[FM13]The Adriatic Adventure [Hajduk Split]

Well done with France, perhaps Ben Arfa can lead you to glory! Can I see a screenshot of him and his history?

BIG THREE AND WALES GO TO SEMIFINALS
FRANCE 5-1 SLOVENIA Ben Arfa x2, Benzia x2, Nangis
Slovenia, who have not lost to France in 10 years, proved that the higher you fly, the further you fall, as Bendiš's France smashed them to pieces.

To be fair, it looked like Slovenia would have the win again, as Lucas Digne conceded an early penalty, for Slovenia to score in the 11th minute. And it looked like it would be 2 when Valenti? scored in the 20th minute, prompting Bendiš to curse loudly, before turning and returning to his bench. It was chalked off though, and, immediately after, Ben Arfa, who has been fantastic in the tournament, scored, yet again, to make it 1-1.

The half wrapped up with the same scoreline, but it was the second half where France truly went to town. Benzia scored two within 10 minutes of each other, once on a counter, and once where he sprinted across the entire 16 yard box faster than a defender could track back a few meters. Then, Karim Benzema, still plying his trade at Real Madrid, assisted Ben Arfa with a simple poachers effort... made all the more complicated as Ben Arfa plays on the right wing... before Benzema assisted again to Lenny Nangis to wrap it up in the 81st, and hand the 32 year old Algerian born forward the man of the match.

France plays against Wales in the semifinal, as Bendiš looks to stop Manchester United's front line (Gareth Bale, Phil French, and Peter Pimm) from handing Pimm the golden boot. Pimm currently has 7 goals, while Ben Arfa and Benzia both have 5.

QUARTERFINAL
FRANCE 5-1 SLOVENIA
SPAIN 4-0 GERMANY
IRELAND 2-3 ENGLAND
WALES 3-2 ITALY (2016 holders)

2014-02-08 19:14#159369 Neal : Well done with France, perhaps Ben Arfa can lead you to glory! Can I see a screenshot of him and his history?

Here we go Neal... I think I'll be leaving them after the European Championship... try to get the Croatia post again...

http://i58.tinypic.com/zlg94.jpg
http://i60.tinypic.com/15873ar.jpg

TWO GOALS FROM BENZIA, AS FRANCE APPEARS IN FIRST FINAL IN 20 YEARS
FRANCE 3-1 WALES Y. BENZIA x2, K. BENZEMA
Yassine Benzia has moved into the top spot for the Golden Boot, as he looks to be the second consecutive Frenchmen to win the award, following Olivier Giroud, who gave the manager his international retirement after an argument before the European Championship.

But France gave no signs of support for their former talisman, and every moment makes it look like it's paying off, as France has gone from strength to strength. And, while several expected Pedro Santos to follow in Giroud's footsteps, Bendiš allowed nothing of the sort: giving in instead to Benzia and then Benzia+Benzema duo.

And then Serbia fell, and then Slovenia, and then Wales. And now Spain must fall. Because, for Bendiš, failure was never an option.

And, even with Spain on the horizon, it doesn't look like it's going to become one anytime soon.

SEMIFINAL
FRANCE 3-1 WALES
SPAIN 2-0 ENGLAND

FRANCE ON THE TOP OF EUROPE
FRANCE 2-1 SPAIN Y. BENZIA, H. BEN ARFA
Bendiš rushed out onto the pitch as the French manager was caught and thrown up into the air, as the team celebrated with the Croatian.

It was far from a close cut thing, as Spain had equalized Benzia's early effort in the 65th. Juan Pablo, born in Buenos Aires, cut in on Fermín's weighted pass to give them the 1-1 goal. But, Hatem Ben Arfa wasn't letting it happen. This was his championship, and it would be his swansong. Karim Benzema, in what was a brilliant performance, let Ben Arfa have it, and, in his 60th, and his last appearance in Professional football, the former OM winger ended the match, and lifted the trophy for the last time.


MEANWHILE... ANYONE CARE TO EXPLAIN DAFUQ THIS IS?
http://i58.tinypic.com/9s6iop.jpg

Really well done on the win, massive achievement! No clue why Croatia won't take you, though

2014-02-09 07:06#159460 Neal : Really well done on the win, massive achievement! No clue why Croatia won't take you, though

After some experimenting:

YOU CAN COME ON BOARD... IF YOU LEAVE HAJDUK
-MAY YOU NEVER WIN ANYTHING AGAIN
Known separatist, Timmy Bendiš was, once again, snubbed for Croatia's most prestigious post, to the general despair of the South of Croatia, as the legendary manager finished off a 6-1 rout on the opening day of the season.

