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Salisbusy FC - England Season 2 Salisbury FC - Season 2 - 2021/22 - England - Vanarama National South - 11th Another solid season of mediocrity, finishing 11th. Still predicted to finish 24th. We started poorly and were around the relegation zone after 16 games, but then a nice run of fixtures saw us challenging playoffs for the rest of the season. Youth Intake was slightly better, but still pretty average with some poor personalities. I realized that the youth contracts are only 5 pounds a week, so I signed anyone with 3 star potential or above. We almost made the 3rd round of the FA Cup. We were 4 - 1 up against a League 1 team, but conceded 3 late games inclugin 2 in injury time. We did manage to get more improvements accepts but only after the youth intake arrived, so we will hopefully see some better players next season.

Salisbury FC - England - Season 1 Salisbury FC - 2020/21 - Season 1 - England - Vanarama National South - 13th A good but unspectacular first season. Compared to Poole Town, it was a luxury to have 17 players. We started well, winning our first four games to be top. Then gradually over the season we slipped downwards to 13th. But the board wanted to avoid a relegation fight so this was a good season. The media predicted us to finish last. The Youth Intake was pretty poor. Some 5 star potentials, but awful personalities. We only signed a left winger for a bit of cover there. All improvements were refused until March when they approved both Recuitment and Coaching, which are still pretty poor. But it's progress and the grind will contnue for a few seasons.

We start again with Salisbury FC. Poor facilities but more than 12 players this time. I simmed again to get Poole Town but they had the same 12 man squad. South Shields were there as well, but I've failed with them before.

Sacked. Never even saw the youth intake. Poole didn't have a keeper the whole season. Might choose more wisely next time.

Thanks! Really enjoying this challenge. Already started another one, but I don't think I'll keep Poole FC up. Two games a week with 12 players is brutal.

On to another country with Poole FC in England. I tried with South Korea but there was no relegation/promotion in League 2. I also tried in China but wasn't feeling it. My family is from Poole so really wanted them. Problem is they have 12 players + 2 silver star youth, and bad facilities. This might be a challenging first season.

Magesi FC - Season 11 - 2030/31 - South Africa - 1st - CAF Champions League Winners We won the Champions League. Challenge complete! Having won the league last year, our almost sole priority was the Champions League. We sold our 3rd best striker over the summer for 400k. Then we promoted Jamie Wood to starting striker, and Khune (37 goals in all competition the season before) to backup. We managed to get Jamie Wood on a new 3 + 3 contract, with the top clubs in England circling. Then, disaster, both Wood and Khune get long term injuries, Wood with a broken foot and Khune with a fractured lower leg, and both out until Xmas. We had no back up except Banda, a 17 year old 1.5 star striker, who would now be the starting striker. The goal was to stay near the top of the league and get through to the group stage of the Champions League. Then Xmas and both strikers would be back. Champions League - Winners Luckily the Preliminary and 2st round draws were kind to us and we progressed to the group stage easily. We drew a relatively easy group and finished top ahead of Coton Sport, Generation Foot and Hearts of Oak. Coming up to the quarter final draw the only team I was worried about were Mamelodi Sundowns who'd we been fighting in the league for the last two seasons, and were currently top of the league. And of course we drew them in the quarter finals. By the time the quarter finals came along in April, the Sundowns had hit some awful form. A loss to me 3 - 0 (lucky on our part) in February saw them lose 8 of the next 13 games before facing us. It ended up being relatively straight forward in the end. We were losing the first leg 2 - 1 away and I was not unhappy with the result. Then we scored two late goals and easily won the return leg 3 - 0. We then faced a decent Wydad Casablanca team in the semi-finals. It was a very tight first leg at home, and we were 1 - 0 after 60 mins. Then we scored 5 in the last 30 minutes after they had a man sent off and won the return leg 3 - 1 to book a spot in the final against ES Tunis. We were easily the better team and had 20 unanswered shots before finally scoring in the 60th minute. FM still made us wait though as they equalized on the counter with their first shot on goal in the 75th minute. Then in the 78th minute our left winger, Daclen Matuba, scored the winner. We'd done it. Absa Premiership - 1st Going into the Xmas break we were second behind the Sundowns, which I was happy with. We didn't need to win the league, but Champions League places only go to the top two teams, so we needed a top 2 place in case we didn't win the Champions League this season. The January transfer window was a struggle with a number of big bids from Saudi Arabia, China and England. We eventually had to turn down a crazy 2.2m bid for Khune as Man Utd were chasing Jamie Wood pretty aggressively. On deadline day they bid as high as 12m, and I was just waiting for the Board message of "too good to refuse". But it never happened to their credit. Jamie Wood then came back from injury and despite not scoring in the first few games, scored a goal a game for the rest of the season. Despite a couple of losses, the Sundowns' meltdown meant we won the league with a couple of games to spare. Squad update A really nice youth intake with two top wingers and a nice defender. I'll do a more in-depth breakdown in a future post, but the squad was basically the same as the season before with the addition of Jamie Wood. After coming back from injury Jamie Wood improved significantly from 3 to 5 stars and was rated the best player in the league after just 6 weeks of games. In the two years he's been here, he didn't play the first year due to work permit issues, and in the second season he missed 4 months due to injury. So his stats are a bit behind but I do think he's a future star. Challenge Update It's almost with sadness that I complete the challenge. I've really fell in love with this clubs and players. There are a few really talented players, so I might actually continue for a season or two. Or I might retire and sim 5 years into the future to see what happended to everyone. I've absolutely loved this challenge and I am already addicted. My goal is to complete the challenge in every continent and I'm already thinking where to go next! South Korea or USA perhaps. Challenge was completed on FM20. No custom databases were used. Win the Absa Premiership - COMPLETE - 2029/30 - Season 10 Win the CAF Champions League - COMPLETE - 2030/31 - Season 11

