Russia Premier League - Predictions, Tips, Statistics
- Russia Premier League - Predictions, Tips, Statistics
- Russia Premier League Predictions and Tips - predictZ.com
- Free Russia Premier League Predictions and Betting Tips
- Russia 1. Division Predictions, Tips and Game Previews ...
- Russia Premier League Predictions, Tips and Game Previews ...
- Russia Premier League - Predictions, Tips, Statistics
- Russia 1. Division Predictions and Tips - predictZ.com
- Russian Premier League Predictions & Tips
russia league score prediction
russia league score prediction - win
[English Football] How the greatest flowering of football talent since 1966 gave the tabloids a decade of material
The first four parts of this series covered Nottingham Forest, Notts County, Derby County/Leeds United, and Stoke City. This episode in English Football Drama is going national. After four episodes diving into the circus that is Midlands football, we turn our attentions to England's national football team. This episode will focus on the 21st century up until about the 2010 World Cup, as the 'Golden Generation' of young English talent failed to achieve for country the glories that so many of them achieve for their club. There will be a bigger focus on off-the-pitch stories and tabloid scandals here, although obviously football is central. In the era before the general sanitisation of the English tabloid press, players on the national team were up there with the royal family for gossip reporting and red-top scandals. And scandals they provided. Background English football had something of a renaissance in the 1990s. It ceased to be a violence-ridden sport predominantly enjoy by white working class men and became a national game in the true sense.
After the glory of winning the World Cup for the home crowd at Wembley in 1966 against the Germans, England's footballing fortunes took a nosedive. England did not qualify for the 1974 or 1978 World Cups at a time when English clubs were dominant in Europe (all European Cups from 1977-82 were won by English sides, while Leeds would have likely won in 1975 if not for some incredibly suspect refereeing at a time when bribing the officials wasn't unheard of) and the national team stagnated. Performances picked up in the 1980s, but the most notable moment for the national side in this decade was a certain Diego Maradona cementing an increasingly bitter rivalry with the Hand of God in 1986.
Off the pitch, hooliganism, often called the 'English Disease', blighted the reputation of the game at home and abroad. The socially turbulent 1970s-80s created a violent subculture at the underbelly of the sport, arguably fuelled by media sensationalism, and earnt English football supporters a terrible reputation when they supported club or country in European football competitions. The darkest moment came at the 1985 European Cup final when 39 supporters of Italian side Juventus died in a stadium collapse caused when the crowd sought to flee rioting Liverpool supporters. While there were other factors at play, the horrific scene was too much and all English clubs were banned from European football until 1990. England's participation in the 1988 European Football Championship in West Germany was like a candle which drew in the unsavoury elements of English club support and there was widespread violence between English and German hooligans around the competition.
So, in 1990 a fairly unpleasant situation? What changed?
At home measures such as the general adoption of all-seater stadiums and corresponding ticket price increases killed off much of the old 'terrace culture' around clubs. The government had made it possible to ban convicted hooligans from attending any match and in some cases from leaving the country during a major international tournament. The issue was good optics for Margaret Thatcher and her general commitment in government to the traditional safe Tory issue of law and order.
The 1990 World Cup in Italy was the start of football's image change. England did better than usual, making it to the semi-final before what would become a highly common event. Losing penalties to Germany. Their success and the resonance of Paul Gascoigne
crying on the pitch owing to his sheer pashun took football to a wider audience.
But in 1996, football
came home. England hosted Euro 96 and a famous song by comedians David Baddiel and Frank Skinner epitomised the optimism of football's home nation during the festival-like competition with a sentimental nod to 'Thirty Years of Hurt' since 1966, the year that has weighed down England ever since. But above all, it showed supporting England as a thing that normal and respectable people did. The awarding of the competition to England was a major sign from world football that the 'bad old days' were over, and the competition went ahead in a positive atmosphere. There was just one small hitch, once again involving a penalty shoot out against Germany as England once again lost in that accursed format.
Things weren't perfect by the end of the decade and some of the old problems persisted. A 1995 friendly against Ireland in Dublin was abandoned owing to a riot by a group of English hooligans affiliated to various far-right organisations, and there was trouble at both the 1998 World Cup and Euro 00. But it was a far cry from previous decades, and there was a new optimism in the air about the English national team.
The Golden Generation At the turn of the century, England had a huge amount of young and promising talent who would surely end the pain and bring the World Cup home once again. Players who would go onto become legends for their clubs such as right midfielder David Beckham, centre forward Michael Owen, central midfielder Steven Gerrard, and centre half Rio Ferdinand had all come of age. Manchester United's 1999 Champions League win was the first one for an English side since Liverpool in 1984, and it signalled a return to Europe's top competitions for English sides.
What better to signal a new era than by absolutely stuffing the main rivals? After the 1966 World Cup final, penalty agony in 1990 and 1996 and various other historical events, Germany became the team English fans wanted to beat the most. The tabloids revelled in the rivalry with their
diplomatic headlines and terrace classics such as 'Ten German Bombers' and 'Two World Wars and One World Cup' remained commonplace. For their part, German fans tend to regard the Netherlands as their primary football rival.
And stuff them they did. In a World Cup qualifier in Munich in 2001, Germany suffered their first ever home loss in a World Cup qualifier as England
beat them 5-1. This was a massive vindication of England's young side and the new manager Sven Goran Erikkson, who had received some scepticism as England's first foreign manager. German fans consoled themselves with
the Dutch failure to qualify for the 2002 World Cup, but it marked a new era for England.
The side that humbled Germany included the core of the 'Golden Generation' with Gary Neville, Ashley Cole, Steven Gerrard, Rio Ferdinand, Sol Campbell, David Beckham, Paul Scholes, Emile Heskey, Michael Owen, and Jamie Carragher all appearing.
The CEO of the Football Association, Adam Crozier, publicly described this cohort as the 'Golden Generation' who would go on to do for England what many of them were already doing for their clubs.
Japan 2002 England qualified for the 2002 World Cup in Japan in true fashion, with a
David Beckham free kick past Greece putting England through. David Beckham had rapidly become the poster boy for the Golden Generation owing to his skill with free kicks and his glamorous appearance and personal life, including being married to the famous pop star Victoria Beckham, known as 'Posh Spice' in the Spice Girls.
Quick stop off for the first affair to be dragged through the tabloids on the way to Japan. In the spring of 2002, it turned out that Anglo-Swedish TV presenter Ulrika Jonsson had been
having an affair with Sven. The News of the World (Britain's premier sleaze rag/newspaper, known as the News of the Screws in satirical magazine Private Eye or if you're my great-granddad, as the Whore's Gazette) absolutely loved a bit of sleaze. So much, in fact, they gave
Ulrika a column for the next four years so she could launch the odd diatribe at Sven and his unconventional personal life.
Sven was bullish about England's chances in 2002, in a formula which would become predictable, he expected that
this year would be the year.
To be fair, it started well. A group stage tie with Argentina gave England a chance to give a bloody nose to another rival. Owing to the 1982 Falklands War and Diego Maradona's 'Hand of God' in 1986, Argentina normally sits 3rd in the list of international footballing rivalries after Germany and Scotland. I remember as a fairly young child my parents explaining to me that the Argies were a 'dirty' side after the Hand of God and an acrimonious game in the 1998 World Cup and that beating them was pretty much essential. So, it was to relief all round when David Beckham scored from a penalty.
Draws with Sweden and Nigeria took England into the Round of 16, amusingly at the expense of Argentina who were 2002's shock group stage exit. England brushed Denmark aside 3-0 to set themselves up for a quarter final tie with the favourites and eventual champions, Brazil.
Was this to be England's year? Victory against Brazil would likely assure playing Germany in the final given the probability of beating Senegal or Turkey in the semi-final (so goes the England fan's logic) and we would doubtless give Jerry another pasting to make it Two World Wars and Two World Cups. The nation was abuzz. I willingly went to school early to watch it on the projector, the only time I've ever turned up a minute early of my own free will.
And Brazil won. Well, they were going to, weren't they? A good Michael Owen goal set England up for a 1-0 win and dreams of glory in Tokyo, but Messrs Ronaldo and Rivaldo put two past David Seaman to knock England out.
The circular firing squad and media postmortem was mysteriously absent. Brazil had some truly sublime talents, and surely a young side would come good and win it next time, wouldn't they?
The Road to Euro 04 A few distractions to get through before we get into the meat of England's next footballing failure. In late 2003 England played a friendly against Australia which was notable for two things. England were roundly beaten by Australia, a nation with whom England has fierce cricket and rugby rivalries but doesn't generally register in football, to echoes of condemnation. And a young Wayne Rooney became the youngest player to ever play for England, aged just 17. More on him later.
England's qualification for Euro 04 was generally uneventful, except for a shock draw to Macedonia, involving this
filthy banger direct from a corner.
Rio Ferdinand managed to get an eight month ban from football by
missing a drugs test. This was a blow as it removed one of Sven's two preferred centre halves from the squad. It also removed one of the main drama generators, a man who had gained notoriety in
2000, when Channel 4 aired a sex tape featuring him and fellow internationals Kieron Dyer and Frank Lampard filmed on holiday in Cyprus. Fortunately for us, his ban allowed an even more sublime drama king to take centre stage. Enter John Terry. Another new appearance was Chelsea teammate Wayne Bridge. More on them later.
Penalties, again? Euro 04 started strong with an early goal from Frank Lampard against France. France, despite being England's rivals of choice in most fields, is not an especially strong football rivalry. The idea of France as a major footballing nation is relatively new and as far as football goes there isn't any real bad blood. Even Zinedine Zidane's injury time equaliser and winner didn't create any lasting resentment.
Comfortable wins over Switzerland and Croatia put England 2nd in the group and set them up for a draw against host nation Portugal. Of course, Portugal had their own wonderkid as the world was introduced to a certain Cristiano Ronaldo. The two sides drew 2-2 after extra time and the dreaded penalties loomed. Fear not, for dead-ball specialist David Beckham stepped up to the mark for his country.
Well. Beckham joined Stuart 'Psycho' Pearce and Gareth Southgate in the list of players who gained notoriety for fluffing a penalty.
Sven started to come under criticism in the tabloids for his failure to deliver the goods. He came under more criticism when he, once again,
couldn't keep it in his trousers, starting a proud tradition for the Golden Generation to become better known for tabloid gossip.
Young Rooney started strong as well, as it turned out that
he had shagged a granny in a Liverpool brothel. Hopes of an incognito quickie with a lady of the night were dashed when a group of Everton fans (Rooney's then-club and boyhood team) found out and started chanting his name outside when he was doing the dirty.
At about this time, Ashley Cole began a relationship with the professional Geordie and pop star Cheryl Tweedy, a saga which would keep the News of the Screws engaged for some years.
Possibly the only bad thing about that sordid rag going under in 2011 is that I'm having a hell of a time finding the original news articles for this write up.
The Old Enemy Beckons The 2006 World Cup is now on the horizon. And who is hosting it, other than Germany? What a coup it would be for the boys and England's national pride for, in a story lifted from a campy 1950s war film, our plucky boys to parachute in Berlin and win the World Cup from right under Fritz's nose?
Well, if they could get there. Northern Ireland, traditionally footballing minnows, beat England 1-0 in a qualifier. This was Sven's first defeat in a qualifier but the tabloids attacked his playing style and, being a Swede, the lack of pashun and dersiah that a redblooded Englishman would have. England did qualify with a match to spare, so surely it would be a smooth ride to Germany and for our plucky heroes to take on the Hun and win?
Like fuck it would. Sven managed to get into the tabloids
again. At the time, the News of the Screws employed an undercover journalist who specialised in 'sting' stories aimed at prominent figures. Mazher Mahmood was popularly known as the 'Fake Sheikh' owing to his tendency to masquerade as an Arab oil sheikh. He approached Sven as an Arab businessman hoping to invest in English football, and Sven seemingly said told Mahmood to buy Aston Villa (a respectable Premier League side from Birmingham) as he hoped to take the Villa job after the 2006 World Cup and bring David Beckham in from Real Madrid to be his captain. The imbroglio fatally undermined Sven, who was forced to
announce a resignation effective after the World Cup. Essentially working through his notice period, it isn't hard to see what impact on the squad that might have.
England turned up in Germany, and the tabloid media brought its legendary tact and diplomacy. England fans made
no reference to past historic events before matches. Songs like this were condemned in the respectable press which saw them as crass chants from drunken shirtless louts, but many football fans see these chants as lighthearted banter.
On the pitch England beat Paraguay and Trinidad in the group stages before another turgid draw with Sweden, putting England through to the Round of 16 at the top of their group.
Sven began to deviate from the traditional 442 formation, using Rooney up front alone and playing a third man in central midfield, usually Michael Carrick. We'll talk a little more about the significance of 442 in a bit.
A 1-0 win over Ecuador set England up for another quarter-final tie, this time against Portugal, who had knocked them out on penalties in 2004.
Surely England wouldn't be knocked out on penalties by Portugal again would they? Curses aren't real surely?
A 0-0 snooze fest led to the inevitable. And the inevitable happened. England's players missed
three penalties. This was now becoming a serious mental block, with England going out of the 1990, 1998, and 2006 World Cups on penalties as well as Euro 96 and 04.
