Cup of Harmony 41 (Everything Thread)

[Eastfield Lodge]

The Gazzette

Not the best way to start.

Losing to the World Number 47, OK. Losing 4-0 on the other hand, was unacceptable for the travelling fans. Yes, the national team were today swept aside by Queer Poco el Mono Ara in a 4-0 whitewash, with 2 goals in each half. Aidan Jagger was playing at his finest, saving the majority of the on-target shots he faced; the first 5 were all weak, and presented little problem for the outstanding goalie. The first goal came on 13', with Ishmael Van Dyke hitting the bar, but the clearance met Frank Le Tissier who gave Aidan no chance by firing it straight through the mass of players huddled in the box and into the bottom corner. The second was from a free kick taken by Ishmael Van Dyke on 27', a shot Aidan Jagger could only push onto the post, which rebouded the ball towards the back of the net. On the edge of half-time, we had our first proper chance. James Tarpy broke through on the flank, overcrossed the ball to Ban Maddison, who whipped it back in only for Sameer Ahmad to head onto the bar. Half-time, 2-0.
The second-half was slightly more promising, with Dylan Bell running clear of the defence almost straight away and eventually getting tripped from behind in the box. The penalty was given and Tamir El Zahar given a yellow by the very lenient referee, something which proved decisive for the rest nof the match. Dylan Bell took the penalty but keeper Petr Ollic went the right way and made an easy save. 5 minutes later, another goal from Ishmael Van Dyke who scored a goal that shamed the defence. He pirouetted around the defence, and from a very acute angle, smashed it in for his second of the match. He didn't score any more thanks to the captain Matthew Lawrence starting to mark him effectively. Van Dyke did get a few more shots on goal, but Aidan Jagger stopped them with ease. The fourth, from El Zahar on 69', was blistering 70-yard rocket that caught everyone by surprise; even QPeMA's own supporters weren't cheering for a minute or so after it went in. Final Score: 4-0.
Next up is the team from The Weegies, who drew 3-3 with Isselmere-Nieland. Only 10 places above us, but we still need to pack a huge punch against them.

---

Team to play The Weegies:

GK: Aidan Jagger

LCB: Dimitar Klitschko
RCB: Geoff Wood
LB: Matthew Lawrence
RB: Ben Patterson

DMF: Daniel Scott
RMF: James Tarpy
LMF: Ben Maddison
AMF: James Scott

LCF: Dylan Bell
RCF: Shabeen Ahmad Jnr

Formation: 4-1-2-1-2 (I will be using this formation from now on) (OOC: I have edited the roster, so check that please).

-------------Dylan Bell-------------Shabeen Ahmad Jnr

------------------------James Scott (AMF)
----Ben Maddison----------------------James Tarpy

------------------------Daniel Scott (DMF)

--Matthew Lawrence-----------------------Ben Patterson
--------------Dimitar Klitschko---Geoff Wood

---------------------------Aidan Jagger

[West Pocono]

THUNDER DRAW IN OPENER

The West Pocono national team did not get off to a great start in the Cup of Harmony, only securing a point against an opponent they probably should have beaten, but its better then a loss. The One Big Island nation of Connar Republic, a region in which a few of our players play professionally, struck in the 80th minute to force the 1-1 draw in front of a packed house at Kilmonarch, in Pasarga. It was a point that was well-deserved for our opponent as they played above their ranking all game long. Coach Eddie Chapman warned the media that we should expect these kind of matches during the entire Cup of Harmony, “You have a nation like Connar who has recently played Dancougar twice and Secristan twice. Those matches give them great experience, and of course they also battled other strong Cup of Harmony teams such as Aguazul or Landau Institute. They might not have a great ranking, but everyone is battle-tested right now and Connar is no exception.” Chapman warned that his Thunder team will need to show more urgency in future games, “I’m not going to say we were outplayed, but we were outhustled. The Connar Republic wanted this match more then we did. We know that we’re an improving team, but we’re not a team that can sleepwalk through a game and not win. Our effort wasn’t completely flat, we played well in phases and that’s the reason we got the draw.” If we played this entire game like we did the ten minutes before halftime, we would have beaten anyone. Chapman mentions the part of the game where the Thunder played their best football, and was the timeframe when they did pick up their goal, a 38th minute strike by Brandon McDonald.

For the purposes of qualifying out of this group, we would rather not have seen this draw and a win would have been nice. The team will need to play better against Delaclava, a team ranked in the same general vicinity as them. It will be a match that perhaps before we would have taken a draw, but will need to get a victory against. Delaclava opened with a 2-0 victory over Iglesian Archipelago, who’ll also be a spoiler in this group. There was some benefit in scores within the group as the Blouman Empire, a nation that came from Connar Republic’s qualifying group, held favored Somewhereistonia to a 2-2 draw. Perhaps like us, the Eagles are still looking back at their close failure to qualify for the World Cup a little too much.

[Shivat]

Shivat Football Association | 시승에 축구 협회

Coach: James Saint John
Nickname: The red tigers

Roster:

Goalkeepers:

#1 - Kim Sung-Ho

Defenders

#5 - Lee Mae-Yoon
#10 - Choi Jae-Young
#2 - Rhie Sung-Hi

Midfielder

#6 - Park Won-Woo
#4 - Seol Jae-Pyo
#7 - Kim Sung-Il
#11 - Ki Hyung-Yo

Forwards

#3 - Cho Chun-Kuo
#8 - Yeom Tae-Hwi
#9 - Jung Ji-Young (captain)

Select my scorers Y
Give out yellow cards to my players Y
Give out red cards to my players Y
RP injuries to my players Y
Godmod injuries N
Godmod scoring events N
Godmod other events N

Style Modifier: +3

Kit:

Home:


Away:

[Shivat]

Victory over Bisgea
Sunday, January 3, 2010|Cup of Harmony 41|By Park Jae-Yoon|

Shivat has started this Cup of Harmony with a good result of 1-0 over the country of Bigea, which even if didn't play bad, wasn't able as it's probably the team that will end last in the group because they are the worst team of the group following the official rankings on the 123rd position, while our team is the 80th, even if this is nbot very high compared to the position of other teams that are considerably better that we are at this moment.

The match started as mostr of our team's matches start, with a highly defenssive position in order to see how does the other team moves in the field and to know how to stop them from beating, a tactic developed in the last World Cup when we had to face great temas like Kosovoe, and that gave us very good results.

The only goal of the match was scored by our captain, Jung Ji-Young, who has already started to play in the Heavenly League, of Daehanjeiguk, in minute 29 of the first part, thanks to a combinated move of both Ji-Young and Yeom Tae-Hwi, who even if he didn't score played very good making a lot of opportunities, that weren't well ended thanks to the great actuation of the rival goalkeeper.
During this match, the rival team performed well in the defenssive aspect of the play, but not in the strike against our goalkeeper, who only had to face two serious opportunities and that at the end were stopped by our goalkeeper, Kim Sung-Ho .

The next match we'll play is the one against Uiri, the best team in our group.

[Steroga]

Opening victory

For a team that prides itself on dominating defense its fans were probably surprised to see them control possession so much. One could argue that this was so uncommon for them that they didn’t really know what to do with all of it. Coach Patel was smart and would not allow his team to lose their defensive focus for the whole game even when Callidon did manage their select few chances. The words “precision passing” is not something that is ever applied to Sterogan football so it was nice to see them move the ball so well. Of course, the teams true colors came out with their inability to finish, given that out of fifteen shots only two of them were on target. The team was also guilty of several offsides infractions as they tried to get accustomed to these unusually abundant offensive chances. Young stud Jaival Subhudhi scored early in the second half as the only goal of the match and from there it was game on with the defense. Chanakya Motallebzadeh leveled a Callidon midfielder that may have immediately gave them flashbacks of the injury that was sustained to their captain Trey Dickson during qualifying, but they were relieved to see him get up. Motallebzadeh received a yellow card for the infraction and there was no argument from the Sterogan sideline.

