ShanghaiNugget Posted June 14, 2014 Share Posted June 14, 2014 Back Where We Belong An international adventure As the world gets gripped with World Cup fever, with the buzz and bunting ranging from city bars to village corner shops in the 32 countries participating in Brazil, there are countries who once tasted the national pride that comes from watching their representative football teams compete on the world stage, but that once colourful memory is now fading fast. Only a handful of Havana natives will remember when Cuba reached the Quarter-finals in 1938, only to be beaten by Sweden 8-0. Wales' only World Cup finals venture in 1958 can be considered a success, drawing all 3 of their group games and then beating the once feared Hungary in a play-off to advance, only to lose in the Quarter-finals 1-0 against Brazil; a sole Pelé goal rescueing the South Americans in Gothenburg. Or a nation like Egypt who regularly compete in to the very late stages of the African Cup of Nations, winning it on three consecutive ocassions, have surprisingly qualified only twice for the World Cup and never advanced any further than the first stage of the tournament. With this challenge, I want to bring back the glory days of the nations who have since forgot what it felt to be a part of the party. The nations in the list below haven't reached the World Cup finals for the past 20+ years, along with their confederation, last World Cup appearance and their current FIFA world ranking (as of 14th June): Bolivia (CONMEBOL - USA 1994 - 67th) Canada (CONCACAF - Mexico 1986 - 110th) Cuba (CONCACAF - France 1938 - 95th) DR Congo (CAF - West Germany 1974 - 84th) Egypt (CAF - Italy 1990 - 36th) El Salvador (CONCACAF - Spain 1982 - 68th) Haiti (CONCACAF - West Germany 1974 - 73rd) Hungary (UEFA - Mexico 1986 - 47th) India* (AFC - Brazil 1950 - 154th) Indonesia (AFC - France 1938 - 157th) Iraq (AFC - Mexico 1986 - 104th) Israel (UEFA - Mexico 1970 - 75th) Kuwait (AFC - Spain 1982 - 115th) Northern Ireland (UEFA - Mexico 1986 - 90th) Peru (CONMEBOL - Spain 1982 - 45th) UAE (AFC - Italy 1990 - 72nd) Wales (UEFA - Sweden 1958 - 41st) *= India have never played in a World Cup but did qualify in 1950. They withdrew citing travel costs. The first part of the challenge I present is not to win the World Cup but to simply qualify. Of course you want to try and get as far as you can in to the tournament but to qualify is the only thing that matters. The second part is to qualify again, and again, and again... We want to get these countries back in to the mix and regularly attending the World Cup and becoming a household name. You can decide to do your own challenges on the side: no foreign staff, age restrictions, whatever, but I didn't want to create something incredibly difficult or impossible, just a little relative fun! When setting up, remember to load all players for your chosen country (or all said countries). Your reputation setting doesn't matter either, but think about setting your nationality to the same country. If you post a screenprint of your team at the World Cup, showing where you got to and what the result was, I'll create a little Hall of Fame and stick your name on it alongside the screenprint! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
podunkboy Posted June 14, 2014 Share Posted June 14, 2014 So, would this be international management only, or can we manage a club, also? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
ShanghaiNugget Posted June 14, 2014 Author Share Posted June 14, 2014 Personally, I'd stick to international only, but as only 7 of the countries have a playable domestic league (unless you do some editing, of course), then I'll leave that as a personal choice. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
toonbalmy87 Posted June 14, 2014 Share Posted June 14, 2014 Personally id try this with Hungary & Wales but use a club just to help improve the country's chances Sounds like a very good Challenge Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheGreatTraveler Posted June 15, 2014 Share Posted June 15, 2014 This sound like a lot of fun, think I will give it a try with Peru, Bolivia, Egypt, Canada, Wales, Iraq, or El Salvador. Just have to make a choice now!!!! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Villescrubs Posted June 16, 2014 Share Posted June 16, 2014 Im trying this with Canada home country and I don't even watch... they are so bad... Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
smp20 Posted June 16, 2014 Share Posted June 16, 2014 I'm going to be giving this with Wales. I'm also going to be taking over Swansea and building an all Welsh team for an added twist. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
