FM: Leaving Harrogate Behind - The Wigan Experience.

[Eaglesfan27]

The other thing about Elliott is that he is one of my favorite guys from CM 03/04. He was the star on the first team I ever played, Hull So, that might be coloring my opinion some. Perhaps, my new guy will be better.

In answer to a previous question, the new acquisition has a 12 flair and 12 creativity. Not great, but not terrible either.

[Eaglesfan27]

Originally Posted by SunDancer

Make sure you show them up for stealing away Elliott from you next year....Though, moving up to EPL, and his age (going on 32 next season, right?), and the incoming arrival of your one Bosman player from Nice (France), who seems to be younger and more skilled, might not be a huge blow. Would Elliott be effective in the EPL? I'm not sure when players start to "slide down" in the skills and talent (age, when do you watch for the slide?)

As far as when players "slide down." Just like in real life, it varies from player to player. I've seen some start deteriorating around 29-30. I've seen others not deteriorate til 35 or 36. If I remember correctly, strikers tend to deteriorate the youngest and keepers tend to keep their skills the longest.

[Eaglesfan27]

In today's newspaper, I see the final standings for the season:

[Eaglesfan27]

Some thoughts/stastics:

99 points scored on the season is my highest point total ever in any version of CM/FM in any season. I've never hit the magic 100 point mark.

86 goals was my highest number of goals scored ever.

Our 86 goals scored were 1st in the league. Everton was 2nd with 84.

Our 28 goals allowed was second best in the league. Millwall was first with 25.

Our 58 goal differential was best in the league by far. The Wolves were second with plus 35.


Individual Statistic breakdown to come next.

[Eaglesfan27]

League Leaders:

AVG Form:

1. Stuart Elliott - 8.21
2. Aaron Lennon, Everton - 8.10
3. Gary Teale - 7.84
4. Andy Reid, Everton - 7.75
5. Tomasz Jarzebowski - 7.73
6. Seyi George Olofinjana, Wolves - 7.70
7. Thomas Gravesen, Everton - 7.65
8. Yossi Benayoun - 7.60
9. Tim Cahill, Everton - 7.59
10. Nigel Quashie, Leicester - 7.56

Other Notable Wigan Players:

12. Tom Hutchinson - 7.52
16. Joao Paulo - 7.48
16. Kenny Lunt - 7.48
32. Simon Rolfes - 7.38
36. Paddy Kenny - 7.37

We dominated the top 50. We and Everton dominated the top 10. Stuart Elliott had an amazing season for average form (the highest I've ever had except D'Allesandro in CM 03/04.)



League GOALS:

1. Mark Jackson, Preston - 24
2. Dean Ashton, Leicester - 22
3. Yossi Benayoun - 20
4. Michael Proctor, West Ham - 17
5. Neil Mellor, Gillingham - 16
5. Simeon Jackson, Millwall - 16
7. Sam Parkin, Nottingham Forest - 15
7. Kevin Lisbie, Wolves - 15
7. Michael Ricketts, Leeds - 15
7. Aaron Lennon, Everton - 15

Other Wigan Notables:

14. Fabrice Begeorgi - 13
28. Wellington Paulista - 12
40. Joao Paulo - 9


League Assists:

1. Andy Reid, Everton - 16
2. Aaron Lennon, Everton - 15
3. Tony Capaldi, Stoke - 14
4. Joao Paulo - 13
4. Dean Evans, Plymouth - 13
6. Gary Teale - 12
6. Dean Ashton, Leicester - 12
8. Lee Holmes, Derby - 11
9. Andrejs Rubins, Leeds - 10
9. Marcus Bent, Everton - 10

Other Wigan Notables:

22. David Graham - 8
39. Yossi Benayoun - 7

Everton has some impressive assist numbers.


