play at this level at any time, and you need to be able to read the game no matter what's going on in there. If you can't do that, then you're not up to my standards.
JACK: These standards you mention, you obviously expect a lot out of the guys. They seem to play a little bit of everywhere, and you're never afraid to bring people back or push them up as you need to. What gives you the confidence, or maybe the ability, to do that?
PAT: It all goes back to the guys, right. I expect them to be able to play at full speed, anywhere on the field, and that really opens the game up. It gives them a chance to make plays, and that gives the team the chance to win. Just as I expect them to play at a very high level, I trust them to be able to make good decisions all over the field.
BILL: A lot of people have criticized Akira Morimoto for his inconsistent play. He had some good spells, he had some bad spells. You're known for your commitment to the basics, and yet he seems to go against all that. How do players like him fit into your mindset?
PAT: A lot of people misinterpret what I mean when I say that I like solid, consistent players. They take it to mean a really rigid system, a flat back with six guys in the box, packed defense, and methodic attacks. No, I see them more as a frame to build a strategy around. Guys like Jericho Leyton and Andrew Nance, guys who have a good understanding of the game and can really anchor a line. I get a few guys like them to play tough and play safe, then that opens it up for other guys to take chances and be creative. Guys like Hideo and Akira, they can throw their weight around because they know the rest of the team has their back. And it's that flexibility that can make them so dangerous.
JACK: Let's talk a bit about your opponents in the first knockout round. I just love saying this name... Naboombu Umbongo. Can you give us your opinion of this team?
PAT: Well, you guys think we looked bad with a bunch of fresh players, you'll be very surprised by these guys. They were basically a last-minute team, and yet they have incredible understanding, and they can catch you off guard at times. I've been watching game tape of them, sometimes it looks like their opponents are wearing cement shoes, it's really something.
BILL: And they're always impeccably dressed at press conferences. Great hair on that midfielder, Don Antonio Lorenzo.
PAT: They've got talent all over that field, not just slick hair. Sure, they don't exactly have a bench to fall back on when something happens, but the Spoons have done an excellent job. Our offense doesn't match up terribly well against their defense, guys like Butt Ugly Louie and Bruno the Shark are real enforcers, and they have a dangerous attacker in Twinkle-Toes Cardez. His footwork is incredible, so our defense is going to need some good reads to deal with him.
JACK: That about does it, thanks for your time coach.
BILL: Good luck!
PAT: Thanks guys.
JACK: All right, when we come back, we need more excuses to say NABOO~OMBU, so we'll talk about fishing in the context of doom.
ANNOUNCER: Pardon the Interruption, brought to you by Sir Alec Lite. That's no moon, that's great taste, fewer calories!

OOC: Right I am back, time to get into this properly, shame it is at the end of our BoF campaign.

IC.

THE EMPIRE TIMES

The Empires Run Ends
The Empire's first foray into international soccer has come to an end, with the Bloumans going down to Gweridijongya 2-1 yesterday and thus ending its Baptism of Fire Cup campagin. It was a disappointing final run for the team as it had won its first two games in the group stage, it needed at least a draw in this game after losing 2-1 to Bonto to be able to qualify for the group stage, however a late goal by Gweridijongya gave the side the win which will now turn the focus straight onto the 39th World Cup, Manager Luke Danner said of the loss and subsepuent elimination of the Cup "It is always a disappointment when you lose espically when we were up for most of the game and had the run of play, yes there were a few chances for us to finish on and that is something we will focus on in lead up to the world cup, which we now focus on a lot more now" Captain Sam Kiamar said "A bit of a let down those two goals we should never have allowed them to get the chance, the final goal was a brief lapse of attention by us which gave them the win, it is something I will ensure that the team improves in".

Teenager Christopher Speed opened the scoring in the 25 minute to place the empire in front, however a goal just after halftime slowede down the cheers and the final goal in the 89th inute ended the dream for the team. Speeds goal gave him his second for the tournament with Fox also with two and midfielder Filmar also scoring one goal. In related news Thomas Noble who had played 38 mins against Bonto has been fined 20000 kiasers by the FFB and has been placed on probation after being found drunk in the hotel elevator as well as breaking team curfew after yesterdays loss.

Grazie ragazzi! "Thanks, men" is what an amazing concentration of people in S'vv0ònä, the main city of the Riviera dei Fuori region, have been singing all night after their qualification to the BoF quarterfinals.

Piave's 4-4-2 tactics, with the Sormano-Torriglia attack duo sustained by the incursions of the wings Paleocapa and Piave Jr., worked wonderfully in the first matches.

