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Cup of Harmony 38
Dancougar

Welcome to the 38th edition of the Cup of Harmony football tournament! It may not be the World Cup, but it's a stepping-stone on the path to glory. And of course, let's not forget, hardware is hardware.

This tournament is mainly intended for World Cup non-qualifiers who RPed during their campaign, and following some rather painful deliberation, will stay that way. The non-starter sign-up method described in the bid thread will not be implemented, despite no objections raised at the time.

The following nations posted one World Cup qualifying RP but did not qualify, and will receive invitations for the Cup of Harmony. This tournament is opt-in, so a positive response must be received before the team will be included in the field. A response can be via telegram or by posting in this thread.

Invitations (Color code: red = declined, orange = provisional, green = accepted, black = no response)
Achtervolging
Akbarabad
Allemenschen
Arroza
Golgothastan
Greal
Italia Orientale
Jeruselem
Krytenia
Landau Institute
The McLaughlin Islands
Milchama
Nethertopia
Nong Nang Ning
Norwellia
O Ale Ale
Pasarga
Phillips Island
Quakmybush
Quintessence of Dust
Rejistania
Secristan
Silexhera
Somewhereistonia
Steroga
West Newmanistan
West Zirconia

The deadline for responses has passed. On with the tournament!

==============================================

Here is the group draw for the 38th Cup of Harmony.

GROUP A
( 9) Milchama (http://forums.jolt.co.uk/showpost.php?p=14824761&postcount=56)
(42) Quintessence of Dust (http://forums.jolt.co.uk/showpost.php?p=14749830&postcount=4)
(73) Nong Nang Ning (http://forums.jolt.co.uk/showpost.php?p=14751663&postcount=10)
(94) Rejistania
Stadium A: Healthmark Stadium (Stoneridge)
Stadium B: GNC Bank Stadium (Grandborough)

GROUP B
(38) Secristan (http://forums.jolt.co.uk/showpost.php?p=14760750&postcount=19)
(40) Akbarabad (http://forums.jolt.co.uk/showpost.php?p=14760767&postcount=24)
(60) Silexhera (http://forums.jolt.co.uk/showpost.php?p=14821712&postcount=36)
(88) Phillips Island (http://forums.jolt.co.uk/showpost.php?p=14775407&postcount=49)
Stadium A: Joseph Gandor Stadium (Lakeport)
Stadium B: Construction Hut Stadium (Aiken City)

GROUP C
(36) Greal (http://forums.jolt.co.uk/showpost.php?p=14766677&postcount=35)
(44) West Zirconia (http://forums.jolt.co.uk/showpost.php?p=14823416&postcount=49)
(69) McLaughlin Islands (http://forums.jolt.co.uk/showpost.php?p=14823418&postcount=50)
(82) Steroga (http://forums.jolt.co.uk/showpost.php?p=14821720&postcount=37)
Stadium A: City of Eastport Municipal Stadium (Eastport)
Stadium B: Kemaridohyou (Mizuno)

GROUP D
(22) Jeruselem (http://forums.jolt.co.uk/showpost.php?p=14761048&postcount=27)
(50) Somewhereistonia (http://forums.jolt.co.uk/showpost.php?p=14819779&postcount=35)
(57) West Newmanistan (http://forums.jolt.co.uk/showpost.php?p=14764879&postcount=35)
(77) Golgothastan
Stadium A: Aclaf Stadium (Port Royal)
Stadium B: Kirk County Stadium (Kildare)

GROUP E
(37) Nethertopia
(39) Arroza (http://forums.jolt.co.uk/showpost.php?p=14762046&postcount=29)
(64) Landau Institute (http://forums.jolt.co.uk/showpost.php?p=14763418&postcount=32)
(79) O Ale Ale
Stadium A: King Daniel III National Stadium (Yuki City)
Stadium B: Satoshi Hirano Stadium (Kishin)

GROUP F
(24) Krytenia
(53) Achtervolging
(66) Quakmybush (http://forums.jolt.co.uk/showpost.php?p=14827389&postcount=83)
(79) Pasarga (http://forums.jolt.co.uk/showpost.php?p=14763435&postcount=33)
Stadium A: Shin Jared Koeppel (Bradford)
Stadium B: Bellevue Motors Stadium (Coraopolis)

Each group is assigned two stadiums, labeled A and B. For the group-stage matchdays, the first match in each pair is played at stadium A and the second is played at stadium B. Venue information: Groups A-C (http://forums.jolt.co.uk/showpost.php?p=14821862&postcount=39), Groups D-F (http://forums.jolt.co.uk/showpost.php?p=14821863&postcount=40).

MD1 (Sunday May 31): 2v4, 1v3 (http://forums.jolt.co.uk/showpost.php?p=14825345&postcount=64)
MD2 (Monday June 1): 1v4, 2v3 (http://forums.jolt.co.uk/showpost.php?p=14826546&postcount=77)
MD3 (Tuesday June 2): 1v2, 3v4 (http://forums.jolt.co.uk/showpost.php?p=14828001&postcount=85)

Following the group stage, there will be a 16-team playoff bracket made up of the top two teams in each group plus the four best third-place teams. The tiebreaking criteria within groups are: points, head-to-head result, goal differential, goals scored, playoff game. The third place teams will be ranked likewise, with world ranking replacing the playoff game tiebreaker, except in cases where this makes a difference, e.g. the fourth/fifth place cutoff. That would result in one or more inter-group playoff games. Once the field of 16 is set, all sixteen teams will be seeded as follows: group winners 1-6, second place teams 7-12, and the rest 13-16. Again, the playoff game tiebreaker will be replaced by world ranking.

Knockout seeding and schedule (http://forums.jolt.co.uk/showpost.php?p=14828848&postcount=90)
MD4 (Thursday June 4): Round of 16 (http://forums.jolt.co.uk/showpost.php?p=14830862&postcount=102)
MD5 (Friday June 5): Quarterfinals
MD6 (Saturday June 6): Semifinals
MD7 (Sunday June 7): Third Place Game, Final

Scorination will generally take place between 10 PM and midnight (0200-0400 GMT) unless otherwise noted.

Congratulations on hosting the Cup of Harmony.

Use West Newmanistan at your discretion. If you need it to make a number, use it. If not needed, don't use it.

(West Newmanistan is "retiring" after this cycle).

Greal grudgingly accepts the invitation.

Nethertopia happily accepts the invitation.

Achtervolging also accepts.

Its almost been 20 cups, but Im finally in one of these.

Sign the Wanderers up.

The Institute accepts the invitation.

The monkey's are eager to do their thing again and score more goals.... we accept.

-Steve

We'll be there.

sure, why not?

A nation in chaos, buildings are closed, people are angry, riots in the streets.

Nobody knows what to do. Heck the MFA building has been burned down.

Still the Milchama Warriors accept the invitation to the CoH.

Steroga in.

Akbarabad is in.

Greal grudgingly accepts the invitation.

I knew you would! Good on yer!

Count us in as well.

And us, of course...

We shouldn't be here but we are ...

Paul wore the fixed smile of the slightly guilty as he watched a rusty Silexhera squad train at the City Athletics Centre. In the six months since the qualification process for World Cup 46, Paul Hart, Silexhera manager, hadn't been paying the required attention to his players and it seemed to be showing. Captain Couser Granite, shorn of regular football after a few months recovering from a calf injury, looked every one of his forty years as he tried to deal with the younger, speedier reserves. Gopher Sporaskid had lost the edge to his game that had made him such an important asset towards the latter stages of the qualifiers. Even Kelly Sporadic, Silexhera's best player by far, looked well behind the pace in midfield. Silexhera looked to be struggling against a team that could only be described as their Under 21s. Not a great situation, but not a bad one either. It offered, at the least, something for the future. Indeed, both Sporadic and Sporaskid were still in their teens themselves. Silexhera's future looked as bright and healthy as their new World Ranking of sixty. Paul had enjoyed reading that in the local newspaper. Sixty. And that was before the Cup of Harmony. With a win here or there they could well propel themselves higher.

Paul had been a busy man in the intervening months between the final qualifier in Dancougar and the news that his team would be returning there for the Cup of Harmony tournament. The new stadium, unofficially dubbed the "Frontier Stadium" in light of its position being technically outside of the country's borders, was half finished. Paul had been doing his bit in overseeing various parts of the architecture. It had been his idea to build it tall and menacing out of granite harvested from the surrounding areas. The pitch would be long and thin, perfectly suited for Silexhera's defensive play and his penchant for employing a through-the-middle attacking play. It also left ten yards either side of the goal-lines and touch-lines that could easily be expanded, to widen the pitch should Silexhera change their style and also serve to make the supporters closer to the action. It had also been his idea to use two trees in the area - that had, by chance, grown at regulation distance apart - and whittle them into goalposts for one of the goals. By his reckoning the new stadium would be the only one in the world to weave two standing trees into the actual pitch. Wood from the opposite end of the country was being used for the crossbar as well as for the other set of goalposts. He'd hoped to refrain from painting them so they'd retain their natural wood colour, but doubted this was in line with the rules. Still, it was a nice effect. The stadium would, when finished, hopefully hold almost thirty-four thousand people - exactly the population of the country when Silexhera had first started out in international football. That number now touched fifty-thousand. Silica City's resources were being stretched as its population almost doubled in three years, and there were plans to build new towns on both sides of the river that, just last year, had formed the eastern border of the nation. Plans were also afoot for some proper exploration of the wasteland that partially surrounded the country.

It was common knowledge that, just twenty-five miles south-east of Silexhera, the radiation reached slightly harmful levels and a hundred miles in it was downright dangerous to be around if you didn't enjoy growing extra toenails here and there. Silexhera knew next to nothing about the wasteland. Paul was sure, however, that other nations may just know more about the forsaken country than they themselves knew about it. Silexhera's new-found position in international affairs - something they'd never bothered with at all in their history before interest in football made it impossible to miss - potentially made a whole host of new information available. Indeed, Paul was sure he'd seen a few delegates from older nations - Rejistania, Krytenia, Kura-Pelland, Sarzonia to name but a few - whisper in each others ears whilst glancing in his direction.
"There's that Silexheran" they had seemed to be saying as Paul had attended the WC46 qualifying draw. "They're the guys who don't even know who their neighbours are"
"But aren't they next to..."
"Yep. Poor sods."
"Wow..."
Paul didn't know for sure those were the exact words. For all he knew they may have been discussing their respective hookers from the previous evening, but Paul was good with studying body language, and felt he knew when he was being talked about. It made him feel uneasy.

Kelly Sporadic turned his man, flicked the ball over an onrushing defender and pinged a pass over to Panther Doctor to finish into the bottom corner with a crisp half-volley. Paul was snapped out of his day-dream by the sound of his assistant clapping.
"Good goal, that" he said. His assistant looked over at him.
"We'll need a few more players who can do that, mind", his assistant replied.

The Cup of Harmony was just a month or so away.

I accept, as does Golgothastan (who I will post with later to confirm it).

Yes, we accept.

If somebody fails to accept or declines we'd like the chance of taking their spot (if it's free that is)

That's not allowed, unfortunately, the CoH is only open to teams which have taken part in World Cup qualifying. This goes as a reply to Queer Poco as well as a message to Dancougar: don't set bad precedents. The CoH is an invitational tournament for teams that have failed to survive qualifying, it should not act as a BoF.

*is crushed*

nevermind, should really get my finger out and get on with my league and apointing a national coach

If somebody fails to accept or declines we'd like the chance of taking their spot (if it's free that is)

Signup Queue
Queer Poco el Mono Ara

That's not allowed, unfortunately, the CoH is only open to teams which have taken part in World Cup qualifying. This goes as a reply to Queer Poco as well as a message to Dancougar: don't set bad precedents. The CoH is an invitational tournament for teams that have failed to survive qualifying, it should not act as a BoF.

OOC: With my Presidential hat on, I must say I have to agree with Adihan (as well as apologising for barging into this IC thread).

Despite Queer Poco el Mono Ara going about getting involved in just the right manner (asking the right questions, RPing friendlies during WCQs, posting in the Domestic Soccer Newswires thread, etc), they are not eligible for the Cup of Harmony, as they have not failed to qualify for the World Cup itself.

Simply put, Queer Poco el Mono Ara is better off signing up for World Cup 47 and its Baptism of Fire in the appropriate thread on ns.net's Sports forums found at:

http://forum.nationstates.net/viewtopic.php?f=7&t=1140

Once again, kudos to Queer Poco for the way you're getting involved, just hang fire a bit to get in on the action properly in World Cup 47.

That's not allowed, unfortunately, the CoH is only open to teams which have taken part in World Cup qualifying. This goes as a reply to Queer Poco as well as a message to Dancougar: don't set bad precedents. The CoH is an invitational tournament for teams that have failed to survive qualifying, it should not act as a BoF.

The same policy was in effect in Cup of Harmony 36, which I co-hosted with Cafundeu. It went unused, but the opening post in that thread (http://forums.jolt.co.uk/showpost.php?p=14422163&postcount=1) nevertheless states:

If you are out of this list, but want to participate, you can express your interest in this thread, but your sign-up won't be guaranteed. You can be placed in the Cup of Harmony if the number of countries from this list signed-up doesn't reach one of the desired numbers.

I'm well aware of the CoH's intention, but I also plainly wrote in my bid that I was going to retain that policy as a last resort for numbers. There were no objections posted in that thread, so I can only assume that the EWCC voted for my bid as worded, so that's what I'm going to implement.

Do we have a bylaw written somewhere that this is explicitly not allowed?

Remember: the invitation list does not include teams that participated in the WCQ but who did not RP. That's what that's supposed to allow — if teams that did so wanted to sign up, they could. This on the other hand is a totally different scenario.

Furthermore, the Cup of Harmony is worth more KPB rankings points by 150% compared to the BoF. A 0-KPB team winning all its CoH matches would end up with 1.5 more KPB points than a BoF team in the same spot.

There are multiple lines of WCC law that can cover this sort of situation, all referenced from NSwiki (http://www.nswiki.net/index.php?title=World_Cup_Committee), which are:

Article III: WCC-Sanctioned Events
1. The World Cup, Cup of Harmony, and Baptism of Fire Tournament are the only WCC-sanctioned events. The WCC or EWCC must not intervene in running any other event.
...
5. A party bidding to host a WCC-sanctioned event must declare, before voting starts, any significant changes from the normal operation of the event.

Article IV: Responsibilities
...
2. The host(s) of a WCC-sanctioned event have complete control of that event, except where that control has been given to the WCC, EWCC, or WCC President by other rules.
3. The EWCC may vote to replace the host(s) of a WCC-sanctioned event if they are no longer able to proceed as hosts or if there is a serious problem with how the event is run by the host(s). Should this happen, the President must choose the replacement host(s) from available bids.

The Unwritten Rule
The hosts are responsible for any fuck-ups.

Put simply, you can, technically, do it, but I can also, technically, hold a vote to prevent you from hosting in that manner. I am aware of at least one voter who, had they noticed that line in your bid, would not have voted for your bid and switched to the other instead. One more and that would have changed the result, which I think can constitute a 'serious problem' (IV.3).

That's not something I want to do, however, if I can help it, as I think we can all be sensible about it.

Queer Poco, also, seems to be fine with not-entering the CoH this time. I think it will be better for them if they don't and enter the Baptism of Fire for World Cup 47 instead. The Cup of Harmony's intention (I would say spirit) is to give the RPers who have failed to qualify from the WC Qualifiers a chance to earn ranking points and compete in their own Cup to continue their RPing. It is not designed for newcomer nations, and this is also reflected in the ranking formula, which rewards points in the recent CoHs more highly than the recent BoFs - an inherent unfair advantage if we allowed that.

Admittedly, there is no specific rule that says nations not involved in the WC Qualifiers cannot enter the CoH, but every single piece of prose text about the CoH for the last five/six/more years has had that at its heart - barring the two CoH bid threads you have been involved in, of course. This is something I intend to remedy at the earliest opportunity.

For now, I'd ask that you limit CoH signups/invite acceptances to those who have failed in the WC46 Qualifiers, to prevent chaos, arguments and, most importantly, precedent.

Put simply, you can, technically, do it, but I can also, technically, hold a vote to prevent you from hosting in that manner. I am aware of at least one voter who, had they noticed that line in your bid, would not have voted for your bid and switched to the other instead. One more and that would have changed the result, which I think can constitute a 'serious problem' (IV.3).

That's fine; I just wanted clarification that the policy itself is not (yet) illegal. As I did, indeed, declare the policy in the bid thread, I would have much preferred if the voters had spoken up at the time so this could have been addressed then. It also worries me that people weren't carefully reading the thing that explained what they were voting for.

In any case, rather than face the wrath of el presidente, I'll concede and withdraw the offending passages from the opening post to avoid further invocation of the Unwritten Rule.

Thank-you, now on with the show!

Now that all THAT's taken care of... we're at 22 (with an option on West Newmanistan for 23) and three nations that haven't responded yet. We're so close to a nice number.

24: One more nation accepts plus West Newmanistan, OR two more accept.
25: All three accept. (West Newmanistan will not be used in a 2+1 scenario as indicated by their provisional signup.)

Else we have a weird number that requires unbalanced groups or some such nonsense. Two more days before group draw.

Now that all THAT's taken care of... we're at 22 (with an option on West Newmanistan for 23) and three nations that haven't responded yet. We're so close to a nice number.

24: One more nation accepts plus West Newmanistan, OR two more accept.
25: All three accept. (West Newmanistan will not be used in a 2+1 scenario as indicated by their provisional signup.)

Else we have a weird number that requires unbalanced groups or some such nonsense. Two more days before group draw.

If no nations accept, I will throw in Logria for purely numerical reasons to give you 24.

We accept the invitation.

Phillips Island to the rescue! We're now at a good number regardless of whether the last two invitations are responded to by tomorrow night, so woo.

The group draw will be around 10 PM (0200 GMT). Teams may of course begin posting rosters and RPs now. As I neglected to mention style bonus in the bid thread, I'll set it now... -3 to +3 is the valid range.

If you're just going to reuse your World Cup roster, TG me and I'll link that one.

Matchday one will be scorinated Sunday night.

After Somewhereistonia's young side won Baptism of Fire 33, manager Toomas Ergma has stuck with a similar squad for the Cup of Harmony.

Nation: Somewhereistonia
Team Nickname: Eagles
Style Modifier: +2
Kit:
http://s156.photobucket.com/albums/t38/unreal229/th_2k3.png Keeper kit http://s156.photobucket.com/albums/t38/unreal229/th_2k3away.png 2nd keeper kit

http://s156.photobucket.com/albums/t38/unreal229/th_ToughSport3-1.png1st Kit http://s156.photobucket.com/albums/t38/unreal229/th_ToughSport3away-1.png2nd Kit http://s156.photobucket.com/albums/t38/unreal229/th_ToughSport3third.png3rd Kit

Manager: Toomas Ergma (led Qasarian Sparta to the league title last season, narrowly beating fierce rivals Dinamo Karrakiv).
Assistant Manager: Priit Vilba (Previous assistant to Dinamo Karrakiv manager, brought in to avoid splits between Dinamo and Sparta players)
Head Physio: Gustav Tolving (Owner of a sports physio centre outside Qasarian, he has shown a brilliant ability to bring players back from injury sooner than expected, as well as managing to avoid most injuries altogether).

Team roster. Positions shown within [square brackets]

First 11
1.Svante Klug, 23 [GK]. Klug has been a member of the Dinamo Karrkiv squad from age 16 and has already established himself as one of the best keepers in the Meistriliiga (the first division).
2.Justinas Volrat, 25 [LB]. Reliable and agile Skonto player who is hoping for a long and fruitful career. He can also play on the wing or on the right is necessary.
3.Kazys Kadleks, 26 [LCB]. Strong centre-back who is strong in the air. Kadleks is expected to make a solid back line with Lurich.
4.Andrus Lurich [vc], 30 [RCB]. The Qasarian Sparta centre-back and captain has performed exceptionally well in the previous season, ensuring that their team conceded on 29 goals; 17 of which were when he was out injured for 6 games.
5.Romualdas Sokk, 21 [RB]. Part of the winning Qasarian Sparta squad, having already made himself the first choice RB at 21, he will expect a long career for the Eagles.
6.Vladimir Paposki, 27 [DMF]. The solid Dinamo Karrakiv player has repeatedly helped to make sure they are title contenders by bolstering the defence. A strong tackler, he has a number of cards to his name; however he almost always wins the ball.
7.Vincas Taska, 18 [RMF]. The young star of the Dinamo team, voted MIP in the league last season after getting 10 goals and 18 assists during the season. Quick of the mark, he can trouble even the most experience LB.*
8.Czesław Keres [C], 28 [AMF]. The Dinamo captain has had mixed success at home during has career, but has worked brilliantly with Taska and has helped make Dinamo favourites for next seasons title.
9.Kukas Skormilonski, 32 [CF]. The Dinamo Karrakiv striker holds the record for most goals in a season (38), and most career goals (211) in the Meistriliiga.
11.Mart Kusnets, 17 [SS]. The talented striker has shown himself to be something of an enigma in the Empire charity cup and Baptism of Fire 33. Qasarian Sparta have thus far managed to keep the striker in the wave of bids from other local clubs.
13.Vladimir Nolakk, 21 [LMF]. The hardworking Skonto midfielder has become the under-21 captain and has already been marked as the future national captain and champion. He can play in most areas of midfield.

Subs:

10.Petras Zoltoks, 20 [CF]. The young Kalev Talla striker will most likely be used as a substitute for the aging Skormilonski. He has now gained a loan move to Quintessence of Dust.
12.Nikolai Baskovic, 32 [GK]. A long term, reliable keeper for Qasarian Sparta. His experience will be of great benefit to help Klug train. Whilst he knows he will probably never win a national cap, he is proud to be selected.
14.Vytautas Altosaar, 18 [CF]. The FK Kabano striker is part of what looks to be an impressive future for the national side.
15.Gintaras Ranilas, 21 [CB]. The Qasarian City has impressed recently and will make a strong reserve player for the team.
16.Kasper Grinius, 20 [CB]. First choice centre-back for the charity cup team, he has shown strength and determination, even when let down by his other defenders. He currently plays for Qasarian City but seems keen to move. He will join Zoltoks on a loan move to Quintessence of Dust.
17.Jurgis Ģipslis, 23 [FB]. The only Vetra Karrakiv player in the squad, he is hoping to bring his club success next season. Something most pundits regard as unlikely at best.
18.Povilas Drozdova, 24 [Wing]. A fast-paced player, he is seen as a crucial part of the winning Qasarian Sparta team. He would be unfortunate to not get many caps in the Baptism of Fire tournament.
19.Vytautas Törk, 19 [MF]. The player is a surprise choice, but his good work as a substitute in the Charity cup have almost certainly won him the place in the squad. He currently plays for Qasarian Sparta and hopes to have a long term future there.
20.Antanas Zuokas, 20 [Wing]. The Atlantas winger has shown great skill and determination to join the squad and looks to have a good career ahead of him.
21.Jaan Schmidt, 25 [SMF]. The Metalurgs winger has repeatedly shown his ability to break through defenses, with excellent dribbling skills and the ability to provide the killer passes to the forward men.
22.Kazys Grodzinski, 31 [DMF]. A solid player for Metalurgs, this is likely his last chance to make it as an international player.
23. Klass Oim, 20 [GK]. The Qasarian Sparta second choice keeper retains his place in the squad and looks to be primed for a career as the national reserve keeper.

