Closing Stage and Copa Libertadores

‘I raced through the season and I find it very boring in Uruguay which is why I am speeding up. The end of season news and everything is here, a new international job and a nice run in the Copa Libertadores. Also, who will join my Hall of Fame?’

Winter Transfers

‘We brought in Japanese-Brazilian striker Roger on loan, a man who played under my coaching at Japan. Hopefully he scores many goals for us and leads us far into the Copa Libertadores.’

Clausura Stage

‘We only lost once again which is a great achievement…#BoringLeague’


‘We won everything and we topped everything, adding another trophy to my cabinet.’

Youth Intake

‘It was a meh intake with potentially one or two good players for the future, but I won’t be here.’

Copa Libertadores

‘We were drawn in a group against Botafogo of Brazil, Allianza of Peru and Barcelona of Ecuador. The last time Penarol won this was in 1987 but I want to take them to the second round at least.’



‘Two tough games against Botafogo, but was this enough to take us through to the next round?’



‘Yes, we do. The team we draw in the next round is somehow… Botafogo.’





‘Although, we defy the odds and we go to the quarter final after a historic win in the Estadio Centenario which put us in the driving seat.’



‘We were drawn against Corinthians and I guessed our run ended here. And it did.’



‘Just too fucking tough! Can’t crack these bastards.’

Hall of Fame

‘These 3 were the key to our league win and our great run in the Libertadores.’

New International Job

‘In my bid to win the ACN I went to Algeria, as they have such a good team and their youngsters are great!’



‘and finally...’



‘I just couldn’t take it anymore. It was agonizing here, I guess I’m off to Asia or another top South American team, who knows.’

HAMOUDI JOINS CR FLAMENGO AFTER A YEAR-LONG HIATUS

‘After an 11-month hiatus from club football, Algerian National Team Manager Hamoudi Fayad has finally signed a contract with CR Flamengo, a big step up from CA Penarol. CR Flamengo finished 4th in the Brasileirao Serie A last season which means they will enter the Preliminary Round of the Copa Libertadores, a tournament Hamoudi is desperate to win.’

‘When asked why he joined Flamengo, Hamoudi answered with this: “My plan was originally to take on a team in Asia and win the Champions League there, before returning to South America and taking a team from the depths of Brazil to the Libertadores. I was so close to signing with Avai who were in the Serie C of Brazil, but I wanted to go to Asia. Suddenly the manager of Flamengo left and, I had to apply. The board and I were on very good terms, and immediately a deal was signed!”


‘In what marks their 125th year of existence, Flamengo announced the signing of 2-time Champions League Winner and Asian Nations Cup Winner Hamoudi Fayad, to the joy of fans and managers alike!’

‘Flamengo have won the Libertadores only twice, the second one coming in just over a year ago. Can Hamoudi Fayad take them to the triple in their 125th year of existence? That would be an achievement.’



‘Hamoudi will hopefully light up the Maracana this season, and getting the best out of star striker Pintinho and a player who Hamoudi managed before… Roger. Roger returned on loan to Flamengo for the fourth time and it finally looks like the Japanese-Brazilian will be getting first team football with Fayad claiming he wants him alongside Pintinho.’

Pre-Season and Transfers

I wanted to totally revamp this club - which had many good players, but weren’t adapted to my style of play - so we released a lot of deadwood! With a transfer budget of 19.5M Pounds and a lot of players to sell, we had a lot of work in the Finance Department.



This was our squad on the day I came, our best player being Pintinho. The wings were not good enough, as Alisson and Pintinho would be used as a central midfielder and striker respectively. The defence was good although it needed more depth, and I was planning on replacing Renan Ribeiro. Let us start with who we sold from the club.



Many good players were sold before I came, so I want to show what I sold. Italo Melo, Rodolfo and Rafinha were all sold for good money, as they stacked up the attacking midfield when we had even better players in our arsenal. Jonas, Wallyson and Paulo Miranda were in their mid-30’s so we wanted to ship them out as the board and I agreed to sign young players. Nereu, Cabecao, Everaldo, Marcos Vinicius, Ronald and Rafael are all youngsters who left on loan for more game-time, and Renan Ribeiro left on loan and has a future fee of 2M which is good enough. Popo, a decent young goalkeeper left, as there was too much competition for him.

