Hey guys and welcome back to the final chapter of my Malaga save, ‘Brazil’s modern day Samba style Copa America 2019’. The title will become clear later on but for now lets look at the the competition I will face in this years Copa America. By the way I have made my decision on the next story I’ll be undertaking…but I’ll offer some clues at the end of the post.
Believe it or not the Mexico side have some mega talent and in my eyes could cause a shock while the likes of Colombia and Chile have some solid players too not to mention Chile are this years hosts. While the usual favorites persist in Brazil and Argentina, the latter seems to be struggling with key stars ageing and a lack of quality regens coming through. Don’t get me wrong, they have a very strong team but it just doesn’t seem complete.
While making my 23 man squad selection, I had to consider the tactics I’d be using to cover every position with two players or more. I am actually invested in Johnny’s counter attacking Barcelona tactic which features a 4-3-3. This provides great possession and a solid back line if the players are suited. Therefore I had to find 3 keepers, 4 full backs, 4 center backs, 6 central midfielders and 6 strikers. Below are the players I selected and below that is my predicted first team XI and you can see their profiles by clicking on the names. I’d recommend doing this as the names you don’t recognize are explosive regens, three of which grace my Malaga side.
Best starting XI — GK: Luis Guilherme — DR: Romario, DL: Alex Sandro, DC: Marcao, DC: Edmar — MC: Lucas Moura, MC: Edu, MC: Ricardo — ST: Neymar, ST: Vieira, ST: Ricardinho
So as you can see the Brazil side is full of flair and talent, which makes me confident as I look to add to my International cabinet and the World Cup. We are about to kick off the tournament, I will show my entire group results then move on to a game by game basis after that.
Copa America group stages
So Brazil kicked the competition off against Mexico, a very strong opponent that put up one hell of a fight. After taking the lead Mexico pegged us back in the second-half before Marcelinho scored a 92nd minute winner. The match against Ecuador wasn’t as nervy, my boys held 68% of the possession but only managed to convert one of their 12 shots. Thankfully this was enough to secure a 1-0 victory, but the scoreline was very kind on Ecuador. My final group game came against Paraguay, Brazil dominated yet again with 67% possession but this time converted more chances with the match finishing 3-0.
Neymar was proving key, but so was my back four. You always felt like any player on the pitch could score, but we just needed to start converting the great play and possession into goals. Either way Brazil finished top of their group and Mexico in a not so surprising second.
Copa America Quarter-finals
After qualifying from our group I was left to inspect the quarter-final draw but no shock exits had taken place. Looking through the draw I had the easiest path with a match against Japan while Mexico and Argentina will have been cursing their luck to be drawn against each other.
Copa America quarter-final vs Japan
Venue: Monumental David Arellano, Santiago
Attendance: 47,017
Starting formations:
I went into this match with an almost full strength XI and couldn’t even contemplate an upset. Looking through the Japan line up I know none of those players and I think that says it all. Rather than explain what happened I will leave you to watch the match highlights, but just note the first goal didn’t come until the 67th minute. :(
Match highlights: Click here to watch the Copa America quarter-final match highlights
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Match stats:
Take a quick look through the match stats and it becomes apparent who dominated the game. A sea of yellow is how I’d describe those bars, but I couldn’t believe our luck with some of the chances. Needless to say my palms were sweaty before that first goal.
Moving into the other quarter-final results and prepare yourselves for a little shock. Argentina fell at the hands of Mexico, while the North American team look strong I still had Argentina down as easy favorites so it was a little weird to see them exit so soon.
Copa America semi-finals
Now we are getting to the business end of things, the semi-final draw. Brazil drew the competitions hosts, Chile, leaving Mexico and Colombia to slug out for a place in the final.
Copa America semi-final vs Chile
Venue: Monumental David Arellano, Santiago
Attendance: 47,017
Starting formations:
Chile have a strong team with two good regen strikers but they have nothing compared to Brazil. The real difference in this match though is that Chile are at home and I have been forced to rest a number of stars including Marcao my star CB, Romario my RB, Ricardo my playmaker and Ricardinho the machine upfront. Having said that the replacements are all worthy of a place in the team. Same as before I will leave you to watch the match highlights below.
