[FM11] Barcelona’ing the way through the lower leagues – is it even possible?

[noikeee]

It's January. He's already broken the league goals record too.

Mid-season update later tonight hopefully.

[kingjericho]

You have to get that average rating over 8!

[noikeee]

Roma 2029/2030 - mid-season update

Transfers

Very little happened here. I bought young prospect Davide Fioretti from Parma for 725K€. 18 year-old striker Filippo Farabegoli left for Newcastle for 210K€ + 50% from next sale profit.

League

Not bad? If we keep this points/games ratio we're on course for the highest points total ever in the Serie A history. Trouble is, we might be amazingly good but Napoli are, too. They're only 2 points behind and beat us badly in December. To make a point on how good that team is, have a look at their trio of brazilian forwards: André, Marcelo, and the almighty current holder of the Ballon D'Or, João.

Nevertheless, while we may have been on a worryingly downwards trend lately in terms of goals, we're still comfortably getting a lot of points. I just don't want things to go down to the last 2 fixtures because that's Napoli at home then Fiorentina away - our closest two opponents.

Cups

We were quite lucky in a few of our Champions League matches (check out our utterly undeserved win in Manchester), but with 6 wins out of 6 games I can't complain. The most fun match was the very last one, I had already the group win guaranteed, so I could afford fielding a second string lineup against Man City. So our bench players decided to score 4 in the first 20 minutes. But I quite liked hammering Wolfsburg and Sporting, too. Next up are Zenit, a nice draw, we should be able to beat them in theory.

In the Italian Cup, two scrappy wins with late goals over poor opponents at home (Sassuolo are in the Serie B) put us in the semis. We're facing Fiorentina there - not the easiest of ties as they are on a high.

Players

You know who I'm talking about. 30 goals, 7 assists, 10 man of the match awards, in 26 games. That's fairly good, but apparently not good enough to even make it into the FIFA Ballon D'Or shortlist - an award won by his rival in the Serie A scoring board, Napoli's João, who is scoring less. Wtf?

As for the folks in our squad who are actually human, Kévin Duval is having another strong season with 8 goals and 14 assists so far; Mike Kunert has been a rock in defence as usual; flairy winger Billel Zarabi has actually bothered to put some of his talent into use this season; and keeper Alexandr Kuznetsov has just been great, 17 clean sheets in 30 games is amazing considering we've been playing all-out-attack almost every game.

Goals for the rest of the season

It's been a remarkable season already, but we've won nothing yet. We're losing form lately and we're too dependent on Bagayoko. But overlooking that, we've been amazing so far, and if we can keep it up we're going to feel worthy of some proper trophies.

[Plobdork]

Great results shame about the napoli game... could of been a wonderful mid season update! all i can say is your team seems to be doing so well thanks to bagayoko if he falls out of form your team will be in trouble!

(how the F**K are napoli managing to pay there team 850000 grand per week!)

[SnakeXe]

Great results shame about the napoli game... could of been a wonderful mid season update! all i can say is your team seems to be doing so well thanks to bagayoko if he falls out of form your team will be in trouble!

(how the F**K are napoli managing to pay there team 850000 grand per week!)

It's per month - still a massive wage but not quite that bad!

[Pangaea]

Bagayoko is quite the handy player, isn't he? Such an absurd record in international matches too. Looks like a loose cannon with 9 yellows though.

In other news, is the Brazil manager barking mad? Not a lot of matches for the Napoli trio.

[HotChocolate]

Pressures on now.

[kingjericho]

LOL @ Coentrão stadium!

[noikeee]

Great results shame about the napoli game... could of been a wonderful mid season update! all i can say is your team seems to be doing so well thanks to bagayoko if he falls out of form your team will be in trouble!

(how the F**K are napoli managing to pay there team 850000 grand per week!)

SnakeXe answered you, it's high but not that high. Bagayoko has been out of form for a while now and my team indeed did drop in form for a bit, thankfully Carlos Paulista has become an assassin in front of goal in recent matches, and a nice plan B for the striker position...

It's per month - still a massive wage but not quite that bad!

Yep! Don't forget I'm playing in euros, not a massive difference to you guys who play in pounds, but it does get the values a little bit higher.

Bagayoko is quite the handy player, isn't he? Such an absurd record in international matches too. Looks like a loose cannon with 9 yellows though.

In other news, is the Brazil manager barking mad? Not a lot of matches for the Napoli trio.

Bagayoko definitely has a little of a crazy edge, nothing I mind too much as long as he keeps scoring that many!

