FM23 International Journeyman

[themodelcitizen]

This will be a log of my attempts to collect trophies in Africa and Asia, but anyone else is encouraged to join and keep us updated. The goal - build your reputation as a globetrotting international manager, taking minnows as far as you can.

Suggested files:

My international files centred on:

• COSAFA Cup
• Baltic Cup
• Islamic Games
• Arab Cup

At a minimum, load all international players from all of the regions or continents you want to manage in.

Optional:

• Island Games (the Island Games uses lots of extinct nationalities and is incompatible with my Qatar, San Marino, and Catalunya/Spain files)
• My TMC megapack of leagues and international comps

Hervé Renard
1 COSAFA Cup (2012), 1 AFCON (2013)
225 points

Challenge Points:
Multiply by years between tournaments - i.e. multiply by 4 for a tournament every 4 years, by 2 for a tournament every 2 years, etc.

Spoiler

U-19/U-20 tournaments:

• Subconfederation (e.g. U-19 Baltic Cup, AFF U-19) - 10 points per year between tournaments
• Inter-Confederation (e.g. Arab U-20, South American Games) - 15 points
• Confederation (e.g. Euro U-19) - 25 points
• Completing the set (every youth cup in Asia, Africa, or the Americas) - extra 25 points

U-21/U-22/U-23 tournaments:

• Subconfed. (e.g. South Asian Games, U-21 Baltic Cup) - 15 points
• Inter-Confed. (e.g. Islamic Games, Pan-Am Games) - 35 points
• Confed. (e.g. Asian Games, Euro U-21) - 50 points
• Completing the set (every U-21/U-22/U-23 cup in Asia, Africa, or the Americas) - 50 points

Senior tournaments:

• Friendly cup (e.g. ABCS Cup, Baltic Cup) - 25 points
• Subconfed. (e.g. COSAFA Cup, Gulf Cup) - 45 points
• Inter-Confed. (e.g. Arab Cup) - 75 points
• Nations League - 80 points
• Confed. (e.g. Gold Cup, AFCON) - 90 points
• World Cup - 125 points per year between tournaments = 500 points
• Completing the set (every senior int. cup in Asia or Africa) - 100 points

Claude Le Roy
1 AFCON (1988), 1 Gulf Cup (2009)
270 points

Starting out:

Anyone starting unemployed and working their way through a U-19 job first will get a badge of honour. If you want to get straight into international management, though, it's understandable - in that case, I would encourage you to start low, i.e. outside of the top 50 in the FIFA rankings so you get some variation in the subregional tournaments you'll play in.

Saudi Arabia might be pushing that criteria a bit but they have a lot going on with the Gulf Cup, Arab Cup, WAFF U-23, and more. Most of the Indian Ocean Island Games teams have regional competitions too. The more of a journeyman you are, the better.

Bruno Metsu
1 Gulf Cup (2007)
90 points

Would love to hear how anyone is getting on, keep us updated with your first international job, first trophy, first language learned, and first sacking if you take this on. I'll post it here. Also open to feedback on the scoring system, we can tweak it to make it simpler or more fair, and let me know if I've missed any international tournaments we need to create.

Alberto Zaccheroni
1 Asian Cup (2011), 1 EAFF E-1 Championship (2013)
450 points

Edited October 28, 2023 by themodelcitizen

[jrobertgordon13]

Will make sure to try this out

[themodelcitizen]

Cheers, also a good excuse to celebrate the simmering hunk Hervé Renard

[themodelcitizen]

Success in my international debut! Having started my journey as a football manager in summer 2022, I noticed a few job openings ahead of the WAFU Zone A U20 international tournament in West Africa. One cheeky application to The Gambia FA and a successful job interview later, I was appointed to lead the team in Mauritania:

Spoiler

First off was offering former Premier League star Lomano LuaLua the assistant manager job. Fluent in English and French, he would be a valuable man to have around.

Also joining the staff was video game legend Cherno Samba, whose Gambian heritage meant he was particularly motivated to help us succeed.

In picking a squad, I went mostly domestic, although a few Middle East and Euro-based players joined the side along with the English-Gambian lads Mo Faal (Fylde) and Ethan Bojang (Marske). Although perhaps not as technically gifted as their teammates homegrown in Africa, they brought a different perspective and would prove to be valuable substitutes in the upcoming tournament.

Speaking of which, we started things off with a 5-1 come-from-behind win over Guinea. Both inverted wingers in my 4-2-3-1 (wide) system grabbed a brace.

Up next was Mali, the toughest test in group A. A solid rearguard and set piece nous saw us steal a 1-0 win, meaning we had advanced as group winners (due to the head-to-head tiebreaker) before playing Mauritania in the final group game.

With the hosts also eliminated, the game was ultimately meaningless, so I rang the changes. The team ran out 3-1 winners with a late consolation for the home team the only black mark on our (backup) goalkeeper's clean sheet.

Group B runners-up Guinea-Bissau awaited in the semifinals, and we rained shots on their goal all game, hitting multiple posts, but nothing seemed to give. Then, with just seconds remaining in stoppage time, attacking midfielder Wally Fofana - one of our players based abroad in Belgium - steadied the ball outside the box and hit it low and true into the corner. The Guinea-Bissau goalkeeper, perhaps unsighted by the sheer amount of his defending teammates crowding the 18-yard-box, jumped for it late. We were up 1-0, and the referee's whistle soon followed:

Spoiler

Arch-rivals and neighbours Senegal awaited in the final. Another disciplined start saw us run into a 2-0 lead by the 22nd minute, which we held onto bravely, not hesitating to waste time where appropriate:

Spoiler

Victory - and a trophy to crown my start in international management. Although things had gone to plan, I wasn't celebrating too wildly and was already thinking about my next step.

