From Madeira With Love (FM2014 Dynasty) Finished!!! Check out stats and final stuff!!

[Abe Sargent]

For today’s away match vs Vit Setubal, another fast sim. Goals by Stepinski, Stepinski, Driussi. We win 3-0. MOM Driussi.


One of the many young Italian wonderkids plays for Club Brugge. 17 year old Christian Merchegiani. We’ll have Club Brugge at home today, our best chance to pick up points in the Group Stage. Tottenham host Dortmund. If Dortmund could tie Tottenham and us win, that’d be a great start if I want to try to beat Tottenham,. Anyway, we look better than CB when I looked at the rosters, so I have us begin controlling. We had some good early attacks but nothing came from them. We score in the 38th when an Lansbury cross, deadly for Stepinki,is interfered with b ya DC right as the GK was moving in, and the two of them knock in an OG due to a lack of communication. Half. I ease back to standard as we’ve each had the ball a similar amount of time and such. Driussi to Rocker in the 73rd. We hold on an win 2-0, and Lansbury is MOM.

Tottenham beat Dortmund also 2-0. We won 1 mill, yadda yadda.

[Abe Sargent]

I sign one of the stud youth prospects that came in through Estoril’s youth squad, Bruno Marques, a DL> I want to develop him into a new Rodrigues (not as good obviously) but Paulo Franco style guy. Their other star is another AMC/MC that I can’t do anything with developmentally. We paid 625k for him. He’ll come in in January when the transfer window re-opens

Can we thump Benfica like we have everyone else? Strandberg scores in the 7th. I slide to control in the 20th. Strandberg hits goal again in the 32nd – two corner kick scores – one by Lansbury and the other by Driussi. Strandberg gets a hat trick off a Lansbury corner in the 45th minute. Wow! I toss in Rui at the half. Then Teikeu heads in. Then Agra in. We win 3-0, oddly, against Benfica.

That might be the career highlight game of Strandberg, against Benfica.

[Abe Sargent]

So, after five games we are in 1st with 15 points. Tied for 2nd with 10 points are Aves, Rio Ave and Porto. Benfica and P Ferreira have 8 each, and then a trio of 7s. So right now, we are crushing folks. Even Benfica and Sporting.

So what’s even left at this point?

Rocker is injured for a week in a training accident, he got a gash on his leg

Against P F. Maxi P to Lansbury for a score in the 17th, Driussi to Stepinski, 40th, Lansbury to Agra, 43rd. Half. I sub in Franco, Pereira, and Luis Carlos. They score late off a PK given by Hernani Costa. We win, 3-1. Lansbury MOM.

[Abe Sargent]

October

3rd Away vs Dortmund, Group B
8th – Home vs Rio Ave
21st – Home vs U Montemor, Taca da Portugal
24th – Away vs Tottenham, Group B
28th – Away vs Belenenses


South Africa:

12 – Away vs Sudan, Quals
17th – Home vs Mauritania, Quals


God training? Totladze, Canela, Rui P, Bad? Jan Holenda


Henri Lansbury won Player of the Month

A loanee of ours, Filipe Oliveira, with Aves, got 2nd place Player of the Month.

I win Manager of the Month

I offer new deals to Cyril Mzizi.


Rocker is back for today’s Dortmund match. As expected, we’ll start things off defensively. We allow a goal quick and then Komorski is injured and I put in Pflugler. Then another score b y Dortmund and its half. But soon, we get lucky as Rocker finds Stepinki on a break for a score in the 52nd. I ease back to counter, and start looking for opportunities. In heads Rui and Mzizi. Finally, in the 81st, Stepinki finds Rocker for a score on another break away. And we tie Dortmund away, 2-2 . That’s a good result.

Bad news for Komorski. He’s out for a month with some broken ribs. Tottenham won of course. But this gives us a strong second, and a chance to get 2nd later on. We hold Dortmund to getting too many points.

[Abe Sargent]

27 of our players are called up.

I’m not sure about contracts for players like Luis Carlos, Nelio Fidalgo and Paulo Franco. For example, Franco is solid. If I had started Madeira with him, he would have been an immediate starter for me at the DL and one of of my better players. But at the age of 19, we’ve basically taken him as far as he can go. He is almost fully developed, according to my scouts. He doesn’t suck, he’s a strong squad rotation guy, and so forth. But is it worth bringing him back for another few years (his contract expires in 2020)

Or what about Fidalgo? Our scouts agree that DMC is about as good as this 19 year old will get. His deal is up this year. Resign him? Right now, he’s about as good as Rafa was when I started but this is the top of the glacier for him. He could be a lovely DMC for a team like Aves or Belenenses.

Rio Ave match is here. Canela scores in the 8th minute. Stepinski in the 41st. Half. Rodrigues picks up a knock and Franco heads on immediately for him. Teikeu gets a yellow late. MOM is Canela. We win 2-0.

Rodrigues is out for ten days with a bruised rib

[Abe Sargent]

For S Africa, we defeat Sudan 3-0. Vilakazi sunk a DFK, then found Mphahele on an IFK for the other, before ST Clement Tchoutou hit in extra time. I really use Vilakazi a lot, other S Africa managers didn’t, but he’s a set piece specialist who can dominate a game, and has done so for us several times. Then we beat Mauritania 4-2 (goals by Rantie, Vilakazi, Rantie, Serero), MOM was Vilakazi. Vilakazi set a record for most assists in a season for S African with 10.

[Abe Sargent]

I start my youth-backups for today’s Taca match. Scores by Rui P and Jan Holenda. 2-0 victory.