In his press conference following the match, coach Dakshi Patel did not want people to start thinking we would look to become more offensive, “The defense was brilliant tonight. They shut down a pretty good Callidon team entirely and because of that our forwards were able to get more chances then they are used too. The finishing could have been better but they showed promise. We are a defense-first, second, and third team always and we did a great job. We will win again against Bisgea if we carry this effort into that match.”

[Swartaz]

Swartaz Today
Sport
Osarius 0-3 Swartaz
Swartaz get off to good start in Pasarga
The Hawks played a great game yesterday to defeat Osarius 3-0. Osarius however, looked like they were out to get revenge in their post WC freindly loss in the early minutes, Atkinson and Wilson-Ouaddou coming close to scoring in the early phases of play. Swartaz then realised if they did'nt buck up there ideas, an upset was on the cards. Litremmen did well to rally his teammates in a impromptu goalside huddle midway through the first half, kicking Swartaz into action well. And it showed. On 31 minutes, spotting a gap in the middle of the Osarian defence, Asbjorn threaded a ball through to Brita, who converted in style to put Swartaz 1-0 up. Swartaz came close a couple more time late on in the half, with a spectacular effort from Hans Otto grazing the top of the crossbar as it whistled over.

Half Time Score: Osarius 0-1 Swartaz

Osarius hit Swartaz hard at the start of the second half, putting together a neat seat of attacking moves to challenge the Swartaz defence. But they held Osarius out in this early wave, and quickly picked up where they left off, attacking from all angles. But an unlikely goal scorer grabbed the second. Vaarger Handolink, the 'keeper. He smashed the goal kick far down the field. This effort put the Osarius 'keeper in the wrong posision. The kick, helped by a bounce, glided over the gobsmacked 'keeper into the net for 2-0. But Swartaz were'nt finished yet. They continued their unrelenting attacks at the fatiuged Osarius defence, and were rewarded with a third goal before too long. Svensson whipped in a killer ball into the penalty area, which was greatly received by Brita waiting head for the 3 goal of the game, Swartaz 3 of the game, and Brita's second.

Final Score:
Osarius 0-3 Swartaz
(Brita 31, 75, Handorlink 52)

[Sargossa]

The Island Chronicle



Goals, Goals and Several Other Goals


Perhaps we achieved too much too soon. Maybe it's just that simple. Narrowly missing out on the world cup finals at the very first attempt was followed by qualification at the second time of asking at World Cup 48. And once you're good enough to get there surely you're good enough to stay there. Surely? Well, no, as it turns out. A four point lead over third placed Nethertopia is the World Cup 49 qualifiers was thrown away in the two games leading up to an all Rushmori clash in Soluca between Corsairs and Falcons in the final round of matches. A 2 - 1 win for our beloved neighbours saw them book their tickets to One Big Island, leaving Sargossa with the much shorter journey to Pasarga for the Cup of Harmony.

Not that it's necessarily a bad thing. Nethertopia went to the World Cup as underdogs and provided to get their feathery arses handed to them by the not exactly world beaters of Peisandros, before losing their next two games, managing just a single goal in the process. Over here on the other hand, Sargossa come into the Cup of Harmony as fourth seeds. Now if only they could play like one of the favourites.

Coming into the tournament on the big of a winless run, that now stretches to five games after throwing away 1 - 0 and 3 - 1 leads in the opening fixture in Torgos, the national side's Candelariasian coach may well have felt a little under threat. Particularly given the veritably machine gun fire of pink slips that meet his three unfortunate predecessors. But both the Federation and, perhaps more crucially, the public have faith in José Felipe Cassumba Domingos. The fans remember the glorious style in which Cassa's Sporting San Marquez sides swept to the SuperLiga title on three separate occasions. They know he's a good coach. But his side currently has problems.

Most notably is the fact that the attack and defence seem incapable of functioning properly during the same fixture. In the early part of Cassa's reign the goals flowed nicely but the defence suffered from chronic leakage. Then, in the final stretch, the defence tightened up. Which would have been all well and good had the goals not dried up too. A dry spell that ultimately cost a nation a trip to the World Cup finals. Then we arrived in Pasarga and the strikers found their range again. And the defence looked an utter shambles.

Against Slaytesics, the lowest ranked team in the group, captain Néstor González and fellow central defender Cristian Viera played as though they'd never met each other before, rather than having one hundred and twenty odd international caps between them, and fallback Marcos Díaz García, holder of another seventy something caps, looked a nervous wreck. At the other end Ernesto Fariás looked very sharp, twice putting the side in front either side of a scrappy goal for the underdogs, and when substitute Roberto Ordóñez thumped home a header for a 3 - 1 lead fans would have been forgiven for thinking an opening match win was in the bag against the world number 122s. No chance.

Obviously with just a single game gone two points dropped is not a disaster but with talented, and delightfully Hispanic, Aguazul and borderline stalker-ish bogey side Swartaz waiting in the wings passage into the knockout round is far from simple. With Sporting defender Alberto Torres expected to replace clubmate Viera in the centre and Dancougar based Jorge Alberto Carmona in at rightback the coach will be expecting the defence to shape up in the next match against the likes of Saavedra, Bustamante et al, especially al. As will one point something billion back home.

[Delaclava]

"THIS...is Sports Now."

(intro music plays)

"Good morning, everyone. I'm your anchor today, Tim Landon. First off, we have football news. Delaclava defeated Iglesian Archipelago 2-0 in the opening game of the Cup of Harmony to take the group lead. I'll turn it over to Shelley Nurren, who's live in Pasarga. Shelley."

(cuts to Pasarga)

"Thanks, Tim. Shelley Nurren with DNB Sports. Spirits are high at the Delaclav training facility after their win against the Iglesian team. Let's take a look at what happened."

(goes to footage, with Nurren talking in the background)

"The game started off a defensive one. The front line from Iglesia immediately started nailing Graham Torres with shots, but he handled them well. Seven saves for the half, and ten for the game. Now in the 13th minute, the defense is getting lazy, and their wing nails a shot from the top of the box. A missile for the corner! - but Torres, as usual, there for the save.

"Again, in the 25th, that same wing dribbles through the defense for an open shot - but Torres! With a bold move to come out of the six, he runs out past the penalty mark, slides in and gets the ball out. But the refs are going to whistle it down - it's a kick from the mark! But Torres, light on his toes - he knocks it out of the left corner, and keeps the game scoreless. That's how the half ended, 0-0.

"But in the 49th, Calvin Castillo is viciously tackled from behind. The refs blow it down and hand out a yellow. Nolan Wright wants a red, and Castillo's coming out with an ankle injury. So Simon De Braden is being brought in. The 15-year-old phenom was brought on two weeks ago - and in the 59th, Alessandro Campeon Berrera up the side, finds Geraldo Ayala. Ayala doesn't have the shot, so he drops back to De Braden, who has the shot! It's a goal, his first goal after only ten minutes!

"On to the 70th. Berrera can't cross, and De Braden cuts to the near post to show for Berrera. Hester runs through, De Braden curves it in, and Ruben Hester volleys in the cross! That's Hester's first goal in six years of international play, and it's 2-0 Delaclava!

"So that's how it ended. Spirits are high, as I said, and they seem ready to take on the tougher West Pocono. I'm Shelley Nurren, DNB Sports. Back to you, Tim."

[The Macabees]

Cup of Harmony 41: Last Straw for Ters

After managing to pull off qualification for World Cup 48, and even defeating the top eighth team in the world during the final tournament, Níal Ters failed the monumental task of getting the team to World Cup 49. Instead, it now risks losing much of its hard earned rank to date, and competes in the secondary tournament of the Cup of Harmony. The only reason why Níal Ters has not been fired, like his predecessors, is because of his prior success, and because it must be admitted that not everything was his fault. The squad was beset with injuries, and the management was lethargic in terms of all of the attention it put on the qualification. It seemed that the team would qualify by itself, but Pasarga managed to pull off the second group in spot, largely due to goal difference (although, there were games which the Second Empire definitely should not have lost). But, that is all history, and Níal Ters has Cup of Harmony 41 to look forward to. The future of his career will largely depend on the team’s performance (obviously, looking to win), and in any case this tournament represents a piece of silverware which the team might actually have a chance in winning.