Magesi FC - Season 10 - 2029/30 - South Africa - 1st - Champions! We did it, we won the league. Half the challenge completed. Towards the end of last season I noticed our media prediction moving up and in pre-season we were up to 5th. Also, our best player, Phakamani Mandlazi, were viewed by the media as the best player in the league. After 8 seasons in the top flight, it was time for our first title challenge, and we did it, just. We also won the CAF Federation Cup again and the MTN Last Man Standing Knockout (and a very pleasant million in cash for each) Key matches along the way: Chippa United 2 - Magesi FC 3 We were worried after a game and a half of the season. We lost the first game narrowly, a tough away game against Bidvest Wits. But then we found ourselves down 2 - 0 at half time to Chippa United in the second game. Some sharp words were spoken at half time, and we pulled two back quickly before a 94th minute winner Orlando Pirate 3 - 4 Magesi FC A spectacular game which saw both teams take the lead. Orlando Pirates have been the dominant team in South Africa for the last ten season, and looking back this was the changing of the guard. Magesi FC 2 - 1 Bidwest Wits A week before Christmas we lost our lead at the top of the table, with defending league champions Sundowns, taking over. At the time we seemed a pivotal moment, and we could have crumbled. But we quickly got back to winning ways two days later by beating Bidwest Wits 2 - 1, the team who'd beat us on the first day of the season. The defeat by the Sundowns ended up being our last loss in any competition or friendly for 4 months. Magesi 5 - 1 FS Stars March was a superb month for us, as we scored 19 goals across 5 games in all competitions. Supersport and Mamelodi Sundowns dropped points leaving us top with 2 games in hand. The most notable was against FC Stars who'd beaten us 5 times in a row. Maritzburg United 1 - 1 Magesi FC One point from our final 2 games would guarantee the title. Nerves got the best of us in the first as we somehow managed to lose the at home against Baroka FC. However, in the final game we held on to a 1 - 1draw and secured the title. Challenge Update One half of the challenge completed, but I just feel like I'm getting started with this team. I'm glad we have another season at least. The youth intake was very good with two 5 star wingers coming through. We have talent aplenty in midfield and attack but are lacking in defence. We sold our backup striker, Shivambu, and promoted Jamie Wood to the first team. Despite Sibussio Khune scoring 37 goals last year, he will now be the backup. I think jamie Wood is a top talent. He didn't have a work permit last season, and played no games last season, yet went from 2.5 stars to 3.5 stars. He's also wanted by the big clubs, so I'm not sure how long we can keep hold of him. Next season the obvious priority is the CAF Champions League. However, we also need to focus on the league in case we don't win the Champions League, and there are only 2 qualification spots. Win the Absa Premiership - COMPLETED - 2029/30 Win the CAF Champions League - NO - Best - Lost in the final 2027/28