"I am very satisfied with the team's performance", trainer Piave Sr. affirms, "but the hardest part of the tournament has yet to come. Our next opponent, Beer Served Here, has an almost perfect defensive phase and a world-class goalkeeper."

Indeed, next match will be very tough. The central midfielder Tagliabue is suffering from a slight injury and will probably be replaced by Saccomando, and Giuliano took a yellow card he could avoid; the not-always-perfect Sosso will take his place on the right of the defensive line. While both teams can certainly pass the turn, bookmakers say that Beer Served Here are favourites, and a win by Bonto is paid 3 to 1.

We still believe that our team has nothing to be afraid of: if they play their best, every opponent is beatable. Forza ragazzi.

Beer Served Here Clinches Knockout Berth
LIVERPOOL, ENGLAND - With a two-nil shutout of Bull_Horns_Rule, the Beer Served Here Football team secured a spot in the knockout stages of the Baptism of Fire Tournament.

Once again Fabio Restivo was the leader on the offensive side scoring both goals in the match. Defensively, goaltender Steve Beck shone once again stopping all 15 shots he faced. Team manager Bill Krabonchanski was pleased with the result but said that the group stages were just the beginning.

"We still have a long way to go," said Krabonchanski. "Bonto will be a tough out in the quarterfinals."

It appears that the bookmakers seem to think otherwise as Beer Served Here is favored to win the match. However Beck does not think that the opinions of gamblers means much when it comes down to the play on the field.

"The only thing that matters is the score at the end of the match," said Beck. "When you get to this point in competition, the teams become very evenly matched and you are fortunate to come out on the winning side."

Back home, Football fever is taking over the nation. Fans that could not travel to Liverpool to attend the matches in person will be treated to a simulcast of the match against Bonto and other future matches in the Baptism of Fire tournament and the World Cup. The matches will be broadcast on the jumbotrons in Hophead Stadium in Brew City, Falstaff Stadium in Porterfield and Guinness Arena in Alesville. Tickets are available through the box offices at these venues and through ticket brokers nationwide.

"Don't ask me to explain it I have no idea." Bob Trevgosvken was on the phone with someone. Who it was unimportant,

"Noh'arms is 'armless, armless and legless?" The voice on the other end of the phone asked.

"Yes, but you only need to say armless once."

"No, he's 'armless."

"Yes, he has no arms."

The conversation continued on for a moment until until got a clue.

"Oh, he's harmless, without harm."

"Yeah, 'armless."

"He's not harmless as a keeper he's doing a great job, after the incident after our MD3 match it seems the team is working better than ever before. He's even got his legs back know the doctor managed to literally so 'em back on. And he's fine as he ever was."

"Oh, that's good then. So what'chya think of our match against the Kome-whatevers the Quarters."

"Should be fine the team works well and the only reason they got there was because of Mirrin Island ceasing to be however the Semi will be hard."

"Right, so

Cadarnia 23 Man World Cup Squad (and squad to face Bostopia)

Goalkeepers

1. Dave Family (Cadantia City FC)
13. James Patterson (Codswollop United FC)
23. Frank McLean (Cadantia United FC)

Defenders

2 Andy Rosentile (Cadantia United FC)
3. Christopher von Bergstien (AFC Sandhurst)
5. Zack Jansen (Titchmarsh FC)
6. Ashley Ince (Cadantia United FC)
12. Johnny English (Codswollop United FC)
14. Dan Joyce (Hardcrest Rangers FC)
20. Alex Brovzenski (Cadantia City FC)

Midfielders

4. Wayne Hemstak (Cadantia City FC)
7. Dwain Jennings (Hardcrest Ranger FC)
8. Stephen Jennings (Cadantia United FC)
11. Derrick Benning (Freeway FC)
15. Daniel Tuborg (AFC Sandhurst)
16. Frankie James (Codswollop United FC)
17. Jamie Jackson (Ironside FC)
22. Ken Reece (Cadantia City FC)

Forwards

9. Danny Sorry (Cadantia City FC)
10. Stephen Muse (Freeway FC)
18. Zane Brown (Cadantia United FC)
19 Dmitri Lakov (Ironside FC)
21. Foster MacBane (AFC Sandhurst)

Russ Pauli and Peter Klingenschmidt are students at the University of Helmut, one of the top schools in the predominantly Germanish part of the Kingdom of Dancougar. They're not academics by any stretch of the imagination, so to help them in their quest to eliminate boredom, they've enlisted the aid of Professor Friedrich von Steuben, with the results presented for your general bemusement:

"Elite eight, baby!" shouted Peter, energetically high-fiving Professor von Steuben, who was unsure what all the excitement was about, but he did his best to act as funky fresh as his student.

