Baptism of Fire 31: Roster/RP/Scores Thread

[Dancougar]

Welcome to Baptism of Fire 31, a precursor to World Cup 44 held in the Kingdom of Dancougar between nations making their first foray into international football! The full bid details can be found here, but I'll also enumerate some of the points here:

* Scorination will take place between 8-10 PM EST on most days, which translates to 0100-0200 GMT. Scheduled delays are two hours on Monday nights and four hours on Saturdays. Additional delays will be posted. The first matchday will be Monday Dec. 8 (Tuesday morning GMT), with a full schedule to follow after the signup deadline.

* Teams can earn a maximum of five RP points per matchday based on quality of posts. Because all Baptism of Fire teams start on an equal footing, this is the only way you can improve your chances of winning (but note that it is not a guarantee!). An off day is treated as an extension of the previous day for RP-grading purposes. That way, you aren't penalized for being inactive on your day off, but you can't pile up extra RP points, either.

* Teams may choose a style modifier anywhere between -1 and +1, with -1 being more defensive and +1 being more offensive. This should be included with your roster. If you do not provide one before the first day, it will default to 0. Teams may change their style modifier once with an accompanying RP describing the change, regardless of whether they set one at the beginning or not.

Good luck to all competitors! The group draw and schedule will follow after the signup deadline passes.

[Dancougar]

Group Stage

The official group draw for the Baptism of Fire has concluded! Group play will begin with Matchday 1 scorination on Monday night, Dec 8 (Tuesday morning GMT) and end on Sunday night with matchday 7. Teams which have posted rosters will have them linked from here; each matchday will also be linked to its results and tables.

Group 1
Opereta
Senatus Populusque II
IseeRussiafrommyhouse
Lecland
Syktyvkar
Idanno
Googlewoop

Schedule:
MD1 (Mon Dec 8): 1v6, 2v3, 4v5 (off: 7)
MD2 (Tue Dec 9): 6v7, 2v5, 3v4 (off: 1)
MD3 (Wed Dec 10): 5v6, 1v3, 4v7 (off: 2)
MD4 (Thu Dec 11): 2v6, 5v7, 1v4 (off: 3)
MD5 (Fri Dec 12): 3v6, 2v7, 1v5 (off: 4)
MD6 (Sat Dec 13): 1v2, 4v6, 3v7 (off: 5)
MD7 (Sun Dec 14): 3v5, 1v7, 2v4 (off: 6)

Group 2
Benelsdon
Peisandros
AruthKandageLand
Bears Armed
Deep South Sopia
Akbarabad

Schedule:
MD1 (Mon Dec 8): 5v6, 1v4, 2v3
MD2 (Tue Dec 9): 1v6, 2v4, 3v5
MD3 (Wed Dec 10): Off
MD4 (Thu Dec 11): 2v6, 1v5, 3v4
MD5 (Fri Dec 12): 4v6, 2v5, 1v3
MD6 (Sat Dec 13): Off
MD7 (Sun Dec 14): 4v5, 3v6, 1v2

Knockout Round

The top four teams from each group will be seeded from 1-8 based on record. For seeding purposes, all group 1 teams will have the result against the weakest team in the group dropped. The order for tiebreakers is the head-to-head result (if applicable), goal differential, goals scored, and then a special playoff game. This will create a bracket pairing #1 v #8, #2 v #7, and so on. Each matchday will be linked to its result.

(Seeding and matchups)
MD8 (Tue Dec 16): Quarterfinals
MD9 (Wed Dec 17): Semifinals
MD10 (Thu Dec 18): Third-place game
MD11 (Fri Dec 19): Championship game

[Googlewoop]

PRIME TIME GOOGLEWOOPER TELEVISION

“From Googleopolis to the Endless Islands and everywhere around the nation, you’re watching SPORTS TONIGHT on channel TEN with your host, four time GCC player of the year, Tim Flinton!”

“Thank you, and good evening Googlewoop! Leading our bulletin tonight; Opening batsman and captain of the Hunters, Justin Stitt out with injury as finals time approaches, Googlewoop’s own Robert Cherryby takes out the gold jacket in the Googlewooper Masters and the Secretary of Civics talks to us about Slazenger’s chances of hosting the next Nova Games.

But first to football and Googlewoop will contest its Maiden international tournament in only a few days as preparations get underway for the first match day of the 31st ‘Baptism of Fire’. Manager, Hunten Footar today named his final twenty-man squad as well as the starting line up for Googlewoop’s first match of the tournament.

The last team drawn in Group One, after a bye on match day one, the ‘boys in orange’ take on Idanno on Tuesday in a fixture that is building intense anticipation from the fans at home. Speaking at a kit unveiling from Dancougar, the host nation, Footar said that as with the rest of the tournament, the clash with Idanno, another nation of football anonymity, was sure to deliver entertaining, attacking play.

After announcing his final squad including domestic, free kick goal scoring machine, Scott Gorday, Footar was quoted as saying that in a tournament such as this, “there is no point in dying wondering” and that his team would be approaching the game aggressively and be looking to score goals. Footar would not be drawn on how he expected the team to fair in the tournament, which is a lead up to the next world cup, but said only that the players were training and playing well together.

Footar is expected to start with an attacking 4-3-1-2 formation. For full details on the squad, visit our website.
Well, from all of us here at Channel TEN, good luck boys.

