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Reiver

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Posts posted by Reiver

  1. So while Im fixing the file I created for Brazil I decided to try and make it even more true to real life, add the regional cups the game doesn't have and so on - currently doing the state of Alagoas, and the top teams from the state play in 2 cups and in the state leagues before the national leagues, generating this kind of schedule:

     

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    You better have some big squad.

  2. There was always a chance that this would happen, because I'm impatient, and started playing at the same time as i was doing the final test of the editor file - and there's a bug in the schedules of one of the state leagues; It's not the end of the save, I'll be fixing the bug (making a few more cosmetic changes to the league) and I'll be back.

  3. Before any more proper updates, I've just noticed something crazy: Botafogo won the Copa Libertadores in the same season that they got relegated from the top tier,and managed to get out of the group stage while in the second tier...

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    We were up to a tough start against Cabofriense, one of the other favourites to go up. Things were made easier when they got a player sent off 11 minutes into the game, for a two footed slide from the back. We capitalised on it and scored, only for one of our own players to be dumb and get sent off, literally 21 seconds after the second half started, and they scored close to the end of the game - all in all, a draw is a decent result here. Then against easier teams, we took off, with 2 games we completely dominated, including one against Paduano who play in the most hilarious football pitch I've ever seen. They played in a square pitch!

    Against the delusions of grandeur named Rio de Janeiro, trhey scored out of ridiculous plays, and a game that finished 0.79 - 2.10 in xG finished 3-3... It was just a hiccup though, as we went back into high gears and scored 7 goals in the last two games. Suddenly, half the season is gone, and we're getting great results.

    9b516e29232481286f858998c116b9e8.png

     

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    EC Resende are now in the third tier of Rio de Janeiro football, Série B1. After re-building the team for this level we are once again favourites to go up, with bookies giving us 5-4 odds. For the first time, I actually felt a change in our reputation, with us now being able to attract a lot more players and many more players asking for decent wages when we talk to them; also while in between seasons I got the first interview offers at higher reputation clubs, meaning that my reputation is also getting higher. I was actually interested in one of the teams, but they went with another manager in the end. Like I mentioned before - the first time I think that we'll find teams that will seriously be able to outplay us will be in the second division, with teams that got relegated from the top league.

    The fact that we were able to attract a slightly higher standard of player meant I have changed the way we play too - we are going from a hoof it forward to limit the errors near our goal and to capitalise on our opponents errors, into a 4-3-3 that plays high up on the field, aiming to control the game a lot more. The best thing is that we managed to improve the standard of players while keeping the wage budget much the same as last year.

    79a210a8bcf46b20dff409c0d8f1a4d0.png

    • Goalkeepers

    Carlos.pngTom.png

    Tom goes from being the first choice keeper to our back up, as Carlos is straight up better in most of the most important skills for a keeper; better at shot stopping, distribution, in the air. He also comes with something incredibly rare at this level: experience at top level having played 2 games for America Mineiro at the top level of state football of Minas Gerais and then 4 more in the Pernambuco top league.  I just wish his first touch and acceleration were higher, so I could fully use him as a sweeper keeper.

    • Right Backs

    Kaka.pngAlexsander.png

    Kaká comes after one year at Inter de Limoeira on loan from Ponte Preta. In his previous club he only played 3 games entering as a sub - so it'll be his first season as a proper first team player. He has almost all I ask from a right back at this level: fast, good at tacking and at crossing; Alexsander is the back up option, on loan from ABC. Physically stronger and faster, he is a much more defensive option, as he does not have any skills in creating football, only in destructive football, a proper defensive player.

    • Left Backs

    Lucas-Emanuel.pngDiogo-Freitas.png

     

    At left back, no changes from last year - the one difference is that Emanuel ended the season in a bit of a slump in form, it's likely Freitas will be first choice at the beginning of the season.

    • Central Defenders

    Gustavo-Martins.pngWesley.pngDede.pngLima.png

    As you can probably see, our defense has remained mostly the same as last year - we kept 3 DCs from last year, and complemented it with Gustavo Martins, on loan from Grêmio, who just happened to now be our best defender. While last year on average defense was likely to be my strongest area, this year, because I kept the same players and reinforced elsewhere, it's likely the weakest. It should still be good enough to see us through.