Called into Zagreb to interview for the position, the towering Bendiš sat down among the notoriously Zagreb friendly Croatian FA, and waited for the job offer. He was currently being paid 2.2 million € a year to lead France, but had already stated that he would do the Croatia job happily pro-bono. This was his dream: to lead Croatia and Hajduk to the top. There would be no comparison.

He thought he had it in the bag. But the FA came up with one condition for the Croatia post: Leave Hajduk. Leave it behind, and never look back. Only then could he take the Croatia post. Only then could he lead Croatia from the 66th spot in the world to the top, and claim the World Cup as the country's hero.

He was stunned, but he was permitted to get up, and take a walk... think about it. They said they would wait. Everyone would wait for Bendiš. He walked down to his car, and pulled something from the glovebox, before slowly making his way back up. The board of directors of the FA watched intently. They honestly had no idea what he was going to do, this was their wild card... this was, perhaps, the only manager that could lead them to glory, and they were asking him to leave his life behind. They were essentially giving him permission to manage his own team: to manage Kiš, to manage Pesić. This was the man that could make Croatia great.

He entered, and they asked, "So?"

Slowly, Bendiš pulled a medal out of his pocket. Engraved on it was 'European Champions League 2020, Winner, HNK HAJDUK SPLIT'. He hadn't yet made space in his trophy cabinet for it, so he carried it around with him.

And then, slowly, quietly, deliberately, he spoke, "How dare you

"How dare you ask for this; who do you think you ARE that you can ask ME for THIS. Do you think that Croatia would even have a shot at becoming what it is without ME?! Do you PRESUME, do you IMAGINE, in your WILDEST FUCKING DREAMS, that someone ELSE will... no... CAN do what I do? Now, listen very carefully, for I shall never repeat this again,

"I am not here for your money, do not think that you will ever make that mistake again, or I will make sure that you do not have any left. I am here because I wanted to help. Nor was I here to help you, do not flatter yourselves. I was here to help the country, and what you have done to it. I often wonder how you sleep at night, with the travesties that you have managed to do with what is essentially my team. But, in eight years, I have learned to live with it. It will be nine years soon... did you know that. Nine long, painful years. And in nine years, I have accomplished what I never dreamed I could.", Bendiš waved his medal around, gazing at it ponderously. "Did you know that I have 19 of these. No, I'm sorry... 20. 2 Champions League titles, 1 Club World Championship, 1 European Championship, countless Croatian Super cups, League titles, Cups, and you were there for almost Every. Single. One.

"I was here to win the World Cup at home. But, you know... I now understand that's not possible. And it's because of you. I hope you never win anything again. I hope the people of Croatia line right outside screaming for your removal, for my installation, as you panic, trying to move the rest of your measly funds from one bank account into another. I hope that, one day, you have to stand on trial in Switzerland for the fixed matches from all of those years, from Zadar-Inter... from Croatia-Slovenia... oh, trust me, I know them all, I know everything. And so do they. I hope that, one day, it all catches up to you, and the only thing left for your children to do will be to spit in your grave.

"That day will come, and it will come sooner than you can imagine. And do you know where I will be?"

"-Where?"

"Standing right here, in the front line, throwing you from this window for the crowds to eat you alive. And guess what, you can quote me on all of this. But you don't have to, because I've already told the press myself.

"Until next time. Scum."

MEANWHILE... IN SPLIT
After a 6-1 opening day at Poljud, and a 4-0 thrashing of Inter at home, Bendiš came back to his café from the long drive the following morning, and he saw someone with black hair on his balcony. It had been years since he saw her, since he heard her voice. It was a funny story their relationship, see... as the woman sitting on his balcony right now was the person he had dated before his fiancée... incidentally... it was also his fiancée's best friend from college...

"Good morning Iva, it's always a pleasure"

Lovely update that was a absolute pleasure to read. Stay and tell Croatia to f*** off lol

Glad to see Ben Arfa is doing well, he's great for me :p

Really great update m8! Congratulations on winning the European Championship too!

KIŠ, PESIĆ, FIGHTING FOR BALON D'OR SPOT
HAJDUK 6-1 CIBALIA T. KIŠ x2, F. ANDRIJAŠEVIĆ, J. ELEŽ, A. MEDARIĆ x2
INTER 1-5 HAJDUK T. KIŠ x3, M. TRIFKOVIĆ, A. MEDARIĆ
AVERAGE RATING - T. KIŠ --- 9.45 - Goals in last two games: 5
AVERAGE RATING - T. PEŠIĆ - 9.10 - Assists in last two games: 5

It has been popular opinion in Croatia for some time now that Tomislav Kiš deserves to be, at the very least, on the shortlist for the Balon d'Or. Understandably, he plays in Croatia, and his rating is not among the Leo Messi's of the world, who posted an average of 8.15 last season, but his performances are still sublime: one of the reasons he has lead his team to two Champions League finals. In a row.