"Elite what?" asked Russ. "Is that what they're calling it now?"

"Well, no, not really," replied Peter, "but I like it. Makes you feel good to be in the bracket, you know? Plus it flows really nicely."

"I suppose it does," said Russ, hand to his chin. "And if you reached the semis, then that would be... the Final Four?"

Peter thought for a moment. "No," he decided, "totally lame. No one can possibly get excited about being in the Final Four... the FANTASTIC Four, on the other hand..."

"Isn't that a..." Russ began, but Peter waved impatiently in the direction of the camera. "Right, right, whatever. So, Dancougar, quarterfinals, woo! We're up against Naboombu Umbongo, who are fielding more players with interesting nicknames than any other team in the tournament. Here to tell us how the Wings can pull it off, Professor von Steuben."

"Yes, eet's most eemportant in footballs, to hef more goals een ze end, zen ze osser temm," von Steuben began. "You may formally state zis... Dancougar, zey win eef zey... vell, eef und only eef... eef-fe-fuh, eef vis two eefs..."

"I think we get it," said Russ, "although you bring up a good point, that the second f is a pain to..." Now it was Peter's turn to shut Russ up, but this time it was accomplished by throwing a stress ball in his friend's face. Sure, at first it hurt, but after a few minutes, Russ was feeling a lot better about his day.

"Vell, ze striker, zees Tvinkle Toes, he mek ze good shot from anyvere on ze field. Zey say zat he makes an offer to ze goalles, und zey can't refuse," von Steuben said, obviously delighted to work in one of many jokes the entire forum had likely been avoiding. "Eef ze defense can stop heem, eet meks life for ze Veengs much easier."

"Are you sure we're not all just focusing on him because of the aforementioned awesome nickname?" asked Peter.

"Meh," replied von Steuben. "I also sink, und zees ees just my sought, zat Boris Boskov could hef a beek gemm tonight," he continued. "He geets less attention zen ze ossers, suches Morimoto und Leyton, but he hes ze talent to mek ze beek play."

"They say that games are won and lost on the midfield," said Russ, "so we'll keep an eye on that. Okay, peeps, like we said, quarterfinal tonight, Dancougar, Umbongo, wave those towels and get us into the Final Four!!"

"Fantastic Four!"

"What did I say about..."

"STRESS BALL'D!!"

RP cutoff, Zwangzug regional semifinals...

Dancougar 5-1 Naboombu Umbongo
Yafalonia and Bazor 2 2-2 Komekong (3-3 AET) (Yafalonia and Bazor 2 wins 2-1 on penalty kicks)

Regional final: Dancougar vs. Yafalonia and Bazor 2

Regional Semi-Finals, Liverpool England region

Samcoa 2-0 Gweridijongya
Bonto 1-1 Beer Served Here (2-2 AET) (Bonto wins 3-2 on penalty kicks)

Samcoa will play Bonto in the regional final for a spot in the overall final.

