The Reinvention of Dustin Powers, International Manager of Mystery

[DodgeeD]

Fantastic work with Honduras- getting to the knockout stages is a great achievement!

I wouldn't have taken the Qatar job; seems too much of a step back, and you'd do well to win a game at the WC, let alone qualify for the latter stages.

Cheers AK22. I don't mind taking a step back so much as there are enough regional competitions to provide a reasonable challenge wherever I go but the timing was wrong. I feel that this Honduras team can still improve so I'll stick with them for now.

Love this, great work so far. Enjoy international management so keep up the good work!

Thanks BlackPrince - I've always enjoyed the international side of things too but this is the first time I've tried to build a full career with no club management

Great concept and great career!

The most fun I ever had (in international management) was with Guadeloupe a few years ago. I may have to look into those extra leagues and competitions and get back into small nation management at some point.

I remember that save! As I recall you had some success with them too before returning to club management.

Top 20 Moving on up!

We sure are! One of my targets now is to surpass the US in the rankings.

[deltablue]

Great work at Honduras.

[CoachFlu]

I remember that save! As I recall you had some success with them too before returning to club management.

Yep. Well, never actually won a trophy with them, but came pretty damn close. Lost the final of the Caribbean Ch'Ship in a penalty shootout against Haiti, as it happens.

[DodgeeD]

Great work at Honduras.

Thanks deltablue - the work is about to get better as you will see in the next update.

Yep. Well, never actually won a trophy with them, but came pretty damn close. Lost the final of the Caribbean Ch'Ship in a penalty shootout against Haiti, as it happens.

I checked out the Guadeloupe team here and the squad is full of greys... They have had plenty of success in the Coupe DOM though, winning it every single year since the start of the game

[DodgeeD]

2019 Honduras Update: Copa Centroamericano

Warm-Up Matches

2017 got off to a busy start as we had two early January friendlies organised ahead of the 2017 Central American Cup in Guatemala. First up were Chile with a tough test anticipated.If you look at the stats, Chile had the better of the game. However, we had one vital thing that made the difference - Efrian Diaz in red-hot form. The Liverpool forward was lethal in front of the Chilean goal scoring an amazing six goals as we grabbed an unexpected 6-3 win!! We then travlled to Guatemela to take on the hosts in our final warm-up game. Again Diaz was the man, scoring a hat-trickwith Suazo adding another in a 4-1 victory.

Group Stage

Panama were our first opponents in Group A and once again, Diaz ran the show scoring a hat-trick before half-time. With the next game only two days away, we eased off in the second half and nearly paid the price as our opponents scored twice but with the second coming deep intoinjury time, our lead was never really under threat and the match finished 3-2. Next, we faced Costa Rica in a re-match of the 2017 final. It was a much tougher game (as shown by Diaz being restircted to just one goal!) but we took our chances better in a 3-1 win. That meant our place in the semis was already secure making our final group game with Belize something of a dead rubber. I used the chance to rotate the squad a bit but we still got an easy 4-0 win with Diaz this time scoring a brace.

That left the final group tables looking like this:

Semi-final

The semi brought up a potentially tricky tie with El Salvador. We played a patient controlling game and it did the trick with two goals coming just before half-time. Diaz was a little muted throughout the game but he always has a potential goal in him and this proved to be the case again as he sealed the deal with a final goal late on making the score 3-0.

Final

We faced our group stage opponents Costa Rica in the final. Unlike the group game, this was a one-sided affair as we dominated the possession and chances. However, also unlike the group game, goals were hard to come by. We missed a penalty early on and were then denied by some first-class goalkeeping and some wayward finishing. Just as it seemed that the breakthough would never come, that man Diaz popped up again to score on 88 minutes and hand us the trophy courtesy of a 1-0 win!

Very happy with that as we made up for our final disappointment of two years ago. Also great to see Diaz fufilling his potential with a goal in every game we played. Amazingly, he didn't finish topscorer as a Guatemalan player scored 6 goals in one game against Nicuragua and 4 against El Salvador in the 3rd place play-off...