Can we steal a tie on the road today like we did in Dortmund? Tottenham are a much better team. This is the hardest of the 6 games to get a result from, so if we can, that would really send us on our way. And we score like that! Driussi gets a goal from Lansbury with 0:18 on the clock! He drove and drove and scored. Driussi begins a counter, finds Stepinski who heads it to Rocker, who slides to beat the GK to I and puts it away. 2nd minute. BOOM! Rocker just confounded me. To slide into the GK and kick the ball past, that was very clever for a German. Nice offensive movement by Tottenham but we turn it away. They collect a [pair of bookings early on. Driussi to Strandberg on a corner – 20th minute. Rooney is pissed, they feel we fouled them in a box, and his protests become a yellow. They gather a fourth booking. Half, 3-0 us. Driussi steals the ball deep, feeds Stepinski, who scores in the 52nd. Great stuff! Driussi sends up a corner, bounces around, finally kicked in by Strandberg in the 56th. I don’t make any subs until later than usual. We’re clocking Tottenham in their own place, so let’s not send out someone who might not play well. Finally I toss in Luis Carlos for Pflugler in the ML spot. They finally find d a score in the 75th. They get another in the 84th. Stepinski, on a break, this goal again in the 87th. Ends any hope of a late comeback. I send in Agra. MOM is Driussi. In what is clearly the best game Madeira has ever played, we crush Tottenham 6-2 in their place.


Well, we’ll likely get out of the Group this year.


Belenenses – Driussi, 11th minute; Rocker, 76th; Stepinski 78th; 3-1 victory. MOM is Driussi

[Abe Sargent]

November

3rd – Away vs Aves
6th – Home vs Tottenham, Group B
10th – Away vs Torreense, Taca da Portugal
25th – Home vs Maritimo
28th – Away vs Club Brugge, Group B


South Africa:

16th – Home vs Sudan, Qual
21st – Away vs Equatorial Guinea, Qual



Rodrigues, Rocker, and Rui were good training – Carlos and Maxi P were not.


Aves – Driussi, Driussi, Strandberg, Lansbury; 4-1 victory, MOM is Driussi – Costa’s 100 game for us


Can we actually get points today in the home match via Tottenham? I begin countering. Massive pressure ensues, so I move to contain and it works. And we lay behind that shell for the rest of the half – 0-0. Its working, we’ve had some careful shots. Imbula grabs a yellow, And then in the 67th, Driussi, lifts a corner and after a lot of scrambling in the box, its an OG. I sub in Teikeu for Driussi and drop him to a 2nd DMC. I just want to set up camp. Then they get someone sent off, Sandro. In goes Mzizi for the booked Imbula. And that’s it. We just camped a victory. MOM is Rodrigues.


Dortmund beat Club Brugge. We won 1 m. We erected a bunch of temporary bleachers and such and had more than 20k people attend.

Right now, here is the table:

1st – Nacional da Madeira – 10, +7
2nd – Dortmund, 7, +2
3rd – Tottenham, 6, -1
4th – Club Brugge, 0, -8

We can obvious lose out, but there is a chance Tottenham is not making it past the Group Stage, death for the defending champions.

[Abe Sargent]

Marcio Sousa is MOM in the Taca match we win 1-0.

We win 3-0 and 3-1 with S Africa. We have qualified easily from the group. Our ranking has risen to 16th in the world.


We are drawn in Group A in the African Cup of Nations:

Ethiopia
Gabon
Ghana
South Africa


We play each other once. Top two make it to the Quarter Final. We have a solid chance of doing just that Ghana is tough. Gabon and Ethiopia aren’t.



Rocker scores two goals, Imbula the other as we defeat Maritimo 3-1.

Next is the away match here against Club Brugge. Strandberg scores early off a corner. Half time arrives, and the game is quiet. I pull into defensive, and after making some subs, Agra hits Driussi for a score in the 71st. Three yellows in our possession. Then Agra scores in the 85th from a Teikeu pass. We started slow, but we finished 3-0. MOM is Agra. Tottenham defeated Dortmund 1-0 to flip past them in the standings. I was hoping that Dortmund could take them down, but ah well.


We made a mill, won the Group, etc. Our final match is against Dortmund.

[Abe Sargent]

December

2nd – Home vs Vit. Guimaraes
5th – Home vs Dortmund, Group B
8th – Away vs Portimonense
12th – Home vs Gil Vicente
16 – Away vs Braga
21 – Home vs Porto


Mzizi, Rui P and Sean Johnson – good in training.

Sebastian Driussi won Player of the Month. Imula got 3rd.

Imbula won Goal of the Month

I won Manager of the Month

The Vit G comes. Goals by Canela, Stepinski, Rocker, Stepinski, Lansbury. We win 5-0. MOM is Lansbury.


What happens today vs Dortmund? I begin normal. A bit of an early pressure turns into nothing, and then we get pressured back, and again, nothing results. Boom, quiet half. We can still win! Still nothing for a while - no injuries, cards, special attacks nothing. I sub out a tired Imbula. Costa gets injured and sub in Mzizi. Agra slides in for Rocker. We lose to Dortmund 1-0 after they score late in the 86th and we can’t break it.


But it won’t matter, Us and Tottenham are out.

We win 5-2 on the road against Portimonense. Stepinski with a hat trick is MOM and Jan Holdena had a pair of goals too. This was Strandberg’s 100th league appearance for us.

[Abe Sargent]

Then next is Gil Vicente. Lansbury, Stepinski, Mzizi. 3-0 victory. MOM is Adolphe Teikeu.


South Africa have risen to 15th place in the World Rankings – they have never been higher. A record high!



ST Joaquim Sousa, an old friend, has been transfer listed by the club we sold him too. He’s now 22 and fully developed, be we think Agra is better and still has some potential. Despite that, Joaquim has been capped 5 times already.