(Random highlights with voiceover!)
ANNOUNCER: This... is Sportscenter!
SCOTTY: Black Wings, Bongos, quarterfinal action in Zwangzug. Would the layover keep the Wings grounded, or would they samba into the semifinals? We've got all the highlights, and Pat French talks strategy, on Sportscenter... now!
(Roll that title screen - Da na na, da na na!)
SCOTTY: Welcome to the big show, Scotty Furr alongside Kenneth Prime. Coming up on the program, all of the quarterfinal action out of the Baptism of Fire, did the Wings lose a step on their day off?
KENNETH: Well, we can roll the clip and find out.
SCOTTY: Let's do that.
(Voiceover continues as the highlights roll.)
SCOTTY: Naboombu Umbongo have fought through the first round despite losing a player before the tournament, having no bench, and carrying out an unusual pregame ceremony whereby they kiss members of the opposing team on the cheek, saying something about certain death, or at least a wild tackle sometime in the second half.
KENNETH: But the Black Wings waste no time, in the eighth minute, here's Akira Morimoto dribbling around the eighteen, breaks it to the outside, and introduces Stanley Butterbarrel to his little friend... his left foot, one-nil Wings.
SCOTTY: You know, Stanley Butterbarrel has been pretty good at the back, only gave up three goals in the first round, but he was letting things slip by in this game that he should've gotten... here's Hideo Ikeda in minute fifteen, gets between DeMarco and Louie and slots it home, right between Butterbarrel's legs, two-nil.
KENNETH: Now, Umbongo would fight back. They start pushing upfield, and Dancougar goal, under siege before halftime. Twinkle Toes Cardez spinning into position, and goes down, did Boskov get him or the ball? Take a closer look, Cardez drags his feet into the tackle, but Boskov did lunge in late. Second yellow for him, "Penalty" says the ref, and Cardez buries it. Two-one at a half.
SCOTTY: Through the magic of television, we jump through time, ten minutes into the restart, Ikeda breaks through again. Sloppy defense in the back, and he beats the keeper...
KENNETH: Like shooting fish in a Butterbarrel.
SCOTTY: ... and it's three-one. Umbongo players just not getting it done in the second half... bad passing, losing the ball in midfield, just not maintaining possession. And the Wings make them pay, here's a corner in minute 72, and it's Tony Travers, the big defender, back from suspension and heading it home, four-one, Wings are rolling!
KENNETH: You know, Andrew Nance, his partner in the middle, was out of this game for a second yellow, but no one seemed to notice, because the Black Wings were a waaaaaallllll in the second, nothing getting through. And just two minutes after the corner, Dancougar counterattack, and Jericho Leyton slots it home. Five-one, and that's how it ended. The Black Wings are going to the semifinals, and Pat French gets to talk to the people with notepad hats.
(Cut to postgame press conference.)
PAT: I thought it was fine to let them relax a bit, we just prepared that much harder the next day. We kept our composure, and hopefully we've silenced those who said we peaked too early.
(Reporter mumbles a question.)
PAT: Yeah, I told the guys to play smart up front, because I figured they called him Bruno the Shark for a reason. But then I realized, well shoot, they probably call him Alphonso the Mouth for a reason, too, so I told the guys, "Hey, chatter a bit during the second half, see what happens." And apparently, they weren't very friendly with each other after that.
(Cut to locker room interview.)
LEYTON: I told him, "Dude, you hear what Skinny Jack's been saying about Don Antonio's mama?" That messed up their midfield pretty good.
(Cut to another locker.)
TRAVERS: Yeah, it looked like Shifty got in the keeper's way on that goal, I guess my little misinformation gets the assist for that one, but Akira's corner was pretty good, too.
(Back to the studio)
SCOTTY: We will have more on this game later in the show, along with our glorious semifinal preview. But before we can do that, who would the Black Wings play? Komekong, Yafalonia and Bazor...
SCOTTY AND KENNETH: TWWWWOOOOOO!!
(And the party continues...)

Beer Served Here Tapped Out in Quarters

LIVERPOOL, ENGLAND - The dream has ended for Beer Served Here's footballers in the Baptism of Fire tournament after they were defeated by Bonto on penalty kicks.

"That's just the way it goes sometimes," said team manager Bill Krabonchanski. "Our team left it all out on the pitch today, but the better team did win. I give Bonto all the credit in the world."

Beer Served Here raced to an early lead scoring its only goal in regulation in the 11th minute on a corner kick headed in by striker Ziggy Mycanos. However things turned for the worse for Beer Served Here in the 44th minute when star defender Oden Samuelsen was ejected with a red card for a vicious tackle from behind that injured the already hobbled midfielder Renzo Tagliabue. Tagliabue had to leave the match with an ankle injury. Bonto evened up the score on the ensuing penalty kick and the match was tied at the half 1-1.

With no goals scored in the second half, the game went to extra time, where each team scored one goal. After penalty kicks, Bonto outscored Beer Served Here 3-2, the difference coming when goaltender Marco Campini faked out Beer Served Here goaltender Steve Beck and shot the ball with his left foot into the top corner of the net.

"I tip my hat to him," Beck said of Campini. "It was a well-placed shot and even if I had reacted in the correct direction I still may have missed it."

Bonto faces offensive juggernaut Samcoa in the regional final. Samcoa reached the final by shutting out Gwyridijongya two to nil.

OOC: How many of the Baptism of Fire squads make it to the World Cup?

OOC: How many of the Baptism of Fire squads make it to the World Cup?

This isn't a qualifying phase, this is a warm-up tournament. All the teams will participate in the qualifying tournament, but it's likely none of the BoF teams will make the cup proper.

