[FM10] Fabio Crouchello - Taking England to South Africa 2010

[crouchaldinho]

Euro 2024 Qualifiers, Group H - Norway 0 - 1 Spain

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My first proper test as manager in a game we cannot afford to lose. We come through it with flying colours, winning the game and therefore qualifying comfortably.

[crouchaldinho]

Euro 2024 Qualifiers, Group H Final Standings:

| Pos   | Inf   | Team           |       | Pld   | Won   | Drn   | Lst   | For   | Ag    | G.D.  | Pts   | 
| -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
[b]| 1st   | Q     | Spain          |       | 8     | 6     | 2     | 0     | 20    | 4     | +16   | 20    | [/b]
| -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
| 2nd   | Pl    | Norway         |       | 8     | 4     | 2     | 2     | 15    | 10    | +5    | 14    | 
| -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
| 3rd   |       | Czech Republic |       | 8     | 1     | 4     | 3     | 9     | 11    | -2    | 7     | 
| -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
| 4th   |       | Cyprus         |       | 8     | 1     | 3     | 4     | 6     | 17    | -11   | 6     | 
| -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
| 5th   |       | Latvia         |       | 8     | 1     | 3     | 4     | 6     | 14    | -8    | 6     | 
| -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 

[Andrew!]

Euro 2024 Qualifiers, Group H - Latvia 3 - 0 Spain

typo

[crouchaldinho]

We're going to England!

[crouchaldinho]

Euro 2024 Qualifiers, Group H - Latvia 3 - 0 Spain

typo

Good point! That result looks totally wrong!

Thanks.

[canvey!!]

Good work .

[crouchaldinho]

Here is the draw for Euro 2024 in England:

| Pos   | Inf   | Team     |       | Pld   | Won   | Drn   | Lst   | For   | Ag    | G.D.  | Pts   | 
| -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
| 1st   |       | Portugal |       | 0     | 0     | 0     | 0     | 0     | 0     | 0     | 0     | 
| -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
| 2nd   |       | Ukraine  |       | 0     | 0     | 0     | 0     | 0     | 0     | 0     | 0     | 
| -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
| 3rd   |       | Greece   |       | 0     | 0     | 0     | 0     | 0     | 0     | 0     | 0     | 
| -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
| 4th   |       | England  |       | 0     | 0     | 0     | 0     | 0     | 0     | 0     | 0     | 
| -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
|       |       |          |       |       |       |       |       |       |       |       |       | 
| -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 


| Pos   | Inf   | Team  |       | Pld   | Won   | Drn   | Lst   | For   | Ag    | G.D.  | Pts   | 
| ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
| 1st   |       | Russia|       | 0     | 0     | 0     | 0     | 0     | 0     | 0     | 0     | 
| ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
[b]| 2nd   |       | Spain |       | 0     | 0     | 0     | 0     | 0     | 0     | 0     | 0     | [/b]
| ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
| 3rd   |       | Norway|       | 0     | 0     | 0     | 0     | 0     | 0     | 0     | 0     | 
| ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
| 4th   |       | France|       | 0     | 0     | 0     | 0     | 0     | 0     | 0     | 0     | 
| ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
|       |       |       |       |       |       |       |       |       |       |       |       | 
| ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 


| Pos   | Inf   | Team     |       | Pld   | Won   | Drn   | Lst   | For   | Ag    | G.D.  | Pts   | 
| -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
| 1st   |       | Italy    |       | 0     | 0     | 0     | 0     | 0     | 0     | 0     | 0     | 
| -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
| 2nd   |       | Turkey   |       | 0     | 0     | 0     | 0     | 0     | 0     | 0     | 0     | 
| -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
| 3rd   |       | Germany  |       | 0     | 0     | 0     | 0     | 0     | 0     | 0     | 0     | 
| -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
| 4th   |       | Bulgaria |       | 0     | 0     | 0     | 0     | 0     | 0     | 0     | 0     | 
| -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
|       |       |          |       |       |       |       |       |       |       |       |       | 
| -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 


| Pos   | Inf   | Team     |       | Pld   | Won   | Drn   | Lst   | For   | Ag    | G.D.  | Pts   | 
| -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
| 1st   |       | Romania  |       | 0     | 0     | 0     | 0     | 0     | 0     | 0     | 0     | 
| -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
| 2nd   |       | Scotland |       | 0     | 0     | 0     | 0     | 0     | 0     | 0     | 0     | 
| -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
| 3rd   |       | Holland  |       | 0     | 0     | 0     | 0     | 0     | 0     | 0     | 0     | 
| -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
| 4th   |       | Belgium  |       | 0     | 0     | 0     | 0     | 0     | 0     | 0     | 0     | 
| -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
|       |       |          |       |       |       |       |       |       |       |       |       | 
| -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 

