Mancata qualificazione non è un'opzione

mark wilson27 · November 14, 2017

Using FMTouch 2018. Was looking for an idea for a story and a certain CFuller gave me the idea. The title was translated via the Collins Online translator so if its wrong blame them. For those interested the title means “Failure to qualify is not an option”

July 8th 2017:
The Italian FA have had enough of Giampiero Ventura's pathetic excuse of management skills and replaced them with ex international Marco Wilsonio. Wilsonio earnt a total of 75 caps and scored 23 goals before he decided to hang up his boots.
The FA are expecting the team to qualify for the World Cup 2018 in Russia. We are placed in Group 7 which currently sees Spain top with 18pts followed by my Italian side on 15pts. It then goes Israel (9), Albania (9), FYR Macedonia (3) and bottom spot is occupied by Liechtenstein (0)
With us being second we are placed in the obvious 2nd placed table where we top it.

July 10th:
My first job was to organise a few friendlies to help prepare my side. We will be facing England on the 8th November at Wembley and will be followed by a match against Germany at the Allianz Stadium. Next up will be a match against Portugal at the San Siro on March 23rd 2018 and the final friendly arranged will be against Belgium at the Olimpico on the 27th March 2018

July 12th:
The World Rankings have been released and we have dropped to 17th place with Argentina top. The most improved nation was Malta who rose from 180th to 117th

CFuller · November 14, 2017

Nice to see I've inspired one of your adventures.

I'm sure you'll be fine, as long as you keep Buffon until the World Cup, don't rely too heavily on the old guard, and avoid this fella at all costs.

mark wilson27 · November 15, 2017

I'll try not too disappoint Chris, However I can't guarantee that Zaza will not play. If his form improves then he will but penalties will be a big no no for him

August 16th:
We remain in 17th place in the World Rankings with Argentina still top. The most improved nation is Central African Rep. Who rose from 131st to 127th

August 20th:
With my first squad announcement coming up soon I have been given an injury update on some potential players.
G.Boneventura will be out for 2-5 weeks due to a thigh injury, D.De Rossi will be out for 1-3 weeks with a sprained ankle ligaments, A.Florenzi is out for a day with damaged cruciate ligaments after 6 months out. C.Marchisio is out for around 3-7 weeks with sprained knee ligaments and M.Verratti is out for around 4-7 months after damaging his Achilles tendon

August 25th:
Its now time for me to choose the squad for the World Cup qualifying double header against Israel (59) and Albania (48)

| Name                  | Position       | Club        | Age         | Caps        | Goals       | 
| -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
| Gianluigi Buffon      | GK             | Juventus    | 39          | 169         | -           | 
| -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
| Salvatore Sirigu      | GK             | Torino      | 30          | 17          | -           | 
| -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
| Gianluigi Donnarumma  | GK             | A.C. Milan  | 18          | 4           | -           | 
| -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
| Leonardo Bonucci      | SW, D (C)      | A.C. Milan  | 30          | 70          | 5           | 
| -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
| Giorgio Chiellini     | D (C)          | Juventus    | 33          | 92          | 7           | 
| -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
| Angelo Ogbonna        | D (C)          | West Ham    | 29          | 13          | -           | 
| -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
| Mattia Caldara        | D (C)          | Atalanta    | 23          | 0           | -           | 
| -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
| Daniele Rugani        | D (C)          | Juventus    | 23          | 3           | -           | 
| -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
| Alessio Romagnoli     | D (C)          | A.C. Milan  | 22          | 5           | -           | 
| -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
| Davide Zappacosta     | D/WB/M (R)     | Chelsea     | 25          | 4           | -           | 
| -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
| Matteo Darmian        | D (RL), WB (R) | Man Utd     | 27          | 30          | 1           | 
| -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
| Leonardo Spinazzola   | D/WB/M (L)     | Atalanta    | 24          | 3           | -           | 
| -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
| Jorginho              | DM, M (C)      | Napoli      | 25          | 2           | -           | 
| -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
| Roberto Gagliardini   | M (C)          | Inter       | 23          | 1           | -           | 
| -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
| Roberto Soriano       | M (LC)         | Villarreal  | 26          | 8           | -           | 
| -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
| Antonio Candreva      | M/AM (R)       | Inter       | 30          | 47          | 6           | 
| -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
| Federico Bernardeschi | AM (R)         | Juventus    | 23          | 9           | 1           | 
| -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
| Lorenzo Insigne       | AM (L)         | Napoli      | 26          | 16          | 3           | 
| -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
| Manolo Gabbiadini     | AM (R), ST (C) | Southampton | 25          | 8           | 2           | 
| -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
| Stephan El Shaarawy   | AM (L), ST (C) | Roma        | 24          | 21          | 3           | 
| -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
| Mario Balotelli       | ST (C)         | OGCN        | 27          | 33          | 13          | 
| -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
| Ciro Immobile         | ST (C)         | Lazio       | 27          | 24          | 6           | 
| -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
| Andrea Belotti        | ST (C)         | Torino      | 23          | 9           | 4           | 
| -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

mark wilson27 · November 16, 2017

August 26th:
The press don't seem to impressed with my inclusion of G.Buffon however in my opinion his recent performances have been excellent for Juventus. They weren't happy with the fact that I hadn't included A.Barzagli, S.Zaza and Eder who have been in the recent squads under Giampiero Ventura reign.

August 28th:
The players that I have picked have turned up for International duty knowing a win in my first game could see us moving top of the group.

August 31st:
Israel (Ennio Tardini, Parma) World Cup Qual Grp 7 (7/10)
The game started well wide my side coming close on the 12th minute as M.Balotelli beat the offside trap and fired towards goal but the Israeli keeper saved well. Ten minutes later S.El Shaarawy had the keeper at full stretch to save his curling effort. It was easy for us and on the 34th minute Jorginho ran through the defence and was one on one with the keeper but his final effort was as bad as the Israeli defending. On the stroke of half time though Israel came close with a low effort which saw G.Buffon tipping round the post.
The second half was ten minutes old when we had our next chance as M.Darmian curled into the area but M.Balotelli headed over the crossbar when it was easier to score. On the 70th minute we finally took the lead as A.Belotti rose above the defence and headed a Jorginho cross past the keeper to send the Parma crowd wild. With four minutes remaining in the game we had our final chance with A.Belotti playing the ball to the feet of M.Balotelli who lashed the ball wide of the post.

Italy 1-0 Israel A.Belotti 70

G.Buffon, M.Darmian, L.Bonucci, G.Chiellini, L.Spinazzola, M.Gabbiadini (A.Candreva), R.Soriano (R.Gagliardini), Jorginho, S.El Shaarawy (F.Bernardeschi), M.Balotelli, A.Belotti

Group 7 Results:
Albania 1-2 Spain, Liechtenstein 1-1 FYR Macedonia

mark wilson27 · November 17, 2017

September 3rd:
Albania (Qemal Stafa, Tirana) World Cup Qual Grp 7 (8/10)
Ten minutes into the game we went a goal down as O.Roshi beat my defence to a loose ball and fired under G.Buffon. On the 23rd minute we had our first chance of the game with a curling shot from A.Belotti which beat the keeper but not the crossbar. Ten minutes later we had another chance with M.Balotelli running onto a Jorginho through-ball but his final effort was dire and went well wide of the post. With four minutes remaining in the half Albania had another chance as they beat the offside trap but G.Buffon reacted well to deny the striker the chance to double Albania's lead.
The second half was twelve minutes old when we had our next chance as A.Candreva ran into a R.Soriano through-ball and fired towards goal but the keeper again saved the day. On the 74th minute we came close with a well struck effort from M.Gabbiadini after he managed to run in from the wing unchecked. On the stroke of full time A.Belotti had the chance to give us a point but his finishing was pathetic and it went well wide. Not a great result but at least the Albanian fans enjoyed it

Albania 1-0 Italy O.Roshi 10

G.Buffon, M.Darmian, L.Bonucci, G.Chiellini, L.Spinazzola, F.Bernardeschi (R.Gagliardini), R.Soriano, Jorginho, L.Insigne (M.Gabbiadini), M.Balotelli (A.Candreva), A.Belotti

I forgot to screenshot the other results for the group

After my first two games we remain 2nd in the group with Spain still top with 24pts out out of 24pts. Were 2nd with 18pts follows by Israel on 12pts. Albania are 4th on 12pts with FYR Macedonia on 4pts and Liechtenstein on a single point. We however are still top of the second placed table on goal difference only

