retired_workingmom77

I was beginning to wonder whether I would ever hear from Max again, when one afternoon in late May he called me. He arranged to meet me later that evening in a bar on the other side of town. Of course, I could of refused but something about all this was enticing me further into discovering more about Heinrich's sinister motives. The bar was a quiet and dingy place, perfect for covert meetings and a lack of eavesdroppers. Max was sat in the corner sipping what looked like a double whiskey with no ice. I was surprised to see that Max was joined by another person, a tall, dark haired man who appeared to be in his mid twenties. I slowly walked over and sat opposite the two men. A familiar voice, heavily accented broke the silence.

"Thank you for coming, I understand that this situation must be uncomfortable for you. This is my son Manni by the way"

I reached over and shook the young man's hand, up close he appeared to be a real chip off the block.

"So what's going on? I haven't heard from you in months"

"Yes, I apologise. I have been rather busy at the moment, I see the team is doing well."

"Yeah, they're a good bunch of lads, but please, can we cut to the chase?"

"Very well. I have spent the last few months deliberating whether or not I can buy Heinrich out of the club. I think its a good initial plan, I don't want to have to forcibly remove him unless I really have to. Its just a question of whether he will sell."

"Well with all due respect, I don't know the man that well but at first glance I can tell this guy won't sell. You're gonna have to think of another way to get him out, but I'll leave the decision making up to you. At the end of the day, if things get nasty I'm out the back door. There is not enough in it for me to start mucking around in some power struggle that has already taken one life and God knows how many more!"

I lit a cigarette and gratefully inhaled the nicotine. Max sat in silence as if in thought, I had stated where I stood on this and it was evidently troubling Max. I was in a limited supply of possible allies and he would need me later. Finally it was his son Manni who broke the awkward silence.

"What if I was to say that I could have Heinrich and Wolfgang 'removed' without any trouble?

Discarding the cigarette, I leant over the table.

"Tell me more......"

retired_workingmom77

June 2007

Once again I tried to focus on football and saving us from relegation. It didn't help the cause that we were up against the league leaders Parana in our next game. We travelled to the Estádio Pinheirão hoping for a draw but a defeat would not be the end of the world, they were after all the form team. In front of a crowd of about 7,000 we stated our intentions early, Maycon with an absolute screamer from 30 yards with just over a quarter of an hour gone. Parana wasted no time in replying, just 10 minutes later Vandinho equalised. Vandinho is arguably the best striker in the league at the age of just 20 and I expect him to either move to a bigger club or single-handedly promote Parana. Just three minutes after the equaliser we fell behind again. Another dubious penalty decision came our way and Maicosuel tucked it away to put Parana 2-1 in front. We didn’t panic and not long into the second half Hevandro levelled the game at 2-2. Luis Rodrigo lost his cool and received a second yellow card to end his afternoon, from then on it seemed as though our chances of hanging onto a 2-2 would go out the window. 6 minutes later it appeared to be the case as Maicosuel got his second to make it 3-2 to Parana. Once again we kept calm and with 11 minutes left to go substitute Jean levelled the game again to make it 3-3. I thought we had done enough to earn a point but it was not to be. In stoppage time, Rafael Akai headed home to put Parana 4-3 up. This time there was to be no equaliser and we went home disappointed but all the more resilient having played so well against the league leaders.

