Hey everyone!

Well what a few days it has been in Varberg. From the despair in finding out that I got Barcelona in the first round knock-out stages of the Champions League, to elation at the 3-2 aggregate win.. and it just roller-coasted my emotions in the space of an hour or so from there. I literally couldn’t believe what I was witnessing in front of my eyes, as SI gave it all they could do to ensure that I didn’t get any further by pretty much fixing the hardest route possible. After Barca it was Arsenal, and then Lyon. It was an immense run, and it all comes down to this. The Final, against Inter Milan.

What I havent highlighted on is our missing men for todays final. Last game saw us loose two very, very valuable men to suspension which will make this final so much tougher:
Adam Lecomte

Yeah, the big man is out. I am absolutely mortified about the prospect of going into a match without him, let alone the biggest match in the clubs history! He is our starlet, and the one that can make things happen out of nothing. I have spoken of his undoubted talents before, and ill speak about them again and again as this lad has all the attributes of a world class striker, and he is our main outlet in everyway, shape or form. Ironically, missed the Europa Final through injury. Remember Stromson and Montero though? He is that to our club..

Adriano

That’s our best centre back gone too. A figure head in the defence since I brought him into the squad last year, the Brazilian born Russian has played pretty much every game for us due to his physical presence and brilliant tackling abilities alongside Luciano.

Like I did with the Europa League final post, this post will be dedicated to my late granddad, and win or loose he has been my desire to do well for the club from the very start. Inter Milan stood in our way though, and much like Fiorentina they had a multi million pound squad that would trounce our lads man for man. As you know though, the game isnt played on paper and with the form we had coming into this game, I wouldn’t bet against us just yet….

The Venue?

Stadio Artemio Franchi, Florence, Italy. The home of, yeah you guessed it.. Fiorentina. Omen?

Our opponents:
Inter Milan
For me, little is known about their success domestically as I haven’t loaded up the Italian leagues. Although that is unknown, their undoubted quality isn’t, and they have proved that time and time again in the Champions League. Here are their best players:

Massimo Pasquali

Inter Milan’s most expensive player, and a starting figure in the Italian side currently ranked 1st in the world.

Luca Poli

Euro 2024 player of the tournament and golden boot award winner, he has magical attributes for a striker, bettering our own Adam Lecomte’s by a long way.

Alexandre

The best player in the Inter Milan squad by a mile. Brazilian born, has won countless awards both with Brazil and on the European stage. At 31, his pace and physical attributes rival the best in world football and will be a massive threat to our back line.

The Match
Pre-Match Odds

Line-ups

So this is how we lined up for the biggest match in Varberg BOIS history.
The tactic being used is Zero Sea’s Ghost tactic that I have been using in the Champions League since we arrived 8 seasons ago. A very solid tactic and one that will at least let us retain possession throughout the match. Just hope our lads are good with the ball as i’m fearful of an Inter breakaway from a sloppy pass!

Varbergs BOIS vs Inter Milan (Champions League Final)

Well there was nothing more I could do as a manager, and I sent them off with a good luck message for their path to fulfill the clubs destiny and write a new chapter in the history books. 47,000 fans packed into the stadium, and we had brought the atmosphere of our own ground into Inter’s own back yard. Hopefully, with the fans roaring the side on, we would have that 12th man that we so longed for away from home.

We looked nervous in the opening 10 minutes, and it showed. A flurry of Inter chances went begging just 5 minutes in, first a ball into the feet of Alexandre found Calderon just 18 yards out to the left of the goal. He hit the shot sweetly enough, but luckily for us it sailed over when trying to find that far post. Second came just minutes after, this time Pagano taking a quick freekick from the left hand side. After a one-two with Van Haaren, he found himself in the same position Calderon was in but again, aiming for that far post didn’t do him well and his shot sailed well over the bar.

Unfortunately, Inter didn’t stop their and they kept coming with their barage of attacks. This time it was Salinas that skipped behind the defence after a lovely throughball, but under pressure from Luciano and with the goal at his mercy, he managed to hit the side netting much to the relief of our fans, and me included! Still all Inter approaching the 10 minute mark, Calderon again with a shot from long range sailing over the frame of the goal.