Anyway, we have now qualified for this summer's Gold Cup and the groups are as follows:

No complaints there as we avoid the big two - the quarter-finals should be a formality. Then it's all a matter of who we have to face - avoid Mexico and the USA and a semi-final place beckons...

[TheGreatTraveler]

Great job winning the Copa Centro Americano!!!

Good Luck in the Gold Cup!!

[deltablue]

Not a bad group in the Gold Cup.

[DodgeeD]

Great job winning the Copa Centro Americano!!!

Good Luck in the Gold Cup!!

Thanks - we were favourites but still needed to get the job done.

Not a bad group in the Gold Cup.

With two third placed teams going through, a big win over Nicuragua (weakest team in the whole competition) should be enough on its own

[DodgeeD]

2019 Honduras Update: Spring/Summer Friendlies

There was time for just three friendlies before the Gold Cup got underway. As my first choice XI and tournament squad is more or less settled these days, these games were just to keep those players playing together rather than a chance for new players to come in or new tactics to be tested.

With most European nations busy with Euro 2020 qualifiers, I decided to take on some African opposition. That meant a trip to Libreville first for a match with Gabon. In what is now becoming a familiar story for us, Diaz was the star of the show netting all of the goals in a 4-0 win. A month later, we hosted Nigeria, a side ranked 15th in the world going into the game. Our opponents played well but we were too strong in attack for them as we scored four for the secobd game in a row. No prizes for guessing that Diaz was the hero with a hat-trick (taking his international tally to 23 goals in his last nine caps!!) in a convincing 4-1 win.

Just prior to the Gold Cup, we took on the USA. We had the better of the game but Diaz finally had an off day, failing to find the net. Reyes scored for us but it was a goal sandwiched between two efforts from Jozy Altidore meaning a 2-1 defeat, our first of the calender year.

[DodgeeD]

2019 Gold Cup

Hosts: U.S.A.

Holders: Mexico

Group Stage

Our tournament got underway with our easiest game against Nicaragua. We completely dominated, not letting them anywhere near our goal but we were a bit wasteful at the other end, managing only three shots out of thriteen on target. luckily, two of those were goals thanks to young striker Moran scoring a great solo effort and Diaz converting a penalty in a 2-0 win. Costa Rica were up next, the third time we had faced them in competitive action this year. Much like the Copa Centroamericano final, we dominated but this time goals were easier to find. Even though Diaz didn't find the net, he set up his strike partner Rojas for two with Johnny Palacios getting the other in a 3-1 win. The scoreline should have been greater after Costa Rica had Oscar Meija sent off on 65 minutes but if anything they played better after that, grabbing their goal 15 minutes from the end. We had already qualified before our last game with Canada and we were perhaps guilty of relaxing a bit too much as we fell two goals behind in the first half. Diaz eventually pulled one back out it was too little too late as we lost 2-1.

That defeat meant we slipped to second in the group with the tables looking like this:

Quarter-finals

But finishing second in the group turned out to be a blessing in disguise as Canada were drawn against USA in the last eight with Mexico also in their side of the draw and we got Guatemala with a potential semi-final against either Costa Rica or Curaçao. We were back to form in a game we dominated once again with veteran left-back Izaguirre coming up for a rare goal and Diaz scoring twice in a 3-1 win.

Semi-finals

Once again, we faced Costa Rica with a place in the final against either Mexico or the USA at stake. Our Central American were determined to avoid yet another defeat at our hands and started strongly, taking the lead after just nine minutes. We fought hard to get back in the game and it looked like the advantage had swung our way when Oscar Meija, having just returned from suspension after a red card against us in the group stage, was sent off with 15 minutes to go. However, try as we might, the breakthrough wouldn't come until Jhonny Palacios made himself the hero with a dramatic headed equaliser deep into stoppage time!! There were no goals in extra time meaning penalties. Costa Rica were exhausted by this point and it showed as they missed three of their four spot kicks and we won the shoot-out 3-1!!

