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AI Experiment - The Bandits are back for FM09


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Agreed. I checked to see if they had any players in the area that may have recommended him, but they didn't.

Bunillidh Thistle are a Scottish side from the North Caledonian League (a hell of a lot of levels below the SPL and Scottish Leagues)..

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My group predictions were rubbish :o

Quarter Finals: (group winners on the left):

1. Poland v Ukraine

2. Italy v Croatia

3. England v Scotland

4. Spain v Portugal

Semi Finals:

5. Ukraine v Spain

6. Italy v England

Final:

7. Spain v England

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You know what? I think Portugal could do Spain, though I'll look silly if they don't. The rest look logical though. Also tempting to say the winner of that will play (and probably lose to) England in the final but with Italy going strong I'm not sure either way.

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Quarter Finals: (group winners on the left):

1. Poland v Ukraine

2. Italy v Croatia

3. England v Scotland

4. Spain v Portugal

Semi Finals:

5. Winner of 1 v Winner of 4

6. Winner of 2 v Winner of 3

Final:

7. Winner of 5 v Winner of 6

What a series of clashes – the two hosts face up, England play Scotland, and Spain meet Portugal.

1- Ukraine

2- Italy

3- England

4- Spain

Semis

5- Spain

6- England

Final

England

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So. I suppose it's time for Croatia to welcome their long-standing customers Italy and serve them their usual dish... :p

And then England, though the starlets give them a huge advantage.

My predictions:

Quarter Finals: (group winners on the left):

1. Poland v Ukraine

2. Italy v Croatia

3. England v Scotland

4. Spain v Portugal

Semi Finals:

5. Winner of 1 v Winner of 4

6. Winner of 2 v Winner of 3

Final:

7. Winner of 5 v Winner of 6

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Quarter Finals: (group winners on the left):

1. Poland v Ukraine

2. Italy v Croatia

3. England v Scotland

4. Spain v Portugal

Semi Finals:

5. Winner of 1 v Winner of 4

6. Winner of 2 v Winner of 3

Final:

7. Winner of 5 v Winner of 6

What a series of clashes – the two hosts face up, England play Scotland, and Spain meet Portugal.

My tips:

Quarter finals

Ukraine to just edge out Poland

Italy to beat Croatia by one goal

England to beat Scotland in a heated clash

Spain to be too powerful for Portugal

Semi finals

Spain to put out the co-hosts

Capello to put one over his home country

Final

It probably is time for England to win something, so they shall.

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Quarter Finals:

Poland to beat Ukraine

Italy to lose in extra time to Croatia

England to destroy Scotland

Ronaldo to destroy Spain

Semi Finals:

Portugal will then put Poland out with a Postiga goal (if he's in the squad :p)

Croatia to beat England on penalties

Final:

Croatia to beat Portugal with a first half goal fest. 4-2 final score.

Nothing like some overly ambitious predictions :D

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In the World Cup there were some surprises in the Quarters, so I wouldn't be too surprised if a lot of the underdogs won.

Poland to beat Ukraine

Italy to thrash Croatia

Scotland to sneak past England

Portugal to beat Spain

Portugal to breeze past Poland

Italy to thrash Scotland

Italy to win on penalties in the final.

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Im going for a couple of surprises here. Dont think it will be clear cut.

Poland 2 - 0 Ukraine

Italy 1 - 1 Croatia - Croatia to win on pens

England 3 -1 Scotland

Spain 0 - 1 Portugal

Semis

Poland 1 - 1 Portugal Portugal through on pens

Croatia 0 - 1 England

Final

Portugal 0 - 3 England

Being Scottish, i would love to be wrong, but i think England are too strong what with the starlets in their side. England to win the tournament!

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European Championship 2012 – Quarter Final

Remaining starlets:

Left Back 1 (England)

Left Back 2 (England)

Right Back 1 (England)

Centre Back 3 (Italy)

Centre Back 4 (England)

Left Mid 1 (England)

Left Mid 2 (England)

Right Mid 2 (England)

Centre Mid 1 (England)

Centre Mid 2 (Portugal)

Centre Mid 3 (England)

Centre Mid 4 (England)

Striker 1 (Spain)

Striker 2 (England)

Striker 4 (England)

Remaining idiots

Idiot Goalkeeper (England)

Remaining world stars

Ronaldo (Portugal)

Casillas (Spain)

Poland v Ukraine

The two hosts met in the opening quarter final, in a tie that away from their own countries would seem an unlikely quarter final. The Poles had home advantage, but by half time they were behind, Milevskyi's penalty putting Ukraine ahead. Despite a decent second half fight, Poland were never able to seriously threaten their co-hosts, who held on to that lead and progressed to the semi finals.

