Copa Rushmori XXII Everything Thread

[Pasarga]

"Ah the Kerns, they are turning into quite a force in the footballing world, aren't they? That Final we had with them two years ago was something truly remarkable and was a big boost to the squad as we went into the World Cup. Bit of a shame that we're only playing them in the Quarterfinals, but hey that's the draw and you just have to go with it."

"Yeah, still hard to take it all in, winning that Copa Final over them in that penalty shootout followed by a perfect Qualifying and then winning the World Cup over Eura. It's been a rather amazing two years for our Wanderers and here we are looking to try and repeat as the Copa champions."

"Zenic definitely put up a rather stern test though, perhaps one that might get the side to take this game with the Kerns far more seriously than they did with Zenic. Having to come back with a pair of goals in the second half was not exactly something you want to be seeing from you side, even if they had dominated the possession game thus far. They need to be more clinical in front of goal, like they are when they are playing for their domestic clubs."

"Ah but domestic football and international football are different, you'll often see tighter games with more skill in the international affair. While Zenic are no world beaters, it was not by fluke or luck that they had found themselves in the second round. Still, a two goal margin without the need for a comeback would have been more in line with the side as of late."

"Meanwhile the Kerns had a close affair with Eastfield Lodge, winning two to one themselves. I do hope that we're in for another expectional match like the two had in the Final last edition, with chances coming left and right but the defenses weathering them. That game had it all."

"Well the Kerns are not playing like they did two years ago, having to win on the last day of the group stage to advance, even losing to Marion Oaks to begin the tournament. This side definitely is not the same defensive powerhouse as they are conceding at least a goal a game but their offense is putting two away at the same time."

"I see, well history is said to repeat itself, so perhaps the level of competition will bring out the best in both the Wanderers and the Kerns with a good result for our side. Perhaps the Wanderers can avoid extra time or penalties this encounter, and beat them in just regular time."

"Hopefully pa, hopefully."

[Eura]

Fourteen goals and nine points
PART TWO of a special feature on Eura's return to form after World Cup defeat
Simon Banning reports from the Emplor Media Centre in St. Petrus, Saintland

As Eura's squad arrived in Saintland, one could sense the anticipation in the air. Eura's expectations for the Copa are moderate, as usual, but they knew that if they started well there was no reason they couldn't go far. There was also a lot of attention surrounding Steve Thompson's team due to the very recent withdrawal of Euran troops from Saintland, which has recently seen the return of its old regime codified; though the recently reinstated King Petrus XX, perhaps under pressure from his friends from abroad, is expected to pass reforms bringing forward the rule of a constitutional monarchy. The players are here for different reasons, but their warmup sessions and pre-tournament preparation in the country did have a disciplined, almost militaristic style to it that is maybe more firm than usual for a Thompson team. The result was that Eura were raring to go. Evidence of good preparation was on display in from the first kick off in the group stage, against Pridnestrovia. Eura played one of their new adjusted lineups against arguably the weakest team in the group; Prince in goal, a back four of Churchilli, Madison, Rogers and Cotra, a narrow midfield five of Rose, Hunter, Spartan, Sinclair and Hughes, and Ashtree up front. Eura really stamped their mark on the game in the early stages and took the lead in the 17th minute, Sinclair setting up Ashtree for what could be one of his last international goals, and indeed what was his 50th international goal, with a diagonal 25 yard ball into the box that Ashtree controlled and swept into the net after turning a defender. Ashtree went off injured shortly afterwards, replaced by Allen. Allen was unimpressive but the midfield made up for the lack of firepower up front with their own shooting boots. Hughes and Hunter both scored well taken finishes in the middle of the second half within a short time of each other, both assisted by clever balls from Rose and Spartan respectively, while Faulkner and Nolan both got some game time.