If my opponent RP's first they can:
Choose my goalscorers Yes
Godmod Scoring Events Yes
RP injuries to my players Yes
Godmod injuries to my players No
Hand out Yellow cards to my players Yes (only up to 3 a match)
Hand out Red cards to my players Yes (no more than 1)
Godmod Other Events Y Yes

Teams may of course begin posting rosters and RPs now
Ah. Erm, there's an RP of mine on the previous page. You can pretend I've put it here in really small writing if you like.

_
_
.

There it is.

Style Modifier -3

Silexhera CoH 38 Roster

B]COACH[/B]
Paul HART (43)
Paul is arguably the only person in the country that could possibly have taken this job. Only a handful of Silexherans have ever left the nation's boundaries and he's one of them. He used his visits abroad to learn everything he could about international football and is therefore pretty well studied. That's not to say he has any idea how to manage a football team though.

Players numbered 1-11 are starters.

GOALKEEPERS
1. Colm FISHER (36)
As his name suggests, he's a fisherman by day. At six feet six and sixteen stone he's a large presence in goal and is good with his hands. Unfortunately, he has the reactions of a dead sloth and thus is easily beaten by powerful shots no matter how accurate they are. A quick turn-and-shot inside the area will often catch him completely by surprise.
13. David FALLOW (19)
The youngest of nine children, David always found himself surplus to requirements at his father's farm and so had more opportunities to find work elsewhere, which is how he came into football. Is the opposite of Colm Fisher in almost every way. Great reactions (his farm was near Johnny Sporadic) but not great with crosses and a bit on the small side at five feet ten.

FULLBACKS
2. Smokey BLACK (18)
From a family of blacksmiths in Silica City, Smokey is a hard-working right-back and probably one of the team's better players. Has the speed and endurance to get up and down the wings for most of a game if required to.
3. Carl MEDIC (29)
Quite slow for a wide player but decent enough in the tackle and is very fit. As the name suggests he's a field medic by profession and so often doubles up as the squad's physio.
12. David THATCHER (32)
Been around Silexheran football for a long time, playing for a variety of clubs around the country. Can play in most positions on a football pitch and so could be used as a midfielder or striker, but there are far more better players than him filling those positions.

CENTREBACKS
4. James FORRESTER (23)
From Negrest, as the name suggests. (Negrest is pretty much a forrest) Forrester is very tall at six feet four but not too powerful, or quick, or talented, or anything.
5. James PARTICLE (26)
A graduate of Silica University with a BSC in Particle Physics. A drop-out of the school of defending with a Major in Slapstick. He is, however, fairly tall and quick and his ability to read the game often makes up for his sparsity of any kind of skill.
6. Couser GRANITE (41) Captain
Old and slow, but a natural leader and a man the others can feel they trust, if only because he's so damn huge. Once scored a goal from outside the area with his jawline. Has always been a terrible footballer and is the king of the mistimed tackle but the team always play worse without him.
15. Paul SOBERSLAD (39)
His name suggests he's the son of someone called 'Sober'. His talent suggests he's a drunk. A seasoned amateur player with a few smaller teams around Onca, he's well past his peak now.
16. Lewis HILL (32)
Very much a classic central defender, in that he's tall, slow and can't pass.


MIDFIELDERS
7. Callum HOLIDAY (33)
One of the few people to have travelled abroad from Silexhera before the inauguration of the football team, hence the name. Didn't use his time abroad to study football, evidently. Plays as a ball-winning central midfielder, but rarely wins the ball and is frequently out of position.
8. Hogan CARBON (18)
Promising young defender with a fair bit of ball-playing skills and strong despite his age and height at only five feet eight tall. Gained a berth in midfield due to Yancy Fetcher's retirement.
10. Kelly SPORADIC (18)
Could be the first 'star' of Silexheran football. Has excellent ball skills as well as lightening speed and a powerful shot. As his name suggests he's from near Johnny Sporadic but thankfully nowhere near Idiots.
11. Tam DOCTOR (34)
A doctor, of course, and a good one, but not a good footballer. Frequently lacks match fitness but has passable ball-skills to make up for it. Utilised as a left-midfielder for his pace over ten yards but still not expected to give opposing full-backs any trouble.
17. James IDIOTSMAN (20)
The only player in the squad to hail from the town of Idiots, and speaks their strange and disturbing language. Surprisingly though he isn't as dim as you'd expect and frequently makes thoughtful insights that are overlooked because of his stupid language.
18. Gregor BARMAN (34)
A barman, as the name suggests. Such is the sparsity of talent in Silexheran his own club is actually a pub team. Not a bad player, per se, just not a good one. At all.



STRIKERS
9. Gopher SPORASKID (21)
Sporaskid is not the cleverest player in the team and definitely not the best. He is, however, very, very fast. Think of a three-legged cheetah. Still very quick but always pulls his shots to the left. Always.
14. Panther DOCTOR (19)
A half-brother of midfielder Tam Doctor, Panther is a better player than Sporaskid is almost every single way, but is used as a substitute because of his comparative lack of pace which, in a team that will only score, if ever, via counter attack, makes him a less desirable choice than Sporaskid.

Silexhera play in an all-green kit (a very deep green colour) with white trim. Our away colours are a light grey with white and black trim, charcoal-grey shorts and light grey socks.
We're playing this tournament with an ultra-defensive 5-4-1 formation again, with three centre-halves, two full backs, a flat four in midfield and one quick yet limited striker. If we score a goal against you, which is unlikely, it'll probably be either a fluke, an own goal, a counter attack using Kelly Sporadic's vision and Gopher Sporaskid's pace, a turn of skill from Mr. Sporadic (who we think is turning into a pretty special player) or a set-piece most likely headed in by the big defender Couser Granite.
We're a team of part-timers from a tiny country with no domestic league system in place (we have a handful of vocational football clubs that play friendlies against each other now and then). However, Silexhera set up their own football association (the 'SEXFA') during the World Cup 46 qualifiers and the nation is making great progress.
We finished third in our qualifying group for World Cup 46 after posting an impressive 5-3-2 record, taking five wins and a draw from our six matches over popular puppets Stargate Centurion, Liventia and Landau Institute. Two draws and two defeats to respectably ranked Bears Armed and Dancougar prevented us from qualifying outright. We're quite pleased with this. In fact, a few members of our FA are getting a bit smug. Probably time to wipe the smiles off their faces.

If my opponent RP's first they can:
Choose my goalscorers: Yes
Godmod Scoring Events: If funny
RP injuries to my players: Yes
Godmod injuries to my players: If funny
Hand out Yellow cards to my players Yes
Hand out Red cards to my players Yes
Godmod Other Events Y Yes

Colors: Red and white. Home kit is all red with white numbering and the away kit is all white with red numbering.

Style: -3. We play a 5-4-1.

RP Permissions: Everything is a Yes. I will be disappointed if you do not have us play rough and get a few bookings.

Manager: Dakshi Patel, Age: 63
Assistant: Hemdev Patel, Age: 55 (not related)

Goalkeepers:
#51- Utkarsh Nayak, Age: 29. Starter and the undisputed best at his position in the country. Very passionate.
#52- Randhir Kapadia, Age: 30. Longtime rival of Nayak. They might not get along. He is a sub.
#53- Anshuman Shah, Age: 23. Reserve now maybe a starter one day.

Defense:
#70- Chanakya Motallebzadeh, Age: 26. Starter. Don’t mess with him if you want to play the next game.
#71- Yamir Singh, Age: 28. Starter. Very tall often will win the battle for a header.
#72- Rishit Kumar, Age: 32. Starter. Least physical of the bunch. He also has a lot of personal problems.
#73- Sanjay Naidu, Age: 21. Starter. Highly intelligent for his age.
#74- Soumil Naidu, Age: 23. Starter. Plays like his younger brother.
#75- Iravan Patel, Age: 26. Sub. Very speedy, not related to any of the other Patel’s.
#76- Abhijay Surhato, Age: 27. Sub. If he’s in, watch your knees.
#77- Ekagrah Alizadeh, Age: 24. Sub. Least likely to be entered amongst the subs.
#78- Sandeep Dijay, Age: 33. Reserve. Has stamina issues.
#79- Champak Jitrenda, Age: 18. Reserve. On the team to learn from his peers.

Midfield:
#49- Jaisukh Pattnaik, Age: 27. Starter. Used as a sixth defender often.
#48- Avinash Singh, Age: 24. Starter. He is our Mister Everything and the Captain.
#47- Uddunath Siddharth-Nabhendu, Age: 26. Starter. Aggressive but also has a nice shot.
#46- Pritam Gupta, Age: 25. Starter. Impressive two-way player.
#45- Sabal Karnataka, Age: 29. Sub. Probably will play in every match near the end.
#44- Pradeep Kokradi, Age: 24. Sub. Has a lot of speed.
#43- Swami Parsi, Age: 39. Reserve. More like an assistant coach who could possibly play.
#42- Naman Gandhi, Age: 21. Reserve. Despite surname he has serious character issues.

Forwards:
#63- Devdarsh Panigrahi, Age: 27- Starter. Our main man for offense.
#64- Bhupad Ahuwalia, Age: 24- Sub. Will be brought in when we really need a goal and will replace a defender.
#62- Kapoor Wamankar, Age: 28- Reserve. Hopes to get some playing time.
#65- Jaival Subudhi, Age: 17- Reserve. A future legend, we are told.

This is the cutoff for invitation acceptances. We'll go with 24.

Group draw and schedule are up in the first post of the thread. All rosters and RPs from the beginning of the thread onward will count towards matchday one on Sunday night.

Stadium info for groups A-C:

Group A

Group A's stadium pod is the one with the most geographical distance separating the two cities, making Dancougar's high-speed rail network most useful in getting from match to match.

Healthmark Stadium
http://www.worldstadiums.com/stadium_pictures/north_america/united_states/illinois/chicago_soldier1.jpg
Location: Stoneridge, Gilderome
Capacity: 60,000
Home Of: Stoneridge United
Notes: In the past, Dancougar's highest industrial output came from this region, which retains its blue collar identity despite efforts to remake itself with a local economy based more on technology and information systems. The city boasts a sparkling glass skyline which has replaced the murky image of smokestacks and smog that are still associated with it. They also put french fries on their sandwiches.

GNC Bank Stadium
http://www.worldstadiums.com/stadium_pictures/europe/netherlands/rotterdam_de_kuip1.jpg
Location: Grandborough, Shiba
Capacity: 50,000
Home Of: Grandborough FC
Notes: The stadium is the centerpiece of the expansive Grandborough Athletic Complex located five miles north of the city. It's wedged into a more suburban setting, although there are some hotels and an entertainment complex located nearby as part of the development. From downtown, a shuttle service will operate alongside the normal regional rail.

Group B

Go west to Lunarossa, where both host cities are situated alongside Lake Gandor, the biggest freshwater lake in the nation, which makes up almost all of the state's western border.

Joseph Gandor Stadium
http://www.worldstadiums.com/stadium_pictures/europe/italy/sicilia/messina_san_filippo1.jpg
Location: Lakeport, Lunarossa
Capacity: 51,000
Home Of: Sporting Lakeport
Notes: The stadium was renovated a few years ago after the club team was infused with cash from Newmanistan's Empire Motors. The comfort has increased as a result, although the product on the field still has a ways to go. Lakeport itself is one of the largest media hubs in western Dancougar.

Construction Hut Stadium
http://www.worldstadiums.com/stadium_pictures/asia/japan/kanto/yokohama_international1.jpg
Location: Aiken City, Lunarossa
Capacity: 66,000
Home Of: Aiken City United
Notes: One of the jewels of the west, Aiken City is one of the fastest-growing cities in the nation and the second largest in Lunarossa after Lakeport. Its stadium is the nation's second largest, although nobody would rank it that highly in terms of appearance. The city is well-known for the 20-mile Lake Gandor Ferry to Neville Island.

Group C

The eastern state of Fujiwara hugs the coast and is bordered entirely on the south by the Kishin River. Along with Port Royal, Eastport serves as a major transportation hub in the east, as it connects the east-west line servicing the capital to several north-south lines on the coast.

City of Eastport Municipal Stadium
http://www.worldstadiums.com/stadium_pictures/north_america/united_states/florida/miami_orange2.jpg
Location: Eastport, Fujiwara
Capacity: 55,000
Home Of: Eastport United
Notes: Eastport is often called Port Royal's "little brother" as it has both a smaller population and less enticing facilities, both in terms of athletics but also in terms of accommodating fans. The nightlife is not as happening as the other side of the river, but it's not bad; things have been improving thanks to Eastport's three titles in five seasons.

Kemaridohyou
http://www.worldstadiums.com/stadium_pictures/europe/germany/sachsen/leipzig_zentral1.jpg
Location: Mizuno, Fujiwara
Capacity: 49,000
Home Of: Mizuno no Juuichi
Notes: Mizuno is a quiet city along the Kishin known for the old city center, which can be described as a "Japanese Colonial Williamsburg." It's a unique fusion of the original settlers' culture and the modern bustle of the city. The stadium itself is four miles to the east and is accessible by regional rail.

And now, Groups D-F.

Group D

Across the river from Fujiwara and also bordering the coast, the state of Juusenkitai will host Group D. It features a stunning contrast between urban and rural, with some matches held in metropolis Port Royal and others in the quieter Kildare.

Aclaf Stadium
http://www.worldstadiums.com/stadium_pictures/north_america/united_states/ohio/cleveland_browns1.jpg
Location: Port Royal, Juusenkitai
Capacity: 60,000
Home Of: Port Royal FC
Notes: Located at the waterfront of this eastern port city, near the Leonard Sweetwater Arena and the city's prime nightlife destinations. For fans looking to sample what Dancougar has to offer in terms of restaurants, shopping, and entertainment, one can't go wrong here. It's easy to get around this city (and neighboring Eastport) thanks to the Metropolitan East Transportation Authority (META).

Kirk County Stadium
http://www.worldstadiums.com/stadium_pictures/europe/ireland/killarney_fitzgerald.jpg
Location: Kildare, Juusenkitai
Capacity: 49,000
Home Of: Sporting Kildare
Notes: Kildare and surrounding Kirk County is the home of the largest concentration of Irish blood in Dancougar. Like Mizuno, it's a smaller venue with a less stifling environment, but one can argue that the environment is actually top-notch. After all, there are a large number of pubs within walking distance of the stadium...

Group E

All eyes on this group, as it takes place in the heart of Dancougar in and around the capital of Yuki City. Tourists will have no problem navigating the area due to the many public transportation options available to them, and if they need to get elsewhere, it's a central hub for the nation's rail and air networks.

King Daniel III National Stadium
http://www.worldstadiums.com/stadium_pictures/north_america/united_states/pennsylvania/pittsburgh_heinz1.jpg
Location: Yuki City, Yuki
Capacity: 70,000
Home Of: Yuki City Athletic, King's Eleven Yuki City, Dancougar national football team
Intl: TQCC V final, TQCC XI final, BoF 31 final, CoH 36 3rd place
Notes: The National Stadium is the nation's largest and hosts all of the national team's matches as well as finals of major tournaments hosted in Dancougar. It is named after King Daniel III, who first opened the nation up via international sport and funded the stadium's construction. Its open end gives a stunning view of the nation's capital across the Kishin River, where one can find museums, monuments, and the occasional giant robot from a nearby base. Black Square, which borders the palace grounds, is a major gathering place.

Satoshi Hirano Stadium
http://www.worldstadiums.com/stadium_pictures/north_america/united_states/ohio/cincinnati_paul_brown1.jpg
Location: Kishin, Yuki
Capacity: 58,000
Home Of: Shuukyuu Kishin
Notes: Located fifteen miles east of the capital just outside the beltway, Kishin is an affluent borough with a more oriental flavor. It is also connected to the capital via regional rail with extra trains scheduled for the cup. Kishin itself is more suburban in nature but has a bustling business district, and recreation along the Kishin River, from which it takes its name, is also popular.

Group F

Finally, we travel south, where the final group will do battle. While the two cities are easy to move between, the pod itself is the farthest away from the tournament's center of gravity. While the high-speed train to Port Royal or Grandborough will give tourists a long look at Dancougar's agrarian south, air travel is admittedly much faster in this case.

Shin Jared Koeppel
http://www.worldstadiums.com/stadium_pictures/africa/south_africa/cape_town_newlands1.jpg
Location: Bradford, Sullivan
Capacity: 55,000
Home Of: Bradford United, University of Sullivan, Dancougar national gridiron team
Notes: The stadium was constructed to replace the old 30,000 seat Jared Koeppel Memorial Stadium, named after the founder of the University of Sullivan, the campus where the stadium resides. Bradford used to be mostly a college town, but has seen tremendous growth, becoming a regional center for commerce. That, coupled with the success of the gridiron team, got the government to pony up funds for a new stadium which attracted a D-League expansion team.

Bellevue Motors Stadium
http://www.worldstadiums.com/stadium_pictures/north_america/united_states/alabama/birmingham_legion2.jpg
Location: Coraopolis, Sullivan
Capacity: 57,000
Home Of: Coraopolis FC
Notes: The city has lost some of its luster with Bradford growing so spectacularly to the west, but it remains one of the key industrial cities in the south and continues to operate one of the largest seaports in the nation. Traveling fans who are killing time outside the stadium can relax in the nearby Yi Anhae Park, a recreation area that was built thanks to the strangest transfer fee in D-League history.

CARRY ON THE TRADITION

We must do it for our region! One Big Island has won the last two, and three of the last four Cups of Harmony; all honors which have nothing to do with us and everything to do with our annoying Western neighbors. Now they have moved on to bigger things and another nation in the region must pick up their place. Don’t count on that being West Newmanistan, but it may very well be us. There’s a more Secristani tradition taking place here as well, and that would be our spending our time in Dancougar. They co-hosted Cup of Harmony 36 and we were in this region, although we flat-out stunk up the Kingdom that time around. We came back four years ago, as some of you may recall. We had been assigned to the disgusting filth that is the conditions of Allemenschen and their purple-stinging nellies, so we looked for a more livable nation to reside in. With several of our national team players playing in Dancougar, and with it being in the same region as Allemenschen, we based our operations in Dancougar once again. It is now Cup of Harmony 38, and the Millionaires are back here once again with eyes on the prize. The Secristan Department of Sports expects the team to be a major contender at minimum, and has visions of winning the trophy. Unfortunately for us, teams like Jeruselem and Milchama could not even beat out a first-time, unranked nation and a group of annoying females in their qualifying group, and they will be here for us to contend with. Right now, those countries are not terribly relevant as the Millionaires will need to be more concerned with the teams in their group which are five-sentence wonder Akbarabad, let’s press release before it’s time to Silexhera and Cup of Harmony numbers savior Phillips Island.

The SDOS was disappointed by the group draw. Not because of their opponents, but because there are only three group stage games. Obviously, this limits the potential for the SDOS to profit from the Cup of Harmony even though people will quickly point out that if we qualified for the World Cup, we would also have only had three games, unless of course we advanced out of the group. Katie Simpson, our SDOS rep, tells us, “Usually you expect Cups of Harmony to have five or six even group stage games, and we can then make money off of them. Now, we only have three games in which to sell advertising space to our companies, as well as to gain revenue from the pay-per-view telecasts. This will have to be something we pass off to the consumer in terms of lengthened periods of commercials during the three games in which we will have. This is another reason we expect our team to advance deep into the knockouts.” Secristan is hoping to be one of the fan favorites of the Dancougar people, given that we have several people on our national team roster that play professionally here.


OOC: You may link my World Cup roster, changing our modifier to a +3. Silexhera, don’t be offended by my statement towards you. The Secristani media traditionally criticizes anything they possibly can about any opponent. (want to mention that because I have been TG'd a couple times over things I have said).

OOC: Same roster, change style to +3

http://img122.imageshack.us/img122/6681/admiralslogo.png

Admirals Sail to Dancougar.

After the media blackout for the World Cup 46 qualifiers which led to Arroza's closest chance at qualification, the Admirals have accepted the bid to compete in the Cup of Harmony in nearby Dancougar. The 24 team tournament sees the National Team drawn into Group E, as the highest ranked seed in the second pot. Their group will include Nethertopia, O Ale Ale, and The Landau Institute. The group's games will be played in Yuki City, and the near-in suburb of Kishin. This tournament, however will be completely open to media access, and will not be ignored by the watchful eye of reporters from this and other institutions........

ADVERTISEMENT
http://img241.imageshack.us/img241/6571/roflbotvllu.jpg

“Amazing...six tournaments and we're not even in the first pot in the frackin Cup of Harmony.” All the infighting, bickering, the transfer of power, the money cuts, mercenaries, all the things that kept the team from getting to enjoy the sport and succeeding, it all took a toll on the coach's prematurely old face. He made his decision, and solemnly opened up the word processor on his computer to write two letters.

To: secsport@Arroza.aza.gov [Katherine Mueller – Secretary of Sport and Tourism]
From: av@soccerarroza.aza.gov [Alfredo Valente – National Team Coach]
CC: [ASN News Desk], [Resurgens Journal], [Admiral Sports Report],......
Subject: Resignation

I can't take this bumbling unprofessionalism anymore, I quit.

That was the easy letter, now for the hard one.

To: [redacted]
From: av@soccerarroza.gov [Alfredo Valente – National Team Coach]
Subject: Jeru FC Job Opening

Hello, my name is Alfredo Valente, and I have been the National Team Manager for Arroza for the last approximately 12 years according to Jerusalem's calendars. I am interested in the position of National Team Manager, for Jeru FC. ......

[i]ooc: of course its cool Secristan. I wouldn't expect anyone to take anything I write seriously on here - and so of course I don't read anything into other people's RPs. That said, Silexherans are hardly likely to back down...