Fortunately, the Golden-Whites opened the tournament with a respectable performance. They managed 3–1 victory over Toyur. Not perfect, but better than a draw or a defeat. Corporate has already let the management know that they expect smooth sailing through the group stage of the Cup of Harmony, and then passage to the finals. It will be a tough road, but the team is good enough to defeat any rival in this tournament. In fact, rank wise, the Golden-Whites are second only to Vephrall, and so are perhaps one of the favorites to win the tournament. All will depend on the motivation the team actually shows on the pitch. Although the 3–1 win is great, the team did not perform as well as it could have. Against a team like Toyur, the score should have been closer to 5–0. But, there are still four more games left in this stage, including one against frequent rival the McLaughlin Islands (three times rival for World Cup qualification). Tonight’s match will be against Schkottland, which is the poorest ranked team in Group D. If there is one match to regain rhythm it is tonight’s. That said, all remaining teams are worse ranked than Toyur, and should therefore be technically inferior. Experience shows, as we all very well know, that this does not always hold true.

If the strikers play like they did last night, though, all should go well. The night’s protagonist was new striker Daví Seismont, who was paired with Darsí Bon for most of the night. The seventeen year old, remaining the youngest player ever called up for an international tournament for the Golden-Whites, scored two of the three. The third was scored by José Santos, the Uiric–Macabee midfielder who showed off his talent during World Cup 48. The first goal came in the seventeenth minute, thanks to a good center from the wing by Joán Zeneti. Seismont thundered into the penalty box and flicked the ball into the goal with the top corner of his head. The ball actually hit the crossbar, and then ricochet into the goal, hitting the back of the net and causing an uproar in the stadium. Santos’ goal was not long to come. He scored his in the twenty-fourth minute, receiving a ball just outside the area after it had been cleared by one of Toyur’s defenders. He power shot it into the back of the net, taking the game to 2–0. Until the second half, the match remained at the same score line.

Seismont scored the 3–0 in the fifty-first minute, receiving a beautiful deep pass from Darsí Bon. He was actually able to break away from the defenders and take on the goalkeeper one on one. Dribbling to the side, he simply shot around an outmaneuvered goalkeeper and basically guaranteed the Golden-Whites a win on their opening night of the tournament. Toyur managed the 3–1 in the eighty-first minute. With their 3–0 lead, the Golden-Whites scaled back their attacks, pulling off Daví Seismont and instead putting in a fourth defender. Despite the strengthened defense, confusion arrived. Toyur gained the initiative, and they were rewarded for their great efforts with a goal late in the game, which prevented the shut out and retained some of their honor (and confidence, most importantly). Thus, the match ended 3–1, rewarding the Golden-Whites with their first win, but already revealing several weaknesses, which added up could cost them the tournament during the knock-out stages. Most of these weaknesses revolve around the defense, which with three men has not been able to perform as well as it did during World Cup 48. Perhaps it is time for Níal Ters to revert to the four man defense. That said, the fact that the goal came after strengthening the defense should not be considered at face value. The defense had already relaxed itself, due to the three goal advantage. It was simply caught off guard.

With renewed pressure on them, the squad is probably looking into these problems as you read this piece. Níal Ters seems pretty set on winning Cup of Harmony 41, which would be the first Cup of Harmony ever won (if won, that is). But, while the team may be highly ranked, there are many respectable opponents that also have very real chances of winning. The top ranked team in the tournament remains Vephrall, the most obvious favorite, while other direct competitors remain: Somewhereistonia, Sargossa, Taeshan, Queer Poco el Mono Ara and Uiri. These six teams, and the Second Empire, will likely be in the knock-out stages, with another nine teams with them. Depending on how the knock-out stage seeding proceeds, these six teams will also be the most likely to advance beyond the round of sixteen. The Second Empire, if first in Group D, will play the second placed team in Group A. Relatively speaking, this is a very good thing (unless Sargossa ends up in second place). Generally, though, the Golden-Whites have theoretically gotten off rather easy… at least until the quarterfinals. But, we should not get caught up on what is easy and what will be difficult, as all international tournaments are difficult. A bad day that cost you the trophy.

On the matter of winning, manager Níal Ters said:

The squad will perform at its utmost level in a genuine effort to win Cup of Harmony 41. Given our quality, and given our current form, this objective is perfectly attainable. It will restore the confidence necessary to return to the World Cup by qualifying for World Cup 50.

Their resolve towards this goal will be shown tonight.

[Somewhereistonia]

[OOC: Boring election is boring, but I think I need this RP to help make sense of the later parts of this storyline]

Qasarian Online

Former Kyrin states: elections results

Whilst polling in Malak and Oakow will not conclude for another day, the rest of the results from the referendums and their first parliamentary elections are now in.

In Ida Balak, 57% voted in support of Ida Balak becoming a new state within Somewhereistonia whilst 41% voted to become a new nation. The new state appears to have a small majority (33%) for the Home Conservatives, a party who only won 9% of the vote in the last elections for Somewhereistonia. The current government (International Conservatives) can also take a lot here with 30% of the vote, the Liberals are not far behind with 28% most of the rest of the vote went to independent members.

In Irk, 88% voted to make the region a new Somewhereistonian state, with 6% voting to make it a new state and the remainder longing for a return to Kyrinskaia. The big winners here were the Liberal party, gaining 61% of the vote, the Home Conservatives also got a good chunk with 22% of the vote. The Social Democratic Party managed a strong 11% here, higher than any other area of Somewhereistonia in any election.

In Et Kab, 65% supported joining the current state of Kabano. The Home Conservative party managed another strong performance here, gaining 40% whilst the International Conservatives gained 33%. The Liberals struggled here, gaining 12% to the SDP's 8% and the Communist Party's 4%; their only notable result.

Now, Calabak and Balbak make everything a lot more confusing. These two states have elected to become new nations and after what I can only assume was a hell of a lot of behind-the-scenes political maneuvering they have agreed that whatever new nation this will be, they will both be part of the same one. This means that there will likely be one nation between Somewhereistonia and Kyrinskaia, or at least along some parts of the border. So, anyone from the states of Balbak and Calabak will soon become citizens not of Somewhereistonia but of an entirely new nation. Who knows what this could be?

[OOC: Guide to political parties in Somewhereistonia -
1) International Conservative - Milton Friedman style libertarianism, currently the largest party in Somewhereistonia.
2) Liberal Party - Similar in many ways to the British Liberal Party when they were still part of the top two parties. Supports state education and "safety net" benefits systems whilst still supporting capitalist ideals. Second largest Party.
3) Home Conservative - Thatcherite style party. Emphasising national interests in areas where Int. Cons. would leave things to market forces. Third largest party and generally in decline due to prosperity of Somewhereistonia under International Conservatives.
4) Social Democratic Party - Liberal Democrat Party of the UK. This party presses for more "progressive" policies than the other parties and seems to have no real possibility of governing the nation.
5) Independents - Not a party but Independent candidates are much more common in Somewhereistonia than in most of RL Europe. ]

[Pasarga]

Matchday 2

Group A
Swartaz 2-2 Sibirsky
Aguazul 2-2 Sargossa
Osarius 4-3 Slaytesics

Pos   Team                       P   W   D   L   GF   GA   GD  Pts
   1  Swartaz                    2   1   1   0    5    2    3    4
   2  Aguazul                    2   1   1   0    4    3    1    4
   3  Osarius                    2   1   0   1    4    6   -2    3
   4  Sargossa                   2   0   2   0    5    5    0    2
   5  Slaytesics                 2   0   1   1    6    7   -1    1
   6  Sibirsky                   2   0   1   1    3    4   -1    1

Group B
Jasiyun 1-1 Landau Institute
Sportgirls 2-1 Burchadinger
Unreal229 0-1 Quintessence of Dust

Pos   Team                       P   W   D   L   GF   GA   GD  Pts
   1  Landau Institute           2   1   1   0    4    1    3    4
   2  Jasiyun                    2   1   1   0    4    3    1    4
   3  Quintessence of Dust       2   1   1   0    2    1    1    4
   4  Sportgirls                 2   1   0   1    2    4   -2    3
   5  Burchadinger               2   0   1   1    2    3   -1    1
   6  Unreal229                  2   0   0   2    2    4   -2    0