It wasn't Sven's problem now. As agreed with the FA, he left the role thereafter. But who could replace him?
The Wally with a Brolly After the pashunless Sven, it was time to get a proper Englishman back in charge. Enter Steve McClaren. McClaren had proper club pedigree, taking Middlesbrough to a UEFA Cup Final in 2006 after winning a League Cup in 2004.
His first media scandal came when the News of the Screws claimed Ashley Cole had taken part in a homosexual orgy. They
settled out of court and retracted the stories but this was just another time in which the tabloid press pursued sensational stories about members of the England team.
McClaren gave John Terry the captaincy and dropped David Beckham from his line ups. There was a period of poor form in which England scored once in five matches, followed by when he told a press conference they could write what they wanted after a lacklustre win over Andorra because he wasn't going to
say anything else. McClaren recalled David Beckham and form picked up once again. It wasn't enough though, as England lost against Russia before the final gameday of the qualification cycle for Euro 08. This meant that England had to avoid defeat against Croatia, who obligingly beat England 3-2 at Wembley while Russia took 2nd place with a win over minnows Andorra. This was the first time in 24 years that England had not qualified for a European Championship.
The Daily Mail's headline the next day became one of those legendary headlines that goes down in a country's collective pop-culture memory.
The Wally with a Brolly epitomised what was then the shortest ever tenure in the England job.
Who could possibly prepare the club for the 2010 World Cup after a period sat on the sidelines of international football?
Enter Fabio Fabio Cappello was another foreign hiring. He was widely welcomed in the English press as a notorious disciplinarian who could curb the excesses allowed under the relaxed Sven and the disastrous McClaren.
Fabio rigidly played 442 football. In England, 442 is more than a football formation, it is a way of life. 442 means standing up for traditional no-nonsense English values like work ethic, pluck, and willingness to die for the team over fancy foreigners with their poncy passing skills. This initially endeared him to the press, which demanded nothing more than the most patriotic form of football involved.
Capello saw Beckham dropped once again for his initial set of friendly matches. In goal he started to play David 'Calamity' James, who was perhaps unfairly scapegoated for being a somewhat eccentric keeper prone to errors.
In the 2010 qualification group, England did very well. They comfortably qualified, including with a win over Germany to keep the fans happy, and everyone looked forward to watching England bring it home from the first ever African World Cup.
But first, an interlude for the biggest of the tabloid shitstorms.
Viva John Terry In January 2010 a certain individual successfully placed a 'Superinjunction' preventing details of an extra-marital affairs being published. The existence of the injunction was also not to be revealed.
Another judge overruled this and the News of the Screws was free to report the information it had. Namely, John Terry had an affair with the partner of Wayne Bridge, former Chelsea teammate and current England teammate. Wayne Bridge in the end wasn't involved in the 2010 World Cup, but many were naturally shocked a captain would do something like this to a team member.
At the time there was a prominent scandal around the use of 'injunctions' by high profile people exploiting England's lax law on these issues, and John Terry was merely one of several.
In any case, the News of the Screws
ended up apologising to the woman involved, in a fairly remarkable move which in hindsight was an early indication of the radical shifts in the tabloid press during the early 10s.
John Terry was stripped of the captaincy for the first time and replaced with Rio Ferdinand for the upcoming World Cup.
Germany, again? It started so well. England was put into a relatively soft group on paper and were the clear favourites.
The Sun's legendary tact once again.
Match number one of 'HMS Piss the Group' was against the USA. Again, not really a footballing nation, the expectation of an easy win was high. It started well with an early goal from Steven Gerrard before a goalkeeping error etched into my mind today.
Rob Green mishandled a save, giving Clint Dempsey a goal. A frustrating 0-0 draw with Algeria indicated something was going wrong.
Were England about to be knocked out of an allegedly soft group? Fortunately a goal against Slovenia rescued it, but England finished 2nd in the group behind the USA, leading to a Round of 16 tie against Germany.
Once again, the red tops employed their legendary diplomacy Did it go to penalties? No, but don't breathe a sigh of relief yet.
England got stuffed 4-1. Properly stuffed. The only consolation was that an obvious Frank Lampard goal was not awarded because the linesman didn't see it properly. In the days before VAR it really was that rudimentary. The reason this mattered was because England had been awarded a similarly controversial goal in the 1966 World Cup final, many Germans reassured themselves knowing that it could have gone so differently if Hurst's 2nd goal hadn't been allowed. At least they were now even on the controversial crossbar goal count.
Was this a consolation to the press?
Of course not Once again, the red tops hounded a squad who had failed to live up to the increasingly lofty expectations.
But at least Wayne Rooney got one more romp in the tabloids out, as it turned out he had paid hush money to a high-class escort he had been 'seeing'.
Viva John Terry 2 Fabio quietly gave John Terry the captaincy back. He still had one shitstorm left in him. And it was ugly. He was accused of calling Anton Ferdinand, brother of Rio, a 'fucking black cunt' during a game between Chelsea and West London neighbours Queen's Park Rangers. After being charged by police for using racist language, Terry was once again stripped of the England captaincy, which went to Steven Gerrard.
Fabio, who had come under heavy fire after the 2010 World Cup, resigned over this. He didn't want to take the captaincy from John Terry but the FA forced his hand and he left the role in early 2012.
John Terry was actually acquitted of racially abusing Anton Ferdinand in a criminal trial, but an FA hearing found him guilty and punished him with a fairly short ban. This was controversial because of the different standards of proof. A conviction in English criminal courts needs proof 'beyond reasonable doubt', whereas the FA hearing used civil rules where guilt is based on the balance of probabilities. Terry apologised for his language, but he retained the Chelsea captaincy and never directly apologised to Anton.
Epilogue With Fabio's departure the classic 'Golden Generation' era ended, even though players like Gerrard and Lampard still turned out for England. In the interests of time and length I shall give a summary until about 2016 before wrapping up.
Roy Hodgson managed England from 2012-6. England were eliminated in the group stage of the 2014 World Cup after losing to Uruguay and Italy and drawing to Costa Rica. Ironically Italy, the other team expected to go to the knockouts, was the other eliminated side. This was a bigger trauma than 2010, although massive changes in journalism (such as the News of the Screws closing down and far stricter regulation) meant that there was less of the constant tabloid coverage of the fallout.
2016 saw a decent showing in Euro 16, but once again the media got cocky before a tie against a theoretically weaker side only for England to get knocked out by them. Bravo Iceland.
Sam Allardyce replaced Roy Hodgson and lasted a grand total of two months before being caught telling undercover journalists how to get around various financial rules in football before criticising previous managers and some of his players.
Finally, Gareth Southgate came and has seemingly reinvented the side, making it to the semi-finals in 2018. But at least it wasn't penalties then.
Why did the Golden Generation Fail? On paper they should have been at the top of the game. Pep Guardiola compared them to the Spanish flowering of talent which led to their 2010 World Cup win. There are a few factors here.
- The team's philosophy didn't really work. There was never a coherent playing style for the national team which players would be selected around or moulded into. Rather, managers tended to make systems work around players even if they didn't gel well.
- Rivalries in the squad. It probably reflects on English football well that there are several top end teams who compete for titles and European qualification, rather than the perhaps less exciting one club dominance of Germany and Italy or the duopolies of Scotland and Spain. But, Gerrard and Lampard seemed to struggle when paired and their club rivalries may have played a part. The bulk of the squad came from three clubs, Manchester United, Liverpool, and Chelsea who all won Champion's League honours at some point in the early 21st century and regularly competed for titles and domestic cups. Could they switch off the rivalries when on national duty?
- Finally, the press. We have gone through the tabloid obsession with these footballers and their personal lives. We have also discussed the cycle of bullishness followed by anger which follows the inevitable defeats. Is it unreasonable for a young adult to find these pressures too much? Probably not. Above all, it is hard to escape how much better England appear to play now that the press is less hostile towards the side, that their manager is a more nurturing figure, and that the sleazy red tops have either gone the way of the dodo (News of the Screws) or been forced to fundamentally change their approach in response to heightened regulation and changing social mores.
submitted by generalscruff to HobbyDrama [link] [comments]
Game Preview Week 16 Philadelphia Eagles (4-9-1) @ Dallas Cowboys (5-9)
| Philadelphia Eagles (4-9-1) vs Dallas Cowboys (5-9) |
| As of this writing, the Eagles still have a shot to win the division, which is fortunate or unfortunate depending on what side of that argument you are on, however for that to happen the Redskins have to lose and the Eagles will have to take care of business tomorrow vs the Cowboys to keep that hope alive. The job will not be as easy as the first win where Andy Dalton missed the game and the Eagles faced Ben Narducci. Additionally the Eagles secondary is more banged up this time around. However offensively the Eagles will also look different as they will have Sanders and Desean Jackson who missed the first contest, but perhaps the biggest change will be at QB where Jalen Hurts will be making his 3rd start for the Eagles after two impressive outings vs the Saints and the Cardinals. Hurts will face a Cowboys defense that has been playing much better of late especially at causing turnovers and getting to the QB. Hurts will need to keep what he has been doing and escaping the pocket when he feels it closing on him and getting rid of it when he needs to. I think this game will come down to protecting the football and establishing the run, whichever team can do that should take the W and keep their playoff hopes alive with a Redskins loss. |
| Date |
| Sunday, December 27th, 2020 |
| Game Time | Game Location |
| 4:05 PM - Eastern | AT&T Stadium |
| 3:05 PM - Central | 1 AT&T Way |
| 2:05 PM - Mountain | Arlington, TX 76011 |
| 1:05 PM - Pacific | Wikipedia - Map |
| Weather Forecast |
| Stadium Type: Retractable Roof |
| Surface: Grass |
| Temperature: 72°F |
| Feels Like: 72°F |
| Forecast: Clear. Windy in the morning. |
| Chance of Precipitation: 0% |
| Cloud Coverage: 6% |
| Wind: Northwest 12 MPH |
| Betting Odds |
| Oddsshark Information |
| Favorite/Opening Line: Eagles -2.5 |
| OveUnder: 49.5 |
| Record VS. Spread: Philadelphia 5-9, Dallas 4-10 |
| Where to Watch on TV |
| FOX will broadcast Sunday’s game to a regional audience. Kenny Albert will handle the play-by-play duties and Jonathan Vilma will provide analysis. Shannon Spake will report from the sidelines. |
| TV Map - Week 16 TV Coverage Map |
| Listen to Merrill Reese and Mike Quick |
| Calling the game on 94WIP and the Eagles Radio Network will be Merrill Reese, the NFL’s longest-tenured play-by-play announcer (44th season). Joining Reese in the radio booth will be former Eagles All-Pro wide receiver Mike Quick, while Howard Eskin will report from the sidelines. |
| Location | Station | Frequency |
| Philadelphia, PA | WIP-FM | 94.1 FM and 610 AM |
| Allentown, PA | WCTO-FM | 96.1 FM |
| Atlantic City/South Jersey | WENJ-FM | 97.3 FM |
| Levittown, PA | WBCB-AM | 1490 AM |
| Northumberland, PA | WEGH-FM | 107.3 FM |
| Pottsville, PA | WPPA-AM | 1360 AM |
| Reading, PA | WEEU-AM | 830 AM |
| Salisbury/Ocean City, MD | WAFL-FM | 97.7 FM |
| Wilkes-Barre/Scranton, PA | WEJL-FM | 96.1 FM |
| Salisbury/Ocean City, MD | WAFL-FM | 97.7 FM |
