Copa Rushmori XX - Everything Thread

[Vermark]

Rushmore
The Eura Entente

VIDENHAGEN
Why Eura is a fundamentally good move for Vermark.
Maja Abramsson | OPINION | 26 Jan 2015

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As Vermark grows economically, it will be faced with choosing who it wishes to align itself with. As an economy that is disproportionately service-based and is demographically minuscule, Vermark needs a partner who can provide manpower and resources in exchange for the knowledge, skill, and advancement of the Varish economy. This is why Eura is an attractive entity for Vermark. With the wits of Vermark and the strength of Eura, the two nations could become a Rushmori dynamic duo.

Eura and Vermark, in reality, are vastly different nations. Eura is a huge nation. Vermark's population is a mere twelve million. Eura is rich with natural resources. Vermark, for the most part lacks natural resources. Vermark's economy is strong in the service and agriculture sectors, while the Euran economy is stronger in its industry and manufacturing. While this does not seem like a pair that would be conducive to a relationship, the "opposites attract" rule of nature largely applies here. A Eura-Vermark relationship would be the definition of synergy. Vermark is in need of raw materials to produce the goods that a service-based economy produces. The only thing holding Vermark back from a technological boom is Vermark's current inability to procure the resources needed to mass produce technology, such as chips, processors, and other various hardware items. One of Eura's difficulties is producing enough food for its massive population. Thus, Eura resorts to importing foodstuffs from other, not necessarily friendly, states. If Eura found an amorous partner such as Vermark, their food situation would be pretty much resolved. When one hears "Eura-Vermark", one should think "win-win".

This prospect for Vermark is extremely promising. The positive repercussions of aligning with Eura extend beyond the economic sphere. Politically, an alliance with Eura would be huge for Vermark. Vermark would have the ability to become much more assertive with other actors on the international stage. Vermark would also gain the credibility to have military strength. Currently, the phrase "Varish military" is somewhat of a punchline on late night television. Jokes aside, the advancement of the state of Vermark is directly correlated to the advancement of the people of Vermark. The quality of life in relatively strong states is almost always better than the quality of life in minnow states. Better economics means better politics which means better society.

It's undeniable that Vermark would benefit from a Euran Entente. The road to Vermark becoming a power runs through Eura. This road is one that everyone can benefit from, Eurans included. Therefore, Vermark should take every opportunity it gets to support Eura. The reciprocal support Vermark will receive from Eura will be massive, stimulating, and game-changing for the Social Republic.

[Eura]

The lights in EBC's Real Talk studio will always ensure that any Euran politician or public figure being interviewed will be awake and raring to go. They always seem to be turned on to the maximum setting when they get turned on observed Michael Judge, the Prime Minister of Eura and Liberal Party leader. He was not a young man - certainly not as young as his predecessors Crow or Lafferton - but nevertheless he was an imposing figure. He had a strange appeal that had seen the Liberal's sustain their surprise poll lead for two years now, even after they engineered a delay to the election on the premise that the coalition government had not been continuous in light of Crow's resignation. Now the time had come though. It was winter, Eura were competing at the Copa Rushmori, and the election would arrive in the coming spring. The political analysts throughout the country were almost giddy with joy. It was the most anticipated election in Eura for a long time, the last one having been longer ago than the length of a standard parliamentary term, and having come on the back of a vote of no confidence and bizarre election result rather than your standard election. Now you had the two traditionally biggest parties in the country in a mess while the third party who were never quite big enough to govern alone maintain a respectable lead in the polls.

This was all while they had an unelected Prime Minister in charge who was hardly inspiring. Judge was a career lawyer (with an appropriate name therefore) who had served numerous coalitions and been a Liberal Party member for nearly forty years. Nobody would've taken him seriously as a national leader a few years ago, but he had a sort of gravitas attached to him now that just wouldn't go away. He wasn't flashy and he certainly wasn't going to institute massive national change, but he had the sort of firm character that the late Foreign Secretary Ashford Harker had been celebrated for. People trusted him, and in the era of Eureaucracy (the recent bestselling Euran satirical novel which summed up the nation's frustrations and inadvertently improved the Liberals popularity), trust was worth its weight in gold. Even if he failed there were three or four potential leaders in the Liberal Party behind him, including the political superwoman that was Amy Yarley, the youngest Foreign Secretary in Euran history (and the first woman in the role) who had beautifully managed the Askoy Crisis given the circumstances, and who could probably win most of the female vote alone. The leaders of every other party had no such luxuries.

The first part of the interview that Judge had to go through discussed a lot of this, before moving on to recent developments in foreign affairs. It was more difficult territory for a PM who was known for his aversion to conflict and his focus on consolidating Eura's position, in contradiction of the seemingly endless ambition of the Foreign Office. 'Prime Minister, as we have all seen recently the slightly tense political situation in Pasarga that has supposedly developed over the last six months or so - at least according to media speculation - has possibly been resolved, or at least had a safety valve put on it. More interestingly of course, as you know, Queen Júlía Ólafsdóttir has appointed a young Euran business heir as her next in line from almost nowhere. He's expected to marry into the royal family almost immediately. Do you know this Carlton Shorley at all? Or Prince Carl, as I'm sure he will be called soon!' There was a flutter of laughter from the audience. Judge sat up in his chair a bit more firmly and put on a calm smile, glad that the first question in this area was a nice one. 'Well I have been fortunate enough to meet the young man, yes, and he seems like a very reasonable individual. I can't say I agree with his choice of Holdenberg as his favourite cricket club, but what can you do?' More warm laughter filled the room. Judge had a surprising amount of charm for a man who used to be dismissed by most as a bore. 'No, but in serious terms, he is a very level headed chap and I have met him at my residence where we discussed what his role might be in Pasarga, in an official capacity. I gave him some advice.'

Judge was already formulating his next answer as the inevitable riposte came. 'Can you disclose any of that advice for us this evening?'
'Oh, I think so, it was all very general. He is hardly becoming a head of state but he will have many administrative duties and is expected to take the mantle of leadership in a region of the country that is not yet fully industrialised and struggling. Like I said, he is incredibly mature but I gave him the most basic advice I can about how to conduct oneself on the international stage because, while he is mature as I said, it must be daunting for anyone to go from being a relatively private individual still in higher education to becoming a political statesman, and at the age of only 22.' The interviewer's eyes narrowed. Here we go, though Judge, here comes the change in tack. 'There's been reports, given how delicate the situation is over there and that there may even be some sort of disturbance by the son of the former king and military authorities, maybe even some sort of general strike, that your government may be leaning on Shorley to get him to look out for Euran interests in the region. Is this true in any respect?'
'No.'
'No?' It was a surprisingly straight answer. Judge figured it would give him a moment's space to formulate a more expansive answer in his head.
'No. Shorley is, as his critics may have rightly observed in Pasarga and elsewhere, a Euran. He will always feel a natural loyalty to his homeland and we would certainly expect that. But this is a given and we would never exert pressure on him to take advantage of a friendly ally.'

The interviewer slackened his jaw and let loose a cheeky grin which implied something witty was coming, seeing as he was so pleased with himself. 'Like your administration has done in Flisgive, with the Calanian Union?'
'It was a unique situation, as you well know, and the Calanian Union's predecessor was not a friendly power.'
'Okay, there has been some other royal news abroad of course this week which you've made a statement about this week. You expressed your "utmost sadness" at the death of Charles V of Valladares. Could you expand on this a bit for us tonight? We know of course that you got to know him fairly well during the Junin Summit which dealt with the Askoy crisis.'
'Yes, I did, and that statement was indeed more than political small talk. I am saddened to hear of his death whatever disagreements we may have had in the past.'
'Did you gain this respect or admiration for him at the summit?' Judge looked up at the ceiling thoughtfully for a second before returning his gaze to the interviewer and taking on a much more serious tone.

'I suppose so, yes. One should not speak ill of the dead but it is no secret that he was looking out for Valladar interests every time we ever met. That is not a controversial statement, he wouldn't be a good king if he did not and I would not be a good Prime Minister if I did not do the same for Eura. That said it was a very delicate issue that brought us close to serious, and potentially violent, confrontation. Charles could have been as aggressive as his government, but even when I was forced to admit to him that we had done a serious wrongdoing against his nation, he was magnanimous and was entirely focused on resolving the situation rather than joining in on moralistic jingoism. He was clearly upset by the way some of his people had reacted in attacking our embassy and though he was obviously very upset about the incident with the plane, he didn't seem to express any particular anti-Euran sentiment. I think he came to the summit with conflict resolution on mind, not escalation. We came away from that summit with a very positive working relationship and its a tragedy that he has passed away.'
'Will this affect Eura-Valladares relations, or your foreign policy if you win the next election, which the poll suggest you might albeit with a minority government?'
'Not while I'm Prime Minister, no. This government and a future Liberal government, which I am confident will be elected, seeks only a positive working relationship with Valladares, as we do with all those who we may share disagreement with at times. Liberal Eura will always have an olive branch to offer out. At the same time we fully intend to carry through the continued defence procurements that the Capital Party pushed through and Eura will continue to serve as the guarantor of security for all of Rushmore's freedom loving nations.'
'I think that is all we have time for, Prime Minister. Thank you.' The lights finally went down, and Judge was able to get up and stretch. One interview down, just a few more to go.

[Valladares]

Three teams have already booked their tickets to the knockout stage, thirteen places are still remaining. Will your team be able to clinch one of these on the last matchday of the group stage? Or will your team be heading home heartbroken? We'll find out the answers within minutes, in the meantime...have a cutoff!

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Matchday 5 Results:

Group A
Electrum 2–0 Vermark
Vjaalsbürg 1–1 Eura

Group A                  Pld   W  D  L   GF  GA  GD  Pts 
1 Electrum                 4   2  2  0   11   5  +6    8 Q
2 Eura                     4   2  2  0    9   4  +5    8 Q
3 Vjaalsbürg               4   1  3  0    7   5  +2    6
4 Sarrbia                  4   1  1  2    7  13  −6    4
5 Vermark                  4   0  0  4    5  12  −7    0

Group B (Scorinated by SJG)
Stvoto Latoli 1–3 Valladares
Sameba 0–3 Pasarga

Group B                  Pld   W  D  L   GF  GA  GD  Pts 
1 Pasarga                  4   3  0  1   12   6  +6    9 Q
2 Valladares               4   2  1  1   10   7  +3    7 Q
3 Sameba                   4   2  1  1    9   9   0    7
4 Stvoto Latoli            4   2  0  2    7   7   0    6
5 Polaaskan                4   0  0  4    3  12  −9    0

Group C
Sargossa 3–0 Kasugano
Darmen 0–0 Zenic

Group C                  Pld   W  D  L   GF  GA  GD  Pts 
1 Sargossa                 4   3  1  0    8   3  +5   10 Q
2 Zenic                    4   2  2  0    5   2  +3    8 Q
3 Darmen                   4   2  1  1   10   4  +6    7
4 Irad                     4   1  0  3    4  10  −6    3
5 Kasugano                 4   0  0  4    1   9  −8    0

Group D
Kalimekka 1–1 Kernansquillec
Mapletish 0–2 Polar Islandstates

Group D                  Pld   W  D  L   GF  GA  GD  Pts 
1 Polar Islandstates       4   2  2  0    4   1  +3    8 Q
2 Mapletish                4   2  1  1    4   4   0    7 Q
3 Kernansquillec           4   1  3  0    6   3  +3    6
4 The Kytler Peninsulae    4   1  0  3    4   6  −2    3
5 Kalimekka                4   0  2  2    1   5  −4    2

Group E
Pravenna 0–0 Queer Poco el Mono Ara
Nouvelle-Angouleme 1–1 Taeshan

Group E                  Pld   W  D  L   GF  GA  GD  Pts 
1 Pravenna                 4   2  2  0    3   1  +2    8 Q
2 Saugeais                 4   2  1  1    7   3  +4    7 Q
3 Taeshan                  4   1  3  0    4   2  +2    6
4 Queer Poco el Mono Ara   4   1  1  2    3   7  −4    4
5 Nouvelle-Angouleme       4   0  1  3    2   6  −4    1

Group F
New Ponyville 2–3 Alianza Albos
Filopines 1–1 Saintland

Group F                  Pld   W  D  L   GF  GA  GD  Pts 
1 Saintland                4   3  1  0    9   1  +8   10 Q
2 Filopines                4   3  1  0    9   2  +7   10 Q
3 Alianza Albos            4   2  0  2    5   4  +1    6
4 New Ponyville            4   1  0  3    5  12  −7    3
5 Sancta Sede              4   0  0  4    1  10  −9    0

In green, nation that has qualified for the Round of 16
In blue, nation that ended in third place in its group

Ranking of third-placed teams

In order to decide the last four qualifiers to the Round of 16, the six third-placed teams were ordered in a separate table. Tiebreakers were: points, goal difference, goals scored, and a coin toss. The top four teams of the following table will qualify for the Round of 16:

Third-placed teams            Gr  Pld   W  D  L   GF  GA  GD  Pts
Darmen                         C    4   2  1  1   10   4  +6    7 Q
Sameba                         B    4   2  1  1    9   9   0    7 Q
Kernansquillec                 D    4   1  3  0    6   3  +3    6 Q
Vjaalsbürg                     A    4   1  3  0    7   5  +2    6 Q
Taeshan                        E    4   1  3  0    4   2  +2    6
Alianza Albos                  F    4   2  0  2    5   4  +1    6

Congratulations to Electrum, Eura, Pasarga, Valladares, Sargossa, Zenic, Polar Islandstates, Mapletish, Pravenna, Saugeais, Saintland, and Filopines for having qualified for the Round of 16 after ending in the top 2 of their respective groups, and congratulations to Darmen, Sameba, Kernansquillec, and Vjaalsbürg for having qualified for the Round of 16 on virtue of being the four best third-placed teams. The Round of 16 matchups are then configurated as follows:

Pravenna vs. Mapletish @ Half-Moon Stadium, Boswijck, Nouvelle-Angouleme
Sargossa vs. Vjaalsbürg @ Augustinople Stadium, Augustinople, Pravenna
Valladares vs. Filopines @ Estadio Generalissimo Joaquín Delgado, Soluca, Sargossa
Electrum vs. Darmen @ National Stadium, Kernansquillec City, Kernansquillec
Eura vs. Zenic @ Centralis Stadium, Centralis, Electrum
Polar Islandstates vs. Sameba @ Corsley Stadium, Fort Town, Filopines
Pasarga vs. Kernansquillec @ Coliseo Nacional, San José, Alianza Albos
Saintland vs. Saugeais @ Ericcson Minnesmärke Gamlæ, Versålölm, Vjaalsbürg

As a reminder, Round of 16 matches will be scorinated on Friday the 30th (UTC).