brettney1980 Posted June 17, 2014 Share Posted June 17, 2014 I like the idea of this, and often try something similar myself anyway (and with the World Cup being on i am all over International Football at the moment). So i have decided on Canada! So we start with a group of Away matches, before coming home to face Hong Kong and then our biggest game of the year against Serbia. August Squad 4 Uncapped Players make my first Squad; Charlie Trafford - Currently without a club and i wouldn't usually call up an unattached player, but we are a little short in CM (quite a few injuries). Srdjan Djekanovic - Looking at him i am surprised he's never been capped, he looks pretty decent and suits easily as a backup Hirshfeld (who is currently injured). Kofi Opare - Two reasons he looks a good strong CB and i don't want him capped by USA. Junior Hoilett - Easily one of our better players, not sure if he was hoping for an England call-up or something as he also qualifies for them and Jamaica. Bit of a random tactic just to see what the players can do. 14/8/13 - Away vs Surinam Not quite as comfortable as i would of liked, we had to come back from 2-1 down to win 3-2 but at least i start with a victory. Player of the Squad: Has to be Lucas Cavallini - Only his 3rd cap and he scored twice to rescue the game. September Squad; Tactics vs Japan - Switched to 5-4-1 with Wing Backs and Hoilet behind a Target Man. 6/9/13 - Away vs Japan Lost 2-1 but although we gave up possession we had enough chances that i am pleased with how we played. Switched to 4-5-1 for the next game, hopefully this is one we can win... 10/9/13 - Away vs Djibouti An Hattrick for Iain Hume from the Right saw us win 3-0. Player of this Squad has to be the HatTrick man Iain Hume! October Squad; - Forgot but here is the Tactics for the New Caledonia game (which includes all the players called up) 11/10/13 - Away vs New Caledonia Previously uncapped Lucas Gasparotto made his debut. A comfortable 2-1 win if somewhat strange that we gave away so much possession. Their goal was little more than a consolation. 4-5-1 for the Hong Kong match. 15/10/13 - Home vs Hong Kong Player of the Squad was a tough one but i'll go with Kofi Opare for his strong defensive display and his first International Goal. November Squad; 2 Uncapped players named Charlie Trafford (who has been called up by me before but didn't get a game, he now has a club Malmo in Sweden) and San Antonio Scorpions player Shaun Seiko - Both will almost certainly play. Tactics: We went back to the 5-4-1 that i'll use against the better teams, i went with Hoilet up top in a free role with De Rosario supporting him. 19/11/13 - Home vs Serbia We opened up the scoring but Serbia proved just a little too good and even though i am pleased with how we played we lost 2-1. Player of the Squad: Michael Klukowski scored our goal, even though he did get sent off in injury time for a second booking he had a good game. Current FIFA World Rankings: 92 (+1) 2013 Best XI Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
twiddlestix Posted June 17, 2014 Share Posted June 17, 2014 My first ever challenge - im in, will start with Northern Ireland when i get home. Im playing FM13. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
toonbalmy87 Posted June 17, 2014 Share Posted June 17, 2014 Scotlands last World Cup was 1998 maybe you could add them also Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
toonbalmy87 Posted June 17, 2014 Share Posted June 17, 2014 I like the look of Cuba , Wales and Hungary Decisions decisions Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
podunkboy Posted June 17, 2014 Share Posted June 17, 2014 Okay, knowing virtually nothing about most of these countries, I'm taking the reins of Peru. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
podunkboy Posted June 17, 2014 Share Posted June 17, 2014 Okay, knowing virtually nothing about most of these countries, I'm taking the reins of Peru. Game starts in January 2013, with 9 of the 16 qualifying games already played, Peru is 7th of 9 teams, but only 4 points out of qualification. We'll give it shot, certainly. Also managing Universidad San Martin, just as a "side project" (also so I can scout the likely call-ups better.) Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
