[FM24] Backpacking in Asia - Destination 7: Maldives

[corinthiano]

So both Ezra FC and Champasak Utd renewed their managers contracts and both clubs had a good season, looks like it might be a while until we are back in a job...

2029/30 Asian Review

AFC Champions League Elite

Al-Ittihad's reign ends for now as Kashima beat Shabab Al-Ahli to win their second title. We had three Thai sides in the knockouts with Bangkok Utd and BP Pathum Utd making it to the Quarter-Final.

AFC Champions League Two

East Asia is doing well this year as Suwon win their first title. Again it is the Thai sides doing the best with Muangthong Utd in the Quarter-Final, but we have a few countries making appearances again with Geylang Int., Persebaya and Ha Noi FC representing our nations.

AFC Challenge Cup

Muharraq win back to back titles but we have good representation from our countries again with a Cambodia vs Brunei Semi-Final, as well as appearances from Timor-Leste and Singapore in the Quarter-Final.

South/Southeast Asia League Rankings

Lots of movement for our leagues. Up top the Thai top league is now 6th in Asia and has moved from two and a half to three stars in Rep. Bangladesh overtook the Philippines and Cambodia's rep has been raised from half a star to one star. At the bottom the Laos league moved up ahead of Nepal again.

League Champions

For the first time in the save there are no new champions and I will welcome that. No major surprises here with one thing of note being both Thimphu City in Bhutan and Kota Ranger in Brunei tying to be the most successful club in their respective Nations after winning another title.

Former League Champions

AS Académica: Won the league yet again but only reached the Quarter Final in the cup. In the AFC Challenge Cup they went all the way to the Quarter-Final in a great campaign.

Lun Bawang: Continue to be mediocre at best, another 9th placed finish and out in the Group Stage of the FA Cup.

Tensung: Did a bit better than last season and finished in 3rd place, but a big 10 points behind the Thimphu City.

Up Country Lions: Retained their title with ease to win back to back leagues. In the Challenge League they got to the Group Stage but finished 3rd and did not make it through to the knockouts.

Armed Police: Too many draws meant they missed out on back to back titles by one point, but it was still a decent campaign.

[corinthiano]

Another year of unemployment goes past, for the sakes of the storyline Niran went back to Germany to work on a "real" job and is now biding his time to go to Laos. The silver lining is that Ezra FC had a terrible season, finished bottom and their manager's job is Insecure.

2030/31 Asian Review

AFC Champions League Elite

The trophy goes back to the Middle East as Qatar's Al-Gharafa win their maiden title. BG Pathum Utd keep delivering good continental performances and go all the way to the Semi-Final. Ratchaburi and Bangkok Utd also reach the knockout stages.

AFC Champions League Two

South Korea claim another title as Seoul win their first. Chiangrai Utd the only team from our nations to reach the Quarters, with Persib, Ha Noi FC and Mumbai City also making the knockouts.

AFC Challenge League

Heartbreak for Visakha as they lose their second straight final, this time to Abdysh-Ata of Kyrgyzstan. Shoutout to the Ryomyong vs Kota Ranger tie with a total of 18 goals over two games!

South/Southeast Asia League Rankings

Only two moves between our nations as Cambodia overtake Maldives and Laos overtakes Sri Lanka. This means that as of now Maldives would now be the next destination after Laos.

League Champions

No new champions again and no one really came close despite second place finishes in Bhutan and Myanmar. PSS in Indonesia and Terton in Bhutan are now joint record winners in their countries and Bashundhara Kings now reign absolute in Bangladesh.

Former League Champions

AS Académica: Won the double and continue to be the absolutely dominant side in Timor-Leste. In the AFC Challenge Cup however they did not get out of the Group Stage.

Lun Bawang: A little better all around but not too much, with a 6th placed finish in the league and a Last 16 appearance in the FA Cup.

Tensung: Drop back down to 4th this year.

Up Country Lions: Were not able to make it three in a row as they finished in 3rd, 5 points behind champions Ratnam. In the AFC Challenge Cup they suffered a disappointing defeat in the Preliminary Round to Hilal Al-Quds from The Palestine.