| Salisbury/Ocean City, MD | WEJL-AM | 630 AM |
| Salisbury/Ocean City, MD | WBAX-AM | 1240 AM |
| Williamsport, PA | WBZD-FM | 93.3 FM |
| Wilmington, DE | WDEL-FM/AM | 101.7 FM |
| York/LancasteHarrisburg, PA | WSOX-FM | 96.1 FM |
| Philadelphia Spanish Radio |
| Rickie Ricardo and Bill Kulik will handle the broadcast in Spanish on Mega 105.7 FM in Philadelphia and the Eagles Spanish Radio Network. |
| Location | Station | Frequency |
| Philadelphia, PA | LA MEGA | 105.7 FM |
| Allentown, PA | WSAN | 1470 AM |
| Atlantic City, NJ | WIBG | 1020 AM; 101.3 FM |
| Dallas Radio |
| Dallas Cowboys Radio Network Brad Sham returns for his 42nd season in the Dallas Cowboys radio booth. Beloved by Cowboys fans, Sham's award winning play-by-play has provided the soundtrack to many of the most memorable moments in Dallas Cowboys history. Babe Laufenberg returns as the Network's full-time color analyst. A fixture on the sideline, veteran reporter Kristi Scales provides instant updates from the field. |
| Station | Eagles Channel | Cowboys Channel |
| Sirius Radio | SIRI 137 (Streaming 825) | SIRI 83 (Streaming 823) |
| XM Radio | XM 380 (Streaming 825) | XM 225 (Streaming 823) |
| Sirius XM Radio | SXM 380 (Streaming 825) | SXM 225 (Streaming 823) |
| NFC EAST | Record | PCT | Home | Road | Div | Conf | PF | PA | Net Pts | Streak |
| Football Team | 6-8 | .429 | 3-4 | 3-4 | 3-2 | 4-6 | 302 | 295 | +& | 1L |
| Cowboys | 5-9 | .357 | 3-4 | 2-5 | 1-3 | 4-6 | 339 | 433 | -94 | 2W |
| Giants | 5-9 | .357 | 2-5 | 3-4 | 3-2 | 4-7 | 122 | 311 | -67 | 2L |
| Eagles | 4-9-1 | .321 | 3-3-1 | 1-6 | 2-2 | 4-6 | 163 | 361 | -58 | 1L |
| Series Information |
| The Dallas Cowboys lead the Philadelphia Eagles (69-54) |
| Series History |
| Head to Head Box Scores |
| First Game Played |
| September 30th, 1960 at the Cotton Bowl in Dallas, TX. Dallas Cowboys 25 - Philadelphia Eagles 27 |
| Points Leader |
| The Dallas Cowboys lead the Philadelphia Eagles (2659-2424) |
| Coaches Record |
| Doug Pederson: 4-5 against the Cowboys |
| Mike McCarthy: 4-2 against Eagles |
| Coaches Head to Head |
| Doug Pederson vs Mike McCarthy: McCarthy leads 2-0 |
| Quarterback Record |
| Jalen Hurts: Against Cowboys: 0-0 |
| Andy Dalton: Against Eagles: 2-0 |
| Quarterbacks Head to Head |
| Jalen Hurts vs Andy Dalton: First Meeting |
| Records per Stadium |
| Record @ Lincoln Financial Field: Cowboys lead the Eagles: 10-8 |
| Record @ AT&T Stadium: Series tied: 6-6 |
| Rankings and Last Meeting Information |
| AP Pro 32 Ranking |
| Eagles No. 22 - Cowboys No. 24 |
| Record |
| Eagles: 4-9-1 |
| Cowboys: 5-9 |
| Last Meeting |
| Sunday, November 1st, 2020 |
| Eagles 23 - Cowboys 9 |
| Despite committing four turnovers and being held to a season-low seven first half points, Wentz and the Eagles bumbled their way to a crucial division win over an injury-ravaged Dallas Cowboys team led by rookie quarterback Ben DiNucci. The Cowboys opened the scoring on the game's opening drive with a 49-yard field goal by Greg Zuerlein. After a fumble by Wentz gave the Cowboys the ball back, the Eagles regained possession on a DiNucci fumble and took a 7–3 lead on Jalen Reagor's first career touchdown reception. The Cowboys responded with another Zuerlein field goal following Wentz's second fumble, and took a 9–7 halftime lead on a 59-yard field goal (mirroring the halftime score in Dallas in 2017, also played on Sunday Night Football). On the Eagles' second-half opening drive, Wentz would be picked off by Cowboys rookie cornerback Trevon Diggs, who returned the ball to the Dallas 31, but the Cowboys failed to capitalize when Zuerlein's ensuing 52-yard field goal attempt sailed wide right. The Eagles used the momentum swing to regain the lead 15–9 on a 9-yard Travis Fulgham touchdown reception. In the fourth quarter, T.J. Edwards strip-sacked DiNucci, and the ensuing fumble was recovered and returned 53 yards for a touchdown by Rodney McLeod. With the 23–9 win, Philadelphia improved to 3–4–1 on the season heading into their Week 9 bye. |
| Click here to view the Video recap |
| Click here to view the Stats Recap |
| Date | Winner | Loser | Score |
| 11/1/2020 | Eagles | Cowboys | 23-9 |
| 12/22/2019 | Eagles | Cowboys | 17-9 |
| 10/20/2019 | Cowboys | Eagles | 37-10 |
| 12/9/2018 | Cowboys | Eagles | 29-23 |
| 11/11/2018 | Cowboys | Eagles | 27-20 |
| 12/31/2017 | Cowboys | Eagles | 6-0 |
| 11/19/2017 | Eagles | Cowboys | 37-9 |
| 1/1/2017 | Eagles | Cowboys | 27-13 |
| 10/30/2016 | Cowboys | Eagles | 29-23 |
| 11/8/2015 | Eagles | Cowboys | 33-27 |
| 2020 Stats (Starters/Leaders) |
Passing | Name | CMP | ATT | PCT | YDS | TD | INT | RAT |
| Hurts | 49 | 89 | 55.1% | 647 | 5 | 1 | 92.3 |
| Dalton | 165 | 256 | 68.0% | 1549 | 11 | 6 | 85.6 |
Rushing | Name | ATT | YDS | YDS/G | AVG | TD |
| Sanders | 149 | 810 | 73.6 | 5.4 | 5 |
| Elliott | 211 | 832 | 64.0 | 3.9 | 5 |
Receiving | Name | REC | YDS | YDS/G | AVG | TD |
| Fulgham | 35 | 497 | 45.2 | 14.2 | 4 |
| Cooper | 82 | 952 | 68.9 | 11.6 | 5 |
Sacks | Name | Sacks | Team Total |
| Graham | 7.0 | 44 |
| Lawrence | 5.5 | 26 |
Tackles | Name | Total | Solo | Assist | Sacks |
| Singleton | 98 | 62 | 36 | 1.0 |
| Smith | 133 | 74 | 59 | 1.5 |
Interceptions | Name | Ints | Team Total |
| Singleton/McLeod/Mills/Riley/Epps | 1 | 5 |
| Diggs2 | 7 | |
Punting | Name | ATT | YDS | LONG | AVG | NET | IN 20 | TB | BP |
| Johnston | 66 | 2909 | 66 | 47.7 | 41.3 | 21 | 5 | 0 |
| Niswander | 16 | 759 | 58 | 47.4 | 43.6 | 7 | 1 | 0 |
Kicking | Name | ATT | MADE | % | LONG | PAT |
| Elliot | 18 | 13 | 72.2% | 54 | 20/22 |
| Zuerlein | 34 | 27 | 79.4% | 59 | 28/31 |
Kick Returns | Name | ATT | YDS | AVG | LONG | TD |
| Scott | 25 | 532 | 21.3 | 46 | 0 |
| Pollard | 29 | 705 | 24.3 | 67 | 0 |
Punt Returns | Name | RET | YDS | AVG | LONG | TD | FC |
| Ward | 17 | 116 | 6.8 | 22 | 0 | 17 |
| Lamb | 21 | 168 | 8.0 | 27 | 0 | 7 |
Offense Rankings | Category | Eagles Stat | Eagles Rank | Cowboys Stat | Cowboys Rank |
| Total Offense | 332.9 | 22nd | 366.4 | 15th |
| Rush Offense | 125.6 | 10th | 109.2 | 19th |
| Pass Offense | 207.4 | 27th | 257.1 | 11th |
| Points Per Game | 21.6 | 25th | 24.2 | 18th(t) |
| 3rd-Down Offense | 37.0% | 29th | 40.5% | 20th |
| 4th-Down Offense | 41.6% | 27th | 53.3% | 18th(t) |
| Red Zone Offense (TD%) | 62.5% | 14th | 53.5% | 26th |
Defense Rankings | Category | Eagles Stat | Eagles Rank | Cowboys Stat | Cowboys Rank |
| Total Defense | 360.9 | 20th | 383.6 | 24th |
| Rush Defense | 125.6 | 23rd(t) | 161.8 | 32nd |
| Pass Defense | 235.1 | 16th | 221.8 | 8th |
| Points Per Game | 25.8 | 21st | 30.9 | 31st |
| 3rd-Down Defense | 37.2% | 6th | 49.2% | 29th |
| 4th-Down Defense | 38.9% | 4th | 47.4% | 12th |
| Red Zone Defense (TD%) | 65.8% | 25th | 62.8% | 16th(t) |
Team | Category | Eagles Stat | Eagles Rank | Cowboys Stat | Cowboys Rank |
| Turnover Diff. | -7 | 27th(t) | -6 | 25th(t) |
| Penalties/Game | 6.4 | 24th | 6.1 | 22nd |
| Penalty Yards/Game | 49.8 | 18th | 51.3 | 21st(t) |
| Connections |
| Eagles S Jalen Mills was born in Dallas and grew up in DeSoto, TX and went to Desoto High School. |
| Cowboys DB Coach Al Harris played 5 seasons for the Eagles from 1998-2002. |
| Cowboys DT Justin Hamilton played one season for the Eagles in 2017. |
| Cowboys Assistant Director of Video Stephen Gagliardino began his NFL career in 1995 as a ball boy with the Philadelphia Eagles when he was 16 years old, working training camp and game days at Veterans Stadium. He did that for four seasons before moving over to the Eagles video department in 1999, where he worked full time as an intern for three seasons (1999-2001). |
| Many Cowboys fans were born and raised in the Greater Philadelphia Area, however have no ties to Dallas nor have ever been to the city. |
| Eagles DT Fletcher Cox and Cowboys QB Dak Prescott played together at Mississippi State University when Prescott was a red shirt freshman. |
| Eagles OT Lane Johnson is from Groveton, TX and has family who are Cowboys fans including his grandmother who was told “Shut up, if you want to see 75” while she was rooting for the Cowboys. |
2020 Pro Bowlers | Eagles | Cowboys |
| DT Fletcher Cox (Starter) | |
| DE Brandon Graham (Starter) | |
| C Jason Kelce (Starter) | |
| General |
| Referee: Shawn Smith |
| Jalen Hurts is the only QB in NFL history to amass 500+ passing yards and 150+ rushing yards in their first 2 career starts (Week 14 vs. New Orleans – 167 passing, 106 rushing; Week 15 at Ar-izona – 338 passing, 63 rushing). In Week 15 at Arizona, Hurts became the first Eagles QB to register 300+ passing yards, 3+ passing TDs and 1+ rushing TDs in a single game since Michael Vick on 11/15/10 at Washington. |
| Fletcher Cox (T-5th among NFL DTs with 6.5 sacks this season) has collected all of his six career Pro Bowl nods in the last six seasons, tying Pete Pihos (1951-56) for the 2nd-longest streak in franchise history, behind Reggie White (seven, 1987-93). His six Pro Bowls are also the most ever by an Eagles DT. |
| Jason Kelce now owns the most Pro Bowl selections (four) by a center in Eagles history as well as the 2nd-most by any offensive lineman in team history, trailing only Jason Peters (seven). Kelce has started 103 consecutive regular-season contests, which is the longest active streak among NFL centers. |
| Brandon Graham has earned his first career Pro Bowl honor after leading the Eagles defense in sacks (7.0), TFLs (12) and QB pres-sures and hits (36) through 14 games. He is one of only three NFL players with 7.0 sacks, 12 TFLs and 2 FFs this season (also Haason Reddick and Za’Darius Smith). |
| Eagles | Cowboys |
| WR Jalen Raegor | WR CeeDee Lamb |
| QB Jalen Hurts | CB Trevon Diggs |
| LB Davion Taylor | DT Neville Gallimore |
| S K’Von Wallace | CB Reggie Robinson II |
| OT Jack Driscoll | C Tyler Biadasz |
| WR John Hightower | DE Bradlee Anae |
| LB Shaun Bradley | QB Ben DiNucci |
| WR Quez Watkins | |
| OT Prince Tega Wanogho | |
| LB/DE Casey Toohill | |
| Notable Off-season Additions |
| Eagles | Cowboys |
| S Will Parks | QB Andy Dalton |
| DT Javon Hargrave | TE Blake Bell |
| CB Nickell Robey-Coleman | OT Cameron Erving |
| CB Darius Slay | DE Aldon Smith |
| CB Maurice Canady |
| K Greg Zuerlein |
| Notable Off-season Departures |
| Eagles | Cowboys |
| S Malcom Jenkins | WR Tavon Austin |
| CB Ronald Darby | WR Randall Cobb |
| RB Jordan Howard | WR Devin Smith |
| WR Nelson Agholor | TE Jason Witten |
| OL Halapoulivaati Vaitai | OL Cameron Fleming |
| LB Kamu Grugler-Hill | C Travis Fredrick |
| RB Darren Sproles | DE Michael Bennett |
| DT Timmy Jernigan | DE Kerry Hyder |
| LB Nigel Bradham | DE Robert Quinn |
| DT Maliek Collins |
| DT Christian Covington |
| DT Daniel Ross |
| CB Byron Jones |
| S Jeff Heath |
| K Kai Forbath |
| Milestones |
| Eagles DE Vinny Curry (29) needs 1 sacks to move up to 18th on the Eagles all-time sack list tying DT Jerome Brown |
| Food for Thought |
| Dallas' Existential Connection to Philadelphia |
| ::Movie Trailer Guy:: "In a world where people thought having someone named *Dallas Goedert on the Eagles was awkward, the truth is infinitely more awkward yet.*" If I were to tell you the county and city of Dallas might have never come to be, were it not for a prominent political figure in Philadelphian, Pennsylvanian, and national politics named Dallas would you very justifiably lord it over Cowboys fans? Over his career, George Mifflin Dallas served as the Mayor of Philadelphia, US Attorney for the Eastern District of PA, PA Attorney General, US Senator representing PA, Ambassador to Russia and later to the UK, and Vice President under Polk. He'd had Presidential ambitions, but they were dashed when his state support base of iron and coal interests turned their backs upon his tariff support about-face. Well, that and his unfortunate support for popular sovereignty, as it pertained to slavery. The prevailing theory is that in 1841 when the settlement of Dallas, Texas was established, it was named after this gentleman. And thus, Dallas would not exist today if it weren't for Philadelphia. You're welcome. |
| Matchups to Watch |
| Jalen Hurts and the Eagles Passing Attack vs. Cowboys Pass Defense |
| Dallas has a terrible defense that has profited off terrible QB play in their current two game win streak. They enter this contest Sunday going up against Jalen Hurts, who is easily the best QB they've faced since they got rolled by Lamar Jackson. This isn't to go out of the way and praise Jalen Hurts, it's just acknowledging the clear truth that Jalen Hurts is already better than Brian Allen and Nick Mullens. This Cowboys defense is short on talent and coaching which makes this matchup pretty juicy for the Eagles, even if they have a below average WR room. I've long said that Hurts should be an upgrade from Wentz whenever they decided to bench him as the 2020 version of the player was one of the worst QBs in the NFL. All Hurts had to do to be an upgrade from Wentz was eliminate the crushing negative plays, which he has. Additionally, he's been pretty good as a passer, showing growth from his time at OU in this short period of time. You'll never mistake him for having a live arm, but he plays with poise and throws with anticipation. That kind of time and anticipation can create a lot of plays through the air like we saw against the Cardinals. This offensive coaching staff still has the kid gloves on for Hurts with what they are calling, but what the offense has done thus far should be able to move the ball against this mediocre defense. Dallas struggles to defend anything which gives Reagor a chance to actually do something. Desean Jackson will play Sunday and should make an impact in however many snaps he's able to play. |
