The Afrovision Managerial Contest

[canvey!!]

This is for Sulley Muntari's goal for Ghana against Uruguay. And woo! 1,000 posts!

2010 FIFA World Cup

We’re back in South Africa with another three group stage games!

June 19th: South Africa 1-0 Paraguay

Well, I didn’t think that the host nation would pick up a point at this World Cup, never mind three. The match was fairly equal, perhaps edged by Paraguay, but South Africa managed to win it despite being a man down for half of it. It was level at half time, but in minute 53, Nasief Morris received a straight red card for hacking down Salvador Cabañas with both feet. But it was Paraguay’s foul that had a bigger effect on the result: Raúl Santa Cruz tripped Steven Pienaar in the box, although the penalty was dubious. Fulham’s Aaron Mokoena stepped up to take it, putting it to the right, beyond the reach of Nery Fernández even though the Paraguayan dived the right way. In the other match, Turkey beat Mexico 2-0, qualifying them for the next round.

Man of the Match: Quinton Fortune, MC, South Africa (7.4)

  Group D
 # Nation       P W D L F A GD Pts
 1 Turkey       2 2 0 0 3 0 +3  6  Q
 2 South Africa 2 1 0 1 1 1  0  3
 3 Mexico       2 1 0 1 3 4 -1  3
 4 Paraguay     2 0 0 2 2 4 -2  0 –

June 20th: Cameroon 1-2 England

Here’s the game you’ve all been waiting for! Liam Ferguson may have been torn between wanting a win for his Cameroon side or wanting one for his home nation, one which would eliminate his team from the World Cup. In the end, it was England who got the victory, and Cameroon did well to keep them to two goals. Achille Emana put Cameroon ahead in the 15th minute, flashing the ball past Chris Kirkland after playing a one-two with the free kick he had just taken. But Michael Carrick pegged England’s opponents back before half time, scoring a header from Ashley Young’s free kick in the 36th minute. Steven Gerrard gave England the win in the 52nd minute, with Young once again the provider. This time it was a corner, and Gerrard saw the ball fall to his feet rather than on his head. Not wishing to squander possession as the ball rolled away from him when he had his back to goal, he chased it down, turned, fired home and put England 2-1 up.

Man of the Match: Carlos Kameni, GK, Cameroon (7.6)

  Group G
 # Nation   P W D L F A GD Pts
 1 England  2 1 1 0 2 1 +1  4
 2 Iran     1 1 0 0 1 0 +1  3
 3 Spain    1 0 1 0 0 0  0  1
 4 Cameroon 2 0 0 2 1 3 -2  0 –

June 21st: Senegal 1-0 Ireland

Demba Ba got his second goal of the tournament to give Senegal are very handy win. Dead on the half hour mark, the 25–year-old happily took Malick Feye’s through ball, shooting past his marker Richard Dunne to give Senegal the lead, a lead that they would retain for the entire remaining 60 minutes. In the other match, the Netherlands beat South Korea 1-0 to seal their own qualification from the group; Senegal’s fate is now entirely in their own hands with their final match coming against the Koreans.

Man of the Match: Demba Ba, FW, Senegal (7.5)

  Group H
 # Nation      P W D L F A GD Pts
 1 Netherlands 2 2 0 0 3 1 +2  6  Q
 2 Senegal     2 1 0 1 2 2  0  3
 3 Ireland     2 0 1 1 1 2 -1  1
   South Korea 2 0 1 1 1 2 -1  1

So with three teams already in the next round, one of them African, the World Cup is really shaping up! Next, Tunisia take on Uruguay, where they’ll be hoping for a massive win and or a miracle to progress. Mali take on Germany, where they’ll be trying to secure their own qualification from the group while engineering Germany’s elimination. And Mexico take on South Africa for the right to qualify from Group D.

[DodgeeD]

Great updates as usual canvey!!

With Ghana now out, the update for each goal deal is off but do we get updates for the two penalties the Ghanians managed to convert?

[joetheref]

And the goal Ghana were cheated out of

[PluckaDuck]

What about an update for every goal Rooney scored?

[Mk_Forest]

Yesss! A great win for South Africa to keep our hopes alive, not to confident of this Mexico game though however.

[canvey!!]

Well, the updates look better on the update than I expected they would. I'm going to give you an update per WC match here on in, so this is for Uruguay 2-3 Netherlands.

2010 FIFA World Cup

We’re in South Africa for the final few games of the group stages of the 2010 FIFA World Cup. Now is crunch time: who will make the Round of 16 and who will not?

June 22nd: Uruguay 3-0 Tunisia

Mentho Latum’s Tunisia crashed out of the World Cup with another poor performance. They thought they would go into half time level, but those hopes were thwarted by Juan Ángel Albín in the first minute of first half stoppage time. He curved a free kick past the Tunisia wall and into the top-left corner of the goal. Marcel Román made it 2-0 not too long after the restart, in the 52nd minute, with a long range shot that curled beautifully into the top-right corner this time. The rout was completely with just under 10 minutes to go. This time, Bruno Fornaroli was the scorer, and he struck the ball cleanly homeward through a crowd of about six Tunisians, after another good Albín free kick ricocheted off the post. Italy drew goalless with Israel, which means that they top the group, with Uruguay in second. Tunisia, unable even to score, finish last.

