NationStates Jolt Archive

With the forecast of the next World Cup being several weeks, if not over a month, away, the Vanorians fresh off their World Cup 43 title, have invited a hand picked group of nations to participate in a tournament to be played in Valanora. With the preparations from hosting the World Cup still in place, the accomodations for the participating nations are of the best availble in the world. The format will be a round-robin with the top two teams advancing to play in the Final. And now I give you the invited nations

Yafor 2 (http://forums.jolt.co.uk/showpost.php?p=14267671&postcount=9)
Candelaria And Marquez (http://forums.jolt.co.uk/showpost.php?p=14277489&postcount=12)
Cafundéu (http://forums.jolt.co.uk/showpost.php?p=14264245&postcount=8)
Starblaydia (http://forums.jolt.co.uk/showpost.php?p=14282965&postcount=19)
Kura-Pelland (http://forums.jolt.co.uk/showpost.php?p=14277518&postcount=13)
Septentrionia (http://forums.jolt.co.uk/showpost.php?p=14283251&postcount=22)
Ad'ihan (http://forums.jolt.co.uk/showpost.php?p=14262984&postcount=4)

Host
Valanora (http://forums.jolt.co.uk/showpost.php?p=14270731&postcount=10)

The draw for fixtures will come tommorow, with matches begining on Friday. Scorination will be somewhere between 6:00-9:00 pm CST.

(ooc: Muscling in on my territory huh?? 3 WC's in the last 4 wasn't enough??? LOL, Cafundeu accepted an invite to the Oxen Cup, so they might not be available. So this is an IC response to this. i don't really care if you host one)

To: The organizers of The Vahala Invitational/Valanora Football Association.
Re: Post-World Cup Tournements.
From: The Law Offices of Dewey, Cheatem and Howe, Offices, Qazox City, Qazox, acting in proxy for the Qazox Football Association.

This is a cease-and-desist letter from the QFA, seeking either a complete cancellation of your upcoming tourney or at mininum a postponement.

Seeing as the Oxen Cup is the premier Post-Cup of Harmony and Post-World Cup tournement in the NSUniverse, The QFA will seek an injunction prevent you from hosting this tournement co-currently with the Oxen Cup. We also have filed a complaint with the WCC and the offices of the WCC President.

While we believe that more international competition for many teams is necessary and that a competiting Post-World Cup tourney is welcome, the timing of your tourney conflicts with the Oxen Cup and the invitation to a confirmed competitior in the Oxen Cup, is a sign of either blantant negligence or disrespect.

We propose that if the following conditions are met, that the pending injunction will be dropped. A lawsuit is also pending, to be used as a case of last resort if the injunction is not granted or you continue to invite teams that have agreed to participate in the forthcoming Oxen Cup. The Conditions are as follows

1- Withdraw your invite to Cafundeu.
2- Restrict your invites to non-participating Oxen Cup nations.
3- Postpone your tournement until after the conclusion of the Oxen Cup.
4- Seek other television coverage than from QSPNInternational.
5- Or the cancellation of your tournement.


We apologize for having to take these actions, but we do have sponsor money, advertising money and tourist money to protect, as Qazox rebuilds itself from the atrocities that have occured since the end of the Q-continuum war. We sincerly hope that this incident does not sour your dealings with the QFA on an international level or in concerns with WCC-sponsored tourneys.

Signed
Larry Dewey, Moe Cheatem and Curly Howe, Attys. for the QFA.

With a large gap expected before the next World Cup qualifiers, invitational tournaments are the focus of attention.

The Oxen Cup in Qazox is facing competition for the first time - its ninth incarnation now joined by the Valanora-hosting Vahala Invitational. Kura-Pelland are participating in the latter, while Qazoxian officials are angry that Cafundeu are booked in both, although there are no details as to how this will work out.

NTV Sport will provide television coverage in countries where it can be received, including Vephrall, Candelaria And Marquez and several other Atlantian Oceania nations.

http://i25.photobucket.com/albums/c58/Krytenia/ADI43.png
Style modifier +2.

If my opponent RPs first, they may:
Select my scorers — Yes
Give out yellow cards to my players — Yes
Give out red cards to my players — Yes
RP injuries to my players — Yes
Godmod injuries — No
Godmod scoring events — Yes
Godmod other events — Yes

For the first time since WC38, there has been a change in the team's formation, with the old 3-1-2-1-3 diamond formation being replaced by a 3-1-3-1-2, with one less centre forward to account for the retirement of Julian D'Abbo, the country's most-capped player and star striker.

Manager: Devida Cal
Devida Cal makes a swift return to his homeland so soon after taking over as Ad’ihan national team manager. With the team having been drawn in the Vephrese half of the draw, Cal did not have the opportunity to lead the team in a World Cup match on his home soil, but will finally get the opportunity to do so. With a number of players having retired since the end of WC43, he has been forced to make new call-ups. However, most players on the team were also on the WC squad.

Substitutes are italicised; bold denotes where a player started WC43 matches and has retained a starting spot; underline denotes a new player on the team.

Starting Goalkeeper: Danny Evans (24)
Substitutes: Anthony Adams (19), Martin Kawn (26)

Starting Left back: Sean Brown (22)
Substitutes: Francis Cascarro (20), George Richards (20)

Starting Centre-half: James Fernandez (17)
Substitutes: Richard Flahavan (21), Justin Stenstrom (30)

Starting Right back: Darryl O'Sullivan (21)
Substitute: Phil Fanning (18)

Starting defensive midfielder: Danny Jacobs (23)
Jacobs spent WC42 as the starting left midfielder before being dropped to the bench as a substitute for right midfielder Anthony Jones in WC43. Cal has recalled him to the starting lineup, replacing the retired former vice-captain Peter Schilling in the anchorman role.
Substitute: Roger Harwick (19)

Starting right midfielder: Anthony Jones (25), CAPTAIN
Substitute: Kevin Masters (20)

Starting centre midfielder: Francis Yang (27)
The County Stanley front man was one of the key men in the team's early exit from WC42, before being dropped to the bench for WC43. With the retirement of Julian D'Abbo, a new position in central midfield was created in the formation and Yang offered to fill it.
Substitute: Aaron Kennedy (21)

Starting left midfielder: Simon Labrie, 28
Substitute: Francis Doyle (21)

Starting attacking midfielder: Jake Holmes (29), VICE-CAPTAIN
Substitute: George Connor (29)

Starting strikers: Greg Innisvale (22), Kieran Ó Branagáin (23)
Substitutes: Tanner Thomas (18), Jonathan Gregory (21)

And I present to you the draw

Kura-Pelland
Valanora
Starblaydia
Ad'ihan
Yafor 2
Septentrionia
Cafundéu
Candelaria And Marquez

MD1: Candelaria And Marquez v Kura-Pelland @ The Battleground, Raynor City
Cafundéu v Valanora @ The White Fortress, Gladerial
Septentrionia v Starblaydia @ Artani, Mar Sara
Yafor 2 v Ad’ihan @ Angelotic Temple, Longview

MD2: Kura-Pelland v Starblaydia @ Angelotic Temple, Longview
Valanora v Candelaria And Marquez @ The White Fortress, Gladerial
Ad’ihan v Cafundéu @ The Battleground, Raynor City
Yafor 2 v Septentrionia @ Artani, Mar Sara

MD3: Yafor 2 v Kura-Pelland @ The White Fortress, Gladerial
Ad’ihan v Valanora @ Artani, Mar Sara
Candelaria And Marquez v Starblaydia @ The Battleground, Raynor City
Cafundéu v Septentrionia @ Angelotic Temple, Longview

MD4: Kura-Pelland v Cafundéu @ Artani, Mar Sara
Valanora v Septentrionia @ Angelotic Temple, Longview
Starblaydia v Yafor 2 @ The White Fortress, Gladerial
Ad’ihan v Candelaria And Marquez @ The Battleground, Raynor City

MD5: Valanora v Kura-Pelland @ The Battleground, Raynor City
Cafundéu v Starblaydia @ Angelotic Temple, Longview
Septentrionia v Ad’ihan @ Artani, Mar Sara
Candelaria And Marquez v Yafor 2 @ The White Fortress, Gladerial

MD6: Kura-Pelland v Ad’ihan @ The White Fortress, Gladerial
Valanora v Starblaydia @ Artani, Mar Sara
Yafor 2 v Cafundéu @ The Battleground, Raynor City
Septentrionia v Candelaria And Marquez @ Angelotic Temple, Longview

MD7: Septentrionia v Kura-Pelland @ Angelotic Temple, Longview
Yafor 2 v Valanora @ The Battleground, Raynor City
Ad’ihan v Starblaydia @ The White Fortress, Gladerial
Candelaria And Marquez v Cafundéu @ Artani, Mar Sara

Final: 1st v 2nd @ Hatire Memorial, Capri

Well, that's how to make things dramatic on the first game. Candelaria And Marquez versus Kura-Pelland is a perfect flagship opening encounter for the Vahala Invitational, and the opening matchday also features a thrilling encounter between Valanora and Cafundéu.

Every team will play each other once with the two teams with the best records meeting in the final. Kura-Pelland are quoted at odds of 4/1 to make that final and 9/1 to win it, with Valanora being 8/11 favourites to win on home soil. The Kura-Pellandis are quoted at 4/5 to beat C&M, largely because they are not expected to field a full-strength side.

"Fortuitous, is it not?"

"It would seem so," the second figure replied thoughtfully, "they are the only side to really beat the Vanorians in the last sixteen years."

"Only sixteen?" The first looked surprised, raising an eyebrow, "That does not appear to be an extraordinary span of victorious achievements, over such a short time, does it?"

"It is quite remarkable," insisted the second, "and such a length of rather consistent victories is unheard of in their sport. We have chosen the right time: the Last of the First has passed, the Elven period of domination his come to fruition, all that is needed is simply the right..."

"Stimulus." The first offered, it was less a question than a statement.

"Precisely." Agreed the second. "We shall make our presence known; at least we shall reveal ourselves to the Daii."

CCFM RELEASES LIST OF PLAYERS FOR THE VAHALA INVITATIONAL TOURNAMENT

Invited for this competition, which will happen at the same time of the Oxen Cup, the CCFM decided to field a mixed team, involving players of the main National Team and others that want to reach the team in the future. This to be able to send two completely different teams to each of the competitions Cafundéu is participating this time.

Many NT key players aren't in any of the two teams, but both seem pretty strong to be able to fight for the tournaments. The Vahala Invitational team also has a surprise in the bench: former coach of Cafundéu's NT Franz Braddock was invited to command the team. Rumours say that this is a personal issue: Braddock tried to be the coach of both the Ad'ihan and Yafor 2 teams, and wasn't chosen, even being the most successful option of the ones available. So, he wants to defeat them to prove his capacity.

See the list:

No.- Name (rating, team, NT experience level)

NT exp. level: * - no previous experience / ** - former U-21 or B team / *** - former or current main NT

Use the BOLDED names

Goalkeepers:

1- Francisco KARDEC (A, Petardos S/A, ***)
12- Lazlo Vercilo SALATHIËL (B, Khalmar-Tijhus, **)
22- MURILO Fonseca (C, América, **)

Full-Backs/Wingers:

14- PAULO SANTOS (B, Galáxia, ***)
16- Tarso Matheus COTUBA (B, Ranca Toco, **)
20- LEONARDO Aragão (C, A.F.F., **)

Defenders:

2- Ronaldo Eugênio Diniz "RONALDÃO" (B, CS Sept-Onze Ourseville [SPT], ***)
3- Rick TOLEDO (A, Dunboor FC, ***)
4- Mertus GAËIF (A, Petardos S/A, ***)
13- Luciano Alvarenga DATENA (B, América, **)
21- WILLIAM Silva Jerônimo (B, Albrecht FC [C&M], **)

Defensive Midfielders:

5- Fábio Germano Santos "FABINHO" (A, Central United, ***)
6- ABREU Vilela de Souza (B, A.F.F., **)
15- Pedro Moreno Cardoso "PEDRINHO" (C, Clube Imperial, **)
23- Jorge Santos Medeiros "JORGINHO" (B, Dunboor FC, ***)

Offensive Midfielders:

8- TÚLIO Lemos de Souza (B, Galáxia, **)
10- Carlos MAROSSI (A, Ranca Toco, ***)
17- Renato Calixto BACHAREL (C, A.F.F., **)
18- Fernando MARQUES (B, in Daehanjeiguk [DAE], **)

Attackers:

7- Dênis Conte ALVES (A, Dunboor FC, ***)
9- HUBERT Munch (A, Ranca Toco, ***)
11- Fernando Lemes Campo "NANDO" (B, Clube Imperial, **)
19- André Lopes MATOSO (C, Petardos S/A, **)

Coach: FRANZ BRADDOCK (unemployed/retired)

Formation (offensive 3-4-3 / style of +3):

------------------------------Kardec------------------------------
---------------Toledo---------Gaëif----------Ronaldão-------------
-----------------------------Fabinho------------------------------
-----Abreu----------------------------------------------Túlio-----
-----------------------------Marossi------------------------------
---------------Nando---------Hubert-----------Alves--------------


Kits (home-away-third):

http://i292.photobucket.com/albums/mm1/Starblayde/ediraf/CafHome4.jpg
http://i292.photobucket.com/albums/mm1/Starblayde/ediraf/CafAway4.jpg
http://i292.photobucket.com/albums/mm1/Starblayde/ediraf/CafThird4.jpg

[OOC: Will fill in player bios later. Most of these guys have been around, so don't worry about it - you can find it elsewhere. Formation is a 4-2-3-1, as always a -1.]

