Subject: Champions Cup

yeah, thats the flip side is that beating good teams creates expectations, as I saw last year when my fan mood took a beating even though I was winning

tough loss today to the Spanish Champions Oviedo

I knew as soon as the teams came out that I was done for, I prepared for a battle in the middle of the field, instead they played a winger

that and my keeper wasn't up to the job compared to his, my chances were higher quality than theirs, but Zamora shut the door

took 6 yellow cards on 7 fouls, pretty rough, lose two players for an important league game this week ;(

You showed well for Canada. Tough loss.

good try... :)
putting Canada on the map, at least for the Spanish

to all
who do you think has the best chance winning?

i think Kakaowi Żołnierze (the polish champs)...
without looking at stats, i think that without winning the champions cup
it would be a disappiontment for the Poles of sokker...

i know upsets can happen but this game was made in Poland
so it should give them the experience advantage...
Manager of Kakaowi Żołnierze playing since 2004

Winning the Voyageur Cup was enough to get VFC into the dance this season.

I'll likely look to add a couple of players before my first match to make my team a little more competitive. :)

I thought you would :))

just goes to show how important luck is in the draw, I got the Swedish cup champs, very comperable team to mine with far better keeper, Valiant got the Kazakhstan champs, pretty much a bye to round two

can't complain too much, three of my opponents starters are out with reds - including both central defenders, and he doesn't seem to have the financial resources to get adequate replacements, my team is healthy and in great form

we should both win, but it will be tough for me with a 90 ranking keeper who could steal one even if I do play well

GL to ya Deja.

VFC is all set for their match. The main concern is that we only have 1 bona-fide striker available (Amado), and he's SI. I brought in a second who got injured in his debut Sunday. I've tried through the week to get another one with no success.

So we'll go how Amado goes. I won't be able to catch the matches until after work.

Grats Deja on the win. :) I didn't watch the whole thing, but from what I saw you were able to parlay a technical advantage into some pretty one-sided play.

VFC had a very easy win. Happy to get through injury free.

yeah, we're both through, and it looks like we got good draws for next round too

I face the Bulgarian rep, looks like a tough defence first squad, if he plays the tactic that he has been working with lately then this looks to be a very realistic looking game of football, with lots of bodies behind the ball on both sides and lots of lateral passing, I have been wanting an opponent like this for a while. I like my chances in this game.

Valiant drew the Brazilian champ. Good team from a good country, but I really like Seca's chances here too.

Looks like we are in good position to both be in the final 32, with almost no chance that we will be drawn against each other as we will almost certainly be in the same basket after this round. Top 16 for a Canadian team would be a coup!

Damn, Ellison out with injury suffered in U21 match :-/

A merc may be in order :D

I'm not feeling very positive about my draw.

Teams are pretty even for the most part - aside from 1 position. That would be striker, where my opponent has a rampaging beast, while I have a broken down has-been. My aged defense is more then a little intimidated.

round two todau

my whole starting lineup is in brilliant+ form other than Metra, and my key players all seem to have jumped to superdivine form, lucky break for me :) I have never seen my team so jazzed and I am hoping that this will be the difference today. Ellison is SI, but is probable to start anyways given his form and the lack of options available, the TL was cruel during my search for a hired gun and I haven't had much online time lately, been travelling accross the country the slow and easy way :)

Anyways, GL to seca as well, Zanardi and Sebrango should be able to make mincemeat out of that rampaging beast :)

Good Luck!

ah, a tough loss, my team didn't start playing till they were up 2-0 and we had lost Metra to a red, battled back well to get within one before Macharski came of the bench and was able to draw us even, I had the better chances by far in the extra time, but it wasn't to be, a bobbler in the box ended my tourney

overall feel good about how my team played, I had tough draws in both rounds compared to last season

well, now I get to focus on getting back there anyways :)

It was a really good game to watch. Your team played admirably considering they were down a man most of the match.

The Macharski sub smacked of desparation, but turned out to be brilliant. Despite the loss, that tieing goal may well be a highlight of the season.

I'm not doing quite so well on the form front. Sebrango and Zanardi are rockin', but it takes a team back there and I have a few defenders I'm really worried about, and my keeper is decidedly mid-ling.

The Vittek injury is really going to hurt. I wasn't able to find a player I liked sufficiently (for the price) to replace him. So it all rests on Amado's shoulders. Not sure how many more chance he'll get to add to his mystique - getting a good opportunity tonight. :)