Man of the Match: Juan Ángel Albín, AM, Uruguay (8.2)

[font=Courier New]  Group A
 # Nation  P W D L F A GD Pts
 1 Italy   3 2 1 0 4 0 +4  7  Q
 2 Uruguay 3 2 0 1 5 2 +3  6  Q
 3 Israel  3 1 1 1 1 2 -1  4  -
 4 Tunisia 3 0 0 3 0 6 -6  0  -[/font]

June 22nd: Germany 2-0 Mali

Mali’s hopes took a huge hit here, and they would have to rely on Chile beating Serbia if they were to go through to the next round. Mikael Schøler’s team actually played as well as their opponents, and had a much more sizeable chunk of possession, but they went 0-1 in the 22nd minute from the spot. Djimi Traoré held back Sandro Müller, leaving Sven Ullrich to open Germany’s account with a sweet strike into the bottom left corner. The misery was compounded for Mali when, just five minutes later, Benjamin Maul made it 2-0 from long range when he eyed a gap in the Mali defence. Ullrich was the provider this time, playing his free kick sideways to his 33-year-old fictional counterpart. Try as they might, Mali just couldn’t get back into it, and Serbia’s 3-1 victory over Chile dumped our third team out. Just South Africa, Senegal and the Ivory Coast remain, and the former two will need to put on some performances to qualify from their group.

Man of the Match: Sven Ullrich, MC, Germany (7.8)

  [font=Courier New]Group B
 # Nation  P W D L F GA GD Pts
 1 Serbia  3 2 1 0 5  2 +3  7  Q
 2 Germany 3 2 0 1 7  3 +4  6  Q
 3 Mali    3 1 1 1 4  2 +2  4  -
 4 Chile   3 0 0 3 2 11 -9  0  -[/font]

June 23rd: Mexico 3-1 South Africa

And so we lose team number four unfortunately, and it is host nation South Africa. I don’t have much criticism of South Africa’s attack in this match, but the defence giving Mexico plenty of room to play led to quite a stuffing. Mexico opened the scoring in the 12th minute, Maza Rodríguez rifling in Andrés Guardado’s cross. Guardado saw the PSV Eindhoven player in space and intelligently chose to give him the ball. One fierce shot later and the Central Americans had the lead. That lead was doubled shortly after the teams took to the field for the second half. Omar Bravo escaped his man and converted Guardado’s pass into a second goal. He ended up getting the third and final goal for Mexico, taking full advantage of plenty of space in the penalty area, but not before Matt Lepino’s team had dragged themselves back into the game. Steven Pienaar’s beautiful cross into the six yard box was just waiting for a head on it, and the head that came on it was Lerato Chabangu’s.

Man of the Match: Omar Bravo, ST, Mexico (8.4)

[font=Courier New]  Group D
 # Nation       P W D L F A GD Pts
 1 Turkey       3 3 0 0 5 1 +4  9  Q
 2 Mexico       3 2 0 1 6 5 +1  6  Q
 3 South Africa 3 1 0 2 2 4 -2  3  -
 4 Paraguay     3 0 0 3 3 6 -3  0  -[/font]

  [font=Courier New]Group C
 # Nation         P W D L F A GD Pts
 1 Brazil         3 3 0 0 7 3 +4  9  Q
 2 Czech Republic 3 0 2 1 4 5 -1  2  Q
 3 Japan          3 0 2 1 3 4 -1  2  -
 4 United States  3 0 2 1 2 4 -2  2  -[/font]

Next time, Senegal take on South Korea to try and become our second of two teams in the Knockout Stages. Spain take on Cameroon in and exciting match but one that offers no hopes of qualification for Liam Ferguson’s side.

[MikaelS]

Well it was close but Germany proved too strong. Good effort though.

[canvey!!]

This is for Germany 0-1 Spain.

2010 FIFA World Cup

So, only a promise of four more games for African nations at the African World Cup. Can any of our remaining two nations change that? The Ivory Coast would have to win their Last 16 tie, and Senegal would need to qualify from their group.

June 24th: Ivory Coast 3-2 Saudi Arabia

Well, while the other African nations crumble, one goes and gets a perfect record in the group. Normally, a tie against Saudi Arabia would be the easiest when in a group with Russia and France, but Albert Holstein’s side did run into difficulties here. It was Basim Al-Gheshayan’s side (he’s not real, don’t bother looking it up) that took the lead, with Abdullah Al-Shahri slotting home the penalty created from Constant Djakpa’s foul in the box. That was with 27 minutes on the clock, and despite penning their opponents back and pounding at the door, the Ivorians couldn’t get to half time even level, never mind winning. But that all changed. Constant Djakpa went from villain to hero after his beauty of a free kick in the 58th minute. Saudi Arabia had a wall set up but Djakpa ignored that, simply curling the ball on the ground into the bottom left corner. The lead did come in minute 67, thanks to Emerse Faé, back after a one-game suspension. After the Saudi goalkeeper made a fingertip save to deny Arouna Dindane, Faé was on hand to put the rebound into the net.