Next up was another state rival, Figueirense. Another team we had failed to beat during my tenure, but as ever I was desperate to change that. Figueirense were a shambles straight from kick off and we profited early, Hevandro opening the scoring to put us 1-0 in front. In the second half Figueirense performed much better and gave us real problems. Eventually veteran midfielder Bilu got the equaliser but that was how it stayed, a good result for us. After that we faced a trick away trip to Ituano, who as predicted broke the deadlock early, Paulinho Macaiba scoring with just 2 minutes on the clock. However a major turning point in the game followed just another 2 minutes later, Ituano midfielder Germano received a straight red card. From then on we were in the ascendancy but it took until after the half time break for Neno to find the equaliser. With 12 minutes left Viton found a second goal and it looked as if we would cruise to victory. But 2 minutes later Paulinho Macaiba scored his second goal to make it 2-2. But we weren’t about to undo our fine efforts and Berg powered home the winner on 85 minutes, the final score 3-2. Our final game of June welcomed Ponte Preta to our stadium. They were a handful and took the lead just after the half hour mark through Wesley. Jair hit back just 3 minutes later and when Ponte Preta were reduced to 10 men, It seemed to me that we had hope of a decent result. However two goals from Carlinhos and a sending off of our own meant that we had to settle for a 3-1 defeat.

Results
<pre class="ip-ubbcode-code-pre"> ************************************************** ************************************************** ****************************************Parana 3-4 A Second Division Maycon, Hevandro, JeanFigueirense 1-1 H Second Division HevandroItuano 3-2 A Second Division Neno, Berg, VitonPonte Preta 1-3 H Second Division Jair********************************************** ************************************************** ********************************************</pre>

retired_workingmom77

There was a major gathering outside the stadium one day in late June. It was the official opening of the new rebranded youth team. The "Hermann Youth" was fast becoming a reality and there were no shortage of enthusiasm for the project, practically every youth in town had come to try out for the team. Atop a podium in front of the assembled journalists, in his motorised wheelchair sat Heinrich Wolfenstein. He was now entering his ninetieth year and still looked as full of life as ever, his Iron Cross dangling around his neck. Wolfgang was adjusting the microphone for his grandfather, who was preparing to address the assembled crowd. In fluent Brazilian he started to speak:

"My friends, it gives me great pleasure to welcome Club Atletico Hermann Aichinger into a new era. This begins with the Hermann Youth a chance for all youngsters to play football and escape crime, so that we can make them strong for the future. Hermann Aichinger was a close friend of mine and I can assure you this was his dream.

***

At these words a lone figure across the street spat in derision, Hermann was his blood relative and from what his father had told him, Hermann would have turned in his grave. He had offered this evil b*stard a way out 62 years ago, and he had payed him back by bringing the evil to Brazil. The man was infact Manni Stader, grandson of Matthias and distant cousin of Hermann Aichinger. This was his and his father's football club. Calmly he reached into pocket and slowly grasped the butt of a semi automatic pistol. He was going to finish this right here, right now.

***

"And now, please welcome to the stage your manager Sam Cox and our oldest serving veteran Biro Biro to help me unveil the new youth team."

A large cheer erupted from the crowd as two men tentatively walked to the middle of the stage. Neither wanted to be here nor agreed with what was about to happen. Sam anxiuosly scanned the crowd and eventually saw Manni leaning against a tree, their eyes met. Manni's gaze was full of intention, Sam gave a vigorous nod knowing exactly what Manni was planning, "Not here" he thought. It was too crowded, he never successfully hit the pair of them and get away without being caught. Manni seemed to reckless a person to be doing this, his emotional ties were clouding his judgement and Sam knew things were going to go wrong.

"So it is with great pleasure that I declare the Herma............."

Screams, and three loud bursts of gunfire.

retired_milla0225

for god's sake Sam, DUCK !!!!!!

A great read this Xenon, keep up the good work.

retired_workingmom77

Very much appreciated chesterfan2, not sure whether I want to kill any of the characters off yet, so the destination of those bullets are unclear as of yet!