Group C
Oberour Ar Moro 2-3 West Zirconia
Schiavonia 0-1 Vephrall
The Great Sandy Desert 1-3 Valladares

Pos   Team                       P   W   D   L   GF   GA   GD  Pts
   1  Vephrall                   2   2   0   0    4    1    3    6
   2  Valladares                 2   1   0   1    4    4    0    3
   3  Oberour Ar Moro            2   1   0   1    4    4    0    3
   4  West Zirconia              2   1   0   1    3    3    0    3
   5  Schiavonia                 2   1   0   1    1    1    0    3
   6  The Great Sandy Desert     2   0   0   2    2    5   -3    0

Group D
Schkottland 1-1 The Macabees
Toyur 4-4 Barnettsville
The McLaughlin Islands 1-0 Balida

Pos   Team                       P   W   D   L   GF   GA   GD  Pts
   1  The Macabees               2   1   1   0    4    2    2    4
   2  The McLaughlin Islands     2   1   1   0    2    1    1    4
   3  Barnettsville              2   0   2   0    6    6    0    2
   4  Schkottland                2   0   2   0    2    2    0    2
   5  Balida                     2   0   1   1    2    3   -1    1
   6  Toyur                      2   0   1   1    5    7   -2    1

Group E
Iglesian Archipelago 2-4 Somewhereistonia
Blouman Empire 1-1 Connar Repulic
Delaclava 1-1 West Pocono

Pos   Team                       P   W   D   L   GF   GA   GD  Pts
   1  Somewhereistonia           2   1   1   0    6    4    2    4
   2  Delaclava                  2   1   1   0    3    1    2    4
   3  Blouman Empire             2   0   2   0    3    3    0    2
   4  West Pocono                2   0   2   0    2    2    0    2
   5  Connar Repulic             2   0   2   0    2    2    0    2
   6  Iglesian Archipelago       2   0   0   2    2    6   -4    0

Group F
Mount Kip 0-0 Albundania
Taeshan 3-2 The Ursine Northlands
Pays de Horreur 2-0 Andrewboy

Pos   Team                       P   W   D   L   GF   GA   GD  Pts
   1  Pays de Horreur            2   2   0   0    5    0    5    6
   2  Taeshan                    2   2   0   0    5    3    2    6
   3  The Ursine Northlands      2   1   0   1    3    3    0    3
   4  Albundania                 2   0   1   1    1    2   -1    1
   5  Mount Kip                  2   0   1   1    0    3   -3    1
   6  Andrewboy                  2   0   0   2    0    3   -3    0

Group G
Kulverint 0-1 Isselmere-Nieland
The Weegies 2-3 Eastfield Lodge
United Gordonopia 2-0 Queer Poco el Mono Ara

Pos   Team                       P   W   D   L   GF   GA   GD  Pts
   1  Isselmere-Nieland          2   1   1   0    4    3    1    4
   2  Queer Poco el Mono Ara     2   1   0   1    4    2    2    3
   3  United Gordonopia          2   1   0   1    2    1    1    3
   4  Kulverint                  2   1   0   1    1    1    0    3
   5  Eastfield Lodge            2   1   0   1    3    6   -3    3
   6  The Weegies                2   0   1   1    5    6   -1    1

Group H
Steroga 2-1 Bisgea
Shivat 0-2 Uiri
Callidon 3-2 Jesselton

Pos   Team                       P   W   D   L   GF   GA   GD  Pts
   1  Uiri                       2   2   0   0    3    0    3    6
   2  Steroga                    2   2   0   0    3    1    2    6
   3  Callidon                   2   1   0   1    3    3    0    3
   4  Shivat                     2   1   0   1    1    2   -1    3
   5  Jesselton                  2   0   0   2    2    4   -2    0
   6  Bisgea                     2   0   0   2    1    3   -2    0

[Taeshan]

X Island Inquirer

Another win was in order last night for the Purple Knights as they defeated the Ursine Northlands National team 3-2 on the second Matchday of the 41sy Cup of Harmony. It was another game which saw all 11 starters play all day with the boycott by the backups, but at least the games have been nicely spread out by the CoH cordinators so the team will at least for the time being be able to compete with some level of full restedness in every game in the near future.

It was a very interesting game much like the first one. Another shutout type game with the recent focus on offense instituted by the coaches to make sure that they wont lose any more games due to lack of scoring. As a whole both teams attacked for much of the game and it created a very interesting atmosphere for the fans. The first goal came from a Ursine player, and the Knights tied it up i nthe 28th with an A.F. Falcon goal. The Knights would then rush out to a lead with two goals in the second half from Brian Ying Uing, and Doug Newier. The Ursinde team would make it tense late with a 2nd goal but the Knights were able to close it out late.

[United Gordonopia]

GNN.com/sports/football/Cup_of_Harmony

National Team Gets a Win

January 3 - Coming off a tough 1-0 loss in their first game against Kulverint, the Gordonopian National Team won 2-0 against Queer Poco el Mono Ara. The team's goals came in the forty third and sixty seventh minute. Mono Ara had a chance to come back in both the fifty third and the seventy eighth minute, but both shots ended with saves by the Gordonopian Goalie Ludwig Strauss. Both Gordonopian goals were scored by 26 year old forward Howard Hawkins.

There was one yellow card given in the game, to Gordonopian central midfielder Tyler Emeny. Gordonopia managed to hold possession for the majority of the game.

In related news, Cup of Harmony 41 from Gordonopian Games has been released, and has seen massive numbers of downloads on Cronos Elites worldwide. The game runs on the same engine as both Baptism of Fire 36 and World Cup 49, also by Gordonopian Games, and contains many similar elements.

[Aguazul]

La Verdad

Some papers turn yellow with age; we'll be greener and glowier than ever!

Weather in Ciudad Peralta: choose your own expletive
National football team: Sargossa draw again, this time with us

The national football team held the group's top seeds, Sargossa, to a 2-2 draw. After the Corsairs took an early lead, Aguazul pulled ahead only to concede an equalizer. Nevertheless, the point sends Aguazul to second place in the group, tied with Swartaz.

Sargossa's attack looked strong early on, and Ernesto Fariás scored to put them ahead in the sixteenth minute. Despite the lead, the defense looked nervous, and the expansive midfield struggled to control possession. It worked for a while, with Miguel Rionda lucky to intercept Marcos García Fernández before the latter could score. Nevertheless, energy quickly turned into fatigue for Sargossa, and Aguazul eventually got the chance to face an uncertain defense. With Christian Viera and Marcos Díaz García benched after Sargossa's draw with Slaytesics, Néstor González had a challenge in leading the retooled side.

It seemed as if a miscue between González and Alberto Torres allowed Naike Leiva to strike to score Aguazul's first goal. After halftime, however, Aguazul were out to prove that they were no fluke. Sure enough, a cross from Peyo Alarcón allowed Rubén Saavedra to score a go-ahead goal in the fifty-ninth minute. A desperate Sargossa threw on Rubén Gala, and what the younger Rubén lacked in experience he made up for in momentum, eventually scoring in the seventy-fourth minute.

As far as we can tell, the match was the first time an Aguazuleño national had faced a club teammate in an international match. Sergio Bustamante and Sargossan goalkeeper Martin Tejera both play for Cruzeiro do Sul of Cafundéu. Bustamante, however, claimed that he'd "never studied Tejera as a potential opponent. Obviously in other circumstances I'd rather he'd done better, I mean given the season we're...wait, hold on, the season we're having, it's not, he wasn't, won't...Anyway I'm glad we took a point off them." Cristian Delgado announced that young Pedro Sanchez will make his international debut on matchday three as Bustamante battles a forthcoming migraine.

[Toyur]

Toyurska Sportnyhet

THAT WAS FAST
Grumblings already surrounding new manager Ergma
by Anders Alfven

STILINKEEP, PASARGA (TP) - It's been two matches and already controversy is surrounding the new managerial appointment of Somewhereistonian Toomas Ergma following a poor first match under his control in a 3-1 defeat to The Macabees, followed by a strong offensive performance coupled with an equally atrocious defensive performance in a 4-4 draw with Barnettsville.