Transfers - In

Without further a do, I will announce our signings. After Denner and Junior (AMC and DC) came in for a combined fee of 1.1M from the previous manager, I decided to replace and improve on the former players here.Mattheus, a former Flamengo player that was sold for 1.5M to Villarreal and now returns for almost 10 times what we sold him for in 2017! (10M) Nevertheless, he is a fantastic player to replace Felipe and Italo Melo and will operate on the left for us.


Next up is a man we could have got for free (along with compensation) at Jomo Cosmos but due to our finances we couldn’t, but now I represent to you Diogenes Joao, the Angolan-Brazilian central defender who was bought for 900k. He is good for this level and will be great as a back-up player, adding more depth to the defence.


Next up, our only player over 30 years of age. A favoured person to the Barcelona faithful, a Brazilian wing-back. No other than Daniel Alves, who is currently 36 years old. We got him for 46k in a bid to add more depth in our defence, and he is perfect as he can still play at this level, he is Brazilian, we got him on the cheap and he will be a role model for some of our youngsters.


Another winger now, and he is a very familiar face. Hector Ortigoza, one of my best ever players and a player who helped me win the North American Champions League. Acquired for a fee of 4.7M, we got him for a bargain fee and he will light up the right side of the midfield.


We brought in two more central midfielders, Matheus Pereira and Luis Alberto, two Brazilians from Braga and Coritiba respectively for a fee of 8M combined. These players will help us a lot in dominating the passing game I like to play and that is exactly what I like, a simple passing game. They aren’t foreigners which is a plus and their wages aren’t that big either.



Two players were brought in on free transfers, Jonata and Alexandre. Jonata is a fantastic striker, and he will be used a rotation with Roger and that is exactly what I wanted from a player like him - who is only on 7.5k per week! Alexandre on the other hand is there to add more depth in the defence which is great on all fronts - 4.5k per week isn’t too bad either!


Finally, our last signing is the man going to replace Renan Ribeiro, Cristiano. He is only 21 but he is extremely good for his age and we only bought him for 250k! Bargain Price! He will definitely be number one, while our Captain (35-yr old) Felipe will be sitting out.


And there you have it, our transfers are done! Any other transfer dealings will be notified in the next few weeks, but now we will move on to tactics.

Tactics

In both of our tactics we aim to keep possession and play a short passing game, although I have always had a problem with scoring. Hopefully now because we have better strikers, it will work out. In this tactic it will be a benefit for everyone except for Hector Ortigoza who can only play on the wings, so we cannot add him here, unlike Mattheus who can play down the middle. In this tactic, we aim to kill the game by using our midfield.



In the next tactic we use wingers and frankly I used this formation a lot, it is one of the best I have used. Never have I seen (in my opinion) such a complete formation, which only doesn’t cover the attacking and defensive midfield. In this formation, we aim to hit them on the wings with Mattheus and Ortigoza, cutting inside to help Pintinho and Roger score, as I prefer them not to cross the ball.

Friendlies

I am ecstatic with how we went in the friendlies, besides the fact that we lost to Ponte Preta. We won every single game except for the Boca and Bayern game, and I am extremely proud at how we played against Bayern! Hopefully if we encounter them in say, the Club World Cup, we will be ready! The rest of the games were against lower league opposition to raise confidence and help the team gel.

Copa Libertadores Group Stage Draw

We got a very good draw as the only tough team will be Boca, but I know we can pip them to first spot. Anzoategui from Venezuela are no match for us, and the only ‘Strongest’ team in the group is us, and not that team from Bolivia!

Next Time…
-Final Transfers?
-Copa Libertadores Group Stage
-Brazilian League still to come in a few months...

Copa Libertadores - 2020

A new year, a new edition of a tournament. In what is equivalent to the European Champions League, the South American Clubs will pit themselves together in a different format - aiming to win the prize money and reach the Club World Cup.

Flamengo won the 2018 Copa Libertadores, and I am aiming to replicate that success. We are in a group with Boca Juniors, The Strongest, and Anzoategui and I was disappointed with how we did in the group. We should have done better, but let’s see what happened.

(Bold = for Flamengo)

The Strongest vs. Flamengo - Hernando Siles - 20/2/2020

Pintinho (15)
Marco Antonio Torrico (84)

Hector Ortigoza (2)

Well… we finished poorly. I was angry, so it was my fault we conceded. I told the team to go on Overload even though we were winning and forgot the consequences, in which they would score. I apologized publicly to the fans about my mistake, and hopefully we move on.