Now to cricket…”


GOOGLEWOOPER SQUAD – ‘Baptism of Fire’ 31

Style Modifier = +1

Kit – Orange, white trim, white socks
Away – White, orange trim, white socks

Starting Line ups will be edited into this post before each game


Starting Line up – Idanno, Tuesday December 9

GK – 1 Mark Garner
RB – 4 Lucas Strand
CB – 2 Craig Lee
CB – 3 Scott Freeman
LB – 5 David Gill
RM – 7 David Heinam
CDM – 6 Owen Christiansen
LM – 8 Sebastian Seward
CAM – 9 Scott Gorday
RS – 10 Jack Barrie
LS – 11 Harry Holt

Bench

GK – 12 James Brown
DF – 13 Benjamin Patterson
DF – 14 Louis Wilton
DF – 15 Alex Denton
MF – 16 Michael Bean
MF – 17 Wesley Omar
MF – 18 Mikhael Matherson
ST – 19 Jonathan Strawn
ST – 20 Eric Matthews

[Lecland]

Announcement: Lecland annouces Baptism of Fire Cup squad

Lecland has annouced it's squad, which is on it's way to take part in the 31st Baptism of Fire tournament.
This is the second tournament that the national side will take part in after competing in the recent Oxen Cup, winning one match and losing the two others.

Having done what was expected in the oxen cup and performed well as a side, the team and fans were looking forward to this tournament and hope to see Lecland perform well against other debutant sides

There squad is the same as the squad sent to the Oxen Cup




Coach: George Robinson

Formation: 4-4-2
Modifier if there is one: +1 towards attack.

Gk: David Smith Age: 28: Has been the national goalkeeper for four years now, and is a solid force in between the post (Leyton Utd)
Gk: Freddy Bar: Age 23: Touted as the replacment to Smith though not there yet. (Keel Utd
Def: Harry Lawson: Age 26: Though inexperienced on the international stage, Harry Lawson has been a huge part of Leyton City's title winning team this season thus has come into the national set up. (Leyton City)
Def: Gary Coleman Age 30: Been part of the international set up for a number of years, and is Lealands vice captain (Leyton Utd)
Def: John Ford: Age 28: Experienced right back, also part of Leyton City's title winning team this year. (Leyton City)
Def: Carl Manning: Age 24: Young fast left wing back, know for his lethal crosses as well as his tough tackles. (Weston Rovers)
Def: Joe Hartson Age 23: A star for the future (Newpool)
Def: Shaun Cole: Age 25: right back by trade though can play in any position in the defence or midfield with out much trouble. (Harecastle)

Mid: Michael Parson: Age 22: Right Midfielder, Burst onto the international stage having ripped through the various defences of the teams in Lealand's domestic league. (Keswick City)
Mid: Gareth Johnson: age: 30: The experience heart of Lealand, and their captain. (Leyton City)
Mid: Harry Fairfield: Age 30: Along with Johnson, forms the heart of Lealands midfield. (Leyton Utd)
Mid: Stuart Carson: Age 25: Quick Left Winger, with was most assists in the domestic league this season. (Wootton Utd)
Mid: Anton Daring: Age 25: central midfield and one for the future (Botley Utd)
Mid: Zak Stevenson: Age 27: Winger (Keel Utd)

Str: Gary Owen: Age 24: Fast, quick and deadly one on one, plagued by injury (Leyton Utd)
Str: Carl Young: Age 28: great holder of the ball and not slow either (Bow City)
Str: Joe Mare: Age 32: What he lacks in pace, he makes up for in experience, the top scorer ever in Lecland's domestic league (Harecastle)
Str: Leighton Stevens: Age 21: Top scorer in the domestic league this season, though is known to choke at this level. (Newpool)

1st XI
GK: David Smith
DL: Carl Manning
DC: Harry Lawson
DC: Gary Coleman (VC)
DR: John Ford
ML: Stuart Carson
MC: Gareth Johnson (C)
MC: Harry Fairfield
MR: Michael Parson
FW: Gary Owen
FW: Carl Young

Subs:
GK: Freddy Bar
D: Shaun Cole
D: Joe Hartson
M: Anton Daring
M: Zak Stevenson
F: Joe Mare
F: Leighton Stevens

Choose my goalscorers Y
Godmod Scoring Events Y
RP injuries to my players N
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 N

[Akbarabad]

The Akbarabad football federation (AFF) has it's squad for BOF 31, the national teams first international tournament.

The starters
#1 Aminul Islam - (GK)
#2 Mahbub Alam - (DR)
#5 Adil Rahman - (DL)
#3 Hasan Mohammed - (DC)
#4 Zakir Ahmed -(DC)
#6 Khaled Assad -(ML)
#8 Mossadeq Chowdhury -(MR)
#7 Mohammed Rashid - (MC)
#11 Hamid Kabir -(AMCL)
#9 Zahid Mohammed - (ST)
#10 Samin Akbar –( AM/F)

Substitutes bench:
#12 M.R. Matin (GK)
#13 Rashid Khan (DC)
#14 Vladimir Budtkov (DC/L/R)
#15 Saeed Akbar (ST)
#16 Ali Imran (MR)
#17 Vassily Zaitsev (MC/L/R)
#18 Kamrul Hassan (DMC)
#19 Shehzad Ashraf (AMCLR)
#20 Hassan Akbar ( DL)
#21 Hossain Ashraf (MC)
#22 Aleksandr Serov (ST)
#23 Shahid Hassan (GK)

Starting lineup will always be this unless stated otherwise.