Italy v Croatia

World champions Italy came into this match as favourites, but against a tough Croatia side they were never likely to find things easy. Modric put Croatia ahead in the first half, but from that moment Italy penned them back, applying constant pressure until Pirlo finally scored with twenty minutes left.

Into extra time, and Italy continued to bang on the door, and saw an opening with seven minutes left of added time when Croatia's Schildenfeld was sent off for a second yellow. But they couldn't manage a winner, despite outshooting their opponents 30-4, and had de Ceglie sent off themselves in the final moments.

So penalties it was, and it started badly for Croatia, Modric having his kick saved by Buffon, and thereafter the spot kicks were flawless. Croatia pushed Italy all the way, but the Italians scored five from five to go through. On this form, they will be very dangerous.

England v Scotland

A match that had been hyped to record proportions in Britain, saw England and Scotland face off in their first meaningful encounter in years. Much had been made of England's continual penalty failure at this stage of competitions, Scottish newspapers delighting in choosing which of England's stars would be next in a Pizza Hut commercial.

All the more ironic, then, that England were awarded a spot kick after only sixteen minutes, Gerrard crashing it in to put them into the lead. Striker 2 added a second soon after, and England looked to be cruising. But O'Connor pulled one back for Scotland before half time, and the match was nicely poised at the break.

The second half, however, was all England, Striker 2 adding his second soon after the restart, and then completing a superb hattrick just after the hour mark. A 9.3 rating summed up his stunning performance as England ran out 4-1 victors and confirmed themselves as favourites in the process.

Spain v Portugal

One country that would argue that England were not favourites would be Spain, holders and a team with Striker 1 in hot form. With he and the two world stars all playing in this local derby, it promised to be a cracker.

Portugal dominated the early stages, but despite leading the shot count, they were wayward with their finishing, and were caught on the break, Silva slipping in to put Spain after half an hour. The second half was more of the same, Portugal having the share of the efforts but never really threatening, and it was no surprise when Spain doubled their lead, de la Red killing the game after an hour.

Portugal outshot their opponents 17-7, but only managed three on target, and you need to do more than that with Casillas in goal. Spain complete a strong semi final line up, and will fancy their chances of reaching another final given their draw against hosts Ukraine.

Ronaldo and Centre Mid 2, Portugal star midfield pairing, never really got into the game, although to Portugal's credit they did keep Striker 1 quiet.

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very nice, it's hard to see anything but England winning here and going on to 15 years of international dominance, but I'll be happy to be surprised. It's just sprung to mind that we haven't had any thought for the poor people suffering as a result of this unprecedented glut of starlets - I imagine there are a good number of players who'd go on to have hugely successful England careers in a normal FM09 game who aren't getting a look in with the current international setup. Any brief comments on stars left out in the cold, Kip?

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European Championship 2012 – Semi Final

Remaining starlets:

Left Back 1 (England)

Left Back 2 (England)

Right Back 1 (England)

Centre Back 3 (Italy)

Centre Back 4 (England)

Left Mid 1 (England)

Left Mid 2 (England)

Right Mid 2 (England)

Centre Mid 1 (England)

Centre Mid 3 (England)

Centre Mid 4 (England)

Striker 1 (Spain)

Striker 2 (England)

Striker 4 (England)

Remaining idiots

Idiot Goalkeeper (England)

Remaining world stars

Casillas (Spain)

Ukraine v Spain

Despite Spain coming into the game as heavy favourites, the first half was completely even, both sides cancelling each other out to go into the break scoreless. But as soon as the second half began, Spain's extra cutting edge showed, Striker 1 scoring in the first and seventh minute of the half to break Ukraine's heart and spirit. They kept going, but Spain are resilient at the back and deadly up front at the moment, and ran out comfortable 2-0 winners.

Italy v England

England started the semi final like true favourites, battering the Italian goal and getting their reward, Lampard striking in the fifth minute with what was probably a deflected effort. They continued to press for a second, but at half time had to make do with a single goal lead.

In the second half, the pressure continued, and England got a further lift when Zambrotta, who had only been on the field for seven minutes, was sent off for a vicious two footed tackle on Left Mid 2. England seemed to relax, and were made to pay three minutes later when Montolivo scoerd against the run of play.

Despite constant efforts, England were unable to find a way past Buffon in normal or extra time, and were once again facing penalties.

The first four kicks were flawless, but after Centre Back 3 had put Italy ahead despite the boos in his ears for abandoning his first nation, Buffon saved Gerrard's spot kick. Pazzini then put Italy 4-2 up, so Right Mid 2 had to score. He didn't, Buffon saving his effort too to confirm his man of the man status, and despite having 28 attempts on Italy's goal, England were out.