Armed Police: Managed to win their second title with a comfortable 6 point cushion. In the AFC Challenge Cup they got to the Group Stages but were disappointing there and only managed a point in 3 games.

[corinthiano]

Ezra Football Club

Ezra Football Club is a Semi-Professional club from the capital of Laos, Vientiane. It was founded in 2003 and has little history or achievements of note. Their best ever finish is a second place and they have won the Lao Federation Football Cup once, both in game in 2025 and 2026 respectively. They had a terrible campaign last year finishing last and their manager was finally sacked.

They play their games in the New Laos National Stadium, which was constructed for the 2009 Southeast Asian Games and boasts a very decent 25k capacity. The Stadium is owned by the government and is shared with the other Vientiane clubs Lao Army, Young Elephants and Master 7.

Strongest XI

Based on our assistants feedback they squad needs to be strengthened up front with urgent need.

Top Rated Players

Very young and very good, at least comparing to the rest of the squad.

Has been with us for a while and plays for the national team, so I think we have a good player in our hands.

Good player, just not very suited to our tactics, I'd probably play him at the back right now.

Finances

Not a lot of money, but the club seems to be self sufficient which is good.

Initial Fixtures

Not scheduled yet, but the season tends to start in mid February and we are in mid December right now, so we have around two months to get a squad together, which should be enough time.

[corinthiano]

2032 Season Preview

As I imagined we manage to sign some very good players and are now favorites to win the league, with 6 players in the Media XI. We have not strengthened as much as I would like up front and could sign the Siphonexay from Young Elephants before the transfer window shuts in two days time.

Transfers

In

Out

We raided teams in our division and managed to improve the first team, the squad was quite small so we did not have to release a lot of players. Interestingly I arranged the first loan of the save as Bishnu Thapa Magar comes in from the Nepali Super League to be a back-up striker for us. Here is who will challenge for the first team.

Comes in from Young Elephants and is the best Goalkeeper in the league, a great signing.

Decent defender, can play centrally or out on the right.

Best defender in the league coming in from Master 7.

Naturally a winger, but I am sure he will excel as left back for us.

Laos international will play as Mezzala for us.

Our AP, another signing from Master 7.

Not a lot of good strikers out in Laos, Song was one of the better ones.

Same can be said for Chansamay who will be our DLF.

Best XI

Not in line with my Assistant's thinking, but this highlights we have options and decent squad depth.

Initial Fixtures

Lots of home games to start us of with and hopefully we start as well as the Media predicts us to.

[corinthiano]

February 2032

A perfect start with a 100% record. The games against Young Elephants and Namtha United should have been more comfortable as we dominated but were not clinical in front of goal, but getting the wins was the most important thing. We have set the early pace in the league.

Next Fixtures

It is a busy March and hopefully we keep up the good form.

[corinthiano]

March 2032

 

A few points dropped this month and some of them frustrating. The result against Lao Army was fair as the game was even but both against Master 7 and Champasak Utd we were by far the better team. Against Master 7 we thought we got a late winner, but they then equalized straight from the kickoff and against Champasak Utd we let a 3-1 lead slip late into the game. We are still ahead in the league but it could have been more comfortable.

Next Fixtures

It is a weird one as we got almost a month without a game in April before a more normal schedule resumes in May.

 

 

Edited September 8 by corinthiano

[corinthiano]

April/May 2032

Things are looking really comfortable as we only drop 2 points in the last 6 games and our competitors have not kept up, which means we are 10 points ahead. It has not gone without tricky moments, especially the away win at Nantha United where we were 2-1 down and playing with 10 until the 94th minute when we equalized and then scored a winner a minute later. A loss there would have put Namtha United 3 points behind us and made things potentially a lot closer.

Transfers

In

Some excellent additions to the team in the mid-season transfer window.

Before the season started he would only sign for us if we made promises I know I wouldnt keep, so I decided against bringing him in despite needing more firepower up front. He changed his mind now and so we have brought him in as one of the best strikers in the league.

I remembered Abayomi as one of the best players in Nepal during my time there so when he popped up on our radar I immediately signed him. He'll play either as DLP or Mezzala for us.

Another foreign acquisition from the Vietnamese lower leagues, best defender at the club.

Next Fixtures

We just need 6 points from our last 5 games to clinch the title, so despite 4 away games I am feeling confident.