Home Kit: Green, red and red socks.
Away Kit: Red, green and green socks.

Choose my own goal scorers Y
Everything else N

[Bears Armed]

Team: Bears Armed (alias "the Bear-Belles"...).
Yes, it's another all-female team, but not for the same reason that certain other nations seem to field those. It's because the main ball-game that's been played in BA so far is actually a form of Rugby, but [for several reasons] the professional league for that sport is all-male and so some of the female players have decided that switching to Soccer instead -- and trying to establish a professional league for that -- might be a viable alternative...

Almost all of the players are actual Ursines (i.e. anthropomorpic, bipedal Bears), but there are also two [female] members from the Harr'aynau people -- who are physically human (more-or-less, although inclined towards heavy builds & hairyness) but spiritually & culturally Ursine -- as well, and one from another non-Ursine minority.
(The management/coaching team will mostly be humans, however, recruited from our neighbouring nations in the IDU: the manager/chief coach is Bob Smith, from the nation of Old Ceorana...)

Style: Offensive, modifier = +1... "A good offence is the best defence"... and remember, most of these players have more experience of Rugby than they do of Soccer. Their usual formation will include a front row of at least 5 (normally as 3 strikers & 2 wingers), plus either 3 midfield & 2 backs or 2 midfield & 3 backs, plus the goalkeeper, but they might go 6-2-2 (or 6-3-1, or even 7-1-2) sometimes.

Kit (home) = lime-green shirts with bear's-paw emblem (as on the national flag) in pale brown on both front & back; pale brown shorts, with trimming & side-stripes in bands of black, gray & white (representing the other Ursine stocks...); socks = lime-green.
Kit ('away') = white, with emerald-green bear's-paw emblem & trimming.
Kit (goalkeepers) = emerald-green, with bears-paw emblem in white.
(Identifying numbers will be in black, except on the goalkeeper's emerald-green where they'll be in white instead: Bears Armed has traditionally used base-8 arithmetic, for several reasons, so the sequence used here will be _ 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 20, 21, etc...)

Ursines may tend to be a bit less agile & slower to accelerate than humans on average, but this team's members were carefully selected so the gap between them & their opponents in this respect should be narrower than some people might expect. They do tend to have slightly poorer eyesight than humans, on the whole, so long-distance passes & shots at goal will be rarer behaviour for them than they are for human teams... but their size & strength mean that when they're running with the ball it will probably take a very brave human -- as well as a very skilled one -- to tackle them successfully, which should balance that factor pretty well.
They're physically robust, of course, which means that they're less likely than humans to suffer injuries in falls or collisions but also that the form of Rugby in which most of them played before switching to Soccer was even more physical than the humans' versions of that game... and unfortunately some of them might forget the change of rules, in the excitement of the match, and use those tactics here...
Forgetting that they're playing Soccer now, rather than 'Ursine-Rules' Rugby, will actually be the most likely reason for any rule-breaking that they might commit, but they're generally bright enough not to make such a mistake more than once per match per player (and after one of them has been penalised for doing so in any particular way it's fairly unlikely that any others would repeat the exact same mistake...). The females of this species are morte even-tempered than the males, and the team's members will try to stay on their best behaviour not only in order to do well in this contest (which they probably need to do in order for their planned Soccer league to become a reality) but also to impress upon the watching humans that Ursines aren't just "dumb beasts". They will not 'dive', or feign injury in other ways, because suggesting that they could be harmed so easily goes strongly against the grain.

_______________________________

Roster


(#1) Charra o Barrdenn _ Clan = GreenWoods, home team = 'Barrdenn Barbariennes', 3 years experience of Soccer; age = 24, left-pawed, fur = medium brown, noted for her long reach.
(#14) Urra Thunder _ Clan = Gunnar, home team = 'King's University (U-am-B)', category & usual position = Goalkeeper, Soccer experience = 2 years; age = 19, right-pawed, fur = medium brown.

(#2) Urratharra o Strongpaw _ Clan = March, home team = ‘Mighty Marchers’, category = Defender, usual position = Left Back, Soccer experience = 2 years; age = 20, right-pawed, fur = dark-medium brown.
(#3) Borrinna o HighPeaks _ Clan = Redwood, home team = ‘’Free City Furies’, category = Defender, usual position = Right Back, Soccer experience = 6 years; age = 23, left-pawed, fur = light-medium brown & quite long.
(#15) Correene o SwanWater _ Clan = GreenWoods, home team = 'Heroes's Park Harlequins', Soccer experience = 1 full year & the start of this season, category = Defender, preferred position = Right Back.
(#16) Beorra o SouthWoods _ Clan = WestWoods, home team = Wiston United, Soccer experience = 2 years, category = Defender, preferred position = Left Back; age = 23, left-pawed, fur = medium brown.
(#22) Harroya 'Silver' Gray _ Clan = Eastern Hills, home team = ‘Dynamo OstPort’, category = Defender/Midfielder, usual position = ‘Centre Back’ or Midfield Centre, Soccer experience = 4 years; age = 20, left-pawed, fur = light greyish-brown.