September 13th:
The World Rankings sees us drop to 18th place with Argentina top. Latvia are the most improved nation after moving from 121st to 74th. However this is the lowest ranking Italy have had since 2015 so that's a record I get too keep

September 25th:
Theirs quite a few injury doubts for the forthcoming squad against Liechtenstein and Spain with A.Conti, Emerson, M.Darmian, A.Florenzi and M.Verratti all out for definite. Their is still doubts over A.Ranocchia, D.Zappacosta, M.Balotelli, C.Immobile, C.Marchisio and G.Buffon

mark wilson27 · November 18, 2017

September 27th:

The time has come to pick the squad for the final two World Cup qualifying games against Liechtenstein (186) and Spain (8). The squad is as follows:-

| Name                  | Position       | Club        | Age         | Caps        | Goals       | 
| -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
| Salvatore Sirigu      | GK             | Torino      | 30          | 17          | -           | 
| -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
| Mattia Perin          | GK             | Genoa       | 24          | 1           | -           | 
| -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
| Gianluigi Donnarumma  | GK             | A.C. Milan  | 18          | 4           | -           | 
| -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
| Leonardo Bonucci      | SW, D (C)      | A.C. Milan  | 30          | 72          | 5           | 
| -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
| Andrea Barzagli       | D (C)          | Juventus    | 36          | 68          | -           | 
| -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
| Angelo Ogbonna        | D (C)          | West Ham    | 29          | 13          | -           | 
| -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
| Daniele Rugani        | D (C)          | Juventus    | 23          | 3           | -           | 
| -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
| Alessio Romagnoli     | D (C)          | A.C. Milan  | 22          | 5           | -           | 
| -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
| Mattia De Sciglio     | D (RL)         | Juventus    | 24          | 31          | -           | 
| -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
| Ignazio Abate         | D/WB (R)       | A.C. Milan  | 30          | 22          | 1           | 
| -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
| Davide Zappacosta     | D/WB/M (R)     | Chelsea     | 25          | 4           | -           | 
| -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
| Leonardo Spinazzola   | D/WB/M (L)     | Atalanta    | 24          | 5           | -           | 
| -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
| Jorginho              | DM, M (C)      | Napoli      | 25          | 4           | -           | 
| -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
| Roberto Gagliardini   | M (C)          | Inter       |             | 3           | -           | 
| -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
| Antonio Candreva      | M/AM (R)       | Inter       |             | 49          | 6           | 
| -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
| Federico Chiesa       | M/AM (R)       | Fiorentina  |             | 0           | -           | 
| -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
| Giacomo Bonaventura   | M/AM (LC)      | A.C. Milan  |             | 8           | -           | 
| -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
| Federico Bernardeschi | AM (R)         | Juventus    |             | 11          | 1           | 
| -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
| Lorenzo Insigne       | AM (L)         | Napoli      |             | 17          | 3           | 
| -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
| Manolo Gabbiadini     | AM (R), ST (C) | Southampton |             | 10          | 2           | 
| -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
| Stephan El Shaarawy   | AM (L), ST (C) | Roma        |             | 22          | 3           | 
| -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
| Simone Zaza           | ST (C)         | Valencia    |             | 16          | 1           | 
| -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
| Andrea Belotti        | ST (C)         | Torino      |             | 11          | 5           | 
| -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

Haven't got a clue what happened the ages of the players half way down the squad list.

mark wilson27 · November 18, 2017

September 27th:
The press are now complaining that A.Barzagli is in the squad despite last time questioning why I hadn't called him up. God you've got to love the press

October 4th:
The players have joined up for the forthcoming matches. In truth any chance of automatic will need us to beat Spain in the final game and hope they lose their game beforehand

October 6th:
Liechtenstein (Renato Dall'Ara, Bologna) World Cup Qual Grp 7 (9/10)
After the last games defeat the atmosphere was pretty muted but it didn't stay that way for long as on the 16th minute A.Belotti beat the offside trap and dinked the ball over the keeper. Five minutes later Liechtenstein scored a goal but unfortunately for them it was an own goal as D.Kindle diverted a M.Gabbiadini thunderbolt past his own keeper. On the 23rd minute it was three nil as A.Belotti showed the Liechtenstein defence a clean pair of heels to beat them and wasted no time in firing past the keeper. It was just too easy for us and on the 38th minute we should of scored another goal but L.Insigne curled the ball the wrong side of the post.
The second half was much the same as we continued to dominate and on the hour mark A.Belotti completed his hat-trick with a thunderous header from a S.El Shaarawy cross. On the 65th minute it was 5-0 as M.Gabbiadini grabbed the goal he deserved with a curling effort from 25 yards after running onto a loose ball. The Bologna crowd were loving every minute of it and on the 87th minute A.Belotti grabbed his fourth of the game to give us a 6-0 win however with Spain winning away to Israel we would have to go through the play-offs at minimum

Italy 6-0 Liechtenstein A.Belotti 16, 23, 60, 87, D.Kindle 21 og, M.Gabbiadini 65

G.Donnarumma, I.Abate, A.Barzagli, L.Bonucci, M.De Sciglio, F.Bernardeschi, S.El Shaarawy, Jorginho, L.Insigne, M.Gabbiadini, A.Belotti

Other Group 7 Results:

Albania 1-1 FYR Macedonia, Israel 1-3 Spain

mark wilson27 · November 19, 2017

October 9th:
Spain (Olimpico, Rome) World Cup Qual Grp 7 (10/10)
Our final qualification game didn't get off to the best of starts as five minutes into the game A.Morata gave the Spanish the lead with a low shot which clipped off the inside of the post. On the 19th minute they had another chance to score with a powerful strike which saw G.Donnarumma at full stretch to save. Ten minutes later he was on hand again to save the day with a fingertip save from a long range effort. We weren't looking like scoring and on the 42nd minute G.Donnarumma saved the day again with a brave smothered save. During the interval I went mad at the players and let them know I was far from happy.
The second half was three minutes old when my players showed they did listen to me as M.Gabbiadini played a one two with R.Gagliardini and fired under the Spanish keeper. Soon after we had another chance with F.Chiesa hitting the upright from ten yards when it was easier to score. On the 66th minute we were given a great chance to take the lead after A.Belotti was brought down in the area, M.Gabbiadini stepped up for the penalty and fired it low and past the keeper. Spain looked shell shocked and deep into injury time we made it 3-1 with L.Spinazzola tapping in from close range after the Spanish keeper spilt a M.Gabbiadini shot

Italy 3-1 Spain M.Gabbiadini 48, 66 pen, L.Spinazzola 90+2 / A.Morata 5

G.Donnarumma, I.Abate (D.Zappacosta),L.Bonucci (D.Rugani), A.Romagnoli, M.De Sciglio, F.Bernardeschi (F.Chiesa), R.Gagliardini, G.Bonaventura, L.Spinazzola, M.Gabbiadini, A.Belotti

Booked: G.Bonaventura

Other Group 7 Results:
FYR Macedonia 0-0 Israel, Liechtenstein 0-2 Albania

That was it for the main qualification and the groups finished as follows:-

Group 1: France, Holland, Sweden, Bulgaria, Belarus, Luxembourg
Group 2: Portugal, Switzerland, Hungary, Latvia, Faroe Islands, Andorra
Group 3: Germany, Czech Republic, N.Ireland, Norway, Azerbaijan, San Marino
Group 4: Serbia, Austria, Ireland, Wales, Georgia, Moldova
Group 5: Romania, Poland, Denmark, Montenegro, Armenia, Kazakhstan
Group 6: England, Slovakia, Scotland, Slovenia, Lithuania, Malta
Group 7: Spain, Italy, Albania, Israel, FYR Macedonia, Liechtenstein
Group 8: Belgium, Greece, Bosnia & Herzegovina, Cyprus, Estonia, Gibraltar
Group 9: Croatia, Turkey, Ukraine, Iceland, Finland, Kosovo

The draw for the World Cup European Play-off has taken place and it is as follows:-
Italy v Slovakia
Austria v Poland
Switzerland v Greece
Holland v Turkey

This means our friendlies against England and Germany have been cancelled

October 18th:
The World Rankings have been released and we remain in 18th place with Argentina still top. The most improved nation is Latvia who rose from 74th to 47th

CFuller · November 19, 2017

5 hours ago, mark wilson27 said:

Italy v Slovakia

What could possibly go wrong?

mark wilson27 · November 20, 2017

It's one of those awkward ties and as shown with your link plus my game against Albania anything can happen

October 30th:
It's nearly time for me to choose what could be my last squad against Slovakia and I have a few injury worries as A.Ranocchia, A.Conti, Emerson, A.Florenzi and M.Verratti will all definitely miss the two legged play-off.