Our first chance came in the form of a freekick. Storgaard taking it quick to Olsson, who spun and hit a ferocious shot from 25 yards out. I was out of my seat.. But it was saved by Fofana in the Inter Milan goal. The resulting corner came to nothing, but we were fighting our way back into this tie!

GOALLLLLLL!! Varberg BOIS 1-0 Inter Milan [Belyakov]
A throw in on the right hand side from Tejera was played into the feet of Svensson. The return pass found Olsson on the edge of the area, who was dispossessed. Half cleared though, the resulting ball fell to Taylor on the edge of the area and on the turn, he played a wonderful first time pass into Belyakov‘s path who hammered it home from all of 5 yards!

Oh wait?! The whistle has blown. Offside. Goal disallowed.

Nooooo!! You cruel, cruel man… In hindsight I suppose it was just offside, although their right back was maybe playing him on? Very tight anyway.
Damn, that could have been our only chance…

GOALLLLLLL!! Varberg BOIS 1-0 Inter Milan [Ronaldo]
What. A. Goal. This time it stood and you wont see much better in a Champions League final I can assure you. It all started with an Inter Milan freekick just inside our half, and all but two of their players had piled in the box. The ball was headed away by Luciano and suddenly we had 4 on 2, charging up the field with Taylor in control of the ball, rampant Inter players trying to get back to defend. A pass out to the left wing found Ronaldo, but all hope of a counter attack looked as though it had been lost as Inter’s players were back in numbers. He went on a jinxing run as he turned Pasquali inside and ran like forest gump. Belyakov dragged two of their centre backs out of position and opened up a huge gap, which Ronaldo took full advantage of as he stormed straight through, letting fly 18 yards out. Complete extacy for me and our fans. CMONNNN!!!!!!

‘Are you Cahill in disguiseeeee, are you Cahill in disguise’

Haha.. Love it :D

Half time score: Varbergs BOIS 1-0 Inter Milan
Incredible half by the lads, we started off very slowly, but gradually we got a grasp of the game and started to play like I know we could. Brilliant goal by Ronaldo though, especially for someone of his standard to score like that.. I had a massive smile on my face, but the reality was that we had to endure another 45 minutes against a rampant Inter. Hopefully we can start the second half like we finished the first.

Just 5 minutes in, and I could tell that we were going to be on the back-foot for most of the half. An Inter corner fell to Perego on the edge of the area, he looked wide and managed to find Zwaan, who smashed his shot into the side netting from 18 yards. Oh dear, I hope this wouldn’t continue. But sure enough though it did. The resulting Bertolotti goal kick managed to be headed back into the path of Alexandre, who tried the spectacular from 30 yards out. Very close too, whistling past the helpless keeper’s right hand post.

GOALLLLLLL!! Varberg BOIS 1-1 Inter Milan [Calderon]
We saw it coming, but could do nothing about it. Again, from the resulting goal kick Inter were first to the ball. Zwaan found Pasquali down the right flank, who cut it inside to Perego. Perego then found Van Haaren on the edge of the box, who saw an opening for Calderon on the left hand side who made no mistake, crashing the ball into the far corner. Excellent goal I have to say.

Oh wait?! The whistle has blown. Offside. Goal disallowed.

Hahahaha, what goes around, comes around I guess and we got the rub of the green this time!! Looking at the reply, I think he is about a yard offside, much like the other 3 Inter players were.. Good call lino! Get in! :D

As you can see, Inter were back fighting and they had gotten so close to that equaliser. Another bombardment of attacks this time resulted in a shot by Alexandre just outside our penalty area. Heading into the bottom corner, Bertolotti managed to get a hand to it and see it out for a corner. And from that resulting corner..