Magesi FC - Season 8 & 9 - 2027/28 & 2028/29 - South Africa - 5th and 3rd Season 8 Double season update. Season 8 was so nearly very successful. We started very poorly, had bad fixture congestion, and kept getting "unlucky" in games. Overall, we staggered to 5th place in the league, which was outside the continental places. However, we were in the CAF Champions League, where South African teams are alwasy strong. We progressed through a tough group on the final day and, despite some scares, advanced to the final to play the Orlando Pirates, who we'd never beaten. We went 1 - 0 in the final, but then they showed their class to go 3 - 1. We pulled a late goal back but no heroics like the year before. So close to finishing half the challenge. And we're not in the Champions League next season. The Youth Intake was disappointing, but we did at least get upgrades in Youth Facilities and Training Facilities. Also, 4 youth players became first team regulars over the season. Season 9 With no continental competitions this season, I felt this was the season to try to win the league. And we started strongly, winning the first four games, and I thought this is our year. However, our weakness at the back cost us and we ended up 3rd overall. FM also decided to punish us along the way. We sold our star right winger in the summer, as we had talent coming through who I thought we better and we had plenty of cover. Then within 2 days our three right wingers got long term injuries. Then the same happenned at right back. Very frustrating. Our media prediction continues to get better - 8th at 60 - 1. We also now have the 3rd best player in the league - Mandlazi. he won't sign a new contract without a foreign team release clause which is an issue/ We also had a very good youth intake, with 15 year old Jamie Wood possible being a star of the future. Within a month, both Porto and Tottenham are interested in him. Overall, more progress, and I feel we're getting close to a title challenge.

Magesi FC - Season 7 - 2026/27 - South Africa - 2nd Another good season, where we consolidated again. We started poorly (again) and kept giving up late goals. At one point we were just above relegation and fighting. Then we picked up and strangely after 15 games, half the season, we looked upwards in the table and found ourselves just 3 points of the top of the table. 3 wins wins and we were top of the table after 18 games. This was not down to our good form, but simply everyone at the top was taking points off each other. Orlando Pirates are normally well ahead at this points so, despite not being good enough, I thought this could be a chance for the title. We kepy pushing but then we draw a couple of games and then the Pirates smashed us - again. We scored enough points at the end to get 2nd and qualification for the CAF Champions League, though we scored the same number of points as the previous season when we finished 4th. It shows us that we're still two levels behind the Pirates. We did manage to win the CAF Federations Cup, though needed a lot of luck along the way, We needed penalites in the semi-finals to beat Mamelodi Sundowns, them the final against Black Leopards was some game. They went 3 - 0 up, despite the game being quite even. Somehow we pulled it back to 3 - 3. Extra time and then they went 4 - 3 up. They were tiring, but we'd rotated a lot ahead of the final, and this enabled us to equalize then win the game 5 - 4. 950k secured, and very needed. The CAF Champions League next season, and I think the only team we need to fear is Orlando Pirates. It might actually be easier to win the Champions League rather than the league. Anything can happen over two legs, but across a 30 game season, quality normally evens out. Money wise, things are looking better - with 950k from the Federations Cup, 450k from the league and another 450k in sponsorship. We also sold a couple of players for a million and a bit. One was one of our best talents, but we have so much talent coming through in AMC I felt 875k was too much to turn down. That gave us an upgrade in Youth Facilities so should pay off in the long run. The Youth Intake was decent if not spectacular. We still need players to come through in defence. Challenge Update Win the Absa Premiership - No - Best = 2nd Win the CAF Champions League - No - Best = N/A

Magesi FC - Season 6 - 2025/26 - South Africa - 4th A great season, finishing 4th and qualification for the CAF Federation Cup. Money has been getting difficult so that should help with the finances. We started great and beat Kaizer Chiefs in one of the first games and I knew we were a better team this year. One main reason for this was the emergence of Masuluke Shivambu, who scored 10 goals in the second half of the season. He doesn't have 5 star potential but I was truggling for goals and he seemed to be the one. Daclen Oscarine, who scored 75 league goal for us and got us promoted, left the club as his wages were getting silly. Also, a 198cm centre back, Siyanda Arendse, made great progress in the youth ranks and he helped contribute to a number of goals from set pieces. A good year. Next year, with the fixture congestion in South Africa, I may have to decide where to prioritise. I may prioritse the Federations Cup and try to earn as much money as possible. The youth intake was decent, we even got a Colombian GK through the ranks, though, with 4 determination, we won't be seeing him. I'll be triggering all the 3 year extensions on my star players this year, and hopefully they won't want release clauses going forward. For the first time, the media don't see us as the worst team in the leagu, we're the third worst team. Challenge Update Win the Absa Premiership - No - Best = 4th Win the CAF Champions League - No - Best = N/A