    • Defensive Midfielders

    cAIO.pngAdeilson.png

    Caio signs for us after being released on a free by Shabab Al-Ahli Dubai Football Club, though based on the amount of games played, he was an emergency backup/future prospect. Well, he'll be much more than that for us, as for this level he is great at both being the first defensive player, and also the first defensive player capable of passing and creating; not that Grêmio alumni Adeilson isn't a good player either - he's just as good as a Ball Winning Midfielder; he just nowhere near as good at seeing where to pass the ball once he gets it.

    • Central Midfielders

    Enzo-Perroni.pngHyan.pngPaulo-Afonso.pngTavares.png

    Unlike our defense, we have a almost completely new midfield. Enzo Perroni was released on a free by São Paulo, and has great stats for a more attacking midfield option, that finishing for when he arrives late in the box... Hyan comes from the youth team of Santos, likely to be first option for the more defensive side of my midfield setup. Paulo Afonso is our boy! The first youth player that is any good and actually wanted a youth contract we could afford, will see some minutes of football this season for sure, even if he's only 17. Last but not least, Leo who was already here and is ou back up for MC and DM.

    • Left Wingers

    Wesley-Moreira.pngAbner.pngDairo.png

    Wesley and Abner  are very good contenders for this position - the first one here permanently and the second on loan from Ponte Preta. Abner is a bit faster and better at crossing, Wesley at cutting inside. Dairo, also from Ponte Preta, is our back up option.

    • Right Wingers

    Henrique.pngHigor.png

    Pedro Henrique is by now a club icon, as well as being the team's captain, and the numbers speak for themselves: 40 appearances, 25 goals, 21 assists, av. rating of 7.62. If he's fit, he's in the squad, full stop. When he isn't fit or he ends up playing as a striker, Higor steps in. Loaned in from Corinthians, he's also very good for this level.

    • Strikers

    Leonardo.pngArlonso.pngLuan.pngSantos.png

    Leonardo should be our first choice here; good finishing and composure, great bravery, and attempts overhead kicks? Just that last one in Brazil puts you ahead of all the others! Arlonso keeps his back up status from last year, and Luan Silva, on loan from America de Natal, despite being at the end of his career can still provide good competition, and Santos is a speedy back up position that can play in the front or either wing.

     

    (each image links to the players stats, by the way)
     

  6. Brazilian_Football_Confederation_logo.sv

     

    2024 Final Results

    • National Leagues:

    Brasileirão: Flamengo, 8th win, previous win in 2020. Relegated: Botafogo, Cuiabá, Ponte Preta, Corinthians

    Serie B: Ituano, 1st win. Promoted: Corinthians, Sampaio Correa, Avaí, Operário Ferroviário Relegated: Juventude, Sport, ABC, Mirassol

    Serie C: Brusque, 1st win. Promoted: Chapecoense, Paysandu, Altos Relegated: Manaus, Tuna Luso, São José, São Raimundo

    Serie D: Azuriz, 1st win. Promoted: Joinville, America de Natal, Jacuipense

    Copa do Brasil:  Palmeiras

    Copa do Nordeste: Ceará

    Copa Verde: Cuiabá

    Supercopa do Brasil: Goiás

    • State Leagues:

    Acre: Humaitá, 3rd win overall, second in a row. Vasco and Humaitá qualify for Serie D.

    Alagoas: CSA, 42nd win, previous win in 2022. ASA and Murici qualify for Serie D.

    Amapá: Trem, 8th win, second in a row. Trem qualify for Serie D.

    Amazonas: Manaus, 7th win, fourth in a row. Nacional (AM) and Amazonas qualify for Serie D.

    Bahia: Bahia, 51th win, previous win in 2022. Vitória de Conquista, Bahia de Feira and Atlético de Alagoinhas qualify for Serie D.

    Brasilia: Gama, 14th win, previous win in 2020. Gama and Capital qualify for Serie D.

    Ceará: Ceará, 46th win, previous win in 2018. Ferroviário (CE)Horizonte and Guarany de Sobral qualify for Serie D.

    Espírito Santo: Real Noroeste, 4th win, fourth in a row. Real Noroeste and Desportiva qualify for Serie D.

    Goiás: Goiás, 30th win, previous one in 2022. TrindadeGrêmio Anápolis and Anapolina qualify for Serie D.

    Maranhão: Sampaio Corrêa, 38th win, fifth in a row. Juventude Samas and Moto Club qualify for Serie D.

    Mato Grosso do Sul: Costa Rica, 4th win, fourth in a row. Operário (MS) qualify for Serie D.