The lack of caps is because Brazil has got a ridiculous, and I mean OUTRAGEOUS amount of talent. They've got another 3 or 4 strikers like that - and play a single-striker formation. The AI managers are a bit too biased towards player reputation too, which means ancient players who achieved a lot of caps will remain in the team for longer than they should. The previous generation of Brazil strikers was bloody good too...

Pressures on now.

For real!

LOL @ Coentrão stadium!

Haha that made me smile a few times before, I didn't even notice it as I'm so used to it, it's been built a few seasons ago! 2025 to be more exact.

[noikeee]

Getting the news of this result felt more like a win than most of our matches! Napoli never drop points. Pisa are totally rubbish and dead last by a mile. We're now 4 points clear of Napoli.

And yes, "Juan Carlos Bokung Alogo" is a totally bonkers name. That's a winger from Equatorial Guinea!

[Pangaea]

Would be amusing if Diego Mini is a giant targetman.

[deltablue]

Would be amusing if Diego Mini is a giant targetman.

We must know the answer to this

[noikeee]

I'll find out later.

[noikeee]

So it turns out it's a very fitting name. Diego's an angry looking midget.

[Romanista1994]

So it turns out it's a very fitting name. Diego's an angry looking midget.

He looks exactly like my geography teacher (perhaps less squint), who also has a very developed small-man complex.

[noikeee]

A great, spectacular match to mark the day Bagayoko breaks the Serie A most goals in a season record - 34 at the time of writing, 8 fixtures remaining.

[ManUTactician247]

He missed a penalty *shakes head*.

[noikeee]

Zenit were dispatched 3-0 4-0, and there were no easy opponents left in the Champions League - Atlético Madrid came up in our path. Nevertheless, we had a great result in Madrid spoilt in the final minute:

There was still an advantage to be brought to Rome, but then...

NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO! I really believed we were going all the way this season. Henrique Bruno with the equalizer from all people, a guy I bought for Celta and gave him his first cap for Portugal. I can safely say Atlético are our bogey team now, because they knocked us out early two years ago too, from the Europa League.

[kingjericho]

At. Madrid are always a dominant force in FM. I fear them more than Barcelona.

[B.W.G]

Gutted for you,hate late goals that cost a win!On the plus side,nice to see Bagayoko continue his impressive scoring record in Serie A even if he did miss a penalty

[noikeee]

After that huge disappointment, some glory - we retain the Serie A title for the very first time in Roma's history. In style:

We're still in contention for the domestic double too, facing Milan in the TIM Cup final. And in contention to reach the magical 100 points tally in the Serie A (need 4 points in the remaining 2 fixtures against Napoli and Fiorentina) - we've already beaten the maximum points total ever. And Bagayoko's now on 45 league goals, 51 overall.

[noikeee]

At. Madrid are always a dominant force in FM. I fear them more than Barcelona.

They dominated spanish football for a while in this career, currently seem to have fallen back slightly but are still almost on par with Barça and Real. Thanks to beating us and then Zaragoza afterwards in the semis, they're up for another Champions League final this season.

Gutted for you,hate late goals that cost a win!On the plus side,nice to see Bagayoko continue his impressive scoring record in Serie A even if he did miss a penalty

Well I did win a lot of games with late goals over the years, so it's only fair enough that it evens out here and there. I'm quite bitter at leaving the Champions League that early tho, we had the team and the form more than good enough to win it this season. We didn't even lose a single game in Europe ffs, we're on a 26 match unbeaten run, steamrolling everyone in Italy with results like 8-2, 3-7, 0-7...

[deltablue]

Gah! Close or what!

[j88_ftm]

I've gradually read through all the posts in this thread over the last couple of days and I have to say I've really enjoyed it. I've just started my own career thread on this forum and I'm hoping to follow a similar path to you. Fine work, sir; long may it continue!

[noikeee]

Gah! Close or what!

Not that close actually, I would have still had to go past the semis and the final.

I've gradually read through all the posts in this thread over the last couple of days and I have to say I've really enjoyed it. I've just started my own career thread on this forum and I'm hoping to follow a similar path to you. Fine work, sir; long may it continue!

Thanks a lot, glad you've enjoyed it and it's always nice to know about readers even if this is all mostly for my enjoyment.

[noikeee]

The TIM Cup final between Milan and Roma was to be played in the Olimpico, hence an obvious home advantage for us, but we would not put a great performance, many players looking nervous and/or exhausted after that 7-0 drubbing of Catania three days earlier. Milan however were even more uninspired and Roma had the better chances. It took however a controversial penalty mid-way through the first half for Roma to open the lead, Kévin Duval making it 1-0 for us. Soon afterwards however, Walter Arce equalised for Milan in a corner. Then the game dragged on and dragged on and dragged on. Extra time ensued, penalties looked increasingly likely. Remarkably, in the very last, 120th minute, Bagayoko bagged in a scrappy goal and won the trophy for us.

