NationStates Jolt Archive

http://i18.tinypic.com/6f0906o.png
signups close Monday 2300 UTC (0000 GMT, 0100 CET, 1900 ET). 16 teams in, four more to accept invitations

The traditional invitational tournament for active and spirited World Cup non-qualifiers is being hosted in Kura-Pelland this time around.

Alongside the host nation, fifteen teams have been invited for the tournament, which will follow a conventional format of four seeded random groups with the top two progressing to a single-elimination knockout with extra-time and a penalty shootout where required. These fifteen are listed in no particular order.


Candelaria And Marquez
Jeru FC
Grotewohl
Vephrall
Daehanjeiguk
British Londinium
Dance 2 Revolution
Sativaville
Kristovenia
The Sons of a Monkey
Rejistania
Endmile
Jariss
Billopesha
Sorthern Northland

Telegrams are in the process of being sent to the respective football associations. Other nations who have not qualified for the World Cup but have shown at least some media activity (i.e. appear on this list (http://forums.jolt.co.uk/misc.php?do=whoposted&t=532486)) may sign up here as well; they will be placed on a waiting list and will replace any team invited who do not sign up.

Rumours leaked from the Kura-Pelland Excelites suggest that a backup supercomputer is using a 'World Cup 25 formula'. Style modifiers from -3 (ultra-defensive) to +3 (ultra-offensive) should be posted with rosters in case this supercomputer is required.

The emphasis of this tournament has always been on fair play, good spirit and happiness between nations. This is being particularly emphasised by Kura-Pelland, a country with origins in division and a future in unity. The final will take place at the White Hope Stadium in Trilan - a glowing monument to peace and unity on an artificial island in a river that once was a national boundary splitting a major city. Other stadium details are being made available imminently.

Fans are encouraged to take this opportunity to explore Kura-Pelland; all railway travel (excluding weekdays before 0930) is half price when presented with a match ticket, or alternatively free with a special Fan Travel Pass which can be purchased with your tickets for an additional charge.

We look forward to seeing you all for this celebration of unity and goodwill.

British Londinium will be in attendance.

Roster (http://forums.jolt.co.uk/showpost.php?p=12859946&postcount=20).

The really crappy team called Jeru FC will be attending this CoH, coached by Kate Bush the future coach of the Jeruselem World Cup 37 team. The army team are playing for the memory of Rashina Dallas who died in the service of the Jeruselem army.

Err my roster is the World Cup 36 roster.

The Free State of Jariss happily accepts its invivtation and uses the same roster as the World Cup 36 qualifying squad.

To whom it may concern,

____Kiryu-shi is a nation that has been struggling to build up it’s football program for the duration of three World Cups now, with little to no success in it’s attempts to qualify for the World Cup proper. However, it has always been successful in the other international football tournaments it has entered, winning a Baptism of Fire title with a perfect record and second and third place finishes in the last two Cup of Harmonies, respectively. We are the first to admit that our media representation has been lacking in World Cup 36. Due to mental illness, Michio Hibbert, the reporter who has been a beacon of consistency reporting for all of Kiryu-shi’s past international football experiences, failed in his duties. We sadly did not have the funds from the government to acquire another reporter to fill in for him. However, if able to participate in the Cup of Harmony hosted by the fine nation of Kura-Pelland, we will send the acclaimed biographer and journalist Rebecca Doig to cover Kiryu-shi’s progress. We are certain that she will provide excellent insight into both the matches and people of the tournament. Our fans and players would appreciate the opportunity for Kiryu-shi to send it’s team to compete in your nations Cup of Harmony. We understand if it isn’t possible to accommodate us, but if a chance arises, our team and our fans would love to make the journey to your nation.

-Jack Rick, Senior Vice President of International Relations, Kiryu-shi Football Alliance

Yes, rosters go here. This will also be the RP thread. In fact, the only thread.

Stadium information trickling in over a series of posts... here's one.

Trilan
White Hope Stadium
Capacity: 61,928
http://i14.tinypic.com/637zn9k

The national stadium for most outdoor sports including track and field athletics, built on an artificial island in the River Mura that was formerly the national border, and a huge symbol of the united Kura-Pelland. While the atmosphere is somewhat dulled for team sports by the gap between fans and field, it is still the place almost every Kura-Pellandi wants to play at. Extremely colourful banners and clothing are frequently on show, making this venue a feast for the eyes if nothing else. Speaking of which, there's the big video cube, each screen being amongst the largest in the country.

Harrington
Walton Park
Capacity: 43,888
http://i19.tinypic.com/6h7233r.png

Home to the domestic champions Harrington Lakeside, this atmospheric ground close to Lake Branagh is dominated by a 17,000-seat main stand and is otherwise relatively compact. Most of the noise and passion on home games comes from the single-tier Alf Wivelsfield Kop behind one of the goals, which seats 8,488.

Grayton City
The Octagon
Capacity: 45,692
http://i10.tinypic.com/4m7hb8z

An intimidating concrete irregular octagon, recently expanded on its longest sides. The concrete walls are left exposed and banners are frequently draped across it. A 'fan graffiti wall' surrounds the stadium and is constantly evolving, forming an unmistakable yet ever-changing initial impression.

Kiryu-shi is happily on the waiting list.

If four suitable teams emerge on the waiting list in suitably quick time, they will all be accepted and a 20-team format will be used, with five groups of four, the winners going through to the last eight and both the runners-up and a nominated team from the bottom half of the groups entering the 'repechage round'; six teams, paired up randomly, winners to last eight.

All teams who have RPed in WC36 will be approved, others admitted at the discretion of Kura-Pelland.

Another stadium or two!

Hagen
Noordepark
Capacity: 38,000
http://i18.tinypic.com/4rabwp3.pmg

The Noorde region of Kura-Pelland was formerly a semi-anarchic state with its nominal capital in Hagen. The multi-lingual region - Dutch was the official language, but English is almost universally spoken, and many also speak French and/or German - had this concrete bowl as its ramshackle national stadium. Since the unification of Noorde into Kura-Pelland, the stadium has been expanded and somewhat renovated, but the main investment has been in retractable seats to allow increased capacity and atmosphere in rectangular-field team sports while still allowing track and field use.

Cardim
Le Grand Stadium
Capacity: 37,044

http://i16.tinypic.com/54ip3r6.png

A curious venue befitting the unorthodox cultural city of Cardim, a hub for classical music and theatre. Primarily built out of corrugated iron but with a dramatic glass roof, the stadium is intended to mix modernity with historic architecture.

Sorthern Northland will of course be entering. The squad is the same as the one for the World Cup qualifiers, but if you can't be bothered to look for it here it is.

Squad

The starting eleven is numbers 1 to 10 plus number 17.

1 George Parmer - 21 y/o Goalkeeper
13 Joseph Huntley - 19 y/o Goalkeeper
21 Jonny Sage - 17 y/o Goalkeerer
2 Graeme Shorey - 19 y/o Right Back
12 Ri Kwang-Chong - 20 y/o Right Back
3 Min Cho-Hi - 21 y/o Left Back
14 Nicky Murty - 19 y/o Left Back
6 Ivar Wrightson - 19 y/o Centre Back
5 Corneal Corneal - 18 y/o Centre Back
15 Jay-Jay Bay-Bay - 17 y/o Centre Back
16 Marek Smith - 22 y/o Centre Back
18 Mark Tuguy - 21 y/o Right Winger
7 Tom Tomsk - 20 y/o Right Winger
17 Ben O'Bagels - 17 y/o Left Winger
11 Feng Shui - 78 y/o Left Winger
8 Relondinho - 20 y/o Central Midfielder
4 Diago Maran - 19 y/o Central Midfielder
19 Wayne Cutler - 18 y/o Central Midfielder
20 Waylan Bootle - 17 y/o Cental Midfielder
22 Kang Kan-Kang - 18 y/o Striker
10 Kim Min-Kim -19 y/o Striker
22 Korea China - 20 y/o Stiker
9 Neuville Senna - 23 y/o Sriker

Formation is 4-4-2 with a style modifier of +3.

Kits

http://img515.imageshack.us/img515/9712/guam1fn9.pnghttp://img520.imageshack.us/img520/1149/guam2ir8.png


My opponent, if they RP first, may do the following:
Choose my goalscorers Y
Godmod scoring events N
RP injuries to my players Y
Godmod injuries to my players N
Hand out yellow cards to my players Y
Hand out red cards to my players Y
Godmod other events N

Could St Samuel go on the waiting list. I know I have not been too active during the qualifiers but I am back now so should be able to participate more.

You did post once so you're on. Actually Kiryu-shi was active more than I realised...

Two more on the waiting list and - assuming the other 16 reply - we have a 20-team format. Of course, if we just get to 16 courtesy of some not replying, the waiting list acts as an, um, waiting list.

tag for more stadia

The slightly dull folk of Candelaria And Marquez will be looking forward most greatly to a dispiriting group-stage exit.

Roster (http://forums.jolt.co.uk/showpost.php?p=12840891&postcount=19) is as BoF and WC-Qs, with the exception of the injury-induced replacement of Kieron Tomlinson (knee ligament damage) for Adrian Mazzeo, and the total absence of third-choice 'keeper Paolo Thorpe (broken leg).

The Sativaville Potheads welcome a chance to lessen their collective failure at trying to qualify for the World Cup.

Starters in Italics, will play a 5-2-3 and a +2 style.

1- Javier Kogan GK
2- Tyrone Trundy DEF
3- Erik Senegal DEF
4- Jamie Ota Sweeper
5- Lance Hatler DEF
6- Nelson Marse DEF
7- Allan Copp MID
8- Mathew Dossey MID
9- Kelly Furfaro FOR
10-Clinton Lichtenberg STR
11- Lonnie Dejohn FOR
12- Erik Hudkins GK
13- Javier Josephs GK
14- Kelly Fitton DEF
15- Christian Pech DEF
16- Jamie Seppala DEF
17- Darren Gaudreau MID
18- Darryl Nowland MID
19- Neil Verge MID/FOR
20- Fernando Reif FOR

LINEUP (5-2-3)
Kogan
Trundy Senegal Ota Hatler Marse
Copp Dossey
Furfaro Lichtenberg Dejohn

The Barbarian Hordes of Grotewohl wish to compete in the Cup of Harmony.

Football League of Grotewohl Roster

Starters are noted in Bold.

Coach/Team Captain/MidFielder

#1. Wen- 29 years old, 1.5 meters, 82 Kg, 523 confirmed kills.
Leader of FLoG. Has shown great leadership skills and football skills.

Goalkeepers

#2. Goobam- 30 years old, 2.2 meters, 136 Kg, 645 confirmed kills. - Defense Captain
Shown great promise in the BoF, stopping many good shots and forcing teams to make great shots.

#3. Erodo- 24 years old, 2.1 meters, 105 Kg, 104 confirmed kills.
Yet to see real football play experience.

#4. Tremos- 24 years old, 2.1 meters, 120 Kg, 87 confirmed kills.
Yet to see real football play experience.

Defensemen

#5. Ztat- 27 years old, 2 meters, 117 Kg, 276 confirmed kills.
Has shown great defensive skills, noticeably in one on one situations.

#6. Rad'pole- 23 years old, 2 meters, 109 Kg, 3 confirmed kills.
Has struggled as a defensemen, but has shown improvement due to determination.

#7. Ryn'raye- 23 years old, 2 meters, 110 Kg, 162 confirmed kills.
Has a good sense of striker movements and has often stopped critical plays.

#8. Dan'veso- 23 years old, 2 meters, 108 Kg, 96 confirmed kills.
After a pathetic showing in elimination round 3 of the BoF has been sidelined until further notice.

#9. Radgar- 22 years old, 2.1 meters, 123 Kg, 37 confirmed kills.
Yet to see real football play experience.

#10. Weelad- 21 years old, 2.1 meters, 117 Kg, 6 confirmed kills.
Yet to see real football play experience.

Midfielders

#11. G.P.- 22 years old, 2.2 meters, 130 Kg, 357 confirmed kills.
Has improved in defensive maneuvers in the midfield. Received a yellow card in 3 out of 4 games in BoF.

#12. Ash- 23 years old, 2 meters, 105 Kg, 204 confirmed kills.
Ash has become a strong midfielder with a strong will. Set player.

#13. Dizzy- 20 years old, 2 meters, 113 Kg, 25 confirmed kills (250 estimated).
Excels in foward movement of the ball.

#14. Orkimaw- 24 years old, 2.1 meters, 120 Kg, 68 confirmed kills.
Played in one game before being removed for lack of defensive playing, almost expelled from said game.

#15. Sheeh- 20 years old, 2 meters, 112 Kg, 100 confirmed kills.
Yet to see real football play experience.

#16. Heireb- 22 years old, 2 meters, 99 Kg, 0 confirmed kills.
Yet to see real football play experience.

Strikers

#17. Auq- 24 years old, 2.1 meters, 120 Kg, 53 confirmed kills.
Power kicker, works well with Qak.

#18. Qak- 24 years old, 2 meters, 100 Kg, 105 confirmed kills.
Number one scorer for FLoG in the BoF and WC36. Often gets setup from Auq.

#19. Sun- 26? years old, 1.95 meters, 95 Kg, 0 confirmed kills (450 estimated).
Strong solo player, often beating defenders by himself. Working on teamwork aspects.

#20. Heret- 22 years old, 2.1 meters, 117 Kg, 28 confirmed kills.
Yet to see real football play experience.

#21. Worusktan- 21 years old, 2.1 meters, 112 Kg, 20 confirmed kills.
Yet to see real football play experience.

#22. Mos'ar- 19 years old, 2 meters, 115 Kg, 0 confirmed kills.
Yet to see real football play experience.


FLoG plays a 3-3-1-3 formation. Stronger on the offense (+3).

Goobam

Rad'pole-----Ztat-----Ryn'raye

Dizzy--------G.P.--------Ash

Wen

Sun---------Qak---------Auq

----------------------------------------------------------
My opponent, if they RP first, may do the following:
Choose my goalscorers: Yes
Godmod Scoring Events: Yes
RP injuries to my players: Yes
Godmod injuries to my players: Yes
Hand out Yellow cards to my players: Yes
Hand out Red cards to my players: Yes
Godmod Other Events: Yes

The transnationals sign up for the cup of Harmony in case it is still possible.

The Transnationals of the association of free nations of Rejistania

The transnationals are the team of the rejistanian state association. While Rejistania no longer exists as nation, the ASR is now a transnational entity and its players are belonging to the nations, which are successors of the rejistani nation.

http://i17.tinypic.com/4uj9dv8.gif

The flag under the ASR logo is the national flag of the nation the player comes from.

Coach Kijuoia Eetemiue


1 Jiie Aoueti 20 GK Naamiesil Kaletri

22 Syku I Itikama 29 GK Ikaru Sdaran
23 Veniki Liji 23 GK Kalisimu Simu'he'ny

3 Samisdat Vene 29 DF Na~ovi Redy
4 Teliki I Su 19 DF Telik Tihrana'ny
5 Ka~nsu Susu 22 DF Sumumusumu Saira

21 Elit Ki 21 DF Najajara Ynu
19 Kansu Sa-Il-Dja 23 DF Sijitalatirikimidateme-Kamaseretiki Veran
20 Rujui Avetakil 30 DF Ta~omakele Ines


6 Lyku Xenxi 20 MF Mikedi Veran
9 Nuna Lyku 18 MF Sikane Salan
8 Maaril Ivaril 29 MF Ntena Divensi
10 Hataxi Meril 27 MF KaMaRi xentira kaletri

18 Inkatil Yi 20 MF Niadi Xalki
15 Init Ly 27 MF Najajara Ynu
14 Hakiu Syku 17 MF Jinhes Lines
17 Iiky Seaoteseal 30 MF Hetkali Hetaki


7 Aia Kansu 29 FW TAHAI!
11 Kja-Lan Kansu 26 FW Ky~l-Him-Kya Lan-Sa~o
2 Tenek I Ti 19 FW Hanin Sekhika
12 Taka Sala 24 FW Na~ovi Veran
13 Na~eta Kii 31 FW Kalisimu kaletri
16 Ajir Mi 22 FW Sikane Sekhika


Style:+2

My opponent, if they RP first, may do the following:
Choose my goalscorers Y
Godmod scoring events Y
RP injuries to my players Y
Godmod injuries to my players Y
Hand out yellow cards to my players Y
Hand out red cards to my players Y
Godmod other events [b]Y

The Chairman smiled, as Novapsolan Team Manager Owen Mark entered his office. "Greetings, Owen," he said, "and congratulations are in order. You did considerably better with this team than any of us expected, to be quite honest."

"Thank you, sir," came the reply from Owen. "And my congratulations to you, for securing the deal with Ad'ihan to bid for the rights to host the next World Cup. The facilities going up will be a great benefit for us, regardless of the decision on hosting."

The Chairman nodded, accepting the compliment. "Thank you, Owen, but enough reciprocal praise. I know you will be reporting in full to the entire board later, but I was wondering if you could fill me in on the team's plans for this consolation tournament, the Cup of Harmony?"

"I'd be happy to," answered Owen, "however, we have not been invited to it."

The Chairman frowned. "Not invited? Surely our performance was acceptable to the hosts."

"It wasn't our performance, sir. Apparently they judge teams based on their level of 'media activity', which we obviously had little of."

The Chairman turned away for a moment, pondering the strange turn of events. Why did these Terrans place such importance in media activity? Surely the reportings to a nation's citizens wasn't the business of the rest of the world.

He turned back to Owen. "Is there any way we can convince them to let us in?"

"Possibly. We were among the teams offered a place on the waiting list, which I have accepted. It may turn out to be nothing, but it is worth trying, at least."

From original list of 16:
Candelaria And Marquez SIGNED UP
Jeru FC SIGNED UP
Grotewohl SIGNED UP
Vephrall
Daehanjeiguk
British Londinium SIGNED UP
Dance 2 Revolution
Sativaville SIGNED UP
Kristovenia
The Sons of a Monkey
Rejistania SIGNED UP
Endmile
Jariss SIGNED UP
Billopesha
Sorthern Northland SIGNED UP
total 8/16

Signups outside the original 16:
Kiryu-shi
St Samuel
Novapsolu

In short - 11 teams in. Five more needed for the 16-team tournament, nine more and we'll be in a 20-team format.

And now - some shinies!

Wulting
PurplePlex
Capacity 38,684
http://i9.tinypic.com/5yvat76.png

Built on an awkwardly small plot of land between a major road and a tightly-packed residential area, the PurplePlex is built to optimise that space through steep-sloping tribunes and a main grandstand that actually bridges the main A45 through south-west Wulting heading to and from Falnor and Cardim. With a triple-tier executive box cluster as well, this is the tallest stand in Kura-Pelland.

Fariynuff
Roflcoptre Dome
Capacity 44,440
http://i16.tinypic.com/52bvogn.png

Built with this tournament in mind but also for multiple uses including concerts, this circular stadium features a spectacular glass roof that soars into the sky, but this serves an additional purpose - there is room to expand this site with an additional two tiers of stands if required, and the foundations for a 100,000-seat stadium have already been laid. It is named after a stadium in Sel Appa.

The Imperial Football Association, while on vacation, has announced its acceptance to attend the 28th Cup of Harmony. We will be releasing Team stats once the NFL season has terminated and things are settled at home.

(ooc: I'm still away from home, and I've been very fortunate to have as much internet access, but I might be away for a while after this. Perhaps by Tuesday, I'll be back at home.)

Kristovenia will sign up

Roster:

Rating: +2
Formation: 4-3-3

Starters:

F: Alexander III of Macedon - 23 years old, 5'8", 175lbs. (Captain)
F: Marcus Agrippa - 23 years old, 5'11", 183lbs.
F: Hannibal Barca - 26 years old, 5'9", 178lbs.
F: Demetrius Poliorketes - 25 years old, 5'9", 171lbs. (Striker)

M: Gaius Octavius Caesar - 20 years old, 5'10", 173lbs.
M: Lucius Cornelius Sulla - 28 years old, 6'2", 196lbs.
M: Gaius Julius Caesar - 31 years old, 5'8", 184lbs.

D: Ptolemy Sotor - 24 years old, 5'10", 189lbs.
D: Marcus Antonius - 26 years old, 5'11", 186lbs.
D: Seleucus Nikator - 19 years old, 5'10", 182lbs. (Sweeper)

G: Alcibiades - 30 years old, 6'1", 194lbs.

Coach: Marcus Tullius Cicero - 54 years old

Substitutes:

F: Aristotle - 31
F: Plato - 30
M: Mestrius Plutarchus - 28
M: Titus Livius - 27
M: Demosthenes - 28
D: Socrates - 26
D: Polybius - 24
G: Homer - ?

Stadium: Marcus Octavius Memorial Field
80,000 Seats
Retractable roof
Real Grass pitch

Lovisa sign up

There are now 14 teams in, including ten of the original 16. The waiting list is now set at four with Lovisa's signup.