However the big story of the group stage for Eura after winning that opener 3-0 was the massive game against Sameba. After years of only friendly meetings, the Endemian rivals had met a couple of times in competition within a few years. In a ferocious and memorably violent affair Eura beat Sameba 3-0 in the VU during Copa XIV, an incident that caused quite some consternation at the time. That was a group stage game but at the next Copa they met again in the quarter finals, a much more high stakes encounter out in Darmen, which was much tighter as a Spartan goal made the difference. With Sameba having now seemingly peaked, it seemed like this was a good time for Eura to play them with morale clearly on their side - and Sameba still having not scored a goal against Eura for years. The Sameban's lined up with Ayebler in goal with a predictable back four of Quella, Dini, Andetel and Andella, but their midfield and front line were clearly feeling the winds of change. Catherine Bardsley, the Brenecian manager who has been handed the unenviable task of dragging a team below her level out of the mire, has quality in that midfield, but aging quality. Neither Dohi or Dabix were fit to start and Aldardo was, inexplicably, dropped; instead the midfield centre was made up of a more attacking trio of Berra, Mayalla and of course their one young revelation, Huele, while Capion and Sabattini took to the wings. Sarado started up front, and shocked everyone present by opening the scoring in a jubilant moment for the green and blue, poking home a low and hard cross that had been delivered from the right by Capion, who recently moved to play in Farfadillis.

Surely this was not the script that had been written, Thompson must have been wondering. He was right. Sameba suddenly looked like rabbits in the proverbial headlights and fell apart under attacking pressure from what was a full strength Eura team. Campbell leveled for Eura as his fine form continued, lofting a shot over Ayebler from 20 yards after being given far too much space on the edge of the box. The exceptional forward, who came through a youth system abroad and was never expected to get near the Euran national team a few years ago, created the second by heading on a Spartan long ball, which dropped into the path of Mike Adam's for the veteran Spartangrad winger to finish. Adam's recent inconsistency was clearly on show however as he missed an easy chance minutes later, slicing wide from just 8 yards with only the goalkeeper to beat after a free kick. Nevertheless Sameba's defence had now become as porous as sandstone and it was 3-1 within minutes as Sinclair was left with far too little to do after Quella let him charge down Eura's left, before he turned back inside to curl the ball between the centreback and the keeper and into the bottom right hand corner. However, this game was a two way contest despite Sameba's clear defensive inferiority and soon they had a goal back to keep themselves in the game at halftime. Unsurprisingly the amazing Huele got on the scoresheet, chesting down a poor Sabattini cross into the box for Berra to take a shot, which was blocked by Ainsworth but fell straight back to Huele for the Sunrisian-born talisman to finish from close range.

After half time Campbell would temporarily crush that hope with the cleanest finish of the game, an inch perfect shot stroked home from the edge of the box after the ball was laid back to him by Spartan, who himself had become trapped between two defenders when trying to shoot inside the box. However Huele was having none of it, and nor was Sameba’s substitute, the deadly Dohi. Huele’s perfect cross found Dohi’s volley and the top right hand corner to narrow the score to 4-3. Sameba pushed to try and find an equaliser in what was some of the closest competition between these two sides that had been seen in years. However the possibility of a comeback would be finally laid to rest by another substitute, the younger of the Oslograd brothers. Eura were now heading to the next round, and they finished off the group stage in style by hammering Charruterra, a formerly decent second-rate team who have declined greatly. The margin of victory, 6-0, did not flatter Eura, just like the legendary 5-0 win over Vilita. Spartan’s first half penalty and goal from the edge of the box set up the thrashing, with the rest of the goals coming for Sinclair, Sutton and Hunter, before Jones completed the rout with his first international goal.

[Saintland]

Quarterfinal Results

Quarterfinals
Eura 3–1 Electrum
Pasarga 3–2 Kernansquillec
Saintland 0–0 Taeshan (1–1 AET) (3–5 pen.) *
Polar Islandstates 2–0 Vermark

* Scorinated by Farfadillis

---

Semifinals

Eura vs Pasarga @ Royal Stadium, St. Petrus
Taeshan vs. Polar Islandstates @ Via Damascus Stadium, St. Paulus

[Taeshan]

Semi-Finals Once Again

http://chirb.it/7d4a6k

[Pasarga]

Torgos Tribune ~ A Bastion of Fortunes

The Wanderers are clearly in the prime of their existence, as they have managed to navigate a tricky group stage and some challenging knockout opponents to get back to the Copa Rushmori Semifinals. It has not been an overly impressive set of victories that have gotten the Wanderers here, having only defeated Zenic and Kernansquillec by a single goal each, while the side lost to the Polarians in the group stage and barely found their way past Norrehavn to make it out of the group stage. However, they have found that way, as has been the case over the last two plus years, finding ways to emerge victorious even when they have not played up to the talent that they have or when the opposition has surprised them.

