Hello my friends! As I promised, this post will be about my Euro 2024 campaign with England. The hosts for this edition of the tournament are Spain. The defending champions from Euro 2020 held in Belgium (which I did not participate in) are France.
So first things first, the qualification:
Great! We were handed quite a straightforward group. We are ranked 4th in the World, while Bulgaria are 31st, Bosnia & Herzegovina are 44th, Armenia are 107th, and Malta are 189th.
We breezed through qualification, with Jack Wilshere and Lee Rooney particularly impressing.
Top of the group, the way it should be :P Here are the other qualifying groups:
For those who may have forgotten, the the number of teams qualifying for the Euros is being expanded starting with the 2016 tournament, from 16 to 24.
A note on history in the game: England won Euro 2012, Spain won Euro 2016 held in France, and as mentioned, France won Euro 2020 in Belgium. This year Spain is hosting the competition.
Here are the groups for the tournament:
Again, we got a kinder draw, though not quite as Spain or France’s groups. Greece are ranked 14th, Hungary are ranked 50th, and Ukraine are ranked 23rd.
Wow, there was a serious chance that England were not going to get to add a second Euro to the cabinet right after the group stages. Here is how the knockout round qualification panned out:
Thanks to the expanded Euros, we made it to the knockout stages. The only major team to be left behind are 9th place Russia. Sadly for us, we lost Olly Kenney, one of our stars, due to a heinous injury he suffered in the game against Greece.
For the round of 16, we will be playing 12th place Spain. They are tough opponents and I have a bad feeling about this . . .
Well, the hosts demolished us at a ground where I am all too familiar with the pain of losing: the Estadio Santiago Bernabeu. It has been the site of many slaughters of my Valencia at the hands of Real Madrid and now Spain have claimed England’s scalp. We had some decent chances but the problem was we couldn’t break down they defense so there weren’t too many good opportunities.
Here is my squad and ratings for those who are curious:
And here is how the tournament ended:
France are now the most successful Euro team, now having won 4 championships. They also become the first nation to defend the title (since England won 2012 in my game).
For England, this is the third consecutive tournament where they have gone out at the round of 16. I am pretty disappointed in the team but some of the blame is obviously mine. It seems my England players don’t have the best determination about them. I am sorry I could not provide you with a better update, but some time this week I will be posting another season with Valencia that should be a little less sad ;) I decided to step down from my post with England. I want to take control of Russia since they have yet to win the Euro or World Cup. Hopefully I can produce better success on the international stage with them. My top priority is still completing my challenge, however, especially with FM13 looming on the horizon. Till next time, my friends and I look forward to reading your comments.
Darren Smith
2 сентября, 2012 at 12:38
While its always tough to go out in the round of 16, I think you need to remember the hosts knocked you out. I reckon the most disappointing part was those group results though, as they say theres always next time. I was just surprised to see Turkey in the final and Greece in the semi’s.
Bhargav
2 сентября, 2012 at 15:18
Thanks Darren. I hope my season with Valencia goes a little better.
Kevin
2 сентября, 2012 at 13:15
Hi Bhargav
Don’t be hard on yourself, it’s just like real life…hign expectations and the players dissappoint :)
Looking forward to your next Valencia update!
Bhargav
2 сентября, 2012 at 15:18
Haha thanks Kevin. I was hoping that maybe after the World Cup when we were runners-up to the Netherlands that things would be a little different :(
saltwater
2 сентября, 2012 at 13:22
Oof, you almost went out at the group stage, but well done for battling through but Spain were always going to be a nasty challenge. It would be so funny if Lee Rooney was like a regen-son of Wayne Rooney. Looking forward to Valencia!
Bhargav
2 сентября, 2012 at 15:20
Thanks Salt! I hope Valencia goes better! And I was wondering the same thing but Wayne is not under Lee’s favored personnel so I would guess no relation?
vaibhavc
2 сентября, 2012 at 18:01
That was unlucky Bhargav, getting Spain in the first knockout round was just unlucky. Dont be too hard on yourself, hopefully you will have a great season with Valencia.
Bhargav
2 сентября, 2012 at 18:09
Thanks Vaibhav! That’s all I can hope for.
Rohan
3 сентября, 2012 at 13:57
That was unlucky Bhargav, after getting all the Kind Draws till the Knockout Stage You got the worst possible draw for the First Knockout Round.
Les Rooney cant be Wayne’sSon as Wayne would just be of 39 Years @ Euro 2024, but nevertheless a Great Region Name…!!
Ana Garcia
2 сентября, 2012 at 20:28
Bad luck Bhargav!
No shame in losing to Spain! I guess getting England into the final is a big challenge and I too have always struggled with international management.
At least you can focus back to Valencia now, good luck!! :)
Bhargav
2 сентября, 2012 at 22:13
It hurts, Ana, it hurts. But I thank you for the support!
Bhargav
2 сентября, 2012 at 22:24
Spain were amazing at just shutting us down as we were heading into the final third :( I had no real answer. Any advice for the next time this happens?
Ana Garcia
3 сентября, 2012 at 18:29
International management is something I have always struggled with, my team can go from looking unbeatable to losing every match and me being sacked!!
So am probably not the best to give advice on an international stage, sometimes it is out of your control its something I never had any success with!
Jack
2 сентября, 2012 at 21:00
How would i be able to load a game that is on another computer without using usb?
Bhargav
2 сентября, 2012 at 22:19
Hey Jack. You can use Dropbox. They give you a large enough amount of storage and it’s free. If you wouldn’t mind, use this link so I get a little extra storage too: http://db.tt/nwEFT2NR
Jack
2 сентября, 2012 at 22:20
thanks a lot, great story btw, hopefully you will have more luck with Valencia!
Bhargav
2 сентября, 2012 at 22:25
Of course, mate! It means a lot to me that you enjoyed it. I hope I do a little better in the league since last season saw me struggle.
CsAtlantis
3 сентября, 2012 at 04:07
Ouch tough luck against Spain Bhargav, I think hitting the woodwork twice cost your side dearly in the end, anyway that’s just how football is at times
Oh yeah, is Lee Rooney like Wayne Rooney’s son? :P
Stepping down is a good idea so you can focus on Valencia (I hope you can complete the challenge before FM2013, still have plenty of time!)
Bhargav
3 сентября, 2012 at 04:13
Thanks mate. It would have been nice of Kenney hadn’t gotten hurt.
And I checked, it looks like he is not. Otherwise he would have Wayne under favored personnel, right?
Dhruvin
4 сентября, 2012 at 09:43
Les Rooney cant be Wayne’sSon as Wayne would just be of 39 Years @ Euro 2024
Johnny Karp
6 сентября, 2012 at 19:38
Well, that was quite a disaster but real-life England are not doing much better so there’s no reason to be sad. :)
Bhargav
6 сентября, 2012 at 21:01
Hahaha, too true! Thanks Johnny!