November 3rd:
Its now time for me to choose the squad for the double header against Slovakia (22) to see if I can get my Italian side to the World Cup. As stated before this could be my last squad to choose as I'm sure the sack will be coming if I don't qualify. The squad is as follows:-

| Name                  | Position       | Club        | Age         | Caps        | Goals       | 
| -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
| Gianluigi Buffon      | GK             | Juventus    | 39          | 171         | -           | 
| -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
| Salvatore Sirigu      | GK             | Torino      | 30          | 17          | -           | 
| -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
| Gianluigi Donnarumma  | GK             | A.C. Milan  | 18          | 6           | -           | 
| -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
| Leonardo Bonucci      | SW, D (C)      | A.C. Milan  | 30          | 74          | 5           | 
| -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
| Angelo Ogbonna        | D (C)          | West Ham    | 29          | 13          | -           | 
| -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
| Mattia Caldara        | D (C)          | Atalanta    | 23          | 0           | -           | 
| -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
| Daniele Rugani        | D (C)          | Juventus    | 23          | 4           | -           | 
| -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
| Alessio Romagnoli     | D (C)          | A.C. Milan  | 22          | 6           | -           | 
| -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
| Mattia De Sciglio     | D (RL)         | Juventus    | 25          | 33          | -           | 
| -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
| Davide Zappacosta     | D/WB/M (R)     | Chelsea     | 25          | 5           | -           | 
| -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
| Matteo Darmian        | D (RL), WB (R) | Man Utd     | 27          | 32          | 1           | 
| -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
| Leonardo Spinazzola   | D/WB/M (L)     | Atalanta    | 24          | 6           | 1           | 
| -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
| Claudio Marchisio     | DM, M (C)      | Juventus    | 31          | 55          | 5           | 
| -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
| Roberto Soriano       | M (LC)         | Villarreal  | 26          | 10          | -           | 
| -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
| Antonio Candreva      | M/AM (R)       | Inter       | 30          | 49          | 6           | 
| -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
| Giacomo Bonaventura   | M/AM (LC)      | A.C. Milan  | 28          | 9           | -           | 
| -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
| Federico Bernardeschi | AM (R)         | Juventus    | 23          | 13          | 1           | 
| -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
| Lorenzo Insigne       | AM (L)         | Napoli      | 26          | 18          | 3           | 
| -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
| Manolo Gabbiadini     | AM (R), ST (C) | Southampton | 25          | 12          | 5           | 
| -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
| Stephan El Shaarawy   | AM (L), ST (C) | Roma        | 25          | 23          | 3           | 
| -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
| Mario Balotelli       | ST (C)         | OGCN        | 27          | 35          | 13          | 
| -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
| Ciro Immobile         | ST (C)         | Lazio       | 27          | 24          | 6           | 
| -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
| Andrea Belotti        | ST (C)         | Torino      | 23          | 13          | 9           | 
| -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

mark wilson27 · November 20, 2017

November 7th:
My players have met up for International duty knowing that two favourable results will see us qualify for the World Cup in Russia. The players seem pretty optimistic but for me the first leg is all important. A win is a must

November 10th:
Slovakia (Atleti Azzurri d'Italia, Bergamo) World Cup Qualifying Play-offs 1st Leg
We started the better and on the 12th minute we came close with a long range effort from M.Balotelli which saw the Slovakian keeper at full stretch to save. Ten minutes later we had another chance with a rasping effort from L.Insigne which had the ball going just wide of the post. On the 38th minute we had yet another chance as M.Balotelli ran into the area unmarked and fired under the keeper but the ball clipped the post and went out.
The second half was five minutes old when we finally took the lead as L.Insigne rose above the defence and headed in a C.Marchisio cross. On the hour F.Bernardeschi had the chance to double our lead with a thunderous effort which saw the Slovakian keeper saving well. On the 72nd minute goal number two was finally scored with M.Gabbiadini jinking into the area and fired under the onrushing keeper. With three minutes remaining in the game R.Soriano had the chance to kill the tie off with a low effort from close range but the Slovakian keeper saved well to deny him

Italy 2-0 Slovakia L.Insigne 50, M.Gabbiadini 72

G.Buffon, M.Darmian, L.Bonucci, A.Romagnoli, M.De Sciglio, M.Gabbiadini, C.Marchisio, G.Bonaventura (L.Spinazzola), L.Insigne, M.Balotelli (F.Bernardeschi), A.Belotti (R.Soriano)

Other Play-off results:
Austria 2-1 Poland
Holland 2-0 Turkey
Switzerland 0-3 Greece

Slapt · November 20, 2017

Even if you trained Italy IRL you would probably do better than Ventura

Trainspotting90 · November 21, 2017

the 14 november is the worst day in my entire life

mark wilson27 · November 21, 2017

Slapt-Well it has been said that I'm not too shabby a manager,

Trainspotting90- Well hopefully this can make you feel alittle better. I'll try my best not to embarrass the nation too much in the finals

November 14th:
Slovakia (City Arena – Stadion Antona Malatinskeho, Trnava) World Cup Qualifying Play-offs 2nd Leg (0-2)
The game was a rather dire affair as we seemed to struggle with the basics of the game but luckily for us Slovakia weren't much better. It took till the 37th minute for the first effort of the game as L.Insigne ran into the area with the ball but his final effort was poor and went well wide of the post.
The second half wasn't much better with little in the way of attacking football. On the 67th minute Slovak had their first chance of the game as they beat the offside trap but G.Buffon was on hand to block the tame effort. With ten minutes remaining in the game we had the next and final chance as A.Belotti failed to hit the target from six yards after beating the defence to a low C.Marchisio cross. However we had done enough in the first leg to qualify

Slovakia 0-0 Italy

G.Buffon, M.Darmian, L.Bonucci, A.Romagnoli, M.De Sciglio, M.Gabbiadini (F.Bernardeschi), C.Marchisio, G.Bonaventura (R.Soriano), L.Insigne (S.El Shaarawy), M.Balotelli, A.Belotti

Other Play-off results:
Poland 1-2 Austria (agg 4-2 Austria)
Turkey 1-0 Holland (agg 2-1 Holland)
Greece 1-1 Switzerland (agg 4-1 Greece)

The FA have assessed my performance during the six games I had during qualifying and they said they are pleased that we have qualified for the World Cup but wants the actual performances to be better.

November 15th:
The World Rankings have been released and we have moved up four places to 14th with Argentina still top. The most improved nation is Kosovo who rose from 184th to 155th

December 8th:
Its now time for the World Cup Stage draw and we have placed in pot four for the forthcoming draw.
1st Seeds: Argentina, Austria, Belgium, Brazil, France, Germany, Russia, Uruguay
2nd Seeds: Australia, Costa Rica, Honduras, Iran, Japan, Mexico, South Korea, U.S.A
3rd Seeds: Chile, Colombia, Egypt, Ivory Coast, Nigeria, Romania, Senegal, Tunisia
4th Seeds: Croatia, England, Greece, Holland, Italy, Portugal, Serbia, Spain

CFuller · November 21, 2017

None of the four play-off winners qualified in real life. So much for realism. Sort it out, SI! :lol:

But seriously, you did what you had to. Let's hope you get a favourable group draw now, else this career could be shorter than Ventura's.

mark wilson27 · November 22, 2017

I've done what I wanted to do. However I had already decided before I started the game that when I play the last game in the World Cup I'll be resigning no matter how far I go. Regarding your ever point we will have to have words with Neil Brock and the rest of the SI guys about the realism

Pot one has been drawn sees Russia move into Grp A with France in Grp B. Grp C sees Austria as their top seeds with Argentina drawn in Grp D. Belgium top Grp E with the Germans in Grp F. The final two top seeds sees Brazil in Grp G with Uruguay in Grp H.