[corinthiano]

June 2032

We got the two wins we needed to seal the title and then in true title hangover fashion struggled for two draws after that. Still, it meant we finished the season unbeaten and in stile with a 3-0 away win at Luang Prabang Utd to put us a massive 13 points ahead of second place.

Next Fixtures

I think I will stay in Laos to try and win the Federation Football Cup too as there are currently no job openings in the next country Maldives, so I'll write up the Asian Review and then will update accordingly depending on whether I jump ship to Maldives before I play the next game in Laos in a month's time.

[corinthiano]

2031/32 Asian Review

AFC Champions League Elite

Al-Ittihad are back at it again and extend their record to 7 titles. Not a good year for our countries as there is no representation beyond the Last 16, which was made by BG Pathum Utd and Bangkok Utd.

AFC Champions League Two

It is a Saudi double as Al-Nassr win their first title. Disappointing from our nations here too as there is nothing beyond the Last 16, which Johor DT, Ha Noi FC and PSS made.

AFC Challenge League

Dhofar from Oman win their first title by beating Brunei's Kota Ranger, who did excellently to get there. Svay Rieng from Cambodia and Lao Army from Laos also made it to the Knockouts.

South/Southeast Asian League Rankings

Some movement close to the top as Vietnam are past Indonesia again, but the big jump happens in the middle as Cambodia get past Bangladesh and the Philippines. Other than that Brunei gets past Maldives and Nepal gets past Sri Lanka in a year with a lot of movement between leagues.

League Champions

Other than our own Ezra FC in Laos the only other new champion is a concerning one as Young Lions are part of a closed league in Singapore and we now only have two teams in that league that have not won the title.

Former League Champions

AS Académica: Won the double again and are now record holders for noth league and cup. In the AFC Challenge Cup however they got a tough draw and were knocked out in the Preliminary Round by Kota Ranger.

Lun Bawang: Still mediocre with a 7th place in the league, but at least went on a little run in the FA Cup and got to the Quart-Final.

Tensung: Won their first title post Niran and are the top team in Bhutan again.

Up Country Lions: Really off the pace this year in 4th.

Armed Police: Back to back titles in Nepal, can they keep that run going?

 

[corinthiano]

July/August 2032

A double was not meant to be as despite dominating the Semi-Final against Luang Prabang Utd we let them equalize with less than 10 minutes to go and went on to lose on penalties.

[corinthiano]

2032 Season Review

As imagined we managed to get Laos done in one season as we absolutely dominated the league, going the season unbeaten and finishing 13 points ahead of second. It was a shame not to add cup success to it but I have to be very satisfied with how the season went.

Squad by Appearances

There was no fixture congestion and we had a mostly defined first XI, so we used very few players this season with 8 players starting over 20 of the 23 games we played.

Best XI

This is a fair representation of our best team other than Fakunle who was starting for us towards the end of the season instead of Xayavong.

Top Performers

DLFs don't typically score a lot in my team but Chansamay excelled in the role and was not only our top scorer, but also the league's top scorer.

Came in halfway through the season and added a lot of quality to our front play.

The youngster was great for us scored a lot for centre mid.

Finances

Lost quite a bit of money last season and the trend is not looking great, hopefully continental football helps the club financially.

Progress

Another short and successful spell after two years unemployed. Laos was fun and now we head to somewhere backpackers can't really afford to go - the Maldives!

[corinthiano]

Destination 7 - Maldives

The Maldives is a tropical paradise located in the Indian Ocean, southwest of Sri Lanka and India. It comprises 26 atolls, consisting of over 1,000 coral islands. The capital city is Malé, situated on one of the larger islands. As of 2024, the population of the Maldives is approximately 560,000 people. The official language is Dhivehi, which is an Indo-Aryan language closely related to Sinhala and spoken across the islands. English is also widely used, particularly in the tourism and business sectors.

The Maldives has a rich history influenced by various cultures and civilizations. It was an important trading hub in ancient times, with influences from the Arabs, Persians, and Portuguese. In the 16th century, the Maldives came under Portuguese control but was later freed by the Dutch. In the 19th century, the British established a protectorate over the islands, which lasted until the country gained independence in 1965. The Maldives became a republic in 1968, and since then, it has undergone significant political and social changes.

