Hi everyone, remember me! :)
I guess I should start of with an apology for being away for the last few weeks, the truth is that me and my boyfriend have just moved house and anyone who has done that will know the sheer amount of effort it takes to pack up all your stuff and move on.
Our new house is so much bigger with a front and back garden, a garage and a huge kitchen!!
I mean every room is much bigger than what we had, you could probably take our old house and drop it inside the new one and still have loads of space left over!
So thats where I have been for the last few weeks, thankfully we are about 90% there with everything and our internet and everything is now set-up along with the endless list of things you have to do when you move house!
But lets try and get back to my story! Infact its been so long I can barely remember what happened last time! So please take a few moments to go back and re-read to try and familierise yourself with what happened.
But for those lazy people! I will summarise that I am currently at Sporting CP and have just won my first Portugese title on the road to hopefully sealing my fifth and final champions league trophy.
So here is my season as it happened :
Cheonan (July 2010 – January 2013)
Nothing won.
— South China (June 2013 – June 2016)
Hong Kong League Title : 2014, 2015, 2016
Senior Shield : 2013, 2016
League Cup : 2014, 2015, 2016
Asian Confederation Cup : 2014, 2016
— F.C.A.K (December 2016 – November 2019)
South African First Division : 2018, 2019
South African First Divison Cup : 2019
— Moroko Swallows (November 2019 – January 2023)
South African FA Cup : 2020, 2021
South African Premier League : 2021, 2022
South African Charity Cup : 2020
South African Knockout Cup : 2021
South African Super Eight : 2021
African Champions League : 2022
— FC Seoul (February 2023 – February 2026)
The K-League : 2023, 2024, 2025
The Korean League Cup : 2023, 2024
The Pan-Pacific Championship : 2024, 2025
The Korean FA Cup : 2024
Asian Champions League : 2025
— St Gallen (October 2026 – July 2027)
Nothing won.
— Veracruz (July 2027 – June 2031)
Mexican Opening Stage : 2029
Superliga : 2030
Champions Cup : 2030
North America Champions League : 2031
— Sao Paulo (June 2031 – July 2032)
Sao Paulo State Championship : 2032
— Cruzeiro (July 2032 – December 2033)
Brazilian First Division : 2032, 2033
Minas State Championship : 2033
The Club World Championship : 2033
The Copa Libertadores : 2033
— Sporting CP (June 2035 – Present)
Liga Sagres : 2036
Super-Taca : 2035
International Teams :
— Morocco (Febraury 2015 – December 2016)
Nothing won.
— Senegal (November 2021 – February 2023)
African Cup Of Nations : 2023
— Egypt (October 2025 – February 2027)
Nothing Won.
— Mexico (September 2028 – September 2029)
The Gold Cup : 2029
— Croatia (November 2033 – July 2034)
Nothing Won.
— Spain (July 2034 – Present)
Nothing Won Yet.
——————————————————
The European Championships
So many will remember that I left my job at Croatia to manage at Spain, so here is my first full tournament the European championships. I was drawn in group C alongside Bosnia, Serbia and the Ukraine the tournament was being held in Spain so alot of extra pressure from my home fans!
Group C results
So we began with a fantastic five zero win over Bosnia but a nervy draw with Serbia followed another comfortable win over the Ukraine. Peinando is my player at Sporting my adopted Spaniard!
The draw wasnt too kind to us as we would face Holland in the second round.
Second Round Results
We just managed to sneak past the Dutch thanks to a Peinando late freekick. My former team Croatia were knocked out to Germany whilst Ireland progressed thanks to a win over Slovakia, Portugal ran riot scoring seven against the Czech’s.
The quarter’s would see us face the German’s.
The Quarter Finals
So another narrow win and another game we did just about enough to get through, we needed to thank our goalkeeper though after he saved a penalty to preserve our lead. England beat Italy as both Portugal and France progressed to the semi-finals.
It seems we would to meet local rivals Portugal, whilst no love lost as England met France.
The Semi-Final Results
Another very tough match but I was very pleased that we managed to edge the game with an extra time winner. We probably should have won in normal time but England took France to penalties so all teams played the maximum time.
It seems my beloved Spain would face the serial underachievers England maybe England’s time had finally come……
The European Championship Final
Or not! I must admit the scoreline didnt really reflect the game as England played really well but my team were clinical when we needed to be as top scorer in the tournament Peinado smashed in the opener on 44 minutes.
A trademark freekick seven minutes after the re-start meant we had one hand on the trophy but my captain of all people! Pons was red carded after the English striker was clean through, but he probably justified it as their freekick came to nothing and we held on to win the trophy!
I did resign shortly after winning as I want to focus 100% on Sporting, but I managed to win in Spain! :)
Here is the past winners of this tournament (to cheer up Kevin and Darren!) :
So England have twice won it in 2020, and 2028. Holland claimed it in Poland and again 20 years later in France with Denmark winning it in 2016.