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Good point markymarky - what's happening to the likes of Walcott, Johnson, Young, Agbonlahor....?

For those that are uncapped, it would seem sensible to move somewhere in Europe and aim to get into one of their teams through naturalisation? Ashley Young, Italian superstar, winning the world cup for the Azzuri by netting a last minute winner against England's Goalkeeper 1????? Funny!!

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England lose on penalties, again. I wonder if that was something that was programmed into the game...:p

Luke Hearn, Lampard, Gerrard and Carragher all missed against Portugal in 2006. Only Hargreaves scored.

We can also add Becks and Darius Vassell at Euro 2004.

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Good point markymarky - what's happening to the likes of Walcott, Johnson, Young, Agbonlahor....?

For those that are uncapped, it would seem sensible to move somewhere in Europe and aim to get into one of their teams through naturalisation? Ashley Young, Italian superstar, winning the world cup for the Azzuri by netting a last minute winner against England's Goalkeeper 1????? Funny!!

Probably wouldn't happen, for I think most of them already has caps for England, hence ruling them out for playing for another country.

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England going out on penalties. It is like set in stone :) Final prediction is Spain pushing the game to Italy field and scoring once or twice but Italy coming back to provide an ET or a late winner. Italy to win the cup, Buffon being the MoM again.

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England lose on penalties, again. I wonder if that was something that was programmed into the game...:p

Luke Hearn, Lampard, Gerrard and Carragher all missed against Portugal in 2006. Only Hargreaves scored.

We can also add Becks and Darius Vassell at Euro 2004.

Yes - i thats why i was confused - it happened twice in two years to the same country!! Forgot that!

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Probably wouldn't happen, for I think most of them already has caps for England, hence ruling them out for playing for another country.

I dont think Young has been capped yet has he? Agbonlahor? And then there are people like Joe Hart (who has now been capped but not at the start of the season), and the even younger generation like rodwell etc who are a few years from being capped yet.

Surely the sensible thing for these sort of players is to move abroad?

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I dont think Young has been capped yet has he? Agbonlahor? And then there are people like Joe Hart (who has now been capped but not at the start of the season), and the even younger generation like rodwell etc who are a few years from being capped yet.

Surely the sensible thing for these sort of players is to move abroad?

Young got a cap against Austria in 2007. Joe Hart played against T&T last year, so I suppose both are already programmed into FM09.

Theoratically Agbonlahor can play for Nigeria, but I think he has "Declared for England".

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European Championship 2012 – Final

Remaining starlets:

Centre Back 3 (Italy)

Striker 1 (Spain)

Remaining idiots

None

Remaining world stars

Casillas (Spain)

Spain v Italy

The final was a battle between Striker 1 and Centre Back 3, top scorer against star defender, with the battle of Casillas and Buffon, the top rated and most in form keepers respectively, also on the bill.

In a surprisingly open game, Italy took the lead through Gilardino, only to be pegged back moments later by Riera. The match was beautifully poised at half time, but after the break Italy showed more urgency, regaining the lead through Gattuso. Again, their lead didn't last long, Striker 1 making his mark on the final by bringing the score back to 2-2, but the pendulum swung again two minutes later when Pazzini made it 3-2 to Italy.

The last twenty minutes were frantic, Spain trying to break down the door and Italy having great chances on the break, but Italy would hold out to become champions, and add to the World Cup they won two years ago.

However, there was some dramatic late action. Four minutes into injury time, old camaraderie went out of the window when Spain's Striker 1 elbowed Italy's Centre Back 3 in the face, earning himself a straight red card. Ruben de la Red argued too much in the aftermath, and was shown a second yellow card, so Spain finished the game with only nine men on the field.

Six years earlier, Zidane has ended the World Cup final in disgrace. This time, it was one former Bandit smashing his elbow into another. Ironically, Striker 1 still won man of the match thanks to his goal and assist, but Centre Back 3 had the last laugh, taking home a winners medal.

Former Bandits dominated the top scorers, Striker 1 with seven goals, Centre Mid 2 with five, and Striker 4 with four. Centre Mid 2 beat Striker 1 to the best player rating, despite the latter winning man of the match in four of his six games.

Following the tournament, Capello, Bilic, Low and Domenech all lost their jobs, so there are some high profile international positions up for grabs.

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I'm astonished with the sending off in such a high profile game.

Wasn't one of the things edited professionalism?

I wonder if it is the hidden stats that maybe have impacted here. I can't ever remember what they are now.

Just think that it's surprising that a player maxed out in cettain areas is still found wanting on the biggest stage.

What do you recon we missed? or do you think it was just that 1 in a million chance?

What has his disc record be like so far?

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