Welcome to FC Dynasty Cup XIII. The Cup XII Champion, FC Kingston, is back to defend their title and gets the honor of the pre-tournament #1 seed (always the first listed team in Group A.)

We have a full house - 32 teams for the second tournament in a row. That makes for a simple Knockout Round configuration. The 1st and 2nd place teams advance out of each Group and all Knockout qualifiers play in the First Round. If you like technical stuff, the next several paragraphs will be the highlight of your day...
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The following tournament format and rules will apply.
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TOURNAMENT FORMAT
The tournament will be split into multiple stages, a group play followed by knockout rounds. Teams will be eliminated at the end of each stage until a champion is crowned. This champion will lay claim to glory and shall have bragging rights over all teams in all worlds for a very short period of time.

Group Stage
Each team is initially assigned to a group. Group play will consist of a round robin, with each team playing home and away against the other teams within their group. Points will be based on the following - 3 points for a win, 1 point for a tie, 0 points for a loss.

Determination as to which teams will advance to the knockout rounds will be in the following order - stage points - goal differential - away goals - goals scored. If the teams are in an absolute tie after all tiebreakers, a coin flip using random.org's random number service will determine who advances and/or who gets what seed.

Knockout Stage
Each round will be a home/away set with the winner being based on aggregate goals. If aggregate goals are tied, the higher seed will host the lower seed in an additional game. If that game is tied, the lower seed will then host the higher seed and so on. As long as both coaches are scheduling games, the round will continue until one side wins outright. If one team fails to schedule for three consecutive days, that team will forfeit the round and the other team will advance.

The eight group winners will automatically get seeds #1-8 and the eight 2nd place finishers will be seeded #9-16.

The First Round will consist of the following:

#1 seed vs #16 seed
#2 seed vs #15 seed
#3 seed vs #14 seed
#4 seed vs #13 seed
#5 seed vs #12 seed
#6 seed vs #11 seed
#7 seed vs #10 seed
#8 seed vs #9 seed

The Quarterfinals will consist of the following:

#1/16 versus #8/9
#2/15 versus #7/10
#3/14 versus #6/11
#4/13 versus #5/12

The Semifinals will consist of the following:

The #1 seed quarterfinals bracket winner versus the #4 seed quarterfinals bracket winner
The #2 seed quarterfinals bracket winner versus the #3 seed quarterfinals bracket winner

Championship Round
The Championship Round will match the two remaining teams in a home and away series with the winner being based on aggregate goals. If an aggregate goal tie occurs, the host of the additional game will be decided by a coin flip using random.org's random number service. The Championship Round is the only round not subject to a set time frame. Scheduling is open-ended and tiebreakers are unlimited until a Champion has proven their worth on the pitch.

TOURNAMENT RULES
Each stage of the tournament, other than the Championship, will have a specific time frame in which all games must be scheduled. Failure to schedule games within the allotted time frame will result in a forfeiture. On the evening of the last day for each stage, all games that have not been scheduled will be deemed a 0-0 draw so that the stage can be completed. The team failing to issue (or accept) a challenge will be awarded no points for the drawn game. Any team with more than one forfeiture will be withdrawn from the tournament and cannot advance.

Entering the final 72 hours of each stage's time frame, any team that has not received a challenge by an opponent (or has sent a challenge that has not been accepted) should post a request to the other coach here or, if the coach does not have posting rights, via sitemail to gomiami1972, who will post the request on your behalf in this forum thread. I would prefer, if you do not have posting rights, to send any requests through me rather than sitemailing each other. That will cut down on the volume of mail being shipped about.

If you receive a challenge in the same slot you have sent a challenge, please accept the incoming challenge and re-issue your own. If you receive multiple challenges in the same slot, choose one ASAP to give the team you declined as much time as possible to issue a new request.

Time Frame to Schedule Group Stage Games - Nov 5th thru Nov 17th (Challenges must be sent/accepted by 7pm on the 17th. This does not mean the games must be played by the 17th.)
Time Frame to Schedule First Round Games - Nov 23rd thru Dec 4th (Challenges must be sent/accepted by 7pm on the 4th. This does not mean the games must be played by the 4th.)
Time Frame to Schedule Quarterfinal Games - Dec 5th thru Dec 16th (Challenges must be sent/accepted by 7pm on the 14th. This does not mean the games must be played by the 14th.)
Time Frame to Schedule Semifinal Games - Dec 21st thru Dec 29th (Challenges must be sent/accepted by 7pm on the 29th. This does not mean the games must be played by the 29th.)
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Best of luck to all of the participants in their quest for the ultimate prize - The FC Dynasty Cup!
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... FC Dynasty Cup XIII First Round
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Club de Fútbol Deportivo Cotopaxi.....7 : 3.....Futbol Club Oviedo................
Club de Fútbol Deportivo Cotopaxi [4 : 3] Futbol Club Oviedo; Futbol Club Oviedo [0 : 3] Club de Fútbol Deportivo Cotopaxi........................

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Club de Fútbol Deportivo Cotopaxi and indiansrck27 out of World 82 have shown the heart of a Champion by taking the FC Dynasty Cup XIII title, defeating Futbol Club Oviedo and peregrino from World 92 with an aggregate of 7-3. The opening game went to Cotopaxi 3-0 as the series shifted back to Cotopaxi's home field this evening. Up against a wall, Oviedo didn't respond well to the pressure and fell further behind as the Cotopaxi offense started to roll midway through the 1st half. Ariens Mathijssen opened the scoring in the 25th minute when he connected from distance to make the aggregate 4-0. Weyland Watkins then decided to not only clinch the Championship for his side but also to put himself back into the Golden Toe conversation by scoring his 14th of the tournament several minutes later. Watkins scored again before halftime, pushing the aggregate to an insurmountable 6-0 while tying Oviedo's Ewing Sequeira at 15 goals apiece.

With the team title pretty much secured, the 2nd half was more about individual honors and both teams created some drama. After Romeo Gimenez finally got Oviedo on the board in the 61st minute, Sequeira retook the Golden Toe lead in the 82nd minute with his 16th when his header snuck into the near corner. That set up the closing minutes, with Cotopaxi ahead 6-2 in the aggregate, Watkins went for individual glory in the 88th as his own header got past Oviedo goalie Giandomenico Sammarco to knot up the scoring title again at 16 apiece, which was how the tournament ended. As far as the game was concerned, Cotopaxi won the leg 4-3 and the aggregate 7-3, giving them their first ever FC Dynasty Cup title, making up for the disappointment back in Cup VI when they had to settle for the Runner-Up position. Oviedo falls just short of winning its 2nd Cup, being Champions its only other time it reached the final round back in Cup V.

The L'Orteil D'or award will be shared by Weyland Watkins and Ewing Sequeira, as they tie with 16 goals each, as they both will enter the history books. Take your hats off to our runner up, Futbol Club Oviedo and peregrino who had an outstanding run to the runner-up spot but just ran into a superior team. Now, without further ado, the hardware will now be distributed to their rightful owners.

Champion - Club de Fútbol Deportivo Cotopaxi - (indiansrck27)

..... ...........Runner-up - Futbol Club Oviedo - (peregrino)
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........ L'Orteil D'or - Weyland Watkins (Club de Fútbol Deportivo Cotopaxi) and Ewing Sequeira (Futbol Club Oviedo)
..........3rd Place - Fighting Ants