Subject: World Cup Qualifiers

nicely done mate!

Thanks Theunis. It's a pity that it doesn't look like it will be enough to qualify, but we will persevere and hope we can sneak that extra point we need somehow.

On the other hand, we must be careful not to underestimate Nigeria, Island, or Srbija. Each has the potential to upset us.

This week we're up against Nigeria again. Their wall of defenders nearly kept us out last time and I wonder if they'll try that tactic again. It's the one they used to pull off the draw with Polska. We do have the stronger team so it might be best to let them figure out how to beat us, rather than the other way around.
(edited)

Right, it's Nigeria tomorrow. Last time we dominated possession and territory, didn't really convert that into as many shots as we could have, but dominated there as well and scraped through with a 1-0 victory.

These are the players that are currently in contention when considering the starting lineup:

Strikers -> Juwayeyi, Mugeyi, Khanyile, Behr, Portgieter, Permall, Lakay, Greyling (also Makhaye, Pono and Matshitse who aren't in form)
Midfield -> Mabizela, Madigage, Makhanya, Lekhuleng, Chacho, Shongwe, Khambule, Westerhof
Defence -> Yohane, Goliath, Baloyi, Mhlanga, Ngaduana, Rodrigues, Rapeane, Mabotsa, Permall, Solomos, Mulekelayi, Nxumalo
Keepers -> Lathan, Wuest, Skosana, Zwane, Hartley

If you manage any of these players, please keep their skills updated. Contact me by sk-mail if you have any questions about getting your player into the squad and/or starting lineup.
(edited)

SA vs Nigeria

55% possession
69% territorial advantage
8 shots to 1
Nigeria had player sent off in 70th minute
South Africa had a penalty

Final score: 0-0 :(

I'm so disappointed.

I watched the game. SA was better team but strikers play a very bad match.
Ahmed saved penalty kick.
Nigeria play well defence higher than a strikers. A lot of offsides. A little corects in tactics and I think the result would be better for SA.
Carlos Wallace made a good job. Your team was 1 class higher than his. Now I know why he draw with Poland. A huge luck and well compared tactic to team abilities.
(edited)

Of late Im seeing this kind of thing in most games I play. There are many times when I think i desreve to win but somehow i end up losing and even drawing.

Why this is so i dont know.

Perhaps it is this random thing in most games.

Rafcze has a point about the strikers.

I made a few adjustments from the last match we played against Nigeria, and they worked well for the most part. After this match, I've corrected a slight issue with some of the attacking throw-ins (wrong guys throwing and receiving the ball), and the strikers did get a little too far foward.

In the end though, I think I may have gone with the wrong choice of strikers. I could possibly have sacrificed some pace/tech for more shooting ability.

I don't know what Behr's problem was though. He's in divine form and is one of our best technical strikers but he kept letting the ball bounce away from him, and his penalty was saved.

Okay, we're up against Polska this week. Our last meeting was pretty one-sided (as expected) -> 32 shots to 1, 9 goals to 0, 53% possession to 47% and 78% territory to 22%. Yikes.

I'm making a few tactical changes this time, hopefully resulting in slightly better territorial and possession stats and less shots for them. Much will depend on what team they put on the field.

The squad for this match will be:

Keepers
Lathan (68 caps), Skosana (0 caps)
Defenders
Yohane (86 caps), Baloyi (70 caps), Mabotsa (60 caps), Rodrigues (51 caps), Goliath (28 caps), Permall (6 caps, 1 goal), Khan (1 cap)
Midfielders
Madigage (90 caps, 1 goal, 14 assists), Lekhuleng (76 caps, 10 assists), Mabizela (74 caps, 4 goals, 10 assists), Makhanya (30 caps, 2 goals, 8 assists), Chacho (21 caps, 1 goal, 4 assists)
Strikers
Behr (60 caps, 46 goals, 5 assists), Juwayeyi (18 caps, 5 goals, 1 assist)

Ouch!

We improved the shots ratio and the territory ratio, but got worse with possession and the all important scoreline: 0-13. :(

When even your divine defenders have problems tackling the opposition, you know you're in trouble. The Polish winger left Mabotsa, with his magical pace, gasping for breath every time he got the ball. Their strikers were scoring from all angles. Not too much we could do about it.

On the positive side, if I'm not mistaken, Mabizela became our first outfield player to record a 70 mark.

Next week we're up against Germany again. Since I took over, they've beaten us 0-5/1-4/0-4, including U21 matches. Let's see if we can do better.
(edited)

Germany were too good for us again, but Lathan played a blinder and kept us in the match until quite late in the game. There were a couple of problems tactically (especially throws and a lack of shots) but I'm generally satisfied with the performance.

Germany's first goal came from a free-kick just outside the box. We then held them until the 70th minute, and they got their 3rd from a penalty 9 minutes later.

Unfortunately, that has pretty much ended WC qualifying for us. If we win our next two qualifiers (Island and Srbija), we can still finish 3rd in the group but without enough points to make the 6 best 3rd placed teams.

Next week we have an U21 friendly against Canada, so the first team players will be taking a break. As always, please update your players skills in the database or by sk-mail.

Skosana above 600.000 € value now , and Divine form :)

Thanks for the friendly match against Canada. The scoring chances were pretty even - match could have gone either way. Our keeper played very well.

I was particularly impressed with Lakay, who made a pretty decent defender look bad a number of times.

Thanks again. Good luck with the rest of your season.

:(

Gordon Lakay is the man :)

The boys did the job against Island yesterday, winning 2-0 (Behr and Juwayeyi) in a convincing performance. They dominated possession, territory and shots (9-1) but did miss some real sitters.

The final qualifier is against Srbija. We beat them 2-1 in a very evenly contested match in the first round. Their overall team stats in that match suggest that they are stronger than us, as does their average marks, so we've got our work cut out for us.

Average individual marks:
72.5 Polska
65.2 Deutschland
59.2 Srbija
55.9 South Africa
50.8 Ísland
49.0 Nigeria

We need only a draw to finish in 3rd place. Even a win won't be enough for us to qualify, thanks to the seeding system and the points we dropped against Nigeria. We're playing for pride. :)

nice one, glad my boy Nurno could contribute :)