That is what makes champions really, to find ways to emerge victorious even when you are not performing at your best. You see it all the time in domestic football, the champions are the ones who find ways to turn draws into victories and losses into draw when the odds are stacked against them either through poor form or other circumstances. Battling through your obstacles and still overcoming them shows the heart of a champion, shows that they are not deterred by obstacles that most will falter at.

That brings up to the next one, the biggest of those obstacles, even larger than whoever the Wanderers might face in the Final or 3PPo. Our next opponent is none other than Eura, the gatekeeper of Rushmore, the side that until this previous World Cup had struck down the Wanderers at every chance. The Wanderers however flipped the script on the Eurans in the World Cup, taking away their chance for glory and a championship and instead made it their own time. To meet again just a mere month later means that their still is that bitter taste in the Eurans mouths, that taste of defeat in the biggest of moments that makes your heart ache and have you desire revenge in the most powerful of ways. The Wanderers felt it when they were downed by Osarius, the Eurans no doubt feel it now as well.

The Euran midfield is supposed to be unstoppable, with Spartan, Blackthorn, and Sinclair providing all the punch that the Eurans need to turn over just about all squads that stand in their way. They expected to do the same in the Final against our side, yet they could not because of Császár Mór. Mór is your everything midfielder and put a stop to that control and dominance the Eurans thought they had in the middle of the park, and he as well as Szölôsi Oszlár will have to have a repeat performance if the Wanderers are to advance. Can the Wanderers fend off the Eurans looking for that vengeance, for that dominance that they lacked, or will Eura show that the extra time affair in the World Cup was a fluke and they are still the gatekeepers of Rushmore?

[Polar Islandstates]

"...AND THE TEAM FOR POLAR ISLANDSTATES TODAY IS IN GOAL, NUMBER ONE, LEIF ULSLETTEN..."

"Who cares?"

"...NUMBER SIXTEEN, TEITUR RONKAINEN..."

"Won't amount to anything."

"...NUMBER THREE, OLAF STRAUSS..."

"Big lump of an idiot."

"...NUMBER FOUR, WILLEM OTKUPSHCHIKOV..."

"Don't care.

"...NUMBER FIVE, NIELS KRUSE..."

"Who?"

"...NUMBER SIX, ANDERS HOLZHAUSER..."

"Git."

"...NUMBER SEVEN, ALEXSANDR KIRIYENKO..."

"Big fan of what he did to the Spires, but still. He's no Konigstein."

"...NUMBER EIGHT, EIDUR GUNNLAUGSSON..."

"Who cares?"

"...NUMBER NINE, RAUNO BICKERMANN..."

"Overrated."

"...NUMBER TEN, SIM LEFEBVRE..."

"Yawn."

"...AND NUMBER ELEVEN, FINN KIRKKEGAARD..."

"Hooray!"

"Tell me, Valentin," asked Alexio Del Nieran from behind Valentin Jahr in the box at Via Damascus Stadium, "are you bored?"

"How could you tell, Alexio?" chuckled Jahr, turning to look at his employee. "Feels like these pre-match rambles last longer and longer every year. Should do it like we do in Divisjon One. Walk out, shake hands, bang. Start the game. Nice and simple."

"Well, there is the whole national anthems thing, here."

"Yeah what was that Taeshani one?" said Jahr in a hushed tone.

"I know, right?"

"Even so, do we really need to announce the team and pause for effect whilst they're doing the handshakes?"

"It is a Copa Rushmori semi-final, Valentin. I feel like we can afford them some pomp and circumstance."

"I know, I know," sighed Jahr, "just, international football bores me. I'm a club man, you know? Far more entertaining and fulfilling than this load of bollocks."

"Thousands of Valhallans would disagree with you there, I'm sure."

"Well they're idiots, then. I just struggle to care when my players aren't wearing a griffon on their badge. Why should I care? I'm from a pre-Federal age, Alexio. I'm from Franz Josef first, and the Federation second. And the VU a distant third. And maybe then, Rushmori. Maybe."

