rancer890's FM09 small club to big club Asian/African Challenge

[DodgeeD]

Well done on winning the CWC Scab. You'll surely get the China job now.

I think my run with Wellington Phoenix may be over - again I've reached a season with the OCE Nations cup and 10 of my squad are away for 3 months as a result during the finals series.

I'll be back in FM10 though when the A-League will hopefully be in its expanded format and bug free.

[Ethan13]

Adelaide United - Hyundai A-League- 2012/2013 (Season 4)- Ethan13

Since I have completed the domestic side of the challenge I will be mainly commenting on how I go in the Continental competitions.

Pre Season Cup
Winners

Won for the first time

A-League Table|Graph
Media Prediction: 3rd

2 team race but we got revenge from last season finishing top.

A League Finals

Got revenge in this as well winning against Central Coast to make it 3 titles in 4 years.

Grand Final

Champions League Group Stage

Not to much trouble qualifying as we dominated all the games. Hopefully we can win it this season.

Group F

Finances

Lost a lot of money this season but don't need any new players in so it should be fine.

Transfers

Improved youth squad and sold the extra players in the first team. Got some nice free transfers including Culina and Neil.

Star Player/s

Cory Skilton- Another great year for the 21 year old. Scores goals and gets assists from midfield.

Evan Berger- Proved to be a great signing constantly playing well.

Club Overview
Facilities
Squad

Fixtures Part 1 Part 2 Part 3

Aims from Last Season
- Win Pre Season Cup ACHIEVED
- Win A League (Finals and Regular Season) ACHIEVED

Aims for Next Season
- Win Asian Champions League

Domestic:

 Season    League    Finish    Final Series    Pre Season Cup  
----------------------------------------------------------------
 2009/10   A-League  2nd       Winners         4th in Group A  
 2010/11   A-League  1st       Winners         4th in Group A
 2011/12   A-League  3rd       Runner's Up     2nd in Group A
 2012/13   A-League  1st       Winners          Winners
----------------------------------------------------------------

Continental:

  Season    Champions League              CWC          Pan-Pacific  
----------------------------------------------------------------  
  2010/11   Lost in First Knockout Round  N/A          Lost in Third Place Playoff
  2011/12   Lost in First Knockout Round  N/A          Winners
  2012/13   1st in Group F                N/A          N/A
----------------------------------------------------------------

[JSalter]

I just can't keep myself away from this challenge, it's the only one I've got close to completing, but the World Cup has so far proved too hard. 2 months left to change that

I'm about to play the 2042 World Cup with the mighty Indonesia. Since the last WC (where we lost in the group stages) we finished 3rd in the Asian Cup of 2039 (as holders, so a disappointing performance). Qualification for France 42 was simple enough, unbeaten in the final round. We're only 30th in the world going into the tournament - behind the likes of Hungary and Costa Rica, and 1 place above Albania.

Still, there's reason for a bit of optimism. Leading up to the tournament we haven't lost in almost 2 years, including a fantastic 3-0 win in Saint-Etienne against the French, 11th in the world at the time. We followed this earlier this year with a 2-1 win at home to Argentina, 2nd in the world, after being behind.

Our draw for the group stage could be a lot worse. We've got England (6th in the world), Ghana (21st) and Romania (24th), so we're the worst team according to the rankings. We start against Romania, then play Ghana and finish with England, hopefully after already qualifying for the knockout stages for the first time.

This may be my last attempt at the World Cup, especially if we fail again at the 1st stage, and our ranking is much lower than in previous years. However, the performances against France and Argentina have given me more hope that we could perhaps cause an upset or 2 this time...

Wish me luck!

[DodgeeD]

Good luck JSalter! It would be great to see you finish this challenge. I think Ghana and Romania should be beatable.

[JSalter]

Thanks, I hope so as well. Ghana only got to the Quarter Finals of ACN earlier in the year, so aren't on great form.

Looking at our past record against our opponents, things like fairly promising. We've played Romania 3 times, 2 wins and a draw; Ghana 4 times, 3 wins and a defeat; and England 4 times: a win each and 2 draws.

I'll take wins again against each of them please

EDIT: England beat Ghana 4-0 in their opening game.

[canvey!!]

Come on JSalter, you can do it!

[rancer890]

Good luck in the World Cup with Indonesia JSalter.

[JSalter]

World Cup Group D

Ghana 0-4 England
Romania - Indonesia

England began with an expected dominant win over Ghana. A win to start us off was important here, but despite having most of the possession and chances in the first half, Romania took the lead in first half stoppage time. Inside a minute of the second half we were level through star striker Nurul Adi, and he then put us into the lead after 66 minutes. We looked to be comfortably holding on, until Romania levelled 7 minutes from time.

FINAL SCORE: 2-2

A slightly disappointing result, despite trailing at half time. We had 63% of possession and had 22 shots to their 5, with 4 clear cut chances to their 0. If we were more clinical we would have had an easy win.

England 2-0 Romania
Indonesia - Ghana

A must-win game, and ideally we needed to win by a few goals so we'd still have a chance of going through even if we lose to England. We started quickly, and were ahead after only 3 minutes through midfielder Abdul Darsono. Real Madrid winger Yusuf Harianto doubled our lead after 11 minutes, and Adi completed the scoring in the 30th minute. Ghana never threatened throughout the whole match, and although we didn't create as many chances in the second half, the damage had already been done.

FINAL SCORE: 3-0

A great win that leaves us with a chance of progressing to the 2nd Round for the first time. Once again we dominated, with 64% of possession and 18 shots to 2.

England - Indonesia
Ghana - Romania

To go through, we needed to either get at least a point, or lose without a 5 goal swing in favour of Romania. Things started well for us, with England winger Rowe turning the ball into his own net from a corner on 8 minutes. In an uneventful game, this was how it stayed, as England didn't create much - they only had 8 shots in the end (we had 4). Romania won 3-0 against Ghana but it wasn't enough for them.

FINAL SCORE: 0-1

A fantastic result, which not only takes us through to the knockout rounds, but as group winners. This means we avoid world number 1 Spain, and will take on Sweden instead, currently 12th in the world.

[JSalter]

2nd Round

Sweden - Indonesia

Going into the knockout rounds for the first time under my management, I definitely fancied our chances of beating Sweden. However, they took the lead after just 3 minutes. Abdul Darsono got the equaliser after 16 minutes, and from then on we dominated possession and created more chances. Neither side could manage to score again inside 90 or 120 minutes, so went to penalties. Sweden went first, and were 2-1 up after 2 each after defender Zulkifli Lesmana had his saved. But then our keeper Firdaus Moses saved their next penalty, and soon it was 4-all after 5 penalties apiece. Moses then made his 2nd save of the shoot out, allowing Joni Kurnia to net the winning penalty.