Final

One more match between us and a first ever Gold Cup. It's just a shame that match was against Mexico. Had it been the USA, I would have given us a decent chance but Mexico were a tougher proposition. We had more of the ball but they had more chances and they made them count with goals from Pedro Alvarado and Javier Hernandez either side of half-time. Jhonny Palacios did his bit for us again with a goal 13 minutes from the end to set up an exciting finale. However, Mexico's big game experience proved decisive as they sat back and shut us out, consigning us to a 2-1 defeat.... Still, no shame in losding to Mexico and at least we made a game of it near the end.

We got some recognition in the awards as goalkeeper Behiker Rodas and defender Jhonny Palacios were named in the Gold Cup Dream Team.

It's now a year of friendlies before we enter the 2022 World Cup Qualifying competition next June.

[FMtillidie]

Well done mate getting into the final and hard luck v mexico.

[deltablue]

Good challenge.

[DodgeeD]

Well done mate getting into the final and hard luck v mexico.

Good challenge.

Thanks guys. Beating Mexico is always going to be a challenge it seems...

[DodgeeD]

2019 Honduras Update: Autumn Friendlies

While we waited for the smaller CONCACAF nations to go through the first two rounds of World Cup Qualifying, Honduras played a series of friendlies, each time taking on opponents from the top 30 of the World Rankings.

First, we headed back to Africa, this time to Kinshasa to play DR Congo. A tight game exploded into life in the second half with 4 goals in the space of ten miuntes giving us a 3-1 lead. DR Congo made it 3-2 late on but we held on for a deserved win. Our next game was in the rather less exotic suroundings of Glasgow, where we played World Cup quarter-finalists Scotland. We played a counter-attacking game and it paid off as we earned a 3-1 win with two of the goals coming in stoppage time at the end of each half.

We then took on the other surprise nation from last year's World Cup, Algeria. A composed performance (despite an own goal from our goalkeeper) saw us run out 3-1 winners once again. A trip to Greece was up next. We played well in an even game with 0-0 being a fair end result. The last game of the year took place in Trabzon, Turkey. A shocking start saw us go 3-0 down but a spirited fightback saw us pull two goals back before half time. The game was much tighter after that and we were unable to get the equaliser, thus finishing the year with a 3-2 defeat.

[DodgeeD]

2019 Review: Honduras

Quick Overview

Copa Centroamericano: Winners!!

Gold Cup: Finalists

2019 Results

December 2019 World Ranking: 34th (-14)

Overall, another great year to build on 2018's World Cup showing. The Copa Centroamericano, while a minor trophy, brought the first silverware of my time in Honduras and the run to the final of the Gold Cup served to underline our status as one of the top sides in the CONCACAF region.

Without a doubt the star of the show was Efrian Diaz, whose goals, especially at the start of the year, were what brought this team success. In total, he scored 31 goals for his country over the last twelve months!

2019 Honduras Best XI - Diaz was clearly the star but Jorge Rodiriguez and Jhonny Palacios did their part in defence as well.

The Year Ahead

2020 will be short and sweet as we have no games until the summer with only three friendlies and the Third Phase of World Cup Qualifying to negotiate. In this phase, the teams are divided into 3 groups of 4 with the top two from each group advancing to the fourth and final phase (aka 'The Hex') in 2021. Here are the groups:

Mexico, of course, will be tough but we will have to watch out for Jamaica as well...

The Story So Far...