retired_workingmom77

July 2007

As per usual to situations such as this, I was one of the unfortunate ones to wake up in a hospital ward. Manni had proved to be as accurate as I had thought, hitting me in the upper arm and as a result causing me almost to bleed to death from a severed artery. I wasn't the only one, Biro Biro had received a bullet in his leg ending his season and career slightly prematurely. I haven't heard from the 39 year old since. The final bullet had grazed the side of Wolfgang's face to leave it grotesquely scarred, a scar such as this seemed to fit his demeanour quite well. I had pleaded with both Max and Manni to get a professional to do the job, but they insisted that revenge had to be personal. From then on I knew that either one of them would probably end up in jail, perhaps both. As for me I had vowed never to contact Max or Manni again and just to focus on football, thanks to them I could have ended up dead. I did consider quitting and going back to England, but I had never been a coward and now was no exception. Unfortunately getting out of hospital would prove to be very tricky, I had tried to discharge myself but the doctors refused as I was still under observations. With a day to go until the Santo Andre match I was starting get anxious about missing the game. My fears were realised when the doctors informed me that I would miss the game but should be up and running for the home game against Paysandu.

I made a phonecall to my assistant manager, Giovani and went over the tactics for the trip to Santo Andre. Fortunately the game was being televised so I asked for a TV to be brought to my bedside so that I could watch the game. I shouldn't of bothered, amazingly Santo Andre's 31 year old centre back, Dedimar scored a hat-trick before the hour mark as Santo Andre cruised to victory. Hevandro got a late consolation to make the final score 3-1. I wasn't too disappointed, they were a much better side but I couldn't help but wonder how different things might of gone if I had been there.

Getting out of hospital was a major relief and after a week of rest I was straight back into action with a home game against Paysandu. It was a much better performance and we deservedly took the lead through Neno on 10 minutes. Paysandu hit back through former Feyenoord winger, Gerson Magrao. They then went on to take the lead before half time as Duilio put them 2-1 up. As ever we weren't prepared to accept defeat and fought back to our credit, eventually being rewarded with an equaliser from Sergio. 2-2 was how it stayed. Finally was a tricky away trip to SE Gama, who we surprised with a 2-1 victory with goals from Hevandro and Maycon.

At the end of July the table looks like this:
<pre class="ip-ubbcode-code-pre"> ************************************************** ************************************************** ****************************************Brazilian Second Division****************************************** ************************************************** ************************************************== ================================================== ================================================== ======================================Pos. Team Pld. Won Drw. Lst. GF. GA. GD. Pts.============================================== ================================================== ============================================ 1. Bahia 12 9 1 2 24 11 +13 28-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 2. Parana 12 9 0 3 33 20 +13 27-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 3. Vitoria 12 8 1 3 21 11 +10 25 4. Ponte Preta 13 6 4 3 27 16 +11 22 5. Santo Andre 12 6 3 3 24 21 +3 21 6. Nautico 12 6 2 4 17 15 +2 20 7. Santa Cruz 12 6 2 4 23 23 0 20 8. CRB 13 6 2 5 15 19 -4 20 9. Guarani 13 6 1 6 16 20 -4 19 10. Treze 12 5 3 4 18 20 -2 18 11. Ituano 12 5 1 6 20 16 +4 16 12. Figueirense 12 4 4 4 13 10 +3 16 13. Paysandu 12 4 3 5 15 16 -1 15 14. SE Gama 13 3 6 4 15 17 -2 15 15. Hermann Aichinger 12 3 4 5 23 28 -5 13 16. Avai 12 3 2 7 17 21 -4 11 17. Vila Nova (GO) 12 3 2 7 16 23 -7 11 18. Portuguesa 12 2 3 7 12 22 -10 9-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 19. Ceara 12 2 2 8 12 21 -9 8 20. Paulista 12 2 2 8 12 23 -11 8================================================= ================================================== =========================================</pre>