An underwhelming match, but that's the double. Domestic treble even if you count the early season Supercoppa.

[deltablue]

To getting through though

[TheMaestro]

Surprised that David Gill is still there at Man Utd. Must be in his 70s!!!

[noikeee]

Roma 2029/2030 - season review

League

A breeze - and no-one can accuse us of not being entertaining. If we're posting screenies of remarkable matches I could be here all night, I did post the superb 4-3 win over Milan in the San Siro the other day, but that following streak of wins by 7-3, 8-2, 5-2, 4-1 and 7-0 was just INSANE. Goals coming from everyfuc*ingwhere, at both ends.

Napoli, who were breathing by our neck like creepy stalkers for the first half of the season, thankfully fell apart with several draws and a loss at Catania. That allowed us to drop points in the Rome derby, which was our only blip in the league from the mid-season update until the game we clinched the title. I did mention the last time around that it would be nice if we clinched it before the final two matches which were going to be difficult, Napoli and Fiorentina our closest opponents. Well that was a spot on prediction. We celebrated right before the Napoli game and duly lost our final 2 fixtures by 2-1 scorelines, ending a club record streak of 27 consecutive games without losing (all competitions).

(League positions graph)

Cups

I've been covering these two competitions in mini-updates over the last few days, but I'd like to elaborate a little more. In the Champions League, that double legged affair versus Zenit was remarkable, particularly for the unforgettable performance of Kévin Duval. He bagged an hat-trick in the first leg win of 3-0, then another brace in the 4-0 return game. That would make him this season's Champions League top scorer (amazing for a midfielder!!) and also given the competition's Best Player award! Unfortunately his scoring talents went missing in those tight meetings with Atlético Madrid (#1 / #2) which ended in an unexpected early exit for us.

As for the road to our Italian Cup success, what I have not mentioned was the AMAZING match in Florence in the semi-finals. Just what a story: we were totally rubbish in the first half and conceded two goals, Bagayoko was having a dreadful match and midway through the 2nd half I replaced him by Carlos Paulista. With merely half an hour on the pitch, he scored an hat-trick and turned the game upside down. The winner was scored after we were down to 10 men with Krizanac sent off... Another win, a much cagier 1-0 in the return leg put us in the final against Milan, where that 120th minute scrappy winner from Bagayoko gave us the trophy, and consequentially the domestic double.

Top 5 key players

(Full squad and stats)

5. Carlos Paulista (ST) - Strange that I would pick here a player outside my first 11, but Carlos had the almighty Bagayoko taking his place away, and was magnificent the few appearances he grabbed as a sub or whenever Bagayoko was briefly out of form. So, so much better than his first few appearances last year - I hope he can deliver the same in the World Cup for Portugal.

4. Nicola Ferraro (AML) - Wow, this came completely out of the blue, I expected him to be a fringe player and didn't even register him for the Champions League squad. Big mistake. Nicola came alive in the second half of the season, bagging loads goals and assists, and generally being by far our better winger. Too bad I only realised this very late in the year.

3. Mignon Pedro (DMC) - Sheer class. The man appears to just sit there in his comfortable DMC position and do nothing, but despite his overwhelmingly defensive role, still somehow made 10 assists and had his most solid season under my command yet. A proper captain.

2. Kévin Duval (AMC) - Perhaps the numbers are ever so slightly worse than last year, but still hugely impressive at 16 goals and 20 assists. Champions League Top Scorer and Best Player awards fit him perfectly, and should hopefully give him the boost in reputation he deserves, he needs to finally break into the Ballon d'Or shortlist. I'm a little afraid I may have ruined him though, as I trained him to "get forward whenever possible" and when he gained that PPM late in the season it coincided with a dip in form!

1. Dahamane Bagayoko (ST) - Some say he once bumped into Chuck Norris, and Chuck apologised. And that he works a part-time job impersonating the bogey man to scare children aged 5 and under who misbehave. Legend also has it, he keeps a dungeon with a livestock of centre-backs, killing and chopping into pieces one of them every morning for breakfast. All we know, he's called Bagayoko. 53 goals.

Also, a small shout to Pedro Abreu who settled himself this season as my better defender with great performances, and I will bring him to the World Cup under my command soon too.

Finances

27M€ in the bank. Again, thanks to the Champions League TV deal revenues.