[Darmen]

Duke and Prime Minister express Darmen's sadness at loss of Charles the Vth

Prime Minister Hayes worked the phones tirelessly today,
expressing his personal sympathies as well as the sympathies of the Government and Royal House

SCOTT CITY - Prime Minister Bram Hayes and His Royal Majesty, the Duke of Darmen, Francisco Lyons the XXth, made phone calls and wrote letters all day today following the death of the King of Valladares, Charles the Vth. While many may see this as simply a political maneuver to help improve relations with Metrópolis, both Hayes and in particular the Duke, were quick to state otherwise.

"After following the events of the Askoy Crisis, and the healing process between Valladares and Eura, I was quick to realize that King Charles was a man who loved peace," said Hayes as he spoke to the press during a break in calling members of the Valladar Royal Family and Government. "If he were still alive, which sadly he is not, chances of friendlier relations between our two countries could only have been higher than they are without him."

The Duke refused to speak personally to the media following the announcement of his counterpart's passing, but did release a statement late in the evening expressing his sympathies and wishing the two new joint-Kings, Marcus and Cyrus, good luck in leading their nation.

Hayes and the Duke are expected to seek permission from the Valladar Government and Royal Family to visit Metrópolis in the coming days to either attend the Kings funeral, or visit the Green Palace and attend the King's official lying in state.

Other Headlines

• Darmen draws Zenic, sneaks into Round of Sixteen
• Disgraced former Foreign Minister, Albaladejo, rumored to have started his own country
• Potential deal with Eurans for Destroyers and Subs stalls, Navy may look outside Rushmore
• Baba strengthens once again, economy in fantastic state
• Vehicle Tax Act introduced in Parliament, expected to pass quickly

[Zenic]

“LordFather Orelius, I bring news from both greater disciples in the Acquan refugee camp and missionaries in Valladares,” spoke a young blond teenager wearing a green robe.

The teenager was a lower disciple of the Order of the Infallible Beginning, the oldest religion in the Empire. The man to whom he spoke, LordFather Orelius, was the current leader of the religion, which had its primary temple in Old Maiz. LordFather Orelius was in his mid-60s, with shoulder-length grey hair, wrinkle skin and wearing a black robe along with a red and gold sash across his chest. He was elected as the Lord Father 16 years ago and has lead the order through the reign of 5 different Emperors. Not much is known about him before he joined as a lower disciple himself 30 years ago.

The original temple, in which the two were currently in, was known as the Sanctum and was unlike any other main temple or church for other religions. The Sanctum appeared just like any other temple/church you would see, belying its importance to the whole order. While others made their main temple/church a display of extravagant corruption, the Order preferred to cherish how everything was in the beginning as they felt the original way was infallible. Thus, the room in which they stood was bare to the bones with just a large window, a small desk, a reclining chair, a phone and a bookshelf. “Speak to me, child,” the Lord Father replied.

“LordFather, our brothers in the southwest speak of the rancor among the Acquan refugees. The building of their new home has been delayed by storms that have forced the workers to stop temporarily until the conditions are safe. The Acquans have been living in tents for several months now and are growing sick of their conditions despite the best efforts of the relief workers. Some speak of taking up whichever weapons possible to hold some citizens of the Empire hostage in order to force the Emperor to take immediate action and improve their condition,” the lower disciple relayed. “Interesting. I would have expected them to be a bit more patient than that. I would like to keep an eye on them for a bit longer before I decide the Order’s stance on them,” Orelius spoke, reclining in his chair. “What about Valladares? Inform me on the situation.”

The teenage paused, unsure of how to deliver the news. “LordFather…..King Charles the V is dead. He finally succumbed to his disease.” Orelius bite the inside of his lower lip, his only nervous tick. “That is unfortunate. We should pray for his safe return to the Origin. It is a shame when such change occurs. Let us also pray that his successor continues the same path as Charles.” He looked over at the lower disciple as he spoke, noticing a slight glance away at the mention of a successor. “What is it, child? What do you worry about?” The lower disciple sighed. “There are two successors, LordFather: King Marcus and King Cyrus.”

The mention of this frightened Orelius. He deeply held onto the beliefs of the Order of the Infallible Beginning as the truth so any change hurt. Truly following the scripture would mean the death of everyone in order to return to the Origen. However, he realized the best he could do without completely destroying the universe was to allow as little change as possible until death to keep somewhat in line with the scripture. It was a compromise that lead to the resurgence of the order and one he had introduced near the beginning of his tenure. Every death, from that of a leader to a local farmer, hurt equally as it meant more change. Two leaders meant a possible conflict between them, which would lead to an uncontrolled war, which would lead to incredible change that would be considered a great disaster by the church.

“LordFather,” the lower disciple said, worried about Orelius. Orelius snapped out of his trance, looking over at the slightly frightened teen. “We cannot fear. We must continue our routine and simply hope for the best: the continuation of standard life between the rule of Charles and that of Marcus and Cyrus. The last thing we need is to be at war with a foreign nation while fighting one here: I wish to please the Masters of the Origen but that may be too much.”

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

“Hmm?”

Emperor Professor Herman Delano Proctor was reading a book in bed as a chill went down his spine. He was surprised as his sleeping quarters in the Eternal Proctor Estate was rather warm. He had heard old stories of how chills that went down an Emperor’s spine meant bad things were to come and chills up their spine meant good things to come. Placing a bookmark on the latest page read, he put the book back in its drawer in order to think clearly in bed.

“Could it pertain to the Order of the Infallible Beginning?” He had received reports of suspicious activity by the Order that seemed to go against their teachings. His Minister of Domestic Affairs Bonheur had theorized that they were displeased with the changes Proctor had brought to the way the Empire was run and would willingly go against scripture, temporarily, in order to raise someone to the throne who would rule the Empire just like in the old times. Proctor agreed but only hesitantly; he simply could not see how someone would rather cause the deaths of many to go back to the ways of old without even trying to see how well the changes worked first. But then again, you cannot reason with a person who has such a strong obsession as their leader, LordFather Orelius, even if they are contradicting that with which they are obsessed with.

Another thing that was weighing on his mind was the recent death of King Charles the Fifth of Valladares. He had never gotten to meet him, with all of the restructuring of the government taking up most of the first three years of his rule. Actually ruling the Empire consumed most of the proceeding 2 years and now that he actually had time to go and meet leaders of other nations this year, his sixth, one which he was looking forward to meeting passes away. Yet it did not change the plans: he was still intent on meeting the leaders of Valladares. He also would like to meet several other leaders of nations, Rushmori or not. Thus, he had made plans to go on a tour of several nations in an effort to improve his knowledge on leadership techniques and styles, a good trait he kept from his time as a professor…. and as his consul Zandel mentioned, it was kind of a mini-vacation.

Proctor just hoped this Orelius person wouldn’t be foolish enough to cause trouble while he was away on those visits.

[Sargossa]

SSM | Sargossan State Media

International Edition - Sport


Corsairs Sail On


Mario Najar reports;

In retrospect perhaps the scheduling snub that opening this tournament was a blessing in disguise. Recent home form, particularly since Elías Carrasco took the helm, has been good but playing in Soluca has in the past created a level of pressure that has seen the Corsairs crack. Away from that cauldron of noise the national side have been faring rather well and with Valladares based in the city for their final two group games and upcoming last sixteen encounter the Soluca faithful have at least been treated to a side worth watching. Something that has not always been the case.

Back on the pitch the opening day win over Irad was followed by the much tougher prospect of facing Darmen in their own backyard. Sargossa and Darmen are certainly no strangers to each other, this being the fourteenth senior meeting between the nations. And despite their lofty achievements, both regionally and in the wider sportiverse, the All-Greens have struggled against the Corsairs, having failed to win any of the previous six encounters and losing each of their last four Copa Rushmori meetings. And that run continued as Federico Noyola rose to the occasion magnificently in front of a record crowd in Romanopolis, bagging a first half hattrick including a stunning drive from distance that featured prominently in all of the day’s highlights packages. Sergio Autitore pulled one back for the hosts before the interval and the ever dangerous Tor Tong Lee had the massive crowd dreaming of a stunning fight back with his second half strike but it wasn’t to be as the Corsairs secured a big three points.

Big, as next up was top seeded Zenic who had made typically solid if unspectacular progress thus far. And Zenic started much like a top seeded side would, some excellent approach play teeing up Alexander Ayaode who slid the ball past Abad without breaking stride after just four minutes. But, cheered on by the travelling Sargossan support that had made the trip to the Ericcson Minnesmärke Gamlæ in some numbers, the Corsairs roared back and Noyola continued his hot strike with a smartly converted equaliser. The second half was a case of punch and counter punch, with neither nation able to land a knockout blow. And the final whistle blew with Sargossa and Zenic sharing both the points and the lead in Group C.

To advance to the knockout rounds the equation was simple, return to the Colosus Romanopolis and beat bottom side Kasugano. See, simple. And it was the rare occasion when a straight forward fixture on paper was just that. Despite making changes to his starting line-up Carrasco’s Corsairs rolled over the unranked side. Alejandro Rodríguez opening the scoring with a touch of fortune as his freekick took a wicked deflection off the wall to wrong foot the keeper but there was nothing fluky about the second as Miguel De Los Santos swept in Sola’s cutback. Further chances came and went before substitute Federico Noyola made it five goals in four games to seal the victory. While Sargossa were battering Kasugano in Darmen the All-Greens themselves were battling away to a goalless draw with Zenic in Vjaalsbürg. That combination of results sent Sargossa through as group winners, Zenic as runner’s-up and Darmen sweating on other results.

They needn’t have worried, seven points easily good enough to see Darmen through as the best of the third placed sides and the All-Greens now face Electrum in Kernansquillec City. But the Electrumites will be full of confidence having followed up narrowly missing out on a debut World Cup appearance by topping a Copa group that included heavy hitters Eura. And the Eurans can’t get away from the Electrumites just yet, staying in Electrum for their second round encounter against Zenic. The winner of that match could face the threepeat chasing Polar Islandstates, for whom Sameba should prove no problem. The bottom half of the draw has the two plum ties with in-form Pasarga facing unbeaten Kernansquillec and the ever impressive Saintland taking on veterans Saugeais. The Soluca crowds will be treated to the big fixture between host nation Valladares and dangerous dark horses Filopines while Mapletish look to mark their Copa return with a quarter final berth, but must first negotiate tricky Pravenna. The winner of that tie will face the victor of the final round of sixteen matchup, either Vjaalsbürg or (finger's crossed) Sargossa.

[Mapletish]

The Sour Kind
"Even a clock that does not work is right twice a day"

Commentaries | Timothy Jozua

On the field, our beloved Lions have missed the international stage for a rather long period of time, just one Copa Rushmori away and a few World Cups to be exact. A young squad with an average age of 22.8 years old and 14 out of the 23 players without a club, the state of Mapletish football has dropped drastically ever since their days in the top 30s of the football world rankings. People say Storm Grande was to be blamed for the slip in the footballing standards in the Union. Truth to be told, the storm destroyed much of Mapletish, starting from that eventful winter towards summer, heavy snow storms, heavy storm winds followed by crazy heat spells with temperatures averaging 40.5 degrees Celsius, threatening immediate action from the government. After the Grande Summer, things started to turn for the better as rebuilding works started and almost everyone is deployed for national duties to help out with the rebuilding works and re-development. As resources are channeled towards national interests, the Union withdrew from international matters and that also meant withdrawing from the international sporting scene.