From the back page of the Banana on Sunday newspaper

Silexhera's Drawn in Group B
A look at the national side's Cup of Harmony opponents

Secristan
Rank: 38 (down 5 places from start of WC46)
Colours: Green and Gold

While Silexhera were going into their final game of World Cup 46 qualifying needing a big win and other results to go their way to qualify, Secristan were close enough to smell the stagnant air of an Adihani stadium. The side were never any more than one point away from second place between matchdays two and nine, and went into their final game needing to score a big win over fourth-placed Quakmybush to progress. They scored three, but so did their opposition. Bazalonia's five-nil win on their final game had put the task far out of Secristan's reach anyway.
Secristan itself appears to be a hyper-capitalist society, with a media not afraid to tie its colours to the white-and-green flag - and then use the flag to smack lesser countries around. Indeed, our own enthusiasm for the sport has been lampooned in several Secristani media outlets, the most notorious being a cartoon of a monkey eating a banana with its feet while a Secristani hunter sneaks up behind it swinging a heavy sack of Rusa coins with the caption "Money Talks, Bullshit Talks All the Time And Really Needs A Smack On the Head". Silexhera manager Paul Ward has had little to say, but 'insinuated' that he'll be using Secristani 'propaganda' in his team talk for the opening day match - if by 'insinuated' you mean 'swore loudly'.
Interestingly enough, Secristan garnered 16 points from their group despite being third seeds. Silexhera gained 18 points. Interesting...

Akbarabad
Rank: 40 (down 3 places from start of WC46)
Colours: Green and Red

Akbarabad's failure to qualify came from a huge choke along the final stretch of matches in group six. The side - unbeaten in seven and with a four-point lead over third placed Kosovoe and fourth-placed Norwellia - went on to lose a vital six-pointer at home to the former and get tossed aside 3-0 by league leaders Cafundeu. Both the Kosovoans and Norwellians took six points from those two matches and it left Akbarabad with it all to do on the final day. They won, but their challengers took three points apiece from their final games and Akbarabad had to settle for fourth place. It proved a disappointing end to a good qualifying phase, with the media obviously upset about the team's perceived 'choke', but nevertheless expressing interest in a Cup of Harmony group with other high-profile, un-qualified sides. We're sorry to disappoint you Akbarabad, but you've got us.

Steroga
Rank: 82 (up 2 places from start of WC46)
Colours: Red and White

Steroga? We're not in the same group as Steroga, what the hell? Who writes this shit?

Predictions
It'll be a difficult ask for Silexhera to get into the top two, but luckily for us the format of the tournament only eliminates eight teams from the first round. It would be perfectly possible for us to go through as one of the higher point-scoring third placed teams. Therefore, getting at least three points has to be Paul Ward's aim for the tournament. This means a win over unfancied Phillips Island in the final game although, of course, if the team can take anything from Akbarabad and Secristan it'll be a bonus. We pick Secristan and Akbarabad to go through as group winners, possibly with Secristan far away on nine points and Akbarabad on either six or four, with Phillips Islands on the bottom. Whether Silexhera can get one, two, three or four points will depend on our play against these last two teams. A win and a draw will almost certainly put us through. A win will give us a good chance, whereas just two points will most likely see us take the first plane out of Dancougar in two weeks time.

Steroga ready for next tournament

The Cup of Harmony is a tournament for countries who did not qualify for the World Cup and it is where the Sterogan national team is heading now. Just because the top ranked teams are in the World Cup now does not really mean this will be any easier for our team because we are still one of the lowest overall ranked teams. They say this is why the Cup of Harmony is important because you can try to improve your ranking if you do good. It will take place in Dancougar and our heroes were drawn into Group C. In this group they will play a team that they have already played twice in World Cup qualifying the McLaughlin Islands. They are also the closest in rank to us and having already played them two times should help Coach Patel and the rest of the team. We also must contend with West Zirconia and Greal they are the best teams in the group if you go by the ranking. Our first two games will be at City of Eastport Municipal Stadium and we hope that a lot of fans can be there for the game and root on our team as they try to do good in this Cup. Those games will be against West Zirconia and Greal. After that we go to Kemaridohyou in Mizuno to play McLaughlin Islands.

To advance you must finish in the top two places of the group or be one of the top four third place teams. Coach Patel was very unhappy with the tiebreaking criteria for the third place teams saying it will screw Steroga over for no reason if it comes to it. The first tiebreakers are all fair stuff like goal differential and goals scored but then it will sort the team by world ranking. Steroga is doomed from the start!

His Majesty Lord Singh sent a letter to the Cup of Harmony leaders wishing to remove that clause and have it be an actual playoff game that uses something referred to as scorination instead of just taking the team with the highest ranking. That will at least give Steroga a chance if we ended up in this situation. He says He will protest it if we did lose out on a spot because of that tiebreaker which is not a far fetched possibility when there are only three games being played and tiebreakers will go across groups.

Dancougar News!!
Screwing up the CoH, so you don't have to!

Sterogans find edge case; interns fired: The Sterogan FA has raised a valid issue with the tiebreaking criteria used to determine qualification for the knockout stage of the Cup of Harmony.

Playoff games are intended to separate teams within groups when all other tiebreakers do not resolve. Once the top 16 were assembled, teams from different groups that are level on all tiebreakers would have ties broken by world ranking. While that may make sense for teams which have unquestionably earned advancement by finishing in the top two of the group, the Sterogans pointed out that it would affect third-place rankings.

Four of the best third place teams are slated to proceed, and given that this also necessitates comparison across groups, the world ranking tiebreaker does indeed create an unfair disadvantage. An emergency organizer's meeting decided to revise the tiebreaking system for third place teams. Dubbed the Sterogan Clause, playoffs will be played, if necessary, to determine the field itself. The world ranking tiebreaker will only take effect where it does not change the teams actually proceeding to the next round.

In this scenario, if two teams were among the top two third-place teams but were tied amongst themselves, a playoff would not be used, as it would not result in changes to the field. The higher-ranked team would be considered the best third place team. However, if two teams were fourth and fifth in the order and were tied, then a playoff would take place, as the world ranking tiebreaker effectively hands qualification to the higher-ranked side.

The organizers apologize for the oversight and have fired the interns blamed f-- err, responsible for the original wording.

Akbarabad set for yet another Cup of Harmony campaign.

(Akbarabad press, AP): The Akbarabad national team starts their C.O.H campaign against bottom ranked Philips Islands. The team have faced Philips Islands before in the previous world cup qualifying cycle, winning both match matches without much trouble. Three points in this match would be absolutely vital for further progression, as in previous C.O.H campaigns the team have pulled out good results against higher ranked sides only to be eliminated due to dropped points to lower ranked sides. Besides with this being first world cup qualifying cycle in which our ranking has actually decreased, we really need a good result here for our next world cup campaign to be more succesful.

Akbarabad
Rank: 40 (down 3 places from start of WC46)
Colours: Green and Red

Akbarabad's failure to qualify came from a huge choke along the final stretch of matches in group six. The side - unbeaten in seven and with a four-point lead over third placed Kosovoe and fourth-placed Norwellia - went on to lose a vital six-pointer at home to the former and get tossed aside 3-0 by league leaders Cafundeu. Both the Kosovoans and Norwellians took six points from those two matches and it left Akbarabad with it all to do on the final day. They won, but their challengers took three points apiece from their final games and Akbarabad had to settle for fourth place. It proved a disappointing end to a good qualifying phase, with the media obviously upset about the team's perceived 'choke', but nevertheless expressing interest in a Cup of Harmony group with other high-profile, un-qualified sides. We're sorry to disappoint you Akbarabad, but you've got us.


The Akbarabad Press correspondent would like to make, a slight correction and point out that Akbarabad actually finished third in the group and not fourth.

The Secristan Department of Wagering has issued the following Cup of Harmony-themed odds:

The Winner of Group A will be:
1:99- Milchama
10:1- Quintessence of Dust
17:1- Rejistania
30:1- Nong Nang Ning

The Winner of Group B will be:
1:5- Secristan (Since this is Secristani-based, Secristani odds are naturally lower)
4:1- Silexhera
5:1- Akbarabad
200:1- Phillips Island
Steroga? No, they’re not in this group, can’t you read?

The Winner of Group C will be:
4:1- Greal
5:1- West Zirconia
8:1- Steroga
10:1- McLaughlin Islands

The Winner of Group D will be:
1:99- Jeruselem
8:1- Somewhereistonia
15:1- Golgothastan
100:1- West Newmanistan

The Winner of Group E will be:
3:1- Arroza
7:2- Nethertopia
5:1- Landau Institute
50:1- O Ale Ale

The winner of Group F will be:
1:2- Krytenia
6:1- Quakmybush
10:1- Achtervolging
20:1- Pasarga

Milchama players actually have more to fear from a bad performance then Secristani players:
1:5- Yes
3:1- No

While in Lakeport, Secristani fans will vandalize posters of their young prodigy around town with the word “Ster-oids”:
1:9- Yes (If anyone that placed this bet is arrested while doing said act, they will be fined 10,000 Rusas in addition to the penalities of Dancougar law enforcement)
6:1- No

Steroga is going to be the sleeper of the Cup of Harmony.
1:5- No
3:1- Yes

Ok then, Silexhera will be the sleeper of the Cup of Harmony.
1:5- No
4:1- Yes

Dammit, then, who do you think will be the sleeper of the Cup of Harmony.
1:9- It will be straight forward. No team not in the top 2 ranked teams of their group will make the quarterfinal.
5:1- Someone not in that top 2 and not named Steroga and Silexhera will have their shining moment.

Arroza is due! They’re going to win.
1:9- Nope.
5:1- Yes.

Oksana Ferris will strip during the West Newmanistan game.
1:9- Yes
6:1- No

Milchama or Jeruselem will win the Cup of Harmony.
1:50- Yes
10:1- No

Secristan will win the Cup of Harmony.
1:5- No
3:1- Yes

Number of Dancougaran interns fired during the Cup of Harmony.
3:2- Eleven-Twenty
2:1- Five-Ten
6:1- One-Four
20:1- More then Twenty
50:1- None

So once again for West Zirconia it's Cup of Harmony time!

The squad is the same one that disappointed in the World Cup qualifiers, namely:

GK Steve Gray (Atlético Insular, Cafundéu)
DL Ben Phillips(c) (Mort Park)
DC Lewis Fox (St. Andrew's)
DC Russell Munro (Bradley Hornets)
DR Paul Paterson (Green Island, Candelaria And Marquez)
ML Ian Hawthorne (Serrano, Cafundéu)
MC Patrick Williams (Bradley Swifts)
MC Ed French (CR Submiria, Cafundéu)
MR Anthony McGowan (Mizuno no Juuichi, Dancougar)
FC Martin Forster (Pocono City, Newmanistan)
FC Alun Lydiate (Mort Park)

Substitutes:

Goalkeepers:
John Hopkins (Ashland, Newmanistan)
Tom Lyons (Bradley Hornets)

Defenders:
Sean Watson (Mort Park)
Ryan Gregory (Bradley Hornets)
Andy Turner (Banks)

Midfielders:
Damion Hyde (New Toronto)
Lee Pritchard (Banks)
Andy Scott (Dover City, Newmanistan)

Forwards:
Jerome Bennett (Taylor's Cross)
Liam Vernon (Banks)
Steve Griffiths (Metropolitano, Cafundéu)

(OOC: The usual permissions apply - everything except godmods, although something highly-unlikely but physically possible is permitted - the funnier the better. Style modifier - a vaguely counter-attacking +1.)


The group draw has put West Zirconia in the same group as the McLaughlin Islands, that rather odd dependency 12 miles off the west coast. At least that increases the chances of West Zirconian involvement in the next round - unless, of course, they finish third and fourth respectively.

The full schedule is:

Matchday 1: Steroga (City of Eastport Municipal Stadium)
Matchday 2: The McLaughlin Islands (Kemaridohyou, Mizuno)
Matchday 3: Greal (City of Eastport Municipal Stadium)

Coach Roy Hazell would not be drawn into speculation about their chances. Captain Ben Phillips said, "Well, any eleen men can beat any other eleven men on the day. Whether we can do it seven times is anyone's guess, but we'll certainly give it a go."

As for their inbred cousins over the water, their coach Keith McLaughlin has also named an unchanged squad, namely:

GK David McLaughlin
DL Paul McLaughlin
DC Laurence McLaughlin
DC Stuart McLaughlin
DR Robin McLaughlin
ML Lewis McLaughlin
MC Philip McLaughlin
MC Steve McLaughlin
MR Felix McLaughlin
FW Mark McLaughlin
FW Martin McLaughlin

The substitutes will be as follows:

Goalkeepers: Peter McLaughlin, Scott McLaughlin

Defenders: Simon McLaughlin, Nigel McLaughlin, Trevor McLaughlin

Midfielders: Graham McLaughlin, Jamie McLaughlin, Nick McLaughlin

Forwards: Edward McLaughlin, Russell McLaughlin, Mike McLaughlin

(OOC: Permissions same as West Zirconia. No sex either - the concept of outside relationships is unknown to them. Style modifier +1.)

This will be the last hurrah for the Patriots of West Newmanistan. We weren’t sure if they were going to even participate in the Cup of Harmony, but they will, to give the people one last opportunity to root for the team at this level. Afterwards, the nation will back down from international football competitions, and likely all competitions. With the land at peace with Newmanistan now, President Nicholls feels that the country needs to focus on more important things, such as establishing a national infrastructure. “Everything about our nation has been about our relations with Empress Jessica and the Empire of Newmanistan,” The President stated while making an address at the University of Morton City, “Right now we must focus on our economy and we cannot support interregional sports at this time. We need to improve the roads in the country, create opportunities for business, and create jobs. A national public transportation system would be excellent as well as strong rail service. Then we will focus on other issues like healthcare. This is what we will be about. I know there will be domestic sports within our borders, but we cannot compete at the interregional level any longer, or at least not in the foreseeable future until we get all this straightened out.”

One of the teams in which West Newmanistan will be playing in the Cup of Harmony is Jeruselem, and the Patriots were a major spoiler for the Princesses with their MD13, 1-0 victory, that eliminated Jeruselem from qualification. They will have a good memory about all of that and will probably want to not only beat us, but destroy us. Finishing second in the group is not impossible, but probably unlikely. Somewhereistonia is probably a bit better then the Patriots at this point in time. But if West Newmanistan can have any of that customary Newmanistanian Cup of Harmony good fortune, then maybe the Patriots will finish second overall. If we really want to get carried away, maybe they could even beat Jeruselem again!

The organizers may copy over our World Cup Roster and give us a +1 style modifier.

- - - - - - - - - - -

To: Pups
From: Billy Prescott
Re: Good luck, sweetie

I’m glad you liked the ring and I can’t wait for our wedding day. My dad thinks we should have the ceremony on a football field, right at midfield, since that is where we both play and I think that would be a really cool idea. There will probably be a lot of people that want to watch the ceremony from both of our families, so we might need a whole football stadium anyway!

I know you wanted to be in the World Cup, but the Cup of Harmony is a pretty cool thing to win. You remember those post-game pictures I showed you after we beat Peisandros, I hope! Then all that fun we had after that, it was so great. It would be so cool if we could have parties like that again and I am sure you throw crazier parties in Jeruselem then they do here! It’s kinda funny that after we had to play those army people in the World Cup that now you have to play those West Newmanistan idiots and that’s going to be your first game too! I know you were torn about who to cheer for when we played Jeru FC in the World Cup, but I have no problem at all cheering for you against those stupid Patriots. We hate them.

And guess what! I’m gonna be there! I didn’t think I could get out of it, but my Dad and I are going to fly into Kildare to watch the game. We will be there tomorrow, our flight lands at 10:20 AM!

The Akbarabad Press correspondent would like to make, a slight correction and point out that Akbarabad actually finished third in the group and not fourth.

ooc: I must have been looking at Steroga again. I apparently have an unhealthy obsession with them.

Paul Hart was in his office. He'd rather be out enjoying the Silexheran sun and he knew he had to pack for his team's flight over to Dancougar but, thanks to the numpties at the Banana on Sunday newspaper he had research to do. It had seemed like a great idea - It would lighten his workload and, at the same time, get the newspapers more interested in, and knowledgeable about, world football - but he hadn't reckoned on the media being so stupid. He'd paid them a fairly healthy sum to do his research on upcoming opponents for him. They'd look at the fixtures and give him some detailed information on the teams Silexhera would have to play - their history, formation, best players etcetera - and it'd also give them some info to put in the sports section of the paper. The factfiles he had received had made him angry. Fair enough there was enough information on Secristan and Akbarabad - albeit with some misleading information on the latter - but they'd given him reels of useless information on Steroga, who weren't even in Silexhera's group. It had made Paul angry, especially as it meant he had to do the research on their actual MD3 opponents Phillips Islands himself.

Phillips Islands had been in the same group as Akbarabad and lost almost every game they'd played. That was good news. The bad news was they'd somehow managed to beat group winners Cafundeu, which possibly meant there was a little more to them than meets the eye. Their play in the Baptism of Fire tournament was, well, OK. They'd qualified for the last sixteen as the sixteenth-best team with a 1-1-2 record and lost heavily to Italia Orientale in the second round... and then... hmm. That was strange. According to reports from Italia Oreintale at the time they'd also beaten Phillips Island in the quarter-final too, with Phillips Islanders playing in the green shirts of The Bear Islands. Either it was a mistake to rival that of the Banana on Sunday or there'd been some serious mis-calculations among the organizers in Errinundera. Paul heard a voice from behind him
"Pah! Phillips Islands coudn't even with the boff!" It was Vincent, head of the Silexheran F.A. and arguably the most preposterously pompous ponce on the planet. Paul didn't rise to his blustering arrogance and aloofness anymore.
"Its a tournament for new teams. They're all just finding their feet, you can hardly pay too much attention to the scorelines" he replied "and its not pronounced 'Boff', Vincent, its an acronym, short for "The Baptism of Fire" tournament.
"We should enter that next year!" exclaimed Vincent. "Damn well thrash the jolly lot of them I should say, what what".
Paul didn't dignify Vincent's arrogance with a response.
"So..." continued Vincent "we'll win this Kow, and then win the Boff, and then win the whole World Cup, eh Paul? Eh? Should be easy as lemon pie for us Silexherans"
"Its not pronounced "Koh" either, its the Cup of Harmo..."
"Say Paul, when is this Koh? Shouldn't we be galivanting off to those damned cheating Dancougeraniananas and beating them?"
"We're not playing Dancougar, and just because they beat us doesn't make them cheats..."
As usual, Vincent wasn't listening.
"Oh and make sure you bring back some savage Cougarific totty for unclie Vincent won't you! Hah! That ravishing little devils! I bet I could give them a good 'civilising' if you know what I mean?"
"What, swanning around the office of someone who hates you, reeking of brandy and sweat and making embarassingly xenophobic remarks about nations you know nothing about?"
But it was no use. Vincent was lost in his own mind about what a 'savage' woman from Dancougar must look like. Paul shut down his computer and went to leave his office.
"Where are you going man?" asked Vincent
"Away from you" Paul replied "and over to Dancougar with the team on our flight tomorrow morning."
Paul felt in his pocket. There they were, the keys for his office. He could, if he was quick enough, lock Vincent in and run off and be absolutely sure of not having to see the jumped-up prick for at least two weeks.

From the other end of the hall, an intern - a shy young lady who'd recently been fired from a job in Dancougar for reasons she wouldn't divulge - heard a door slam. She heard a key being rattled quickly in a lock. She heard what sounded like a fully grown man skip down the hallway giggling to herself. She heard a door, the same door, rattle once, then a few times, and keep on rattling, all to the tune of some shouted swearwords from an angry, if slightly posh sounding, voice. It was slightly muffled, but she was sure she could hear some words through the wall.

"You'll pay for this Paul Hart! My word you'll pay!"

From: Oksana "Pups" Ferris
To: Billy Prescott

Our group D in the Cup of Harmony is a bit weird.

GROUP D
(22) Jeruselem
(50) Somewhereistonia
(57) West Newmanistan
(77) Golgothastan

We have Somewhereistonia who make our new football strips but we have never played them before. And then there's those annoying West Newmanistan team who we both don't like for diffent reasons. Last is Golgothastan we have no idea about.

We want to win all our games and have some revenge on West Newmanistan who basically knocked us out of the World Cup finals. If we had beaten them, we would have been in the finals as we won our last game. Somewhereistonia produce our new strips! Mind you it doesn't mean we'll try to be nice to them on the field when it comes to winning games as everyone wants to win.

I like the idea of having a wedding in a football stadium. Mind you organising that isn't simple as most stadium owners charge a lot of money. There has only been one wedding in a football stadium - and that was Dazza Dallas and Finn Fumbles. This time around, it's going to be hard to do the same as Dazza Dallas stadium gets used a lot as you know. I'll talk to Marie about it. As for other stadiums, I don't think the owners will be so cooperative as the Dallases.

We could settle for a smaller stadium. The St Mary's Catholic Girls school has a decent small stadium which is more suitable. It'd be cheaper to hire too. I studied there so the school will be sympathetic to my idea.

Dancougar is an interesting place. There's no shortage of places to buy anime here. As you know, Marie is the current Dazzi the Ninja Girl. There's a lot of Dazzi fans here and they showed up to greet the Jeruselem team. I haven't seen any big robots with big guns yet around here but I'm sure one will turn up soon.

Anyway, I love ya and can't wait to link up soon. Actually, there's a weird anime comic about a girl and her robot duck called Oksana and Cyberduck. It's about the adventures of a girl and her robot duck on a weird planet and they are trying to get off it. I think you'll like it although poor Oksana has get saved by her duck from people trying have sex with her all the time.

Secristan think I'm going to strip during the game vs the Patriots. I think I'll leave that to Marie or one of the other girls. I'm not that shameless ... unless I'm really drunk.

Coach Watanabe remembered the Baptism of Fire and how the team was pretty much ignored by the Errinunderan media. Then World Cup 46 qualifying came and went with the Islanders not doing much of anything other then one shocking upset of Cafundeu. He had arrived in Dancougar and saw the group draw. Phillips Island will be playing Secristan, Akbarabad, and Silexhera. Akbarabad the team has seen twice already and lost twice too, but Watanabe still doesn’t seem intimidated by them. Like in Errinundera, he opened a newspaper, one from Silexhera which would have their opinions of the groups. No mention of the Island, just of Steroga. Someone had left a handout from the Secristan Department of Wagering on the desk and he saw that his team was given 200:1 odds to win the group. He knew the Islanders would be a major underdog, but no one else had greater then 100:1 odds. It’s happening again, we cannot get any respect from anyone.