Conclusions and future expectations

A brilliant season and a massive disappointment at the same time. I really did think this was the year I'd finally get that Champions League crown, we were absolutely magnificent up until the Atlético games (in which we weren't crap neither), I wasn't expecting to be knocked that early at all. On the other hand, it's Roma's first ever back-to-back Serie A titles, it's my first ever main domestic cup (League Cup doesn't count), and it's a superb domestic treble: Serie A + TIM Cup + Supercoppa. All of it won in style by an ultra-attacking team. A season to remember by Roma fans, the 2029/2030 team was one of the most spectacular, dominating sides the club has ever known.

I'm not entirely sure what do I need to more, other than just keep insisting on what I'm doing, but I don't want to leave the club until I win their maiden Champions League (and I'd really really like the Club World Cup too). So I'm sticking here for the foreseeable future. Albeit I've been linked recently to the Barcelona job and that'd be really hard to turn down...

Career overview

[b]Season   Club (nation)         League (tier)                          Notes[/b]
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
10/11    Praiense (POR)        2ª Divisão Sul (3) - 4th
11/12    Praiense (POR)        2ª Divisão Centro (3) - 1st            Lost in promotion playoff
12/13    Kettering (ENG)       Blue Square Premier (5) - 7th           
13/14    Kettering (ENG)       Blue Square Premier (5) - 22nd         Resigned mid-season
        Venezia (ITA)         Seconda Divisione Girone A (4) - 15th  Won relegation playout
14/15    Venezia (ITA)         Seconda Divisione Girone A (4) - 4th   Lost in promotion playoff
15/16    Venezia (ITA)         Seconda Divisione Girone A (4) - 3rd   Lost in promotion playoff
16/17    Venezia (ITA)         Seconda Divisione Girone A (4) - 1st   Promoted, Serie C Cup winners
17/18    Venezia (ITA)         Prima Divisione Girone A (3) - 6th
18/19    Dresden (GER)         3.Liga (3) - 8th
19/20    Dresden (GER)         3.Liga (3) - 13th                      Resigned mid-season
        Belenenses (POR)      Liga Orangina (2) - 10th
20/21    Belenenses (POR)      Liga Orangina (2) - 2nd                Promoted
21/22    Belenenses (POR)      Liga Zon Sagres (1) - 4th                 
22/23    Belenenses (POR)      Liga Zon Sagres (1) - 4th              League Cup winners
2023     Krylya Sovetov (RUS)  Prem'er Liga (1) - 10th                 
23/24    Celta (SPA)           Liga Adelante (2) - 4th                Lost in promotion playoff
24/25    Celta (SPA)           Liga Adelante (2) - 1st                Promoted
25/26    Celta (SPA)           La Liga (1) - 6th
26/27    Celta (SPA)           La Liga (1) - 7th                      Europa League winners
27/28    Roma (ITA)            Serie A (1) - 3rd
28/29    Roma (ITA)            Serie A (1) - 1st                      Italian champions, Champions League finalists
29/30    Roma (ITA)            Serie A (1) - 1st                      Italian champions, TIM Cup winners, Supercoppa winners

[abulezz]

Bagayoko is 26. 26!! The fact that he hasnt won the World Footballer of the Year is a crime against the sport.

Congrats on retaining the Serie A trophy - although the Champions League must have been a disappointment the way you went out.

Still, your team is young and in its prime, and you've got quality all over - I wouldnt be surprised if you lift it next year

[B.W.G]

Congrats on a brilliant domestic season,shame you went out like you did in the Champions League but when you do eventually win it,it will make it much more sweet.

[AK22]

Harsh to go out of the Champions League without actually losing a game! I can sense you're very close to winning it, so keep persevering

Excellent season domestically. And Bagayoko, take a bow son! 53 goals- outstanding!!

[noikeee]

Bagayoko is 26. 26!! The fact that he hasnt won the World Footballer of the Year is a crime against the sport.

Congrats on retaining the Serie A trophy - although the Champions League must have been a disappointment the way you went out.

Still, your team is young and in its prime, and you've got quality all over - I wouldnt be surprised if you lift it next year

I think the daftest thing is that he's not only never won the Ballon D'Or, he's never come 2nd nor 3rd and last year wasn't even selected for the 50-player-or-so shortlist for the award. What the hell are FIFA and France Football smoking?

My team is young and in its prime but there's Kunert, Kuznetsov and Mignon Pedro entering their 30s, not sure how can I smoothly replace them over the years, particularly the latter. Next season probably replacements won't be needed yet.

Congrats on a brilliant domestic season,shame you went out like you did in the Champions League but when you do eventually win it,it will make it much more sweet.