The second pot sees Mexico joining Russia in Grp A with Australia joining the French in Grp B. Austria will be joined by the U.S.A in Grp C with Japan joining up with Argentina in Grp D. Honduras will be in Grp E alongside Belgium and Costa Rica will be facing Germany in Grp F. Brazil will be joined in Grp G by South Korea and Iran will be with Uruguay in Grp H

The third pot sees Tunisia in Grp A and Chile being drawn into Grp B. In Grp C Egypt will be in with the U.S.A and Austria. Grp D will see Romania as the third seeds and in Grp E it will be Nigeria. Grp F's third seeds will be Colombia and in Grp G Senegal will join up with Brazil and South Korea. The final Grp see's Ivory Coast joining up with Uruguay and Iran

The fourth and final sees England joining Group A with Mexico, Russia and Tunisia. Group B sees Greece joining Australia, Chile and France. Group C sees Serbia joining up with Austria, Egypt and U.S.A. Group D sees Holland joining in with Argentina, Japan and Romania. Group E sees Spain entering the group with Belgium, Honduras and Nigeria. Group F has been completed with Croatia joining with Colombia, Costa Rica and Germany. Group G sees Portugal joining up with Brazil, Senegal and South Korea. The final group sees my Italian side joining Grp H with Iran, Ivory Coast and Uruguay.

After the group stage I made a few extra friendlies to warm my players up for the World Cup. England will be my first opponents on the 5th June at Wembley and the next friendly sees us visiting the Millennium Stadium to play Wales on the 8th June. The final friendly sees us facing N.Ireland at Windsor Park.

January 17th 2018:
The World Rankings have been released and we have remained in 14th place with Argentina still top. The most improved nation is Czech Republic who moved from 46th to 44th

February 14th:
The World Rankings sees us remain in 14th place with Argentina still top. The most improved nation is Morocco who moved from 62nd to 57th

CFuller · November 22, 2017

46 minutes ago, mark wilson27 said:

The final group sees my Italian side joining Grp H with Iran, Ivory Coast and Uruguay.

I honestly cannot believe what I've just read, Mark. Italy got exactly the same group in my FM17 England career (though it was in Group D). :lol:

Uruguay should be tough, and the Ivorians could cause a few problems as well. Good luck!

mark wilson27 · November 23, 2017

March 16th:
We have moved up to 8th place in the World Rankings with Argentina still top. The most improved nation is Bolivia who moved from 120th to 107th
I now have to choose the squad for the friendlies against Portugal (9) and Belgium (12). The squad is as follows:-

| Name                  | Position              | Club        | Age         | Caps        | Goals       | 
| ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
| Gianluigi Buffon      | GK                    | Juventus    | 40          | 173         | -           | 
| ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
| Mattia Perin          | GK                    | Genoa       | 25          | 1           | -           | 
| ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
| Gianluigi Donnarumma  | GK                    | A.C. Milan  | 19          | 6           | -           | 
| ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
| Leonardo Bonucci      | SW, D (C)             | A.C. Milan  | 30          | 76          | 5           | 
| ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
| Angelo Ogbonna        | D (C)                 | West Ham    | 29          | 13          | -           | 
| ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
| Mattia Caldara        | D (C)                 | Atalanta    | 23          | 0           | -           | 
| ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
| Daniele Rugani        | D (C)                 | Man Utd     | 23          | 4           | -           | 
| ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
| Alessio Romagnoli     | D (C)                 | A.C. Milan  | 23          | 8           | -           | 
| ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
| Emerson               | D (L)                 | Roma        | 24          | 0           | -           | 
| ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
| Davide Zappacosta     | D/WB/M (R)            | Chelsea     | 25          | 5           | -           | 
| ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
| Matteo Darmian        | D (RL), WB (R)        | Man Utd     | 28          | 34          | 1           | 
| ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
| Leonardo Spinazzola   | D/WB/M (L)            | Atalanta    | 24          | 7           | 1           | 
| ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
| Alessandro Florenzi   | D (R), M (RC), AM (R) | Roma        | 27          | 24          | 2           | 
| ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
| Jorginho              | DM, M (C)             | Napoli      | 26          | 5           | -           | 
| ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
| Marco Verratti        | M (C)                 | Paris SG    | 25          | 21          | 1           | 
| ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
| Roberto Gagliardini   | M (C)                 | Inter       | 23          | 4           | -           | 
| ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
| Roberto Soriano       | M (LC)                | Villarreal  | 27          | 12          | -           | 
| ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
| Giacomo Bonaventura   | M/AM (LC)             | A.C. Milan  | 28          | 11          | -           | 
| ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
| Federico Bernardeschi | AM (R)                | Juventus    | 24          | 15          | 1           | 
| ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
| Manolo Gabbiadini     | AM (R), ST (C)        | Southampton | 26          | 14          | 6           | 
| ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
| Mario Balotelli       | ST (C)                | OGCN        | 27          | 37          | 13          | 
| ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
| Ciro Immobile         | ST (C)                | Lazio       | 28          | 24          | 6           | 
| ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
| Andrea Belotti        | ST (C)                | Torino      | 24          | 15          | 9           | 
| ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

mark wilson27 · November 23, 2017

The press have done their usual complaining about my squad moaning that I have included Emerson in the squad. However if a player is in form it would be daft not too include them and that is why S.El Shaarawy hasn't been included in the squad

March 17th:
Before I even got chance to meet up with the squad I have been informed that Jorginho will be out for around three weeks, I have replaced him with C.Marchisio from Juventus.

March 21st:
The squad has finally met up and luckily for once I don't have any injured players. The first thing I told my players is that they are now fighting for their World Cup places and they need to impress me in training and in the matches

March 23rd:
Portugal (San Siro, Milan) Friendly
A cracking start saw us a goal up within three minutes as C.Marchisio threaded the ball to the feet of A.Belotti who lashed the ball in off the upright. Soon after we had another chance with a long range effort from M.Balotelli but his effort was tipped over the crossbar by the keeper. On the 29th minute though we nearly let ourselves down as L.Bonucci slipped with the ball but G.Buffon saved the day with a brave smother of the ball. On the stroke of half time M.Balotelli had another chance to score with as he ran onto a M.Verratti through-ball but his final effort went just wide of the post.
The second half was very quiet in truth with little in the way of action. Both my side and the Portuguese managed a chance each with Portugal coming close on the 68th minute with a low shot which saw G.Donnarumma at full stretch to save. We had our final chance on the 89th minute as A.Belotti rose above the defence and headed a M.Gabbiadini cross straight into the eyes of the keeper.

Italy 1-0 Portugal A.Belotti 3

G.Buffon (G.Donnarumma), M.Darmian, L.Bonucci, A.Romagnoli (D.Rugani), L.Spinazzola (D.Zappacosta), M.Gabbiadini, M.Verratti, C.Marchisio (R.Gagliardini), G.Bonventura (R.Soriano), M.Balotelli (F.Bernardeschi), A.Belotti

mark wilson27 · November 25, 2017

March 27th:
Belgium (Olimpico, Rome) Friendly
After the half decent performance against Portugal we didn't turn up against Belgium and on the 12th minute Y.Carrasco headed the away side into the lead. Fifteen minutes later they had another chance as their attack ripped through my defence but G.Donnarumma saved well to deny them. It was one way traffic and on the 41st minute we had L.Bonucci to thank as he blocked a long range effort.
During the interval I went mad at the players but it didn't have the desired affect as Belgium continued to control the game. On the hour we had the referee to thank as he ruled out a Belgium goal for a foul on M.Darmian. Soon after Belgium hit the crossbar from outside the area after my defence made no sort of effort to stop a Belgium attack. We were all over the place and on the 85th minute G.Donnarumma produced a world class save to deny the Belgium attack. How we didn't lose by more than the single goal I don't know.

Italy 0-1 Belgium Y.Carrasco 12

G.Donnarumma, D.Zappacosta (M.Darmian), L.Bonucci, A.Romagnoli (D.Rugani), L.Spinazzola, F.Bernardeschi, M.Verratti, R.Gagliardini (C.Marchisio), G.Bonventura (R.Soriano), M.Gabbiadini (C.Immobile), A.Belotti (M.Balotelli)

Booked: L.Spinazzola, M.Verratti

April 13th:
The World Rankings have been released and we dropped down to 10th spot with Argentina still top. The most improved nation is Scotland who moved from 65th to 38th

May 15th:
We have dropped down to 11th in the World Rankings with Argentina still top. The most improved nation is Malta who moved from 149th to 141st

CFuller · November 25, 2017

I find that Belgium are really strong in FM17, so I'd imagine that they are a formidable force in FM18 as well. No shame in losing narrowly to them, not even at home.