Oswald was once again tasked to lead the Mapletish squad. His job as the manager of the football team can be ranked as the 101st worst job to be in if there is a list of the 100th worst jobs to be in. His scouting range dropped to nearly 0.01% due to the apparent lack of manpower to rebuild the country in the fastest way possible let alone the manpower to play sports at that point in time. Oswald, however was not the kind of man to be beaten down by a situation like that. Instead of going to stadiums, he went to grass fields to scout for men playing football in their leisure and sort to rebuild his broken squad from the men that he can find. It was no easy task for him,, travelling, watching and analysing the every move of a potential international footballer. He eventually managed to pick out 23 men that will serve him good in his trip around Rushmore for the Copa Rushmore. Definitely hoping for the best with his makeshift squad. Not as bad as it seems though, the squad is made up of quite a number of former U21 players. Then, together with his assistant Roberto, the squad began their first match with a fine draw against Kernansquillec, not a bad start to their international return with a 1-1 draw, much anticipated to be a painful defeat for the cash strapped and quality strapped team. Putting on a decent draw for which Kernansquillec dominated. In the second match day, the Lions won veterans The Kytler Peninsulae 2-1 before managing a second win in succession against Kalimekka in a close 1-0 match. In the final matchday, the Lions fell to a 2-0 defeat to Northern Rushmori rivals Polar Islandstates but we qualify for the round of 16 as the group runner ups. Pravenna looks set to be our next opponent after qualifying from Group E undefeated, with a better defence than we do, only conceding 1 goal from 4 matches.

Chances are our boys are not going to make it out of this round of 16 match easily with the Half Moon Stadium being a rather difficult place to travel to, hosting 2 draws and 2 decent victories. It is expected for Pravenna to come out top after a narrow match that will go well into extra time.

Prediction : Pravenna 1-0 Mapletish (AET)

From here, the Lions can expect to end their run in the Copa Rushmori early once again and focus on more important things. But, we sill wish the Lions all the best here and go on as far as they can!

[Valladares]

The Estadio Generalissimo Joaquín Delgado was a colossal place indeed. With capacity for over a hundred thousand spectators, the jewel of the crown of Sargossan football looked really intimidating whenever it was packed with a raucous audience cheering (most times) for Sargossa. However, this was not going to be that moment. For the twentieth Copa Rushmori, the Sargossans were playing their matches away from home, in Darmen and Vjaalsbürg despite the fact they submitted a stadium surely thinking they would get to play at least one of their games there. But the CRF had another thing in mind, and the Corsairs were sent across the region. This fact was partly responsible for the dreary atmosphere at the EGJD during the first three rounds of group stage play, as very few Sargossans showed up to matches between Sameba, Stvoto Latoli, and/or newcomers Polaaskan, where attendance numbers never hit 50,000. However, this changed when Valladares arrived to town for their last two matches against Polaaskan and Stvoto Latoli.

Needing desperately two wins in two matches to think in the knockout rounds of the Copa, the Valladars soon felt the encouragement not only from their faithful but also from neutral Sargossans, who started filling the EGJD after they found out that a top team was visiting them. The fortunes for both the Organizing Committee and the Valladars started to change, as attendance numbers started to rise and the squad coached by Jean-Pierre Aulas could finally lift off with a win over Polaaskan. Spirits were up once again on the verge of the critical match against Stvoto Latoli, also in Soluca, however, the news of the death of King Charles V was a bucket of cold water for the Valladar delegation. Some players were thinking in not playing this game out of respect to the deceased king, but Aulas and goalkeeper Tom Moore convinced the rest of the squad that it was better to play and try to go as far as possible in the Copa than an early and shameful exit from the competition.

"We will do more for His Majesty and his memory with a victory tonight".

And so, the Valladar players were going to play against Stvoto Latoli in front of a packed EGJD, most of them Valladars and Sargossans, some sharing the Valladar pain, others didn't seem to mind at all. The 22 players entered the pitch, the Valladar players wearing black armbands, and the anthems were sung, with a touching rendition of 'Onward, Valladares!' included and a minute's silence was observed. As for the match, Stvoto Latoli looked dangerous during the first minutes, reminding Valladar and neutral fans alike of their most recent match against Pasarga, which ended with the group's fourth seed claiming victory, however La National struck first with Frank Rozenthal, who scored the first Valladar goal in the 23rd minute. This goal raised Valladares's spirits, while Stvoto Latoli were struggling to get back into the match, but Rozenthal took advantage of a counterattack to make it 2-0 for Valladares twelve minutes later, result with which the first half ended.

The second half was even more entertaining, Stvoto Latoli knew this result was not helping their chances, as Pasarga's win over Sameba was leaving them in fourth place of Group B and out of the competition, and went out for a goal which would get them back into the game, while Valladares resorted to counterattacks with the speed of Juan Pablo Reyes and Abel Brücke (who had already replaced Rubén Morantes) on the wings. Tastvu Zhooheizhyu was able to cut the disadvantage for Stvoto Latoli back to one with his goal in the 60th minute, but Yoan Gignac would later score the 3-1 for Valladares in the 77th minute, securing qualification to the Round of 16 and a meeting with the loser of Saintland-Filopines, who were to play two days later, or Filopines in the case of a draw. The final minutes were not as intense since La Nacional opted to control the match with ball possession without generating more goal chances.

The referee blew the whistle for the last time in the match, and the Valladars had achieved a previously unlikely qualification for the next round. This, given the current events back at home, was certainly a solace for the Valladar squad, with the whole delegation going into the pitch at the end of the game and kneeling around the center circle, and then they turned their eyes to the calmed Sargossan night sky, to the applause of the Valladar fans who stayed inside that colossal building which was the temple of Sargossan football. They had succeeded in their task and surely someone up there was very proud of them.

----------

Meanwhile, the preparations for the lying in state of King Charles V were underway at the Green Palace, led by the new Valladar kings and Prime Minister Jefferson Pratt. The Governor-Generals and Prime Ministers of every Valladar state had already been informed of procedures and had already confirmed their attendance, as had all Valladar and state MPs and most military figures and celebrities. The Mayor of the City of Sillimus was also on its way to Metropolis along with a delegation from the city-state's Parliament, and condolence calls from all over the region were being received.

"So, the Palace's secretary is telling us that people have been constantly calling to express their 'sincerest condolences'. There have been few signs from other leaders arriving from abroad so far, so I assume everyone's busy at their own countries...and especially with a possible Pasargan civil war on the horizon."

"It's better that way. We don't need any false demonstrations of sympathy right now, Marcus. Now Minister Pratt, what about our attaché to Alianza Albos, by the way? I do hope someone from there comes or else they will know we'll be very angry."

"A delegation from the Valladar Agency to Alianza Albos is on their way to the city, they should be arriving soon so you better chill out, Highness."

"I guess that's fine, then."

"Whirl Islands, Brantalentia, the Overseas Territories, and Río Oscuro are also sending delegations, just so you know, Highness."

"Río Oscuro? The railway rebels? That's...shocking. Going to another important event, Mr. Pratt, has the Parliament and/or the Ministry of Foreign Affairs already taken a stance on the situation in Pasarga?"

"Not until now. We have decided to wait a bit more and see how the announcement of the Pasargan succession will affect the whole situation, His Highness. Now, if you excuse me, I'll go down to Judgement Room to finish the arrangements for the ceremony."

"Certainly that announcement of Queen Julia adopting a Euran displeases me a lot, but it was partly the fault of our coward nobility who didn't nominate anyone and made us miss that chance. Thank you anyways."

"Thank you, Jeff. Now Cyrus, getting back to those calls, there is something that has me worried a lot, to be honest."

"What would it be, brother?"

"The Darmenis, of course. They are trying by all means to get a 'permission' to attend at least the lying in state. I'd like to let them in but I have some doubts regarding them, considering their already proven double standards, I don't know what you think about it."

"Do you want to know what I think of them? Well, so here I go: Darmen is a wolf in sheep's clothing, a treacherous and poisonous snake whose head must be crushed with the heel as soon as possible. They may have purged their government, true, but not their hostility to our presence in the Westlands, which is still hidden deep inside them even though they deny it every single time. Oh, and there's also that filth called 'Pan-Rushmorism', which they are the strongest advocates of. If it depended on me solely, I'd just tell them to zip it. But, I am going to be compassionate for a single time out of respect to my father and will let them in, however, do not expect handshakes, hugs or anything cheesy like that."

"Well, actually it's Mr. Mortaud the one who will be liaising with the foreign delegations if any. We, on the other hand, will be meeting the national delegations and the ones from friendly countries like Sillimus, WI, Alianza Albos, and Brantalentia."

Then, the phone on the desk rang. It's the King's secretary, calling to announce that everything was ready for the king's lying in state. Both kings then proceeded to go there and wait for the delegations from all over Valladares who announced their visit to pay their respects to the deceased king.

[Pasarga]

"In the hour of crisis, do you stand alone against the rising tides of darkness or do you look for allies in all avenues that are available?" The Queen sighed as her advisers drilled into her once more about this decision, one which seemed to be looming larger than the one of adopting for a direct line. It was not that Júlía had anything against Valladares, in fact she mourned the death of their king, but the idea to attend the funeral seemed rather... reckless at this given moment.

Markus Friðleifsdóttir stepped forth and tried to calm down one the calls for the Queen to travel from the Dominion. "Allies perhaps, there is no guarantee that a show of support by traveling to Valladares would do anything to cement support should things turn dire here. With a pair of rulers there, in fact one could even make the case that they are in a far weaker position than our own government is. History has shown that split rulership more often than not results in internal strife. While it would be a show of solidarity to attend, do no make it more than what it truly is, Kállai."

"Have you told her the latest news, the Sargossans are apparently trying to get into contact with Szcaroio and his supporters. If they were to offer support to him, even with our Euran and Vahallan allies, I am not sure Pasarga would continue to survive after that way. By the time Euran and Polarian forces would get to our islands, everything but Torgos, Lunas, and Stilinkeep would be razed or under Majistar control. We need more friends if there is even the slightest chance that Szcaroio is able to obtain Sargossa's support." Kállai Medárd pleaded, the youngest of the trio of nobles that the Queen kept as her closest advisers. As the noble house in control of Stein-los, his was the city that was the closest to what would be the front lines in the even of a civil war.

"And what if Valladares can not send aid, what if Sargossa is attempting to assassinate my cousin, or what if the military has a change of heart and decides to fall in line? By going to Valladares as beggars, we make ourselves look even more weak than we already appear to be, inviting more than just Sargossa to think that perhaps turmoil in the islands would be a good cause to support. We must pursue support from a position of strength, we must project authority to the people lest they begin to falter in their belief of our rule. That needs to be done here, in Pasarga, not thousands of miles away in a country that many in the islands could not even find on a map." The Queen spoke, her voice rising as she rose to her feet and looked once more over the map that the royal guard had made based on their intelligence about who in Pasarga would turn should the civil war kick off.

"Will you do nothing then, let this event pass as you have done all the others?" Kállai asked with a bit of despair and disbelief in his voice.

"No, send a delegation, in fact, you shall be our delegation. You will leave on the morrow, meanwhile, Markus, get in contact with Eura. We will need Carlton sooner than they would like to send him, for there are manufactures that could do with some retrofitting...."

[Vjaalsburg]

VJAALS DRAW EURA, ADVANCE TO ROUND OF SIXTEEN

EURA (4-4-2)
GK: Chris WALLER
LB: Andrew WATSON
LCB: Stan GRAHAM
RCB: Craig GILBERT
RB: Weylon CHURCHILLI
LM: Craig SINCLAIR
CM: Charles HUNTER
CM: Ryan KING
RM: Mike ADAMS
ST: Sam ASHTREE
ST: Skorji OSLOGRAD (C)

VJAALSBÜRG (4-2-2-2)
GK: Andreas OLSEN
LB: Andreas HAUGEN
LCB: Kevin KRISTIANSEN
RCB: Sofia KARLSSON
RB: Alex SVENSSON
LDM: Oscar NYMAN
RDM: Anton BØRG
LAM: Johannes LARSEN
RAM: Rupert ANDERSSEN
ST: Simon WICTORSSEN
ST: Magnus ERICCSON (C)

MATCH STATS (Eura Listed First)
56% - POSSESSION - 44%
13 - SHOTS - 8
8 - SHOTS ON TARGET - 5
1 - GOALS - 1
1 - CAUTIONED - 2
0 - EJECTED - 0

Not many were expecting the Blue Eagles to manage to take points off mighty Eura. But when the dust settled on the two teams' one-all draw at the Bastion Arena, you could hardly call any of the twenty-thousand-or so Vjaal fans there disappointed by the fact. It's true that the Eurans weren't exactly expecting much out of us - their starting eleven featured no more than seven regular starters. But even a Euran B-team is still far better than any team the Vjaals could muster. But still, the feat will go down as one of the best in Vjaalsbürg's admittedly lacking-in-prowess nine Rushmori matches ever.

The match started quite unremarkably - Eura won the toss and kicked off, starting relatively slowly. Neither side could coordinate their midfield efforts consistently in the early game, and the passes seemed to go backwards and forwards in roughly equal amounts. It wasn't until the seventh or eighth minute when the first shot came, when yet another through-ball up the right side from Anton Børg found Simon Wictorssen for an awkward half-cross half-shot thing that Chris Waller easily caught. From there, Vjaalsbürg made a few more chances, getting bolder and bolder and temporarily making Eura look the worse team.

Of course, roughly eight minutes after Wictorssen's shot, if it could be called that, Eura finally managed to get the unfamiliar lineup working. And they weren't one to push back softly. Another awkward effort from Wictorssen was intercepted by Craig Gilbert, whose clear was nearly perfectly delivered in front of Mike King. From there the ball was pushed forwards skillfully, the inexperienced Vjaal defense beginning a hasty retreat, and Sam Ashtree sent a shot off the right post at the sixteen-minute mark.

Of course, unlike the Eurans, the Blue Eagles didn't have a defense capable of stopping most opponents, and only the work of Andreas Olsen managed to keep the ball out of the net on a few separate occasions. It couldn't last long, though; Oslograd's shot in the twenty-third rebounding off the crossbar, and Ryan King managed to beat Kevin Kristiansen to the carom and poke one in. One-nil.