Match highlights: Click here to watch the Copa America semi-final highlights
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Match stats:
Another match dominated by Brazil and although Chile caused a couple of scares I always felt in control. In the end it was Vieira who I brought to Malaga many seasons ago who settled the tie. Its just a little worrying to see my players in front of goal for so long and yet score so few. We are playing incredible Football but I just feel like someone could take advantage of these squandered chances.
Looking at the other semi-final result reveals who my opponents will be in the final. I was fully expecting a Mexico win, but yet another shock meant Colombia won their tie 1-0 and booked a place in the Copa America final.
Copa America final vs Colombia
Venue: Nacional, Santiago
Attendance: 49,000
Starting formations:
Colombia actually have a good team, most of the players you don’t recognize are good regens. But Ospina is a great keeper, Zapata a very strong center back, Rodriguez one of the strongest left wingers and Blanco a well rounded central midfielder. I sent out an almost full strength Brazil XI myself and just hoped to see more goals for my possession than experienced in the other rounds. I will leave you to watch the match highlights below.
Match highlights: Click here to watch the Copa America final match highlights
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Match stats:
Brazil dominated the first half of this final bar one or two Colombian attacks but the real turning point was Marcelo’s red card after Marcelinho had given us the lead. This offered the Colombians a way back but thankfully I could rely on a rather scrappy goal from Edu to wrap the tie up.
That was it, Brazil had won the Copa America dominating every match and playing some wonderful Football. Now the reason I entitled this post ‘Brazil’s modern day Samba style…’ is because the Brazil of the past would play very similar but score a lot more goals and concede a few too. While my Brazil of 2019 played some beautiful Football, but the scorelines didn’t suggest so.
This is where my save comes to an end, but I did promise you all a download so here it is. I carried on into the start of pre-season offloading a few players and buying one very talented one from Real Madrid. I have left you all with £247 million in the bank and a transfer budget of £230 million so do with that what you will. The training and youth facilities are pretty much maxed out and the club move into the Smith Arena next season so enjoy. :) You can download the save by clicking here. Thank you all for following me, it always inspires me to carry on longer than I usually would. For now I will take a break and consider what my next move is, over the coming months I have a lot to do due to moving house. Then in a few months I’ll hopefully be making the move itself which will see me disappear for a few days or maybe even a week but I’ll keep you all up-to-date when that might happen.
P.S. I have decided what my next story will be, and lets just say this will be my biggest challenge yet. You all know I like taking smaller top flight clubs to glory or starting in League One and turning unknowns into EPL champions but this challenge will absolutely crush anything else I have ever attempted. It is also with a team that I hold close to my heart and have a long and emotional history with, but I will explain all in my next post and give you the full history I have with this club, who they are and what I want to achieve. Have I got you interested?
tom
10 января, 2012 at 13:10
fantastic story…this has inspired me to do similar wiv PSG…
i dont know why but i think ur next save will be Scarborough…ive got a feeling u mentioned them before as close to ur heart….but i cud be goin crazy…
all the best!
Kevin
10 января, 2012 at 18:18
I live in Scarborough!!
…Ontario, Canada that is.
Darren Smith
10 января, 2012 at 19:27
Glad to hear it mate, always nice to know a story can make someone want to try something themselves. I won’t be giving anything away about the team I’m managing though, you’ll see soon enough ;)
Sammy
10 января, 2012 at 13:56
Congrats on the Copa America Win :)
I reckon it will be AFC Wimbeldon as your next save with there long/short history if you know what i mean :P
Darren Smith
10 января, 2012 at 19:25
Thanks Sammy, there will be no clues as to who I am managing next other than its far from what I’d usually attempt.
Johnny Karp
10 января, 2012 at 14:26
Winning such a tournament with just one goal conceded is quite unlike Brazil and probably more like Germany :) But that’s still a massive achievement so congratulations!
P.S.: I’m definitely curious to find out more about your future challenge :)
Darren Smith
10 января, 2012 at 19:22
I must admit this was one of the more bizarre tournaments just for what you mentioned. Conceding so few and been so restrictive with the scoring was simply weird. But still nice to dominate and win all the same. As for my next story, well it is very different from my norm.