Magesi FC - Season 5 - 2024/25 - South Africa - 8th (Absa Premiership) Flying through the seasons at the moment. Helps having a holiday here, but also makes me realize how much time I spend scouting and buying/selling. Another season of consolidation in the top flight. We only finished one place above last year (this year 8th), but we were pushing for the top 4 (and qualification for the Total CAF Confederations Cup) until the last few games. Once it was apparant we wouldn't make it (and were safe for 8th and 100k MTN 8 money) we played the youth. We started really poorly and were placed nearer relegation than 4th after 10 games, but then hit form mid season. We also won the Telkom Knockout (the second cup in South Africa), which is our first piece of silverware. No Africa qualification and hardly any money but still. By the season end we are still predicted to finish 16th with odds of 1000 - 1, but I'm noticing on the scout reports of other teams that their players are not all 5 stars, so we are improving. We got more youth recruitment and coaching upgrades meaning we are almost maxed out. No improvements to training yet. The youth intake was another good one with Shange coming straight into the first team. He looks a good one though his 9 determination needs some mentoring. We are noticing a higher quality of youth player coming through and with the latest upgrades, I have high hopes for next season's. We are also getting a notifcation almost every month that we have poached a youth player from another team, and even one from Miami in the USA. We don't even have scouting knowledge in the USA, so not sure how that's possible. The team continues to improve and we only have 2 players from the starting team still in there - Puleng Buthelezi (DC) and Sikhumbuzo Ncube (GK). The only worry is the GK, as we have no youth players coming through and his 3 star is slowly going down over time as the team improves. Additionally, our best players are now requesting release clauses on contracts. Release clauses for foreign clubs would be annoying, but understandable. But these are just release clauses. There's no way I want to let the other teams in my have them. They all have 3 year optional extensions which I've just triggered. So I need to get continental qualification in the next two years so they might not want the release clauses. And the money would be nice as well. I feel we can challenge for the top 4 next year, but Orlando Pirates and Kaizer Chiefs are still miles ahead of us, so probably 4 - 5 seasons before we challenge for the league. Challenge Update Win the Absa Premiership - NO - Best = 6th Win the CAF Champions League - NO - Best = N/A

Congrats. Been fun following you on Youtube.

Magesi FC - Season 4 - 2023/24 - South Africa Another solid season, our second in the top flight. We gave up a number of late goals across the season, and finished slightly worse than last season, but comfortably mid table. The 9th place place finish does cost us 100k guaranteed from the Super 8 knock out though. The squad continues to develop, and we now have plenty of depth across the squad except in goal. Oscarine (top scorer again) and Nxumalo, from the first youth intake, are now our best players, and we are slowly phasing out the original squad. All looks positive. Just need to keep surviving in the top flight and get our best players on long deals. A decent youth intake with two good talents, though far too many strikers coming through. We got more youth improvements accepted and now have Excellent Youth Recruitment, so I have high hopes for the next intake.

Wow. Superstar. Hope he keeps improving.

Looking good! What are Meier's stats now?

Magesi FC - Season 3 - 2022/23 A really good first season in the top flight. Solid performances throughout and we steadily accumulated points and finished 6th, along with two semi-final performances in the cups. With 6 matches to go we started playing some of the youth team to get them match experience. Daclen Oscarine was again the inspiration with 16 goals. Finances became a lot better with 100k per month TV money and a mysterious 100k grant per month. We got some youth improvements approved and even a coaching course for me. A decent, but unspectacular youth intake, with two top talents. One is a midfielder which we need. The squad is quite nicely balanced now with no obvious weaknesses in any areas, and some of the youth players are able to offer backup and rotation. Unfortunately Oscarine wouldn’t sign a new contract without a 195k release clause to foreign clubs. We thought about offering him out and getting a % sell-on, but assuming he was bought by a SA club and then sold for a million, that would only be 400k or so. This way, we get a guaranteed 195k, his goals until he goes and the possibility of him signing a new contract without the release clause. We hope. (I keep forgetting to take creenshots at the emd of the season. Also I'm on FM20)