But Saudi Arabia weren’t willing to let the Ivory Coast cruise to a win. With just two minutes of regulation time remaining, Saad Hawsawi slipped the ball past Faé with the side of his foot and levelled the scores. Stephan Loboué made a diving save but saw the ball slip under him. Fortunately, who should pop up at the last minute but Didier Drogba? He headed the cross of Emmanuel Eboué into the net despite his marker, giving the Ivory Coast that oh-so-late but oh-so-deserved lead and victory.

Man of the Match: Constant Djakpa, DL, Ivory Coast (7.9)

  [font=Courier New]Group E
 # Nation       P W D L F A GD Pts
 1 Ivory Coast  3 3 0 0 6 3 +3  9  Q
 2 France       3 2 0 1 6 2 +4  6  Q
 3 Russia       3 0 1 2 1 4 -3  1  -
 4 Saudi Arabia 3 0 1 2 3 7 -4  1  -[/font]

[font=Courier New]  Group F
 # Nation    P W D L GF GA  GD Pts
 1 Argentina 3 2 1 0 12  2 +10  7  Q
 2 Portugal  3 2 1 0  7  1 + 6  7  Q
 3 Australia 3 1 0 2  3  7 – 4  3  -
 4 Honduras  3 0 0 3  1 13 -12  0  -[/font]

June 25th: Spain 0-0 Cameroon

Well, this is a surprising result, and one that could have put Cameroon through had they not lost to Iran. Although actually, they would have needed to have drawn with England too. Understandably Spain bossed the game, but Man of the Match Carlos Kameni somehow kept the scorelines level. The result will bother Spain, but not too much; England beat Iran so the Iberians didn’t have to worry about going out so soon.

Man of the Match: Carlos Kameni, GK, Cameroon (7.9)

[font=Courier New]  Group G
 # Nation   P W D L F A GD Pts
 1 England  3 2 1 0 4 1 +3  7  Q
 2 Spain    3 1 2 0 4 0 +4  5  Q
 3 Iran     3 1 0 2 1 6 -5  3  -
 4 Cameroon 3 0 1 2 1 3 -2  1  -[/font]

June 25th: South Korea 2-3 Senegal

Edward Still’s Senegal continue to triumph in exciting games. This result put our second African team through, and they actually topped the group due to Ireland’s surprising 2-0 victory over the Netherlands. Lee Chun-Soo put the Koreans in front in the 14th minute, with a free kick, but Senegal had the lead before half time. First, Demba Ba levelled the scores in the 37th minute, heading home from El-Hadji Diouf’s corner. Then, Diouf himself got on the scoresheet, powering a shot home from the left of the goal when he was left unmarked in the box. They also started strongly in the second half, and got a third goal in minute 62, with Issiar Dia’s shot being helped in by Kim Dong-Jin and given as an own goal. But Senegal got complacent, and when Guirane N’Daw gave away a penalty in the 77th minute, the job of getting South Korea back into the match was fulfilled by Song Chong-Goog. Fortunately for Senegal, South Korea couldn’t score again and no more silly penalties were given away, so we got our second African nation into the Last 16.

Man of the Match: El-Hadji Diouf, ML, Senegal (8.2)

[font=Courier New]  Group H
 # Nation      P W D L F A GD Pts
 1 Senegal     3 2 0 1 5 4 +1  6  Q
 2 Netherlands 3 2 0 1 3 3  0  6  Q
 3 Ireland     3 1 1 1 3 2 +1  4  -
 4 South Korea 3 0 1 2 3 5 -2  1  -[/font]

So, a 33% return ain’t bad (is there an apostrophe in ‘ain’t’?). Join us next time when our two nations play their Round of 16 ties, with all ties listed below.

Italy vs. Germany

Serbia vs. Uruguay

Brazil vs. Mexico

Czech Republic vs. Turkey

Portugal vs. Ivory Coast

France vs. Argentina

England vs. Netherlands

Senegal vs. Spain

Group Stage Team Stats

Group Stage Player Stats

[hasdgfas]

Topped the group

Hopefully we can beat Portugal, unlike real life

[joetheref]

Tough last 16 games

[canvey!!]

This is for Uruguay vs. Germany.

2010 FIFA World Cup

Here we go; we’re into knockout football at the 2010 FIFA World Cup in South Africa. Two African nations remain in the competition, but can either or both of them convert their group stage performances into those that are necessary when only one team survives? We’ll cover all the games, with special emphasis on those involving our teams.

June 26th: Italy 0-1 Germany

0-1 Sandro Müller (88)

June 26th: Serbia 5-2 Uruguay

1-0 Nikola Zigic (12)

2-0 Miralem Sulejmani (19)

3-0 Neven Subotic (25)

3-1 Bruno Fornaroli (62)

4-1 Zvonimir Vukic (76)

4-2 Nemanja Vidic (o.g. 85)

5-2 Milan Smiljanic (90+1)

June 27th: Czech Republic 3-3 Turkey

0-1 Mehmet Topal (2)

0-2 Tuncay Sanli (6)

0-3 Tuncay Sanli (32)

1-3 Tomas Rosicky (38)

2-3 Milan Baros (44)

Milan Baros misses a penalty (63)

3-3 Milan Baros (66)

End of 90 minutes

4-3 Milan Baros (107)