ROBERT: Welcome back to Around the Horn, here's how they stand. Kenji sitting on top of the mountain, Brad and Drew playing catch up... while our good friend Jay Adonis gets to think of the answers that could've been.
ANNOUNCER: It's... Out of Bounds!
ROBERT: Interesting story coming out of the Baptism of Fire, midfielder Boris Boskov apparently overheard saying that he, quote, "loved the cock." Sources report that when asked about it, Boskov said it had to be understood in the context of "dude chickens." Guys, is this going to distract the Black Wings in their semifinal?
BRAD: Well, if it was a serious issue, he would've denied saying it, but obviously he's owned up to it, let's move on. (^) I mean, his teammates have only laughed about it when asked about it, coach French doesn't know what happened, and Boskov doesn't seem to be to broken up over it, the guys are just being the guys. (^) It'll be business as usual.
ROBERT: Drew, you agree?
DREW: Yeah, you know, the phrase "dude chickens" isn't uttered often enough in the sports world, this is just another case of the media digging for stories where there really aren't any. For these guys, it's the first time they've been out of the country, they're just messing around on their day off, they're not used to being under the kind of scrutiny they are as a semifinalist. (^^) This is something you learn from, don't open your mouth in public, Boris is going to play fine.
ROBERT: Kenji, get in there!
KENJI: Guys, there are so many strange ways this can bend, he could have been talking about the Construction Hut, maybe he needs to do some home improvement, and he's apparently as surprised as most people heading over to Zwangzug that all the stuff that's in Dancougar, isn't there. It's like Drew said, it's the effect of a group of guys who aren't used the spotlight, they're not used to the way things work outside the country, (airhorn blows) it's a learning experience.
ROBERT: Well, that's the horn, not sure that answer made any sense, Kenji, but you have enough points to make the cut. As do you, Drew. Brad, it's time to say goodbye, any last words?
BRAD: "Dude, Where's My Chicken?" That'll be the title of the team documentary if they lose tonight. (MUTE! v)
ROBERT: Enough of that. Showdown between Kenji Nakahara and Drew Papes. Two men enter, one man gloats. Horn!

ANNOUNCER: Around the Horn, brought to you by Nassin, who reminds you to move the way you shift through the world.
ROBERT: Showdown time, let's start with semifinal action. Samcoa and Bonto play tonight in the Liverpool, England group. Easy question, guys... who ya got? Thirty seconds, Papes, go!
DREW: It has to be Samcoa, this team has been on fire the entire tournament. Five games, five wins, and they've been winning comfortably. They breezed into the semis, Bonto's tired after the quarterfinal. So I don't expect...
KENJI: Guys, I like Bonto to pull off the upset. They're the best team Samcoa has faced so far, this team has really come together after getting put together by the fans. They are the best that country has to offer, they are the team (airhorn blows) that wins tonight.
ROBERT: Kenji, I like your guts, but it's hard to bet against the team that won five in a row. Point goes to Papes. (^) Next up, Dancougar against Yafalonia and Bazor 2. Black Wings cruised in the quarterfinal, while the boys from FAIL needed penalties to get past Komekong. Who wins Zwangzug, gentlemen?
DREW: Dancougar Black Wings, they look more polished, they're going to have Travers and Nance back together on defense, and Graham Noh'arms, the man is straight out of a Tim Burton movie. Limbs fall off, they sew them back on, you wonder if Morimoto lets one fly and everything'll fall off making the save.
KENJI: Yafalonia and Bazor 2, guys, this team is hardcore. They start a goalie with no arms, and he gets the job done. Manager parachuting into the tournament, and Rachel Kneal. Guys, I don't know about you, but I hope she nets one in this game and goes over the top, if you know what I mean. (Airhorn blows)
ROBERT: Kenji, what is up with you, today? Point goes to Drew (^), game goes to Drew. Thirty seconds, go!
DREW: Well, those of you who don't have one of the Horrible Hand-Towels yet, I encourage you to go out and get one before the match tonight. Thirty thousand of these in the stadium, that unnerves an opponent seeing that, and even if you're just here watching at home or in the pub, enjoy it now, because World Cup qualifying is going to be hard, (airhorn sounds) let's enjoy these wins now.
ROBERT: That'll do it for us. Twenty three and a half hour break, we'll see you tomorrow on Around the Horn.

Bonto - Beer Served Here 5-4 after penalties

11' Mycanos
45' Torriglia (P)
104' Novelli
127' Restivo

This has been a game that football lovers from Bonto will likely remember forever. Beer Served Here was a very strong opposition even if they had to play 75 minutes in 10. For the whole match Bonto administered the game, but didn't really manage to be very dangerous, and the goalkeeper Steve Beck kept making miracles.