Coach Watanabe went to his players and told them of the disrespect being given to the country by both Secristan and Silexhera. Even Akbarabad mentioned that their wins against us were with little trouble. They must be pretty good if a 1-0 win wasn’t troubling for them. The players got up and shouted. They were pumped up and ready to prove people wrong. Maybe it will lead to results as many people believe that the team’s performance in the Cup of Harmony will determine if the team decides to return for more World Cup action.

Use my World Cup roster please with a style modifier of zero.

CoH38 Qualifying Schedule
MD1: Greal VS McLaughlin Islands
MD2: Greal VS Steroga
MD3: Greal VS West Zirconia


Greal in Group C
BY ROGER MARKS

So now we're back in Cup of Harmony, fifth straight time. It is starting to get annoying for the public that we're booted back into CoH every time we barely miss qualifying. The public has voiced their disappointment also and many are calling for Ross Trent's dismissal. The Greali Sports Ministry is currently debating whether to remove him from the position that Ross Trent has held for straight cups. Support for Ross Trent to remain however, is still strong, many in the team love him as their coach and the Sports Ministry is taking the team's opinion very seriously, because of morale reasons. Now however, we must move on to CoH38.

Greal was drawn into Group C, with three other nations, West Zirconia, McLaughlin Islands, and Steroga. The first two teams are familiar and have given the Greali a hard time in the past. West Zirconia was one of the teams in BoF29, where we first experienced out first foray into international sports. Hopefully it won't be like that in CoH38, where many fans are hoping for a victory out of miserable year. The Greali, in all sports, as never seized a cup yet. Many in the public have criticized the Sports Ministry for being idle. I can hardly believe after now that the Ministry will be idle. There have been reports of a massive new budget for the Ministry to train new athletes. Greal will be facing McLaughlin Islands tomorrow in sunny weather. As of press time, ninety percent of the stadium seats have been sold out.

In other teams...

West Zirconia faces Steroga tomorrow in their own opener. I think its safe to say that's a victory for West Zirconia.

PREDICTS.

Group A....

Milchama VS Nong Nang Ning (Milchama WIN)

Quintessence of Dust VS Rejistania (Quintessence of Dust WIN)

Group B....

Secristan VS Silexhera (Secristan WIN)

Akbarabad VS Phillips Island (Akbarabad WIN)

Group D...

Jeruselem VS West Newmanistan (Jeruselem WIN)

Somewhereistonia VS Golgothastan (DRAW)

Group E...

Nethertopia VS Landau Institute (Nethertopia WIN)

Arroza VS O Ale Ale (Arroza WIN)

GROUP F...

Krytenia VS Quakmybush (Krytenia WIN)

Achtervolging VS Pasarga. (DRAW)

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Sports Section

Milchama Sucks Again!

For the first time in 18 World Cups the Milchama Warriors failed to qualify for a World Cup. Now they are with all the crap teams trying to win a second rate tournament. This of course led to a massive shake up in the coaching staff, the MFA, traditional Milchamian football infrastructure, people's belief about the national team, but somehow the players stayed the same. So new coach Thomas Markin (again) presents to you the failure squad of the Milchama Warriors!

Traditional 3-3-4 (+3) please.

Gk: Hamman Smith- Jumpy Goal keeper. Really helped Cadurim Athletic last season though after their troubles with goalkeepers almost got them relegated.
D: Florentine Morales-(captain) Flashy leftback. Known for his offense, a huge rarity in Milchama, his overlapping runs and overall play helped the conservative FC Doom win in their loopy 4-4-2 formation.
D: Rocky Eton- Hard centerback. His tough tackles have not only broken a few ankles in their day but also have struck fear into many a striker. His poor play in the qualifiers puts him on the hot seat, if he doesn't perform well soon look for a switch.
D: Ithai Shamiel- The header specialist. While his defending is fine his big contribution to the team comes in the air, mostly on corner and free kicks. One of the leading scorers for club team Great Alexandria and looks to bring that prowess to the international stage.
M: Uriel Dan- Creative force in the midfield. His speedy runs and excellent passes caused many a defense trouble for the Mongolian Horsies. Another one whose club play has not transitioned to the international level. He may be switched soon if something bad happens.
M: Hazani Winter- Awful terrible World Cup campaign. Why he is still starting no one knows. Sure he was fine for the Invading Crusaders but who cares? The national team is what matters. At his best is a great holding midfielder, at his worst he's an atrocity.
M: Dov Bearman- While not as speedy as traditional Milchamian wings (like Flinter or Kilinin) his ability to exploit holes in the defense is legendary while his crossing is among the best Milchama has ever seen. The free kick taker for the team.
F: Kasaon Gibbons- Fast and skillful. Too good of a goal scorer to be a winger though. Thus he's an outside striker. One of the few who had an excellent performance in the qualifiers.
F: Amitay Roberts- His scoring touch led an undermatched Chaialim squad into 4th. He looks to continue that type of prowess on the big stage. Expect a golden boot for him for the CoH.
F: Jordan Nathanson- While Roberts not only can score on the ground but also in the air, it's all on the ground for the short Nathanson. Luckily his dribbling skills are quite good, that and a wicked shot make him a great inside striker.
F: Ken Cordani- Sucked during qualifying. Another one who Markin is questioned about starting. Yet he finished second for the player of the year in the MFL after almost single handedly stopping the regulation of small Megan Sharker FC. If he's right it'll be a long night for defenses.

Subs:
GK: Fletcher Arezin
D: Martin Yeat
M: Kepler Hannson
F: Tris Cobb
M/F: Meidad ben Yisrael

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Sports Section

Predictions and More!

Since there is only one, maybe two, quality opponents in the whole CoH the Warriors are expected to win easily. Anything will be looked upon as a massive failure by all involved and will probably cost the MFA another building. Alexandria waits in terror of what could happen should the Warriors not sweep to the title. Though it is almost a foregone conclusion who will win the CoH this time around the Warriors still have to play games.

These "games" start in the group stage

( 9) Milchama- That's us. Used to be among the top 10 teams in the World. Now we suck but we're still better than this crappy tournament. We might be top 15 if we win, maybe, hopefully. Let us pray.
(42) Quintessence of Dust- 3 goal win.
(73) Nong Nang Ning- 5 goal win.
(94) Rejistania- Wait really! I've heard of them before, they've won 4 World Cups before, including our first one ever WC 23. Oh how the mighty have fallen. 4 goal win.

So yeh nothing interesting.

And now a new feature for the CoH, since we really only have one real rival we'll go on Jeruselem Watch!

Jeruselem Watch!

(22) Jeruselem
(50) Somewhereistonia
(57) West Newmanistan
(77) Golgothastan

That's their group. Expect them to win big as well.

Also Krytenia is here, they might be a threat as well. WE BLAME THE SCORINATOR FOR WC 47!

Qasarian Evening Sport

Eagles ready for Harmony Cup

A place in the Cup of Harmony is not what the Eagles had been hoping for, but it was where they expected to be. Having finished well, they had now gone five games undefeated (winning the last four).

The team were confident going into the game with Golgothastan, the team are still angry of the stealing of the Baptism of Fire trophy and Golgothastan still needed punishing for that both on and off the pitch (despite getting a 1-1-0 record against them in the world cup qualifiers). Regardless of this, the strength of the team should have no issues with their less than organised opponents.

The Eagles had burst onto the national scene, and it would surely be unwise to bet against them clearing the group, having beaten West Newmanistan with a weakened team in the Empire Charity Cup, and with the World Cup Qualifier record against Golgothastan. Jerusalem are the only team in the group not to have played (and lost) to Somewhereistonia.

The start of the tournament was to be greeted with much elation by the Somewhereistonian fans, arriving in large numbers to see the team (hopefully) succeed. Ergma will be aiming to win the group and gain an easier draw in the second round, which means no slip ups and a win against Jerusalem. Expect a strong performance tomorrow from the squad, eager to prove their worth.

With the likes of Milchama gracing the competition, it will be difficult to really predict what will happen in this tournament, hopefully Somewhereistonia can pull of a result in a similar fashion to their valiant Baptism of Fire win.

X-Spordiga (http://forum.nationstates.net/viewtopic.php?f=7&t=168) have reportedly set up shop in Dancougar, eager to sell thousands of shirts to fans and possibly get a few more deals with the national teams there. With the exception of Golgothastan, its not likely that their custom will be welcome (at least as a country; Golgothastani nationals are free to buy as many shirts as they wish).

Jeruselem Government News

Marie announces retirement from International football

Princess Marie-Antoinette Dallas announced the Cup of Harmony would be her last International tournament. This doesn't mean she'll be retiring from football but she won't be playing International games. In effect, World Cup 47 would have a new team leader. A strong contender is Oksana "Pups" Ferris who is getting married to Billy Prescott of Newmanistan after the Cup of Harmony.

First game is against West Newmanistan. We have a gripe to settle with this team as they put us out the World Cup finals when we needed a win. Jeruselem don't forget the teams which causes them grief.

Pups tried to secure Dazza Dallas stadium for her wedding but an Arab Belly Dancing Competion, which runs for a week, won out on the day. So Pups will settle for her wedding at the Kate Dallas Stadium inside the Jerusalem Catholic Girls School.

For the moment, the team are concentrating on winning the Cup of Harmony. They first face competion from the Eagles from Somewhereistonia, the Patriots from West Newmanistan (not to be confused with the Rockets from Newmanistan) and some team from Golgothastan which we have no idea about.

First up is the team from West Newmanistan which stopped Jeruselem from qualifying to the finals. The Patriots know Jeruselem will not have forgotten this and Princesses will be out to make amends. Jeruselem are aiming for sweep of their group and getting into the final to win the CoH. Jeruselem have made the final of this before but that was after the World Cup 14, 24 cups ago.

http://img122.imageshack.us/img122/6681/admiralslogo.png

New Coach found for Admirals.

Tíer Bergán, forerly the National Team coach for The Macabees , has decided yesterday night to take the job of Arrozan National Team coach, replacing stalwart former player Alfredo Valente. Valente showed a lot of heart and pluck in managing the National Team for 3 qualification efforts, but many in Arroza were displeased both with his inability to qualify for the World Cup, and to bring the nation any trophies at all, especially damning given the Football team's success.

A post-mortem of Valente's Career for the Admirals:

World Cup 44 Quals: 5-8-1; Did not qualify
Cup of Harmony 36: 2-2-1; Lost to Newmanistan in Quarterfinals
World Cup 45 Quals: 6-4-4; Did not qualify
Cup of Harmony 37: Did not enter
World Cup 46 Quals: 6-3-1; Did not qualify [3rd place in group 4]

Bergán when interviewed last night before flying to Yuki City, Dancougar for Arroza's first game in the Cup of Harmony, said:

“I fully intend to keep the team intact and playing the same aggressive style during the Cup of Harmony. But I feel that the Macabee method is capable of winning football, and I do intend on running the Admiral team in a similar fashion in the next World Cup. Looking at the country, I feel there is more than enough talent there, but that we have to start focusing on the sport as much as we dosome others. A country-wide love of the game, combined with a sound strategy will be enough to take this nation into the World cup and make it a football powerhouse in both types of the game.

Bergán in his last tournament, led the Golden-Whites to an 8-1-1 record in World Cup 46 qualifying setting them at the top of Group 10 along with fellow Samseong properties Newmanistan. In the World Cup proper, the team lost to Capitalizt SLANI, Lovisa and Cafundeu, marking their exit from the cup, and Bergán's end with the team. We here in Arroza are elated to see somepne of such quality coaching the team.

Lancaster Hits Century Mark

Tonight's match against O Ale Ale will be a special one for striker Martin Lancaster. It will mark the one hundreth game that he has played as a member of the Men's National Team. Lancaster is one of the few veterans who started on the “infamous” Angola State National team back in World Cup 41, and over the years has matured from a snot-nosed 18 year old punk into a graceful statesman, and a ambassador for soccer in Arroza. Two years ago, after the collapse of the Newmanistani league, Lancaster returned to his home province of Petrol Harbor in order to help work with the creation of a domestic soccer league. Coordination still remains hazy on the progress of the league, but Lancaster has been great with keeping the younger memners of the team in playing shape. Congratulations, Martin.

Before we embark on our Cup of Harmony outing, a note of thanks must be extended to the players and staff of the Bears Armed team for such a moving occasion after their post-qualifying friendly.

The match was played in Redwood, at the Marc Edwards Memorial Stadium, a venue chosen because the date of the match was the fifth anniversary of the death of Marc Edwards. He was a promising Redwood Forest footballer, said by some to the best player of the modern era never to have played for West Zirconia. A road accident on the way home from a match at Moorcroft City robbed him of that chance, as well as of life itself.

In recognition of this occasion, the Bears Armed delegation requested to plant a number of their own genus of redwood trees near the Sequoia grove from which the city takes its name, a request which the Redwood authorities granted.

A service of thanksgiving was led by the Bishop of Redwood, Rt Revd Chris Parker, who used the occasion to celebrate not only Marc's life, but also the friendship which comes out of such tragedy. The presence not only of the national teams, but also the Redwood Forest and Moorcroft City teams was a striking confirmation of Dr. Parker's words.

At the request of Bears Armed, a Druidic ceremony was performed at the actual planting by West Zirconia's chief druid, Archdderwydd Iorwerth ap Llewelyn, before the chairmen of the respective Football Associations exchanged rather lengthy speeches on the unifying influence of their sport.

Overall, it was a moving occasion, where the match itself took second place behind the celebrations - celebrating a short but active life cut so cruelly short, celebrating lasting friendships formed in the face of such adversity, and celebrating the various, sometimes downright bizarre, aspects of the game which brought them all together.

Paul Hart undid yet another button on his shirt. Christ, Dancougar summers were boiling*. He was feeling sweatier than a Krytenian in a spelling test, but then he had reason to. The heat was one thing, pulling a fast one over some Dancougar authorities was quite another.

Silexhera's training session had ended early. The engines and willpower of some of the more fragile players had melted in the mid-day heat and Paul had set aside the afternoon for R&R. The opening match against Secristan was just two days away, but Paul felt the team were drilled enough. The plan remained the same in any case; hang back, soak up the pressure, soak up more pressure, score a flukey goal, defend lead with life. The afternoon off also helped Paul do a little extra-curricular work. Research, to be exact.

Training sessions this close to the opening round of fixtures were no longer televised by the world's media, with teams wanting to go through their strategies away from the scrutiny of opposing managers. It was therefore, Paul had decided, the time when managers would be taking their teams through the more detailed nuances of their game-plans. Now, Paul would never call himself a cheater, and would protest at the slightest accusation of foul play. He would even hunt down any soul who even hinted that he was, in any way, shape or form, the type to be involved in any fraudulent activity whatsoever. Mention the concept of 'gamesmanship', however, and he'd suddenly become fascinated by the bits of dirt under his fingernails and rediscover his formerly favourite past-time of tuneless whistling. He wasn't a bad man, but he liked to think of himself as a little bit of a chancer. It was with this love of the 'slightly naughty', as well as a bit of natural wit and charm that he reserved for special occasions, that he had gotten past the security guards at a training facility near to Silexhera's camp. He edged round the pitch towards the tunnel, carefully and quietly. He loosened his collar and looked up. The clouds had gone in. It was actually quite cold. He was sweating not from the heat, but from the tension. The excitement. The 'thrill of the chase'. If he could 'overhear' some of Secristan's tactics, Silexhera would have a better chance of countering them in the opening fixture.
Exitting 'stealth mode', as he called it in his brain, he started to act nonchalant an 'moseyed', as he tried not to call it, over to the dugout. There were no players on the pitch, just the sound of a muffled voice coming from one of the changing rooms. It was a strange accent. In fact, it was a language he couldn't understand. At all. Strange. Secristanian was, he thought, very similar to the language Silexherans speak. Almost exactly the same, in fact, apart from strange yokel-ish inflections like pronouncing the word 'nothing' as if it had two syllables, the word 'hurry' as if there was an 'h' in it and pronouncing 'feck' with a vowel that sounding more like 'eh' than 'uh'. The usage of words like 'god', 'power' and 'mine mine mine' not as exclamations of grandeur or possession but as synonyms for 'money' was also peculiar to the Secristanians. The language Paul was hearing now was weird. It was almost as if it wasn't Secristanian at all...

...oh god. Paul looked first at the dressing room door, and then at the dark-skinned sixty-three year old man that opened it.
"Damn!" he exclaimed, to the surprise of the man, who wore a read tracksuit jacket with 'DP' emblazoned on the chest. "I can't get away from you lot, can I? Damn damn and damn again."
Paul made the universal symbol for apology. He held up his hands with his palms facing the man and tried to make the most sheepish face possible, before walking away back down the tunnel, muttering to himself.
"Steroga again. Bloody hell..."

*unless they aren't, in which case forget this sentence

Torgos Tribune ~ Cup of Harmony Debut Storm?

The Wanderers find themselves in a very odd position in their first ever Cup of Harmony. They have been placed inside Group F, alongside the nations of Krytenia, Quakmybush, and Achtervolging. If you recall, the side faced Achtervolging in the Qualifiers, losing both times by a single strike. While a defeat to Krytenia seems very likely, the other two matches are very easily winnable matches. Quakmybush is only slightly ahead of ourselves in the rankings and as evidenced by our encounters in the Qualifiers, Achtervologing can be taken down if only some chances would bounce our way.

In truth, this Cup of Harmony could be a stepping stone into the World Cup. Not next tournament, unless luck does favor us, but perhaps the following one given another good Cup of Harmony. All this will come down to the players of course, and how badly they want to become a great footballing nation. While Pasarga is of Persian stock, that identity has all been lost bar the religious practices. It is out of this lost identity that we can forge a new one, and perhaps it will be one that has football as its' epicenter. For that to happen, it all needs to start in the first match against Achtervolging. Calabrese has tore up the Super League for three straight seasons, but his Baptism of Fire and Qualifying campaigns have been woeful. That will have to change if this storm is to form, which then could turn into typhoon. What havoc could a typhoon make? The answer very well could determine the future of Pasarga.

Scores for matchday 1:

Group A
Quintessence of Dust 1-2 Rejistania
Milchama 7-1 Nong Nang Ning

Pos Team P W D L GF GA GD Pts
1 Milchama 1 1 0 0 7 1 6 3
2 Rejistania 1 1 0 0 2 1 1 3
3 Quintessence of Dust 1 0 0 1 1 2 -1 0
4 Nong Nang Ning 1 0 0 1 1 7 -6 0

Group B
Akbarabad 0-0 Phillips Island
Secristan 2-3 Silexhera

Pos Team P W D L GF GA GD Pts
1 Silexhera 1 1 0 0 3 2 1 3
2 Phillips Island 1 0 1 0 0 0 0 1
3 Akbarabad 1 0 1 0 0 0 0 1
4 Secristan 1 0 0 1 2 3 -1 0

Group C
West Zirconia 1-1 Steroga
Greal 2-5 McLaughlin Islands

Pos Team P W D L GF GA GD Pts
1 McLaughlin Islands 1 1 0 0 5 2 3 3
2 West Zirconia 1 0 1 0 1 1 0 1
3 Steroga 1 0 1 0 1 1 0 1
4 Greal 1 0 0 1 2 5 -3 0

Group D
Somewhereistonia 3-0 Golgothastan
Jeruselem 3-1 West Newmanistan

Pos Team P W D L GF GA GD Pts
1 Somewhereistonia 1 1 0 0 3 0 3 3
2 Jeruselem 1 1 0 0 3 1 2 3
3 West Newmanistan 1 0 0 1 1 3 -2 0
4 Golgothastan 1 0 0 1 0 3 -3 0

Group E
Arroza 5-1 O Ale Ale
Nethertopia 2-0 Landau Institute

Pos Team P W D L GF GA GD Pts
1 Arroza 1 1 0 0 5 1 4 3
2 Nethertopia 1 1 0 0 2 0 2 3
3 Landau Institute 1 0 0 1 0 2 -2 0
4 O Ale Ale 1 0 0 1 1 5 -4 0

Group F
Achtervolging 3-2 Pasarga
Krytenia 2-0 Quakmybush

Pos Team P W D L GF GA GD Pts
1 Krytenia 1 1 0 0 2 0 2 3
2 Achtervolging 1 1 0 0 3 2 1 3
3 Pasarga 1 0 0 1 2 3 -1 0
4 Quakmybush 1 0 0 1 0 2 -2 0

From the Banana on Sunday

Silexhera 3-2 Secristan!
Last Ditch Effort Stuns Group Favourites

Yesterday on a balmy evening in Aiken City, Red Moon*, Dancougar, Silexhera got their Cup of Harmony campaign off to the perfect start with a shock upset of 38th-ranked Secristan.

Silexhera again went with the 5-4-1 formation that had served them so well in the qualifying phase of World Cup 46, with the only significant changes being Hogan Carbon's inclusion in midfield at the expense of Yancy Fetcher, who's retirement from international football came roughly at the same time as he was considered surplus to requirements by manager Paul Hart.

The team's usual game-plan was, however, put into jeopardy after Secristan's early - and deserved - opener.

Secristan's third corner-kick of their game - and their second in as many minutes - was only half cleared by defender Couser Granite, the ball falling to attacking midfielder Scott Tollisen on the edge of the box. The Secristan man in one swift and elegant movement controlled the ball in mid-air expertly on his instep and, barely shifting his weight, lashed the ball towards the bottom corner before it had even hit the ground, the ball making its way through the crowd of players and nestling in the bottom corner for 1-0 after just eleven minutes.

The early goal shook Silexhera somewhat, and the team nearly fell behind three minutes later as a quick passing movement split the defence in half only for striker Kevin Tucker, receiving a pin-point pass ten yards out and sending his marker off balance with a quick turn, to miss the target with a side-footed finish, to the shock and dismay of his team's supporters.

Such a poor miss would not go unpunished by a Silexhera team growing in confidence and the score would be levelled on forty minutes, Kelly Sporadic finding Hogan Carbon with an angled cross which the midfielder helped on into the far post with the keeper stranded. It was Carbon's first goal for his country in only his first start.

Paul Hart's instructions for the second half seemed to reset the team into their traditional defensive shell in an effort to soak up Secristanian pressure and maintain a status quo that would see the team pick up a valuable point, but again this tactic proved costly. Secristan's Newmanistan-based full-back and captain Eric Fraser was sent scampering down the right flank following an immaculately weighted through-ball from Todd Carney. Fraser feinted the cross and instead cut inside a bamboozled Carl Medic, making his way along the goal-line and waiting for support to arrive in the box. Finding Silexheran defenders crowding out his options for a pass, Fraser instead shot the ball from the acute angle. Colm Fisher blocked it with his body but could only watch as it bounced loose in the penalty box to be put away by Michael Cardona, reacting quicker by a fair margin than the Silexheran defenders and side-footing his side 2-1 ahead.

