Valanora national football team

Valanora
Nickname(s)	Marauders
Association	Vanorian Footballing Association
Confederation	Arrosia
Captain	Laborious Hawk
Most caps	Laborious Hawk
Top scorer	Laborious Hawk
Home stadium	Hatire Memorial, Capri
Code	VAL
Home colours	Away colours
KPB ranking
Current	3rd
Highest	1st (Numerous Occasions)
Lowest	Unranked (Pre-World Cup 29 Qualification)
First international
	Valanora 2-4 Audioslavia
Biggest win
	Valanora 11-0 Keyne Island
Biggest defeat
	Audioslavia 4-0 Valanora
World Cup
Appearances	58 (first in WC 33)
Best result	Champions x5
AOCAF
Appearances	50 (first in 27)
Best result	Champions x5

The Vanorian national football team is the representative team of Valanora in international association football. It is organized by the Vanorian Footballing Association, the governing body for football in Valanora.

The team is widely considered the greatest or one of the greatest teams to participate in the World Cup, having won it a joint record five times, as well as having lifted the regional AOCAF Cup an additional five times as well.

History

The Marauders first entered competition during World Cup 29, when the nation was still using the name of Elves Security Forces. The first match ever in a WCC sanctioned tournament would be played in Capri at the Hatire Memorial against Audioslavia, where the guests would win by a score of four to two. Although an unranked side heading into the Qualification for the World Cup, the Marauders were able to string a number of results together to be in contention to qualify on the last matchday. However a loss and other results going against the meant the side would not qualify in their first attempt and would not do so until World Cup 33.

The wait to qualify however would be well rewarded, as the Marauders would make it into the knockout stages and into the Quarterfinals before being knocked out. It would begin a streak of seventeen consecutive cycles where the Marauders would make at least the Quarterfinal stage, a World Cup record. During that run the team would win three titles, the first coming in Starblaydia in World Cup 40, then two cycles later would join the illustrious ranks of teams to win back to back titles when they won World Cup 42 and World Cup 43.

This time would also be where the Marauders would form their longest and most fierce rivalry in the sport, with the team from Starblaydia. The Starblaydi team would be the team to defeat the Marauders in the knockout stages of the Finals during a five cycle period lasting from World Cup 40 to World Cup 45. The two teams would then square off in the Final of World Cup 47 in The Battleground in Raynor City, where the guests would emerge victorious for their record fifth title. It would be the culmination of an era of the World Cup noted by Starblaydi historians as "Two Now Stand" and the last time the Starblaydia team would win the title.

While the Starblaydi team would stagnate and falter and even miss future editions of the competition, the Marauders kept up a high level of performance throughout the next eras of the World Cup. Four cycles later in World Cup 51 the side would take on Cassadaigua in the Final, but be bested once more. However the next cycle the team would rebound with a four to nil victory over Sorthern Northland in the championship match. The side would reach the semifinals four more times between 48 and 60, before adding their fifth title in World Cup 61, again in front of the home fans in the Eternal Empire. This Final is unique for the large scoreline, where the Marauders won seven to one over The Sylvanaes Queendom, one of the largest margins of victory in the Final.

The team would finally begin to falter after over six decades of sustained excellence, which would culminate in the first time of the Marauders failing to qualify since World Cup 32 in World Cup 71, despite having finished third in World Cup 67 less than a decade before. The following almost three decades saw moderate success but nothing quite like the excellence in the previous half a century, until World Cup 87, when the side would finally make the semifinals again. A repeat appearance in World Cup 90 has some believing that the Marauders have refound their previous excellent form, but that remains to be seen.

Coaching staff

Position	Name
Head coach	Didrik Gjedrem
Assistant manager	Kasper Volheim

Players

Current squad

Squad for World Cup 92

Pos.	Player	Age	Club
GK	Isak Helland	32	Aleiusia Capital
GK	Daniel Wolter	28	Oakstone
GK	Günter Obermaier	28	Ulsa

DF	Ralph Winter	28	Kitara AA
DF	Claudia Moench	30	Raynor City United
DF	Louise Løvoll	24	Mar Sara FC
DF	Pierre Wisniewski	28	Herzegovina City FC
DF	Karoline Wellenbrink	28	Raynor City United
DF	Samira Lindström	23	Raynor City United

MF	Indra Söderström	28	Brinemouth
MF	Gideon Riemann	28	AS Bezieres
MF	Heike Schoß	28	Jinja City FC
MF	Miriam Troegner	28	Kingsgrove
MF	Laborious Hawk	Elf	Bastion
MF	Andreas Bjerk	24	Burnaby SC
MF	Kaaren Lothar	28	Lhor
MF	Christiane Gröbe	28	Bakermouth
MF	Selim Estrada Barrientos	25	Raynor City United
MF	Götz Konstantin	28	Bastion
MF	Götz Makatsch	28	CF Outineau

FW	Lothas Ludwig	28	Crisisbless
FW	Jutta Palminger	27	FC Capri
FW	Taina Vääräniemi	26	Dí Maozöxê
FW	Hadi Lundström	26	Raynor City United
FW	Elias Hammer	29	Lonngeylin Coast