Tks. Yeah I do think that's true, this career wouldn't have been this fun if the rise to the top hadn't been soooo slow.

Harsh to go out of the Champions League without actually losing a game! I can sense you're very close to winning it, so keep persevering

Excellent season domestically. And Bagayoko, take a bow son! 53 goals- outstanding!!

Thanks man.

[noikeee]

World Cup Special - Portugal 2030 - tournament preview

Squad

After playing tons of friendlies and evaluating tons of players, this is the lot I'm bringing to the Cup to defend Portugal's honour on home soil:

It's clear I STILL don't have a settled team, nothing seems to work convincingly, hence I arrive at the World Cup with plenty of players with merely a handful of caps, who I've only decided on in the last few months (and two very young kids in Alexandre Queirós and Rui Cassamá). The injury of our playmaker Pedro Figueiredo, the best player in last year's Confederations Cup, doesn't help.

Likely starting eleven, in a flat 4-4-2:

Tite (GK) - This brazilian-born, who finally opted for our nation about 1 year ago, is our most talented keeper, but has long been hindered by poor morale.

Pato (DL) - My former Roma left-back is still a regular for Barcelona, and still near his prime at the age of 32, one of Portugal's best players.

Nem (DR) - Finally took portuguese nationality right before the cup. I did not give him a lot of playing time in Rome this season but thankfully I adapted him to a right-back position because that's where he'll be more useful for Portugal.

Pedro Abreu (DC) - Another Roma player, by far Portugal's most accomplished defender.

Henrique Bruno (DC) - The 4th of our defenders, and strangely, I've managed them all at club level - this man back in the Celta days. Not a great player but his goal knocked me out of the Champions League this year!

Luis Pinto (MR) - Portugal's best winger, not quite a Cristiano Ronaldo, a Figo or a Futre, but a quality player.

Pituca (ML) - I've got very big doubts about this position - by far our weakest - and at the moment the Milan winger is looking the most likely to get it.

Delfim Vital (MC) - Moved to Italy this season and surprisingly did very very well for Fiorentina despite being a veteran already. Very versatile.

Gilberto (MC) - Our most accomplished midfielder, good season for Leverkusen.

Carlos Paulista (ST) - Unfortunately picked up an injury and will miss at least the first match against the Ivory Coast. Superb in his few appearances for Roma this season.

Steven Pereira (ST) - Our target man, I'm yet to take the most of his immense skills in the air.

-------------------------------

Opponents

Ivory Coast - The first match is against our most uncomfortable opponents in Group A, the Ivory Coast. I would say they are about the equal of us in terms of talents, a few very good players but lacking the extra edge that could make them class all over the pitch. Key talent: Leverkusen's right-back Abou Diawara.

Colombia - Next up are the colombians, and in this match I would say we are clearer favourites, even if they're puzzlingly the one team in the group with a FIFA Ranking above ours (23rd). They have no world class stars. Key talent: Striker Luis Gabriel Caballero.

Bulgaria - And finally there's the bulgarians who qualified thanks to fortunate circumstances - easy group with Croatia underperforming massively, and then pure luck to face Israel in the playoff. There is very little depth to this squad, but they do have one of the best centre-backs in the world. Key talent: Barcelona's Stefan Petrov.

-------------------------------

Other groups

Group B: Argentina, Slovakia, Mexico and Uzbekistan. An easy group for the argies with an underwhelming mexican generation to have little fear for, an average slovakian side and the dreadful uzbeks. Nevertheless the argentinians while they're a top 10 side in the world I can't see them grabbing the whole trophy. Key talent: Argentina/Real Madrid's Elias Bruno.

Group C: Russia, Paraguay, Netherlands and Senegal. A very even group. The dutch seem fragile, have just been hammered 5-0 in a friendly by France, but are the biggest team nevertheless. Russia and Senegal are very strong underdogs and Paraguay aren't total crap neither. Key talent: the dutch winger Richard Taument who I've desperately been trying to sign for a while.

Group D: Brazil, United States, South Korea and England. Ooohhhh spicey. There is very little doubt as to which two sides will go through, but they could go very far after that too. Brazil are just INCREDIBLE, England have got tons of talent too and can break into something very good. Key talent: a well-known name in here, Napoli's João. Had a season nearly as good as Bagayoko's.

Group E: Spain, Japan, Peru and Denmark. This should be Spain's to lose really but I'm not particularly convinced by this spanish side, lacking in striking force somewhat. The others are average underdogs who should not go too far. Key talent: Brian Rivas.

