Transvaal World Cup



On December 2, 2007 the Staatsregeringministrie vir Sport en Atletiese van Transvaal (Department for Sport and Athletics of Transvaal) and the Transvaal Voetbalsvereniging (Transvaal Association Football Union) announced the decision to host the second annual Transvaal World Cup in March 2008.

The inaugural Transvaal Cup was originally hosted in the late spring of 2007 as the Nordreich Victory Cup of Soccer (or Nordreich Cup for short). After the collapse of Nordreich, the tournament resumed a couple of weeks later under the name of Transvaal Cup.

The Transvaal World Cup has been sanctioned by both CN soccer federations, the United Cybernations Football Associations (UCFA) and Liga Mundo.

Participants
Sign-up for the tournament was announced on January 30, 2008 and Tranvsaal, Neo Japan, Deutschland, Tahoe, Shilla Commonwealth, and Jalop all registered that day.

Seven more nations then registered the following day: Sooners, Arcadian Empire, J Andres, The Children of Odin, Salopia, Crowdog Damnation, and PDSAR. Mac Land, Yugoslavia, Dun Carrig, and Paraganea joined on February 1 to bring the total number of entrants to 17.

Cataduanes and The Cheeselands signed-up on February 2 followed by The Teutonic Order and Kingdom of Van the next day bring the total entrants to 21, enough nations to confirm that the tournament would be played with four preliminary-round pools.

Laputa signed-up on February 5; VolNation, OPArsenal, and Costa Libertad all signed-up on of February 6. Republic of Scotland signed up two days later.

Ashwinder and Braveheart signed-up on February 17 to bring the total number of teams to 28.

Yala Misr signed up as a conditional late entry on February 23. Kingdom of Persia signed up as a late entry the following day which allowed both them and Yala Misr to thus participate - bring the tournament up to 30 nations.

Later in the day of February 24, the last remaining two spots were taken by Melloria and Sumeria to round out the tournament with a full compliment of 32 teams.

Pre-tournament
On February 21, 2007 the results of the preliminary round draw were announced along with the final playoff and consolation round scehdules.

The following evening the teams were set-up with their chosen formations and strategies.

Stadium Facilities
Botha Stadium - Pretoria

Jake Felan Klingen Memorial Stadium - Johannesburg

Vrystaat Stadium - Bloemfontien

Unification Stadium - Kaapstad (Cape Town)

Pre-Tournament Friendlies
Crowdog Damnation defeated OPArsenal 4-1

Mac Land defeated Deutschland 2-1

Neo Japan defeated Dun Carrig 3-1

Arcadian Empire defeated Bulawayo Impalas 4-0

Pre-Tournament Predictions
TRANSVAAL DAAGLIKSE NUUS - SPORTS SECTION

Looking at the pre-tournament rankings, this is how the Transvaler Daaglikse Nuus views the four pool rounds as shaping up:

POOL 'A' PREDICTION & REVIEW

1st OPArsenal 2nd Salopia 3th The Teutonic Order 4th Transvaal 5th VolNation 6th Jalop 7th Costa Libertad 8th Sumeria

''OPArsenal and Salopia right now look like the only solid sure bets to make the Final-16, although any losses they may cough up to weaker squads could be the matter of life and death for those at the bottom. The 3rd Place spot will likely be fought by The Teutonic Order, Transvaal, and VolNation - but the 4th place spot is probably up for grabs. There are enough questionable, weaker sides that anyone of one them could find themselves propelled into 4th place on account of a strong run against the rest of the minnows.''

''As for the home team, as is known to all here in Pretoria who watched their matches, our beloved Springboks [Transvaal] were a notoriously unpredictable outfit in last year's tournament, dropping games to weaker sides and then taking points from stronger teams they shouldn't have beat most days. They surprisingly finished in 6th place but this time around will be challenged to make it higher than 12th.''