Now it’s time for the one game we might lose. Away at Braga. We have lost this game, every year, for a long time, and in a Cup ,match last year too. If we are going to lose a game this year, in the midst of an undefeated run thus far, it will be to Braga. I begin defensively, and they score in the 15th minute. Blast it! I make a few changes, like marking and tackling nasty, and we keep the score 1-0 at the half. DO better! Then, in the 59th, Rodrigues finds Lansbury in the box on the right side for a score and its tied. I slide to counter, and sub in Mzizi and Carlos for Imbula and Komorski. I move Strandberg to DMC when Imbula is out ,like normal. Then in the 83rd minute, Strandberg hits Rocker for a shot over the defense and on side, breaking trap, and he sinks it. I sub in Jan Holenda. MOM is Lansbury, and we have finally, won on the road vs Braga, with some late game heroics by Strandberg-Rocker. We have now defeated Braga away for the first time in five games.

[Abe Sargent]

I have three minor injuries in the South Africa squad but nothing that would prevent some good, Cup of Nations stuff.


Champions League Draw:

We drew Leverkusen. That’s better than Tottenham – Real Madrid for coming in second in our Group!


If we win today vs Porto, then we’ll have 15 wins from the first 15 games of the season. That’s nasty. Rocker scores in the 8th minute off a lovely Stepinski pass on a break away. They score back quickly and we hold to have a 1-1 half time. Keep working, the result will come! Rodrigues sets up Lansbury deep on the right and he crosses to Driussi for a score in the 57th, They have a lovely chance called offside. And we win 2-1.


Finally, as of December 23, France fills their open position. I didn’t get it…

[Abe Sargent]

The League Table, Halfway Mark:


1. Clube Desportivo Nacional da Madeira, 45, +38
2. Benfica, 33, +18
3. Porto, 26, +9
4. Gil Vicente, 25, +4
5. Braga, 21, +3
6. Rio Ave, 20, -2
7. Vit. G, 20, -6
8. Belenenses, 19, -2
9. Aves, 19, -4
10. Tondela, 19, -10
11. P. Ferreria, 18, +1
12. Sporting, 17, 0
13. Vit. Setubal, 16. -11
14. Maritimo, 12, -8
15. Portimonense, 11, -18
16. Academica, 10, -12


Oh, how the mighty have fallen. Wow, Sporting! Sure, there’s time to make it up, but dang. And similarly, remember when Maritimo was a top five club? Now they are fighting against relegation. They have just 2 wins in 15 games. We currently have 12 points over Benfica, and 19 over Porto.


Taca da Liga was drawn today:


Group D

Aves
Clube Desportivo Nacional da Madeira
Olieirense
Vit. Guimaraes

[Abe Sargent]

I’m training Rui P to go the MR thing, and I have my loanee Irish guy, I don’t think either are my best option post-Lansbury.

What’s available in 6 months?

Holy crap. I may have just found my permanent Hojbjerg replacement. Imbula was a great fix, and has been doing solid stuff. But this guy feels like Hojbjerg. Argentinian Martin Valentini, 20 years old. I make an offer right now for Valentini.

I need to make a decision about the MR/Lansbury question. I could try to bring in, off a free, younger Scottish guy Ryan Gauld. He’s strong stuff. Our scouts think he’s fully developed. But he’s better than Lansbury in many ways.

Okay, I found my guy, and he’s coming off a contract in 6 months – Michael Schaap, for Barcelona, 21 years old, worth 5 m right now, and I’ve made him a pretty sexy deal to come and be my stud on the MR side of life. If I can get him, get ready to hold onto your butts.

[Abe Sargent]

We have our backups/youth folks in for the Aves match. I score off a header by Mzizi and a thrown in by Teikeu that lead to it. With a long throws of 20, his throw felt like a cross or corner kick! 1-0 at the half. We hold on and win 1-0. Mzizi is MOM.

[Abe Sargent]

Paris Saint-Germain have made a bid for Canela, worth 22.5 mill. I mentioned it when I signed him, that has the look of someone that I’ll bring in, and then someone will break the bank to move him to their club. Now, I don’t need the cash, obviously. I could just flip him and go get someone else. My emotional attachment to him is less than with others. For example, suppose I could dicker them up to 30 mil, and then go sign his replacement for 3 or 4 or something. Or, I could just develop the DL youth guy I signed from Estoril who is coming here in two days. Bruno Marques. He’s not ready though.

Let’s look. Dimano has another of the great Italian young stars – Omar Montesi, 19, DL been capped 3 times for them in the summer. He’s a great DC, and can play DL too, but the stats aren’t as good there- lower crossing for example. He’s also very, very cheap, and frankly, I could bring him in at the DL for a bit, train him, and then when Strandberg is done, slide him over to DC beside Costa. I could also sign a great DR and just move Rodrigues over, I trained him well.

A recent magazine rated but Canela and Rodrigues as two of the Top Ten young fullbacks in football. Rodrigues was 1st and Canela 8th. Or I could sign some bum for a couple of years as a solid patch, develop Bruno Marques to have it later.

And I don’t have to make any changes at all. Canela works, my team works, why mess with it? I know, I’m the mad tinkerer, but still.


End of 2018

[Abe Sargent]

January, 2019


5th – Away vs Ac. Viseu, Taca da Portugal
13th – Away vs Tondela
16th – Away vs Oliveirense, Taca da Liga
20th 0 Away at Sporting
26th – Away at Vit. G, Taca da Liga



African Cup of Nations:

21st - Gabon
24th – Ghana
28th – Ethiopia



Good training – GK Totladze, Canela, Rui P, bad – Mazi P Stepinski


Messi wins a ton of awards again

19 year old Galego won Golden Boy


Henri Lansbury, Player of the Month for December

I won Manager of the Month


Bruno Marques has arrived, 16 years young.


I sell Canela for 36 mill. I have made an offer for Montesi for the end of the year. Meanwhile, Marques, Franco, Rodrigues and Maxi P will be my guys in the spot for now.

One of our youth players was re-signed by his club – DMC Martin Valentini. We are not getting him at all. That sucks, I thought he was Hojbjerg reincarnated. That’s sad. I was going to bring him in,move him to hot prospect, give him a year of devo =behind Imbula rotating in and out and such, nad then swap him in the next year.