Things looked for the best when finally Novelli, went in for Piave in the overtime, managed to score the 2-1 goal, but BSH showed their match wasn't over when Fabio Restivo, with a wonderful trick, managed to surpass two defenders and the goalkeeper Campini.

Campini, though, didn't have to wait for long to take his revenge: he put a lot of effort in training for penalties, and after blocking two of them, he was even able to score the winning one for Bonto.

Everybody is excited for the semifinal match, but things keep getting more and more difficult, and Samcoa appears as a formidable opponent: suffice to say that they scored 19 goals so far (in just 5 matches!) and their defence only suffered 3.

With Tagliabue out for the rest of the tournament, and Opizzo disqualified for the next match, these are the players that Piave will likely send in for the next match, playing a 5-3-2 scheme.

Campini; Giuliani, De Vincenti, Castelli, Barale, Lequio; Paleocapa, Piave, Saccomando; Sormano, Torriglia.

Forza ragazzi!

"When we fail, we FAIL HARD!"exlaimed the dirt ridden face of Frederick Hammerstead as he leant on a pole of a goal post, which almost immediately reacted by falling down.

This was a promotional video for the team to get more Yafalonian and Bazorite bums on seats, It was a high-paced video with alot of "explosions of activity" that quickly changed from one to another, including one of Racheal's more athletic celebrations involving a cartwheel, but alas none of the appropriate skin was shown.

"Be apart of this exciting action!" calmly stated Johnson Wolgenager pushing his glasses up his nose, it seemed the nerdy image didn't really fit, however it did provide an interesting contrast.

Daris Caolla and Raethar Vanlaez where standing together as politions "File a motion of support for our team!" "And support us in the elections."

A voice over spoke "We even do politics the Hardway." A still image of the 2 of them seem to explode into pieces.

"Fight for the team, and be there." Alerian Doriak

"Be there for the Regional Final!" Every single member of the team was there for this one shouting out something similiar or totally different, but the audio came out clear and precise.

