Subject: [NT] Copa América

i got it totally wrong. Well done Seca and NZ :)

lol u did,i got a battle on my hands now lolz

Three rounds left in the Copa. You're going to have to hope Wivak loses his touch. ;)

Managers of the players participating this weekend have been notified. Costa Rica is the weakest team (personnel-wise) remaining on the A-side of the Copa America. Even with numerous New Zealand players side-lined, I'm optimistic it will be a comfortable match.

Costa Rica Props
(Answer yes or no to each question to participate.)

1. Bodger will score more goals then Costa Rica.

2. Gilbert will score more goals then Bodger.

3. A New Zealand midfielder will score a goal.

4. New Zealand will be shown more offside flags then Costa Rica.

5. A New Zealand defender will get an assist.

6. New Zealand will score a restart goal (penalty, direct FK, corner or immediately after a throw-in).

7. New Zealand will incur 2 or more cards (any colour).

8. New Zealand will have a territorial advantage of at least 55%.

9. Taylor will have a clean sheet.

10. New Zealand will have more un-assisted goals then assisted goals.

Tie breaker: total goals scored in match = ____

Here comes the right answers:

1. Yes.
2. No.
3. Yes.
4. No.
5. Yes.
6. Yes.
7. No.
8. Yes.
9. Yes.
10. No.

Tie breaker: total goals in match = 7

lol ok here i go,

1.no
2.yes
3.Yes
4.Yes
5.No
6.No
7.No
8.Yes
9.Yes
10.No

Tie breaker-total goals scored=5
(edited)

1 yes
2 no
3 yes
4 arrg yes
5 no
6 yes
7 no
8 yes
9 yes
10 yes

Tie breaker: total goals scored in match =9

1. Yes
2. No
3. No
4. Yes
5. Yes
6. Yes
7. No
8. Yes
9. No
10. Yes

total goals = 8

Underway against Costa Rica.

Costa Rica tends to load up on defenders when facing superior opposition. Instead of loading up on strikers (Hird and Chadwick are both out) I’ve gone with a fairly standard 4-4-2. The goal is to pin the ball in the opposition’s end, and wait for the inevitable defensive mistakes.

Could be a lot of offsides in this one. New Zealand intends to hold a high line. Costa Rica’s defense took up a fairly aggressive position last match. I’m not too worried about offsides - I expect the New Zealand midfield and defense will be able to quickly recover the ball on the restart. If both teams pinch the game could be played on a fairly “short” field.

Line-Up

GK - Taylor
DEF - De Bruin, Harris, M Gilbert, Dawkins
MID - Kelly, Atkinson, Matthews, Sansom
ATT - Bodger, B Gilbert

Bench

Welford
Anthopoulos
Root (35 for Sansom)
Richards (60 for Atkinson)
Hawkey (115 for Richards)

Cup rules means a little different approach to the substitutes. De Bruin back in after a great match last week. Keep an eye on Harris who has two cards. Kilkenny (tragic form) makes way for M Gilbert (divine form). Richards gets a run despite his form. Bodger takes Pks. Atkinson Fks while he’s in. Kelly covers the back-line in case of red card.

Bodger misses a sitter

Shot.. by Bodger

Again the supremo power of Bodger
assist by Mattews is ignored?
half time
60th minute Bodger battered and broken
(edited)

lol i know,man the costa keeper was woeful,lol those goalkicks were almost straight out,good work on defence on the left wing from us,our attack looked sliky,sometimes unlucky nice timed run from hawkley on that 5th goal that bodger got,,midfield controled.
(edited)

AGRHAWEUYRFBAESRKLGMFG
GB
SH
RTH
DR
BN
DRTHJ


That really annoys me. Bodger was having such a great game until he was ruthlessly injured... AGAIN. Out for the rest of the season.. Now i have to rely on only Byers for my match against bball.

grrrrrr

Great game all round though Seca, the exception being those terrible throw ins that the crappy passing goalie appeared to be targetting

Indeed - the Costa Rica keeper's goal kicks were terrible. That's one of the draw-backs of playing a winger - it seems to draw the keeper's attention to the side-line.

3 more injuries. :S Can't help but wonder what I did to get so much random love this season. :/ Uncanny that Morcombe, Hird and Gilbert have all gone down during NT duty in the past month.

I was happy with the tactic. Thought the midfield developed some nice plays. Felt Bodger was quite dynamic before his knock. Hoped Root might take a couple of shots this match - thought he might get his first NT goal. For those keeping score at home, Hawkey is now 1 for 19 shooting in his last two NT matches. A couple lovely passes from Dawkins also noteworthy.

New Zealand - what's left of it - will get the winner of Chile-Peru later today. Will tally up this week's contest winner when I rise proper. :)

Very true - there were a couple of throw-ins that weren't effective. The offensive midfielder needed to be more central to allow the throw to go to Kelly.

Condolenses for Bodger. Somehow he managed to get a week more then anyone else. The injuries were almost comical by the time Harris struggled off the field.

i really want o know what you did to lady luck with all the red cards and injuries you've got for NZ and Valiant FC this season.. so i know what not to do =p

What then?

i really want o know what you did to lady luck with all the red cards and injuries you've got for NZ and Valiant FC this season.. so i know what not to do =p

Hmm .... well I did kick that puppy last week. Oh, and then they was that picnic in the graveyard - mustard all over the tombstone. (JK - be nice to animals and respect your ancestors kids!).

For whatever reason WC seasons seem to be difficult for me. The previous WC I was manager of Team Canada - at the time I considered defense to be the strength of the team. Figured whatever else happened, the defense would be ok. But by the 3rd game of the WC 4 starters were out, along with 2 of the best back-ups. :S

As you pointed out, this season's been a little rough on my club too. My super winger's been injured twice. My best all-round defender, a valuable midfielder and the starting keeper have all been out due to injury. 3 of my 4 team Canada strikers have missed training due to injury. :S On the bright side, next season is WC qualifying, so if the pattern holds, it should be relatively pain free. :D