However, we are getting Michael Schaap from Barcelona.

We have officially sold Canela.

Omar Montesi is joining us too. So I hit on two outta three.

[Abe Sargent]

Because of the African Cup, Mzizi and Imbula will b out for a month playing internationally.

For the Taca da Portugal match, DMC Nelio Fidalgo scores in the first 6 minutes. Luis Carlos finds Rui Pereira for a score in the 23rd. Carlos intercepts the ball, drives, finds Agra who stops the ball with his foot, and that kicks it in off the back of his foot. Keep it up in the 2nd half! Agra to Holenda called offsides. We win 3-0. MOM is Agra. Good win!

We notched a nice draw in the Taca da Portugal Quarter Final against 2nd league tea m Leiria.

For today’s Tondela match up, I have Nelio Fidalgo and Paulo Franco in starting roles as my DMC and DL respectively. New signee Bruno Marques is dressed as a sub and could see some play. I’m already training the 16 year old for the DR spot too. We begin Standard in the away math. Lansbury to Strandberg in the 31st for a score off a corner. They foul Stepinski in the box on an IFK and the PK is…blocked. Our first PK blocked in like, ever. We are up just 1-0 at the half. You are capable of better next half. I sub in Teikeu and Pflugler. Then Holenda late. We win 1-0. MOM is Strandberg. That was a bit of a let-off folks!

[Abe Sargent]

Strandberg in Team of Week

Grasshoppers have made a bid of 1.2 mill for Paulo Franco. I move them to 1.4 and get him back for a 3 month loan back to basically finish the season for us. I picked him up four years ago and have been developing him ever since, and it’s nice to see him head out. Especially now that I have Bruno Marques to develop at that spot.

For today’s game in the Taca da Liga, we’ll again have most of our backups and youth folks in, including Bruno Marques. Sousa to Pereira for a score in the 3rd, and they reciprocate back in the 21st. Get us a goal in the 2nd half! Agra gets a yellow for diving. I pull him for Stepinski. Pflugler to Teikeu for a score off a corner in the 83rd. Teikeu gets a yellow. I sub in Costa to help us secure this win and we do 2-1. MOM is Adolphe Teikeu

Franco officially signed with Grasshoppers. Goodbye. I’ll miss you after the loan is over. Great team player. His favorite personnel include – me, Freire, Javi Espinosa, Mario Rondon, Djaniny, and Andreas Rocker. 11 U 21 caps for Portugal. But like I said, dudes at the top of his game now at 19, and it’s time to move on.

Today’s away match against Sporting is my 300th in management with Clube Desportivo Nacional. Show me what you can do today! Stepinski finds Rocker for a score in the 2nd minute. We have already begun the hammering. I would adore a nasty score today. I’m still in a counter set up, because this is, technically, Sporting, even if they are in 12th. Komorski hits the kay in the 28th after the cross by Driussi bounces off a defensive player right to him. Then Driussi finds Stepinski in the 38th. Driussi to Rocker, in the 45th. Half – 4-0 us. Keep it going! Driussi to Rocker in the 51st, his hat trick. Lansbury picked up a knock and I send in Rui Pereira. Agra heads in for Rocker. Pfluger in for Driussi. They score in the 89th, which pisses me off. I had told my guys to retain possession and they were still really loose with the ball, particularly Agra. We win 5-1. MOM was Rocker. I’m very pleased!!!

Lansbury will be out for 12 days to 2 weeks with a damaged elbow.


Mzizi gained from Strandberg’s tutelage

[Abe Sargent]

[Abe Sargent]

The Republic of South Africa has arrived at the African Cup of Nations, 2019


South Africa has dropped two spots.

What I intend to do for the next bit is to go over the entire Cup of Nations time with Bafana Bafana, and then roll back and hit up club news and games that happened. Again, I just don’t want to interrupt coverage of the African Cup with club news or games, no matter how big they may be, until post Cup.

I have high hopes. We are not expected to go deep, and we aren’t Cameroon or Ghana or anyone, but we are a very good team for the continent, have a group we can qualify from, and can make some noise. Even my national board has lessened expectations. I qualified us for the World Cup, and I got us out of the Group Stage, something no South African side has ever done before. We can rock this town. Rock it inside out.


We have Gabon, Ghana, and Ethiopia. We only have to finish 2nd to get out. Ghana is a great team, a perennial power in the continent.

[Abe Sargent]

Whoa! Playing before us, Ethiopia and Ghana have tied. That really opens things up for us. That gives us a shot to win this Group as long as we play professionally.

Today’s starting lineup is virtually identical to the World Cup one.

GK Itumeleng Khune
DC Siyanda Xulu, Eric Mathoho, Anele
MR Thulani Serero
ML Bernard Parker
MC Andile Jali, Daylon Claasen, Sibusiso Vilakazi
ST Tokelo Rantie, Lehlohonolo Majoro

The other ST across from Rantie and the MC spot Claasen has and the DC of Anele are my weakest and rotation-ist spots.

I hope to rely and lean on Vilakazi a lot, as my set piece specialist, to bring me some more wins, like he has done before. Pick up where we left off! Its odd to see another team in yellow and us in white. On a corner kick, Vilakazi finds DC Xulu off to the side, but is heavily marked so he feeds Majoro for a score in the 5th minute. Great start! Gabon have one of the best strikers in the Cup, so I need to be careful. He is predicted to win the award for the Golden Shoe/Boot thing. Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, who plays (on a sub basis, not starts) for Manchester United at the age of 29. Worth more than 20 mill. I slide to retain possession and counter. Rantie is fed the ball by Majoro, and unselfishly bounces it to Parker on the left side for a score in the 13th minute. Majoro finds Serero for a score in the 34th after Jali intercepts a counter attack. Rantie denied a beautiful shot by a diving punch by the GK. Half time. Keep it going. I sub out a tiring Vilakazi to keep him fresh for the next game. In heads Motloung. I then sub in George Lebese for Parker. Khune shuts down two nasty strikes by a certain star striker. Final sub – Tchoutou for Rantie. Anele gives away a penalty in the far corner of the box in the 85th and they score off a PK. Our people were claiming its not a PK, but you know how that goes. Motloung scores off a Majoro pass in injury time. We win 4-1. Majoro is obviously MOM with 2 assists and a goal. I’m very pleased!!!


