Asunto: [NT] Carna

We were close to a draw, but unfortunately the could score once. They have better players and we have to accept that.

Close call against a stronger opponent. Better luck next time!

Thanks!

·match South Africa - Shqipëria
·date 2012-06-30
·arena: Rovers United Arena

;-)

We're qualified for the knock-out stage! :D


Australia - Shqipëria 0:1
Bolivia - South Africa 0:2
Australia - South Africa 1:0
Bolivia - Shqipëria 1:2
Australia - Bolivia 1:1
South Africa - Shqipëria 1:1

Table - Group D:
1. Shqipëria 4:2 7 points
2. South Africa 3:2 4 points
3. Australia 2:2 4 points
4. Bolivia 2:5 1 points

By the way, some feedback on today's tactic would be nice. I tried some stuff today. For exemple those 2 offensive wingbacks (Zulu en Rhode) who became pure wingers in ball possession up front. Although the tactic worked out well at certain points, it's clear there were some huge failures aswell, the enormous space in the back of those wingbacks for exemple, the were unable to return in time which led to some dangerous opportunities thanks to their winger who kept on dribbling every single one of our players surprisingly.

To summarize, I'm rather satisfied with our overall performance so far.

You had a lot of great luck ... :D .. Congratulations to qualify for the play-off .. tactically it was not that. My wing has inflicted much damage. We could have put more goals ... I cross my fingers on! GL Carna

Thanks mate, same for you! You had the better opportunities, but imo it wasn't a clear walk-over. Just check the ball possession (near 50/50) and play on own half, it's clear South Africa wasn't that much weaker today. But we didn't get the big opportunities you had of course, so a draw isn't that stolen imo. It's also clear there was quite a difference in player level today, your winger for exemple, he made a fool out of our defenders today. We don't have that kind of players though. :p In the end we managed to qualify with an average rating of approx 68 while the other teams had ratings of 71-73.. Despite all this, I do admit it wasn't all that good on tactical level, it's definitely something to work on.

Definitely yes. Procedure was the goal and the rest will now be bonus ... Perhaps we can still move at least once ;)

Same here, qualification was the main objective. I do hope for a nice draw against a big nation. ;)

Congrats both of you guys for qualifying, I'll watch the match later and give you some feedback about the tactic ;-)

Well done! To qualify ahead of Australia, the team that beat us, is quite an achievement, :)

When watching the first half, the difference in levels between the two sides seemed obvious.
In the second half though, we seemed to get more into the game, especially with Zulu on the right getting crosses in and also quite a few on the left from throw-ins. It's a pity we couldn't convert more of those into actual goal attempts.

I like the way you used two skillful players in the wide defensive areas, despite the defensive issue.
Players out there have a tendency to just blast the ball out, giving away possession. Rhode and Zulu were able to turn defence into possession and sometimes attack as well.

Thanks. Rhode and Zulu have approximately the most ideal skills for those 2 offensive wingback positions. Definitely something to repeat in the future, with less failures, though. ;) The absence of those players in the center of our midfield was pretty hard to overcome of course. Modise and Bax both have at most very good defending which led to lots of lost duels in the midfield..

Up next: Peru, hard one to beat. :p

Peru will be a very difficult game. Their rating is arround 75, so with a perfect tactic and a bit good luck we can win :)
(editado)

Awesome performance to qualify! You should play more games at Rovers United Arena! Hehehe. It is great to qualify ahead of Australia who are long time rival of South Africa in many sports. Loving it! hehehe

Wow 5:1! Impressive ;-)