"Come and watch football - the HARD way!"

~~~

"That was rather pathetic match, but in the end they couldn't get penalties through, good work Graham."

"He didn't win it, I won it I scored the winning PK!" Alerian Doriak exclaimed while he glared menacingly at the keeper. There seemed to be an air of tension for a moment before Yafalonia's Narin Valandar stepped up to the plate, so to speak.

"We should of won this one easily but you Alerian, Barelien and Umar gave the other side enough oportunities for them to kick a goal on the moon!"

Everyone looked at each other puzzled no idea what that meant, appart from Johnson Wolgenager who apparently had decoded the message.

"How possible is it to kick a goal to the moon? Not Very? Good. He's saying you've given them enough chances so that they could do something that unlikely."

"Oooooooh.... I don't get it." said Umar "Don't worry Umar"

"I'm not I've already forgotten it."

"Anyway, we've got a hard game against Dancougar. We've got to be in top condition!"

RP cutoff, Zwangzug regional final.

Dancougar 3-1 Yafalonia and Bazor 2

Regional Final, Liverpool England region -

Samcoa 0-4 Bonto

Bonto will play Dancougar in the overall final in Zwangzug, while Yafalonia and Bazor 2 play Samcoa in Liverpool England for third.

(Random highlights with voiceover!)
ANNOUNCER: This... is Sportscenter!
SCOTTY: And then there were four. The Dancougar Black Wings have played well so far, see how they fared against their toughest opposition yet in the Zwangzug regional final. Elsewhere, Samcoa ran into stiff competition against Bonto. See which sides prevails, the scoreline may surprise you. It's Sportscenter... now!
(Spastic CG attack - da na na, da na na!)
SCOTTY: Welcome to the program, Scotty Furr bringing you all the scores and highlights, with occasional help from Kenneth Prime. Well, Kenny, the Black Wings have not existed for long in the international footballing community, and they're already at the point where each match they play is the biggest one ever.
KENNETH: And hardest ever, as the field gets whittled down one at a time. To the big house we go...
(Voiceover as highlights begin)
KENNETH: ... in excess of thirty five thousand Dancougarans making the trip after the king himself set up charter flights to Zwangzug, a sea of hand-towels greeting the teams as they come on the field. FAIL, don't fail me now! Fifteenth minute, Rachel Kneal splits the defense. How about Peter Hawkins, BIG UPS! Gets enough to punch it wide, take another look, Kneal spins Travers and hits a precision shot to the corner, but Hawkins with the great reaction to make the save.
SCOTTY: We move onto the twenty fourth, here's Hideo Ikeda making a run towards the box, and Umar Ventrarar tells him to take a seat. Pat French not happy, he's busting out the superlatives, and the ref tells Umar to take a yellow. And, of course, that means Akira Morimoto gets a dead ball just outside the box, and that's just not fair. Curls it in and gets the redirection, from Jeff Cale, the other forward, who has quietly upped his tally for the tournament to three. One-nil, Dancougar.
KENNETH: Kneal not done, and just before halftime, she steals back some of that momentum. Look at this run, gets the ball forty yards out. And she weaves, past Saegusa, turns Travers again, and this time Hawkins is not fast enough! Goal for Yafa and Baz, it's all tied at one, and Kneal's a little excited. Keeps the censors happy, but a dance like that, still sends shivers down your spine.
SCOTTY: Second half, now, and here's the real turning point of the match. Minute fifty, still tied at one, and Morimoto tees up from twenty five. Noh'arms makes the save, or does he? Something flies into the net. Slow motion replay, he makes the kick save, but the force of the ball sends his leg into the net!
KENNETH: What was that, about equal and opposite reactions?
SCOTTY: So, apparently, he was limbless at one point, they sewed him back up, and so Harry Delaney, the big man at seven-three, puts on the goalkeeper's jersey while they frantically go back to work on Graham. Minute fifty seven, Noh'arms still on the operating stretcher, when Cale fires one in. Delaney has the reach, but the rebound goes to Holmes, who makes up for an earlier yellow, it's two-one.
KENNETH: Noh'arms would return a few minutes later, just in time for Hideo Ikeda to net his team-leading sixth goal of the tournament, five hole, and it's three to one. Kneal trying to push forward, passes to Fred Hammerstead, who wallops one... hits the post... and stays there! Game had to be paused while they fixed the crossbar, take another look, he stays true to his penchant for destruction.
SCOTTY: Late game sub, Nance just coming back from a suspension for yellows, picks up another one. French plays it safe and brings on Dominica, but it's too late for Yafa and Baz... Black Wings are finalists! They win three to one. Coach French, tell us how you do it like that.
(Cut to press conference.)
PAT: I thought we adjusted very well to their style. They obviously have a lot of strength in the middle, the big guys on defense, and that made it very difficult for Akira to make plays on the wing. But we took our chances when we got them, and all credit to them, they really look after their net as a unit. Noh'arms has been spectacular all things considered, and let me tell you, he's a real man out there. Toughest guy on the field.
(Cut to the field, postgame)
LEYTON: We're gonna celebrate tonight, we're gonna celebrate. This is huge for us, huge for the country, we gotta let off some steam before the next match.
REPORTER: Won't that ruin your focus, you think?
LEYTON: Aww, no, I think it helps us relax, coach French, he knows that, he let us out before the quarters. Keeps us mentally fit if it's not all work, you know, we want to experience all we can.
(Back to the studio)
SCOTTY: With the win, Dancougar moves into the championship match, which will also be held in Zwangzug. The tickets allocated to the Dancougar College Football Regulatory Board, the acting organizing body of Black Wing football, have already been sold out, and there's no shortage of fans looking to buy tickets on the internet where they can.
KENNETH: But who will they play, Bonto or Samcoa? After the break, we'll tell you... one team, not really showing up.