The economy of the Maldives is primarily driven by tourism, which is the largest sector and a major source of foreign exchange. Fishing is another vital industry, especially tuna fishing, which contributes significantly to the economy. Agriculture is limited due to the small size of the islands and the lack of arable land. The country faces challenges such as vulnerability to climate change and rising sea levels, which impact its infrastructure and economic stability.

Tourism is the cornerstone of the Maldivian economy, attracting visitors with its luxurious resorts, stunning underwater scenery, and opportunities for water sports like snorkeling and scuba diving. The Maldives is known for its high-end, all-inclusive resorts often situated on private islands, offering unparalleled privacy and natural beauty. The country's commitment to preserving its marine environment and promoting sustainable tourism practices helps maintain its appeal as a premier travel destination.

Football in Maldives

Football is a popular sport in the Maldives and is run by the Football Association of Maldives. The international side has had very limited success, never qualifying for an international tournament, which still stands in-game. They did win the South Asian Football Federation Cup twice, in 2008 and 2018. The potential is limited due to the lack of space in the islands of the country, but the FAM has made several attempts to improve the infrastucture.

A national league exists since 2000, until 2015 known as Dhivehi League and in 2015 rebranded Dhivehi Premier League. New Radiant were the record winners, but in the last few years pre-game Maziya SRC started dominating, which extended into in-game and they are record holders with 10 titles.

 

It is also a small 10-team league but unlike other countries the last two are relegated so there is a chance for teams that have not won the title before to be promoted. From the clubs currently in the top flight, Buru SC, Eagles, Green Streets and Super United have not won a title and would be eligible, but with 5 games to go Super United and Green Streets look like they are going down. Hopefully the wait for a club here will not be as long.

 

[leobiazzi]

Great journey thus far! Can't wait to read about your tales in Maldives 

[corinthiano]

11 hours ago, leobiazzi said:

Great journey thus far! Can't wait to read about your tales in Maldives 

Thanks, glad you are enjoying it!

[corinthiano]

Three teams fired their coach in the off season, all of them had won the title before so it is another season unemployed for us and at the halfway stage of the season no sackings yet.

2032/33 Asian Review

AFC Champions League Elite

It is not Al-Ittihad but still a Saudi winner as Al-Hilal win their 5th title. BG Pathum Utd get to their Quarter Finals and Bangkok Utd to the Last 16.

AFC Champions League Two

Great tournament by Persebaya from Indonesia who got all the way to the final, where Al-Ain were too strong for them and won their first title. Plenty of other appearances in the Last 16 with 4 other teams making it.

AFC Challenge League

Sobaeksu from North Korea win their first title, with our nations only getting to the last 8 with ABDB, AS Académica and Bashundhara Kings.

South/Southeast Asian League Rankings

Som countries still keep rising consistently, most notably Brunei who went from second worst league within our countries to 9th as they go past Bangladesh and Philippines.

League Champions

The only new league champion is Yal in Bhutan, with the record winners winning in 9 of the 17 countries.

Former League Champions

AS Académica: Won the double again and in the AFC Challenge Cup they did well to get to the Quarter Final.

Lun Bawang: Really dropped off in the league with a terrible 13th place finish, but at least went on a little run in the FA Cup and got to the Quarter-Final.

Tensung: Lost the title to Yal on random drawing as they had the same exact record as Yal, talk about unlucky...

Up Country Lions: Reclaimed the title after two years.

Armed Police: Make it three in a row but are disappointing in the Challenge Cup as they lose in the preliminary round to Maziya SRC.

Ezra FC: 11 draws in 21 games did not help and they only finished in 3rd place.

[corinthiano]

Nilandhoo Sports Club

Nilandhoo Sports Club is a club based in the island of Nilandhoo, which is part of the Faafu Atoll. The island only has around 1.5k inhabitants and lies to the southeast of the capital Malé. They first made an appearance in the Dhivehi League in 2018, finishing 6th, with their best ever finish happening in-game at 4th. They have just been promoted back to the Dhivehi League after being relegated in 2031 and were looking for a new manager.

