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Ana — FM 2011 : Sao Paulo, Season 23
Hello everyone!
Ok first things first, congratulations to my team Barcelona for winning the champions league! We had a good celebration on Saturday and spent all day Sunday recovering!
But back to my story and I will have some bad news, I guess some people will see it as bad and others may understand but I will post that later.
Last time I left you I had made the journey to Brazil and to Sao Paulo in search of my fourth Champions league trophy. However we were met by an amazing Cruzeiro side, that has dominated Brazilian football for the last seven seasons.
Winning six league titles in a row and ten of the last nine and four Copa Libertadores out of the last five!
Toppling them will be a challenege in itself, so lets have a look at the season and to that piece of news I said I will bring to you.
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 – Present)
Nothing Yet
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
——————————-
Transfers Out Start of Season
Transfers In Start Of Season
So very unlike me as I spent alot more than I managed to recoup, the main reason was I needed to!
Cruzeiro are miles ahead of us so I needed a complete squad overhaul in order to try and compete with them.
Dont worry about the two Marcelo names you see going on loan or sold neither are my amazing striker who is worth a little more than a £100k! I will post a couple of our better signings in :
Cristain Gaitan
So almost all my players brought in are under 21, building for the future as they say. Gaitan is that future!! Rated a massive 4 and half stars by the three scouts I sent after him he could be the perfect partner for Marcelo.
At 6’7» he is a towering striker, and with Marcelo and his pace the two should be able to score the goals we need and at 18 I have no problem in starting him this season.
Bastos is a hard working midfield player, more defensive but I payed a bit of money for him. Physically not too good at the moment but hopefully he can improve.
Just a note that both Fabinho and Leo were also rated 4 and a half stars, Fabinho is another forward and Leo is a full back/central defender, both very promising but 16 and 17 respectfully.
The Sao Paulo State Championship
So if you remember I said there were two leagues in Brazil, the main league and this the state championship. This competition is a bit wierd as most of the teams are sort of non-league or lower division.
Bar the top four the rest are no match for the powerhouses of Brazilian football hence why Palmerias and ourselves are able to show impressive results.
The Q means we have qualfied for my favourite thing, the playoffs! So excited…..
Not really, but will post the playoff results now :
Semi And Quarter Finals
The Final
No you are reading correctly! I won the playoffs!!
In all honesty Palmeiras were my only real threat as they are almost as good as we are. But two clean sheets and a comfortable home win saw us win the State Championship!
Which really means nothing as far as I can see except a bit of money and hammering low league teams with no chance of ever beating you. It feels pointless but am sure there is a reason for playing it!
Usually I post my cup competitions at the end but seeing as Brazil only have one (the copa lib or copa scuda if you qualify) I will just post it now!
The Copa Libertadores
Out in the semi final! Some say its harder to take a loss in the semi than the final either way that away goal cost us. We qualified easily beating the best that Chile and Mexico had to offer before beating Godoy Cruz a good team from Argentina.
Next up was a game against Javier Mascherano (the Barca player!) River! He was a legend at the club managing them for the past 14 years and bringing alot of success but we won four one to book a semi final with our biggest rivals. They edged in and I have no complaints Cruzeiro beat them in the final, so no surprises!
That Piece Of News I Mentioned
So I mentioned this earlier about a piece of news that I would post and some people would not like it so here it is.
I have grown tired of this challenge and of FM in general so I have decided to leave the site. I would like to thank Johnny for allowing me to write here for the past few years and for Darren for allowing me to post this story at his site in the first place. I am so sorry it had to end this way….
Just kidding!! I am not leaving and I still love this game! It was just a ruse to sucker you in to the real piece of news so here it is :
I know! I took the cowards way out!
But I couldnt decline after I was offered the job at Cruzeiro, their squad is amazing and I should be able to win the Copa Lib alot quicker than it would have taken me at Sao Paulo!
Their manager left to join the Brazilian national side and so left the door open for me to sign, I joined a few games into our main season so will post that next time.
Hopefully Johnny and Darren (and everyone else) have gotten their breathes back! Just to confirm I am not leaving the site, unless Johnny was so shocked he asks me to leave! :)
It was a joke so people wouldnt be mad because I took the Cruzeiro job! In my last post CSAtlantis asked me for a picture of that £34 million pound Cruzeiro player and now with pleasure here he is :
Tony
:)! You now see what I mean when I say Cruzeiro have an amazing squad!
Tony came through the ranks at Cruzeiro and is now valued at £34 million! We also have some other amazing players but I will post more next time. Try and guess his best position!
So thats it! Hopefully you enjoyed this post and dont hate me for taking the easier option! To say again I wont be leaving the site as I love it here so dont be confused at my attempted humour!
This challenge was always about winning all five champions leagues as quickly as I could, Cruzeiro are set up to win it straight away but Sao Paulo would have been a three, four or even five year plan. And even then all would have depended on the Cruzeiro team so I think I made the right choice.
I look forward to reading your thoughts on whether I did do the right thing in your opinion and next time I will post from my newest club Cruzeiro!