[font=courier new][b][u]Year[/u] | [u]Nation[/u]        | [u]World Ranking[/u] | [u]Notes 
[/u][url="http://community.sigames.com/showthread.php/307332-The-Reinvention-of-Dustin-Powers-International-Manager-of-Mystery?p=7839277&viewfull=1#post7839277"]2011[/url] [/b]| New Caledonia | 167th (+3)    | Pacific Games QF
[b][url="http://community.sigames.com/showthread.php/307332-The-Reinvention-of-Dustin-Powers-International-Manager-of-Mystery?p=7843543&viewfull=1#post7843543"]2012[/url][/b] |[/font] [font=courier new]New Caledonia | 136th (+11)   | OCE Nations Cup finalists, Coupé DOM Group Stage, Sacked Nov 2012[/font] [font=courier new]
[b][url="http://community.sigames.com/showthread.php/307332-The-Reinvention-of-Dustin-Powers-International-Manager-of-Mystery?p=7846515&viewfull=1#post7846515"]2013[/url][/b] | Haiti         | 126th (+19)   | Friendlies...[/font]
[font=courier new][b][url="http://community.sigames.com/showthread.php/307332-The-Reinvention-of-Dustin-Powers-International-Manager-of-Mystery?p=7853557&viewfull=1#post7853557"]2014[/url][/b] | Haiti[/font][font=courier new]         | 142nd (-16)   | Caribbean Championship Winners![/font][font=courier new][url="http://community.sigames.com/showthread.php/307332-The-Reinvention-of-Dustin-Powers-International-Manager-of-Mystery?p=7885425&viewfull=1#post7885425"]
[b]2015[/b][/url] | Haiti         | 131st (+12)   | Gold Cup Group Stage; resigned June 2015
[b][url="http://community.sigames.com/showthread.php/307332-The-Reinvention-of-Dustin-Powers-International-Manager-of-Mystery?p=7887107&viewfull=1#post7887107"]2015[/url][/b] | Honduras      | 30th          | Took job June 2015
[/font][font=courier new][b][url="http://community.sigames.com/showthread.php/307332-The-Reinvention-of-Dustin-Powers-International-Manager-of-Mystery?p=7900475&viewfull=1#post7900475"]2016[/url] [/b]| Honduras      | 35th (-5)     | Reached 4th Round of WCQ; Olympics[/font] [font=courier new]Group Stage
[b][url="http://community.sigames.com/showthread.php/307332-The-Reinvention-of-Dustin-Powers-International-Manager-of-Mystery?p=7904723&viewfull=1#post7904723"]2017[/url][/b] | Honduras      | 40th (-5)     | Copa Centroamericano Finalists; Gold Cup Semi-finalists; Qualified for World Cup
[/font][font=courier new][url="http://community.sigames.com/showthread.php/307332-The-Reinvention-of-Dustin-Powers-International-Manager-of-Mystery?p=7912815&viewfull=1#post7912815"][b]2018[/b][/url] | Honduras      | 20th (+20)    | World Cup Second Round
[b]2019[/b] | Honduras      | 34th (-14)    | [/font][font=courier new]Copa Centroamericano Winners; Gold Cup Finalists[/font]

[DodgeeD]

2019 International Review

Plenty of continental action this year with Africa, Asia North America and South America all holding their championships. At youth level, there was the U20 World Cup as well.

African Cup of Nations Final: Ghana 3, Mail 1

Asian Cup Final: Iran 2, South Korea 2 (Iran win 4-2 on penalties)

Copa America Final: Colombia 2, Chile 2 (Colombia win 5-3 on penalties)

Gold Cup Final: Mexico 2, Honduras 1

U20 World Cup Final: Bulgaria U20s 2, Spain U20s 1 (forgot the screenshot - sorry!)

Next year sees Euro 2020 and the Oceanic Nations Cup take place.

[DodgeeD]

I've now holidayed through to the summer of 2020 and played the first couple of World Cup Qualifiers. Now, I have said previously that I don't want a big European job at this time but after Euro 2020, these offers came in:

All tempting in their own way... Slovenia are the weaker of the three sides but may provide the best challenge. I think they also have a chance of at least making the play-offs for the next World Cup (they are in Spain's group but should be able to beat the other teams). RUssia are strong currently (ranked 5th in the World) and Ukraine are the only threat to them in their qualifying group. And England... my home nation just coming off the back of a Euro 2020 win and ranked top nation in the world - a chance to lead them to glory in Qatar?

Or stick with Honduras for one more showing on the world's biggest stage and see if I can pull off an upset at the next Gold Cup in the meantime?

[cswalk08]

Great work on this save

I'd say give Slovenia a shot, would be a fun new adventure with a new set of cups to compete in.

[ism-scfc]

Personally as an Englishman I couldn't turn down England however bad they currently are, but as European Champions and a chance to win the world cup I would jump at it!

Plenty of reasons for staying at Honduras where you have done a fantastic job, but I would be getting on the first plane to Heathrow!

[Nobby_McDonald]

Great showing in the Gold Cup... and I'd go to England.