FINAL SCORE: 1-1 (Indonesia win 5-4 on penalties)

Quarter Final

Holland - Indonesia

The next round gave us a very difficult match against the Dutch at Stade de France. Nothing of note happened for much of the match in a tense encounter, neither side wanting to make a mistake costing them a World Cup Semi Final appearance. With 15 minutes to go in normal time, Dutch defender Goedhart was sent off for hauling down Adi when through on goal. We wasted the free kick though, and the Dutch hang on through the rest of normal time and extra time. We ended up with 56% possession, and 11 shots to 7.

We went first in the shoot out, and both sides scored their first 4 penalties. Then Panji Amri, the most experienced player in our squad, stepped up and had his penalty saved. Moses couldn't prevent van de Kraan from scoring, and Holland were through.

FINAL SCORE: 0-0 (Holland win 5-4 on penalties)

Holland went on to win the tournament, thrashing Argentina 4-0 in the final.

In the end, we fell short again, but it was our best performance for 16 years (in 2026 Indonesia also lost in the QFs, in 2022 they finished 4th), and after the tournament we moved up to 8th in the world. We've also got a core of players who should be around in 4 years - our best 2 strikers are currently 26 and 21, my preferred central midfielders are 24 and 25, and the central defenders are 23 and 27. Keeper Moses is 31, so could have another WC in him. Add to that some young talent, and we could have an even more competive squad in Argentina, in 2046.

I'm going to persist with this for the moment, I can't get into any other games right now. If I complete it I might take over Barito Putra again!

[DodgeeD]

Good progress JSalter. Gutting to go out on penalites but I'm sure you can go further next time.

[corinthiano]

Unlucky JSalter! Well done to ge that far though!!

[Ethan13]

Well done on getting that far JSalter. Must be disappointing to go out of penalties but at least you made some progress.

[Ethan13]

For the last 2 season I have won the home leg of the Asian Champions League Quarter final 3-2 and then gone on to get flogged 4-0 the first year and 5-0 the second year in the away leg. I won the home leg 3-2 again this year so we went into the away leg knowing that we needed to get a draw or a win or only lost by 1 goal but we had to score at least 2. We also only had 2 players on the bench one of which was a goalkeeper and the other a midfielder who still was partialy injured.

Onto the match. They scored in the 6th then I scored in the 9th so it was 4-3 my way on aggregate. Then they scored in the 18th and 39th but I got one back in the 45th. So at half time it was all equal on aggregate and on away goals. They scored in the 53rd but then I got one in the 60th to go up on away goals. Then one of my players in my youth team scored and we held on to draw the match 4 all and win on aggregate 7-6. Hopefully we can go onto win the competition.

Edit: We won the Semi Final 6-3 on aggregate which meant we were in our first Asian Champions League final since I took charge. The first leg was at home and I won it 3-1. The second leg started well as well scored early they got 2 back which meant we were still up 4-3 on aggregate. A late penalty that we scored made sure that we were the Asian Champions for the first time. I have now completed Part 2 of the challenge, hopefully when we go to the Club World Cup we can put up a decent effort.

Can I take the Australia job whenever it becomes available?

[berty1978]

I'm thinking of giving this a go along side Gundo's challenge.
Is anyone managing in South Africa? I've holidayed through and despite countess reloads only had three teams come up:
Maritzburg City, Classic and W.P. United.

[rancer890]

Yes you can Ethan13.

And berty1978, I haven't managed in S. Africa so I wouldn't know, but I don't think there is much choice other than those 3 if you reloaded countless times.

[berty1978]

Personal
Profile

So, I've gone for Classic, and the only real bit of information I can find is that Tembisa Classic is a previous name for Maritzburg United (who play in the top division) when they bought out the franchise. I believe that they then started up again in a lower division under the same name 'Tembisa Classic'.

[berty1978]

I've got a coach so I can get reports on my players, but I have placed an advert for every job role available, hoping for a good response.
The youth players are shockingly bad and I've got a few excellent players but it's otherwise average. When I get a scout expect lots of free signings.

[rancer890]

Good luck berty in South Africa.

[AdamFitz]

Interested in doing this, will probably do it in Australia if that's ok

[berty1978]

Thanks rancer, I have signed plenty of players though unfortunately haven't managed to sign any decent DC's, so my defence are so awful I feel like banging my head against a brick wall.

One bit of good news as we were in the red but won £50k for reaching the First Division Cup final. Although we were 2-1 up in the final, more bad defending and we lost 3-2, I hate to think how much we would have won for winning it.

[AdamFitz]

Err how long do I wait to find out which team I play as in Australia?

[Ethan13]

Holiday until June and then keep going continue and keep checking to see if the League has re started (All points will be back on 0). I think this happens around June 18 but I am not 100% sure. Once you notice it has re started look at the previous years table and take then become the manager of the team that finished bottom.

[AdamFitz]

Ok thanks mate.

[AdamFitz]

This is my Profile, Wellington Pheonix finished bottom so I have them,

[berty1978]

Tembisa Classic - Season 2009/10 summary - South African First Division Coastal

First Division Cup - Runners-Up vs F.C.A.K
SAFA Cup - 1st Round vs Hannover Park
Media prediction - 5th
Final position - 5th
Final Table
Results1
Results2
Squad stats

Domestic cups

The first cup competition of the season saw us exceed expectations and reach the First Division Cup final, it may not be a prestidigious competition but we received £50k for doing so thus putting us into the black again.

The SAFA Cup was forgettable as our poor away form continued and we lost embarassingly at lower division Hannover Park.

League

It was a pretty forgettable season apart from reaching the final, a decent home record kept us up (and the fact that Durban Stars were crap). We got a few decent results during the season and if we get a defence that can defend I feel we can do better next season.

Player of the season - Sidney Moshekaro

Season  |    Division     |  Position  |  SAFA Cup  |  Achievements
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
2009/10 |  First Coastal  |    5th     |  1st round |  First Division Cup Finalists

[AdamFitz]

Decent season there mate, getting the best out of and old boy there I see

Came so close in the pre-season cup

[rancer890]

Nice first season berty. Hope you can improve on that.

[AdamFitz]

Wellington Pheonix: Season 2009/10

Media Prediction: 8th
Final Position: 3rd

League Table: 3rd (31 points)
Said I'd try to Consolidate because our squad looked awful compared to the rest of the teams, but we turned out to have a decent year. In the Semi-Finals, I was very angry with how it turned out, we had 12 players on International Duty for both games which meant I had to play fake players in both games, an absolute disgrace. I'd say we would've won if this wasn't the case.

Pre-Season Cup: Final (Lost 4-3 On Penalties to Newcastle Jets)
Very unlucky, we were ahead in the penalties, missed two in a row and they won.

Squad & Tactics
Tactics seemed to work out fine, squad was ok, the depth I possess isn't very good though.

Finances
Awful, can't seem to get money from anywhere.