Am hoping the other six sign up so the 20-team format can be used, but failing that, we'll be onto 16. Two more teams required; the invited teams get first priority, then down the waiting list in order to fill up.

Billopesha accepts the invitation to join the 28th Cup of Harmony.

D2R confirm their invitation acceptance

We have 16 teams, so there will definitely be a CoH!

Signups will close on MONDAY, 2300 UTC (midnight UK time, 0100 CET, 1900 Eastern).

At this point, if there are 20 approved teams, the 20-team format will be used. As a reminder: this involves five groups of four, the winners progressing direct to the last eight. The remaining three places in the quarter-finals under this format will be determined by a 'repechage round', with the five runners-up and one other team (to be determined based on quality of RP) paired randomly and the winners progressing.

If we don't get 20, we go to the regular 16-team format (four groups of four, top two to knockout stages). The invited teams have first priority, and we are waiting for four of them; we have four teams on the waiting list and they will be added in as needed, priority to those who signed up first. That's Kiryu-shi, St Samuel, Novapsolu, Lovisa, in that order.

tag for last stadium post

Endmile gladly accepts the invitation to the Cup of Harmony. The roster will be announced soon, as soon as Maarten Timmons makes a few decisions.

That leaves seventeen, which unfortunately for Lovisa means they are shunted off the list. However, if three more teams enter, all of them, plus Lovisa, will compete.

AND! Vephrall signed up in advance (assuming an invite, which was scarcely in doubt) assuming the group stage was not over by August 18. As it turns out... it will end on August 19:


ALL TIMES 2000 UTC (2100 BST, 1600 Eastern, 2200 CET) unless stated

Tuesday 14, 2300 UTC: signups close
Wednesday 15: draw
Friday 17: MD1
Saturday 18: MD2
Sunday 19: MD3
Monday 20, 1500 UTC: knockout draw, including repechage if 20 teams
Tuesday 21, 1000 UTC: repechage
Tuesday 21, 2100 UTC: quarter-finals
Wednesday 22: semi-finals
Thursday 23, 1500 UTC: third place playoff
Thursday 23, 2100 UTC: final

That means 18 teams. Two more teams needed for a 20-team tournament... unless we go with three groups of six... in which case the format would then be 'top two and two best third-placed teams to quarters' and the schedule continues the same until MD3, then:


Monday 20: MD4
Tuesday 21: MD5
Wednesday 22, 1000 UTC: knockout draw
Wednesday 22, 2200 UTC: quarter-finals
Thursday 23: semi-finals
Friday 24, 1500 UTC: third place playoff
Friday 23, 2100 UTC: final

The Roster for The Cup of Harmony has been confirmed to be exactly the same as for the World Cup Qualifying Tour. We remain optimistic that this will be a successful tour, regardless of whether the Han carry away anything absolutely special.

Daehanjeiguk Roster:

Playing Style = +1
Formation = 3-4-1-2

Head Coach: Cha Beomgeun {車範根 (차범근)}


Player ㅇ韓ㅇ ㅇ한ㅇ # POS Club Age Caps Goals Shots Saves YC RC
Kim Yongdae 金龍大 김용대 1 K N/A 24 0 - - 0 0 0
Choi Jincheol 崔眞喆 최진철 2 D N/A 30 0 0 0 - 0 0
Pak Geonha 朴建夏 박건하 3 D N/A 29 0 0 0 - 0 0
Yi Sabik 李ㅇㅇ 이사빅 4 D N/A 19 0 0 0 - 0 0
Kim Donghyeon 金東炫 김동현 5 D N/A 28 0 0 0 - 0 0
Seo Jeongweon 徐正源 서정원 6 M N/A 24 0 0 0 - 0 0
Heo Jeongmu 許丁戊 허정무 7 M N/A 20 0 0 0 - 0 0
Song Jongguk 宋鐘國 송종국 8 M N/A 30 0 0 0 - 0 0
Go Jongsu 高宗秀 고종수 9 M N/A 27 0 0 0 - 0 0
Kim Daeeui 金大儀 김대의 10 F N/A 25 0 0 0 - 0 0
Kim Eunjung 金殷中 김은중 11 F N/A 19 0 0 0 - 0 0
Kim Ho 金皓ㅇ 김호ㅇ 12 K N/A 20 0 - - 0 0 0
Jang Yogon 张耀坤 장요곤 13 D N/A 25 0 0 0 - 0 0
Kim Jingyu 金珍圭 김진규 14 D N/A 30 0 0 0 - 0 0
Yi Eulyong 李乙容 이을용 15 M N/A 31 0 0 0 - 0 0
Go Jeongun 高正云 고정운 16 M N/A 29 0 0 0 - 0 0
Yi Dongguk 李東國 이동국 17 F N/A 32 0 0 0 - 0 0
Yi Jeongyeol 李正烈 이정열 18 K N/A 22 0 - - 0 0 0
Wang Shinheun 王新欣 왕신흔 19 D N/A 29 0 0 0 - 0 0
Kim Chigon 金致坤 김치곤 20 D N/A 25 0 0 0 - 0 0
Kim Byeongji 金秉址 김병지 21 M N/A 18 0 0 0 - 0 0
Han Paeng 韓彭ㅇ 한팽ㅇ 22 M N/A 29 0 0 0 - 0 0
Kim Dohun 金度勲 김도훈 23 F N/A 21 0 0 0 - 0 0


My opponent, if they RP first, may do the following:
Choose my goalscorers: Yes
Godmod Scoring Events: Yes
RP injuries to my players: Yes
Godmod injuries to my players: Yes
Hand out Yellow cards to my players: Yes
Hand out Red cards to my players: no
Godmod Other Events: Yes



Current Line up for the next Match (MD10):
Kim Yongdae

Yi Sabik Pak Geonha Kim Donghyeon

Go Jongsu Yi Eulyong Han Paeng Heo Jeongmu

Kim Byeongji

Yi Dongguk Kim Daeeui


Also, MBC requests rights to broadcast all Han matches in Daehanjeiguk.

For reasons otherwise known to the IFA officials, the Roster has not been updated to include details for the Imperial Team (because I am away from my laptop, and have no other way to get online with it, and with all of my data on my USB drive, conveniently left at home, I cannot update it BD). We urge all authorities to ignore this error and continue to recognize that they have indeed played their previous matches.

Woah, I miscounted somewhere. NINETEEN teams are in - one more team needed for a 20-team format.

If no other teams sign up: one of two things will happen.

1. Lovisa, as the last team on the waiting list, is removed, and we go to 18 teams.
2. I throw in a puppet nation to fill the gap.

You have until 2300 UTC. That's nine hours and 50 minutes from this post time.

I'm going to close signups an hour early as nobody's likely to post. (Heck, I got confused. 23 hours late. I moved it without noticing and nobody signed up today.) To make things easier, The Sons Of A Monkey will be given the last place as I invited them.


OFFICIAL PARTICIPANT LIST FOR CUP OF HARMONY 28

Billopesha
British Londinium
Candelaria And Marquez
Daehanjeiguk
Dance 2 Revolution
Endmile
Grotewohl
Jariss
Jeru FC
Kiryu-shi
Kristovenia
Kura-Pelland
Lovisa
Novapsolu
Rejistania
Sativaville
Sorthern Northland
St Samuel
The Sons of a Monkey
Vephrall


The draw will take place tomorrow at 2000 UTC, subject to delay of up to 30 minutes.

The draw will take place in 45 minutes. Follow it live at #nssport, or just wait for it to be announced here.

Teams will be divided into two pots, one of nine and one of ten. Each group will consist of two teams from each pot; Kura-Pelland are automatically placed in Group A. The larger pot contains the top ten teams (by post-qualification KPB points, which is also the scorination basis), the smaller pot the remaining teams (Kura-Pelland are ranked twelfth of the twenty participants).


POT 1 (alphabetical order):
Daehanjeiguk
Grotewohl
Jariss
Kiryu-shi
Kristovenia
Lovisa
Rejistania
Sativaville
St Samuel
Vephrall

POT 2 (alphabetical order):
Billopesha
British Londinium
Candelaria And Marquez
Dance 2 Revolution
Endmile
Jeru FC
Novapsolu
Sorthern Northland
The Sons of a Monkey

OFFICIAL GROUPS

GROUP A
Kura-Pelland
Sativaville
Grotewohl
Billopesha

GROUP B
Kiryu-shi
Jeru FC
Daehanjeiguk
Endmile

GROUP C
Dance 2 Revolution
Jariss
Sorthern Northland
Rejistania

GROUP D
Kristovenia
British Londinium
Novapsolu
St Samuel

GROUP E
Lovisa
Candelaria And Marquez
Vephrall
The Sons of a Monkey


All group fixtures are:

MD1: 1v3, 2v4
MD2: 1v2, 3v4
MD4: 1v4, 2v3


OFFICIAL FIXTURE LIST

GROUP A
Kura-Pelland v Grotewohl Parwood
Sativaville v Billopesha Grayton City

Kura-Pelland v Sativaville Trilan
Grotewohl v Billopesha Grayton City

Kura-Pelland v Billopesha Trilan
Sativaville v Grotewohl Parwood

GROUP B
Kiryu-shi v Daehanjeiguk Hagen
Jeru FC v Endmile Eenigen

Kiryu-shi v Jeru FC Hagen
Daehanjeiguk v Endmile Eenigen

Kiryu-shi v Endmile Eenigen
Jeru FC v Daehanjeiguk Hagen

GROUP C
Dance 2 Revolution v Sorthern Northland Harrington
Jariss v Rejistania Fariynuff

Dance 2 Revolution v Jariss Fariynuff
Sorthern Northland v Rejistania Murley

Dance 2 Revolution v Rejistania Fariynuff
Jariss v Sorthern Northland Harrington

GROUP D
Kristovenia v Novapsolu Cardim
British Londinium v St Samuel Wulting

Kristovenia v British Londinium Cardim
Novapsolu v St Samuel Wulting

Kristovenia v St Samuel Murley
British Londinium v Novapsolu Cardim

GROUP E
Lovisa v Vephrall Assiri
Candelaria And Marquez v The Sons of a Monkey Varlona

Lovisa v Candelaria And Marquez Varlona
Vephrall v The Sons of a Monkey Assiri

Lovisa v The Sons of a Monkey Assiri
Candelaria And Marquez v Vephrall Varlona

OOC - Heck, wrong nation. My name is Earl ... sorry, Jeru FC.

At a Jeruselem airforce base ...

Dazza: Well, Bushie! Good luck with the boys.
Kate Bush: Thanks Dazza, why didn't you want to take over?
Dazza: I've got this media training course, Rashina's estate to administer and then a big holiday in Sel Appa!
Kate Bush: You're a busy girl indeed

Dazza: So, what did you think of the effort by your team?
Kate Bush: Good, two wins and a draw. Next year, top 6 - maybe.
Dazza: But you'll be the Jeruselem coach Bushie, I'll be partying in Ariddia.
Kate Bush: I assume partying on your back.

Dazza: A party is a party, anyway - can we win this one?
Kate Bush: Middle of pack would be OK, there's too many good teams in there.
Dazza: They are getting better.
Kate Bush: Yes, if the army provided real atheletes then I might get a better team.

Dazza: Best of luck!
Kate Bush: I'd rather be in bed right now, it's too early in the morning.
Dazza: Can't stay at home too much, might create a few kids by accident.
Kate Bush: Been there, done that.

Dazza: So the boys are really to win?
Kate Bush: Win? They do it so they don't get bored. If they get bored, it's a problem. Bored army people are really hard to keep in order.
Dazza: Really? I didn't have issues.
Kate Bush: You're just different Dazza.

Dazza: OK, you'd better get on that plane.
Kate Bush: I'll call you when I get there.
Dazza: Bring back a cup for me
Kate Bush: When pigs fly ... I bet they are harassing the stewardesses already

(ooc: Please Count this as a Sativaville post.. can't log in with them at the moment)

OFFICIAL GROUPS

GROUP A
Kura-Pelland
Sativaville
Grotewohl
Billopesha

SCHEDULE

GROUP A
Kura-Pelland v Grotewohl Parwood
Sativaville v Billopesha Grayton City

Kura-Pelland v Sativaville Trilan
Grotewohl v Billopesha Grayton City

Kura-Pelland v Billopesha Trilan
Sativaville v Grotewohl Parwood

STV SportsBASH
And there we have it, the group draw and schedule for the Cup of Harmony in Kura-Pelland. The Potheads are the defending runners-up and are expected to do at least that well this time.

In other Football News, The former mayor and police chief of Marleyville have been sentenced to 30 years in prision each for attempting to fix matches during the world cup qualifers. They still claim that all they were doing was ensuring Sativaville's qualifaction, but evidence found last week, by STV's own Debbie Cleveland, proved that the two men were blackmailing the Keeper, one Javier Kogan. Kogan has been exonerated of all charges for turning state's evidence against the two men.

STV2 will carry every match of the CoH live and replays will be on STV at 2:00 pm the following day.

GROUP B

Kiryu-shi (35)
Jeru FC (81)
Daehanjeiguk (49)
Endmile (55)


In what appears to be an easy set for the Imperial Team, Head Coach Cha Beomgeun was wary to guarantee anything in the upcoming Cup. "We don't get freebies in football. Maybe for other sports, but in football particularly, everything is fought. We now have the experience to carry us forward, but our experience teaches us that even lesser teams can upset superior teams; we have demonstrated this ourselves, and we should expect some upsets. We prepare for each match with equal anticipation, and then perform our best."

Ahead of the match against the top seeds - Kiryu-shi - Cha Beomgeun was more comfortable. "We've seen the videos of their participation in other tournaments. We do have the qualities to beat them, but it's going to take a combination of improved ball control, improved team coordination, and overall improved speed to beat them comfortably. They have a good team, just not as vocal as others tend to be."

MD1:: Kiryu-shi (35) --- (49) Daehanjeiguk @ Hagen
MD2:: Daehanjeiguk (49) --- (55) Endmile @ Eenigen
MD3:: Jeru FC (81) --- (49) Daehanjeiguk @ Hagen

Introducing the Stars
An Inside Look at the Football Team Which Represents Our Country

By Rebecca Doig

Sakaino Kiryu-shi Today, in the picturesque campus at Sakaino University, the men and women that make up the national football team prepared to leave to represent our nation in Kura-Pelland, who are hosting the Cup of Harmony. I had a chance to talk to the players and the coach, Bruce Lewis; to really get a good idea of the people that make up the national team. Coach Lewis leads the group, and in his seven years as the top man in charge of the team has made some incredible things happen. The Kiryu-shi Dragons are 37-9-16 in international play, and have one their Baptism of Fire, and finished in the top three in the past two Cup of Harmonies. They have finished very close to qualifying in the past three World Cups, with their best effort coming in the last qualification round, when they finished with a record of eight wins, four ties and two losses and finished in fourth place because of a tiebreaker with Fmjphoenix, and one point away from the second place Atheistic Right. Coach Lewis leads his team with a quiet hand, and extreme dedication, almost devoting his life to training his squad. His talents shine in developing players, as Kiryu-shi’s strength has come from a solid core of players who were very young in World Cup 34, but have gained valuable experience over the last few years, and now, ranked 35th in the world, are considered one of the best teams never to have qualified for a World Cup proper.

____The starting goalie for Kiryu-shi will be none other than Jon Crow, the tall lanky man with the outrageous hair. Along with the very distinctive look, he has an equally distinctive personality; outgoing and loud Jon is not afraid to speak up at all. This is a trait which he utilizes on the field, directing, encouraging, and leading his teammates during the match. He also has great instincts and reactions when he is playing, leading to some spectacularly acrobatic saves during his years as the starting keeper. However, there are those who will quickly point out that he is not perfect. He has a tendency to lose his positioning and focus—he is not a cerebral player. This one flaw can be devastating at times, but in general, he is a very fine goaltender.

____Protecting Crow is the strength of the Kiryu-shi national team, it’s defensive line. The three center defenders, Matthew Pruet, co-captain, in the middle with Bob Moya on his right and Doug LeBlanc on his left, are the core of the team both on and off the field. Pruet is a leader-by-example kind of man. At 31 years, he is the oldest player in the starting formation, and the second oldest out of anyone on the team, after long time backup goalie Laura Stroud. Pruet is soft spoken and quiet out of the clubhouse, with a quiet family life, but the stories of his rousing speeches are legendary in certain circles. Moya is more quiet and stoic than Pruet, while LeBlanc is known for his passion and fury. The three of them are close friends, and the balance and unity that they show when they’re playing together is beautiful. LeBlanc, with his blazing speed, and Moya and Pruet with their technical precision combine to create a great defense.

____On the wings of the defensive line stand Isaac Levi and Sidney Hendrickson. Although neither name may pop out to readers who are only casual fans of the team, they are both incredibly important in the team’s offensive strategy. Coach Lewis praised their contributions to the team, complimenting their desire to hustle up and down the field, bringing the ball up the sides and then falling back again on defense with every shift in possession. Levi’s speed and accuracy overcomes his perceived timidity, while Hendrickson is a very solid all around player, and a great teammate who contributes to all facets of the game without being a star.

____Gregory Iverson is the most impressive body on the team. Standing at 6’4”, he is 215 pounds of pure muscle, with the ability to intimidate and use his physical strength to control the center of the field from his defensive midfielder spot. However, he is not all brawn. One of the most highly educated members of the team, he has published various articles about genetics while working at the labs in Sakaino University during the breaks from practice. He brings his head with him when he plays, as well. He is known for his preparation scouting and studying opponents before matches. Although he isn’t that flashy, there have been rumours that he is going to be selected as the next captain of the team. And then, of course, there is Pat Mayberry to Iverson’s right. Mayberry, the celebrity of the team, with various endorsement deals in Kiryu-shi, has earned his reputation as the best player on the team. His ability to dominate games, and to draw multiple defenders is key to Kiryu-shi’s success. He scores goals, creates assists, and is the playmaker. He is, of course, the other co-captain of the team. On the opposite side of Mayberry is 23 year old Giancario Diamanti. He has never quite lived up to expectations, but he is a very solid player although lacks many of the qualities and intangibles that could burst him up to star status.

____At the top are Hellen Gandy, offensive midfielder, and Garret McGee, the one and only starting forward. Gandy, despite her size (she is 5’6”), is a critical part of the Kiryu-shi offense. She dictates the pace of the attack, controlling the ball and making pinpoint passes at a flick of her foot. Although she isn’t a very vocal leader, she is key to creating scoring chances. McGee is the point getter for Kiryu-shi. He uses his athleticism, size and positioning to score goals, although his ball control and speed leave something to be desired.

____And then, of course, there are the reserves, a key component to any strong team. Kiryu-shi has five players under the age of 22 as backups, including the extremely promising and exciting player, Emily Boyle. She has great speed, and will probably be a starting member of the team before long. 18 year old midfielder Miguel Fantuzzi has also shown some exceptional promise at times. However, Kiryu-shi also has several solid veterans on the bench, including defenders Orson Wells and Martin Jones, who provide good depth and experience for the entire squad.

---------------------------------------



Opening Formation:
---------------Crow-----------------------GK

-----Moya------Pruet----Leblanc-----------DF

Levi------------------------Hendrickson---DF

--------------Iverson---------------------MF

-Mayberry----------------Diamanti---------MF

--------Gandy-----------------------------MF

-------------------McGee------------------FW

GK
Jon Crow (http://i80.photobucket.com/albums/j163/otnekstem/Kiryu-shi/crow.jpg)-#1-6’3”-26 years old

DF
Matthew Pruet (http://i80.photobucket.com/albums/j163/otnekstem/Kiryu-shi/pruett.jpg)-#3-5’11”-31 years old

Bob Moya (http://i80.photobucket.com/albums/j163/otnekstem/Kiryu-shi/goya.jpg)-#5-6’2”-28 years old

Doug LeBlanc (http://i80.photobucket.com/albums/j163/otnekstem/Kiryu-shi/leblanc.jpg)-#2-5’8”-27 years old

Isaac Levi (http://i80.photobucket.com/albums/j163/otnekstem/Kiryu-shi/levi.jpg)-#7-5’10”-23 years old

Sidney Hendrickson (http://i80.photobucket.com/albums/j163/otnekstem/Kiryu-shi/hendrickson.jpg)-#12-5’11-26 years old

MF
Gregory Iverson (http://i80.photobucket.com/albums/j163/otnekstem/Kiryu-shi/iverson.jpg)-#15-6’4”-22 years old

Pat Mayberry (http://i80.photobucket.com/albums/j163/otnekstem/Kiryu-shi/mayberry.jpg)-#8-5’11”-29 years old

Giancario Diamanti (http://i80.photobucket.com/albums/j163/otnekstem/Kiryu-shi/diamanti.jpg)-#20-5’11-23 years old

Hellen Gandy (http://i80.photobucket.com/albums/j163/otnekstem/Kiryu-shi/gandy.jpg)-#9-5’6”-27 years old

FW
Garret McGee (http://i80.photobucket.com/albums/j163/otnekstem/Kiryu-shi/mcgee.jpg)-#11-6’2”-30 years old

The reserves:
Samuel Webber-#30-6'4"-23 years old-GK
Laura Stroud-#31-5'11"-32 years old-GK
Orson Wells-#14-5'11"-26 years old-DF
Martin Jones-#22-6'5"-25 years old-DF
Matty Truth-Hoffman-#19-5'10"-17 years old-DF/MF
Carl Wright-#23-6'0"-27 years old-MF
Carmen Chow-#10-5'10"-28 years old-MF
Miguel Fantuzzi-#4-5’11"-18 years old-MF
Patrick Mann-#16-6'1"-21 years old-FW/MF
Kazuko Machihara-#21-5'9"-18 years old-FW/MF
Emily Boyle-#6-5'4"-20 years old-FW/MF



Style Mod: -1
My opponent, if they RP first, may do the following:
Choose my goalscorers Y
Godmod Scoring Events Y
RP injuries to my players Y (no long term injuries, pleas)
Godmod injuries to my players N
Hand out Yellow cards to my players Y
Hand out Red cards to my players Y
Godmod Other Events Y (as long as my players can play in the next match)

Somewhere in Kura-Pelland ...