League MOM awards:

1. Aaron Lennon, Everton - 11
2. Danny Coyne, West Ham - 9
2. Stuart Taylor, Nottingham Forest - 9
4. David Preece, Watford - 8
4. Mark Jackson, Preston - 8
4. Stuart Elliott - 8
7. Gary Teale - 7
7. Andy Reid, Everton - 7
7. Paul Harrison, Cardiff - 7
7. Danny Pugh, Leicester - 7

Other Wigan Notables:

14. Tomasz Jarzebowski - 5
43. Tom Hutchinson - 3
43. Joao Paulo - 3
43. Kenny Lunt - 3

[Eaglesfan27]

May 8, 2010 -

Juventus has won the Italian Serie A Title.

[Eaglesfan27]

May 9, 2010 -

Portsmouth have been relegated from the EPL.

[Eaglesfan27]

May 12, 2010 -

Our finances are plummeting as we have no income with the season being over and we have to keep paying our guys.

[Eaglesfan27]

May 13, 2010 -

Leicester beat Stoke 7-0 on aggregate to advance to the Championship Playoff Final.

[Eaglesfan27]

May 22, 2010 -

Newcastle beat Aston Villa 3-1 to win the English FA cup today.

At least I lost to the eventual champions.

Manchester United didn't make it into the Champions Cup this year!

The 4 English qualifiers are: Southampton, Chelsea, Liverpool, and Arsenal.

The 3 English qualifiers for the Euro Cup are Aston Villa, Manchester United, and Newcastle.

[Eaglesfan27]

May 23, 2010 -

Leicester beat the Wolves 5-3 in the Championship Final to win promotion to the EPL. Leicester's effort was led by Dean Ashton who had a hat trick in the span of 10 minutes between the 46 minute and 56 minute mark: Lee Martin and Tomi Petrescu had the other 2 goals.

[Eaglesfan27]

May 24, 2010 -

Wellington Paulista has been given an automatic raise to 21,000 dollars/week due to a promotion clause in his contract.

Yossi Benayoun has had his salary increase to 29,500/week due to his promotion clause.

Ricardo Osorio has had his salary increase to 29,500/week due to a promotion clause.

Our final league position of 1st in the Championship is a new record high for the club.

[Eaglesfan27]

May 25, 2010 -

Tomasz Jarzebowski and Yossi Benayoun were both selected to the English Player's Championship Select for the Season.


I won English Championship Manager of the Year. Micky Adams of Everton came in 2nd, and Kevin Keegan of Leicester came in 3rd.


Leicester's Dean Ashton officially won the Championship Top Goalscorer of the year award. Mark Jackson of Preston came in 2nd, and Yossi Benayoun came in 3rd.

Northampton has won promotion to League One.

[Eaglesfan27]

May 31, 2010 -

I've been watching closely, and like past seasons with Harrogate I never got a message that I got the prize money for winning the Championship. I also haven't gotten the money as I've been watching my account closely. I'm really wondering if there is a bug here. Anyone else missing payments for winning league titles?


Our transfer budget for next season has been announced. We will have 5 million dollars to acquire new players.

[Eaglesfan27]

June 6, 2010 -

Chelsea's Adriano has won the European Golden Boot award. He scored 34 goals this year. James Beattie of Southampton came in 2nd, and Luke Moore of Aston Villa came in 3rd.

Ricardo Osorio has been called up to the Mexican Squad for the World Cup.

[Eaglesfan27]

June 9th, 2010 -

The World Cup kicks off tonight. Lots of exciting action. In particular, I'll be paying attention to the Saudi Arabia vs England match. I also be paying close attention to the USA team which plays against Denmark on June 14th in their first game.

[Eaglesfan27]

June 9, 2010 -

In a match at the FNB Stadium in Johannesburg, Saudi Arabia and England faced off. It didn't take long for England to strike first as Shaun wright-Phillips played a beautiful cross to Steven Gerrard in the box at the 2 minute mark. He had a diving header to put it in the upper right hand corner of the goal to make it 1-0. England fans gasped as Wayne Rooney went down from a vicious elbow that was delivered by Sultan Al-Shahrani at the 19 minute mark. Wayne Rooney was gushing blood, and it later turns out that he has a broken cheekbone and will miss the rest of the World Cup most likely. In the 55th minute, Stewart Downing found John Terry by the near post with a corner kick. Terry converted the opportunity for the final goal. England won 2-0, but had a costly loss with Wayne Rooney's injury. Alan Smith will have to play a bigger part of their offense.