Transfers
Made 97k overall, brought in some nice frees, happy with them. Best player Jonathan McKain is going on a free though because he wouldn't renew his contract

Topscorer: Costa Barbarouses (6 goals)
Top Assists: Daniel (6 assists)
Top Rating: Vince Lia (7.13)

Aims For Next Season:
Finish Above 4th
Fix The Finances
Win Pre-Season Cup

 Season       Team                    League         Finished  
 2009-10      Wellington Pheonix      A-League       3rd

[rancer890]

That's a good 1st season AdamFitz. I wouldn't worry about the finances too much. Just focus on league performance.

-------------------------------
FM2010 Asian Football Confederation Project

I posted a while back about increasing the number of leagues in this challenge to hopefully increase the number of participants in this challenge. My goal is to find data for the better leagues in West Asia and a couple more leagues in East Asia. If some of you have forgotten, this is the planned expansion with the editor:

West Asia                            East Asia
Saudi Arabia                         Japan
UAE                                  Thailand
Iran                                 Vietnam
Uzbekistan
Qatar

I have already done the initial research of all these leagues, but I haven't completely finished researching any of the leagues, so I'll need some help.

Anyways the progress for each country:

• Saudi Arabia - ??% - little or no info on roster rules, cup competitions
• UAE - 0% - no progress
• Iran - 75% - little info on the cup competition, no info on the 2nd Division
• Uzbekistan - 0%
• Qatar - 0%
• Japan - 95% - only need discipline rules and if there is additional roster rules. I wrote N/A in discipline, but just read as 'need a lot more info'
• Thailand - haven't started
• Vietnam - haven't started

Additionally, I have some interest in expanding the following leagues: China (3rd Division), Hong Kong (2nd Division), and India (2nd Division). I haven't started any research on these leagues yet, but I have a good background with the China 3rd Division.

If there is enough interest here, I will create a new thread in the Editors Forum. If not, I still might post in the Editors Forum.

And there is a slight chance I won't get FM2010 around the release date due to the many tests I have in uni around that time...

Anyways the file is here. I just made the notes in notepad btw.

FM2010 Asian Football Confederation Project Interest List
- Saudi Arabia
- UAE
- Iran
- Uzbekistan
- Qatar
- Japan
- Thailand
- Vietnam
- China expansion
- Hong Kong expansion
- India expansion

And if there is any other expansion you want to do, then go ahead and add your own category.

[berty1978]

Good first season Adam, you were unlucky in the pre season cup too.

My start of season form has been indifferent, I lost my first 3 league games.

Good research Rancer, how the heck did you get all the details about the Japanese league, I'm looking to add some leagues myself and have no idea how to get info about prize money, finances, wages, league rules.

[rancer890]

Good first season Adam, you were unlucky in the pre season cup too.

My start of season form has been indifferent, I lost my first 3 league games.

Good research Rancer, how the heck did you get all the details about the Japanese league, I'm looking to add some leagues myself and have no idea how to get info about prize money, finances, wages, league rules.

Everything was found at wikipedia. Wiki has a lot of info on the J-League.

Most leagues need some more detail on prize money, average wages, etc. And need to research specific roster rules like foreigner restrictions.

I'll need to find the Asian researchers too, to help with the research...or it could be you, the interested forumer who wants to contribute to my project.

[JSalter]

I'll download that file later. I may be able to find info for you on league rules etc, I'll have a look if I have time over the next couple of weeks. After that don't expect much though, with uni starting soon, and I have no idea how much time I'm going to have for FM.

What about an Indonesian 4th tier?

[rancer890]

I'll download that file later. I may be able to find info for you on league rules etc, I'll have a look if I have time over the next couple of weeks. After that don't expect much though, with uni starting soon, and I have no idea how much time I'm going to have for FM.

What about an Indonesian 4th tier?

If you can find enough information on the 4th tier, then go for it!

More info on the data editor

FM2010 Asian Football Confederation Project Interest List
(Legend: preliminary interest, confirmed to research the league)
- Saudi Arabia
- UAE
- Iran
- Uzbekistan
- Qatar
- Japan
- Thailand
- Vietnam
- China expansion
- Hong Kong expansion
- India expansion
- Indonesia expansion - JSalter

[rancer890]

I posted a new thread in the Editor's Forum, so just post any related material in that thread.

[Ethan13]

Adelaide United - Hyundai A-League- 2013/2014 (Season 5)- Ethan13

Domestic
League Table ----- Graph

Won all 3 domestic titles/cups this year pretty easily.

Asian Champions League

Our goal was to win this and that is exactly what we did. We fought back in games and proved that we are one of Asia's best.

Final

World Club Cup

We ended up finishing 3rd which was good. We only just lost to Juventus though. This is the only part of the club challenge left for me to do.

Finances
Transfers
Squad

Fixtures Part 1 Part 2

Aims from Last Season
- Win Asian Champions League ACHIEVED

Aims for Next Season
- Win Asian Champions League again
- Win Club World Cup (Hopefully)


Domestic:

 Season    League    Finish    Final Series    Pre Season Cup  
----------------------------------------------------------------
 2009/10   A-League  2nd       Winners         4th in Group A  
 2010/11   A-League  1st       Winners         4th in Group A
 2011/12   A-League  3rd       Runner's Up     2nd in Group A
 2012/13   A-League  1st       Winners         Winners
 2013/14   A-League  1st       Winners         Winners
----------------------------------------------------------------

Continental:

  Season    Champions League              CWC          Pan-Pacific  
----------------------------------------------------------------  
  2010/11   Lost in First Knockout Round  N/A          Lost in Third Place Playoff
  2011/12   Lost in First Knockout Round  N/A          Winners
  2012/13   Winners                       3rd          4th
----------------------------------------------------------------

[rancer890]

Nice work Ethan.

Congratz on winning the ACL.

There is still the international part of the challenge, if you fancy international management...

[berty1978]

Well done Ethan, I should have the next season update soon, I am actually a little way through the season after that and with only 28 league games that shouldn't take much longer either.

[ShootTheRunner]

Hey guys, I kinda got into FML and forgot all about FM So I've decided to come back and carry on with my India save

So far the furthest I've reached is second round of the world cup (2018) and lost in the final of asian cup (2019)

[rancer890]

Hey guys, I kinda got into FML and forgot all about FM So I've decided to come back and carry on with my India save

So far the furthest I've reached is second round of the world cup (2018) and lost in the final of asian cup (2019)

STR!!!

I think you won the ACL. If you did, post in PH71's FM08/FM09 Ultimate CSE League with your save.

[ShootTheRunner]

I think you won the ACL. If you did, post in PH71's FM08/FM09 Ultimate CSE League with your save.

Alright, I need sleep now so I'll do it tomorrow if he still needs more teams, actually maybe the day after, pretty busy tomorrow :P

[Ethan13]

Yeah I am defiantly going to try the international part when the Australia job becomes available. They just got knocked out in the first knockout stage of the World Cup which probably will be good enough for Verbeek to keep his job.