POOL 'B' PREDICTION & REVIEW

1st Crowdog Damnation 2nd Mac Land 3rd Republic of Scotland 4th Laputa 5th J Andres 6th Braveheart 7th PDSAR 8th Yala Misr

''The only pool with two #1 ranked nations; however cannot be deemed the pool of death on account of the three minnows and three second-tier squads. It's a toss-up between Crowdog Damnation and Mac Land for first, with the edge going to Crowdog Damnation if they can build on their recent, impressive pre-tournament exhibition victory. Republic of Scotland should be able to easily lock up third place while Laputa and J Andres will need strong victories versus the bottom feeders to boost their goals-difference as these two teams are fairly close otherwise. Their two head-to-head matches will probably determine their fate in where they land in the table - and whether one or both of them makes the Final-16 round. As for Braveheart, PDSAR, and Yala Misr - if any of these can steal some upsets and gain a spot in the Final-16, then that will be an impressive accomplishment enough.''

POOL 'C' PREDICTION & REVIEW

1st Deutschland 2nd Arcadian Empire 3rd Neo Japan 4th The Children of Odin 5th Tahoe 6th Ashwinder 7th Kingdom of Van 8th Kingdom of Persia

''Deutschland, one of the #1 ranked football powers, is only one of three visiting squads from last year's tournament; The Children of Odin and Sooners (in Pool D) are the others - and the Kasier's men will certainly be playing hard and fast to reverse amends for a rather lacklustre 8th place finish. Deutschland looked impressive in pre-tournament exhibition and is expected to go deep in the tournament. A Final-4 finish would not be out-of-the ordinary, but would need a complete effort to leave Transvaal with the championship. It doesn't harm them either that there is still a sizeable portion of the Transvaler population which was born under and still admires the former Nordreich Kasier, so more so than any other team except for the home squad, local fan sentiment could well make many Deutschland matches feel like they are playing at home.''

''Arcadian Empire, currently the most dominant team in UCFA for assorted silverware, will no doubt have intense pressure on them to also add a World Cup championship to their trophy case. The question is whether that intense pressure will propell them to victory... or to defeat?''

''The rest of the pool is pretty wide open. While Neo Japan, The Children Of Odin (6th in Pool A last year), and Tahoe should be the challengers for the 3rd and 4th spots, no one really knows how the three minnows in Pool C will do against each other. It well happen that one of these makes 3rd or 4th based on strong wins against fellow minnows coupled with an upset or two against one of the stronger squads.''

POOL 'D' PREDICTION & REVIEW

1st Paraganea 2nd Yugoslavia 3rd Dun Carrig 4th Shilla Commonwealth 5th Melloria 6th The Cheeselands 7th Sooners 8th Cataduanes

''Paraganea and Yugoslavia match-ups will be be key for first place finish - both these teams are exepcted to make it into the Final-16 and probably into the quarter-finals. Dun Carrig could possibly steal 2nd place if Paraganea or Yugoslavia slips up and goes on a cold streak. Shilla Commonweath and Melloria will battle it out with Dun Carrig for the 3rd and 4th spots. The Cheeselands has an outside chance for 4th if they can snag wins at the expense of the stronger sides - meanwhile Sooners will be be playing simply to avoid the shame of their 31st place finish last year, and should be able to accomplish that by taking its matches versus minnow Cataduanes. Any placement higher than 7th for Cataduanes will be ample success enough.''

March 1, 2008
POOL 'A': Sumeria defeated VolNation 2-1; Costa Libertad tied Jalop 1-1

POOL 'B': Laputa tied Republic of Scotland 1-1; PDSAR defeated Yala Misr 2-1; Republic of Scotland defaeted Mac Land 3-2

POOL 'C': Kingdom of Persia defeated Arcadian Empire 2-1; Neo Japan tied Tahoe 0-0; Deutschland defeated Kingdom of Persia 1-0; Arcadian Empire defeated Tahoe 2-1; Neo Japan defeated Tahoe 3-0

POOL 'D': Paraganea defeated The Cheeselands 2-1; Yugoslavia defeated Melloria 2-1; Dun Carrig tied Yugoslavia 0-0; Paraganea defeated Shilla Commonwealth 2-1