In the other group A match, Holland beat Uruguay 2-0.

[Eaglesfan27]

June 10th, 2010 -

In Group B action tonight, Cameroon surprised Switzerland 2-0. Cameroon's first goal came on a powerful shot by Amadou Dangadji Rabihou. The second goal came at the 85 minute mark on a cross from Rabihou to Perre Achille Webo who headed it into the upper left hand corner.

Also in group B action, Spain beat Costa Rica 1-0 thanks to an early goal by Fernado Torres that was set up by a pass from David Villa. Jose Manuel Reina was strong in goal, but didn't face many shots as Spain generally dominated Costa Rica. Many fans feel that Spain should have won by a larger margin.

[Eaglesfan27]

June 11, 2010 -

In group C action, Argentina dominated Japan 3-0. Andres D'Allesandro had 2 goals for Argentina, and Javier Saviola had the other in this dominating performance.

Also in Group C, Serbia & Mont. beat Australia 2-0.


Group D action kicked off with Colombia barely holding off South Korea by a margin of 1-0. Jafeth Asprilla scored the only goal for colombia on a pass from Andres Felipe Gonzalez.

[Eaglesfan27]

June 12, 2010 -

In the other group D game, Ireland tied Germany 1-1. John Paul Kelly played particularly well and manufactured Ireland's only goal.

In the opening Group E Game, Morocco and Poland tied 2-2.

In an interesting group E game, I watched as Mexico fought off the powerful Italian team for most of the match. Ricardo Osorio was a key part of this as he played vwey well the first 45 minutes before being subbed out. However, Italy broke through at the 62 minute mark on a pass from Luciano Zauri to Paolo Cannavaro who had a long powerful shot that curved into the upper left corner of the goal. Italy won 1-0 in a tough match.

[Eaglesfan27]

June 13, 2010 -

WOW! Ruud Gullit has been sacked by Manchester United Chairman David Gill. I'm being touted as the favorite to take over the job. The media are surrounding my place asking if I'd be interested in the job. I normally say that I'm not interested, but I decide to go with a non-descript no comment. I don't want to upset my team if I'm not offered the job, yet, I don't want to say I'm not interested in the job.

[Eaglesfan27]

June 13, 2010 -

In group F play, Turkey and Nigeria played to a 1-1 tie.

In group H play, Canada dominated South Africa and won 3-1. Jonathan de Guzman had a hattrick for the Canadian team!

Also in Group H play, France and Brazil battled to a 0-0 tie.

[Eaglesfan27]

June 14, 2010 -

Today I'm going to watch the Denmark vs USA game in depth.

The USA is playing a 4-4-2.

They are starting the following Lineup:

GK: Tim Howard (31 years old, 78 caps)
DL: John O'Brien (32 years old, 94 caps, 7 goals)
DC: Carlos Bocanegra (31 years old, 92 caps, 7 goals)
DC: Jonathan Spector (24 years old, 44 caps, 5 goals)
DR: Robbie Russell (30 years old, 62 caps, 1 goal)
ML: Bobby Convey (27 years old, 82 caps, 4 goals)
MC: Mighel Jackson (21 years old, 1 cap, 0 goals)
MC: Freddy Adu (21 years old, 45 caps, 11 goals)
MR: DaMarcus Beasley (28 years old, 103 caps, 24 goals)
SC: Landon Donovan (28 years old, 100 caps, 30 goals - Currently playing for Milan!)
SC: Conor Casey (28 years old, 59 caps, 20 goals)

[Eaglesfan27]

5 minute mark: Howard with a nice interception of a pass.

