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The Reinvention of Dustin Powers, International Manager of Mystery


DodgeeD

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....managing obscure nations, so you don't have to

:D

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Return of the tash...

A couple of months ago, I started a journeyman career with a twist - it was to focus solely on international management. My original plan was to make extensive use of additional leagues and competitions through xml files and to add and remove leagues as I went from nation to nation. Alas, I learned too late about the issues connected with the Add/Remove Leagues feature so I've decided to restart with a new set-up that will allow me to travel the globe managing obscure nations without the need for any new leagues.

Dustin Powers:

"Nobody knows where he came from or how a Sunday League footballer came to be an international mangement sensation... "

My alter-ego for this FM journey is Dustin Powers, a super secret football manager (so secret that nobody ever knew he existed, hence his 'sunday League' rep...) At least in international management, he doesn't have to deal with any other 'agents'

The Aim

Starting with the more obscure nations of international football, I hope to work my way up to more prestigous jobs with the ultimate aim of winning a World Cup. I may pick up a few continental and regional titles on the way as a bonus.

The plan is to only manage national sides, whether the full team or youth sides (I may also put myself in charge of the youth teams if I fancy a crack at an extra tournament). I'm also planning to start somewhere really small (somehwere New.... ;)) and then see if I can work my way up.

The Set-Up

This has all been made possible by the sterling work of two contributors to the editors forum, namely Unknown Hacker, who has created a series of downloadable leagues which I will be making use of, and Poop, who created a whole bunch of extra international competitions which will add some extra incentive to my time with smaller teams.

The following 'big' leagues have been loaded: England down to BSS/BSN (I hoping for a few players with Caribbean second nationalities to come through), France down to CFA (due to the number of African players/regens), Holland (ditto African/Caribbean players), MLS, South Africa and Australia (they'll hopefully attract some talent from nearby smaller nations).

I've also made use of xml files to load leagues from Angola, Antigua, Azerbijan, Bahrain Botswana, Cayman Islands, Cuba, Faroe Islands, France, Gabon, Grenada, Guyana, Jamaica, Kazahkstan, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Moldova, Montenegro, New Caledonia, New Zealand, Oman, Phillipines, Qatar, Sierra Leone, Solomon Islands, Surinam, Tahiti, Thailand, Trinidad, Uzebkistan, Vanatau, Vietnam and Zambia! (Quite a list but I've run tests and I'm confident my computer can handle it).

The following extra international competitions have also been added:

Africa - CECEFA Cup (tournament for Central and East African teams), Cosafa Cup (for Southern African nations), WAFU Cup, Amilcar Cabral Cup (both for different 'zones' of Western Africa), UNAF U23 Championship (U23 tournament for North African nations). All of these cups also have U20 versions, which have been added.

Asia - SAFF Championship (for South Asia), ASEAN Championship (South-East Asia with additional U23 and U19 editions), Gulf Cup (for nations in the Persian Gulf - also has an U23 version), HK-Macau Interport (an annual clash between Hong Kong and Macau), Marianas Cup (an annual clash between Northern Mariana and Guam), West Asian Games, East Asian Games and South-East Asian Games (all multi-sport events with U23 football tournaments)

Europe - Baltic Cup (annual round robin between Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania with U21 and U19 editions),

North/South America - Pan-American Games (U21 tournament featuring teams from both continents), Inter-Guyana Cup (an annual clash between Guyana and French Guyana) and Super-Clasico de las Americas (a two-legged clash between Brazil and Argentina)

Oceania - nothing extra here!

Intercontinental - Arab Nations Cup, Mediterranean Games (U23 tournament), Coupe de l'Outer-Mére (tournament for French overseas territories), Lusophony Games (for Portugeuse-speaking nations), Isliamic Solidarity Games, Indian Ocean Island Games, CIS Cup (U21 tournament for former Soviet countries and neighbouring nations) and Jeux de la Francophonie (U21 tournament for French-speaking nations)

That should keep me busy!

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The Story So Far...