Both manager and players brushed off the religious factor when asked about an athiest manager in charge of a Catholic group of players. They claimed that as long as they got the job done and got along personally reasonably well, it would not matter that the new manager can be counted in the camp of the non-believers. However, the rumblings began even before kickoff in his first match in charge, with Ergma looking visibly amused and annoyed with the standard pre-match prayer. He was reported to have looked impatient in the hallway outside the room before the players came onto the pitch, as Ergma chose to stay away from the pre-match communion offered by Father Nilsson. Not a good start to your campaign.

There were different emotions upon Ergma's face for 80 of the 90 minutes at the Stadium of the Moon when the Bears took on the Macabees. A Viktor Eklund 10th minute strike was cancelled out quickly by a 13th minute strike from the Macabees, who went up 2-1 after 33 minutes. A 67th minute goal put the game out of reach for Toyur, who were disappointing to say the least. The performance against Barnettsville did not start much better, as they were 2-0 down after 22 minutes thanks to some horrorshow defending. Kristofer Svensson drew the Bears level on 31 and 37 minutes. Toyur were back down by two goals quickly in the second half, with Tillström and Eklund sparing blushes and a two-match losing streak. Mascot Timmy's celebrations of the fourth goals were also looked upon with disdain by our new manager.

We'll give him the benefit of the doubt to start with. Frustration is running through the Toyur camp, and a win over the McLaughlin Islands would do the trick and get everyone friendly with each other again. Ergma's initial reactions towards the rituals that the players and Toyuri coaching staff perform before the match starts will soon change to an acceptance, or at the least, pained tolerance. Poor results, though, will not endear the foreigner to his new team. Toyur sit last in Group D and will need to rattle off three straight victories to hope to move on to the knockout stages. Matchday 3 can be seen on TSTV1.

[Eastfield Lodge]

ELTV Sports Highlights

"Hello there and welcome to another action-packed day for football. Coming up we have cards and goals galore from the league, but before we go to watch the first match, we will see how the national team did today in the Cup of Harmony.
With the national team losing heavily in the last match, it was up to Ronald Caesar to put things right against The Weegies, who held the top seed of the group. Our commentator Alan Jones was there."
.........................................................................................................................
"EL's manager Ronald Caesar made a few changes from the last match defeat against QPeMA. Sameer Ahmad is replaced by Shabeen Ahmad Jnr, in an attempt to liven up the attack. The defence has been shuffled around and the midfield has been turned into a diamond, so there are now 5 people defending and 5 attacking."
"...Sorley Brekke, passes it to Gary Fairlie, but the ball is intercepted by Dylan Ball. The keeper's coming out and Dylan lobs him. It's going in but it kicked off the line by Gary Fairlie, Dylan appealling for a goal, and the referee doesn't give it. Looking at it closely, I would say...yes, it's in and Eastfield Lodge have had a goal disallowed."
...
"Connor Ritchie clears, the ball goes Paul Larsen, who slides it through to Lars Connacht, who scores! 32 minutes in and Lars Connacht has broken the deadlock. Beautifully slid through the defence by Paul Larsen and the shot into the top corner left Aidan Jagger flat-footed for only the third time in his national career. 1-0 to The Weegies."
...
"...Lars Connacht loses the ball to Matthew Lawrence, who passes it up the flank to Ben Maddison and the counter-attack is initiated. He crosses it in and the ball is overhit but James Tarpy collects it in, takes his chances and what a goal that is. James Tarpy scores the first goal in his international career and it is the equalising goal, right before half-time."
...
"Lars Connacht, closed down but ball finds its way to Frank Pederson, who back to Connacht who in turn lifts it back. Aidan Jagger comes out to meet it but Frank Pederson scores the header to put The Weegies back into the lead. His celebration however earns him his second yellow card of the game and he's been sent off. The Weegies are down to ten men a mere 5 minutes after half-time."
...
"James Scott, gives it to Ben Maddison who has taken an excellent advantage from the missing Left Back. Ben lays it off to James Scott, he dummies and in comes Daniel Scott who blasts the ball high and wide. But the referee thinks it took a deflection and looking at the slow-motion, I would say he's got that one right. Daniel Scott whips the ball in and up comes Shabeen Ahmad Jnr and he scores to put the match back on level terms with only 5 minutes left in the match."
...
"Aidan Jagger takes the goal kick, and kicks it as far forward as possible as the team are desperate for a win in stoppage time. The ball bounces for Dylan Bell, who passes it to Shabeen Ahmad Jnr, who tries to round substitute keeper Casper Almquist but is tripped and what's this? The referee is indicating a penalty and The Weegies' players are infuriated with the decision and Casper has been sent off. What an interesting set of events. Shabeen Ahmad Jnr puts the ball at his feet, takes a few steps back and scores the winning goal, putting it past Gary Fairlie even though he went the right way and that is the goal that gives Eastfield Lodge the win here."
.........................................................................................................................
"With that win, the team are now 5th on three points, the same as three other teams but they all have better goal differences. Today's results and the group standings are:

Group G
Kulverint 0-1 Isselmere-Nieland
The Weegies 2-3 Eastfield Lodge
United Gordonopia 2-0 Queer Poco el Mono Ara

Pos   Team                       P   W   D   L   GF   GA   GD  Pts
   1  Isselmere-Nieland          2   1   1   0    4    3    1    4
   2  Queer Poco el Mono Ara     2   1   0   1    4    2    2    3
   3  United Gordonopia          2   1   0   1    2    1    1    3
   4  Kulverint                  2   1   0   1    1    1    0    3
   5  Eastfield Lodge            2   1   0   1    3    6   -3    3
   6  The Weegies                2   0   1   1    5    6   -1    1

Now we move onto the first of today's league matches..."

---

Team to play Isselmere-Nieland:

GK: Aidan Jagger

LCB: Dimitar Klitschko
RCB: Geoff Wood
LB: Matthew Lawrence
RB: Ben Patterson

DMF: Daniel Scott
RMF: James Tarpy
LMF: Ben Maddison
AMF: James Scott

LCF: Dylan Bell
RCF: Shabeen Ahmad Jnr

Goal Tally CoH 41:

Shabeen Ahmad Jnr: 2
James Tarpy: 1

Total Goal Tally (all competitions):

Shabeen Ahmad Jnr: 17
Dylan Bell: 14
Matthew Lawrence: 3
Sameer Ahmad: 3
Chris Lau: 3
Thomas O'Henly: 1
Geoff Wood: 1
Aidan Jagger: 1
Wayne Brookes: 1
James Tarpy: 1

[Callidon]

Callidon manager Kenneth Considine forgot one very pertinent fact about his national team in the wake of its loss to Steroga. The team lost its first World Cup qualifying match as well. By now, practically the entire world knows what happened since. A motley collection of players who seemed to be from a bygone era of history battled down to the very end and captivated many with a solid World Cup qualifying campaign.

They may not perform the same magic in this Cup of Harmony, but at least they rebounded from their previous effort with a much better display in a 3-2 victory over Jesselton. The defense led by John Calvert was statistically more leaky than in the 1-0 loss to Steroga, but it also made many more plays to prevent Jesselton from scoring more.

Offensively, the team got goals from both strikers and their playmaking midfield to even their record at 1-0-1. They are now trailing both Uiri and Steorga in the Group H table, as both teams are unbeaten and undrawn.

"We just needed to get out there and play better in all phases," Considine said. "We at least improved offensively. Defensively will have to come as well if we are to have a future in this tournament."

Considine wouldn't speculate on the team's future beyond this Cup of Harmony, but with the next World Cup qualifying campaign happening four years down the road, he smiled when he got the report from the team's doctor that defender Trey Dickson would likely be available for the start of qualifying.

"I don't know what type of medicine they perform [in Delaclava]," Considine said. "But we're glad he's just going to be able to walk, let alone return to playing football."

[Kulverint]

Kulverint 0-1 Isselmere-Nieland

As Kulverint sauntered into another football tournament, they had started well. With the news that WC50 was going to be contested by them, they needed to keep that up. Unfortunately, this did not happen.