That was Jali’s 60th cap.

[Abe Sargent]

Ghana are favorites for today’s match. I’ll keep in a moderately tired Vilakazi for today’s match and rest him for the Ethiopia one. I make no changes to a roster that steamrolled Gabon. Pick up where you left off! It’s drizzling and I begin countering. Ghana is no joke and they begin the match with a strong offense. Khune just has a lot of work to do to keep things square early. This time we are in yellow and they in white, so I have to get used to different colors again. It’s been all Ghana early. I pull to defensive in the 30th just to keep sane. At the half, They have 12 shots, 6 on target, while we have 2 and 0. Can’t win that way! Let’s start hassling our foes. Maybe we can muscle them off the ball. Whoa! Rantie hit Vilakazi for a long shot and that thing was lethally on target and just held by the GK in the 61st. I pull Majoro, a bit slower for Clement Tchoutou. Ghana just keeps coming. Back to counter. We almost score in the 68th and don’t convert the subsequent corner. Fresh legs! I’m sending in Motloung for Claasen and swapping him and Vilakazi so Motloung is pulling ahead in the center MC role that he’s so good at. I sub in Mzizi for Mathoho to give me some fresh legs in defense. Then they score in the 79th, but its waved off. Another shot by Parker on target, but not there. Rantie to Tchoutou and shot on target but not with a lot of velocity and pushed aside. Once again, corner kick results in nothing. And that’s it. We survive the Ghanian Assault of 2019 0-0. Unlucky!

[Abe Sargent]

I hold a team meeting to help with morale.

DMC/MC Oupa Manyisa is injured in training for 6 weeks with Achilles tendonitis. He will be out for the rest of the Cup.


The table:

South Africa, 4 points
Ethiopia, 4 points (they beat Gabon too)
Ghana, 2 points
Gabon, 0 points


Gabon is out. They can play spoiler today by tying or defeating Ghana and keeping them out of the Semis.

[Abe Sargent]

I will be moving Motluong to Vilakazi’s spot for the Ethiopian match today. All we have to do today is be professional against Ethiopia, unlike the other squads in the Group. Just play like we should. We are not going to drop points here, I feel it. Since I feel so strongly, in order to keep tired folks down, I sub in Lebese for ML and George Maluleka at MR and Mokotjo for Jali in MC. Let’s go get that win! Motloung finds Majoro for a score in the 12th minute. Lebese crosses to Majoro who puts it away in the 32nd. This Cup is like Majoro’s coming out party! 2-0 at the half baby. Keep it up – just one more half! Lebese crosses over to Majoro in the 49th and that’s his hat-trick ladies and gentlemen! Motloung with a knock comes out for Manuel Santos. Next sub – out comes a tired Majoro for Tchoutou. Maluleka picks up a knock. In heads Kagiso Dhlamini. These are both knocks, not injuries, and hopefully, won’t result in anything major injury-wise. We win 3-0. MOM is our bff Majoro.

Ghana managed to defeat Gabon, so they are in too. I was hoping the dream saga for Ethiopia would live on. Ah well.

We have made it to the Quarter Finals.

[bbgunn]

Congrats on getting out of the group stages!

[Abe Sargent]

Thanks!


Although, not a super big achievement in that Group. But still, I'll take it as nice position to go deep in the tournament.

[Abe Sargent]

Group A

South Africa
Ghana


Group B

Cameroon
Morocco


Group C

Senegal
Mali


Group D

Algeria
Egypt


Algeria had 9 points. All of the other winners rocked 7 points like us. So we have four undefeated teams coming out of the Groups.


Quarter Finals:

South Africa vs Morocco
Ghana vs Cameroon
Senegal vs Egypt
Mali vs Algeria


We will play on February 3.


Let's make these people go crazy!

[Abe Sargent]

For today’s quarter against Morocco, I will be leaving in Motloung, the hot leg and Vilakazi is coming in for Claasen. Jali, Parker, Serero, are all back too. Pick up where you left off!!! Tight game early on both sides, but Motloung has a great shot pushed aside in the 33rd. Still all quiet. 0-0 half. Get that goal! Motloung finds Rantie for a score in the 47th. His first goal of the tournament. Where ya been? I sub in Maluleka for Serero. Majoro is damaged. I put in Manuel Santos for him. Final sub is Mzizi for Anele. Again, let’s give that defense some legs. A late offensive effort by Morocco heads in. And we hold on and win. MOM is Motloung. We get it 1-0. Nice Victory!

[Abe Sargent]

Whoa! Ghana just knocked out the Great Black Hope – Cameroon, 2-1. They had won two of these back to back and were favorites to do so again. Two of their strikers were leading the scoring charts. And then bang, they are down.

Senegal over Egypt – 2-0
Algeria over Mali – 2-0 in extra time

So all of the winners of the Groups hold save Cameroon.


That sets up this Semi final:



South Africa vs Algeria
Senegal vs Ghana





Algeria is hot and has not lost. In fact, here are Algeria’s wins:

2-1 over Nigeria
3-0 over Egypt
5-0 over Tunisia
2-0 over Mali

For a combined 12-1 goals. That is intimidating. But, we have a strong 3-5-2 defense that is hard to crack, and one of the best African GKs in the world.

