Alvak National Football Team

The Alvak national football team represents Alvakalia in association football and is controlled by the Alvak Football Association, the governing body for football in Alvakalia.

History
Formed in 1926, shortly after the mass exodus of Teuton nobles, businesspeople, and other people deemed "non-essential" to the Communists (this included the football team of then-monarchist Teutonia), the Alvak football team played its first match in Zahava in 1930, losing to Vallis 1-2, but winning against Selengeria 2-1 shortly after. However, Alvakalia failed to make it past the qualifying tournament.

The closest Alvakalia got to reaching first place was in 1932. The team's qualifying matches were against Modrovia, Beifang, and Jinhang. They managed to win a point in overtime against Modrovia, breaking the tie and making it 3-2. Beifang won the next match 1-2, but the last game in the qualification tournament, against Jinhang, went astoundingly well for the Alvaks (2-0), gaining enough points to pass to the elimination rounds. The first match against Veikaia came close, with the Alvak team managing to make a shot seconds before the game ended, making it 1-0. The second match against Cipertine also came close, with a miracle shot from then-forward Spyro Boulou, who ran the length of the field and made a successful shot, giving the Alvaks the winning goal, making it 1-0 again. The semi-final match against Legantus was very much a nail-biter, as the strong defences on both sides of the field made it almost impossible to get a shot in. However, a penalty goal by the Alvaks progressed the team into the finals. However, this would be the (very early) peak of the team, as it lost to Akiteiwa 2-1 after a controversial shot where the ball bounced off the Akitei crossbar, landed inside the goalposts, but bounced out. Despite the Alvak claims that it was a goal, referees shot it down and did not count it. This led to Akiteiwa winning the cup, leaving Alvakalia in second place. Alvakalia, as of 2020, has never gone past third place in the 83 other cups it played in.

Nicknames


The football team has garnered many nicknames since the 30s. The Nationalacht (National Eight) nickname comes from the eight checkerboard pattern stripes on their patch, which symbolizes the eight provinces of Alvakalia. Another popular nickname, Der Kaiser gehört-Die Kaiserin gehört (The Kaiser(in)'s Own) came into prominence after Alvakalia's stint in the Kesh War, when most of the team enlisted in the Ceremonial Infantry Regiment Rüdesheim, which despite its name, served in combat.

Venues


Alvakalia's national team has played its home matches in Alvastadion, which after the 2017-18 renovation, can hold 27,000 spectators.

Current Squad Starters

 * Forward: #42 Marcel Koehler
 * Forward: #19 Emilios Rodas
 * Forward: #28 Jasoor El-Abid
 * Midfield: #2 Vasilios Toccilis
 * Midfield: #10 Adam Salleas
 * Midfield: #21 Arno Koskiades
 * Midfield: #33 Zaid El-Mustafa
 * Defender: #12 Saadiq Tan
 * Defender: #9 Rüdiger Hetz
 * Defender: #14 Bruno Le
 * Goalie : #7  Walther Wittke

Reserves

 * Goalie : #12
 * Goalie : #22
 * Midfield: #20
 * Midfield: #14
 * Midfield: #17
 * Midfield: #23
 * Defender: #16
 * Defender: #18
 * Defender: #21
 * Defender: #11
 * Defender: #15
 * Forward: #7
 * Forward: #10