Results
<pre class="ip-ubbcode-code-pre"> ************************************************** ************************************************** ****************************************Santo Andre 1-3 A Second Division HevandroPaysandu 2-2 H Second Division Neno, SergioSE Gama 2-1 A Second Division Hevandro, Maycon******************************************** ************************************************** **********************************************</pre>

retired_workingmom77

Wolfgang strode towards the large Baroque style mirror in the far corner of Heinrich's plush office and examined the wound on his face. The bullet had skimmed his left cheek, leaving a long and thin gash down the side of his face. It would scar him for life and the very thought of having to walk around with a battle scar such as this, made Wolfgang quiver with anger. He knew exactly who the assassin was, his reactions had been to slow as he saw the lone figure raise the pistol towards him and his grandfather. Sam and Biro Biro had been hit in the attack aswell, it did not give the best image for Hermann Aichinger. However Wolfgang and Heinrich had survived, the Hermann Youth was up and running and CAHA were avoiding relegation. Everything was going to plan albeit not very smoothly. Suddenly Heinrich manoeveured himself into the office on his new motorised wheelchair. He was holding a glass of brandy in one hand and a large Cuban cigar in the other, hardly health conscious pursuits for a 90 year old.

"Wolfgang, you know who did this?"

"Unfortunately for the persons involved, yes."

"So, who?"

"A blast from the past actually, surely you know Max Stader?"

"Of course, but he is harmless. He wouldn't do a thing like this."

"Well not him, but our gunman was the latest addition to the treacherous Stader gene pool. His son Manni. I would have recognised him anywhere, I even saw him pull the trigger."

"Where is he now?"

"He'll be difficult to track down, but my best guess would be his father has arranged him a safe house on the other side of town."

"Find it and take care of him and his father"

"Yes but why would they want us dead?"

"It's obvious, they want to get their unworthy hands on my football club, and lets not forget what I have just spent 56 years in prison for".

retired_workingmom77

August 2007

As the pain in my arm slowly wore off, I could now concentrate on escaping relegation. We had worked so hard to get out of the Third Division, we were not relishing having to do it all over again. A reminder of last season came up in our next game against Treze. Treze had won the Third Division last season, whilst we finished as runners up in the final group stage. In our two matches against them last season we had suffered a 3-0 defeat and fought out a 2-2 draw. They were a class act and had started the season well. At this stage they were in 10th and a win against us could move them even further up the table. They showed their evident improvement in a very one sided encounter. A goal apiece locked it at 1-1 midway through the first half, but Treze were too strong and ran in another 3 goals to end the game 4-1. The result moved us down a place to 16th.

July had been a relatively quiet month with only three matches, August however was proving to be making up for lost time with an action packed schedule. Next up was a trip to bottom side Ceara, a bore draw 0-0 in the end. How crucial that point would be you never knew, that was why I was grateful for every point that came our way. I hated to coin a Tesco phrase but "every little helps", and it certainly did in our situation. It struck me after the Ceara game that it was the first time in 12 games that we had failed to score a goal, and only the second time that had happened in the league so far. If we were to stay up the would need to be a defensive overhaul in the new year.

Next was another relegation six pointer against Portuguesa. Portuguesa had the talented youngster Celsinho amongst their ranks. The wonderkid was absent from the team that visited us. Portuguesa got off and away with lightning speed as they breached our fragile defence as early as the first minute, Oliveira tapping in from close range. Berg equalised with a well placed drive to set up a frantic encounter 7 minutes later. With both teams struggling to settle down, the game became end to end and Berg capitalised again to put us 2-1 in front. Three minutes later, Jair added to the lead to make it 3-1. But as ever our defence let us down and we went in at the break, conceding another making it too close for comfort at 3-2. In the second half Oliveira rounded off his hat-trick to end the game 3-3 another crucial point.

A point would have been wishful thinking against our next opponents, Vitoria. We got an absolute thrashing, the 4-0 defeat sending us to 18th in the table. This latest set-back was giving us real cause for concern and a win would be great against fellow relegation strugglers Paulista. Paulista were one place above us in 17th but were playing well and would be hard to beat. Once again we fell behind as Leo put Paulista in front on the half hour mark. Not long after that Neno equalised to send the teams in at half time with the score at 1-1. In the second half Paulista were just too strong as they wrapped up a 3-1 win thanks to two goals from Abraão. We were still outside the relegation zone however Vila Nova had a game in hand. It was now five games without a win and we were seriously in danger of sinking without trace.

