corinthiano

Love this idea, was also a fan of PaulHartman's thread! Seems like you made a cracking start both at club and international level! Long may it continue as you have quite a way to go

Os Arados Futebol Clube de Nhacra AFC Nhacra is a team from Nhacra, a small town outside of the capital Bissau. There is almost no information on them, other than they were founded in 1977 by a group of farmers, have no achievements of note and play in a sand field with a badly constructed stand There is this great video of a local game to give you an idea: https://ms-my.facebook.com/BabokService/videos/afc-nhacra-vs-fc-canchungo/380510553764661/ In-Game they have played in the I Divisão twice, finishing 15th on both occasions and subsequently relegated. They play their games at the Campo Armando Maruto, which as mentioned is a sand field in the middle of nowhere. Assistant XI On the face of it this tells me we have a decent defence but are light in midfield and up front, but I have no idea where we stand compared to other teams. I am just glad we actually have a a squad and I dont have to rebuild from zero. Top Rated Players Looks like we have a very decent young goalkeeper, lets hope we can keep him! The second best player is a bit of a step down from the goalkeeper but seems like he will be OK for this level. Good fullback, just not great going forward but will do for now. Finances So another recently promoted team with lots of cash in the bank. Shouldnt make as much of a difference here as it did with Kamboi Eagles as we are semi-professional, so I will try to put that money towards infrastructure improvements. Initial Fixtures We still have a couple of months before a very busy start of the season in February. Also looks like it will be a tough start with us playing a lot of top sides in the first month of the season.

Chapter 4 - Guinea-Bissau Guinea-Bissau is a country in West Africa bordered by Senegal to the North and Guinea to the Southeast. Portuguese is the official language but Guinea-Bissau Creole is the most widely spoken language. The population in Guinea-Bissau is very ethnically diverse though, with many different languages and cultures. The population is roughly 1.8 million, with close to 0.5 million in the capital Bissau. There are not many other big cities, with the second largest city in country, Gabú, onlyhaving around 50 thousand inhabitants. Pre-colonization Guinea-Bissau was part of the Kaabu kingdom as well as the Mali empire. In the 16th century Portugal colonized the area and called it Portuguese Guinea. Independence was declared in 1973 and recognized the following year, with the country named Guinea-Bissau to avoid confusion with Guinea-Conakry and Equatorial Guinea. Since independence there has been constant political instability in the country, with only one elected president serving the full 5 year term. This instability has really impacted the economy and standard of living in the country, with Guinea Bissau having one of the lowest GDPs per Capita as well as Human Development Index. The economy mainly depends on agriculture, with fish, cashew nuts and ground nuts its main exports. Recently Latin American drug gangs have also used the country as a transshipment for drugs being taken to Europe. As a result of this Guinea-Bissau is not a country for tourism, but there is undeniable natural beauty in the country, such as the Bijagós Islands Football in Guinea-Bissau Football is the most popular sport in Guinea-Bissau, which has very strong links to the Portuguese, with many clubs being local versions of Portuguese clubs like, Benfica, Sporting, Porto and Belenenses. The national team has enjoyed improved fortunes recently, with qualification to the last three African Cup of Nations IRL, albeit in all of them they finished last in the group with a single point. In-game they failed to qualify for the 2023 edition but qualified in 2025, which was hosted by Guinea. They did finish bottom of their group again though, losing all three games. The Guinea-Bissau league was formed in 1975, which has been dominated by two teams, Sporting Clube de Bissau and Sport Bissau e Benfica. That dominance has not been reflected in game as neither side has won the title in the last 3 editions. In terms of reputation there seems to be a pretty even field with a lot of 1 star teams. But, importantly for this challenge, all of them have won a national title before. Flamengo de Pefine and FC Canchungo are the best teams not have won and typically finish 5th or 6th in the league. But with the season just ending I dont see any of those jobs becoming available soon, maybe one of the two promoted sides not on this list may be an option. All teams in Guinea-Bissau are semi-professional so I am expecting an even field.