The Golden Wolves

Manager: Rúmil Oronar
* - starter

*1) Goalkeeper: Gerrin Sidan. Club: Atletico Jutense [Cafundeu].
2) Goalkeeper: Pahal Gafernad. Club: IYC Kaharan.
*3) Left Defender: Vanis Kariid. Club: Cafundo de Juta [Cafundeu].
4) Left Defender: Damer Vidanel. Club: Chelmar FC.
*5) Left Center Defender: Lhatis Riegan (Captain). Club: Chelmar FC.
6) Left Center Defender: Agevar Vanorilin. Club: IYC Uharan.
*7) Right Center Defender: Herod Accursas. Club: Chelmar FC.
8) Right Center Defender: Venasir Nahorian. Club: IYC Uharan.
*9) Right Defender: Nilan Bahsir. Club: Cafundo de Juta [Cafundeu].
10) Right Defender: Turkarin Varanias. Club: IYC Kaharan.
*11) Left Defensive Midfielder: Mosada Juhan. Club: IYC Ajer.
12) Left Defensive Midfielder: Atoras Riegan. Club: IYC Toralen.
*13) Right Defensive Midfielder: Maharta Kiranar. Club: IYC Uharan.
14) Right Defensive Midfielder: Ahagarishk Va'ask. Club: IYC Uharan.
*15) Left Midfielder: Amario Otavias (Vice-Captain). Club: Chelmar FC.
16) Left Midfielder: Fahren Dashkir. Club: IYC Hadaris.
*17) Center/Attacking Midfielder: Ilsinha. Club: CA Condadore [Aguazul].
18) Center/Attacking Midfielder: Danilo Silva. Club: None (currently at Imperial Yaforite Sports Academy, Chelmar).
*19) Right Midfielder: Vashil Nahanor. Club: Chelmar FC.
20) Right Midfielder: Ahershk Valinial. Club: Caires Sports Club [Candelaria and Marquez].
*21) Striker: David Insfield. Club: CF Mont-Pluie [Ad'ihan].
22) Striker: Vorin Dariegan. Club: KT Hotspur [Candelaria and Marquez].
23) Striker: Jamie Durand. Club: IYC Toralen.

From the Offices of the VSC does the Marauder information come

My opponent, if they RP first, may do the following:
Choose my goalscorers Y
Godmod Scoring Events Y
RP injuries to my players Y (no more than three weeks out)
Godmod injuries to my players N
Hand out Yellow cards to my players Y
Hand out Red cards to my players N
Godmod Other Events Y

What is the name of…

…the number one ranked team and back to back defending champions of the World Cup?
Valanora (known prior to World Cup 37 as Elves Security Forces)

...the other nations involved in Valanora?
Vyinta and Dark Templara

…the nation in which this Commonwealth play their home matches?
Elves Security Forces (sometimes ESF in shortphrase)

…people from the Commonwealth?
Vanorians or Vanors

…the person who created this mess?
Elves Security Forces

Style Modifier: +1

Kits

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v637/chellote/ValH.jpg http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v637/chellote/ValA.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v637/chellote/Val3.jpg

Home Away

Manager

Orophin Anárion - Age: 24,569 (M)

Assistant Manager

Nienna Lossëhelin - Age 12,388 (F)

Keeper

1 Amarian Tinehtelë, Ourseville 1093 (Septentronia) ~
Age - 807
Sex - M
Height: 6'2"
Weight: 171 lbs

Defenders

32 Angrod Minyatur, Ammites FE (Vephrall)
Age - 644
Sex - M
Height: 6'1"
Weight: 167 lbs

12 Dwier Titenburg Jr, FC Capri
Age - 398
Sex - M
Height: 6'3"
Weight: 162 lbs

37 Hizzen Hocn, Cafundó do Juta (Cafundeu)
Age - 634
Sex - M
Height: 6'0"
Weight: 165 lbs

Midfield

16 Ricardinho, Petardos S/A (Cafundeu)
Age - 21
Sex - M
Height: 6'1"
Weight: 163 lbs

17 Jamichel Totez, IYC Ajer (Yafor 2)
Age - 27
Sex - M
Height: 6'4"
Weight: 187 lbs

7 Roger Zetaback, Soldarian FC
Age - 847
Sex - M
Height: 6'0"
Weight: 153 lbs

19 Antis Morose, Raynor City United
Age - 754
Sex - M
Height: 5'10"
Weight: 161 lbs

40 Scott Soldarian, Raynor City United
Age - 576
Sex - M
Hieght: 6'1"
Weight: 163 lbs

Strikers

6 Anti Fresco, Petardos S/A (Cafundeu)
Age - 451
Sex - M
Height: 5'11"
Weight: 149 lbs

8 Calla Soler, Soldarian FC
Age - 28
Sex - F
Height: 5'11"
Weight: 149 lbs

Subs
2 GK Nadalie Rivana - age 29 - Oceanic (Demot) (F)
5 CB Tamuríl Amandil - age 685 - SC Rinaldi (M) ~
29 CB Valdis Torrini - age 27 - Oceanic United (Demot) (F)
9 CB Que - age 730 - Juavi FC (M) ~
18 MC Carl Underdark - age 741 - Ranca Toco (Cafundeu) (M)
10 MC Triania Orlues - age 482 - AC Zul'Atun (F)
21 MRLC Michelle Durosa - 709 - Likewell Kirk (Demot) (F)
13 LW Taikinu Ories - age 25 - Protectorate United (Ad'ihan) (M)
11 AMRC Isal Grazi - age 29 - Mylfe CE (Vephrall) (M)
26 RW Nessa Tîwele - age 34 - Likewell Kirk (Demot) (F) ~
4 ST Joan va Glaze - age 834 - Raynor City United (F)
3 FC Deuce Zadora - age 758 - Mylfe CE (Vephrall) (M)

Captain: Scott Soldarian
Set Piece Taker: Ricardinho
Penalty Taker: Anti Fresco
Right Corner: Ricardinho
Left Corner: Ricardinho

Tinehtelë
Hocn Minyatur Titenburg
Ricardinho Soldarian Totez Morose
Zetaback
Fresco Soler

~ denotes Vyintanese

“Sir?! Sir! Mr. Mc O’Neil!!!!”

Without turning around, Mc O’Neil swivelled almost imperceptibly to his right and flicked languorously at a seemingly innocent-looking switch hidden amongst the vast array of buttons, toggles and switches. As he did so, the lights and, more to the point, the sounds of a thousand television screens hanging from the cavernous ceiling popped out of existence one by one, leaving only TTO Sport’s rolling news coverage showing again and again the moment when Father Polycarp slid open the rather prettily embossed envelope and unveiled an extensive strip of paper. It was obvious, in that moment, unless they’d opted to use a really big font, that the delegation from the lengthier-named pair of nations had reason to jump up and down, hug each other, scream a bit and generally act all unnecessary.

Sam Mc O’Neil, the Acting President (de facto) of the CAMAFA hadn’t been there, of course. He was a Candelariasian football fan of old, and preferred to watch it all on TV. A thousand TVs, to be precise, broadcasting the event in a hundred different languages – some unpronounceable without a bifurcated tongue and a beak – back to the room in the heart of the organisation’s Albrecht headquarters.

“A true thing of wonder, don’t you think, Freddie?”

“It’s a truly improbable occurrence, aye. I brought you breakfast, by the way.”

“Thank you. Nations we have never even heard of and who, more pertinently, have never heard of us, thousands of them… And for these brief few moments, we are the focus of the worlds’ attention. Worlds in plural, no less.”

Freddie Painter shuddered behind the President’s back. “Have you spoken to anyone from the government yet?” he asked brightly.

“No… I believe the Minister for Sport was over there… What did he have to say for himself?”

“Oh, some guff about the opportunities for renewal and welcoming the international community to our open-minded little islands… Frankly, they’re shitting themselves.”

“Excellent…”

“So should you be, sir,” Painter continued politely, opting to keep up the jovial nature of the conversation for as long as possible. “We’ve got, at best, one World Cup ready stadium, barely the transport infrastructure to cope with the travelling support for under-21 sides never mind fifteen senior teams… And then there’s the other stuff. Even if we don’t get… you-know-whats and you-know-whatters landing on our doorstep, the M.O.R.T.’s going to be stretched to breaking point. And the government’s going to hold us responsible for that, sir. Unless that’s the plan,” he added, partly under his breath.

“I seldom ‘plan’, Freddie. I react. Events, my dear boy, are moving at a pace…”

“And what does that mean?” Painter wondered aloud, risking it for the proverbial biscuit.

“God knows. This has all come at rather the wrong time, as far as the ongoing plot is concerned,” Mc O’Neil replied cheerfully. “No, I don’t plan to rock the boat. We’ll put on a show… Not a particularly memorable one, but a show none the less. We’ve got the opening ceremony, for a start. Giant papier-mâché toads, children of the worlds in implausible hats. Quietly comical references to our human and non-human rights abuses. The buses will run on time, the police will be even-handed but unafraid to act if needs be, the Northlandish’ll behave if they know what’s good for ‘em, we’ll laugh off any mention of elves and bears and alternate realities and zombies and hedgehogs… And then we’ll carry on like nothing ever happened.”

“Barring flogging cheap replica shirts of CMSC1 clubs, thus helping to export your brand to even farther-flung corners of the multiverse?”

“There are always fringe benefits of this type of international event, Freddie,” Mc O’Neil grinned as he swivelled to face his assistant for the first time that morning.

In Painter’s opinion, Sam Mc O’Neil was quite mad. In the British sense, obviously, and using the qualifier ‘quite’ to suggest borderline insanity. In his many years of service to Candelariasian football, Painter had come across more than a few daft individuals convinced that they could use the national game to change, if not the world, then certainly our grubby little section of it. Such people tended to disappear quite quickly, usually after Painter had shopped them in to the higher authorities. Mc O’Neil was different. He wasn’t earnestly ideological, merely intent on world domination through financial means. Everything – even a bloody World Cup in bloody C&M – was simply a means to an end for him. The country had a ninety per cent tax rate for middle-income earners. Even in the brave, new, aspirant era of President Morton’s C&M, individuals like Mc O’Neil were viewed as straddling the margins of sanity at the very best.

Living in a cave filled with a thousand television screens, employing a network of slaves, and giggling manically to himself every five minutes only added to the overall impression of a man on the edge.

If nothing else however, it did mean that a successful off-field World Cup was entirely in Mc O’Neil’s interests. His opulently eccentric standard of living depended on it passing off with nary a hitch. As loyal as Painter still felt to the former CAMAFA hierarchy, Mc O’Neil truly was the best man for the job. Only a man with the masculine equivalent of thirteen cats could be trusted to stop the country making a collective arse of itself.

Painter suddenly realised that the Acting President was staring at him over his weetabix. “Was there anything else, Freddie?”

“Um. Yes, er, I’ve scheduled a meeting between yourself and Dannat at noon, if that’s alright?”

“What about? The man’s got a holiday for a year…”

“Ye-es… Only, you remember we kind of sort of somehow agreed to the Vahala Invitational Thingy the other week?”

“Indeed. Never let me sample their wine again, Freddie.”

“Aye… Anyway, um, you know how we discussed sending an amateur team…?”

“Or the under-17s, or a Green Island XI, or women…?”

“Or a team comprised entirely of foreign-based players…”

“I remember invoking Yosgart Flores at one point, indeed…”

“Mm. Well, anyway… Now that we’ve… won, the World Cup, so to speak; Dannat says that we can bugger that for a game of soldiers. Sir. There’ll be friendlies against Nethertopia and Taeshan and the usual dross coming up, of course, but he’s faintly desperate for a chance to put out a pretty-much complete first eleven in this tournament…”

Mc O’Neil put his hands over his eyes. “The delightful Ms Harris is going to have me killed,” he sighed. “You realise everyone will want to see this? We can’t possibly risk another major tournament on elven shores. It always takes so much explaining…”

“I don’t think we’ve got much choice. Dannat’ll throw the mother of all supermarket paddies if we make him pick a load of random Yaforite-based players, and such like. As it is, he’s scrapped plans to consider a B team. He wants everyone there… Mengucci, Dixon, Smith, Cohen, Dionísio…”

“Cafundéu send a B team…”

“We’re not Cafundéu, sir. Sorry.”