| Eagles Rushing Offense vs Dallas Rushing Defense |
| The only thing Dallas does worse than pass defense is rush defense. Since Hurts has been named the starter in Philly, the Eagles rushing attack has gotten much better. The single biggest reason for this is how defenses have to account for Jalen Hurts in the running game. The Eagles offensive line has been quite banged up this year but is still pretty good at creating holes in the running game for the RBs. Hurts naturally adds a different element to this area of the offense. Miles Sanders is slowly getting better at reading rushing lanes and actually getting tough yards vice trying to bounce carries outside. Oftentimes the OL will create rushing lanes for modest gains that can keep the offense on schedule but the RB tries to do too much and costs the offense yards. The Cowboys are the worst in the NFL allowing 5 yards per carry to opposing offenses. They've allowed the most 20+ rushing plays in the NFL. They've allowed the most first downs rushing. And they've allowed the most yards rushing in the NFL. This is a bad rush defense going up against the rushing attack that has always been able to create on the ground when they commit to it enough. I wouldn't expect a different outcome here on Sunday. |
| Eagles Secondary vs. Dallas Wide Receivers |
| This is one of the biggest mismatches in the game on Sunday but has less of a significance with Andy Dalton in at QB vice Dak Prescott, though it is a bigger challenge than Ben DiNucci. The Eagles will have Darius Slay on Sunday after clearing the concussion protocol this week. He'll likely see a lot of Amari Cooper on Sunday even though Schwartz hasn't used Slay a ton as a travel corner this season. Even if he does, the Cowboys still have Michael Gallup and CeeDee Lamb at receiver and they should be expected to win their matchups against the Eagles secondary consistently on Sunday. Avonte Maddox will miss the game; even if he played, he’s not good enough to give Gallup or Lamb much of a fight. As always, the Eagles will need their defensive line to create pressure and force Andy Dalton into mistakes which will aid the secondary; that's a matchup I would expect the Eagles DL to win pretty easily. It's another thing to ensure the Eagles secondary has this WR room in check. This secondary needs to play disciplined throughout this contest to give the defensive line time to feast. One major feature of opposition game planning we regularly see used against our defense is the quick passing game. Part of this is due to the nature of our secondary. The other reason for this is it helps neutralize a pass rush. The difference between 2.3 and 2.5 seconds in average time to throw is massive in a DL/OL mismatch like this one. Dalton is a fine backup QB at this point in his career and he is more than capable of making a mediocre secondary like Philly pay for mistakes. |
Special thanks
abenyishay and
MikeTysonChicken for his help in creating this Game Preview.
[OC] Top 25 most embarrassing matches in Poland National Team history
Post inspired by and dedicated to Jerzy Brzęczek
25. DENMARK 8-0 POLAND (Friendly, 1948) Basically a honorable mention. This friendly held shortly after the World War II still remains our highest defeat in history. Ironically, it was the only match of
Kazimierz Górski in the national team as a player. In the 70s he became the best manager in our history.
24. POLAND 0-0 (5-4 PENALTIES) NEW ZEALAND (Friendly Cup Final, 1999) The circumstances of this match are worse than the result. In June 1999, Poland NT (with squad consisting mostly of domestic league players) flew to Bangkok to take part in so-called "Four Nations Tournament" with Thailand, New Zealand and
Brazil Brazil B Brazil Z team. Occasional friendlies of Poland B in exotic places began back in the 1980s and were an opportunity for a lot of average players to make international debut. Tradition finally died in 2014, when Ekstraklasa All-Stars defeated Moldovan League All-Stars 1-0 in Abu Dhabi. Yeah, that happened.
23. JAPAN 5-0 POLAND (Friendly, 1996) Another exotic friendly, this time in Hong Kong. It's worth noting that in the 90s Ekstraklasa was nowhere as bad as it's now. 6 players from the first eleven represented Widzew Łódź - club which qualified to
Champions League just a few months later. Somehow, they managed to lost 0-5 with Japan. Fun fact: 4th goal was scored by famous Kazuyoshi Miura, who is still a professional footballer today at 53.
22. POLAND 1-3 FINLAND (EURO 2008 Qualifiers, 2006) The first EURO 2008 Qualifiers match and the second match with Dutch manager
Leo Beenhakker. After awful loss, people wondered: "If we lose at home with the Finns, what will happen in the clash with Portugal, Serbia or Belgium?" After the disastrous World Cup in Germany, we have confirmed conviction that our footballers are useless and in the future we will face only humiliation. Liverpool's goalkeeper Jerzy Dudek lost his place in the national team for 3 years.
Thankfully, later things
got better. 21. POLAND 5-0 SAN MARINO / SAN MARINO 1-5 POLAND (WC 2014 Qualifiers, 2013) Sometimes you can score 5 and your match is still embarrassing. At home Lewandowski needed two penalties to finally score his first goals in qualifiers
(he was awful at national team then). In the last minutes, San Marino had a good opportunity. A few months later, they actually managed to score an equaliser. Fornalik's tenure as a manager was a time of struggling with any team. Any...
20. MOLDOVA 1-1 POLAND (WC 2014 Qualifiers, 2013) Yes, Moldova too. Just 2 weeks earlier Błaszczykowski and Lewandowski played in Champions League final with Borussia, but their national team wasn't able to beat this powerhouse. After that match, it was clear that our chances for qualifying are only mathematical. By the way, 3 days earlier we destroyed Liechtenstein 2-0.
19. LUXEMBOURG 2-3 POLAND (EURO 2000 Qualifiers, 1999) Those were the only goals scored by Luxembourg in qualifiers. Even with such rival team, manager Janusz Wójcik (coach of Polish NT at 1992 Olympics in Barcelona, we took 2nd place) still decided to use 5 defenders. Despite winning 3-0 until the last 15 minutes, this game somehow became nervous.
18. AUSTRIA 1-1 POLAND (EURO 2008) Typical Polish scenario - qulifiers were beautiful, tournament was not. After predictable 0-2 loss with Germany in the first match, we had to face host team in traditional
mecz o wszystko (match for everything). In 30th minute naturalized Brazilian Roger Guerreiro scored an offside goal and... we didn't do much more. The last minutes of the game were pure parking bus combined with time wasting. Of course, Austrians equalised in 90+3' from unnecessary penalty. We were already wondering how to defeat Croatia in third match and then...
knife in the back. Howard Webb became public enemy number 1 in Poland, even despite fact that our goal should've been disallowed. 4 days later we lost 0-1 with Croatia.
17. NORTHERN IRELAND 3-2 POLAND (WC 2010 Qualifiers, 2009) Leo Beenhakker's second qualifiers were nowhere as successful as the first ones. Artur Boruc's mistakes (check out third goal for the Irish) deeply complicated our situation. It was possibly the worst performance of his career.
16. GEORGIA 3-0 POLAND (WC 1998 Qualifiers, 1997) Our chances for qualifying were purely theoretical before any match has even started. Losses with England and Italy were obvious. After sacking manager Antoni Piechniczek, Polish FA hired aforementioned Janusz Wójcik, hero of 1992 Olympics. His popular support dropped quickly. This game could be a reason why Wójcik's tactics became way more defensive in the following years.
15. POLAND 0-1 SLOVAKIA (WC 2010 Qualifiers, 2009) The end of qualifiers in which
we were better than only San Marino. A symbol of these times: match played with a handful of fans on almost empty stadium, snow storm, own goal. Slovaks won and celebrated their qualification, so there was immediately an element of jealousy and comparison: Why they can and we can't? Do we have smaller football potential than Slovakia?
14. POLAND 1-0 SAN MARINO (WC 1994 Qualifiers, 1993) It's hard to believe, but Fornalik era 5-0/1-5 weren't even our worst performances against this powerhouse. In 1993, we won thanks to Jan Furtok's infamous handball goal. Literal fraud saved us from a draw with bakers and waiters. Well, every country has his own Maradona.
13. SLOVAKIA 4-1 POLAND (EURO 1996 Qualifiers, 1995) The links between Polish football and logic are generally quite loose, but these qualifiers were the peak. Two draws with France, but also a terrible game with Israel. 5-0 with Slovakia at home, then 1-4 away. It was the last match of Atletico Madrid forward Roman Kosecki in the national team. He got a red card for coming off the pitch too slowly.
12. POLAND 1-3 UKRAINE (WC 2014 Qualifiers, 2013) Another match of Fornalik's tenure. He has many qualities, but was way too soft for such job. Before this game our situation was pretty good and people were fairly optimistic. Of course, we were losing 0-2 after 7 minutes. That's what happens when you have no opinions and blindly follow what pundits say (this weird squad was their idea).
11. DENMARK 4-0 POLAND (WC 2018 Qualifiers, 2017) Ironically enough, this game happened at our peak in FIFA Rankings - 5th place. Even though we qualified for 2018 World Cup easily, 0-4 loss with Denmark was extremely significant as a turning point. After the match, coach of Danish NT Ade Hareide said:
"Poles are very easy to decipher". Our manager Adam Nawałka turned out to be really insecure and changed his approach. Three at the back, a lot of new players (mainly from Ekstraklasa), unsuccessful attempts to create some plan B... The team has lost confidence. This is why Denmark was such a severe and painful defeat. It pushed us on the road that ended up in a chasm.
10. JAPAN 0-1 POLAND (WC 2018) The highest classified win in this ranking and probably the "funniest" game of all (if you like dark humour). Scenario of every World Cup in 21st century for Poland NT was well-known:
a)
mecz otwarcia (opening match) - loss
b)
mecz o wszystko (match for everything) - loss
c)
mecz o honor (match for honor) - win
In 2018 we won the 3rd game again, but this time, it didn't have much in common with honor. Japanese were satisfied with losing 0-1 (Colombia defeated Senegal in another group H match) and Poles didn't do much to score more.
The last ten minutes were an abomination. Jakub Błaszczykowski couldn't even get on the pitch because boring passing wasn't interrupted. In order to help him, manager Nawałka
suggested Kamil Grosicki to pretend being injuried. On press conference he praised team for fulfiling "low pressing" tactics, which obviously became a
meme. 9. SPAIN 6-0 POLAND (Friendly, 2010) "We may lose even 0-9, but we have to attack." - Franciszek Smuda, manager
Coach Franciszek Smuda was an idealist. He said that he could lose, but will consistently use offensive tactics. However, after the match with Spain, he changed all his plans. 0-2 after 15 minutes. Two own goals. We were used to conceding 3 or even 4 goals, but not 6. After the game, Polish players immediately started begging Spaniards for their shirts. It was pathetic. Worth noting, that it was the last friendly before 2010 World Cup, which Spain won scoring only 8 goals in whole tournament.
8. PORTUGAL 4-0 POLAND (WC 2002) "Tomasz Hajto to wielki atleta. Ograł go w Korei Pedro Pauleta." Another match for everything, this time after 0-2 loss with South Korea. Portuguese striker Pedro Pauleta humiliated Polish defence, especially Schalke 04 player
Tomasz Hajto.
Even today his "efforts" are remembered as one of the worst individual performances in Poland NT history. At least we defeated USA 3-1 in match for honor. Yay.
7. POLAND 0-0 CYPRUS (EURO 1988 Qualifiers, 1987) "Working as a coach is like kissing tiger's ass - doubtful pleasure, high risk" - Wojciech Łazarek, manager
1982 - 3rd place on the World Cup
1986 - round of 16
1987 - 0-0 with team on San Marino/Gibraltar level at that time
The decline of Polish football in the 80s was drastic. Even with 6 forwards on the pitch Poland couldn't score. The whole relatively good atmosphere around team has been irreversibly damaged. Can you imagine Netherlands or Switzerland drawing with Andorra today? That's what happened then. This game was held in 1987 and could be considered as the 90s prequel.