    Mato Grosso: Cuiabá, 13th win, fourth in a row. Araguaia and Operário Várzea-Grandense qualify for Serie D.

    Minas Gerais:  Atlético Mineiro, 47th win, previous one in 2021. Villa Nova, Atlético Patrocinense and Ipatinga qualify for Serie D.

    Pará: Remo, 48th win, previous win in 2022. Castanhal and Parauapebas qualify for Serie D.

    Paraíba: Campinense, 25th win, fourth one in a row. Campinense and São Paulo Crystal qualify for Serie D.

    Paraná: Athlético Paranaense, 27th win, previous win in 2020. Paraná, Cascavel and Cianorte qualify for Serie D.

    Pernambuco: Sport, 44th win, second in a row. Salgueiro and Flamengo de Arcoverde qualify for Serie D.

    Piauí: Altos, 5th win, second in a row. Fluminense (PI) and 4 de Julho qualify for Serie D.

    Rio Grande do Norte: ABC, 58th win, previous one in 2022 Potiguar and Globo qualify for Serie D.

    Rio Grande do Sul: Grêmio, 41st win, previous one in 2021. Novo HamburgoAimoré and São Luiz qualify for Serie D.

    Rio de Janeiro: Flamengo, 40th win, sixth in a row. Madureira, Nova Iguaçu and Portuguesa (RJ) qualify for Serie D.

    Rondonia: Porto Velho, 4th win, previous one in 2022. Porto Velho qualify for Serie D.

    Roraíma: São Raimundo, 13th win, previous one in 2021. Nautico and São Raimundo qualify for Serie D.

    Santa Catarina: Chapecoense, 8th win, previous one in 2020. Hercilio LuzConcórdia and Marcílio Dias qualify for Serie D.

    São Paulo: Palmeiras, 25th win, second in a row. AudaxÁgua Santa, Ferroviária and São Bernardo qualify for Serie D.

    Sergipe: Sergipe, 38th win, second in a row. Lagarto and Itabaiana qualify for Serie D.

    Tocantins: Palmas, 9th win, previous one in 2020. Palmas qualify for Serie D.

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    This year's hero is, obviously, Marcos. 22 goals from 14 games? 1 goal every 57 minutes? Average rating of 7.87? I mean, I don't think I need to say anything else, this is close to the perfect season, followed by eternal top player and now club icon Pedro Henrique. Tom also had a great season in goal. What I don't believe will happen is that many of this squad will still be here in a couple of months: After we won promotion and next year's wage budget was announced we finally managed to renew with Pedro Henrique for one more year; I am still amazed he's still with us. Every year the little green "Wnt" box is next to his name, but then no one actually bids; he spends half the year asking for wages I cannot afford to pay until next years wage budget comes up, and then we can barely negotiate a new one. New contracts were also offered to Dedé, Arlonso, Diogo Freitas, Wesley, Lucas Emanuel, Gilherme LimaLeo Tavares and Tom. Sapata refuses to sign a new contract, and the rest are likely to be let go, as what they are asking for to renew, even if they are values we can afford, are values I don't want to pay when compared to how they are as players, or are simply players who did not convince me. Lastly, we are trying to renew Marcos' loan, but Volta Redonda are saying they want to wait til closer to the actual end of the loan period at the end of the season to decide on it. Fingers crossed!

    The next question: is next year, in Carioca's Serie B1, the year we actually hit the wall in terms of difficulty? Considering that the two teams that went up from Serie C the first season, both went up from Serie B2 last year, and in Serie B1 this year one managed to get promoted again, and the other managed to end up not getting relegated, I don't think so. I think it's likely that will only happen when we reach serie A2.

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    a34f2b12f8686caae92ffd7eae48dcd7.png

    Second time at the Maracanã, now in two legs, and second time we lift up the trophy at the end! The first game was a nerve wrecking affair; We scored early, a tap in from our midfielder from a low cross, after he arrived unmarked in the area. And thank god it happened, as we spent over half of the game playing to keep the narrow advantage after being reduced to 10 men, bringing the lines down, and turning the midfield int a much deeper one with two DMs. It worked, because while we stopped creating many offensive chances, we closed them down almost completely, and they were unable to create clear scoring chances, and we took the advantage with us for the second leg... where we had a different problem. Between injuries, the red card, and accumulation of yellows, we had 6 players unavailable to play the game, including EVERY. SINGLE. ONE. OF. OUR. WINGERS. We ended up lining up in a very narrow 4-1-2-2-1, with MCs, and AMCs; I didn't have to worry so much though, cause we had Marcos, who was a goalscoring machine this season, like I haven't seen yet in this save. This second game was a much more open affair, and we're going up again!