[Abe Sargent]

I make no changes to today’s roster against Algeria. I begin countering. Keep the run alive! At the 22 mark I slide to Standard after a quiet opening stanza. That was a mega quiet (and very quick) half. We each had 4 shots, we had 2 on target, they 1. Do this for the fans!!! I will keep my guys in a little longer perhaps anticipating extra time or penalties. Lots of action on our side in the 66-70th but no scores. I make a few modifications, but keep my players out. Motloung takes a shot, it’s on target but too far away and too slow to get anywhere in the goal. I pull him for Manuel Santos. End of the 90 minutes. Just get that one more goal!!! I check on some things. If I need to, Tchoutou is a penalty kicking all star. 17 pk and 17 finishing. Let’s start extra time. I sub in Tchoutou for a tired Majoro. Mokojto heads in for Vilakazi. Next half. Santos finds Rantie and he hits paydirt in the 108th minute!!! I slide to counter immediately. Algeria are moving to an attacking style. But everyone is tired. And we manage to keep them in their side of the field. And we win 1-0 in extra time. MOM is DC Eric Mathoho. This was another match where our defense just clamped down.



WE ARE IN THE FINAL!!!

[Abe Sargent]

Yeah baby!




You have the world's attention....

[Abe Sargent]

This is the 3rd time South Africa have ever reached the Finals. We have won once before in 1996 when we hosted it.

This was Khune’s 130th cap for us.


Senegal shocked Ghana with a defeat 1-0. A lot of people were expected a rematch with Ghana after we defeated Algeria. Senegal have only reached the final once before and never won. We are coming out as serious favorites for the Cup in many papers and predictions. But Senegal is no joke. We have to take this seriously.


We play on the 10th

Algeria defeats Ghana 1-1 in penalty kicks to win 3rd place

[Abe Sargent]

Can the Republic of South Africa





Get another one of these?

[Abe Sargent]

The FINAL OF THE AFRICAN CUP OF NATIONS IS HERE

I intend to pull a strategy from my World Cup playbook. Come out attacking against Senegal. Hit them fast, knock them off their feet, and then pull back. Make a statement. Vilakazi is too tired to start, so Mokotjo will be in for him. Everyone else is in. They hit a quick counter that’s almost a score in the 2nd and I pull back to standard immediately. Then Motluong is injured in the 4th. This is a sign. I am meant to play Vilakazi, no matter what his condition. Okay God, I sub him in and trust. And then, in the 23rd minute, Vilakazi is injured and I sub in Tchoutou and move the position to an AMC one. Fine, we’ll push that way! Anele collects a booking. I am hiding behind counter when Tchoutou gets a lovely attack and a goal off after pouncing on a rebounded tackle of Rantie’s push. Half time, we are up 1-0 by a score by our second guy who was subbed in for injury. Crazy half! GO GET ME THAT CUP!!!!! I am starting to get some tired folk in the 60s, and I can’t make any subs for tiredness since I have to keep my last sub in my back pocket in case of a third injury. Instead I keep defense, move to retain possession and such. Take a breather. Parker is injured badly and picks up a knock. I leave him in just in case something worse comes along. Tchoutou feeds Parker in the 86th minute and Parker finds net and we are up 2-0. And that’s why you leave in a 56% guy on the edge who’s picked up a knock I guess. Because maybe he’ll score. I sub in Mzizi for Anele ot prevent red card atrocities. Xulu just dispossessed a break away. And we win the Cup – 2-0 against Senegal!!! MOM is Tchoutou.

CONGRATS!!!

Our first victory for Bafana Bafana since 1996.

[Abe Sargent]

Our first victory for Bafana Bafana since 1996.

I’ve won the African Cup before with other squads. I usually play sub-Saharan African sides in FM careers. So I’ve gotten victories with Ghana, Cameroon, and such.

Cameroon and Nigeria are open posts post Cup. Doing Cameroon would be fun but there;’s nothing I didn’t just do with South Africa.

But I didn’t do that match. We were expected to defeat Gabon and Ethiopia and did. We were expected to have trouble with Ghana and did. Then we were expected to edge, in a close one,Morocco, which happened. Algeria, with a low ranking but great run was an unusual question, but we were predicted to win that, as we did with Senegal too. So really, except for Ghana, we were predicted to win every match that we won, and tie or lose the one we tied. I also think the large number of 4-4-2s running into our 3-5-2 were a great help too. And we really just had a sort of German victory. Strong boring defense. Khune had a ton of clean sheets. We had 2 1-0 victories in the Quarter and Semi finals. We shut down high flying Ghana, Algeria, Senegal and Morocco offense. Africa doesn’t typically have a lot of strong defensive teams. We do. Take my great defense ,led by GK Khune and some strong DCs and move them to, say, Cameroon, and you’ll have a team that will stun major names, quality deep in a World Cup, and take serious damage. And remember that major clubs like Cameroon and Ghana were knocked out by others. All we had to do was defeat Senegal to win it.

So celebrate nation, and enjoy!

[Abe Sargent]

I have our final team meeting with the folks. 9 of my players are over 30. My youth movement still has a lot of age to it. Tell your grandchildren. You won the African Cup of Nations!

We have not lost in 12 games, a new South Africa record.

Thulani Serero’s goal was the Goal of the Tournament vs Gabon.

Moussa Sow won the Golden Boot, and was tied with Majoro with 4 goals each, but had more playing time.

Khune was named as the Best GK in the tournament.

Five players chosen in the Dream Team – GK Khune, DC Xulu, DC Mathoho, MC Motloung and ST Majoro.


South Africa have climbed to 11th in the world rankings ,a new high for us.

[Abe Sargent]

Back to Portugal…

It’s January 22. Six of my players were named in Team of the Week after our thumping of Sporting – Paulo Franco, Costa, Strandberg, Driussi, Rocker and Stepinski.