June 27th: Brazil 0-0 Mexico

End of 90 minutes

End of Extra Time

1-0 Daniel Alves scores

1-1 Pável Pardo scores

2-1 Alex scores

2-2 Rafael Márquez scores

3-2 Amauri scores

3-3 Gerardo Torrado scores

4-3 Gilbert Silva scores

4-3 Giovani dos Santos saved

5-3 Juan scores

June 28th: France 1-0 Argentina

1-0 Phillip Mexès (11)

June 28th: Portugal vs. Ivory Coast

Albert Holstein’s ambitions of getting an African side into the Quarter Finals took a pretty big blow just seven minutes into his team’s match with Portugal. Finding himself in acres of space in the box, Ricardo Carvalho put Cristiano Ronaldo’s cross into the back of the net with ease. The problems got worse for the Ivory Coast in minute 34, when Pepe headed home Deco’s corner. A plan to get more attacking, and more efficient on the attack, in the second half, was put on the backburner when first, multiple Portuguese attacks had to be dealt with. Only one of them got through, but the Ivorians had no response, and Raúl Meireles’s shot from Deco’s corner finished off the 3-0 win for Portugal. He was left unmarked in the box and Barcelona midfielder Deco put in another good corner to seal the game.

Man of the Match: Pepe, DC, Portugal (7.9)

June 29th: Senegal vs. Spain

So, it all boiled down to this. Africa’s last team in the competition were taking on Spain. Cameroon had held the Spaniards in their last match, so it was possible. And that’s what Senegal started to do. They kept the Spanish attacks at bay, but then had the audacity to make and convert one of their own just on the brink of half time. Receiving the ball some way out but with no Spanish defenders marking him at all, El-Hadji Diouf simply strode a couple of paces forward and chipped the ball over Iker Casillas. But the lead was cancelled out fifteen minutes from time by Fernando Torres. Álvaro Arbeloa found himself with plenty of space on the right wing, and crossed the ball in to Francesc Fabrègas. Fabrègas’s header hit the post low down, but the Senegal ‘keeper was committed, leaving Fernando Torres to desperately head in the rebound.

With four minutes to go in the match, Pape Diakhate, who had earlier received a yellow card for tripping Fernando Torres, upended the Liverpool striker again and got himself a second booking, which meant a red card and an early bath, although the bath was only four minutes earlier than it would have been had either side won this in normal time. Senegal held out ‘til the end of stoppage time, but didn’t hold much hope of getting through extra time with one man fewer than a strong Spanish side. Six minutes into the additional period, Andrés Iniesta found the opening when Fabrègas’s long range shot bounced off the bar but split the Senegal defence, and the 26-year-old powered the ball home for the lead. Spain also went down to ten men when Gerard Piqué was injured just before half time in extra time, but it was too late for Senegal, who went out despite a spirited performance.

Man of the Match: Fernando Torres, ST, Spain (7.7)

June 29th: England 1-0 Netherlands

1-0 Steven Gerrard (9)

So, only seven European teams and one South American side remain in the World Cup. The next update will bring you the Quarter Finals in a little bit of detail before some more detailed closing four matches.

Quarter Finals

Germany vs. Czech Republic

Serbia vs. Brazil

Portugal vs. Spain

France vs. England

[coldkohmew]

I will punish my players!

[el sid]

Haha what a result for Serbia and Czech Republic Too bad for the African teams though

[BenArsenal]

I will punish my players!

With caning?

[hasdgfas]

eek, that didn't go so well against Portugal

[canvey!!]

This is for tonight's World Cup Final.

2010 FIFA World Cup

Just eight teams remain in the chase for the World Cup. Let’s see how the Quarter Finals and Semi Finals shaped up.

Quarter Finals

July 2nd: Serbia 0-2 Brazil

0-1 Amauri (48)

0-2 Robinho (90+1)

July 2nd: Germany 2-1 Czech Republic

0-1 Tomas Rosicky (27)

1-1 Benjamin Maul (54)

2-1 Sandro Müller (70)

July 3rd: France 0-0 England

End of 90 minutes

End of Extra Time

1-0 Samir Nasri scores

1-1 Ashley Cole scores

2-1 André-Pierre Gignac scores

2-2 Frank Lampard scores

3-2 Philippe Mexès scores

3-3 David Bentley scores

3-3 Mathieu Bodmer saved

3-4 John Terry scores

3-4 Thierry Henry saved

July 3rd: Portugal 0-1 Spain

0-1 Francesc Fabrègas (38)

Semi Finals

July 6th: Germany vs. England

Somehow, England had got to the Semi Finals, and now just one match separated them from the World Cup Final.

The match wasn’t too interesting, and it looked like it might go the way of England’s match against France. There were moments when England’s defence was exposed and Germany had a decent chance, but the same could be said about the Germans. In the end, Wayne Rooney turned up and decided that if you want anything done around here, you’d best do it yourself. He scored his first goal in the 65th minute, when Germany’s tackle and clearance from Steven Gerrard in the box came out to the Man United forward. He lobbed the ball in from long range to give England the lead.

His second goal came 20 minutes later, with the clock running out for a Germany comeback. Stewart Downing took a corner for England, and Rooney, unmarked at the near post, headed the ball into the net. England ran out two-nil winners.