[cerud]

Great showing to reach the finals with Honduras. It would be tough to turn down your home nation though...

[CoachFlu]

Yeah, I'd go for the England job too. You can hardly get much more out of Honduras than you have already. So I'd take the big home country job, go for one or both of the big tournaments, get it out of your system. After that you'll likely have your pick of jobs.

[DodgeeD]

Thanks for the feedback guys. I'm enjoying my time with Honduras but the prospect of another Copa Centroamericano, another Gold Cup and 16 games of World Cup Qualifying over the next 18 months doesn't appeal a great deal....

I'll post one more Honduras update and then announce my next move

[DodgeeD]

2020 Honduras Update

There was not much action for Honduras in the first part of 2020 as we had no spring friendlies arranged and no Honduran involvement in the CONCACAF Olympic qualifiers. That meant we didn't play a match until the end of the European season in June when Bosnia paid us a visit as part of thier Euro 2020 preparations. We got off to a poor start with a couple of defensive mix-ups resulting in us going two goals down. However, we made a few changes at half-time and played much better, levelling the match at 2-2 thanks to goals from Suazo and Diaz.

We then got our World Cup Qualifying campaign underway with an easy 2-0 win over Jamaica (Diaz on the scoresheet again). We then travlled to St Vincent for what would prove to be my final game in charge. It should have been an easy win but the home side surprised us with their attacking flair, twice coming from behind before our superior skills and conditioning came to the fore with two late goals securing a 4-2 win.

With rumours circulating about a post-summer move to Europe, it was time for Dustin Powers to move on:

I leave Honduras ranked 27th in the world, which is actually only three places higher than when I took over. Nevertheless, I feel I made good progress with them, especially in terms of overseeing a transition from a reliance on aging stars to bringing in a number of exciting youngsters.

Now it's time to take on a new job and a new challenge...

[DodgeeD]

A sort of homecoming...

I know, I know... I said I wasn't that interested in any big European or South American jobs at this stage but THIS IS ENGLAND!! In the end, I just couldn't turn down the chance to manage them, especially as they are the number one team in the world right now having just won the Euros. That means I get a shot at winning the next World Cup (Qatar 2022) with the Confederations Cup to come before that and Euro 2024.

Our qualifying group for the World Cup is as follows:

We should be able to meet the FA's expectations of qualifying with ease.

As for the squad, I'm planning to have a good look at the players available ahead of my first match in charge against Wales in September. There are a fair few older players in the squad (Tom Huddlestone, Wayne Rooney, Joe Hart and Theo Walcott are all the wrong side of 30) but there are some players at their peak too (Jack Wilshere, Phil Jones and Chris Smalling to name a few). I will be looking to bring some youngsters in as well.

[AK22]

Good luck with England- Croatia will be difficult (ask Steve McLaren )

[cerud]

Good job with England I figured that was too good to turn down.

[ism-scfc]

Good move, fairly easy group but Croatia might be a bit tricky, your strongest team should still beat them comfortably though.

[FMtillidie]

good luck mate

[deltablue]

Good shot at glory now.

[cswalk08]

Good luck with England!

[markyosullivan]

Qatar would have be an interesting challenge

[Scarman]

Been a really interesting career so far, good luck with England

[rancer890]

Good luck with England DodgeeD. Big step up from Honduras!

[DodgeeD]

Good luck with England- Croatia will be difficult (ask Steve McLaren )

Or they might be easier (ask Fabio Capello )

Good job with England - I figured that was too good to turn down.

Good move, fairly easy group but Croatia might be a bit tricky, your strongest team should still beat them comfortably though.

good luck mate

Good shot at glory now.

Good luck with England!

Thanks guys!

Qatar would have be an interesting challenge

I did ponder over that offer for a while... I will take charge of one of the Middle Eastern teams at some point but it was a case of bad timing.

Been a really interesting career so far, good luck with England

Good luck with England DodgeeD. Big step up from Honduras!