7 minute mark: Howard with a big save after Rommedahl crosses for Christian Traore.

10 minute mark: Traore intercepts a pass.. heads it to Jensen who passes to Tommy Bechmann.. Howard comes out to challenge him.. he chips it.. over Howard's head.. into the goal. USA down 1-0.

13 minute mark: Donovan with the first USA shot.. over the bar.

18 minute mark: Adu with a pass into the box for Casey.. he shoots.. great save by the keeper.

21 minute mark: Daniel Jensen passes into the box for Dennis Rommedahl who has run ahead.. he shoots.. lower left corner.. it's past Howard. GOAL. Down 2-0.


Halftime: USA down 2-0. They sub out Mighel Jackson and bring on Grover Gibson (31 years old, 9 caps, 0 goals.)


57 minute mark: Donovan with a hard shot.. good block by Sorenson (the keeper).. Gibson gets the rebound.. shoots.. the keeper catches it.

61 minute mark: The USA coach subs Jemal Johnson (26 y.0, 20 caps, 2 goals) for Bobby Convey. They also sub Kenny Cooper (25 y.o, 2 caps, 0 goals) for Conor Casey at striker.

65 minute mark: Adu gets a cross from Donovan.. shoots.. Sorenson blocks it.. Adu shoots the rebound.. wide right.


Game over. USA was dominated 2-0.

They were outshot 10-7 (4-2 on target)

Dennis Rommedahl won MoM, 8 for form, 13 of 15 passes, 3 of 4 tackles, 3 of 3 headers, 2 interceptions, 3 runs, 1 goal.

[Eaglesfan27]

June 14, 2010 -

In other action today. Ghana tied Portugal 1-1 in group G play.

In the other group G match, Croatia beat Iraq 2-0.


Tom Hutchinson is demanding a new contract. He is currently making 2,600/week and he played much better than expected this year and earned much more PT than I expected. I contact his agent to see how much they want. His agent is demanding 12,000/week. I actually don't think he is worth that much, but I do offer him 8,000/week for 3 years.

[Eaglesfan27]

June 15, 2010 -

In group A action, England tied Holland 1-1 today. England played most of the day shorthanded after Chris Kirkland, the keeper was sent off at the 28 minute mark for pushing the striker down. Fortunately, they missed the penalty shot. However, Kevin Hofland scored 3 minutes later. England rallied though and started playing better defense. They evened the tally on a corner at the 79 minute mark in which Michael Owen took the corner and found Gareth Barry in the box for the goal.

In the other Group A game, Uruguay beat Saudi Arabia 2-1.

[Eaglesfan27]

June 16, 2010 -

In Group B play, Switzerland beat Costa Rica 2-0 in a rather one sided affair.

In the other group B match, Cameroon and Spain played to a 0-0 tie.



Hutchinson has rejected my contract offer. I will offer him one more offer of 10,000 dollars/week.

[Eaglesfan27]

June 17, 2010 -

In group C play, Argentina tied Serbia & Mont. 2-2. Andres D'Alessandro scored the first goal at the 13 minute mark, and Pablo Aimar scored the second goal at the 47 minute mark for Argentina.

In the other Group C match, Australia beat Japan 3-0. Harry Kewell had 2 goals and an assist to power the Australian team.

[Eaglesfan27]

June 19, 2010 -

Leeds has signed QPR's Shane Paul for a fee of 3 million dollars.


Tom Hutchinson has signed a new contract with the team for 10,000/week.



In group D action, Germany and Colombia battled to a 0-0 tie.

Also in group D, Ireland beat South Korea 1-0. John Paul Kelly scored Ireland's only goal.



In group E action, Mexico dominated Poland 2-0. Ricardo Osorio played the whole match and had an 8 for form in helping shut down the Polish offense. Santiago Fernandez scored both goals on assists from Oribe Peralta.


Also in group E Action, Italy beat Morocco 1-0. Franco Semmioli scored the only goal for Italy.


In group H action, South Africa beat Brazil 2-1.

