Argentina Trying To Win 2022 World Cup

Hello folks and welcome to Australia for the 2022 World Cup! That’s right, after taking Vauxhall Motors through their most successful season in Football Manager 2011 it was time to take care of Argentina and try to push them to a memorable World Cup tournament. As you know I have already won the Copa America and the Confederations Cup with Argentina but those tournaments are nothing compared to the World Cup, the Holy Grail for any football player or manager!

I was not very optimistic before the tournament to be honest and that is because I couldn’t count on most of the big Argentinian stars that you know today: Messi is too old and slow now, Aguero is in a similar situation, while Di Maria is just an average player. My shortlist of possible call-ups featured 51 players before the World Cup but 15 of those 51 were just prospects for the future (players that could be called up in a year or two) and five others had long term injuries. So I was left with 31 players to choose from for a 23-man squad, I guess it’s good that I didn’t have too many difficult choices to make…

Despite my pessimism the bookmakers seemed to think that we had what it takes to win the tournament, we were joint-favourites with Italy, France and Spain! The Argentinian FA was not so demanding though, their expectation was to reach the semi finals.

As you remember my new Bulldozer tactic has won me the Confederations Cup with Argentina and also a clean sweep of silverware with the Motormen last season so you might expect me to use the same tactic for the World Cup. Well, I decided to use a different tactic and that tactic is… Darren’s Manchelona! Let me explain why, there were three main reasons:

1. I felt I needed a more balanced tactic for a big tournament like the World Cup, I would have chosen the Bulldozer if I had the players that I have at Vauxhall but the Argentinian national side is, believe it or not, weaker than my Vauxhall squad!

2. The most good Argentinian players in 2022 are central midfielders so I thought it would make sense to make use of that wealth of talent by using a tactic with three central midfielders.

3. I had promised Darren that I would test the Manchelona sooner or later and, unfortunately, I never did.

And there’s another reason, an unofficial one: I wanted to blame Darren for an eventual poor tournament! :) Just kidding, obviously :)

So, I chose the Manchelona tactic for the World Cup, now here is the 23-man squad: (click on the names to view the player profiles)

Goalkeepers: Gonzalo Maidana, Sergio Romero, Nicolas Gamboa

Defenders: Sergio Garcia, Fabio Ortiz, Nicolas Otamendi, Fernando Pereyra, Javier Godoy, Osvaldo Rufino, Matias Asencio, Ezequiel Munoz

Central Midfielders: Marcos Fernandez, Gustavo Iglesias, Ismael Fischer, Franco Zuculini, Javier Pastore, Hilario Giaccone

Wingers: Leandro Velasco, Juan Pablo Yavar, Claudio Vicente, German Pacheco

Strikers: Lucas Cuello, Sergio Araujo

As you can notice there are four Vauxhall players in the squad but only three of them are really important: Fernandez, Velasco and Cuello while Godoy is a reliable backup in defence. I had a friendly against Turkey 10 days before the first group match and I was beginning to worry as we only managed to get a goalless draw out of that match! The team played well though and the players proved their worth in the opening group match as we thrashed Ghana 5-0! Velasco scored the opener inside the first minute of play and then it was all downhill, Velasco was the man of the match but Vauxhall striker Cuello also got his name on the score sheet. (Click here to watch the highlights.)

The second group match was against Greece, a team that had lost the opening match 1-0 to Mexico. Well, this one wasn’t as easy as the game against Ghana but that was all because of bad luck, the team played even better but the Greeks scored two lucky goals and kept the match in balance for a while. My lads were too good though and we won the game 5-2 thanks to another vintage performance from Cuello. (Click here to watch the highlights.)

We only needed a draw against Mexico to finish top of the group and that’s what we got although we would have deserved much more. We hit the woodwork no less than four times during that game and if you add some clumsy defending to that you can understand why the game ended 2-2. It didn’t matter too much though, I had rested a few key players and we were prepared for the next round. (Click here to watch the highlights.)