Thanks. There's certainly more pressure than there was at Honduras but I think I can handle it

[DodgeeD]

2020 England Update: World Cup Qualifying & Autumn Friendlies

After a few weeks of settling in to my new job and scouting players, I was ready to name my first squad. As I mentioned before, a 34 year-old Rooney is still around and the likes of Joe Hart, Phil Jones, Chris Smalling, Ryan Betrand, Jack Rodwell, Jack Wilshere, Alex Chamberlain and Tom Cleverley are all still in their prime. There are also a few new faces I will be using to fill out the first team and it's those who I will introduce to you now:

John Naylor (DRC) - The only player in the national pool currently plying his trade outside England, having signed for AC Milan from Arsenal last season. I will be deploying him at right back.

Simeon Dyson (DM/MC) - Only 22 but already has 30 caps and looks set to be a star for England for the next decade at least.

Wayne Holden (MC) - Also just 22 years of age. He will be back-up to Dyson for now but they could form a very good central midfield partnership in years to come.

Dan Winnet (ST/AMRL) - One of England's top performers in their recent European Championship win. He can play up front or on the wings and that versatility will be very useful in tournament situations. His surname also presents a fantastic opportunity for puns should he score the winner in a vital match.

Don Sheldon (ST) - He will fill the same role I had Diaz in for Honduras. Phenomenal pace and acceleration couple with his finishing skill will make him our main goal scorer.

World Cup Qualifying European Section

My first game in charge was against Wales at Wembley and it turned out to be a great way to introduce myself to the English footballing public. Don Sheldon scored after just 2 minutes and completed his hat-trick before half-time. He also set up Winnet for the 4th goal and added one more late on in a 5-1 win. Unfortunately, Winnet picked up a knock in the game and Sheldon got injured in training ahead of our visit to Norway meaning I had to make changes up front. That showed as we were held to a 0-0 draw in Oslo with Wayne Rooney missing a couple of sitters.

Next, we faced our easiest and most difficult games (on paper at least) as we played Andorra at home before travelling to Zagreb to take on Croatia. There were no surprises against Andorra as a fully fit Sheldon returned to the side and again scored 4, all of them set up by Rooney, with Phil Jones nodding in a couple of corners for good measure in a 6-0 win. Against Croatia, we fell behind for the first time under my management but responded well as Wilshere equalised before half-time. We then took control in the second half with Sheldon and Jones securing a 3-1 win.

After 4 games, the table looks like this:

Having got the trips to Oslo and Zagreb out of the way, we are now in a good position to take the automatic qualificaiton spot.

Friendlies

We saw the year out with two friendlies in November. I arranged a visit to one of my previous employers as we travelled to the Caribbean to play Haiti. It was an easy enough game with some youngsters given the chance to show their stuff in a 3-1 win. The next game was a bit tougher as we took on Brazil at Wembley. A confident performance saw us win 2-1 and I was impressed with the manner in which we limited the Brazilians chances.

[DodgeeD]

2020 Review

Honduras

2020 Results:

Resigned in June 2020. World Ranking: 27th (+7)

England

2020 Results:

December 2020 World Ranking: 1st (-)

A good start to life as England boss as we top our qualification group for Qatar 2022 and got a well-deserved friendly victory over Brazil. I've seen enough to say we can be confident of challenging for the World Cup as long as we avoid injuries to key players. The first choice squad is very good but there is a definite lack of depth in the goalkeeping and striking positions. There is nobody anywhere near the level of Joe Hart between the sticks and the fact that injury to Dan Winnett led to 34 year-old Wayne Rooney starting the last four fixtures tells you all you need to know about our options up front.

Next year, I will be looking to secure qualificaiton for the World Cup. We will also participate in the Confederations Cup, which will give me a good chance to see what my squad is like in tournament conditions.

The Story So Far...

