‘This season, for an odd reason, we are not drawn in the Independence Cup. Therefore we can only win the double. I checked last season and Shirak weren’t drawn in it, so it must be a glitch. I would’ve liked the prize money, but it also gives a chance for other teams to strengthen and help Armenia in Europe.'
‘Anyways, on to the league. We start off with Gandzasar Kapan at the Lernagorts and finish off at Gandzasar Kapan at home. Hopefully we will continue our undefeated streak of 30+ games.’
Gandzasar Kapan: Premier League
Impuls Dilijan: Premier League
Banants Yerevan: Premier League
Mika Ashtarak: Premier League
Shirak Gyumri: Premier League
Ararat Yerevan: Premier League
Ulisses Yerevan: Premier League
Gandzasar Kapan: Premier League
‘All wins except in the Shirak game, which we should have won. An amazing 7-1 win against Impuls which (thankfully) puts them in the relegation zone as away wins against Banants and Ulisses do us well too. Here is the League Table:’
‘A 10 point gap, very good. Although, there finally seems to be some competition for the other 3 European places, with Ararat not being in the relegation zone for the first time! Shirak have been disappointing too!’
Players who Impressed
‘Christopher Watson is having his break out season here at Pyunik. He is fluent in Armenian, he has been playing in our youth team, and he had already gotten 3 goals in his first 4 games for the club therefore I am not surprised, although he is very good. Deretti on the other hand is new to this country, with no Brazilian at the club. Fortunately for him, we have a new Brazilian signing to be revealed, but still he has been nothing short of fantastic.’
PERUIBE FINALLY SIGNS AS PYUNIK AND ARMENIA CONTINUE THEIR RISE
‘In a recent press conference by Hamoudi Fayad, he has claimed that he has finally signed Henrique “Peruibe”. Spartak ZV have also claimed that on the 28th of June, Peruibe will join Pyunik Yerevan for a fee of 1.5 million. Fayad has claimed that he has been trying his best to get on Ivo Dos Reis’ good side, to help him acquire the services of Peruibe. Fayad has also claimed another signing for Serbia would be coming in, and he goes by the name of Santiago Kreiger. The former Boca Juniors will be joining from Rad for a fee of 1.5 million.’
'We have news concerning the league of Armenia and Pyunik Yerevan, we will show them in a few pictures:'
'The league is now the 30th best in Europe! Fantastic!'
'The prize money was announced by the Armenian FA.'
'Pyunik have risen to #55, that is bloody amazing.'
'Finally, they retain their continental qualification places, with their seeds improving.'
‘In a bid to help the youth team, Fayad has signed a few players; Carlos and Rafael Fernandes on a free from Belenenses and Haluk Cankaya from Kayseri Erciyesspor for 600k. They will all be joining in 2021, 2022 and 2023 respectively. Aston Villa have made a 3.5 million bid for William Garcia and are waiting for a decision on his work permit as Pyunik Yerevan have also signed Vladimir Ryzhov on a free.’
‘In other news around Armenian football, Vardan Bichakchyan leaves Shirak Gyumri for Alanija Vladiklavaz as Arthur Demirdjan leaves Ararat Yerevan for the Shirak Gyumri job. Will he improve Shirak or will he put them in decline like Ararat?’
‘See us soon to find out the rest of the transfer dealings in the Armenian League.’
‘This year we have the UEFA Euro 2020, and it will be hosted in Turkey. The holders of the tournament are 2014 World Cup Winners, Belgium. They defeated Slovenia 4-0 in an intense battle in Paris. Who will triumph in Turkey? Argentina won the World Cup, and England were the runner-up. Will England win the Euros this time with no South American giant in their way to stop them? Will Belgium reclaim their trophy? Or will we see a shock winner?’
The Qualifiers
Group A -
‘Group A, the group where you can say it is unpredictable. Germany are huge favourites to top the group, although there could be a 3 way fight for 2nd place. A reminder that the best four 3rd placed teams also get to qualify for the next round. Romania are the lowest ranked country in this group (46th) while Croatia and the Czechs are in 19th and 25th, respectively.’
Group B -
‘Group B, where you have two powerhouses, one underrated team and an underdog. England and The Netherlands are favourites to qualify, with the bookies saying Switzerland can put a fight and qualify through 3rd place. Iceland although, look like they don’t have a chance.’