     

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    Campos taught us a lesson in football in the first game - we had 1 shot on goal the whole game, and scored from that single shot - which was the first shot of the whole game. Other than Kim, our winger that assisted the goal, every single one of my players ended on 6.4 or lower. Truly a game to forget. It also meant that I had to approach the second game completely differently, we had to win, so I decided to put on the pressure from the start - I chose my fastest players, moved my lines forwards, most pressure, and attacking from the get go. And the game was so different from the first one - this time it was Campos that struggled with creating chances, ending the game with 0.38 xG, against my 1.56 xG. We scored in the first half, and I kept it up because I knew I needed one extra goal to go through, but no matter how many times we tried, the second goal just wouldn't appear. I was actually waiting for my changes into what would essentially have become a 4-2-1-3 with 1 AM and 3 Strikers when the second goal went in, and suddenly I swapped into a much more defensive formation to close down the game - and now we're once again promoted and have a chance at more silverware!

  10. 2000228937.png19339799.png

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    I was right in my assumption that the second half of the season would be a lot easier. We started with the hardest game, against Campos that were in second at the time. They got more shots on goal, but we got better opportunities, our attack was just on an off day, and in the end I think a draw is a good reflection of the game.Then we turned our steam-roller on and score 12 goals in 4 games, when the games against the lower half teams arrived. Marcos is on fire, and the fans want us to permanently sign him - so do I, but unless Volta Redonda release him, we just can't. Keeping an eye though, and I'll definitely try to get him on loan again next year. As expected, this qualify us to the Playoffs, where we'll once again play against Campos.

    63e86bea5fc7950763174a9ee47142ce.png

     

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    Yeah, we're clearly not the favourites, and the season has been quite the rollercoaster - when we win we dominate the game (even in the 3-2 win against Serra Macaense, where our goalkeeper had a horrible performance), but on the games we drew or lost, the results were fair too, the league feels a lot more level than the previous one. I dare to say that we have a chance to qualify for the playoffs because on the second half of the season we only play against one team currently above us in the league at the moment.

    In other news, the club's finances have finally come to start biting us - after two seasons where we manage to stay roughly afloat, we are currently in the red, and over budget since the board decided to cut some of our wage budget midseason. If we don't keep climbing up and/or the board is able to get a loan (or we're extremely lucky and we spawn the new Pelé), this might bring in some problems; while attendances are in the one and 200s we won't go far when it comes to making money...

     

     

  12. 2000228937.png19339799.png

     

    New year, new division, new team. The first one is self explanatory, so let's go through the other two.

    acc8d1eb6ccc67e82f21b4f68d989d32.png

     

    I know I haven't talked about team building - that's mostly because of the level that I am playing in; at this low a level, I'm not looking for any particular set of skills throughout the whole team, I don't have any philosophy in mind beyond playing towards players limitations at this level, and most of my decisions are base on 1) are the most important skills for their job any decent for this level (and at this level if they're good at a majority of those skills are good, that's likely to be good enough), and 2) are they asking for wages I am willing to pay - loans, specially from our parent club are great, even if it's just for backup players, simply because while the season is only 12 games, it is also set in just 2 months, so the schedule will be packed tight. That being said, this time I'll take a bit more of time to present our team for this season. Sorry Ben, gonna steal how you present your squad a bit.

    • Goalkeepers

    Marcello.pngTom.png

    This is an example that at lower levels, you can't trust the star ratings: Tom, the older player, has had a career that would suggest much better stats (14 games over 3 seasons for Portuguesa, from 2013 to 2015, when the team was a second and third tier team; 22 games for Real Massamá in Portugal's second tier in 2017/18, and spending the last two years as the main keeper of a Maltese second division team), but he's still the better choice, so long as you don't play in such a way where you need your keeper to be more of a fast sweeper keeper. Still, Marcello is a really good backup, on very low wages, and while not as good on pure goalkeeping stats, he is braver and faster than Tom.