[font=courier new][b][u]Year[/u] | [u]Nation[/u]        | [u]World Ranking[/u] | [u]Notes 
[/u][url="http://community.sigames.com/showthread.php/307332-The-Reinvention-of-Dustin-Powers-International-Manager-of-Mystery?p=7839277&viewfull=1#post7839277"]2011[/url] [/b]| New Caledonia | 167th (+3)    | Pacific Games QF
[b][url="http://community.sigames.com/showthread.php/307332-The-Reinvention-of-Dustin-Powers-International-Manager-of-Mystery?p=7843543&viewfull=1#post7843543"]2012[/url][/b] |[/font] [font=courier new]New Caledonia | 136th (+11)   | OCE Nations Cup finalists, Coupé DOM Group Stage, Sacked Nov 2012[/font] [font=courier new]
[b][url="http://community.sigames.com/showthread.php/307332-The-Reinvention-of-Dustin-Powers-International-Manager-of-Mystery?p=7846515&viewfull=1#post7846515"]2013[/url][/b] | Haiti         | 126th (+19)   | Friendlies...[/font]
[font=courier new][b][url="http://community.sigames.com/showthread.php/307332-The-Reinvention-of-Dustin-Powers-International-Manager-of-Mystery?p=7853557&viewfull=1#post7853557"]2014[/url][/b] | Haiti[/font][font=courier new]         | 142nd (-16)   | Caribbean Championship Winners![/font][font=courier new][url="http://community.sigames.com/showthread.php/307332-The-Reinvention-of-Dustin-Powers-International-Manager-of-Mystery?p=7885425&viewfull=1#post7885425"]
[b]2015[/b][/url] | Haiti         | 131st (+12)   | Gold Cup Group Stage; resigned June 2015
[b][url="http://community.sigames.com/showthread.php/307332-The-Reinvention-of-Dustin-Powers-International-Manager-of-Mystery?p=7887107&viewfull=1#post7887107"]2015[/url][/b] | Honduras      | 30th          | Took job June 2015
[/font][font=courier new][b][url="http://community.sigames.com/showthread.php/307332-The-Reinvention-of-Dustin-Powers-International-Manager-of-Mystery?p=7900475&viewfull=1#post7900475"]2016[/url] [/b]| Honduras      | 35th (-5)     | Reached 4th Round of WCQ; Olympics[/font] [font=courier new]Group Stage
[b][url="http://community.sigames.com/showthread.php/307332-The-Reinvention-of-Dustin-Powers-International-Manager-of-Mystery?p=7904723&viewfull=1#post7904723"]2017[/url][/b] | Honduras      | 40th (-5)     | Copa Centroamericano Finalists; Gold Cup Semi-finalists; Qualified for World Cup
[/font][font=courier new][url="http://community.sigames.com/showthread.php/307332-The-Reinvention-of-Dustin-Powers-International-Manager-of-Mystery?p=7912815&viewfull=1#post7912815"][b]2018[/b][/url] | Honduras      | 20th (+20)    | World Cup Second Round[/font][font=courier new]
[/font][font=courier new][url="http://community.sigames.com/showthread.php/307332-The-Reinvention-of-Dustin-Powers-International-Manager-of-Mystery?p=7920331&viewfull=1#post7920331"][b]2019[/b][/url] | Honduras      | 34th (-14)    | [/font][font=courier new]Copa Centroamericano Winners; Gold Cup Finalists[/font][font=courier new]
[/font][font=courier new][url="http://community.sigames.com/showthread.php/307332-The-Reinvention-of-Dustin-Powers-International-Manager-of-Mystery?p=7932707&viewfull=1#post7932707"][b]2020[/b][/url] | Honduras      | 27th (+7)     | Resigned June 2020
[url="http://community.sigames.com/showthread.php/307332-The-Reinvention-of-Dustin-Powers-International-Manager-of-Mystery?p=7932707&viewfull=1#post7932707"][b]2020[/b][/url] | England       | 1st (-)       | Took job June 2020[/font][font=courier new]
[/font][font=courier new][url="http://community.sigames.com/showthread.php/307332-The-Reinvention-of-Dustin-Powers-International-Manager-of-Mystery?p=7937025&viewfull=1#post7937025"][b]2021[/b][/url] | England       | 1st (-)       | Confederations Cup Winners; Qualified for World Cup[/font][font=courier new]
[/font][url="http://community.sigames.com/showthread.php/307332-The-Reinvention-of-Dustin-Powers-International-Manager-of-Mystery?p=8053910&viewfull=1#post8053910"][b][font=courier new]2022 [/font][/b][/url][font=courier new]| England       | 1st (-)       | World Cup Quarter-finalists[/font][font=courier new]
[/font][font=courier new][url="http://community.sigames.com/showthread.php/307332-The-Reinvention-of-Dustin-Powers-International-Manager-of-Mystery?p=8056172&viewfull=1#post8056172"][b]2023[/b][/url] | [/font][font=courier new]England       | 1st (-)       | [/font][font=courier new]Qualified for Euro 2024[/font]
[url="http://community.sigames.com/showthread.php/307332-The-Reinvention-of-Dustin-Powers-International-Manager-of-Mystery?p=8142424&viewfull=1#post8142424"][font=courier new]2024 [/font][/url][font=courier new]| [/font][font=courier new]England       | 1st (-)       | [/font][font=courier new]Euro 2024[/font] Winners!!
[url="http://community.sigames.com/showthread.php/307332-The-Reinvention-of-Dustin-Powers-International-Manager-of-Mystery?p=8174670&viewfull=1#post8174670"]2025[/url][font=courier new] | England       | 1st (-)       | Confederations Cup 3rd place; Qualified for World Cup[/font]

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New Beginnings in....