[font=courier new][b][u]Year[/u] | [u]Nation[/u]        | [u]World Ranking[/u] | [u]Notes 
[/u][url="http://community.sigames.com/showthread.php/307332-The-Reinvention-of-Dustin-Powers-International-Manager-of-Mystery?p=7839277&viewfull=1#post7839277"]2011[/url] [/b]| New Caledonia | 167th (+3)    | Pacific Games QF
[b][url="http://community.sigames.com/showthread.php/307332-The-Reinvention-of-Dustin-Powers-International-Manager-of-Mystery?p=7843543&viewfull=1#post7843543"]2012[/url][/b] |[/font] [font=courier new]New Caledonia | 136th (+11)   | OCE Nations Cup finalists, Coupé DOM Group Stage, Sacked Nov 2012[/font] [font=courier new]
[b][url="http://community.sigames.com/showthread.php/307332-The-Reinvention-of-Dustin-Powers-International-Manager-of-Mystery?p=7846515&viewfull=1#post7846515"]2013[/url][/b] | Haiti         | 126th (+19)   | Friendlies...[/font]
[font=courier new][b][url="http://community.sigames.com/showthread.php/307332-The-Reinvention-of-Dustin-Powers-International-Manager-of-Mystery?p=7853557&viewfull=1#post7853557"]2014[/url][/b] | Haiti[/font][font=courier new]         | 142nd (-16)   | Caribbean Championship Winners![/font][font=courier new][url="http://community.sigames.com/showthread.php/307332-The-Reinvention-of-Dustin-Powers-International-Manager-of-Mystery?p=7885425&viewfull=1#post7885425"]
[b]2015[/b][/url] | Haiti         | 131st (+12)   | Gold Cup Group Stage; resigned June 2015
[b][url="http://community.sigames.com/showthread.php/307332-The-Reinvention-of-Dustin-Powers-International-Manager-of-Mystery?p=7887107&viewfull=1#post7887107"]2015[/url][/b] | Honduras      | 30th          | Took job June 2015
[/font][font=courier new][b][url="http://community.sigames.com/showthread.php/307332-The-Reinvention-of-Dustin-Powers-International-Manager-of-Mystery?p=7900475&viewfull=1#post7900475"]2016[/url] [/b]| Honduras      | 35th (-5)     | Reached 4th Round of WCQ; Olympics[/font] [font=courier new]Group Stage
[b][url="http://community.sigames.com/showthread.php/307332-The-Reinvention-of-Dustin-Powers-International-Manager-of-Mystery?p=7904723&viewfull=1#post7904723"]2017[/url][/b] | Honduras      | 40th (-5)     | Copa Centroamericano Finalists; Gold Cup Semi-finalists; Qualified for World Cup
[/font][font=courier new][url="http://community.sigames.com/showthread.php/307332-The-Reinvention-of-Dustin-Powers-International-Manager-of-Mystery?p=7912815&viewfull=1#post7912815"][b]2018[/b][/url] | Honduras      | 20th (+20)    | World Cup Second Round[/font][font=courier new]
[/font][font=courier new][url="http://community.sigames.com/showthread.php/307332-The-Reinvention-of-Dustin-Powers-International-Manager-of-Mystery?p=7920331&viewfull=1#post7920331"][b]2019[/b][/url] | Honduras      | 34th (-14)    | [/font][font=courier new]Copa Centroamericano Winners; Gold Cup Finalists[/font][font=courier new]
[b]2020[/b] | Honduras      | 27th (+7)     | Resigned June 2020
[b]2020[/b] | England       | 1st (-)       | Took job June 2020
[/font]

[DodgeeD]

2020 International Review

Three major finals took place in the calender year:

Euro 2020 Final: England 1, Italy 0*

OCE Nations Cup Final: New Zealand 5, Fiji 0

Olympics Final: Mexico U23s 4, Chile U23s 1 (forgot the screenshot again!)

December 2020 World Rankings

Next year will see the African Cup of Nations, Gold Cup, Mediterranean Games and U20 World Cup take place. England will also be in action in the Confederation Cup with the group draw as follows:

That should be a straightforward group to get out of. A final against Italy beckons!

[markyosullivan]

Should have no problems in your group, the other group looks a lot tougher

[DodgeeD]

Hmmm, England to host Euro 2028 - that could give me enough incentive to stay in this job for a long time:

Not sure why the English FA is planning to build new stadiums in Holland though! :confused:

[DodgeeD]

Should have no problems in your group, the other group looks a lot tougher

My thoughts exactly

[deltablue]

Not sure why the English FA is planning to build new stadiums in Holland though! :confused:

Rather funny though.