With just two games to go until the half way point in the season, I felt it was crucial we get to that stage outside the drop zone. Vila Nova lost 3-0 to Paysandu later that week allowing us to stay outside the relegation zone but we were facing a tough game against Santa Cruz next, who were a bit of an unknown quantity. I hadn’t really seen much of them this season, they were sitting comfortably in 9th position so they were evidently a good side. It was nothing but disappointment as we lost somewhat unjustly 2-0. Amazingly we were still outside the relegation zone as bottom side Ceara won 1-0 against CRB to go level on points with Vila Nova who lost to SE Gama. Worryingly both teams are now just one point behind us.

Next came a positive result against Guarani, we battled for a 1-1 draw. It kept us out of the relegation zone at the half way point in the season. However Luis Rodrigo received a red card in the process.

Results
<pre class="ip-ubbcode-code-pre"> ************************************************** ************************************************** ****************************************Treze 1-4 H Second Division BergCeara 0-0 A Second DivisionPortuguesa 3-3 H Second Division Berg(2), JairVitoria 0-4 A Second Division Paulista 1-3 H Second Division NenoSanta Cruz 0-2 A Second DivisionGuarani 1-1 A Second Division Neno********************************************** ************************************************** ********************************************</pre>

retired_workingmom77

Mid-Season Update


Brazil

In the First Division, Santos are setting the pace as they sit top of the table, five points clear of Sao Paulo in second place. Holders, Internacional are wallowing in 11th place and look unlikely to challenge for the title. Fortaleza look a certainty to be relegated to the Second Division.

Table

The Third Division is still mid-way through the group stage.

In the Brazilian Cup, Cruzeiro defeated 15 de Novembro 4-3 on aggregate to lift the cup for a record fifth time.

The State champions for 2007 are as follows:
<pre class="ip-ubbcode-code-pre"> *************************************************S tate WinnerAcre Vasco (AC)Alagoas CRBAmapa Santos (AP)Amazonas Sao Raimundo (AM)Bahia Fluminense (BA)Brasiliense BrasilienseCeara ItapipocaEspirito Santo SerraGaucho GremioGoias GoiasMaranhao Moto ClubeMato Grosso Uniao RondonopolisMG do Sul CENEMinas CruzeiroPara RemoParaiba Botafogo (PB)Parana ParanaPernambuco Sport RecifePiaui Flamengo (PI)Potiguar America (RN)Rio FluminenseRondonia Uniao CacaolenseRoraima BareSanta Catarina FigueirenseSao Paulo CorinthiansSergipe SergipeTocantins Araguaina***************************************** *********</pre>



Argentina

The league season is just 5 weeks old but already River have made a confident start and sit top, whilst rivals Boca have made a disappointing start to the season and lie in 13th. Holders Colon are in 3rd.

Table

In the Second Division, Defensa y Justicia have made the best start.

Table



Chile

In Chile, Colo Colo have made a good start to closing stage for a 4th succesive title.

Table



Colombia

It has been a pretty open start to the Colombian First Division second phase, after 9 games, Union Magdelena and America share the lead. Deportivo Cali hold a sizeable lead overall

Table



Mexico

Jaguares, Toluca and America all share the lead in the Mexican top flight.

Table



Peru

Overall, Cienciano look favourites to take the title.

Table



Uruguay

After two games the table is as follows:

Table


Continental Competitions

In the Copa Libertadores, River Plate triumphed over Corinthians 1-0 on aggregate.

The Copa Sudamericana is awaiting the draw for the First Round.

Colo Colo retained the Recopa after defeating Corinthians 1-0 on aggregate.