(#4) Urra ‘Honey’ SunBlessed _ Clan = Sun, home team = ‘Sun Valley Smashers’, category = Midfielder/Defender, usual position = Midfield Centre, Soccer experience = 3 years; age = 20, right-pawed, fur = ‘honey-brown’, very good eyesight even by human (rather than Ursine) standards. She is a very accurate kicker, and therefore the usual first choice for taking free kicks & penalties; her nickname comes from her fur-colour, her very sweet nature, and (it must be admitted) the fact that she's a bit thick (but her 3 years experience of Soccer means that, by now, she's pretty unlikely to make mistake of trying to play Rugby instead despite that thickness...)
(#5) Marra-Urra o Redwood _ Clan = Redwood, home team = 'Mighty Redwoods', category = Midfielder, usual position = Midfield Left, Soccer experience = 2 years; age = 22, left-pawed, fur = medium brown.
(#6) Beorrtha o Parram _ Clan = Zurrarr Parram, home team = 'LakePort Lionesses', category = Midfielder, usual position = Midfield Right, Soccer experience = 4 years; age = 21, left-pawed, fur = medium brown.
(#17) Karra Thunder _ Clan = Gunnar, home team = PassPort Athletic, Soccer experience = 2 years, category = Midfielder, preferred position = Midfield Left; age = 17, left-pawed, fur = dark brown.
(#20) Zargie o Harruor _ Clan = Harruor Erruur, home team = 'LakePort Lionesses', category = Midfielder, preferred position = Midfield Centre.
(#21) Ilga NorthWalker _ Clan = WildWoods, home team = ‘WildFair Warriors’, Soccer experience = 1 year, category = Midfielder, preferred position = Midfield Right; a member of the ’Harr’aynau’ people color=gray](OOC: i.e. humanoid, at least physically, rather than Ursine…)[/color], age = 19, right-footed, red-haired.

(#7) Beorra ‘Locomotive’ o Barrdenn _ Clan = GreenWoods, home team = 'Barrdenn Barbariennes', category = Striker, usual position = Centre Forward, still in her 1st season of playing Soccer but has 7 years of Rugby experience; age = 26, left-pawed, fur = medium brown. Her nickname comes from the fact that she's big, fast, tough, and definitely intimidating...
(#10) Marra SunDaughter _ Clan = Sun, home team = 'Sun Valley Smashers', category = Striker, usual position = Left Forward, Soccer experience = 5 years experience; age = 26, left-pawed, fur = golden-brown, good eyesight even by human (rather than Ursine) standards. She is the team's CAPTAIN.
(#11) Karramarsar Sarra _ Clan = Ostbora, home team = 'Victories of Vichr', category = Striker/Winger, usual position = either Right Forward or Right Winger, Soccer experience = 2 years; age = 20, right-pawed, fur = medium brown & fairly long. She is the identical twin sister of Karramarsar Karra, #13, with whom she has a close mental rapport that’s very useful for teamwork, and they're both pretty bright anyway.
(#13) Karramarsar Karra _ Clan = Ostbora, home team = 'Victories of Vichr', category = Striker/Winger, usual position = either Right Forward or Right Winger, Soccer experience = 2 years; age = 20, right-pawed, fur = medium brown & fairly long. She is the identical twin sister of Karramarsar Sarra, #11.
(#24) Harrya o Herrchaum _ Clan = Herrchaum, home team = 'Mighty Redwoods', category = Striker, preferred position = Right Forward, Soccer experience = 9 years; age = 31, left-pawed, fur = light brown.
(#25) Marrla o GreenWoods _ Clan = GreenWoods, home team = 'National U Tigers', category = Striker, preferred position = Centre Forward, Soccer experience = 2 years; age = 20, left-pawed, fur = dark brown.
(#23) Beorranna o Dawn _ Clan = Urrset, home team = ‘Sun Valley Smashers’, category = Striker/Winger, preferred position = Left Forward, Soccer experience = 2 years; age = 19, right-pawed, fur = light brown with a red tinge.
(#26) Theodelphia Karramarsar _ Clan = Ostbora, home team = ‘Urrvan’s Avengers’, category = Striker, preferred position = Right Forward, Soccer experience = 3 years; age = 24, right-pawed, fur = light brown; Christian (Eastern Orthodox).
(#32) Harroya ‘of the Rovers’ o Redwood _ Clan = Redwood, home team = Merlchester Rovers, category = Striker, preferred position = Right Forward, Soccer experience = 5 years; age = 21, left-pawed, fur = light brown; she will NOT break the rules (not even at the 'yellow card' level), managing to be an "attacking" player without being an "aggressive" one... Good at setting up goals foe her team-mates, but only seems to score herself when the team really NEEDS that goal.

(#12) Ulga WestWalker _ Clan = WildWoods), home team = [just signed by] ‘LakePort Lionesses’, category = Winger or Midfielder, usual position = either Left Winger or Midfield Left, Soccer experience = 7 years (the last 2 of which were actually in professional football, across the border in Mikitivity…); from the Harr’ayanau people (OOC: i.e. humanoid, at least physically, rather than Ursine…), age = 24, right-footed, red-haired, very fast on her feet.
(#27) Harroya ‘She-Lion’ Lightning _ Clan = Gunnar, home team = 'LakePort Lionesses', category = Winger, preferred position = Left Winger, Soccer experience = 3 years; age = 19, left-pawed, fur = light brown.
(#30) Margarret o WestWoods _ Clan = WestWoods, home team = 'WestPort U Wonders', category = Winger, preferred position = Left Winger, Soccer experience = 4 years; age = 18, right-pawed, fur = dark-medium brown; Christian (‘Roman’ Catholic).
(#31) Verrina Serrnarra’s-daughter _ Clan = Verravokssur (Free Sept), home team = 'Vasrrorgrath Valkyrrs', category = Winger, preferred position = Right Winger, Soccer experience = ; a member of the ‘Verravokkssur’ people (who are anthropomorphic foxes… that’s as in LARGE anthropomorphic foxes, she’s 6’1” tall…), age = 22, ambidextrous, fur = orange-red.