GOALLLLLLL!! Varberg BOIS 1-1 Inter Milan [Poli]
Oh here we go.. The resulting corner was cleared, but eventually found Pagano on the left flank. His ball into the box found Calderon who laid it back for Van Haaren to hit. 20 yards out, with the goal at his mercy, he fired a shot that took a resounding deflection off Poli which sailed into the far corner. Argh what a fluke, my heart sank…

Oh wait?! The whistle has blown. Offside. Goal disallowed.

Or did it?! CMONNNN! If lady luck isnt on our side, I dont know what is.. Maybe some kind of Irish leprechaun stuff? Anyway, as you can see it was another great spot by the lino. Poli offside which meant our lead wasn’t getting touched at the moment. Woo! :D

Blimey, another let off. I don’t think I can take another..
Crossbar!! Oh my, I think I’m about to have heart failure. Calderon’s freekick from the right hand side found the head of Arnaud who smashed it against the top side of the bar. I’m wondering if my defending is brilliant or absolutely horrendous at this point in time, and honestly I would probably choose the latter. I don’t know how much more of it the lads can hold off, with 30 minutes still left on the clock?!

Poli knocked on the door once more, with a shot which flashed past the post from 20 yards out before we had our first chance of the half! A beautiful Tejera free-kick from the half way line was curled into the box. Ronaldo, completely free, met it with his head but unfortunately his direction was so much so that the keeper didn’t even have to move.

No more clear cut chances came and as the clock ticked down, 5 minutes of added time were shown on the board. I was literally on the edge of my seat praying to any god that would listen. Inter stepped up their attack and carved out a few half chances. Poli firing a shot shot into the hands of Bertolotti, was the best they could muster. The seconds counted down…

Full time score: Varbergs BOIS 1-0 Inter Milan
I froze, staring at the screen in front of me. Took a few seconds to actually take it in before I had realised that us, Varberg BOIS had won the UEFA Champions League!!! YEAAHHHHHHHHHHHH, YOU ABSOLUTE BEAUTY! Cmon. I was in disbelief, and I kept pinching myself to see if this was actually happening. After the pinching, I screamed and jumped around the room.. Hands in the air, running round like a headless chicken, finding someone, or something to celebrate with.
So let me rephrase that.. I paraded around the room with my teddy (Yeah, I’m nearly 19. And what?) aloft! GET THE [Censored] IN. CMONNNNN!! :D
We were outclassed on the night, but we fought to the bitter end to seal the most historic victory in the clubs 102 year history.
Video highlights: Here

I had completed my goal, I had lived my destiny.

A glance at that, and it just shows you what a result that was. A game that I will never forget, and it just proves that if you have the belief that you can do it (plus a little luck ;)), you can achieve pretty much anything in this game. GET IN!!

So here it is..

Would like to take this opportunity to say thank you to everyone who has supported me throughout the adventure. It has been thoroughly enjoyable and I have loved every minute of writing it and getting it out into the world so people can share my experiences. Special thanks to Johnny and Darren, the creators of the site who trusted my abilities enough to make it onto the main site. Hope you two have enjoyed it just as much as I have, cheers lads :)

Special shout out to Stromson (Jon), Ana, Liam101 and Sears too who have been supporting me from the very beginning, so this goes out to you lot. Thanks for all the support over the months that I have been writing, its been one hell of a ride and I hope you lot have enjoyed reading it!
But were do I go from here you ask?

The Future

‘ARRR IM LEAVING THE SITE FOREVER…’
Noo I wouldn’t be as cruel as that. I’m looking at you Ana ;)

Seriously though, I will be continuing this save in Private I guess, just because I enjoy playing on it. What I want to do, after playing 5 more seasons is give you a post to see how much further we have developed as a club and how much more silverware (if any..) we have won. There is still some unfinished business on this save that I need to attend to ;)

As for current posting, most of you know that the new FMS team is up and I am the current writer for that, so after today it will all be about that story and interacting with you lot as a community. We have a few problems at the moment with the database and I’ll do my best to sort them out before this weekend, but just so you know.. The story hasn’t ground to a halt at all.

So that’s it from me, and the story of Varbergs BOIS. Hope you enjoyed the adventure, I certainly did! :D. Thanks for reading, and for one last time..

Hej då :D