Flamengo vs. Anzoategui - Maracana - 26/2/2020

Alisson (6)
Luis Seijas (26)
Pintinho (32)
Junior (45+3)
Jonata (69)

This match was absolute perfection, a 5-0 win which sent a message to Boca Juniors who we will hopefully defeat. We dominated in every single stat and we had 4 different scorers which was great to see.

Boca vs. Flamengo - La Bombonera - 18/3/2020

Ricardo Azil (48)
Nicole Blandi (72, 85)

Poor, poor game. We got dominated, we got smashed. We were heading for a 1-0 loss but two late goals was more than enough and we lost 3-0 which was disgusting to watch. Would like a win at the Maracana though.

Flamengo vs. Boca - Maracana - 2/4/2020

Ignaco Madrid (27)
Lorenzo Faravelli (39)
Martin Alegre (63)
Nicole Blandi (77)
Pintinho (90)

We took the lead in this match and we were dominating but then we went into the first half with a 1-1 scoreline. Alegre added a goal and Nicole Blandi just made it worse and Pintinho made it look like a good scoreline. We need to improve against big teams.

Anzoategui vs. Flamengo - Olimpico Jose Anzoategui - 9/4/2020

Pintinho (58)
Hector Ortigoza (62)

A good game which got us three vital points, we still haven’t qualified for the next round though. A win is a must in the next game, so we can easily qualify.

Flamengo vs. The Strongest - Maracana - 22/4/2020

Pintinho (15)
Roger (85)
Ignacio Madrid (90+2)

We progressed to the next round with a great win, but 6 points behind Boca. I hope we get a hard team and beat them, so we can see if we will be challengers for the trophy.

Second Round

We were drawn against Brazilian outfit Palmeiras… I think we could possibly win this with ease. Could we do it though?

Flamengo vs. Palmeiras - Maracana - 29/4/2020

Rodrigo Antonio (13)

Absolutely poor. How we didn’t score a goal… is beyond me! How on Earth didn’t we score?!? 13 shots and 5 on target, yet we couldn’t get one bloody goal! I’m sure we can win at their stadium though. Revenge.

Palmeiras vs. Flamengo - Arena Palestra Italia - 6/5/2020

Rodrigo Antonio (5)
Pintinho (8)
Mattheus (55)
Hector Ortigoza (72)
Edgardo Fabian Zapata (83)
Jonathan (81)

What a turnaround! We go into the next round after a 4-2 win and the players and I are ecstatic! Who do we get in the next round though? We got Corinthians last year, and I certainly do not want to face them this year…



Corinthians. The hardest team we could possibly ask for. Results will be in the next update, so stay tuned.

Brazilian League: May-July

We will start off with the Brazilian League before talking about the Copa Libertadores. We played 10 games, and they weren’t as easy as you think it is. A tough red card and some hard games here and there made it a bit tough for us.



6 wins, 2 draws, and 2 losses. In the first game against Santos, we were 2-1 up until Jubal got a red card and we conceded a penalty, and everything went downhill from there. A great win in the next game against Botafogo but Corinthians were too strong for us at their home stadium. We were 2-0 down to Gremio and as you can see we scored 3 goals in the last 20 minutes! F*cking amazing! We then went on an unbeaten streak but two draws against Palmeiras and Fluminese should have been wins.



We are 5th with a game in hand, and Flamengo finished 4th last season so anything in the top 4 is good for us. We could go up to 3rd if everything goes in our way, but now the more important tournament…

Copa Libertadores

We played Corinthians at home first, could we take a solid lead over them and not concede an away goal?



We take a solid lead although we conceded an away goal! William should have made it 3-1 with his 16/20 Penalty Taking Stats but a 2-1 win will do as they are a very hard team to crack down. We need to park the bus away from home so let’s hope all goes well.



Oh. My. Goodness. Mattheus, saves the day. If it weren’t for a 92nd minute away goal we would have been out! Damn, they were all over us but we kept guard and Mattheus our saviour, that goal was worth 10M itself!!

Santos FC, The Semi-Final

As Gremio and River Plate faced off in the other semi-final, we played Santos in the other semi-final. Could we reach the Final on our first try? We were dominating Santos in the league game away from home - until the red card - so I think we can beat them here!