TheZiggy
10 января, 2012 at 14:59
Well done on winning the Copa America. Some nice domination of the matches, especially against Japan, even if you weren’t as free scoring as you’d expect.
The new story sounds like it should be interesting. As interesting as the Malaga story was, I’m looking forward more to what sounds like it’ll be a really tough and exciting challenge.
Darren Smith
10 января, 2012 at 19:20
Thanks mate, it was a very good but also frustrating tournament. I can’t wait to get going with my new story, it’s completely different to what I’d normally try.
Malhar Bhadbhade
10 января, 2012 at 15:06
hey Darren,
even though you didnt win the cl this last season, you did end on a positive note with that fantastic copa america win. that midfielder ricardo is ridiculous!! possibly the best midfielder is not best player i’ve ever seen on any fm. you did have a strong squad and you did what was expected so congratulations on that. i’m very excited to know what your next story will be, and i think you will do very well with whatever challenge you undertake. thank you for the season updates with the malaga story, i enjoyed it thoroughly. eagerly looking forward to your next one!
cheer!
Malhar Bhadbhade
10 января, 2012 at 15:14
wow, looking at ricardo again, i cannot believe he’s just 21! 6 years before his peak!! he is going to be one RIDICULOUS player when he’s 27, i cant even imagine how good he’ll be.
Darren Smith
10 января, 2012 at 19:08
I agree, Ricardo is insane and I bought him for like £5 million at the age of 16 I think, that’s why I think the Y2G system is really worth investing in. :) Don’t think I’ll be seeing players like that in my next save though ;)
mvb
10 января, 2012 at 15:29
i will miss the malaga story as i have followed it with great interest but looking forward to your next story.im going to say it will b gateshead haahaa
Darren Smith
10 января, 2012 at 19:06
Thanks mate, hopefully the next story will be as good then. :)
nielsneutron
10 января, 2012 at 15:55
What a feeting end to a great story. I am very intrigued in what challenge you have set for yourself this time?
Tiny spoiler perhaps, please?
Darren Smith
10 января, 2012 at 19:05
No spoilers I’m afraid mate, lets just say I never go this far down the league ladder and it may seem a little out for character considering I usually manage top flight sides.
billy
10 января, 2012 at 16:04
Congrats on winning the copa America Tournament and dominating every side u played against.I also tried to load ur save but it says the save could not be loaded.
Darren Smith
10 января, 2012 at 18:59
I can only assume that is because you do not have the latest version of the game, I use Steam so the game automatically updates itself you see and without the latest patch the save will not work on your game.
billyy
11 января, 2012 at 13:48
ok thanks i use the pc version what should i do
Darren Smith
11 января, 2012 at 18:52
You need to download the latest patch.
billy
11 января, 2012 at 20:39
ok will do thanks.
Alex
10 января, 2012 at 16:31
Wow, the quality of that starting eleven is indescribable. The scary ability of your players is reflected in the domination you enjoyed, the trophy never looked in doubt. I think you might start you next save as Gateshead (purely as a spin-off of your Newcastle team) or maybe your local team (whoever that may be).
Darren Smith
10 января, 2012 at 18:58
I know, must be obvious why I chose Argentina over Brazil now lol. As for my next save there will be no clues but I shall be making a little back story soon.
Srujun Gupta
10 января, 2012 at 17:12
Haven’t been posting much, but your story has been absolutely great! Fantastic!
I downloaded the save and I tried opening it on my game, but it didn’t seem to work. I’m running v12.0.4. And since I’m on a limited bandwidth, I’m not willing to download the file again unless I’m sure that my copy of the save file is corrupted. The MD5 of the file I have is «627CCB3B49BCDD64FAD078AEBE7ECA0F». Could you please tell me the MD5 of the original file so that I can check its validity?
Darren Smith
10 января, 2012 at 18:55
Thanks mate, the problem with your save is that I am using the newest patch and you don’t seem to be, that is why it won’t load…you need to download the latest patch then you can load the game.
lewisbaker
11 января, 2012 at 18:24
where do you get the newest patches?