[Eaglesfan27]

June 20, 2010 -

Yossi Benayoun was voted Wigan's Player of the Year by supporters.

4 players were promoted from the academy to the U18 squad. Darren Shaw a 17 year old English striker looks particularly promising. He is fast, has good acceleration, good determination, good passing, good finishing, good heading. He good develop into a very good player. He is already valued at 260,000 dollars.


WOW!!! We were just given 24.5 million dollars for Premiere Division TV rights for the upcoming season!!!!


The Wigan Board is delighted with my performance as manager. The team is expected to fight bravely against Relegation from the EPL this year. We have a 5 million dollar transfer budget to accomplish that goal.

They have also raised the allowed wage budget to 385,000/week and I'm actually slightly under the wage salary for once.

Stuart Elliott's average form for the season set a new Wigan team record.

[Eaglesfan27]

June 20, 2010 -

Today I will be watching the USA face Turkey in group F play. I think this match will be a key match for the USA.

The USA lineup looks different this match:

GK: Quentin Westberg (24 y.o, 1 cap, 0 goals, had a very good year with Villarreal)
DL: O'Brien
DC: Bocanegra
DC: Spector
DR: Russell
ML: Beasley
MC: Covey
MC: Justin Moose (26 y.o, 38 caps, 0 goals)
MR: Donovan
SC: Adu
SC: Casey

[Eaglesfan27]

14 minute mark: Westberg makes a great save on a breakaway by Samli Tuncay.

26 minute mark: Ibriahm crosses to Tuncay who heads it.. Westberg dives.. it is past him. GOAL. USA down 1-0.

32 minute mark: Spector with a long pass to Adu.. he has a breakaway.. dribbles into the box.. shoots.. great save by the keeper.

44 minute mark: Casey is hurt.. Jemal Johnson is subbed on for Casey.


Halftime: USA down 1-0.


60 minute mark: Spector with a key defensive play on Suncay.

61 minute mark: The USA subs off Convey and brings on Steven Cherundolo (31 years old, 79 caps, 3 goals)

89 minute mark: Beasley crosses to Donovan in the box.. he shoots.. the keeper blocks it.


Game over. The USA loses 1-0.

They were outshot 15-2 (5-0 on target)

Sanli Tuncay won MoM, 32 of 39 passes, 1 of 1 tackles, 5 of 5 headers, 2 interceptions, 5 runs, 1 goal.

[Eaglesfan27]

June 21, 2010 -

Portugal tied Iraq 0-0 in their group G game.

Croatia beat Ghana 2-0 in their group G game.


In group A play, Holland beat Saudi Arabia 3-0.

Also in group A, England beat Uruguay 2-0. England's first goal was set up by a pass from Steven Gerrard to Alan Smith in the box. Smith blasted a shot into the upper left corner for the first goal. The second goal was set up by a pass from Michael Owen to Jermain Defoe just outside the box.. Defoe hit a long range shot that deflected off a defender into the right side of the goal for the decisive 2-0 win. However, this was a costly win for England (and Liverpool) as Steven Gerrard was hit with a vicious two footed tackle at the 79 minute mark which resulted in a compound broken leg. Gerrard is expected to miss 5-6 months.


In group B play, Cameroon beat Costa Rica 3-0.

Also in group B, Spain beat Switzerland 3-0.

[Eaglesfan27]

Jun 23, 2010 -

Argentina and Australia ended up in a 0-0 tie in group C play today.

Serbia & Mont. beat Japan 3-1. in Group C play.


Germany beat south Korea 3-2 in group D play.

Also in group D play, Colombia beat Ireland 2-0.

[Eaglesfan27]

June 24, 2010 -

I decided not to watch the USA game in case I was jinxing them.

Mexico beat Morocco 2-1 today in group E play. Ricardo Osorio didn't play this game. Keeper Francisco Guillermo Ochoa had an amazing game with 9 saves.

Italy and Poland tied 1-1 in Group E play today.