[berty1978]

Tembisa Classic - Season 2010/11 summary - South African First Division Coastal

First Division Cup - Winners vs Dynamos
SAFA Cup - 3rd Round vs Swallows
Media prediction - 5th
Final position - 4th
Final Table
Results1
Results2
Squad stats

Domestic cups

The First Division cup again saw us reach the final by beating Vasco (RSA), MP Black Aces and FC Cape Town on the way. This time we weren't unlucky as we beat Dynamos F.C. 2-1. This led to a much needed £100k payout taking us into the black again.

The SAFA Cup wasn't too bad this season as we narrowly beat FC Cape Town on penalties in the first round and Park United 2-1 in the second. A difficult away tie at Premier League side Moroka Swallows saw us narrowly beaten 2-1 which I was satisfied about.

League

Despite winning the Cup we still lost the first three league games and we were playing catch up from there even with a great run of form in the middle of the season. It was to little too late as we missed out on 2nd by 4 points because of a slump of form at the end. We were actually 6 points off top spot at one point but that was where the wins dried up.

Season  |    Division     |  Position  |  SAFA Cup  |  Achievements
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
2009/10 |  First Coastal  |    5th     |  1st round |  First Division Cup Finalists
2010/11 |  First Coastal  |    4th     |  3rd round |  First Division Cup Winners

[Ethan13]

Adelaide United - Hyundai A-League- 2013/2014 (Season 5)- Ethan13

Domestic
League Table ----- Graph

Won the treble for the third year in a row although we were pushed a lot more this season but that was mainly due to injuries and resting players for the Asian Champions League.

Asian Champions League

Dominated in the first 2 knockout rounds and managed to make it 2 Champions Leagues in a row.

Final

World Club Cup

We had a big chance in the Semi Final as Valencia had a player sent off in the second half when it was still 0-0. When we tried to push forward and score they managed to get 3 later goals which ruined our big chance.

Finances
Transfers
Squad

Fixtures Part 1 Part 2

Aims from Last Season
- Win Asian Champions League again ACHIEVED
- Win Club World Cup (Hopefully) FAILED

Aims for Next Season
- Win Asian Champions League
- Win Club World Cup
- Introduce more of our youth players into the first team squad

Domestic:

 Season    League    Finish    Final Series    Pre Season Cup  
----------------------------------------------------------------
 2009/10   A-League  2nd       Winners         4th in Group A  
 2010/11   A-League  1st       Winners         4th in Group A
 2011/12   A-League  3rd       Runner's Up     2nd in Group A
 2012/13   A-League  1st       Winners         Winners
 2013/14   A-League  1st       Winners         Winners
 2014/15   A-League  1st       Winners         Winners
----------------------------------------------------------------

Continental:

  Season    Champions League              CWC          Pan-Pacific  
----------------------------------------------------------------  
  2010/11   Lost in First Knockout Round  N/A          Lost in Third Place Playoff
  2011/12   Lost in First Knockout Round  N/A          Winners
  2012/13   Winners                       3rd          4th
  2013/14   Winners                       4th          3rd
----------------------------------------------------------------

[berty1978]

Tembisa Classic - Season 2011/12 summary - South African First Division Coastal

First Division Cup - 2nd Round vs Nathi Lions
SAFA Cup - 3rd Round vs Park United
Media prediction - 5th
Final position - 1st
Final Table
Results1
Results2
Squad stats

Domestic cups

The First Division cup performance was disappointing this season as we scraped through against Black Aces and then lost away at Nathi Lions who we can't seem to beat at their place.

The SAFA Cup wasn't too bad this season as we narrowly beat Durban on penalties in the first round and a good win against Premier League FS Stars in he second. However we should have gone through the third round against lower league opposition Park United who I beat in last years competition.

League

After the disappointment of the cup we started very brightly in the league and in the end were never below third. We lost both away games at Nathi Lions and W.P United and there was 4 of our 6 losses right there, it was our home form which saw us only drop 2 points all season that won the league.

I had assumed that the top team had got promoted but was annoyed to find out we had to play a 2 legged play-off with the winners of the First Division Inland which was the Black Leopards. They were clear favourites for the first leg as they were Premier League last season and this happened.
Play-off - 1st Leg
Not the best of games, again they were clear favouries for the return leg and I saw why in the last game.
Play-off - 2nd Leg
What a remarkable turnaround, we were so bad in the first game and actually managed that scoreline despite them having more shots. Looking forward to Premier League next season.

Player of the season - Simon Nyase

Season  |    Division     |  Position  |  SAFA Cup  |  Achievements
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
2009/10 |  First Coastal  |    5th     |  1st round |  First Division Cup Finalists
2010/11 |  First Coastal  |    4th     |  3rd round |  First Division Cup Winners
2011/12 |  First Coastal  |    1st     |  3rd round |  Champions, promoted

[berty1978]

What a complete downhill struggle of a season I've just had, I mean downhill because I very nearly lost my last 7 games (drew the last game 0-0). I've never seen such bad defending in all my games and I don't remember having such a poor run of form, I feel a complete clearout coming. Will do the update at some point soon.

[Ethan13]

Adelaide United - Hyundai A-League- 2015/2016 (Season 7)- Ethan13

Domestic
League Table ----- Graph

This was by far our best season in Australia. Over all 3 competitions we only lost once (When all of our Under 23's were on international duty which meant we only had about 7 proper players and the rest were Grey players). Central Coast who had pushed us the last few years didn't even make the finals and Melbourne who finished second we beat 8-1 towards the end of the season.

Asian Champions League

Very disappointing as we lost in the first knockout round. This was due to in the first leg all of our U23's being away on international duty.

Finances
Transfers
Squad

Fixtures Part 1 Part 2

Aims from Last Season
- Win Asian Champions League FAILED
- Win Club World Cup FAILED
- Introduce more of our youth players into the first team squad ACHIEVED

Aims for Next Season
- Improve Finances
- Win Asian Champions League
- Win Club World Cup
- Continue Unbeaten Run (Currently 26 games)

Domestic:

 Season    League    Finish    Final Series    Pre Season Cup  
----------------------------------------------------------------
 2009/10   A-League  2nd       Winners         4th in Group A  
 2010/11   A-League  1st       Winners         4th in Group A
 2011/12   A-League  3rd       Runner's Up     2nd in Group A
 2012/13   A-League  1st       Winners         Winners
 2013/14   A-League  1st       Winners         Winners
 2014/15   A-League  1st       Winners         Winners
 2015/16   A-League  1st       Winners         Winners
----------------------------------------------------------------

Continental:

  Season    Champions League              CWC          Pan-Pacific  
----------------------------------------------------------------  
  2011/12   Lost in First Knockout Round  N/A          Lost in Third Place Playoff
  2012/13   Lost in First Knockout Round  N/A          Winners
  2013/14   Winners                       3rd          4th
  2014/15   Winners                       4th          3rd
  2015/16   Lost in First Knockout Round  N/A          Winners
----------------------------------------------------------------

[rancer890]

Nice work Ethan and berty.

And once again, if anyone here is interested in helping to expand this challenge, I have some free slots here

I'm not limiting to one person per country, so if you feel you can add something to one of those leagues, then go ahead. (the researcher for Japan is nearly done. He's Japanese and have watched a lot of Japanese football so I trust his insight. All the other leagues are 'available'.)