Group F: Italy, Iran, Nigeria and Serbia. Italy clear favourites here, albeit I am not sure they can go all the way like the pundits expect. Iran are just sh*t, Nigeria have got a couple really good players and could be quality underdogs but lack depth, Serbia are very much alike them. Key talent: Lyon's superb young midfielder Riccardo Forte.

Group G: Algeria, Germany, China and Turkey. Turkey always are really good in FM, and Algeria do have a few nice players but it's got to be all about Germany really. I don't see them going that far in the tournament though. Key talent: Germany's anchorman Giorgos Venetis.

Group H: Egypt, Guatemala, France and Sweden. France are just the best team in the world alongside Brazil and I fully expect them to put a major bid to hold onto their world title. Egypt probably can make it past Sweden for 2nd as they seem stronger to me, Guatemala are here to make up the numbers. Key talent: who else? Dahamane Bagayoko of course.

-------------------------------

Expectations and predictions

This is it, it's all or nothing. And quite frankly, I'm expecting nothing. The team just doesn't seem to click under my command. I think we'll scrap past the group stage and then lose in an undignified way in the early knockout rounds. It's a shame because a World Cup at home is a unique occasion but we don't seem up for it.

I'm solidly backing Brazil or France for the title, both teams are just sublime, outside bets being England, Italy, Germany or Argentina. Then again a couple years ago freaking Serbia won it so who knows.

-------------------------------

Wow, this was one of those occasions when I get over-enthusiastic and write way way more than anyone will ever want to read.

[deltablue]

Easy group I feel.

[j88_ftm]

Wow, this was one of those occasions when I get over-enthusiastic and write way way more than anyone will ever want to read.

I read all of it and enjoyed it. Good luck for the World Cup, I'll be rooting for you

[kingjericho]

Giorgios Venetis looks awesome. He's 30 so if you could get a good price for him I think he would be a good addition to the Roma squad.

[noikeee]

World Cup Special - Portugal 2030 - group stage

Portugal 2-2 Ivory Coast (Pituca, Gonçalo Trindade)

We had started well with Steven Pereira hitting the bar early on and seeming to dominate, but midway through the first half suddenly everything turned into total disaster - Delfim Vital involuntarily flicked a cross into his own goal, then 4 minutes later Arthur Konan made it 2-0 for the africans in a corner. We looked doomed, but still pulled one back before half-time, a quality run from Luis Pinto down the right made for a far post cross into Pituca's triumphant header. Then midway through the second half we lost both full-backs, Nem to a red card, Pato to an injury. Somehow, despite playing with 10 men, we equalised, Pituca's mazy run from the left into the center leading into a perfectly timed through ball for Gonçalo Trindade to get on a one-on-one and score.

Portugal 3-2 Colombia (Pituca, Gonçalo Trindade, Jean Porras (og))

A similar pattern to the previous match as things nearly went bust midway through the first half, our defence letting Valenciano dribble down the left and cross for Wilson López to tap it in. Did not took long for Pituca to score our first again and equalise, Luis Pinto this time dribbling into the pitch and coming up with a through ball for the Milan winger to score an absolute missile from close range who still deflected off the post and the keeper. Then right before half-time Gonçalo Trindade scored a magnificent goal from a solo run, contender for goal of the tournament! Later on things looked settled when Trindade's shot was deflected by defender Jean Porras into his own-goal making it 3-1 but Colombia scored again 12 minutes before the final whistle and that was a tense finale, fortunately it stayed at 3-2.

Portugal 4-0 Bulgaria (Stefan Petrov (og), Carlos Paulista, Steven Pereira, Gonçalo Trindade)

A much more straightforward match. Petrov's desperate tackle on Steven Pereira led to an own-goal by minute 15, and that opened up the gates for a lot more, within 10 minutes both our forwards Carlos Paulista (finally back after 2 matches out for injury) and Steven Pereira had scored with powerful shots from inside the area. Things got even easier when Kochev got sent off mid-way through the 2nd half, I brought Gonçalo Trindade in for Steven Pereira and he would bag his 3rd goal of the tournament after a cross from Carlos Paulista. This 4th goal made us group winners, which we didn't want as Argentina had come 2nd in their group and we would have to face them next instead of Slovakia, I still considered trying to concede a goal on purpose but decided against it as it'd be unsporting behaviour.

-------------------------------

Other groups

Group B: Argentina, Slovakia, Mexico and Uzbekistan. Argentina managed to make much tougher work of this group than they should, winning only against Slovakia and by 1 goal margin - both Argentina-Mexico and Argentina-Uzbekistan(!!) games finished 0-0. Slovakia won versus Mexico which meant they surprisingly topped the group.