Man of the Match: Wayne Rooney, FW, England (8.4)

July 7th: Brazil vs. Spain

This game was always going to be close, and though Spain started with a brilliant chance, with David Silva’s header beating the Brazil ‘keeper but bouncing off the bar, Brazil countered straight away with a good chance of their own, but Maxwell’s shot was well-saved by Iker Casillas. In reality, though, most of the chances were from long range and thus poor, and so extra time was inevitable.

Just as they had started normal time strongly, the teams started extra time strongly. But Daniel Alves’s free kick bounced off the Spanish upright and was cleared by Carles Puyol. Later, Javi Martínez’s close-range shot was saved by Diego Alves. Spain had the better of the chances as extra time wore on, but Brazil’s defence held firm, meaning only penalty kicks could decide the match.

Spain went first, with David Villa scoring. Gilberto Silva took Brazil’s first kick, but he kicked the ball straight at a stationary Iker Casillas, giving Spain the advantage. The two sides both scored their next two kicks, before Carlos Marchena stepped up for Spain. He tried to put the ball central, but a little step and stretch from Diego Alves kept it out of the goal…and levelled the playing field. Daniel Alves then scored for Brazil to make it 3-3, and both teams scored their fifth spot kicks. So, with it level after five shots each, the match would go to sudden death.

Javi Martínez scored for Spain, but Lúcio scored for Brazil. Antonio López scored for Spain but Robinho scored for Brazil. Joan Capdevila scored for Spain but Juan scored for Brazil. Carles Puyol scored for Spain but Hernanes scored for Brazil. Álvaro Arbeloa scored for Spain and…Anderson put his shot over the bar! Spain won the penalty shootout 9-8 and reached their first ever World Cup Final.

Man of the Match: Gerard Piqué, DC, Spain (7.5)

So, next time, the 2010 FIFA World Cup concludes, with the Final and the Third Place Playoff.

[BenArsenal]

Damn England. Could have almost a real life semi-final lineup there.

[NeoAC]

England won a penalty shootout? I now doubt this event's validity.

[coldkohmew]

Spain to win???

[coldkohmew]

With caning?

Doing all their work with their legs!

[canvey!!]

Okay then, back to one update every other day.

2010 FIFA World Cup

So we’re back in South Africa, with only two games remaining in the 2010 FIFA World Cup!

Third Place Playoff

July 10th: Brazil vs. Germany

So, Brazil and Germany met in the consolation match. The match was full of free-flowing football, and Brazil had the better chances in the first half, with several opportunities to take the lead via one-on-ones, but with some difficult angles on goal meaning that the shots went harmlessly wide. Instead, it was the Germans who went one-nil up, in the 40th minute. A German corner was headed by Sandro Müller at the near post, but the ball didn’t go in the net. Instead, it came to striker Peter Kleine at the far post, who headed it again, this time into the goal.

Brazil attacked and attacked and attacked, but they couldn’t get the breakthrough. Several chances fell by the wayside as they hit the post, went wide or were snuffed out by the German defence. That’s not to say Germany didn’t have their own chances: with about five minutes to go, Diego Alves had to get down low to save Frank Becker’s shot. Brazil’s Anderson almost had the chance to save the match, but he took too long on his clear cut chance, allowing German centre-backs to recover. The shot he eventually made was easily caught by Germany’s Rico Neumann. Germany finished one-nil deserved winners.

Man of the Match: Max Andersen, ML, Germany (7.5)

Final

July 11th: England vs. Spain

As unrealistic as it may seem, England have reached the World Cup Final, and they will play against Spain. They started strongly, almost taking the lead in the 5th minute, when Steven Gerrard’s long range shot cracked off the bar and then off the post, before ricocheting back into play. Spain then countered with their own pressure, but the England defence kept them at range, meaning any shots were ineffective. Ashley Young had a brilliant chance for England, when a Spanish corner was cleared and counter-attacked, but Spanish ‘keeper Iker Casillas stood firm and stopped the Aston Villa man scoring the one-on-one.

But Casillas couldn’t keep England out forever, and the Three Lions scored, with the move starting off once again with a Spanish corner. The corner was taken better this time, and Gerard Piqué got a head on it. But Chris Kirkland saved his header, and a quick counter-attacking move saw Steven Gerrard keeping ahead of a bundle of Spanish defenders rushing back to cover. The Liverpool midfielder took his shot, and it landed sweetly in the top-right corner, flying like a rocket and giving England the lead.

Spain had an opportunity to equalise, and the chance came in the same fashion, with Mikel Arteta keeping ahead of a bunch of England defenders. But he could only shoot low, and Chris Kirkland made the save. Spain turned up the heat in the second half, stringing together several attacks in a short space of time. England’s shoddy passing no doubt helped; many clearances went straight to Spanish heads. In the end, Joleon Lescott’s foul on David Villa in the box as Spain took a corner gave the Spaniards their opportunity to equalise. Equalise they did, with Villa himself scoring the spot kick. England attacked right from the kick off, but Spain snuffed out their chance. Spain had the better of the chances in the closing stages of the second half, but couldn’t make any clear cut ones. With 85 minutes on the clock, Steven Gerrard attempted another piledriver…but this time his shot went over the bar. In the dying seconds of regular time, Spain’s Marcos Senna joined David Villa and Joleon Lescott on a yellow card.