[Ethan13]

Is there a list of people who have finished this challenge? Even just the Club side of the challenge?

[rancer890]

Is there a list of people who have finished this challenge? Even just the Club side of the challenge?

People who have completed the club side of the challenge. JSalter and TaylorB have also completed the club side. TaylorB finished the international element as well.

In FM2010, I hope a lot more users try out my challenge, with the expansion of Asian leagues. West Asia and Japan are high on my priority to be playable for next year's challenge.

[Scab]

Season 2019 Review - Guizhou Zhicheng in the Chinese Super League

League Table
Past Positions

Finished undefeated! This is the 2nd time, the first one being back in 2017. I don't know what's going on at Nanjing, but that's got to be their worst ever season.

FA Cup Final | Champions League Final | East Asian Champions Cup

I almost feel a bit sorry for Shandong. They've been a serious competitor throughout the years and with the league not going so well for them this time around the cups were their only chance for some silverware. Nonetheless pleased we were strong enough to keep them at bay, if only by the odd goal.

Squad

Smaller than previous seasons as I didn't bother buying much knowing I'd be resigning at the end of the season, but it worked out pretty well anyway. We never got struck by any serious long-term injuries and the players didn't seem too uncomfortable playing out of position every now and then. Yu Yuandong took the opportunity to grab the league Top Goalscorer award with a best-ever 21 goals.

Transfers

Pretty typical transfer windows except for the few players in. Hugo is a quick Brazilian kid with good technical ability but poor understanding of the game. Been a useful sub this season with his speed and flair. Kenta Kamiya is a fairly all-round Japanese right-back who stepped right into my starting 11 and improved enough for my assistant to get excited about him. Seems promising.

International Challenge

After having lead the team since the start of the game, the Chinese national team's Serbian manager retired from management on December 2nd, leaving the job open for applications. 6 days later the Chinese FA decided I was the man for the job, so the international part of this challenge is now on. I feel a bit sad leaving Guizhou, but excited about seeing how far I can go with China.

Aim for next season: Qualify from the World Cup Asian Qualifying Section.

Season  Team      League         Finished  Achievements
2009    Guizhou   Jia League     7th       -
2010    Guizhou   Jia League     1st       -
2011    Guizhou   Super League   4th       -
2012    Guizhou   Super League   3rd       -
2013    Guizhou   Super League   6th       FA Cup winners
2014    Guizhou   Super League   2nd       FA Cup winners
2015    Guizhou   Super League   1st       FA Cup winners, ACL winners
2016    Guizhou   Super League   1st       FA Cup winners, ACL winners, EACC winners, CWC 3rd placed
2017    Guizhou   Super League   1st       FA Cup winners, ACL winners, EACC winners
2018    Guizhou   Super League   1st       FA Cup winners, ACL winners, EACC winners, CWC winners
2019    Guizhou   Super League   1st       FA Cup winners, ACL winners, EACC winners

[rancer890]

Good luck Scab with China!

[berty1978]

Good to see other players going in here, progressed a bit further than me though, WD Scab and Ethan.

[berty1978]

Tembisa Classic - Season 2012/13 summary - South African Premier Soccer League

Knockout Cup - 1st Round vs Kaizer Chiefs
SAFA Cup - 2nd Round vs Amazulu
Media prediction - 15th
Final position - 13th
Final Table
Results1
Results2
Squad stats

Domestic cups

The Knockout Cup is the Premier League version of the First Division Cup, and we were slightly unlucky to get drawn against the Kaizer Chiefs as we lost to a much better side.

The SAFA Cup was also instantly forgettable this season as we got drawn away against Premier Leage side Amazulu and promptly lost.

League

It wasn't actually a bad start to the league as we narrowly lost 3-2 at Platinum Stars but I knew it was our home form which would make or break our season. We got a win and a draw in our next two games at home, then after the away defeat to Sundowns we lost 3-0 at home to bottom side Thanda Royal Zulu, not good. Some more good home performances followed however and in the middle of the season we got our first away win after 8 straight defeats on our travels. That was included in a 5 match winning streak which saw us move up to 8th in the table and actually a shout of reaching continental competition. But for some reason my defence forgot how to play and lost the next 6 games and a draw in the last game saw us only just stay up. My aim was 30 points and we got 32 so I've got to be happy to be staying up but it could have been better.

Player of the season - Ray Thorne: Signed on a free at the start of the season and was excellent on the wing and even played well when we lost.

Best player - Sibusiso Morfou: Another freebie who has improved a lot since signing him.

Season  |    Division     |  Position  |  SAFA Cup  |  Achievements
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
2009/10 |  First Coastal  |    5th     |  1st round |  First Division Cup Finalists
2010/11 |  First Coastal  |    4th     |  3rd round |  First Division Cup Winners
2011/12 |  First Coastal  |    1st     |  3rd round |  Champions, promoted
2012/13 |  Premier League |    13th    |  2nd round |  Survival

[Scab]

Well that went quite well

The media also seem rather keen on me after beating Iran, a national rival, twice. The away leg certainly proved that this team has some character.

Admittedly, with players like Genoa's Zhu Feng, Liverpool's Li Xu and Porto's Bao Yihai opponents like Turkmenistan and U.A.E. shouldn't cause us any major headaches. It's just too bad I don't have talents like these for every position.

World Cup Asian Qualifying Section, Final Groups

Australia are going to be tough, they've only conceded once and that was in their final game after already securing qualification from their group. All in all I think we stand a good chance of finishing either 1st or 2nd, either of which will take us to the World Cup.

[berty1978]

Argh, just had bids for my 3 best players accepted by my chairman, more squad rebuilding on the way then. The total will be £1.2m plus future incentives for two of the players. Hopefully they can upgrade the facilities now.

[berty1978]

Ridiculous, I just had a bid of £40k for my star defender, negotiated to £1m thinking there's no way they'll go that high and they did, didn't put a future clause in there either.

[Scab]

If it's any consolation my chairman stopped interfering once we had a few million in the bank. So yeah, if you can survive some big sales like that £1M one he'll hopefully leave you alone after a while.

[Scab]

World Cup Asian Qualifying Section, Final Groups

We've qualified! Even beat Australia to the top spot thanks to Iran holding them to a 3-3 draw and overcoming them ourselves 3-2 at home with a late goal. The big surprise would certainly be Lebanon taking the playoff spot in front of Iran who just couldn't get the goalscoring going against the weaker teams.

Asian Nations Cup Qualifying, Group C

Only two games in, but looking pretty good this far. The opposition is fairly easy so I've taken the opportunity to give some better-than-backup-but-not-quite-first-team-material players a chance to show what they can do. The actual tournament doesn't appear to take place until 2023 so I guess we'll be playing a lot of these qualifying games.

[berty1978]

Doing well with China Scab.