A great attack from Kulverint was pounding the Isselmere-Nieland defence with no mercy, and yet somehow they held out. At 54 minutes a goal by Xixiao Milverki was ruled as offside, which Janni Milverki contested with some... exuberance! This earned him a yellow card. The Kulverintian defence had been very shoddy, and only a brilliant performance from the keeper had kept it nil-nil, however, at 87 minutes, he finally cracked. The game was over.

[Delaclava]

"THIS...is Sports Now."

(intro music plays)

"Good morning, world! I'm your Sports Now anchor today, Tim Landon. Your quick recap of yesterday: Bavin and F1-Insanity made it to the finals of the Delaclav-hosted Baptism of Iron. Delaclava officially submitted signups to the 11th World Cup of Hockey, the 3rd Futsal World Cup, and will make their debut at the 6th Rugby League World Cup. But first, action from the Cup of Harmony! I have Shelley Nurren, live from Pasarga. Shelley.

(cuts to Pasarga)

"Thanks, Tim. Shelley Nurren with DNB Sports. I'm in front of Stein-Los Stadium, where Delaclava played yesterday and will play in a few days. For yesterday's game, Delaclava tied West Pocono 1-1. Let's take a look at the game.

(goes to footage, with Nurren talking in the background)

"West Pocono starts off with a bang on offense. They're breaking down the defense, nailing shots, and some of them are going on target. Delaclava probably wasn't concerned, having seen the same thing happen against the weak Iglesian team. But suddenly, in the seventh minute, Poconi midfielder Eric Gillespie finds captain Brandon McDonald, sprinting through the defense unmarked. The skilled McDonald scored on the shot, and it was 1-0 West Pocono."

"Here, McDonald gets another shot, but Torres with the diving save to stop it! Sheldon Berrera clears it out, and damage is avoided. That's how the first half ends, 1-0 in favor of the Poconi team."

"Now Simon De Braden, who was just added to the starting roster after Calvin Castillo's injury, looks to do some damage. He's seen giving a pep talk, and suddenly the forward line is getting more shots. 69th minute here - Alessandro Campeon Berrera shoots, stopped by St. Pierre. Geraldo Ayala shoots, stopped by St. Pierre again. But De Braden, runs through and puts it in the right corner! 1-1! A few good saves later by both teams, and it ends as a tie. Man of the match is Brandon McDonald, caused trouble for Delaclava all day."

(back to Nurren)

"In other group news, Somewhereistonia topped Iglesian Archipelago 4-2, and Blouman Empire drew with Connar Republic 1-1. Somewhereistonia and Delaclava are both at 1-1-0, Iglesia is 0-0-2, and the rest have 2 ties. Delaclava and Somewhereistonia are tied on goal differential, but Somewhereistonia technically has the group lead because their defense sucks - I mean, because they've scored more goals. Delaclava will remain at Stein-Los Stadium for their match against Blouman Empire, and a win could vault them to the group lead. I'm Shelley Nurren, DNB Sports. Back to you, Tim."

[Queer Poco el Mono Ara]

(ooc - I forgot to add a style modifier in my Roster Post (again.. duh) and was wondering if you could set us as a +1)

“Welcome back to Soccer Chat the five minute football catch up on QPBC with me, Les Dyneham – today we’re analyzing the national side’s latest performance against United Gordonopia and taking a look at the other results in the group.”

In typical fashion The Whites collapse after a great result in the opening game and lose 2-0 to United Gordonopia, ranked a grand total of 81 places below Queer Poco el Mono Ara.

In what is becoming predictable and almost expected QPeMA lost 2-0 in the second game of the Cup of Harmony, their rollercoaster form under Joe Hamburgstein is once again being called to the fore.

“Just why can’t we maintain a run of performances?” asked one fan outside the stadium after the result. “It’s not like we’re a bad team we just can’t get on a roll, look at the World Cup Qualifiers, we went tits up when we couldn’t grind out results against the smaller teams.”

Elsewhere complaints about the lackluster defence resurfaced. “Back when Espinoza was in charge we were leaking goals but in those first few games under Hamburgstein we assumed he had that all figured out. Apparently not as goals come from every angle possible and I don’t think it’s entirely up to the defence. Petr Ollic is getting old now.” Stated former international striker turned pundit Phillipe Deschamps. “Petr has been in goal for the last three qualifying campaigns and as much as we’ve made leaps forwards he’s taking steps back in terms of fitness and performances. It might be about time to look at young Chris Foster.”

“We rely too much on Van Dyke. Yes he’s a world class forward but he’s getting on a bit now and teams have become wise to our lump it forward approach to attacking. It’s always great when we play some football and keep it on the ground, but as soon as we’re under pressure we revert to hoofing the ball up field and the opposition knows this and can easily deal with it. I reckon we should have a bash at playing a 4-3-3 and let Anderson have a go playing behind Van Dyke and Dossena.” Moaned former QPeMA captain Ugo Stowell – now coach of non-league Redfern and Bridges.

“We shouldn’t take anything away from Gordonopia, on the day and in the end they won the match and took the three points, complaining settles nothing. We just have to go out next time and try get the win.” – words of midfielder Frank Le Tissier “We didn’t find our groove today and we could have possibly played a little better than we did.”

Elsewhere in Group G The Weegies were dropped to the bottom of the group with a 3-2 defeat at the hands of Eastfield Lodge and Isselmere-Nieland moved to the top on four points with a 1-0 win over Kulverint. After only two games it’s still exceptionally tight with all six teams separated by 1 point however this may change as the competition progresses.

I’ll be back later in the week for Match Day live, as Queer Poco el Mono Ara take on Kulverint.”

[Osarius]

Following a close run finish to the domestic season in Osarius, it was expected that spirits would be high going into the Cup of Harmony. Perhaps a good start, springboard for a good run. Margaret had other ideas, it seemed. Seeing Orlando Florian injure his wrist during the warm up against Swartaz pretty much signalled what was to come. The three goal beating - and failure to score - was expected to say the least. Albert Mariana is no Florian, and his defence lacked the same level of communication with the Burningham youngster. Even before the horrifying embarassment of conceding from a goal kick... Mariana was looking like he wanted the match to end as soon as possible.

Against Slaytesics, it was a similar situation. Mariana was having a nightmare when the Firebirds came off 2-0 down at half time. If not for a stirring speech from captain Jermain Lewis, Mariana may have been saying goodbye to his international career. After a stellar performance for Burningham in the King's League, it has been a huge shock to see the youngster - considered the heir to Florian's gloves - fail so spectacularly on the international stage. He also conceded four against Schkottland in World Cup Qualifying, which must be giving Benedict di Corradi cause for concern.

Against Slaytesics, the frontline seemed determined to remind anyone watching that they were indeed dangerous. Rene Wilson-Ouaddou and Dean Atkinson's partnership failed to yield goals against the impressive Swartaz defence - which seemed to spring to life after a few early warning shots - but neither forward seemed content leaving the pitch without a goal this time.

Granted, it took 59 minutes for either of them to open a Cup of Harmony scoring account, but those fifty-nine minutes were filled with promise and threat. The goal came when Lewis' through ball found Wilson-Ouaddou, who raced clear, beating the offside trap. The tempestuous striker - showing signs of an incredible understanding with Atkinson - pulled left and backheeled the ball square into the path of the King's League golden boot winner. Atkinson made no mistake, drilling the strike into the bottom right corner.

The resurgence started here, and captain Lewis added an equaliser shortly afterwards on 62 minutes. The imposing midfielder again winning the ball deep, and this time spreading play to the left flank for Aguilar. The Hollybrent winger cut inside and played a cross-field ball to Benni Watson. Watson's understanding with his club captain led to the single-touch, no-look left footed pass which teed the ball up for Lewis to smash from distance. Some twenty-five to thirty yards out, the ball rocketed into the top right corner.

Osarius enjoyed a brief period of dominance at this stage, mounting attack after attack, but to no avail until the seventy-third minute. Benni Watson broke free down the right flank, outstripping the fullback for pace and crossing from the byline. The outward swerving cross found the head of Wilson-Ouaddou, who had bombed forward with his clubmate. For the first time, Osarius were ahead.