[crouchaldinho]

We have a tough looking group. We will meet Norway yet again and also play Russia but the big news is that we will meet France in the group stages.

[crouchaldinho]

International Friendly - Spain 2 - 1 Uruguay

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A good test for us before going to the Euros in England.

This was a tight result and not a great performance but we still won and it gave me the opportunity to look at one of two fringe players and youngsters.

[crouchaldinho]

I have the chance to try to win this trophy for the second time and it would be pretty special to win it in England, where my International management career began.

We'll need to get off to a strong start but I certainly think this is a strong enough squad to challenge for the trophy.

[crouchaldinho]

This is the squad I have decided to take to England for Euro 2024:

[crouchaldinho]

And this is my preferred line-up:

Manuel is a star at right-back and will play with a 'wingback' role.

In the midfield, Vargos is captain and will dictate the play in a 'deep-lying playmaker' role. Wide right is Ruiz Garcia, one of the stars of the team.

Up front, Real Madrid star Gabriel Ceballos will lead the line, supported by Juan Soto as an 'inside-forward' at AMC.

[crouchaldinho]

We have one of the youngest and most inexperienced sides at the Euros.

[crouchaldinho]

We kick off against Russia.

[canvey!!]

Come on crouchy! Don't blow it again!

[Thepathtoamen]

Yeah good luck luck Crouchy, rub the English FA's faces in it!

[crouchaldinho]

Come on crouchy! Don't blow it again!

Ouch, harsh but true.

[crouchaldinho]

Yeah good luck luck Crouchy, rub the English FA's faces in it!

I'll try my best!

[crouchaldinho]

Euro 2024 (England) Group B - Russia 2 - 3 Spain

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With Canvey's encouraging words echoing in my mind, I sent my team out to win this opening game, and win they did. Just about anyway.

This was an extremely entertaining game. End to end stuff.

When Russia took the lead early on, I really thought this was going to be another tournament to forget. Then we fought back to 2-1 and suddenly some optimism returned! This quickly dissipated when Russia equalised but, to my great delight, we ended up scoring the winner in the last ten minutes to take the result. A really massive win!

Other result: France 2 - 0 Norway

[crouchaldinho]

Euro 2024 (England) Group B - Spain 2 - 1 France

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I really can't stand France. I always lose against France. As England manager, they beat me in the World Cup final in 2010, the World Cup quarter-final in 2014 and at the group stages in Euro 2016.

Today, I get my revenge. Today Don Fabio's team comes out on top.

It's all rather close and edgy though. We score first, they equalise and then it looks as though it's going to go flat and end up as a draw.

Feeling more adventurous than normal, however, I encourage my team to attack in the last 10 minutes and I am rewarded by a late goal in the last minute of the match. We take the victory, beating France 2-1. A wonderful result, which pretty much guarantees us a place in the quarter-finals.

Other result in Group B: Norway 0 - 1 Russia

[crouchaldinho]

Euro 2024 (England) Group B - Spain 4 - 0 Norway

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We give Norway an absolute thrashing to confirm our place as group winners.

More interesting than this though is that Russia beat France to send them out of the competition. France are going home on the next ferry!

Other result in Group B: Russia 3 - 1 France

[crouchaldinho]

It looks as though we will be playing Greece in the quarter-final.

The final tables coming up shortly.