brettney1980 Posted June 19, 2014 Share Posted June 19, 2014 Canada! 2014; Squad March 14 Lineup Home vs Palestine - 5/3/14 Player of the Squad: Kevin McKenna, the Captain is back. June Squad Lineup First Caps... Edson Edward, Andres Fresenga and Michal Misiewicz. Away vs Belgium - 7/6/14 Player of the Squad: Josh Simpson FIFA World Rankings. September Squad Uncapped: Atul Biswas Lineup. Home vs Haiti 5/9/14 Lineup Away vs Dominican Republic 9/9/14 Player of the Squad: Junior Hoilett - Struggling to get into the QPR side but has been great for us. October Squad Uncapped: Josh Grant Lineup Away vs Scotland 10/10/14 Lineup Away vs Ireland 14/10/14 Player of the Squad: Lucas Gasporotto - Has to be the man who plays in Scotland for Partick (Ex Rangers) scoring against Scotland!!! November Squad Uncapped: Dave McEndry, Liam Horwood and Quillan Roberts. Lineup Home vs Cuba 18/11/14 Player of Squad: Lucas Cavallini - Is building up an excellent scoring record for the Country! Fixtures Best XI - Overall Best XI FIFA World Rankings Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
toonbalmy87 Posted June 21, 2014 Share Posted June 21, 2014 Hungary & Real Madrid So this is my first season and its going to be a quick round up i am using Real Madrid as part of my game because the have links with Hungary through Ferenc Puskás so o decided i was going to use them to produce some quality Hungarian players but my aim is to have Real Madrid with a full starting 11 of Hungarian players if i can. Real Madrid Well i won the league pretty convincingly really League Table . We also got through to the Champions League Final against Bayern and they beat me 2-1 Meh!!!!. This is my current squad and how i play I had a huge clear out of the all the players i don't like and brought in the ones that i wanted. First Hungarian Youth Player through Youth Intake - his scout report says he will be a decent La Liga striker Hungary Had good little go unbeaten during my time as manager which a great plus for me and We finished 4th in table 3 points behind Turkey who finished 2nd but scoring plenty of goals Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
kris0710 Posted June 22, 2014 Share Posted June 22, 2014 I like the idea of this. Will kick off with Wales as the chance of getting to Brazil are almost non existent. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
kris0710 Posted June 22, 2014 Share Posted June 22, 2014 Wales - August 2013 World Cup Qualifying Group Little chance of making it to Brazil we have four Qualifying matches left, three at home. September brings Serbia and FYR Macedonia to Wales before we travel to Croatia and host Belgium in October. Optimistic but i would love to finish 3rd. Squad Announcement The main player missing from the list is Real Madrid star Gareth Bale who is out for 3/4 weeks with a damaged foot. Moldova Vs Wales - International Friendly Team List Result Overall a decent first game that was soured with a late goal. Rotherham winger Nicky Adams and Colchester player Sanchez Watt made their debuts in this match that saw us lead through an Aaron Ramsey strike. The leveller came with five minutes left after we had made all six subs. Work to be done but missing main man Bale was always going to leave us short of talent. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
kris0710 Posted June 22, 2014 Share Posted June 22, 2014 Wales - September 2013 Squad Announcement Six changes from the Moldova friendly including the return of Bale. Not fully fit i hope to get at least one appearance from him. Wales vs Serbia Lineup Result A fantastic result against Serbia with a man of the match showing from Craig Bellamy. The first two goals came from Bellamy corners with the third Robson-Kanu shooting across the keeper. Injuries Two players leave the squad between matches. Newly capped Karl Darlow is out for a month with a twisted ankle while Joel Lynch has a thigh strain. Wales vs FYR Macedonia Line Up Result Poor showing all round. We led early on with a Vokes header from a Bale free kick but just as we looked likely to add a crucial second the away side scored with a near post flick from another corner. Our hopes of reaching next years World Cup look over now. Qualifying Table Four behind Croatia with a trip there next. With the Croats hosting Scotland on the last day i doubt a win in Croatia and over Belgium would be enough anyhow. During this month we have set up an International double header in November with a home match with Chinese Taipei and a trip to Rep. of Ireland. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