Diego Imposta · November 25, 2017

Enjoying this mark. Glad you made it to the finals. From experience it always seems important to lose a friendly to a good team before a World Cup. Guess you just look at ways of stopping goals that good teams score and hope the rest takes care of itself

mark wilson27 · November 26, 2017

Chris- Belgium in this game seem very inconsistent to be truthful, however the thing that annoyed me was that we didn't seem to be trying. You'd think with World Cup places to be had they would have pulled their fingers out.

Diego- Glad to have you along. As I said to Chris, the result for me wasn't the problem. The players general attitude was

May 16th:
Its now time for me to chose the preliminary squad for the forthcoming World Cup. I have to choose 30 players and then in around a week I need to trim it down to my final twenty three players.
The preliminary squad is as follows:-

| Name                  | Position              | Club        | Age         | Caps        | Goals       | 
| ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
| Gianluigi Buffon      | GK                    | Juventus    | 40          | 174         | -           | 
| ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
| Salvatore Sirigu      | GK                    | Torino      | 31          | 17          | -           | 
| ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
| Mattia Perin          | GK                    | Genoa       | 25          | 1           | -           | 
| ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
| Gianluigi Donnarumma  | GK                    | A.C. Milan  | 19          | 8           | -           | 
| ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
| Leonardo Bonucci      | SW, D (C)             | A.C. Milan  | 31          | 78          | 5           | 
| ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
| Angelo Ogbonna        | D (C)                 | West Ham    | 29          | 13          | -           | 
| ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
| Mattia Caldara        | D (C)                 | Atalanta    | 24          | 0           | -           | 
| ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
| Daniele Rugani        | D (C)                 | Man Utd     | 23          | 6           | -           | 
| ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
| Alessio Romagnoli     | D (C)                 | A.C. Milan  | 23          | 10          | -           | 
| ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
| Davide Zappacosta     | D/WB/M (R)            | Chelsea     | 25          | 7           | -           | 
| ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
| Andrea Conti          | D/WB/M (R)            | A.C. Milan  | 24          | 0           | -           | 
| ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
| Matteo Darmian        | D (RL), WB (R)        | Man Utd     | 28          | 36          | 1           | 
| ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
| Leonardo Spinazzola   | D/WB/M (L)            | Atalanta    | 25          | 9           | 1           | 
| ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
| Alessandro Florenzi   | D (R), M (RC), AM (R) | Roma        | 27          | 24          | 2           | 
| ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
| Claudio Marchisio     | DM, M (C)             | Juventus    | 32          | 59          | 5           | 
| ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
| Jorginho              | DM, M (C)             | Napoli      | 26          | 5           | -           | 
| ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
| Marco Verratti        | M (C)                 | Paris SG    | 25          | 23          | 1           | 
| ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
| Roberto Gagliardini   | M (C)                 | Inter       | 24          | 6           | -           | 
| ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
| Roberto Soriano       | M (LC)                | Villarreal  | 27          | 14          | -           | 
| ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
| Antonio Candreva      | M/AM (R)              | Inter       | 31          | 49          | 6           | 
| ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
| Federico Chiesa       | M/AM (R)              | Fiorentina  | 20          | 1           | -           | 
| ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
| Giacomo Bonaventura   | M/AM (LC)             | A.C. Milan  | 28          | 13          | -           | 
| ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
| Federico Bernardeschi | AM (R)                | Juventus    | 24          | 17          | 1           | 
| ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
| Lorenzo Insigne       | AM (L)                | Napoli      | 26          | 20          | 4           | 
| ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
| Manolo Gabbiadini     | AM (R), ST (C)        | Southampton | 26          | 16          | 6           | 
| ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
| Stephan El Shaarawy   | AM (L), ST (C)        | Roma        | 25          | 24          | 3           | 
| ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
| Mario Balotelli       | ST (C)                | OGCN        | 27          | 39          | 13          | 
| ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
| Ciro Immobile         | ST (C)                | Lazio       | 28          | 25          | 6           | 
| ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
| Simone Zaza           | ST (C)                | Valencia    | 26          | 16          | 1           | 
| ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
| Andrea Belotti        | ST (C)                | Torino      | 24          | 17          | 10          | 
| ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

Got to love the press. They aren't happy with the fact I have included G.Buffon in the squad even though he was one of the best keepers in the Serie A season. Plus the fact it's probably the only time I have been sentimental in picking a player, how could I not pick a legend when he's retiring come August

May 21st:
So it begins with the squad meeting up knowing that they now have too impress me in training. I now have a week to work out my final 23 players for the World Cup

ParanoidBuddha · November 26, 2017

I am happy you kept Buffon
Can I ask why not Chiellini? As LB even Emerson is good

mark wilson27 · November 27, 2017

May 28th:
Now it it is time for me top upset seven players and let them know they are not going to the World Cup. The seven unfortunate players are Salvatore Sirigu, Andrea Conti, Claudio Marchisio, Antonio Candreva, Federico Chiesa, Stephan El Shaarawy and Simone Zaza. So the final squad looks like this:-

| Name                  | Position              | Club        | Age         | Caps        | Goals       | 
| ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
| Gianluigi Buffon      | GK                    | Juventus    | 40          | 174         | -           | 
| ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
| Mattia Perin          | GK                    | Genoa       | 25          | 1           | -           | 
| ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
| Gianluigi Donnarumma  | GK                    | A.C. Milan  | 19          | 8           | -           | 
| ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
| Leonardo Bonucci      | SW, D (C)             | A.C. Milan  | 31          | 78          | 5           | 
| ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
| Angelo Ogbonna        | D (C)                 | West Ham    | 30          | 13          | -           | 
| ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
| Mattia Caldara        | D (C)                 | Atalanta    | 24          | 0           | -           | 
| ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
| Daniele Rugani        | D (C)                 | Man Utd     | 23          | 6           | -           | 
| ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
| Alessio Romagnoli     | D (C)                 | A.C. Milan  | 23          | 10          | -           | 
| ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
| Davide Zappacosta     | D/WB/M (R)            | Chelsea     | 25          | 7           | -           | 
| ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
| Matteo Darmian        | D (RL), WB (R)        | Man Utd     | 28          | 36          | 1           | 
| ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
| Leonardo Spinazzola   | D/WB/M (L)            | Atalanta    | 25          | 9           | 1           | 
| ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
| Alessandro Florenzi   | D (R), M (RC), AM (R) | Roma        | 27          | 24          | 2           | 
| ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
| Jorginho              | DM, M (C)             | Napoli      | 26          | 5           | -           | 
| ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
| Marco Verratti        | M (C)                 | Paris SG    | 25          | 23          | 1           | 
| ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
| Roberto Gagliardini   | M (C)                 | Inter       | 24          | 6           | -           | 
| ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
| Roberto Soriano       | M (LC)                | Villarreal  | 27          | 14          | -           | 
| ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
| Giacomo Bonaventura   | M/AM (LC)             | A.C. Milan  | 28          | 13          | -           | 
| ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
| Federico Bernardeschi | AM (R)                | Juventus    | 24          | 17          | 1           | 
| ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
| Lorenzo Insigne       | AM (L)                | Napoli      | 26          | 20          | 4           | 
| ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
| Manolo Gabbiadini     | AM (R), ST (C)        | Southampton | 26          | 16          | 6           | 
| ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
| Mario Balotelli       | ST (C)                | OGCN        | 27          | 39          | 13          | 
| ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
| Ciro Immobile         | ST (C)                | Lazio       | 28          | 25          | 6           | 
| ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------| 
| Andrea Belotti        | ST (C)                | Torino      | 24          | 17          | 10          | 
| ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------|

mark wilson27 · November 27, 2017

ParanoidBuddha-G.Buffon was a definite in my squad barring injury, the legend needs one more World Cup before he retires. As for Chiellini and Emerson they weren't performing for their respective clubs so they weren't going to get near the squad. As you can see below the odds for us winning weren't the best so I need in form players