For twenty minutes, Silexhera would be pinned back in their own half under relentless pressure from a Secristan team eager to put both the game to bed and our tiny nation in its place, but despite gaining some decent opportunities found themselves frustrated by a hard-working defence.

Secristan's second-half dominance made Silexhera's second equaliser of the game all the more shocking, and the goal was not without controversy.

Getting the ball out of their own half for once, Silexhera managed an attack down the left, with Kelly Sporadic making his way with the ball despite pressure from two markers. With space running out, Kelly hit an aimless and hopeful high cross to the edge of the area. Cafundeu-based centre-half Trevor Orton seemed odds on to win the header, seemingly shrugging off Gopher Sporaskid's effort to get under the ball, but somehow - so it seemed to television cameras at the time - lost balance and could only watch as the ball skimmed off the top of his forehead. Sporaskid latched onto it and raked a shot past goalkeeper Brian Carver who, puzzlingly for spectators at the time, had stood up and was waving his arms frantically in the air, seemingly indicating to the referee that something had gone dreadfully awry. His appeals were ignored as the ref signaled for a goal and the scorer wheeled off towards his team's supporters.

Secristanian players surrounded the referee complaining of a foul, resulting in two bookings for centre-halves Orton and Wooliver for protesting rather to vehemently. Around the world, action replays from other angles accurately showed what had taken place - Trevor Orton setting himself for the header, Sporaskid with his hand on the back of the defender's collar, the sharp yank, the Secristanian defender tilting backwards slightly and trying to regain his footing, the cheating Silexhera forward receiving the ball, shooting into the goal and running off to celebrate without even so much as a guilty glance at the referee.

From here on the game would descend into an ill-tempered affair, with an annoyed Secristanian team growing frustrated as again Silexhera drew ten players back behind the ball. Sub striker James Rogan would earn himself a booking just minutes after being brought on for a lunge at Tam Doctor, whilst some kind of justice would be done as Gopher Sporaskid was booked for use of an elbow whilst going for another header.

It seemed as though the match would be heading for a farcical and violent end before Kelly Sporadic turned events on its head. With ninety minutes gone, a high clearance out of defence was collected on the wing by Doctor, who found Sporadic with a square ball. Sporadic was able to use his pace to get away from his marker and bear down on the opposition's retreating back-four. The midfielder pushed the ball onto his right foot and, from twenty-five yards, hit a peach of a shot before the defenders could move to block his path. The ball arced and swerved and fell just inside of the right-hand post, leaving half the stadium heading for exit in disgust and the other half jumping for joy.

Secristan's manager has, as yet, been unavailable to comment on the nature of his side's defeat or the incident leading to Silexhera's second goal, but Paul Hart has hinted that the offender will have some explaining to do and there may be internal repercussions for him.

FINAL SCORE
Secristan 2 (Tollison 11, Cardona 52)
Silexhera 3 (Carbon 41, Sporaskid 79, Sporadic 90)

The Banana is one of those annoying newspapers that randomly anglicises - or should that be Silexheranises - places in other countries

Jeruselem Government News

CoH 38 faves hit the ground running

In the CoH 38 (for World Cup 46), the slated favourites have made a good start.

In Group A, Milchama destroyed a pitiful Nong Nang Ning (not to be confused with Wing Wong Wang) 7-1. Old friends Rejistania had to fight to win against the Quoddites 2-1. It's clear the Warriors actually behaved like warriors this time round.

Group B, Silexhera took down the top seed Millionaires (aka Secristan) 3-2 in an important clash. Secristan did have some luck as Akbarabad and Phillips Island played out a draw, meaning none of the teams took home maximum points. Akbarabad is the 2nd highest seed in the group but could not beat the lowest ranked team but at least they didn't loose.

Group C, McLaughlin Islands taught Greal a lesson 5-2. Greal is the top seed in this group and this was big upset. West Zirconia was held to a draw with Steroga 1-1 and this group is not favouring the higher seeds at all at the moment like group B.

Group D, Jeruselem took care of business beating the Patriots 3-1. Last time the teams met, the Patriots beat Jeruselem 2-1 but this time the Princesses ruled the roost and delivered a good win. Somewhereistonia beat the other "stan" of this group, Golgothastan 3-0 with ease.

Group E, wins to Arroza and Nethertopia as expected. The doctor running the Landau Institute team failed to cure Nethertopia flu and the team lost 4-0 in a crushing loss. Arroza met O Ale Ale whose team had too much ale and lost 2-0.

Group F, Krytenia (aka Sky Blues) who's love hate-relation with the Purple Menace is well known. They beat the Quakmybush team in the close 2-0 game. Achtervolging scored the sole game in the game against Pasarga.

The big three in the Princesses, Warriors and Sky Blues delivered. Secristan choked and so did Greal. The game of most impact is the Warriors 7-1 win showing they will be a challenge to the Princesses.

Jeruselem came from behind after trailing 0-1 when Pups was deemed to have brought down a Patriot striker Chris Peckham inside the penalty area. Later replays showed, the decision was wrong as the Chris caught his studs in grass and it looked ten times worse than it was. In the 2nd half, Lara Bingle equalised for Jeruselem after sneaking past some rather lax defending and getting the keeper without cover. Keiko Kinsata bobbed up in the scoring stakes with a header. Helen Clarke finished off the game from a rebound after Marie almost took off the keepers face.

Dan Ducky slipped at the end of the game and tried to grab someone to stop his fall. Unfortunately, Dan Ducky only succeeded in grabbing Pups shorts and pulling her pants down. Naturally, the cameras zoomed on Pups and she was standing there rather exposed.

Pups said later about the incident
"Trust a duck to pull down my pants! Good thing I keep my bushes under control. It's nothing. Mind you, it wasn't intentional. I mean he once opened a door and knocked me over when I was just wearing a towel. He's just clumsy."

Akbarabad drop crucial points.

(Akbarabad press, AP): The Akbarabad national team started their C.O.H campaign against bottom ranked Philips Islands, on the wrong foot being held to a goalless draw.Underperforming against lower ranked teams is practically a C.O.H tradition for the team, but this spineless effort was more reminiscent of the later efforts of the world cup campaign were the team struggled to score a goal at all. Philips Island's bore draw ultra defensive tactics helped matters little and the spectators at the Joseph Gandor Stadium were unimpressed by their lack of attacking iniative and cynical fouling playing style which sorely limited Akbarabad's attacking options.The dropped points in this match could be absolutely crucial, especially if it results in the team facing a side like Jeruselem or Milchama in the second round (if they manage to qualify at all, that is).

The team's next match is against Silexhera at Construction Hut Stadium. Silexhera, managed to pull of a surpise 3-2 victory over Secristan and will be on a high and fired up for the encounter. However the Tiger Eaters badly need a win in order to regain their self belief if not their qualifying chances.

Well earned draw

Steroga went into their game against West Zirconia as an underdog so they felt very happy coming out of the game with a point. The 1-1 draw was an example of what perseverance can do for you as West Zirconia took a very early lead with goal just nine minutes into the game and controlled possession for the entire first half and most of the second. Steroga played outstanding defense, showing them it’s not how long you have possession it’s what you do with it and West Zirconia found it very difficult to get quality shots on Utkarsh Nayak. The keeper was feeling it as a small contingent of Sterogan fans tried their best to make themselves heard and Nayak definitely noticed them. Late in the second half, West Zirconia clearly saw fatigue set in and our heroes used this opportunity to push for the equalizer. In the 83rd minute it would come Jaisukh Pattnaik on a shot so hard it would have ripped the netting off if it were in a Sterogan stadium. Dancougar has better quality twine fortunately. A draw isn’t going to set the world on fire but it is a start and we will hope to get some more points in our next game. Six of them would be ideal. Greal is the next opponent.

His Majesty Lord Singh was very pleased with the response of the Dancougar organizers who dropped the tiebreaker provision that we had spoke out against. He was happy and gave advice to the organizers. “Never trust interns with anything more important then fixing a cup of coffee and even then make sure they didn’t accidentally give you decaf.”

Staerling Purchase headed in Ronald Hes' free-kick before the excellent Bradley Sheron cleverly set up Aurelio Prats to fire home the Lions's equaliser.

Sheron calmly put Achtervolging ahead with a penalty after goalkeeper Moricz Vincze impeded Purchase, who later flicked on for Sem Wijnands to make it 3-1.

Ausilio Calabrese pulled one back with a late penalty after Prat's foul on Djoko Markovčič.

Sheron, produced a fine performance and was a constant threat to Pasarga.

The Wanderers were angered by the referee's decision to award Achtervolging a penalty after Vincze had hurdled a challenge from Maart Asmus.

It proved to be the turning point in the game and, as Pasarga chased an equaliser, Wijnands was able to snatch the Lions's third and decisive goal.

Lions manager Frederik Anjema:

"The referee on another day may have not given the penalty but it was a close one. I haven't seen it back so we just have to go with the referee's decision.

"It was contentious but in the second half we turned it up a notch and played some great stuff.

"It was an important win for the fans and we deserved it in my opinion. Pasarga threw the kitchen sink at us but we defended well and saw it out."

From: Rt Revd Andrew Fox, Bishop of Snaith
To: Rt Revd Chris Parker, Bishop of Redwood

Dear Bishop,

I cannot believe what I have just heard. Encouraging the futile worship of a dead footballer? Consorting with Druids and other godless pagans? Weird tree-planting ceremonies? And all in the name of the false god of football? No wonder your diocese is going down the tubes, if that is the way its most senior cleric behaves. And if you think I am disappointed in you, wait till the Archbishop gets hold of you.

I am surprised the Daily Herald has (so far) not taken you to pieces over it, like it did that MP of yours. Mark my words - you have not heard the last of this.

Yours in the name of the true God,

+Andrew Snaith

GET IN THERE!!!!

Sorry about that, but it's easy to get a little over-excited after the Islanders' opening Cup of Harmony match, in which they upset group favourites Greal 5-2.

The Islanders went 2-0 ahead in the first 15 minutes (one each for Mark and Martin), during which time it was assumed that Greal had not yet woken up, and once they had, then the rest of the game would be a pushover for them.

It certainly looked that way when Trent and Anderson levelled the game for Greal. In the second half, however, the Islanders came out fighting, and were in front (Martin again) in just five minutes.

By this time Greal were disillusioned, and were easy prey for a side sensing its first international upset. Not even the 0-0 draw with Yafor 2 which brought the latter side here could match what was on offer here, and the Islanders were up for it.

It wasn't until five minutes from the end when it was settled. Substitute Peters gave away the most clumsy of penalties with a dreadful tackle on Mark, who converted to give the Islanders a 4-2 lead. Felix added a fifth at the death just to make sure.

It's the Old Country next. Now that one could be fun.

ooc: Last RP for a few days. Mmmm sun.

Paul Hart slammed the door behind Gopher Sporaskid as the youngster made his way into Paul's makeshift office. It was all he could do not to give the kid a smack round the ear. Gopher opened his mouth, but shut it again when Paul motioned for silence. A television was switched on in the corner. The video machine under it began to whirr.

Familiar figures danced around on the screen. The green shirts of Secristan, the white, change strips of Silexhera. A large figure in green rises up to meet an oncoming high ball but then looks as if he's pulled away by the figure behind him. The green-shirted man stumbles backwards to the floor, only succeeding in making the ball skim off the top of his head. The player in white behind him controls the ball and shoots it into the corner, past a goalkeeper too busy waving his arms and yelling at the referee to make an effort to save the shot. Not that he would have gotten anywhere near it anyway. The tape stopped. Paul looked over at Gopher.

"What were you thinking?"
"Look, boss.."
"Did I teach you tricks like that?"
"No... I..."
"Is that how Silexherans play football?"
"Well no... but..."
"But what Gopher? You've cheated! You're a bloody cheat!"
"We won!" cried Gopher, his eyes welling up "we won didn't we? That's what you wanted wasn't it? We were losing, we were struggling, I sorted us out"
"That is not how football is played" said Paul, getting visibly more angry. "You're suspended for two games. I'm loathe to even pick you again for the first eleven."

Gopher left the room, slamming the door behind him.
"Already" thought Paul. "Two years in the game and they're already becoming a bunch of prima-donnas."

Something had to be done. Paul needed to bring his players down to earth, and quickly, before this undercurrent of egotism effected their preparations for the next World Cup, let alone their progress in this Cup of Harmony.

MILLIONAIRES DROP OPENER

Every World Cup, beginning long before Secristan stepped foot into these waters, there have been first time nations that have made a very good impression in their first appearance. Most of these nations opt to play in the Baptism of Fire, in which the Secristan Department of Sports had the common sense to sign up for. The Millionaires made that impression, and now Silexhera appears to be on that path as well, even though their organizers waited until after the Baptism of Fire had begun to declare their entry. Looks like their interns don’t do any better of a job then those in Dancougar. Silexhera had an impressive group stage, where with a few more bounces here and there, could have been the second unranked team to qualify for the World Cup, surely setting some kind of a modern record. They have confidence, and they put forth a strong effort to defeat the Millionaires by the score of 3-2 in what was a very entertaining match. The Millionaires took an early lead and got the coin jars rattling in the 11th minute on a pretty goal by Scott Tollison, a shot in which Silexheran keeper Colin Fisher may not have been able to get a good read on as there was plenty of traffic in front. Although we will remember this game for it’s late heroics, where this game was lost was probably in the early stages of the first half as Secristan had plenty of opportunities to extend the lead, but got sloppy on their chances. Had the Millionaires taken a two-goal lead, then the whole complexion of this game would have been different. Silexhera made us pay for that, and it wasn’t cheap, with a late first half goal by Kelly Carbon. Still, Secristan responded well to being the second half, immediately getting to the offense moving and a go-head goal by Michael Cardona in the 52nd.

While things were looking good for the Millionaires as they continued to dominate control of the ball, Silexhera was awarded a second goal by the referee in the 79th minute. Trevor Orton was mugged by Gopher Sporaskid when going for a routine header and there’s no other way to put it. Sporaskid reached and tugged on the back of Orton’s jersey and essentially threw him to the ground in this fashion. Brian Carver and the rest of the Millionaires were taken aback by this, and it is understood if they were expecting a red card to come of it, or at least, a yellow, or maybe even a whistle. No one expected the goal to stand after Sporaskid tipped it in, setting shockwaves through the stadium when it was allowed. Several Secristani fans through their amplified coin jars on the field in the direction of the Rennidanian referee, and the referee finally found the cards in his pocket. However they were issued to Orton and Shawn Wooliver, the latter of which plays in Dancougar, therefore getting support of many of the neutral fans in attendance. Coach Ryan Fullerton has sent a tape of the incident to the Dancougar FA, not expecting to get the outcome reversed, but to have this referee banned from future Cup of Harmony games. According to Fullerton, “This had to be the worst non-call I have ever seen, and for it to be in a high level competition such as the Cup of Harmony is a complete travesty. We understand that much of the world may not understand a lot of the bitterness between Rennidan and Secristan from World Bowl competitions, but they should be well aware of that in Dancougar. An official from Rennidan should never have been assigned to this game. We hope that our future games have our officials decided by intelligent football minds, not some bimbo intern in their administrative office.” Fullerton refused to say the incident cost them the game, “The goal should never have counted, but we lost this game because of our inability to put this game away earlier in the match when we had the chance.” The Millionaires were clearly rattled after this incident, and it showed in the 90th minute game winner by Kelly Sporadic.

The Secristan Department of Sports reports only moderate ratings for the Cup of Harmony opener, blaming it on Silexhera not really being a name opponent. After this game, and the Spoarskid incident, if these teams were to play again expect purchases of the pay-per-view to be much higher. It was an entertaining contest and most people should feel that they got their rusas worth. The Millionaires will head to Lakeport now to play Phillips Island. We have already saw one defaced Sporting Lakeport poster, with the word “steroids” above Jeremy McAllister, Jr, and the words “transfer me” above Stefan Rosberg. A diaper was also drawn on Rosberg.

[OOC: Assuming Golgothastan World Cup squad is in use.]

Qasarian Evening Sport

Eagles crush Golgothastan in Harmony Cup

Its all about threes when Somewhereistonia play Golgothastan, the first time we played, both teams managed three goals, the second time three goals were scored in a 2-1 victory but now, the Eagles won in an incredible 3-0.

The game started at a frantic pace, with both sides trying to hold possession and drive forward, from early on it was clear that the Eagles had the better team for this, as they began to dominate the game. Golgothastan were still playing surprisingly well in defence, restricting Somewhereistonia to taking long shots, Keres hitting the bar from one of them.

The Eagles finally took the lead in the 28th minute, with Skormilonski driving the ball into the bottom corner from the edge of the box after Nolakk cut the ball back to him. The trophy stealing farmers looked dejected and rightfully so, as the Eagles continued to punish them, forcing them to defend more and more.

The score remained at 1-0 at half time, after some great saves from the Valdímar, and great blocking from the defence. The Eagles needed some fresh legs to keep things forward. So Ergma took off Nolakk to bring on the quick-footed Povilas Drozdova.

The substitute quickly showed why he was there, cutting inside the full back in the 46th minute before unleashing a powerful shot across the goal, the keeper just managing to tip it round the post. On the other wing, things weren't going quite so well, with Taska on the receiving end of some crunching tackles from Þorvaldur. The full back only receiving a yellow card after a particularly bad tackle that should easily have earned him a red. In the 56th minute Taska was taken off, mainly to preserve him for the more important matches. Jaan Schmidt coming on for the winger, in the hope that experience would overcome the problem.

The plan payed off with Schmidt providing a fabulous cross in the 60th minute, Skormilonski then headed down to Kusnets, who delicately flicked the ball over Valdímar into the net. A 2-0 lead and Golgothastan were showing few signs of making any impact.

This was suddenly turned around in the 72nd minute when Ásgeir broke forward with the ball, hitting a long ball up to Þorður, who was able to run clear of Kadleks and fire a shot at Klug, who brilliantly pushed the ball away from the top corner of his goal.

The Eagles had been warned of the danger, and they were not going to give up their lead so easily. In the 79th minute they scored the goal that sealed the victory. Paposki slid the ball down the left to Drozdova who skipped past the right back and hit a low cross into the box, Kusnets providing the all important touch to knock the ball into the net. After assuring the victory, the young hero was replaced by Altosaar. He was the team's biggest threat and they wouldn't want him to miss the rest of the tournament because of a dodgy tackle from this rough side.

Despite a couple more chances, the game finished a comfortable 3-0, a score thoroughly deserved by the Eagles and a defeat equally deserved by those trophy stealing [expletive deleted].

Next up West Newmanistan, a potential surprise team, but one this commentator thinks we can beat without a problem.


Somewhereistonia (1) 3-0 (0) Golgothastan
Skormilonski [Nokakk] (28)
Kusnets [Skormilonski] (60)
Kusnets [Drozdova] (79)

Man of the match: Mart Kusnets

Yellow cards: Þorvaldur (47)

Somewhereistonia substitutes: Nolakk off, Drozdova on (45), Taska off, Schmidt on (49), Kusnets off, Altosaar on (80).

Celts Knocked off By Krytenia

The Quakmybush Celts played in their first ever Cup of Harmony game, against the team that hosted them in their first ever World Cup, Krytenia. The Aces, as they used to be called came out on fire and scored two goals within the first 15 minutes of the game. The Celts could just not battle back and lost their first ever Cup of Harmony game. The Celts need to step up their game if they want to move on to the next round and get any sort of rank boost from this tournament.

Written by Jamie Arizona

This was going to be a cutoff.
But then that happened. --->

MD2 RP cutoff!

Group A
Milchama 3-1 Rejistania
Quintessence of Dust 2-0 Nong Nang Ning

Pos Team P W D L GF GA GD Pts
1 Milchama 2 2 0 0 10 2 8 6
2 Rejistania 2 1 0 1 3 4 -1 3 *
3 Quintessence of Dust 2 1 0 1 3 2 1 3 *
4 Nong Nang Ning 2 0 0 2 1 9 -8 0

* Rejistania over Quintessence of Dust on head-to-head victory.

Group B
Secristan 2-1 Phillips Island
Akbarabad 0-1 Silexhera

Pos Team P W D L GF GA GD Pts
1 Silexhera 2 2 0 0 4 2 2 6
2 Secristan 2 1 0 1 4 4 0 3
3 Phillips Island 2 0 1 1 1 2 -1 1 *
4 Akbarabad 2 0 1 1 0 1 -1 1 *

* Phillips Island over Akbarabad on goals scored.

Group C
Greal 4-0 Steroga
West Zirconia 1-2 McLaughlin Islands

Pos Team P W D L GF GA GD Pts
1 McLaughlin Islands 2 2 0 0 7 3 4 6
2 Greal 2 1 0 1 6 5 1 3
3 West Zirconia 2 0 1 1 2 3 -1 1 *
4 Steroga 2 0 1 1 1 5 -4 1 *

* West Zirconia over Steroga on goal difference.

Group D
Jeruselem 4-1 Golgothastan
Somewhereistonia 2-3 West Newmanistan

Pos Team P W D L GF GA GD Pts
1 Jeruselem 2 2 0 0 7 2 5 6
2 West Newmanistan 2 1 0 1 4 5 -1 3 *
3 Somewhereistonia 2 1 0 1 5 3 2 3 *
4 Golgothastan 2 0 0 2 1 7 -6 0

* West Newmanistan over Somewhereistonia on head-to-head victory.

Group E
Nethertopia 1-1 O Ale Ale
Arroza 1-0 Landau Institute

Pos Team P W D L GF GA GD Pts
1 Arroza 2 2 0 0 6 1 5 6
2 Nethertopia 2 1 1 0 3 1 2 4
3 O Ale Ale 2 0 1 1 2 6 -4 1
4 Landau Institute 2 0 0 2 0 3 -3 0

Group F
Krytenia 2-0 Pasarga
Achtervolging 2-2 Quakmybush

Pos Team P W D L GF GA GD Pts
1 Krytenia 2 2 0 0 4 0 4 6
2 Achtervolging 2 1 1 0 5 4 1 4
3 Quakmybush 2 0 1 1 2 4 -2 1
4 Pasarga 2 0 0 2 2 5 -3 0

Teams in green will finish no worse than second in their group and have therefore clinched a berth in the knockout round. All teams are still alive, since anyone who can reach third has a shot...

Before the game ...

Marie: Know anything about this Golgothastan team?
Pups: We don't have a roster to look at.
Marie: Oh well, but being ranked 77 you'd think we should be OK.
Pups: But we didn't qualify for the finals because of an unranked team.

Marie: But this Golgothastan didn't qualify so they aren't like those other teams.
Pups: Good point, I mean they don't even have a roster to look at.
Marie: Well, let's hope we win and that somewhere team wins too.
Pups: Yeah, put them Patriots out of business.