It was England’s turn for some dominance in extra time. Fortunately for Spain, the barrage was resisted. In a moment of respite, Marcos Senna’s free kick in the 99th minute curled wickedly, but just flew over the bar. After extra time stoppage time, a brilliant run from Peter Crouch saw him out wide with the ball. He crossed it in, but as Stewart Downing jumped, he brought down Spain’s Sergio Ramos, earning himself a yellow card. But the next yellow came disastrously for Spain. With England pushed back into their own half and with Spain on the attack, Steven Gerrard won the ball back, only to be clipped down by Marcos Senna from behind. German referee Michael Kempter showed Senna a second yellow card, and he did the same to Stewart Downing in the 118th minute, for a similar infringement. This time Mikel Arteta was the player brought down from behind. With the teams level on goals and on men, only penalties could decide who would win the World Cup.

Spain went first, with David Villa scoring. Michael Carrick then levelled the score for England, and Fabio Capello’s team were handed the advantage when Spain’s Gerard Piqué sent his spot kick straight at Chris Kirkland. Frank Lampard scored to give England the lead. Sergio Ramos scored for Spain, and England’s advantage evaporated when John Terry’s penalty was saved by Iker Casillas. Xavi scored for Spain, and Steven Gerrard for England. Mikel Arteta scored for Spain, and Rio Ferdinand for England. So, with the score level at 4-4, sudden death came into play. Andrés Iniesta took Spain’s next penalty, knowing that if he scored the pressure would all be on England. He sent his penalty slightly to the right, and Chris Kirkland dived down low…and saved! David Bentley now had the chance to win England the World Cup. He sent his penalty into the bottom-right corner. Iker Casillas dived the right way. But he couldn’t stop the ball, and England ran out winners!

Man of the Match: Mikel Arteta, ML, Spain (7.5)

[BenArsenal]

England winning the World Cup? On penalties?!

Bizarre, bizarre world.

[joetheref]

Crazy stuff

[Almondo]

England winning on penalties. Something's wrong with the balance of the universe

[canvey!!]

2010: June and July

So the Three Lions won the World Cup and our African nations did better than in real life. Italy’s Marcello Lippi was the only managerial casualty, after his team were knocked out in the Second Round. Roberto Mancini is his successor. Incidentally, Italy were announced as the 2018 World Cup hosts also.

Spain’s Xavi won the World Cup Best Player award, with Sergio Agüero picking up the Golden Boot, and England’s Chris Kirkland finishing second behind Iker Casillas in the Best Goalkeeper award. Unfortunately, no African players were selected for the Dream Team.

Team Stats

Player Stats

Despite their good World Cup campaign, Albert Holstein’s Ivory Coast fell two places in the World Rankings to 11th. However, they are now the highest-ranked African side, thanks to Senegal’s six-place fall to 13th. Mikael Schøler’s Mali are third, sitting 15th after a two-place fall. Tyler Burrows’s Egypt were the biggest African movers upward, climbing nine places to 34th. Tunisia fell 13 places to 47th after their group stage exit. Algeria fell 12 places and Cameroon fell 10 places.

So, all attention now turns to Benin for the second annual Afrovision Managerial Contest!

 Nation       P W D L F A GD
 Ivory Coast  5 4 0 1 9 6 +3

 Cameroon     4 1 1 2 3 4 -1
 Senegal      4 2 0 2 6 6  0
 Tunisia      4 0 0 4 0 8 -8

 Mali         3 1 1 1 4 2 +2
 South Africa 3 1 0 2 2 4 -2

 Egypt        1 1 0 0 2 1 +1

 No Games:
 Algeria, Angola, Benin, Botswana, Burkina Faso, Cape Verde, CAF Republic, Chad, Comoros, Congo,
 Djibouti, DR Congo, Equatorial Guinea, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Gabon, Gambia, Ghana, Kenya, Lesotho,
 Liberia, Madagascar, Malawi, Mauritania, Mauritius, Morocco, Mozambique, Namibia, Niger, Nigeria,
 Rwanda, São Tomé and Príncipe, Seychelles, Sierra Leone, Somalia, Sudan, Swaziland, Tanzania, Togo, Uganda,
 Zambia, Zimbabwe

Maureen zam Bique - Nation in the Spotlight

Name: Republic of Mozambique

Capital: Maputo

Population: 22.8 million

Manager: dafuge (dafuge)

World Ranking: 146

Stadium Capacity: 45,000

Last Three Results: A vs. Botswana, 0-1; H vs. Ivory Coast, 1-3; H vs. Madagascar, 3-0

[dafuge]

In the spotlight

[PluckaDuck]

England winning the World Cup on penalties? And Arteta getting a game for Spain, I question the validility of the World Cup..

Moving up 9 spots is pretty impressive given we didn't play in the World Cup, hopefully people will realise EGYPT don't need to be in the World Cup to be the kings of Africa and will VOTE for us.

[Dees-Blake]

England winning the World Cup on penalties? And Arteta getting a game for Spain, I question the validility of the World Cup..

Moving up 9 spots is pretty impressive given we didn't play in the World Cup, hopefully people will realise EGYPT don't need to be in the World Cup to be the kings of Africa and will VOTE for us.

Good usage of subliminal messaging VOTE TOGO PluckaDuck.