Darren Smith
11 января, 2012 at 18:53
You’ll have to google it mate, I have steam so don’t need to download the patches as my game was a digital copy.
lewisbaker
11 января, 2012 at 20:07
i have steam two but it isnt working
Darren Smith
11 января, 2012 at 20:12
If you play the game in online mode then Steam would update the game automatically but if steam isn’t working then I don’t know how you can get the update.
lewisbaker
22 января, 2012 at 19:56
found out my problem. i was downloading it wrong. sorry for bothering you.
Darren Smith
22 января, 2012 at 20:04
Glad you worked it out mate.
Woody
10 января, 2012 at 17:47
that was an unbelievable tournament that your team played there.
i don’t understand how japan got into the copa america because there not in south america.
i am also looking forward to your next save and cant wait to find out who your team will be.
i think i might take on your save. if i do i will give you all of the updates
Darren Smith
10 января, 2012 at 18:51
Thanks Woody it was a great tournament and as for Japan, countires from other continents can be invited to the Copa America every year and Japan were for this tournament alongside the likes of Mexico who aren’t actually from S.America. If you do take on my save I look forward to hearing how things go.
Woody
11 января, 2012 at 16:33
oh ok i didn’t think about mexico
i haven’t actually got the game yet but i am ordering it later
i think ill probarbly do a save of my own and yours as a background save
vaibhavc
10 января, 2012 at 18:20
Wow, well played Darren. I can’t believe how much you dominated all games. And it must have been quite amazing if you only conceded one goal in the whole tournament. I think the team might be Gateshead, its in Newcastle, and we played a cricket game there this summer, and thats the only ground I remember.
Darren Smith
10 января, 2012 at 18:48
Thanks mate, I was really shocked with both our defense and lack of scoring :) But a great tournament all the same, as for my next save, well I’m giving nothing away but its really outside the box considering my normal stories.
Kevin
10 января, 2012 at 18:55
Hi Darren
There’s only one way to end this story…flipping brilliant!!
Well don on winning the Copa America and thankyou for bringing us such great entertainment since the launch of FM 2012 and I look forward to seeing who your new team is.
Darren Smith
10 января, 2012 at 19:30
Thanks Kevin, it was a nice note to go out on considering we missed the CL earlier in the season.
siavosh
10 января, 2012 at 18:56
hi,
It seems you gain almost every thing in FM12.so congrats,
Regentfullyi’m not able to watch videos but I know they are as beautifull as results.
Cant wait for your next story,wish you luck.
Darren Smith
10 января, 2012 at 19:31
Thanks mate, I will be revealing my next club in the near future but need to prepare the post first so stay tuned over the next week.
denson
10 января, 2012 at 20:20
Hi Darren,
I am on your story at the moment got new coaches because they all left :/
Just beat Real Madrid 4-1 in that cup final,
quite fun to play.
I am looking forward to your new story thanks for putting your old save up!! :)
Darren Smith
10 января, 2012 at 21:09
Glad to hear you downloaded the save, hope you have fun mate.
denson
10 января, 2012 at 22:27
Oh ye Darren Ian Pepper and Robert are my best players so far how you have such a good team i don’t know but i will keep you updated on what is happening in the save!!!
denson
10 января, 2012 at 22:47
One more thing are you going to carry on doing season updates??
Darren Smith
11 января, 2012 at 18:54
Yeah I will carry on with season updates on the new story.
Philip
10 января, 2012 at 22:22
Hi Darren.
Firstly thanks a lot for your all stories. This is my first time commenting but ever since I’ve started reading them they’ve been brilliant and been a great distraction at work.
I’ve downloaded your save and am attempting a challenge of mine own it. I’ve sent «you» on holiday and created a new manager and taken control of Real Madrid. My challenge is simple try and defeat the Malaga team that you spent years building and see whether they can continue their domination without your management.