    • Left Backs

    Lucas-Emanuel.pngDiogo-Freitas.png

    Our first option here should be Lucas Emanuel. Good Tackling and First Touch, decent Crossing and Passing, very good Decisions, and other than Antecipation, all needed values are at least acceptable - plus the trait of trying long range passes actually fits our lower league hoof it forwards style of play. That's not to say that Diogo Freitas, isn't good either, and this is a position where I'll be likely to rotate quite a bit - other than Determination, he actually has better mentals than Emanuel.

    • Right Backs

    Laureano.pngTavares.png

    As you can see by looking at Laureano, and comparing it with our left-back options, you can immediately see which of our fullbacks has more of a defensive function - a player with 15 tackling at this low a level, I'll always say yes to, but he still has half decent values for the rest of the relevant stats. He comes on loan from Genus, one of the best teams from the small state of Roraíma, always a candidate to win their State League and a regular presence in Série D. I've added Tavares here, as he's my only back up DR option, but he can also play as a midfielder, so he's more of a jack of all trades back up option here.

    • Central Defenders

    Wesley.pngDede.pngLima.png

    While I wish I had one more player at Centerback, I have 3 players I believe are at similar levels and will rotate throughout the season. Wesley is not as good as the others at heading, but compensates by being the faster option, with Lima and Dedé  being better static options, so whenever possible I'll try to couple the fast one with one of the others.

    • Defensive Midfielders

    Samuel.pngClerio.png

    Here Samuel is the clear first choice. Yeah, I'd love for him to be stronger and braver, but at this level, until a better option comes up, I won't say no to a player with both Tacklling, Marking and Passing all above 10. Clério and Tavares from the left back list are back ups, Clério still being on the team cause I can keep him on a youth contract, paying him peanuts while being emergency option.

    • Central Midfielders

    Gilmar.pngGreg-rio.pngSapata.png

    Like in defense, the idea is to rotate the two central midfield positions between these 3 players, and as emergency, use one of the defensive midfielders here too. Sapata is the standout here, decent at everything we'd need a midfielder to be, though Gregório, on loan from Volta Redonda, and Gilmar are more than capable of going up against any team at this level. I am not mentioning Tiago, cause the poor sod broke his leg and is out for 7 to 10 months.

    • Left Wingers

    Adilso.pngEriv-lton.pngKim.png

    Kim is our speedy technique and flair merchant - and despite what the stats look, he's been delivering for us, with av. ratings of 7.29 and then 7.46 in previous years. Then to back him up we have Erivélton and Adilso on loan, from Volta Redonda and Sampaio Correa respectively, teams from the national leagues.  They also have the speed, and I'm banking on that to be enough to beat the defenders enough times that one time they get something right.

    • Right Wingers

    Henrique.png

    Pedro Henrique is our king. He has pro level speed, and very good stats for this level - there's been interest from Serie C and D teams, but no one bit, and I am thankful. It is likely this will be his last season with us, as if he keeps asking for more money we won't be able to keep him anymore. His back up would have been Tiago, the same one mentioned before who broke his leg.

    • Strikers

    Marcos.pngArlonso.pngGilvan.png

    Marcos had to come back after giving us the title last year. Initially Volta Redonda did not want to send him back to us, but close to the end of the transfer season they relented. Arlonso is a decent second option. and Gilvan is a last option low wage option.

    3cbd1823ad9eb3888b70e23445c3a693.png

    Somehow we are considered 1-2 favourites to win? I somehow doubt it, but considering that the two teams that went up two seasons ago, got back to back promotions last year, maybe?

     

  13. 2 hours ago, LazgoNNO2000 said:

    hey dude anyways is this non league to legend challenge

    I pretend to go up the leagues - if I move clubs or not in the way, it'll depend on how the save goes. The idea is to play as a realistic managerial career, just starting from as low as possible in Brazil.

  14. Brazilian_Football_Confederation_logo.sv

     

    2022 Final Results

    • National Leagues:

    Brasileirão: Palmeiras, 12th win, second in a row. Relegated: Grêmio Novorizontino, Fortaleza, Bahia, Sport

    Serie B: Corinthians, 2nd win, previous win in 2008. Promoted: Corinthians, Ponte Preta, Cruzeiro, América Mineiro. Relegated: Paysandu, Chapecoense, Brusque, CRB

    Serie C: Botafogo (SP). 1st win. Promoted: Sampaio Corrêa, Tombense, Botafogo (SP), Confiança. Relegated: Figueirense, Portuguesa (RJ), Ypiranga, Brasil de Pelotas

    Serie D: Botafogo (PB), 2nd win, previous win in 2015. Promoted: Botafogo (PB)Tuna Luso, Costa Rica and Atlético Cearense

    Copa do Brasil:  Goiás (first win)

    Copa do Nordeste: Bahia

    Copa Verde: Goiás

    Supercopa do Brasil: Palmeiras

    • State Leagues:

    Acre: Humaitá, 2nd win overall, previous win in 2021. Vasco and Humaitá qualify for Serie D.