Group C -
‘Group C. 2-time European Champions Italy look favourites to qualify with either Denmark or Ukraine behind them. Although, Norway’s rise to 24th in the rankings means they could upset the odds.’
Group D -
‘Group D contains former World Champions Spain, 2004 Euro Winners Greece and Scotland and Ireland. This group is deemed to be full of surprises due to Ireland’s surge to #12 in the rankings in recent months. Who will come out on top?’
Group E -
‘Group E, the host’s group. This group could go anyway, although Hosts Turkey look set to miss out on qualification to the next round, as of their recent results. Could that be due to the lack of qualifiers? Or is their team not good enough?’
Group F -
‘Group F. Belgium had a shocker of a World Cup in Russia, getting 4th in a very easy group. Could they improve on that? Portugal have Cristiano Ronaldo who is probably going to be playing in his last international tournament at the age of 35, could he give Portugal the help they need?’
‘Those are all the previews for the Groups and now we will go on to the results, who qualifies, and more!’
The Results
‘So there you have it, the results and standings of each group. We now have 16 teams left in the tournament, with the strongest teams being Spain, England, Germany and Italy. Belgium fail to make it out of their group again as Ukraine and Turkey shockingly top their respective groups. We will now show the draw for the Second Round, will we have the big teams face off?’
Second Round
vs. vs. vs. vs. vs. vs. vs. vs.
‘So there you have it, the draw. The big games see the British Rivalry of Scotland vs England as Portugal face underdogs and hosts Turkey. Italy face Ireland, and Ireland will surely want to cause an upset on 4-time World Champions, as Norway and Bosnia & Herzegovina face each other at the Sukru Saracoglu in Istanbul. Who will cause the upsets, and who will have an easy pass to the quarter final?’ NOTE: (Re) = Regen
vs. - Att. 33,000 Rodrigo ‘26, Spain Vrndic (Re) ‘38, Serbia Lamela ‘96, Spain - Spain - 2-1 AET
vs. - Att. 33,000 Pilkington ‘57, Ireland Veri (Re) ‘58 (pen.), Italy Ward ‘90, Ireland - Ireland - 2-1
‘So there you have it, the Round of 16. The biggest upset(s) are definitely Ireland and Scotland who defeated Italy and England respectively. The hosts Turkey go out but with their heads high in a good showing against Portugal while France, Netherlands, Germany and Norway complete the rest of the Final 8.’
The Draw
vs. vs. vs. vs.
‘The biggest game is arguably Germany against Portugal with Netherlands and France coming in close second. Norway and Scotland both have a chance to reach their first Euro Semi-Final as Ireland face Spain.’
vs. Sahan (Re) ‘7, Netherlands Hoesen ‘17, Netherlands Berisha ‘42, Norway - Netherlands - 2-1
‘Netherlands and Germany go to the final with a repeat of the 1974 World Cup Final, who will come out on top in this intense encounter at the Ataturk Stadium?’
The Final
‘We will now give a brief preview of the Final, before giving the line-ups, match details, and the result.’
‘Germany were placed in Group A along with Czech Republic, Croatia and Romania. They qualified from the group as group winners winning 2 games, against Romania (1-0) and Croatia (2-0). They drew against Czech Republic (2-2) to finish off the group stage with 7 points. In the Round of 16, they were drawn against Switzerland, winning 2-0 with goals from Marco Reus and Mohammed Barakat. They proceeded into the next round to face Portugal, whom they beat 1-0 with a goal from Mario Gotze. They were then drawn against former World and European Champions Spain. They took an early lead in the 5th minute with Toni Kroos scoring until the 81st minute where Thiago cancelled out his goal. It was not done yet as Volland scored a minute later for Germany to take them into the Final.’
‘Netherlands were placed in Group B along with England, Switzerland, and Iceland. They qualified from the group as one of the 4 best 3rd placed teams, as they won once (Iceland, 2-1) drew once (Switzerland, 2-2) and lost once (England, 1-2). They faced Ukraine in the Round of 16, winning 3-0 easily. They went on to the next round to face France, and they defeated them with a 52nd minute penalty from Hoesen. In the semi-finals they faced underdogs Norway, and two goals in the first half saw off Berisha’s goal in the 42nd minute to take them into the Final.’
vs.