March 2, 2008
POOL 'A': Transvaal tied Costa Libertad 1-1; Salopia defeated VolNation 2-1; OPArsenal defeated Jalop 2-1; The Teutonic Order defeated Sumeria 1-0; Jalop defeated Costa Libertad 2-1; VolNation defeated Sumeria 2-1; OPArsenal tied VolNation 2-2; Costa Libertad defeated The Teutonic Order 3-2

POOL 'B': Crowdog Damnation defeated Laputa 1-0 Republic of Scotland defeated J Andres 3-2; Braveheart tied Yala Misr 0-0; Mac Land defeated J Andres 3-2; Republic of Scotland defeated PDSAR 3-2; Braveheart defeated Republic of Scotland 2-0; J Andres tied Mac Land 0-0; J Andres defeated Yala Misr 1-0; Mac Land defeated PDSAR 1-0; Laputa vs Braveheart (rescheduled to March 3)

POOL 'C': Kingdom of Persia tied Kingdom of Van 2-2; Deutschland defeated Tahoe 2-1

POOL 'D': Sooners tied Paraganea 1-1; Dun Carrig tied Shilla Commonwealth 1-1; Paraganea defeated Shilla Commonwealth 1-0; Dun Carrig defeated Cataduanes 3-2; Dun Carrig defeated The Cheeselands 3-2; Shilla Commonwealth defeated Cataduanes 3-1; Melloria tied Paraganea 0-0; Shilla Commonwealth tied Dun Carrig 0-0; The Cheeselands defeated Yugoslavia 2-1; Melloria vs Sooners (rescheduled to March 3)

March 3, 2008
POOL 'A': Transvaal defeated Jalop 1-0; Salopia defeated Jalop 3-2

POOL ‘B’: Braveheart defeated Laputa 1-0; Mac Land defeated Republic of Scotland 2-1; Crowdog Damnation defeated Republic of Scotland 2-1; Mac Land defeated PDSAR 1-0; Braveheart tied Republic of Scotland 0-0; Mac Land defeated Yala Misr 1-0

POOL ‘C’: Neo Japan defeated The Children of Odin 1-0; Tahoe defeated The Children of Odin 2-1; Ashwinder defeated Kingdon of Van 2-1

POOL ‘D’: Melloria defeated Sooners 1-0; Yugoslavia defeated Cataduanes 1-0; Shilla Commonwealth tied Yugoslavia 0-0; Paraganea defeated Cataduanes 1-0

March 4, 2008
POOL 'A': The Teutonic Order defeated Transvaal 1-0; The Teutonic Order defeated Jalop 2-1

POOL ‘B’: Crowdog Damnation defeated Laputa 4-3; PDSAR defeated Braveheart 3-2; Republic of Scotland defeated Yala Misr 1-0; Crowdog Damnation defeated Braveheart 2-1

POOL ‘C’: Deutschland tied Kingdom of Van 0-0

POOL ‘D’: Yugoslavia tied Sooners 1-1; The Cheeselands defeated Cataduanes 2-1; Shilla Commonwealth defeated The Cheeselands 2-1; Yugoslavia defeated Paraganea 3-2; Melloria tied Cataduanes 0-0; Shilla Commonwealth defeated Melloria 2-1; Paraganea defeated Cataduanes 3-1

March 5, 2008
POOL ‘A’: Salopia defeated Transvaal 2-1

POOL ‘B’: Laputa tied PDSAR 0-0; Yala Misr defeated J Andres 1-0; Mac Land defeated Braveheart 2-1; PDSAR tied Yala Misr 0-0; Mac Land defeated Braveheart 3-2

POOL ‘C’: Kingdom of Van tied Neo Japan 1-1; Deutschland defeated Kingdom of Persia 2-1; Tahoe defeated Ashwinder 3-2; The Children of Odin defeated Deutschland 3-2; Deutschland defeated Arcadian Empire 2-1; Tahoe defeated The Children of Odin 3-2; Kingdom of Persia tied Tahoe 1-1; Neo Japan defeated Deutschland 1-0; Arcadian Empire defeated The Children of Odin 2-1; Kingdom of Persia tied Arcadian Empire 3-3; Neo Japan defeated Ashwinder 2-1; Ashwinder defeated Tahoe 2-1