    Alagoas: CRB, 32nd win, previous win in 2020. Moruripe and CSE qualify for Serie D.

    Amapá: Trem, 7th win, previous win in 2021. Trem qualify for Serie D.

    Amazonas: Manaus, 6th win,third in a row. Nacional (AM) and Fast Clube qualify for Serie D.

    Bahia: Vitória, 30th win, previous win in 2017. Juazeirense,  Jacuipense and Atlético de Alagoinhas qualify for Serie D.

    Brasilia: Brasiliense, 12th win, third in a row. Brasiliense and Gama qualify for Serie D.

    Ceará: Fortaleza, 46th win, fifth in a row. Ferroviário (CE)Guarani de Juazeiro and Guarany de Sobral qualify for Serie D.

    Espírito Santo: Real Noroeste, 3rd win, trhird in a row. Real Noroeste and Desportiva qualify for Serie D.

    Goiás: Atlético Goianiense, 16th win, previous one in 2020. AparecidaGoiânia and Anápolis qualify for Serie D.

    Maranhão: Sampaio Corrêa, 37th win, fourth in a row. Chapadinha and São José (MA) qualify for Serie D.

    Mato Grosso do Sul: Costa Rica, 3rd win, third in a row. Novo qualify for Serie D.

    Mato Grosso: Cuiabá, 12th win, third in a row. Luverdense and Operário Várzea-Grandense qualify for Serie D.

    Minas Gerais:  Cruzeiro, 40th win, previous one in 2019. Villa NovaAtlético Patrocinense and Democrata de Governador Valadares qualify for Serie D.

    Pará: Paysandu, 50th win, previous win in 2021. Castanhal and Itupiranga qualify for Serie D.

    Paraíba: Campinense, 24th win, third one in a row. Campinense and São Paulo Crystal qualify for Serie D.

    Paraná: Londrina, 7th win, third in a row. Azuriz, Cascavel and Cianorte qualify for Serie D.

    Pernambuco: Sport, 43rd win, previous one in 2019. Santa Cruz and Maguary qualify for Serie D.

    Piauí: Altos, 4th win, previous one in 2021. Fluminense (PI) and 4 de Julho qualify for Serie D.

    Rio Grande do Norte: América do Natal, 33rd win, previous one in 2019. América do Natal and Globo qualify for Serie D.

    Rio Grande do Sul: Juventude, second win, previous one in 1998. Novo HamburgoAimoré and Caxias qualify for Serie D.

    Rio de Janeiro: Flamengo, 39th win, fifth in a row. MadureiraNova Iguaçu and Macaé qualify for Serie D.

    Rondonia: Rondoniense, 2nd win, previous one in 2016. Rondoniense qualify for Serie D.

    Roraíma: Nautico, 4th win, second in a row. Nautico and São Raimundo qualify for Serie D.

    Santa Catarina: Avaí, 20th win, third one in a row. JoinvilleConcórdia and Marcílio Dias qualify for Serie D.

    São Paulo: Palmeiras, 24th win, previous win in 2020. PortuguesaÁgua Santa, Ferroviária and São Bernardo qualify for Serie D.

    Sergipe: Sergipe, 37th win, previous win in 2021. Lagarto and Itabaiana qualify for Serie D.

    Tocantins: Tocantinópolis, 6th win, third one in a row. Tocantinópolis qualify for Serie D.

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    Once again, Pedro Henrique, this year playing front up as a striker, instead of an inside forward from the right like he did last year, was the star of the team - finishing as the leagues highest scorer 17 goals out of 13 played games! His "Minor interest from clubs" line on his profile has been all season been filled with 1-3 different Serie C and D teams, but no offers so far; I have him under contract for one more year, as he just renewed, but I am under the belief it's the last one, the negotiations for this renewal were already very tough. Kim keeps defying the odds, and outperforming my team's evaluation of him, his speed and flair can sometimes wreck havoc from the wing - and that's literally all he know what to do, but hey, as long as his trick works! This time we also had much better performances from our defense: Guilherme LimaWesley and Dedé were a great pair at the back too. Once again, I expect a few of these not to be here next year just because of how much they'll ask for when it's time to renew contracts (as I can only offer 1 or 2 year contracts for most players). 