After quite a few minutes, Vjaalsbürg finally managed to get the ball onto Eura's third of the net and even managed a few opportunities. Alas, Magnus Ericsson, given the best of them with a beautiful cross into the box from Johannes Larsen, was unprepared for such a treat and only managed a maladroit tap into the post. The half ended, with Eura up one-nil.

Something interesting must have happened, for before the second half, Sebastian Lindberg, one of the team leaders in goals, was substituted in for the slower halfback Oscar Nyman, and Nils Carlsen was given his first cap, substituted in for the ineffective Simon Wictorssen. Eura, for their part, decided against such an early substitution.

Vjaalsbürg received the kickoff, and instantly pushed forwards, Lindberg and Anton Børg shifting up to an attacking-halfback position to shift the formation into a more offensive 4-4-2, the Blue Eagles bringing the wing-backs Svensson and Haugen up in the hope that the surprise blitz could force a goal, followed by quite a bit of bus-parking. It was Haugen who managed to, two minutes into the half, barely control a long pass and cross the ball into the box. Unlike the last time it'd happened, Magnus Ericsson was ready for it, and his outstretched knee volleyed the ball into the net. One-all.

Eura pushed forwards, but (having brought in a fifth defender, Sara Jönsson, for Larsen and pulling back the wingbacks and Anton Børg to form an odd 6-2-2) Vjaalsbürg had already parked the bus. And despite the onslaught, Vjaalsbürg managed to hold down the fort just long enough to advance in third place.

The team will next play Sargossa in the round of sixteen, in the questionably sound Sarissa Energy Solutions Stadium in Augustinople, Pravenna. We don't recommend you visit. The winner will advance onwards to play either Pravenna or Mapletish.

[Eura]

The glorious white light of Bastion Fairway's Terminal Nine and its special refractory glass roof and lighting made the interior of the place look a lot cleaner than it actually was. Carlton Shorley walked through the nearly empty terminal with his head held high but his gut in a darker place. He had butterflies; he was leaving home on this bizarre expedition the trip of life was taking him on, and only his father had bothered to show up. 'Don't worry, my boy. The company can always wait. I'm not angry.'
'You say that almost like you mean it, father.'
'I really do mean it. This is a golden opportunity for you and the family, you should take it! I just want you to know I support you all the way.'
'Do you think mother would approve?' There was a moment of mournful silence. 'Maybe not. I don't know. She never was a big fan of monarchy. Have you found out who you might be marrying yet?'
'No, not firmly. I like the sound of Jórunn Friðleifsdóttir, I met her at the do in Bastion. She's a nice girl.'
'You could do a lot worse son.' They reached the checkpoint and the young man turned to face his father. 'I'll be back in Eura before long. I'll visit regularly of course. They're aware that I'll have to take semi-regular breaks to help.'

Carlton's father pulled him close and smiled. 'Son, let me be honest with you. You know what I've always told you; do well by yourself, do well by the family, do well by the business and do well by the country. But you've got to do this right. You focus on your leadership skills and doing the job they'll make you do. We can handle Lewis-Shorley. Just get us some contracts, there's a good boy!'
'I love you, father.' Neither of them used that strong sort of sentiment often. It was a special moment. 'I-I love you too Carl.' They embraced for a moment, before Carlton finally turned to go through the checkpoint. This part of Terminal Nine, along with another special part of another building Terminal Fifteen, served most of the private air traffic heading out of Eura's largest airport. The Pasargan royal staff and security, including new bodyguards, were likely at the departure gate with his baggage, his personal advisers and his PA. However he was getting a special briefing that other people departing here today would not be getting, at least not as far as he could see - all he could see of any note was the Brigham manager heading off to get a flight on a private jet. He was greeted by a handful of suited Euran officials, dressed to impress as usual. With them was the Foreign Office official that had briefed Carlton on the general situation in Pasarga. 'Mr Shorley, you remember me I presume?'
'Yes, erm...'
'Barrow.'
'Mr Barrow, yes. Good to see you again.'
'Wonderful. We need to have a quick word, if you don't mind.'

Barrow pulled Shorley aside, while rest of the group of officials looked on. 'I'm going to be coming with you for now.'
'Wait, what? Why wasn't I informed of this?'
'Late change of plans.'
'Well who says I want you around?'
'Its not optional, the PM himself has insisted upon it. I am to station myself at the Euran consulate in Torgos for a few months while you settle in, and to help monitor the current situation.'
'I mean...well, fine, I guess. What else did you have to tell me?'
'The flight plan will not be conventional. We will avoid usual civilian air traffic routes rather than going via Liventia or Kytler Peninsulae as they usually do. Instead your aircraft will be flown to the Helving air force base by Falcus and then west to Saugeais, where you will be transferred to a specially seconded jet along with your belongings and everyone else. Then you will fly direct to Torgos.'
'Why all the complications?'
'Security. We've pulled in some favours at the MoD and got the EAF to give you an aerial escort most of the way to Helving, it should be good practice. Then you'll have nearby support from two different navy groups in the Komodo Channel and Vaia Sea.'
'But why?'
'Like I said, security. You are a high value target, Mr Shorley. There are plenty of people from plenty of places who would not mind you or your new brother in law being eliminated.'

It was an ominous warning, but Shorley simply nodded calmly. However Barrow could clearly tell he was worried. 'Look, its unlikely anyone would try and pull off anything like that. This whole journey is all being kept hush hush anyway. Now, as for your security in Pasarga, you will of course have plenty provided by the Pasargan's themselves but nevertheless we will have intelligence assets in Torgos and Lunas who will monitor the local situation and act to protect you, if necessary. You may technically be a private individual but the Euran government sees it as in the national interest to protect you. Moreover, if you need their expertise in helping to resolve an issue as part of your leadership duties, then call me and I'll see what I can do.'
'You can't be serious. You can't have the prince of a major region using foreign intelligence services to bust his domestic enemies.'
'That is not what I'm suggesting you do. I'm just letting you know that they are there for you. Obviously we've inserted one man amongst your adviser team. Has he integrated well?'
'Gordon? Yeah, he gets on well with everyone. You couldn't tell he's former special forces and has a submachine gun under his coat.'
'Good, one more thing-'
'Oh come on. This is absurd. I'll be fine!'
'Just hear me out! If the worst comes to the worst and your life is seriously endangered by remaining in the country, there is an out.'

Barrow pulled out some documents and handed them to him. 'These are evacuation procedures we can use to get you out of the country, either by smuggling you out like the Sargossan's did with that Mytanar woman, or by more transparent routes. There also contingencies and satellite phone numbers listed for you to use if we need to use the military option. We also have, well, orders.'
'Orders? Yeah, we're done here. That isn't happening.'
'Fine, orders, recommendations, whatever you want to call them, this is what we think you should do in certain situations and its all in the folder. In there are special requisition forms and whatnot which will allow you and your administrators to fast track financial, military and logistical aid to the authority we expect you to control as prince. Obviously you partly own Lewis-Shorley Armouries so procurement from them should be easy. If the current situation escalates, we have numerous strategies outlined in here that you may not have considered and have also outlined ways in which you might be able to exert, let's say, pressure on your mother in law to come to sensible decisions.'
'Sensible decisions...you mean to persuade her to do what is best for us, don't you?'
'Not at all. What is best for us, for Pasarga, and for our mutual allies dear boy. I'm sure you understand. Broadly, our advice is that if it kicks off, you need to take a number of steps to tackle the splinter factions and hold what you've got. If there is any sort of external military involvement, we have advice for who you should trust and what they are capable of, and who you should watch out for. Does that help?' Shorley scoffed as he began to walk towards departures with Barrow. 'I'm not sure it does, but either way for someone who is about to become next in line to be a king, I feel very much like a pawn.'

[Valladares]

16 teams are still in contention. After this round, only half of them will remain. Cut-off!

---

Round of 16:

Pravenna 0–0 Mapletish (0–1 AET) @ Half-Moon Stadium, Boswijck, Nouvelle-Angouleme
Sargossa 4–2 Vjaalsbürg @ Augustinople Stadium, Augustinople, Pravenna
Valladares 3-1 Filopines @ Estadio Generalissimo Joaquín Delgado, Soluca, Sargossa (Scorinated by SJG)
Electrum 1–2 Darmen @ National Stadium, Kernansquillec City, Kernansquillec
Eura 3–2 Zenic @ Centralis Stadium, Centralis, Electrum
Polar Islandstates 1–2 Sameba @ Corsley Stadium, Fort Town, Filopines
Pasarga 1–0 Kernansquillec @ Coliseo Nacional, San José, Alianza Albos
Saintland 1–0 Saugeais @ Ericcson Minnesmärke Gamlæ, Versålölm, Vjaalsbürg

Quarterfinals:

Mapletish vs. Sargossa @ Stade de Torgos, Torgos, Pasarga
Valladares vs. Darmen @ Royal Stadium, St. Petrus, Saintland
Eura vs. Sameba @ Colosus Romanopolis, Romanopolis, Darmen
Pasarga vs. Saintland @ Bastion Arena, Bastion, Eura

IMPORTANT HOST ANNOUNCEMENT: Due to an unexpected personal commitment, scorination for the quarterfinal round will be brought forward by two hours. As a consequence, the next cutoff will be on Saturday January 31st at around 23:00 (UTC). I wholeheartedly apologize for the inconveniences this may cause to you.

[Mapletish]

The Sour Kind
"Even a clock that does not work is right twice a day"

Sport | Timothy Jozua

Half-Moon Stadium, Boswijck, Nouvelle-Angouleme
Attendance: 43,251 - Referee: Mr.Referee

Pravenna 0
Mapletish 1 (AET) Cristian Albeno 120'

What's up everybody this is Jozua once again with another update on the Copa Rushmori XX! It has been an eventful ride for the Lions now as they are currently in the quarter-finals of the Copa Rushmori. Who says you can't win anything with kids, I bet no one will say that after this eventful 1-0 win against Pravenna as it stall into extra time to decide the winner of the CR Round of 16 tie. 19 year old Cristian Alabeno scored his first senior goal as Oswald heaved a sigh of relief as the Fiery Lions progress through to the quarter finals of the Copa Rushmori for the first time under his charge. He might not on the level of Paterson Dellars, Kristin Janette, Moros Alexander, Muain Newtons or Strellas Billy, but the first appearance in the knockout stages of the CR after quite a period of time is an achievement in itself and Oswald can be rightfully credited for his effort and determination.

Albeno's first senior goal earned the Lions a narrow but comfortable win over a fairly determined Pravenna side. The Home United man was denied an early penalty, opened his account to break the deadlock in the 120th minute as the Fiery Lions beat the Lions with a determined off the ball run and finish.

Albeno was at the centre of Mapletish's best play and also struck the woodwork with an acrobatic effort, while Pravenna's Barbarouses was wayward with his shot from a tight angle after a quick one two with Xenophon in a dominant first half for Oswald's side. However the Fiery Lions were unable to break the tight compact defence of their opposition.

Niko Stavros was then sent off early in the second half to make Pravenna's task even harder as the Fiery Lions continued their advances on the now weakened defence as they exploited the flanks to beat the now 4 men defence that rarely plays on the flanks. On the break Federico Nino got the best chance of the second half with a wonder strike from 47 metres after Stasinopolous' careless positioning only to his effort missing the goal by an inch and hitting the crossbar.

The encounter proved that Pravenna was starting to feel the pressure and hit as they started to take lesser risks and remain tight on the back only to see them giving space carelessly for Mapletish to exploit. However their attacks via the flanks failed to reach the other end of the goal with Stasinopolous quick handling. Pravenna however had their fair share of chances as well with Matraxis feeding a long cross towards Xenophon through the middle but he failed to make his chances count with a volley that ended straight in the arms of the waiting Ralph.

The game ends on the high side with the Fiery Lions holding onto the upper hand of a close affair with a defensive minded Pravenna. The dressing rooms was bustling with activity as Oswald did his last minute full time team talk and add on the final touches of amendments to his tactics. The players did a quick cheer and were out on the pitch once again as they waited for the kick off for the extra time. By this time the difference could already be seen with Pravenna misplacing more passes than they could and the Fiery Lions pouncing on every chance that lands on the middle of the pitch and stretching the defences out.

The best chance of the first half of extra time came through Ralph's long goalkick that reached the other side of the pitch with Albeno chipping it over the keeper but the chip failed to capitalise as it dipped the crossbar and went out. The second half of the extra time picked up pace as the Fiery Lions continued to exert their authority on Pravenna with what the Fiery Lions have been looking for all match long, the much wanted goal. A routine corner by Filipe Adalberto reached the of Albeno who broke the deadlock and marked his first senior goal on the record in the 120th minute to prevent the match from going much further and helping the Fiery Lions save their grace.

Our next match in the quarter finals will see the Fiery Lions face of against Sargossa, the regional heavyweights. Other quarter finals matchups include Valladares vs Darmen, Eura vs Sameba and Pasarga vs Saintland with regional heavyweights Polar Islandstates and Saugeais knocked out in the Round of 16. The Fiery Lions will look to struggle against an undefeated Sargossa side who now has 4 wins and a draw in their bag.