Ghana qualified from second spot and that is quite strange considering that they were the weakest team in the group from what I have seen in the game against them. Anyway, we were through and that was the most important thing for the nation.

We were not going to have an easy opponent in the second round, we were going to face Holland! That was because the Dutch had a very tough group and they finished second behind Germany… I wished we had played New Zealand, they were by far the weakest team to make the second round…

Argentina vs Holland (World Cup 2nd Rnd)

Venue: Adelaide Oval

Attendance: 33,597

Starting line up: Gonzalo Maidana — Sergio Garcia, Fabio Ortiz, Nicolas Otamendi, Fernando Pereyra — Marcos Fernandez, Gustavo Iglesias, Ismael Fischer — Leandro Velasco, Juan Pablo Yavar — Lucas Cuello

Team Talk: For the fans!

The first half was totally under our control, the Dutch players rarely managed to come out of their own half. They were doing a great job in defence though, we only had a few shots on target but nothing special until half time.

Half time score: 0-0

Half time team talk: For the fans!

Half time substitutions: Claudio Vicente for Velasco

The domination continued after the break and we managed to create the first clear cut chance after five minutes when a fine move released substitute Vicente inside the penalty area but his shot was somehow parried by the goalkeeper. We continued to add more and more pressure on the Dutch defence but they were hanging in there, the game was heading towards extra time… I was quite frustrated to play an extra half hour and risk losing a match that we had dominated so clearly but fortunately we found the decisive goal in the first minute of stoppage time: the Dutch defence finally made a mistake and Cuello slotted home from inside the penalty area! Get in!

Full time team talk: Well done!

Man of the match: Lucas Cuello

Flop of the match: Leandro Velasco

Video Highlights

Click here to watch the highlights.

Match Stats

Hoping for an easy opponent in the quarter finals… Yeah, right… We got France, the number 1 team in the FIFA rankings!

I could go on about the French side’s strength all day but I’ll say just one name instead: Yaya Sanogo… However, we had beaten the Frenchies 3-1 to lift the Confederations Cup last summer so I was quietly hoping to do that again… Did we do it? Go to the next page to find out!

Go to the next page to read the rest of the story.

Argentina vs France (World Cup Quarter Final)

Venue: Suncorp Stadium, Brisbane

Attendance: 52,000

Starting line up: Gonzalo Maidana — Sergio Garcia, Fabio Ortiz, Nicolas Otamendi, Fernando Pereyra — Marcos Fernandez, Gustavo Iglesias, Ismael Fischer — Leandro Velasco, Juan Pablo Yavar — Lucas Cuello

Team Talk: For the fans!

We couldn’t have wished for a better start to be honest: the players were quite nervy at the start of the game and the first one to crack was French midfielder Moussa Sissoko, he made a stupid two-footed tackle just 10 seconds into the game and he was justly sent off! With the numerical advantage on our side it was quite easy to dominate the game, we were in control of the ball but the French side was defending in numbers and it was quite difficult to find a breach. They were not doing anything upfront though, I was quite calm until… until Sanogo struck! I don’t know how he scored that goal, he did everything by himself and put France ahead on 43 minutes! I was incredibly frustrated because two minutes later Cuello was denied by the post! But luckily the same player eased my concerns during stoppage time as he scored a marvellous goal: he dribbled past two defenders before passing it into the back of the net! At that point I was sure that we were not going to lose the game.

Half time score: 1-1

Half time team talk: Pleased

Half time substitutions: Claudio Vicente for Yavar

Our domination continued, the second goal seemed just a matter of time but the clock was ticking and we were unable to find the breakthrough. Velasco had a chance on 65 minutes but he was denied by an amazing save from Hugo Lloris and then France survived until full time. The game went into extra time and things got even worse for France as one of their centre backs had to leave the field on 94 minutes, they had already made all three substitutions so they were reduced to 9 men and a very «attacking» 5-3-0 formation! We were pushing forward in numbers and redemption finally came on 104 minutes when centre back Ortiz headed home on a Velasco corner kick cross. There was no reaction at all from France, they were down and out and Ortiz made sure of the result with another corner kick header two minutes from time.

