JANUARY & FEBRUARY Updates:
Wow, ok, this is going to be long lads. I think after this update, i will start going back to Monthly updates. Most players have had lots of matches played and i will be going player by player in this update. So bare with me. I will end the update with the South American U-20 Tournament that was played in January and ended in February.
We will start the update with the first player on the watch list, Juan Pablo Miguel. After going months without seeing some action, he has made 4 appearances lately for Real Esppor. Miguel has also been promoted from the Youth Squad to the Senior Squad. Even though only making 4 appearances, its a move that he has been looking for a while now, and will surely grab the opportunity with both hands. Real Esppor's season hasn't been going the way they have wanted it. They are now in 7th place in the league with 6 games left. For Juan Pablo, 2013 will be a positive one and will be eagerly waiting for the new season to start at the end of the year.
It seems the Hulkster has awaken in February for Gremio. Since coming back from the U-20 Tournament earlier in the month, he has made 3 appearance, scoring 5 goals, assisting 1 goal and getting 1 MotM award. What a way to make an impact with the team. He is at the moment in top shape. The form started during the U-20, more info after the club updates. Sensational stuff! Gremio, for their part, have steam rolled through the Gaucho State Championship Apertura and will now face Internacional in the Finals before the start of the Gaucho State Champions Clausura.
Universidad de Chile received the worse news possible during the Sudamericano U-20 Tournament after Raul was diagnosed with knee tendonitis. Raul will be sidelined for almost 5 months. A huge blow for a young promising striker that wanted to make a name for himself. We wish Raul a speedy recovery and Universidad said they will monitor his progress closely and make sure he recovers fully before making a return.
The transfer for Javier Squeekles didnt go through as planned with Rosario Central declining the transfer bid from River Plate. If you want to look at it at a positive note, Squeekles became the first of the Lost Talents to receive a National Cap by playing for Bolivia in the South American World Cup Qualifier vs Paraguay. Even though Bolivia lost, Javier still put up a decent performance. He also broke the record by becoming the youngest ever player to be part of the Bolivian National team at the age of 16 years and 254 days old. Bright future ahead.
Vitoria's Messy Hallow is another player who has been promoted to the Senior Squad after the U-20 Tournament. Since coming back, its been a roller coaster ride for Hallow. Appearing in 3 matches, scoring 2 goals, followed by an unfortunate hip injury that will sideline him for up to 5 weeks. Vitoria will be waiting impatiently for their young striker to come back as strong as before. Vitoria, by the way, were able to qualify to the 2nd stage of the Brazilian Bahia State Championship, after topping the 1st stage's Group by losing only 1 game, and scoring 21 goals while conceding only 2.
Ignacio Ballena missed the Sudamericano U-20 Tournament with a mysterious undisclosed injury. With many calls gone unanswered, it was unfortunate to have known that one of the most promising talents in South America miss one of the most important tournament for youth players to show their abilities against other youth talents. On club level though, after coming back from his injury, he was able to come back in good shape, maybe not as clinical as before, but good enough to raise his goal tally to 33 goals in 38 appearances. You might call it a goal slump of some sorts, but he was still able to produce some assists to give him 6 on the year as well as collecting 7 MotM on the way.
Another young talent to miss the Sudamericano U-20s, Oswaldo Nino had received a damaged shoulder he picked up during a training session and was sidelined for 4 weeks. It was a shame, Nino was Venezuela's Captain and the national squad missed his determination, bravery and work rate. In the league side of things, he has made 19 total appearances for the club this season, scoring 1 goal, assisting 5 others and getting 2 MotM awards.
2013 Sudamericano U-20 Tournament Review
Starting in Group A of the 1st Round, Brazil past through the group stages with unbelievable ease. Winning all their 4 matches, scoring 15 goals and conceding only 2. Colombia came in 2nd place with 1 win, 2 draws and 1 loss. Chile came in 3rd place with the same record, but with a worse goal difference. The player of the Group Stages was none other than...Hulkster! Scoring 5 out of the 15 goals for Brazil. Putting his name on the map for everyone to witness. Cameron and Hallow were also able to put their names on the score-sheet by getting 2 goals each. Messy Hallow was even able to pick up 2 assists in the last match of the Group Stages. As for Colombia's Reginald Bottomtoucher, he was able to captain his side to the 2nd round with wonderful display of football by controlling the match against Venezuela. In that particular match, he was able to make 65 passing attempts and connecting on 42 occasions. He was sensational during that game. The only game he didnt play, against Brazil, Colombia got rapped and pillaged 4-1, Hulkster getting 2 goals.