________________________________

Opponents may _

Choose my goalscorers: Y (but when I post the roster I'll suggest the most likely candidates for this)
Godmod Scoring Events: Y

RP injuries to my players / Godmod injuries to my players / Hand out Yellow cards to my players / Hand out Red cards to my players: Y to all, at least to start with, but remember what I've written here and keep it in limits accordingly... Any serious offences by my players would probably result in injuries to your players, and causing any serious injuries to my players would probably require such obviously-deliberate attacks that your players would get yellow or even red cards as a result too.

Godmod Other Events: Y, I suppose... but please remember that Ursines are fully sapient beings, as much as Humans are (well, almost so, anyway....), NOT instinct-driven animals. Oh, and of course female Ursines are NOT sexually interested in Humans (of either sex), and it's very unlikely that female Harr'ayanau would be either.

If the organisers permit then the team's members, including subsititutes, will do a [short] traditional war-dance (similar to the [RL] New Zealanders' 'haka'...), on the pitch, just before each match begins: This is called the 'harrdiharr'...

[Lecland]

Match Preview

Lecland - Syktyvkar

This would only be Lecland's fourth international match, but this would be the second time they will have faced Syktyvkar, having played them in the first round of the recent Oxen Cup. That match had ended in a 1-0 victory for Lecland, who were now hoping for a repeat result having lost their other two matches in the Oxen Cup, 2-1 against Miroxia in a close match, then getting a thumping 4-1 defeat against Taeshan.

Squad news

And unfortuate injury to Gary Owens in training has put him out of contention to play against Syktyvkar, possibly longer, so Joe Mare comes into a otherwise unchanged first 11. This is a big loss as Owens was the top scorer in the recent Oxen Cup, scoring two of Lecland's three goals in the tournament.

So the squad for the match against Syktyvkar is as follows:

GK: David Smith
DL: Carl Manning
DC: Harry Lawson
DC: Gary Coleman (VC)
DR: John Ford
ML: Stuart Carson
MC: Gareth Johnson (C)
MC: Harry Fairfield
MR: Michael Parson
FW: Joe Mare
FW: Carl Young

Subs:
GK: Freddy Bar
D: Shaun Cole
D: Joe Hartson
M: Anton Daring
M: Zak Stevenson
F: Leighton Stevens

Injured:
F: Gary Owens (Hamstring)

[Peisandros]

Peisandros prepares for second dose of international football

After a failed Oxen cup 9 campaign which saw Peisandros lose two games from two, the Peisandros public and football community is very excited for the upcoming Baptism of Fire 31 tournament. Playing against tough, internationally ranked opponents, gave the team an idea of how hard it is at this level. But at the same time it proved a valuable learning curve for all involved. The Baptism of Fire will be just the second time Peisandros has sent a national team to an international football event. The team for this tournament is exactly the same as that which played in the Oxen Cup and coach Alexander Pappas has sprung no surprises.

It has been decided the team will again play in a 4-4-2 formation. Style modifier = -1.

The Peisandros roster for BoF 31 is:
Starters for first game in bold.

GK: #1 Calisto Pappas.. Age: 19
GK: #17 Alexander Vlahos.. Age: 27
GK: #23 Dorian Theotokis.. Age: 26

Def: #2 Narcissus Theodore.. Age: 22
Def: #3 Luke Sisinis.. Age: 19
Def: #4 Alex Andreou.. Age: 27
Def: #6 Yannis Chrisou .. Age: 31 **Captain
Def: #12 Stefanos Leandros.. Age: 23
Def: #15 Angelos Papakonstantinou.. Age: 22
Def: #19 Luke Erasmus.. Age: 17
Def: #21 Terry Roubanis.. Age: 20

Mid: #5 Urias Halkias.. Age: 27 **Vice-captain
Mid: #7 Zarek Chatzi.. Age: 18
Mid: #8 Tobias Xanthis.. Age: 29
Mid: #10 Barnabas Dranias.. Age: 35
Mid: #14 Esaias Ioannou.. Age: 19
Mid: #16 Dionysos Karras.. Age: 31
Mid: #18 Paris Sisinis.. Age: 21
Mid: #20 Praxis Nikolaidis.. Age: 16

Str: #9 Costa Theotokis.. Age: 22
Str: #11 George Theotokis .. Age: 22
Str: #13 Myron Pavlopoulos.. Age: 21
Str: #22 Lefteris Diakos.. Age: 16

The announcement of Coach Pappas' son as starting goalkeeper came as no surprise after the more experienced Vlahos was unable to stem the flow of goals in Qazox -- conceding seven in just the two games. Young Calisto Pappas has shown enormous potential and the public are exciting to see him in action. Also of interest in the starting line up is young Praxis Nikolaidis. The 16 year old is still at school, but is already a superstar. After coming off the bench in both games, Coach Pappas has decided Nikolaidis is ready for the full 90 minutes.