SCOTTY: And we'll have more on the Black Wings, how they came together, how they got where they are. Tournament recap, and a preview of the final, coming up on Sportscenter, so stick around.

It was 11:30 and the club was jumpin, jumpin. Suffice to say it was much different from the ones to be found in Dancougar. By comparison, those could hardly be called clubs. But the music, the lights, the atmosphere... "AND THE LAYDEZ!" Leyton exclaimed, while the rest of the guys tagging along rolled their eyes.

"You know, coach is going to drive us hard at practice tomorrow, he's going to want us on form for the finals," Morimoto said with a worried tone.

"Aww, no problem man, we won't stay too long. Just enough time for a bit of dancing, you know?" Leyton replied. "Besides, Bontos full of Italians. If we go at them full tilt, we'll break them... because there's fragile, and then there's Italian footballers."

"OH SNAP!" chimed Barclay.

"Come on, be serious..."

"Okay, okay, I'm sorry. They're formidable opponents," Leyton returned, still smiling mischievously. "Because no one on this planet plays cleaner, more spirited football than the Italians."

"OH SNAP!"

"Jere!" shouted Morimoto. "Did you see what they did to Samcoa? Those guys were unbeaten! If we get too confident, they'll..."

"I know, I know, I'm just trying to have some fun," Leyton sighed. "You're too uptight, man. If you're so fixed on the game, why did you bother tagging along anyway?" Morimoto was silent. "Ah ha, you want to cut loose, too!" The group got a table and just sort of hung out, soaking in the atmosphere. Jericho went out on the floor to try and hit up some laydez, but after twenty minutes, he returned to the table with no success. "Man, I don't know what it is with these girls, I got nothing!"

"A-game not cutting it?" asked Barclay. "Maybe you're just taking the wrong approach... here. Observe the engineer at work."

"Oh, right, that'll work."

"Excuse me, miz," Barclay said, sliding up to a nearby girl. "But if you don't mind my asking, how might I make a remote call to that cute backend service of yours?"

"Oh, you're a geeeeeeek, that's so cute!" she squealed, grabbing his arm. "Dance with me!"

The entire table stared with jaws agape as Barclay threw them a victory sign.

"What the...?!"

"No freaking way!"

After the match with Dancougar took FAIL HARD into 3rd place play-off with Samcoa from the Liverpool England region. somewhere where FAIL would have to organise a cheap way to arrive in Liverpool England on time... they were delayed by some annoying reporter.

"Dennis Louise from WWTF, What an incredible match for the team, is there anything you going to take as a lesson for your 3rd place play off?"

"The team is taking this as the final, we know it's not but we had came so far to loose out now. In my opinion we have proved ourselves on the international stage against the 19 or so plus new entrants and we hope to do extremely well against everyone in the WCQ." Narin Valandar answered the question before the journalist managed to enter the throng of footballers just trying to get out of there and to their new distination.

"Graham Noh'arms, first don't you find it a little ironic that your last name could be said as 'No arms' and you litterally have no arms?"

"What kind of idiot are you, The Noh'arms family name has a long and distinguised history, in Ancient Bazorite it means 'Bringer of Light' - and you call yourself a journalist."

"Something else people want to know, is about the shot on goal that ou stopped but instead had your leg shooting into the goal, whats your take on it."

"It was just flesh wound, nothing special I don't know what's all this fuss is about."

"Is there anything you would like..." and the journalist was cut off as he was knocked about, it seemed no one wanted to talk to him as they were all in a rush to get out of there.

Later a special about the team aired on Yafalonian and Bazorite television... "The Mysterious Men (and lady)" Whatever it contained was total fantasy however it was done to cash in on the success of the team so far in the BoF until their match with Dancougar they had been undefeated.

HOST ANNOUNCEMENT

Due to a mis-communication, the third-place playoff will be scorinated by Zwangzug later today.

RP cutoff for both the third-place game and final.

Third-place game
Samcoa 1-2 Yafalonia and Bazor 2

Final
Dancougar 3-0 Bonto

Congratulations to Dancougar!

OOC:

So, the Baptism of Fire's done...Now what?

Now comes World Cup qualification. "World Cup" can have confusing meanings: we sometimes use it to refer to the entire process, which consists of a qualification stage and the "cup proper", but it can also be used to mean just the second part. During qualification, you'll play in a group of eight teams, going from country to country during the matches. The top three teams from each group will progress to the Unified Capitalizt States and Valanora, our hosts.

Because there are so many more teams, activity is dispersed over different threads. The RP thread (http://forums.jolt.co.uk/showthread.php?t=547989) contains in-character posts, the roster thread (http://forums.jolt.co.uk/showthread.php?t=547990) contains rosters, and the scores thread (coming soon) will contain the scores of the matches. We're not trying to confuse you. :p

One important feature of the rosters in the World Cup (that was omitted in this tournament) is the style modifier, a number ranging from -5 to 5 that specifies your team's style. The most defensive style is -5: teams playing this way will score and concede comparatively few goals, while teams playing a +5 will score many more but also give up many more.

Playing against many higher-ranked teams will not be easy. Very few teams qualify for the Cup on their first attempt, and you'll lose plenty of games however things turn out. Don't give up! Complaining about your scores is a quick way to lose respect; RPing defeats creatively and being a good sport is the best you can do. If you RP but don't qualify, you'll likely be invited to the Cup of Harmony, a tournament for those who, well...RP but don't qualify.

A year ago today I began my participation in the Baptism of Fire. It was a long journey from there and then to the world's top ten and hosting tournaments of my own, but the amazing people along the way and the stories we tell together make it worthwhile.

Most importantly: welcome to the World Cup. We're glad you're here.