I have over £2m in the bank now, and we're even getting training facilities upgraded next season so things are looking up. It's going to take a while before I can compete with the top sides, especially Kaizer Chiefs.

[rancer890]

Nice work with China so far Scab.

And looking good financially berty. Get better facilities, keep improving, and you'll be challenging Kaizer Chiefs soon enough.

And I'm back playing with my Beverly save.

[ShootTheRunner]

Hmmm, didn't qualify for World Cup..
South Korea scored in 92nd minute meaning I lost on away goals in the third place playoff.

[rancer890]

My first taste in the ACL with Beverly sees us up against: BEC (Thailand), Beijing (CSL), and Newcastle Jets (A-League).

I think finishing 3rd in the group would be a realistic target.

Just hope my opponents don't run up the score...

[berty1978]

Good luck there Rancer.
Unlucky STR, India proving to be a big challenge.

Just finished my next season, it's an improvement anyway, updates tomorrow I think.

[Scab]

World Cup 2022, Group C

I can't say I'm too displeased with this draw. Croatia look strong and USA are the hosts, but we should be able to squeeze ourselves into 2nd or—dare I hope—even better. At least that's what this year's form leads me to want to believe.

In "slightly" less positive news... Zhu Feng is retiring He's the all-time greatest striker China has produced on international level and still a serious force in any league, so why he's hanging up his boots already is beyond me. Can't try to convince him to reconsider it as his international manager either. At least he's staying in the game long enough to participate in this upcoming World Cup..

[Scab]

Success!

Now to find a way past Argentina in the 2nd round...

[Scab]

2nd Rnd: Argentina v China

No doubt the closest game yet. Sort of spent so much time setting up instructions to negate their offensive prowess that we didn't do much attacking ourselves. Ended up drawing and getting through via the penalty shootout with the smallest of margins. But hey, a win is a win!

Qtr Final: Turkey v China

You certainly can't say we didn't get the chance to seal this one... I'm tempted to say we were just terribly unlucky, but I'm not sure I even want to consider the more likely scoreline should Turkey not have gotten that early red card..


All in all I guess the quarter-finals aren't a bad place to get knocked out, certainly not in light of certain media predictions. I have quite an old squad so a bunch of them are now either retiring or declining too fast to be considered for selection in 4 years for the next World Cup. Will need to do some scouting and use the friendlies a bit more thoughtfully.

[rancer890]

Nice work Scab to defy the odds! Hope you can do better in the next World Cup with some young talent.

[ShootTheRunner]

Right, this years Asian Cup will be the best chance I'll have for a while.. I've only got 3 'good' players, all defenders and two are retiring at the end of the season, the other is 33 so he'll also be retiring soon Been drawn against Iran, Tajikstan and Yemen, will probably go through the group stages.

Also I played a friendly against England (1st in world rankings) earlier, was doing quite well going into the last 10 minutes drawing 1-1, but then they scored 2

[ShootTheRunner]

I love Suman Gonsalves
Asian Cup Final

Finished top of my group on goal difference after beating Tajikistan 6-0. Beat South Korea 3-1 in quaters, Uzbekistan 4-0 in semis and Iran 2-1 in the final

[rancer890]

Nice work STR.

What's India WR, and may I request a screenshot of your best players?

[Sazchu]

well done str, on another topic, i can't wait to get my hands on fm10 especially when there have been added new asian leagues(especially when hong kong has been expanded) to try and beat it completely this time around.

[rancer890]

Welcome back Sazchu. Pleased that you're going to participate again for the FM10 challenge.

[ShootTheRunner]

World ranking = 29th

Here's some of my best players..

Ashim Debnath CB/LB

Siddharth Chakraborty CB

Amit Singh ST - Finishing now gone up to 17

Basically I have a really strong defence but weak attackers. :P

[Ethan13]

Adelaide United - Hyundai A-League- 2016/2017 (Season 8)- Ethan13

Domestic
League Table ----- Graph

Another dominant year in Australia as we won all 3 competitions for the 5th year in a row and only lost once.

Asian Champions League

Dominated in the first knockout round but then in the second we lost the away leg 3-2. In the home leg we went down 2-0 then managed to get it back to 3-2 our way but lost 10-9 on penalties.

World Club Cup

I was shocked when I realized I was in this because it was in Australia. Made the Semi Finals but weren't strong enough to beat Man United.

Finances
Transfers
Squad

Fixtures Part 1 Part 2

Aims from Last Season
- Improve Finances ACHIEVED
- Win Asian Champions League FAILED
- Win Club World Cup FAILED
- Continue Unbeaten Run (Currently 26 games) ACHIEVED (39 Games when it ended)

Aims for Next Season
- Win Asian Champions League
- Win Club World Cup
- Improve Squad

Domestic:

 Season    League    Finish    Final Series    Pre Season Cup  
----------------------------------------------------------------
 2009/10   A-League  2nd       Winners         4th in Group A  
 2010/11   A-League  1st       Winners         4th in Group A
 2011/12   A-League  3rd       Runner's Up     2nd in Group A
 2012/13   A-League  1st       Winners         Winners
 2013/14   A-League  1st       Winners         Winners
 2014/15   A-League  1st       Winners         Winners
 2015/16   A-League  1st       Winners         Winners
 2016/17   A-League  1st       Winners         Winners
----------------------------------------------------------------

Continental:

  Season    Champions League              CWC          Pan-Pacific  
----------------------------------------------------------------  
  2011/12   Lost in First Knockout Round  N/A          Lost in Third Place Playoff
  2012/13   Lost in First Knockout Round  N/A          Winners
  2013/14   Winners                       3rd          4th
  2014/15   Winners                       4th          3rd
  2015/16   Lost in First Knockout Round  N/A          Winners
  2016/17   Lost in Semi Final            4th          Winners
----------------------------------------------------------------

[ShootTheRunner]

India have qualified for 2030 World Cup!

Finished top of my group ahead of Japan, Australia & Saudi Arabia.

[rancer890]

Another solid season Ethan. Hope you can win the Club World Cup in your next try and beat the UEFA Champions League holder...

And great job STR! Good luck in the WC and show everyone that Indian football is the best football on the planet.

[ShootTheRunner]

Even though we've only scored 1 goal in 3 games, India have finished 2nd in Group E.

We've been drawn Italy in the second round so I can't see us progressing any further.


Lost 2-0 to Italy, out in the second round for the second time.

[rancer890]

Unlucky STR. Is there any quality youngsters in the India U21's that can make a impact in your next attempt at the WC?

And for next year's challenge, a lot more Asian leagues will be playable. I'll be revamping this challenge, to hopefully get more people to play it...

[ShootTheRunner]

Nope, don't have any youngsters that would really make a difference. I only get one good player come along every few years :P

[Scab]

Asian Nations Cup 2023, Group B

A pretty uneventful group stage. Australia lost to Brazil on penalties in the World Cup final so I'm not too disappointed with a 0-1 loss where we were frankly the better team; just goes to show we're quite strong but were unlucky on the day.