So thats that! Now onto my Sporting season!
Transfers In
Kagiso Ngobeni
Rasmus Bagger
Mick Deckers
So I made three new additions with Ngobeni a holding or central midfield player, Bagger a central defender and Deckers a promising Dutch man but I did pay alot of money for him. He is also a central or holding midfield type player.
Super-Taca Final
Nothing much to say as we ran out easy winners, nice to see Coffie score twice as I have been really pleased with his progress so far.
Results & Table First 15 Games
So we have meade a very strong start this season and are already ten points clear of our main rivals Porto. We have score for fun and have been fairly good at the back as we search to recliam our title.
Transfers Out (Bad news!)
Bye Peinado….
Easily my best player and already a Sporting legend despite his young age. As you can imagine I had no say in the deal once it was made and to make things even worse we lost our star left back Maninho to PSV.
We did take alot of money most I spent on this guy to try and fill the void of Peinando (Warning : possible panic buy ahead!!) :
Cheikh Camara
Angel Peinando
Ok maybe not a fair comparison but I payed £14 million for Camara and I dont know why! I had options at Sporting and probably didnt need another striker but just look at Peinando, deserves his chance at Man City who pay him £120,000 a week more than we did….
Results & Table Last 15 Games Of The Season
So we managed to re-claim our title and in truth it never looked close. Towards the end I was giving my youngsters, back-up and acadamy players some games and was impressed by a few of them.
Nothing more to add, champions again! :)
Final Player Ratings Of The Season
Star Man — Zeferino Muzadi
So Muzadi has been promoted to club captain after Peinando left for Man City, and once again topped the ratings with another fantastic season. Coffie really has come on leaps and bounds and filled the void really well, whilst Camara enjoyed an up and down start struggling with injury.
The Champions League
Just horrible, from start to finish as we never got going in Europe. Was pretty happy with the group draw but we almost blew that with some bad performances only beating Lille, then met Barcelona and that was that as we crashed out 5-1, just bring on next season! :)
Taca-De-Portugal
The Final
So a cup competition added to my C.V as we won the Taca de Portugal in a pretty good final as Maderia played very well. Cue Muzadi to spoil there dreams as he hit a fantastic hat-trick with goals from Francisco and Allende.
The B-WIN Cup
So we failed to win the BWIN cup after losing to our big rivals Porto by two goals to zero. I wasnt too down hearted as I dont really care too much for domestic cups my aim is the champions league!
And that is that!!
Phew!, well done if you have read it all I know it was a pretty long post even for me, but had loads to cram in having been away.
Am a little worried about the champions league as we seem to underperform, so I a may to change some tactics around to try and be a little less aggresive in attack as we tend to lose alot of cheap goals. Domestically though and things look pretty good as we are miles ahead of our rivals so am hoping to add a few more titles to my C.V.
Again apologies for being away and I will do my very best to read as many posts as I can, but dont feel bad if I dont comment as there a loads of posts I need to read! Enough to keep me busy for a few days!
In terms of my story I should hopefully be posting alot quicker, as I try to complete this challenge so thanks very much for reading and bye for now! :)
Johnny Karp
4 августа, 2011 at 08:40
Hola Ana! Firstly congrats on the new house! Secondly congrats on the Euro win with Spain and on another domestic double with Sporting! Losing Peinado surely doesn’t help with the Champions League dream but you’ll get there sooner or later ;)
Ana Garcia
7 августа, 2011 at 12:56
Hola Johnny :)
Thanks, its a big step but one we are glad to make, am so glad we have moved from our old house.
I was delighted to win the Euro’s with Spain and now I can focus on Sporting. Peinado was a massive loss in terms of the champions league but we will just have to try and get by!
Laxeyman
4 августа, 2011 at 10:48
Congratulations on 3 fronts Ana: firstly, the new house, secondly winning the European Championship with Spain, and thirdly on the excellent season with Sporting! Peinado isn’t a big loss in the league, although it does make it harder in the Champions League for you. Anyway, Camara isn’t a bad player, and Coffie is developing, so hopefully you can fill the void and go further in the CL next year :)
Ana Garcia
7 августа, 2011 at 12:59
Thanks Laxeyman,
I agree on Peinando the league is a formality but in terms of the champions league he is a huge blow, that said we almost doubled our bank balance with his transfer fee so hopefully we can bring in a few stars instead of having a world class player.
Coffie has really improved and am hopeful he can fill the void, fingers crossed! :)
Darren Smith
4 августа, 2011 at 12:24
Cool you moved house, very nice and I bet it’ll be like Christmas when the dust settles. I’m hoping to move sometime after December but all depends really. Anyway, we missed you around here, far too much testosterone. :)
Well done on a great season and especially your triumph with Spain. That must have been special and its nice to see England finally making an effort in major comps :) You enjoyed a great season domestically and I reckon you should build a European winning side with time, just a little worrying to see your best player leave behind your back.