Group B saw Argentina being as dominant as Brazil. Winning all their matches, scoring 12 goals and conceding only 1 goal in the process. Batistuta was able to score the first goal of the first match of the group stage to set the pace for his team through out the round. Martin did not make any appearances in the next 2 matches, but in the final match of the Group Stages, he made a point to his manager by creating 2 goals in a 4-0 win over Ecuador. Ignacio Ballena-less Uruguay finished in 2nd place with 3 wins and 1 loss. Paraguay rounded the top 3 with 2 wins and 2 losses.
In the 2nd Round, the 6 teams were put into a another Group Stage where they all play, in a league system, to see who will top the group. This time, Argentina were too strong to handle by going undefeated, winning all their 5 matches. Scoring 16 goals and conceding only 3 on the way to dominating the tournament from the word go. In the 2nd Group Stage, Martin Batistuta made 3 more appearances and was able to add 1 goal to his tally and help his national side win the tournament by getting an assist in the tournament winning goal in the Final game against Brazil, after coming on as a substitute.
Brazil ended up in 2nd place after losing to Argentina 2-1 in the final game of the group stage. Hulkster was able to add 6 more goals in the 2nd round. The only time he didnt score, Brazil lost. Make what you want from it, but Hogan was pivotal to Brazil's success, and Argentina was able to put him out of his game when it counted most. In the end though, Hulkster was able to get a total of 11 goals in the tournament, announcing to the world a new Brazilian striker has emerged into the footballing world. Cameron was able to add 1 assist to his stats in the 2 matche he played. Messy Hallow though, didnt take part in any of the matches in the 2nd round. Many Brazilian fans believe that the manager should have given him a chance to play a part in the team.
Other notable points was Bottomtoucher Jr. The Venezuelan Captain was able to score 1 goal and 1 assist in the 3 matches he played, before picking up a minor knock that made him miss the final 2 matches of the tournament.
So everyone, please put your hands together for Argentina, for winning the Tournament with total domination, winning every match played, scoring 28 goals and conceding only 4 goals all along. What an accomplishement. And now, for the tournament awards.
Awards
Sudamenricano U-20 Champions: Argentina
Golden Boot: Hulkster - 11 Goals - Brazil
*
Best Player: Ignazio Guzman - 5 Appearances - 9 Goals - 2 Assists
Golden Glove: Ariel Gomez - 3 Clean Sheets - Argentina
Dream Team:
Starting Line-Up: Hulkster & Martin Batistuta
Substitute: Messy Hallow & Matthew Cameron
* Hulkster equaled the record for the most goals in 1 tournament. Equaling Hugo Rodallega's record of 11 goals.
OTHER News:
- The next national youth tournament will be the U-20 World Cup that will take place in Turkey. The 4 South American Nations that will take part in the World Cup are; Brazil, Argentina, Colombia and Uruguay. So this is the next time our players will be showcasing their talent to the world and hopefully be raising more eyebrows and, you never know, get a few European clubs knocking on their clubs' door. Until then though, players will be commited to imporve with in their respective leagues and the draw will take place in April.
- David Villa was able to pick up the FIFA's Ballon d'Or and Football Player of the Year beating Fabregas to both awards.
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Alright, this was a long one lads. Hope you enjoyed it. Things are really starting to heat up here for the race of the best Lost Talent 2 player. After Bottomtoucher picked up the first medal last season, Batistuta trumped him by winning the first 'major' medal with Argentina after dominating the tournament from start to finish. In the process, Hull 'Hulkster' Hogan left the tournament with a major statement by finishing with 11 goals and 2 assists in 8 appearances.
Take care lads, and enjoy ur night...or day, when ever you read this.
If there were any spelling mistakes, please ignore. Its a little late at the moment and after going through all the stats and match results, i just wasn't that bothered of re-reading all the i wrote. hehe. Anyway, peace for now and i will be making another update soon.
Surely time is coming later this year once the games start racking up or as injuries start to catch up in the team.