[Razer82]

Good luck with England, should be able to take them to a couple of trophies especially seeing what you were able to do with Honduras.

Do you think the job will keep you interested until 2028?

[cerud]

2028 is a few years away. I guess they need that to annex Holland first

[DodgeeD]

Good luck with England, should be able to take them to a couple of trophies especially seeing what you were able to do with Honduras.

Do you think the job will keep you interested until 2028?

Not sure about that to be honest. If I don't win Euro 2024, I mgiht stay to have another crack...

2028 is a few years away. I guess they need that to annex Holland first

Or this may just be SI pre-empting Platini's idea to have Euro matches in multiple countries

[DodgeeD]

2021 England Update: World Cup Qualifying & A Spring Friendly

The New Year had a slow start with just three games organised before the end of the domestic season. Spain were our first opponents of the year, coming to Wembley for a friendly in February. We outplayed them enjoying more possession and more chances. Goals from Jay Rodriguez and Dan Winnett meant the absence of Don Sheldon was not felt as we won the game 2-0.

The following month, Montenegro came to town for a World Cup qualifier. We tore into them with Phil Jones scoring with just 30 seconds on the clock. He added another midway through the first half before a Wayne Rooney double and an injury time strike from winger Shaun Cheetham put us 5-0 up at the break. Both Jones and Rooney completed their hat-tricks in the second half, giving us an emphatic 7-0 win.

Just after the conclusion of the domestic season, we made the short journey to Cardiff to take on Wales. Don Sheldon was back in the side and, when he opened the scoring after three minutes, the Welsh must have feared the worst. We did go on to dominate the game but we couldn't add to our total despite several clear cut chances and had to settle for a 1-0 win.

That leaves us well-positioned at the top of our group and gives us a good run of form to take to the Confederations Cup.

[FMtillidie]

good wins mate.

[DodgeeD]

2021 Confederations Cup

Hosts: Qatar

Holders: Uruguay

With summer upon us, we travelled to the Middle East to take our place as European Champions in the Confederations Cup. There was time for just one warm-up game but it was not a great one as we stopped over in Saudi Arabia and were on the wrong end of a 1-0 scoreline. Nevertheless, I was confident of doing well and felt we had a good chance of reaching the FA's expectation of winning it.

Group Stage

After the shock defeat to the Saudis, we seemed a bit nervy in our opening game against Asian champions Iran. An own goal gave us the lead but we let the Iranians pull level before Don Sheldon gave us a half-time lead. Sheldon added another in the second half but we relaxed too much and let Iran pull one back late on making for a nervous final few minutes. Thankfully we held on for a 3-2 win. A much better performance was expected against Qatar and that's exactly what we gave. 9-0 was the final score as the hosts were torn to shreds. Sheldon grabbed 4 and I felt glad I had turned down the chance to manage Qatar while still at Honduras. Those two wins meant the last game against Colombia was just to decide who would top the group. Sheldon scored the only goal of the game early on to give us a 1-0 victory and top spot in the group.

Semi-final

The only downside of topping the group was that Italy had slipped up against Ghana and come second in Group A. That meant a clash between the number 1 and 2 ranked sides in the world. We needn't have worried however as we made our chances count in a 4-1 win. The game was actually closer than the scoreline suggests but we were more clinical in front of goal and took advantage of the gaps Italy left at the back to score two late goals.

Final

Ghana, having beaten Colombia in the other semi, awaited in the final. We dominated the early exchanges with Winnett and Sheldon scoring in the opening 15 minutes. Chamberlain added a third before the half hour mark and Winnett then scored his second before half-time. We eased off a little in the second half and Ghana pulled one back but it was a comfortable win in the end, the 4-1 result earning me my first trophy as England manager.

England also dominated the post-tournament awards with Joe Hart picking up the Best Goalkeeper award, Don Sheldon finishing as Top Scorer and the whole team collecting the Fair Play Award having not been shown a single card throughout the tournament.

[AK22]

Excellent start with England! Even if it is only the Confed Cup, we'll still take it

[deltablue]

Great win in the Confed.