Kate Bush and her Jeru FC had arrived from Jeruselem. They were at their official hotel.

Kate Bush: Hi, this is the Jeru FC football team. We're booking in.
Receptionist: You're Dazza Dallas?
Kate Bush: No no, Kate Bush. I'm the Manager/Coach.
Receptionist: Oh? It says here Dazza Dalla is in charge.

Kate Bush: She was in charge but she's retired from coaching.
Receptionist: Oh sorry about that, this came from your army people.
Kate Bush: Oh? She's is in Jeruselem.
Receptionist: That's alright, are these details right?

<Kate Bush checks the list>

Kate Bush: Apart from Dazza Dallas part, yes.
Receptionist: OK, here's the keys to the rooms.
Kate Bush: Thanks, can you please correct the record.
Receptionist: Yeah sure. Say, are these guys always oogling local women?

Kate Bush: Yes, they are part of our army.
Receptionist: Army people, always the same.
Kate Bush: Yeah I know, I had to coach them for a World Cup.
Receptionist: Well have a nice day and good luck with that lot.

Kate Bush: I just wish I was Dazza Dallas sometimes.

OOC - Heck, wrong nation again. My name is Earl ... sorry, Jeru FC.
Jeru FC is just a football team formed from Jeruselem army personnel.

Kiryu-shi Ready For Cup of Harmony

By Rebecca Doig

Hagen, Kura-Pelland Kiryu-shi, embarking on their third shot at the Cup of Harmony, will not settle for anything less than first place. And they have a good shot of making it, this time around, as the second overall seed in the tournament, behind Rejistania, a country that seems to be suffering some internal conflict. In the draws to divide the group of 20 contending teams into groups of four, Kiryu-shi managed to draw three beatable dangerous teams.

____Daehanjeiguk brings back memories of Kiryu-shi from World Cup 34, the Baptism of Fire champions who couldn’t make it past qualifying, despite an impressive effort. Kiryu-shi, of course, stunned many fans when they finished in second place during that Cup of Harmony. Daehanjeiguk is a very competent and dangerous team, easily capable of stealing wins from higher ranked teams, much like Kiryu-shi was in their first year of international play. The edge in their first week match up should go to us, because of the experience we have, but the hunger of a new team is nothing to underestimate. They finished in fifth place in their qualifying group, with 21 points.

____Jeru FC, is of course, a whole different can of worms. The military satellite nation * of the soccer powerhouse, Jeruselem, Jeru FC has steadily gained respect in the international football community due to it’s, well, military attitude. They will not lie down quietly, nor will the cease to ogle various females in their vicinity. Kiryu-shi will hopefully not let either of those two traits get to them, and will hopefully come away with a victory, as they did twice in qualifying for the World Cup. Jeru FC finished in sixth place during qualifications.

____Kiryu-shi has already faced the third team, Endmile, a couple of times in qualifications for World Cup 36 as well. They came away with one very disappointing tie as well as a win. This team is also a new team, who played very well in qualifications despite their disappointing finish in fifth place in the group. Endmile can be dangerous, and Kiryu-shi has to play well if they want to beat them. They might not be able to afford another tie.

____We will see if it turns out to be a good thing that Kiryu-shi drew two teams it has faced so recently in Jeru FC and Endmile. It is a positive that Kiryu-shi has three wins against them, and that in qualifying, Kiryu-shi finished in fourth, leading the two teams by eight and 18 points. However, this is no guarantee that Kiryu-shi will breeze through this stage. Anything can happen during a span of three games, and Kiryu-shi will have to play their best and hope that they come out on top.

The schedule for the group stage for Kiryu-shi

Kiryu-shi v Daehanjeiguk @ Hagen, Kura-Pelland
Kiryu-shi v Jeru FC @ Hagen, Kura-Pelland
Kiryu-shi v Endmile @ Eenigen, Kura-Pelland

*I think?

A nervous Ricardo Garcia, trying not to feel insubstantial after thirty second spent next to a large gentleman from Grotewohl, did up his zip and pottered quickly out of the toilets and into the corridor. His boss, Candelaria And Marquez Head Coach Mark Baker, was waiting for him; chewing absent-mindedly on the laminated identification card hanging from his neck.
“Gosh, um… Have I missed anything, Bakes?” Garcia asked.
“Only the draw,” Baker grinned. “They don’t hang about these Kura-Pellandi. Half an hour of tedious preamble and they pull out their balls in a matter of second. I’ve barely had time to catch m’breath.”
“So gowon then… What’s the damage? No, actually,” Garcia stopped him, “Let me guess who we’ve got first. It’ll be awful, won’t it? We’re only in the second bloody pot, after all. Let me do me Weyne Green bit*. Guess from yer expression.”
Baker attempted his best poker face.
“The hosts, no?”
“Um. No. Well, not quite.”
“Alright, okay. Just keep thou mind focussed…”
“Ric, do we really have to do this…?”
“Shush. Right. A more experienced team then? Oh, not those horroroso mini-Jeruselem putas?”
“Nah. We’ve avoided that pleasure.”
“Okay, concentrate. Eyes to me… Oh. Bloody big fellas, right? Like, animals practically. Grotewohl, yeah? I were flanked by one of 'em at the latrines. Looked like he’d kill you as soon as look at you…”
“Ric, can we not be here all day? I’ve got interviews and stuff…”

Garcia sighed. As deputy head coach and self-appointed sports psychology expert, he wished Baker would take his efforts a little more seriously.
“Put me out of m’misery then, Mark.”
“Okay, all our games are in Varlona… wherever that is. Group decider’s against Vephrall, again. Won’t be as easy as last time, I’m guessing…”
“And who are practically the hosts,” Garcia told him proudly. “Right next door, no?”
“Before them,” Baker continued, ignoring him, “It’s Lovisa…”
“Very experienced outfit…”
“Oh come on, thee could so have guessed that,” Baker sputtered indignantly. “Anyways, first game’s against the Sons of a Monkey.”
“Sorry?”
“Ar, that was my reaction. A psychotic dictatorship with a banana-based economy, apparently.”
“So, um. Are they…?”
“Could be. I dunno. We’ve played gnomes already…”

*A massively popular Candelariasian mentalist

__________________

What the Papers Say

The Candelariasian press are united in their enthusiasm for what absolutely no-one is calling the “Loosers’ Cup”, if not their expectations for the Big Blues’ championship chances.

The Albrecht Mercury strikes an unduly positive air in its glossy, sixteen-page Cup of Harmony pull-out section, in between the lists of Ten Things You Didn’t Know About the Sons of a Monkey and columns by former pros calling for the C&M players to show more passion, as is their wont.

The Mercury’s editorial team claim that C&M must provide a more offensive outlook in their opening game, if the team are to have a realistic shot at qualification.

Over in the former broadsheet the Albrecht Herald however, chief sports writer Tracker Edwards advises against a gung-ho approach, claiming that Baker and his team must stick to what they know best. The Herald picks out Kiryu-shi as the clear favourites, with newcomers such as Vephrall, Grotewohl and the hosts Kura-Pelland expected to strongly push their higher-ranked rivals.

C&M mentioned about wondering where places are...

Here's your map (http://www.prism.gatech.edu/~gth681k/ns/vephrall/1737.png) (of Vephrall as well as Kura-Pelland - we're to the north-west).

Groups are generally being kept close together geographically. For those in Group E: a ferry service runs regularly between Assiri and Varlona.

The papers started rolling through the presses. The headline? "Pelland Poses Familiar Face Fixture". Dance 2 Revolution were to play Rejistania for the nth time in their history. But this time...things were looking a bit different.

Dance 2 Revolution have fought their illustrious opponents many times during the late teen cups, including on the grandest stage in World Cup 17. These matches are normally close affairs, but somehow Rejistania always seem to come out the more-than-equals of D2R

The two fallen giants are going to be looking face to face for the first time outside of a World Cup, having both failed to qualify. Not the most exciting match on paper, prehaps. But when these two teams step onto the turf at Roflcoptre Stadium, sparks are guaranteed to fly.Although, given the history of the two, Dance 2 Revolution haven't got a hope in hell of qualifying from this group...at least without a scar or two to show for it.

...

"Ah, Rejistania...I remember those days." Naoki Maeda said to himself, reminiscing from his playing days. Now the current head of the Revolutionarian Football Association, Naoki Maeda was getting continually distressed with the fall of popularity of football in Dance 2 Revolution. Football had fallen off of the television, replaced by national qualifiers from all around the world for the Dance Dance Revolution Special Edition World Tournament that was to be held in the Onia Arena in Dance 2 Revolution later this year, and other matches and highlight shows have been taken off the air in favour of numerous gameshows. The Revolutionarian professional football leagues had been disbanded due to lack of money and the fact that stadia destroyed in the Revolutionarian Wars had still not been rebuilt, despite that the rest of Dance 2 Revolution had been rebuilt to a glory beyond that of previous cities and towns. Dance 2 Revolution international matches were now being played in stadiums once belonging to the land under Kaze Progressian government that was handed to D2R under the KP-D2R Government Liquidisation Treaty, with many of the matches containing as many neutral supporters and away supporters as home fans.

Even youngsters have been choosing to go to other sports: Pool, Tennis, Badminton, Squash, Darts...A recent poll showed that more youngsters are playing "Stepmania" keyboard charts competitively than choosing to play football. These recent findings and truths were worrying to Maeda and the RFA, who had decided that the situation needed to be rectified immediately.

"Maybe Rejistania is just what we need to get football in Dance 2 Revolution going again" said Maeda. "A successful Cup of Harmony run with a big historical figure in the mix, all we need to do is get the kids watching again...Call the advisers, we haven't got much time! We need to save the footballing future of Dance 2 Revolution!"

OOC Note: The Novapsolan language, while meant to be very similar to English, does not use the letter “C” in it. For the purposes of RPing, articles posed as being written for the viewing of only the Novapsolan public will be written with a “K” replacing a “hard C”, and a “S” replacing a “soft C”. Additionally, any words that should start with a “Ch” will be substituted with the letter “X”.
IC:

The Chairman rose, awaking in his slightly larger than average apartment. As he looked out the window at the busy city life below, he sighed. As much as his apartment had grown on him, he was looking forward to the end of his lease, and the subsequent move to Isle Gan, along with the rest of his board members. At least I’ll see the actual Sol again, he thought. Even so, the sky still appeared bright, as if the clouds above did little to block the sun.

After preparing breakfast, a small meal involving toasted bread, coffee, and an apple, he sat down, pulling the latest “Daily General Information Report” onto his tablet screen. He quickly skipped the first parts of the community’s periodical, moving to the article posted about his board, the Isles of Kikkr, and the National Team:


Novapsolu Opens Xalise of Harmony Today

While the Kikkr Board is organizing matters for not only a xanse to stage the world’s major kikkr tournament, the World Xalise, Owen Marx and the Tremendous Twenty-Two head to the land of Kura-Pelland, to take part in the Xalise of Harmony, a tournament for nations who were unable to make the final part of the World Xalise. Our new side hopes to build off their efforts in the Qualifiers, where they earned 18 points in 14 games.

Marx appears to be cautiously optimistic. “Our (qualifying) run has been better than we thought it would. Keeping it up is important, but just improving our status is all we want.”

Standing in the way will be the three other teams in Group D. Kristovenia is the most familiar of the teams on the list, having been grouped with Novapsolu during qualifiers. While they did finish five points ahead, fourth overall in the group, the two sides played to a draw in both qualifying games, with a 2-2 result in Novapsolu, and a 1-1 draw on the road. St. Samuel also had a fourth-plase finish in qualifying, coming in with 22 points. British Londinium finished sixth in their group, the lowest among their groupmates.

So, how good are our boys, the Tremendous Twenty-Two? We will find out soon enough, as they open against Kristovenia.

The Chairman pulled out his tablet again, which had been beeping. As he looked down, he saw the Novapsolan Lineup, which would go into effect for the CoH:


Novapsolu Cup of Harmony Roster/Starting Lineup
Formation: 3-5-2 (+3 Style)
Pos # Name
K 39 Ellar Daniels
LB 3 Dale Gilroy
CB 2 Niven Klark
RB 5 Martin Reems
LDM 16 Edward Toms
RDM 14 David Aron
LM 17 Josef Soureff
CM 15 Finn Williams (C)
RM 19 Allan Sheeny
LS 9 Kaspar Xent
RS 11 Willem Fedoa


Reserves
K 61 Don Ferguson
D 4 Roy Eisen
D 7 Mikael Mikaels
M 18 Kurt Novegul
M 23 Rory Lundford
F 8 Xarle Stinson
F 12 Patrek Graves

For the first match, Head Coach Cha Beomgeun has released the following line-up:

Kim Yongdae

Yi Sabik Pak Geonha Kim Donghyeon

Go Jongsu Yi Eulyong Han Paeng Heo Jeongmu

Kim Byeongji

Yi Dongguk Kim Daeeui

Today's Broadcast Presentation of Football Today, brought to you by MBC International:
Program Notes - Shin Sunggyeom (신숭겸 {申崇謙}) has been appointed by the Imperial Football Association and MBC International to broadcast all events until further notice for the Imperial Football Team.

申崇謙: Welcome to Kura Pelland, where we revisit a few old opponents and find a few more! A brief history (according to the Han rendition) of Kura Pelland's National Team. They were hot contestants in the Oxen Cup, finishing 3rd overall, following a rather impressive record. They went on to the Baptism of Fire, where the fell out in the Regional Finals to the Imperial Team and took 4th place overall after a final match against Grotewohl. In the World Cup Qualifiers, they managed to secure 4th position and an impressive 22 points overall, just 4 points shy of the coveted third position. With that in mind, Kura Pelland has taken leaps and strides to bring to the world a classy environment in which to play football. And the Empire, having little other option, is proud to send its representatives to the field once again.

We will remember that the Inaugural Season of the NFL has just ended, and that while many of the player of the Imperial Team are still awaiting their draft picks for Season 2, we do have three prospective players who are awaiting their new seasons in Cafundéu - Kim Yongdae for Clube Imperial, Song Jungguk for Dunboor FC, and Kim Byeongji for Atlético Jutense. Let's review their stories for our viewers.

Kim Yongdae - goalkeeper for the Imperial Team - has perhaps the most anxious position on the field, and yet when everything's going right, they have the most boring job. They settle around the box, coordinating virtually the entire game from their lonely position. They are the backbone of a good defense, usually more for their stoppage power than their ability to build a unit defense. But Kim Yongdae has managed to do that and more. His experience on the field in non-international, non-professional leagues has certainly played a huge hand in his ability. His defenders are often well-prepared and built for good stoppage to clear the deadly shots. And even when the deadly shots do penetrate, those that go past him rarely affect him. His worst record was the 3-0 loss to the hosts Kura-Pelland, back when the time was still very fresh and young. Indeed, his expertise has risen so much that one could claim without him, the Imperial Team would not be what it is today. His rising protege - Kim Ho - only sings praise for the goalkeeper: "I've never to Cafundeu, but I can only say that he'll have a great season there. I suppose the only problem that he will have is learning the local language, because he does a marvelous job at all of his other tasks; I'm certainly blessed to have a mentor as he is."

With Kim Yongdae on the line-up, it seems ready and true that the Imperial Team do intend to go forward into the Cup of Harmony with a powerful aid on their side. But that's all for today; tomorrow, we'll bring you the match summary and a short biography for Song Jungguk. This is Shin Sunggyeom - reporting for MBC International.

“…to join Keenan Bailey, live from the seaside city of Varlona.”

Awkward pause. Ms. Bailey grins inanely at the camera, impressively managing to ignore an “OI-OI!” from a large gentleman behind her.

“Keenan, can thee* he-”

“That’s right, Tom, I’m here in the beautiful city square of Varlona, where travelling C&M fans have set up home in force…”

Camera pans around the beleaguered square. Locals have wisely vacated it for the day, and the screen is a sea of blue, green and prison pallor. A few small children wander around with the two-green-circles-and-an-oval painted on their faces. It’s a proper carnival atmosphere, and just as threatening.

“With the Vephrese, Lovisan and Sonmonkian** supporters setting up camp in Assiri a little way to the south-west, this city belongs to C&M with an estimated 8,000 fans helping to make this one of the biggest travelling parties of Candelariansandmarquezians in years.”***

An impossibly bulky young man wobbles his belly at her with a “HEY-HEY!” Ricochet words are apparently vital when you’re bladdered. Candelariasians, as a rule, have a Latin attitude to drink, despite their predominantly British cultural heritage, and regard public drunkenness as shameful. Even more traditional in the islands, however, are the naively sincere attempts to fit in with the Rest of the World. Hence the decision to adopt boozing at football matches. They’re seldom particularly violent though. These days anyway.

A group of Albrecht FC fans espy a small family party of Sonmonkians, and regale them with extraordinary renditions of “Thomson’s got a Monkey’s Head” and “Kai Thom-son peels bananas with his feet, they're all he'll ever eat, he thinks it's such a treat.”§ A small child bursts into tears. The camera hurriedly pans back to Bailey.

“Well, the team we’ve all come here to see are back in the team hotel getting some much-needed shut-eye after the long flight here, but coach Mark Baker has already given us his starting eleven. As expected, Reuben Uwakwe is in goal, with a back four of Sono, Waddington, Fu and Mazzeo, Torrealba at the base of the diamond with Wang ahead of him and Momtaz behind Fritz up front. Caras and Pipes are on the flanks. For the opposition…” She checks her notes briefly. “…the danger-men are expected to be Tossa Legova and Anita Poopu, who…” She trails off. “Um?”

The screen cuts rapidly back to the two surprised presenters in the studio. With the amount of botox going on there though, it’s hard not to look surprised.

“Okay, well we seem to have lost Keenan there, but don’t forget there’s live coverage of and pre-match build-up to C&M’s opening See-Oh-Aitch game starting tomorrow at 10:15 PM. Okay, let’s return to our lead story now, and the country’s teenagers are celebrating the best national exam results for nearly a decade…”

Stock footage of an ethnically-diverse group of young girls squealing and hugging each other. A good minute’s worth.

____________

* [i]Thees and thous are now seldom-used parts of the islands’ traditional dialect. Public figures employ them, when they can remember to. It’s considered vaguely patriotic.

** Candelariasians love a crap adjective

*** Jovially stupid reporters in other countries would continue this theme with the words, “…since the invasion of X in 1897,” or whatever. Regrettably, the Candelarias Defence Forces have never invaded anywhere.

§ To the tunes of “Go West” and “Yellow Submarine” respectively. Albrecht Turks midfielder Kai Thomson, though entirely human, does indeed look like the progeny of Martin Keown and an aye-aye. Y’know, those lemury things with the one, long, E.T.-like finger. They’re great, aren’t they?

__________

Lancelot Albret, back-up right-back for C&M, sat alone on his cold bed watching the DVD of SoaM left-winger Yay Wei Wun he’d been given, on the extremely unlikely off-chance he’d be called upon to play.

Found abandoned on the seashore as an infant, Lan had never truly a part of his adoptive country, despite his successes on the football field. He’d never fitted in. Now, suddenly, things seemed to be making sense.

He ran his fingers through the thick, brown hair covering his upper body. And lower body, and head and feet and everythin’. He stared at the screen, at the players, at the crowed bellowing, chattering and jumping up a down at the Banana Republic Stadium.

And wondered.