Marie: And Golgothastan pushed out of the two as well. Not that they are in top two anyway.
Pups: Well, that'd be ideal.
Marie: How about you lead the team against that somewhere team if we have locked on our place in the 2nd round?
Pups: Really?

Marie: I've got things to do.
Pups: Like?
Marie: Help sell Dazzi comics ...
Pups: So who's going be the next Dazzi?

Marie: Well, my mother and my sister Kate have been Dazzi. We need someone who looks like us.
Pups: Jacinta?
Marie: She's older than me Pups.
Pups: Matilda?

Marie: Actually, she's too tall. Dazzi is a short person.
Pups: I'm short ...
Marie: But you aren't exactly the most coordinated of people.
Pups: Oh yes, Dazzi is a Ninja girl.

Marie: Rococo Sallad is a bit dim so she's out.
Pups: Nikki Seabourne?
Marie: Too old, need a younger person.
Pups: What about that Kaye at Jeru FC, she's not exactly tall and she's an action girl.

Marie: Well, she's seems to be the right fit. She likes being naked too which is really important.
Pups: I'll have a go.
Marie: We can't have Ninja girl who giggles have a puppy dog.
Pups: But don't a lot anime girls sound like that?

Marie: I suppose they do.
Pups: well? I want to be new Dazzi.
Marie: You'll need training.
Pups: That's OK, I have got plenty of space on the farm to train.

Marie: I hope Billy doesn't mind.
Pups: He likes scantity dressed women so it's OK.
Marie: I don't pass on Dazzi easily. The new Dazzi must be a worthy replacement.
Pups: Don't worry, I'll be best Dazzi yet!

President Nicholls had to deal with a new kind of protest outside his offices this morning. An appropriate building for a President hasn’t been constructed yet, and ranks high on Nicholls’ to-do list. This allows the public to have pretty easy access to locations around the building in which the President has no choice but to hear the shouting. The building is guarded heavily, but the people are allowed to protest as long as they do so peacefully. “We want the World Cup!” they shouted. “We want to go back!” The people don’t believe that the nation should have to choose between building a national infrastructure and participating in interregional sports. The Patriots’ 3-2 victory over Somewhereistonia, in which they rallied from a 2-1 deficit with a pair of goals in the final six minutes of the contest spurred on the excitement.

The President had to say something, and walked to the doorway and asked for the people to listen. “My people,” he started, “I was just as excited with the way we played against the reigning Baptism of Fire Champion today, and I know that our country has done some good things in World Cup qualifying. But it is important that we attend to matters at home first. I do not wish to raise taxes any more then I need too, and this is with your best interest in mind. At this time, West Newmanistan simply cannot participate…” ****BANG*****

The gunshots rang out. Three of them. Security apprehended the suspect, but the damage was done. Other protestors ran off screaming, fearing for their lives, even though they were never targeted by the gunman. President Nicholls laid motionless on the ground, bleeding profusely. Medical attention was immediate but could not save his life.

President Nicholls had died. Now, what would happen to West Newmanistan?

CoH38 Qualifying Schedule
MD1: Greal VS McLaughlin Islands (2-5)
MD2: Greal VS Steroga (4-0)
MD3: Greal VS West Zirconia


Greal is shocked, then shocks another
BY ROGER MARKS

After the shocking defeat by McLaughlin Islands, which morale fell to a low point, the Greali took the fight to Steroga and won 4-0, which breathed life into the team. Howard Anderson displayed his normal self by scoring half the goals, while Michael Istoma and Sebastian Expan each score one goal. Michael Istoma was injured late in the game and had to leave for rest of the game, but don't worry folks! He has recovered and will be in the match against West Zirconia. Speaking of which, West Zirconia will probably be the toughest competitor we'll face in the group, and the Greali desperately need a win to hopefully qualify and salvage what has been a disastrous year for the team. A anonymous Sports Ministry official said over the phone to Greali Times that Ross Trent's career was essentially if the team failed to qualify for Cup of Harmony 38. Nothing like pressure to move things along eh? Anyway, we're
West Zirconia tomorrow like I said, and ironically, they were one of the teams in Baptism of Fire 29 (That was when our team started their career). West Zirconia will probably want to disappoint us by winning too. Lets hope we prevent that, or I expect many fans to commit suicide tomorrow.

Anyway, Steroga plays McLaughlin Islands tomorrow.

(Please view my article on Sarah Watson on page 6)

OOC: I was insanely busy, so I didn't post yesterday.

Defeat puts Akbarabad on the brink of eliminiation.

(Akbarabad press, AP): A 1-0 defeat to Silexhera puts Akbarabad on the brink of elimination.In yet another inept display, th Tiger Eaters failed to score once again , and to compound their problems, a late own goal by keeper Aminul condemmed the side to a defeat. The side has in fact scored just one goal, in their las five games including three world cup Qualifying matches. With the sides fortunes and morale at an all time low, Manager Abdus Samad has decided to go for broke and promises a far more attacking style of play in their last match. the side can still qualify provided they beat Secristan and Philips Islands fail to win. Judging by their performance so far however, a sceptical public back home think yet another early exit from the Cup of Harmony is far more likely.

OOC: My style modifier for the last match will be +3.5.

The Daily Quak
Win and In... I think?

The Quakmybush National soccer team continued their Cup of Harmony run with a 2-2 draw with Achtervolging. The Celts went down 1-0 in the 13th minute when an Achtervolging player scored of a set piece from just outside the box. Then in 27th minute Danilo Yanis came streaking down the left wing and sent to the ball in the air towards Briar Hamon, who headed the ball into the top left hand corner of the net to make it 1-1. That was the score at half time, with Quakmybush clearly outplaying and outchancing their opponents. Early in the second half the game was a different story, had it not have been for Johnie Maksym the game could have easily been 4 or 5-1 for Achtervolging. Achtervolging finally capitalized on one of these chances when one of their player struck the ball from just inside the box, Maksym could not get to it and it was 2-1 for Achtervolging. The Celts did not give up, knowing that they needed this game for any sure hope of moving on into the next round. They began pressing and it all finally paid of in the 88th minute. Sly Gustav, who had been subbed in found himself in alone on the keeper, his shot was somehow saved by the Achtervolging keeper, however the rebound came out to Vasil Mitchell who made absolutely no mistake and pounded the ball in to the back of the net to make it a 2 all tie. This is how the game ended.

As for the direct qualification situation, the Celts need to win and Achtervolging needs to lose and the goal differential must swing by at least 3 goals. The Celts believe they can defeat Pasarga, who is still sitting on 0 points, and most people believe that Krytenia will have no problem dealing with Achtervolging.


Achtervolging 2-2 Quakmybush
For the Celts scoring was
Hamon 27'
Mitchell 88'

Cup of Harmony Results
L Krytenia 2-0
D Achtervolging 2-2

ooc: oops thought I posted a roster

Keepers
Johnie Maksym
Herbert Jerold
Jussi Lawerence

Defenders
Brendan Billy
Bernie Cornell
Tommy Jan
Harvey Moss
Cuthbert Sonnie
Garnet Vasil

Midfielders
Jon Fields Jr.
Briar Hamon
Mathias Wolf
Stefan Mickey
Jamie Lothario
Roman Serafino

Forwards
Brendon Gabriel
Danilo Yannis
Vasil Mitchell
Rudolf Slobodan
Sly Gustav
Augustijn Shaw
Ladislav Fyfe
Ozzy Evangelos

Quakmybush plays a 3-3-4

Qasarian Evening Sport

Late slip up costs Eagles!

Somewhereistonia conceded two late goals against West Newmanistan to put the team on the brink of exiting the Cup of Harmony today. This is hardly what was wanted but the manager, and just about everyone outside of West Newmanistan judging by other news reports. The Eagles should have won, but a couple of substitutions seemingly cost them the game as they opened up and conceded in the dying minutes.

Somewhereistonia is now in the Bizarre situation of wanting Golgothastan to win their game, whilst they must get something out of the tough match with Jerusalem. If the Eagles lose, they may just be able to get a third place spot into the next round. This may be daunting for other teams, but the Eagles did pretty much the same thing in the Baptism of Fire, scraping through the group stage before knocking out the teams that beat them in the group and going on to win in style. The World Cup Qualifiers again give a positive perspective, with the Eagles performing much better in the second half of the competition (only losing to Sorthern Northland).

The match with West Newmanistan did not start well, with the opposition having a good early spell and scoring in the 9th minute through Michael Haller tapping in a ball that squirmed through the defence.

The Eagles responded well and began to dominate the match after conceding and gained an equaliser through Kusnets in the 34th minute after a well timed cross from Taska found its way to his feet at the front post. The shot sliding under the helpless keeper. Although dominant, there were no more clear cut chances in the first half, it ending 1-1.

The second half saw a slight improvement in the Eagles performance, with a bit more attacking flair and a few more chances. Amongst these was a Taska shot which replays show crossed the line, but it was not counted, much to the annoyance of the young winger. The Eagles finally got the lead in the 68th minute through substitute Zoltoks, who hit a thunderous shot into the top corner from the edge of the box to send the Eagles' fans into ecstasy.

In the 80th minute, the experienced midfielder Paposki and defender Kadleks were taken off to rest, replaced by the younger Törk and Ranilas. This proved to be a crucial mistake as West Newmanistan gained a surprise equaliser in the 85th minute through Peckham after a ball was easily slid through to him. Paposki would almost certainly blocked it, and this has led to the first major questioning of Ergma since he took over as manager. In the 89th minute disaster struck again, after a long shot from Aguirre ricocheted off Ranilas into the net, sending Klug the wrong way. An unjust result for the Eagles as they now face a much harder challenge to qualify.

In a post-match press conference Ergma defended himself by saying “We have shown determination against the odds in the past, and we can do it again. Every other team in the tournament is looking to win, we just need it more than some. We showed in the Baptism of Fire that we as a team have the character to overcome these challenges, even after early set-backs. We will win, of this I am fairly confident.”

Whatever happens tomorrow, it will surely be a good game, and few would predict that the Baptism of Fire champions would just roll over to a team who have already qualified on head-to-head results.

RP cutoff for MD3! Who moves on?!

Group A
Milchama 2-1 Quintessence of Dust
Nong Nang Ning 0-0 Rejistania

Pos Team P W D L GF GA GD Pts
1 Milchama 3 3 0 0 12 3 9 9
2 Rejistania 3 1 1 1 3 4 -1 4
3 Quintessence of Dust 3 1 0 2 4 4 0 3
4 Nong Nang Ning 3 0 1 2 1 9 -8 1

Group B
Secristan 2-1 Akbarabad
Silexhera 1-0 Phillips Island

Pos Team P W D L GF GA GD Pts
1 Silexhera 3 3 0 0 5 2 3 9
2 Secristan 3 2 0 1 6 5 1 6
3 Phillips Island 3 0 1 2 1 3 -2 1 *
Akbarabad 3 0 1 2 1 3 -2 1 *

* Phillips Island and Akbarabad level on all tiebreakers. A playoff game is not necessary as neither can finish as one of the top third-place teams.

Group C
Greal 2-1 West Zirconia
McLaughlin Islands 0-2 Steroga

Pos Team P W D L GF GA GD Pts
1 McLaughlin Islands 3 2 0 1 7 5 2 6 *
2 Greal 3 2 0 1 8 6 2 6 *
3 Steroga 3 1 1 1 3 5 -2 4
4 West Zirconia 3 0 1 2 3 5 -2 1

* McLaughlin Islands ahead of Greal on 5-2 head to head victory.

Group D
Jeruselem 1-2 Somewhereistonia
West Newmanistan 2-1 Golgothastan

Pos Team P W D L GF GA GD Pts
1 Jeruselem 3 2 0 1 8 4 4 6 *
2 Somewhereistonia 3 2 0 1 7 4 3 6 *
3 West Newmanistan 3 2 0 1 6 6 0 6 *
4 Golgothastan 3 0 0 3 2 9 -7 0

* All three teams at 6 points, 1-1 against each other. Tie broken by GD.

Group E
Nethertopia 1-5 Arroza
Landau Institute 0-1 O Ale Ale

Pos Team P W D L GF GA GD Pts
1 Arroza 3 3 0 0 11 2 9 9
2 Nethertopia 3 1 1 1 4 6 -2 4 *
3 O Ale Ale 3 1 1 1 3 6 -3 4 *
4 Landau Institute 3 0 0 3 0 4 -4 0

* Equal at four points and a 1-1 head to head result. Tie broken by GD.

Group F
Krytenia 4-0 Achtervolging
Quakmybush 1-0 Pasarga

Pos Team P W D L GF GA GD Pts
1 Krytenia 3 3 0 0 8 0 8 9
2 Quakmybush 3 1 1 1 3 4 -1 4 *
3 Achtervolging 3 1 1 1 5 8 -3 4 *
4 Pasarga 3 0 0 3 2 6 -4 0

* Equal at four points and a 2-2 head to head result. Tie broken by GD.

Third Place Teams
Pos Team P W D L GF GA GD Pts
1 West Newmanistan 3 2 0 1 6 6 0 6
2 Steroga 3 1 1 1 3 5 -2 4 *
3 Achtervolging 3 1 1 1 5 8 -3 4 **
4 O Ale Ale 3 1 1 1 3 6 -3 4 **
5 Quintessence of Dust 3 1 0 2 4 4 0 3
6 Phillips Island/Akbarabad 3 0 1 2 1 3 -2 1

* Steroga ahead of Achtervolging and O Ale Ale on GD.
** Achtervolging ahead of O Ale Ale on GF.

As no playoff games are necessary, the knockout bracket and venues will be announced tomorrow, which is an off-day.

OOC Dazzi is made-up Anime version of Dazza Dallas. The first Dazzi was Dazza but the current Dazzi is Princess Marie-Antoinette Dallas.

Lilian: Hello, this is Lilian Dazza Greenly for JGN! I'm with a special guest here in Dancougar. It's Dazzi the Slutty Ninja Girl.
Dazzi: Hello!
Lilian: Today Jeruselem played Somewhereistonia and lost the game.
Dazzi: What was that nation again?

Lilian: Somewhereistonia ...
Dazzi: Oh, I'll just call it Somewhere
Lilian: What did you think of the game.
Dazzi: Jeruselem did field a rather junior team with Pups as leader. It wasn't the full team and players like Princess Marie and Sally Kool were missing.

Lilian: Still, we should have won.
Dazzi: Yes, but a youth team against a determined experienced team is a risky thing.
Lilian: So why did the coach do it?
Dazzi: Only a catastophic loss would have put us out of the 2nd round. Our kids aren't that bad.

Lilian: OK, why did the kids lose?
Dazzi: I think they just need more time to learn how to finish their moves. They just didn't finish the plan properly. It takes time on the field to learn this.
Lilian: You seem to know a lot about football
Dazzi: Football is like combat. Talent is nothing if you don't get personal experience on the battlefield. Experience isn't everything either if your troops are useless numbskulls.

Lilian: So what you been up to recently?
Dazzi: I've been battling the beasts of the underground or underworld.
Lilian: I assume it's not a nice place.
Dazzi: Not a friendly lot, the dogs down there are huge with two heads what want to eat you. The citizens don't like people and want to hit you with clubs. The bats are huge and seem to be vampiric. Doesn't smell nice and not much light around. There's people with spikey bits all over them and they like skulls.

Lilian: Sounds like a horrible place.
Dazzi: You can read all about it in Dazzi in Hades.
Lilian: Being a Ninja, did you have an advantage down there being quiet in the dark?
Dazzi: It helped but the critters had better night vision than me. So I spent most of the time sneaking around or tried to.

Lilian: I hear you didn't use a normal weapon.
Dazzi: Well, my Ninja-to kinda broke ... so I borrowed a Gladius from some guy called Leonardo.
Lilian: How did you repay the favour?
Dazzi: The usual you know ...

Lilian: Did you use a shield?
Dazzi: I had to. Useful for smakking oversized two-headed dogs in the face while trying cut their heads off.
Lilian: What about climbing walls?
Dazzi: Climbing walls in Hades? No ... everything was sharp and jagged, not to mention rather warm. A girl doesn't need to get her privates cut by rocks.

Lilian: Wear a helmet?
Dazzi: I don't like helmets apart from like you find ... you now. But I did need one since there's always rocks hitting your head in Hades. Hot ones too. Burning hair isn't good for a girl.
Lilian: So how did you get out?
Dazzi: There was this portal but there some horrible thing near it. Nearly got killed there. I mean fifty foot demons aren't nice to people.

Lilian: Good to see your alive. I see you have trouble walking.
Dazzi: Oh, some rock monster thing wanted rape me. No fun. I seem to attract these kind of creatures.
Lilian: Good luck with your next adventure.
Dazzi: Apparently I have to kill a ten headed firebreathing duck.

Lilian: It's not a duck.
Dazzi: Oh good, I don't like flying critters.
Lilian: It's a Hydra I think. It's poisonous not firebreathing.
Dazzi: That's OK then it's hard to poison someone who's caught every STD in the known world.

Atalanta Journal: Playoff Prewiew!

We here at the Journal have looked at the records and set up the brackets the way we expect them to turn out [note, may have no effect on reality] in order to map put the awesomeness that may be the knockout stages of the Cup of Harmony

First Round [numbers = playoff seed]
#1 Milchama vs. #16 O Ale Ale : Milchama has the most potent attack in the CoH, scoring 12 goals in 3 games. O Ale Ale scraped in after a last minute victory against the Landau Institute.

Prediction: Milchama 4-1 O Ale Ale

#2 Arroza vs. #15 Achtervolging : Hiring Tier Bergan from the Macabees might have been the best thing the Admirals have ever done, as they swept through qualifying, twice putting up five goal efforts. The stinging nellies will be hard pressed.

Prediction: Arroza 4-1 Achtervolging

#3 Krytenia vs. #14 West Newmanistan : When you talk about teams that don't belong here, Krytenia has got to be at the top of the list. Ruthless defense that has led to 0 goals against the Aces. West Newmanistan, still in shock can't beat that.

Prediction Krytenia [a bunch] - 0 West Newmanistan

#4 Silexhera vs. #13 Steroga : Newbies with something to prove can be dangerous as the Silexherans have proven. The scoring of Kelly Sporadic should be enough to see them pass Steroga.

Prediction Silexhera 3-2 Steroga

#5 Jerusalem vs. #12 Nethertopia : Dazza Dallas is truly a woman without fear...or morals...or underwear, supposedly.

Prediction: Jreusalem 3 - Nethertopia 2

#6 The McLaughlin Islands vs. #11 Quakmybush : Prediction failed, too many variables.

#7 Somewhereistonia vs. #10 Rejistania : Somewhereistonia's got to be hurting after their last game, but they have enough leadership to suck it up and stop the bleeding against a quiet Rejistanic team.

Prediction: Somewhereistonia 2 - 1 Rejistania

#8 Greal vs. #9 Secristan : Degenerate gamblers and usurers the lot of them.

Prediction: Secristan's wallets 1 - Gamblers 0

Announcer A: “We’re back. The game is in the 75th minute now and during the commercial, the Millionaires took a 2-1 lead. There was a foul in the box, a penalty kick, and then a goal by Michael Cardona to give Secristan the lead.”

Announcer B: “To see a replay of the foul for 2 rusas, press A on your remote. To see a replay of the goal for 5 rusas, press B. To see both for 7 rusas, press C.”

Announcer A: “That makes all three of the goals during this game occurring while we were in commercial breaks. Most countries do not leave the broadcast of game action to show commercials or do a picture-in-picture thing? Should Secristan do that?”

Announcer B: “Absolutely not. How would our fine fans know about the two new salads that McDaniels has on their menu if they were too busy paying attention to the soccer game.”

Announcer A: “Chances are they have seen the commercial before.”

Announcer B: “A 200th reminder of the new northwest chicken salad never hurt.”

Announcer A: “When I go to McDaniels, I want a hamburger. None of that salad crap. If I want to eat healthier, then I don’t go to McDaniels. Simple as that.”

Announcer B: “Wooliver clears the opportunity from some Akbarabad player. But back to McDaniels, have you ever had one of their salads?”

Announcer A: “Absolutely not. Again, I go there for a hamburger. And the guy's name is Samin Akbar.”

Announcer B: “I have. Very good. And yeah, a throw in for Secristan. 79th minute, still 2-1. No one in Secristan cares about his name. Though I have to give at least one Akbar is bad reference. Get it? Anyway.”

Announcer A: “Time for another commercial break.”

Announcer B: “Remember if you don’t like all of our commercial breaks, complain to the organizers from Dancougar for only giving us three group games and therefore making the Secristan Department of Sports have to sell more game time to advertisers.”


Announcer A: “88th minute. While you were away, it appeared as though Zahid Mohammed was going to have a penalty kick.”

Announcer B: “It was pretty cool actually. The guy actually was awarded a penalty kick but then the Millionaires complained and the referee actually took it back and gave us a goal kick.”

Announcer A: “Do you think one of our players made a sound financial decision there to benefit the team, and it was effective?”

Announcer B: “It appeared possible. If you look at the replay, the referee appears to take something from coach Ryan Fullerton on the sidelines and stuff it in his pocket, and he had a smile on his afterwards.”

Announcer A: “Unfortunately, we don’t have this replay available for you to see.”

Announcer B: “Nope not record of it. It never happened. Wow and there is a quick end of game whistle. Millionaires win!”

Announcer A: “There was only like 15 seconds of stoppage time.”

Announcer B: “Perhaps that was discussed as well. Sorry, no record that this ever happened.”

OOC: Apologies for not Rping but I just flew back home from Israel after a nine month program so I've been a little busy.
IC:

Chi Sun-Times-Tribune-Domestic-International-Star-News-Today

Sports Section

Warriors Romp Group, Look Forward to Knockout Stage

In an incredible display of touch, flair and just overall good football the Milchama Warriors dominated everybody in Group A going undefeated and easily taking the number one seed in the tournament according to predictions from unnamed sources. Starting with a 7-1 victory of Ning Nang Nong that involved a hattrick from Amitay Roberts the Warriors have cruised through the tournament scoring almost at will and really putting fear in the field.

This of course means that Milchama advances to the knock out stage of the tournament now as the prohibitive favorites. This of course is completely different from the beginning of the tournament where Milchama were the prohibitive favorites to win from the time they didn't qualify for the World Cup proper. Goddamn you Timmons!!!!!!!!