    I forgot to mention - this year's youth intake will supposedly be better, with As for Goalkeeper and Striker. Last year we ended up not signing any of the prospects, as the only ones with decent stats were asking for Full Time contracts for way too much money, and would not accept Youth Contracts, so off they went. Let's see if the same happens this year and if there's any player worth giving a Full Time contract straight away.

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    Final game of the season and the cup is on the line! The game decided that a neutral venue meant playing the final at Maracanã this season, and over 5.500 people showed up (out of 78000 capacity) to watch us play against Atlético Carioca.

    On our side, one big setback, as star player Pedro Henrique was out after getting 5 yellows, and one of my first choice midfielders, Sandro, has been out for the last month with a sprained ankle. In the absence of our star attacker, my decision to raid Volta Redonda for extra options paid off - 5 minutes into the game, our keeper chucked the ball as far forward as possible, Marcos, who I mentioned in the previous post- and was playing for the team for its first and only time!) won the high ball, and with only the keeper to beat managed to get the ball right in the corner of the goal. Just 10 minutes later Our right winger run to the goalline, passed back, the left back changed flank, and Kim found himself with space on the other side and shot for our second goal. With a 2 goal lead 16 minutes into the game, we could slow down, settle, and just play to secure this result, and we managed to keep the game under control - really, the rest of the game was very uneventful, other than our full back getting injured in the 56th minute. At the end of the 90 minutes, we took the trophy home!

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    Second time in the playoffs, and this time against a team that I believe we actually have a good chance against. I was banking on winning the game at home and then be able to ride that advantage in the away game. As you can see in those results, that's not what happened. At the home, once again, it was a very close game. They had more shots, but we had higher xG (though we, once again, missed a penalty - we have a horrible conversion rate on them) we spent most of the game in the lead, and when I was already expecting the game to end in our favour, when an acrobatic kick shattered our chances. The result was fair, but hurt, and left us having to win the second game.

    The second game had a different script from the previous two against Uni Souza this season though. We started the game at a higher tempo and mentality than usual, trying to nab an early goal. That didn't happen, but it made us be on top of the game, keeping pressure on them, and finally we scored, first late in the first half, then right at the beginning of the second. We slowed down a bit, and moved into a more cautious approach, defending the lead and looking for the counter., and managed to grab a third goal. They scored once, but it was too little, too late - so we're going to the final, and we're going up! Last hurdle before lifting the trophy? Atlético Carioca.

     

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    I did mention that we still had what now looked like our most difficult games to go, and i was not wrong. Both games were very close; in the first one we were unlucky they were the only ones to score in a game of equals, and the second one felt like FM making fun of me: we hit the woodwork, we missed a penalty, we had higher xG, more shots, more shots on goal - bu if you can't score, you risk losing the game. First and second place and it's higher seed on the playoffs were now pretty much out of reach, and even finishing 3rd would depend on other team's results, though 4th was almost secured. We did have easier games and should easily get 6 points out of them - and we did. Pedro Henrique was on fire scoring two hat tricks in a row, and is even attracting some minor interest from Série C and D teams.

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    We had a bit of help from Bela Vista who collapsed in their last 3 games, getting only 1 point from Atlético Carioca, Uni Souza and União Central, which cemented our 3rd place- Heliópolis was not threatening us as we had a positive record against them. So, second third place in a row, and second trip to the playoffs in a row too! Two games against Uni Souza were we must win are what separates us from promotion. To ensure we are as prepared as we can, we raided Volta Redonda for as many free loans as possible to pad out the team and have extra options, so joining Filipe, on a 1 month loan spell, came Marcos, William and Sérgio.

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    Now that's more like it! 4 wins in a row is in a league where we need to be in the top 4 at the end of 12 games is crucial, and now nothing but a total collapse means we should be going through to the playoffs. Versus Heliópolis the result does not paint a proper picture of the game: we had the game completely controlled throughout the game, and they ended up scoring from a keeper mistake and a needless penalty. Itaboraí was actually a much closer game than the previous one, despite of the result; and then we completed this third of the game with 2 4-2 results were we could have won by 2 or 3 more goals. The situation now before the end of the season is similar to last season though, as we still need to play 2nd and 3rd on the table in the last 4 games!

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