POOL ‘D’: Cataduanes defeated Sooners 2-1; Yugoslavia tied Shilla Commonwealth 1-1; Yugoslavia tied Melloria 0-0; Dun Carrig tied Paraganea 1-1; The Cheeselands tied Melloria 0-0; Yugoslavia defeated Cataduanes 2-1; Cataduanes tied Shilla Commonwealth 0-0; Melloria defeated The Cheeselands 2-1; The Cheeselands tied Paraganea 2-2; Melloria defeated Dun Carrig 4-3; The Cheeselands defeated Yugoslavia 3-2; Shilla Commonwealth tied Melloria 1-1

March 6, 2008
POOL ‘A’: Costa Libertad defeated Transvaal 2-1; Salopia defeated Jalop 2-1; Costa Libertad defeated VolNation 2-1; The Teutonic Order defeated Jalop 1-0

POOL ‘B’: Laputa defeated J Andres 2-1; Braveheart tied J Andres 1-1; Mac Land defeated Yala Misr 1-0

POOL ‘C’: Kingdom of Persia defeated Kingdom of Van 1-0; Ashwinder tied The Children of Odin 1-1; Neo Japan defeated Arcadian Empire 3-2; Ashwinder defeated Kingdom of Persia 3-2

POOL ‘D’: Cataduanes defeated Sooners 2-1; Melloria defeated Dun Carrig 1-0

March 7, 2008
POOL ‘A’: Transvaal defeated Sumeria 1-0; Jalop defeated VolNation 3-2; The Teutonic Order defeated OPArsenal 2-1; OPArsenal defeated Costa Libertad 3-2; Jalop tied Sumeria 1-1

POOL ‘B’: Laputa defeated Yala Misr 3-2; Crowdog Damnation tied J Andres 2-2

POOL ‘C’: Kingdom of Van tied The Children of Odin 0-0; Deutschland defeated The Children of Odin 3-1

POOL ‘D’: Sooners tied Yugoslavia 0-0; Cataduanes tied Melloria 0-0

Tournament Rules
ARBITRATION

- Botha is the final arbitrator of all decisions regarding the tournament. - FIFA2002 is the AI platform for managing and playing out the tournament.

TEAMS

- pre-set stock teams in FIFA2002 are used to represent national squads.

- teams are assigned based on the location of one’s national capital and determined by the following criteria:

1) the national team located in the same country as one’s capital.

2) if there is no national team in FIFA2002, then the nearest national team to one’s capital.

3) if two or more of the same national team are assigned, then those teams will instead use the nearest club league team if there is a relevant club league in FIFA2002; i.e. if one nation located within France enters, then the French national team is used; if two or more nations located in France enter, then the nearest club team in the French league is used.

4) if there are multiple entrants from the same nation, and there is no club league represented (i.e. Finland), then each of those entrants will use duplicates the national team.

5) every attempt will be made to assign unique teams to each entrant. NORDREICH CAVEAT: anyone entering the tournament who also participated in the Nordreich Cup may claim first-call on their previously assigned team from that tournament.

MATCH RULES

- preliminary round-robin games can end in win, loss, or draw; 3 points for a win and 1 point for a draw.

- single-game knock out games are played under Transvaal Football Union rules for deciding draws: if both teams are drawn after 90 minutes, sudden-death overtime is played for 30 minutes (2 x 15 minute periods). If still drawn after extra-time, then a shootout will follow.

FORMATIONS (CHOOSE ONE)

4-3-3

4-4-2 (default)

4-5-1

5-3-2

5-4-1

3-4-3

3-5-2

STRATEGY – ATTACK (CHOOSE ONE)

- neutral (default)

- possession

- counterattack

STRATEGY – DEFENSE (CHOOSE ONE)

- withdrawn (default)

- contain

- pressure

MENTALITY (CHOOSE ONE)

+2 defense / -2 attack

+1 defense / -1 attack

0 / 0 neutral (default)

+1 attack / -1 defense

+2 attack / -2 defense

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