“Fine… Increase my misery then, who’ve we got in the group stage?”

“Um… Everybody? It’s a round robin tournament, sir.”

Mc O’Neil frowned. “One of those ghastly letters Gamboa types send out at Christmas bragging about how well their horrendous offspring are doing on their gap years digging orphans in the Pazhujeb Islands?”

“Um… No.”

“Not like the Swiss system is it?” Mc O’Neil asked darkly.

“A perpetual coalition and everyone gets a go at being leader? No… Everyone just plays everyone, sir. And then there’s a play-off between the top two. We’ve got Kura-Pelland in the first game. In Raynor City, I’m afraid.”

“Ye gods, have we? It just gets worse…”

“We could sell the rights to an obscure Sorthern-based satellite network that no-one but Northlandish Candelariasians can pick up?”

Mc O’Neil paused, before granting Painter a wide, genuine smile. “I knew there was a reason why I kept you on board, Freddie. Get to it!”

Candelaria And Marquez national football team squad for the Vahala Invitational

Barely a fortnight on from quitting Caires City, basking in the glory of back-to-back league title and a CMS Cup victory for his final game, Elgin Dannat arrives as the Big Blues’ sixth managerial appointment following Mark Baker, Ricardo Garcia, Lloyd Donnelly, Ozzy Stefano/Damien Sono and Kris Healy. Stripped of the necessity to guide the team into their fifth World Cup finals, the VI has suddenly taken on a whole new meaning – not merely a chance to try out new talents any more, Dannat will be treating this tournament very seriously indeed. The race to lose to Valanora in the final is on!

On-field, it’s all change, with a new 4-2-3-1 tha…

…is much the same as the last one used by Healy. Of course, it’s reasonable that Dannat goes with what he knows – he’s played this way with City since being elevated from the YTS manager’s position. With friendly matches to come expected to see rather more jiggery-pockery in personnel, Dannat has named a tried-and-tested squad containing only eleven new names looking to stake their claim for starting spots on home turf just a few short months from now…

The first XI for the Kura-Pelland game is expected to consist of Sbaïz in goal, a back four of Lopulalan, Silva de Aviz, O’Brien and Adekunde, midfield of Mengucci and Zec holding, Cohen and Kortsarian wide, and Dionísio ahead of them, with Smith alone up front. Anyone and everyone will likely get their chance as the tournament progresses however.

+0.5, yesyesyesyesyesyesyes

The Squad. Without any bios or anything, because even ‘seriously’ has its limit in December…

Goalkeepers
23. Joel Sbaïz, Aged 30, Chelmar FC [Yafor 2], 37 caps
1. Felix Currey, 31, Caires City, 6 caps (1 as sub)
22. Ryan Gonzaléz, 28, KT Hotspur

Defenders
12. Harris Dixon, 29, A.F.F. [Cafundéu], 51 caps (9 as sub), DR
2. Gwynfardd Lopulalan, 22, KT Hotspur, DR

18. Enrique Silva de Aviz, 29, A.F.F. [Cafundéu], 38 caps, 1 goal, DC
5. Eric O’Brien, 22, AFC MN Smith, DC
6. Yosgart Flores, 30, AFC Neegara [Kura-Pelland], DC

3. God’s Power Adekunde, 27, Port of Clotaire, 23 caps (2 as sub), DL
13. Tom Durrant, 23, IYC Vanan [Yafor 2], DL

Midfielders
8. Connor Mengucci, 31, CAPTAIN, Petardos S/A [Cafundéu], 74 caps (13 as sub), 1 goal, MD
4. Ben Zec, 23, Albrecht FC, MD
15. Joel Mercado, 25, Natestadt Nationalisten [Capitalizt SLANI], MD

19. Niv Cohen, 26, Albrecht Turkish, 34 caps (2 as sub), 7 goals, MR
21. Diego Fernando Pappas, 22, Marquez-Onwere, MR

20. Dionísio Madeira Lobos, 31, Caires City, 40 caps (1 as sub), 14 goals, AMC
26. Jamie González, 28, Clube Imperial [Cafundéu], 32 caps (11 as sub), 8 goals, AMRLC

11. Aaron Kortsarian, 27, Cafundó do Juta [Cafundéu], 18 caps (5 as sub), 4 goals, ML
17. Nic Lloyd, 22, Caires City, ML

Forwards
10. Tom Smith, 26, Arrigo Portuguese, 31 caps (1 as sub), 15 goals
7. Abdul Ibadulla, 23, Juavi FC [Valanora], 15 caps (4 as sub), 4 goals
9. David Spooner, 21, Candelaria-Allemali
14. Presbury Ellis, 25, Candelaria-Allemali

Kit:
http://i176.photobucket.com/albums/w175/candelariaandmarquez/CAMHome4.jpg http://i176.photobucket.com/albums/w175/candelariaandmarquez/CAMAway4.jpg

Kura-Pelland squad for Vahala Invitational
Style modifier +1.093 (or +1 if rounding to integers)

GOALKEEPERS
1. Paul Hodgson (GK, 21)
12. Terence Huffingham (GK, 26)
22. Bob Caston (GK, 29)

DEFENDERS
2. Bo Phelps (SW/CB/LB, 29)
3. Dean Olsen (CB, 28)
4. George Lupin (CB/RB, 27)
5. Massimo Iampietro (LB/LWB/LM, 22)
15. Ciaran O'Malley (LB/CB, 20)
17. Jan van Hogan (CB, 18)
19. Liam Venton (RB, 24)

MIDFIELDERS
6. Marcus DaWealia (DM/CB/CM, 31)
7. Harry Oughton (AM/CF, 21)
8. Liam Marling (LM/LW, 30)
9. Iain Belling (LM/RM/AM, 35) Will retire after C&M match
13. Gilles Rothen (LM/LW, 23)
14. Ben Ravinella (AM/CF, 20)
20. Calvin Cottee (CM, 21)

ATTACKERS
10. Norbert Fiero (ST, 28)
11. Keith Wilder (CF/ST, 22)
16. Jack Richmond (ST, 19)
18. William Lacamoire (ST, 18)
21. Prince Ogunde (RW/ST, 22)

Matchday 1

Candelaria And Marquez 1-1 Kura-Pelland
Cafundéu 2-3 Valanora
Septentrionia 1-1 Starblaydia
Yafor 2 0-1 Ad'ihan

The Albrecht Herald Online>Sport>Football
Nothing to report? Just a Zec…
By Mack Hession

For the setting and the occasion, this was pedestrian fair, worthy of no more than a couple of hastily dashed-off paragraphs on a Saturday when this reporter has rather more pressing concerns to attend to. Thank God. I’d’ve been right buggered if this first game of a new era had been a classic.

The next pair of World Cup hosts, in one of the world’s finest stadia, meeting on the football pitch for the first time in sevenish years. That last occasion in the thirty-second Cup of Harmony had formerly marked the end of Lloyd Donnelly’s tenure as Big Blues coach and began the short reign of the emergency stand-ins Stefano and Sono. Now, this seldom tranquil of fixtures saw Elgin Dannat make his debut in the dugout – a physically large but unassuming figure, calmly surveying his charges while his coaching staff did the talking, shouting and minor acts of violence required to keep in line an initially slightly over-eager Big Blues eleven.

The Kura-Pellandis also had a new man in place, and one or two still had demons left to exorcise from that two-nil defeat in Hoxton (the Krytenian one) during their disastrous CoH32 campaign. Iain Belling was one such, and the Arrigo Portuguese veteran, at the age of thirty-five, was the first centre of attention. Whatever the outcome in Raynor City, this was to be Belling’s final international appearance, and appreciate chants to that effect emanated from the scattered ranks of Arrigo natives in the stands as well as the end of the Battleground reserved for Kura-Pellandi fans and sympathisers. They were as often as not drowned out by the boos, admittedly – many are the CMSC defences to have suffered at Belling’s feet over the years – alongside the usual bitter references to surely long-forgotten incidents in obscure hockey or Champions’ Cup matches that tend to permeate any international meetings between these old foes.

For all that, the atmosphere was good-natured enough – even neutered by comparison to encounters past. How could it not be, after these two nations were suddenly thrust together in the global limelight? Structural integrity-defying chants of ‘Stand up if You’ve Got the World Cup’ echoed around the Battleground – even the locals joined in, blow-up World Cup trophies bouncing in the wind – and if the whole stadium had suddenly joined hands for a rendition of ‘We Are the World’, it couldn’t have been more friendly. Frankly, this was a day that sullied the reputations of both sets of travelling supporters forever.

The game itself had the makings of another memorable fixture during its early stages, Belling clipping the bar and Tom Smith putting just wide after Aaron Kortsarian swung in a gorgeous low cross that provided a rare hint at Cafundó do Juta class. But the match also marked the debut of the man placed last in any list of C&M internationals – and, in Ben Zec, there can be fewer greater exponents of the skill that is killing a game.

With Connor Mengucci performing solidly as ever alongside him, only Zec truly stood between the satisfactory point and embarrassing opening defeat for the new manager; and Belling, young Harry Oughton and Norbert Fiero alike had repeated reason to curse the Albrecht FC midfielder’s admittedly short name. On thirty-nine minutes Zec then added a personal collector’s item – a scooped shot from just outside the area during a rare foray forwards, that bobbled under the young ‘keeper Paul Hodgson’s arms. On the in-match betting for the first goalscorer of the Dannat era, you would’ve been hard-pressed to find longer odds than Zec.

As the second period kicked off, the Candelariasian faithful had relaxed – ‘We hate Cúchulainn’ rang out cheerfully around the stadium, along with genial references to the Olsen twins (the new Kura-Pellandi Prime Minister’s breasts having made regular appearances in the Albrecht Mercury over recent weeks) but, as the opposition attempted to find a rhyme for ‘shaving mirror’ (why can’t we have the feminine leader, eh?), Kura-Pelland found the equaliser through Fiero – taking hold of Belling’s cross and burying his own ghosts of Hoxton with a smart shot to Joel Sbaïz’s right.

Both goals had come against the run of play, and the impetus slopped back and forth as the two sides poked increasingly tentatively at each other. Kura-Pellandi held the bulk of the possession but, with Zec and Mengucci forging an iron wall on their first date, it was C&M who had the better of the late chances – Smith and Niv Cohen putting wide and a brief cameo from Dannat’s Caires City protégé Nic Lloyd ultimately coming to nothing. One-all was shared, mutually agreeable enough to be almost prearranged, and only the occasion of the game will survive in the memory beyond the final in Capri.

On this evidence, the Big Blues won’t be there – and we won’t get much clue in the next round of games, either. Taking on the hosts, Dannat is expected to put out the likes of Yosgart Flores, Joel Mercado and Presbury Ellis – lambs to an inevitable slaughter, with the meeting with Starblaydia the first real chance for three points.

The Vahala Invitational, Round 1
@ The Battleground, Raynor City, the Eesseff

Candelaria And Marquez 1
Zec 39

Kura-Pelland 1
Fiero 52

FRANZ BRADDOCK'S DIARY - GAME ONE

This is the start of the Vahala Invitational, a football competition created by those elves from Valanora... well, Cafundéu seems to have a good relationship with them, so the Monopolists were invited. It seemed a good opportunity for the CCFM to earn more money, so they accepted, sending this mixed team to the competition. And, the best part of all, they decided to give me this chance to lead the team in the tournament, so I can see if I'll settle some personal issues...

It was a short trip to the country, as Cafundéu is located in the same region, so the players weren't much tired and could train right away. The CCFM gave the freedom in choosing the players, but limited me in some facts: there were some NT players that didn't want to play in unofficial competitions, and others that were already called by Serginho Mallandro to play in the Oxen Cup. With the remaining players available, I could make an interesting, strong and young team, something that pleased me a lot.

Then the day of the game against Valanora came. And that's when my personal feelings appear... I had something to show to these Vanorians... after all, the football associations from Ad'ihan and Yafor 2 decided to choose people from these countries for their coaching jobs, although they were much less experienced... and probably less talented than me. What do they have that make their coaches be chosen instead of more famous professionals? I couldn't bear this, I had to show them what I can (still) do.

I faced a routine that I didn't do for ages... a pre-match routine. Choosing the eleven starters, talking with the players, training them, entering in the field... it was something that I missed, I felt like if I was travelling back in time when I coached Cafundéu or Petardos S/A. But this time the players were different... Kardec was just a kid playing football in Lasft when I was coaching the NT. Gaëif a brute playing for Petrol. Fabinho and Abreu... no idea. Marossi just an average player for Khalmar-Tijhus... and all the three attackers of this team were still at school.

But, when the game started, it became clear that I didn't lose my quality... I still know how to plan a team, to make good tactics and to choose the right players in the right positions. It wasn't an easy job to hold Valanora, the number one in the world, with a half-reserve Cafundelense team. We started well with a goal from Hubert, but they scored with Ricardinho to finish the first half 1x1. In the second, I was unable to find their weak point to decide the game, and they could create an advantage with Fresco and Soler. Abreu even scored later, but that was too late. A good game for us, but not a good result.