In theory they play their games at the Nilandhoo Football Pitch, but in-game (and maybe also real life?) all teams play their game in the Galolhu Rasmee Dhandu, which is the National Stadium in Malé. I will put up pictures of both simply becaue the Football Pitch in Nilhandhoo is spectacular.

Nilandhoo Football Pitch

Galolhu Rasmee Dhandu

Best XI / Top Rated Players

Again I join with no staff and with our first match almost 5 months away I will leave this for the Season Preview

Finances

Seems like finances froze during relegation so it is difficult to say if the club is financially sustainable.

Initial Fixtures

5 months until the first game, plenty of time to build a team.

Edited September 10 by corinthiano

[corinthiano]

2034 Season Preview

I don't think this will be the walkthrough that the previous countries were. We are entering the territory of contracts with fixed salaries and we even paid $500 for a player, but we can't attract the top talent and I think Maziya SRC and New Radiant are a class above the rest, but we'll see.

Transfers

In

We signed a lot of players as the squad was thin and did not let anyone go. This is also the first time we spent money on a player in this save as we brought Osvaldo Freitas from a former club.

First XI

A good signing as he was New Radiant's starting goalkeeper.

The only starting player that was already at the club, Mohamed is more comfortable in the centre but will play right back for us.

Decent defender that comes in from Buru SC.

Again decent, but not spectacular.

Was playing the second tier in Laos but has national caps, not as attacking as I would like but couldnt find any decent left backs locally.

Another foreign acquisition, the Thai DLP looks very solid.

One of the best players at the club and has plenty of potential at 19.

Decent midfielder brough in from Valencia.

Was a key player for us in Timor Leste so I am really excited to have him in the Maldives, our best player and creative force.

I struggled to find decent strikers, Ahmed was back up at New Radiant and one of the best I could get in.

Ibrahim comes in from Super United and will be our DLF.

Initial Fixtures

A tough start as we play the three teams more favored to win the title than us in our first 5 games.

[corinthiano]

May/June 2034

Yes this definitely doesnt feel like a one and done. It was largely a decent start with a good away win at Super United and an excellent thrashing of Maziya SRC, who surprisingly are struggling. The loss at New Radiant was expected but losing to bottom place Buru SC was extremely disappointing.

Transfers

In

Out

A few more transfers to improve the first team, with another $500 spent! We also had to start releasing some of the fringe players at the club on non-contracts.

A promising defender, more comfortable on the left but will play centrally for us.

Another former player from Timor-Leste, Osvaldo has been disappointing so am hoping Lourenço can do better.

Will challenge the underperforming Osvaldo for the AP role.

Still struggling to find good strikers, Adam is slightly better than what we have right now.

Next Fixtures

More home games this month, hopefully we pick up from the loss against Buru SC.

[corinthiano]

2033/34 Asian Review

AFC Champions League Elite

Al-Ain win their second title and first since 2003 as we have a poor year from our nations with no Quarter Finalists at all.

AFC Champions League Two

A UAE double as Sharjah win their first title. Again a poor performance from our nations with no Quarter Finalists.

AFC Challenge League

Istiqlol from Tajikistan become joint most successful side with their 3rd win and at least here our nations did well with Yadanarbon reaching the Final and our former club in Timor-Lest getting all the way to the Semi-Final.

South/Southeast Asian League Rankings

No movements this season between our league but Brunei incredibly keep climbing up the rankings.

League Champions

Two new champions and one is concerning as Hougang Utd win for the first time in Singapore. We now only have one team in the closed league that have not won the title and they finished second, so not having a team without a title when we get to Singapore is a real possibility. Not sure what I would do if that happens but it is a problem for another season.

Former League Champions

AS Académica: Won the double for the 4th time in a row and in the AFC Challenge Cup they did really well to get to the Semi Final.

Lun Bawang: Are a terrible side right now, finishing 15th out of 16 in the league and not getting out of the group stage in the FA Cup.

Tensung: Put the disappointment of last season behind and won their 3rd title.

Up Country Lions: Back to back league titles. In the Challenge League they got to the Group Stage but then lost all three games to finish bottom.

Armed Police: Couldnt make it 4 in a row as they finish 5th. Do also get to the Group Stage of the Challenge League but only manage two points.