Germany
Neuer - Badstuber, Hummels, Howedes, Jung (Re) - Goretzka, Bender - Reus, Kroos, Gotze - Barakat (Re) Netherlands
Krul - Willems, Ake, De Groot (Re), Van Rhijn - Veldmate - Clasie, Strootman - Sahan (Re), Narsingh - Hoesen
‘2: GOAL! Veldmate scores as Narsingh dribbles it into the box before getting fouled, Veldmate proceeded to shoot it in!
‘45: Half-Time
‘47: GOAL! 2-0 for the Netherlands, this time Narsingh gets on the scoresheet!
‘63: GOTZEEE! GOAL! 2-1! HE PUTS GERMANY BACK INTO THE GAME, SUPER MARIO!
‘79: MULLERRRRR! GOOOAAALLLLL! GERMANY HAVE COME BACK! 2-2!
‘90: Full Time. Extra Time.
…
‘105: Half time in Extra Time.
‘116: Luciano Narsingh… goes past the defender, he’s free into space, he crosses it over 4 players, Oktay Sahan meets the ball with a diving header and it goes past NEUER! GOAL! SO LATE IN THE GAME! OKTAY SAHAN, THE LIVERPOOL PLAYER, HAS DONE IT! WITH 4 MINUTES FROM TIME! ITS 3-2!
‘121: Leroy Fer takes a free-kick, it goes for a corner but the REFEREE BLOWS THE WHISTLE, 3-2! NETHERLANDS HAVE WON IT AGAIN! NARSINGH HAS BEEN SENSATIONAL!!!!
Post-Euros
‘Cristiano Ronaldo steps down as captain, but does not retire from International Football yet as a handful of managers are sacked, and some leave. Will we see a new dawn at Portugal? Will Italy go back to the way they were? The same as Belgium?’
‘Lille have sacked their manager, Murat Yakin, after he publicly expressed his desire to manage Spanish outfit Almeria. He did not apologise to the Lille board after he was given the ultimatum, as he was sure he was going to leave. The man to replace him was none other than Hamoudi Fayad, who at first denied interest in the job. Although, an offer from Lille finally came in, and he rejected it without thinking twice.’
‘The Europa Press Agency confirming he denied interest.’
‘Armenia Football Article, claiming that he is set for the Lille job.’
‘In other news, we will go to transfers for Pyunik Yerevan, and we will also talk about who they are drawn against in the Champions League. Let us do that first:’
‘Differdange from Luxembourg is who they will face in the Champions Second Qualifying Round.’
Transfers
Outs
‘William Garcia finally leaves for Aston Villa for a fee of 3.4 million, as Eddy Mkhitaryan and Andrey Pavlov both leave for 60k, to Banants and Ergotelis respectively. Uche Ossai leaves on loan, as new signing Jose Zavala immediately goes out on loan to Vojvodina. Lema Mabidi leaves for 2k to Elche after only 7 appearances for the club. Arnold Blanco leaves to Mika for 150k, as Ararat Sahakyan is released.’
‘Vladimir was brought in to replace Mabidi and the outgoing Valter Poghosyan.’
‘Peruibe was finally signed by Hamoudi after he got on good terms with Ivo Dos Reis.’
‘Ivorian Gerard Traore was signed as William Garcia’s replacement, an African partnership in the center of defence with Emmanuel Muntari.’
‘Jose was immediately sent out on loan to Vojvodina as he had lots of competition in defence.’
‘Santiago was bought from Rad as a replacement for outgoing Mkrtich Nalbandyan.’
‘Pyunik were lacking a striker and with Omoh Ojabu leaving in the coming months, they needed Piedrahita.’
‘These two players were sent in on loan by Parent Club, Spartak Moskva.’
‘Another striker was brought in, and this was to complete the depth of the attack if anybody else gets injured, a bargain.’
‘Another right midfielder bought as Edgar Mkrtchyan, Ryzhov and Opara don’t seem to be in the future plans for Fayad. Well Mkrtchyan certainly is in his plans.’
‘Gabriel is brought in on loan with a future buyout fee of 300k, he is brought in as replacement for Reynaldo Mejia, who could leave today.’
‘Teliz is the more long term replacement for Mejia, and will be used as a back up, for now.’
Future Transfers
‘And we have news now that Herenveen have signed Mejia! They have signed him for a fee of 750,000.’