Matchday 2

Kura-Pelland 4-2 Starblaydia
Valanora 4-1 Candelaria And Marquez
Ad'ihan 1-0 Cafundéu
Yafor 2 2-1 Septentrionia

Pos Team P W D L GF GA GD Pts
1 Valanora 2 2 0 0 7 3 4 6
2 Ad'ihan 2 2 0 0 2 0 2 6
3 Kura-Pelland 2 1 1 0 5 3 2 4
4 Yafor 2 2 1 0 1 2 2 0 3
5 Septentrionia 2 0 1 1 2 3 -1 1
6 Starblaydia 2 0 1 1 3 5 -2 1
7 Candelaria And Marquez 2 0 1 1 2 5 -3 1
8 Cafundéu 2 0 0 2 2 4 -2 0

After the match with Candelaria And Marquez proved to be an ordinary game in an extraordinary atmosphere, the next one was an extraordinary game in an ordinary atmosphere.

A number of empty seats were present in the Angelotic Temple, but those not in the stadium were missing out as Kura-Pelland overturned a third-minute deficit to lead 2-1 in twenty minutes courtesy of two crosses from Prince Ogunde, who played on the right wing replacing Iain Belling. New manager Vincent Wallace could not have been more vindicated in that decision, as each of his striking partners - Norbert Fiero and Keith Wilder - scored headers from Ogunde crosses. Paul Hodgson was culpable for the opener (didn't Bargoiten do well to sell him when they did?) but was helpless thanks to poor defending for the second just before half-time, Dean Olsen's calamitous clearance going straight to a Starblaydi striker. Right-leaning travelling fans mocked Olsen - who shares a surname with, but is no close relation of, new Liberal PM Charley - but soon both left and right were celebrating with a brilliant goal in first-half injury time that fittingly came from a cross-field ball from right-back George Lupin to left midfielder Liam Marling, who beat two defenders before producing a perfect square pass to the onrushing Harry Oughton, whose 20-yard shot flew into the top corner.

Starblaydia created several chances in the second half but there was a certain sense of destiny about the result in the 75th minute, when both Hodgson and Olsen redeemed themselves brilliantly - the former with a point-blank save to force a corner, the latter with a goal-line clearance from that corner. Just three minutes later, substitute William Lacamoire was played onside by a tiring Starblaydi defender and the teenager promptly sidefooted home the game-clinching goal on his senior debut. Expect to hear more from him in the runup to World Cup 44...

I Give My Opponent Permission
(and actively encourage them) To:
====================
Choose My Scorers
GodMod Any Goalscoring Events
Yellow Card Players
GodMod Other Events for Humorous Intent
====================

Style Modifier: 0 (4-4-2 'Diamond' formation)

Notes:
1) The best starting eleven are numbered 1-11 and are in bold
2) I actively encourage, nay nearly demand, that if you RP first you pick my scorers (if any).
3) * Denotes female player, ^ denotes Dwarf (http://www.nswiki.net/index.php?title=Starblaydi_Dwarves) player.
4) Before each match, in between national anthems and kick-off, the entire 23-man squad will perform the Raiigar (http://www.nswiki.net/index.php?title=Raiigar), Starblaydia's traditional war-dance.

http://www.starblaydestudios.co.uk/Images/SFA-Logo.gif
Starblaydia's Roster
What else would a list of players be?

The Staff
LP. Lex Panarii, Manager, 56
33 Caps, 2 Goals (Uncapped at Under-21 Level)

The Goalkeepers
1. Caleb Westwood, GK, 35
13. Kyli Seji, GK, 32
19. Jamar Wilson, GK, 29

The Defenders
2. Peter Movalinen, RB, 29
3. Saffi Mehzubontin*^, R/LB, 24
5. Louisa Logan*, CB, 25
6. Nei Samba, L/CB, 26
13. Jeff Gavelli, LB, 26
14. Raúl Valdano, R/CB, 22
20. Ignacius Sverus, CB, 27

The Midfielders
4. Rashid Mus'haf, C/DM, 25
7. Ricky England, R/CM, 28
8. Andvari Bazrimar^, AM, 26
11. Yuri Vegachenko, R/LM, 24
15. Panos Petropoulos, L/DM, 27
16. Na-Me, C/AM, 28
21. Lee Il-Ajun, RM, 31

The Forwards
9. Diamontii Di Bradini*, Captain, SC, 29
10. Romeo Oscar, SC, 23
17. Velat Thayil, SC, 27
18. Luis Primo, SC, 24
22. Hayden Albertini, SC, 25
23. Lotar Kaii'n, SC, 22


The Formation
http://i292.photobucket.com/albums/mm1/Starblayde/StarVAH1.jpg

Home And Away Kits:
Kits created by:
http://www.starblaydestudios.co.uk/Images/ediraflogo.jpg
http://i292.photobucket.com/albums/mm1/Starblayde/StarHome4-1.jpghttp://i292.photobucket.com/albums/mm1/Starblayde/StarAway4.jpg

FRANZ BRADDOCK'S DIARY - GAME TWO

In the end, the performance of the team in the first game was good, although we were unable to conquer a positive result against Valanora. The 3x2 loss, in a certain way, impressed me, as I was clearly worried if this mixed Cafundelense team could hold the Vanorians. Well, I didn't know much about the players composing my team, as many of them are young, but I'm already discovering how to use them in the right position with the right tactics. The trainings have been crucial for me to notice the strong points of my players, and the best strategies for the team as a whole.

In the last training session, I could notice that the team was struggling with defensive problems, something that also happened in the game against Valanora. So, I prepared the team for the game against Ad'ihan in a 4-3-3 strategy, putting in the starting eleven two full-backs. They seemed excited to be able to play, as it seemed that they wouldn't have this chance. So, thinking this way, I put Paulo Santos and Cotuba in the team in the places of Ronaldão and Abreu. With this, I hoped to see the team performing well again, but better defensively.

This second game was really special for me, personally. Ad'ihan was the opponent. I have something against them, probably more than any other nation. After all, when they said that they were looking for a coach, I decided to left my retirement to coach their team, but they rejected my application, preferring a club coach! After many years, I decided to coach a team again, and they simply ignored the importance of this act! So, I had to show them what they lost in not choosing me. My team was prepared for the game... or at least I thought it.

When the game started, the strategy I planned for the team seemed to work pretty well: the offense was acting in the same way they did in the game against Valanora, and the defence, with the help of the full-backs, controlled well the Ad'ihani attacks. But, later in the first half, in a fast counterattack, we suffered a goal. This didn't worry me much initially, as I was hopeful that the attack could react. But, when the first half ended, it was clear that something went wrong. It wasn't difficult to notice: the defensive mentality of the full-backs harmed the offense.

But the question was more complicated than it: if the full-backs were asked to attack more, or if I reverted the team to the 3-4-3, it could mean that the defensive problems would return. I had to decide if I would sent the team for an attacking mode or if I would continue with the more defensive line-up and hope for a counterattack goal. I chose the second option. Unfortunately, although the defence continued working well, we were unable to score, and lost the game. A bad loss this time, as Cafundéu, in theory, should defeat Ad'ihan, due to its better ranking.

Ready And Up For It
Starblaydia still want WC42 Vengeance

Five years ago it may have been, but here and now in 2087 Starblaydia are looking for their first win in the Vahala Invitational and see Candelaria And Marquez as their way of getting one. Though Starblaydia are supposed to be the third-best team at this tournament behind Valanora and Cafundéu, they have already drawn with the 23rd-ranked side and lost to the 19th-ranked. Not a happy hunting ground so far, it seems, for a side supposedly in the top six in the world.

Starblaydia are now without such luminaries as Batou Nakamura, Jaime Kuu, Bazrador Drakkiborgo, Charles Buckstone, Wen Tze-Shu and Daymon Callind, and are obviously struggling. A brand-new central defensive partnership of former substitute-only Nei Samba and complete debutant Louisa Logan has evidently not worked out how it was supposed to, what with four goals conceeded against Kura Pelland, despite the efforts of the veteran Caleb Westwood, now Starblaydia's most-capped Goalkeeper. Diamontii Di Bradini is somewhat overawed by being given the Captaincy of the senior side for the first time, her only previous attempt at leadership being the sixth Di Bradini Cup, where Starblaydia were kicked out at the Quarter-Final stage by Candelaria And Marquez. These are simply the most-obvious defecits.

It is the lack of youngsters in this side that is truly disconcerting. With no team sent to the seventh Di Bradini Cup - quite for what reason that was, we may never find out - there is no obvious way of picking which youthful player is right to make the step up to the senior side. The youngest player in this current squad is 22 year old striker Lotar Kaii'n, who scored his first goal in his ninth appearance in the loss against Kura-Pelland. Though he has yet to really find his feet at international level, Lex Panarii praises the youngster as 'always being in the right place at the right time', and only needing 'a little bit more luck' to be banging the goals in left, right and centre. Which is more than you can say for any other striker bar Di Bradini. Romeo Oscar has his moments, but Velat Thayil, Luis Primo and Hayden Albertini don't appear to have any such moments, lucky or otherwise. This is Starblaydia, for crying out loud, where is the uber-phoenomenal striker? Diamontii Di Bradini is twenty-nine and surely beyond her zenith, and beyond hoping for the potential of Kaii'n to suddenly spring into being from nowhere, there is little to see in the way of Starblaydia going on to win a fourth World title any time soon.

Word is that the SFA are after a fourth title before World Cup 50, having re-evaluated their original estimate of a third title in that time period when Panarii did it at the first attempt. Gods above, if that is going to happen then we need some fabulous youngsters to shine in the eighth, ninth and tenth Di Bradini Cups. And how.

Septentrionian roster for the Vahala Invitational:

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v338/Oli55/wc42home.png http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v338/Oli55/wc42away.png

First kit is the home one, second is the away one

New manager: Manon Girard
Asst. Manager: Vincent Charette

Modifier: +2

Starting eleven:

Pos. # First Name Last Name Age Club
------------------------------------------------------------------------
GK 1 René Laviolette 34 CS Sept-Onze
DL 2 Roger Danis 32 Finistère (Sorthern Northland)
DC 38 Nicolas Leduc 29 FC Wexax (Valanora)
DC 12 Paul Bourassa 29 América (Cafundeu)
DR 4 William Benoît 35 CS Sept-Onze
DM 17 Eugène Gagnon 24 A.F.F. (Cafundeu)
ML 6 Mario Latraverse 33 Union d'Ourseville
MR 7 Raymond Paiement 34 Ourseville 1093
AM 14 Alain Bellemare 32 CS Lac-Amédée
ST 10 Nicolas Maloeil 30 Union d'Ourseville
ST 93 François Lafontaine 31 Stade du Dauphin

Subs:

Pos. # First Name Last Name Age Club
----------------------------------------------------------------------
GK 11 Martin Vachon 25 Stade du Dauphin
D 23 Raymond Tétreault 25 FC Grand-Glacier
M 13 Luc Gauthier 34 Bourdailleux
M 20 Benoît Beaudry 22 US Septentrionalis
ST 15 Gérard Labrie 30 A.F.F. (Cafundeu)



If my opponent RPs first, they may:
Select my scorers — Yes
Give out yellow cards to my players — Yes
Give out red cards to my players — Yes
RP injuries to my players — Yes
Godmod injuries — No
Godmod scoring events — Yes
Godmod other events — Yes

Matchday 3

Yafor 2 1-2 Kura-Pelland
Ad'ihan 0-4 Valanora
Candelaria And Marquez 1-1 Starblaydia
Cafundéu 2-0 Septentrionia

Pos Team P W D L GF GA GD Pts
1 Valanora 3 3 0 0 11 3 8 9
2 Kura-Pelland 3 2 1 0 7 4 3 7
3 Ad'ihan 3 2 0 1 2 4 -2 6
4 Cafundéu 3 1 0 2 4 4 0 3
5 Yafor 2 3 1 0 2 3 4 -1 3
6 Starblaydia 3 0 2 1 4 6 -2 2
7 Candelaria And Marquez 3 0 2 1 3 6 -3 2
8 Septentrionia 3 0 1 2 2 5 -3 1

The Albrecht Herald Online>Sport>Football
Forward duo secure point for Dannat’s winless wonders
By Mack Hession

Alright, so it’s not entirely going to plan – in a tournament that has still yet to catch light, and where a less than inspiring Candelariasian effort can take one eighth of the blame for that, the Big Blues’ hopes of giving their on-field World Cup chances a boost by reaching Capri are just about alive.

A just-about deserved equaliser came for the rankings underdogs in the eighty-ninth minute thanks to the combination of Abdul Ibadulla and Tom Smith, the Juavi FC forward beating the diminutive Saffi Mehzubontin to Niv Cohen’s through-ball and laying off for Tom Smith. The Arrigo Portuguese star caught the veteran ‘keeper Westwood just out of position and delicately struck home his shot. It was, indeed, a good look, and the ring was duly kissed – but the Dannat era will need to make the most of this late, round three fillip to avoid crumbling to a lowly finish in the Vahala table.