6. POLAND 0-1 LATVIA (EURO 2004 Qualifiers, 2002) Our group seemed to be relatively easy. Sweden, Hungary, Latvia and San Marino? Who wouldn't be happy after years of playing with England or Italy. Unfortunately, Zbigniew Boniek proved that being brilliant footballer doesn't make you a good coach. Our situation became complicated already after second game. Poland significantly contributed to the greatest success in history of Latvian football.
5. SLOVENIA 3-0 POLAND (WC 2010 Qualifiers, 2009) The third mentioned match of these cursed qualifiers. Before this game, they still could be saved, but we fastly discovered we were just delusional. Slovenians were doing whatever they wanted. After the match, Polish FA President Grzegorz Lato fired manager Leo Beenhakker in a live interview, before talking with him. The game was immortalized by legendary commentator Dariusz Szpakowski, who spent last ten minutes on ranting about Beenhakker and Polish football in general while totally ignoring what's happening on the pitch.
4. POLAND 0-2 ECUADOR (WC 2006) "Shame, embarassment, disgrace, ignominy, don't come back" Advancing from
this group seemed like a realistic aim. "Everyone will beat Costa Rica, everyone will lose with Germany, we just need to defeat this average team from South America". How painful it was to see the unsuccessful attempts to create at least one sensible opportunity at a rival's goal. First shot on target? Six minutes before the end. As you may expect, obviously we lost match for everything too, but won match for honor. Different year, same shit.
3. CZECHIA 1-0 POLAND (EURO 2012) "If we don't advance from this group, we are worth nothing." - Jerzy Dudek
Hard agree. It was arguably
the easiest group in European Championship history. The weakest team from every pot. Moreover, this time we were playing at home. In order to make competitions more attractive, match for everything and match for honor were switched. After 1-1 draw with Russia, all 4 teams could advance. Poles had many opportunities, but Czechs actually controlled the game. As long as they needed 0-0 draw, it was 0-0. When they found out they need to win, they scored immediately. The last place in a group of laugh at home. Shame.
2. SOUTH KOREA 2-0 POLAND (WC 2002) "First 15 minutes were perfect!" - Jerzy Engel, manager
The match that traumatised the generation. First qualification for the World Cup since 1986. It was the most overhyped team in Polish history. Manager, players and a lot of fans unironically believed
we are going to win some medals and the question is which color. Even if they didn't believe this, saying such things was still idiotic. Koreans jumped higher despite being lower. Poles looked like they played another match just a few hours earlier. Unforgettable experience for Polish millennials. At the same time, just a trailer of what was going to happen in the following years.
"We don't care. After all, we have as many points as France and other famous teams." - Michał Listkiewicz, President of Polish FA
1. POLAND 1-2 SENEGAL / POLAND 0-3 COLOMBIA (WC 2018) These matches were about something more than just 3 points in the group table. These matches were about not wasting the great generation of Polish footballers, the greatest since the 80s. It seemed that at EURO 2016, this team was just beginning and was supposed to peak in Russia. Unfortunately, it turned out that the start of a great adventure, was in fact the end of it. After the first game one could
again be under the illusion that not everything was yet lost. In practice, however, it was difficult to be optimistic in any way. Senegal defeated us, and maybe even we defeated ourselves, because both goals were a joke. Maybe losing with them doesn't seem as bad as with Ecuador, but the context matters. This time, people had right to dream, they had right to have expectations. The game with Senegal was a funeral of team from EURO 2016. The game with Colombia was like taking the football red pill. We saw how different we are from the teams we considered equal to us.
See you on EURO 2021...
From National League to National Team: What happens when the England squad is entirely made up of non-league players? - Part 1.
The challenge begins! I laid out the rules in the introduction. Link is here:
https://www.reddit.com/footballmanagergames/comments/jw0d0o/from_national_league_to_national_team_what/)
But now, buoyed on by your messages of support, I am taking action! First of all, I survey the England squad I inherited from Gareth Southgate. Kane, Sterling, Alexander-Arnold, and many other quality players.
They've all got to go. Only non-league players allowed!
Now I must find the 23 boldest and brightest non-league players for my first squad. I duly dispatch England's scouts to find some half-decent players, while also making a find of my own: midfielder Harry Beautyman, who plays for Sutton United in the National League. He's got good stats across the board, and he's also been capped by England C, England's non-league team.
We have two big games coming up. In the next international break, we play Bulgaria and the Czech Republic in Euro 2020 qualifiers. Thanks to England's good form in real life, we top the group, though only on goal difference. With second-placed Czech Republic breathing down our necks, we cannot afford to make a mistake. Unfortunately, England have already made a big mistake: they signed me.
My scouts haven't managed to dig up any non-league footballers that I can call up yet, and with selection day looming my assistant manager has suggested a potential squad. Unfortunately, none of the players fit this playthrough's criteria , so I tell him that the squad is rubbish.
My scouts have failed me, so I go scouting instead, scouring the depths of the National League and the National League North/South. Before I know it, squad announcement day has arrived The media think I'm going to be naming a pretty standard squad, but little do they know that I'm fielding a team of non-league players with no experience on the international stage. The members of the 23-man squad are as follows:
Goalkeepers: Joel Dixon (Barrow), Joe McDonnell (Notts County), Liam O'Brien (Yeovil Town).
Defenders: Daniel Boateng (Wrexham), Tyler Brownsword (Torquay United), Scott Garner (Boston United, vice-captain), Ben Goodliffe (Sutton United), Liam Hogan (Stockport County), Jack Holland (Bromley), Louis John (Sutton United), Ryan Johnson (Kidderminster Harriers), Alex Penny (Boston United), Robbie Tinkler (Aldershot Town).
Midfielders: Harry Beautyman (Sutton United, captain), Ethan Chislett (Aldershot Town), Asa Hall (Torquay United), Chris Henderson (King's Lynn Town), Liam Mandeville (Chesterfield), Greg Olley (Gateshead).
Forwards: George Danaher (Bromley), Aaron Jarvis (Sutton United), Marc Richards (Yeovil Town), Josh Umerah (Ebbsfleet United).
Not your average England squad, it's fair to say.
The press are not happy, to say the least. The headline is "Surprise inclusions in England squad." That is an understatement. The article proceeds to name every single member of my team as a "surprise inclusion" before accusing me of making the England team a laughing stock. Oh, if only they knew...
I did enjoy the last line of the article, which stated "There are otherwise no surprise inclusions" which is a bit like saying that it's a totally normal day, apart from the fact that a nuclear bomb has fallen on New York, Russia has invaded London, and Paris has declared itself to be an independent country.
The new England squad has assembled for the first time. My assistant manager reports that the mood is downbeat. For Christ's sake, you haven't stepped on a football pitch yet! I dread to think what will happen when we play a game.
Fortunately, it's business as usual for England's younger teams, who have been able to call upon full-strength squads. Eddie Nketiah scores two goals for England U21s in a 3-0 win over Wales U21s, Jude Bellingham scores as the U20s thrash their Swiss counterparts 4-1, and the U19s excel during a 3-0 defeat of France U19s.
But the main event is now about to begin. Despite our "surprise" team with precisely 0 caps between them, we're predicted to beat Bulgaria comfortably in front of a sold-out Wembley.
I'd just like to add a humorous aside before I begin the game. When it came to picking the captain and vice-captain, I was forced to pick Jordan Henderson and Harry Kane despite both not being in the squad, before later giving the captaincy to Harry Beautyman and the vice-captaincy to Scott Garner. The headline following this is "Henderson tipped to retire from international football." I may have driven Jordan Henderson to international retirement, simply by replacing him as captain: what the hell has the England team begun? One particularly nasty line from the article reads "It is proving hard for the general public to take the England manager seriously, after replacing Jordan Henderson as captain after such a short period." I'm quite flattered they were taking me seriously before, have they not seen my team?
The first XI for the Bulgaria game is: Dixon, Johnson, Goodliffe, Boateng, Tinkler, Brownsword, Beautyman, Olley, Chislett, Mandeville, Umerah, and I'm playing a 4-1-2-3 formation, with Brownsword protecting the back four, and Olley and Beautyman aiming to deliver the ball to Chislett and Mandeville on the wing, so that they can cross the ball in for Umerah, our lone striker.
At first, the game is rather dull, with the sole highlight being a yellow card for Ben Goodliffe. Then, on 28 minutes, we win a free kick. Greg Olley stands over it, looks at the keeper, and cracks an amazing free kick into the top corner from 25 yards out! I didn't know we had that kind of ability in the team! It's a great start for us, better than I'd hoped.
Of course, it has to go wrong. Less than a minute has passed since Olley's goal, before one of the Bulgarian defenders aims a long ball towards Temenuzhov, the Bulgarian striker. Ben Goodliffe fails to head it away, with the result being that Temenuzhov slips behind the defence, strides into the penalty area, and slips it past our goalkeeper Joel Dixon, into the back of the net. We were on Cloud 9, but have now been swiftly brought back down to earth.
But, to my astonishment, we hit back once more, in the 42nd minute. A tussle in midfield leads to Ethan Chislett punting the ball towards Liam Mandeville on the other side of the pitch. He receives it in open space, dashes forward and crosses it toward Josh Umerah in the box. Umerah rises to head it past the Bulgarian keeper, the score is 2-1 and I am jumping for joy. We take our lead into half time. I congratulate the team on their performance so far, and tell them to give me more of the same. I also sub off Ethan Chislett - he was tiring - and replace him with Chris Henderson.
Bulgaria start the half with a dangerous attack, but can only put the ball into the side netting. Dixon then makes a fabulous save to deny Temenuzhov a second goal. With 20 minutes remaining, I bring off Umerah, wanting to rest him for the next game against the Czech Republic. Aaron Jarvis comes off the bench to make his England debut (along with the rest of the team). He almost gets a perfect start, heading in from a corner, but the goal is disallowed for a foul on a defender. With 15 minutes to go, I tell everyone to move back and help out in defence, prefering to park the bus and secure the win rather than go for another goal. I also bring off Ben Goodliffe in favour of Liam Hogan.
Then Hogan concedes a penalty after pushing Temenuzhov in the penalty area. Why, Liam, why?
Popov converts the penalty, and it's 2-2. Hurriedly, I switch to all-out attack, but Bulgaria hang on for the draw. While it's not the result the fans wanted, I am delighted that we didn't lose 5-0. I mean, look at the team! It's a monumental achievement, but probably a day to forget for Liam Hogan. I think he preferred Stockport County.
In conclusion: I'm happy with the result! A 2-2 draw does mean we slip to second place in our qualifying group, but we'll look to rectify that in the next game against current group leaders, the Czech Republic.
Feel free to put any ideas about players I should pick in the comments. Next update will come ASAP.
Thanks for the support!
Scotland vs Israel
Scotland has been in good form recently, and they are enjoying a positive streak. The hosts topped the UEFA Nations League Division C, and interestingly, they have been in the same group as their rivals. However, Steve Clarke’s side didn’t manage to book the EURO ticket through the main qualifiers, as they finished third, behind Belgium and Russia. However, Ryan Christie and the lads improved their game lately, and on the last five occasions, they missed the chance to win only once. Scotland opened the new Nations League campaign by snatching four points from two rounds, including the victory over the Czech Republic away from home. Nevertheless, the stake is very high this time, and the hosts need another good display that can bring them just one step away from the final tournament.
Israel finished second in the previous UEFA Nations League campaign, behind their next opponents. The visitors cannot be proud of their latest form as they haven’t celebrated a victory four times in a row. Willi Ruttensteiner’s side booked just one win in the last nine occasions, and they definitely need to improve their performances in order to qualify for EURO. Israel had a very disappointing campaign in the qualifiers, as the away side finished fifth in the group, just above Latvia. Although Eran Zahavi and the lads were pretty efficient, their poor defense ruined their chances to challenge the second spot. It is going to be their second trip to Scotland in a bit more than a month, and last time, they managed to remain undefeated.
Full-Time Winner Odds & Prediction
This is a significant game for both sides, as they can get one step closer to the final tournament. Scotland is in a better form lately, and although they failed to beat their opponent in September, we believe they are going to meet the expectations this time.
Goals Market Prediction
Both sides are doing well in the front, while they have certain difficulties in the backline. The nets didn’t remain still in the last three games at Hampden Park, and we are going to follow the tradition.
Scotland to win @ 2.00 BTTS Yes @ 1.90 Correct score 2:1 @ 9.00 Read the analysis here and share your opinion with us! Jul/10/2020 news: (1) Armenian cult leader (2) Real estate $ (3) ISP merger approved (4) Anti-Corruption (5) COVID news (6) High tech (7) Foreign affairs (8) Green Yerevan (9) Poll: Preferred gender? (10) Nature strikes (11) Many infrastructure upgrades (12) Dalma Garden district (13) Sports & Books
Armenian cult leader who ruled the world
Avag, also known as Armenian
Kashpirovsky, was a guru who claimed he knew how to cure health problems.