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New Caledonia

Could you be more Pacific? :D

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I thought Oceania was a good a place as any to start - the lowest ranked teams and the fewest titles to win. This is really going to be a journey from the bottom-up!

I chose New Caledonia for a couple of reasons - first of all, as the game begins (summer 2011), they are about to host the Pacific Games; secondly, the Oceania Nations Cup comes just a few months after that; and finally, as a French territory, they should be competing in the Coupe de l'Outre Mere as well.

At the time of joining, the team is ranked 170th in the world. My first tasks will be to bring in some backroom staff, trawl through the local clubs for decent players (there are already quite a few regens to fill the teams up) and hope I can persuade a French star or two with seconbd nationality to join us!

My first match in charge will be the Pacific Games opener with Cook Islands. Tahiti and Wallis & Fortuna are the other teams in our group. I have no idea what to expect!

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2011 Review: New Caledonia

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Quick Overview

2011 Pacific Games: Quarter finals

2011 Results:2011NewCaledoniaFixtures_Fixtures.png

December 2011 World Ranking: 167 (+3)

2011 Pacific Games

My first action as boss of New Caledonia was to compete in the Pacific Games, which we happened to be hosting. This is a tournament for 12 Pacific Nations (including some who are not full FIFA members) divided into 3 groups of 4. The New Caledonian FA had directed me to make a good showing for the home crowd and reach the quarter-final stage. With two thrid-placed teams advancing, I was confident of doing just that.

First up were Cook Islands. The game was fairly even with few chances. In the end, home support and accuracy (Cook Islands had more shots but only hit the target once) made the difference as we won 2-1. It was a similar story in our next game against Tahiti with few chances. Again, it was us who made them count as two second half goals brought about a 2-0 win, putting us into the quarter-finals with a game to spare. Just as well because our final opponents, Wallis & Futuna, would be our toughest opponents by far (don't be fooled by their lack of FIFA membership!) Despite being outplayed, we managed to go into half-time level at 1-1. The second half was more of the same as our opponents attacked and we hung on. It seemed to be over when we went 2-1 down on 77 mins and had a man sent off shortly after. However, we somehow snatched an equaliser out of nowhere right on 90 mins and an unlikely point seemed to be in the bag. In one final cruel twist, we would be denied by a penalty conceded in injury time and that turned out to be the last kick, sending us to a 3-2 defeat.

Group Tables

That defeat left us a bit downhearted for the quarter-final and I was unable to pick the players up as we again lost discipline and gifted Vanuatu two first-half penalties. We were unable to get back into the game after that and ended up losing 2-0, thus exiting the tournament.

Ultimately, Wallis & Futuna would win the tournament, beating Tahiti 2-0 in the final.

Knockout Results

Friendlies

Revenge over Vanuatu would come as we visited their place in October and came away with a 1-0 win. Our final game of 2011 saw us take on Solomon Islands. An entertaining match finished 2-2 with both sets of fans going home happy.

The Year Ahead...

The big event in 2012 will be the OCE Nations Cup, which will be hosted by Fiji. We have a tough group as we have been drawn with the host nation and regional superpower New Zealand. Vanuatu are also in our group but I think our chances of making it into the semi-final stage are slim...

OCE Nations Cup Group Stage Draw

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Excellent, the international managing man of mystery (as no one knows who he is) is back.
Cheers deltablue. My man does like to remain in the shadows ;)
A pretty good start with New Caledonia, just a shame that you've been drawn with New Zealand in the OCE Nations Cup.
It will be tough... The New Zealand game will be a matter of keeping the scoreline respectable (and therefore the goal difference low). I'm confident of beating Vanuatu so it all comes down to whether or not we can get a result against Fiji...
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Good luck take 2.
Cheers Nobby :thup:
Well, with Vanatu in your group, hopefully you can get your revenge.
Revenge against Vanuatu combined with a positive result against Fiji will be just the ticket :)
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Making a Splash: Oceania Nations Cup, 2012

OFCcup.png

Hosts: Fiji

Holders: New Zealand

We didn't have the best build up to the tournament with a 5-2 drubbing at the hands of Malidives in February. Just before the tournament began, we faced one of the weaker Oceanic sides, Papua New Guinea, and struggled to a 3-2 win. We then travelled to Fiji for one last warm up game against the host and somehow earned a throughly undeserved 1-0 win with an injury time goal. Despite those wins, the team wasn't clicking and I felt the tournament would be a struggle. Just for some extra pressure, we would have to get out of our group if we were to play any part in World Cup Qualifying come September...