Looking at it objectively, a point against Starblaydia is no crime – even if the already dwindling Candelariasian travelling support in the Eesseff was half-way out the door before Smith’s effort found the back of the net. With the Commonwealth all but off-limits to supporters beyond the officially sanctioned party, the matches squirreled away on Cúchulainn, and a rather more important tournament to fret about in the near future; Smith’s goal has just about saved C&M’s Vahala campaign from a place in the most thorny of future pub quizzes.

To their credit, those players who had suffered at the hands of the hosts and inevitable champions in the previous round were quickly able to shake off the nightmares of a four-one defeat. Gonzaléz’s sliced shot aside it was simply another woeful performance against the Eesseff – the third in as many months following recent three-nil and five-nil bludgeonings, though Elgin Dannat clearly anticipated such an event in his team selection. Yosgart Flores and Tom Durrant were among those taking their places like a unit of halfling bowmen there to merely stem the flow of the onrushing legions of Cold One riders and accept their grisly fate (I know, but I just can’t get over the fantasy theme-park nature of this country… seriously, Eesseffians, it was one movie, years ago… get over yourselves). Ben Zec’s performance, or lack thereof, was another low point, while the Ellis-Spooner axis floundered on their own Big Blues debuts.

Poor man management, to throw these youngbloods in against opponents of an otherworldly quality, or merely a sensible approach to coping with this most unproductive of fixtures? Whichever, it certainly wasn’t nice – and the survivors of that team were keen to show Dannat the error of his ways. Zec was much improved against Starblaydia, though the star of the show was Nic Lloyd, the Caires City winger retained thanks to Aaron Kortsarian’s minor knock but giving Peter Movalinen jip all afternoon.

Lloyd and C&M’s best chance, on the half hour, went begging however, and Lex Panarii’s Starblaydia came to dominate the game from that point forth. Joel Sbaïz, despite a generally strong performance from Enrique Silva de Aviz and Eric O’Brien together at the back, was forced into a string of saves early in the second half, with Romeo Oscar – at twenty-three, the youngest Starblaydi on the pitch – bewitching O’Brien and Gwynfardd Lopulalan with an unexpected lightness of touch. The KT Hotspur full-back meanwhile already seems to have become a favourite of Dannat’s, surprisingly ahead of Harris Dixon, but did little in this game to enhance his international reputation.

Yuri Vegachenko eventually took the lead from a Ricky England corner, comfortably out-jumping his marker Connor Mengucci to plant a header just inside the left post. Only the Chelmar FC ‘keeper stopped the winger from doubling the three-time world champions’ lead moments later, before Dannat opted to roll his dice.

Though history may unfairly remember him as an interim coach between the eras of Mark Baker and Kris Healy; Lloyd Donnelly did bring one ‘innovation’ to the national team job for which he deserved applause then and now. At few other times have C&M managers risked playing two up front, a formation once so ubiquitous in the CMSC but falling out of favour with Candelariasian bosses who would once have struggled to countenance any other outlook. Not for nothing do Ignacio Vélez and Ramiro Novo lead the Big Blues’ scoring charts from the past sixteen years, and another budding partnership was given a rare chance to shine in the final minutes in Raynor City. With Zec sacrificed for Ibadulla, Dannat was going against his own natural inclinations – but it soon provided dividends. The presence of two target men unnerved the Starblaydi backline, with Panarii bringing Oscar back to the bench in favour of Panos Petropoulos.

His hopes, alongside Rashid Mus’haf, of protecting the back four were soon undone by Petropoulos’ Port of Clotaire team-mate God’s Power Adekunde, the C&M left-back beating the Starblaydi midfielder to Sbaïz’s punt forward and laying in to Dionísio, the Cafundelariasian and Dannat product feeding Cohen, who let the front two do their work.

With three points a must against Ad’ihan, the Smith-Ibadulla experiment looks set to get a go from the start, with the unfortunate Zec settling for a place on the bench. The Vahala Invitational may well prove to be a tournament to forget for the Big Blues – but, if the still relatively young pair from Zapata and Clotaire hit it off, it may mark the beginning of something special.

The Vahala Invitational, Round 3
@ The Battleground, Raynor City, the Eesseff

Candelaria And Marquez 1
Smith 89

Starblaydia 1
Vegachenko 60

FRANZ BRADDOCK'S DIARY - GAME THREE

The loss in the game against Ad'ihan was really frustrating, and not just for the team and for the supporters overall. This was more than just a game, there was more than just three points being played. It was a personal issue, I had to show these people from Ad'ihan that I was much better than their current coach, and I failed. Yes, the CCFM is furious with me that I lost to Ad'ihan, but their complaints are nothing compared to the critics that come inside myself. So, it is time to really take this job seriously and return to be the old Franz Braddock.

So, the first thing was to transform the training. I had to return to my old style, forcing the players to train hard in order to extract them their best qualities. Only when they perform using their full potential in the trainings I can discover more about them. Later, I had to start thinking in strategies and tactics suited for these players, according to the opponent too. I knew that the next game was against the weaker country of the competition, so an offensive strategy was much welcome, as the team would fight for the victory and for goals since the start.

Then it was finally the time to choose the line-up. In the last games, I was heavily influentiated by Ganz Ijak, who is working alongside me as assistant. I admit that he follows today's football more closely than me, but now I don't need his hints anymore. The trainings already told me who are the players that have to start. In the end, no big surprises. Kardec as goalkeeper, Toledo, Gaëif and Ronaldão in the defence. Fabinho, Jorginho, Pedrinho and Marossi in the midfield. Alves, Hubert and Nando in the attack. Yes, three attackers. I think this suits the team pretty well.

Finally it was time for the game against Septentrionia, and I was somewhat worried. Don't know exactly why, as usually I am pretty confident about my tactics, but this was a different situation. I had just returned to my old style, and didn't know what would happen with the team having to play in a very different way. In the end, I think they noticed that just now I returned to be the old and famous Franz Braddock, and due to this they were confident that they could win using my strategy. The game started slow, with we attacking and Septentrionia defending, but we soon could take control of it.

Dominating the ball control in the midfield, we could score two goals still in the first half. Marossi confirmed that he is the key player of this team, shooting to score the goal after exchanging some passes with Fabinho. Later, it was time for the young Alves to show his potential, receiving a pass from Nando and dribbling the goalkeeper before scoring. In the second half, Septentrionia tried to react, but there wasn't reason for worry. Cafundéu was much better in the game and didn't have problems to hold the result. That's good. Now it's time to continue winning.

The Raynor Herald
Majesty

Going into this invitational, many suspected that the Marauders were among the favourites, even without three key starters. That said, with the likes of Razov, va Drake, and Hawk being excluded from the tournament roster, there was a thought that perhaps the high octane attack of the side would be held in check better by the oppisition. Afterall, these were not just random invites that the VFA sent out, these were among the best teams in the world, all of them having participated in the Proper of the last World Cup. Yet three games into the invitational and the side has yet to score less than three and have only conceded three goals, two of those coming in the opener against fifth ranked Cafundéu. Fresco is proving all the reasons why he continues to be picked for the national team and why he is starting at Petardos while Calla Soler looks to be the type of strikers that people thought only the Night bloodline could create. While it is likely that Razov will be put back into his usual starting role come this summer, these two are showing the depth that the side has in strikers, one that was not appearant before these few games.

All that said about the greatness of the strikers, one should not be so quick to discredit the work that the midfield and defenders are putting in to keep control of the game and the oppisition as far away from Tinehtelë's area as possible. Laborious Hawk is the unquestioned best player that Valanora has ever produced while Espy va Drake is looking as if he is one of the best wingers, and that fact that the midfield is completely dominating the center of the park is a testimony to the skills of these players and the motivation tactics of the manager. It should not have been such a surprise that Anárion would have the side ready for these matches, afterall, the last three tournaments he has entered as a manager, his side has won them.

Is it then that the success of these managers and players has become soo humongous that words alone can not describe their ability adequetely? If it is such, then are we seeing another of the great footballing dynasties emerge over the world? Everyone remembers the late 20s when Starblaydia, Liverpool England, and Bedistan were basically passing the Cup around, or when Rejistania made the World Cup it's own personal plaything. Dynasties like this come around ever now and then, but they are usually shared powers and not the possession of a single nation. It is a remarkable thing to see our record, a top three finish in each of the last World Cup, with three titles, including a successful defending of one. It could be said that since World Cup 38 and the surprise Final of Az-cz and Demot that we elves have held this sport at ransom with our dominance. It is not a wholefully good thing to have such a power, as you are always a target, new participants will shy away when a title seems unattainable, and you are just prepping yourself for an equally devestating fall. So where is the fall and how hard will it be?

Artcile by Amriason Deletwar

Matchday 4

Kura-Pelland 2-3 Cafundéu
Valanora 3-0 Septentrionia
Starblaydia 2-1 Yafor 2
Ad'ihan 1-2 Candelaria And Marquez

Pos Team P W D L GF GA GD Pts
1 Valanora 4 4 0 0 14 3 11 12
2 Kura-Pelland 4 2 1 1 9 7 2 7
3 Cafundéu 4 2 0 2 7 6 1 6
4 Ad'ihan 4 2 0 2 3 6 -3 6
5 Starblaydia 4 1 2 1 6 7 -1 5
6 Candelaria And Marquez 4 1 2 1 5 7 -2 5
7 Yafor 2 4 1 0 3 4 6 -2 3
8 Septentrionia 4 0 1 3 2 8 -6 1

The House was fairly quiet today, in that the debates managed to keep it down to a dull roar. Though Democracy in Starblaydia had taken hold for more than a decade, the Honourable Representatives who attended the Sjarondai (http://www.nswiki.net/index.php?title=Sjarondai) were still incredibly passionate about their newly-found political responsibilities, and so debated everything with the innate ferocity that such a love of democracy brings.

This particular debate was, typically enough, about sports funding. The Starblaydia national football team and their performances, value for money, well-publicised excesses and funding were a constant matter for debate; at least for the pro-sporting side Starblaydia had won their latest match in Valanora. They were, however, nothing more than a figurehead for a general national debate over whether Starblaydia's international prowess should be measured in sports trophies, battleships, GDP or CO2 emissions.

It was into this debate, into the centre of the semi-circle where the Speaker's Chair sat, that they walked in. They had slipped almost unnoticed into the high-security area, with a quiet word in one ear, a minor threat of force in another, a disarming smile, an acquired security pass. No-one else could have done it, not without raising any number of suspicions and security alarms. No weapons they had, nor evil intentions. Afterward the finger-pointing and security recriminations would begin, but until that point they were merely tall, calm and, oddly enough, all wearing hats or hoods of some description as they sailed through every checkpoint. When they stepped into the chamber, there was a slight murmur as their presence was largely unnoticed, but it swiftly grew to uproar from the three hundred-plus HRs; the sports debates were always well-attended, often moreso than the Budget.

The nine figures arranged themselves in a semi-circle of eight, facing outwards toward the HRs, while the ninth stood to face the Speaker of the House, and the Prime Representative, Magnus Verstenssen. The shouts of the HRs were ignored by the newcomers, and the banging of the ceremonial hammer on the anvil by the Speaker - a long-held tradition that called for order - had little effect. As one, the figures removed their hats and threw back their hoods to reveal pointed ears. The Dwarven members of the House yelled all the louder, with protestations about the (what would later be translated from Dwarven as) 'skinnies', 'squishies' and mostly 'pointy-ears' who had entered their Chamber. There was soon one word on everybody's lips, as the chamber finally came to some semblance of order, with the Anvil's high, piercing note bringing a small order of quiet to the proceedings. As the Speaker and Prime Representative moved to calm their HRs down, as the newcomers obviously had a messsage to deliver. Not merely newcomers, but Elves.

FRANZ BRADDOCK'S DIARY - GAME FOUR

I feel young again. Well, not really young, as when I was young I was playing for Petardos S/A... good times those, that was a dream team, too bad that the world still didn't know much about Cafundelense football, it was a time when the competitions were only regional ones. I was the best midfielder of my time. But, returning to the issue, I feel like if I were in World Cup 32, in my first chance commanding the Cafundelense National Team. They knew that I was (and am) a top coach, and with me the team was able to qualify for the World Cup in its first attempt, which impressed the whole world.

After so many years working as a football coach, I felt tired and decided to retire just after World Cup 38. But, now, I realized that this wasn't a good choice. I missed this, a lot. I can be old now, but I'm full of determination and will to manage teams again. This is my life, and I'll do this until I die. Now, I have to command this talented Monopolists' team in this competition. We are considered the second best team of the tournament according to the rankings. I can't disappoint the supporters... and myself. A failure in this competition can mean the end of my career... definitely.