[el sid]

Haha brilliant, England winning

[Kenco]

Chris Kirkland should have been MoM. Downing, Lescott and Young also playing, now we know where Fabio went wrong!

[canvey!!]

Semi-Final 1: Northern Africa

Okay, so the second Afrovision Managerial Contest tournament is about to get under way, starting with the first Semi-Final for Africa’s northernmost nations. This will be followed by Semi-Finals involving Central African nations and then Southern African nations. The nations were sorted by the longitude of their capital city, which sadly split the two Congoes (Congii?).

What the managers here need to do is decide to award points to each of their fellow nations in this section. While this is generally done on team performances, you could also give points to your neighbours, nations you like, or nations whose manager comes from your own country. Be careful, however, not to award points to your neighbours that are not in this section.

You can add a spokesperson for your country to your form. This person, who can be a celebrity, a politician or a fictional entertainer, will give your votes to the Beninese host. You can change this spokesperson if you gave one last year, or add one if you did not.

The teams within a section are presented in alphabetical order.

Algeria – No Results

Manager: Robert Boyle (Robert_296)

Manager Nationality: English

Neighbours: Libya, Mali, Mauritania, Morocco, Niger, Tunisia

Burkina Faso – Results

Manager: Magnus Vestergaard (magvest)

Manager Nationality: Swedish

Neighbours: Benin, Ivory Coast, Ghana, Mali, Niger, Togo

Cape Verde – Results

Manager: Karl Unpingco (JSalter)

Manager Nationality: Guamanian

Neighbours: Gambia, Mauritania, Senegal (all Maritime)

Chad – No Results

Manager: Hryhorii Zahorchak (bergtaur)

Manager Nationality: Ukrainian

Neighbours: Cameroon, Central African Republic, Libya, Niger, Nigeria, Sudan

Djibouti – No Results

Manager: Whoopy Dee’e (Whoopy D)

Manager Nationality: Cameroonian

Neighbours: Eritrea, Ethiopia, Somalia

Egypt – Results

Manager: Tyler Burrows (PluckaDuck)

Manager Nationality: Andorran

Neighbours: Libya, Sudan

Eritrea – No Results

Manager: Quandiose Yancy (SCIAG)

Manager Nationality: Gambian

Neighbours: Djibouti, Sudan, Ethiopia

Gambia – No Results

Manager: Kleen Shavern (gavrenwick)

Manager Nationality: Ukrainian

Neighbours: Senegal (Land), Cape Verde(Maritime)

Mali – Results

Manager: Mikael Schøler (MikaelS)

Manager Nationality: Danish

Neighbours: Algeria, Burkina Faso, Ivory Coast, Guinea, Mauritania, Niger, Senegal

Mauritania – No Results

Manager: Lawrence Lazewski (spartans5)

Manager Nationality: Polish

Neighbours: Algeria, Mali, Senegal (all Land), Cape Verde(Maritime)

Morocco – Results

Manager: Didier Dardon (canvey!!)

Manager Nationality: French

Neighbours: Algeria

Niger – No Results

Manager: Ben Cee (BenArsenal)

Manager Nationality: Singaporean

Neighbours: Algeria, Benin, Burkina Faso, Chad, Libya, Mali, Nigeria

Nigeria – Results

Manager: Des Tiny (Lower Leagues Rule)

Manager Nationality: New Zealander

Neighbours: Benin, Cameroon, Chad, Niger (all Land), Equatorial Guinea, Ghana, São Tomé and Príncipe (all Maritime)

Senegal – Results

Manager: Edward Still (Edinho)

Manager Nationality: Botswanan

Neighbours: Gambia, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Mali, Mauritania (all Land), Cape Verde(Maritime)

Sudan – Results

Manager: Jeremy English (PaulHartman71)

Manager Nationality: English

Neighbours: Central African Republic, Chad, DR Congo, Egypt, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Kenya, Libya, Uganda

Tunisia – Results

Manager: Mentho Latum (coldkohmew)

Manager Nationality: Singaporean

Neighbours: Algeria, Libya

Although there is one fewer nation to vote for, the points to be allocated remain the same. Please, if you are in this Semi-Final, give the points below to the nations above, obviously not giving any nation points twice, and not giving points to nations other than the 15 in this Semi-Final (excluding your own). Copy and paste the form, fill it in, and PM it to me.

Your Own Nation:

12 points:

10 points:

08 points:

07 points:

06 points:

05 points:

04 points:

03 points:

02 points:

01 points:

Spokesperson (optional):

The deadline is the time of this post in one week’s time.

[dafuge]

I've got canvey's votes, just so no one can call foul play.

[Lower Leagues Rule]

Wooohooo lets go Nigeria...Hoping for at least some big points from my two neighbours in this one. All Nigers combine

I have sent my votes through Canvey.

[BenArsenal]

Wooohooo lets go Nigeria...Hoping for at least some big points from my two neighbours in this one. All Nigers combine

I have sent my votes through Canvey.

Remember the favour from last time, neighbour.

Will send my votes in shortly.

EDIT: Votes sent.

[Spleen!]

Cape Verde's votes have been sent.

Remember our performance in the ACoN

[PluckaDuck]

Sent off Egypt's votes!!

[DodgeeD]

The Congoes have been split?!? A deliberate attempt to reduce our points I think.