Anyway this is a good time to look at the favorites at the end of the group stage and see how they did. First of course is Jeruselem, our fellow Jews and they did quite mediocre. They lost their last game to Somewhereistonia putting them at 6 points and making them less of a threat. There is no chance that a team that doesn't even know where it's from can beat us! So yeah I don't think we should be worrying about them. A quick historical comparison/anecdote: When the Warriors were last in the CoH the Archregimancy (damn monks!) were also in the tournament. After the monks barely escaped the group stage they lost in the quarterfinals. Expect a similar treatment for Jeruselem, don't know when and don't know to who but I will not expect them to make the semi finals.

The other favorites are Krytenia and them we can be afraid of. While their offense hasn't been as good as ours (8 goals pfft we got that in one game!) their defense has been stellar. The Aces have yet to concede a goal and have the second best goal difference in the tournament leading them to be undefeated in the group stage. Yes these guys are a threat but we have a long history with the Aces (our first ever World Cup game was a 4-0 loss to these fools) and we think we can win!

Now the potential spoiler and that team comes in the form of Arroza. Yes you may not have heard of them because they haven't been in a qualifying group of ours and we don't normally notice teams at this level but since we are in the CoH we are paying attention. Arroza are also undefeated with the second best offense and defense in the tournament as well as the same GD as us. This includes a 4-1 and 5-1 victory so this is not a fool's gold team. They could be a real good who will worry about in the World Cup in a few Cups (or maybe next cup). Heck knowing our history they might win the thing before us. Anyway these Admirals are going good and they could be a threat. Never doubt a team with momentum.

So what does all this matter? Well the Warriors are most likely going to have to beat one of these teams to hoist the trophy so we might as well know our competition. Markin has said that these teams have been heavily scouted so that we already have some ideas about their tendencies and we will win whoever we play. So get ready because we're in the knockout stages!

Seedings and venues for the knockout stage have been announced.

Seeding was done by ranking all the first place teams, followed by the second place teams, followed by the third place teams. Since this means no team in the same block is from the same group, the tiebreakers were: points, goal difference, goals for, world ranking. Only one pair (Quakmybush and Rejistania) required the last tiebreaker to be invoked.

Pos Team P W D L GF GA GD Pts
1 Milchama 3 3 0 0 12 3 9 9
2 Arroza 3 3 0 0 11 2 9 9
3 Krytenia 3 3 0 0 8 0 8 9
4 Silexhera 3 3 0 0 5 2 3 9
5 Jeruselem 3 2 0 1 8 4 4 6
6 McLaughlin Islands 3 2 0 1 7 5 2 6
---------------------------------------------------------------
7 Somewhereistonia 3 2 0 1 7 4 3 6
8 Greal 3 2 0 1 8 6 2 6
9 Secristan 3 2 0 1 6 5 1 6
10 Quakmybush 3 1 1 1 3 4 -1 4
11 Rejistania 3 1 1 1 3 4 -1 4
12 Nethertopia 3 1 1 1 4 6 -2 4
----------------------------------------------------------------
13 West Newmanistan 3 2 0 1 6 6 0 6
14 Steroga 3 1 1 1 3 5 -2 4
15 Achtervolging 3 1 1 1 5 8 -3 4
16 O Ale Ale 3 1 1 1 3 6 -3 4


MD4: Thursday
E1: Milchama v O Ale Ale (Yuki City)
E2: Greal v Secristan (Kishin)
E3: Silexhera v West Newmanistan (Lakeport)
E4: Jeruselem v Nethertopia (Stoneridge)
E5: McLaughlin Islands v Rejistania (Coraopolis)
E6: Krytenia v Steroga (Bradford)
E7: Somewhereistonia v Quakmybush (Eastport)
E8: Arroza v Achtervolging (Port Royal)

MD5: Friday
QF1: E1 v E2 (Yuki City)
QF2: E3 v E4 (Lakeport)
QF3: E5 v E6 (Bradford)
QF4: E7 v E8 (Port Royal)

MD6: Saturday
SF1: QF1 v QF2 (Kishin)
SF2: QF3 v QF4 (Port Royal)

MD7: Sunday
Third Place: SF1 L v SF2 L (Eastport)
Championsihp: SF1 W v SF2 W (Yuki City)

--> Err big box with flashing lights over there

Jeruselem Government News

Marie takes up coaching kids

Princess Marie-Antoinette Dallas who is leading the CoH team in Dancougar has retired from playing and is now taking up coaching. She will be in charge of the Oxen Cup XI team which will be another team of schoolgirls. She ruled out taking on the Jeruselem or Jeru FC World Cup coaching for now. Marie has been learning how to be a coach from her Qazian husband Ryan Greenly.

For now, Nethertopia are in the way of Jeruselem making the quarterfinals of the CoH. Milchama have seemingly written off Jeruselem to make the semis based on CoH history comparison the them Monks but Princess Marie said
"You can't write anyone off here. We have 16 teams left here ... anyone can win. Sure, we don't good on paper so far but it' all about the day. Milchama by rights should win but they just need one bad day to stuff up everything. You have to take it game by game. They've got the easier game but easy games can make one soft and unprepared for a hard game against a real rival."

Meanwhile Dan Ducky got into trouble again. He fell into a hotel swimming pool. Pups who is the team's best swimmer, dived in and stopped him from drowning. In the future, Dan Ducky will be put in the kids swimming pool as a precaution. Apparently he slipped on bikini top dropped by one of females. She also gave him mouth-2-mouth and he responded in time although he looked embarassed with Pups lying on top of him.

Pups said "He doesn't always look where he's going. He's tripped over dogs when most people would see it. And the thing was like bright green so it wasn't hard to see. Everyone else knew where it was."

Dan Ducky admitted later he had a form of colour blindness, Deuteranopia, which didn't help his accident prone nature. He also said he was lucky to be alive at the moment. Ducky isn't his original surname either as his original surname is Unlucky but his parents changed it in the vain hope it changed his unluckiness.

Jeruselem coach "Scooter" Ferris commented
"I thought Sadie Dallas had issues but she's got brain damage so she's got some excuse. Dan Ducky, just walks into problems. I've lost count how many times he tried to headbutt goalposts. I mean, he's a great football player but he's a real klutz off the field. He's no duck either, he can't swim."

Adam Toivonen had a smile on his face for the first time in months. Three wins and three clean sheets from the evergreen Juan Garcia had lightened his mood already, but what really made him smile was the draw for the Cup of Harmony knockouts. There it was, in black and white; Jeruselem, Milchama and Nethertopia all in the other half of the draw.

Steroga would be next...but surely no more than a mere distraction. After that? Probably Rejistania, a great name of the past that a) are now crap and b) have as their bogey team a certain rag-tag bunch of sky blue footballers.

Adam smiled once more. He could practically smell the semi-finals.

The nation was in shock following the assassination of President Nicholls as you would expect. Suspect John Lomax was expected to be executed, but not before authorities could get information out of him. An investigation of Lomax’s home found that he had been plotting this for quite some time, and made the detectives wonder if it was motivated by the World Cup or if Lomax simply used the countries’ backing down of interregional play as a front to carry out a mission he intended to do regardless. Naturally, there were investigations to find out if Lomax was a Newmanistanian citizen, because if he had been, this would have broken the peace agreement between the two countries for sure. Sure enough, Lomax was born in Olympia, a Newmanistanian city.

Outrage grew. There was nothing to connect Lomax to Empress Jessica or to any kind of Newmanistanian army, but the people of West Newmanistan did not care. Perhaps the war was not over, and maybe, it was just getting started. When Empress Jessica found out about this, she was quick to apologize to the West Newmanistan people and condemn the actions of Lomax.

Her royal statement was as follows:
“People of West Newmanistan, I share your sorrow for President Nicholls and his family as they go through this hard time. While we rarely saw eye to eye on things, Nicholls did not deserve this fate. The Empire most certain condemns the actions of the shooter, John Lomax, and hopes that he is brought to justice swiftly. Upon finding out that Lomax was born in Newmanistan, it is natural for you to feel as though this was something planned out by the Empire, but once the emotions of the moment have settled down, I hope that you can all take a second look at the circumstances and facts of this case and realize that we, as an Empire, had nothing to do with the actions of this man, even though he was Newmanistanian. We hope that the West Newmanistan government does not jump to a rash, un-educated Bushian response and decide to violate the terms of the peace accord. If West Newmanistan feels that more talks are needed because of this, then we will be open to them. In the unlikely event that the Empire of Newmanistan needs to use it’s military might to protect its borders, we will do so.

To show our compassion and support of your country, we have decided that we will fund your country’s interregional appearance in World Cup 47. We know that you have much bigger issues right now, but the pulling out of interregional sports may have just been at the root of the motive behind the actions of Lomax. It was well documented that many of your people wished for the country to return, and we will make that happen for you.”

Perhaps that was enough. It was difficult to think about football right now in West Newmanistan, but they say that sports can serve as one of the best distractions for what is going on in the outside world. The Patriots, wearing all-black against Golgothastan, put in an impressive effort and a 2-1 victory and actually finished 2-0-1 overall in the group stage. They will meet Silexhera next, and while that debutant has made a strong impression, West Newmanistan has put forth some strong efforts themselves and should not be looked at a pushover by anyone in this tournament. In fact, there is a lot of confidence with the Patriots right now that they will indeed get the job done. They know about bracketology in Dancougar. Therefore they know that 4 vs 13 games can spring “upsets”, particularly when said 13-seed is a strong mid-major who probably didn't get enough respect from the selection committee. Here its comparable, as said 13-seed is actually ranked below other teams that had worst records but are seeded ahead because they finished second, and not third, in their groups.

TO: The leadership of West Newmanistan
FROM: Princess Marie-Antoinette Dallas of Jeruselem, Countess of Palestine

I'm sad to hear the President of West Newmanistan has died at the hands of an assasin. In Jeruselem, death of our leaders at the hands of assasins isn't unknown which is why our leaders don't publicly meet the people without security measures first.

Jeruselem knows the relationship between West Newmanistan and Newmanistan has not been exactly warm and friendly. I think the two nations should take the opportunity to unite rather than divide. This killing looks like an attempt to further divide two peoples but maybe it could the opposite effect. It's easy to to blame Newmanistan for anything to with this but I think it's time to reject extremism. Extremists will do anything to further their agenda and they don't care who suffers.

Let's not turn the death of President Nicholls into a reason for more fear and hate. Jeruselem knows what happens when fear and hate take over the nation. I'm not saying this because Jeruselem happens to like Newmanistan. It's because we know events like this cause wars and strife which not needed in West Newmanistan at the moment.

West Newmanistan may have lost a leader in a tragic sitation but it's time for new leadership to prove the extremists cannot turn the people of your nation into themselves. You don't want the people with secret agendas to win this battle as they don't have the interests of the West Newmanistan people at heart.

I've sent a Jeruselem peace medal along with this letter. It's not actually pure gold but gold-plated over 100% silver since these recession things do bad things to government budgets. This is many due to the cost of Gold at the moment. Anyway, it's a remind people from other countries care about West Newmanistan. If the angel on the medal looks a bit like me, it probably is. The artist got lazy and uses Dallas women for his images of women.

XXX
Marie

What to look for:

(1) Milchama vs (16) O Ale Ale- O Ale Ale will get beaten so badly that they’ll be calling Milchama their “master” by the end of it. Milchama 6-0 O Ale Ale.

(8) Greal vs (9) Secristan- Greal will complain about not winning another competition after we do away with them. They are gamblers in Greal, so we are sure both the Secristan Departments of Sports and Wagering can provide enough incentives for them to roll over for us. Greal 1-3 Secristan.

(4) Silexhera vs (13) West Newmanistan- This is an interesting match, because the Patriots’ record is really better then you would expect from a 13-seed, making this a very poor matchup for Silexhera. West Newmanistan is playing with a second wind now, and Silexhera probably listened to the Arrozan report that had them playing Steroga. They love them Sterogans. Silexhera 1-2 West Newmanistan (in PK’s)

(5) Jeruselem vs (12) Nethertopia- The Princesses can’t be happy to only be a five-seed, and as the Krytenians pointed out, this is a tough bracket. Nethertopia won’t be their biggest concern, but the road is more challenging ahead. Jeruselem 3-1 Nethertopia.

(6) McLaughlin Islands vs (11) Rejistania- Raise your hand if you care. McLaughlin Islands 0-1 Rejistania (AET)

(3) Krytenia vs (14) Steroga- Steroga’s defensive focus gives Krytenia more of a game then they would like, but the Aces pull it off. You have to go with sky blue teams in the Cup of Harmony. Krytenia 2-1 Steroga.

(7) Somewhereistonia vs (10) Quakmybush- The new and rising meets the old and falling. Right now they are meeting somewhere in the middle and that’s what will make this a close and entertaining contest that can go either way. Somewhereistonia 2-3 Quakmybush

(2) Arroza vs (15) Achtervolging- Arroza a top seed in something other then the World Bowl? Kura-Pelland and Dancougar aren’t in the Cup of Harmony, so they have a very good shot. Arroza 4-1 Achtervolging

"So who are we playing?"

"O Ale Ale"

"Ale a ticky tumba!"

"Not the cheer you idiot! The country"

"They named themselves after that non-sense cheer?"

"Yep"

"Stupid"

"yep"

"You know what's stupider-"

"The fact that you don't use proper English"

"No they are anarcho-primitivists"

"Bastards!"

"I know, don't they realize that relatively little changes to the economy can make it not only function equally but also guarantee true equality for all people"

"Apparently not"

"I mean sure maybe getting rid of farming is nice but the loss of populations is way to much to be able to overcome for any approximate gains"

"I disagree with you there sir farming is the root cause of all class conflicts and most problems of the world today. If we get rid of farming, like O Ale Ale, then any and all class conflicts will stop and any hierarchies will only be informal at worst and non-existent. Think of it like our living arrangement it works really well because even though there are multiple people in the apartment they all contribute and get rights/responsibilities similar to their contribution. Yes there are informal leaders but they are informal and they can be overridden by the group. That's how hunter-gathering I admire the people of O Ale Ale for making such an informed choice."

"Uch, I'm done with political theory for the moment, let's talk football how is their team?"

"Crap, the 16th seed in the Cup of Harmony. They barely made it to this round we should kill them"

"Do we even know any of the players?"

"Nope their not allowed to be publicized. They are all from one tribe that kept a game like football around so they play a brand of football with a couple of rule changes. Oh yeh they also apparently bring weapons to the field"

"Can the organizers stop that?"

"Maybe but I don't think so, they just go crazy"

"This could be bad"

"There will be blood"

*Gulp*

"Let's play football!"

Steroga advances

For the first time in any of our sporting competitions we have advanced out of the group stage and into the knockout rounds. We did this with a fantastic defensive effort against West Zirconia, holding the much higher ranked team to no goals. West Zirconia had no answer for our five man backfield and Utkarsh Nayak really stepped up and played a terrific game for us when he was called upon. Coach Patel said that he was very proud of the performance of the team and wanted all of our fans to know that because our opponent Krytenia is going to be a real chore to try and beat. We have come a long way from the Baptism of Fire, being thrown into a group with eventual champion Somewhereistonia. We only managed one point in Errinundera but as other Baptism of Fire teams fade off and become just a distant memory we are one of the few teams still standing. No members of our Baptism of Fire group qualified for the World Cup and now in the Cup of Harmony there are two Baptism of Fire 33 teams remaining. The one that one the championship and the one that only had one lousy point in the whole thing. That is something to be proud of. Whatever happens against Krytenia will not lessen the progress that we have made.

CoH38 Knockout Schedule
MD4: Greal VS Secristan


Greal VS Secristan: Preview
BY ROGER MARKS

Today will be the ultimate match that'll determine who will go to the quarterfinals and who will not. The Greali themselves will be playing Secristan, a team the Greali aren't particularly happy in facing. However, Greal will be facing Secristan whether anybody likes it or not, and it is guaranteed fans from both sides will crowd around their television sets to watch the game progress. Meanwhile, the Sports Ministry has yet to decline on the rumors of a conference of Ross Trent's possible dismissal. The coach also declined to comment on the rumors, and added it was dangerous for morale to be talking about it. Despite all the media speculation, it looked like Ross Trent was still coach. For now. Anyway, turn on your television sets soon, because the previews will be beginning shortly and you will be seeing an interview with our favorite player. (Well, mine actually. Not sure about the rest.) Secristan is predicting we'll be losing to them 3-1. Let's see if we can over-turn that predict, shall we?

In other matches...

Milchama VS O Ale Ale.

Silexhera VS West Newmanistan.

Jeruselem VS Nethertopia.

McLaughlin Islands v Rejistania.

Krytenia v Steroga.

Somewhereistonia v Quakmybush.

Arroza v Achtervolging.

ooc: gah had an rp early that jolt decided to eat

The Daily Quak
Celts Win, Go On To Face Somewhereistonia

The Quakmybush National Soccer Team continued their Cup of Harmony 38 campaign with a do or die game against Pasarga. The Celts needed this win if they had any chance of qualifying for the final sixteen teams in the Cup of Harmony. The Celts came out ready to play, and looking like they really wanted this win. The Celts peppered the Pasarga goalie with 8 shots in the first half hour of the play but the opposing keeper was on his game making soime very crucial saves at the right time. The Celts went into halftime with all of the momentum and they looked to use that in the second half to score an early goal in the half, and they did. Mathias Wolf came down the middle of the field with some fancy footwork, when he came to the top of the box he saw Rudolf Slobodan streaking in from the right wing, Wolf made no mistake putting the ball on Slobodan's foot, and then Slobodan tucked into the back of the net, making it 1-0 Quakmybush. Late in the game, when the Celts needed it the most goalkeeperJonie Maksym made a huge save in the 83rd minute to keep the lead 1-0. The final whistle went and the Celts ran out on the field to celebrate, they were moving on. The Celts finished 10th out of the 16 teams that qualified for the next round, and will now take on Somewhereistonia, who finished 7th. The Celts believe that this will be a hard fought match that may go to extra time or maybe penalty kicks.

Qasarian Evening Sport

Fantastic win sends Eagles through

Whilst Jerusalem claim to have sent 'youngsters' to play us, they all were still selected from the squad they brought here, the very best of Jerusalem's players (and the midfield's youngest player is 26 anyway). Ergma also did not send a full first 11 out, keeping Volrat and Nolakk on the bench over speculation for their future, and starting without veteran striker Skormilonski. Ģipslis, Drozdova and Zoltoks all started as replacements.

The game started at an even tempo with both sides playing well and neither looking likely to give much away. Jerusalem began to control the game after the first ten minutes, with the midfield beginning to control play, using their experience to keep the ball. They took the lead in the 26th minute after some good passing left Max Shwick to smash into the next from 5 yards.

Somewhereistonia were now behind and desperately needed the win. Ergma got Taska and Drozdova to switch flanks, successfully confusing the Jerusalem full backs. Drozdova was picked out brilliantly by Keres in the 44th minute his drilled shot smashed off the inside of the post and Zoltoks was first to the ball as he tapped it across the line. It was 1-1 as the teams went into the break, and the Eagles equaliser had given them renewed confidence.

The second half was a marked improvement by the Eagles as they slowly forced Jerusalem to chase the ball. To increase the confusion the wingers switched back part way into the second half, making it awkward for the full backs to pick up their man. This worked brilliantly as Taska was picked out by Paposki in the 67th minute before easily turning his confused marker and delivering a fantastic cross for Kusnets to volley home in his trademark style. The Eagles were now winning (and dominating) a team that ranked almost 30 places above them, showing their strength.

The Eagles continued to push for another goal, as any Somewhereistonian team would, Keres having an ambitious attempt from 30 yards in the 78th minute. The shot narrowly flying over the bar. Whilst Jerusalem did have a couple more attempts, they never really threatened Klug's goal as the Eagles dominated possession. The defence just keeping the Eagles from adding a third.

The game ended 2-1 and proved Ergma's tactical knowledge as they finished second in the group (only behind Jerusalem on a goal difference of one). Next they face Quakmybush, a team with a strong past, but a less than brilliant present in football. Somewhereistonia had a slightly better group stage finish than Quakmybush and also ranked 16 places above Quakmybush as they entered the competition. We can expect another win, but we can't expect it to be easy.

And now for the first time:

Sport Predicts

Yes, the Qasarian Evening Sport team will be making predictions (and betting on them) for all the matches in the competition. So here goes:

Milchama 5 v 2 O Ale Ale (Yuki City)

Milchama should dominate, but O Ale Ale could surprise with a couple of goals.

Greal 1 v 2 Secristan (Kishin)

Secristan should edge the game, but Greal are not going to make it easy for them, potentially quite a dull game.

Silexhera 3 v 1 West Newmanistan (Lakeport)

Despite the late comeback against the Eagles, not much can be expected of West Newmanistan; whilst Silexhera look very strong.

Jeruselem 0 v 2 Nethertopia (Stoneridge)

Nethertopia could be surprise here, and a win could really change the balance of the tournament. Jerusalem have looked less than assured in both the world cup qualifiers and so far this tournament.

McLaughlin Islands 0 v 1 Rejistania (Coraopolis)

Not exactly a game crying for attention, a set piece most likely bringing the win, neither team expected to get much further.

Krytenia 3 v 1 Steroga (Bradford)

Krytenia are looking like potential champions already, and although Steroga is improving, they still have a long way to go before they can compete at this level.

Somewhereistonia 3 v 2 Quakmybush (Eastport)

Perhaps a more comfortable win that the results suggest, the Eagles should score enough to pass Quakmybush.

Arroza 2 v 1 Achtervolging (Port Royal)

Arroza should make short work of Achtervolging, but that doesn't mean it will be easy, both teams will want to advance.

That completes this round of Sport Predicts, hopefully the money will be rolling in after winning these bets, but who knows.

For a few minutes, Paul Hart managed to block out the cacophony of noise emanating from the busload of happy Silexheran footballers behind him. It gave him a few minutes to recollect the events of the past week.

Sunday. Opening day. The win over Secristan. The three points that he'd expected to get only at the last gasp in his group had been attained straight away after a huge battle with the Millionaires. There had been sour notes among the victory dirge though. Gopher Sporaskid's shirt-pulling incident had gained the striker the unwanted attention of the world's media. Paul had managed to drown it out fairly easily - the media circus around Dancougar's World Cup Final was still in full swing a month after the event had ended - but it had still resulted in him losing a decent striker for two games and had made Gopher Sporaskid a notorious figure around the world, and bad reputations were hard to shake off.

Wednesday. Game two. The dour, strained match with Akbarabad. Panther Doctor's shoddy performance as a replacement for the suspended Sporaskid. Silexhera's refusal to create any sort of chances for ninety minutes. A no-score-bore of a game ripped apart in the dying minutes by a well-hit but mis-directed cross from Smokey Black that ballooned off the opposition keeper's knee as the hapless stopper attempted to collect it. The ball rustling into the bottom corner. The sudden and total silence from the crowd. Going through to round two after two average performances against two very good sides somehow yielded two wins.