Yes, we do beat them. A 3-1 win which gives us a TWO goal lead despite their vital away goal which could prove worthy for them in the next game. Again, we will try to park the bus so let’s hope all goes well!



Another. Bloody. Saviour!! William this time, who scored a beautiful goal in the 85th minute to save us! Into the Final we go!

We face… River Plate of Argentina, the best team in south America.

The Final

This was it. CR Flamengo of Brazil against River Plate of Argentina. A chance for Hamoudi to win the 4th trophy of his aim of 14 continental and international trophies (combined). He has won the African and North American Champions League, but the Copa Libertadores is on another level and if he wins it… he only has Asia and Europe left to complete the Pentagon.

LINE-UPS:

‘1: Kick-Off.

INJURY - FLAMENGO ‘7: Ignacio Madrid hobbles off the field after a challenge with Silva, although he seems to be still playing.

CHANCE - FLAMENGO ‘17: Lucas plays the ball down the line to Alisson, who gets past Arias. Alisson hits a nice pass back to Ignacio Madrid who shoots fiercely with his left foot (20/20 Long Shots) although Fernando Monetti saves.

CHANCE - RIVER + FLAMENGO ‘20: A scuffle that leads to a poor goal kick from Felipe reaches the River Plate attack, although the loanee from PSG - Zeballos - poorly loses the ball which results in a counter attack for the Brazilians. Ignacio Madrid dribbles and passes the ball to Hector Ortigoza who skips past two players but Monetti with a great save!

CHANCE - RIVER ‘30: Throw-in for River. A poor one as Junior clears it away from the River attack but they come bouncing back with a great right-footed volley from Cabral! Although a great save by the Flamengo Goalkeeper.

GOAL - FLAMENGO ‘32: Alisson positioned very well to receive a pass from Lucas… Alisson on the edge of the box gives a great pass to Ortigoza who turns around and SHOOTS! GOAAAAALLLLL FLAMENGOO! HECTOR ORTIGOZA WITH THE GOAL!

INJURY - FLAMENGO ‘36: And Hector Ortigoza is injured as Sebastian Driussi

‘45+2: Half-Time. Flamengo go 1-0 up with a great goal from Hector Ortigoza.


‘45: Second Half Kick-Off.

CHANCE - FLAMENGO ‘87: Thomas intercepts the ball and finds space before playing a through ball to onside striker Jonata, but misses a one-on-one shot which leads to a corner! Unlucky!

‘90+4: FULL TIME. Flamengo are in the driving seat following a 1-0 win, keeping 54% of possession and amassing 10 shots on target! The score should have been more.

Post-Match Press Conference: We dominated the game, which makes it look better than a “scrappy win”. I am ecstatic and hopefully we will pip River to the title. It makes me so happy to see that on my first try with Flamengo we are already here, leading 1-0 in the Final of the second best Continental Club Competition in the world, behind the UEFA Champions League. Time will tell if I stay at this club, but let us focus on the second leg.

Second Leg - La Bombonera

“To be honest… this was a very boring game, but even though it was boring, everyone was on their nerves which made it look like the game of the season. I was sweating so much at 9 Degrees Celsius! I may have won the African and North American Champions League, but this is on a whole different level! The first half was painful to watch. They dominated the game but our defence was on their best display, not letting in anything. A few shots on target here and there from both teams but, we held our ground and we entered the 2nd half confidently, aiming to defend for our lives for the next 45 minutes.”

“In the 66th minute, arguably the most dangerous chance of the game came. Jussandro (Left-Back) passed it around the midfield along with Matheus Pereira until it reached Hector Ortigoza on the right wing. A beautiful chip from Hector to Pintinho who dribbled past their goalkeeper, only to shoot and find out Monetti saved the ball! Wow!”

“In the 73rd minute my heart stopped. A corner for River, which was cleared away by our defence but headed back in the box by Matheus Pereira!! Craviotto headed the ball into the goal before Zeballos (the PSG loanee) headed it out! Great! Not until the ball came back in to Zeballos who scored into the open net… OFFSIDE! YES! HELL YESS!”

“Injury time beckoned… hoping that they didn’t score but our star midfielder ALISSON SCORED! YEESSSSS! WE HAVE WON THE COPA LIBERTADORES IN THE 94TH MINUTE! 2-0 ON AGGREGATE AND MY 3RD TROPHY HAS COME HOME! VIVA FLAMENGO! VIVA FLAMENGOOOOOOOOOO!!”