In the game against Septentrionia, I was able to use some of my old abilities to prepare good tactics and strategies for the team. In the last trainings, I could discover more about the personality of these young men, and more about their football talent too. This is the start to make a good plan to win games. With knowledge about the players and talent to create tactics, we are closer to the victory. This is a fact. And, putting this together with the fact that this Cafundelense team is a good one, we seem to have real chances of winning the title.

But before thinking about the decisive games, of course the team has to win the ones in this first stage. So, the team went to play Kura-Pelland. Like I said before, we had the responsibility to win this game, and so I decided to use an offensive formation, something similar to the one against Septentrionia. It worked well in that game, so it wasn't a bad idea to repeat the formation, we just had to change the moves to be made and some strategies in order to adapt that formation to the opponents. And that was done.

But the first half ended with a horrible result for us. Kura-Pelland, with two goals scored by Fiero, was winning the game by the result of two against one. Luckily, Marossi's goal kept us in the game. I had to give a lecture to my players, they seemed simply too relaxed in the game, waiting for the ball to reach their feet. Made two substitutions right before the start of the second half, something extremely rare, to show them that the team needed more attitude. A good idea. They returned to the game with a different attitude, and two goals by Hubert decided the game... a victory for us.

Matchday 5

Valanora 2-1 Kura-Pelland
Cafundéu 3-4 Starblaydia
Septentrionia 0-1 Ad'ihan
Candelaria And Marquez 0-0 Yafor 2

Pos Team P W D L GF GA GD Pts
1 Valanora 5 5 0 0 16 4 12 15
2 Ad'ihan 5 3 0 2 4 6 -2 9
3 Starblaydia 5 2 2 1 10 10 0 8
4 Kura-Pelland 5 2 1 2 10 9 1 7
5 Cafundéu 5 2 0 3 10 10 0 6
6 Candelaria And Marquez 5 1 3 1 5 7 -2 6
7 Yafor 2 5 1 1 3 4 6 -2 4
8 Septentrionia 5 0 1 4 2 9 -7 1

That's the Spirit!
Starblaydia stage incredible comeback

Lex Panarii's reputation as a man who can give inspirational team talks continues as his half time speech and substitutions inspired an extraordinary revival in his side as they came from two-nil down at half time to win by four goals to three. At half time the scoreline flattered Starblaydia, based on their performance, and they could have been four- or five-nil down when the referee blew the whistle to end the first period of play.

Hubert opened the scoring after eighteen minutes, played in excellently by Carlos Marossi who chipped a perfect ball over Mehzubontin for the striker to pounce upon and fire in from a tight angle across the face of Westwood's goal, knocked in off the inside of the far post with pinpoint accuracy. It could have been two for Hubert moments later after a slip by Nei Samba, but Westwood stood tall, closed down the angles and saved well with his feet. All the angles in the world, however, couldn't save Starblaydia eight minutes later when they were opened up by a flowing move that flooded the box with red and black shirts, leaving Nando to slot home from five yards.

The rest of the second half was abject misery for Starblaydia as Cafundéu laid seige to the Starblaydia penalty area. Fabinho hit a screaming thirty-yarder just wide of the post, Túlio's shot cannoned back of the crossbar and Caleb Westwood pulled off a string of saves that were as excellent as they were desperate. When the whistle came, Starblaydia were glad for it.

We may never really know what happened in that dressing room in those fifteen minutes. Was it encouragement or admonishment? Disappointment of hopefulness? Yelling and screaming or quiet words strongly spoken? Whatever it was, Starblaydia came out proud and standing tall with purpose in their eyes and fire in the bellies. Andvari Bazrimar was off, with Panos Petropoulos coming on to replace him. With two defensive midfielders in the middle of the park, Starblaydia now had some real teeth to their play. Within three minutes they'd put together by far their best move of the match, started by Rashid Mus'haf and involving most of the front players - including an exciting run by Romeo Oscar in the same manner of his individual super-goal against Yafor 2 - saw Ricky England's shot palmed away by Francisco Kardec. Cafundéu, however, counter-attacked, racing away at top speed and cutting Starblaydia's newly empowered midfield out of the action with a long ball. All that was left was for Alves to round Westwood and slide the ball home for three-nil.

Starblaydia should have been deflated. They should have had their newfound vigour vanish before their very eyes. They should have gone on to lose by six. But they didn't. Mus'haf and Petropoulos did what good Starblaydi midfielders do and grabbed the game by the scruff of the neck. Thankfully they didn't grab any opposing players by the scruff of the neck, as with this referee it could easily have led to red cards aplenty. Starblaydia's midfield began to dominate as their workrate and aggression combined perfectly. With Vegachenko and England now free to prowl their flanks, Oscar raced through the middle and Diamontii Di Bradini filled in as the playmaker. Neat interplay finally found Romeo Oscar in the box and he laid it off for Di Bradini, who sprinted onto the ball ahead of Mertus Gaëif and hit a first-time bullet of a shot into the back of the net. Half an hour to play and it was three-one to Cafundéu. It took nearly twenty more minutes, but Starblaydia pulled another one back via Romeo Oscar with his second goal in two games. From a Ricky England corner he stole in at the back post, putting his body on the line to fling himself into the path of the ball. It worked, too, as it bounced off what eventually proved to be his hip be dropped neatly into the back of the net. Unfortunately for the brave striker he collided with the post and had to go off, with muted Starblaydi celebrations and a shoulder injury forcing his substitution for Lotar Kaii'n. Kaii'n, the only substitute to have scored so far in this tournament (the second in a four-two loss to Kura-Pelland on Matchday Two), is just twenty-two and the youngest player in the squad, but he has got the nod over Velat Thayil, Luis Primo and Hayden Albertini as Starblaydia's search for a striker goes on. Well, they may just have found that striker.

Kaii'n's doggedness forced Ronaldão into misplacing his pass to Fabinho, which was seized upon by England, who switched it first time to the other flank. Vegachenko collected the ball and dribbled into the open space in front of him, skipping past Toledo as he did so. The Hallad Reavers winger got into the penalty area and crossed it low, with the ball met by none other than Kaii'n, who sidefooted it back across goal to nestle into the corner of the net; all Kardec could do was take a swipe at it with his glove on the way past. Three-three, eight minutes to go: now we had a real match.

Both Starblaydia and Cafundéu wanted to go for the winner. Starblaydia had the momentum while Cafundéu only had players who could go forward, so the match became a constant end-to-end, cut-and-thrust, back-to-back, cheek-to-cheek, up-against-the-wall sort of thing. Whenever Nando was dispossessed by Logan at one end, seconds later Di Bradini was out-muscled by Gaëif at the other. As the clock ticked down, the tension rose ever-higher, nobody wanted this match to end, but knew in their hearts that it was only this good because there was around ninety seconds left. So when substitute André Lopes Matoso was crowded out and had no option but to fire a tame shot straight at Westwood, Starblaydia knew this was their last real chance to go up the other end and score. Westwood rolled it out to Mezhubontin, who knocked it down the line for Vegachenko, who sprinted away as the purple-clad sections of the crowd roared their approval; they'd seen the chance too. Vegachenko played a one-two with Di Bradini and broke into the box. Stepping inside Toledo, he squared it for the onrushing Petropoulos, who laid it off for Kaii'n. The young striker hit an instant left-foot shot high towards the top corner of the goal. Kardec just got a hand to it but couldn't prevent the ball sailing high into the net, hitting the roof. Starblaydi fans were cheering and Kaii'n was wheeling away in celebration even before it hit the ground. Starblaydia had won, and they'd gone to third place in the Group. The Final is still in sight, almost certainly against Valanora. Starblaydia will have to prove themselves as best of the rest in this tournament, but, even here, that is no mean feat.

Final score from the Angelotic Temple:
Cafundéu 3 - 4 Starblaydia
(Hubert 18, Nando 29, Alves 49) - (Di Bradini 58, Oscar 76, Kaii'n 82 & 89)

The Albrecht Herald Online>Sport>Football
yawn yawn yawn
By Mack Hession

Unless my memory has let me down, the last time the Big Blues ground out a nil-nil draw of such exquisite tedium was during World Cup 37 qualifying in Ajer, when Reuben Uwakwe and Imon Julie spent a pleasant afternoon staring at each other’s nets and watching twenty footballers after-you-Agorala’an-ing their way through the ninety minutes.

A couple of generations later, and a C&M side clearly exhausted by a full league season, and Yafor 2 team not quite up to speed with the LIDYT barely three weeks old, played out a draw about which there was very nearly nothing to report.

That’s no exaggeration, honest. That half dozen of you who watched it can testify to that – there were two shots on target, one each for David Insfield, the veteran naturalised Bazalonian, and Dionísio, the veteran naturalised Cafundelense, while the goals of the Cafundelense-based Yaforite Gerrin Sidan and Yaforite-based Candelariasian Joel Sbaïz were otherwise untested by the half dozen efforts that whistled past or, on one occasion, was sliced so badly by Nic Lloyd that the ball almost certainly came to a rest around half an hour later in a Cafundelense favela having crossed international borders and paid the relevant taxes. Let’s hope the denizens of said shanty town made better use of the offending object than the so-called professional entertainers in Gladerial.

Such a game is by no means indicative of this nascent tournament as a whole – Starblaydia’s stunning comeback victory over Cafundéu can attest to that – nor, one would hope, of a Candelariasian future under Elgin Dannat. The new manager was quick to blame himself and draw attention away from the flaccid, or just plain awful, performances of his players, and changes will certainly be needed against Cafundéu in the next round, with a Candelariasian victory by no means impossible given the Cafundelense squad selection. A return to one up front is more than likely, but either way expect Cafundó do Juta’s Aaron Kortsarian back in the first XI.

Oh, Herod Accursas and God’s Power Adekunde got yellow cards. And there was an awkward moment of unnecessary hugging between substitutes Vorin Dariegan and Gwynfardd Lopulalan following a lethargic tête-à-tête somewhere around the half-way line between the Rosasharn-based duo, but that was basically it. It’s days like this when you wish so plaintively for someone to interfere with the nature of reality or attempt to bring down the Candelariasian state in a vaguely football-related manner. I’d even settle for an animal-based scandal. It’s getting the bloody World Cup on home turf, I’m telling you. FOR GOD’S SAKE, WILL SOMEONE PLEASE BE SOCIALLY IRRESPONSIBLE!

Anyway, it’s all decent experience for Dannat’s men, I guess, although if they’ll want a confidence boost before the World Cup finals they’re going t’have to play a lot of friendlies against Nethertopia, on this form. To be fair, the beating of Ad’ihan was mildly impressive – a comeback win, following the opener from Anthony Jones, the supposed and slightly over-ambitious Caires City target, with Niv Cohen finishing off a nice move and Tom Smith slotting home a penalty after Mont-Pluie’s hugely talented young centre-half James Fernandez was adjudged to have tripped Lloyd just inside the area. Not that you don’t know all that already, obviously. I’m just repeating it for the sake of anyone who didn’t pick the Herald up on that particular day. Which is nice of me.

Anyway, with Septentrionia apparently surrendering early and a Candelariasian victory in the final game all but guaranteed, the Big Blues now need to beat Cafundéu and hope for other stuff to happen, although I don’t entirely know what and don’t, if we’re being honest, especially care.

Anyone know when the field hockey starts?

The Vahala Invitational, Round 5
@ The White Fortress, Gladerial

Candelaria And Marquez 0

Yafor 2 0

FRANZ BRADDOCK'S DIARY - GAME FIVE

I think that the Cafundelenses are disappointed with me until now. After all, we are, in theory, the second best team of the competition, just behind Valanora. But we lost to Ad'ihan! And now, in the last game, we lost to Starblaydia... okay, the losses against Valanora and Starblaydia weren't abysmal for the team, far from that, but these three losses combined were clearly surprising... I know that I can do better. I am sure that, after this last game against Starblaydia, the media in Cafundéu is criticizing me heavily, but, this time, the loss wasn't my fault.

All the Monopolists, including myself, were confident in getting this victory. After the close victory against Kura-Pelland, the players noticed that they had to work harder in order to win the games, something that they didn't seem to understand before. With this new mentality, they started to obey more and to follow the tactics and instructions given by me, so I was almost certain that we would achieve success in the next games. Wearing the red and black shirt is a honour, and the players started to understand that too following my lectures. I still remember when I wore that number eight shirt...

With the psychological side near perfection, it was time for us (by us, I mean me and my assistants, including Ganz Ijak, who works with the National Team) to try to sharpen the moves of the players. Our 3-4-3 formation should use good wingers, but we didn't have any. We could even use one of the full-backs available, as Paulo Santos in the right side and Cotuba in the left. They aren't bad players, but I am sure they wouldn't perform well having to play with an offensive attitude. Using the usual midfielders was the best solution, even not being a very good one.