Magesi FC - Season 2 - 2021/22 Wow, what an end to the season. Predicted 16th and bottom, we were around the playoffs for the first half of the season then hit form in the second half. There was a chance of top spot and automatic promotion but Amazulu were too strong. In the promotion playoff we faced Real Kings from the Championship and Cape Umoya from the Premiership. Two resounding victories put us in a strong position, but then disaster - our two goalkeepers both got injured. We had to call up a 16 year old from the U19s who had 3 silver star current ability. Stil, our goal difference from the first two games was +5, so just a draw and a small defeat would see us promoted. In the first game, and our third of the mini group stage, we were 3 - 1 up, but they scored two late goals. Going into the final game against Real Kings, we just needed to not be beaten by 4 or more goals, and we'd be promoted. We played a defensive line up trying to minimize the number of shots on our goal. And it worked, for 75 minutes. Then they scored. And scored again and scored again. The injury time highlight had me looking between my fingers but luckily it was for us. A 3 - 0 loss and promotion. Promotion is sorely needed. Our finances are woeful and all requests for improvements were turned down. Still no coaching badges for me. Also, in the Championship it seems you can only offer one year contracts, with a 1 year optional extension. I've lost three 5 star potential youth players because of this. For these three, their birthdays were November/December. So they signed a contract on their birthday until the following June. Come 1 January other teams could offer an end of contract but I couldn't because of the contract cooldown, and couldn't trigger the extension either. The plan for next year is to try and stay up, but at least get all my players onto 3 + 3 contracts, so I can build. We almost lost our star 17 year old striker, Daclen Oscarine, but as his birthday was in September we were just able to get his contract renewed before the windown opened. His 17 league goals undoubtedly took us up, and I wonder how long before a foreign club comes looking for a bargain. Another fantastic youth intake. Despite not getting any upgrades their facilities were solid to being with, so we are producinng a few Premiership talents.

Magesi FC - Season 1 - 2020/21 We took over Mabesi FC who seemed to have good facilities for this level - Average Youth recruitment and coaching. the squad only had 15 players, but the first XI was decent other than a lack of depth in midfield. In the midfield we had to play two 16 year olds. We were predicted to finish 15th out of 16, but ended up much better. We started strongly and were top of the league after 10 games. Then the lack of a squad caught up with us and we slowly dropped down the league. We were still in with a chance of the playoffs going into the last two games, but fell short. The youth intake was fantastic, in particular a talented striker, Daclen Oscarine, who went straight into the first team. So, next season we should have more of a squad, though avoiding relegation is still the goal. Finances look pretty awful, and all requests for upgrades were denied. - not even a coaching badge.

Nice update. I've always found the World Club Cup one of the hardest to win. As you say you can sometimes have 48 hours between games, and it's before pre-season so you're players are match fit either.

Belgium - World Cup - 2054 Too devastated to write a proper update. Lost in the final.....again. We were dominant throughout but came up against a strong Spain team who went 2 - 0 early. Gutted. But we will try again (again). We staying with Belgium. Their squad will be slightly on the old side for the World Cup in 4 years, but there's also so much talent coming through - 11 young players with 4.5 star potential or more. Just hope we don't get fired after the Euros.

Belgium - World Cup - 2050 After winning the 2048 Euros I was confident of winning the World Cup, especially as the South American teams hadn't looked good recently. An easy group was dispatched with, and the second round draw gave us a viable route to the final - Scotland in the 2nd round, then Portugal in the 3rd round then probably Germany in the semis. Scotland gave us a scare though. We took the lead and were dominating, then they scored a free kick out of nowhere. Good on them, I thought, let them have a goal. But we couldn't score another and it went to extra time. We finally broke them down and scored 4 in extra time. Still, the extra time was damaging as Portugal awaited us three days later. It was a tight game and it finally went to penalites. Portgual missed two of their first three penalities and then we missed two, but we won it in suddent death. We battered Uruguay in the quarters and then it was Germany in the semis. To be fair Germany dominated the game, but we were more clincal and won 3 - 2. We faced Netherlands in the final, the team we'd beaten twice at the Euros. But that's where the story ended. We'd been riding our luck in the last few games, and Netherlands deservedly won 3 - 1. Argentina - Copa America - 2052 Following the World Cup, we needed to go to the Copa America as this was one of the two competitions we still needed to win. I wasn't confident going in to the 2052 Copa America. Argentina had one world class striker and midfielder but nothing beyond that, Brazil looked to have a really good team. We had the easy half of the group stage, with most of the bigger teams in the other group. We eased past Uruguay, USA, Paraguay, Bolivia and Chile, only dropping points in 1 game and scoring 17 goals. Meanwhile, the other group was a slugfest. On the last match day, Ecuador scored a 94th minute winner against Brazil to knock them out. I started to believe. We faced a very good Colombina side in the quarters but brushed them aside 4 - 0. Then, in the semis, Uruguay battered us for 45 minutes but couldn't scored, before running out of steam and we scored 3 goals quickly after the break. In the final, Mexico went 1 - 0 up after 2 minutes, but we scored two back before half time. In the 88th minute they had 3 clear cut chances to score but our keeper pulled off 3 miraculous saves. We did it. Challenge Update With just the World Cup to win to complete the challenge, we faced a big dilemma. We applied for a number of international jobs and Belgium made an offer. The Belgium team we'd won the Euros and reached the World Cup final with. I thought the team would be past it, but their best players will be 27 - 30 by the next World Cup and they have yet more talent coming through. I took the plunge and we will go to the 2054 with Belgium.