2025/26 West African Review CAF Champions League 3 West African sides in the Group Stages this season again, with Ghana making a strong appearance as traditional power houses Hearts of Oak and Asante Kotoko made it through along with Horoya AC of Guinea. Only one team made it out of the groups again however as Hearts of Oak had a very tough group and Horoya AC disappointingly finished last in their group. Asante Kotoko however did very well finishing unbeaten in what was a tough group which included the finalists of the previous edition. Asante Kotoko managed to keep up the momentum and see through DC Motema Pembe in what was a favorable draw. However when faced with Wydad Casablance they lost 4-0, but no shame as they ended up winning the tournament. CAF Confederation Cup Disappointingly only 3 clubs made it to the group stage this year, a number which has been on the decrease two year in a row now. ASKO from Togo were a surprise qualifier and did even better to qualify out of their group, although it was a bit easier on paper. Abia Warriors and Djoliba did not make it out of their group but they face tough opposition in Cape Town City and MC Alger. The quarter final was as good as it got for ASKO though, who got drawn against the team that beat them twice in the group stage. To be fair to them they did well to keep the aggregate score to 1-0. CS Sfax would go all the way to the final to pick up a record 5th title in this competition. West African League Rankings Some big moves this season as the strong performance of their clubs in the Champions League sees Ghana's Premier League move to top spot of West African Leagues and 13th in Africa. Nigeria slipped to third in the region as Mali bypasses them. Towards the bottom the Liberian First Division keeps moving up the rankings and bypasses our next destination Guinea-Bissau. League Champions The only new champions this year came out of Cape Verde, with quite a few of the traditional sides extending their records, namely Stade Malien in Mali, Enyimba Aba in Nigeria, Horoya AC in Guinea, ASFA-Yennenga in Burkina Faso and ASEC Mimosas in Ivory Coast. Real de Banjul in The Gambia has also tied for most titles with their win this year. Former Clubs MC Breweries: Their title winning run finally came to an end as they finish 3rd and miss out on continental football. They also suffered a disappointing first round defeat in the FA Cup to Small Town and were knocked out in the Preliminary Phase of the Champions League by ASKO from Togo. Kamboi Eagles: Kept their 3rd place finish, miles off Kallon but very competitive against the other top division sides.

2025/26 Season Review Great season with just one loss in the Semi Final of the Taça Brava. Even when we got to the Cape Verdean Competition we were a notch above the rest with only Travadores offering us some sort of challenge. Squad by Appearances Best XI A lot of players came and went during the season so we didnt have an established first XI, but the core of the midfield + Nelson Lopes and Igor Monteiro were present most of the time. That was the added quality we needed to challenge as it made all the difference in our attacking play. Adding decent full-backs halfway through the season was an added bonus and we finely had a better balance in the team. Top Performers So effective in the Mezzala role, contributing with plenty of goals and assists. Was also a very welcome experienced head in what is a young squad. Only played 13 games but absolutely worth highlighting. Our formation just works so much better with a good left back and Adriano was no exception to that. The striker we missed last season. The U20 international really was a step above everyone else and despite average physicals he just kept banging them in. Finances Doesnt look good at all at a first glance, but if I wasnt stupid and sent a player on two language courses we would have actually made a small profit for the year... Progress After almost two years my stint in Cape Verde is done and it has been very enjoyable. I liked the different Island leagues and very different format they have. I also enjoyed managing a Semi-Pro team for the first time in ages, even though it could get hectic at times! Up next we very conveniently move to the only other formar Portuguese colony in West Africa, Guinea-Bissau!

Yes we can! The game started brilliantly as we had a penalty in the second minute. After that the first half was tense and tight. The second half started similarly but when scored the 2nd halfway through it Ultramarina collapsed and we quickly added a third to seal the first ever title for Nô Pintcha da Brava as the first team from the Brava Island to win the Cape Verdean Competition!

July 2026 We absolutely cruised the Group Stage with the toughest game being away to Tarrafal de Monte Trigo where we won despite having a man sent off early on. Then the real test came as we faced the dominant Travadores in the Semi-Final. When they went ahead in the first half of the first leg I feared the most, but we blitzed two goals early in the second half and just about hanged on to the win. In the Second Leg we dominated the first half and went up 2-0 early on, but they cam back in the second half to make it 2-2 and make us worried of a comeback, but Flávio Lopes then scored a screamer from outside the area to put our nerves to bed and seal a place in the Final! Next Fixtures We play Ultramarine in the final, which is played over one game at a neutral venue. We beat the home and away in the Group Stage, can we beat them again when it matters the most?

Thanks! Thank you! It's never too late to join the party especially as this one will go on for a while!

They really want Kojo back in Ghana.

June 2026 4 points out of the two toughest fixtures is a great start and puts us in a really good position for when we play Sporting da Praia and Ultramarina at home. Next Fixtures Three home games first in July and I really hope we can make the most of it to secure qualification to the Semi-Final.

Congrats on another Libertadores title!