But this year, Kiš is staring that trophy down, if his recent performances are anything to go by, it looks to be an eventful season for Hajduk. It didn't take long for him to get started either... there were no "early season jitters" such as what Dinamo has. There was no "we'll play better next week". There was: "Here Cibalia... here's two, and Inter, you can have three". And, with Kiš, the 12th most valuable player in the world (and the most valuable outside the Big 4 Leagues - 24.0 M €) flanked by the excellent Pešić, (17th most valuable player in the world, 2nd most valuable outside big 4 - 23 M €), the Slovenian looking for the Croatia cap, Mirnes Trifkovič (4 assists, incidentally), and Pero Bašić (21 M €) the Croatian national opinion has shifted from "Why not Kiš" to "Why not all of them?"

Whether they hold their form until Christmas, remains to be seen.

KIŠ WITH TWO MORE. LOWEST RATING OF THE SEASON: 8.8
IMOTSKI 1-3 HAJDUK T. KIŠ x2, M. TRIFKOVIČ
Imotski didn't really stand a chance, and Bendiš knew it, which is why 17 year old Hašib Ramić was given his début for the European Champions as Bendiš desperately tries to groom a keeper in time for Goran Blažević's undefined retirement.

Kiš opened the scoring... he nearly always does, with his 6th goal of the season. Hajduk's frontman is nothing but prolific, as he dashed, onside, chasing after a long clearance by one of the defenders. Split didn't have a chance, because once Kiš took off, there was no chasing him. He received the ball in the right corner of the box, and, with a simple switch of the foot, placed it off the post, giving the goalkeeper absolutely no chance at all.

The second goal was a bit more complex, as 15 minutes later, he found the ball again, this time in the box, and, leaving the goalkeeper wrong footed, poked the ball into the right corner, giving himself the lead in terms of scoring, and Man of the Match awards.

Three games, 7 goals, two man of the match awards... if this is anything to go by, it's going to be one hell of a season

LADIES AND GENTLEMEN, IT IS A ROUT
HAJDUK 4-0 RIJEKA T. KIŠ ('48, '81, '90), P. BAŠI? ('86)
A strong, if boring, Rijeka defense fell to shambles in the second half, as Tomislav Kiš tore the Northern team to absolute pieces, and, picked the bones clean.

For the entire first half though, Hajduk was locked tight, they were shooting from all over the place, but the defense held firm and strong. They were certain Kiš wasn't going anywhere, and they had to lock him up to get the point.

And then he was gone. The defense didn't see it. Double teamed, as has become the custom, Zoran Niži? and Yousseff were holding onto his shoulders one second, and the next, they were holding onto each others', while Pero Baši? cut inside, and dinked a pass to Kiš who, suddenly, was alone, onside, inside the box, and holding onto the ball.

Aarab and Niži? only turned around in time to see there goalkeeper on the ground, and the ball nestled in the corner, as Kiš turned around and spread his arms wide for the crowd that idolized him.

The cheers were deafening, but despite a simple red card in the 70th, Hajduk couldn't get a second, until Kiš turned on the style again. Pero Baši? and Erik Janža came together to steal the ball from Diego Barboza, and, in an effort to get the ball away from the Rijeka winger, Baši? flung the ball in the box. It took a wicked bounce in between two Rijeka defenders before Kiš, a notoriously right footed player, took his left foot and smashed the ball in off a ridiculous half-volley.

And then, if that wasn't enough, as the time winded down, Toni Topi? came in from the right and crossed the ball behind Tomi Kiš. Rather than leave it behind, Kiš leapt up and planted a gorgeous overhead kick into the corner, and secured yet another magnificent performance, and scoring his 10th goal in 4 games.

For the record, the current Croatian League record is 33 goals, set by Tomislav Kiš over 36 games in 2018. Some say that the record can't possibly hold on for much longer, and others say that Leo Messi is finally done hanging onto his undeserved collection of Balons D'Or

T. KIŠ (OMFG)

MEANWHILE...
She was still stunning, she always was. The psychology student had graduated and had been working for a prominent marketing firm in Bavaria somewhere for the last few years, but he heard rumors that she had returned to Zagreb. It was one of those rumors you picked up when you looked all over the world for someone else. It just happened to fall into the pile.