June 1st:
The World Cup title odds have been released and we have been given odds of 8-1 with Spain and Brazil quoted at 3-1 favourites

June 5th:
England (Wembley, London) Friendly
We had the first chance of the game as on the 27th minute A.Belotti ran through the English defence and fired towards goal but the keeper saved well to deny him. Ten minutes later England came close with a powerful strike which saw G.Buffon at full stretch to save. On the 43rd minute we had another chance as F.Bernardeschi played a long ball towards C.Immobile but his header went just over the crossbar.
The second half was five minutes old when England grabbed the lead as D.Alli headed in over G.Donnarumma who was caught off his line. On the hour mark it was two nil with M.Rashford hitting an unstoppable effort from outside the area which gave G.Donnarumma no chance of saving. England were starting to control the game and on the 73rd minute M.Rashford grabbed his second of the game after some poor defending saw him one on one with with G.Donnarumma who failed to deal with the low shot. With ten minutes remaining in the game I was forced to make a change as C.Immobile picked up an injury and was replaced with M.Darmian

England 3-0 Italy D.Alli 50, M.Rashford 60, 73

G.Buffon (G.Donnarumma), D.Zappacosta, M.Caldara, D.Rugani, L.Spinazzola, F.Bernardeschi, Jorginho, R.Gagliardini, L.Insigne, C.Immobile (inj 80-M.Darmian), A.Belotti

Not the result I wanted and not the performance. I was far from happy with the level of concentration my players showed. C.Immobile's injury will see him out for around two weeks but should be able to make some sort of impact during the forthcoming tournament

mark wilson27 · November 28, 2017

June 8th:
Wales (Millennium Stadium, Cardiff) Friendly
A dire first half saw very little in the way of action for the fans which turned up and on the 29th minute the first piece of action saw A.Romagnoli slipping with the ball but luckily for us the Welsh attack force failed to score past G.Donnarumma.
The second half wasn't much better but ten minutes into the half we took the lead as A.Belotti beat the defence with some skill to slide the ball under the keeper. However after the goal the game might as-well ended as their was naff all action. Another dire performance by my side and at the full time whistle I have to remind my players that they were playing for their World Cup starting places

Wales 0-1 Italy A.Belotti 55

G.Donnarumma, M.Darmian, L.Bonucci (M.Caldara), A.Romagnoli (Jorginho), L.Spinazzola (D.Rugani), A.Florenzi (D.Zappacosta), M.Verratti, R.Gagliardini (L.Insigne), G.Bonaventura, M.Gabbiadini (F.Bernardeschi), A.Belotti

mark wilson27 · November 29, 2017

June 11th:
N.Ireland (Windsor Park, Belfast) Friendly
Our final friendly before the World Cup and again we seemed to struggle with the basics of football. It took till the 27th minute for us to have our first chance with a long range effort from Jorginho which rattled the crossbar. Soon after N.Ireland had their first chance with a low shot which went just wide of the post. With three minutes remaining in the half we broke the deadlock as A.Belotti rose above the defence and headed a F.Bernardeschi cross over the keepers head.
The second half wasn't a great affair to be truthful with neither side threatening each others goal. The only real incident saw D.Rugani coming on for the injured A.Belotti.
Another poor performance by my side and if we carry on playing like this we wont be leaving the Group stage

N.Ireland 0-1 Italy A.Belotti 42

G.Donnarumma, A.Florenzi (M.Caldara), L.Bonucci (A.Ogbonna), A.Romagnoli (D.Zappacosta), M.Darmian (R.Soriano), F.Bernardeschi, M.Verratti, Jorginho, G.Bonaventura (L.Insigne), M.Gabbiadini, A.Belotti (inj-77 D.Rugani)

The injury news on A.Belotti sees him out for around two weeks however he will stay with the side as his goals could be vital to the squad

mark wilson27 · November 30, 2017

World Cup 2018:
June 15th:
Group A:
Russia 5-0 Tunisia (F.Smolov 21, 57, 75, D.Kombarov 33, O.Shatov 83
Mexico 1-0 England (G.dos Santos 44)

June 16th:
Group B:
Australia 1-0 Greece (R.Kruse 14)
France 0-1 Chile (E.Vargas 16)
Group C:
Serbia 2-1 Egypt (U.Djurdjevic 44, A.Mitrovic 50 / M.Elnery 82)

June 17th:
Group C:
U.S.A. 1-0 Austria (A.Johannsson 50)
Group D:
Romania 1-1 Holland (G.Torje 68 / Memphis 21
Japan 0-1 Argentina (S.Aguero 44)

June 18th:
Group E:
Honduras 1-3 Belgium (Jona 49 / J.Lukaku 3, E.Hazard 33, Y.Carrasco 45+1)
Spain 3-1 Nigeria (J.Mata 6 pen, 81, D.Costa 90+1 / K.Iheanacho 11
Group F:
Germany 2-3 Croatia (M.Willenborg 45+3, L.Handke 50 / I.Rakitic 15 pen, 37 pen, M.Mandzukic 59

June 19th:
Group F:
Costa Rica 2-1 Colombia (D.Vega 50, J.Campbell 88 / R.Falcao 6 (D.Torres so 90+4))
Group G:
South Korea 0-2 Portugal (C.Ronaldo 87, B.Silva 90)
Brazil 0-0 Senegal

June 20th:
Iran (Kazan Arena, Kazan) World Cup Grp H (1/3)
A minute into the game the first goal was scored as R.Ghoochannejhad threaded the ball between my defence for S.Azmoun to slide in under G.Buffon. On the 14th minute we had our first chance with a long range effort from M.Gabbiadini which beat the keeper but not the crossbar. Seven minutes later we had another chance with a low shot from M.Balotelli which was brilliantly saved by D.Davari. Soon after D.Davari again denied us with a world class save from Jorginho. We were all over the Iranians and on the 43rd minute M.Gabbiadini had the chance to level the points but D.Davari again saved the day.
The second half was ten minutes old when we finally levelled the scores as M.Balotelli rose above the Iranian defence and headed in a M.Gabbiadini cross. On the 68th minute we had yet another chance to score with M.Verratti bravely heading a L.Insigne cross just over the crossbar. Iran weren't getting near the ball and on the 86th minute we got the winner with a powerful strike from M.Balotelli which gave D.Davari no chance of saving.

Italy 2-1 Iran M.Balotelli 55, 86 / S.Azmoun 1

Italy: G.Buffon, A.Florenzi, L.Bonucci, A.Romagnoli, M.Darmian, F.Bernardeschi, M.Verratti, Jorginho (R.Soriano), G.Bonaventura (L.Insigne), M.Gabbiadini (R.Gagliardini), M.Balotelli

Iran: D.Davari, A.Alizadeh, M.Esmaeili, B.Soltani, V.Avakh, V.Nemati (S.Beitashour), E.Hajsafi, A.Dejagah (M.Pahievan), R.Ghoochannejhad, V.Amiri (M.Shojaei), S.Azmoun

Booked: M.Darmian, M.Verratti (Italy) / B.Soltani, V.Nemati (Iran)

Other results:
Group A:
Tunisia 0-2 Mexico (J.Hernandez 30, R.Pizarro 69
Group H:
Ivory Coast 0-3 Uruguay (E.Cavani 7, 81, M.Vecino 46

Diego Imposta · November 30, 2017

I would have paid good money to see your face after the first minute :lol:

CFuller · November 30, 2017

Forget Mark... what about the Brazilian manager? Or the England manager?

mark wilson27 · December 1, 2017

Diego - My face isn't the best normally so it wasn't any better after a minute.