brettney1980 Posted June 22, 2014 Share Posted June 22, 2014 Canada! This was my biggest year in charge yet. We head south to our old rivals the USA for the Gold Cup in June and then starting in September is the World Cup Qualifying 2nd Phase where we will be drawn into a group of 4 teams with only the top team advancing to stage 3... Fixtures; FIFA World Rankings! March Squad. Refused Call-up: Mike Petrasso - How i would like this guy to pick us over Italy! Lineup. Uncapped: Robert Stillo, Marko Jankovic, David Kwiek and Emery Welshman. 27/3/15 - Away vs Puerto Rico Played a weaker team, tested a few players out and came away with a 1-0 victory with them not able to get off a single shot on target. Our U20's have done very well, which bodes well for our future! - U20's North American Championship. Gold Cup Squad; Lineup. 24/5/15 - Home vs Australia Won 3-1 in our first of 4 warmup games, we were pretty lucky to be honest as they were at times the better side. Lineup. 29/5/15 - Home vs Kuwait A better performance and we dominated. Lineup. 1/6/15 - Away vs Michigan Bucks 2-0 win over the US Club side. Lineup. 3/6/15 - Away vs Chicago U23's Fired blanks with only 1 shot on target as we stuttered in our final warmup match. Group C; Lineup. 9/6/15 - vs Haiti Played very well in creating a lot of good chances, won 2-1 to kick off our Gold Cup campaign. Lineup. 13/6/15 - vs USA A 1-0 loss isn't the worst result in the World against a good USA side. Lineup. 16/6/15 - vs Honduras Very unlucky, deserved a draw at the very least... Done in by an Own Goal, 1-0 loss. We still scrape through to the Qtr finals - Final Group! Lineup. 21/6/15 - Q-Final vs Mexico And we face the toughest of the last 8 sides. Lose 2-0, we just couldn't get enough of the ball and spent huge portions of the match in our third of the pitch. Player of the Gold Cup: Iain Hume International Retirement: Dwayne De Rosario McKenna Gives up Armband - New Captain - Will Johnson! Vice Captain: David Edgar! I decided to have a B-Team Manager: Julian De Guzman|Staff Profile. World Cup Quals (NAM) 2nd Phase Group 3; September Squad. Uncapped: Janeil Hoilett and Matthew Scicluna. Lineup. 4/9/15 - Home vs Trinidad and Tobago 2-0 win, but we did give up too much possession. Lineup. 8/9/15 - Away vs Bermuda A well deserved 3-0 win which we were pretty comfortable in. FIFA World Rankings. October Squad; Lineup. 9/10/15 - Home vs Antigua and Barbuda Probably the weakest in our group, so it was a bit of a surprise when they scored 2 from just 2 on target, we won 3-2 though... Lineup. 13/10/15 - Away vs Trinidad and Tobago Another win, clean sheet, saved penalty, great game! 3-0 victory. Player of the Squad: Lucas Cavallini FIFA World Rankings! November Squad; I called up a few of those U20's Heroes... Tyler Fisk, Alex Aristodemo, Laurent Jan, Enzo Marigliano, Marko Dragoljevic and Andres de la Rosa. And ... Gershon Koffie - Koffie is a former Ghana U20 International who has decided to switch his allegiance to Canada, we will welcome him straight into the side and he can become an important player for us. Lineup 13/11/15 - Away vs Antigua and Barbuda They had a player sent off and we comfortably won 1-0. Lineup. 17/11/15 - Home vs Bermuda Handed out a lot of debut caps as we were already through to the next phase at this point... Won 3-1 with young Enzo Marigliano scoring 44 seconds into his debut, he has only made 5 appearances in the MLS but i like the look of him. Player of the Squad: Has to be... Enzo Marigliano Final Group Standings! FIFA World Rankings! Best XI - Overall Best XI. World Cup Quals. Stage 3 draw. Barbados are beatable for us, both Jamaica and USA are going to be tough. We will have to get something from our Home games to get out of this Group. Not only are we breaking FIFA World Rankings Records, but a few unbeaten records as well... Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
kris0710 Posted June 23, 2014 Share Posted June 23, 2014 Wales - October 2013 Squad Announcement Another five changes to the squad including Darcy Blake who is currently without a club. Croatia vs Wales Line Up Result What a performance in Croatia. We were the better side from start to finish and brezzed home with three goals from Blake, Bale and Vokes. With results going our way we head into the Belgium game with a guaranteed 3rd place at least. Wales vs Belgium Line Up Result A poor first half saw us three down but a much better second half let us gain some respectability. End the match gutted though as Croatia only drew with Scotland. Had we beat whipping boys FYR Macedonia we would be in the Play Offs. Final Qualifying Table Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
brettney1980 Posted June 23, 2014 Share Posted June 23, 2014 Unlucky Kris0710, but a great start nontheless. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