Prediction : Mapletish 0-4 Sargossa

---

Pravenna 0–0 Mapletish (0–1 AET) Match Stats

Pravenna                    V.                     Mapletish
   40%                   Possession                   60%
    3                     Corners                      6
    0                     Offsides                     3
    5                   Total Shots                    30
    0                  Shots on Target                 17
  395                 Completed Passes                768
   15                     Tackles                      31

Match Ratings
Pravenna
#1 - Anastasia Stasinopolous - ★★☆☆☆
Some decent saves and was solid all game round, but he was let down by a routine corner from the Maplish side which went through his legs at the final minute of the match which proved to be the down turn of Pravenna.

#2 - Zoe Merochite - ★★☆☆☆
The Maplish defence cut off his advances as much as possible but he fought hard to maintain his cool against Désiré Rémy.

#5 - Niko Stavros - ★★☆☆☆
Was silenced by the ever present Aleno and Lee Jeong Myung, a red card from two bookings on consistent fouling left him in dismay.

#4 - Augustine Rouphos - ★★☆☆☆
Like Merochite, he was not able to get down the middle as easily as he could but he was unable to keep Teodoro silent as he got outpaced and outwitted as Teodoro cut in to the middle to challenge the area.

#6 - Eudoxia Tzavaras - ★★☆☆☆
Tried hard to contain the pacey attacking pair of Albeno and Lee Jeong Myung. He was also lucky not to concede an early penalty with a foul on Albeno but he had occasional moments of brilliance as well.

#3 - Demetrios Constantinou - ★★☆☆☆
Got cut off from the left by the Maplish defence and was hardly effective in the attack. He was also outpaced and outwitted by the ever present Teodoro, but he managed to overcome some attacking threats from the Maplish side throughout the game.

#8 - Augustine Charisteas - ★★★★☆
Held the centre of the pitch with experience and placed the Pravenna side with several attacking opportunities that helped broke down the Maplish defence. The best player of the Pravenna side by far.

#11 - Dorcas Merochite - ★★☆☆☆
Worked hard enough but barely seen as an attacking figure as he failed to impose himself on the pitch.

#15 - Calisto Matraxis - ★★☆☆☆
Worked hard on the right to give Barbarouses opportunities to attack but will be disappointed not to have seen the ball more often.

#10 - Isadora Xenophon - ★★★☆☆
Improved display in the second half and was unlucky not have converted his valuable chances.

#14 - Theseus Barbarouses - ★★☆☆☆
Poor display from the forward, but cannot be faulted as he have not seen the ball often. Although there were moments of brilliance from the forward.

Substitutes
#22 - Theo Michaels - ★☆☆☆☆
Wasn't able to impose himself on the pitch as he tried hard to settle in after replacing a disappointing Barbarouses.

Mapletish
#1 - Wessel Ralph - ★★★☆☆
Remained firm when he got tested in trying situations, but he was lucky that his poor handling at times didn't cause the Fiery Lions their game.

#2 - Viliam Zdeno - ★★☆☆☆
Was slower and could not adapt to the game with a heighten tempo, but made it up with his accurate long passes. Although he let Barbarouses slipped at some instances.

#3 - Joris Reinier - ★★★☆☆
Rallied the back four well catching the opponent offside several times and looked solid all game round.

#4 = Gerben Jasper - ★★★☆☆
Composed in his attacking runs and solid at the back, did well to mark out Constantinou covering Zdeno up.

#5 - Federico Nino - ★★★☆☆
Done well in putting Merochite out of the right flank but remained a less effective attacking option on the right flank, as he struggled to composed himself.

#6 - Berhanu Oluwaseun - ★★★☆☆
Sat in midfield and made little mistakes maintaining a neat passing accuracy percentage all game round to keep the midfield engine running.

#7 Filipe Adalberto - ★★★☆☆
Started brilliantly with several moments of individual brilliance and had an amazing workrate however he succumbed to fatigue in the second half and was forced to play deeper than he should. However he failed to compose and adapt himself to a game with increasing tempo and lost the ball on several critical occasions.

#16 Virgilio Teodoro - ★★★☆☆
Impressive display on the left as he cut down on the Prevanna defence. Stepped up further to cover up Adalberto when he dropped deeper down to fill the gaps in the midfield engine. Could have gotten himself more assists but had to be disappointed not to have his crosses meet the attacking players accurately.

#17 - Désiré Rémy - ★★★☆☆
Brilliant in attack and defence as he went box to box from his right flank position. Provided full support for his right back defensive partner Nino when he failed to compose himself. Rémy would be disappointed not have seen his attempts from the right edge of the box be turned into goals.

#11 - Cristian Albeno - ★★★★☆
Was having a fun time on the attack with striking partner Lee Jeong Myung but would be disappointed not to see more goals from himself as he managed only one from the many attempts that were presented to him.

#10 - Lee Jeong Myung - ★★★★☆
Amazing partnership with Albeno and he worked doubly hard to hold his line at the front but found it hard going at times too. Was brilliant in providing the much needed space through his witted passes into the box.

---

[Eura]

The Darmeni police were not having a good day as bottles and flares flew toward them from the Sameban fans, exploding and crackling over their riot shields. Michael Judge was lucky. He had managed to arrive in Romanopolis just in time with his entourage, who had made a quiet and reserved but nevertheless public visit to Scott City. Ostensibly it was to improve relations and create ideas for new trade opportunities between the two countries, featuring bilateral talks between Judge and his opposite number. In actual fact, Judge was simply using the occasion to confirm a major arms deal with Darmen. Twenty four District class destroyers were going to be built for Darmen's under strength navy, which once delivered would bring (over a few years) £36 billion into the coffers of the Euran state and the manufacturers who would be fulfilling the order, not including add ons. The deal would surely be a blow to the Sameban's when they would inevitably find out about it later on, given that Darmen was one of a small list of countries in Rushmore who they could rely on to pester the Euran's occasionally. Tonight the great Endemian divide was on show once more.

At the last Copa Rushmori, one of the Polarian islands found itself swamped by Euran and Sameban fans as they prepared to face off in the group stage, a game Eura won 3-0 in a decisive performance. The stadium was too small and could not contain the ferocious fan and team rivalries. There was chaos; Euran and Sameban coaches scrapped, two players were sent off, the Sameban fans were perhaps more docile during the game than was anticipated but after the match they really kicked off. By morning the surrounding town looked more like a battlefield than a quiet fishing town as it recovered from a mass brawl stretching over street after street, leading to hundreds of arrests. The Euran FA blamed the Polarian's for not providing enough room for fans or security. The Polarian's blamed the Euran's and Sameban's for failing to control their fans. The Sameban's blamed everyone but themselves for a grand conspiracy against their benevolent peoples. Now Darmen had been handed the unenviable task of dealing with a match on neutral ground between these two enemies, at the much more satisfactory 65,000 seater Colosus Romanopolis. As Judge was finding out from a local dignitary he was speaking to, the preparation on the part of the surprisingly chosen hosts (given that Valladares was organising the tournament) was impressive.

'Remind me, how many police?' The short and squeamish official winced a bit as he watched a Euran fan get tackled by a police officer before he could lob a dart into the Sameban crowd. Then he returned to his composed self, looking up in adoration at Judge. He wasn't quite able to process that he had met the leaders of his own country and the Euran leader in just one evening. 'Well, Prime Minister sir, as I've said we've gone to great lengths to ensure the security of both teams. We've deployed over five thousand police!'
'Five thousand?'
'Yes sir that's right, five thousand, a hell of an effort if you ask me. Don't tell my guy I said this but let me tell ya, we would've had a goddamn strike if we hadn't offered these guys double pay to handle your fans and those Samebans!' He laughed away to himself at his fairly untactful joke before rapidly correcting his reaction as Judge raised an eyebrow. 'W-w-well I mean, the Samebans of course. You guys are great. Great fans. Real boost for tourism and, um...I have to go Prime Minister, but its lovely to see you!'
'And you, have a good evening.' Judge stared out of the window at the pitch as the teams came out to great fanfare, but his mind was elsewhere.

Somewhere in this stadium was the Sameban President. Gelta. He had superseded Coley in the Sameban leadership struggle of two years ago and was an eager anti-Euran. He had reactivated defunct military installations, driven his country even closer to economic fluctuation by ratcheting up military spending, and last month had once again declined to meet Judge in person. They had never met, and at this rate they never would, which bode poorly for the peace - or as the press had been calling it for over a decade now, the "Endemian Detente". He had even been shown seismographs which indicated mass movement of armoured vehicles over the Sameban segment of the DMZ. Whether it was just exercises or not, Judge was unhappy with the status quo. The Sameban President was here in the stadium, though Judge did not know where, and was likely thinking exactly the same thing, but for different reasons. He too was unhappy with the status quo, but it was likely because Sameba was losing its ability to suppress internal dissent and to assert itself effectively as an independent power. The great failure of the ambitious expedition to Mytannion had undermined Sameba's self confidence, an ego deficit which had not be satiated by the random seizure of the formerly Virabi Uke
Islands.

The national anthems boomed out, and Judge applaued politely with other Euran officials and some Darmeni's as the Euran anthem wrapped up. A rousing roar of appreciation came from the Euran support, which was dead even with the Sameban's, the crowd split into two halves, one blue and red and one green and blue. 'So Prime Minister...' Judge jumped a little bit in surprise as his ambassador to Darmen, a certain Mr Halson, arrived at his side. '...what result are you predicting?'
'Well, I've never been an expert on the football, but their chance to beat us came and went last time. Best they had been in years and now Barsa is gone, and Carrera and Vella are old. We look good again under Thompson. I reckon we'll win comfortably.'
'Really? I don't know. They looked like a reborn side in the group stage, even if they lost their momentum a bit. We buggered it up at the end in comparison.'
'Have some confidence in the team. They're good Euran men. They'll shine through as they usually do.'
'Yeah, well, hopefully. If you don't mind Prime Minister, I may just pop over there, I think I just saw my one of my secretaries drinking half a bottle of wine...Susan! Susan!' He rushed off to deal with his rogue employee, leaving Judge standing by himself. The referee blew his whistle and the game kicked off. Yet while millions of fans here and at home were paying attention to the never ending struggle of these two countries on the pitch, Judge could not take his mind off of the struggle away from it.

[Darmen]

Gathered together in the Prime Minister's official office, Bram Hayes and several cabinet members were about to start one of the most important cabinet meetings in months. Foreign Minister Petronius Mencher was there, as was Defense Minister John Terry and Finance Minister Hank Thompson. The Treasury Minister, Traugott Winslow, was expected to arrive later, as was the Royal Affairs Minister Gedaliah Martin. Mitchell Hellewege was there as well, taking up his usual position at the large table that seated the cabinet members, ready to keep minutes.

"Shall we begin gentlemen?" asked Hayes.

"I don't see why not," replied John Terry, looking at the others to see if they agreed. When it was clear that they had nothing better to do, Terry spoke once more. "As you know, since 2013 and the retirement of many of our aging naval ships, Darmen has no longer been a blue water navy per se. Sure, we may have been able to put together a single fleet for prolonged operations, but our five remaining aircraft carriers would need to be kept in port and rely on the Air Force for protection. And then, last year, somebody decided it would be a fantastic idea to buy six more carriers this year."

"That was me," said Hayes, "granted I may have been drunk at the time."

Terry sighed and rolled his eyes, before continuing, "Anyways, we now have twelve aircraft carriers and only eight destroyers and five frigates to escort them. Once again, we could probably put together a single fleet, possibly two, but our remaining ten carriers would be stuck here in Darmen, useless and a waste of money."

"You seem to be under the impression that the aircraft carrier is the only ship that can be the main piece of an operational fleet," said Mencher. "Do you also realize that we have several Battleships and those Longswords to use?"

"To be honest Petronius, you're a bit lacking in your knowledge of current Darmeni military doctrine. Those Longswords are only there to give us an ability to strike mainland Valladares with cruise missiles, and the possibility of that happening is hopefully decreasing every day as relations improve."

"To be honest John," mocked Mencher, "you're a bit lacking in your knowledge of relations between us and our only neighbors. They hate us. Plain and simple. They probably always will. They lack in trust. Granted, we probably contributed a lot to that lack of trust, but they just don't generally trust us. They only just allowed Hayes here and the Royal Family to visit King Charles' lying in state. They think everything we do it just political maneuvering to gain the Westlands."

"But we don't want the Westlands anymore," said Thompson, who had been silent so far during the meeting.

"That's right Hank, but they don't believe that."

Terry wanted to get the conversation back on track. "Enough about this foreign affairs crap," he snapped, pounding his fist into the table and catching everyone off guard. "We're here to talk about Naval acquisitions, nothing else."

"Hey, foreign affairs will have a great deal of impact on the acquisitions you want John," retorted Mencher. "Am I correct in stating that we received offers from both Eura and Sargossa?"

"Yes you are," replied Terry, calmer now that the conversation had returned to its original topic.

"Well John, you are probably well aware that Eura and Sargossa are not that friendly with each other. You're also probably aware that both nations were once our only naval rivals. And I'm hoping, you're also aware of the situation in Pasarga. Yes?"

"I'm aware of all of those facts, although the Defense Ministry sees having two Kings in Valladares as a more pressing matter," replied Terry.

"Are you implying..." started Mencher before being cut off by the Defense Minister.

"No. No, I'm not. We simply believe that Valladares' proximity to Darmen and the possibility of a confrontation between Marcus and Cyrus erupting at anytime and possibly spilling over into County Rogerton," Terry paused and sighed, "it's giving us a bit of a headache, and frankly, Pasarga is so far off that we have no interest in that what so ever."