[crouchaldinho]

Euro 2024 England - Final Group Standings:

| Pos   | Inf   | Team     |       | Pld   | Won   | Drn   | Lst   | For   | Ag    | G.D.  | Pts   | 
| -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
| 1st   | Q     | Ukraine  |       | 3     | 1     | 2     | 0     | 2     | 1     | +1    | 5     | 
| -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
| 2nd   | Q     | Greece   |       | 3     | 1     | 1     | 1     | 4     | 2     | +2    | 4     | 
| -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
| 3rd   |       | Portugal |       | 3     | 0     | 3     | 0     | 1     | 1     | 0     | 3     | 
| -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
| 4th   |       | England  |       | 3     | 0     | 2     | 1     | 1     | 4     | -3    | 2     | 
| -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
|       |       |          |       |       |       |       |       |       |       |       |       | 
| -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 


| Pos   | Inf   | Team  |       | Pld   | Won   | Drn   | Lst   | For   | Ag    | G.D.  | Pts   | 
| ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
[b]| 1st   | Q     | Spain |       | 3     | 3     | 0     | 0     | 9     | 3     | +6    | 9     | [/b]
| ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
| 2nd   | Q     | Russia|       | 3     | 2     | 0     | 1     | 6     | 4     | +2    | 6     | 
| ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
| 3rd   |       | France|       | 3     | 1     | 0     | 2     | 4     | 5     | -1    | 3     | 
| ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
| 4th   |       | Norway|       | 3     | 0     | 0     | 3     | 0     | 7     | -7    | 0     | 
| ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
|       |       |       |       |       |       |       |       |       |       |       |       | 
| ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 


| Pos   | Inf   | Team     |       | Pld   | Won   | Drn   | Lst   | For   | Ag    | G.D.  | Pts   | 
| -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
| 1st   | Q     | Turkey   |       | 3     | 2     | 1     | 0     | 7     | 5     | +2    | 7     | 
| -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
| 2nd   | Q     | Germany  |       | 3     | 1     | 2     | 0     | 6     | 5     | +1    | 5     | 
| -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
| 3rd   |       | Bulgaria |       | 3     | 1     | 1     | 1     | 5     | 5     | 0     | 4     | 
| -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
| 4th   |       | Italy    |       | 3     | 0     | 0     | 3     | 4     | 7     | -3    | 0     | 
| -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
|       |       |          |       |       |       |       |       |       |       |       |       | 
| -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 


| Pos   | Inf   | Team     |       | Pld   | Won   | Drn   | Lst   | For   | Ag    | G.D.  | Pts   | 
| -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
| 1st   | Q     | Holland  |       | 3     | 2     | 1     | 0     | 5     | 0     | +5    | 7     | 
| -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
| 2nd   | Q     | Scotland |       | 3     | 1     | 1     | 1     | 3     | 5     | -2    | 4     | 
| -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
| 3rd   |       | Belgium  |       | 3     | 1     | 1     | 1     | 2     | 2     | 0     | 4     | 
| -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
| 4th   |       | Romania  |       | 3     | 0     | 1     | 2     | 3     | 6     | -3    | 1     | 
| -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 

Some major shocks then. The biggest one, surely, is that Paul Ince has failed to qualify at England's own tournament. :o That wouldn't have happened under Fabio Crouchello. The ultimate humiliation.

Portugal, France and Italy have all gone home so the tournament has blown wide open!

[hrbfcrule]

Woah a shock Group Stage there Surely it should be easy to win now

Looks like England need you Crouchy

[solstar]

Lets see if the England job comes up and if so if your application is acknowledged. I say this because so far all your successors have failed!!

Well done so far with Spain, lets see you get the trophy.

[crouchaldinho]

Easy to win. Pffft. It's Fabio Crouchello managing the team. Don't forget!

[crouchaldinho]

Euro 2024 (England) Quarter-finals - Spain 2 - 1 Greece

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Much, much tighter than I had hoped it would be. We made life difficult for ourselves when 18-year-old Antoni Garcia Sanchez managed to get himself sent off in the second-half.

In the end, we held on and we were worthy of the victory. I have my worries about this side though as they can wilt under the pressure somewhat. They seem very fragile mentally and it just needs a little something to go against them for the nerves to start showing. A very talented team but not very mentally strong, I don't think, which worries me a little as we hit the business end of the competition.

[crouchaldinho]

Euro 2024 (England) Quarter-final Results:

[crouchaldinho]

Straight after this, I was offered the Italy job.