OFFICIAL MD1 SCORES
GROUP A
Sativaville 3 Billopesha 0
Kura-Pelland 1 Grotewohl 0

GROUP B
Jeru FC 0 Endmile 3
Kiryu-shi 0 Daehanjeiguk 0

GROUP C
Jariss 0 Rejistania 2
Dance 2 Revolution 2 Sorthern Northland 2

GROUP D
British Londinium 2 St Samuel 1
Kristovenia 1 Novapsolu 2

GROUP E
Candelaria And Marquez 2 The Sons of a Monkey 1
Lovisa 0 Vephrall 1

Today's Broadcast Presentation of Football Today, brought to you by MBC International:

申崇謙: Well, I'd hate to disappoint you fans at home, but today's match wasn't all to worthy for a great replay, but it is still important for all of us. Today's match in Hagen, Kura-Pelland was a 0-0 draw that keeps the Imperial Team out of first position, but still within reach. Having held the top seeds to a goalless match was an important first step for the Team, according to Head Coach Cha Beomgeun. He'll be joining us later on the show.

In the meantime, Kim Yongdae continues his strong streak of great defensive coordination, keeping a clean sheet. Admittedly, the Imperial Team didn't perform at its peak condition, having moved all of the way from home to Kura-Pelland for the duration. It was more or less Kim Yongdae's coordination that helped push the Imperial team ahead. There were a few opportunities for the Imperial strikers to clear a way through in the second half, as the Kiryu-shi players began to relax their tired muscles. However, after two close breaks by Kim Daeeui, it became apparent to everyone that this match wasn't going to end until it ended. Straight through the end, both sides kept aiming for the goal, with a late Kiryu-shi corner kick in the 89th minute threatening to make the difference. With the ball aloft, Kim Yongdae was the first person out, punching the ball away to the forwards who carried it to the Kiryu-shi goalkeeper, only to be denied by an equally stunning save. Credit really should go to the goalkeepers, the absolute stellar players for the match, who held their own teams - Kim Yongdae for the Imperial Side, and Jon Crow for Kiryu-shi.

In our group, Endmile stormed the field, in a 3-0 rout over Jeru FC. Endmile has seen much more success against teams since the Baptism of Fire, where they faced against the Imperial Team in perhaps the most exciting Final in the BoF history - one sole penalty kick at the end of regulation scored by Kim Yongdae. Fortunately, the Imperial Team will have no need for similar recourses in the Group Stage, but even here, it remains critical to continue pressing for victories, and any unexpected draw might grant our opponents to slip ahead on points - as it happened in the World Cup Qualifiers. The story remains optimistic for Endmile; as for Jeru FC, the Army Team has much to build up. They will be looking to make the best of their chances in their match against the Imperial Team. However, with the Imperial Team taking the coveted "Home Field Advantage" officially, that might prove more difficult.
Kiryu-shi, coming off their draw, likely will have more home pressure to capitalize on their next match against the impressive Endmile. No doubt, they will be taking notes from the matches today, to reflect on the faults in their team's offense and - more importantly - ways to combat the trigger-happy strikers from Endmile.

And now, here we have Head Coach Cha Beomgeun, Head Coach of the Imperial Han Football Team. Welcome.

車範根: It's pleasure to be here today.

申崇謙: Now, tell me. What were the good points that you took from today's match?

車範根: I have no doubt that my defensive line is great shape. Kim Yongdae continues to dominate in the rear third, and even though the opponents may might a stab into our territory, I feel confident that Kim Yongdae and the defensive line will be there to stop it. I have to give credit to our defensive coordinators, who have helped mold this team into top form; they have worked tirelessly to get the players in top condition. Of course, our strengths do show our weaknesses. Our forward line hasn't been able to capitalize on their opportunities. And not to take away credit from the opponents as well; they performed marvelously in their back third too, so it was more or less a battle of attrition. Had this been a match in the elimination round, I suspect this match would have gone into the PK rounds.

申崇謙: It seems that you've had this match well-studied. What tips do you have for your players now?

車範根: I try not to mention coaching tips on live broadcasts, principally because I feel it cheats the players of their personal one-on-one chats with me. That and everyone else will know what I said to them. But honestly, there's very little to criticize that can't be fixed with good practice. The strikers do need to improve on set positions, but as I said, good practice can help with that. Also, it's early in our tour of Kura-Pelland, and we're fortunate not to be traveling across great distances, tiring our players from all of the trips. I can almost say with certainty that you'll see the team improve their form as the tournament continues.

申崇謙: Well, you've just highlighted our next topic of discussion. That is, do you think the Imperial Team will qualify to the elimination round?

車範根: I try not to make guarantees; it does bad stuff for the players, as it seems that they have expectations to meet. On the one hand, they do have the expectation to play their best on every field. On the other hand, they have the fan's expectation to win every match as well. I personally think that the latter is more unreasonable, because it puts too much stress on the players. Of course, I don't want to put them onto a field where they expect to lose, but winning is part of the team experience. I personally don't see any reason why the Imperial Team shouldn't participate in the Final Match. It might not happen, because the quality of teams competing is still relatively high; we have many obstacles to overcome, so hopefully, as we continue our tour, we'll build back our stronger cohesive unit that will win us matches. Until then, I think it's best to focus our our next match, more so than the last match.

申崇謙: You seem to read my mind.

車範根: Well, it's my pattern of speech. I suppose you have another question?

申崇謙: Indeed. On our next match against Jeru FC, do you think we will win?

車範根: I wouldn't bet on it, even if the bets were in our favor. Fans think that ranks and experience makes the difference, and to some extent it does. But you also have to realize the condition of the players matters as well. Our players are still adjusting to the conditions in Kura-Pelland. I'd expect that it would take them a long while to adjust completely, but having performed so well so far, I think we can achieve a good win here. For me, I'm personally expecting our forwards to give it their best shot. Our defense have been practicing tirelessly to give the forwards and offensive midfield every opportunity to score. If everything works out well, there is no reason why couldn't win this match. Of course, I have been studying the tapes from the Endmile and Jeru FC match, and we've had the opportunity to play against Endmile in the BoF Final, so I think our coaches will be very comfortable selecting the particular plays to plan and analyze. I won't say much more on that, since I have to get back to running the team now.

申崇謙: Well, Cha Beomgeun, it's been a pleasure to have you here with us.

車範根: Oh, the pleasure was all mine. I'd also like to thank the fans as well. I don't think the fans get enough credit for all of their cheers, but the players certainly appreciate. Even if we don't win the game, I still think we have the best cheering team in the world. Thank you again, and I hope not to disappoint you tomorrow!

申崇謙: Well, as Head Coach Cha Beomgeun returns to the team, here's another look-up at one of our prime players - Song Jongguk. He's currently on the bench, as he has been typically, as of late. His primary use has been to substitute for another player and provide support for the attacking team. He is actually one of the few silent people on the team; his work seldom gets heard, with many assists to his name, as well as critical saves. It was therefore a surprise to him when he was asked by the Cafundelense First Division to sign up for Dunboor FC. However, reviewing his record, he seems to be an exemplary choice - swift feet, good ball control, and excellent coverage. His goals are either corner assists or good long balls that find the net when all others fail. He may not be a star, but he does shine. With him, the team would be missing a critical player in the center of the field. With that, Song Jongguk has provided the Imperial Team with critical support coverage, the sort that it seldom appreciated by fans and most valued by the team. We are certain that his presence in Dunboor will be noticed and that they may benefit from his skills.

Next program, we'll have a biography on Kim Byeongji. For now, we have the line-up and Group B statistics. This is Shin Sunggyeom - reporting for MBC International.

GROUP B
Pos Team P W D L GF GA GD Pts
1 Endmile 1 1 0 0 3 0 3 3
2 Kiryushi 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 1
3 Daehanjeiguk 1 0 1 0 0 0 0 1
4 Jeru FC 1 0 0 1 0 3 -3 0

Yi Jeongyeol

Wang Shinheun Pak Geonha Kim Donghyeon

Go Jongsu Yi Eulyong Song Jongguk Heo Jeongmu

Seo Jeongweon

Yi Dongguk Kim Dohun

STV SportsBASH

A great start to the Cup of Harmony today as Sativaville demolished 87th ranked Billopesha 3-0 in Grayton City. Lonnie Dejohn lead the way with 2 goals in the first half, one coming just 7 minutes into the game, and the other coming in the 30th minute. The Potheads were clearly in charge through out as they had 17 shots on net compared to 3 for Billopesha, and 10 corner kicks to 1. The 10th corner kick lead to the final goal as Kelly Furfaro knocked home Nelson Marse's corner kick in the 74th minute to provide the winning margin.

The 39th ranked Potheads will take on Kura-Pelland, the hosts of this edition in the next match in Trilan. Kura-Pulland is not ranked, but since they are at home, a tough match is expected.

In other Group A action, the hosts got off to a good start winning 1-0 over Grotewohl.

Other scores:
GROUP B
Jeru FC 0 Endmile 3- STUNNER OF THE DAY
Kiryu-shi 0 Daehanjeiguk 0

GROUP C
Jariss 0 Rejistania 2
Dance 2 Revolution 2 Sorthern Northland 2

GROUP D
British Londinium 2 St Samuel 1
Kristovenia 1 Novapsolu 2

GROUP E
Candelaria And Marquez 2 The Sons of a Monkey 1
Lovisa 0 Vephrall 1

Kate Bush rings Dazza Dallas ...

Kate: Dazza, you there?
Dazza: Bushie, the boys are doing real well!
Kate: Yes, losing to Endmile and losing badly ...
Dazza: This was supposed to be the easy game?

Kate: Yes, this was the easy game.
Dazza: You need help right?
Kate: I don't think you can help, we need Jesus Christ to help this team!
Dazza: Looking at the other two teams, yeah - they are good teams

Kate: So, got any advice? we don't have a leader in this team, mostly sheepyheads.
Dazza: Err, you could play that video of me with a snake to them ...
Kate: That one? What's that going to do?
Dazza: Make them train hard and say you'll only play the video when they perform to your expections.

Kate: It's not my style to do that kind of thing.
Dazza: Question, are they paying attention when you tell them things?
Kate: Sort of ... they look like they are paying attention, but I think their mind are elsewhere
Dazza: wear a Dazza Dallas dress then!

Kate: You means ones which make boobies stand out and the skirt which is far too short?
Dazza: Oh yeah, and wobble all the time
Kate: But that's just being flirty ...
Dazza: You are coaching a team of perverts, worked for me!

Kate: You have a point, you did get an Oxen cup final with this team.
Dazza: See if it works, the team need to win the next game.
Kate: I don't have your girly voice either, they like girly bimbo voices
Dazza: Shake your stuff! They might respond

Kate: One more question, the hotel people say there's an underwear thief in the hotel.
Dazza: Oh, it's one of the players.
Kate: I see, thanks. I though it was.
Dazza: He's harmless, just a little weird.

The Albrecht Herald
C&M Beats Sons*
By Tracker Edwards

That C&M will have won few neutral fans with this performance will not keep Mark Baker awake at night. The Sons of a Monkey seemed the most adventurous side throughout; the Big Blues patient and stealthy. And stylish, make no mistake. How Baker has managed to mould such a glossy side against the back-drop of an unashamedly up-and-at-‘em domestic league may become one of the great mysteries of our times. And while this style may have already led to large, distressing defeats against some of the big boys of world football, with many fans calling for a more gung-ho outlook to at least make a ninety-minute massacre worth watching, at this level C&M look far from out of place.

If there is one individual who must win the plaudits out of this highly-drilled outfit, it is Speed Wang. Ironically, Wang was not intimately involved in either C&M goal, and must take partial responsibility for the late Legova strike that gave the Sons some hope. Still, the number 21 was his team’s driving force; chasing after every ball, running Poopu and Dawobbli into the ground, and still finding time to deliver the odd killer pass. As a younger man, Wang was rightly accused by many of being a legend in his own living room, but the Albrecht Turks star has finally come of age, and is a true colossus in the C&M midfield despite his relatively diminutive size.

His status as the match’s centre of attention allowed his team-mates to poke and probe against the opposition almost unnoticed in the early stages of the first half. Manager Cantsingh for the Monkeys sent the Sons out with the most offensive 4-4-2 you’re ever likely to see, with early wave and wave crashing against the brick wall of the Big Blues’ back line, before Wang began to take charge. An excellent ball on fifteen minutes left O’Sullivan Caras and Steven Fritz two-on-one; but not for the only time in this match Fritz fluffed his chance. Mere days away from his thirty-second birthday, we must wonder if C&M’s star man of World Cup qualifying is starting to suffer the curse of the thirty-plus forward.

If Fritz’ much-valued pace is petering-out fast; his awareness is at least still firmly intact. On twenty-five, Creteshues for the Sons missed one of his side’s few golden opportunities, and C&M began a masterful counter-attack. A long pass from Damien Sono found Caras, who slipped the ball past Fat, found a superb change of pace to nip around the left-back, and found Fritz with a similarly top-notch cross. The Albrecht FC striker was in the right place – of course – and knocked a simple finish past goalkeeper Ping.

To say C&M weathered a storm until the decisive goal in the seventy-fifth minute would be hardly accurate despite making few clear-cut chances. The Sons dominated possession for sure, but could do next to nothing with it, with the veterans Torrealba and captain Waddington in particularly good form. Baker was however honest enough post-match to acknowledge that Mamdooh Momtaz gleefully-taken finish settled a few nerves, after the twenty-nine year-old set for Atlético Jutense got on the end of a hopeful Caras cross.

Later, in rising well above the mildly disappointing Adrian Mazzeo, Legova gave a not-unfounded respectability to the score sheet for the Sons. C&M’s win was however seldom in doubt here, and their control of this match must speak well for the future. We must however note the emphatic performances of Sativaville, Endmile, the hosts Kura-Pelland and, perhaps most notably, Vephrall’s excellent-if-narrow victory over the somewhat higher-ranked Lovisa in our very own Group E. That the Lovisans will see three points against us as vital in our next clash could prove their undoing, assuming Baker’s men can keep up these spoiling performances against attacking sides.

http://spaam.mrdrake.net/flags/Candelaria And Marquez.png C&M 2
Fritz 26, Momtaz 75

http://spaam.mrdrake.net/flags/The Sons of a Monkey.png The Sons of a Monkey 1
Legova 85


* The broadsheet Herald considers ape-, monkey-, and banana-based jokes beneath them. It’s still a rather unfortunate headline, though. Corporal punishment is strictly illegal in C&M.

Tactical Analysis with Will Edmund
Will checks the stats to discover the players of Matchday One

Defender: Matthew Richardson (Billopesha)
His team may have been demolished by Sativaville, but Richardson was blameless; supplying some immense tackles and key interceptions. He suffered from none of the miscommunication of Hills and Roberts, and proved powerful throughout.

Midfielder: Speed Wang (Candelaria And Marquez)
Always a player to put you on the edge of your seat, Wang was at his masterful best in running rings around the Sons’ midfield and pulling their defence all over the place.

Striker: Li Chu (Jariss)
Jariss laboured to a depressing defeat against Rejistania, despite their opponent’s internal problems and the efforts of Li; who provided some quality touches in key areas.

__________

Breaking News from the Albrecht Herald

http://i176.photobucket.com/albums/w175/candelariaandmarquez/lan1.jpg

The Candelaria And Marquez Soccer Association have confirmed in the last few minutes that they are “entirely uncertain” of the whereabouts of C&M squad member Lan Albret.

Locals in the city of Varlona, C&M’s base for the ongoing Cup of Harmony, told reporters that the thirty-year-old Albrecht FC right-back, who suffers from a rare medical condition giving him a covering of thick, brown hair; was seen to leave the team hotel in the early hours of this morning. Unconfirmed reports have suggested that Mr. Albret took a hire car to nearby Neegara, before taking the M5 motorway to the large city of Trilan. He is not believed to have taken a plane from the city’s international airport, but his subsequent movements and current location remains unknown.

Mr. Albret was reported missing by the C&M travelling party at 11 AM yesterday morning. No mention of his disappearance was made by players, officials or the team’s management in the lead-up to the evening’s clash with the Sons of a Monkey, and today’s statement represents the first official confirmation of his unscheduled absence.

Released jointly with the CMSA and the members of the national team, the statement says that all relevant parties are “very concerned for Lan’s safety”, and have appealed for the player to contact them.

Update from the Kura-Pellandi Transport Police

A man believed to be Lan Albret was spotted at Trilan Centrepoint railway station yesterday.

Contrary to some rumours, he did not travel to Trilan International Airport, but instead to the city centre, for he was apparently seeking the Candelarian embassy in the capital Trilan. He was spotted by a group of Vephrese fans exploring Trilan.

It is believed he attempted to book accommodation in Trilan but was unable to due to problems with documentation, but has been given space in a youth hostel in the nearby town of Minsten, and will return to Varlona tomorrow morning.

RP cutoff at 2000 UTC - scores will be delayed until approximately 2045 UTC

Cup of Harmony Underway
by Jan Kruis

The 28th Cup of Harmony Tournament, being held in Kura-Pelland, got off to a great start today, with the State team scoring a 0-3 victory over Jeru FC in Einegen. Although the USSE didn't qualify for the World Cup proper, the fans are really showing their support for the team here in Kura-Pelland. They're here in force, and and they're making their voices heard. The stadium resonated with the sound of the Endmile fight song as our team dominated the military squad from Jeruselem.

The group draw is a pretty interesting one. All of the teams in our group are teams that we've played before, and that know our style. The decisive win over Jeru FC is a great start and a good confidence builder, but the real challenge will come against Daehanjeiguk and Kiryu-Shi. Kiryu-Shi we have faced twice before, with one tie and one loss. They are a solid team with skills, and we'll have to work hard to beat them. We faced Daehanjeiguk once before - in the Baptism of Fire final where we lost on penalty kicks. In any case, these matches should be close and it will be some great football to watch.

The only other 2FS nation invited to CoH was Grotewohl, who lost 1-0 to the hosts today in a very close match. Unfortunately, it doesn't say much for their chances in the tournament. Hopefully, they can get some offense going and get some points.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

USSE announces roster for Cup of Harmony
By Omar Kessel

The State today announced the roster for the 28th Cup of Harmony Tournament, to be held in Kura-Pelland. There were rumors that the lineup would be changed, but apparently Manager Maarten Timmons decided that he liked the current squad. So, it looks like we'll have the same team as we had in the World Cup qualifying round.

Style: +2
Formation: 4-3-3


Starters
Position Name Number Club Team
FB Tiebout Ensminger 19 Powerhouse
S Henrik Klusener 12 Royal Blood FC
CB Staaf Messeker 3 Destruktor
CM Henric van Nostrand 9 Powerhouse
S Everhart Pieterszen 0 Arbeidervuist
CM Rudolf de Ruine 16 Destruktor
S Skipper Schaers 10 Red Army
CM Veit Schoeman 21 FC Koningen
GK Vader Schut 14 Powerhouse
CB Noach Steffy 11 Royal Blood FC
FB Thijs Tullier 13 Royal Blood FC


Reserves
Position Name Number Club Team
MF Lange Baans 1 De Prinsen
DF Wib Coerten 15 FC Bloemenstad
GK Vanderveer Enck 6 FC Koningen
MF Arje Heynkes 5 FC Gelderdrecht
FW Tjaart Koning 18 Powerhouse
DF Ambrosius Manus 8 Life FC
MF Wam Rindel 20 Het Vechten Blauw
FW Jeroen Schulte 4 FC Bloemenstad
DF Jaap van Waert 2 De Stem
DF Stef Wiekens 7 Het Vechten Blauw
FW Waldemar Yonkman 17 Destruktor

Captain: Vader Schut
Penalty: Everhart Pieterszen
Set Piece: Henric van Nostrand
Right Corner: Henric van Nostrand
Left Corner: Rudolf de Ruine


My opponent, if they RP first, may do the following:
Choose my goalscorers: Yes
Godmod Scoring Events: Yes
RP injuries to my players: Yes
Godmod injuries to my players: Yes
Hand out Yellow cards to my players: Yes
Hand out Red cards to my players: Yes
Godmod Other Events: Yes

OFFICIAL MD2 SCORES
GROUP A
Sativaville 0 Kura-Pelland 1
Billopesha 3 Grotewohl 2

GROUP B
Jeru FC 0 Kiryu-shi 2
Endmile 0 Daehanjeiguk 1

GROUP C
Jariss 0 Dance 2 Revolution 2
Rejistania 4 Sorthern Northland 3

GROUP D
British Londinium 1 Kristovenia 1
St Samuel 2 Novapsolu 3

GROUP E
Candelaria And Marquez 1 Lovisa 1
The Sons of a Monkey 1 Vephrall 0

"Haaele, Estadiiki liiek telaan?" The rejistani asked. She was lost and hated to admit that, but despite that asked for the way to the stadium. People seemed to look weird at the small dark-skinned person as if she was an alien. Well, she was but a legal alien: a rejistani in Kura-Pelland. She tried again. Probably her accent was not good, or her grammar too much rejistania-influenced. Oh right, Estadije was a rejistani term, which made it into the progressan of the immigrants to Rejistania. No wonder no one understood where she wanted to go to. What was the traditional term again? The modern kireshi was very different from traditional progressan and thus it was like speaking a totally different language. Also the fact that apparently cars were legal again made her nearly despair. Has Kaze Progressa forgotten everything of its proud heritage when it remerged under a different name? The Player would STILL be the same according to her excelite beliefs. Eventually it dawned to her that Kaze Progressa was no more and probably the Player as well. This was a completely new nation. With some help of English as well as hands and feet she managed to get to the stadium in the nick of time.