"But Eura and Sargossa do," said Mencher leaning towards his peer, "and they're opposing interests. Do you know what that means?"

"They don't like each other?" said Terry, stating the obvious.

"For us, what does that mean for us‽" said Mencher, exasperated at his colleagues closed mindedness.

"How should I know, you're in charge of foreign affairs!" yelled Terry, hoping Mencher would just tell him already.

"It means this: You want the destroyers from Eura and submarines from Sargossa right?"

"Yes."

"Ok. So you sign the deals with both nations, but, Sargossa for instance, finds out about the deal with Eura, and cancels their deal for the subs. Not only have we lost the subs, but our already poor relations with Sargossa have just gotten worse. And if Eura found out, then we would lose our destroyers and sour our relations with them. And if they both canceled, it would be the biggest political blunder since 'THE WESTLANDS ARE OURS'!"

"So what do you propose, Petronius?" asked John, watching as Petronius sat down after yelling what had been a widely used slogan at football matches between the All Greens and La Nacional in the past. It was a phrase that probably wouldn't be used at all in St. Petrus as the two teams faced again for the sixth time.

"Well, firstly, we need to come to an ultimate decisions as to whether we want to buy these ships in the first place."

Hayes spoke for the first time since the revelation of his drunken decision to buy six aircraft carriers. "It's clear to me that these ships are needed. These ballistic missile subs, I believe, and John you can correct me if I'm wrong, are being ordered to replace the Longswords because they cost to much. Am I correct?"

"Yes you are," said Terry.

"What do we plan to do with the Longswords?" asked the unusually quiet Finance Minister Hank Thompson, hoping the answer would involve the sale of the ships to a fellow Commonwealth nation.

"Well we can't sell them," said Terry as Thompson frowned, "so we're planning on dismantling them and reusing as much of the materials as we can to build our own ships. We believe there's enough to build anywhere between ten and twelve destroyers, or possibly fifteen to eighteen frigates. We'll probably go with the frigate option."

"So, in the end," said Hayes, seeking clarification, "the ballistic missile subs replace the Longswords, while the Longswords will expand our frigate numbers after a lot of work. The attack subs are simply there to expand our numbers and the destroyers are for the same reason as well."

"That's correct," said Terry, "and the main reason we're expanding our numbers is to protect our carriers and once again establish ourselves as the naval power we once were."

"Alright then, I have no qualms with that," said Mencher, nodding his head in agreement. "So now we need to decide two things. Firstly, how best to keep these two deals secret, because lets remember, they can cancel the deals at anytime, so even after the deals are signed we'll need to keep the two in the dark as long as possible. Secondly of course, is which deal is most expendable. From a foreign affairs standpoint, the Euran deal can take the fall. Our relations with Sargossa could use a boost. I'm not sure about the military standpoint. John?"

"I'd agree. With the Longswords replaced by the subs, we'll be able to increase our destroyer or frigate numbers regardless of the Euran deal. Of course, there’s still the possibility they’ll both cancel after it becomes public, but lets hope not."

Mencher nodded, before adding, "Well then, I and John will work out how best to keep these deals secret. As a matter of fact, I think it's best that the fact there are two deals be known only by the four of us..."

"Five," said Mitchell Hellewege, smiling as he reminded the Foreign Minister of his presence.

"Five of us," grumbled Mencher, "and some of the top Naval brass."

"Hang on a moment," said Hayes. "This all sounds incredibly risky. In the end, we might end up with zero destroyers and zero subs and pretty dire relations between the three countries. How much is this all going to cost?"

"Unfortunately," said Thompson, "Winslow has those numbers. I think they were somewhere around 53 or 54 billion Babas for all 61 vessels, plus another two or three billion for other associated costs and ten to twelve billion for an expansion of the operations budget. So anywhere between 65 to 69 billion Babas. Like I said, Winslow would have the exact numbers, but he's not here yet, and I seriously doubt he's coming at all. Was down in County Rogerton meeting with several Bank Presidents. Apparently there's going to be another referendum on Semi-Autonomy status this fall, and its got a real chance to pass.

"Well, OK then," said Hayes, "that's a fairly cheap price to pay, monetarily speaking, considering the amounts we have stored away in reserves. But I want you two," he pointed to Mencher and Terry, "to come up with the best way possible to keep these agreements secret. I'd suggest sending Junior Ministers to sign these agreements, and make sure the Eurans and Sargossans keep the deals top secret as well. Don't even let the investors in the respective companies onto this, let alone the workers or anybody for that matter. Kill some journalists if you have to, I don't care, but keep these deals secret."

Mencher and Terry nodded. Terry and Thompson got up to leave, while Royal Affairs Minister Gedaliah Martin arrived to help Mencher give the Prime Minister and the Royal Family a briefing on their trip to Valladares. Things were at stake in both matters, and the consequences would be huge if things didn't get pulled off correctly.

[Sargossa]

SSM | Sargossan State Media

International Edition - Sport


Glory Awaits


Mario Najar reports;

Fully in keeping with a tournament with a distinctly cosmopolitan flavour the nation’s leading sports broadcast has forgone its usual Sargossa-centric rhetoric in favour of a more region wide narrative. The faces of eight men have appeared with alarming regularity across the network. Elías Carrasco, Henrik Oswald, Jean Pierre-Aulas, Roberto Cornejo, Steve Thompson, Elgar Derei, Jullian van Setten and Rule Theriault have featured in a suitably dramatic musical montage highlighting the fact that regional sporting glory lies agonisingly close to one of them in what could be the most open tournament in years following the demise of the reigning champions and Rushmore’s number one side (*giggle*).

Happily Sargossa are still in the running after edging passed Vjaalsbürg in the round of sixteen, but the Vjaals sure didn’t make it easy. Federico Noyola has had a tournament to remember thus far but the Sporting San Marquez hitman had a nervous start to the match in the not so elegant surrounds of Augustinople’s Sarissa Energy Solutions Stadium. Three first half opportunities fell to the cultured right boot of the Corsairs’ tournament top scorer but he wasted each and every one. Fortunately Enzo Jara showed a much keener eye, being found in the box by Sauseda’s exquisitely weighted through ball and sending a first time finish low into the corner. And Germán Sauseda chalked up a second assist ten minutes later when Sergio Ayala headed in the Ciudad Soluca midfielder’s corner for his first ever international goal. Two up and seemingly cruising, Carrasco’s halftime teamtalk looked likely to consist solely of ‘more of the same, chaps’ but for Magnus Ericcson’s smart strike in first half stoppage time that brought the Vjaal’s right back into it.

Ericcson’s goal may have dramatically changed the landscape of this last sixteen encounter for a while but normal service seem to resume as the second half got underway, with Vjaalsbürg struggling to contain the six time Copa Rushmori finalists. The Vjaals were looking increasingly on edge, best exemplified by Sara Jönsson’s clumsy challenge on Jara in the penalty area that led to the Electrumite referee pointing to the spot. Noyola may not have had the best match in front of goal but he dispatched his sixth strike of the tournament into the back of the net with barely a run-up and the two goal cushion was restored. Just like that, with the exit looming large, the pressure on the Vjaalsbürg players dissipated and they threw themselves at their opposition. Suddenly the passing was crisper, the tackles were stronger and the shot tally started to rise. Armando Abad was twice called into action to deny Ericcson a second before Robert Andersen dragged an effort wide. The crowd in the tournament’s tinniest stadium were really getting in to it and found a new level of volume when Simon Wictorssen tucked home the rebound after yet another Ericcson was parried into his path. Cue much recrimination in the Corsairs’ defence and an angry swipe of the coach’s boot that sent a water bottle skidding down the touchline. Scenting blood the underdogs poured forward and that was to be their undoing, as they committed more numbers forward they were caught with a classic counter punch. A clearance from the back sent Jara racing away in what was a three-on-one break. He attacked the edge of the box and drew out the keeper before squaring the ball to the unmarked substitute Miguel De Los Santos who simply couldn’t miss. And with that strike the tie was over and Sargossa were into the Copa quarters for the eleventh time.

The round of sixteen match-ups certainly weren’t short of drama but they lacked the kind of ties that gets the mouth a-watering. The same cannot be said of the quarter final dramatis personae. With the early and shock elimination of the Terns (*chortle*) the twentieth Copa is lacking a clear favourite. Normally the hosts would be right up there in the contender stakes but the gutsy Valladar decision to stage the competition across the region means La Nacional could conceivably exit proceedings without ever even seeing Swangard. The side have recovered after a stuttering start and have been building up momentum ever since, breezing passed Filopines in Soluca. But the nation’s dark mood after the untimely passing of King Charles will be nothing if their Copa run comes to an end one round before they actually hit Valladar shores. If that scenario comes to pass there could be severe recriminations, particularly given the opposition. For standing between Valladares and the final four is their arch regional rivals Darmen. The Westlands have been a constant source of strife for successive administrations in Metropolis and Scott City both and has led to a mutual loathing between the nations. On the sporting stage the Darmenis are a class act and have been one of the Copa’s most consistent sides. How they’d revel in sending La Nacional packing. And with Gregio and Autitore upfront and the mercurial Tor Tong Lee lurking behind they certainly have the firepower to down anyone.

If that match is politically charged the next one could be about to blow a fuse or two. Because Eura are set for a showdown with Sameba. The David versus Goliath clash has been a sporting fixture since time immemorial and this certainly falls into that category. The Eurans talk a good game, take them at face value and you’d be convinced they dominate every conceivable facet of Rushmori life. They don’t. But one area in which reality almost lives up to blustery rhetoric is the football pitch. The Eurans are good, annoyingly so. One of the top sides in the whole gosh darn sportiverse but, oddly enough, never really looking fully convincing in this competition and were pushed all the way by Zenic in the last sixteen. Conversely Sameba have no real pedigree of note, that was until that sent shockwaves through the whole field when they dumped the Polarians (*snigger*) out. If they can do that to the Terns they can do it to anyone. And don’t underestimate what it would mean to the Samebans to claim this particular scalp. Eura and Sameba have fought wars, actual wars. Most recently in proxy combat across Mytannion as the Samebans supported the government against the Euran backed rebels. This one is going to be fiery. Makes you glad your stadium missed out on a quarter final berth don't it.

Saintland are one of the newer participants to the Copa but have wasted no time in marking themselves out as a serious contender. The Sanctii had the best overall record in the group stage, racking up plenty of goals in their devastating path through to the knock rounds, but almost came unstuck against perennial underachievers Saugeais in the last sixteen. Utter focus will be required to make the final four. Largely because they’re up against Pasarga. Many moons ago The Wanderers lived up to their name, meandering from tournament to tournament without ever stopping around too long. But somewhere along the line they found a ruthless streak that has seen the Pasargans become a side no one wants to face. Now ranked fifth in the region Jullian van Setten’s side certainly wouldn’t look out of place clasping a shiny Copa trophy, but memories of that shock group stage defeat to Stvoto Latoli may linger.

Then there’s Sargossa, the only nation that can rival Pasarga for Copa appearances. Elías Carrasco has steadied the Corsairs’ ship and has followed up World Cup qualification with a place in the Copa Rushmori final eight. Firmly silencing the critics who, upon his appointment, preached long and loud about good assistants not making good material for the top job. He’s built upon the attacking philosophy set down by his predecessor and leads a side packing some serious firepower, having only failed to find the back of the net once in his twenty six games in charge. And goals have been the theme when Sargossa has met quarter final opponents Mapletish in the past. The Corsairs broke the Lion’s supporters hearts with a 3 – 1 win in the semi-final of CR XIV before the two nations served up a nine goal spectacular two years later in Saugeais. The Corsairs may have bettered the Fiery Lions on their two previous meetings but this Mapletish side are young, hungry for success and unencumbered by any expectations. The ‘Tish, as actually nobody calls them, are back after a long sporting absence and come with a sense of mystery that may yet prove their trump card.

Four quarter finals. Four thrillers in the making. And we’ve not even made it to the actual host nation yet.

[Valladares]

The lying in state ceremony for late King Charles V was going on as planned. The doors of Judgement Room were opened at half past 6 PM, and the huge queue of people that had started to gather at the doors of Green Palace since early that morning started to move within the building; for most of them it could be the first and only chance they would have to be at that place, and the first and only chance they would get to be really close to the king. The corpse was being guarded by the five senior members of the Royal Guard, as well as surrounded by several funeral wreaths which were arriving from places as far as Hamilton, in the Westlands, and organizations such as the Valladar Philology Association and even the Valladar Football Association, which he had helped to create back when Valladar football was still amateur and regionalized.

Kings Marcus and Cyrus as well as Prime Minister Jefferson Pratt were also busy with the first visits from important political figures, such as the members of the Royal Parliament and the National Assembly, as well as leaders of Valladares's main political parties and delegations from important Valladar allies such as Whirl Islands and Brantalentia, led by their presidents Amira Paulini and Raphael Collins, respectively. Precisely, Mrs. Paulini started her conversation with the Valladar leaders by reminiscing on how good Charles V had been to the western Rushmori island nation.

"Well, His Highness was one of Whirl Islands' best friends. He granted us independence when we expected there would be a big and bloody conflict, and we're grateful to him for that gesture. He clearly loved peace more than war, even if it conflicted his own regional interests. We're also thankful to him for not abandoning us and always backing the Islands and being close to them whenever we needed you. On behalf of the Whirl-Islander people, I am with you in this tough moment and express my sincerest condolences to you."