‘Thank you for watching Sky Sports Armenia today on deadline day, be sure to watch our other channels for coverage around Europe.’
‘In June, we only had one game as we had 7 games (if we advance to the next round of the UCL) in July. I expect to stay undefeated in the league, and hopefully snatch a European spot early on by going 20 points clear.’
Banants Yerevan: Premier League
Impuls Dilijan: Premier League
Mika Ashtarak: Premier League
Differdange, Away
‘Absolutely poor. I had to take a few days vacation to go and check up on my sick wife - who was with her family in Beirut - and Aram Melkonyan said that since it was an easy game, he would give me a few days off… but this! A 2-1 loss to a Luxembourger team! Appalling! Just wait until we batter them at home. Mark my words.’
Shirak Gyumri: Premier League
Differdange, Home
‘Assault. Murder. Whatever you call it. We thrashed them, we thrashed them! And the Luxembourg manager came to watch! What a way to watch his players… lose.’
‘We were drawn against Shamrock Rovers from Ireland, should be easy opposition.’
Ulisses Yerevan: Premier League
Shamrock Rovers, Away
‘A 0-0 draw. Meh. We could have done better, but we will batter them at home.’
League Table
‘1st, and a Europa League place, at least. There seems to be competition down there between 4th to 8th, I like it.’
‘August, one of my two favourite months of the year without a doubt! Premier League Football and Champions League Football. Let’s see if we can defeat Shamrock Rovers though.’
Gerard Traore, Emmanuel Muntari, Francisco Piedrahita, Dewain McCleary
IF their team reaches the Final, they come back in early August.
IF they are eliminated from the Group Stages they return on the 29th of July.
Ararat Yerevan: Premier League
Shamrock Rovers, Home
‘Yes! How lucky are we. Peruibe had to be taken off and Gabriel - the natural left-back who could play at the left of midfield - was my only choice to come on. He scored the first but they tied it up immediately, and then in the 85th minute he made a daunting run from the midfield to the opposition’s box to head home the winner!’
‘We were drawn against:’
‘BATE Borisov, of Belarus.’
Gandzasar Kapan: Premier League
BATE Borisov, Home
‘1-1, tough to be honest but it wasn’t our fault as we conceded a penalty, 2 minutes after Deretti scored a beautiful free-kick. Can we do it away from home?’
Banants Yerevan: Premier League
BATE Borisov, Away
‘Yes! We have done it! 3 years in a row to the Champions League group stage… who will we get this time?’
The Draw
- Oh my god. AGAIN. 3 SEASONS IN A ROW! It’s not a bad thing though, as in 4 games we have drawn 3 and beat them once. Manager: Zlatan Ibrahimovic Key Players: Lucas Moura, Javier Pastore, Jair Quirarte (Regen)
- UEFA. Screwing small teams so only the big teams win. We get Roma again! They were the weakest team (after us) last season but they battered us! How will we cope? Manager: Vincenzo Montella Key Players: Danielle De Rossi, Angel Fredi De La Torre (Regen), Mattia Destro
- Celtic. This is a better chance to get 3rd instead of Dortmund, so hopefully this season is our break out season. Manager: N/A Key Players: Andy Najar, Tom Rogic, Kostas Manolas
League Table
‘We won the league AGAIN. This is too easy, time for European domination.’
Player(s) who Impressed
‘Who else but Gabriel.’
‘Omoh Ojabu goes out on loan to VVV-Venlo as I reject this team:’
‘REJECTED.’
‘We only had 3 games this month, 2 in the Champions league and we had Impuls Dilijan in the league. I want to relegate Impuls, really badly.’
Celtic, Home
‘Amazing! Christopher Watson bags a brace as we defeat Celtic 4-2! This is very good as we get 3 points against them, hopefully we can do this at Parkhead too.’
Impuls Dilijan: Premier League
PSG, Away
‘Uhm… We were expected to lose but… 5-0 isn’t what we were looking for… thankfully the Champions League is done on head-to-head...’
UCL Group
‘On course for 3rd, which is what we want.’
League Table
‘Nothing to see, but we are undefeated. Hopefully we keep a 100% season. Impuls in the relegation zone, very good!’
Player(s) who Impressed
‘Alexandr Bazanov is improving very well after a bad start to the season.’