I've done 10 seasons on my Portugal Youth Academy challenge, and I will return to that. But wanted a fresh start. I really enjoyed my time in South Africa in the Ultimate FM Challenge, so I'm returning. I'm also intrigued about trying to complete this challenge in all 5/6 continents (as another person mentioned). Which, given the fact I haven't completed the challenge at all yet, is a bit brave. But we have to dream. Starting with Magesi FC in South Africa. There were only 2 teams promoted to the Championship, and this team had the better Youth facilities (Average/Average). I reloaded a couple of times but kept getting the same two teams, so I must have gone past the playoff date. I originally wanted to try Egypt but there's no relegation from the 3rd division on the database I was using.

Thanks for the encouragement. Currently holidaying to the World Cup. I'll have a look at Mexico/US for the Copa America. Think I've also seen Australia and Qatar in there as well.

Argentina - World Cup - 2046 After leaving the Sundowns in May 2044, we picked up the Argentina job after the Copa America. It was a good squad, and they were ranked number 1 in the world. They had my favourite left winger from the save, Claudia Peireyra, though he was getting on a bit. It wasn't an amazing squad, but I thought it woudl challenge for the World Cup at least, and if not the Copa America in 4 years. In the 2046 World Cup we were drawn in a group with China and Sweden - quite a tough group as they were both in the top 20 in the rankings. We squeezed past China 1 - 0 and then beat Sweden 3 - 0. As Brazil 4 years ago, we were playing decent but not spectacular, and I was a little worried when we were to face better opposition. South Korea were our second round draw and on paper it looked an easy game. We were in control, but just couldn't score, and then South Korea hit us on the break in the 77th minute to go one up. Oh dear. However, we pulled one back immediately and then won it in extra time. We faced a tough draw in Italy in the next game and I wasn't confident. It was a tight game but they hit us on the break and scored the winner in the 87th minute. No comeback this time. I almost gave up on this challenge again but the Belgium job came up and they looked like they had a really good team. This would be the last try to finish the challenge. Belgium - Euros - 2048 The Belgium job came up after the Euros, and we had just enough reputation to get it. With them being 9th in the rankings I wasn't overly pleased with the job. However, on closer inspection I saw that they had a really nice team. I've had the Belgoum leagues loaded for the last 15 years, and they had been pumping out wonderkids all over the place. Lots of quality on the wings and in midfield, and some really nice talents coming through. Nothing amazing up front, but enough to work with. In the 2048 Euros we faced a group of Nethelands, Poland and Ireland. We dominated Netherlands 4 - 1, and also a 0 - 0 draw against Poland and I was starting to feel confident. This was a good team. In the 3rd group game against Ireland, a draw would put us through. However, they scored in the 35th minute, and we were struggling to make chances. This result would knock us out. I was thinking "not again" and then we equalized from a set piece just before half time, before hitting our form again in the second half and winning 5 - 1. The draw was kind to us and it looked like a Turkey, Croatia and Germany/Austria route to the final. Turkey were brushed aside easily 2 - 0, and it looked the same for Croatia until they equalized in the 87th minute. However, a set piece gave us an injury time 2 - 1 win. We face Austria in the semis which might seem an easy draw but it wasn't. Austria have won the last two World Cups and the last Euros, but I still fancied our chances. They took the lead after 18 minutes, but then we played our best football of the tournament and deservedly went in 3 - 1 at halftime. The second half was nervy. They scored a penalty in the 71st minute but we held on to win. The final was against Netherlands, who we'd beaten 4 - 1in the group stage. It was now or never - I said to myself if I lose this game the challenge was over. Well the challenge is still on as we won the final 2 - 1. Next up the World Cup in 2050. There's some talent coming through so I'm confident of maintaining a challenge. Just the World Cup and Copa America to go.