Group Stage

Toughest match first as we faced New Zealand. Predictably and depressingly, we were on the wrong end of a 5-0 scoreline. That meant our next game against Fiji was a must win if we were to have any chance of progressing. We got off to a cracking start with a goal after 2 minutes and, despite conceding an equaliser just before half-time, we looked much more assured an confident than we had in any preivous games under my management and came out with a 2-1 win. With Fiji to play the Kiwis in their last game, that meant a point against Vanuatu would be enough but we went one better as we won 1-0, getting our revenge for last year's Pacific Cup and advancing to the semis in the process.

The final group tables looked like this:

2012OCECupGroupStage.png

Semi-final

We would play Tahiti in the semis, aside we had beaten in last year's Pacific Games. A pair of early goals from Taua, a 33 year-old Frenchman whom I had persuaded to turn out for New Caledonia in the twilight of his career, set us on the way with an early brace. We never looked back from there, adding a third before half-time and another after the break to cruise into the final 4-0 winners.

Final

As you may have guessed, New Zealand also made it to the final after beating Samoa. All I was looking for was a better scoreline than the group stage result and that's what we got. In fact, it turned out to be an incredibly tight final with the Kiwis finding it tough to break us down despite their domination. They eventually scored before half-time but a game changing moment came early in the second half as Andrew Boyens lost his cool and got a red card. New Zealand were still the better side but they had to pull back slightly after that gicing us a chance to get back into it. We eventually mustered an attack just befoer the hour mark which resulted in a corner. We put the ball in the mixer and a scramble ensued with the ball finally ricocheting off defender, post and keeper before bouncing into the net. That was enough to take the game to extra time and, in the 92nd minute, New Zealnd saw red again leaving them down to 9 men! We sensed blood and started to play more boldly. Alas, that was probably a mistake as New Zealand counter-attecked to retake the lead midway through extra time. Any hopes of getting back into it ended as we had a man sent off and the match finished as a 2-1 defeat. Proud of the result but a bit disappointed as well that we couldn't do better when playing against 9...

2012OCECupKO.png

After the tournament came two pieces of good news: first of all, our former Frenchman Taua was the only non-New Zelander to make the Oceania Dream Team; and making the semis meant we would be joining New Zealand, Tahiti and Samoa in the Oceania World Cup Qualifying Group later in the year!

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What a Nightmare! Coupe de l'Outre-Mer, 2012

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Once the new domestic season got underway and a 3-0 friendly win over Tonga had been played, I received news that New Caledonia had been entered into the Coupe de l'Outre-Mer, a tournament for French overseas territories and one of the extra international tournaments added to my game. I wasn't sure what to expect as my New Caledonians and Ocaeanic rivals Tahiti were the only full FIFA members in the competition with the other 8 nations being Caribbean or African non-FIFA nations.

Group Stage

We were drawn into Group B with Martinique, French Guiana, St Pierre and Miquelon and Guadeloupe. With only the top team progressing to the final, progressing beyond this phase was going to be tough but as the FA only expected us to 'learn from the experience', there was no pressure.

Martinique were our first opponents and were slated as heavy favourites. I was therefore happy to get out of the game with a 1-1 draw despite being outplayed. It was a bit of a surprise to learn that the fans were not happy after the game as we had let our lead slip late on but I wasn't too concerned by that. French Guiana were our next opponents and this time we were given more favourable odds. However, we were outplayed again but got lucky with a late equaliser, this time the 1-1 result making the fans happy. :rolleyes: We were heavy favourites for the following match with St Pierre and Miquelon, the smallest nation in the competition. However, what should have been an easy win turned into a lucky escape. We were outplayed and in the end lucky to get a point at 0-0. That result sent confidence tumbling ahead of our final game with Guadeloupe and it showed. We just didn't perform and this time there was to be no lucky equaliser, no backs-to-the-wall defending an no wasteful opposition strikers as we were humiliated 9-1.... This time, I could understand the fans' displeasure.

The final group tables looked like this with us firmly rooted to the bottom:

2012CoupedelOutre-MerGroups.png

For the record, Guadeloupe went on to beat Reunion in the final. It would now be my job to pick the team up for the World Cup Qualifying games....

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Good to see you back up and running after the last thread's premature end. Did well with New Caledonia in the OFC Nations Cup, bit unlucky in the French overseas tournament though :thdn: At least you have a chance to qualify for the World Cup though!
Cheers PH71! The OFC Cup was a pleasant surprise but I was hoping to kick on from there... A few players from that squad were injured when it came to the Coupe DOM, which must have had an effect.
Well done on a great run to the final of the OFC Nations Cup. Also a great result to grab a closer game with New Zealand.