"Thank you, Mrs. Paulini. What you said is certainly true. Every single word of it. He will certainly be missed and we thank you for your support in this moment, showing us that Whirl Islands will always stand with us, as Valladares does with you. Thank you again."

"Thank you, Amira. This is a proof that Valladar-Whirl-Islander relations are in their best moment. Now, if you excuse me, I must make a call right now. Marcus, Mr. Pratt, I'll be right back."

King Cyrus exited Judgement Room and headed to the King's office. He placed two members of the guard on the corridor that led to the office in order to make sure no-one would eavesdrop. Upon entering the office, he closed the door and windows, drew water from the dispenser located right next to the desk, and sat down. Then he picked up the phone and typed some digits.

"Valladares Telecom, may I help you?"

"Yes please, a collect call to the following number in Rogerton, Darmen..."

Across the line, in a dark room in a building in Rogerton, a deep voice answered the call.

"Hello?"

"Saunders? It's me, Cyrus."

"Highness? Congratulations on your ascension to the throne, boy. Although I think this is not the right time for me to deliver them, am I right?"

"You can do so later, this is a more urgent issue. How are things going on there at Rogerton?"

"Well, I'm not going to lie. Things over here are going as usual, there has been no unrest since Rogertongate and the Darmeni authorities have been recently upgrading infraestructure over here. In my opinion, they are fearful of another incident like that."

"And how are Valladars being treated over there?"

"To be honest, I've seen a change in the Darmeni attitude towards them. At least there is more inclusion and they have better opportunities than ever before. You might as well have heard of a group of Valladars who founded a football club which competed for Darmen in some competition over there, it was fairly successful if you ask me but they will be returning to regional leagues soon."

"Enough information, thank you. Now, it has come to my knowledge that the Darmeni government is negociating the purchase of some vessels to upgrade their obsolete navy. Is that true?

"Yes, as far as I know, they are looking to reach a deal with the Eurans for that purchase. They're trying to buying some destroyers and carriers, as they're willing to not fall behind in a potential naval race with Eura and Sargossa."

"The prospect of them buying ships and then using them against us in the Westlands doesn't please me at all. But we have them appeased with our missile barrier so I guess there's nothing to worry on that part. However, I want you to do me a favour, so listen up: now that my father is dead, I think it's the perfect chance for us to generate some kind of destabilization and get rid of that threat once and for all. I need you to launch a massive discrediting campaign of Darmen among Valladars and Darmenis alike in the whole county and the Darmeni zones nearby to the Valladar border. It might come as a "they're gonna get rid of us" kind of rumour or something like that, I don't really care. The thing is, it must be strong enough to upset the inhabitants and make the Darmeni autorities hold a vote on autonomy. The ideal situation for us would be that they decide to vote for independence and become sort of a buffer state between the Westlands and Darmen, although if they voted for union with Valladares, I wouldn't be that displeased..."

"Well, you know Valladares and Darmen will be playing in the Copa Rushmori for a berth to the semifinals. I just hope we win so you don't have to deal with that pest in Metropolis on the day of His Highness' funeral."

"I hope so as well, though we are trying to convince the VFA and the CRF to put off a day both semifinals so that the first one isn't played on the same day as the funeral, regardless of the winner between Valladares and Darmen. But now that I think of it...that IS the perfect scenario for us to start working. Think about it...a match charged with bilateral tensions, plus tempers raised PLUS alcohol...it's perfect!"

"Highness...I am not liking the sound of this..."

"You do what I am telling you or else someone's going to have his job chopped off as soon as I take office. Understood?"

"Well, you gave me no other choice. I'll do it. By the way, my sincerest condolences. I hope you and your brother stay as strong as you are right now."

"Thank you, and please call me whenever you have our plan underway."

"I'll do so, Highness. Expect news from Rogerton soon."

"I hope they'll be good ones."

[Valladares]

Your Judgement Day has arrived earlier than usual. Cut-off!

---

Quarterfinals:

Mapletish 2-3 Sargossa @ Stade de Torgos, Torgos, Pasarga
Valladares 1-1 Darmen (1-2 AET) @ Royal Stadium, St. Petrus, Saintland (Scorinated by SJG)
Eura 1-0 Sameba @ Colosus Romanopolis, Romanopolis, Darmen
Pasarga 0-0 Saintland (0–0 AET) (3–4 pen.) @ Bastion Arena, Bastion, Eura

Semifinals (To be played at Alexander I National Stadium, Swangard, Valladares):

Sargossa vs. Darmen
Eura vs. Saintland

We will return to the 01:00-02:00 UTC cutoff window for the remaining rounds of the tournament.

[Darmen]

It had been some time since the entire cabinet had met. Scat Peari had still been Prime Minister at their last meeting, and four of their former members had left to scale back their governing duties. The new Prime Minister, Bram Hayes, was the first to speak, "Welcome gentleman, and thanks for coming. Now, I know under Peari we would start at the top and work our way down in terms of seniority, but I'm going to change things up a bit and start from the bottom. So Parent, your first up."

Forestry Minister Hróarr Parent was quick in his report, "Well Sir, it appears we won't have a paper industry anytime soon. There's a quite substantial lack of investors, and the lumber industry has refused to change over."

Hayes sighed as it appeared his plan to switch Darmen from a lumber industry to a paper industry had appeared to fail. After several other ministers had given their reports, it was the newly appointed Royal Affairs Minister, Gedaliah Martin's turn to speak. Martin had drastically increased the Ministry's importance in just the few short weeks he had been in charge. No longer was the Ministry there just to plan royal trips and manage the Duke's finances, but it was now also providing important advice in diplomacy to the Duke and other royal family members.

"Well Sir, the Duke, his wife, and their son the Heir, returned home safely from their trip to Valladares for King Charles' lying in state."

"I'm well aware," said Hayes, "I was on the plane with them."

"Indeed you were Sir. The Duke would like to thank you and Mr. Mencher for making the trip possible."

Hayes had been hoping for some more important news from the young Minister, but decided against pressing him for more information.

Following more reports from other Ministers, the Education Minister, Dirk Vernon, took his turn to speak. "Sir, our plan for free college education is coming along just fine. The universities are loving it. We still haven't arrived at a final number for the increase in funding, but it shouldn't be too substantial."

Sylvestre Monahan, the Health Minister, didn't wait very long after Vernon had finished speaking to begin his report. "Sir, there's a very worrying situation down in the southeast, centered mainly in County Rogerton."

"What is it?" asked Hayes, as both he, Foreign Affairs Minister Petronius Mencher, and Defense Minister John Terry sat up a bit in their seats.

Monahan cleared his throat, "Well Sir, there has been, in just the past 24 hours or so, eight confirmed cases of measles in the County, as well as a few in the surrounding counties. The Health Ministry is convinced we have an outbreak on our hands."

"Aren't there supposed to be vaccines to stop these sort of things?" asked Hayes.

"Well, yes Sir, but this outbreak seems to be concentrated among those 60 years old and up. You may or may not be aware, but vaccines weren't made mandatory until just a few years ago, and the Measles vaccine wasn't even available until the mid-60's. Voluntary inoculation rates were fairly low up until just a few years prior to it becoming mandatory. Those who retired prior to the vaccine being mandatory, and therefore didn't get the vaccine in order to keep their job, aren't protected, and its affecting them the most."

"Well then Monahan, what's the worst case scenario?" asked Hayes.

"The worst case scenario is that the lone hospital in Micon and the 23 in Rogerton get swamped with cases and can't handle it. And everybody dying of course, but that's unlikely since measles isn't very deadly."

"Are there any other reasons why this outbreak could be centered in County Rogerton?" asked Mencher.

"No, I don't believe so, why?"

"Because I don't want this government to be blamed. Monahan, I want you to begin writing an amendment to the... the..."

"Vaccination Act of 2014, Sir."

"Yes, that's the one Monahan. Amend that to make it mandatory for everyone to get vaccinations, regardless of whether they're working or attending school or whatever is already covered. Cover everything and everyone."

The reports of the Interior Minister, Defense Minister and Foreign Affairs Minister were the longest of the meeting, but were rather mundane. Finally, the Deputy Prime Minister was to give his report. Marnix Hartell stood up and began walking around the table.

"Gentlemen, we have a problem. As many of you know, the Election Commission received over 200,000 signatures on a petition organized by citizens from County Rogerton calling for a referendum on granting the County semi-autonomy. This in and of itself is not a problem. We've known this was coming for a long time, and frankly I was surprised they didn't achieve semi-autonomy last year following Riotgate.

"But now gentlemen, there is something more to this situation. Two more petitions are being circulated around the County. One calls for an option of Independence to be added to the referendum. The other calls for union with Valladares."

Gasps were heard around the room. George Kalenda, an MP from the County leapt up. Not only was he Minister of Energy, but he was also the Chairman of the Board of Directors for Kalenda Oil, a company his grandfather had founded. Kalenda Oil had its headquarters in the city of Rogerton, which also served as the main base for over 80% of its offshore drilling operations.

"Those bastards must be stopped. Darmen needs that oil, we all know that. If Darmen loses the county to the Valladares, transportation will grind to a halt unless we import in 3.6 billion barrels of oil a year to replace the output of Kalenda Oil. And that'll cost us an arm and a leg, draining our reserves even faster than they currently are, raising the price of gas, reversing the deflation we've been experiencing lately with the rising value of the Baba. It'll be one hell of a massive problem."

"George, calm down, I'm fairly certain oil isn't going to be our biggest problem there," said Hayes, pulling himself together after hearing the shocking news. "George, you know the situation in Rogerton better than anyone. What's the most likely outcome should those petitions be successful and we have a four option referendum?"

Kalenda sat back down, patting his hair down as he did so. "Semi-autonomy or independence. The status quo won't remain much longer that's for certain, and joining Valladares would give the Darmeni nationalists there all the reason to turn violent. We're talking about ethnic cleansing type violence. I don't know what the IG-2 knows, and maybe Foster can help me out here, but I think the new Sheriff in County Rogerton told me that there are several groups with stashes of weapons hidden away just waiting for an excuse to use them. The Valladar community knows this, and they're smart enough not to go that route."

The Interior Minister, Iachin Foster, spoke up, "Well Kalenda, I can't say too much because I'm still new in the Ministry and not entirely certain about what I can and can't say..."

"Tell us everything Foster," said Hayes, "I'm personally giving you clearance. Gentleman, nothing that is about to be said is to leave this room, alright?" The cabinet members nodded their heads, before turning to Foster.

"Alright, here's what I know. I only just had a short briefing on this a few days ago. There's a group called the National People's Front, or NPF for short, that's pro-Darmen. There's also a group called the Frente de la Libertad Valladar, the FLV for short, that's pro-Valladares. We believe their both armed and waiting for a reason to start fighting. The NPF vastly outnumbers the FLV though. We're talking about a 1,000 members in the NPF and maybe 200 or 300 for the FLV. They only have small arms though, so a couple regiments from the Army could easily deal with both groups in a short period if things turned violent."

"Can we use the IG-2 and local police to find their weapons and arrest their leaders before things turn violent?" asked Hayes.

"We're trying to put something together, but a lack of informants is hurting our chances of finding the weapons. We think they move them around quite often," answered Foster, taking his glasses off and rubbing his eyes. He secretly wished he had turned down Hayes when the Prime Minister had offered him the job.

Hayes turned back to Kalenda, who still looked extremely worried. "What about independence George. Would an independent Rogerton be pro-Darmen or pro-Valladar?"

"From what Foster just said, it would probably be in a state of civil war, or at best civil unrest, a vast majority of the time. You'd probably have two rival governments, one backed by us, the other by Metrópolis, who would fail to do anything for the people. The standard of living would fall, the population would fall, oil production would undoubtedly stop completely. In my opinion, the only outcome from Rogerton becoming independent is war between Darmen and Valladares over the premise of protecting their respective 'peoples'."

"So no matter what, from the sounds of it," said Hayes, leaning back in his seat at the head of the table, "violence will probably prevail in the County regardless of what happens. In that case, I think it would be in the best interest of this government and the nation to prepare for a State of Emergency. Foster, I want you to get those arms away from the NPF and FLV, and I want there leaders arrested on charges of attempting to incite violence, failing to comply with the Violent Autonomy and Devolution Act of 2014 and what ever other charges you can come up with. And Terry, in case Foster doesn't do a satisfactory job, which I have the fullest confidence in him to do so, but just in case, get the Army in that area ready for deployment outside their bases.

"But gentlemen, lets try not to ruffle the feathers of Metrópolis while the All Greens are in Swangard, alright. Keep your lips sealed, use back doors."

[Sargossa]

SSM | Sargossan State Media

International Edition - Sport


Green vs Blue


Mario Najar reports;

Ah the Copa Rushmori, we’ve always loved it. Even during those moments in which we cursed, berated, cussed and generally bad-mouthed this tournament, deep down inside we’ve loved it. It’s birth might have been difficult, among much bickering and name-calling during a storm lashed night in Torgos, but the end product has (twice, mainly) proved worth it. Such is the rose tinted view only possible when in the final four of the Copa, something the Corsairs have achieved for the first time since the fifteenth edition of the tournament. And true to form they didn’t make it particularly easy.