Chris - The Brazilian and English managers aren't getting any better as you'll see

June 21st:
Group A:
England 1-1 Russia (R.Sterling 40 / F.Smolov 3
Group B:
Chile 0-3 Australia (T.Juric 11, 75, M.Jedinak 45+2
Greece 0-4 France (A.Samaris so 3 / O.Dembele 5, 49, A.Martial 40, 64)

June 22nd:
Group C:
Egypt 0-1 U.S.A. (B.Wood 48)
Austria 2-0 Serbia (D.Alar 84, M.Sabitzer 90 / S.M.Savic so 60)
Group D:
Holland 0-0 Japan (T.Yamazaki so 29 Japan)

June 23rd:
Group D:
Argentina 1-1 Romania (P.Dybala 5 / F.Andone 33)
Group E:
Belgium 0-5 Spain (Thiago 14, 57, Koke 23, D.Costa 49, J.Vertonghen 60 og)
Nigeria 3-1 Honduras (K.Iheanacho 13, J.Mikel 54 pen, K.Akpoguma 62 / Jona 25)

June 24th:
Group F:
Colombia 1-1 Germany (J.Rodriguez 46 / B.Coenen 84)
Croatia 0-1 Costa Rica (B.Ruiz 75
Group G:
Senegal 1-1 South Korea (K.Balde 30 / Ji Dong-Won 81)

June 25th:
Uruguay (Saint Petersburg, St.Petersburg) World Cup Grp H (2/3)
Uruguay were in control from the start as we never got close to the ball and on the 12th minute L.Suarez had the first bite at the cherry with a low shot which saw G.Buffon scrambling along his line to save. Eight minutes later they had another chance with E.Cavani heading just over the crossbar from a L.Torreira cross. On the 24th minute Uruguay finally opened the scoring as L.Suarez beat the offside trap with some silky skill and fired with power under G.Buffon. Ten minutes later they had another chance with a great team move which beat my defence with ease but E.Cavani's effort was well saved by G.Buffon. We weren't at the races and on the 43rd minute E.Cavani finally got the goal he deserved with a powerful strike which beat G.Buffon into the top corner.
The second half wasn't much better for us as Uruguay continued to pressurise my defence and on the 58th minute M.Vecino crossed into the area but G.Buffon beat L.Suarez to the ball and punched clear. Twelve minutes later we finally had our first effort of the game as R.Gagliardini jinked through the defence but D.Godin managed to slide in and clear the ball. With six minutes remaining in the game Uruguay had a goal disallowed as L.Suarez timed his run wrong and was caught offside.
What a horrendous performance

Italy 0-2 Uruguay L.Suarez 24, E.Cavani 43

Italy: G.Buffon, A.Florenzi, L.Bonucci, M.Darmian, F.Bernardeschi (R.Soriano), M.Verratti, Jorginho (D.Zappacosta), G.Bonaventura, M.Gabbiadini, M.Balotelli (R.Gagliardini)

Uruguay: F.Muslera, D.Suarez, D.Godin, S.Coates, F.Ricca, J.Gimenez, M.Vecino, L.Torreira, G.De Arrascaeta (G.Pereiro), E.Cavani, L.Suarez

Other Results:
Group G:
Portugal 1-0 Brazil (R.Sanches 65)
Group H:
Iran 2-1 Ivory Coast (E.Hajsafi 29 pen, S.Azmoun 87 / Gervinho 53)

mark wilson27 · December 2, 2017

June 26th:
Group A:
Russia 2-3 Mexico (A.Golovin 39, O.Shatov 90+4 / J.Hernandez 48, R.Jimenez 88, 90+2)
Tunisia 1-5 England (J.Stones 65 og / M.Rashford 20, H.Kane 33, 69 pen, 90+3, K.Walker 59
Group B:
Australia 0-2 France (A.Griezmann 20, D.Sidibe 45)
Greece 2-0 Chile (K.Mitroglou 26, Zeca 70)

June 27th:
Group C:
Egypt 0-3 Austria (A.Dragovic 2, D.Alaba 41, G.Burgstaller 49)
Serbia 1-1 U.S.A. (S.Scepovic 72 / B.Wood 33)
Group D:
Holland 1-1 Argentina (G.Wijnaldum 40 / M.Icardi 59)
Romania 1-1 Japan (F.Andone 45 / S.Uchida 24)

June 28th:
Group E:
Nigeria 0-4 Belgium (Y.Carrasco 13, E.Hazard 35 pen, D.Mertens 55, R.Lukaku 68)
Spain 4-0 Honduras (S.Ramos 5, 8, I.Williams 18, Isco 76 / R.Espinoza so 58)
Group F:
Croatia 4-2 Colombia (I.Rakitic 14, M.Mandzukic 66, I.Perisic 81, F.Krovinovic 90+4 /R.Falcao 56 pen, S.Arias 70
Germany 4-0 Costa Rica (T.Jackle 68, M.Willenborg 83, 90+3, C.Jackle 88 / C.Borges so 65)

June 29th:
It was the big day now, its a must win game with the table pretty damn close.
1st Uruguay (6) +5
2nd Iran (3) 0
3rd Italy (3) -1
4th Ivory Coast (0) -4

Basically we need Uruguay to beat Iran and we need to make sure we do Ivory Coast

Ivory Coast (Volgograd Arena, Volgograd) World Cup Grp H (3/3)
My players knew what they had to do and unfortunately they didn't start well as on the 8th minute W.Bony made a mockery of my defence and slotted in under G.Buffon. Two minutes later we heard the news that Uruguay had taken the lead against Iran which was some good news for us. However on the 13th minute J.Seri gave the Ivory Coast a second goal with a powerful strike which beat G.Buffon into the top corner. Twelve minutes later we were three goals down as Gervinho unleashed a thunderbolt which stung G.Buffon's fingers and went into the back of the net. We were playing mind my language sh@t. I was fuming at my players and was warned by the fourth official to stay within my technical area. On the 40th minute I was informed that Uruguay had taken a two goal lead. Two minutes later we pulled a goal back as L.Bonucci rose above the defence and headed a D.Zappacosta free-kick after A.Belotti was fouled.
During the interval I released the hair dryer at my players and told them that the first forty five minutes just wasn't good enough.
The second half was eleven minutes old when we pulled another goal back as D.Rugani headed a M.Verratti corner past M.Sayouba after L.Insigne's initial shot was well saved. We were starting to actually perform and on the 67th minute R.Soriano levelled the game with a thunderous effort which saw M.Sayouba getting nowhere close to the ball. Ivory Coast weren't getting close to us and on the 76th minute A.Belotti gave us the lead after running onto a D.Zappacosta through-ball. With two minutes remaining in the game the final goal was scored as L.Insigne jinked through the Ivorian defence and rounded M.Sayouba to slide the ball into the back of the net and send us limping into the 2nd Round.

Italy 5-3 Ivory Coast L.Bonucci 42, D.Rugani 56, R.Soriano 67, A.Belotti 76, L.Insigne 88 / W.Bony 8, J.Seri 13, Gervinho 25

Italy: G.Buffon, M.Darmian, D.Rugani, L.Bonucci (M.Caldara), L.Spinazzola (Jorginho), D.Zappacosta, M.Verratti, R.Gagliardini (A.Florenzi), R.Soriano, L.Insigne, A.Belotti

Ivory Coast: M.Sayouba, S.Aurier, K.Djidji, E.Bailly, J.Akpa Akpro, I.Doumbia (A.Gnoukouri), F.Kessie (S.Fofana), J.Seri, M.Gradel, Gervinho, W.Bony (S.Doumbia)

Booked: M.Verratti

After the game I was informed that M.Verratti will miss the next game after collecting two yellow cards during the group stage

Other Results:
Group G:
Brazil 1-0 South Korea (Rafinha 61)
Senegal 0-2 Portugal (C.Ronaldo 5, 44)
Group H:
Iran 0-2 Uruguay (E.Cavani 10 pen, 40 pen)

Final Group Standings:
Group A: Mexico (9), Russia (4), England (4), Tunisia (0)
Group B: France (6), Australia (6), Greece (3), Chile (3)
Group C: U.S.A. (7), Austria (6), Serbia (4), Egypt (0)
Group D: Argentina (5), Romania (3), Holland (3), Japan (2)
Group E: Spain (9), Belgium (6), Nigeria (3), Honduras (0)
Group F: Croatia (6), Costa Rica (6), Germany (4), Colombia (1)
Group G: Portugal (9), Brazil (4), Senegal (2), South Korea (1)
Group H: Uruguay (9), Italy (6), Iran (3), Ivory Coast (0)

The second round draw is now complete and is as follows:-
Mexico v Australia
Russia v France
U.S.A. V Romania
Argentina v Austria
Costa Rica v Spain
Croatia v Belgium
Portugal v Italy
Uruguay v Brazil

CFuller · December 2, 2017

SOUTHGATE OUT :mad:

Germany out! :eek:

Good job getting through. Now shut Ronaldo up, please.

mark wilson27 · December 3, 2017

A few shock results you could say. As for C.Ronaldo lets see what happens in the post below