A monstrous performance overall by our team and I cannot believe we did it! Absolutely astonishing!




Sadly, I have to resign. For some reason on FM14 I don’t like South America, and even though we have a chance of winning the CWC I am not waiting until December to play it! Only Europe and Asia are left, so it will be obvious where I go first. I have the African Nations Qualifiers + the World Cup Qualifiers in Algeria before playing the ACN in January 2021. Can we win our fifth trophy?

Hamoudi’s Hall of Fame

Yes, since I have left Flamengo I have to induct a maximum of 3 players (because I stayed there for such a short time) into my Hall of Fame. My 3 players did exceptionally well in our Copa Libertadores run and during our time in the Brazilian League. I give you, the 3 inductees.


Junior was fantastic at the back for us, almost featuring in every single game. I will be very happy to bring him along to a team I manage elsewhere, as he is just a rock at the back. He is also quite young and is 194cm which makes him extremely tall!


Ignacio Madrid, what a great player. He was in the heart of midfield and I have no idea on why I never made him captain (maybe because of his 3/20 stats in Leadership). Was it his long shots? Or his first touch on the ball? What about his corners? Sure his passing wasn’t the best, but his technique was out of this world too! Great player, who I will do my ultimate best to buy elsewhere.


Mattheus, the greatest transfer we made this season. He was always there and his attributes were out of this world. He was one of the main players of my passing system and was a constant danger on the left flank and I am glad we bought him even though it was for a hefty 10M price. I am surprised he hasn’t been capped for Brazil yet!

Past Winners of Competitions Around The World

(2014-2020)
I want to give you guys info on what is happening around the World, the best players and the winners of some of the important competitions.

Club

Europe

Barclays Premier League: Chelsea, Man Utd, Man Utd, Chelsea, Man Utd, Man Utd, Man Utd

Liga BBVA: Barca, Madrid, Barca, Madrid, Madrid, Madrid, Barca

Serie A: Juve, Juve, Milan, Juve, Juve, Juve, Juve

Bundesliga: Bayern x7

Ligue 1: Lyon, PSG x6

EUROPA LEAGUE: Schalke, Spurs, Liverpool, Newcastle, Arsenal, Monaco, Fiorentina

CHAMPIONS LEAGUE: Man Utd, Madrid, PSG, Juve, Barca, Man Utd, Madrid

David Moyes is doing extremely well with Man United as Madrid and Barca dominate Spain, and Bayern and PSG dominate Germany and France respectively.

S.America

Argentina: Estudiantes, River, Boca, Velez, Velez, River, Boca

Brazil: Corinthians, Flamengo, Cruzeiro, Corinthians, Botafogo, Corinthians, Corinthians

COPA SUDAMERICANA: Bahia, Corinthians, Palmeiras, Sao Paulo, River, San Lorenzo, San Lorenzo

COPA LIBERTADORES: Atletico Mineiro, America (MEX), Cruz Azul, Atletico Mineiro, Flamengo, Corinthians, Flamengo

N.America

NORTH AMERICAN CHAMPIONS LEAGUE: Cruz Azul, Monterrey, Chivas, Alajuelense, LA Galaxy, Cruz Azul, Monterrey

Asia

ASIAN CHAMPIONS LEAGUE: Al-Sadd, Al-Ittihad (KSA), Antlers, Suwon, Al-Hilal (KSA), Lekhwiya, Al-Rayyan

Africa

AFRICAN CHAMPIONS LEAGUE: MA Tetouan, Zamalek, Jomo Cosmos, Al-Ahly, Al-Ahly, ES Setif, Etoile du Sahel

World

CLUB WORLD CUP: Man Utd, Madrid, PSG, Juve, Barca, Corinthians, Madrid

International

Euro’s: Germany - Germany
African Cup of Nations: Nigeria - Senegal - Nigeria - Morocco
Asian Nations: Japan - Japan - Japan
Gold Cup: USA - Mexico - Mexico
Copa America: Uruguay - Argentina - Argentina
Oceania Nations: New Zealand - New Zealand

Confederations Cup: Argentina

WORLD CUP: Spain - France

And there you have it. Some surprise winners here and there but it was mainly predictable teams winning the big trophies, let’s see if I am able to topple one of these clubs/nations.

Next Time…
-Hamoudi Fayad joins new Club
-African Cup of Nations 2021 - Algeria