The teams seemed evenly matched at this point, with Slaytesics pressing hard, and only the desperate lunging of Tay Gidds preventing an equaliser on one occasion, and the composed frame of Higuain on the line preventing another. At the other end, the bar denied Benni Watson a goal from a twenty-eight yard free kick, and Dean Atkinson had a second ruled out for a remarkably narrow offside.

In the eightieth minute, Osarius seemingly settled things when they added a fourth, courtesy of Dean Atkinson. Once again, Benni Watson's free kick soared in, and it looked to be going in, until the Slaytesics 'keeper managed to get his fingertips to it. However, the touch only diverted the ball onto the post, and the razor sharp Dean Atkinson reacted first to tap in the rebound.

With the game seemingly sewn up, Osarius slowed down a little, still pressing, but a little less recklessly. It transpired this was an instruction from Roberto Barzaglione, di Corradi looked less than pleased on the touchline. As it turned out, Albert Mariana was not yet done making mistakes. After almost a half of solid goalkeeping, it appeared that the outstanding youngster of Burningham City was back, and the nervous kid he had been earlier in the game, was gone. Not quite.

A hopeful cross into the box from the left flank was easily caught by Mariana, but under a little pressure... he dropped it. This let Slaytesics bundle home a third, and set the match up for a nervous finish - from an Osarian perspective anyway - as Slaytesics looked to level things. The defensive duo of Higuain and Gidds threw their bodies on the line for the remaining four minutes to keep out a determined opposing offensive line, and earn the first Osarian win of the cup.

Goals:
59' - Atkinson (Wilson-Ouaddou)
62' - Lewis (Watson)
73' - Wilson-Ouaddou (Watson)
80' - Atkinson (Watson)

Bookings:
33' - Anderson (foul)
78' - Chandleton (foul)

Ratings:
Mariana - 4 - simply dreadful. Far too many mistakes, put too much pressure on his defenders.
Ali - 6 - did well going forward, but should have stopped more crosses coming in.
Higuain - 6 - although three goals went in, Higuain could have done little more to help. Perhaps a little more thought in certain situations, but that aside, a decent performance.
Gidds - 7 - Like Higuain, Gidds probably should have thought through his moves a bit better, but his willingness to put his body on the line was admirable. This is why he is captain of the national champions.
Anderson - 6 - a predictably bullish performance from Jay Jay. He got forward to support Watson a lot, but loses points for the yellow card.
Aguilar - 6 - relatively quiet, but effective nonetheless.
Mitsubara - 6 - did his job quietly, not as effectively as he may have wanted to though. Never really imposed himself on the game.
Lewis - 7 - Predictably influential going forward, but he is as guilty as Mitsubara for the lack of midfield control.
Watson - 9 - stunning playmaking from the winger. His incisive passing and movement was key to two goals, while his free kick effectively created a third.
Wilson-Ouaddou - 8 - never stopped trying for that goal he so deserved. also kept calm despite the kicking he got from Slaytesics defenders.
Atkinson - 8 - like Wilson-Ouaddou, he deserved his goals, and made the Slaytesics defence work hard.

Substitutions:
Mooney (on 70 for Aguilar) - 6 - never made much impact, but was still a threat.
Chandleton (on 70 for Anderson) - 6 - picked up a booking in the twenty minutes he played. not a good sign of discipline.
Dauda (on 83 for Atkinson) - 6 - never really got into the game, but never really had much time to make an impact.

[Shivat]

Defeated by Uiri
Monday, January 4, 2010|Cup of Harmony 41|By Park Jae-Yoon|Torgos, Pasarga

We started well this Cup of Harmony, but it seems that we haven't played this match as well as expected, probably because of the lack of experience on the cup and it's way of working, also because of that our players haven't trained too much during their short winter holidays, and are probably they can't be happy with having ended their already short holidays at this marked days, and specially in the case of Jung Ji-Young, who has to play in the Seoan Bulsajo in Daehanjeiguk, which makes him be very tired before the matches, which can't be good, and so, the SFA is trying to convince the direction board of the team to let Ji-Young not to play on this week matches as minimum and as maximum during the whole cup.

The match looked well for our team at the start of the match, but then it turned really bad, when at the end of the first part, we haven't scored any goal, and our moral stopped been high and lead to a situation of low quality game and lack of goal opportunities during the second part, which also lead to more rival opportunities, and so our goalkeeper, who even if he couldn't stop two goals he was the match's most notorious player, the first goal was scored in minute 4 of the second part, something that didn't help to make our moral grow, and then the second goal came in the last minutes of the match, in the minute 41, when everybody, including their coach thought there weren't going to be any more goals in the match, but there was and when the arbiter ended the match, our team went back to their dress-rooms receiving insults from the fans who were very disgusted with the result.

This match has showed that we need to play better and not to leave our good play if we aren't performing well, and that we have to practice more if we want to win experience and to pass to the next round. Also to win means more foreign investment in the national Shivat Football League and fame for our players, something already demonstrated when after the spectacular play of Jung Ji-Young in the last World Cup, the team of Seon Bulsajo of Daehanjeiguk showed interest on him and gave him a opportunity to play outside Shivat ,because our league is not good, neither known, not even by creating young starts for our team or others.

The next match will be played against the country of Callidon, which even if started playing in the same Baptism of Fire as we did, are higher ranked that we are and we will have to play better than we did on the last match to can defeat them, because only two teams from each group pass to the round of sixteens, and currently our team is fourth, while Callidon is third, so both teams will playing hard to make themselves a place in that round being as minimum second in the teams, a position ow occupied by the country of Steroga which neither is very good.

[Somewhereistonia]

Well, after quite a lot of stuff happening there is now to be a new nation (yey!) jammed in between Somewhereistonia and Kyrinskaia made up of the former Kyrinskaian territories or Malak, Calabak and Balbak. This new nation is still heavily dependent on Somewhereistonia for, well everything but it will eventually gain more and more control. As for the states of Oakow, Et Kab, Ida Balak and Irk, they will become part of Somewhereistonia, the exact workings of this are still to be agreed, but the people are now to be considered Somewhereistonian. This means that Vladimir Vodz will definitely be an Eagles player in the next world cup, oh goody.

Anyway, the promised alligators: Many of the veterans of the recent war have found alternative jobs, such as professional wrestlers, acrobatic groups, mercenaries, musicians and many other things.


Rock Rex performing his debut single "behind enemy lines" at a concert in Balakarrassia

So, the alligators have jobs and everyone is happy, expect whatsisname on the bench for the Eagles. Turns out he won't be able to play for them after this Cup of Harmony. Perhaps he'll become the Malak captain for the Baptism of Fire. Perhaps he will be happy after all. Excellent, so everybody *is* happy then. Except Kyrinskaia of course, but nobody likes them anyway, except Sorthern Northland but everybody knows that they're drunk and watch porn DVDs involving cucumbers.

So, I've explained what is going to happen in these crazy new countries, and we have the promised alligators out of the way. Now on to the last game against Iglesian Archipelago (who might also not be best pleased by the result).

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

Somesport.som

Kukas Skormilonski Blogs

Vodz hat-trick sends Eagles soaring

Now that is better. After a lacklustre 2-2 draw with Blouman Empire, the much cooler Eagles who have alligators 'n' shizzle have come back to win 4-2 against the Iglesians to take top spot in Group E. With Delaclava breathing down our necks we have to do the same again, but with that last performance by Vodz, I'm not scared as long as the defense gets itself back into shape.

So, the first goal, a 30 yard volley from Vodz smashed into the top corner from a Taska cross to the striker in the 12th minute. Amazing, quite simply a stunner. This was the start of some amazing play between Taska, Vodz and Kusnets, who played their way through, around and over the Iglesian defenders who struggled to keep the Eagles at bay with some amazing blocks from the two center-backs as well as good saves from the keeper twice from Vodz and once from Kusnets in the first half. Against the run of play the Iglesians equalised on the break just before half time. The Eagles dominated the first half, and should have eased through, but there they were. Half time and all level.