June 30th:
Second Round:
Mexico 2-1 Australia (J.Hernandez 31 pen, 90+1 / A.Gersbach 25 M.Jedinak so 50)
Russia 1-3 France (D.Poloz 83 / A.Griezmann 2, A.Martial 70 pen, T.Bakayoko 84)

July 1st:
Second Round:
Argentina 3-0 Austria (P.Dybala 22, N.Otamendi 43, L,Messi 87)
U.S.A. 1-0 Romania (M.Bradley 17)

July 2nd :
Second Round:
Croatia 2-0 Belgium (M.Pjaca 44, I.Perisic 60 / R.Nainggolan so 58)
Costa Rica 0-1 Spain (Isco 79)

July 3rd:
Portugal (Fisht, Adler) World Cup 2nd Round
A great start saw us a goal up within seven minutes as M.Balotelli fired in from the penalty after Pepe fouled R.Semedo in the area. Twelve minutes later we had the next chance as R.Soriano crossed into the area but M.Balotelli headed wide of the post. We were looking good but on the 24th minute I was forced into a change as a poor challenge by Pepe saw M.Balotelli clutching his lower leg, M.Gabbiadini came on in replacement. With eight minutes remaining in the half we had another chance as R.Soriano threaded the ball to the feet of A.Belotti but he lashed his effort wide of the post. Deep into injury time we added goal number two with L.Insigne running through the defence with ease and he wasted no time in firing under R.Patricio.
The second half was twelve minutes old when Portugal had the chance to pull a goal back as C.Ronaldo hit a wonderous free-kick towards goal after M.Darmian fouled but G.Buffon saved the day with a great save. On the 73rd minute Portugal had yet another chance to score as J.Mario ran through the defence with real ease and fired under G.Buffon but the ball went just wide of the post. We had one last chance in the game as on the 74th minute A.Belotti rose above the defence and headed a L.Insigne cross just over the crossbar.

Italy 2-0 Portugal M.Balotelli 7 pen, L.Insigne 45+3

Italy: G.Buffon, M.Darmian, D.Rugani, L.Bonucci, L.Spinazzola, D.Zappacosta, L.Insigne (Jorginho), R.Gagliardini (G.Bonaventura), R.Soriano, M.Balotelli (inj 24-M.Gabbiadini), A.Belotti

Portugal: R.Patricio, N.Semedo, Pepe (R.Ferreira), R.Semedo, R.Guerreiro, D.Pereira, B.Silva, A.Silva (B.Fernandes), R.Sanches (J.Mario), C.Ronaldo, A.Silva

After the game I was informed that M.Balotelli will be out for the rest of the World Cup after breaking his ankle. He will be out for around three months

Other second round results:
Uruguay 2-3 Brazil (L.Suarez 38, E.Cavani 74 / Neymar 7, R.Firmino 28, D.Alves 54

The World Cup ¼ Final draw is as follows:-
Mexico v Argentina
France v U.S.A.
Spain v Brazil
Croatia v Italy

mark wilson27 · December 4, 2017

July 6th:
World Cup ¼ Finals:
France 3-1 U.S.A. (P.Pogba 7, A.Martial 42, A.Griezmann 64 / C.Dempsey 90+1 pen
Mexico 1-4 Argentina (C.Vela 80 / P.Dybala 9, 28, 43, A.Di Maria 90+4

July 7th:
Croatia (Volgograd Arena, Volgograd) World Cup ¼ Final
The game got off to a bad start for us as on the 16th minute N.Kalinic beat the offside trap and fired under G.Buffon who was alittle slow to react. Ten minutes later we had our first chance as A.Belotti ran onto a R.Soriano through-ball and curled the ball towards the top corner but D.Subasic managed to get a finger on it and tip it over the crossbar. With ten minutes remaining in the half Croatia were forced into a chance as M.Mandzukic picked up an injury and was replaced by F.Krovinovic. On the 38th minute Croatia went a further goal in from as S.Vrsaliko beat G.Buffon to a corner and headed into an empty net.
The half time interval saw me laying into the players after a pretty dire first half.
The second half was four minutes old when Croatia had their next chance with a low effort from L.Modric which saw G.Buffon at full stretch to save, Just before the half hour we had our next chance as Jorginho curled a free-kick into the area but M.Gabbiadini's header was easily saved by the keeper On the 70th minute we finally pulled a goal back with A.Belotti finding the back of the net from eighteen yards after beating the the defence to a loose ball. Three minutes later we levelled the score with a well struck effort from A.Florenzi which beat D.Subasic with real ease. On the stroke of full time A.Kramaric nearly won it for Croatia with a thunderous strike which went just over the crossbar,
The first half of extra time saw M.Gabbiadini coming close from ten yards after beating the offside trap with ease but his effort went straight into the keepers arms. On the 103rd minute it was Croatia who had the chance as I.Rakitic's effort rattled the crossbar from outside the area.
The second half of extra time saw my side pushing for the winner and on the 112th minute D.Zappacosta hit a long range effort towards goal but D.Subasic saved well to deny him. With a minute remaining in the game we should have won but Jorginho somehow managed to miss from close range when it was easier to score meaning the game went to penalties.
We stepped up first and M.Gabbiadini fired straight past D.Subasic (1-0)
Croatia were next up and I.Rakitic slotted in under G.Buffon (1-1)
A.Belotti was next up for my side and wasted no time in firing past D.Subasic (2-1)
A.Kramaric was next for Croatia and he curled the ball into the back of the net (2-2)
M.Verratti wasted no time in stepping up and firing into the back of the net to give us back the lead (3-2)
L.Modric stepped up for the opposition and slotted in under G.Buffon (3-3)
L.Bonucci was up next for my side and he hit a powerful strike into the top corner (4-3)
I.Perisic stepped up confidently for Croatia and fired towards goal but G.Buffon's couldn't stop the goal (4-4)
Jorginho was our next taker and he hit a thunderous shot straight down the middle of the goal to beat the diving D.Subasic (5-4)
M.Kovacic was up next for Croatia and he sent G.Buffon the wrong way to send it into sudden death (5-5)
A.Florenzi was next and slotted a low penalty into the back of the net (6-5)
F.Krovinovic was Croatia's first sudden death taker and he hit it with power under the G.Buffon (6-6)
R.Soriano was our next take and he fired with pace towards goal but D.Subasic saved well (6-6)
D.Lovren stepped up for Croatia and fired towards goal but G.Buffon tipped the ball around the post. (6-6)
D.Zappacosta was up next and fired with pace towards goal but his effort went just wide of the post (6-6)
T.Jedvaj was up for Croatia and he hit a thunderous effort past G.Buffon who dived the wrong way sending Croatia through to the next round (6-7)

Italy 2-2 Croatia A.Belotti 70, A.Florenzi 73 / N.Kalinic 16, S.Vrsaljko 38

Italy: G.Buffon, M.Darmian, D.Rugani, L.Bonucci, L.Spinazzola (M.Verratti), D.Zappacosta, L.Insigne (Jorginho), R.Gagliardini (A.Florenzi), R.Soriano, M.Gabbiadini, A.Belotti

Croatia: D.Subasic, S.Vrsaljko, T.Jedvaj, D.Lovren, D.Vida, L.Modric, M.Kovacic, M.Pjaca (I.Perisic), I.Rakitic, M.Mandzukic (inj 35-F.Krovinovic), N.Kalinic (A.Kramaric)

Booked: M.Darmian (Italy) / D.Vida, S.Vrsaliko (Croatia)

Other ¼ Final results:
Spain 1-0 Brazil (I.Williams 77)

CFuller · December 4, 2017

What a way to go out. I had a feeling that would happen.

Diego Imposta · December 4, 2017

Oh Mark What an up and down quarter final. Galling

mark wilson27 · December 5, 2017

To be fair guys I was pretty impressed we made it this far.

July 10th:
World Cup Semi Final
Argentina 2-1 Croatia (E.Banega 60, P.Dybala 109 / N.Kalinic 35 N.Kalinic so 100)

July 11th:
World Cup Semi Final
France 0-0 Spain (Spain won 5-4 penalties)

July 14th:
World Cup 3rd Placed Play-off
France 1-0 Croatia (T.Lemar 48)

July 15th:
World Cup Final
Argentina 0-2 Spain (Pedro 57, D.Costa 87)

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