The Taca Vit G match arrives on the 26th. Just a quick overview of how it goes – I play on key only. We start Rui P in Lansbury’s spot. They score early. 1-0 half. Stepinski is found by Rocker for a score in the 53rd. 1-1. Franco with a yellow card. I pull him for Maxi P and swap him with Rodrigues. Sousa for Rui, Pflugler for Driussi. Sousa finds Stepinski for a score in the 84th. Pflugler to Rocker in the 86th. Game. We win 3-1. MOM is Stepinski. Good work lads!

We win our Group. Both us and Vit G had 6 points going into that match, I don’t know who would’ve won it if we had tied.

Costa wants an improved contract. I offer him one.


Taca da Liga Semis:

Braga hosts Portimonense
Porto hosts Nacional

[bbgunn]

Nice victory for Bafana Bafana! Fantastic job; despite what you said, you did a lot! That youth movement bodes well for the World Corrupt... er, Cup in Qatar in 2022!

By the way (and it probably doesn't matter so much in this thread), you convinced me to buy FM14 - that and the fact that Steam had a 75% off World Cup weekend campaign. I've really gotten into FM Classic, since I don't have the time I used to. Very simplistic, but no different tactically, so forces me to focus on that. FM rulz!

[Abe Sargent]

February




3rd – Home vs Academica
6th – Away vs Leiria, Taca da Portugal
10th – Home vs Vit. Setubal
13th – Away vs Porto, Taca da Liga
16th – Away vs Benfica
19th – Away vs Leverkusen, Champions
24th – Home vs P Ferreira


Good train? Pflugler, Totladze, Komorski. Bad was Teikeu.

Driussi 2nd and Rocker 3rd in Player of Month.

Lansbury is back from injury

Costa has resigned – 24k/week, through 2023.

Maxi P has announced his retirement this season.



The Academica match is here. This is a game between the best and worst teams in the league, with the worst team away. Place your bets! Stepinski to Pereira, goal in the 9th. Stepinski to Komorski in the 28th. He feeds both wingers, its alright! Driussi to Strandberg for a goal off a corner. 3-0 halftime. Keep it going. Controlling is working! They foul Komorski in the box. Stepinski is up and redeems his last PK for a score. I sub in Luis Carlos for Paulo Franco, and drop Komorski to the DL spot. Agra heads in for Stepinski. Sousa for Driussi. We win 4-0. MOM is Komorski. Well done lads

Costa, Strandberg, Rodrigues, Rui P, Komorski and Stepinski in Team of Week

[Abe Sargent]

Originally Posted by bbgunn

Nice victory for Bafana Bafana! Fantastic job; despite what you said, you did a lot! That youth movement bodes well for the World Corrupt... er, Cup in Qatar in 2022!

By the way (and it probably doesn't matter so much in this thread), you convinced me to buy FM14 - that and the fact that Steam had a 75% off World Cup weekend campaign. I've really gotten into FM Classic, since I don't have the time I used to. Very simplistic, but no different tactically, so forces me to focus on that. FM rulz!

Yeah it does. And thanks!

[Abe Sargent]

We’ve had a very easy run in the Taca da Portugal thus far, all lower teams. Imbula is back from the failed DRC squad’s run in the African Cup. I’ll give him a start today against Leiria. Holenda knocks in the rebound when a Marcio Sousa shot bounces around. Rui P sinks it in the 42nd. Played well, but room for improvement. Rui to Holenda for a score in the 59th. Rui scores again in the 89th. We win 4-0. MOM is Rui P. We made it to the Semis easily enough.



Next is the Vit Setubal match. On the day of the Final, I just want to finish this and move on. Wouldn’t it be really annoying if I lost my first league game on the same day that I win the Cup?? Well, Henri will try to keep that from happening off a Rodrigues cross to him that scores in the 9th here on the road. Lansbury crosses to Rocker for a score in the 26th. I’m at counter. 2-0 half. DFK from Driussi sinks in the 48th. Rui in for Lansbury. Jan Holenda for Rocker. Bruno Marques for Franco. Hevay poressure late by us. But nothing. We win 3-0. Mom is Lansbury. Good win!


Rodrigues in Team of Week

We draw Benfica in the Taca da Portugal Semi Finals

[Abe Sargent]

Again Porto, I start out countering. Lansbury finds Stepinski in the 4th. They foul Strandberg in a corner kick in the box and Stepinski sinks the PK in the 24th. 2-0 at the break. Capable of better, but not bad lands! I send in Teikeu for Imbula. Rui P for Driussi. Rui finds Rocker for a score in the 71st. Bruno Marques for Costa who picked up a knock and I move some folks around. They foul on an IFK and Stepniksi gets it blocked. Too many blocks dude. MOM is Rocker after our 3-0 thumping of Porto on the road in the Semis. We made it to the finals of the Taca da Liga.


Costa is out for two weeks with a twisted knee. Teikeu will start in his absence. 334 minutes since Ruiz conceded a goal. I rest my guys to give them some breathing room for the Benfica match in 3 days.

The Henry Castellon experience was positive in learning under GK Sean Johnson.

Portimonense managed to defeat Braga 3-2 in the taca da Liga and we’ll play them in the final.


And Benfica, we are countering too, on this road game. This is league the game we are most likely to lose this year, away at Benfica. We have a dangerous set of attacks in the 18-20th, but for naught. Then Benfica moves out, but again, in a strong way. So I move to hassling and tighter marking to muscle them off the ball and break their rhythm. 0-0 at the half. Get that one goal!!! I am worried about my defense a bit with Teikeu and Franco there instead of Canela and Costa. Lansbury collects a yellow and I sub in Rui P. I slide to defensive after another attack comes our way. Rocker with a great, but distant shot is barely turned away by the GK. Pflugler for Komorski. After Driussi gets a booking I send in Marcio Sousa. Ruiz just turned away a vicious shot in the 84th and we ended another attack. And that’s game. 0-0 tie. You were not good enough out there! They had 15 shots, 7 on target, we had 10 and 3.