If it wasn't coming right in the middle of the tournament, I would have accepted! I really want the chance to manage Italy but I had to turn it down at this time.

[crouchaldinho]

We've got Turkey in the semi-final.

[crouchaldinho]

Euro 2024 (England) Semi-final - Spain 0 - 2 Turkey

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Oh the shame. :o

Turkey started with a 4-2-4 formation, much to my surprise, and we failed miserably to exploit the weaknesses in this tactic. They were simply the better side.

When the goal went in, just before half-time, I had a really bad feeling about our ability to recover this. My half-time team-talk didn't help either. I didn't get the team fired up and some of them seemed to be feeling the pressure.

An utter disaster. Such a winnable tournament as well but we go home at the semi-final stage thinking about what could have been.

[crouchaldinho]

Euro 2024 (England) Semi-final Results:

I'm shocked to see Holland go home at this stage too. I thought that we would meet them in the final, alas.

[crouchaldinho]

Euro 2024 (England) Final Result:

[crouchaldinho]

I've decided to stay on with Spain for the next World Cup. Hopefully I can learn from my mistakes at the Euros and finally get my hands on that trophy.

Spain represents my best chance of winning it. This squad, although fragile and not mentally strong, is supremely talented. It was a young and inexperienced squad for this Euro tournament but in two years time it will have that little bit more experience and should be ready for the biggest test of all.

I did apply for the England job but I was turned down in favour of Wayne Rooney.

[crouchaldinho]

Fabio Crouchello's England Record (2009 - 2017):

P 	W 	D 	L 	F	A	Win % 		Competitions
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
95	64	20	11	217	67	67%		World Cup 2010 Runners-up
							Euro 2012 Runners-up
							World Cup 2014 Quarter-finalists
							[b]Euro 2016 Winners[/b]
							Confederations Cup 2017 Group Stages 

Fabio Crouchello's Uruguay Record (2018 - 2019):

P 	W 	D 	L 	F	A	Win % 		Competitions
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
16	10	4	2	49	17	62.5%		Copa America 2019 Quarter-finalists 

Fabio Crouchello's Brazil Record (September 2019 - November 2019 - two months!):

P 	W 	D 	L 	F	A	Win % 		Competitions
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
3	2	1	0	4	0	66.67%		None

Fabio Crouchello's Ivory Coast Record (March 2020 - August 2021):

P 	W 	D 	L 	F	A	Win % 		Competitions
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
12	9	0	3	26	6	75%		None

Fabio Crouchello's Portugal Record (August 2021 - July 2022):

P 	W 	D 	L 	F	A	Win % 		Competitions
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
12	8	3	1	24	6	66.67%		World Cup 2022 Second Round

Fabio Crouchello's Spain Record July 2022 - Present):

P 	W 	D 	L 	F	A	Win % 		Competitions
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
18	12	4	2	35	14	66.67%		Euro 2024 Semi-finalists

[crouchaldinho]

The next World Cup is in 2026 and it is being held in Uruguay.

This is the group I have been drawn in for the qualifiers:

| Pos   | Inf   | Team       |       | Pld   | Won   | Drn   | Lst   | For   | Ag    | G.D.  | Pts   | 
| ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
| 1st   |       | Slovenia   |       | 0     | 0     | 0     | 0     | 0     | 0     | 0     | 0     | 
| ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
| 2nd   |       | Greece     |       | 0     | 0     | 0     | 0     | 0     | 0     | 0     | 0     | 
| ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
| 3rd   |       | Moldova    |       | 0     | 0     | 0     | 0     | 0     | 0     | 0     | 0     | 
| ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
| 4th   |       | Luxembourg |       | 0     | 0     | 0     | 0     | 0     | 0     | 0     | 0     | 
| ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
[b]| 5th   |       | Spain      |       | 0     | 0     | 0     | 0     | 0     | 0     | 0     | 0     | [/b]
| ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
| 6th   |       | Austria    |       | 0     | 0     | 0     | 0     | 0     | 0     | 0     | 0     | 
| ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 

[crouchaldinho]

International Friendly - Scotland 1 - 1 Spain

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A really scrappy friendly. We didn't cover ourselves in glory.