Game three the following Sunday. Kelly Sporadic's wonder strike, picking up a low pass from Smokey Black, turning the defender and rifling that stunner of a left-foot shot into the top corner from twenty yards. Silexhera 1-0 Phillips Islands was the team's best performance in weeks. A return to form for Panther Doctor that gave him real selection problems ahead of the second-round match.

Nine points from three games. Think of the ranking points. Silexhera could find themselves in the world's top fifty with a couple more wins. Wow. Just... wow. The F.A. really, really needed to set up a professional league system or the team would career back down the rankings as soon as teams worked out how to play us.

And now. West Newmanistan. A good team slightly befuddled by a lacklustre first round and some shocking goings-on back home. A dead leader, a thousand fingers of blame. It was difficult to get news of foreign affairs in a nation so wound up with World Cup fever since WC46 ended and from staging their own CoH, but Paul had found that all was not well in West Newmanistan. It would only spur the nation on to strive for victory, and they'd feel that a win over tiny Silexhera would be well on the cards for such a riled up team.

A few days to prepare. Sporaskid would have to be back in. They'd go 5-4-1 again. West Newmanistan would be so much stronger than us despite our rank and record. Thirteen games played in our history. 8 wins, 3 draws, 2 defeats. How many other nations could boast such a win-rich beginnings in world football? Silexhera's first knockout match. Silexhera's first penalty shoot-out? Silexhera's first taste of sudden-death defeat? A nation's first foray into a tournament quarter final?

Bring on Thursday.

Cutoff for the round of 16!

(1) Milchama 5-3 (16) O Ale Ale
(2) Arroza 4-3 (15) Achtervolging
(3) Krytenia 1-0 (14) Steroga
(4) Silexhera 0-0 (13) West Newmanistan (AET; West Newmanistan wins on penalties)
(5) Jeruselem 3-0 (12) Nethertopia
(6) McLaughlin Islands 4-2 (11) Rejistania
(7) Somewhereistonia 1-2 (10) Quakmybush
(8) Greal 3-3 (9) Secristan (AET; Secristan wins on penalties)

The quarterfinals are set.

MD5: Friday
QF1: 1 Milchama v 9 Secristan (Yuki City)
QF2: 5 Jeruselem v 13 West Newmanistan (Lakeport)
QF3: 3 Krytenia v 6 McLaughlin Islands (Bradford)
QF4: 2 Arroza v 10 Quakmybush (Port Royal)

"Qaz Daz" with Dazzi the Ninja Girl again ...

Lilian: Hello, I'm Lilian Dazza Greenly for JGN in Dancougar for the Cup of Harmony. I can't find Princess Marie so we're with Dazzi again. She seems to hang around us a lot.
Dazzi: Hello!
Lilian: Let's have your comments on the recent quarterfinals games Dazzi.
Dazzi: I'll do my best!

Lilian: The warriors from Milchama took on the drunks from O Ale Ale and won 5-3
Dazzi: A bit close then we thought it would be but the Michamians progressed as expected. The drunks did well though.
Lilian: Arroza beat Achtervolging 4-3
Dazzi: Achtervolging did well to push one of the favourites in this cup. Arroza will be worried if lower teams keep on doing that to them.

Lilian: Krytenia struggled 1-0 past Steroga
Dazzi: Well, lower teams fighting hard. Steroga did great but the Sky Blues did enough by the looks of it. I don't think they will like such a close result.
Lilian: West Newmanistan beat the unbeaten Silexhera on penalties.
Dazzi: The Patriots put up their real team and beat a good lower team ranked unlucky 13. I thought Silexhera would have done better but the Patriots have shown themselves to be tougher than we thought.

Lilian: We beat Nethertopia 3-0.
Dazzi: The Princesses had an easy game really. Mind you Nethertopia don't really bother Jeruselem a lot.
Lilian: McLaughlin Islands beat the team who invented System Karela 4-2.
Dazzi: No surprise, the Reijis aren't the same team they used to be. The islanders deserve a chance to win this cup.

Lilian: Quakmybush upset Somewhereistonia 2-1
Dazzi: I thought Somewhereistonia would do better! Looks like the Quaks are inspired at the moment. Good to seem them back doing well. Somewhereistonia should have done better you'd think.
Lilian: Secristan upset Greal 3-3 after penalties
Dazzi: Never discount the Millionaires! Sounds like it was a great game by both teams.

Lilian: The big teams won and some upsets.
Dazzi: Yes but the other teams always chasing the big teams and fighting among themselves at the same time.
Lilian: Let's preview the quarterfinals. The best 8 in the cup! The warriors take on the Millionaires.
Dazzi: I think this is going to be close the other games with Milchama and Secristan. Warriors to win 4-3.

Lilian: Jeruselem face the Patriots again. Different result from the Princesses beating them 3-1 first time round.
Dazzi: I think 2-1 to the Princesses. The Patriots will be playing for their dead President Nicholls but Jeruselem have more firepower.
Lilian: Sky Blues against the McLaughlin Islands.
Dazzi: Sky Blues to win but a close game - say 3-2. But ... I fear an upset here.

Lilian: Arroza face Quakmybush.
Dazzi: Arroza are looking good for me. The Quaks won't be shamed but maybe it's too big hill for them now. I say 3-1.
Lilian: Looking ahead - you're saying a Milchama vs Jeruselem and Krytenia vs Arroza semi.
Dazzi: Well, I'd like a Jeruselem vs Krytenia final!

Lilian: No Jeruselem vs Milchama final then?
Dazzi: Could be a Quak vs Secristan final too you know.
Lilian: Thanks for you input Dazzi? You seen Marie?
Dazzi: I'm sure she'll reappear again.

Lilian: It's funny you and Marie seem to be at the same place at the same time.
Dazzi: It's just coincidence, don't worry.

Following the 4-2 win over Rejistania, The Islander's sport correspondent, Alan McLaughlin, wrote this:



Now I've seen it all. Having beaten the Old Country and topped our group, we now go on to beat Rejistania by the remarkable score of 4-2.

What is going on?

I asked the FA if they had gone on any extensive training of which we were unaware prior to the tournament, and they didn't think so. I asked the Bishop of Snaith [under whose jurisdiction the Islands come] whether he had been sacrificing chickens to Margaret in Snaith Cathedral, at which he said things I would never have expected a bishop to say. But I took his answer as negative. I asked if the FA had somehow swapped players with the Old Country, considering how badly they had done. They laughed at me. I even asked the Cassadagan coach if her ladies had been seducing the opposing players and putting them off, but she said they only do that when playing against the Old Country.

So, I'm at a loss to explain it. Suffice it to say that this is becoming a proud time for the Islanders, and for McLaughlins worldwide.

Casting a look over the St. Andrew Strait, the big story is that Roy Hazell has decided to resign after their dismal performance in this competition. What they mean is that he is embarrassed after "that bunch of inbreds" (his words) beat his team of supposedly seasoned professionals. I expect there'll be quite some interest in succeeding him, and I shall keep those of you who are bothered informed as to who does take up that poisoned chalice. Rest assured, though - Keith has already ruled himself out of contention. He is proud to be an Islander - as we all should be.

The Daily Quak
Next Up Arroza!

The Quakmybush Nation Soccer team pulled quite the upset in the Cup of Harmony round of 16 last night. Although the nation is known for upsets, this is one of the biggest in recent memory. The Celts played a very tough Somewhereistonia squad and they needed every inch they could get. The match got out to a somewhat stale start as both teams did not want to be the first one to make a mistake. Unfourunately the Celts did make that first mistake, Tommy Jan attempted to make a long pass up the field to a open Briar Hamon, however Jan whiffed on the pass and it went directly to Mart Kusnets, who had a breakaway on Johnie Maksym, Kusnets took a shot, Maksym made a wonderful save, however Kusnets was right there to bury the rebound to make it 1-0 for Somewhereistionia. That was the score at the half and many believed that the game was over. The Celts came out after the break and new they needed a quick goal for any sort of hope, and that's just what they got. Jon Fields Jr. showing he can be as good as his father, came down the left wing side and fired a shot towards the right corner. This shot was an absolute cannon and found the back of the net, it was now a 1-1 score and Quakmybush had swung most of the momentum back in their favour. The game was pretty much a stalemate and appeared to be headed for extra time until the 3 of 4 minutes of added time. Off a wonderful save by Maksym, he booted the ball up the field, Mathias Wolf won the ball and headed it up the field, Fields Jr. ran onto the ball and at the top of the box cracked a shot. The shot sailed towards the net, but Svante Klug made a wonderful fingertip save. The ball squirted out into the box where Vasil Mitchell slid towards the ball. The ball hit his spike and rolled towards the line, Klug made a diving attempt for the ball, but missed, the ball barely crossed the line, it was 2-1 for Quakmybush. The Quakmybush supporters in the stands went nuts, as did the Quakmybush bench, they were advancing.

The reward for advancing? The Celts now get to face the 2nd ranked team from the round robin Arroza. Arroza went undefeated in their group stage and then knocked off Achtervolging in a nail biter. The Celts are hoping that Arroza is still somewhat tired from their last match, and that they could sneak a few by early.

Paul Hart couldn't fault his team. He'd asked them to maintain their little streak of two games without conceding a goal and they'd done just that. Their luck, however, had finally run out. They'd cheated their way past Secristan and surpassed Akbarabad with the flukiest of goals. They couldn't have asked for anything else from lady luck.

He'd been overconfident. The team had been overconfident. Despite Silexhera's rookie status and low ranking they'd actually believed that merely playing near their potential would get them into the quarter finals, sweeping West Newmanistan out of their path like a drunk would to a cola can.

Of course, West Newmanistan had been the better team. They'd taken the game to Silexhera and not allowed their opponents to get into their stride. Gopher Sporaskid up front had hardly touched the ball all game. Fatigue in the West Newmanistan ranks meant that extra time was a non-event. The second round's most boring game by a long chalk was going to a penalty shoot-out. It was at this point that Paul realised not only had he undervalued West Newmanistan, he'd under prepared his own team.

He'd trained his team on the principle that nothing at all could prepare a man for the pressure of taking a spot-kick in a knock-out penalty shoot out in front of thousands upon thousands of people. He was right, of course, but hadn't figured out the second part of that sentence: Nothing at all could prepare a man for the pressure of taking a spot-kick especially when that man has never practiced taking them. It was a gross miscalculation by Paul Hart that, he knew even before Gopher Sporaskid stepped up to take the first penalty of the tie, would cost his team.

Sporaskid missed. The pressure of the situation, especially as he was making his return from suspension after his inexcusable act in the opening game, had got on top of him. His kick was wild and curled harmlessly wide, missing the goal by a good two feet. West Newmanistan called on captain Corey Aguirre to take their first spot-kick. The thirty year-old captain did not let his team down, driving the ball low and hard into the corner with Colm Fisher nowhere. Taking a leaf from Michael Dressler's book, Hart sent his own captain Couser Granite up for the second penalty despite previously agreeing that Kelly Sporadic should take it. Granite hit his shot hard but true, and despite Morrison's efforts the ball nestled in the corner. WM's advantage would soon be restored though Chris Peckham's expertly placed shot. 1-2.

Kelly Sporadic dispatched his penalty with a bit of panache, flicking the ball into the roof of the net with the goalie having moved early, but Shane DiCarlo's blasted effort zipped into the top-corner of the goal and it looked more and more like Silexhera were going out. Smokey Black's miss from penalty number four - an effort stroked too carefully to Morrison's right which the goalie blocked comfortably - confirmed this, and a cool finish from vice-captain Andrew Seymour game West Newmanistan a well deserved win.

FINAL SCORE
Silexhera 0
West Newmanistan 0
(2-4 PKs)

Paul Hart decided to concentrate on the positives. His team's ranking would most certainly improve. The nation's F.A. was in the midst of developing its inaugral first season of competitive league football, and they had a load of young players itching to come up into the first team ranks. Furthermore, Smokey Black was being courted by a number of Dancougaran football teams. Dancougar! The country they had played out this great tournament in. Dancougar the world champions. The fact that a Silexheran may well be soon playing in the D-League filled Paul with pride. It had been a strange few years. Next year could only be stranger.

Quarterfinal RP cutoff!

(1) Milchama 2-1 (9) Secristan
(2) Arroza 2-1 (10) Quakmybush
(3) Krytenia 4-2 (6) McLaughlin Islands
(5) Jeruselem 2-2 (13) West Newmanistan (AET; West Newmanistan wins on penalties)

Semifinal matchups!

(1) Milchama v (13) West Newmanistan in Kishin
(2) Arroza v (3) Krytenia in Port Royal

To: Princess Marie Antoinette of Jeruselem
From: President Mark Tomlin
Re: Thank you

Thank you, Your Highness, for your note of sympathy concerning the events in Morton City. President Nicholls was a great man, controversial, but great. Without him, West Newmanistan would be nothing more then the wasteland in which this part of the region was prior. He had a vision to make our country great, and he paid the greatest price. As his Vice President, I was able to take the oath this morning to officially become the leader of the country. This is never the way I envisioned becoming President, and it’s going to be a hard transition for myself and my people. You’re letter meant a lot to us, and by us and mean myself and the Congress and Senate, and I’m sure the general public, because it was a sincere letter of support from an imperial nation.

We are monitoring the situation very carefully with Newmanistan. We appreciate the measure of support provided by Empress Jessica, and for those of us who make the important decisions in the country, we are aware that the actions of John Lomax were that of his own, and not of the Empire. It hasn’t been too long since the peace treaty with the Newmanistanians has been signed, and there will people who believe that it never should have been signed and have their own motives. Unfortunately, there is some sentiment in our country that we need to make some kind of counter-strike. At the moment, we feel we can handle this resistence.

We are really proud of our team’s perfomance in the Cup of Harmony so far. The win over Silexhera was a classic, and I will not deliberately rub in the result of last night game’s to you. Possibly you and your citizens know more about what our football team is capable of doing then our own people, given last night’s match as well as World Cup qualifying. As a country, we are rallying around them as it gives us something good to think about when morale in the nation is pretty low. We have reached our lowest point, and are on the rise. The players know that have new life with the Empress offering to provide support. Admittedly, she benefits from Newmanistan’s Samseong sponsorship since they do most of the financial supporting of the Rockets, so it’s good to see her looking to help our team. Our players see all the World Cup Champions banners and such-themed merchandise all around and it makes them fantasize about what it could be like for them. Milchama will be tough, but maybe we can get a Newmanistan in the final once again.

Best of luck to you and to your country.

Signed, President Tomlin

"What a knockout round"

"Yeh, first getting 3 of our defenders speared against O Ale Ale but still winning 5-3 despite all that"

"What about Winter scoring two goals with his hands?"

"That was just strange, but these things happen when the referee gets decapitated in the 20th minute"

"Yep"

"The decapitation was their doing? The nasty savages and all that"

"Actually we did it, one of our guys brought a sword to the match and after he slashed down an O Ale Ale midfielder he was speared, then the ref was speared and then he killed the ref"

"Who was it?"

"Morales"

"That's true leadership right there"

"Absolutely, knowing when your team needs to bring a deadly weapon on the pitch and when to leave it at home is an essential skill for any captain"

"Yep, you never know when you're facing a team of anarcho-primitivist tribesman or Raging Penguins and you need a crazy team saving mechanism"

"I agree completely."

"That was just an excellent"

"Yeh the team's heart was really tested, as well as their capacity to come back from injury and they really proved themselves"

"Maybe they are Warriors after all"

"They certainly were in this game"

"How about that use of the spear by Cohani late in the game to get the O Ale Ale coach"

"That was cool but having Markin clubbed in the head in return, it probably wasn't worth it"

"Eh, I say it was"

"I think we'll have to agree to disagree on this one"

"Ok"

"Anyway that quarterfinal was also important"

"First we have to say to Jeruselem... HAHAHA WE WERE RIGHT!"

"Yeh, we predicted them to lose in the quarters in a massive upset and we were right"

"Though it's kinda worrying"

"Why?"

"West Newmanistan just had their leader killed and now they have everybody on their side. Who wants to beat a country that just lost an influential leader, a person who just may have been the reason they split off from regular Newmanistan in the first place?"

"We're that heartless, we got into a frieking mini-war in the octofinals"

"Good point, those bastards are going down!"

"So yeh Secristan"

"Too rich"

"Bastard capitalists"

"Yeh, they can be distracted by money"

"They probably were"

"They don't understand true teamwork, a real socialist ethic to build real camaraderie among teammates"

"That's probably why our passing was so sharp"

"Oh absolutely and also why theirs sucked"

"Unfortunately we are not so good at selfish things, like scoring while they are, thus in their one shot they managed to score while in our 27 we barely managed two"

"Thank you Amitay Roberts"

"Absolutely"

"So now we're in the semis and are almost clear favorites to win this"

"It comes down to us and Krytenia, it will be close, I have no idea"

"Yep, let's hope the Warriors can pull this out"

"You betcha"

OOC - Milchama, my predictions for the quarters were almost perfect except for the really important one ...

From: Princess Marie Antoinette of Jeruselem
To: President Mark Tomlin

Thanks for your letter. Your team did play well to beat us but we lost the game for ourselves with our failure to perform at our best when you team did play at it's best. Your team has to face Milchama, and please can your team go wipe the smile off Maggie's face for us? As usual Jeruselem lose in penalties again. We've got a terrible record with penalty kicks.

I'd suggest you have a bit better security than your predecessor. Being open to the people is one thing but at least have someone search people before they talk to you. I know you don't have same number of crazies we have but one crazy person is enough to kill. I'd suggest you keep the crazies under watch as there's always some people who want undermine a new leader. I'm not suggesting it's a member of your party or supports but darker forces who want a more extreme solution to the West Newmanistan government.

I might sound a little paranoid but you know as well as I, politics is a dark business. It doesn't matter if you're a president or king, you must watch the bad guys. The bad guys want war with Newmanistan and to take person from people like you. They think an independent West Newmanistan without Newmanistani support is the future even if people die. I hope you keep these people under control because it's these people who play the Newmanistani hate card again and again.

I'm not going debate the merits of the Imperial system vs your young democracy. Take care and hope for the future.

PS - For some reason, some people can't comprehend someone being named Marie and sometimes I'm called Margie or worse Maggie. The last person who called me Maggie was chased out of the room with a large sword.

XXX
Marie

Scorination of the semifinals will be a few hours late tonight. The 3rd place game and final will still be done tomorrow night.

And it is now a few hours later. Here come the results.

(1) Milchama 4-3 (13) West Newmanistan
(2) Arroza 2-1 (3) Krytenia

Both matches to be scorinated tomorrow:

Third Place: (3) Krytenia v (13) West Newmanistan in Eastport
Championship: (1) Milchama v (2) Arroza in Yuki City

http://img122.imageshack.us/img122/6681/admiralslogo.png

Stinging Nellies and Celts, and Aces, oh my!

The Arroza Admirals have benefited from some lucky placement over the last two games, as the team seemed to be rejuvenated by the prospect of playing within sight of the ocean in Port Royal, Juusenkitai province as the team went on to dispatch their opponents in the Round of 16 Achtervolging 4-3, and the quarterfinals where they defeated Quakmybush 2-1. Their reward for this? How about possibly the most important game of the Admirals' short soccer history, against the Purple Aces of Krytenia, a team that should have been battling for representation in the last stages of the World Cup proper, not the Cup of Harmony. The Aces come into this game ranked in the world's top-15 and have been putting opponents away in a ruthless fashion that would seen to prove that their ranking is more than just fluff and numbers. In 5 games they have compiled 4 clean sheets, with only the McLaughlin Islands being able to crack their streak.

Celts Ran off by Admiral Attack, Bonus for Lancaster

In the Quarterfianl game, the Admirals took on the Celts of Quakmybush with the intention of facing the Aces in the semifinals. The Celrs looked to play a defensive counter-attacking style and punish the Admirals normal all attack style. Surprisingly, the influence of Tier Bergan has already infiltrated the defense, and the team managed to slow the pace down, and use incisive passing to set up their play. A series of passes led to a corner in the 14th minute for the team, and the team's oldest player, Ryan McIntosh floated a header to the edge of the six-yard box where it was headed past Maksym by Tadeu Terra.

With their defensive pattern struggling, Quakmybush managed to hold the fort until the beginning of the second half. Knowing that they needed a goal to survive the Celts looked to storm the new defensive wall set up by Bergan. And in the 56th minute they almost succeeded as Yannis got around Benalli and hit a curving shot off the crossbar. In the 61st they actually got to finish as Mathias wolf got on the end of a perfectly weightd pass and struck a wondergoal from 26 yards that Manzinilla had no chance to stop. With play almost returning to the standard of the first half, and the Celts maybe thinking about overtime, Elliott snuck into the penalty area, and flicked a backheel into the path of a charging Lancaster who finished, top left corner. Game over, man.

For his splendid service, Lancaster was pied after the game, and then returned to the locker room where he found an even bigger surprise in his locker. The surprise was the confirmation of the 10 million baht deal taking Lancaster away from the S.F.A. Texans to Sporting Kildare of Dancougar's D-League. Lancaster who has always been adamant about his desire to leave both S.F.A. And the Arrozan Leagues [if you can call them that], released a statement saying he was immensely pleased with the transfer and that he would do his best to be worth every cent of the transfer fee and his new contract, details of which were not disclosed.

Final cutoff of CoH 38!

Third Place Game:
(3) Krytenia 2-1 (13) West Newmanistan

Championship:
(1) Milchama 2-1 (2) Arroza

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Sports Section

VICTORY! GLORIOUS VICTORY! VICTORY IN THE CoH!

The new Milchama Warriors have done it! They're the first Milchamian team in a long time to win silverware! We may have won an Oxen Cup at some point, but I'm not sure about that and anyway this is the first major silverware Milchama football has won since the uhhh.... last CoH title we won! Woo hoo!

Man of the Match and tournament, Amitay Roberts got two goals, and some stout defending from what looked like, at times, a very leaky defense in qualifying got Milchama the victory. The Arrozans were quality opponents on the day and even scored first only 10 minutes but the rest of the match was all about the Warriors. They got more of the ball, more of the chances, and eventually more of the goals.

This victory should put Milchama in good straights for qualifying in the next World Cup. Although they will probably lose some ranking points, they should still be top 20 and one good run in the World Cup and they'll be right back in the top 10.

Most people have now decided that this CoH run is good because it's cured some of our hubris and most importantly it has given these young'uns some experience in winning. This will be used in next cup's qualifying run and we say one thing to those teams at the top.

LOOK OUT FOR THE WARRIORS!

WOO HOO VICTORY VICTORY VICTORY THE COH IS OURS!!!!!!!!!