[Abe Sargent]

Today the European Campaign continues. We had a good group stage, now can we continue with the away game at Leverkusen? I have made no changes to our starting roster. I begin countering. They have a 4-5-1 offense, with no one in an attacking position other than their lone guy. I think we will hit the paydirt on transitions and such. They have three shots in the first 3 minutes – an auspiciously bad ratio to begin the match, so I head to defensive. 0-0 at the half, after we clamp things down a bit. I’d die for a 0-0 tie on the road, meaning all we’d have to do was win at home and we make it in. We can still win!!! Driussi gets a yellow early on. I send in Mzizi and Pflugler. We score on a corner kick in the 74th. Komorski knocked in a rebound after Lansbury’s pass to Stepinksi was kicked back to him. I have to pull Teikeu, he’s injured. I slide over Franco, sub in Rui Pereira and then swap him to ML with Komorski and then swap again with Lansbury so everyone is playing apposition they are comfortable with. I smake the DMC a defending DM rather than the Deep Lying Playmaker. And we hold on! MOM is Lansbury. People Wrote Us Off and We Won!!!


Now 514 minutes since Ruiz conceded a goal.

[Abe Sargent]

However, we have a bad thing. Teikeu is injured for a month with a pulled hammy.

Costa should return in 8-12 days. We have just one game left this month against P Ferreria, so we can just have other folks for that match. The next match isn’t until the 4th of March against Rio Ave followed by Belenenses on the 10th. We’ll be fine. I don’t need to call back anybody on loan or anything.

We’ll start Mzizi in Costa’s place, which is fine for these games, and I’ll start Bruno Marques and keep Franco on sub duty as DRCL.

Hojbjerg has 20 assists for Barcelona this year thus far. That breaks the previous Lionel Messi record.

Viktoria Plzen have signed Nelio Fidalgo for after his contract runs up. From someone who came up from our youth ranks to a solid guy, Fidalgo, another Madeira success story!


One of our rare February home matches is here against Ferreira and we begin controlling. Mzizi picked up a knock. Sigh. In heads Franco. Driussi grabs a goal in the 26th as Rocker crosses it over. Half. Room for improvement! Lansbury is injured and forced off. Dang its like injury city right now. Black February. Rui P is in for him. Rui sets up Stepinski for a goal in the 52nd. I sub in Holenda after Stepinski is savaged. Not knocked but brought down very low in condition. Rocker scores in the 74th. Lovely shot There was only about six inches to spare between the top of the goal, the ball, and the top hand of the GK reaching up to block, and he put it into that gap from outside the six yard box by a few yards. Next Imbula is injured in the 88th. No subs left. But Driussi hits an IFK in the 90th and we win 4-0. MOM was Driussi

Alright, any follow up injuries?

Just one of the three. Imbula is out for a week or ten days with a gashed leg.


Rodrigues and Driussi in team of Week

I accept a loan offer for 1st team ball with GK Castellon over in Russia.

I don’t normally root for Porto or Benfica, but I’m glad Porto just hosted Juventus and served them Portugal style 3-0 in Champions play. Go Portugal!

[Abe Sargent]

March

4th – Away vs Rio Ave
10th – Home vs Belenenses
13th – Home vs Leverkusen
17th – Away vs Maritimo
23rd – Away vs Vit Gui
26th – Home vs Benfica, Taca da Portugal


South Africa:

Friendly vs South Korea, 29th


Good training? Sousa, Stepinski and Rui P. Bad – Ruiz and Holenda

Sebastian Driussi has won Player of the Month for February. Rodrigues came in 3rd

Rui Pereira against Academica won Goal of the Month

I won Manager of the Month

So we won all three major awards!

On March 2, 2019, the inevitable has happened. Joao Luis Rodrigues has approached me to discuss moving to a bigger club.

No one is my guy more than him. We have turned him from a fan in the seats into a legitimate argument about who was the best player in Madeira history, him or Ronaldo? The Funchal Football Factory is Fully Functional.

I tell him we can meet his ambitions here, and tell him I want to fight for the Champions trophy. We are not doing badly there. He wants higher a bigger club. I then point out that I am in charge and he backs down and concentrates on his football.

That will likely not be the first time we have that talk.


Costa is back from injury but I keep him out for today’s Rio Ave game. I’m not risking him. Marques will get another start. And he scores for us in the 6th minute! He pounced on a rebound on a corner kick and knocked it in. The first goal for us! After a pair of offensive attacks swing by, I slide to counter. Lansbury to Strandberg, the old reliable, hits a goal off a corner once more. Half we have both scores off corners. Keep it going baby! I sub in Pflugler and Rui P. Stepinski grabs a goal in the 81st. I sub him out for Agra. We win 3-09. MOM is Strandberg. Good win boys!

[Abe Sargent]

At the age of 16 and 186, Marques notches one of the youngest scorers ever in the League.

For today’s matchup against Belenenses, Marques will stay in at DL, and we have both Imbula and Costa back. I’ll be starting Rui Pereira for Lansbury. We score twice, an OG set up by Driussi and then again as Driussi to Strandberg corner for a 2-0 lead at the half. I sub in Pflugler, who then finds Stepinski for a goal in the 68th. Next in is Agra. Pflugler finds Rocker for a German Connection at the 70th. Luis Carlos in for Komorski. They score in the 83rd, breaking Ruiz’s long streak of clean sheets. Luis Carlos scores in the 87th. We win 5-1. MOM was Strandberg. Well done!

With 7 game to go, we have qualified for the Champions play next year. We have 16 points on Benfica and a 22/1/0 season thus gar with just one draw against Benfica. I think we might win.

Rocker gets his goal bonus

Strandberg in Team of Week

[Lathum]

every time I see this thread title I do a double take

[Abe Sargent]

Originally Posted by Lathum

every time I see this thread title I do a double take

Ummm... I don't see why...?

[britrock88]

Madeira, OH.