Turkey beat Denmark 3-0 in Group F play.

would the USA win without me watching? No, Nigeria beat the USA 2-1. Freddy Adu scored the only goal for the USA at the 20 minute mark to open up the scoring of the match. Adu's goal was set up by a pass from Landon Donovan. Tim Howard started in goal and gave up the 2 goals on only 3 shots.

[Eaglesfan27]

June 25, 2010 -

Interesting, my AM has chosen Harrogate for a friendly .. oh yeah, I think I promised it when I did one of my signings. In either case, we will be playing a friendly with Harrogate on July 25, 2010.

Leicester has acquired Kieran Richardson from Southampton for 3.2 million dollars.

[Eaglesfan27]

June 25, 2010 -

Ghana beat Iraq 7-1 in Group G play!

Also in Group G, Portugal beat Croatia 2-0.


In group H, Brazil beat Canada 5-0.

Also in group H, South Africa upset France 1-0.

[Eaglesfan27]

June 26, 2010 -

The Second round of the World Cup has been determined:


Spain will be playing Holland

England will be playing Cameroon

Serbia & Mont. will be playing Germany

Colombia will be playing Argentina.

Italy will be playing Nigeria

Turkey will be playing Mexico

Croatia will be playing Brazil

Portugal will be playing South Africa.


The USA's performance was very disappointing.

[Eaglesfan27]

June 26, 2010 -

In a surprisingly difficult match which saw poor finishing, England finally finished off Cameroon in extra time with a 1-0 win. Owen Hargreaves sent a long pass to James Milnet who broke away for the game winning goal at the 102 minute mark. England really dominated the time of possession and should have won by a larger margin.


Holland beat Spain 1-1 in an exciting penalty shootout. Ruud van Nistelrooy, Mike Zonneveld, and Rafael van der Vaart had the game winning penalty kicks, as Holland won 3-2 on penalty shots.

[Eaglesfan27]

June 27, 2010 -

I was shocked to see Colombia beat Argentina 2-0 today. I thought the Argentina squad would have played better this game as they were dominated all day long.

Germany beat Serbia & Mont. 1-1 on penalty shots.

[Eaglesfan27]

June 28, 2010 -

Mexio upset Turkey 1-1 with the win on penalty shots. Jose Chavez had the final deciding penalty shot. Ricardo Osorio wasn't used in the game.

Nigeria shocked Italy 3-1! Italy's only goal came from Antonio Cassano at the 9 minute mark, but it was all Nigeria from there on out.

[Eaglesfan27]

June 29, 2010 -

Portugal had to go to penalty shots to beat South Africa as the game ended in extra time 0-0. Portugal converted every one of their penalty shots to win it 5-4 in the penalty phase. Deco scored the final penalty shot.

Brazil beat Croatia 1-0 on a goal by Kaka at the 69 minute mark. Adriano set up Kaka's goal with a great pass in the box.

[Eaglesfan27]

July 1, 2010 -

Crystal Palace has completed the signing of Stuart Elliott on a free transfer today.

Coventry has signed Shola Ameobi from Newcastle on a free transfer.

Coventry's fans are ecstatic about Ameobi's signing.

Fode Mansare has arrived from Nice today.

Leicester has signed Kieran Richardson from Southampton for 3.2 million dollars.



The Quartfinals of the World Cup are set:

Holland will play Colombia

England will play Germany

Nigeria will play Portugal

Mexico will play Brazil.

[Eaglesfan27]

July 2, 2010 -

Germany started off the scoring at the 27 minute mark on a goal by Kevin Kuranyi. Fans of England became concerned as Germany went into the final 10 minutes up 1-0. However, England suddenly had a scoring outburst at Shaun Wright-Phillips scored on a corner kick at the 82 minute mark. Joe Cole scored on a deflected shot 3 minutes later. 4 minutes later Jermain Defoe scored a third goal to secure the win.

Holland beat Colombia 2-0.