"Then, why come?" asked Alexio, confused, "I could handle the whole 'official SK representative watching the new signing' thing by myself quite happily. And from the stands, too, not from this fancy box you've set up."

"It's all for show, Alexio. My life is one big performance. Surely you know this by now? Domeka understood, anyway."

"And Rickwright?"

"He'll learn, soon enough."

"But still, why the box?"

"Ah," said Jahr, leaning in conspiratorially, even though they were alone in the box, "two reasons. For one, I'm trying to avoid another run in with Finnibaturinn. Awkward. And for another, have you ever been around that Sister Sophia the Terns've been assigned as host liaison?"

"I haven't, no," admitted Alexio, "why, is she annoying?"

"Only in the sense that she's relentlessly helpful. It's exhausting trying to find a fifteenth way of turning down a cup of coffee. She reminds me of my grandmother, Gods rest her."

"That not a good thing?"

"Would normally be, yeah, but old Elsbeth was losing her mind towards the end, bless her. She'd offer you shortbread five times before you could take your coat off."

"Hm."

"Yeah. I find it's best to just avoid her, now. Wouldn't want to offend her."

Alexio laughed at this. "Wow, the great Valentin Jahr, not wanting to offend someone foreign? Now I've seen it all."

"I already said she reminds me of my grandmother, you berk."

"Oh, yeah..."

There was an awkward silence punctuated only by the noise of the crowd outside.

"So," coughed Alexio, "the match, eh?"

"It's not too late to say you left to facilitate Rickwright bringing in his own staff, you know..." muttered Jahr.

"Now there's the Valentin Jahr I've grown to get used to," smiled Alexio, "never change, please."

"Let's just watch the match and pretend to look interested, shall we?"

"I am interested, Valentin."

"Oh yeah," said Jahr, pausing as the Terns kicked off the semi-final accompanied by an intensifying in the noise from the crowd, "poor you."

[Eura]

Knockout blows dealt out in elimination rounds by Eura
Thompson can be proud of achievements after dispatching of further opposition
Simon Banning reports from the Emplor Media Centre in St. Petrus, Saintland

For its size, Saintland is a very sparsely populated country. Around six hundred thousand people are spread over this large island, and as a consequence of this Copa Rushmori, they have been almost matched in number (at least during the group stages) by a traveling contingent of foreign fans from multiple nations. One of the largest remaining groups is that mass of visitors is the Euran's, who always turn up to international tournaments now in large numbers. They're in a boisterous mood ging forward of course after Eura continued their fine form with convincing victories in both the round of sixteen and quarter finals, against Sarrbia and Electrum. These wins have further vindicated the selection processes of Steve Thompson, and have seen the ascension of Joel Sutton into the team in the place of Albin Oslograd, while the man who used to be called the pass-master, Gareth Blackthorn, is feeling the heat of Sterling Rose on his heels.

The transition began properly with the round of sixteen fixture against Sarrbia. Sarrbia's unorthodox 4-3-3, with the central three spread out wide and thinly, was to be countered by a powerful Euran midfield with a very tight middle three of Blackthorn and Rose behind Spartan, while Sinclair and Adams would start on the two wings, with Campbell up front. The strategy worked and Sarrbia's midfield, the weak point of the side so far in the tournament anyway, were targeted specifically down the middle as Eura's world class middle of the order seized control. There had been few games where they had failed to in recent times - exceptions being some of the World Cup group games and, though often overstated, they didn't assert themselves fully in the World Cup final. Today however they were on top form. Blackthorn dictated the tempo of Eura's passing game while Rose mopped up behind him, compensating for Blackthorn's defensive deficiencies later in his career. Meanwhile Spartan was pressing forward constantly and causing all sorts of problems, running Hardy ragged. Despite this Sarrbia did have the best chance of the first half, at least before there were any goals, when their star player Kurosawa drove a fearsome shot against the post from 25 yards. It was a rare break in an otherwise Euran controlled game.