"The" Gambia U20s don't have any competitive fixtures for the next couple of years, so after thrashing Republic of Congo in a friendly where I tested a few fringe players and youngsters who were "wanted" by European teams to put them in the shop window, I handed in my resignation and am keeping an eye on the job market.

I love the idea of taking various international teams in Africa to their regional cups, like the legion of French, Belgian, and eastern European coaches who crop up on the continent. As a Canadian, the game doesn't consider there to be any language impediment in taking any French or English-speaking jobs, which leaves a lot of room in that regard.

In the meantime, I might toss in an application if a lucrative and exciting-looking job in the Middle East crops up.

So, according to my own convoluted points system, this puts me at a meagre 20 points to kick things off:

Quote

Started unemployed - Badge of Honour

U-19/U-20 tournaments:

• Subconfederation (i.e. WAFU Zone A U20 Tournament) -  20 points (10 points per year between tournaments)

Edited November 1, 2023 by themodelcitizen

[themodelcitizen]

Buzzing! Took over Al-Hazem, 15 games into the Saudi First Division. They were 11th, but only 5 points out of the top four and with positive goal difference, so I knew they had a quality team in there.

This season represented a unique chance to go up, with the extra promotion spots resulting from the top tier's expansion to 18 teams in the 2023/24 season.

Long story short, we went into the final game in third, having finally cracked the promotion places (along with Al-Ahli) with one game left after a couple of 1-0 wins in the run-in. Only needing a draw to wrap up promotion, one problem remained - title-chasing Al-Riyadh were coming to visit.

First, they went up 2-0, and we pulled one back. Then, 3-1 to the visitors with the clock ticking down.

Was this all for nothing? Another year in the doldrums, wondering what it might have been like to play the likes of Neymar and Benzema every week?

Finally, a lifeline. On-loan Cameroonian hitman Joel Tagueu, our top scorer with 14 goals already this season, pulled one back. Then, with 5 minutes left, our left-back floated in a cross, and it happened:

Spoiler

My full fixture list since joining in early January

Promotion. In the 85th minute. The division was insanely competitive, far more so than IRL, and the logjam meant we were always able to keep up with the top four.

Our squad will need some big additions prior to the new Saudi Pro League season, but thankfully any financial problems should evaporate overnight with the generous state subsidies afforded to top division teams. A distraction to my international ambitions, sure, but being a part of the Saudi football revolution should help raise my stock considerably...

Edit: I should mention, the biggest winner was surely winger Ola John. He signed a bumper new deal with a few games left, saving the squad from a complete morale meltdown as his allies were supporting him.

Not only that, he lived up to his routinely "complacent" body language perfectly, going missing for most of the season before coming up with 7 assists in our last 8 games (!) to claim 10 on the season and a £110K bonus, negotiated prior to my arrival. The cheeky scamp...

Butting heads with Al-Riyadh coach Damir Burić

Edited November 3, 2023 by themodelcitizen

[Sizeman21]

10 hours ago, themodelcitizen said:

Buzzing! Took over Al-Hazem, 15 games into the Saudi First Division. They were 11th, but only 5 points out of the top four and with positive goal difference, so I knew they had a quality team in there.

This season represented a unique chance to go up, with the extra promotion spots resulting from the top tier's expansion to 18 teams in the 2023/24 season.

Long story short, we went into the final game in third, having finally cracked the promotion places (along with Al-Ahli) with one game left after a couple of 1-0 wins in the run-in. Only needing a draw to wrap up promotion, one problem remained - title-chasing Al-Riyadh were coming to visit.

First, they went up 2-0, and we pulled one back. Then, 3-1 to the visitors with the clock ticking down.

Was this all for nothing? Another year in the doldrums, wondering what it might have been like to play the likes of Neymar and Benzema every week?

Finally, a lifeline. On-loan Cameroonian hitman Joel Tagueu, our top scorer with 14 goals already this season, pulled one back. Then, with 5 minutes left, our left-back floated in a cross, and it happened:

  Hide contents

My full fixture list since joining in early January

Promotion. In the 85th minute. The division was insanely competitive, far more so than IRL, and the logjam meant we were always able to keep pace with the top four.

Our squad will need some big additions prior to the new Saudi Pro League season, but thankfully any financial problems should evaporate overnight with the generous state subsidies afforded to top division teams. A distraction to my international ambitions, sure, but being a part of the Saudi football revolution should help raise my stock considerably...

Edit: I should mention, the biggest winner was surely winger Ola John. He signed a bumper new deal with a few games left, saving the squad from a complete morale meltdown as his allies were supporting him.

Not only that, he lived up to his routinely "complacent" body language perfectly, going missing for most of the season before coming up with 7 assists in our last 8 games (!) to conveniently hit 10 on the season... and claim a £110K bonus, negotiated prior to my arrival. The cheeky scamp...

Looking good so far ModelCitizen! Seems like 4th position was pretty easy to grab. Only a few wins off top spot. I am potentially interested in this challenge when I aquire FM24 on release day. We will see. Good luck!

[themodelcitizen]

Hey screw you, that sh*t wasn't easy! Lol, just kidding, but yes, the run-in wasn't as difficult as I feared, thanks in part to a couple of strategically-timed team meetings.

Even though we won my first game in charge, I was worried when the new manager bounce quickly disappeared with those two straight losses. Thankfully, we found our form quickly and only lost one more game, at Al-Ahli, meaning we were able to keep pace with the chasing pack until finally reaching the promised land.

I think Tagueu's back off to Europe, although we're trying to extend his loan. It's exciting just thinking about the transfer window ahead!

I might see about reframing this as a career thread or starting a new one in that subforum