Argentina won the recent Copa America, beating Chile in the final.

retired_workingmom77

The long, hot summer had taken its toll and the skies above Ibirama were swollen and teetered on the brink of heavy downpour. The air was heavy and palpable. On a lonesome street on the far side of town, a parked car sat with four figures you could just about make out through the tinted windows. It was a sleek, black and expensive car, it looked out of place amongst its surroundings. Inside the vehicle the four men sat in silence gazing out of the windows. They were all dressed in black, with stylish overcoats and curiously they all wore gloves. Suddenly a monotonous phone ringtone broke the silence, the man in the drivers seat fumbled with the phone, answered it and after some brief conversation with the caller hung up. He turned to the other three.

"That was the all clear, we're ordered to deliver the message.

He motioned towards the two sat in the back.

"You two go round the back, we'll take the front. I don't want this b*stard to get away otherwise it will be me who will be payed a visit."

***

Manni was nervous. He was waiting for the inevitable breaking down of the door by either the Police or Heinrich's thugs. He didn't know which he prefered. Sensing the latter was more probable, he had three close friends stay guard with him in the safehouse. All of them were armed including Manni himself, he wasn't going to make it easy for them. It had been four days and absolutely no-one had gone in the vicinty of the house. He had contemplated trying to get out of town but somebody would be waiting, it was suicide. He got up and went to the kitchen to fix himself a drink.

***

The two men who were charged with entering through the back door were in position, the had scaled the fence with ease. The house appeared to be empty, but they knew he would be cowering in a corner somewhere. The other two were bracing themselves at the front for the signal. Suddenly they heard it, a shotgun blast that blew the lock clean off the back door. The two of them sprinted towards the front door and the main protagonist kicked the door in, shattering it to pieces. As the door came away a loud shot rang out. The assasin who had kicked down the door had stepped through the frame and instantly received a bullet to the stomach. The man behind him with amazing reactions and leaped over the sprawling man and dived to his right into an alcove, drawn his gun and trained it on the empty space ahead of him as he crouched behind the wall. His hit colleague was writhing in agony on the floor in a growing pool of blood. They had under-estimated their enemy and there was surely more than one of them. "Where the hell are the other two?" he thought as silenced resumed.

***

Manni was now terrified, his friend Dietmar had evidently shot one of the intruders from the upstairs landing as they had broken through the door, but he swore he could of heard a much louder blast from the back. Grabbing his pistol he carefully manoevered out of the kitchen and towards the stairs. The silence was unnerving. He reached the stairs and dashed up them, all three of his friends were up there and he knew they now had the advantage if the rest of the intruders were downstairs. As he reached the top he heard a loud shot and a searing pain punctured his right calf. Floundering at the top of the stairs he was relieved as a strong arm caught hold of him and dragged him up and around the corner to temporary safety.

***

The second assasin had marvelled at Manni's foolery, he had a clear shot as the coward ran up the stairs, however he cursed himself for not hitting him the back or head. At last the other two joined him and they spread out whilst the targets were out of site upstairs. One of them attended to their hit colleague whilst the others covered him. Suddenly one of the targets called out.

"What do want!?"

"To pass on the compliments of our employer"

"Listen, I-I have money. You can say that you killed me and I can leave the country. I promise I'll make it worth your while."

"It has already been made worth our while, your stupid friends can leave if they throw all their weapons down the stairs and walk out the front door with their hands where I can see them."

Upstairs Manni had an idea, one of his other friends Christian had a hand grenade he had stolen from his army days. The idea almost brought a smile to his face in this hour of need as he told Christian of his plan.

"Ok, they are leaving. It's nothing to do with them, do want you want with me."

"Tell them to throw all their weapons down here."

"Ok"

The two assasins moved towards the stairs in preparation to retrieve the weapons. They were even more stupid than they had thought, each one of them would be gunned down before they reached the front door. Suddenly and in horror the second assasin heard a small "PING" noise, and then a small circular object bouncing towards him and his colleagues. he realised what it was too late.