Also you should totally try managing Glasgow Rangers someday. I’d love to see my team do as well as you could make them :)
Darren Smith
11 января, 2012 at 18:56
Thanks Philip, I’m happy to hear you enjoy my stories. Your little challenge sounds interesting though, good luck with that. :)
CsAtlantis
11 января, 2012 at 04:01
Chile had quite an interesting formation going there, but the overall quality of your team trumps most of the opposition you faced, so I think Brazil more than deserves their 6th(is it the 6th?) World Cup
As always Darren it would be very interesting to see what team you manage
Darren Smith
11 января, 2012 at 18:58
Thanks mate, I thought that Brazil deserved the crown too and they’d deserve the World Cup in three years time if the team remains as talented. Brazil have won the World Cup 5 times in RL.
Lye
11 января, 2012 at 05:00
Hi Darren,
Congratulations in winning the Copa American. Some of the players you have are simply out of this world. The firepower may not be as heavy as you wish but i believe there are no teams near Brazil standard. So well done.
Glad you have decided to start from lower league. You know i am a big fan of LLM. Seeing you work all the way is a pleasure. Let us know soon.
Darren Smith
11 января, 2012 at 19:06
Thanks Lye, the Brazilian team is sensational and like you I can’t see another country matching them in quality. I hope you’ll find my LLM story of interest.
LUKE
11 января, 2012 at 06:39
Where do i add the file to check out your save Darren?
Darren Smith
11 января, 2012 at 19:05
You need to put the file in documents/sports interactive/football manager 2012/games
John Martin
11 января, 2012 at 17:38
All i can say is just wow. Cant wait for your next save mate
Darren Smith
11 января, 2012 at 19:02
Thanks mate, lets hope the next save goes as well.
sachithyoda
11 января, 2012 at 18:52
congrats Darren looking forward to your next story.
your story is the only story that i like. keep it up.
and btw, im getting the save game could not be loaded error what do you think is the problem?
and what version of the game are you running?
Darren Smith
11 января, 2012 at 19:01
Thanks mate, I hope the next story can be as entertaining. As for the error its because you don’t have the latest patch, you need to download the latest patch. It is 12.1 but not sure exactly which one, whatever is the latest.
Sears
11 января, 2012 at 22:01
Everyone else has said everything, so enjoy the break mate. Really looking forward to your new story — sounds really exciting.
Darren Smith
12 января, 2012 at 11:37
Thanks Sears, although it won’t be too much of a break in the end as I’ll be writing a post in the next week :)
Jai Swan
12 января, 2012 at 17:06
why do you have so many saves?:S
Darren Smith
12 января, 2012 at 18:07
If you’d ever had a parsing error or lost save you would know why! Besides if you work out the saves based on time as opposed to number than it equates to clicking save like every 30 minutes or so….considering I am on this site every hour of every night and weekend answering questions and writing I think that explains it all as I always play the game, if I go to look at the site for comments etc which I do constantly every single night then I obviously save the game every time before I look at something else on my computer. If you’d like I can stop responding so fast to peoples comments…anymore pointless questions?
Bhargav
13 января, 2012 at 10:57
Congratulations Darren! Success is pretty much guaranteed when you’re involved ;)
Darren Smith
13 января, 2012 at 11:47
Thanks Bhargav.
Ana Garcia
13 января, 2012 at 23:12
What can I add?!!
But I have noticed something similar to my story to yours you dominated games creating several chances every game yet only won by a couple of goals and your star strikers did ok but not as good as you thought.
I had a similar problem at New York the Black Aces and the USA with my forwards just not scoring. We would create loads of clear cut chances but they would miss or the keeper would have one of those games where nothing can beat him.
I thought it was just my forwards who to be fair are nowhere near the standard that you have so its interesting (at least for me) to see that.
But well done on winning the Copa America! I’m looking forward to your new story also! :)
Darren Smith
14 января, 2012 at 08:15
Thanks Ana and I must admit the whole goal to chance ratio has never happened to me before…actually I’m inaccurate there, in my 4-5-1 I always have shots on goal and sometimes we thrash teams but we don’t dominate on the ball as done with Brazil. While my strikers had less shots with Brazil they held a lot more possession and it kind of reminds me of Arsenal, loads of great play but not enough end product. :)