When the game against Starblaydia started, the players seemed motivated to get a good result. I was satisfied with that, as this meant that they answered well to the trainings and speeches I gave them. Two goals in the first half closed this good performance. They were happy with the game, with Hubert and Nando satisfied with their goals scored. I told them they could score even more against Starblaydia after some adjustements in our preferred moves. When the second half started, they followed my instructions, and Alves scored a goal after few minutes.

Everything was excellent. Our opponents could even manage scoring a goal, but Cafundéu was clearly dominant in the game, and the 3x1 could be held until the end of the game. Then, I just remember Fabinho shooting and the ball coming to my direction, hitting me. I lost conscience and, when I woke up, I heard the news that Starblaydia won the game by the result of 4x3. My first thought was "I will kill Ganz Ijak!" He was in charge of coaching the team in my absence, and surely he transformed the team in a mess... well, I couldn't do anything... it was really bad luck.

Matchday 6

Kura-Pelland 0-2 Ad'ihan
Valanora 1-0 Starblaydia
Yafor 2 0-1 Cafundéu
Septentrionia 2-3 Candelaria And Marquez

Pos Team P W D L GF GA GD Pts
1 Valanora 6 6 0 0 17 4 13 18
2 Ad'ihan 6 4 0 2 6 6 0 12
3 Cafundéu 6 3 0 3 11 10 1 9
4 Candelaria And Marquez 6 2 3 1 8 9 -1 9
5 Starblaydia 6 2 2 2 10 11 -1 8
6 Kura-Pelland 6 2 1 3 10 11 -1 7
7 Yafor 2 6 1 1 4 4 7 -3 4
8 Septentrionia 6 0 1 5 4 12 -8 1

FRANZ BRADDOCK'S DIARY - GAME SIX

Two days in the hospital were enough for me to recover from that accident that happened during the game against Starblaydia. Fabinho apologized, but I decided to take him out of the team just for the next game. I was still a bit dizzy when I returned to the training centre, and all the players gave me their welcome with sad faces. Yes, they were frustrated that they lost the last game, and embarassed by their performance after I had to leave the field. Another detail is that Ganz Ijak wasn't there. I just saw him the day after, extremely ashamed of the mess he did in that game.

I decided to not punish Ijak or gave him (another) lecture. I know him well, and know that he is a very professional person, he just isn't a good coach, I think. His presence in the National Team is merely to motivate the players with his career example and to be a charismatic face in the CCFM. I coached him in Petardos S/A, and know that he does his best in order to make the team improve. Now I am certain that he won't be able to help much as a coach. In the first training after my return, Ijak simply didn't get involved, while some players weren't concentrated.

My head did still hurt, but I had to make something to bring the motivation and hunger for victories back to the team. That loss against Starblaydia was a very unlucky and sad result, I know, but they had to keep their hopes. I had to do many things which I thought were already done, as to teach them some tactics that they had indeed used in the previous games. But, after some work, it seemed that I was able to return them to an adequate condition, and they were ready for the next game. And, of course, that game was special for me.

Surely the game against Yafor 2 was the most important for me, as I have a personal issue to settle. Less than a month ago, they said they were looking for a coach, and I got interested. This should be enough for them to hire me, given my fame, my experience and my quality as a football coach. But they chose some Vanorian instead, just because he finished third in a World Cup. I ask to myself: who is better? Someone who coached the number 1 National Team in just a single cup and finished third or someone who coached a National Team for four cups, qualifying this country for the World Cup in its first attempt when it was ranked 104th and reaching the quarterfinals when the country was in the 18th position?

I couldn't believe they didn't choose me, as I was clearly the best option. So, I decided to show them their mistake, winning this game using my preferred tactics. Used all the starters, with the exception of Fabinho. This Cafundelense team didn't seem to adapt well to my favourite tactics, which were created when I was coaching Petardos S/A, but I knew that, if they followed my instructions, they wouldn't have difficulties in getting the victory. It took some time, but they were able to score. After a goalless first half that left me worried, the substitute defender Datena scored with a header in the second half, giving us the victory and saving my honour. Now take this Yafor 2!

"This interruption is unprecedented," Magnus Verstenssen said, rather boldly he thought, to the single Elf who faced him, "I demand an explanation for this outrageous behaviour, or else kindly leave. At once."

There was little threat to back up his statement, as despite the onrushing Venator security forces - suited, booted and heavily armed - there was little they could do to gun down nine unarmed figures in the middle a room full of Honourable Representatives, right by the Speaker's chair. The Elf smiled, his grey-blue eyes twinkling. He was fairly tall and broad-shouldered compared to the other eight, though they were all at least six feet in height, and he wore an ankle-length grey coat. Despite the hoodie he wore underneath for a rather contemporary style of clothing, he still appeared old-fashioned, yet somehow timeless. Under his light brown hairline, sitting across his brow it was plain, now, to see that there rested a delicate and intricate glimmering silver circlet, with a jewel set at the centre that was so red-orange it seemed to burn like fire.

"I am called Losaran ldhaiwë," he said finally, pronouncing his last name 'Ithaway', like a breathless whisper, "named the Lord of Yánataurë. For two thousand years we have watched and slept in secret, hidden away in nature's heart of the island of Centuilindo - I believe you now call it Aquiliana. In this matter, I am here to represent my people at this great Sjarondai; the proper portents have been observed, showing us that now is the time to return and stand alongside the Daii once more in their noble endeavours."

Starblaydia's system of government was, by history, necessity and design, a complex one. Though the power technically resided with the Honourable Representatives and their Head of Government, the Prime Representative, the Head of State was still the Lord-Protector, Tiberius Starblayde. Though he wielded the final - albeit it ceremonial - executive power and had the government at his behest, theirs was the power to keep him in his place. It all added up to a merry political roundabout dance where, in times of crisis, even the most powerful of government ministers would look to Lord Tiberius and his self-appointed Council for advice. It was toward this instinct that Magnus Verstenssen moved.

"Mister Speaker," he called out with an unwavering voice, without turning his head to the Speaker's chair behind him, "I call upon you to summon the Lord-Protector," a gasp went around the Sjarondai, "for I would hear his counsel on this matter."

Not once in the modern history - however short it was, having only come into being a few years before - of the Sjarondai had the Prime Representative invoked his Power of Summoning. It was the technical proof that the Government ruled the entire nation, that the Lord-Protector was at his beck and call. Tiberius, on the other hand, could only request the Sjarondai's presence. The Speaker struck the ceremonial anvil four times, as required, and called out the Summoning. No messenger was dispatched, as SMS text messages and bleepers would be going off somewhere in Jhanna. That somewhere was in the back of a speeding car as Tiberius Starblayde was already being whisked to the Sjarondai building. By chance he'd been near a television showing live coverage of the Sjarondai, and had sprinted out of the building the moment he saw the pointed ears.

"An acceptable path," Losaran said, before lowering his voice and speaking only to Magnus, "this is not, however, entirely without precedent, as my Grandfather would attest to."

"Your kind have never been known in Starblaydia, Lord of Elves," Magnus replied, having immediately forgotten how to pronounce Losaran ldhaiwë.

"Action becomes history," Losaran said with a knowing smile, "history becomes legend. Legend becomes myth and then, eventually, myths are forgotten."

"Some things should not be forgotten," Magnus allowed. It brought a genuine smile to Losaran's face and he bowed his head to acknowledge the human's display of wisdom. The sudden shift of emotion seemed to radiate through the other eight Elves and the Sjarondai chamber took on a much calmer air as the tension drastically eased. It lasted for some moments until the door flew open.

"Lord ldhaiwë," Tiberius said by way of introduction, slightly out of breath, as he stepped as slowly and calmly as he could towards the elf. He'd made sure to view a replay of the arrival of the elves to learn the newcomer's name; Hard Drive-enabled television was a wonderful thing, "this is a momentous occasion indeed."

"Lord Starblayde," Losaran said with a grand bow, "you are the very image of your ancestors. I name you Celebsilóm, Silver Light of the Past, and recognise you as Lord-Protector, Dwarf-friend and Honoured Guardian of the Trees."

To this extravagant and largely confusing greeting, Tiberius could only offer a bow of his own. Then, pausing for a moment, he offered his hand. Every member of the chamber was already on his or her feet. Losaran pondered the outstreched hand for a moment, then extended his own. With a firm grasp that would be caught by the cameras and engraved forever on the history of Starblaydia, the two shook hands. Led by the members of the Praetoran Party, a cheer swiftly went up around the Sjarondai.

Don't read this, I'm keeping it here for later, Quenya translations & such. Cen-tuilindo = land-swallow (bird). Yána-taurë = sanctuary-forest. Elen-macil-nóre = star-sword-land. Los-aran = snow-noble, ldh(lhach)-aiwë = leaping flame-bird. Celeb-sil-lóm = silver-light-echo

The elves had returned.

Matchday 7

Septentrionia 1-0 Kura-Pelland
Yafor 2 1-3 Valanora
Ad'ihan 0-3 Starblaydia
Candelaria And Marquez 2-1 Cafundéu

Pos Team P W D L GF GA GD Pts
1 Valanora 7 7 0 0 20 5 15 21
2 Candelaria And Marquez 7 3 3 1 10 10 0 12
3 Ad'ihan 7 4 0 3 6 9 -3 12
4 Starblaydia 7 3 2 2 13 11 2 11
5 Cafundéu 7 3 0 4 12 12 0 9
6 Kura-Pelland 7 2 1 4 10 12 -2 7
7 Yafor 2 7 1 1 5 5 10 -5 4
8 Septentrionia 7 1 1 5 5 12 -7 4

3PPo
Ad'ihan v Starblaydia

Final
Valanora v Candelaria And Marquez

“I hate the Worker’s Party…”

Jenny Harris MP, the Minister for Remedial Teaching, murmured noncommittally to suggest a certain amount of vague hatred also emanated from her end. Truth be told, she seldom gave them much thought – she was a party list member of the House of Representatives and thus held no particular constituency but, were she to have any particular constituency, she was quite sure it wouldn’t consist of the assorted malcontents, McManus apologists, miners, ex-miners, middle-class bohemian soap-dodgers for whom doing an actual day’s work was utterly anathema, and Muslims that formed the ranks of the Worker’s Party these days, and who had united in May to form one one-hundred-and-thirtieth of the 2008 to 2012 House.

More than that, Jenny had entered local politics only because she had felt sort-of angry about stuff in general, and the district council was almost totally Modern Liberal so you’d be buggered joining anyone else. She wasn’t 100% sure how she’d ended up an MP from there, and still held no particular political allegiance, ideology or, when it came to it, opinions.

Debbie, on the other hand (Jenny was uncertain of her researcher’s surname or, in all honesty, whether she was actually called Debbie, although it was a fairly safe bet) was one of those thrusting new girls intent on reshaping the meaning of the words ‘modern’ and ‘liberal’ to fit their particular world view, ahead of an inevitable seat come 2012. Jenny was just thankful that, on account of time dilation an’ all, she probably wouldn’t live to see that day. She had no idea what Maybe Debbie’s views on anything actually were, but suspected she wouldn’t be keen.

“Was that a general comment, or have they done something particularly ghastly?”

“It’s Abdul Hussain… He’s going to put forward an early day motion that would politely sort-of order the CAMAFA to render their deal with Cúchulainn null and void, and make sure that the Vahala final is shown on free-to-air television.”

Jenny blinked. “You lost me at Abdul…”

”It won’t get signed, of course,” Probably Debbie prattled on, “not by more than half a dozen MPs. The Unionists and Soc Dems may be bloody fools, but they’re our bloody fools on this matter… But you can guarantee one of these idiots will pick up on it and cause a national outcry,” she continued, with a sweeping hand around the table.

The pair were seated outside a little bistro in that part of Songstress still reserved for expensively dressed white people, surrounded by the morning’s copies of the Albrecht Herald, Albrecht Mercury, Albrecht Republican, Daily News, El Periodico del Arrigo, National Reporter, Gassett Candelariasian, Clotaire Trumpet, Irish Street Times, Abiodun Morning Chronicle, Diario Castillo, Lavange Daily Free Press, Noticias en las Islas, Rose of Sharon Observer, Albrecht Gazetesi, and maybe a dozen more Candelariasian papers, and more than a few international ones. Foreign newspapers were curiously hard to find in all but the most select newsagents in C&M, and even there they tended to give undue prominence to the Taeshan Times and X Island Inquirer, along with the Candelariasian edition of L’Internationale, which generally behaved itself; but it always paid to be completely certain that even the lowliest of papers weren’t sneaking in references to certain aspects of the outside world that could cause panic, confusion, belligerent eyebrow-raising or open rebellion.

It was a morning’s work, every morning, and Jenny was quite sure that there was a whole department at the M.O.R.T. who spent their entire day doing just this anyway, and doing it rather better than herself. But it was good to feel busy, it got her out in the open air, and the official-government-people-sitting-here-bugger-off-prole bagels on offer were not to be sniffed at. The scene put any passer-by instinctively in mind of the Candelariasian guy off of OnwereTV’s Futebol Cafundéu, who took the viewers through the latest transfer rumours whilst being seated outside a café with the national papers and a large bowl of ice cream, although that’s a really rather obscure allusion that probably wasn’t worth mentioning, I wish to God I hadn’t now.

