We needed much more to win the next game though, group leaders Argentina were the next opponents. The Argentinians got off to a great start, they scored in the 6th minute and it seemed that we were up against it. My lads reacted wonderfully and managed to turn the game around before the break, Argentina seemed unable to cope with our fantastic attacking skills. The roles were reversed in the second half, Argentina piled on the pressure and we had to resist. Luck was on our side as their keeper pushed a ball into his own net but my players fought with great determination. I was especially pleased with my left flank, they had a lot of work to do in order to keep Messi under control and they did that brilliantly.
We had just one more game to play before the end of the year, at home with Chile. It was a difficult one as Chile have enough talented players to cause problems. We didn’t play particularly well but did enough in the first half to grab the three points. We just had to control the game in the second half and it was pretty easy considering that Chile were down to 10 men. I was happy with the result and with the fact that Luis Suarez finally scored for the national team, he is a world class player that failed to show his worth until then.
The group table is looking good for us, we’re in 2nd place but we have a game in hand. The important thing is that we are 5 points ahead of the 5th placed team, so we have a margin to manage in the last games of the campaign.
Our best player was undoubtedly Edinson Cavani, our star striker. His abilities made the difference between winning or losing time and again, we’d be in a lot of trouble without him. He is still young, only 25 years old, so I think that he will be a star in the World Cup if we will manage to get there.
We will have 8 more games to play in 2013 and the results will decide whether we’ll go to the World Cup or not. The away games in Argentina and Colombia will probably be the most difficult ones but I think that we have to grab our points in the other games.
That’s about it for now, my Uruguay have a good chance of qualifying to the World Cup but it’s definitely not in the bag yet. Thanks for reading and stay tuned for my next Notts County update ;)
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Laxeyman
24 января, 2010 at 19:30
Well done Johnny, fantastic result against Argentina. You have to play alot of games, how many is it in total? About 16? With England I think we only have to play 12.
You seem to have great firepower up front. Cavani is a very good player. He is also at Barca on my game. Forlan and Suarez aren’t bad either!
Good Luck for the remaining qualifiers.
Johnny Karp
24 января, 2010 at 19:33
Thanks Laxeyman. There are 16 games in total, and we’re lucky that Brazil are already qualified as the host nation, otherwise there would have been 18 games! The South American qualifying group is always tough, I hope to survive until the end and get one of the top four spots.
TheZiggy
24 января, 2010 at 20:33
Some good results there, especially the win over Argentina. You’ve given yourself an excellent chance to qualify. Brazil not being in the group is a definite bounus.
Kevin Mayo
24 января, 2010 at 21:34
Hi Johnny
I’ll echo my English friends with your win over Argentina. Love it!
The South American section is a really gruelling competition and you seem as always to be doing well so far. Good result in Bolivia as well because of playing at altitude but I don’t know if the game factors that in or not :)
Good to see your posts again and looking forward to the next Notts Co update.
Johnny Karp
24 января, 2010 at 21:42
@The Ziggy
Brazil being out is a big advantage indeed. At this point I think that we have to get our points against the weaker teams like Venezuela, Peru or Bolivia, it should be enough to qualify. Or maybe not…
@Kevin
That win over Argentina was a big result against the odds. They had two weaknesses that we took advantage of. The first is that they relied too much on Messi, my left midfielder and left back took care of him throughout the game and it’s not just an accident that their two goals were scored from the opposite flank. The second was that their keeper is very weak at dealing with crosses, three of the four goals were scored that way. About Bolivia, I don’t think that the altitude is a factor in FM 10. Last but not least, I’m happy to be back, I hope to get a chance to publish the next Notts County update tomorrow.
Martin
24 января, 2010 at 21:48
Well Done Johnny.
If You Keep That Sort Of Form Up Then You Should Have No Problems With Qualifying.
Did You Know That You Can Manage Under-21 And Under-19 Teams On Football Manager?
Because I Didnt Until I Applied For One:P
Johnny Karp
24 января, 2010 at 22:36
Thanks Martin. I noticed that you can apply for that kind of jobs, it could be interesting. Did you get that job you applied for?
Levo
25 января, 2010 at 00:47
Well done Johnny you seem to have a nack for the international games, I find that Argentina on Football Manager can be someone what hit and miss, they can win some big games. But against smaller nations they can struggle, maybe this is true to real life?
I hope to see Uruguay lifting the World Cup once again under your guidance. I have taking another shot at my England WC2010 games :D
Lye
25 января, 2010 at 02:57
A win against Argentina is definitely going to raise the morale of the whole team. You should have no problem in qualifying to the world cup. It is always a challenge to manage club and country at the same time and mate, i think you have done a fantastic job.
Johnny Karp
25 января, 2010 at 08:30
@Lye
Thanks mate, I’m getting a lot of help from my staff at Notts County and from my assistant manager in Uruguay :)
@Levo
Thanks, Argentina seem to be struggling in real life too despite having extraordinary players. I don’t think that we have what it takes to lift the trophy at this point, I would be happy just to qualify and then see what happens.
Martin
25 января, 2010 at 18:01
You’ll Have To Wait And See On My Next Post Which Will Be Very Soon