April 2026 A comfortable end to the campaign with Coroa da Brava the only team managing to get any points off of us. The team has really gelled well now and I think we can do well in the Cape Verdean Competition. Next Fixtures It is another tough draw but expected at this stage. Both Sporting da Praia and Ultramarina are ranked in the top 10 most reputable clubs in Cape Verde, with us now at 11th, so in theory we have closed the gap.

March 2026 We continued our 100% record in the Liga Brava and have the title in our hands now, needing just 2 wins from 4 games to seal it. The month did end on a sour note as poor scheduling saw a tired and rotated side fall short at Benfica da Brava in the Taça da Brava Semi-Final, so no succesful defence of the title for us there. Transfers In Out Another really busy transfer window out of which I think we left with a good squad. The only major loss we had at the start of the window with our Zambian defender, the rest of the players leaving where back-up players, which included me trimming down the squad post transfer window. On the incoming side we have 5 players coming in to the first team. Good young goalkeeper and big improvement on what we had. Veteran striker with 2 caps for Cape Verde. Very good for this level but does seem to be on a rapid decline. Not a great improvement at DLP, but an improvement and at 18 can hopefully get better. This one I am excited about. Even though he is not amazing he is way better than what we had with great physicals that can hopefully make a difference down the left for us. Naturally a centre back, but we are so poor at right back that he will slot in there for us. Next Fixtures We finish our Liga Brava campaign and can hopefully seal the title sooner rather than later.

February 2026 Taça da Brava Liga Brava We are really starting to hit our stride now. Other than the game in the Taça da Brava where there was nothing to play for we won easily and have started scoring a lot, which is encouraging for later in the season. Transfers In Out So the goalkeeper my scouts raved about is nothing more than an average back-up and the guy I spent all the clubs cash on language courses leaves after 8 games . Not a great start to the transfer window, lets see if I can make up for that in the next month. Next Fixtures We continue our campaign in the Liga Brava and I am hopeful we can keep up the good form and put us in a strong position to be champions again. We also have the Semi-Final draw of the Taça da Brava on the 9th and maybe we finish the tournament in March too considering there are no league fixtures after the 17th.

January 2026 We are not playing the most free flowing football but it has been effective and we comfortably win our wins to guarantee passage to the Semi Finals in first. Next Fixtures Busy month coming up as we finish our group stage campaign in the Taça de Brava and start the Liga Brava campaign.

First interview offer of the save. Accra Lions won the Ghana Premier League in 2024 so they are not a bad side. Obviously declined though.

November/December 2025 The team is much stronger than last year, but it has changed a lot and hasnt gelled yet so performances are a bit disjointed. We still managed to win 2 out of 3 games, against Morabeza we were well and truly FM'ed as they had 2 shots on goal against our 23... Transfers I said it was unlikely we could improve the team and boy was I wrong, with us bringing in 4 first team players and a good back-up loanee before the transfer window shut. I released a few players that were surplus to requirement but we still have a decent sized squad. We still lack real quality at fullbak and DLP but the rest of the team is looking decent. Here are the four first teamers: Very decent young midfielder, will play in the Mezzala role for us. Very average but still better than what we had, will start as our DLP. Our first foreign signing, the young Zambian is way too good for this league. Only downside is that I very stupidly sent him on not just one, but two intensive language courses not realizing it would wipe out pretty much all the money we have Another good midfielder that will play the BBM role for us. Next Fixtures Just two games this month as we try to secure our place in the Taça da Brava Semi-Finals.

2025/26 Season Preview We are overwhelming favorites this season and this is reflected in the very good transfer business we have done in the off season, with 6 of our new signings making the Media Dream Eleven. Transfers The transfer window started terribly for us, leaving me fearing the worst. in the space of one week we lost our starting goalkeeper and the starting centre backs, with Mauro Cruz and Branco by far the best players in the club. Their replacements were not great and a lot of players simply refused to join us, but in November we managed to start adding some real quality to the squad. We do have a bloated squad but with a couple weeks left of the transfer window I want to see who is left before releasing the players we dont need anymore. I'll highlight those players we signed that make the starting XI: Decent replacement for Mauro Cruz, but not really anywhere near his level. I have another goalkeeper with a transfer pre-arranged for February. The direct replacement for Hernâni Almeida, he is young and solid. Excellent replacement for Branco, as good if not better and 11 years younger. A huge step up from what we had as our AP last season, really looking forward to see how he dictates play for us. Best signing so far. Amazing technicals and mentals for this level, although it would be great if physicals were a bit better. Plays for Cape Verde U20 which just shows how good he is for this level. Another great young signing up front. Best XI Dont really agree with the Assistant here as I would have Valdir Teixeira as the AP to maximize his impact and I would pick other players in some positions but this highlights we still have weak spots at in centre midfield, DLP and full backs. I am trying to look for players but chances are slim of my finding someone that wants to join us. Initial Fixtures As with last season we start with the Taça da Brava and I expect us to start strongly.