Ezra FC: Finish in second place and are knocked out in the Preliminary Round of the Challenge League, but do manage to win their first FF Cup title.

[corinthiano]

July 2034

We are still inconsistent and not clicking that well up front, in the game against New Radiant for example we actually played better but just did not create as much as them and when we did missed easy chances. At the almost halfway stage we could still fight towards the top or bottom depending on how our form progresses.

Next Fixtures

We have the distraction of the FAM Cup and a double header with Foakaidhoo before three tough away games.

[corinthiano]

August 2034

We went on a nice little run to win the FAM Cup and guarantee the club's first ever trophy! It did distract us from the league though and the relegation playoffs are still very much a possibility, so we will have to get back to form in the league to secure a more comfortable position.

Transfers

Out

Unhappy non-contract player out of the door.

Infrastructure

The training facility improvement puts us in a temporary spot of bother as we used all the cash we had for it, but the feeling I get is that the club is profitable so it should be OK in the long term.

Next Fixtures

A big month in the league as we need to ensure survival.

[corinthiano]

September 2034

A much improved moth with 4 wins in 6 games, with the defeat against New Radiant respectable and only the performance against Victory disappointing. We are now pretty much secured from the relegation playoffs and could finish anywhere from 2nd to 6th depending on how the last 3 games go.

Next Fixtures

Let's see if we can finish second with a strong end to the season.

[corinthiano]

October 2034

We frustratingly let Foakaidhoo get back into the game in both home and away ties in what could and should have been two easy wins. At least we convincingly beat Maziya SRC again to land us a very solid 3rd place finish.

Infrastructure

Managed to get the board to agree to more improvements, with Junior Coaching now up to Average.

[corinthiano]

2034 Season Review

As I imagined the Maldives was not a one and done, for the first time there are fixed salary contracts and the top teams are very strong and unwilling to let players go, so despite good signings there is still a significant gap to New Radiant which we need to work on reducing. That being said it was a solid season with a good 3rd season and a FAM Cup win to add to it.

Squad by Appearances

We had a fairly settled first team with the exception of central midfield and central defence where we chopped and changed a bit. Despite the good efforts from Shahid I feel that we are not that strong up front and it is where we need to make the most significant improvements.

Top Performers

Did well up front especially considering he played as DLF for a few games, but not a goalscoring machine by any stretch of imagination.

Very happy with Xaysavath, consistently solid down the left.

A rock at DLP, the Thai is wanted by a host of teams back home so hopefully we can hold on to him for next season.

Finances

We made close to $24k, which is remarkably good if you consider we spent $120k on training facility improvements.

Progress

Good start, but it might be a couple of seasons until we catch up with New Radiant as they are in a league of their own in the Maldives right now.

[corinthiano]

2035 Season Preview

We have closed the gap to New Radiant and Maziya SRC with a few singings, including a new goalkeeper who is considered the best in the league by the Media. The top two though are still by far the best teams so we'll have our work cut out to beat them, especially New Radiant.

Transfers

In

Out

Super United was our main source of signings as their first teamers are interested in joining, with New Radiant or Maziya SRC unless they are fringe players they tend to prefer staying at the club. Nonetheless we have some new faces who improve the first team.

Probably our best signing as we get the Maldives international and best goalie in the league.

A more attacking minded right back than we had last season, unfortunately out for the first weeks of the season with an injury.

Strong defender signed from Super United.

And his central defence partner is also new from Super United.

We needed to strenghthen up front and Ali Ibrahim is a good improvement on what we had.

He also gets a new strike partner in youngster Ali Waheed who came from Maziya SRC.

Youth Products

I feel like I need to highlight this guy that came through our intake last season and will start in midfield already for us.

Best XI

Can't argue with this one other than in central defence where I will play Mohamed Rasheed instead of Mohamed Hassan.

Initial Fixtures

New Radiant away is not how I wanted to start but guess we'll see how we stand against them with the new signings.

[corinthiano]

May 2035

A good start that could have been excellent. Beating New Radiant and Maziya SRC convincingly looks amazing on the face of it, but both have had weak starts in the league. The two draws should have been wins, as we absolutely dominated Super United without letting them have a single shot, whilst we conceded a two goal lead against Victory. At that point Valencia were running away with the lead but beating them at their place was a great result and keeps us in a good position to chase them.