"We think he is at a stage now where there is no need to protect him. He has developed extremely well in the last 12-18 months and we believe he is ready to start and play a full game for his country. Obviously he is a great talent and we are excited to see what he can produce in this tournament. There is a chance we will push him up to striker, but we'll see how the twins do. As for my son, well, I guess his time has come too. The coaching staff and I took a long time to decide on the starting keeper, as Vlahos has so much experience. We just think after a rough tournament in Qazox, that now is a good time to make a change. Vlahos has actually been a great help in getting Calisto prepared for this game."

The first round game for Peisandros, versus AruthKandageLand, should be very interesting as (as far as media research can prove!) they too are an unranked team. Still searching for their first victory, this is a prime opportunity for Peisandros to succeed. Back in Peisandros, the general public appears to be getting in to the swing of things with many people following the Oxen cup with interest. The PFA is hoping this BoF will give Sandrians something to get excited about and more interested in football.

Stay tuned as we follow the team through group play.

Oh, and.. If you RP first, you may:
Choose my goalscorers: Y
Godmod Scoring Events: N
RP injuries to my players: Y, but leave me to decide how serious it is.
Godmod injuries to my players: N
Hand out Yellow cards to my players: Y
Hand out Red cards to my players: Y, but keep it reasonable.
Godmod Other Events: N

Try keep injuries + red cards = 0-2 per game.

[Opereta]

Opereta's National Team:

Composed by poor people that live in the subway of the main Urna Eletrônica city, Caixa Dois, an area called Opereta by its citizens these players are very determined and willing to win the game, so they can win some money to buy food and subway tickets to reach other parts of the city. The "country"'s team wear a bright orange shirt and white shorts in its games.

Manager: Metro Esepetrans

Starting XI:

Goalkeeper:
1- Heitor Vila Madalena

Defenders:
2- Formoso Anhangabaú
3- Consolação Brigadeiro
4- Franklin Brás
6- Joaquim Liberdade

Midfielders:
5- Tiradentes Luz
7- Artur Itaquera
8- Paulista Trianon-Masp
11- Cruzeiro Tietê

Attackers:
9- Mário Barra Funda
10- Bento Sé


Reserves:

Goalkeepers:
12- Bresser Mooca
22- Jequitibá Jabaquara

Defenders:
13- Santana Carandirú
14- Vital Butantã
16- Giovanni Amaro
21- Paraíso Vergueiro

Midfielders:
15- Catiguá Tatuapé
17- Antônio Tucuruvi
19- Arnaldo Clínicas
20- Noé Vila Mariana

Attackers:
18- Arouche República
23- Francisco Morumbi

[Myedvedeya]

The Enchanted Siberian Forest of Syktyvkar, the most autonomous of Myedvedeya's regions, is inhabited by hugely diverse and strange quasi-magical creatures. As such, the roster is composed of satyrs, elves, vampires, and pretty much anything else you could imagine. They have no substitutes, as they do not suffer injury.

STYLE: +1
FORMATION: 4-3-3

Manager:
Svetovid (Demigod)- Age Unknown

Forwards:
Svarog (Demigod)- Age Unknown

Aeschylus Silenus (Satyr)- 457

Mircha Dragulescu (Vampire)- 5,215

Midfield:
Thorontur Aerdirnaithon (Elf)- 789

Miroslav Istuion Kravnik (Half-elf)- 109

Romulus Saturnius (Satyr)- 302

El Juli (Minotaur)- 1,005

Defense:
Imrahil (Djinni)- 10,207

Neurion Minyadan (Elf)- 3,032

Ciprian Corneliu (Vampire)- 2,501

Gabriel Ileana (Angel)- Age Unknown

Goalkeeper:

Salvinius Varda (Demon)- 142,012

[Syktyvkar]

Whoops, sorry, confirming that the above is in fact us... forgot to log out of main nation.

[Dancougar]

MD1 RP cutoff!

Group 1
Opereta 1-1 Idanno
Senatus Populusque II 1-0 IseeRussiafrommyhouse
Lecland 0-2 Syktyvkar

 Pos  Team                       P   W   D   L   GF   GA   GD  Pts
   1  Syktyvkar                  1   1   0   0    2    0    2    3
   2  Senatus Populusque II      1   1   0   0    1    0    1    3
   3  Opereta                    1   0   1   0    1    1    0    1
   4  Idanno                     1   0   1   0    1    1    0    1
   5  Googlewoop                 0   0   0   0    0    0    0    0
   6  IseeRussiafrommyhouse      1   0   0   1    0    1   -1    0
   7  Lecland                    1   0   0   1    0    2   -2    0

Group 2
Deep South Sopia 2-6 Akbarabad
Benelsdon 0-3 Bears Armed
Peisandros 2-1 AruthKandageLand

 Pos  Team                       P   W   D   L   GF   GA   GD  Pts
   1  Akbarabad                  1   1   0   0    6    2    4    3
   2  Bears Armed                1   1   0   0    3    0    3    3
   3  Peisandros                 1   1   0   0    2    1    1    3
   4  AruthKandageLand           1   0   0   1    1    2   -1    0
   5  Benelsdon                  1   0   0   1    0    3   -3    0
   6  Deep South Sopia           1   0   0   1    2    6   -4    0

[Peisandros]

Excitement as Peisandros holds on to win first game

In news that excited and shocked some people, the Peisandros national football team has won it's first ever international game. They won a close game over AruthKandageLand, 2-1. The win gave the football followers in Peisandros something to celebrate after years with nothing but national leagues to follow. But tonight there were people spilling out of bars and football clubs staying open all night.