STV SportsBASH

The Hosts used the crowd to the fullest advantage as they pulle dout a 1-0 win over the Potheads today. The lone goal was scored in the 29th minute by the home team's left forward attacker. The loss just about clinched a berth in the next round for Kura-Pelland. Despite the loss, Sativaville can clinch a spot in the next round with a win over Grotewohl.

In other Group A action, Billopesha win a close match 3-2 over Grotewohl.

As mentioned before the next match is against Grotewohl, Grotewohl needs to beat the Potheads to have any chance to advance to the next round, while Billopesha needs a win over Kura-Pelland to advance. There are other senarios in which Sativaville and Billopesha can qualify.

Other scores:
GROUP B
GROUP B
Jeru FC 0 Kiryu-shi 2
Endmile 0 Daehanjeiguk 1

GROUP C
Jariss 0 Dance 2 Revolution 2
Rejistania 4 Sorthern Northland 3- HIGH SCORING MATCH OF THE DAY

GROUP D
British Londinium 1 Kristovenia 1
St Samuel 2 Novapsolu 3

GROUP E
Candelaria And Marquez 1 Lovisa 1
The Sons of a Monkey 1 Vephrall 0

Today's Broadcast Presentation of Football Today, brought to you by MBC International:

申崇謙: This is Shin Sunggyeom once again, to render the day's stunning announcements once again! Today in Eenigen, we had a fiery contest between the two Baptism of fire finalists, and at the close, it was the Imperial Team who confirms the better of the two sides, again in a close and well-fought match. The match never seemed to fade as the two sides battled ferociously between the two sides. Yi Jeongyeol was out in the goalkeeper's box for the first time in his career, and for a first time against a powerful opponent, he performed remarkably well. There were still a few leaks in defense, but his technical skill managed to keep the especially close shots out. Around the 30th minute, the Imperial Team had an early scare, as Endmile had a successive run of five corner kicks as the defense continued to play the ball first. It was finally Yi Eulyong who booted the ball out to Kim Dohun, for an early chance to take the lead. The attack faltered, and falling back, Song Jungguk passed the ball out wide to Go Jongsu, where he made a cross and nearly laid a nice header for Seo Jeongweon in the 35th minute. At halftime, it was all even - nil nil. The Imperial Team started the second half, dominant in their approach. Yi Dongguk carried the ball up for a shot, only to watch the goalkeeper grab the ball in midair, snatching away that shot. It was a remarkable save that kept the slate clean - as clean as the match would remain. Late in the 81st minute, it was Seo Jeongweon, playing out the match. Carrying the ball up, he rushed the defense, passing the ball out to Yi Dongguk in the penalty area. The call was off-sides, but it was a late tackle for an Endmile defender, who had managed to ram Seo Jeongweon with the cleats. As pitiable the tackle was, the referee lacked any similar pity and gave the player a red card in the box. It was a penalty kick once again that settled the score, with Kim Byeongji coming in for Seo Jeongweon, and taking the critical kick. As the 83rd minute came along, he settled a top corner lob that the goalkeeper couldn't refuse. The Han crowds turned wild at the sight and although Endmile did manage to carry the match through without another shot on their goal, that one goal was enough to separate the two teams.

Kim Byeongji, voted man of the match, is here now with us, to give his remarks on the goal, and also to give his own biography. Kim, welcome to the show.

金秉址: It is a pleasure to be here with you.

申崇謙: Now, first a quick question. Seo Jeongweon; he received a pretty nasty blow to the gut. Have you heard on his condition?

金秉址: Well, I've heard that it's not severe, but the trainers doubt that he will be fit to play tomorrow. He's had a rough season, and I can only sympathize with him. He's really a great player, and he's served the team very well. At times, I think he does better than me, only because he starts so many times and performs very well in every match. It's a shame to see him walk off like that.

申崇謙: Now, the referee's call. Was it fair?

金秉址: I don't know. I mean, he did serve justice. But I don't think the Endmile player intended to hurt Seo. After all, it was a high ball, and there was so little time to stop. But sometimes, tragedy hits in football.

申崇謙: Well, that was a spectacular match, despite the slender difference between the two sides. Do you think the Imperial Team will qualify with such small differences?

金秉址: I think its' close, but we will definitely make it to the next round.

申崇謙: Now, let's talk about Cafundeu. You and the team are missing out on an opportunity to go to the state for the World Cup, but earlier in the Qualifiers, the IFA reported that you were selected to join the Cafundelense First Division. How did you feel about that, and what do you expect to do when you get there?

金秉址: I'd rather think about now, but I'm excited. It's my first real chance to go abroad and demonstrate my skill to another set of fans. I've played against their national team before, and they are really good. I think the team over-all can benefit when some of our select players go over-seas to play in foreign divisions, because it helps prepare us tactically. We study other teams play and perform. It opens us to different ways of playing, and I think that is valuable. Of course, I hope to introduce Han styles to Cafundeu, but I personally doubt that I'll make any significant mark while I'm there. I'm just one player in a team. It takes much more than one person to change things in a football match.

申崇謙: Well, some people elsewhere would disagree with you on any other day. But let's talk about your own history with the team. You've contributed 10 goals of the 43 that the Imperial Team has scored in the past year. How do you feel about that?

金秉址: Wow. I didn't really think it was that high. But then again, I never count my goals. I don't think it's good to reflect on your personal achievements, but more so on how well the team performs over all.

申崇謙: That's a good ethic, and I think that more than anything will demonstrate the superior Han characteristic when you go to Cafundeu. You'll do well there, and we wish you well. Do you have anything else to say before you go back?

金秉址: I don't know how many times I have to say this, but I truly adore the fans. There were probably 10,000 people in the stands waving the Imperial Flag and showing a huge block of red in the stadium. It's really impressive to go to every match and watch this block follow you, cheering you on no matter what. They've been a very loyal following, and I'm very glad to have had such tremendous support from the fans. They really are the 12th man on the field sometimes. Some day, the Emperor should subsidize the fans for their loyal work.

申崇謙: Someday, but not today. Thank you very much, Kim.

金秉址: Thank you. I'll see you around.

申崇謙: It was another victory in Group B, as Kiryu-shi trumps the Army Team - Jeru FC - by a comfortable margin, 2-0. They currently hold the top position. For Jeru FC, it will be an early exit, as they currently have no hopes to qualify, even if they should defeat the Imperial Team in the next match, as it was originally scheduled earlier in the drafts. Nonetheless, the match against Endmile was a comfortable indiciation that the Imperial Team has adapted to the atmosphere in Kura-Pelland. Here's the line-up and Group stats; this is Shin Sunggyeom, and thank you for watching!

Match Summary:
82' - END RC
83' - HAN Goal (#21) (PK)

GROUP B
Pos Team P W D L GF GA GD Pts
1 Kiryushi 2 1 1 0 2 0 2 4
2 Daehanjeiguk 2 1 1 0 1 0 1 4
3 Endmile 2 1 0 1 3 2 1 3
4 Jeru FC 2 0 0 2 0 4 -4 0

Kim Yongdae

Yi Sabik Pak Geonha Choi Jincheol

Go Jongsu Yi Eulyong Song Jongguk Heo Jeongmu

Kim Byeongji

Kim Eunjung Kim Daeeui

Kate Dallas answers a phone ...

Dallas: Bushie! How's the team!
Bush: Crap ...
Dallas: Aw, come on. Jeru FC played really well against from the team from Kiryu-shi.
Bush: Is your mother there?

Dallas: No, she's working on her training course. She needs to practice it before we get to our clients.
Bush: Anyway since we lost, we're coming home early as I expected.
Dallas: Well, they aren't losing like TEN NIL
Bush: I'm glad I'm taking over a real football team for next cup.

Dallas: You guys haven't scored a single goal yet?
Bush: Nope, I don't think we will either.
Dallas: Try System Takil!
Bush: Well, since it doesn't matter if we win or not - I might just try that.

Dallas: Hey, we have spots on the training course. Want to book in?
Bush: Thinking about it, yes book me in.
Dallas: You'll be just like Mum, stepping out in style.
Bush: Not me, I'll be bumbling and fumbling my way around the media.

Dallas: How about Katie girl being your spokeschick?
Bush: Well, not a bad idea. Cameras scare me.
Dallas: I love cameras.
Bush: Well, you handle the tricky questions, like ones about people's sex life.

Dallas: The boys behaving themselves?
Bush: Nope!
Dallas: Are they actually trying to win?
Bush: Yes, but I don't know about their ability to actually win.

Dallas: They did win two games during World Cup 36.
Bush: But not against good teams.
Dallas: They'll get better
Bush: Well, it's not my problem for next cup.

Vephrall's number one media outlet, the Meice Journal, is apparently almost ready to resume normal distribution after the bizarre Banana Riot of 1736 put it out of circulation for a year and a half. During this time, media coverage of international sporting events has been nearly nonexistent, and to this day little is known about the Vephrese team's exploits in the Cup of Harmony. It is known that the team recorded a fortuitous 1-0 win over Lovisa in the first match - not quite as great a feat as the win over Turori in World Cup qualifying, but impressive nonetheless. Unfortunately, the offense was never able to get going in the second match, with the play mostly being bogged down in midfield. The Sons of a Monkey were able to get a couple of decent attacks going, and one of them resulted in what would ultimately be the winning goal - 1-0 to the opposition.

Those Vephrese who do know what is going on with the competition, however, have primarily been looking forward to the third and final match of the group stage. Candelaria And Marquez gave Vephrall its first ever defeat in an international football tournament, knocking them out of the Baptism of Fire Tournament in the second round after both teams went undefeated as part of the near-flawless Group 7. Obviously, the fans are hoping for revenge in Varlona today.

The Albrecht Herald
Zag makes a point*
By Tracker Edwards

In a twisty-turvy group; C&M followed-up the Sons of a Monkey’s win over Vephrall by holding the rather higher-ranked old-timers Lovisa to a draw.

It was a game overshadowed by the disappearance of Lan Albret; but despite the team’s protestations to the contrary, it would be unfair to use this to explain-away this below-par performance. The Lovisans, to their credit, were the better side throughout, never looking in danger of loosing to the Big Blues, and will justly feel themselves unlucky to come away with but a point. Not for the first time, it was the heroics of the C&M defence, superbly marshalled by man-of-the-match captain Peter Waddington, that saves the blushes of the over-run midfield.

Lovisa clearly showed themselves to be considerably less naïve than the Sons of a Monkey from the kick-off, man-marking Speed Wang out of the game. The star of the last match suffered a torrid time, though only in the second half did the Lovisans resort to kicking him about. Substituted late on, Mark Baker claimed that Wang has no lasting pains from his ordeal, but will never-the-less be rested (a euphemism for ‘dropped’ one has to wonder) against Vephrall.

With will o’ the wisp Mamdooh Momtaz seldom involved in the game at the business end, and Luis Enrique Torrealba forced well back into his own half; Lovisa had the run of the midfield. As such, they will rue their early caginess, not forcing Reuben Uwakwe to make a save until the fifteenth minute. Lovisa focused early on on their most advanced striker, but while his movement bewitched and befuddled C&M at times, Benji Fu finding himself booked for scything him down early on, his shot selection proved less than inspired. As such it was left to the left-winger to break the deadlock, cutting in with his left to fire a brutal shot past Uwakwe.

As a crowd, Lovisans are a quiet bunch but found themselves in fine voice as their team continued to dominate. Guilt-edged chances continued to go astray throughout the second half, though C&M were little better; Steven Fritz, Joey Pipes and Fu from a header all missing decent opportunities. A desperate Baker rang the changes, bravely bringing-off arguably his two most reliable players, Wang and Fritz, for Rex Sandstrom and Yasser Zaghloul. It proved – albeit with a considerably slice of fortune – a masterstroke. With two big players up front, C&M’s long-balls began to function as desired, and a punt from Torrealba found its way onto the rising head of Zaghloul. The oft-maligned KT Hotspur striker renewed the status of C&M super-sub earned in the Baptism of Fire in powering home the equaliser. Subsequently, Lovisa’s confidence seemed to evaporate, and the Big Blues became the dominant force for the first time in the game, though late efforts from O’Sullivan Caras and Zaghloul again were hopeful in the extreme.

The thousands of Candelariasian fans nestled into their new Varlonan home, serenaded the Lovisan players with not-inappropriate cries of “Who are ya?”, and cheered their boys on to a vital point. All concerned will know that the next performance must be considerably better, with the Vephrese undoubtedly smarting from their surprise defeat, and Rejistania, Novapsolu and the competition hosts all looking scarily good; but an honourable draw from the jaws of defeat is never to be sniffed at.

http://spaam.mrdrake.net/flags/Candelaria And Marquez.png Candelaria And Marquez 1
Zaghloul 77

http://spaam.mrdrake.net/flags/Lovisa.png Lovisa
Number Eleven 26

*At least a draw saves us from “C&M Many-Splendoured Thing” headlines, et al.
_________________

The Albrecht Herald Online/Breaking News

Baker to wring the changes.

C&M coach Mark Baker has broken with his usual settled line-up by naming three changes to the starting XI to face Vephrall. Speed Wang is the most notably victim, rested after a physically demanding clash with Lovisa. Yasser Zaghloul, who scored against Vephrall in the Baptism of Fire, will start in his stead, with Mamdooh Momtaz moving back into midfield to give the side a 4-4-2 set-up.

With continued concerns over Lan Albret, and thusly the defensive situation in the squad with Kieron Tomlinson also unavailable; right-back Damien Sono finds himself replaced by Damien Waterman. Joey Pipes is dropped from the left-wing, with step-over king Jos Cornelisse his replacement.

GK Reuben Uwakwe

DR Damien Waterman
DC Peter Waddington (c)
DC Benji Fu
DL Adrian Mazzeo

MR O’Sullivan Caras
DM Luis Enrique Torrealba
AM Mamdooh Momtaz
ML Jos Cornelisse

FR Yasser Zaghloul
FL Steven Fritz

_____________


A smallholding, a few miles outside of Trilan

Their eyes met with a trail of devastation. A cast-iron gate had been ripped clean off its hinges, a tractor tossed aside like a mere matchbox toy. A fence had similarly been pulled apart, seemingly just for the hell of it, but only the bravest of the nanny goats had made a tentative bid for freedom. The rest were huddled in a corner, shivering in the early morning sunshine.

“Kids…” Billy Ashworth muttered as contemptuously as his twenty years would permit him.
“You reckon?” his marginally more sensible kid brother asked him. He directed Billy’s gaze to the ground. A trail of footprints suitable only for the most freakish of basketball players were etched into the mud, leading to the old barn. Rover had spotted them too, and was slowly working his way towards their point of cessation, nose to the ground.
“Arright… I’m going back for poppa’s ol’ shotgun. You say right here now Bobby, y’hear? Don’t move a muscle. Rover! You too, boy.”

The dog heeded his master’s words, and made to stand guard at young Robert’s feet. But the boy was already inching forward. He felt almost transfixed by the grunts coming from the barn. What on earth was the creature doing in there? All the goats were accounted for, and there was nothing to suggest it’d swiped any of the other animals.

He crept closer still, motioning to Rover to stop growling. He poked almost imperceptibly at the barn door. Was that… was that crying?

Strangely emboldened by sheer terror, he gently pushed the door open. A brown heap sat in a far corner, pools of tears drenching its fur. As he adjusted to the dark, Bobby stifled a scream. He saw an inhuman monster. All too human eyes saw Bobby.

Pretty much simultaneously, a youth hostel in Minsten

Their eyes met with a trail of devastation. The door had been pulled clean off its hinges, pieces of a clock pulled from the wall lay spread about the room. There laptop-shaped hole in the window.

“Kids…” Dave Combfield muttered.
“I don’t think so…” his companion corrected, pointing to several mounds of thick, brown hair on the bed. “Not unless someone’s really been enjoying themselves in here…”

"Oh my god this sucks!" The producers of Channel 57 were not impressed with the new set-up of a once hugely successful gameshow, "Who Wants to be a Millionaire?".
"Well what should we do?" they asked and they pondered through the night.

---

Maeda: Have we got coverage of Dance 2 Revolution -v- Rejistania sorted yet?
Assistant: Yes, Channel 57 have agreed to take the coverage.
Maeda: I thought they had a full schedule for Saturday?
Assistant: Who Wants to Be a Millionaire? has had it's contract with the channel terminated and we're taking the 7-10PM spot, with Deal or No Deal moving to the late afternoon spot, and Dealing Debts has moved to the graveyard slot.
Maeda: Ah right, that is excellent news. Are we still negotiating for a permenant spot?
Assistant: Channel 57 have said they are prepared to offer a slot depending on the ratings brought in from the live match.
Maeda: Excellent, is the advertisement sorted?
Assistant: Channel 57 will be advertising this heavily, and we have advertising deals with several companies ready.
Maeda: Haha, football is coming back!

---

The Revolutionarian Football Association have announced they have struck a deal with some of the famous Progressan stadia creators. Dance 2 Revolution plan to create upwards of 30 stadia across the landmass of Dance 2 Revolution as they continue their redevelopment after the Revolutionary Wars. The RFA hope that this redevelopment will help to create two competetive professional leagues, and creating a new international stadium at the heart of the country.
As noted previously, the west of the country, formerly Kaze Progressa, already contains many magnificent stadia and Dance 2 Revolution is hoping that the country may host another tournament when the redevolpment is completed.
"This new project is a great step in the right direction again" said one representative. "It may take a while, but we hope this will take us back to our former glory, maybe even finally allowing us to host a tournament here."
When asked about Dance 2 Revolution's chances against Rejistania, he replied: "Haha, it's Rejistania, it'll be close but they'll come out on top...as always". Dance 2 Revolution will be hoping that isn't the case, as otherwise the Revolutionaries might be eliminated at this early stage.

---

Gameshow results:

Deal or No Deal: Deal taken at C57,300. C50 and C500,000 remained as the final two, C50 in the box
Who Wants to be a Millionaire?: Player left with C50,000 after getting the C250,000 question wrong.
Dealing Debts: Julie, a student, won the game and had her debts of C12,000 cleared.

STANDINGS AFTER MD2

GROUP A
Pos Team P W D L GF GA GD Pts
1 Kura-Pelland 2 2 0 0 2 0 2 6
2 Sativaville 2 1 0 1 3 1 2 3
3 Billopesha 2 1 0 0 3 5 -2 3
4 Grotewohl 2 0 0 2 2 4 -2 0

GROUP B
Pos Team P W D L GF GA GD Pts
1 Kiryu-shi 2 1 1 0 2 0 2 4
2 Daehanjeiguk 2 1 1 0 1 0 1 4
3 Endmile 2 1 0 1 3 2 1 3
4 Jeru FC 2 0 0 2 0 4 -4 0

GROUP C
Pos Team P W D L GF GA GD Pts
1 Rejistania 2 2 0 0 6 3 3 6
2 Dance 2 Revolution 2 1 1 0 4 2 2 4
3 Sorthern Northland 2 0 1 1 5 6 -1 1
4 Jariss 2 0 0 2 0 4 -4 0

GROUP D
Pos Team P W D L GF GA GD Pts
1 Novapsolu 2 2 0 0 5 3 2 6
2 British Londinium 2 1 1 0 3 2 1 4
3 Kristovenia 2 0 1 1 2 3 -1 1
4 St Samuel 2 0 0 2 3 5 -2 0

GROUP E
Pos Team P W D L GF GA GD Pts
1 Candelaria And Marquez 2 1 1 0 3 2 1 4
2 The Sons of a Monkey 2 1 0 1 2 2 0 3
3 Vephrall 2 1 0 1 1 1 0 3
4 Lovisa 2 0 1 1 1 2 -1 1

Group winners direct to quarter-finals. Runners-up and one nominated team not otherwise qualified to repechage round.

OFFICIAL MD3 SCORES to be posted here shortly. This is the RP cutoff.