The first half against quarter final opponents Mapletish couldn’t have gone much better, the battle hardened Sargossans more than a match for the inexperienced Fiery Lions who were making a return to international football after some enforced time away. And it was Federico Cifuentés who deservedly broke the deadlock, cutting in from the left flank before curling a fifteen yard drive into the back of the net with his wrong foot. The Fiery Lions had been caught surprisingly cold and it didn’t take long for Saturnín Quinteros to double the advantage, poking home from close range after Ayala’s header from a corner wasn’t properly cleared. When halftime came fans and players alike could have been forgiven for thinking the match was over.

Even more so when, five minutes into the second half, Quinteros took full advantage of a loose back pass to make it three. But where the Corsairs have the potential to score in any match they play they've also proved remarkably adept at conceding. A worrying trend indeed and one that was particularly apparent in this very tournament when Darmen roared back from three goals down to very nearly snatch a draw during the group stage. A fitting comparison given that Mapletish would also go on to pull two goals back, Lee Jeong Myung the beneficiary of nervous defending as he scored twice to give the Fiery Lions hope of a stunning comeback. They had their chances too, but for some last ditch tackling and the reflexes of Armando Abad extra time would have been on the cards. But somehow the Corsairs backline, practically on their own goal line by the end, held out for the welcome relief of the final whistle. The celebrations were subdued, almost as if they knew they’d dodged a bullet.

One goal proved to be the difference, just as it did in two of the remaining three quarter finals as the tournament took a predictable turn towards to cagey. The Eurans edged through their politically explosive encounter with Sameba by a single goal to nil, while Valladares and Darmen were deadlocked at 1 – 1 in another contentious pairing before an extra time winner for the All Greens sent the hosts crashing out. Not even 120 minutes of football could separate Pasarga and Saintland in the final match, penalties eventually seeing the Sanctii safely through. So there we have our final four.

It’ll be Eura against Saintland in one heavyweight clash but the fixture we’re looking to is the fifteenth meeting between the Corsairs and the All Greens of Darmen. Fifteen meetings, making Darmen comfortably Sargossa’s most relentless foes. The first was way back at the eighth Copa, a 2 – 1 win for the All Greens. But it’s been slim pickings for the Darmenis ever since, with just two further victories to their name. In fact the Corsairs are unbeaten in their last seven games against this most persistent of opposition. Add to that too the six wins out of six in Copa Rushmori semi-finals and the portents are rather good. So why can’t we shake that nagging feeling that Darmen a due a win?

[Eura]

The persistent rumble of heavy traffic was enough to wake Carlton from his sleep as light began to find its way through gaps in between the curtains of his bedroom window. He had been in Pasarga for two days and already attended two very public events, before being tucked away into fancy accommodation in Torgos. The whole city seemed to be buzzing, though Carlton wasn't sharing the feeling after some exhausting formal occasions and the long connection of flights he had to take to get here. He rose slowly from his bed, throwing on a dressing gown as he did so and waltzing over to turn the television on. He was greeted by EBC News and the glorious sight of John Spartan's wonder goal, putting a smile on his face as he heard the first knock on the door of the day. 'Who is it?'
'Bruno Dujmović, sir!' It was just his new local bodyguard. 'Oh, right...come in. And just call yourself Bruno, honestly, I don't want to be too formal.' Bruno marched in with a wary look on his face. 'I know you are new to our country, sir, but surely you understand our customs? You are to be a prince!'
'Until then you will be just Bruno...and you will still be Bruno to me afterwards. We need to be on first name terms or this won't work.'
'Y-yes sir.'
'Try again.'
'Yes...Mr Shorley? I mean Carlton!'

Eura's new royal grinned with satisfaction. 'Much better. Now, what's the agenda for today?'
'Your breakfast will be up soon and then you'll have your morning briefing at eleven. Julia wants to discuss the ceremony in the Gold Room at twelve and then you will have lunch at one thirty. Before breakfast comes though sir...'
'Carlton. Or Carl even.'
'...I mean, Carlton sir, before breakfast comes through you have a call.'
'A call?'
'Yes sir, very urgent. From Mr Barrow at the embassy.' Carlton grunted with disapproval; he didn't want to have to talk to that man this early in the day. 'Fine. Could you leave me to it then?'
'Of course. He's on line four.' Bruno marched out of the room and closed the door while Carlton waddled over to the phone, almost tearing it from his socket in his eagerness to get this conversation out of the way. 'This is Carlton Shorley.'
'Good morning! Sleep well?'
'...yes Mr Barrow, and I was feeling perfectly awake until you started talking. What is it you want?' There was an odd pause as Barrow went away from the phone without warning. In the background loud voices could be heard, perhaps an argument or just a very enthusiastic conversation.

'Sorry about that Mr Shorley, everything is a bit hectic around here right now. It seems to be all kicking off at home. The government think some hostile states have found out about an arms deal, the election race is hotting up and the Copa Rushmori has gotten all rather exciting. Moreover I gather that people are interested, to say the least, in your upcoming marriage into the Pasargan royal family! How goes everything on that front?' Carlton was reluctant to go into too much detail. Not much had happened anyway, so there was little to talk about. 'Julia and I have held talks about various issues as part of our official meet and greets. Nothing of particular importance though, other than grand overtures about how we had to create a new era of political stability and whatnot.'
'That's all?'
'Pretty much. Well, not quite. I'm marrying Jórunn Friðleifsdóttir, it seems.' Before he could continue, there was a loud cheer on the other end of the line which interrupted him. 'Hold on a minute, am I on speaker phone?'
'Awfully sorry Mr Shorley, the staff really wanted to hear that!'
'How is it any of their business whatsoever?'
'It isn't, but don't you want loyal Euran diplomats to your new nation to have a bit of a morale boost? It is fantastic news!'

Carlton couldn't help but laugh and drop his offended act. 'Oh alright, fine, its fantastic. She's a lovely woman and we haven't even seen that much of each other but we get on well.'
'Good show, Mr Shorley, good show! Now, speaker phone off...' The people on the other end of the line let loose a collective groan of disappointment. '...now now, this was a private conversation you know! You've heard what you needed to hear! Sorry about that Mr Shorley, now, I want to meet with you this week along with one of my friends from our more secretive services.'
'Why would you want to do that then? Scan my brain to check that I'm not a communist?'
'That's rather witty my friend but no, we need to discuss your role in Pasarga. Am I correct in understanding that you plan to discuss industrial issues in your sector with Julia soon?'
'Today, I think. Why, do you have any particular advice?'
'There's a dossier we've sent over with our observations which you shall get soon, but quite frankly given your experience with Lewis-Shorley I'm sure you can get by - though that isn't me recommending you don't read the dossier of course. On the topic of Lewis-Shorley, and the affiliate Mansley Systems, I've got some news. I don't have all of the details but the cabinet are discussing allowing Mansley to transfer five hundred MBT-8H's from Helving should the political situation devolve to violence.' Carlton might have only been here for a few days, but he almost felt a loyalty to Pasarga already. 'At what expense?' he asked with a great deal of skepticism in his voice.
'Oh, not an awful lot...I am sure we can come to an arrangement.'

[Valladares]

Four teams have arrived to Valladares to play the final four matches of the Copa Rushmori. And the two finalists will be known after this RP cutoff.

---

Semifinals (Both played at Alexander I National Stadium, Swangard, Valladares):

Sargossa 3–0 Darmen
Eura 1–0 Saintland

Third Place Play-Off @ Alexander I National Stadium, Swangard, Valladares
Darmen vs. Saintland

Final @ Alexander I National Stadium, Swangard, Valladares
Sargossa vs. Eura

As a reminder, the 3PPO will be scorinated in 24 hours, and the final in 48 hours.

[Darmen]

"He wants to do what‽"

"He wants to visit Rogerton for two or three days," said Royal Affairs Minister Gedaliah Martin.

"No! Absolutely not!" said the Prime Minister, slamming his fist onto his desk. Martin jumped a little. The Prime Minister picked up a dossier from the Health Ministry. "This right here," he said, "is reason enough to not go. 44 more confirmed cases in Rogerton and County Dunn. East Potros has six total cases. And Monahan called this morning, we've had our first death. 84 year old grandmother with twelve grandchildren. And just today, the Rogerton Herald ran an editorial blaming us for not preventing the outbreak. We're getting some bad press down there."

"And that's all the more reason why the Duke should go down there. He wants to go down there," pleaded Martin, although he too had his reservations about a visit to the southeast corner of the nation.

"That's not all Martin. I know you were here yesterday for the Cabinet meeting. I know you heard what Foster said. It's not safe down there anymore. Not until the IG-2 and the local police clean things up. But that could take weeks." The Prime Minister left his seat and turned to look out the window. It was cloudy, and the shadows of several tall buildings made the streets below him dark enough that the street lights had come on. He wondered if it would rain.

"I've explained the situation to the Duke the best I could without giving him too many details. But he won't listen."

The Prime Minister sighed. "No matter how much we try to mold the Duke to be the way we want him, he always seems to do better at molding us. Peari always told me his father had been quick to go along with everything we wanted. He was our biggest supporter. But his son..."

Martin interrupted the Prime Minister before he could say anything that he might later regret, "You realize he's going whether you like it or not, right Hayes?"

"I figured you tell me that. I guess I'll have to talk to him myself and see if I can't stop him. Wish me luck," said the Prime Minister as he walked towards the door. He grabbed his coat off the hook and closed the door behind him, leaving Martin in the room alone. Martin looked around the room for awhile, before turning his attention to the window. A flash of lightning could be seen in the distance. Martin had a sinking feeling.

A storm was approaching.

[Valladares]

Third place play-offs are always fun. Darmen and Saintland may have fallen at the last hurdle, but for both sides there's still something to play for. Cutting off now.

---

COPA RUSHMORI XX - THIRD PLACE PLAY-OFF

Darmen 1–0 Saintland
@ Alexander I National Stadium, Swangard, Valladares

[Darmen]

OOC: Posting this here too as it's a continuation of my RP line from this tournament. Subsequent posts will be in the DBC thread.

Tragedy in Rogerton
Duke and Heir killed in blast at hotel, Princess Janessa becomes Duchess

The Rogerton Saveloy Grande Hotel, torn apart by a bomb

ROGERTON - His Royal Majesty, by the Grace of GOD, Defender of the Faith, Protector of the People, Maintainer of Peace, Justice, Order and Morality, Duke of Darmen, Monarch of Earo and Frecmenta, Crown of the Commonwealth, Francisco Lyons the XXth, Order of OUR LORD and his son, Cadet Francisco Lyons the XXIst, Army of Darmen, were killed last night as the slept in the Rogerton Saveloy Grande Hotel. They had just arrived from Scott City and were planning on visiting the region for three days.

According to reports from the Royal Police, who are handling the investigation alongside the IG-2 and Rogerton Metropolitan Constabulary and the Ministries of Justice and the Interior, the bomb was planted in the room directly below where the Royal guests were staying. It exploded at approximately 11:52pm Darmeni Standard Time (7:52pm Rushmori Continental Time), killing the Duke, his son the Heir, and several of their staff and security instantly.

Prime Minister Bram Hayes addressed the nation as well as the rest of Rushmore early this morning on national television as well as the Rushmori Broadcasting Channel, announcing the death of the two Royals. He did not state who was to blame for the incident, although Islamic terrorists or radical Valladar nationalists are thought to be two possible culprits by many in the media.

Around noon today, the House of the Magistrates, following an emergency meeting, officially approved the ascension of Princess Janessa Romanov, half-sister of the Duke, to the throne, with the Speaker of the House making the announcement prior to one o'clock in the afternoon. She will now be known as Her Royal Majesty, by the Grace of GOD, Defender of the Faith, Protector of the People, Maintainer of Peace, Justice, Order and Morality, Duchess of Darmen, Monarch of Earo and Frecmenta, Crown of the Commonwealth, Janessa Romanov the Ist, Order of OUR LORD. She will be the first Duchess of Darmen, and the first of the House of Romanov to sit on the throne. This will be only the third Royal House to sit on the throne, the first two being the Houses of Nord and Lyons.

The bodies of the Duke and his son the Heir will be transported to Tempala, to the Temple of OUR LORD, the holiest site in Forden Christianity not located in Israel. Their funerals will be held simultaneously on the 5th, with Holy Pupa Matthew Wilkerson the Ist at the head of the ceremony. Their bodies will then be transported to the Parliament building in Scott City, where they will lie in state for three days. Following that, they will once again be transported back Tempala to be buried alongside many of the other deceased Duke's of Darmen, in St. Anacletus's Cemetary.

Janessa Romanov will be Coronated on the 14th, with the ceremony once again being held in Tempala. Darmen is one of the few countries in the mulitverse which coronates its monarchs in the territory of another sovereign state which its' monarch does not reign over.

A large amount of foreign delegations are not expected to attend either the funerals or the coronation. Delegations from the Commonwealth nations of Earo, Frecmenta and Naitpyge are expected, while a delegation from Valladares is also rumored to be attending, although neither government has confirmed.

Other Headlines

• Army deployed in County Rogerton following terrorist attacks
• National People's Front holds rally in Rogerton following bombing, demands Valladars be expelled
• Mayor of Rogerton denounces NPF, calls for an end to "hate" from both sides
• Government revalues State Controlled Enterprises for fifth time, NLDP outraged
• Number of Measles cases in Rogerton rises to 67, death toll rises to two
• What does the newly established Romanov dynasty mean for Darmen
• Is Duchess Romanov ready to lead the nation at only 26?
• Two year old Maxwell Romanov becomes Heir to the Throne
• Darmen defeats Saintland, 1-0, places third at Copa
• All Greens rushed home from Valladares following victory in Copa