[Eaglesfan27]

July 3, 2010 -

Brazil beat Mexico 1-0 today. Brazil's loan goal came on an excellent curving shot from Dagoberto.

Nigeria crushed Portugal 4-1. Obafemi Martins had 2 goals and John Utaka had a goal and an assist.

[Eaglesfan27]

July 6, 2010 -

The Semi-Finals of the World Cup are set.

Holland will face Brazil.

Nigeria will face England.

[Eaglesfan27]

July 6, 2010 -

Today Holland and Brazil squared off.

Brazil struck first at the 21 minute mark when Diego found Robinho with a pass in the box. Robinho converted the opportunity with a hard shot into the upper left hand corner of the net to take a 1-0 lead. Brazil scored the next goal in the match when at the 38 minute mark, Kleberson crossed to Kaka who headed it into the upper left hand of the net. At the 44 minute mark, Robinho stole the ball from the defense and scored a powerful strike into the upper right hand corner of the net. Holland started to come back just before half time with a pass from Rafael van der Vaart to Ruud van Nistelrooy in the box. van Nistelrooy blasted the ball into the upper right hand corner of the net.

Down 3-1 in the 2nd half, Holland had it's work cut out for them. The took another step towards coming back when Rafael van der Vaart converted a pass from Robin van Persie for the goal. However, Brazil ended the scoring with another goal from Robinho to end the game 4-2.

Brazil will be playing in the World Cup Final.

Will they be playing Nigeria or England?

[Eaglesfan27]

July 7, 2010 -

England started the match against Nigeria with a great effort as Wayne Rooney surprised everyone by coming back from his broken cheekbone early. He did more than just provide an inspiration to the team as he scored on a breakaway after receiving a pass from Jonathan Woodgate to score the first goal at the 2 minute mark.

However, Nigeria answered just 2 minutes later as Chidi Odiah found Kalu Uche with a long pass. Uche settled the ball... turned.. shot from 25 yards out and it deflected off a defender into the right side of the box.

At the 8 minute mark, Nigeria threatened again as Celestine Babayaro joined in the attack and went up the the left side of the pitch with the ball.. he finally crossed for Adebowale Ogungbure who outleaped Wayne Bridge and headed it into the lower right portion of the net. Nigeria went into defensive mode with the 2-1 lead. England pressed the attack, but with 9 men back Nigeria fended off most of those attacks before they could get going deep into the zone. England's best chance came when Ledley king passed to Jermain Defoe in the box, but Nigerian keeper John Ayuba deflected the shot over the bar. The game ended with a 2-1 win for Nigeria, and they will face Brazil in the World Cup final.

[Eaglesfan27]

July 10, 2010 -

Holland and England met for the 3rd place playoff match today.

England never really looked like their heart was in it as they were throughly dominated by Holland 2-0.

[Eaglesfan27]

July 11, 2010 -

Today we have our first friendly against Antwerp before the World Cup Final which is later today.

I'm mostly interested in seeing how Mansare does with us. I'll be starting him with my first team lineup today.

7 minute mark: Mansare makes a great cross to Teale in the box, but Teale's shot is saved by the keeper.

12 minute mark: Mansare has some great moves, but he lost control of the ball at this point and loses it out of bounds over the end line.

31 minute mark: Mansare tries to put a move on a defender.. loses the ball out of bounds..again.

33 minute mark: Begeorgi with a great cross to Benayoun in the box.. he shoots.. nice save by the keeper.

37 minute mark: Mansare takes long strides with the ball.. this time it allows him to burn a defender and make a nice cross for Begeorgi in the box.. his header is stopped by the keeper.


Halftime: We dominated possession, but couldn't score. I'm disappointed to only see 635 fans here for this friendly. I know Antwerp is not a big name team, but I thought there would be more fans.


I put in my entire second team.

60 minute mark: Melara crossed to Lunt whose shot was barely punched over the bar.


Game over. 0-0 tie. Good conditioning game.

We outshot them 14-2 (8-1 on target)

Their keeper, Tom Muyters won MoM.