In the 1940s the news broke out across the world about this mysterious man living in Iran.
U.S. winemaker Gevorg Arakelyan helped Avag to visit the U.S. to cure his son's epilepsy. The 20yo guru went there with a 6-month visa but decided to stay forever. His fight against the immigration services reached the Congress, which at some point heard a bill to allow Avag to stay longer.
Hundreds have claimed to have been cured by Avag. At one point he was accepting 60 people with diverse backgrounds every day. His sessions became so popular that the LA had to dispatch more police units to guard the area.
Tom Kardashyan, a relative of Kim Kardashyan, expressed willingness to built a temple dedicated to Avag.
Nobody knows if the winemaker's kid's epilepsy was ever cured.
Avag then took a vacation and moved to the mountains. Eventually, after a lenghy battle with ICE, he left the U.S. to Cuba, before returning and settling in New York.
Video of him arriving in Los Angeles:
https://youtu.be/YCFOOn9II-c http://www.panarmenian.net/arm/details/282854/ Flashback 1999
Prime Minister Vazgen Sargsyan, months before the assassination, gives a report about Armenia's massive debt and calls for Armenians to change their "Soviet-inherited mentality" about "stealing and bribing".
https://youtu.be/2fe98agLhvw?t=515 Land embezzlement busted in Goris
Prosecutors and SOC say: in 2007, the Economy Ministry leased a 7530m
2 land in Goris for $620/mo for 1 year.
The tenant wasn't allowed to sub-lease it to someone else, but they gave part of it to a telecom company for $100/mo until 2027.
Officials at Economy and Finance Ministries have since pocketed $15,000. A felony case is launched.
https://armtimes.com/hy/article/192285 COVID stats
+2050 tested. +557 infected. +709 healed. 18 deaths.
131,216 tested. 11,471 active. 18,709 healed. 546 deaths.
Artsakh: +4 infected. +3 healed. All-time 146 infected. 116 healed. 0 deaths.
https://armtimes.com/hy/article/192260 ,
https://armtimes.com/hy/article/192257 COVID safety enforcement
84,000 tickets have been issued since the beginning of the Emergency.
Today numerous businesses were shut down for 2 days for violating safety. Overcrowded buses and taxis were caught and fined.
https://armtimes.com/hy/article/192299 ,
https://armenpress.am/arm/news/1021252.html ,
https://armenpress.am/arm/news/1021299.html COVID quarantine enforcement / High tech method
Thousands of people are required to self-quarantine themselves for weeks. Not everyone complies. Hundreds of people, and more recently a taxi driver, broke the rules and endangered the public.
To ensure they don't leave the area, the govt occasionally sends police officers to check on them.
There is also an app called StayHome. The quarantined person takes a geo-tagged photo and sends it to the police, after being asked to do so at random times throughout the day.
"The data is handled by a computer and will be purged after the emergency ends."
https://armenpress.am/arm/news/1021298.html COVID aid
Germany will send a group of doctors to fight COVID in Armenia.
https://armenpress.am/arm/news/1021286.html The Netherlands will give Armenia $200,000 to purchase 3 COVID testing and hundreds of monitoring devices from Armenian companies.
https://armtimes.com/hy/article/192262 Tech expert Karen Vardanyan dies
The chief of
Union of Leading Technology Enterprises and the popular
ArMat school-lab program Karen Vardanyan has passed away from undisclosed causes.
High Tech Minister and other officials expressed condolences, noting that Vardanyan made a great contribution towards Armenian tech.
Civil Aviation chief Revazyan described Vardanyan as her inspirational mentor.
Pashinyan formed a commission tasked with handling his funeral and costs.
https://armtimes.com/hy/article/192256 ,
https://armtimes.com/hy/article/192276 ,
https://www.armtimes.com/hy/article/192323 The use of high-tech in agriculture
Kotayk government and an agriculture company are using drones to fly over crops and scan their health with high precision. It'll be used to map the environment, too.
https://www.armtimes.com/hy/article/192326 High Tech Minister met U.S. ambassador...
... to discuss topics related to US tech giants' (PayPal, Google, etc.) possible entry to the Armenian market, Armenia's latest program to send students to Silicone Valley, and other topics.
https://www.armtimes.com/hy/article/192302 Foreign affairs
U.S. Rep TJ Cox called for the resumption of de-mining aid to Artsakh, during a speech about a bill that will decide America's 2021 foreign aid budget.
Meanwhile, several bipartisan U.S. Senators urged the govt to sanction NATO-member Turkey for purchasing S-400 missiles from Russia.
https://armtimes.com/hy/article/192252 ,
https://armtimes.com/hy/article/192249 Cyber-crime reports increase
Prosecutors investigated 118 cyber-crimes in the entire 2019, while 94 in 2020H1 alone.
Investigator says the rise is due to more people willing to come forward and report such crimes as a result of being better informed and having higher trust towards the police. "Don't try to solve cyber-crime yourself. Report it."
https://armenpress.am/arm/news/1021246.html Car chase at night
Yerevan became Tokyo last night. 3 cars were towed for organizing a car race. One of the drivers was drunk.
https://www.armtimes.com/hy/article/192318 Preferred gender of your child?
A decade ago 54% of families said they want a boy, while 34% said it doesn't matter. Today it's reversed.
Armenia has "caught up" with Georgia.
https://www.civilnet.am/news/2020/07/10/For-the-First-Time-Majority-of-Armenians-Report-Their-Child’s-Gender-“Does-Not-Matter”/389572 Real estate prices / Yerevan rent and purchase
-22% property transactions in H1 YoY, says the govt's stats agency. As one would expect, the transactions grew pre-COVID but plummeted afterward.
One private realtor said: the prices have also declined, sometimes by 20%.
The prices of newly built houses won't decline by much, but the secondary market will be -20% cheaper by 2021.
A $330/mo apartment in Arabkir can be rented for $250/mo nowadays.
Yerevan's avg rent for 1bd is $185/mo in not-so-distant districts. You can find one between $100-$850/mo. These will also get cheaper.
https://factor.am/267700.html Fewer wildfires this year
թու-թու-թու, but the Emergency Ministry warns it's still dangerous. "Don't accidentally light it up."
2020H1 vs 2019H1: 1469 fires vs 2104, Yerevan fire incidents cut in half, the affected territory is 3x smaller.
https://armtimes.com/hy/article/192264 Lightning strike kills a shepherd
A shepherd, his son, and grandson were herding the animals. They formed a triangle to trap the herd when a lightning struck the elder. He didn't make it.
A decade earlier another man died in the same area from the same cause.
https://www.armtimes.com/hy/article/192325 Caucasus Nature Fund...
...gave Armenia $0.5mln to protect several national parks and forests.
https://armtimes.com/hy/article/192287 Public regulator authorizes TEAM-Beeline ISP merger
UCOM tried to unsuccessfully purchase the financially troubled Beeline.
UCOM's founder got fired (for other reasons) and founded a new TEAM ISP.
TEAM has been authorized to purchase Beeline for an undisclosed sum.
Some Beeline workers aren't happy, they fear mass layoffs so they gathered in front of the Regulator's office to protest.
TEAM said there won't be mass layoffs because they need Beeline's tech experts. "Beeline itself has been laying off their workers for years due to financial problems."
The Regulator ordered TEAM not to do mass layoffs (10% of workforce) for at least 6 months.
TEAM founder Yesayan says they'll merge their 400 workers with Beeline's staff "to have even more resources, there is always a shortage of tech experts."
https://armtimes.com/hy/article/192288 ,
https://www.armtimes.com/hy/article/192312 ,
https://youtu.be/Kvhqdv9szTM Dalma Gardens residential district construction begins
Over a decade ago, plans were drafted to build a new modern apartment complex district near Hamalir with business and hotel buildings, parks, pools. Some work was done.
In 2019 Mayor Marutyan gave a green light to build the buildings. The company got an environmental permit from the Nature Ministry, under the condition that if an archeological sight is discovered while digging, the process will be halted until experts decide what to do with the findings.
The works have begun.
Video of the proposed district:
https://youtu.be/463X4UacOKs https://hetq.am/hy/article/118922 Infrastructure upgrades across Armenia & Artsakh
Vanadzor drivers no longer have to fill the holes themselves. The city finally found a suitable contractor after 4 auctions.
https://armtimes.com/hy/article/192277 Dzoragyugh's irrigation system is being renovated by Armenians who couldn't travel to Russia for seasonal work.
https://youtu.be/jFJwHWOb0Kw Meghri suburbs will get a gas network, as promised by govt earlier. The works began today and will finish next year. 500 businesses will get it immediately, with another 1500 later.
https://armtimes.com/hy/article/192286 5 schools in Kotayk are being built or renovated with a seismic retrofit. They'll withstand a 6.9M
(Richter) or 9-degree
(Marcelli) earthquake.
https://armtimes.com/hy/article/192292 Bagratahen-Yervandashat road is being repaired.
https://armtimes.com/hy/article/192279 Artsakh will spend $52,000 (25mln) to buy materials to fix a drinking water problem in Shushi. 10 veterans' families will get housing.
https://armtimes.com/hy/article/192242 Gegharquniq's Gegharquniq village will have 12 of its roads equipped with new street lighting and poles.
Geghovit village will have 6km-long new street lighting.
https://armenpress.am/arm/news/1021262.html ,
https://armenpress.am/arm/news/1021264.html Yerevan is renovating 11 kindergartens now, and 12 more soon. New bathrooms, water system, wiring, furniture.
https://www.armtimes.com/hy/article/192315 Prospective wrestler will be drafted
For young lads to delay their military service, they must score high marks during sports competitions.
74KG wrestler Davit Gevorgyan got very close but couldn't cross the barrier. He'll go to the army, despite the coaches' best efforts to convince the Ministry to make an exception. He had one last chance in an international competition, but it was canceled due to COVID.
https://armtimes.com/hy/article/192281 Henrikh Mkhitaryan in Roma
He scored 8 goals in 22 matches in Roma, while 9 goals in 59 matches in Arsenal. You do the math.
His performance in the past two matches might have saved Roma coach's career; it was widely believed that the coach would be fired unless they got a victory after 3 consecutive losses.
Heno won't be able to save the coach in the next match, however, because he got the 5th Yellow Card and will skip the game.
Roma doesn't have a chance to finish 4th in the league. That means Champions League is out of reach, but they could qualify for the less prestigious Europa League.
https://armtimes.com/hy/article/192268 Greenification of Yerevan
In the past 3 months, the Capital's Green Department has planted 18k bushes, 300k flowers, 145 garden trees (Sakura, maple, catalpa, etc.), and 20k m
2 lawns.
The city should be green year-round because one type of plant blossoms when another one stops.
https://www.armtimes.com/hy/article/192313 It's that time of the week, folks / Top-5 books
What books, written by Armenians, have the Yerevan basement dwellers been reading in June?
5) Վերջին ուսուցիչը, by Վարդգես Պետրոսյան (plot: teacher walks into a class and sees something strange...)
4) Ծովից ծով դատաստանը, by Վահրամ Սահակյան (plot: thoughts, ideas, predictions by the author)
3) Ստախոսը, by Levon Nes (plot: a liar travels through Europe for new adventures)
2) Balzak the dog', by Levon Nes.
1) Կախվածություն, by Սյունե Սևադա.
https://armenpress.am/arm/news/1021070.html You've read 1722 words.
Disclaimer & Terminology
1) The accused are innocent until proven guilty in the court of law, even if they sound guilty.
2) Currency in Armenian ֏ unless specified otherwise.
3) NSS/SIS/SOC = law enforcement agencies. QP = Civil Contract Party. LHK = Bright Armenia Party. BHK = Prosperous Armenia Party. HHK = Republican Party.
4) ARCHIVE of older posts by Idontknowmuch: PART 1 ; PART 2 ; PART 3 ; PART 4 ; PART 5.
4) ARCHIVE of older posts by Armeniapedia.
[OC] Which Nationalities Have Played the Biggest Role in Winning European Cup/Champions League Finals? (1955-2019)
It’s no secret these days that the strongest teams on the planet import a lot of foreign players into their squads, after all there is an enormous wealth of talent all around the world, why would you restrict yourself to just your home country? What I would like to find out is which nationalities have had the greatest success in Europe’s Premier Competition – the UEFA Champions League (formerly the European Cup), which is arguably the strongest football competition on the planet and certainly one of the hardest to win.
To do this I counted the nationalities of every player that
appeared on the winning side in a UCL/EC final from 1955 until 2019, including anyone that came off the bench. I toyed with the idea of including the nationalities of every player that featured at any point in the competition for the winning side but this would have taken too long. Moreover there is something romantic about the European Cup Final that you simply don’t get anywhere else in football, players that appear in it deserve to be highlighted in the history books.
Naturally the list is dominated by European countries, but of course Brazilians and Argentines have featured heavily in recent years. I was staggered to find out that
Brazil has more Champions League Final winners (46) than France (37), and even more so to discover that
Brazilians have featured on the winning side in UCL/EC finals more than any other country (25) despite not being a UEFA state.
Table of Results
The following table ranks the 51 nationalities that have made an appearance on the winning team in UCL/EC Finals by four metrics:
- Total - the total number of players of that nationality that have featured for the winning side in a final. Note that the same player can be counted twice – for example Cristiano Ronaldo has added five to Portugal’s tally.