OFFICIAL MD3 SCORES

GROUP A
Billopesha 1 Kura-Pelland 0
Sativaville 1 Grotewohl 2

GROUP B
Endmile 0 Kiryu-shi 2
Jeru FC 4 Daehanjeiguk 0

GROUP C
Rejistania 2 Dance 2 Revolution 1
Jariss 2 Sorthern Northland 2

GROUP D
St Samuel 3 Kristovenia 1
British Londinium 1 Novapsolu 2

GROUP E
The Sons of a Monkey 0 Lovisa 2
Candelaria And Marquez 2 Vephrall 2




updated tables to be posted here shortly

Tables, sorted with head-to-head as the first tiebreaker:


GROUP A
Pos Team P W D L GF GA GD Pts
1 Billopesha 3 2 0 1 4 5 -1 6
2 Kura-Pelland 3 2 0 1 2 1 1 6
3 Grotewohl 3 1 0 2 4 5 -1 3
4 Sativaville 3 1 0 2 4 3 1 3

GROUP B
Pos Team P W D L GF GA GD Pts
1 Kiryu-shi 3 2 1 0 4 0 4 7
2 Daehanjeiguk 3 1 1 1 1 4 -3 4
3 Endmile 3 1 0 1 3 4 -1 3
4 Jeru FC 3 1 0 2 4 4 0 3

GROUP C
Pos Team P W D L GF GA GD Pts
1 Rejistania 3 3 0 0 8 4 4 9
2 Dance 2 Revolution 3 1 1 1 5 4 1 4
3 Sorthern Northland 3 0 2 1 7 8 -1 2
4 Jariss 3 0 1 2 2 6 -4 1

GROUP D
Pos Team P W D L GF GA GD Pts
1 Novapsolu 3 3 0 0 7 4 3 9
2 British Londinium 3 1 1 1 4 4 0 4
3 St Samuel 3 1 0 2 6 6 0 3
4 Kristovenia 3 0 1 2 3 6 -3 1

GROUP E
Pos Team P W D L GF GA GD Pts
1 Candelaria And Marquez 3 1 2 0 5 4 1 5
2 Vephrall 3 1 1 1 3 3 0 4
3 Lovisa 3 1 1 1 3 2 1 4
4 The Sons of a Monkey 3 1 0 1 2 4 -2 3

The group winners, and automatic quarter-finalists: Billopesha, Kiryu-shi, Rejistania, Novapsolu, Candelaria and Marquez.

The group runners-up, who enter the repechage: Kura-Pelland, Daehanjeiguk, Dance 2 Revolution, British Londinium, Vephrall.

The sixth nominated team for the repechage round are Jeru FC.

The draw for the repechage and the knockout stages will be made tomorrow at 1500 UTC, the repechage will be scorinated at 1000 UTC Tuesday, with the quarter-finals at 2100 UTC that evening.

Today's Broadcast Presentation of Football Today, brought to you by MBC International:

申崇謙: I hate to be the one to give bad news, but it's honestly one of the worst team performances in history, if not the worst. The Imperial Team was supposedly taking home field advantage, but for some reason this was changed at the last moment, where the Army Team took the coveted place. Apparently, this put the Imperial Team on a short spot, as Jeru FC took the lead early in the 15th minute. It was alright up to that moment, as Kim Yongdae conceded his first goal in the tournament. Unfortunately, a freak accident put Kim Yongdae out of the box. I have yet to receive word on whether he will be able to play the remainder of the matches, but all indications say no. With Kim Yongdae out, Head Coach Cha Beomgeun made a hasty substitution for Kim Ho. It was a second goal that went from bad to worse. At halftime, the score was a gleaming 3-0. Kim Ho was obviously not in his best state, and the defenders were apparently still out of shape. Offense had no opportunities to score, and the accidents of the first half continued as the Army Team took their final goal in the 66th minute - omnious reminders that the Imperial Team can have a bad day. The Imperial Team's performane moderately improved in the second half of the second half, but no amount of woe can amend the loss suffered in the match. In any other tournament, it would have been one of those freak exits, but early gains against Kiryu-shi and Endmile helped keep the Imperial Team in 2nd position, enough to put the team into the "repechage" group - whatever that means.

In any case, I'll be coming back tomorrow with more updates on the Imperial Team. It was Kiryu-shi that turned out to be the unlikely saviors. They bashed Endmile 2-0, and helped keep the Imperial Team in 2nd position. Unfortunately, Endmile ends their Cup of Harmony Tour, cut back by Jeru FC's surprising win today. And surprisingly, Jeru FC take the hosts hearts as they win a second chance in the repechage groups. It's my personal hope that the two teams meet on a sunnier day, because all in the Empire will woe this one day as the worst in our history.

This is Shin Sunggyeom, reporting for MBC International. Here's the Final Group Standings, and we're waiting on Head Coach Cha Beomgeun to release the team line-up for the repechage match.

GROUP B
Pos Team P W D L GF GA GD Pts
1 Kiryushi 3 2 1 0 4 0 4 7
2 Daehanjeiguk 3 1 1 1 1 4 -3 4
3 Jeru FC 3 1 0 2 4 4 0 3
4 Endmile 3 1 0 2 3 4 -1 3

OOC - Look what happens when I mention System Takil, LOL

Kate Bush: Dazza! I can't believe it ... it's not real ...
Dazza: Hey, Jeru FC looked like Bettia!
Kate Bush: I know, I didn't believe it. Was it the same team I was thinking.
Dazza: See, there's hope for Jeru FC.

Kate Bush: Actually, it was your daughter's idea.
Dazza: Katey girl?
Kate Bush: She's a smart girl!
Dazza: I wonder where that come from? (giggling)

Kate Bush: I know, she's going be a handful when I manage the Jeruselem team.
Dazza: So, System Takil for next game?
Kate Bush: Why not, let's go System Takil all the way.
Dazza: Probably because the team can't defend if they tried.

Kate Bush: Yes, they can't defend. You'd need a brick wall in front of the wall to call it defense for them.
Dazza: Well, good luck!
Kate Bush: Dazza, System Takil for the national team - what you do you think?
Dazza: Won't work, the assistant coach won't like it.

Kate Bush: Maybe you are right, the 4-3-3 formation is already a bit hit and miss when it comes to making 2nd round.
Dazza: Yeah, we'll concede to many goals. We do have sound defense, why remove it.
Kate Bush: I'll experiment with System Takil with this team anyway.
Dazza: Say, did dressing like whore get attention of the guys?

Kate Bush: Yes, no wonder they pay attention to you.
Dazza: System Takil, it seems to work!
Kate Bush: It's all or nothing now.
Dazza: Yeah, the boys looked good finally.

The sixth nominated team for the repechage round are Jeru FC.


(ooc: Why is a team with a 0 GD going through when Sativaville with a +1 GD isn't???)

NEWS FROM AROUND THE WORLD:

And our final news item of the day, from Marleyville, Sativaville, this direct quote: "WE QUIT". When asked for more information, the government offical we contacted had this to say: "FOOTBALL...WE QUIT"

The decision was made based on RPing, and Jeru FC had a higher RP-bonus throughout the competition. I will say, however, that Sativaville were the only team to be even close, and were there an additional spot it would most certainly have gone their way.

As it is - tag for knockout draw. It'll be either earlier or later than planned, as I'm going out at some point. Repechage matches are tomorrow morning UTC (1000), with the quarters following eleven hours later at 2100.

The Albrecht Herald
Wingers give C&M quater-final pass
By Tracker Edwards

Mark Baker will be just one of thousands, if not millions, of Candelariasians waking up with a headache today. Another undefeated group stage has propelled C&M straight into the quarter-finals, this well-earned point against Vephrall securing an extra day’s rest, whilst the likes of Kura-Pelland, Daehanjeiguk, Dance 2 Revolution and the Vephrese themselves must labour away in the repechage round.

The coach’s bonce pains will not like the rest of us be the result of uncharacteristic overindulgence of one form or another – one can hope at any rate – but the selection nightmare he has found himself in. After the performances of Jos Cornelisse and Yasser Zaghloul, can Baker really afford to break up a winning team?

Before we progress, a word is due on Lan Albret. Though reports coming on out Kura-Pelland are positive, this remains an incident overshadowing C&M’s tournament for many; not least, one must assume, his fellow players. The Big Blues’ management were keen to play down their concerns over their colleague’s safety last night, but comments by fellow Albrecht FC stars Reuben Uwakwe and Steven Fritz, among others, that they were “doing it for Lan” cannot help to hide the worries in the camp.

Never the less, both teams put on an excellent show yesterday, for all the tension they must have been feeling. News of early goals from Lovisa could have seen the game dribble away to a mutually satisfactory draw, but neither side elected to give any quarter. Both claimed long sessions of possession, refusing to give the ball away cheaply; but their attacking players were able to show their flair in equal doses.

The battle of the day was on the wings, as C&M’s left-sider Cornelisse clashed with the Vephrese number seven, Recasang Shuke throughout. The touch shown by both players was remarkable, with each player bamboozling the other with moves usually confined to the training park. But it was the Vephrese who laid the first blow, on seventeen; when Shuke, having left Cornelisse howling in frustration on the ground, gave a delightful ball to Going Systrobes. Uwakwe, making his first overt error in judgement of the tournament, came for the ball which, by way of a Benji Fu deflection, broke to Sorrah Wais who tucked home.

It was a deserved lead as C&M struggled for fluency in the early stages, Cornelisse gaining the upper hand increasingly on Shuke without finding an end product. On the half hour, it fell to O’Sullivan Caras on the opposite flank to take charge. Marauding past Spelaad Praumbeted, he crossed the ball to Yasser Zaghloul, who played across the face of goal for Caras to tuck home from a startlingly tight angle.

The endeavour from the two sides was a joy to behold, but with Vephrall at this stage heading out of the tournament, it was left to them to provide the game’s extra impetus. They were unlucky not to go ahead from Shuke, and Systrobes twice, with Fu caught out of position in an embarrassing five minutes for the defender in the early second half. For C&M, Zaghloul carved out a superb chance for Caras again, which the unpredictable right-winger put well wide.

As against Lovisa, however, C&M’s wing play could not make up for their deficiencies in the centre of midfield, with Torrealba starting to appear all of his thirty-three years and Mamdooh Momtaz not suited to playing this far down the pitch. Pembace Prorim and Sytrobes began to dominate them, and on seventy-six their efforts finally paid off, when the two combined to out-muscle their opposite numbers and march past the desperate lunges of out-classed Damien Waterman and an increasingly weary Peter Waddington to see Prorim smack home.

But C&M – and Cornelisse – weren’t about to give up their automatic quarter-finals place just yet. Eight minutes from time Cornelisse collected the ball in his own half, sprinted away past Hahnea Whaariny and Wendelors Clituleng, and under pressure from Sperobis Wilopteere in the box calmly took aim and fired past Doshese Rints in goal.

Come the quarter-finals, with Baker somewhat grimly predicting a BoF re-match with the Han, the coach will surely be forced to keep Cornelisse and Zaghloul in the side. The future of Momtaz, with Speed Wang waiting in the wings for his re-entry, remains rather less clear.

http://spaam.mrdrake.net/flags/Candelaria And Marquez.png Candelaria And Marquez 2
Caras 31, Cornelisse 82

http://spaam.mrdrake.net/flags/Vephrall.png Vephrall 2
Wais 17, Prorim 76

________________

Lan urrghed quietly, and moved over slightly onto his side. The comforting supply of adrenaline was washing away fast, and he was becoming all-too aware of gaping wound. Apparently, he though, the confrontation with the gate hadn’t been as one-sided as it had at first seemed.

Bobby noticed the blood on the hairy man’s battered suit, too. “You okay, mister…?” he ventured, whilst backing ever so slightly away.

Lan volunteered another urrgh, by way of an answer. The boy metaphorically twiddled his thumbs. “My name’s Bobby,” he offered, falling back on Ingratiatingly Cute mode for want of anything more productive to provide, “Um… do you have one?”

“Lan. Short for Lancelot. Um. You couldn’t just remove that nasty big lump o’ metal sticking into m’ ribcage, could you?”

Unwilling to see anyone in pain; human, animal, vegetable or mineral, the boy reached forward to remove the offending item. “Thanks, mate,” Lan muttered through teeth gritted with pain, “Thou’re a toff.”

They were interrupted by a frenzied shout of “Bobby!” from outside, and the elder brother galloped into the barn, wielding a mud-caked shotgun. “For God’s sake get away from it!” he yelled, grapping the boy’s shoulder. As he did so, his eyes fell towards the stricken Lan. He paused. “Um… Are you that runaway footballer that was on the news?”

“I was,” Lan conceded. He clocked Billy’s gaze on his injury. “’S’all right. I’m a quick healer.” He sighed forlornly.

“Right. Is there, y’know, anybody we can call, or something?” Billy asked, concerned.

“No! Not anymore.” Lan sighed again. “All these years I lived there, y’know,” he began, finally letting it all out. “Since I was a baby. And I could’ve been anything, y’know? Doctor, or a lawyer, or whatever, but no. Football,” he spat out viciously, “That’s all they reckoned I was good for, all my life. Just their bloody performing monkey. And now I know what I know…” he trailed off menacingly. “I’ll never trust ‘em again.”

Billy and Bobby looked at each other helplessly. “Is there nothing we can do?” the younger brother asked.

Lan turned and looked him up and down. His addled mind whirred. “Y’know what… I think there probably is,” he told him.

***

They should be bouncing, Mark Baker told himself. We’ve just qualified for the quarter-finals. Of a major international tournament. Again. And yet look at ‘em, misery guts all round. Bugger that great hairy idiot! What the hell does he think he’s playing at.

He turned at the sound of his assistant coach, Ricardo Garcia, entering the room. “Hey,” he nodded towards him. “Any news?”

“Nada.”

“Damnit. Come on then Ric, between you and me. You’re the psychology expert. You reckon he’s dead, or what?”

“Who knows, Bakes? But I doubt it. I expect things have just got on top of him, seeing all those monkey-men-things, an’ all.”

“But why does he have to go off and ‘find himself’ now, for heaven’s sake? The Albrecht FC lads say he’s always been a team player. And he’s thirty for heaven’s sake, shouldn’t he have grown out of all this by now?”

“He is a team player,” Garcia told him. “Maybe that’s been the problem. You know he was brought up in an orphanage, right? After he was found on the beach.”

“Vaguely. I don’t see that that’s any excuse, though. Better that than be passed around a hundred different foster homes. And I can’t imagine he’d be a prime option for adoption. If it’s a choice between some ethnically interesting little refugee kid or that great hairy wotzit. I’m sure he was well treated, anyway.”

“They did call him ‘Lancelot’…The point is, Mark, being a ‘team player’ is all he’s ever known. He’s been basically the responsibility of Albrecht FC since he was eleven. I don’t suppose he’s ever really had much of a concept of selfhood, before.”

“And maybe seeing members of a fellow non-human… y’know, primate species…” Mark suggested. Garcia scoffed.

“He’s human. Of course he is. He just has a medical complaint.”

“A very specific one… Oh, come on, Ric. Thee can’t still swallow the speciesist guff the government still churns out. We’ve played against gnomes! A bunch of elves might very well win the World Cup…”

Their debate was cut short by the entry of a secretary and general dogsbody for the C&M travelling party, who poked her head around the door. “Mr. Mark… Mr. Ric… They’ve found Mr. Lan.”

Baker and Garcia breathed sighs of relief. “Where?” they both asked.

“Um. He’s climbed a clock tower in Trilan and he’s holding a small boy hostage. Oh, and he says he’s got a bomb…”

http://spaam.mrdrake.net/flags/jariss.png Jariss 2-2 Sorthern Northland http://spaam.mrdrake.net/flags/sorthern_northland.png

Having completely forgotten about the first two games, The Morning Star today sent a reporter to cover SN's final Cup of Harmony game. But as this reporter got lost and ended up in Murley rather than Harrington where the game was taking place I had to make do with finding a pub to watch the game in. The banks of Lake Branagh were a splendid place to spend an afternoon watching football and drinking heavily. Jariss despite their heavily defensive style of play raced into a two goal lead with both goal coming from Minna Dawo. The second was a penalty but to be honest I couldn't really tell if it was a penalty as the fat bloke in front of me kept getting up and blocking the screen from my view.

The score remained 2-0 to Jariss at half time and SN came out for the second half looking stronger. SN's attacking play got it just rewards just 10 minutes into the second half following a wonderful interchange between Maran and Relondinho before Kim Mim-Kim tucked away for his first of the day. It was then 20 minutes before SN's second goa. Feng Shui on for the injured President O'Bagels put a cross into the box which the Jariss Tali Vindu keeper came to collect and missed, with the keeper stranded the ball bobbled over the line and in. Not much else happened after this, (that this reporter can remember anyway) and the game finished 2 a piece with SN finishing third in the group.

Vephrall remain in cup on technicality

VARLONA, Kura-Pelland -- An inspired performance from Vephrall's national football team turned out to be just enough to keep them in the Cup of Harmony for the moment.

Their opponents were Candelaria And Marquez, on paper the second most difficult after Lovisa. Everyone knew, however, that the C&M team showed a certain energy that Lovisa seemed to lack, and as such the team was under no illusion that the win over Lovisa indicated anything about potential performance in this match.

Nonetheless it was the black and red (Vephrall had been designated the away team for this match) that would draw first blood. Right winger Recasang Shuke had been battling it out with Jos Cornelisse for the whole first quarter-hour before finally managing to get free of his man. The way in which he did this surely warranted a foul, with Cornelisse finding himself on the ground for several seconds afterward, but the referee took no action. Shuke sent the ball in to Going Sytrobes, and the attacking midfielder took a shot when the opposing goalkeeper elected to come out for the ball; it was deflected off another player but still managed to reach Sorrah Wais, who did what he does best and put Vephrall up 1-0.

As the battle raged on in right midfield, C&M decided to try their luck over on the other side of the pitch, and just past the half-hour mark it paid off, with a nice bit of teamwork by O'Sullivan Caras and Yasser Zaghloul being a bit too much for left-back Spelaad Praumbeted to handle and tying the game at one.

The second half began much as the first half had gone, with Vephrall continuing to try to get it done on the wings, but after Shuke had won that battle in the seventeenth, the C&M wingers were quite determined not to allow it again. Vephrall increasingly gained the upper hand in central midfield, however, and finally Pembace Prorim saw his chance fifteen minutes from time, and with a bit of help from Sytrobes to hold off the opposition, he would convert the 2-1 goal.

At this point, Vephrall would have finished first in the group and automatically progressed to the quarterfinals, but the Candleariasians wanted that spot just as badly. In an effort to redeem himself for his lone first-half mistake, Jos Cornelisse took it upon himself to secure the spot for his team, successfully getting past no fewer than three opponents to send a beauty of a shot into the upper-right corner of the net for 2-2.

Vephrall finished the match with the third-best record in the group - one win, one draw, one loss, and a zero goal differential. Luckily for us, however, the tiebreaking procedures for the Cup of Harmony are different from those in the VTF*, with head-to-head results coming before goal differential. Thanks to the previously mentioned win over Lovisa (1-1-1, +1 GD), Vephrall was awarded second place in the group and will proceed to the "repechage", which is apparently some sort of playoff, against an opponent yet to be announced. It is, however, known that this playoff will be against one of the following: Kura-Pelland, Daehanjeiguk, Dance 2 Revolution, British Londinium, or Jeru FC. Fans are reportedly hoping to avoid the Han (always a strong side) or Kura-Pelland (against whom we have played three matches, and won all three, so surely those from across the rivers are out for revenge, particularly here at home).

FINAL SCORE
Candelaria And Marquez 2 (Caras 31, Cornelisse 82)
VEPHRALL 2 (Wais 17, Prorim 76)

* Vephraller Tririsec e Foutbill, Vephrall's domestic league.

The decision was made based on RPing, and Jeru FC had a higher RP-bonus throughout the competition. I will say, however, that Sativaville were the only team to be even close, and were there an additional spot it would most certainly have gone their way.

As it is - tag for knockout draw. It'll be either earlier or later than planned, as I'm going out at some point. Repechage matches are tomorrow morning UTC (1000), with the quarters following eleven hours later at 2100.

well its strange, coz Lovisa was 3rd in Group E, but was 4 points, the rest teams from 3rd places wasnt 4 pts, and I thing Lovisa will be a sixst team. In RL Lovisa will be in repasage.

OOC @ Lovisa: the decision was made solely on RP grounds, although if this were RL you are correct, the best third-place team would be chosen. The only reason for not doing this was to encourage all teams to RP. You will still gain a KPB points increase for your 4pts.

IC:

The draw for the knockout stages of the 28th Cup of Harmony

The five runners-up and the nominated side Jeru FC have been sorted into a random draw for the repechage matches. The scores will be released at 1000 UTC.


R1: Kura-Pelland V Vephrall @ Assiri
R2: British Londinium V Daehanjeiguk @ Hagen
R3: Dance 2 Revolution V Jeru FC @ Cardim

The winners of these games will join the five group winners in the quarter-finals:


QF1: Winner R1 V Candelaria And Marquez @ Fariynuff
QF2: Winner R2 V Novapsolu @ Harrington
QF3: Winner R3 V Kiryu-shi @ Murley
QF4: Rejistania V Billopesha @ Wulting


The semi-finals:


SF1: Winner QF1 V Winner QF2 @ Parwood
SF2: Winner QF3 V Winner QF4 @ Grayton City


3PPO is in Harrington, final in Trilan.