I'll keep quiet about the match with Guadeloupe.

Your silence is appreciated ;) The records show we took New Zealand to extra time in the final and I'm happy with that.
Unlucky against Guadeloupe but IIRC someone managed them an FM ago and did pretty well. :D

Hope some familiar opposition will get you good results.

Guadeloupe is a team I would like a crack at in this save, even though they are not in FIFA. They obviously have some very good players and the Caribbean Championship and Gold Cup every two years would keep me busy...
Tough beat against New Zealand in the Oceania Nations Cup. Too bad someone couldn't have taken care of the Kiwis for you!
I was hoping that they would somehow slip up against Samoa in the semis but it was not to be...
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2012 Review: New Caledonia

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Quick Overview

2012 OCE Nations Cup: Runners-up

2012 Coupé de l'Outré-Mer: Group Stage

2014 World Cup Qualfying Oceania Section: 3rd (after 4 of 6 games)

2012 Results:

2012NewCaledoniaFixtures_Fixtures.png

November 2012 World Ranking: 136 (+31)

It all started off so well... Our OCE Nations Cup performance saw us surge up the World Rankings and our Coupe DOM disaster didn't see us drop down (I'M assuming that's because all the games we played were against non-FIFA members). However, the year would end a little prematurely for me due to our performance in the World Cup Qualifiers....

2014 World Cup Qualfying Oceania Section

Initially, I was confident we could perform well in this group (New Zealand aside) as we had easily taken care of Tahiti in the OCE Cup (and the Pacific Games last year) and Samoa were surprise qualifiers. However, we soon came back to earth with a bump as our campaign started with a 1-0 home defeat against Tahiti. That was followed by an expected 3-0 loss in New Zealand and I put the Tahiti result down to bad luck. Before the next round of qualifiers, we endured our ill-fated Coupé DOM performance and by the time the Samoa match came round, confidence was at an all time-low. We played well but just couldn't put the ball in the back of the net and it took a late equaliser to salvage a disappointing 1-1 draw. A month later, we faced Tahiti again but an insipid performance led to a repeat of the result from the first game, a 1-0 loss.

After the game, there was an ominous change of border colour on my FM screen and, sure enough, this message was waiting for me:

2012Sacked.png

They didn't even wait for the World Cup Qualifiers to be completed... They didn't even wait until the final fixture of the calender year against New Zealand... So, despite meeting expectations at the Pacific games, exceeding them in the OCE Nations Cup, just being told to 'learn from the experience' in the Coupé DOM and World Cup Qualifying and taking New Caledonia nearly 40 places higher in the world rankings I get sacked, which just goes to show that the New Caledonian FA are just a bunch of...

[video=youtube;qLZ6XXblLJI]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qLZ6XXblLJI

A tear came to my eye at the end when the guy said "it's gone now"....

I was worried that finding another international job would take an age (I had been linked with several League 1 and 2 clubs before getting the sack but I will only go into club management as a last resort if I need a rep boost at any point). Luckily, when I checked the jobs page, I found that on the same day as my sacking, another manager had lost his job half a world away....

The Story So Far...

[font=courier new][b][u]Year[/u] | [u]Nation[/u]        | [u]World Ranking[/u] | [u]Notes 
[/u][/b]2011 | New Caledonia | 167th (+3)    | Pacific Games QF
2012 |[/font] [font=courier new]New Caledonia | 136th (+31)   | OCE Nations Cup finalists, Coupé DOM Group Stage, Sacked Nov 2012[/font] 

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Hightailing it to...

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As I said above, on the same day that I was given the boot, the manager of Haiti was also sent packing. I immediately applied and...

2012HaitiJOb.png

In the end, I was out of work for less than a day!!

Haiti are currently ranked 145th in the world (less than ten spots below New Caledonia) and my predecessor was sacked for woefully underperforming. The expectations were to reach 'the Hex' as Rancer calls it in World Cup Qualifying (The Hex being the final qualifying group of six nations - Haiti didn't even make it past the first round) and the semis in the Caribbean Championship (they were eliminated in the second round). Those early exits mean I don't have much to do in terms of competitive games in the near future but that gives plenty of time to assess the current pool of players, add some staff and persuade some French players to join our cause. ;)

2012HaitiOverview_Profile.png

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Thanks Razer. :thup: It was a shame I was given the boot so early. I was hoping to stay a few years and bring a few regens through.

As for Haiti, they are already out of WCQ (part of the reson the previous manager was sacked) so I'll have to wait a few years (if I stay/last that long) for a crack. In the meantime, there's the next edition of the Caribbean Cup to look forward to.

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2012 International Review

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In this incarnation of the thread, I've decided to do an annual round-up of the international tournament and award winners. Where avaialable, I've added screenshots of the finals/group tables.