Ana Garcia
7 августа, 2011 at 13:02
Thanks Darren,
Yeah, we have wanted to move for a while then we found our perfect house seems to take forever to get everything sorted out!
I was delighted to win the Euro’s am thinking I should have stayed for the world cup but I just want to focus on Sporting.
Time is right, but losing Peinando was massive. That said we have a very good looking bank balance at the moment. :)
kevin
4 августа, 2011 at 13:49
Hi Ana
Welcome back!!!
I was begining to think you had returned to Spain :) Anyway, great job as usual in dominating the domestic scene in Portugal and some nice transfer activity as well. Hope you enjoy your new home!
Ana Garcia
7 августа, 2011 at 13:06
Thanks Kevin. :)
Ha, I wish! We are staying in the UK for now at least, moving abroad looks like it may never happen but we will just see what happens.
Portugal isnt the best league outside the top clubs so am going into every season with the league almost a given.
Just need to improve in the champions league.
Martin
4 августа, 2011 at 14:36
Yeah Congrats on moving house!
Great post as per, lots of trophies and goals…just what we like. Unlucky on your short champions league journey, maybe rest players for those game…I dunno and I’m not going to start telling you how to play your game lol…you’ve done far better then I would have.
Losing your star striker wasn’t good but turning down 44.5m would have been silly lol.
Cant wait for your next update…so dont be moving house again lol
Ana Garcia
7 августа, 2011 at 13:09
Thanks Martin. :)
Champions league was a disaster! Not sure what happened but I didnt expect to beat Barca anyways was less confident with our group results.
Resting players is a good idea try to keep them fit for the champions league.
Agreed but my chairman accepted on my behalf, but I would have sold him also like you said just too much money to say no.
LoL, We wont at least for a while, still moving into our new house so much stuff to do!
Excessive
4 августа, 2011 at 16:55
Welcome back, and congrats on the house! Sounds brilliant :D
Unlucky on the Champions League campaign, but it will take a few years to get into the swing of things.. Especially with Sporting.
No doubt you’ll have a decent challenge next season though, even with the loss of Peinado.
Good luck!
Ana Garcia
7 августа, 2011 at 13:16
Thanks Jake, we are very happy with it! :)
I agree it will take a few years but this is my last champions league so I am in no rush.
He is a loss but we should be able to cope without him, I hope! :)
Dan
4 августа, 2011 at 17:12
Hi Ana!
Firstly congrats on the house! :)
Unlucky in the Champions League but I’m sure your team will get up to speed in that competition soon enough so you can challenge for it. Look forward to seeing another successful season :)
Ana Garcia
7 августа, 2011 at 13:19
Thanks Dan. :)
House is great, but I found a downside as its bigger it takes longer to clean!
I hope so, we just had a bad few games in the champions league so am hoping we can improve for next season.
Sibo
6 августа, 2011 at 06:03
Welcome back, the house sounds really nice! :D
Well done on all the domestics Ana, shame about the CL…also well done with Spain, although they probably have a great team based on their performances in recent competitions. I like FM’s choice of a potential manager…Sneijder FTW!!! :D
Ana Garcia
7 августа, 2011 at 13:22
Thanks Sibo. :)
Spain’s team is good but I feel that Argentina and Brazil are better they are ranked 1 and 2 whilst Spain are third.
Sneijder made me smile also! Main reason I posted that picture, he didnt get the job in the end it went to the barca manager who was Spanish. After they re-offered it back to me. :)
Mariano
12 августа, 2011 at 15:52
Hola Ana,
He leido varios capitulos de tu historia y esta muy buena.
Yo he terminado mi juego llevando a un equipo de Blue square a ganar la CL y la PL y quisiera comenzar un nuevo save en career mode, pero tengo miedo de cargar muchas ligas y que con el correr de ls temporadas mi ordenador haga el juego demasiado lento.
¿Como haces para jugar tu con tantas ligas cargadas en tu fm story?
Otra pregunta:
¿Por casualidad conoces al dueño del siguiente site?:
http://www.mifootballmanager.com/
Quisiera contactarlo pero no tiene contact form en su site.
Muchas gracias y saludos
Mariano
12 августа, 2011 at 16:20
Conoces cuales son los mejores sites de Football Manager en español?
Adam D
21 августа, 2011 at 20:53
Hi,
Loving the series, you certainly picked a hard challenge.
Rather than ask about real life players I was wondering what happened to a couple of stars from your previous teams:
1 — What happened to Azubuike Olawale, your young Nigerian star at Seoul after he was sold to CS Sedan Ardennes? Did he go onto big things or just play in minor European teams?
2 — How is Cruzerio star Tony doing at Real Madrid?
Keep up the good work and here’s hoping you can get the Champions League to finish off your colection.