Next Fixtures

We have an opportunity to keep a strong run going against relegation battlers at the beginning of the month before two tough games against New Radiant and Victory.

[corinthiano]

With our good form and money rolling in we managed to convince the board to up our Youth Recruitment to Average.

[corinthiano]

June 2035

Ugh what a frustrating month. We had to dig deep to beat Foakaidhoo before embarking on a frustrating run which started with dropping point against Bulu SC, the only point they have earned this season...the game against New Radiant was even but they got a lucky break in the last 10 minutes to score a winner. Things were looking a lot worse but we at least pulled back from 3-1 down at Victory to salvage a draw. Still, Valencia have opened a gap again and we are really not helping ourselves.

Transfers

In

Out

A very quiet mid-season transfer window as we only bring in Hassan Ibrahim who will provide competition for the DLP spot.

Next Fixtures

We have a bit of a break which hopefully will do as well so we can get back to winning ways.

[corinthiano]

2034/35 Asian Review

AFC Champions League Elite

Al-Ittihad are back at it again to win a record extending 8th title, but this year the Thai sides did great, with BG Pathum Utd almost taking the title after getting through Bangkok Utds in an all Thai Semi-Final.

AFC Champions League Two

It was Saudi Arabia vs Thailand in a final again with the former taking the the win as Al-Shabab win their first trophy. Other than Chiangrai Utd we also had PSS of Indonesia and Gia Lai and Ha Noi FC of Vietnam making appearances in the knockout stage.

AFC Challenge Cup

Dhofar win their second title by beating Visakha in the final, the third defeat the Camboadia outfit has face at this stage.

South/Southeast Asian League Rankings

There is movement closer to the top as Malaysia slip behind Vietnam and Indonesia, whilst at the bottom Timor-Lest overtakes the Maldives, who is now a half star league, and Nepal overtakes Sri Lanka.

League Champions

Well its happened in Singapore, now all teams there have won the league. I'll figure out what to do when we get there. Either skip it or take over one of the teams with lowest number of titles.

Former League Champions

AS Académica: Knocked out in the first round of the cup which was a shock, but won the league yet again. Disappointment continentally though as they are knocked out in the Preliminary round of the Challenge Cup.

Lun Bawang: 15th out of 16 again, but a bit better in the FA Cup where they reached the Last 16.

Tensung: Terrible defence of the title as they finish 9th out of 10.

Up Country Lions: Dropped of in the league and finished 4th, whilst in the Challenge Cup they were knocked out in the Preliminary Round.

Armed Police: Another painful title loss as they finish second on goal difference.

Ezra FC: Not a great defence of the FF Cup as they were knocked out in the Quarter Final but they win the big one in the league.

[corinthiano]

July 2035

Two hard-earned and solid wins, combined with Valencia dropping points, puts us back level on top with them and back into a title challenge.

Next Fixtures

We need to make the most out of the Buru SC and Foakaidhoo games before two title deciders at the end of the month. We also have the FAM Cup as a distraction this month, but I am not as bothered considering we wont it last year.

[corinthiano]

August 2035

The month started really well with two solid wins against Buru SC before we easily dispatched Foakaidhoo in the FAM Cup Semi-Final. Things did go downhill from there though as tiredness kicked in and we needed a late equalizer to get a point against Foakaidhoo in the league before an even game against New Radiant was lost by fine margins again, with Ali Ibrahim getting a season ending injury in the process. The real battering came at Maziya SRC and they and Victory are now hot on our tails in the league.

Infrastructure

Another improvement, up to Adequate now.

Next Fixtures

We are getting to crunch time in the league with 3 big games in 8 days before we take a month's break ahead of the final fixtures for the season.

[corinthiano]

September 2035

Our title ambitions are effectively over for this year. The month started well with a big win against Victory and the draw at New Radiant whilst not ideal was not a complete disaster. But then we put in a terrible performance against Super United and effectively ended any chance we had, especially with Maziya SRC picking up good form.

Next Fixtures

If we are to have any chance of winning the title we need to win our last three games and hope Victory and Maziya SRC drop additional points, which is unlikely.