Group C: Russia, Paraguay, Netherlands and Senegal. I warned that Senegal looked like strong underdogs (they've got my former Celta duo of Ibrahimas, Sankharé and Gueye), and they delivered by winning every match. Netherlands made it in 2nd thanks to a 3-0 beating of Paraguay and a 90th minute winner over the russians.

Group D: Brazil, United States, South Korea and England. As expected, Brazil and England through by a mile, both finishing with 7 points, Brazil top on goal difference. Very few goals in this group, USA and Korea both failed to score any.

Group E: Spain, Japan, Peru and Denmark. Spain eased past everyone, exemplified by an initial 4-0 drubbing of Japan, and Denmark scrapped 2nd place. Peru and Japan, as expected, were dreadful.

Group F: Italy, Iran, Nigeria and Serbia. Again no surprises. Italy top after hammering Nigeria 3-1 and Iran 4-0, Serbia came 2nd with the same points as they managed to scrap a draw against the italians, and won both of the other matches. Iran were p*ss poor.

Group G: Algeria, Germany, China and Turkey. Funkiest game of the tournament so far in here, the insane 7-0 win of Germany over Turkey, with turkish descendant Faruk Alibaz scoring a poker! Somehow that didn't ruin their confidence and Turkey still made it in 2nd, a single point behind their annihilators Germany.

Group H: Egypt, Guatemala, France and Sweden. This amazing France side obviously won every game, and ended with a goal difference of +10, including a 5-0 drubbing of Guatemala where every goal was scored by a Roma player - Mignon Pedro with a brace, Bagayoko with an hat-trick. The rest of the group was surprising though, Guatemala somehow managed to draw their other two matches, and Sweden beat Egypt leaving Egypt dead last when I thought they had a rather good team.

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Next fixtures

I'd like to thank Argentina for fuc*ing up their group and leaving us to face them rather than the far easier Slovakia. Clowns. Then if we miraculously make it through, we're up against the winner of Brazil-Netherlands. This isn't going to end up in glory, isn't it?

Been a very unsurprising tournament so far, all major sides still in the competition. France and Brazil still seem the best teams to me, and France has been on better form so if I had to choose a winner I'd back them.

[noikeee]

Easy group I feel.

Well we made it through and as winners, but didn't feel easy at all...

I read all of it and enjoyed it. Good luck for the World Cup, I'll be rooting for you

Thanks. You should get your head checked though, why the f*ck would you want to read all of that.

Giorgios Venetis looks awesome. He's 30 so if you could get a good price for him I think he would be a good addition to the Roma squad.

Yeah but I'm not going to get a good price for him and the man is paid a bigger wage than any of my players. He may play for Zaragoza but Zaragoza is a very big club in 2030.

[noikeee]

World Cup Special - Portugal 2030 - second round

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Wow. Just wow. This is by a very large margin the best match Portugal has made under my command, and until the Bulgaria match right before, we had in no occasion at all ever looked anywhere near this convincing. We just dominated and handled perfectly a world class side. It took 4 very obvious chances missed even before we scored our first - two times we hit the woodwork, another it was cleared off the line, another was a one-on-one inside the keeper's area. The first goal finally came in the final minute of the 1st half as Luis Pinto insisted on a lost ball down the right and found Steven Pereira unmarked. Giant Steven would score his 2nd early into the 2nd half, again Luis Pinto's assist as he drawn the attention of many defenders and again made it very easy for Steven. Then midfielder Gilberto had a rare goal, and a very good one as he dribbled past one defender into the area, then shot a missile in off the post. Argentina would score immediately by the veteran Daniel Jara but it was too late for a comeback. Fantastic performance by my team.

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Other games

Bloody hell, how boring can this get. Not a single surprise (well, apart from our game). Not a single game gone to extra time nevermind penalties. Is this the easiest to predict World Cup ever?

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Next fixtures (quarter-finals)

Uh-oh. We're going to need to repeat that performance, if not improve on it, because Brazil is just completely bonkers in terms of talent. If we make it through we're up against the winners of Italy-Germany which is incredibly hard again but I suppose anything's better than having to face France.

[noikeee]

World Cup Special - Portugal 2030 - quarter-finals

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HOLY FU*KING SH*T!!! I am astonished. It had started nice with Steven Pereira chesting a Nem cross then volleying it into the back of the net, but shortly afterwards the Napoli duo Marcelo-João engineered an equaliser, João rounding our keeper Vítor Ribeiro. At that point I thought, yeah, they're going to start hammering us now. On the contrary. Gilberto's through ball found Carlos Paulista alone and it was 2-1 for us right before half-time. Then we held on all 2nd half, until Steven Pereira decided to kill the game with a headed goal from a corner, scoring a penalty kick minutes later to seal his hat-trick. Amazing match, surely one to stick in the memories of Portugal fans forever.