The game itself was a close affair. Defence was overpowering and it took a few moments of brilliance to get on to the scorecard. The first such moment came in the 22nd minute after a smart attack down the left wing by Peisandros' Praxis Nikolaidis. With youthful exuberance he sent a great ball in to the box, where club team-mate Costa Theotokis used all his goal-scoring experience to steer the ball away from the AruthKandageLand keeper. A top class header and Peisandros had the 1-0 lead.

The rest of the first half was played out with no real chances for either team, although AruthKandageLand had one shot on target which was comfortably saved by Calisto Pappas and also earned a corner late in the half which the Sandrian defence dealt with easily.

Second half play was more lively. The AruthKandageLand team came out of the sheds the stronger side, although they were unable to finish off a lot of their opportunities. Against the run of play, in the 56th minute, Peisandros was able to capitalise on the AruthKandageLand strikers lack of finishing ability. After captain Chrisou stole the ball deep in Peisandros' own half, he set of on a wonderful run beating midfielders, before finding his vice captain Urias Halkias, just outside the 18 yard box. He steadied himself with a good first touch, before firing in a fantastic shot into the top right corner. The keeper had no change. 56th minute and the score increased to 2-0.

It didn't take long for AruthKandageLand to get on the board though. Finally the strikers were able to finish off the good work and platform the midfielders had set. The Peisandros defence was broken and the striker finished off for the 3rd good goal of the game. 2-1 the score with 30minutes on the clock.

AruthKandageLand searched hard for the equaliser but were unable to find it thanks to some good goalkeeping and defence. Stefanos Leandros who replaced Luke Sisinis in the 66th minute, looked especially good at the dying moments when the opposition pushed forward. The last five minutes were tense after the Sandrians gave up consecutive corners, but alas AruthKandageLand was unable to find a second goal. After two minutes of extra time the whistle sounded and Peisandros celebrated.

Game Summary

Peisandros 2 (C. Theotokis 22' Halkias 56') - AruthKandageLand 1 (Striker 60')

Yellow cards: Peisandros 1 (Leandros 88') - AruthKandageLand 2 (Defender 43' Midfielder 71')

Red cards: 0

Injuries: 0

[Lecland]

Match Review.

Lecland loses to Syktyvkar

A disappointing match from Lecland's point of view, after all the hype surrounding the tournment, to lose convincingly in the first match when the team seemed to be doing well. Syktyvkar just outplayed them, clearly having done their homework after playing Lecland the first time.

In reality the scoreline flatter Lecland, who only managed two shots on target compare to Syktyvkar's ten.

In the first twenty miutes of the match, the teams were pretty even until a counterattack by Syktyvkar, a mix up in Lecland's defence and Aeschylus Silenus's brillant chip over a stranded David Smith in no man's land left Syktyvkar 1-0 up on the 22nd minute and a very embrassed defence. The rest of the half saw Syktyvkar press their attacks, finding a scrappy second goal just before half time. After the break Syktyvkar were just content to sit back, keep possession and make the occasional attack, which seemed to break down Lecland's defence with worrying ease. Lecland had a glimmer of hope when the ball appeared to cross the line from a Joe Mare shot five minutes from time, but the ref wave away the goal and the following protest, which resulted in a yellow card for Stuart Carson for arguing with the ref.

All in all a bad match for Lecland who now have to concentrate on winning the reminding games, starting with IseeRussiafrommyhouse (Match Preview to come later when i have time)

[Bears Armed]

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

BEAR-BELLES BATTER BENELSDON!

Well our country's Soccer team (alias 'The Bear-Belles', because of their all-female membership) got off to a very good start in the 'Baptism of Fire' tournament, beating the team from a nation called 'Benelsdon' by 3 goals to 1, which puts them into second place out of the six teams in their group.
(Yes, that was the full-time score: if you didn't already know, the results of Soccer games are determined solely by the numbers of goals scored, rather than by numbers of tries & conversions as in Rugby...)


The Team

The starting line-up that manager & chief coach Bob Smith (a human who was imported from Old Ceorana to do this job, due to the shortage of experienced candidates here) chose for this match was _

