[NoSkillz]

Sat. December 14, 2024

FIFA Club World Cup - Final
Dover vs. Lanus (Argentine Premier League)
Abuja Stadium, Abuja, Nigeria

Betting Odds: Dover: 6-4 (Favourites) Draw: N/A Lanus: 13-8
Past Meetings: 0W 0D 0L

Lanus are a pretty large club and are four-time Copa Libertadores winners, including this year. They have sensational 23 year old striker Javier Gimenez, a world-class Argentine international, who has 18 goals in 20 matches so far this year. He’s exceptional and has long been a transfer target of mine but Lanus want the WORLD for him. These guys are pretty good and will likely give us a good match today.

We’ll start a pretty full strength lineup today in hopes of taking home more hardware. The only holdovers from the semi-final game are Chiquinho and Mads Pedersen.

Dover: 4-4-2 Control
GK - I. Wilke
D - Renato Gaucho, C. Contreras, R. Hamon, S. Loucif
M - M. Pedersen, B. Raab, Jose, G. Allan
S - A. Broomes, Chiquinho
Bench - M. Perez, Rafinha, M. Mutesa, E. Harvey, A. Rocca, G. Bolis, Z. Bardi

Lanus are also in a flat 4-4-2 with Gimenez up front with Edgar Amarilla. Enzo Echevarne is their goalkeeper. It looks like a full house here in Nigeria so lets show them our skill today!

HALFTIME - Ugh - it’s a very chippy first half, with seven yellow cards handed out and FIVE to our players. We are NOT playing well - in fact, Lanus holds 57% of possession (!!) but we outshoot them 10-8 (4-1 on target). Chiquinho must have gotten banged up a bit, as his fitness is really suffering right now. I may change tactics soon but keep the 4-4-2 for now - I tell the team that this game is winnable.

59’ - I take off Chiquinho and bring in Zoltan Bardi, moving to a 4-2-3-1 in the process.

77’ - Still nothing. Graham Allan comes off and in comes Gianluca Bolis.

FULLTIME - The switch to a 4-2-3-1 worked, as we were VERY dangerous in the second half but just couldn’t cash in. Possession is dead even and we have outshot them 20-8 (8-3 on target) through 90 minutes. I reinforce that we can win this game to the lads in the dressing room.

93’ - Andy Broomes works the ball close to goal and is right on the byline but Lanus clear to safety. Jose feeds Benedikt Raab out on the right flank and he works into the box before feeding a little ball back to Gianluca Bolis, who one-times a rocket that’s past Echevarne and IN!!! Bolis has his 50th career goal for Dover, his third in his last three games and we finally break through! DOVER GOAL 1-0

109’ - We switch to a flat 4-4-2 again and a counter attacking philosophy.

110’ - Oh JOY. In a game that already had 12 (!!!) yellow cards, we see Benedikt Raab given a second yellow to make it 13 and he’s sent off. We’re down to ten men. DOVER RED CARD - Benedikt Raab

I take out Andy Broomes and bring in Andrea Rocca, moving to a 4-4-1.

120’ - WONDERFUL. We have a last minute corner and for some reason, only have two men back. Rocca’s corner is cleared and it’s a one on one between Gimenez and Renato Gaucho. The swift of foot Gimenez bursts past our defender, dribbles in on goal and SCORES. LANUS GOAL 1-1

EXTRA TIME - Sigh. We go to penalty kicks.

Lanus - The studly Gimenez scores. LANUS GOAL 0-1
Dover - Most of our great shooters are not in the game so Mads Pedersen is our first shooter. He goes right and it’s off the keepers hands and IN! DOVER GOAL 1-1
Lanus - Mario Dominguez scores. LANUS GOAL 1-2
Dover - Gianluca Bolis is next, goes right as well and it’s IN. DOVER GOAL 2-2
Lanus - They send up defender Pablo Moreno and his shot is tipped over the crossbar by Ingo Wilke!!! SAVE!
Dover - Zoltan Bardi steps up, goes left and it’s IN!!! DOVER GOAL 3-2
Lanus - Lucas Petrucci goes left, Wilke guesses right but the shot is too good and it’s in the top corner. LANUS GOAL 3-3
Dover - Our captain Salim Loucif is up next. He simply doesn’t ever score but he goes left and the keeper guesses WRONG! It’s IN! DOVER GOAL 4-3
Lanus - Juan Carlos Maidana is up, one of their defenders and his shot is OFF THE CROSSBAR!

That’s IT! We win the FIFA Club World Cup with ten men!!!

Dover 1 - 1 Lanus (Dover Win 4-3 on Penalties)
Goals - Gianluca Bolis (7.3)
Assists - Benedikt Raab (6.9)
Man of the Match - Pablo Vazquez (Lanus DC - 8.6)
Other Dover Notables - Salim Loucif (7.0), Rayane Hamon (7.4), Renato Gaucho (7.1), Jose (7.9)
Attendance - 60,000 (Sell-Out)

We dominated the last 75 minutes and ended up with 53% of possession and a 28-18 (10-7 on target) shot advantage in a thriller of a cup final. There were an incredible 14 BOOKINGS in this game, eight of them given to our club. Raab’s red card means he’ll miss our next Champions League game and Bolis also will be suspended for that game.

-- Fans are celebrating our “double” - funny that they consider the Club World Cup and the European Super Cup as a double but hey, we’ll take it!

-- Oh sweet, more money! We’re given £3,030,000 for the victory!

-- Stellar Lanus striker Javier Gimenez wins the Best Player award in the competition. Gianluca Bolis finishes in second and Andrea Rocca finishes third.



Premier League Update

-- While we’re taking down the Club World Cup, there is a full slate of action in league play. Chelsea humble Liverpool 3-0 and that is the last straw for Liverpool manager Michael Laudrup, who is sacked after the match. If you recall, Liverpool offered me their managerial job in July 2018 and I turned it down. Since that time, they’ve gone through five managers, including Laudrup. What a mess…

-- In other action, Arsenal win 1-0 over Villa, Middlesbrough knock off Newcastle 4-2 and the Manchester derby ends in a 2-2 draw.


BARCLAYS PREMIER LEAGUE - STANDINGS
(ALL TEAMS HAVE PLAYED 17 GAMES UNLESS NOTED)

1. Manchester United - 42 points
2. Chelsea - 37 points
3. Dover - 35 points (after 16 games)
4. Manchester City - 33 points
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5. Newcastle - 30 points
6. Arsenal - 30 points
7. Middlesbrough - 29 points
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Dover U18 Update

-- We continue to roll in U18 play, as the lads win 4-2 over Manchester United in U18 Cup 5th round action. Stud striker Alberto Velazquez is at it again, scoring three more goals and DC Danny Hope scores a single. Midfielder James Campbell notched two assists.



Next Up

-- We host Sheffield Wednesday in the quarterfinal of the League Cup.