Interview with my favorite team

     Hello and welcome, I am here today with my favorite Altador Cup team - Shenkuu. I get to interview them and ask them about the things everyone is surely wondering. Hopefully we'll get some interesting answers about the Cup and some insight to the future Cups as well as get to know how our favorite team prepares for the Altador Cup and maybe peek at their private lives as well. Today, here with me, are Mirsha Grelinek, Larcy Phu, Antola Maeir and Timu.

     Now guys tell me, where is Xana DiLanche and why is she not with you here today?

     Mirsha: Well, she had one of her off days today. She is known to be jittery at times and gets panic attacks easily, so she decided it would best if she just stayed on the field to practise some more.

     Larcy: She drinks lots of herbal tea and carries around dried roots from Shenkuu to keep her calm, but her jitters have not gone away. We still love and appreciate her, she is doing her best as our goalkeeper.

     Antola: She did tell us to say hi to you and all our other fans. She loves you all.

     Oh, I see. Now about the fans, do you think the Altador Cup is a popularity contest? As in - the more fans a team has, the better chance they have to win?

     Mirsha: We have very loyal fans that we are proud of! I've seen the same faces join up Shenkuu every year and that makes me really happy. I've even seen some faces this year that I haven't seen the previous years, which is great!

     Larcy: It's definitely a popularity contest, if you have more fans you'll want to do better and get that first place. Even though we haven't had the chance to win the cup - yet, we are trying our best every year.

     Timu: I'd like to win, just for once. To hold that cup is my biggest dream. Fans are the reason we're doing as well as we are.

     Antola: You know, at least we're not in the last place!

     Mrisha: True. And then there are those secret all-star groups that choose a team each year and make that team win by giving it their all. We can only hope they choose Shenkuu someday.

     Hey Mirsha, tell us, are those rumors true that there's some bad blood between you and Larcy?

     Mirsha: No, that's all rumors, Larcy is my right hand. He is a true ninja, when he gets the ball, he scores. He's great in every way and we're happy to have him on our team, I might not approve of his tactics every now and then, but he really is a good player. He's basically my right hand after Foltaggio moved to Altador team.

     Larcy: Foltaggio was the one who started those rumors, he didn't want to be a team player.

     Timu: And without your team to support you, you can't expect to do well! I'm very happy I got to join up with Shenkuu. I feel I fit in here better than I did in Altador. They were good too, but I just feel more at home in this team.

     Antola: You fit right in, Timu. And the team has improved thanks to you.

     Which team was the hardest to play against this year? And which one the easiest?

     Mirsha: We something to learn from all the teams. If we want to do better next year, we have to improve ourselves constantly and learn what mistakes we make in order to avoid them.

     Larcy: Darigan and Meridell were definitely the hardest.

     Antola: I liked playing against all teams. I like to play in general.

     Timu: Easiest was probably Altador.

     What is the most memorable thing that happened to you in this Cup?

     Mirsha: (starts laughing) Oh my. I think it has to be Keith the Yooyu. We started a match against Mystery Island on the first day of the Cup and the first yooyu they released just started handing out autographed pictures of himself. He called himself Keith the Yooyu and was convinced that he was the star of the game. We were all laughing too much, so we just went with it.

     Larcy: (chuckles) I haven't seen that Yooyu after that first match, though. I hope they didn't disqualify him.

     Timu: (hands me one of the autographed Yooyu picture) Here, you can keep one.

     Thank you. I will treasure this. Now on to the next question. This one is for you, Antola. Which gender are you?

     Antola: (shifts uncomfortably) Ummmm.. I don't think this is related to the Cup in any way. It doesn't really matter, does it? I mean, I go out there, I give it my all just like the others. I'd rather not talk about it.

     Mirsha: This is not the topic you should ask Antola, since Antola's bad experience with a Strange Potion.

     Right. So what are your tactics for next year? How often do you practise off-season?

     Mirsha: We are going to try our best, as always. But we don't want to burn ourselves out with practise. Usually we practise almost every day and since we're always together, we have developed this bond, we can finish each others-

     Timu: Sandwiches!!!

     Mirsha: I meant sentences, Timu. Lunch break isn't for another hour, try to hold it together until then.

     Larcy: We practise a lot. Sometimes with other teams, sometimes with random Neopians who want to try out their hand at Yooyuball.

     Antola: Princess Lunara came to play Yooyuball with us, once. It was so nice to meet a royalty!

     Mirsha: All in all, we're going to give our best and hope we gain even more fans by next Cup.

     Do you have something to say to all your fans reading this as we end?

     Mirhsa: Thank you for choosing us, dear neopians. We won't let you down as long as you don't let us down. We might not be the strongest or fastest, but once you join us, you're with us for life! Also, I wanted to thank everyone for me being in the top 10 goal scorers.

     Larcy: We're ninjas. We are going to do well. If you don't choose us, you'll regret it when we win.

     Timu: We respect all teams and all players and we're happy if you choose us, it means a lot to us, it really does.

     Antola: I love you all! And Xana loves you too. Don't forget us, next year!

     This concludes our interview with team Shenkuu. I want to thank them for making time for this small interview and hopefully they will gain lots of new fans next year and make it big. The last few years have not been their best years, but seeing them grow and learn a lot from the other teams, next year they will do better, for sure. Mirsha is a great leader and only she can pull her team together like that. Hopefully Xana will get over her jitters as well and become better than ever, just like the rest of the team!