Qtr Final: South Korea

Talk about a furious start to a rival clash. Pleased to run away with this one by a large margin; both teams were really fired up for it.

Semi Final: Vietnam

Surprised to see Vietnam at this point in the competition, but they were actually very hard to break down and deadly on the counter. We kept a clean sheet thanks to a few brilliant saves from Hao Hao, making the one goal from Nie Siyi enough to go through to the final. That was, by the way, his 74th goal in 88 international games, beating Zhu Feng's previous record of 73 goals.

Final: Saudi Arabia

Winners! Saudi Arabia got through on a surprise 1-0 result vs. Australia and had only let in a single goal on their way to the final. Nie Siyi and 4 others were either injured or suspended, but up stepped backup striker Mu Guoliang to show the way. Saudi Arabia put up a good fight and had their fair share of chances, but not quite the quality to capitalize.


The trophy is obviously nice, but more than that I'm pleased to have established a number of new players in the national team to replace the 32+ year old veterans. Zhou Yang, for example, is quite the ace at Real Madrid and works terrificly well with Nie Siyi. In defence there's mainly young talent Wu Gang who I'm hoping will develop further at Marseille. The Chinese U19 team has actually been surprisingly successful in the past 6 years and Gang is just one of many talents from it. The future looks promising.

[rancer890]

STR, hope your few years are up and you can get more quality youngsters.

Scab, the future is bright for China! The national team has a lot of talent. Hope you can make some serious damage in the next World Cup.

[ShootTheRunner]

Suman Gonsalves has just retired & Ashim Debnath is retiring at the end of the season, we now have a team of no hopers.

[Ethan13]

We have finally beaten the European champions in the Club World Cup. We defeated Werder Bremen on penalties 5-4 after drawing 1-1 thanks to an 80th minute equalizer. The final will be against Internacional.

[rancer890]

Nice work Ethan13! Good luck against Internacional!!!

[Ethan13]

The Final

We finally did it, the Club World Cup is ours. In one of the best games the club has ever played we ran away with the match 4-0 therefore completing the Club side of the challenge. I will do a large review at the end of the season.

[Ethan13]

Adelaide United - Hyundai A-League- 2017/2018 (Season 9)- Ethan13

Domestic
League Table ----- Graph

We couldn't make it 6 Pre Season Cups in a row as we lost once in the group stage which meant we only finished second. When it came to the league we did make it 6 in a row. The finals series went well with a massive 7-1 over Melbourne in the Grand final.

Asian Champions League

Won every game we played in the knockout stages to capture our third Asian Champions League.

Final

World Club Cup

We had to win this competition this year IMO because it was the strongest squad we had but players were out of contract at the end of the season so this was our big chance. We won 4-0 in our first match which set us up against Werder Bremen in the Semi Final. They scored first in the 6th minute and it took until the 80th for us to equalize. We won 5-4 on penalties. The final was brilliant as we ran away with it 4-0 against Internacional.

Final

Finances
Transfers
Club Overview
Stadium/Facilities
History- Competitions
History- Records

The Squad

GK- Allan McGregor- Turned out to be a great singing pre season as we got him on a free and he was brilliant.
GK- Dean Smith- Signed in my first season as manager and although he never really was the number 1 keeper he was impressive when he played in his 78 league appearances for the club.

DR- Jimmy Downey- Turned out to be a very solid right back for the club in the 3 seasons he has been there.
DL- Mark Madaschi- In the 4 years he has been at the club he has developed very well. He already has 13 caps at just 20 years old and is one of the brightest prospects to ever play for the club.

DC- Jack Thomas- Backup for this position but is only 21 so he may get some more game time in the future.
DC- Lee Dong-Wook- Troubled by injury while he has been at the club as he has had two 8 month injuries. A very good center back though and he will be missed as he is out of contract at the end of the year.
DC- Tony Hampson- One of the best signings I have made even though I got him on a free. I noticed he was out of contract after being released from Liverpool. He is the best player at the club currently.

MR- Enzo Rodriguez- 3 years at the club and has been brilliant. Had his best season this year.

MC- Cory Skilton- Club Captain and one of the clubs all time top players. I signed him and he spent one season in the youth time before coming a regular in the first 11 and then captain. 149 league appearances and 25 league goals and a real club legend. Is leaving at the end of the season.
MC- John McDermott- Singed at a similar time to Skilton and while he has never had the same effect has still been a very solid central midfielder.
MC- Mirko Brown- Signed this season and hasn't played much but should take Skilton's role when he leaves the club.
MC- Clayton Walsh- Taken his time to get first team games and while he hasn't got many he will in the future.

ML- Costa Barbarouses- 7 years at the club now and has split his playing time between ML and ST. Hasn't been the star player but he got some important goals for the club.

ML/ST- Kofi Danning- Joined the club in 2010 but left just three years later after barely making any appearances. Re joined for the last 2 years and has been much better and consistently played well.

ST- Ante Costa- Another signed this season and someone who played a lot more then I expected. Still only young and hopefully he will be a star of the future.
ST- George Kovacevic- One of the best for last. In 4 years has scored 79 goals in all competitions and been a legend. Will be missed when he leaves as he is out of contract at the end of the season.

Fixtures Part 1 Part 2

Aims from Last Season
- Win Asian Champions League ACHIEVED
- Win Club World Cup ACHIEVED
- Improve Squad ACHIEVED

Domestic:

 Season    League    Finish    Final Series    Pre Season Cup  
----------------------------------------------------------------
 2009/10   A-League  2nd       Winners         4th in Group A  
 2010/11   A-League  1st       Winners         4th in Group A
 2011/12   A-League  3rd       Runner's Up     2nd in Group A
 2012/13   A-League  1st       Winners         Winners
 2013/14   A-League  1st       Winners         Winners
 2014/15   A-League  1st       Winners         Winners
 2015/16   A-League  1st       Winners         Winners
 2016/17   A-League  1st       Winners         Winners
 2017/18   A-League  1st       Winners         2nd in Group B
----------------------------------------------------------------

Continental:

  Season    Champions League              CWC          Pan-Pacific  
----------------------------------------------------------------  
  2011/12   Lost in First Knockout Round  N/A          Lost in Third Place Playoff
  2012/13   Lost in First Knockout Round  N/A          Winners
  2013/14   Winners                       3rd          4th
  2014/15   Winners                       4th          3rd
  2015/16   Lost in First Knockout Round  N/A          Winners
  2016/17   Lost in Semi Final            4th          Winners
  2017/18   Winners                       Winners      Winners
----------------------------------------------------------------

--------------------------------------------------------------------------

Well after 7 League titles, 8 Grand Final wins, 5 Pre Season Cups, 3 Asian Champions Leagues, 4 Pan Pacific Cups and 1 CLUB WORLD CUP we have finally completed the Club Side of this challenge. With FM10 almost out I don't know whether I will continue this and try and get the international job. If I don't I will defiantly be doing this challenge on FM10 and attempting to complete the Club Side of the challenge again and hopefully the international side of the challenge. If I do continue this I will only be posting about the International side of the challenge.