Today's Broadcast Presentation of Football Today, brought to you by MBC International:

申崇謙: Well, it's confirmed - the Imperial Team will play against the hardy British Londinian Team. It's enough that their country was recently recognized by the Imperial Academy of Foreign Affairs; but we take a deeper look into the history posed by the British Londinians and what this next match truly means.

Of all the countries that the Empire recognizes, we choose one that is barbaric and hauntingly uncivilized. In the early part of their history, they were renowned for their typical habits in declaring irregular wars upon many great nations, and for many years, they were subdued. Their saving grace - a respectable democracy that has a horrible habit of electing savage leaders - managed to bring them a great leader that heralded their first introduction into popular world affairs, improving their international prestige for a while. But soon, the great nation fell to old habits and suffered another blow after committing mass atrocities upon all peoples of the world. One nation of particular interest - Cazelia; this nation as of recent has been the focus of the British Londinium genocide, as its government had issued in place a barbaric occupation of their land. Furthermore, they had butchered their leadership - literally serving their guts and entrails to several of the world's other great leaders. Today, they continue their mass genocide against Cazelia by taking more subtle approaches, as denouncing their humanity in savage "documentaries" aiming only to make their occupation more justified.

Indeed, it will be difficult for the Han to tackle a savage and brutal people without any distaste for British Londinium policies. Our great civilized land has long learned to abandon such overtly barbaric policies and habits and to embrace the civilized nature of subtle diplomacy and harmonic balance. It will be a great shame for the Imperial Team to suffer a loss to these savages, but rest assured the Head Coach Cha Beomgeun has come to give indiciation of his great plans for victory. Cha, it is a pleasure to see you once again.

車範根: I have one question; are you really allowed to say such politically clouted statements about our opponents like that?

申崇謙: I am; I am a reporter.

車範根: Hmmmmmmmmmm... Anyway, I'm a coach, not a political analyst. I think that their country does some bad things, but that's no reason to call their team savage. I haven't seen them demonstrate it once in their competitions; at least of those that I am aware. They are a good players, and they've managed to steal 2nd position in their group. For that reason, they do pose a real threat. Now, the most recent rankings have put them at 75th position - a far cry from our current 49th position. Still, I think that we have to improve some things in our game, following the last meeting.

申崇謙: Well, the most important thing. Is Kim Yongdae going to be alright?

車範根: Kim Yongdae suffered a rare concussion, and for that, I'm not risking his health to put him on the field. I will be putting in Kim Ho, however. He did have a bad match last time, but I don't blame him for that. There was somee bad officiating, as well as some very good offensive play by the opponents - Jeru FC. But most of all, he hasn't been preparing for matches very much. We planned to put in Yi Jeongyeol, to give him some experience, but he's not ripe enough for the competition yet, even though he is older than Kim Ho. I do hope that he will play an important part in the following tournaments, but not right now. He played well for his first match, and it was a considerably good opponent too. But for now, Kim Ho will have to play.

申崇謙: Are there any other changes being made before the Imperial Team plays the savages?

車範根: ... Well, I don't plan on many, but I will be putting in substitutes during the match, to keep their performance at peak. I do expect to progress to the next round, but like all things, I can't guarantee it. It's going to be more difficult, since we will be playing one match and then another in such a hort time. But I do think we can manage it all.

申崇謙: Well, thank you very much for your comment, Cha Beomgeun. I wish you well in your preparation. Just to give our viewers a look ahead, once the Imperial Team beats the savages from British Londinium, they will progress to the Quarterfinals and play against Novapsolu, ranked 62 in the world. If we progress against Novapsolu, we will reach the semifinals, where we will have a chance to compete against the winner between Candelaria and Marquez - fellow BoF Groupmates and Quarterfinalist - and the winner of Repechage #1, between Kura-Pelland and Vephrall. After that, it's a messy game of what-ifs, but they all hinge on this next match. And we pray now that the Gods do favor us - the civilized regents of all under Heaven - against the brutes. This is Shin Sunggyeom, reporting for MBC International.




MBC INTERNATIONAL DISCLAIMER: The views and opinions presented in this broadcast do not respectfully represent or portray the vies and opinions of the management and programming of MBC International; the author of these views is solely responsible for his own views and opinions that he speaks on International Television. We are also required to state that the Great Celestial Regency of the Great Han Empire does not necessarily endorse or condemn the opinions expressed in this broadcast because it holds the tenet of freedom of expression - as decreed by the Emperor Jeongmu in the Imperial Edict of Voluntary Civic Duty of the 5th Year of the Emperor Jeongmu - dearly. Please address all complaints of libel and slanderous comments to the Imperial Foreign Affairs Ministry Office of Complaints and Concerns. Thank you, have a nice day, and we now return to our regular programming.

Line-up for next match:
Kim Ho

Kim Donghyeon Pak Geonha Wang Shinheun

Go Jongsu Yi Eulyong Song Jongguk Heo Jeongmu

Kim Byeongji

Kim Dohun Kim Daeeui

The meeting had been set...Maeda met with Channel 57 executive producer Adrian Melex following the Dance 2 Revolution - Rejistania game.

Maeda: Ah, Adrian, we spoke on the phone?
Melex: Yes.
Maeda: How were the ratings for the game?
Melex: They were satisfactory, slightly above what we expected.
Maeda: So how about a permenant slot for footballing fixtures in your programming schedule?
Melex: We're still not sure.
Maeda: Why not?
Melex: Well, we're not sure whether the ratings can be sustained at this moment in time. We are prepared to do the coverage for the remainder of the Cup of Harmony in place of a trial setting.
Maeda: And if it goes well?
Melex: We will consider offering to do the coverage of the next World Cup.
Maeda: You are aware of our plans to start up the domestic league again.
Melex: Yes, but that is a different story and so will be assessed as such.
Maeda: Then we will negotiate when the time is right.

---

Meanwhile on Channel 57: "Rejistania vs. Dance 2 Revolution LIVE!"

John: Let's cross over live to the Dance 2 Revolution manager, Darren Ferriol. Welcome, Darren.
Ferriol: Thanks, John.
John: What did you think of the Dance 2 Revolution performance tonight?
Ferriol: It was fine, nothing spectacular, but it got us to the repechage, and that's all I asked from the boys.
John: The Rejistanian's seem to be able to better D2R, no matter what the situation, and no change here, it seems.
Ferriol: Rejistania have a very talented, very professional bunch of players who seem to bring their A-game to matches against us. We've never beaten them in our history, but things always change, and there is the possibility that we can finally end the run against us later in the tournament.
John: Who will you be looking to avoid in the repechage draw then.
Ferriol: We have a capable team, and I see no reason to be afraid of the draw. There are going to be 5 other capable teams in there, and all pose a threat, but everyone remaining can beat everyone else, that's just how it goes. We wouldn't love football otherwise.
John: Thank you, Darren...

---

Flicking through the cable channels, the Kura-Pelland Channel catches your eye...The programme schedule reads: "Cup of Harmony 28: The Draw LIVE!"

Host: ...Vephrall, to be played at Assiri

(a small muttering can be heard from the crowd. the camera swoops to the screen, it reads "1. Kura-Pelland -v- Vephrall")

Assistant: Number 5
Host: British Londinium...will play...
Assistant: Number 3
Host: Daehanjeiguk, to be played at Hagen
Assistant: And Number 2
Host: Dance 2 Revolution...will play...
Assistant: The final number, Number 6
Host: Jeru FC, to be played at Cardim. ... And now, for the draw for the Quarter Finals.

(The assistant moves over to the 2nd bowl with numbered balls, again numbered 1 to 6)

Assistant: Number 1
Host: Kura-Pelland or Vephrall...will play...
Assistant: Number 5
Host: Candelaria and Marquez
Assistant: Number 2
Host: British Londinium or Daehanjeiguk...will play...
Assistant: Number 7
Host: Novapsolu
Assistant: Number 3
Host: Dance 2 Revolution or Jeru FC...will play...
Assistant: Number 4
Host: Kiryu-shi
Assistant: Number 8
Host: Rejistania...will play...
Assistant: Number 6
Host: Billopesha...This concludes the draw for the finals of the Cup of Harmony.

---

You continue to flick around the channels, you find Channel 32 has "Cup of Harmony Draw: The Reaction"

James: ...lay Jeru FC, what is your opinion of this match?
Nick: Jeru FC have a lot of heart, a lot of spirit. D2R will need to break that spirit down or they'll have a difficult and fruitless night. If they can, I think D2R have enough quality still to be able to defeat Juru go through to play Kiryu-shi.
Pete: And how about Kiryu-shi?
James: It'll be difficult, D2R have struggled with important matches all through their history, and they aren't the near the top team they used to be a long time ago, I can see Jeru or Kiryu-shi taking the win.
Nick: Yes, but lets face it, everyone doubts D2R's ability to do anything in well...anything. They're just going to have to become odds-defying.
Pete: That's all for tonight...

---

The odds from RBS have been released (Revolutionarian Betting Society...known by others as Real Bull...) for the current Cup of Harmony:

Kura-Pelland Evens - 9/4 - 9/4 Vephrall
British Lond 7/2 - 8/1 - 5/2 Daehanjeiguk
D2R 7/9 - 4/1 - 2/1 Jeru FC


---

This week on Gameshow D2R

Deal or No Deal Monthly Special: C2,754,250 deal took. Final 5 boxes: C0.01 - C5 - C100000 - C3000000 - C10000000. Final two boxes of C3000000 and C10000000. Player had C10000000.
Adam was eliminated from Big Brother with a record 98% of the vote, due to a panic from the producers, the audience outside was moved and Adam has been flown out of the country. Adam was unpopular due to his racist and sexist nature.
Henry and Julie drew on this week's episode of Countdown, both scoring 79 after Henry got the conundrum after 29 seconds.
Get 100!, a new gameshow, has been announced to be beginning next week.

KURA-PELLANDI MATHEMATICIANS, GAMBLERS TO 'MAKE MILLIONS' FROM REVOLUTIONARY ERRORS

Tens of millions of kaks have been placed on the British Londinium - Daehanjeiguk match from canny Progressans exploiting a monumental error from Dance 2 Revolution bookmakers.

With a British Londinium win available at 7/2, a Daehanjeiguk win at 5/2 and a draw after 90 minutes at 8/1, punters have spotted a way of spreading their bets for guaranteed profit.

By placing K100 on every outcome, the worst possible result is a Daehanjeiguk win, earning K250 plus a return of stake. That's a K50 profit on a K300 investment, a high rate of return by any standards, and potential for even more.

But there's an even better way. By placing K50 on a draw and K150 on a Daehanjeiguk win, the worst-case scenario is K150 profit - attained through a draw or a British Londinium win in 90 minutes. A Han win would earn K225.

Just about optimal for guaranteed returns; K108 on a Londinium win, K54 on a draw, K138 on a Han win. Good for K186 if the Han don't win in 90 minutes or K183 if they do. The very optimum strategy produces returns of K185 for any outcome; the exact ratios to four significant figures are 35.93% of proceeds on a British Londinium win, 17.96% on a draw and 46.19% on a Daehanjeiguk win.

The Statistics Department at Minsten University have invested their entire K4.5m cash reserves into the betting in these proportions, and on their advice the university's K43m cashpile has been invested in this way too; the guaranteed rate of return is an astounding 61.67%, ensuring the country's top university of an additional K29.3m.

Nobody at RBS, the bookmaker involved, was available for comment.

OOC at D2R: this isn't a dig at you at all, it's just me spotting the error in odds calculations and running with it into an RP. I've not seen anyone handle odds calculations properly yet - hell, I don't exactly know how to myself, though I intend to look it up...

ooc: this is precisely why i DON'T gamble... when the numbers are on me, I'll still lose :(

"Reeeekijo-mesit, reeeeeekijo-mesit!" The fans of the transregionals during the qualification and the following cup of harmony invented some new fan chants - even though 'xamjona tekne', 'xen'aru junis-omeh'ny' and similar audible war crimes were not forgotten. However, for the match against D2R, rejistani fans were really cruel and attempted to chant English (to a tune similar of la marmotte):
"The Dee-Two-Arr, the dee-two-arr will return home defeated
The lasane, the lasane it will like always beat it!"

Of course, the Orange-Blues and now transregionals never lost before against Dance 2 Revolution and surely did not plan so now. They came to the match determined to 'jisu and at least 'viki-ed, if you excuse the blatant rejistanisms. While the match was very close, the Transregionals never appeared to be content with a draw or a small lead. You would not imagine that this team used to be one of the most karelan teams in the world cup. The 2:1 victory was well deserved in the end - even though the fans of the transregionals of course preferred 'jisus as they used to happen against this team.

Kiryu-shi Breezes Through Group Stage; Anticipates Quarter Final Match

By Rebecca Doig

Murley, Kura-Pelland Despite an opening week scare from the Daehanjeiguk squad, the Kiryu-shi Dragons showed their strength with back to back two to nothing wins against Jeru FC and Endmile. Their opening match was a disaster by all accounts, a dreadful performance; highlighted by mind-numbingly bad football on the Kiryu-shi side that resulted in a draw. The best thing you could say about most of the Kiryu-shi players is that they tried, with the exception of keeper Jon Crow, who saved the game several times. Both sides, played miserable football, failing to defend effectively, but also failing to take advantage of any chances. The closest Kiryu-shi got to scoring, on their single corner kick in the 89th minute, was a result of a missed pass by Daehanjeiguk defenders, and the chances that Daehanjeiguk produced were all direct results of dreadful positioning and execution by the Kiryu-shi defense. The terrible shooting and adequate goaltending for both sides were the only reasons that neither team could score. Kim Yongdae played a solid athletic keeper, although several Kiryu-shi chances were not converted due to a number of missed kicks, the most memorable coming in the 31st minute, when Hellen Gandy’s shot from just outside the penalty area hit the side of her foot, causing the ball to head perpendicular from the direction she was aiming. To add injury to insult, the erratic kick hit Pat Mayberry in the back of the head, knocking him down and out of the game for several minutes. Kiryu-shi was lucky to make it out of the game with one point, and a chance to re-assert themselves as the solid football team they know themselves to be.

____The second match, against Jeru FC, was remarkably better than the match against Daehanjeiguk in almost every aspect. Even though the military team lost two nothing, they still looked better than either team in Kiryu-shi’s first match, which just shows how much Kiryu-shi improved over the one week. The military men of Jeru FC were solid; better than they looked during qualifying, even, but Kiryu-shi managed to put the game out of reach early with spectacular play by Pat Mayberry resulting in two quick goals. Mayberry, credited with a goal and an assist in the match, did not appear to show any discomfort from the slight concussion he suffered against Daehanjeiguk. The promising manager, Kate Bush, possible heir to the coveted Jeruselem managerial position, did a fine job controlling her players for the duration of the rest of the match, and even got them to rally a few times during the second half. However, Kiryu-shi’s defense was very solid, and with a few lucky bounces, Kiryu-shi ended the match shutting out their opponents, two-nil.

____The last match of the first round was against Endmile, a team that Kiryu-shi has not always played well against, drawing once in qualifying. Kiryu-shi managed their second strait solid win, though, with goals by Hellen Gandy and Giancario Diamanti leading to another two nil victory. Again, solid defense was the name of the game, as Kiryu-shi finished up their three matches without allowing a single goal, the only team to achieve this feat in the group stages. Their center defenders were on full lock down mode for the entire game, as Endmile could barely get any shots off. Kiryu-shi’s win clinched first place in their group, along with a spot in the quarterfinals. Two teams from their group, Jeru FC and Daehanjeiguk will move on to the repechage, along with the second place teams from the other groups. Jeru FC was selected after an incredible and surprising three nil win against Daehanjeiguk in their final match. Jeru FC’s new found strength, using the interesting strategy called System Takil, may interest Kiryu-shi, for the winner of the Jeru FC- Dance 2 Revolution will move on to face Kiryu-shi in the city of Murley. Kiryu-shi should look to build on their previous two matches and play another dominating defensive match.

Scores for repechage matches other than my own, for I can't find anyone else to scorinate mine:

British Londinium 1 Daehanjeiguk 4 [AET, 1-1 after 90 minutes]
Dance 2 Revolution 4 Jeru FC 0

Kura-Pelland v Vephrall coming after I find a neutral scorinator.

Kate Bush was looking at her watch as Jeru FC was being destroyed by Dance 2 Revolution. System Takil was great when you were winning and scoring goals but not too good when you are losing. Also Jeru FC weren't Bettia so as the minutes ticked away as fat lady was singing for Jeru FC, she rang Dazza Dallas.

Kate: Hey Dazza, we're coming home by looks of it.
Dazza: Not doing well at all I see.
Kate: That's alright, we won one game. It's all I really expected.
Dazza: System Takil doesn't always work. Well, it works if you have right team that is.

Kate: Anyway, I have a spot on the training course? I'll need it.
Dazza: You get the special seat in front Katey girl.
Kate: Thanks, oh dear the opposition scored again.
Dazza: Anyway, a good experience! You'll need it for the real deal next cup.

Kate: Well with this team, losing is an option. Jeruselem is different.
Dazza: And the expectations too.
Kate: Oh dear, one of my players got sent off.
Dazza: Hey, they are still fighting on!

Kate: Never mind, this game is gone.
Dazza: Not much time left.
Kate: Well, it's good thing we are going home. This lot are terrible team.
Dazza: I did alright with them!

Kate: I'm not into sex and nudity.
Dazza: It's all good clean fun!
Kate: Have to go, the fat ladying is singing right now.

Scorinated by The HURD, aka Rejistania (earlier matches involving KP were scorinated by D2R and Starblaydia):

Kura-Pelland 2 Vephrall 0 [AET after 0-0]

Quarters tonight!


QF1: Kura-Pelland V Candelaria And Marquez @ Fariynuff
QF2: Daehanjeiguk V Novapsolu @ Harrington
QF3: Dance 2 Revolution V Kiryu-shi @ Murley
QF4: Rejistania V Billopesha @ Wulting

The Albrecht Herald Online/Breaking News

Mark Baker’s Candelaria And Marquez face a clash with Cup of Harmony hosts Kura-Pelland, in their bid to make the semi-finals.

There was nothing to choose between Kura-Pelland and next-door-neighbours Vephrall, with the game goalless until extra time. Two late goals from the hosts ensured C&M would avoid another re-match with the Vephrese, but none the less provides them with another difficult challenge.

C&M Fitness Coach Steven Loovens, speaking on behalf of the team’s management with Baker and Ricardo Garcia unavailable, admitted that after the Big Blues’ fortunate draw against Vephrall in the last round; they were satisfied with the result of the game. Loovens was however keen to put out that there are no easy games at international level, particularly away from home, and that the Kura-Pellandi would start as favourites.

As far as the starting eleven goes; Mark Baker has sought to alleviate some of the problems in the centre of midfield, with Speed Wang returning from the bench in place of Mamdooh Momtaz. At right-back, Damien Sono replaces Damien Waterman. Crucially however, Jos Cornelisse and Yasser Zaghloul – both introduced to the first team since the start of the tournament – keep their places in a 4-4-2.

In another repechage match, Daehanjeiguk, who knocked C&M out at the BoF’s quarter-final stage, overcame British Londinium, also in extra time. They will face probably World Cup 37 co-hosts Novapsolu, for the right to player either C&M or Kura-Pelland.

***

“Bleedin’ heck, you two got here quick,” the Candelariasian consul to Kura-Pelland remarked to Mark Baker and Ricardo Garcia, as their car pulled up by the square in Trilan.

“Oh, it was fine. We took the A55 to by-pass the roadworks on the A51, and then it was just straight on southbound down the M5, although we did have that nasty little detour after the sheep incident, didn’t we Mark? Mark?”

“Shush, Ric.” The C&M head coach directed his assistant to the clock down. The impressive, if rather bedraggled, visage of Lan Albret was attached precariously to the Big Hand, now pointing worryingly towards a point in a hypothetical fifth dimension, by means of a guy rope. A small boy completed the once-in-a-lifetime scene, with his head buried into Lan’s torso. The police were staying back behind their hastily assembled cordon and doing their best to keep the situation calm. Mark however noticed a number of snipers carefully positioned around the square. “Has he spelt out his demands or owt yet?” he asked the consul.

“Chap with the loudspeaker’s been asking him for ‘em. I’m not sure he’s decided yet, actually.”

“Well, I wished he’d get on with it. I’m supposed to be in Fariynuff, up the other bloody end of the country.”

“Fair enough. Why don’t you talk to him, Mr. Baker. The local hostage-situation people reckon he might hark at you, anyroad.”

Mark nodded, and took the loudspeaker being proffered by a Kura-Pellandi. “’lo? Is this thing… Um. Hi, look Lan, why don’t we knock all this funny business on the head, yeah? We’ve got a game t’play tomorrow; it’s the bloody hosts, man! We need you… y’know… out there warming the ol’ bench.”

