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Asunto: u21 friendlies
Despite lower average marks, our u20's fared quite well against Japan's u21's.
It ended up as a 2-2 draw but, if anything, I was disappointed that we didn't come away with a win as we led twice.
In the end it was a fair result.
It ended up as a 2-2 draw but, if anything, I was disappointed that we didn't come away with a win as we led twice.
In the end it was a fair result.
We've got a week off from qualifying so I've booked a friendly with Andorra.
Next week we play Brazil, by far the strongest team in our group.
We'll probably take a beating against them no matter who we field, but I'd like to at least try to have our strongest eleven on the park.
That being the case, I'll probably field a complete B team for this friendly, and probably exclude any 21 year old non-first team players (Mackett and Mmotong) as well. I'll see what I can do about giving players their first caps, both to ensure they are 'protected' and to encourage their managers.
Although a very tiny sokker nation (officially 13 users), Andorra actually have a stronger current squad than we do. Their average player value is R2.7m, while ours is at R1.8m. They could very well field their strongest side as well, so I'm not expecting a win.
Next week we play Brazil, by far the strongest team in our group.
We'll probably take a beating against them no matter who we field, but I'd like to at least try to have our strongest eleven on the park.
That being the case, I'll probably field a complete B team for this friendly, and probably exclude any 21 year old non-first team players (Mackett and Mmotong) as well. I'll see what I can do about giving players their first caps, both to ensure they are 'protected' and to encourage their managers.
Although a very tiny sokker nation (officially 13 users), Andorra actually have a stronger current squad than we do. Their average player value is R2.7m, while ours is at R1.8m. They could very well field their strongest side as well, so I'm not expecting a win.
I'm holding back the following as our A team for the big game next week:
(K) Profs
(A) Das Neves
(M) Khambule, Felix, Seoke, Barlow, Manuels, Methula
(D) Cole, Nagoli, Theunissen, Batchelor, Olivier
For the friendly, I'm going with two up front and a few players will get their first caps.
I'll take the chance of bringing on three subs early in the second half to give as many players a chance as possible. A lot of our first team are youngsters that would normally make our u20 side, so this is very much an u20 B team.
Tactically, I haven't studied Andorra. I'll be using the same tactics as for our win in the first qualifier, but with the attacking midfielder moved into a second striker role on the left.
(editado)
(K) Profs
(A) Das Neves
(M) Khambule, Felix, Seoke, Barlow, Manuels, Methula
(D) Cole, Nagoli, Theunissen, Batchelor, Olivier
For the friendly, I'm going with two up front and a few players will get their first caps.
I'll take the chance of bringing on three subs early in the second half to give as many players a chance as possible. A lot of our first team are youngsters that would normally make our u20 side, so this is very much an u20 B team.
Tactically, I haven't studied Andorra. I'll be using the same tactics as for our win in the first qualifier, but with the attacking midfielder moved into a second striker role on the left.
(editado)
With our qualification chances now clearly down to zero (ok, they were zero to start with), I'm not worried about holding players back. I'll be going full strength for our friendly against Malaysia tomorrow and using the same tactics as for our only win this season. We finally have all of our best players available to play.
Malaysia have over 200 users (officially), for what that's worth, and a decent strength squad, so we'll be going in as underdogs as always. In qualifiers, they consistently produce average marks above 50, but maybe they'll go with something slightly weaker here.
Malaysia have over 200 users (officially), for what that's worth, and a decent strength squad, so we'll be going in as underdogs as always. In qualifiers, they consistently produce average marks above 50, but maybe they'll go with something slightly weaker here.
Malaysia fielded a full strength lineup as we did and proved too strong for us.
We lost 1-2, having taken 2 shots to 5, with marks of 47.6 to 53.6.
We lost 1-2, having taken 2 shots to 5, with marks of 47.6 to 53.6.
We're playing an u20 friendly against Belarus this week. Like us, they're a tiny Sokker nation.
Since we only have five 21 year old players in the squad right now, this doesn't affect us too much.
Unfortunately, our strikers are awful (aside from Das Neves).
There won't be much difference in the goalkeeping department but there keeper is much better than ours and our strikers may struggle to score.
Our defenders are all u20, so will be at full strength, aside from suspensions and/or injuries.
Since we only have five 21 year old players in the squad right now, this doesn't affect us too much.
Unfortunately, our strikers are awful (aside from Das Neves).
There won't be much difference in the goalkeeping department but there keeper is much better than ours and our strikers may struggle to score.
Our defenders are all u20, so will be at full strength, aside from suspensions and/or injuries.
Tomorrow is my 1st match with U21 team, so wish me luck:-) We are facing superior Paraguay squad, but with little luck win can still make good result. My tactic is going to be very similar to Marc's last match, since it is one of my favourites on sokker and perfectly fits our team.
GK: Manyathi
The defense is set in stone: Theunissen, Cole, Nagoli, Olivier.
DEF MIDs: Molefe and O'Hara who will be substituted by Kalaka for half an hour.
No question about MIDs also:
DEF WING: Felix
OFF MID: Matsau
OFF WING: Methula
ATT: Lekgwathi will try to solve our misery on this position. Superdivine form, decent stamina and pace, nice side skills plus the fact he played like a demon in our last match against Japan when he decided our victory with 2 goals coming off the bench clearly speaks for him. He will be substituted by Niang for last 15 minutes.