Anyway, good luck to all of those in this semi-final, especially those who advance and may be able to vote for Congo if we make the final as well.

[chopper99]

The Congoes have been split?!? A deliberate attempt to reduce our points I think.

Hmm, a bit dodgy that methinks

DR Congo will have to try and bribe some other nations this time round in a bid to improve on last years performance.

[canvey!!]

I still need votes from:

Robert_296, Algeria

magvest, Burkina Faso

bergtaur, Chad

Whoopy D, Djibouti

SCIAG, Eritrea

gavrenwick, Gambia

MikaelS, Mali

Edinho, Senegal

PaulHartman71, Sudan

coldkohmew, Tunisia

The deadline is Saturday at 12.50pm GMT.

[MikaelS]

Sorry for the delay. I've had a fried motherboard (thanks to lightning), so have been offline at home.

I've sent my votes now

[canvey!!]

Welcome to Benin…

Angélique Sessègnon: Good evening Africa, and welcome, bienvenue, to the second Afrovision Managerial contest, hosted here in Porto Novo. Welcome also to our viewers all around the world, including Argentina, the latest nation to start airing the tournament.

Angélique Sessègnon: I am your host Angélique and I’ll be taking you through three Semi-Finals and the Final. I’d like to thank the Broadcasters, African Television, Radio and Complete Entertainment Revolution for organising the Afrovision Managerial Contest.

Angélique Sessègnon: The 16 nations here tonight have all voted for each other based on the performance of their national football teams over the past twelve months. Nations have given 12 points to the teams they feel have done best, 10 to the second-best, 8 to the third-best and then allocated 7 points through to 1 point to the others. The aim is to be in the top five nations, who will go through to join hosts Benin in the Final.

Angélique Sessègnon: Unfortunately, it is difficult to encourage everyone to vote. Sadly, malheureusement, in this Semi-Final, Chad, Senegal and Tunisia have not voted. They will be deducted 12 points for this. In addition, Tunisia will be docked a further 12 points for giving incomprehensible votes in last year’s Final. Niger have a six point penalty for an incorrect vote in last year’s Final. It’s a shame to start off on such a negative not, but as Tanzania showed last year; having points deductions does not rule out qualification. Let’s look at the initial table of nations.

Angélique Sessègnon: We go to Sudan and Burkina Faso for our first votes!

[MikaelS]

finally! Lets get the show going

[BenArsenal]

Damn. Got punished for last season.

[Dees-Blake]

Djibouti undoubtedly have the coolest name.

[PluckaDuck]

Chad is a much cooler name!

[el sid]

Haha unlucky Tunisia

[Whoopy D]

Djibouti undoubtedly have the coolest name.

That's right, coolest name. Vote for Djibouti.

Possibly a bit late to campaign for votes but meh. Also 4th Probably the highest we'll get.

[canvey!!]

Angélique Sessègnon: Good evening Sudan!

Zeinab Badawi: Good evening Angélique! I’m looking forward to a good show tonight.

Angélique Sessègnon: Thank you Zeinab. Here’s hoping Sudan can get through to the Final, eh?

Zeinab Badawi: We’re all very optimistic.

Angélique Sessègnon: Well, would you like to get the second annual Afrovision Managerial Contest under way?

Zeinab Badawi: Of course;

7: Mauritania

6: Mali

5: Eritrea

4: Nigeria

3: Tunisia

2: Niger

1: Morocco

Angélique Sessègnon: Thank you Zeinab. And Sudan’s three biggest votes please.

Zeinab Badawi: Here are the biggest votes from Sudan:

8 points go to…Djibouti!

10 points go to……Egypt!

12 points go to…

…Algeria!

Zeinab Badawi: This is Zeinab Badawi, in Khartoum, for the Afrovision Managerial Contest.

Angélique Sessègnon: Good evening Zeinab. Robert Boyle’s Algeria keep that first place in the table by picking up 12 points. Well done also to Tyler Burrows’s Egypt, who pick up 10.

Angélique Sessègnon: Benin calling Burkina Faso!

Burkina Faso: Hello Angélique!

Angélique Sessègnon: Good evening. Could you please give us Burkina Faso’s votes?

Burkina Faso: Yes indeed. The votes from Burkina Faso are;

7: Egypt

6: Morocco

5: Cape Verde

4: Tunisia

3: Sudan

2: Niger

1: Eritrea

Burkina Faso: And here are Burkina Faso’s three most important votes:

8 points go to…Senegal!

10 points go to……Nigeria!

12 points go to…

…Mali!

Burkina Faso: Thank you Benin!

Angélique Sessègnon: Thank you Burkina Faso. Mikael Schøler’s Mali, who were last year’s runners-up, pick up 12 points there in some Scandinavian fellowship. Tyler Burrows’s Egypt continue their good start, collecting seven points. Let’s take a look at our first updated table of the night.

Angélique Sessègnon: So Mikael Schøler’s Mali lead the way at the moment. We also see Egypt, Nigeria and Algeria doing well. Kleen Shavern’s Gambia will be hoping for some points on the board pretty soon. Djibouti and Algeria will be voting next.

[MikaelS]

Good start. So far it looks promising

[PluckaDuck]

Thankyou Sudan and Burkina Faso, a great start for Egypt