2024/25 West African Review CAF Champions League Decent representation in the Group Stages again with Abia Warriors, Djoliba, Stade Malien and Hearts of Oak all making it there, with Mali having an impressive two representatives. Unfortunately only one West African side made it to the Quarter Finals as Stade Malien edged Hearts of Oak in their group. Stade Malien continued their impressive performance by knocking out giants Al Ahly in the Quarter Finals. They coudlnt however get past the Egyptian rivals Zamalek in the Semi-Finals, but they did Mali and West Africa proud nonetheless. Zamalek went on to lose to Club Africain in the final, who won their second ever Champions League title. CAF Confederation Cup Only 4 clubs in the Confedration Cup this season and most from unlikely sources as Salitas FC and CF Rahimo from Burkina Faso were joined by AS SONIDEP from Niger. Horoya AC from Guinea completed the quarter. Unfortunately only Salitas FC made it out of the groups. Salitas FC encountered strong Moroccan opposition in RS Berkane and were no match for their North African opponents. Moroccan counterparts Wydad Casablanca eventually beat Ismaily of Egypt in the final to claim their first Confederations Cup. West African League Rankings We have movement again! There are quite a few changes this year with Mali now the third most reputable league in the region due to the strong performance of their teams in the Champions League. The Liberian First Division also leapfrogs both Sierra Leone and Cape Verde, which quite honestly makes sense as the quality there did feel better than in the tow other countries. League Champions No new champions this year although we had a couple of close calls with Onze Créateurs in Mali, FC Canchungo in Guinea-Bissau and Bo Rangers in Sierra Leone. It was also not a great year for traditional powerhouses as only ASEC Mimosas in Ivory Coast and ASC Jaraaf in Senegal extend their record title wins. Previous Clubs MC Breweries - Won a third consecutive title on head to head over LISCR. The manager that replaced Kojo left now which might create an uncertain future. They were soundly beaten by TP Mazembe in the Champions League Preliminary Round. Kamboi Eagles - Have not been able to keep up performances but still finished a respectable 3rd. Were completely outclassed by Amazulu in the Preliminary Round of the CAF Confederations Cup

2024/25 Season Review Squad by Appearances Best XI All in all a great first season at the club, where we dominated the Brava Island competitions and gave a good account of ourselves against teams from other islands. The team is extremely unbalanced and despite our midfielders playing well there is a lack of quality that needs to be addressed. Our attack was also not great with highly rated Tiago Barbosa being particularly ineffective in front of goal. It has been hard to sign good players as they dont see us as an attractive proposition, but we did jump a few places in the rep league and some of our youngsters are improving a lot, so I am hopeful we can give the national championship a good go next season with an improved squad. Top Performers Forgotten in the U21s until Osvaldo Lima left halfway through the season. Was decisive when he came on and contributed pretty much every game. The veteran was very effective in the Mezzala role, but I question if he has enough gas left in the tank for next season. Another young midfielder progressing well. He is great from dead ball situation and has scored some cracking goals this season. Finances We made a significant loss this season but a big chunk of that was the club paying for my Continental Pro License, so we should be able to somewhat minimize losses next year. Bizarrely the board decided to give me a ridiculously high wage budget next season. I'll wait for the season to tick over to really see what happens before deciding on our approach, The money might not mean much anyway as we dont have the rep to bring in good players. Progress

July 2025 Our campaign ends here with a respectable performance in the Group Stages. In the end our inability to convert chances is what cost us a place in the Semi Final and something we will have to look at for next season. Against Académica do Porto Novo we had over 30 shots on goal with an xG of over 4 but could not find the net. We made up for it with a convincing win against Santana de Morrinho which left us needing to beat Sporting da Praia away from home in the last game. We were on top for most of that game but could not find the net. Then on the 78th minute Branco got sent off and a few minutes later we got caught on the counter attack for Sporting da Praia to seal their place in the last 4. Travadores managed a great comeback and you would not bet against them retaining the title.