[Scab]

Noooooo!

[Scab]

World Cup Asian Qualifying, Third Round Group 3 | Final Group B

Looks like we'll get another shot at the World Cup in 2026.

Confederations Cup 2025, Group B

With opponents like these I knew it was going to be tough, but man, top 3 separated by goal difference? In 1 goal increments? Kicking myself for the disastrous game against Brazil; we were down to 9 men for half an hour due to Wu Gang's injury and even 8 the last 5 if you include stoppage time. Letting in this many really cost us.


Taking something positive with me from this... the team looks pretty strong on their day; beating Argentina is no small feat. Looking forward to the World Cup.

[Scab]

Way to rub it in

[rancer890]

Great job Ethan finishing part 3!!!

Unlikely Scab...well there's the World Cup to look forward to.

[JSalter]

3 days....

[rancer890]

There will be changes to the challenge, because Asian leagues in FM is underrepresented. There will be a lot more playable teams once the files are created to activate the various leagues.

I hope with these changes when FM10 comes out, more people will try out my challenge.

[Scab]

World Cup 2026, Group A

9p! Brazil were obviously the biggest threat, but disappointingly weak this time around and were quickly knocked out in the 2nd round by Italy. In the final game against Algeria we were already safe assuming Brazil wouldn't put 7 past Switzerland, so it gave me a chance to rest the regulars and give the backups a full game.

Knockout Rounds

Ignoring the obvious one here for just a moment , looking back on the draws, we were probably quite lucky; avoided all the European powerhouses, faced two opponents who scraped through on penalties, and finished against Mexico who were by no means among the predicted main contenders. Looking at the scorelines I think I have a very solid defence to thank for this one.

Final

World champions! Those were some seriously nervous final 20 minutes being 1 man down with the scoreline at 2-1 and a midfielder playing centre-back, but Mexico couldn't quite break through to create those clear-cut chances. In the end we got a corner from a counter-attack that Yang could capitalize on to close the game.

Zhou Xudong
Huang Ping

Two players who I think deserve some special mentions. About four months prior to this World Cup my regular right-winger got injured and wasn't expected back for another 6 months. The backup, a veteran of the team, then decided it was time to hang up his boots at the end of the year and spent the three months leading up to my squad selection unattached. Needless to say neither of them were fit to be selected, and I had never had to worry much about the MR position before. So, going straight into the World Cup squad with no senior international experience but a fair bit of talent were Xudong and Ping, and they were going to be quite the success. Early in the first game against Switzerland Xudong was carried off with what turned out to be a very light injury, giving Ping the opportunity to step in. His interntional debut? Two assists, not a bad pass all game and 2nd best on the field behind free-scoring Real Madrid ace Yang.

This trend would continue as Xudong started the following game against Brazil and quickly set up Yang for the opening goal. He came off for Ping in the 75th minute who less than 10 minutes later had gotten himself on the score-sheet; his first international goal vs. Brazil in the World Cup at 19 years old. The Algeria game gave Ping the chance step out of the shadow of the regular stars who were rested, and he took it, grabbing the Man of the Match award after a whooping 14 runs past defending opponents and near flawless passing. The success continued for the right-wing duo with a free-kick goal for Ping against Chile and a 3rd-minute cross from Xudong nudged into the net by Zhang Hui against Argentina. Xudong's biggest moment would however come in the final as what looked like a miskicked cross from the left found its way over to the far post. Xudong was alert to the situation and opened the goal-scoring with a strong header; his first international goal, vs. Mexico, in a World Cup final, at 20 years old.

For a pair of players I had no intention of selecting, I'd say this combined performance was pretty damn imperative to winning this trophy.

World Rankings

And that, I think, is quite a suitable place to finish this challenge.

[Ethan13]

Congratulations on completing the challenge Scab.

When will the new challenge be up for FM 2010? I will be getting the game tomorrow and will be looking to start this challenge once it is up and the patch is out.

[JSalter]

There will be changes to the challenge, because Asian leagues in FM is underrepresented. There will be a lot more playable teams once the files are created to activate the various leagues.

I hope with these changes when FM10 comes out, more people will try out my challenge.

I've seen the list of leagues that the Asian HR plans to release, I assume you'll be using these. What (if anything) are you doing about the international aspect? As much as I dislike it, it could make the challenge too easy without it.

I'll probably give it another go, though if Barito Putra have been promoted to a playable league it might not be so appealing. Just had a look actually on the PSSI website, and from what I can make out here, Barito are in the Divisi Satu, which seems to be the First Division

[rancer890]

I've seen the list of leagues that the Asian HR plans to release, I assume you'll be using these. What (if anything) are you doing about the international aspect? As much as I dislike it, it could make the challenge too easy without it.

I'll probably give it another go, though if Barito Putra have been promoted to a playable league it might not be so appealing. Just had a look actually on the PSSI website, and from what I can make out here, Barito are in the Divisi Satu, which seems to be the First Division

It's still going to be different from all the other challenges, which is my intention from the start of creating this challenge. I'm still relatively unsure about the international aspect. Some people have told me that they would try the challenge if there wasn't an international aspect. So I'm still in the process of what to change...if I get rid of the international aspect, I will need to make the other parts of the challenge harder.

After today (uni test), I will have more time to decide what to do with this when I release the new challenge on Friday.

And congratz Scab for completing this challenge. Looking forward to your participation in the FM2010 version.

[rancer890]

I plan to releasing the FM10 Challenge either tonight, or tomorrow morning. There will already be some league files for you guys to download, although there isn't complete player data.

Would you lot rather must win multiple league/ACL/CWC titles or the same format as years past (win WC with Asian country)? I think I'll be ready to release my FM10 challenge after I settle on this issue.

[Ethan13]

I liked the format the challenge was in last season although I never got to try the international side of it. I don't really like the idea of having to win multiple CWC as it is hard enough to win it once.

[DodgeeD]

With all the possibilties thrown up by the new editor features, will you still be including South Africa for the FM10 challenge rancer?

A suggestion for the challenge: how about splitting the challenge into 'normal' (club part of the challenge) and 'hard' (club & international side)? Perhaps you could keep a list of challenge completers in the OP with those who go on to win the World Cup classed as 'elite' or something like that.

[rancer890]

With all the possibilties thrown up by the new editor features, will you still be including South Africa for the FM10 challenge rancer?

A suggestion for the challenge: how about splitting the challenge into 'normal' (club part of the challenge) and 'hard' (club & international side)? Perhaps you could keep a list of challenge completers in the OP with those who go on to win the World Cup classed as 'elite' or something like that.

South Africa is out of my challenge. I have a feeling someone will create a SC2BC African challenge anyways.

I have enough Asian leagues (West Asia will be playable!!! ), and I hope this variety can make more forumers try out my challenge.

Splitting the challenge is an intriguing idea though...I'll need to sleep on that idea.