Youth Intake
‘A quality DM is what we need, will he be good enough?’
‘An Algerian-Armenian… now he has 2 star potential, but his finishing and dribbling skills look very good. If I could train him well, will he be a star?’
Future Transfers
‘Two more transfers have been made, they will come at the end of December in 2020 and 2021 respectively.’
‘Two good players to complete depth in our squad!’
‘October to November, we had 7 games. 3 in the League and 4 in the Champions league, could we get 3rd in the UCL and stay undefeated in the league?’
Mika Ashtarak: Premier League
‘Our first loss of the season…’
Shirak Gyumri: Premier League
Roma, Away
‘We were heading for a 1-0 loss which was very good, but we lost 3-0. At least Celtic lost 5-0.’
Ararat Yerevan: Premier League
‘This was a very odd game… but we still lost, there goes our perfect season.’
Roma, Home
‘Mattia Destro shows his pure class, as PSG get a last-gasp winner against Celtic. This means that if we at least draw against Celtic, we can get 3rd.’
Celtic, Away
‘Yes! 3rd place and we go to the Europa League!’
PSG, Home
‘We took the lead for 8 minutes, a big plus! Overall we get battered 4-1 at home.’
UCL Group
‘3rd. Nice.’
League Table
‘1st, but not undefeated which is quite sad that we lost it all in the last 3 games.’
Player(s) who Impressed
‘In an absolute poor month (in terms of results and not qualification/competition wins), Dewain McCleary stood out. Even his average rating was poor, but his goals made up for it.’
‘We also have a suprising twist.’
‘I applied for the Zimbabwe job. they offered me it and I accepted. They still have a chance of qualifying, in a group with Ethiopia and Angola who aren’t that hard, but only one team qualifies in this group. Who is the 4th team in this group, might you ask? Ghana, and we already got demolished 6-0, before I became manager.’
The Europa League Draw
Juventus ... vs. … Arsenal
Athletic Bilbao ... vs. … Spartak Moskva
Udinese … vs. … Liverpool
Ajax … vs. … Zenit
PYUNIK DRAWN AGAINST GERMANS AS BAZANOV ACCEPTS ARMENIAN CITIZENSHIP
‘Pyunik Yerevan have been drawn against German outfit VfB Stuttgart. Stuttgart finished 3rd in the Bundesliga as Pyunik Yerevan became Armenian Champions for the 8th time in a row. Stuttgart are 5th place in the Bundesliga currently midway through the season. For the 2nd Knockout Round, whoever wins between the two, will face AZ Alkmaar of Holland, or FC Schalke 04 of Germany. The bookies are routing for an all-German knockout round match, with the German Champions Schalke, look like they will complete a comfortable win over the Dutch. Could we see upsets from Pyunik and AZ?’
‘Alexandr Bazanov, who has resided in Armenia for more than six years, has finally took up Armenian citizenship. “I remember, the day I signed about how I said if I do not get a game for Russia that I will help Armenia. Well today, the day has come and hopefully, Arkadi Yepremyan will call me up. All thanks to Hamoudi, I will now probably make my Armenian debut.”, claimed Alexandr in a press conference. Could he replace Henrik Mkhitaryan as the fantastic attacking midfielder?’
Friendly Announcment:
5/1: Igdir Universitesi Spor
9/1: Igdirspor
13/1: Yerevan United
17/1: Shirak Gyumri
30/1: Gandzasar Kapan
‘Pyunik Yerevan will face the two Turkish teams from Igdir for the 6th season, they seem to have a very good relationship. Relegated Gandzasar Kapan also welcome Pyunik at the Lernagorts on the 30th.’
‘5 new signings in, 5 players out. Gabriel and Denis return to Pyunik, but on a permanent basis. Will they continue to have their form that they had on loan?’
‘That is all we have for today, and hope you tune in with us next week!’
- Reus ‘45, Germany
vs. 
- Oh my god. AGAIN. 3 SEASONS IN A ROW! It’s not a bad thing though, as in 4 games we have drawn 3 and beat them once.
- UEFA. Screwing small teams so only the big teams win. We get Roma again! They were the weakest team (after us) last season but they battered us! How will we cope?
- Celtic. This is a better chance to get 3rd instead of Dortmund, so hopefully this season is our break out season.