“Um… Going back to Abdul,” Jenny attempted, as the opening spread of the morning’s Mercury flapped open in the breeze in a most off-putting manner, “Um… What?”

The Debbie sighed. “The national football team are through to the final of the Vahala Invitational Tournament,” she explained patiently.

Jenny snatched at a newspaper at random and flipped it over. “National Hero…? Braddock’s career snuffed out as Dionísio stuns homeland... Really? I thought the general consensus was that w… they were screwed in this tournament?”

“And yet here they are. Playing pretty tawdry football, by all accounts, but at least Dannat’s sticking with two up front. Well. One up, one off, one in the hole. He’s got Kortsarian cutting inside a lot more as well, and Cohen’s back on top form… Textbook corner for Lopulalan’s opener. Heaven knows what we’re going to do when Mengucci’s post-thirtyness starts to catch up with him, mind you, but Zec looked better on his own late on against Septentrionia. ‘Course, we still need Dionísio for that moment of magic, and nothing Pappas has shown so far suggests that he’s the man to replace him, long-term. Still, Dannat’s bound to find someone before World Cup 45 qualifying… Will Sussex, or Vavasour, or Amey. Or Yeoman, maybe. And that Darren Robinson kid at Turkish is supposed to be the business – could even threaten Noonan’s place next term, so they say, and he’s barely seventeen. As for the here and now though, the defence looks a bit more wobbly that it should, but O’Brien’ll improve… He’s supposed to be off to MarquezOW with all this money they’ve got now, but you can’t say he and Enrique are really the future… Maybe one of the Cats kids, Ferreira or Estévez… Williams probably retired too soon, though. Er. Or so I’ve read,” Debbie added, blushing.

Jenny gave her a look. “Sticking to the job, for a moment…?”

“Yes. Sorry. Well, it’s a right bugger, frankly, this being on proper TV. I know we can edit it, but every time the public is exposed to more ee-ell-effyness, it just makes life harder, doesn’t it?”

“What about the M.O.R.T. agents in Valanora? Will they be able to switch operations to… where are we…? Capri?”

“Yeah. I don’t know if it’ll be much of a problem, though. Thanks to the, air quotes, ongoing diplomatic spat, there’s not much of a Candelariasian presence over there now bar the odd José Reinaldo Rodrigues da Costa Thompson type travelling in from Cafundéu…”

“Do we even have a community in Cafundéu?”

“Probably not. I’m only guessing. Anyway, most of the supporters out there know better than to bother with the final game. Dannat’s planning to play a Christmas tree with Mengucci, Zec and Mercado protecting the back four, and then Dionísio and Kortsarian ahead of them, and Ibadulla alone up front… So as to only lose one-nil this time. Damage limitation, really. Should be an absolute dog of a game. Er. Apparently.”

Jenny nodded. Her knowledge of the beautiful game was disappointingly extensive herself, but at the very least you couldn’t help but acknowledge that the Vanorians were awfully good. “Thank heavens we haven’t got the World Cup final itself,” she mused out loud, on this line of thought.

“Mm. We’ve got the third-place play-off, though. A dolezal says Starblaydia’ll be there, if they don’t make the final.” Debbie fished the Jhanna Chronicle out from the pile. “Did you read this? There’ll be eleven ee-ell-vee-ee-esses on that team before you can say the midnight blade of Enelya Ar-Feiniel, and then they’ll be right back at the top. Can you imagine several million of them lot milling about in Allemali city centre? Or New Monument Place, if it came to it.”

“No. I don’t even want to try…”

“We should so naturalise one, though. When Dionísio hangs up his boots…”

“Let’s not even joke about it, Debbie… I have cold sweats thinking we might have to have Nethertopian bears in the CMSC in a few years, thanks to Rushmori restraint of trade legislation…” She sighed, and smiled weakly. “Never mind though, eh?” she offered sarcastically, “at least the Big Blues are doing well… Anything suspish in the Zapata Post-Star this morning, then, Debs…?”

“No… Only the boy who got given all that cash again at the DBC again, saying in a world exclusive how he was abducted for a night of passion with elven humanoids…”

“Oh. Was that true?”

“Almost certainly not, Ms Harris. He’s a useful plant, though. There’s nothing like a far-fetched exotic sex-based abduction to keep people off the real scent…”

“Jolly good, Debbie…”

“It’s Sophie, by the way, Ms Harris.”

“Excellent.”

"One more point," Lex Panarii said to himself and no-one else in particular bar the newspaper he was reading, "one more point and we'd have been in that final."

He was right, too. One loss turned to a draw, or a single draw upgraded into a win, and Starblaydia would have been facing Valanora in the final. Had only that shot from Petropoulos gone in instead of shaving the outside of the Vanorian post with Tinehtelë well beaten. Or if only Tom Smith's shot had been beaten away for a corner against Candelaria And Marquez instead of going in. Any one of a million different things that could have gone differently and given a different result here and now. What escaped Lex's sense of injustice and feeling of a task unfinished was that a million and one different things could have happened during the 41st World Cup to deny Starblaydia their third championship, but none of them happened. That was destiny, this was one single point.

They were even the only team, bar Valanora, to have finished with a positive goal difference. Eight teams, and only two with a plus in the Goal Difference column; insanity, but Starblaydia were one of them. The paper said much the same thing, this English one was nicely gloating but the chief football writer certainly had the sense to feel a little ashamed that his side were cleaning up left, right and centre. Were there no challenges left any more? For Lex the main challenge had been to purchase a paper he understood. He knew little Quenya as it was, and even less Portuguese.

Lex was a manager who took on board the opinions of others, when he wished for them. He knew his own mind, sure enough, but when undecided or in a quandry, he would turn to those who are paid to make their opinions known and see what advice - if any - the talking heads and spouting pens had to offer. Usually it was useless, but occasionally some spark of intelligence and observation revealed itself. This was not one of those times, so he put his newspaper down and turned back to the pad in which he kept his various thoughts. Pen in hand, he scribbled some notes, all under the heading '2090 World Cup'. Subheading 'WC44 K-P/C&M'. Sub-subheading 'Seven attempts remaining (!)'.

Goalkeeper
Westwood 38 - too old? No obvious replacement yet. Cotton Wool!

Full Backs.
Saffi not up to it yet, could develop well if given right club/defensive coaching. Can't do it all myself. Valdano good enough to step up, Movalinen still better at RB. No room for both in XI - Bugger.

Def. Mid.
Petropoulos been great/revelation, Mus'haf better. Perhaps play both on occasion for toughness but not all the time, can't set up that way and score all the time.

Number 8.
Not sure on Bazrimar (two Dwarves with ?s, co-incidence?) attack potential fine, link-up needs more. Na-Me = useless gnome.

Strikers.
Diamontii still up for it in 3 years (32 y.o.)? Oscar improved? Kaii'n potential realised(?) - top scorer in group with 4 (Nasty little bugger, also). All others crap... 4-5-1? Which 1?!?!.

"Why, oh why, were the Under-21s not set up and running for that Di Bradini Cup ?" he asked himself, "I have nothing to choose from for another four years..."

Rubbing his eyes, he decided to put a call in to the SFA the next morning, if only to shake them up a little over the DBC7 debacle - that really screwed him over in regards to picking future squads. Now it would be World Cup 45 before any Under-21s came through with junior-level experience. That was, of course, under the assumption that he would still have his job in World Cup 45. Three top eight finishes, the earliest of which being a title victory, was no mean feat for a Starblaydia manager, but the SFA were getting angsty, thinking that WC41 may have been the fluke and that Lex wasn't good enough to push on beyond the last eight. No better than politicians, them.

Thankfully, they'd beaten Ad'ihan rather resoundingly to move into fourth spot and there was now a mystical Third-Place match that had suddenly appeared on the schedule. Lex wondered if the organisers had been leaned on by the bookmakers because they just wanted a match that neutrals could actually place a bet on where the favourite wouldn't be near-guaranteed to win. Valanora playing in Valanora always produced one thing: Vanorian victories. Where on earth would a title-winning Starblaydi team come from? Lex sighed, again to himself, and tried to think about something else. Perhaps a book on mythology to go and lose himself in. They probably only had things about elves in this country, he thought, but decided that might make a nice change from Daii Kings and Lord-Protectors through the ages. Elves it was.

3PPo

Ad'ihan 1-3 Starblaydia

Final

Valanora 0-0 (0-0 AET) [2-3 PKs] Candelaria And Marquez *

Congratulations to Starblaydia and to C&M for wonderful runs and thank you to everyone for participating.

* = scorinated by Commerce Heights

Congratulations C&M... talk about a reputation to uphold going into WC44 :)

The Albrecht Herald>Sport>Football>Opinion
YES! But, also, no.
By Mack Hession

Around a year and a half from now, the people of the Candelarias will be faced with a stark choice – which, of the fifteen sides visiting Candelaria, Marquez and Green Island, will they support?

For some, the question will be simply answered – no Candelariasian Northlander, Cafundelense, Yaforite or, heaven forbid, Nethertopian will have any leeway should their heroes of their ancestral land drop into town. Some may show solidarity with their neighbours of a recent overseas extraction, while others still – should CAMAFA contingency plans in the event of a severe hotel shortage go ahead – may well be welcoming visiting supporters into their spare rooms, garages, and outside toilets.

And the rest? The rest may lend their support to the strange and alien nation of Candelaria And Marquez, a country now known for… winning?

Just as some more patriotic types may wonder at the whole mentality of cheering for any particular bunch of invading foreigners, so others might question whether these Big Blues now fall into the same category. Rugby and field hockey are one thing – but in football, to emerge victorious in a competition containing several of the world’s finest sides? Whatever happened to plucky little C&M? Who are these people in blue and green? And what have they done with the Candelariasian national football team?

Okay, so the more reasoned view would have it that Cafundéu sent a C team at best and, in any case, that this was a friendly tournament, won in the dodgiest of circumstances. There can be no open-top bus ride through Albrecht, no tour of the trophy around Candelariasian schools and municipal sporting facilities. The Vahala Invitational was not the World Cup, and the scenes of jubilation across the nation’s pubs and living rooms were premature to say this least. You can’t blame them – the drama of the penalty shoot-out, with C&M always chasing, always on the back foot until Niv Cohen struck in the winner; was a nightmare and a joy in equal measure for any football fan, never mind a Candelariasian one. The one hundred and twenty six preceding minutes were as nail biting as any nil-nil friendly could possibly be, with the inspirational Connor Mengucci and his partners Ben Zec and Joel Mercado leading an immense defence of a goal line battered by the Eesseffian onslaught. Abdul Ibadulla, Aaron Kortsarian, the substitutes Tom Smith and David Spooner – all had chances that went begging, and every time C&M’s hopes seemed set to die in those moments. Orophin Anárion’s side would sweep up the other end and surely, surely put the Candelariasians to the sword.

But it never quite happened. How do you rate the individual performances of a team utterly dominated by their opponents, when every man jack of them played out of their skin? Eric O’Brien, Harris Dixon, Mengucci, Mercado… ten out of ten for each and every one of them – but where does that leave the Eesseffians? Eleven out of ten? Twelve? Twenty? Or was this just a game for which glib numerals can do neither set of competitors justice?

Whatever, the Candelariasians did what no other side here could do, what none had done since Jaseuyeon at World Cup 42, and hold the all-powerful global champions to a draw. Granted, their opponents should have been given a penalty. Possibly three of them. Certainly, Scott Soldarian had a perfectly good goal chalked off for offside. Yes, there was a fifteen-minute delay before the penalties started that clearly unnerved a home side already missing their three best penalty takers. And certainly, Joel Sbaïz moved off his line for all three of his spot-kick saves.

But… No. No buts. Enjoy this all you like, but the Big Blues have not become a different team overnight, nor C&M a different nation. Truly, yesterday we were the lucky country – with second-rate footballers who share our luck. Elgin Dannat is not the best manager in the world, not yet at least, and his team are not, whatever the radio phone-ins might’ve said last night, the best in the world themselves – not by a very long chalk.

Let us not spoil this achievement, as delightfully jammy as it was, with delusions of grandeur. Let us not spoil a Candelariasian campaign at the next World Cup by replacing hope with expectation.

But… Oh, go on then. Support C&M at the next World Cup, because after this, you never know. We might just fluke our way to victory once more…

Or win a group stage game. Either would be nice.

__________________

“Talk about giving with one hand and taking with the other…”

“Sorry, minister?”

“Hession. In the Herald. Writes a nice piece about how lucky w… they were, and how everyone should bloody well calm down… And then he goes and uses a different typeface for ‘elves’.”

“To be fair, I doubt that’s him. Hession knows what side his bread’s buttered. It was probably a sub-editor or typesetter or… something.”

“Good. Find them.”