The second half began well for the Eagles, with Vodz running on to a fantastic through-ball from Kusnets and sliding the ball past the oncoming keeper with the outside of his foot in the 46th minute. A fantastic move and a fantastic touch as the Eagles retook the lead. The game carried on in the manner of the first, with Nolakk smashing a long range shot against the bar, Kusnets volleying against the post and more saves from the Iglesian keeper. The Eagles then finally got their reward in the 63rd minute when Kusnets latched onto Törk's lob before curling the ball neatly around the keeper and into the net. 3-1 the score and the Eagles were heading to their first win in the tournament.

As the match wore on, the Eagles' attack continued to press, with Vodz narrowly hitting wide twice before the 79th minute when he skipped past two defenders and smashed the ball goalwards. the Iglesian keeper made a fantastic save but could only push the ball back into the young striker's path. Vodz needed no extra invitation as he shashed the ball into the net emphatically. 4-1 and the Eagles bagan to settle down, they had the result and they could go on to the next match happy. Unfortunately, the Iglesians got a goal back in injury time, but it doesn't matter too much, a win is a win and we have a lot to take from that last performance.

[Pasarga]

Matchday 3

Group A
Sibirsky 0-3 Sargossa
Swartaz 2-0 Slaytesics
Aguazul 4-3 Osarius

Pos   Team                       P   W   D   L   GF   GA   GD  Pts
   1  Swartaz                    3   2   1   0    7    2    5    7
   2  Aguazul                    3   2   1   0    8    6    2    7
   3  Sargossa                   3   1   2   0    8    5    3    5
   4  Osarius                    3   1   0   2    7   10   -3    3
   5  Slaytesics                 3   0   1   2    6    9   -3    1
   6  Sibirsky                   3   0   1   2    3    7   -4    1

Group B
Landau Institute 4-1 Burchadinger
Jasiyun 3-0 Quintessence of Dust
Sportgirls 4-1 Unreal229

Pos   Team                       P   W   D   L   GF   GA   GD  Pts
   1  Landau Institute           3   2   1   0    8    2    6    7
   2  Jasiyun                    3   2   1   0    7    3    4    7
   3  Sportgirls                 3   2   0   1    6    5    1    6
   4  Quintessence of Dust       3   1   1   1    2    4   -2    4
   5  Burchadinger               3   0   1   2    3    7   -4    1
   6  Unreal229                  3   0   0   3    3    8   -5    0

Group C
West Zirconia 0-4 Vephrall
Oberour Ar Moro 0-5 Valladares
Schiavonia 2-2 The Great Sandy Desert

Pos   Team                       P   W   D   L   GF   GA   GD  Pts
   1  Vephrall                   3   3   0   0    8    1    7    9
   2  Valladares                 3   2   0   1    9    4    5    6
   3  Schiavonia                 3   1   1   1    3    3    0    4
   4  West Zirconia              3   1   0   2    3    7   -4    3
   5  Oberour Ar Moro            3   1   0   2    4    9   -5    3
   6  The Great Sandy Desert     3   0   1   2    4    7   -3    1

Group D
The Macabees 2-1 Barnettsville
Schkottland 2-2 Balida
Toyur 2-3 The McLaughlin Islands

Pos   Team                       P   W   D   L   GF   GA   GD  Pts
   1  The Macabees               3   2   1   0    6    3    3    7
   2  The McLaughlin Islands     3   2   1   0    5    3    2    7
   3  Schkottland                3   0   3   0    4    4    0    3
   4  Barnettsville              3   0   2   1    7    8   -1    2
   5  Balida                     3   0   2   1    4    5   -1    2
   6  Toyur                      3   0   1   2    7   10   -3    1

Group E
Somewhereistonia 2-3 Connar Repulic
Iglesian Archipelago 2-0 West Pocono
Blouman Empire 0-2 Delaclava

Pos   Team                       P   W   D   L   GF   GA   GD  Pts
   1  Delaclava                  3   2   1   0    5    1    4    7
   2  Connar Repulic             3   1   2   0    5    4    1    5
   3  Somewhereistonia           3   1   1   1    8    7    1    4
   4  Iglesian Archipelago       3   1   0   2    4    6   -2    3
   5  Blouman Empire             3   0   2   1    3    5   -2    2
   6  West Pocono                3   0   2   1    2    4   -2    2

Group F
Albundania 1-1 The Ursine Northlands
Mount Kip 1-3 Andrewboy
Taeshan 1-1 Pays de Horreur

Pos   Team                       P   W   D   L   GF   GA   GD  Pts
   1  Pays de Horreur            3   2   1   0    6    1    5    7
   2  Taeshan                    3   2   1   0    6    4    2    7
   3  The Ursine Northlands      3   1   1   1    4    4    0    4
   4  Andrewboy                  3   1   0   2    3    4   -1    3
   5  Albundania                 3   0   2   1    2    3   -1    2
   6  Mount Kip                  3   0   1   2    1    6   -5    1

Group G
Isselmere-Nieland 2-2 Eastfield Lodge
Kulverint 2-1 Queer Poco el Mono Ara
The Weegies 2-2 United Gordonopia

Pos   Team                       P   W   D   L   GF   GA   GD  Pts
   1  Kulverint                  3   2   0   1    3    2    1    6
   2  Isselmere-Nieland          3   1   2   0    6    5    1    5
   3  United Gordonopia          3   1   1   1    4    3    1    4
   4  Eastfield Lodge            3   1   1   1    5    8   -3    4
   5  Queer Poco el Mono Ara     3   1   0   2    5    4    1    3
   6  The Weegies                3   0   2   1    7    8   -1    2

Group H
Bisgea 0-1 Uiri
Steroga 1-2 Jesselton
Shivat 0-1 Callidon

Pos   Team                       P   W   D   L   GF   GA   GD  Pts
   1  Uiri                       3   3   0   0    4    0    4    9
   2  Steroga                    3   2   0   1    4    3    1    6
   3  Callidon                   3   2   0   1    4    3    1    6
   4  Jesselton                  3   1   0   2    4    5   -1    3
   5  Shivat                     3   1   0   2    1    3   -2    3
   6  Bisgea                     3   0   0   3    1    4   -3    0

Tiebreakers will be applied in the 4th and 5th MD tables

[United Gordonopia]

I-Game.com/Gordonopian_Games

Cup of Harmony 41 a Big Hit

January 4 - Since its release on New Years, Gordonopian Games' Cup of Harmony 41 has become a resounding success. Available on the Cronos Elite Download Store, the game runs on a the same engine as Baptism of Fire 36 and World Cup 49. Baptism is the smallest of the games, with a main single or co-op tournament, 11 v 11 multiplayer, and Legends Mode, allowing for players to use previous winners. World Cup contains the same modes, but has more teams. Cup of Harmony has less teams, but includes Fantasy Mode, with over the top arcade style gameplay.

The main complaint for the trilogy is that they do not allow for play of previous teams that never won. According to a Gordonopian Games spokesperson: "In response to these complaints, Gordonopian Games will provide updates to the games in the near future that will expand the games to previously qualifying teams with their original rosters. The full history of all teams to compete in these tournaments will be featured in the next trilogy, centered around World Cup 50."

The games have been acclaimed as some of the best Football games in history, and the innovative multiplayer has been called one of the best additions to football video games in the past decade. For players who don't want to play a full human roster, there can also be anywhere between 1 v 1 and 10 v 10 players in a multiplayer match.

Downloads have already exceeded ten million worldwide, with the strongest numbers coming in nations participating in the cup. A report has shown a link between teams' success in the cup and the number of downloads from that nation, as was shown in Gordopia. A strong first day download number was obvious, but the number greatly dropped after the Gordonopian National Teams' loss in their first match. However, after a win the second matchday, numbers nearly tripled. A tie today saw numbers larger then the day after the loss, but nowhere near as high as the second matchday. The National Team is currently 3rd in their group.

Anyone with a Cronos Elite with internet connection and open harddrive space can download the game. It costs 1,200 Cronos Points to download, the same price as World Cup. The three games will be released as a bundle download for 3,300 Cronos Points on February 1, according to a Gordonopian Games Spokesman.