- Apps - the number of times that nationality has had any player feature for the winning side in a final. This should give an idea of where the foreign talent is coming from and how many teams they are spreading out to play for.
- Adjusted UCLs - this is a fun one, don’t take it too seriously! This metric attempts to predict how many European Cups a particular nationality has directly contributed to by having their players feature on the winning side in the final. Take the 2004 Champions League Final for example, Porto won the title that year and had 14 players feature on the night, ten of them were Portuguese, two of them were Brazilian, one was Russian and one was South African so we can say that the contribution to the European Cup for that year was as follows:
| Nationality | No. Players | Contribution |
| Portuguese | 10 | 0.714 |
| Brazilian | 2 | 0.143 |
| South African | 1 | 0.071 |
| Russian | 1 | 0.071 |
- Actual UCLs - the number of UCL/EC titles won by clubs in that particular country.
*Table can be sorted by individual columns by clicking on them if you have RES.
| Country | Total | Apps | Adjusted UCLs | Actual UCLs |
| Spain | 143 | 23 | 10.940 | 18 |
| Italy | 103 | 13 | 8.243 | 12 |
| England | 84 | 16 | 6.936 | 13 |
| Netherlands | 78 | 20 | 6.411 | 6 |
| Germany | 75 | 19 | 6.091 | 7 |
| Portugal | 55 | 15 | 4.412 | 4 |
| Brazil | 46 | 25 | 3.387 | 0 |
| France | 37 | 23 | 2.749 | 1 |
| Scotland | 35 | 10 | 2.972 | 1 |
| Argentina | 22 | 14 | 1.623 | 0 |
| Romania | 15 | 3 | 1.155 | 1 |
| Yugoslavia | 12 | 2 | 1.000 | 1 |
| Croatia | 9 | 9 | 0.666 | 0 |
| Republic of Ireland | 9 | 6 | 0.735 | 0 |
| Denmark | 8 | 6 | 0.677 | 0 |
| Sweden | 8 | 7 | 0.639 | 0 |
| Wales | 8 | 8 | 0.602 | 0 |
| Cameroon | 4 | 4 | 0.291 | 0 |
| Czech Republic | 4 | 3 | 0.291 | 0 |
| Uruguay | 4 | 4 | 0.297 | 0 |
| Costa Rica | 3 | 3 | 0.214 | 0 |
| Ghana | 3 | 3 | 0.220 | 0 |
| Ivory Coast | 3 | 2 | 0.231 | 0 |
| Mali | 3 | 3 | 0.220 | 0 |
| Nigeria | 3 | 2 | 0.231 | 0 |
| Norway | 3 | 2 | 0.225 | 0 |
| Poland | 3 | 3 | 0.225 | 0 |
| Serbia | 3 | 3 | 0.214 | 0 |
| Austria | 2 | 2 | 0.160 | 0 |
| Belgium | 2 | 2 | 0.155 | 0 |
| Finland | 2 | 2 | 0.148 | 0 |
| Georgia | 2 | 2 | 0.143 | 0 |
| Northern Ireland | 2 | 2 | 0.168 | 0 |
| Algeria | 1 | 1 | 0.077 | 0 |
| Australia | 1 | 1 | 0.071 | 0 |
| Bosnia and Herzegovina | 1 | 1 | 0.071 | 0 |
| Bulgaria | 1 | 1 | 0.077 | 0 |
| Egypt | 1 | 1 | 0.071 | 0 |
| Hungary | 1 | 1 | 0.077 | 0 |
| Mexico | 1 | 1 | 0.071 | 0 |
| Montenegro | 1 | 1 | 0.071 | 0 |
| North Macedonia | 1 | 1 | 0.071 | 0 |
| Peru | 1 | 1 | 0.083 | 0 |
| Russia | 1 | 1 | 0.071 | 0 |
| San Marino | 1 | 1 | 0.077 | 0 |
| Senegal | 1 | 1 | 0.071 | 0 |
| South Afrca | 1 | 1 | 0.071 | 0 |
| Switzerland | 1 | 1 | 0.071 | 0 |
| Trinidad and Tobago | 1 | 1 | 0.077 | 0 |
| Ukraine | 1 | 1 | 0.071 | 0 |
| Zimbabwe | 1 | 1 | 0.077 | 0 |
One-Hit-Wonders
As you can see from the table, eighteen countries have produced just a single athlete that has featured for the winning side. Not to do these countries a disservice I figured I’d give each of them a rundown and tell you which countryman did their nation proud on the biggest night of their lives. I know soccer loves America bashing so I may as well say it – every nation on this list has produced more UCL winners than the USA!
- Algeria – four years before Riyad Mahrez was even a foetus his countryman Rabah Madjer played a crucial role in the 1987 European Cup Final by scoring the equalising goal for FC Porto in the 77th minute. Brazilian substitute Juary would score the winner three minutes later to grant Porto their first ever European Cup title.
- Australia - everyone’s heard of the 2005 Champions League Final. Liverpool would pull off a miraculous second-half comeback by overcoming a 3-0 deficit against Milan to win on penalties. Unfortunately Harry Kewell couldn’t play any part in such a comeback as he was substituted off after 23 minutes through injury. Nevertheless he is the only Australian to feature for a winning side in the European Cup final. The man who came on for him - Vladimír Šmicer – would score the second goal for the Reds.
- Bosnia and Herzogovina - Bayern Munich won the 2001 Champions League Final against Valencia on penalties after the game was tied up 1-1 after 120 minutes. Bosnian Hasan_Salihamidžić was the second man for the German side to step up and was tasked with steadying the ship after teammate Paulo Sérgio failed to convert the opener. He succeeded and Bayern would go on to win 5-4.
- Bulgaria - Hristo Stoichkov remains the only Bulgarian to have ever won the European Cup and feature in the Final, 28 years after his Barcelona team defeated Sampdoria 1-0 after extra time in the 1992 European Cup Final. Stoichkov is widely regarded as the greatest Bulgarian footballer of all time; he scored 326 goals in 678 games for club and country.
- Egypt - It’s Mohamed Salah.
- Hungary - We have to go all the way back to the 1960 European Cup Final for this one. When you think of famous Hungarian footballers the first one that usually comes to mind is the legendary Ferenc Puskás, and indeed he is the only recipient of the European Cup in the country’s history, though Hungary were perhaps unlucky that a European Cup did not exist prior to 1955 as their national side in the early 50’s was arguably the best on the planet. Back to Puskás – he scored an astonishing four goals in the final, which is still a record to this day and Real Madrid would win 7-3 over Eintracht Frankfurt and retain their title for a fourth consecutive year. Puskás would end his career with a staggering 706 goals in 718 games for club and country.
- Mexico - Mexico’s sole winner of club football’s ultimate prize is Rafael Márquez who played a centre-back in Barcelona’s 2-1 victory over Arsenal in the 2006 Champions League Final.
- Montenegro - this one is kinda controversial since at the time of the 1998 Champions League Final Montenegro was still joined up with Serbia in the combined country Serbia and Montenegro for whom Predrag Mijatović represented. However he considers himself Montenegrin today and while I didn’t want to retrospectively assign nationalities to all the Yugoslavian players who won the 1991 Final for Red Star Belgrade I will make an exception here. Mijatović played a centre-forward for Real Madrid and scored the only goal in the 66th minute against Juventus to grant the Spanish giants their first title in 32 years!
- North Macedonia - the 2010 Champions League Final was won by Italian side Internazionale but featured not a single Italian in the starting XI! This is the only time in history that the winning team did not feature any natives at kick-off and were it not for substitute Marco Materazzi (yes, that Materazzi) coming on to shut the game down in the 92nd minute there would have been zero Italians period. One of the foreigners in this Inter side on that famous night was Macedonian winger Goran Pandev. Pandev was no stranger to Italian football, he had been playing professional football in Italy for nine seasons up to this point for four different teams.
- Peru - the only Peruvian to ever lift the famous trophy is Víctor Benítez, who played the defensive midfielder role in Milan’s 1963 European Cup win. Aside from winning the European Cup he had a fairly modest career, though he did feature in Peru’s 4-1 victory over England in 1959.
- Russia - surprisingly Russia have only had one winner of old big ears (even if we include the USSR) and that is Dmitri Alenichev who came on as a substitute for José Mourinho’s FC Porto side in the 2004 Champions League Final. He is now both a coach of lower division Russian teams and a politician.
- San Marino - yes I know what you’re thinking, how the hell do San Marino have a player on this list? Well it turns out the micro-nation have produced at least one exceptional talent in the world of football in the last few decades and his name is Massimo Bonini, who featured for Juventus in the 1985 European Cup Final. Juventus would take the lead in the 58th minute over Liverpool but Bonini would almost undo all of their hard work by taking down Ronnie Whelan in the box with 16 minutes left on the clock. Fortunately for him and his team the referee did not deem it a foul and Juventus would win their maiden title. Bonini would go on to make 192 league appearances for the Old Lady.
- Senegal - it’s Sadio Mané of course!
- South Africa - we’re back to the 2004 Champions League Final for this one and just like Alenichev of Russia, Benni McCarthy is about to achieve a feat nobody else in his country has ever achieved – win the Champions League trophy. McCarthy wasn’t just some super-sub or out-of-favour striker though, he had scored 25 goals in all competitions that season and won the golden boot in the league.
- Switzerland - your first thought might be that it’s Xherdan Shaqiri who makes my list, after all the
man cube has two Champions League medals in his collection after winning for both Bayern Munich and Liverpool in the last decade. However he was an unused substitute in both matches and so to find the one and only Swiss player to feature on the winning side in a UCL final we have to go back to 1997. Borussia Dortmund defeated Juventus 3-1 to win their first title and while their number 9, Stéphane Chapuisat failed to find the net, he did score three times in the competition prior to that victorious night.
- Trinidad and Tobago - Manchester United fans should know this one, after all their 2-1 victory over Bayern Munich in the 1999 Champions League Final to complete The Treble is widely regarded as the greatest moment in the clubs’ history. Featuring in that infamous line-up on the night was Trinidad and Tobago centre-forward Dwight Yorke. Yorke did not score on the night but he did finish the competition as the top scorer for that season with eight goals. Yorke formed one half of a lethal partnership with Englishman Andy Cole in the 1998/99 season, with both netting a combined 53 times. Back home in Trinidad and Tobago Yorke is highly respected as he helped his country reach the FIFA World Cup for the first time in their history for the 2006 edition.
- Ukraine - it’s hard to believe that Andriy Shevchenko has only won the Champions League once after such an illustrious career throughout the 2000s. As it is he is one out of three for successes in the finals but hey, at least he won the first time – most people’s first time is terrible! It was in the 2003 Champions League Final between Italian rivals Juventus and Milan that Shevchenko wrote his name in the history books after he scored the decisive goal in the penalty shoot-out for Milan to see them win their sixth title. Fun fact about Shevchenko; of the three UCL finals he has been involved in, all of them have gone to penalties. In the 2005 edition he would reverse his role and miss the final penalty for Milan, granting Liverpool the title. In the 2008 edition he was sitting on the Chelsea bench and could only watch in horror as John Terry produced the biggest slip for at least the next 6 years.
- Zimbabwe - last up on the list is Liverpool ex-goalkeeper Bruce Grobbelaar. The Zimbabwean featured in the 1984 European Cup Final for the Reds as they defeated Roma in a penalty shoot-out. Roma would miss two penalties in the shoot-out and Grobbelaar wouldn’t have to do anything as both were blazed over the bar. Not to do him a disservice the man made several key saves in the match and his infamous ‘wobbly knees’ moment during the shooutout must have distracted his opponent Francesco Graziani enough to miss the decisive penalty!
Recent Trends and Conclusions
Like my other submissions in this sub this was just a bit of fun for bored old me to mess around with. Saying that the results of this one are a lot more concrete (with the exception of the adjusted UCLs perhaps) and it has become apparent that after a decade of dominance in the tournament Spain are the ultimate kings of the Champions League… for now. It’s always come as a bit of a shock to me that Spain’s rich history in European football hasn’t translated that well to international titles. They didn’t win their first World Cup until 2010, and even their tally of three European Championships might be underselling them.
Looking back to the video I made we can see a definite trend in recent years of winning teams no longer being dominated by natives of their country. As I mentioned above the 2010 Internazionale side didn’t even feature any Italians in the starting XI! Compare that to the sides in the very first European Cup Final and it’s clear the game has evolved. Since 2000 only Spain have had more winning players in the UCL than Brazil, a country that when I last checked wasn’t a part of Europe! In fact there has been a Brazilian player featuring for the winning side in the UCL in every year since 2006, such long term consistency has seen them overtake France, a nation that has certainly underperformed relative to their international success in club competition.
Top 10 Nationalities by Number of Players Featuring for the Winning Side in UCL Finals since 2000
| Nationality | Total | Apps (out of 20) |
| Spain | 65 | 13 |
| Brazil | 38 | 19 |
| Portugal | 22 | 10 |
| France | 20 | 15 |
| England | 19 | 7 |
| Germany | 18 | 8 |
| Italy | 17 | 3 |
| Argentina | 13 | 8 |
| Netherlands | 10 | 8 |
| Croatia | 6 | 6 |
So I now pose the question to you, the audience, which country do you think has played the biggest role in European Cup history? I look forward to reading your comments and the results of the poll below!