June 2025 I was surprised at how competitive we were and that we could have actually finished the first three games with 9 points. We were leading Sporting da Praia until they equalized in the 90th minute and were generally better than them. Against Santana de Morrinho we were by far the better side but didnt manage to get the second goal. Académica do Porto Novo have been terrible and we pounded on their misery with a terrific performance that helps us with goal difference. Another surprise has been how Travadores could miss out on a 4th title in a row as they currently sit second of their group. The way qualification works here is that top in each groups goes through along with the best 2nd placed team, which at the moment is us. So if we can continue getting good results we may sneak into the Semi-FInals even if we finish behind Sporting da Praia. Next Fixtures We end the Group Stage campaign in July and with two away games we certainly are up against it. Overall I am already happy with how the campaign went so getting through to the Semi-Finals would be a bonus.

May 2025 We were well beaten by Travadores but it was an encouraging match. We were not outplayed, they just had more quality to finish the chances they had and the scoreline was a bit harsh on us. This shows there is still work to do for us to compete at the top. Cape Verdean Competition We were drawn in a tough group as expected at this stage. Sporting da Praia are the second biggest club on reputation and are 10 times winner of the competition, with Académico do Porto Novo also being more reputable than us. There are no real expectations at this stage, getting some wins and being competitive is the main aim. Other News Out of the blue the chairman decided he wanted to step down and a Supporters trust was quick to step in. Disappointingly no investment at the club, there were also no changes to the club vision so lets wait and see how the new board are like. Next Fixtures June sees us start our campaign in the Cape Verdean Competition and I am eager to see how we perform.

April 2025 We finish the Liga Brava campaign with more solid performances and win the title with a comfortable 6 point margin as Académica da Brava somewhat collapse at the end. I was also please to have emphatically won our first game against a team outside of the Brava island, although they are lower in rep than us so maybe not that surprising. Next Fixtures We only have one game scheduled in May, but it is a huge one as we play the side that has dominated Cape Verde football in the last couple of seasons, winning the last three Cape Verde Championships and last two Cape Verde National Cups. Will be really interesting to see how we do against them. If we do progress we will play one or two more games in May, otherwise we only play again in the Group Stage of the Cape Verdean Championship in June.

West Africa is made up by the 15 (or16) westernmost countries in Africa, with a total area of 5,114,162km2 and population of over 349 million. It was home to large empires such as the Gao and Mali empires before colonization by the French, English and Portuguese. In 1957 the first West African country declared independence and the list was completed in 1974. The climate is heavily influenced by the Sahara to the north of its semi-arid region and the more tropical climate at Atlantic coast to the South. Whilst the official language in most of these countries is French, English or Portuguese, there are thousands of local languages originating from the local tribes. All 15 countries are part of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), established in 1975. The large trade bloc provides not only economic and trading agreements, but also political and security ones. The United Nations also includes Mauritania as part of West Africa, but as they are culturally more predominantly Arab and left ECOWAS in 1999 I decided to not include them in the save. You could also call this the ECOWAS challenge then Why West Africa? West Africa is a region that I personally know part of, having been to Guinea, Liberia, Ghana and Togo for work, which included living in Ghana for 3 years. I really enjoyed my time in Ghana and followed football when I lived there, which was passionately supported by the people despite the chaotic organization. I have wanted to do a West Africa save since I saw @DaveTheEditor's Around the Globe database but thought I would not have the stamina to do it right after a long Brazil save. After that was cut short though and realizing that the 15 countries run better on my laptop than the massive Brazil file I decided to have a go. The Challenge Similar to my State Challenge the idea here is to win the national title of the 15 countries in West Africa. Here however I will strictly follow the rule of only doing it with clubs that have never won the national title before. I did enjoy hopping around in Brazil but always enjoyed it more when I spent more than just 6 months at a club. This means this save will be long, but I am OK with that considering the variety of leagues included. Just like the Brazil State challenge there will be an order to how I will attempt this, beginning with the lowest reputation league until the highest reputation league. This will be dynamic, which means that if a reputation in a league increases and surpasses another they will swap order in the save. I will have all 15 countries loaded at once so will not have to add/remove countries. One exception is that Ghana will always be the last country in the save, it is the spiritual home of the save and I may also attempt to win the Champions League with a club from the country if I still have the stamina for it. The Manager Kojo Danquah is a 20 year old Ghanaian bron in Yendi with no badges or experience. The name was inspired by two things. In Ghana people have a name given to them depending on the day of the week they are born. Kojo is one of the variants for those born on a Monday. Danquah is a second name in Ghana from Akan origin meaning "Everlasting". Since Kojo will be very old by the end of this save I thought the name was appropriate The Beginning The LFA-Cellcom First Division League in Liberia is ranked 69th out of 83 leagues in Africa, sandwiched between the Gambian Second Division and the D1 in Mauritania. Very excited to start in the first country I visited in West Africa! I will go a little bit into Liberia and football there before we attempt to join our first club.