“What on EARTH makes you think I’d listen to you, little man,” Lan shouted down.

“Come on, mate. Come on down and we can get you the help you need, yeah?”

Ricardo Garcia rolled his eyes. “Yes, because intimating he’s crazy’ll really help the situation,” he muttered to Mark. His boss scowled at him.

“Come on, for the little lad’s sake. Poor little fella must be catching his dea— uh, be really chibbly up there. You’re a valued member of our squad, y’know,” he added, changing tack.

“I was your performing monkey!” Albret screeched, wobbling horribly on his lofty perch. “That was all I was ever going to be. Turned into some football-playing machine for the glory of nation. And a walking advert: Ooh, look at us, see how this poor afflicted hairy lummox can find success and stardom in our benevolent republic!”

“Oh, come on Lan,” Mark called, evenly. “If that was the case you’d have been made an athlete or something. Or you’d actually get into our first eleven,” he added, snidely.

“You don’t even know the half of it, gaffer,” Lan told him with a ‘poor, ignorant fool’ shake of the head. He readjusted himself, grabbing more tightly on to the boy with one hand, and reaching the other inside his suit. Snipers’ weapons cocked quietly. He pulled out several sheets of paper, which fluttered down to the ground. Mark pushed past several policemen, and at least one reporter, to grab them.

“Clarke’s Ape Army…?” he read out loud.

“It’s all there, gaffer. My history, plain as day.”

Mark noticed a web address on the bottom of the page. “planetaryconspiricies.ari?”

“’Course, I couldn’t read it ‘till we got out of the country,” Lan explained, his voice teetering on tears, rage and/or psychosis. “It’s banned in C&M. Can’t get into it. Someone told me about it a while ago, but I didn’t think to look until now. Turns out, right; forty years ago, David Clarke, yeah, when he was a few years into his Presidency, made a deal with some nation of super-primates, whereby we – C&M I mean – agreed to supply them with copious amounts of oil – you know it’s long been wondered where it all went back then – in return for young members of a under-caste, who’d be brought up in the Candelarias for use as cannon fodder. D’you see? After the Civil War, Clarke decided the military couldn’t be trusted any longer, so he’d replace them with super-loyal super-soldiers. Plus, no humans need to die in conflicts. Genius really.”

There was a mildly shocked silence. Mark broke it.

“Lan… even if this wasn’t just ludicrous speculation…”

“Oh, but there’s more, y’see? It all went wrong, right– ”

“How?”

“…and they had to kill them all, but there was this scientist, couldn’t bring herself to murder this little one, so she left it– ”

“…on the seashore. Yeah, I’m getting the picture, Lan. And I sympathise, I really do. I know Ricardo’s rolling his eyes over there, but it explains a lot. I’ve seen your physio reports, mate. If you’re human, I’m a gnome. And if I believe you, so will thousands. So come on down mate, and we’ll sort this out. We’ll make it the entire focus of our tournament. I promise.”

Lan nodded, undid the rope, and steadily inched down the tower. The terrified boy wriggled away from his grasp even before the ape-man’s feet touched the ground, and ran at speed towards his brother. In the same instant, a dull thud, heard only by those close enough not to be distracted by the sound of cameras going off, resounded through the square. Albret slumped and was out like a light.

Mark ran his hands over his face. “Was that really necessary…?”

“It was felt a conventional electroshock weapon wouldn’t work on him,” the Candelariasian consul explained patiently, as the flaccid bulk of Lan Albret was clapped in restraints and hastily manoeuvred into the back of a police van.

“What’s going to happen to him…? It’s not as though he actually had a bomb. And he was clearly never going to harm the little lad…”

The consul shook his head. “Let’s put it this way, Mr. Baker. C&M’s GDP for last year would struggle to cover the bail money…”

RBS apologise over error

The Revolutionarian Betting Society have apologised to punters over their recent betting odds for the match between Daehanjeiguk and British Londinium.

One representative from the company stated: "Due to an administrative error, the odds presented for the Daehuanjeiguk - British Londinium match were incorrect. Bets were halted at 4AM the day before the match after we noticed an irregular betting pattern. Unfortunately we could not cancel any previous bets due to Dance 2 Revolution's betting laws. This error has cost the company a projected C45M. We would like to inform stockholders that despite this loss, the company is still in a very strong position and we ensure that this will not happen again."

In other betting news, Dance 2 Revolution's odds-on status against Jeru FC looked well deserved, as the Revolutionaries thrashed Jeru 4-0. Dance 2 Revolution go into their game against Kiryu-shi in high-spirits, however with Kiryu-shi being favourites for their confrontation, D2R will be fighting against the odds again.

---

We cut to a private room in the back of a large building.

"Damn, why didn't you you figure that out earlier?!"
"I thought we weren't allowed to bet?"
"You're high up, you should know that we're struggling at the moment"
"Yes, but aren't we waiting for the television verdicts?"
"We're bleeding money, we can't afford to wait for them to make a decision!"
"I'm sure we can flo..."
"I don't want us to float. I want us to be one of the beacon's of the world again. Naoki has placed his ambitions high, but our current finances can't sustain this development."
"How about the government?"
"The government is too concerned with city restoration to be bothered about us."
"Advertisement? Special events?"
"There isn't much advertisement we can get, but we're trying...Special events wouldn't get us enough revenue."
"How about our..."contacts"?"
"Hmm...maybe"

---

John: Hello, Darren
Ferriol: Hello John.
John: How was the Jeru FC game?
Ferriol: It wasn't as easy as some of the media outlets seem to think it was. Yes, we scored 4. Yes we had most of the game. But it's not as if we didn't have to work for it. I watched Jeru's previous game and their implementation of all out attack and I could see that it was complete attacking overload, leaving the midfield and defence seriously undermanned. My formation choice of 5-2-3 for the match was received with upturned noses, but I think it showed effective for the situation. It was an unorthadox formation but it did work.
John: Kiryu-shi next. How do you feel?
Ferriol: Kiryu-shi seemed to breeze through their group with relative ease and will be very challenging. This result will possibly show whether Dance 2 Revolution can be successful at World Cup 37. It'll be a very stern test of character...that's for sure.

---

D2R's Gameshow Roundup.

Deal or No Deal: James left as a record low contestant, leaving with C0.01. Final two boxes of C0.01 and C15,000. Banker offer of C2,573.
Bullseye: Hannah and Kerry left with every prize except the ice cream maker.
The Price is Right: Barry went through to the Showcase Showdown, winning a pine table. Got a C2000...(to be continued)

Today's Broadcast Presentation of Football Today, brought to you by MBC International:

Public Service Announcement: Owing to two factors - the first being his overtly excessively slanderous opinions of the opponents, and the second being his excessive winnings from the RBS pay-out following the recent match - Shin Sunggyeom will not be presenting today's broadcast. Instead, we will have a cute purple dragon (http://www.pbs.org/parents/images/tvprograms/program-art-barney.gif) give the broadcast for us, to demonstrate the harmony of humanity, regardless of the sport and the opponent country's oppressive policies.

巴尼: Welcome to the Cup of Harmony Repechage Match! Today, we have a wonderful match between the evil British Londinium and the cute Daehanjeiguk. It was a fast match, and both sides had scored their first goals by the end of the first half. Kim Daeeui led up for the first goal in the 14th minute, while the British Londinians quickly rallied for an equalizer in the 24th minute. It was an even match for both sides during the second half, but goalkeeper Kim Ho did such a fantastic job - if he were here now, I would give him a great huge hug! And the Head Coach Cha Beomgeun did a good job too, spreading out the players and preparing for what became a extra time match. With substitutions for Kim Byeongji - Seo Jeongweon - for Go Jongsu - Go Jeongun - and for Kim Dohun - Yi Dongguk - the game became more settled for the Imperial Team. And the magic started to fly everywhere! Song Jongguk scored the second match in the 19th minute of extra time, and Kim Daeeui finished it off with two goals in the 24th minute and the 31st minute - to finish the exciting match with his first international hat trick! Kim Daeeui - our man of the match - is here to help me sing along our happy song!

I love you
You love me
We're a happy family
With a great big hug
And a kiss from me to you
Won't you say you love me too?

----SCENE CUT----

MBC INTERNATIONAL DISCLAIMER: The views and opinions presented in this broadcast do not respectfully represent or portray the vies and opinions of the management and programming of MBC International; the author of these views is solely responsible for his own views and opinions that he speaks on International Television. We are also required to state that the Great Celestial Regency of the Great Han Empire does not necessarily endorse or condemn the opinions expressed in this broadcast because it holds the tenet of freedom of expression - as decreed by the Emperor Jeongmu in the Imperial Edict of Voluntary Civic Duty of the 5th Year of the Emperor Jeongmu - dearly. We also promise to our viewers never again to use the cute purple dragon, because we don't want to receive trauma calls from our beloved viewers. Please address all other complaints of libel and slanderous comments to the Imperial Foreign Affairs Ministry Office of Complaints and Concerns. Thank you, have a nice day, and we now return to our regular programming.

Match Summary:
14' - HAN Goal (#10)
24' - BLN Goal
109' - HAN Goal (#8)
114' - HAN Goal (#10)
121' - Han Goal (#10)

Quarterfinal Line-up
Kim Ho

Kim Donghyeon Kim Jingyu Wang Shinheun

Han Paeng Yi Eulyong Song Jongguk Heo Jeongmu

Seo Jeongweon

Yi Dongguk Kim Daeeui

QUARTER-FINAL RESULTS
Kura-Pelland 2 Candelaria And Marquez 0 [scorinated by D2R]
Daehanjeiguk 0 Novapsolu 3
Dance 2 Revolution 2 Kiryu-shi 0
Rejistania 1 Billopesha 1 AET after 1-1; Rejistania win 3-0 on penalties

Semi-finals: Kura-Pelland v Novapsolu (Parwood); Dance 2 Revolution v Rejistania (Grayton City)

GAP Apologizes for Lack of Coverage
Rugtar - Editor in Chief
Grotewohl Associated Press

Unnoticed by our coverage staff we were unable to cover the Cup of Harmony that FLoG had participated in. Already eliminated with a 1-0-2 record, not much is to be said.

We apologize to our growing footbal fans, but be assured that future coverage will not be overlooked.

Chief Rugtar

OOC: Sorry I didn't get to RP much, moved and couldn't get internet for awhile. I'll be around for WC37.

OOC: The old WCDT is dead, long live the new WCDT (http://forums.jolt.co.uk/showthread.php?t=536285)

OOC: sorry for the shortness of this, I'm not at my own computer, and won't be until Saturday, at least.
IC:

The Chairman looked out his window, watching the scene below. A hard-fought battle was won by the Novapsolan Nationals, a Three to Nil thrashing over Daehanjeiguk. As he replayed the sights in his head, he smiled. The boys could do no harm, it seemed, and a shot at glory stood ahead, should they prevail in their next two matches.

And yet, as he watched the streets below, he felt uneasy. Below, on his own street, a crowd had formed, clad in the Blue and Charcoal colors of the flag and the team. The atmosphere was electric, the slowly growing crowd chanting and shouting, surging the humid night air with their energy and glee. Their...

the Chairman struggled for the right word, for it was foriegn to their times.

their... their... patriotism, he shuddered. For patriotism was a short step from nationalism, the scourge that pushed their home world to war and devastation, and nearly ended life as they new it. The Vapsolan State emerged from the rubble, quelling the bitterness of regionalism by removing the government, replacing it with controls and fellowships of those who knew their fields. Slowly the partial dictatorship came to pass, and peace came. The evacuation of their home, and subsequent landing on this faraway land changed it all.

After pondering the situation for some time, the Chairman smiled. Change was sometimes necessary, after all.

"Go get them, boys," he said to himself. "Give the masses something to cheer about."

ooc: not that I don't care - because I really do care - about the cares, but I'm so happy about other things that I'll just say that Barney was just executed for doing such a crappy RP job for me. And here's to hoping that the best team wins!

Two goals from soaring star Jose Cazarez put Kura-Pelland into the Cup of Harmony semi-finals as Candelaria And Marquez were defeated 2-0 at Walton Park.

A capacity crowd in Harrington saw Candelaria And Marquez absorb pressure well in the first half, their strategy of defence and counter-attack working relatively well until the half-hour mark when it was viciously used against them. After several minutes of sustained pressure, a corner was cleared off the line by Benji Fu, Joey Pipes burst into the box from the halfway line, crossed to Steven Fritz, but his header hit the bar and Kura-Pelland broke out themselves, finding Cazarez onside and with all the space he needed to casually chip Reuben Uwakwe from 20 yards.

Eight minutes later, patient play in midfield eventually found its way to Cazarez, who slammed a low drive against the inside of the post; the ball was about a foot over the line before Owakwe clawed it away, and the goal correctly stood as illustrated by TV replays.

The visitors - who have proved highly entertaining in this tournament, despite a worrying sub-plot over a gorilla-like squad player running riot in Trilan and Minsten - tried to forge their way back into the game, but the closest they came was in the 75th minute when substitute Rex Sandstrom hit the bar. After that, the game was virtually processional, and the fans were more exciting than the players they came to see.

A semi-final with Novapsolu at PBS Park awaits after their unexpected 3-0 defeat of Daehanjeiguk, who have been running hot and cold this tournament and ran cold at precisely the wrong moment yesterday. The other semi-final, at the Octagon, pits the falling stars of Rejistania against the re-emergent stars of Dance 2 Revolution in a repeat of their group-stage grudge match in the Roflcoptre Dome. Rejistania won that game 2-1, and have never lost to Dance 2 Revolution, including at the World Cup 17 final where they won in extra time.

The Albrecht Herald
Agony
By Tracker Edwards

When all’s said and done, semi-finals are for loosers. Our small, bland, islands have produced a quarter-finals football team par excellénce. We should celebrate that to the rafters. Once we’ve drowned our sorrows, obviously.

At least we weren’t eliminated on penalties after a three-three draw like last time. Kura-Pelland were the better side throughout, and while questions must be asked over the last-minute switching of this tie from Fariynuff to the city of Harrington several miles to the north, few would deny that the right nation progressed. And we must also temper our disappointment with the quarter-final exits of Daehanjeiguk and Kiryu-shi, both of whom would surely have held greater hopes of victory than we.

And heavens, if we need another excuse let’s blame injuries. Everyone else does. How unlucky was it that Jos Cornelisse – man-of-the-match in the previous round and now surely a belated fixture in the C&M starting eleven – was stretchered off on ten minutes, after a seemingly innocuous challenge by Zachary Fellendorf left the Cafundéu-bound left-winger with tournament-ending knee ligament damage. Joey Pipes should however be no mean replacement, and indeed the twenty-two-year-old helped to carve out most of the Big Blues’ best openings in the game.

If C&M are ever to move up a level, we must find a way of getting our young, skilful wingers into the game more. Be it at international level or the CMSC; Cornelisse, Pipes, O’Sullivan Caras, Nate Adams, José Filipe Cassumba Domingos, Seb Cerullei, Ben Edwards et al must be allowed to get on the ball and run at defenders at every opportunity. Events have proven that we cannot simply rely on our defence to keep clean sheets and hope a Fritz or a Sandstrom can nick one at the other end.

Young Joey will be kicking himself right now that he didn’t put his country one-up moments after coming on after waltzing past home favourite Tom Curatin only to blaze impetuously wide. It was a one, shining moment in an ocean of Kura-Pellandi domination, with Luis Enrique Torrealba in particular outstanding as the hosts toiled against C&M’s nine men behind the ball. Ironically enough then, that it was another rare C&M break that did for us, when the nimble Pipes skipped into the box and lifted a perfect dink onto Steven Fritz’ onrushing head. The elder man by a decade produced a fine effort which Will Hazzard somehow got a hand to, tipping the ball onto the cross-bar, and letting it bounce down into his grateful arms.

The goalkeeper’s subsequent ball out caught C&M napping, so expectant had they been of a corner. Giorgio Pezzoni raced down the right to feed the immensely talented young Jose Cazarez, who gobbled the ball up gratefully, skipping past Peter Waddington before netting with a cheeky chip.

We can certainly learn from Kura-Pelland’s refusal at that point to shut up shop. The hosts continued to maintain possession artfully, ignoring the screams of “attack!” from the baying hordes of local fans. Then, at their next genuine opportunity minutes later, Pezzoni again doubled-up with Cazarez, this time squeezing past a hopelessly lost Speed Wang. Cazarez was left with plenty of work to do with Waddington and Benji Fu closing in, but the striker simply opted to stay put and shoot, a beautifully subtle bend curving around Adrian Mazzeo and bouncing off the post into the net. Reuben Uwakwe manfully attempted to rescue it, but the old warhorse’s athleticism isn’t what it used to be, and despite pushing the ball to safety the linesman correctly flagged for the goal.

Kura-Pelland understandably sat back in the second half, two goals to the good on home turf. C&M played well at times without forcing Hazzard to make a save. There was a certain air of resignation about it all, despite the introductions of Nate Adams and Rex Sandstrom early in the second half for the ineffectual Yasser Zaghloul and the strictly defensive-minded Torrealba. On seventy-five; Adams and Caras, together dominating the right-hand side, combined to give Sandstrom the perfect opportunity to put Mark Baker’s men back in the game, but the youngster found only the bar.

In the increasingly searing heat, the Castillo FC player’s miss seemed to herald the petering out of the game for both sides. The Kura-Pellandi supporters took to their feet once more, and C&M were reduced to chasing shadows in the midfield.

And so, the remaining twenty players from C&M will return to Albrecht International tomorrow with their heads held in an only slightly stooped fashion, knowing that if nothing else they deserve to compete as this level. There will be fall-out, certainly; some of Baker’s more esoteric tactical decisions deserve questioning, while Lan Albretgate will move back into the sports pages as well as Page 1, with Albrecht FC lacking a right-back only days before the start of CMSC XXV (or whatever we’re supposed to call it in these strange days of time dilation).

But not to worry. The World Cup 37 Qualifiers start in a few weeks.

***

The Unsatisfying End Of The Worrying Subplot

“Gosh, Lan. Orange really isn’t your colour,” Mark Baker exclaimed brightly as he sat down opposite the massive, boiler-suited bulk of Lan Albret. The ape-like right-back scowled.

“What exactly are thee here for, gaffer?”

“Oh, y’know. Just thought I’d pop in, say ‘ello. Hello. We lost, by the way.”

“That’ll be my fault, then?”

“Not at all, big fella. The better side on the day, you win some you loose some, all that. Thing is,” he lent in towards Lan, dropping him voice to a whisper, “It’s really not great news for you. Good old-fashioned narrative causality being what it is, my guess is that had we won against Kura-Pelland, Damien Sono’d’f done himself a mischief somehow, Damien Waterman’d’f got himself sent off, and then we’d have had to call for you. You’d have been let out on bail, replete with electronic tag around yer ankles, and played an absolute blinder. Then, me being the jolly forgiving bloke that I am, I’d have arranged a little microlight or summat to get you out of the country, and you’d go off into the sunset to discover your true identity. All very poetic, if a little clichéd. But as it is,” Mark sighed, and rose quietly to his feet. “But as it is, Lan, we’re due back in the Candelarias tomorrow, so there’s not really much I can do for yeh…”

“You’re just going to leave me here?!” Albret snarled. “Rotting away in this godforsaken hole?”

“Oh shush, I think Kura-Pelland’s rather pleasant, from what I’ve seen of it.”

“They’ve got to you too, haven’t they?”

Mark sighed again and shook his head grimly. “I’m truly sorry for your predicament, Lan. But there’s nothing I can do…”

Lan watched him leave. “I won’t forget this,” he muttered, just inside Baker’s hearing. Poked all the way by burly security guards, he returned to his cell and listened grimly to the many locks clank. He sat alone in the early afternoon gloom.

And then was suddenly very aware that he wasn’t alone in the least. Perching on the washbasin was a figure bedecked head to toe in a long black cloak. His face was entirely obscured.

“Mr. Albret,” it said androgynously softy, but with a smile in its voice. “At the risk of seeming like a walking cliché, I’d suggest you’d come with me, if you want to live.”

Lan Albret didn’t have to be told twice. He reached out and touched the figure's hand. And then wasn’t there anymore.

OOC at C&M: I messed up in my RP. It really was in Fariynuff. And yes, it does get rather hot there, more consistently so than in Harrington. Curatin's popular in Fariynuff as well as Harrington though, as he used to live there...

OOC at Daehanjeiguk: You've made my day. That was hilarious. :)

SEMI-FINAL SCORES
both games scorinated by The User Generally Referred To As Commerce Heights

Kura-Pelland 3 Novapsolu 0
Dance 2 Revolution 1 Rejistania 1 [AET after 1-1; Dance 2 Revolution win 7-6 on penalties]

THIRD PLACE PLAYOFF
Rejistania 1 Novapsolu 2
FINAL
Kura-Pelland 1 Dance 2 Revolution 2

both matches scorinated by Bostopia