International Champions

Intercontinental

Arab Nations Cup: Morocco

CIS Cup: Ukraine U21s

Coupé de l'Outré-Mer: Gaudeloupe

French Youth Invitational: Holland U21s

Indian Ocean Island Games: Madagascar

Olympics: Brazil U23s

Africa

Africa Cup of Nations: Ivory Coast

CECAFA Cup: Sudan

CECAFA U20 Cup: Kenya U20s

Cosafa Cup: South Africa

Cosafa U20 Cup: South Africa U20s

UNAF U20 Cup: Egypt U20s

UNAF U23 Championship: Egypt U23s

WAFU Nations Cup: Senegal

WAFU U20 Championship: Ivory Coast U20s

Asia

Asian U19 Championship: Japan U19s

ASEAN U19 Championship: Indonesia U19s

AFF Championship: Idonesia

Challenge Cup: India

East Asian Championship: Japan

East Asian Games: China U23s

Gulf Cup: Bahrain

U23 Gulf Cup: Bahrain U23s

HK-Macau Interport: Macau

Marianas Cup: Northern Mariana

WAFF Championship: Iran

Europe

Euro 2012: England

Euro U19 Championship: Germany U19s

Baltic Cup: Lithuania

Baltic U21 Cup: Lithuania U21s

Baltic U19 Cup: Lithuania U19s

North America

Caribbean Championship: Jamaica

Inter-Guyana Games: Guyana

South America

Superclasico de las Americas: Brazil

Oceania

OCE Nations Cup: New Zealand

International Awards

World

Golden Ball: Xavi (Barcelona/Spain)

World Player of the Year: Xavi (Barcelona/Spain)

World XI

(featuring Leighton Baines!!)

Africa

Player of the Year: Gervinho (Arsenal/Ivory Coast)

Young Player of the Year: Jordan Ayew (Marseille/Ghana)

Team of the Year

Asia

Player of the Year: Mohammed Noor (Al-Ittihad/Saudi Arabia)

Young Player of the Year: Ji-Dong Won (Sunderland/South Korea)

Europe

Best Player in Europe: Alexis Sanchez (Barcelona/Chile)

Golden Boot: Edinson Cavani (Napoli/Uruguay)

South America

Player of the Year: Lucas Moura (Sao Paulo/Brazil)

Team of the Year

Oceania

Player of the Year: Chris Kellen (Shezhen/New Zealand)

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Thanks for the comments guys. One of the annoying things with the sacking is that while I was poring over the national pool and filling the squad with players in the domestic league, my AI successor is now picking squads of 6 or 7 players with the rest all 'greys'. That has allowed them to pick up some decent results and maintain their world ranking. I'm going to arrange a friendly just to show them up ;)

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2013 Review: Haiti

Friendly Beginnings...

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Quick Overview

2012 Results:

2013HaitiFixtures_Fixtures.png

December 2012 World Ranking: 126th (+19)

World Rankings Graph

Friendlies

With my predecessor having failed to reach the FA's targets in the 2012 Caribbean Cup and 2014 World Cup Qualifying, we were left with just friendlies for my first year in charge, forced to watch from afar as the Gold Cup and the final round of qualifiers for Brazil 2014 took place. We had a decent year though, playing 9 internationals with a W5 D2 L2 record.

Costa Rica away was a tough first assignment and we inevitably lost 3-0 as I got a closer look at some of the players. We then had a nice run though to the summer of 4 wins in a row. First we beat close rivals the Dominican Republic before earning a win in the Cayman Islands. I was pleased with those results as they were two sides Haiti had been unable to beat in the 2012 Caribbean Championship just prior to my arrival. Antigua & Barbuda were easily seen off in our next game before I took my new team halfway round the world for a personal grudge match against New Caledonia. We taught them a lesson or three with a convincing win.

After the summer, we suffered a blip in our meeting with Puerto Rico as we lost 3-2. Having our goalkeeper sent off midway through the first half didn't help (one of those annoying ones when he handled the ball outside the area and gor a red even though there was not an attacker in sight...). A riproaring 3-3 draw with Panama followed before we closed the year with a 1-1 tie in Cuba and a home win over Surinam.

I was pleased with the performances overall and feel I have a decent core group of players. We do lack depth somewhat, however, especially in defence. Having a few players from the national pool retire (some due to age and some due to not having a club) hasn't helped. There are some exciting regen prospects but all of them have dual Hatian/french nationality and don't want to commit themselves yet.

Haiti U20s

The U20 side did have some competitive action in 2013 as they played in the CONCACAF U20 Championship and Jeux de la Francophonie, an U20 tournament for French-speaking nations. In the regional finals (which act as a qualifying tournament for the U20 World Cup), the yougsters crashed out in the group stage but they fared better in the Francophonie Games, reaching the quarter-finals before losing to Senegal. Alas, there is not much in the way of young talent to tell you about as, due to the probelm mentioned above with French/Haitian regens, the squad was mainly filled with greys...