After 5 real life years, I have finally done it. AFC Bolnore, “the worst team in England”, have won the treble!
It’s taken 5 years in real life, 35 in game seasons, 23 promotions, two hard drive reformats and 4000-odd ingame hours (most of which have been spent processing or idling), but thanks to the lockdown, I’ve finally reached the goal at long last: Taking AFC Bolnore, the “worst team in England” which in 2014 were predicted to come dead last in the illustrious Mid Sussex Football League Division 11 - all the way up through the football pyramid to the Premier League and Treble glory. In this time,
the real AFC Bolnore have unfortunately become defunct, which made me unexpectedly sad. This spurred me on to complete the challenge, however. And now that I've done it, I'm not about to move on without documenting the suffering I've put my patience and my computer's processor through, so here goes.
This is basically a marathon version of the
“dafuge challenge”, with some personal modifications to avoid going completely mad (such as allowing scouting at even the lowest level and signing players to an amateur team from across the country). The journey itself presumably started in some sort of field near Haywards Heath. Due to database quirks, I had to use fake players and staff to ensure that clubs that would normally be empty would have players and managers. For those who doesn’t know, this usually doesn’t change much other than the names and occasionally the nationalities of well-known players. This means that Eden Hazard is now named “Scott Greatorex”, Alvaro Morata is called “Candido Pastor”; and Thomas Müller, hilariously, is just called Josef Müller. From the beginning, I also only had the English football leagues as this alone was more than enough to bring my laptop to a boil.
THE EARLY YEARS Basically, the first decade or so is just a test of endurance rather than representative of any form of management skill. The game isn’t really balanced below Conference level, so if you’re good enough to get promoted once, chances are you’re good enough to get promoted next year as well. The one challenge is keeping your players for an extended time, as amateurs change teams at the drop of a hat and aren’t restricted by pesky things such as “transfer windows” or “the loyalty and homebody-ness of a sane person”. I reckon that until Bolnore went semi-pro around the Isthmian level, at least half the squad would turn over each season. That said, it was in the amateur years that I also managed
a whole league season without conceding a single goal, and I didn’t even notice until the summer break.
THE GREEN WAVE Semi-pro level provided a different challenge; finances. I’d grown a preference for offering exorbitant (relatively speaking) match and goal bonuses to lure League One/Two-level players to my Isthmian/Conference side, which ensured that Bolnore’s liquidity was teetering on the edge of the abyss every single season. Fortunately, the consecutive promotions continued all the way to the Championship largely thanks to players such as John Brown, a club legend who followed the club all the way from Isthmian to the Premier League (I’ll get back to him later). The cartoon villains of the board considered firing me for managing the finances like a drunken sailor. Miraculously, the club was then suddenly sold to some spanish bloke who immediately injected cash; not a lot, mind you, but enough to ensure that the smallest venue in the Championship could stay afloat and even make a few free transfers. Bolnore only spent three years in the Championship, getting promoted in their third season in part due to the magic of Mirkos Petrak, another club legend and goalscoring virtuoso (I’ll get back to him later).
A NEW COLOSSUS I was cash-strapped with mostly Championship level players, and had to change playstyles accordingly to survive in the EPL. Through the first three seasons, AFC Bolnore would be known to play proper English 4-4-2 with long balls and hard studs (whew, euphemism much?) which would award us with ignoble mid-table positions. A gradual change began in the 42/43-season, where strategic sales allowed the purchase of Tom Moore, future vice-captain; and
Tommy Spencer, Harry Kane-clone and absolute lad. These two and the return of one Kezie Keen (who I don’t have a screenshot of as the game opted not to save his history) led to a masterclass 4th place finish.
The rise continued from there. With powerhouses such as Man Utd, Arsenal, Man City and Sunderland going through upheaval and rough patches, Bolnore pounced. And, through continued development of their youngsters as well as the occasional iconic transfer, they’d finish runners up twice before dethroning Chelsea in 45/46. In the same period, Bolnore won the EL in 2043, and the CL (somewhat fortuitously) in 2045, as well as the domestic cups a few times - look it doesn’t matter. Only one thing remained; the elusive (true) Treble.
Anyway, after Chelsea’s second second place in -47, Miguel Perez, legendary manager (and for some reason, friend of yours truly) decided to join Manchester City instead. He spent a whole 5 months there before getting fired, whereupon he joined Stoke instead in the Championship. Every big team was in complete shambles. The season turned into a cakewalk after the fatigue from the christmas period started setting in, and I was merciless in the transfer market to ensure complete dominance over the English pyramid that I had worked so diligently to climb.
JUST ONE LAST THING… The Champions League was the one big hurdle that stood unforded. True, I had already won it once, but that was pretty much a fluke. While the teams on home soil had become routine, four clubs in Europe were still fully capable of massively fucking my shit up; Barcelona, Bayern Munich, Juventus, and
particularly PSG. The latter almost had me give up in the penultimate season, as they managed to overturn a 0-2 loss at home to a 3-4 in thanks to an own goal and a massive blunder, both from the same defender. But the year after, it happened. It began with a needlessly narrow 3-2 vs. Basel, followed by a complete 11-1 walloping against Chelsea, then a delicious 7-2 semi final against Barcelona. Only Bayern remained for the final, and they’d fall to Chris Bennett’s
desperate header from a free kick in the 30th minute of extra time, making it 3-2.
AFC Bolnore, the “worst club in England”, are treble winners. (Side note: I also briefly managed France for a couple of years, which was a dumb decision that may have indirectly contributed to making PSG an all-time powerhouse.) THE ABSOLUTE LEGENDS This is the all-time AFC Bolnore best eleven as calculated by whichever algorithm it is the game uses. I’m pretty split on it, as while it’s nice to see the formative years and players being acknowledged in line with the superstars, a 4-4-2 still makes for a not quite optimal selection. Oh well;
GK - Dennis Bertram: Can’t really say I’ve had any outstanding goalkeepers, and it seems Bertram made the team sheet based on appearances alone. He has been a mostly nailed-on pick in the ‘modern age’ and is a reliable German goalie - what more can you ask for?
RB - Ryan Steade: At a glance, this is probably my best ever Bolnore player, stats wise. I reckon he’s at least 190 CA. I threw money at Chesterfield for him (£15.5M) because a scout said he’d turn out 4-5 stars. Since, he’s been a steade-y feature on the right back.
CB - Liam O’Hanlon: Okay, so, once I had won promotion to League Two and became pro, I disabled many of the lower leagues to ease the toll on my computer, and enabled a good chunk of the bigger leagues from around the world to avoid making England too dominant on the world stage. The side effect seemed to be a lot of random, good players showing up in leagues around the world. O’Hanlon was such a player, and I bought the Englishman for a laughable £12.5M from Anji in Russia.
CB - Damián Lozano: Joined up on a free from Valencia Mestalla when Bolnore was still in the Championship, and stuck around for six years, featuring reliably. Never quite good enough to get caps for Spain.
LB - Chris Morgan: Morgan really just proves that I haven’t had many long-serving left backs, as he showed up in the Conference and stuck around for five seasons until the Championship before he fucked off to Corinthian-Casuals to get relegated from League 1. I can’t remember him but he seems to have played well so he couldn’t have been bad.
MR - Tom Moore: This guy is shoehorned into the right midfield position because he can play there but he’s spent 98% of the time being a striker for me. He’s still around, serving as vice-captain being third-or-second choice up front depending on form, and although everyone keeps telling me he’s plagued by injuries, I’m just not seeing it after 256 league games.
MC - Kezie Keen: So this is where it gets fuzzy, because his player history has been removed to save memory. He joined in Conference N/S as a youngster from Arsenal, and followed the team to the Championship before joining Tranmere in the Premier League. After two seasons, he re-joined Bolnore, having now been retooled from a left winger to an attacking mid. By the end, he’d racked up the second-most appearances ever for Bolnore.
MC - Osmar: I’ll be honest, Osmar was an impulse buy in the PL which I wasn’t excited about. I needed a creative midfielder and he looked interesting. He was so consistent however that he pretty much played every game until he got displaced by a better midfielder, whereupon he graciously asked to return to Italy. How could I deny him?
ML - Marc Wilkinson: I don’t remember this guy, to be honest, but he played for 8 consecutive seasons during the Mid Sussex-years which makes him a friggin’ rarity.
ST - Matthew Dickson: I am so very happy that Dickson still is in the XI after all this time.
I posted a screenshot of him years back. Although he was an atrocious footballer overall, he has many key attributes that allowed him to dominate on an amateur level - speed, stamina/workrate, and goalscoring ability. He alone allowed me to play a “boot it long to the fast lad”-style for about a decade, and when that didn’t work, his relatively intense pressing ensured that he’d at least create one goal from snagging the ball off any defender with a First Touch of 1 (which was everyone).
ST - Luke Harris: He’s just a rich man’s Dickson, really. He played for me in two periods between the Sussex County Leagues and League One, getting his most impressive scoring streaks in the Conference.
2nd GK - Jack Moore: As far as I can remember, I didn’t even mean for Jack to become a regular. I simply ran out of keepers in League 1 and brought him in on a free, and he unexpectedly developed into a starter who played all the way up to a whole season in the PL. He then moved to Reading and have had a very respectable career.
2nd Sub (MC) - Andrew Wilson: Wilson used to be my captain if I’m not mistaken, and he was a man of extremes. Completely devoid of everything resembling technique, he was first and foremost a physical powerhouse with the defensive sensibilities of a pitbull terrier, making playmakers pee their pants all around the country. Serving Bolnore from 35 to 42, he then went on to terrorise League 1 for half a decade before hanging up his boots.
3rd Sub (MR) - John Brown: The biggest atrocity of the all-time XI is that John Brown isn’t in the first eleven. This is a man who could have played Championship football but opted to join a Sussex County League Division Three team because he saw their potential. This is a man who diligently turned up every single day, from the arduous depths of Sussex to the heights of the Premiership, to make 528 appearances from Bolnore. This is the man who, in a single season, racked up 50 fucking assists and
still went on to play for 8 more seasons despite teams 4 levels up wanting his services because he’s just that badass.
Now he spends his days teaching the Bolnore youth how to be as awesome as he is. Praise be John Brown.
4th Sub (ST) - Mirko Petrak: Poacher extraordinaire from Croatia that I bought for the Championship. Fired his way into legend but fell a bit into the wayside when I started playing a more free flowing, versatile game and left the club. Still a top bloke though.
5th Sub (ST?) - Robbie Craven: Yeah, I don’t remember what this guy was like. A striker, most likely.
6th Sub (DC) - Andy Tatters: Tatters only made 86 league starts, which makes him the least featured players in the list. Bit of a robbery too, considering some of the players that came later, but I guess there’s some old farts in Haywards Heath somewhere voting on this and reminiscing about the good old days when the pitch was grown from cowpats.
7th Sub (ST) - Edu González: If Steade isn’t the best player I’ve had, this is the guy.
Literally the Complete Striker made flesh, I lucked out as Barcelona had three excellent young forwards but only one position for them to share, so I bought him for a...reasonable £72M fee. Honestly, he hasn’t been terribly consistent and he’s injured a bit, but what a big game player he’s been.
Honestly, having written all this I’m finding it a little hard to let go. I semi-ironically swore that I’d never play Football Manager again after completing this, but the state of Bolnore now is a financially precarious one. If I were to, say, retire, and simulate for a few decades, I couldn’t leave them without establishing a healthy economy first...
russia league score prediction video
Russia Premier League Predictions, Tips and Game Previews - Free Russia Premier League Football Betting Predictions and Statistics See for yourself! russia premier league free football predictions and tips, statistics, odds comparison and match previews. Football (soccer) statistics, team information, match predictions, bet tips, expert reviews, bet information.However, being able to identify such draw prospects is no guarantee that this heightened likelihood of a stalemate has not been appropriately factored into the ... Russia Premier League free football predictions and tips, statistics, odds comparison and match previews. Russia 1. Division Tips and Predictions. View our Russia 1. Division tips for the next games below. Select any game to view our detailed analysis on each game. We have the Russian Premier League predictions covered here. ... Premier League Predictions & Betting Tips Russia. Tambov. Ural. 2020-12-18 15:00:00 1 - 1 ... Preview & Prediction » FC Rostov. CSKA Moscow. 2020-12-17 17 ... Russia Premier League Tips and Predictions. View our Russia Premier League tips for the next games below. Select any game to view our detailed analysis on each game. Match Tips & Odds BTTS Tips & Odds Over/Under 2.5 Tips & Odds PredictZ vs WinDrawWin. Russia 1. Division Predictions, Tips and Game Previews - Free Russia 1. Division Football Betting Predictions and Statistics Russia Premier League free football predictions and tips, statistics, odds comparison and match previews.
russia league score prediction top
[index]
[2673] [3012] [9072] [1058] [8160] [3806] [6230] [9173] [2356] [2549]
russia league score prediction
Copyright © 2024 hot.bestrealmoneygame.xyz