Goalkeeper: Charra o Barrdenn (#1) _ Clan = GreenWoods, home team = 'Barrdenn Barbariennes', 3 years experience of Soccer; age = 24, left-pawed, fur = medium brown, noted for her long reach.
Left Back: Urratharra o Strongpaw (#2) _ Clan = March, home team = ‘Mighty Marchers’, category = Defender, usual position = Left Back, Soccer experience = 2 years; age = 20, right-pawed, fur = dark-medium brown.
Right Back: Borrinna o HighPeaks (#3) _ Clan = Redwood, home team = ‘’Free City Furies’, category = Defender, usual position = Right Back, Soccer experience = 6 years; age = 23, left-pawed, fur = light-medium brown & quite long.
Midfield Centre: Urra ‘Honey’ SunBlessed (#4) _ Clan = Sun, home team = ‘Sun Valley Smashers’, category = Midfielder/Defender, usual position = Midfield Centre, Soccer experience = 3 years; age = 20, right-pawed, fur = ‘honey-brown’, very good eyesight even by human (rather than Ursine) standards. She is a very accurate kicker, and therefore the usual first choice for taking free kicks & penalties; her nickname comes from her fur-colour, her very sweet nature, and (it must be admitted) the fact that she's a bit thick.
Midfield Left Marra-Urra o Redwood (#5) _ Clan = Redwood, home team = 'Mighty Redwoods', category = Midfielder, usual position = Midfield Left, Soccer experience = 2 years; age = 22, left-pawed, fur = medium brown.
Midfield Right: Beorrtha o Parram (#6) _ Clan = Zurrarr Parram, home team = 'LakePort Lionesses', category = Midfielder, usual position = Midfield Right, Soccer experience = 4 years; age = 21, left-pawed, fur = medium brown.
Centre Forward: Beorra ‘Locomotive’ o Barrdenn (#7) _ Clan = GreenWoods, home team = 'Barrdenn Barbariennes', category = Striker, usual position = Centre Forward, still in her 1st season of playing Soccer but has 7 years of Rugby experience; age = 26, left-pawed, fur = medium brown. Her nickname comes from the fact that she's big, fast, tough, and definitely intimidating...
Left Forward: Marra SunDaughter (#10) _ Clan = Sun, home team = 'Sun Valley Smashers', category = Striker, usual position = Left Forward, Soccer experience = 5 years experience; age = 26, left-pawed, fur = golden-brown, good eyesight even by human (rather than Ursine) standards. She is the team's CAPTAIN.
Right Forward: Karramarsar Sarra (#11) _ Clan = Ostbora, home team = 'Victories of Vichr', category = Striker/Winger, usual position = either Right Forward or Right Winger, Soccer experience = 2 years; age = 20, right-pawed, fur = medium brown & fairly long. She is the identical twin sister of Karramarsar Karra, #13, with whom she has a close mental rapport that’s very useful for teamwork.
Left Winger: Ulga WestWalker (#12) _ Clan = WildWoods), home team = [just signed by] ‘LakePort Lionesses’, category = Winger or Midfielder, usual position = either Left Winger or Midfield Left, Soccer experience = 7 years (the last 2 of which were actually in professional football, across the border in Mikitivity…); from the Harr’ayanau people (OOC: i.e. humanoid, at least physically, rather than Ursine…), age = 24, right-footed, red-haired, very fast on her feet.
Right Winger: Karramarsar Karra (#13) _ Clan = Ostbora, home team = 'Victories of Vichr', category = Striker/Winger, usual position = either Right Forward or Right Winger, Soccer experience = 2 years; age = 20, right-pawed, fur = medium brown & fairly long. She is the identical twin sister of Karramarsar Sarra, #11.


And the 'substitutes' whom Smith selected were _

(#14) Urra Thunder _ Clan = Gunnar, home team = 'King's University (U-am-B)', category & usual position = Goalkeeper, Soccer experience = 2 years; age = 19,right-pawed, fur = medium brown.
(#15) Correene o SwanWater _ Clan = GreenWoods, home team = 'Heroes's Park Harlequins', Soccer experience = 1 full year & the start of this season, category = Defender, preferred position = Right Back.
(#20) Zargie o Harruor _ Clan = Harruor Erruur, home team = 'LakePort Lionesses', category = Midfielder, preferred position = Midfield Centre.
(#22) Irriti WestFells _ Clan = WestWoods, home team = 'WestPort Wanderers', category = Winger, preferred position = Left Winger.
(#24) Harrya o Herrchaum _ Clan = Herrchaum, home team = 'Mighty Redwoods', category = Striker, preferred position = Right Forward, Soccer experience = 9 years; age = 31, left-pawed, fur = light brown.
(#25) Marrla o GreenWoods _ Clan = GreenWoods, home team = 'National U Tigers', category = Striker, preferred position = Centre Forward, Soccer experience = 2 years; age = 20, left-pawed, fur = dark brown.

Match Summary
(Full report on page S-5, inside.)

The players from Benelsdon had evidently never faced Ursines before this, and as the game began they seemed rather unsure about doing so. Their caution let the Bear-Belles seize the initiative, and the ball, so that Beorra o Barrdenn was able to charge straight down the pitch and drive a shot successfully past their goalkeeper and into the net -- for our first goal -- in only the third minute of the game. Benelsdon then attempted an attack, but this splintered against the Belles' defensive lines and when Urra SunDaughter took the ball from one of them she passed it a long way forwards to Karramarsar Karra, who set it up for her sister Sarra to score again in the twentieth minute.
For the remainder of the first half the Benelsdon players concentrated on simply keeping the ball away from our girls, with what was admittedly a fair bit of success.
When the second half started it could be seen that Bob Smith had made some changes to the team's front line, mainly to give a couple of our substitutes some experience of playing against humans but also to give the openers whom they replaced on the field a rest ready for their next match in case that turns out to be against tougher opposition: Irritti WestFells and Marrla o GreenWoods came out to play, as Left Forward and Centre Forward respectively, instead of and Beorra o Barrdenn, whilst the sisters Karramarsar were allowed to exchange positions with each other.
As that second half progressed it could quickly be seen that Benesldon had apparently given up hope of winning, and were now just trying to minimise the extent of their defeat. They put up a dogged defense, and actually had possesion of the ball for almost twice as long as the Belles did, but then -- in the last-but-one minute of the game -- a feint by Karramarsar Karra drew enough of their attention away to give Marrla o GreenWoods clear space for a good shot at the goal... and she scored!

__________________________________________________________

The Belles' next game will be against the humans of 'Peisandros', who won their first match of the tourney -- against the team from a nation called 'AruthKandageLand' by 2 goals to 1, and who favour a much more defensive style than the girls. This should be interesting...