Transvaal World Cup IV

On September 12, 2009 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 fourth annual Transvaal World Cup in March 2010.

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 second Transvaal Cup was held in March 2008. Thirty-two nations participated and the tournament was won by Paraganea. The third Transvaal Cup was held in March 2009. Forty-four nations (including two squads from Transvaal - the Transvaal Springboks and Windhoek Welwitschia) participated in two rounds and the tournament was won by Deutschland.

The 2010 tournament was held in two stages: the main 32-team tournament started March 1st, 2010 preceded by a qualification round played between February 17-26, 2010. Eight of the ten teams playing in the qualification round advanced. The Transvaal World Cup has been sanctioned by various CN soccer federations, the United Cybernations Football Associations (UCFA), Liga Mundo, and FIFOB.

Participants
Sign-up for the tournament was announced on January 14, 2010 and Transvaal (hosts), Arctica, Pravus Ingruo, Promised Land, Tahoe, The Kingdom of Light, and Viniland all registered that day.

The following day saw Adeptes Mechanicus, Arcadian Empire, Articuno Islands, Cataduanes, The Children of Odin, Deutschland (defending champions), Disparu, Dun Carrig, Espana, J Andres, Rhodesia, Sarnungian Republic, Sooners, and Voobaha signed up and were accepted for the tournament.

On January 16, 2010, entries from Costa Libertad, Jutopia Land, Kelton, Killallippies, MacLand, MLW worldwide, Prince Edward Island, The Cheeselands, and Uralica signed up and were accepted. Four days later Debate Land and Kevodia registered for the tournament bringing the number of participants to 32.

Nos Tre Rebublic applied on February 11, 2010 and was accepted the following day. Cascade applied on February 12, 2010 and was accepted on February 15, 2010 bringing the number of entrants to 34.

Stadium Facilities

 * Botha Stadium - Pretoria
 * Jake Felan Klingen Memorial Stadium - Johannesburg
 * Vrystaat Stadium - Bloemfontein
 * Unification Stadium - Kaapstad (Cape Town)
 * Gaborone Civic Field - Gaborone, Botswana
 * The Khomasdal - Windhoek, Namibia
 * Maputo Satdium - Maputo, Mozambique

Pre-Tournament Predictions
TRANSVALER DAAGLIKSE SPORTNUUS - TRANSVAAL CUP IV PREVIEW In a pool with a heavy Liga Mundo presence, hosts Transvaal on paper are the favourites to win Pool A however the Springboks have to get past a legacy of fumbling their way through the preliminary rounds. If they start out cold in their initial matches, the loss of momentum could well doom them to a middle of the pack finish. Dun Carrig, Arcadian Empire (last year's finalists), and Cataduanes are familiar opponents in Liga Mundo (Cataduanes represented in that league by Estrella Roja) and will place immese pressure the host team. J Andres is a decent side often fails to live up to promise at the international level while Arctica, Prince Edward Island (another Liga Mundo nation) and newcomers Cascade - who won the qualification round in confident style – will all be fighting for upsets and a hopeful yet improbable sneak into the Final 16. The weakest of the four pools, Pool B will be dominated by The Cheeselands. Traditionally a middle of the pack nation, they have progressively improved and over-achieved each year. This year should be no different and now facing four of the eight pre-tournament qualifiers, The Cheeselands should be able to cruise to first place. They will face some challenges from Viniland and Kevodia for the tope spot while Jutopia Land will probably lock up 4th place, leaving the four qualifiers from Debate Land, Disparu, Nos Tre Rebublic, and Adeptes Mechanicus to scrap it out for consolation placement. Pool C features the defending Cup III champions from Deutschland and the Cup II finalists from Mac Land. Add to this mix The Children of Odin – only one of four nations participate in all four Transvaal Cups along with the hosts, Deutschland, and Sooners –, Liga Mundo powerhouse Costa Libertad who are led by the legendary fullback Lois Luis, handedly the greatest player in all of CN football, and the tenacious Uralica squad, this pool will be difficult to predict and likely feature some of the best football witnessed in the preliminary round. Voobaha is capable of pulling timely results and will be in the fray for one of the Final 16 spots. Kelton and MLW Worldwide don’t have the experience of international football that the rest of the teams in this pool have but neither will be pushovers either. Expect the unexpected in this pool. Years ago Sooners were the laughing stock of CN international football, finishing 32nd out of 32 in 2007 and then 30th out of 32 in 2008. However in 2009, after a major overhaul of their football programme, they took everyone by surprise with a first place finish in their preliminary pool (second for most points earned) followed up by an impressive 7th place run in the playoffs. They should repeat in 1st place in Pool D as their only real opposition will be Tahoe and Articuno Islands. Killallippies and Sarnungian Republic will battle it out for the final playoff spot in Pool D while Espana, Promised Land, and Rhodesia – all fresh from the qualifying round, will be jockeying for consolation placements.
 * POOL A
 * POOL B
 * POOL C
 * POOL D

Qualification Round Standings

 * Cascade and Nos Tre Rebublic advanced to Pool A
 * Adeptes Mechanicus and Espana advanced to Pool B
 * Disparu and Debate Land advanced to Pool C
 * Promised Land and Rhodesia advanced to Pool D
 * The Kingdom of Light and Pravus Ingruo advanced to "Worst of The World"

March 1, 2009

 * POOL 'A':
 * POOL 'B':
 * POOL 'C':
 * POOL 'D':

Preliminary Round Standings
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Consolation Placement
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Playoff Results
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Prize Money Awarded
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Rankings & Placement
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Rules
PRIZE MONEY: The following prize money will be awarded by the Government of Transvaal as foreign aid (any alliance surrender or war restrictions shall apply): 1st place = $3,000,000; 2nd place = $2,000,000; 3rd place = $1,000,000. NOTE: Transvaal's finish does not count towards prize money.

ARBITRATION: Botha is the final arbitrator of all decisions regarding the tournament. FIFA2005 is the AI platform for managing and playing out the tournament.

ENTRIES: Entries are made under your in-game nation name; RP entities will not be accepted

TEAM ASSIGMENT: Pre-set stock teams in FIFA2005 will be assigned to represent your national squads. Entrants pick one of the following nationalities to represent their team: England, Scotland, France, Germany, Netherlands, Belgium, Italy, Portugal, Spain, Norway, Sweden, Denmark, Switzerland, Austria, Korea, USA, Brazil, or Mexico. Team assigned will be determined by Botha based on your nationality selection as well as a couple of secret factors. Previous tournament participation will improve the quality of your team.

QUALIFICATION: The maximum number of teams that will make the actual Tournament is 32. Transvaal (host) and Deutschland (defending champions) are automatic slots. Entry will be based on previous participation, with 22 team slots going to the most senior previous participants. All other teams will then go through qualification matches for the remaining 8 team slots.

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.