kris0710 Posted June 23, 2014 Share Posted June 23, 2014 Unlucky Kris0710, but a great start nontheless. It's been decent, FYR Macedonia apart. Have a very solid spine to the team with Darlow, Williams, Allen, Ramsey and Bale. Building a team around those five is exciting. Only Williams is over 24 years old so there is a couple of World Cup cycles in them yet. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
kris0710 Posted June 23, 2014 Share Posted June 23, 2014 Wales - November 2013 International Friendlies Squad Announcement A few surprise call up's as i look to change things around a little for the opening friendly. The side that takes to the field for the Rep. of Ireland game should be closer to the team i pick for next years European Championships Qualifiers. Wales vs Chinese Taipei Line Up Result A poor game was sprung into life with six subs in the 56th minute. Three of the subs went on to score and two of the three assists came from the men off the bench. Jon Williams of Crystal Palace and Tranmere's Owain fon Williams made their debuts here. Rep. of Ireland vs Wales Line Up Result Fell behind early on but the rest of the half was a close run thing. Our leveller came from a flicked on free kick that hit Aiden McGready and bounced into the net. Happy enough with a win and draw from the two games this month. Onto February for the Euro's draw. We have arranged a home friendly with Denmark for March, our only match in 2014 so far confirmed. Wales Best Eleven 2013 Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
johnnyquest409 Posted June 23, 2014 Share Posted June 23, 2014 I've been playing around with Indonesia a little. Very little success on the World Cup qualification front so far, nor the Asian Cup, though we did win the 2014 edition of the South East Asian Cup (AFF Championship). In our attempt to defend our title, we've reached the semi-final, but are having something of an injury crisis, to put it mildly. With a squad of 22 players, we've only been able to name three substitutes, two of which are 'slightly injured'. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
brettney1980 Posted June 26, 2014 Share Posted June 26, 2014 Canada! I have decided to cut down the amount of screenshots i was using, getting a bit so i couldn't be bothered to post my updates... My first task of 2016 was to decide on if i wanted to bring in a Coach for the U23's who would represent us in Olympic qualifying. I decided to take the reigns myself. Here's the first U23's Squad. Qualifying Group draw. - Second place is a definite possibility. But the lads decided that wasn't enough - And we win all 3 games finishing top! This hands us with a Semi Final game against Costa Rico, which we win 2-1 after extra time. The final vs Mexico! And we qualify for the Olympics. FIFA World Rankings! March sees our Full Side beat Tahiti 3-0 at Home. We handed debuts to an handful of Younger players who can hopefully step up as we have had a fair few retirements lately. The Olympic Squad: The 3 over age players i chose were Andres Fresenga, Simeon Jackson and Iain Hume. Olympic Group - Fixtures. Brazil in the Quarters... Damn, look at their side - Neymar!? We lost 3-0. June; WCQ - Away vs Barbados, these are the games we need to win and we do 3-1. WCQ - Home vs Jamaica, Jamaica are the side we need to stay ahead of i believe ... And this 3-1 victory will help! July FIFA World Rankings <Our Highest ever Ranking! September; WCQ - Away vs USA - If we can get anything from the US games, that is what will hopefully put us through. 2-2 Great result! WCW - Home vs Barbados - Tougher than the Away match, but we grab a 1-0 victory. October; WCQ - Away vs Jamaica - A win here puts us through to the 4th Phase ... 2-1 and we are in the Final 6! WCQ - Home vs USA - Lost 2-0 in a game that didn't really matter. FIFA World Rankings - We drop down a few spots Final Phase 3 Groups. November; Friendly - Home vs Wales - 2-1 loss. FIFA World Rankings. The years Fixtures. Best XI - Overall Best XI Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
brettney1980 Posted July 1, 2014 Share Posted July 1, 2014 Canada! 2017's Results Final Phase of World Cup Qualifying So we are back in the World Cup - In December the Groups were drawn and we get - Denmark, South Africa and Hosts Russia! FIFA World Rankings|Record High! Best XI|Overall Best XI Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
smp20 Posted July 2, 2014 Share Posted July 2, 2014 Canada! 2017's Results Final Phase of World Cup Qualifying So we are back in the World Cup - In December the Groups were drawn and we get - Denmark, South Africa and Hosts Russia! FIFA World Rankings|Record High! Best XI|Overall Best XI Well done on getting to the World Cup brettney! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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