U20 Results

The Year Ahead

Internationally, the main focus this year will be the World Cup in Brazil. That means more friendlies for Haiti early in the year before the 2014 Caribbean Championship kicks offf in the autumn. Hopefully, a good performance there can see us qualify for the 2015 Gold Cup.

The Story So Far...

[font=courier new][b][u]Year[/u] | [u]Nation[/u]        | [u]World Ranking[/u] | [u]Notes 
[/u][/b]2011 | New Caledonia | 167th (+3)    | Pacific Games QF
2012 |[/font] [font=courier new]New Caledonia | 136th (+31)   | OCE Nations Cup finalists, Coupé DOM Group Stage, Sacked Nov 2012[/font] 
[font=courier new]2013 | Haiti         | 126th (+19)   | N/A[/font]
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2013 International Review

2039562510.png

World Rankings (top 21)

England lead the way after last year’s Euro win with Croatia, Russia and Switzerland also flying high. A lack of competitive action sees next year’s World Cup hosts Brazil down in 18th.

2014 World Cup Qualifiers

With excitement building ahead of next year’s World Cup, here’s a look at the draw for the group stage:

2014WorldCupA-C.png

2014WorldCupD-F.png

2014WorldCupG-H.png

No real 'group of death' but several groups where it would be tough to pick the qualifiers!

And now a review of this year’s international competitions, great and small (screenshots of final game/group provided where available):

International Champions

Intercontinental

Confederations Cup: England

CIS Cup: Ukraine U21s

French Youth Invitational: Greece U21s

Indian Ocean Island Games: Madagascar

Islamic Solidarity Games: Cameroon

Jeux de la Francophonie: Ivory Coast U20s

Lusophony Games: Portugal

Mediterranean Games: France

U20 World Cup: Mexico U20s

Africa

Africa Cup of Nations: Ivory Coast

African U20 Championship: Ivory Coast U20s

Amilcar Cabral Cup: Senegal

CECAFA Cup: Zambia

CECAFA U20 Cup: Kenya U20s

Cosafa Cup: Zimbabwe

Cosafa U20 Cup: Zambia U20s

UNAF U23 Championship: Egypt U23s

UNAF U20 Cup: Tunisia U20s

WAFU Nations Cup: Senegal

WAFU U20 Championship: Ivory Coast U20s

Asia

ASEAN U19 Championship: Indonesia U19s

ASEAN U23 Championship: Thailand U23s

East Asian Games: China U23s

Gulf Cup: Bahrain

U23 Gulf Cup: Saudi Arabia U23s

HK-Macau Interport: Hong Kong

Marianas Cup: Northern Mariana

SAFF Championship: Maldives

South-East Asia Games: Malaysia U23s

West Asian Games: Bahrain U23s

Europe

Euro U21 Championship: Spain U21s

Euro U19 Championship: France U19s

Baltic Cup: Lithuania

Baltic U21 Cup: Latvia U21s

Baltic U19 Cup: Estonia U19s

North America

Gold Cup: U.S.A.

CONCACAF U20 Championship: U.S.A. U20s

Central American Nations Cup: Guatemala

South America

South American U20 Championship: Argentina U20s

Superclasico de las Americas: Brazil

Oceania

N/A

International Awards

World

Golden Ball: Lionel Messi (Barcelona/Argentina)

World Player of the Year: Lionel Messi (Barcelona/Argentina)

World XI...

...this time featuring Tom Huddlestone and Dirk Kuyt!

Africa

Player of the Year: Yaya Touré (Man City/Ivory Coast)

Young Player of the Year: Ryad Boudebouz (Souchaux/Algeria)

Team of the Year

Asia

Player of the Year: Kesuike Honda (CSKA Moscow/Japan)

Young Player of the Year: Ji-Dong Won (Sunderland/South Korea)

Europe

Best Player in Europe: Xavi (Barcelona/Spain)

Golden Boot: Alexis Sanchez (Barcelona/Chile)

South America

Player of the Year: Lucas Moura (Sao Paulo/Brazil)

Team of the Year

Oceania

Player of the Year: Paul Cunnigham (SSAFC/New Zealand)

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New Caledonia's loss is Haiti's gain :thup:
As long as the entire defence doesn't retire (a few more have been released by their clubs...), I hope to prove you right!
I love this idea and am enjoying the progress! Is there any way you could upload a .rar with all of the db edits you've used, or failing that link me to some of them? I'd like to try something similar.
Thanks whitesox. There are links to the extra files I used in the opening post. Unknown Hacker made the extra leagues (note that they only work with the default database) and Poop made the extra international comps.
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Thanks whitesox. There are links to the extra files I used in the opening post. Unknown Hacker made the extra leagues (note that they only work with the default database) and Poop made the extra international comps.