The worst thing was that we lost our captain, Julio Vargas, to injury. Turns out that he has a broken leg and will be out for six months.

This was a warm-up for World Cup qualifying which kicks off shortly. We face Moldova at home for our first game, followed by a trip to Luxembourg for our second match. Should be a doddle to be honest.

[hrbfcrule]

Easy to win. Pffft. It's Fabio Crouchello managing the team. Don't forget!

Ah yer sorry forgot about that

[crouchaldinho]

Well, the first game against Moldova. A doddle, I said, didn't I? Well, let's just say that I nearly retired Fabio Crouchello and gave up on the World Cup dream entirely.

Details of the match coming next!

[crouchaldinho]

World Cup 2026 European Qualifying, Group 6 - Spain 4 - 3 Moldova

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Awful. Just awful.

For the vast majority of this game, I imagined that I was going to have to come on here and tell you all that Fabio Crouchello had managed to get Spain to lose at home to Moldova! No offence to Moldova but they are ranked 102nd in the world. They are the 42nd best team in Europe, or to put it another way, the 12th worst team in Europe!

We were appalling for the vast majority of this game. We found ourselves behind not just once but twice, at one point down by two goals! Somehow we pulled off the comeback and I live on in my job to tell the tale but it was utterly dreadful and certainly not a doddle as I felt it would be beforehand. So, anyway, three goals in the last quarter of an hour saved my blushes. Well, sort of. :o

[crouchaldinho]

This was Crouchello's reaction in the press:

[Nobby_McDonald]

4-3 against Moldavia (according to Phil Liggett).

[crouchaldinho]

World Cup 2026 European Qualifying, Group 6 - Luxembourg 0 - 3 Spain

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A nice solid win in this match against Luxembourg. Next up we face Austria in our last match of 2024.

[crouchaldinho]

World Cup 2026 European Qualifying, Group 6 - Austria 1 - 0 Spain

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A really rubbish performance. We were embarrassed and humiliated here against Austria.

My job status is insecure and I'm in trouble again. Maybe I'm just a crap manager. That World Cup trophy has never looked so far away.

[crouchaldinho]

We've qualified for the Confederations Cup 2025. This is because we were runners-up in the last world cup and because one of the other countries has technically qualified twice, so there was a space for us to be invited into the competition as World Cup runners-up.

[crouchaldinho]

So let's see if the curse of the Confederations Cup comes again.

[crouchaldinho]

End of 2024 World Cup 2026 European Qualifying, Group 6 Standings:

| Pos   | Inf   | Team       |       | Pld   | Won   | Drn   | Lst   | For   | Ag    | G.D.  | Pts   | 
| ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
| 1st   |       | Austria    |       | 3     | 3     | 0     | 0     | 7     | 1     | +6    | 9     | 
| ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
| 2nd   |       | Slovenia   |       | 3     | 2     | 0     | 1     | 8     | 2     | +6    | 6     | 
| ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
[b]| 3rd   |       | Spain      |       | 3     | 2     | 0     | 1     | 7     | 4     | +3    | 6     | [/b]
| ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
| 4th   |       | Greece     |       | 3     | 2     | 0     | 1     | 4     | 1     | +3    | 6     | 
| ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
| 5th   |       | Moldova    |       | 3     | 0     | 0     | 3     | 4     | 11    | -7    | 0     | 
| ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
| 6th   |       | Luxembourg |       | 3     | 0     | 0     | 3     | 1     | 12    | -11   | 0     | 
| ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 

[crouchaldinho]

World Cup 2026 European Qualifying, Group 6 - Spain 2 - 0 Slovenia

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I made five or six changes to the side that lost away to Austria in the last game of 2024.

We returned to winning ways with this solid display. After this game, we remain level on points with Greece and three points behind Austria who are top of the group.

[crouchaldinho]

World Cup 2026 European Qualifying, Group 6 - Greece 0 - 1 Spain

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It's a strong performance and a great win here in Greece.

I feel as though we are suddenly getting back on track.

[crouchaldinho]

World Cup 2026 European Qualifying, Group 6 - Moldova 0 - 2 Spain

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Solid but not spectacular, which sort of sums us up as a team at the moment. At least this was far more comfortable than the home fixture against Moldova.