Paraguay has tough defense and likes to play 5 DEFs in a row, but despite this tactic I will play through winger Methula (superdivine form) and put him on left wing against their slowest defender Speratti (he played right defender last couple games) and hope for some lucky header :-) Their defenders are too good against any of our strikers, so this could be our only chance to score.
GK: Manyathi
The defense is set in stone: Theunissen, Cole, Nagoli, Olivier.
DEF MIDs: Molefe and O'Hara who will be substituted by Kalaka for half an hour.
No question about MIDs also:
DEF WING: Felix
OFF MID: Matsau
OFF WING: Methula
ATT: Lekgwathi will try to solve our misery on this position. Superdivine form, decent stamina and pace, nice side skills plus the fact he played like a demon in our last match against Japan when he decided our victory with 2 goals coming off the bench clearly speaks for him. He will be substituted by Niang for last 15 minutes.
Paraguay has tough defense and likes to play 5 DEFs in a row, but despite this tactic I will play through winger Methula (superdivine form) and put him on left wing against their slowest defender Speratti (he played right defender last couple games) and hope for some lucky header :-) Their defenders are too good against any of our strikers, so this could be our only chance to score.
Great preview. Looking forward to watching the match. Good luck!
Awesome preview LaBamba. Good luck and keep up the great previews. We like hearing from our coaches.
So tomorrow is coming the derby match with my fellow czech mate Rufr and his pathetic O‘zbekiston squad, the worst in sokker :-) I'm expecting nothing else but devastating victory :-)
We will start with the same defense and MIDs, but with 2 strikers, Lekgwathi will play the whole match and next to him I will substitute Ludick, Masenia and Niang, cause they all have bad stamina and let them compete for the striker spot in our starting 11. Let's hope the competition in ATT will bring the best of them and we'll come up with record breaking win for South Africa!!!
We will start with the same defense and MIDs, but with 2 strikers, Lekgwathi will play the whole match and next to him I will substitute Ludick, Masenia and Niang, cause they all have bad stamina and let them compete for the striker spot in our starting 11. Let's hope the competition in ATT will bring the best of them and we'll come up with record breaking win for South Africa!!!
Looking forward to it!
By the way, our record victory was 10-0 against Nicaragua on 27 Feb 2010.
This is the 2 year anniversary of that result, a good time to break the record. ;)
Our team was so much stronger back then. We produced average marks of 55 in the match.
(editado)
By the way, our record victory was 10-0 against Nicaragua on 27 Feb 2010.
This is the 2 year anniversary of that result, a good time to break the record. ;)
Our team was so much stronger back then. We produced average marks of 55 in the match.
(editado)
Ooh, I don't think we can break that :-) We would need Valentine in 3 seasons for that :-)
But I believe 5:0 is realistic, it will depend on our strikers shooting form and how many chances can they make.
55 average? Wow. That is more than impressive..Hopefully we can get near that someday again.
How many users/YP academies did you have back than?
But I believe 5:0 is realistic, it will depend on our strikers shooting form and how many chances can they make.
55 average? Wow. That is more than impressive..Hopefully we can get near that someday again.
How many users/YP academies did you have back than?
Haha, probably 6 users. We had around 5 or 6 ever since I started playing. We've never even had 1 season with a premier league without bots. Phibeon might have still been playing. He provided us with a good source of midfielders.
Yeah, that 55 was great. Three weeks after that we got our record mark of 56.8 against Makedonija (19 March 2010) but we've only got higher than 50 once in the last 3 seasons.
EDIT: Corrected the date in both posts. It was 2010, not 2009.
(editado)
Yeah, that 55 was great. Three weeks after that we got our record mark of 56.8 against Makedonija (19 March 2010) but we've only got higher than 50 once in the last 3 seasons.
EDIT: Corrected the date in both posts. It was 2010, not 2009.
(editado)
This was the team, with the original youth clubs:
GK - Humphrey Katongo (Jackpool)
DEF - Excellent Malatsi (Durban City)
DEF - Vivian Khanyile (Durban City)
DEF - Obinna Cole (Kaizer Chiefs)
MID - Wade Zulu (Durban City)
MID - Moses Chembo (Kaizer Chiefs)
MID - Piyoyo Bax (Blue Bulls)
MID - Gilbert Christensen (Durban City)
MID - Ashley Champion (Dreams FC)
ATT - Howard Lechesa (Kaizer Chiefs)
ATT - Charles Roskruge (Blue Bulls)
ATT - Wiseman Mgqamqo (Blue Bulls)
That's it. There was one more player that doesn't exist anymore.
Those 12 all played in the match and originally came from 5 clubs.
GK - Humphrey Katongo (Jackpool)
DEF - Excellent Malatsi (Durban City)
DEF - Vivian Khanyile (Durban City)
DEF - Obinna Cole (Kaizer Chiefs)
MID - Wade Zulu (Durban City)
MID - Moses Chembo (Kaizer Chiefs)
MID - Piyoyo Bax (Blue Bulls)
MID - Gilbert Christensen (Durban City)
MID - Ashley Champion (Dreams FC)
ATT - Howard Lechesa (Kaizer Chiefs)
ATT - Charles Roskruge (Blue Bulls)
ATT - Wiseman Mgqamqo (Blue Bulls)
That's it. There was one more player that doesn't exist anymore.
Those 12 all played in the match and originally came from 5 clubs.