And there she was, sitting in his café, her beautiful eyes hidden behind simple, fashionable sunglasses, her never-ending legs stretching under the table. Her short white dress flattering her hourglass figure. Say what you will about it needing to be cold in the winter, but there was something about how women dressed in the summer on the coast.

"She's not coming back, is she..."

-"I don't think so, but she hasn't talked to me in a year"

"I figured"

a short pause followed... Bendiš stirred his coffee. Cream, two sugars, always the same. It had never changed.

-"I was in the neighborhood, and I wanted to see if you were okay"

"Do you have a place to stay?"

-"Not unless you do?"

"Come, let's get you settled... we can go to the beach later, it's nice out"

Ooh la la who is this lady

Kiš for Ballon D'Or! He's doing amazing!

KIŠ FAILS TO SCORE FOR THE FIRST TIME SINCE JULY
ZENIT 2-2 HAJDUK T. PEŠIĆ ('73, '87)
The last time Tomislav Kiš failed to score, Hajduk lost a friendly in Austria. Since then, the (understatement of the year) prolific striker has scored in every single one of the matches, averaging a, frankly quite incredible, 21 goals in 12 appearances, and the unheard of stat of 18 goals from 8 appearances in the Croatian First Division.

Frankly, at this point, if Kiš doesn't score in the first half, it's considered a goal draught (speaking of, this has happened only one time this season, against Rijeka, when Kiš scored a 2nd half hat-trick).

But, in the first competitive outing since last May that Kiš has not scored, Hajduk just couldn't win.

Zenit opened the scoring early, with a statement on how Hajduk's defense is probably the worst part of the double Champions League winning team, as Josip Elež, Hajduk's captain, Mario Maloča, and the young-ish Andrija Fiorentini are widely considered the weakest foundation for arguably, the best midfield and front line in the world. All it took was a dinked pass from Axel Witsel for Hulk to smash the ball into the net, leaving the 34 year old, Goran Blažević, to take it out.

And Zenit held. Unlike Hajduk, their defense was strong. They did not concede often, and when they did, it was normally quite spectacular. But, after a 70 minutes, with Hajduk still trailing, Hajduk had finally had enough. Franko Andrijašević found himself at the top of the box, and with a simple drop back, a short pass of about 8 meters, Teo Pešić latched on. And then the ball was gone. Andrej Zaitsev didn't stand a chance, because by the time he finished blinking, the ball was in the top corner of his net.

Then, 10 minutes later, Kiš got in the action by making a rare assist, giving Pešić the easy opportunity to give Hajduk the lead. To be entirely honest, Bendiš thought it was over. But Zenit got the last laugh, with a lapse of concentration at the back, Hajduk only got away with a point.

MEANWHILE... IN SPLIT
They'd been living together for about a month. She was there with the pretext that her firm was opening a new office in Split, purely to deal with the hype that Hajduk was getting on the world football stage. It was becoming a popular sentiment in the advertising world. It was an up-and-coming market, what with the Croatian league slowly permeating the international television market. And, it was a promotion for her: Head of an international office was a big deal in the advertising world.

What wasn't pleasing to the Croatian FA was that most of the firms were skipping Zagreb and just moving down to Split. If anything it showcased Bendiš's power within Croatian football, but, despite the best efforts of the corrupt officials, Split was fashionable.

Since he took the France job, Bendiš had slowly expanded his reach from a small apartment above his café to the entire building his café was in. It wasn't a small building, and it was one of the most prestigious addresses in the city: one that had been shared among several people for decades.

But now it was his.

He had the permission to dig below and build deeper, and he had acted on it, building the only lawn tennis court in Croatia under the surface, and a small underground garage for his minor, but valuable, collection. He let kids play on the court when he wasn't using it, and it had become a popular place for Split based tennis players to practice before Wimbledon. It was an old building, so the foundation was deep anyway. And, it wasn't like he couldn't afford it: a small bio-tech owned by an old friend of his who he had funded from the beginning recently went public, and he found that his 49% stake had earned him a bit of change.

At the end of the day, it didn't make sense for her to find her own place. Her new office was being set up just down the street. He really had everything in his home anyway, and it wasn't like he was using the extra few rooms. Plus, they played tennis against each other on weekends, and had coffee together every morning. It would be inconvenient for her to come on a daily basis. Every single day

So, Iva stayed. She had offered him to find her own place, but Bendiš wasn't having it. And anyway, half the reason she had agreed to move to Split was to see him again.

Ooh, the new lady is staying! Fantastic results Timmy, Kis is dominating as usual.