Full time team talk: Well done!

Man of the match: Fabio Ortiz

Flop of the match: Ismael Fischer

Video Highlights

Click here to watch the highlights.

Match Stats

One more down, two more to go! I was secretly hoping that Uruguay would beat England to meet us in the semi final and that is exactly what happened, I was quite pleased! The other semi final had Italy taking on Germany, I had no preferences there but I was surely thankful that Italy had knocked out Brazil in the quarter finals :)

Now let me explain why I was happy to meet Uruguay. We had met them three times since I took charge of the team, first we beat them 2-1 in the Copa America semi final but then we thrashed them in the World Cup qualifying matches. I knew their squad all too well and I was very confident before the game. Unfortunately we had an injured player after the match against France, left winger Yavar was the victim of the rather harsh French tackling and the World Cup was over for him…

Uruguay vs Argentina (World Cup Semi Final)

Venue: Stadium Australia, Sydney

Attendance: 80,000

Starting line up: Gonzalo Maidana — Javier Godoy, Fabio Ortiz, Nicolas Otamendi, Osvaldo Rufino — Marcos Fernandez, Gustavo Iglesias, Ismael Fischer — Leandro Velasco, German Pacheco — Lucas Cuello

Team Talk: For the fans!

I was so confident that I even decided to make some changes in the starting eleven in order to «protect» the players that had been booked in the previous games. And things went even better than expected in the first half: we broke the deadlock after just three minutes through Cuello and then the Vauxhall striker went on to complete a fabulous hat-trick before the break (the second goal was stunning)! Moreover, my lads wasted four clear cut chances before half time, if this was a boxing match the referee would have stopped it long before the second half! :)

Half time score: 3-0

Half time team talk: Pleased.

Half time substitutions: Franco Zuculini for Fernandez, Claudio Vicente for Pacheco, Sergio Araujo for Cuello

The second half was equally pleasing as three central midfielders managed to score: Iglesias, Zuculini (a beautiful shot from distance) and Fischer. Uruguay did score a consolation goal but I didn’t really care, all I wanted at that point was for my players to stay clear of injuries and have a good rest before the final. Oh, and one more thing: this Manchelona tactic is just brilliant! :)

Full time team talk: Well done!

Man of the match: Lucas Cuello

Flop of the match: Claudio Vicente

Video Highlights

Click here to watch the highlights.

Match Stats

So, we were through to the final, we exceeded the FA expectations, but now we want to win the darn thing! Italy will be in our way and that’s not good, they are one of the favourites and a very strong teams as far as I know.

Then again, I don’t know too much since I only met them once since I took charge and that was a friendly game. We managed to get a goalless away draw back then but things have changed a lot in the meantime.

Here are the player stats before the final, it’s quite clear that Ortiz, Cuello and Velasco have been the best players so far. It’s normal that two of them are Vauxhall players but I have a confession: Ortiz was a Vauxhall player too! :) I had bought him when he was very young but then decided to sell him at the age of 21 or 22 because he wasn’t good enough to fight for a first team place! I got 7.5 million for him for Sampdoria and, as you can see, he’s a pretty good player! Maybe I shouldn’t have sold him :)

And now, the final! No, no, no, not yet! You see, I haven’t played the final yet although I’m quite eager to do that. But it’s for a good cause I think, I have saved the final for something really special. And that something special is… live coverage, right here on the website! That is right folks, the final will be brought to you live! It’s not a video broadcast, it will be like writing a post live, as it happens, and you commenting live, in real time! Here, let me give you a «teaser». It will all happen in a box like the one you see below, you can connect and we can chat in there for a while this evening, from 20:30 GMT to 21:30!

The final will be live here on the website on Sunday, September 4th, and it will start at 12:30 pm GMT! I will have the game loaded on my laptop and I will be updating you live from my desktop PC, sounds fun! :) Until then, see you in the comments and also in the «live box» for around an hour!