Doh :o

Thanks, haha I actually had a bit of an epiphany after writing that post, and went and searched out poop in the editor's forums thinking it sounded familiar. Must be the name :lol:

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Haiti 2014 Update: Caribbean Championship 2nd Round

A Few Friendlies First...

2014 started very quietly for us (for some reason when I tried to arrange friendlies the March date and one of the June dates were listed as 'unavailable'). That meant we didn't have a game until the summer when we hosted Trinidad & Tobago. We put in a good performance but were too wasteful in front of goal with the game finishing 1-1 when it could/should have been an easy victory. In September, we travelled to Canada and were on the wrong end of a beating, lucky to only lose 3-0. El Salvador were our next opponents and we put in a better performance but tired towards the end, eventually losing 3-1 after conceding two late goals. One more friendly was to be played before the Caribbean Championship kicked off, at home to Curaçao. A poor start saw us go two goals down early on. We played much better in the second half but could only pull one back as we suffered a third consecutive defeat...

200px-Cfu-caribbean-cup-logo.jpg

Caribbean Cup Second Round

Those friendly results didn't give me much hope going into the regional championships. The pressure was on, however, as the Haitian FA were expecting us to reach the semis and therefore qualify for next year's Gold Cup. Having recieved a bye for the first round, we were drawn into a second round group with Grenada, the Dominican Republic and Surinam. That seemed easy enough on paper but, assuming we made the top two, we would then have to negotiate another group pahse in the third round to reach the target.

Grenada were our first opponents. The game was evenly balanced for the first hour before we started to assert ourselves, taking the lead on 64 minutes. As Grenada searched for an equaliser, we hit them on the break with two late goals to sew the match up. Or did we? Once we were three goals up, we switched off and let Grenada back into it as they scored two late goals of their own. In the end, we were relieved to hear the whistle blow while the scoreline was still 3-2. There was more late drama in the next game against the Dominican Republic too. Despite controlling much of the game, we were unable to make a breakthrough until the 87th minute when we took the lead. Alas, we switched off once again as our opponents scored an equaliser moments later and the game finished 1-1. In the final match against Surinam, we went behind early on and it looked like we might be crashing out. However, we rallied to equalise before half-time and take the lead after the break. This time we held our nerve to claim a precious win and guarantee our place in the next round.

The final 2nd Round tables looked like this:

2014CaribbeanChampionship2ndRound.png

We take a break before the next round with a couple of friendlies scheduled for November. Getting through the next group and into the semis will be tough though as we have been drawn with host nation Trinidad & Tobago and defending champions Jamaica. St. Vincent complete the four.

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Haiti 2014 Update: Caribbean Championship 3rd Round

Autmun Friendlies

With the two-week break between the second and third rounds coinciding with the November international week, I arranged a couple of friendlies, this time taking Haiti to Europe to play Northern Ireland and Scotland. We were outclassed in both matches but did our best to keep the scorelines respectable, losing 3-0 at Windsor Park and 1-0 in Glasgow - our one shot of the game was a very good chance in the last minute as well that forced a fne save from the Scottish keeper.

200px-Cfu-caribbean-cup-logo.jpg

After that, it was back to the warmer climes of Port of Spain to play out our third round group in the Caribbean Championship. Our poor friendly form carried over to the first game as we faced favourites Jamaica and got whipped 4-0. We then faced the weakest team left in the competition, St Vincent but something was still not clicking with the team as we failed to take control of the game and only sneaked a win thanks to an own goal. Luckily for us, Trinidad & Tobago had only managed a point against St Vincent and had then been stuffed by Jamaica meaning we only needed a point from our match with them to claim second place. We finally started playing football and went into an early 2 goal lead. T&T pulled one back before half-time but we soon re-asserted our lead going 3-1 up. We then had our now customary loss fo composure as the host nation swarmed forward and levelled tha match with just over 10 minutes to go. I made them favourites to get the win they needed to go though at our expense at that stage but it seemed their luck finally ran out as we got a goal on the break with 2 minutes left to grab an epic 4-3 win and secure our place in the last 4. :thup:

All of which meant the final groups looked like this:

2014CaribbeanChampionship3rdRound.png

We face Puerto Rico in the semis while Jamaica take on Grenada. Having scraped through to this point, I'm now getting a sneaky feeling that we can make it to the final and then... who knows?

And two good pieces of news to finish this post on: reaching the semis means I have met the FA's target for this competition and it also means we have earned a spot in next summer's Gold Cup!

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