Dominant as they were Eura did not score until stoppage time in the first half, when Sinclair once again made the pivotal difference for them. He recovered what had looked like an over hit ball over the defence by Rose with the referee paying more attention to his watch than the game, as the seconds ticked down to half time. Sarrbia were tiring slightly and playing for half time, so when Sinclair flicked the ball spectacularly over the right back Hogarth they were caught almost figuratively napping. He darted into the box from the left side near the goal line before they could hope to respond, forcing the right centre back Honeycutt to come at him and the goalkeeper Spurling to shift to her near post. This left all the space in the world for Sinclair to stroke the ball back across the box for Spartan, who hit the ball into the middle of the net mid-stride. Thompson would have to make a change at half time as Blackthorn limped off to be replaced by Hunter after picking up a hamstring strain. Fortunately his injury setback would not halt Eura's momentum, and they doubled their lead at the first opportunity, though it was a long time coming. Sixteen minutes after the restart they had their chance and took it; Hunter was fouled as he entered the box by a cynical Banderas leading to a penalty, which Hunter was allowed to take by Spartan, and he subsequently put it away. Sarrbia had a couple of opportunities as they made changes and pushed to get back into the game, but they faded as the game went on and eventually were killed off by Campbell, who finished nicely after Adams put him through on goal past Honeycutt.

In the next round the opposition was Electrum, an interesting opponent for sure. The two sides had met only once previously, a draw during the group stage of the 20th Copa Rushmori; Thompson's first tournament, one the Euran's went on to the final in only to lose to Sargossa. It was also a tense contest for political reasons, as it has not been very long since the brief but passionate Floriana Dam crisis, where Electrum was forced to back down in displaying its unhappiness with a Rio Oscuran civil works project due to Euran and Valladar opposition to Sargossan involvement. The two sides had a mild local rivalry previously, but on this occasion the atmosphere was ferocious. There was no love lost between the two sides, as was shown by Rose getting a booking for a hard tackle on Electrum's captain Krane in the first minute. Eura's side had two changes as Adams came out to be replaced by Sutton, with Sinclair switching to the other wing, while Rose replaced the now injured Blackthorn. Sutton looked dangerous from the start but could only elicit a groan of disappointment from his countrymen in the stands when he skewed wide a golden opportunity after ten minutes. Sinclair was also looking potent, but Electrum were trying to man mark him out of the game and did so effectively for parts of the first half when he wasn't running rings around them. Their golden opportunity to take control would come in the 31st minute, yet they would throw it aside. A mixup between Watson and Ainsworth led to Krane dispossessing the latter before setting off towards goal, then cutting the ball back for Fielding. She should have put the ball away as it was the easiest of chances, but much to the relief of Waller, she hit the ball poorly and it went just over the bar.

Taking advantage of the opposition's most critical mistakes is a key part of being a top team - and make no mistake, Eura are a top team. Just like Sarrbia, Electrum would find themselves unlocked just before half time when they looked otherwise safe. Rose, continuing his fine form, was the architect of this one from deep in midfield, exchanging a couple of passes with Spartan and biding his time to find the perfect moment to thread a pass through to Campbell. Campbell was left with the ball 30 yards from goal with space in front of him and two men to pass to. He opted to go right to Sinclair, who darted into the box and looked set to pass across the keeper towards Sutton. Instead he shot the ball through the legs of McGann as he opened up to try and make himself big; the ball raced along the ground and beat Fenech to the bottom right hand corner. Unlike Sarrbia, Electrum did not roll over after the first goal and fought back hard, creating good chances and controlling the game for a good twenty minutes, making them the only side so far in this tournament to properly challenge Eura apart from Sameba. However they could not take their chances and were punished for their adventure by a cruel killer blow in the 67th minute, as the Euran substitute defender Pope headed a Spartan corner into the top right hand corner to make it 2-0. Once again Electrum fought back and this time they were rewarded. Their fans were furious when Gilbert clearly handballed outside the box and delighted, energised even, when Kobe - a namesake but not relative of the former Sameban striker - curled it over the wall and in past Waller. Nevertheless Electrum were soon undone by Eura's superior stamina and skill. In the 79th minute the game was all but over as Adams whipped the ball in from the right to an unmarked Campbell, and the striker did the rest.