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Other games

Looks like my predictions went wrong as both Brazil and France crashed out! France's undoing was Bagayoko's, he opened the score early on but then got sent off - still did enough to be topping the scorers list at the moment with 6 goals, same as Germany's Faruk Alibaz who is now out of the competition, and Portugal's Steven Pereira. England thumped Ivory Coast and Italy scrapped past Germany in a tight game in order to face us.

If I'm mentioning top scorers, might as well mention top assist providers too, and our own Luis Pinto is first in there with 5 assists, a new World Cup record.

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Next fixtures (semi-finals)

I don't know what to say anymore. In normal circumstances I'd say we're about to be slaughtered but they're no better than Argentina or Brazil. It's like I've just entered the fu*king Twilight Zone.

World champion? It's anyone's guess. I'm not really feeling Spain and would never tip my own team but we've just both knocked out my favourites so who knows.

[abulezz]

HUUUGE victories over the South American giants. Just massive - you're a legend in Portugal regardless of what happens vs. Italy just based on the Brazil match alone!

[SnakeXe]

Amazing job so far! Can't wait to see how this ends

[deltablue]

Wow, going well after all.

[ShyBaldBuddhist]

Two fantastic results against the South American giants. If you manage to lift the trophy it will definitely be deserved with such a tough route.

GL against the Italians

[j88_ftm]

Great performances so far! Why are England doing so well though? Very unrealistic

[noikeee]

HUUUGE victories over the South American giants. Just massive - you're a legend in Portugal regardless of what happens vs. Italy just based on the Brazil match alone!

Amazing job so far! Can't wait to see how this ends

Wow, going well after all.

Two fantastic results against the South American giants. If you manage to lift the trophy it will definitely be deserved with such a tough route.

GL against the Italians

Great performances so far! Why are England doing so well though? Very unrealistic

Cheers all, I'm even more astonished than you lot, genuinely thought we'd be completely embarrassed and torn apart this tournament. That tip from kingjericho about the 4-4-2 with support target man + poacher + attacking playmaker is working wonders! I think it's the morale too, the team suddenly gained belief in themselves at exactly the perfect time.

England are doing well because they actually have great players who aren't merely arrogant divas hyped by the press. This is 2030, a lot has changed! Even England!

[noikeee]

World Cup Special - Portugal 2030 - semi-finals

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YIIPIE KAYE MOTHERFU*KERS, WE'RE IN THE WORLD CUP FINAL! Another superb performance and result! Brazilian-born Pituca (one of our many brazilian-born players) scored from outside the box right at the beginning of the match - thankfully I had forgotten to give my regular "work ball into the box" touchline shout by then. That put us on front for the entire match. Steven Pereira's 2nd half winner after Carlos Paulista great assist, sneaking the ball from a defender then dribbling him again to cross for Steven, sealed our ticket into the final. That is Steven's 7th goal of the tournament, looking very good for the Golden Shoe award, it'll only won't go his way if Spain's Brian Rivas scores an hat-trick in the final.

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Other games

Woah, extra-time and penalties, that's actually very rare this tournament, first time it happens. That's England's dream over, Spain looking able now to add a World Cup title to their European Championship trophy of which they're currently the holders. Later on there was the 3rd place playoff and Italy beat England 1-0.

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The final

Bloody hell, if we made it this far can we actually go all the way? I feel like Luis Felipe Scolari right before the Euro 2004 final, I hope the same won't happen. Whatever happens it's already Portugal's greatest ever performance in an international tournament - the World Cup is bigger than the European Championship. Beating our iberian rivals in the final would make it just perfect...

I know this is just FM but I'm a little tense. Even in FM the World Cup feels special because it only comes once every 4 seasons. It's very rare to reach a World Cup final, I only did it once in FM, won it with Croatia a few editions ago (FM05 I think?). That was my greatest ever FM achievement - now what about doing it with Portugal on portuguese soil? That's an opportunity that doesn't come often. I'd lie if the tought of cheating and replaying it until I actually win it didn't cross my mind, but I'm not a bloody cheater. If we get slaughtered 7-0 so be it. I'm covering it in extensive detail anyway, no way I'm re-writing it all!

[kingjericho]

You made me nervous too! Good luck on hat

[john1]

Good luck against Spain! Congrats on the double with Roma. Are you playing FM12?