[Saintland]

Semifinal Results

Semifinals
Eura 0–0 Pasarga (0–0 AET) (3–4 pen.)
Taeshan 0–0 Polar Islandstates (1–0 AET)

---

3PPO

Eura vs Polar Islandstates @ Via Damascus Stadium, St. Paulus

Copa Rushmori XXII Final

Pasarga vs. Taeshan @ Royal Stadium, St. Petrus

[Taeshan]

One More Game

http://chirb.it/9vCBcB

[Pasarga]

Torgos Tribune ~ Destiny Revisited

This Copa Rushmori has been a bit of a sense of deja vu for the fans and the team, with so many of the same opponents from the last World Cup and Copa Rushmori coming up for the Wanderers. And like the previous two competitions, the Wanderers have found ways through thick and thin to win these matches and advance forward. What more can you say about this squad that has not already been said about them, the words that can describe them become fewer with every new success that they have without coming to sound like a broken record. Is it destiny of the Wanderers, as some went on to claim during the previous Copa and then the World Cup or is it the culmination of all the effort that has been put into this program over the years? Perhaps it is a bit of both, with each of those previous failures adding a new edge to the Wanderers and providing them lessons to learn from, to adapt to, a required lesson to appreciate what has come now.

Whatever the case may be, the Wanderers find themselves in the fourth straight Final in all four of the major tournaments that they have entered, the first being that bitter defeat to Osarius in World Cup 71. The Eurans did their best to try and deter this mounting dominance that our Wanderers have began to have, a personal sort of vengeance in mind. To say that the match was hard fought would be a vast understatement, each tackle felt like it was meant to leave a lasting impression. The battle in the midfield was brutal and I have no doubt that every player from both teams midfield will be having gashes and stud marks in their shins to try and recover from before the next match.

Dominik Mauer showed why he is considered to be a pesky bulldog and why he can be an effective player even when he is not putting in goals. The Euran defense was left bloody with all the shoulder barges and fifty-fifty challenges that Mauer put in, all without picking up a yellow despite several telling offs from the ref. Inèz van Stiphout had the best chance out of the Wanderers to score a goal, finding herself completely alone with the keeper in the fifty-third minute after Macík blocked a shot from Spartan and hoofed it forward. However the resulting shot bounced off the post and into the six, where the Euran keeper managed to collect before van Stiphout was able to put a touch to it.

Extra time remained goalless as well with neither side coming close to creating a quality chance, as the two sides seemed deadlocked in the defensive battle. Maybe it was a test of wills, who was going to blink first as each tried to muscle the other into submission. Yet the thirty minutes came and went without a shot on target and the dire situation that is a penalty shootout. The Wanderers won the coin toss and elected to kick first, with van Stiphout sliding home the first penalty with ease. Eura matched with Spartan, then Hugrún Valdimarsdóttir put the Wanderers back ahead, Sinclair though ensured a two all score after two shooters for each. Szölôsi Oszlár tried to play mindgames with the keeper but the shot went over the crossbar letting the Eurans have a chance at taking the lead, yet Lukacs managed to get a hand to Adam's shot and push it round the bar.
Császár Mór put his shot easily into the corner with pace while Campbell was not able to get Lukacs to bite on chip, as it went straight into the keeper's hands. There was no doubt what would happen as Mauer stepped up to take the fifth, as he took a shot straight down the middle and it ruffled comfortably into the back of the net, handing the Wanderers the victory.

The Final awaits and with it is an unexpected opponent, Taeshan, the same squad that the Wanderers blitzed to a seven to one thrashing in the semifinals last tournament. That result is notable for its score not only because of the way the Wanderers were able to score at will but also because Taeshan plays the System Karela, made (in)famous by Rejistania. They normally only concede a single goal should they concede at all, which they normally don't. However for that defensive prowess, they are extremely fragile in the attack and if you are able to break past their defensive wall and net that goal, you are almost assured to win the match. Normally their would be no malice towards Taeshan from our side but their media is suggesting that they are the favorites for the match and that they are the best side in Rushmore. Given the Wanderers accomplishments over the last four years, it is no wonder why they consider this an affront and why they will be going into this match with all the determination they can must, to show Taeshan and all of the region that the Wanderers are the new face of the region and perhaps even the world.

[Saintland]

Final Results

Final
Pasarga 2–2 Taeshan (3–3 AET) (3–4 pen.)

3PPO
Eura 1–0 Polar Islandstates

Congratulations to Taeshan, commiserations to Pasarga and thanks to everybody who participated.

[Taeshan]

Here it is.

http://chirb.it/Nbm2Mz