First of all I forgot to post all the award winners last month and I cant be arsed looking back to see who won so tough! lol. What I do remember is me not winning manager of the year, Kinho not winning goalie of the year, Sahbani winning the African awards and one of my players taking an award off Cosenza for the first time in 6 or 7 years!
Anywho this was a good month on the pitch with some decent and comfortable victories but off the pitch there is some news as I have already agreed to sell Josip Radosevic to Torino in the summer for approx £15m. Cinelli is ahead of him and young Greco is developing very nicely indeed so I decided to cash in.
I also think that dos Anjos Silva has won the battle against Calderon so the Mexican will more than likely be on his way in the summer too but then dos Anjos Silva will have to battle it out with the returning Kornaukhov!
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Fiorentina 0-2 Castel di Sangro Sahbani, Calderon
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Castel di Sangro 2-0 Palermo Sahbani 2
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Coppa Italia SF 1st Leg
Juventus 0-2 Castel di Sangro Sahbani (pen), dos Anjos Silva
Decided to go full strength for this cup game and I was proved correct in doing so as we left it late to score the goals! We were assisted by them having 3 players stretchered off!
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Genoa 0-5 Castel di Sangro Righini, Sahbani, Castelnuovo 2, Torri
Made 3 subs on 78min (including Castelnuovo) and we scored 3 goals in the time remaining with the other two subs getting assists!
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UEFA Champions League 1st Round 1st Leg FC Twente 1-4 Castel di Sangro dos Anjos Silva, D'Onofrio, Greco, Cinelli
After 7 successive clean sheets we finally concede a goal. I put out the backups and youths in this game and will do the same for the return leg.
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Castel di Sangro 4-0 AC Milan Righini 2, Sahbani, Crisetig
A great win and Sahbani is in great form............. but he got injured after scoring and is out for 5-6 weeks!
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Juventus 1-1 Castel di Sangro dos Anjos Silva
Going into the game without our captain Crisetig, top scorer Sahbani as well as Bertini I was a bit worried so in the end I am content with one point - I think! Torri got injured and is out for a couple of months.
Still unbeaten!!!! We did well this month and got some great wins. With Torri out I decided to give young Alessi a run in the team and he has done well!!!! dos Anjos Silva has also starred this month.
The youth intake was not bad with one player apparently being one of the best of his generation but his PA was only 3 stars - he is a centre half or left back but doesnt look anything special - but I said that about Righini!!!! Speaking of whom - he came to me complaining again but I am not letting him go anywhere!!!
Finally my feeder side Portosummaga have reached the Coppa Italia final and therefor will be in the Europa League next season!!!!!!
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Castel di Sangro 3-1 Atalanta Cosenza, Karadzole, Murphy
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UEFA Champions League 1st Round 2nd Leg
Castel di Sangro (4) 3-0 FC Twente (1) Calderon 2, Greco (Agg: 7-1)
Calderon has scored 9 times in this years comp and is the top scorer.
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Empoli 1-4 Castel di Sangro dos Anjos Silva, Murphy, Cosenza, D'Onofrio
My old South Korean player (although he never played) Nam Seung-Hwan scored for them - looks decent enough too! lol
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Castel di Sangro 4-0 Cesena dos Anjos Silva 3, Castelnuovo
dos Anjos Silva scored after 21sec - a new club record.
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Coppa Italia SF 2nd Leg
Castel di Sangro (2) 5-1 Juventus (0) Murphy, Alessi 3(1pen), Righini
Centre half Alessi grabs a hat-trick!!!!!! Jeezo
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Castel di Sangro 3-0 Bologna dos Anjos Silva 3
Hat-tricks galore as dos Anjos Silva gets his 2nd in as many games.
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UEFA Champions League QF 1st Leg
Marseille 0-3 Castel di Sangro dos Anjos Silva, Acosta (og), Righini
Got the luck of the draw - especially when they cant play their best player, Kornaukhov, because he is on loan from me!
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PLAYER OF THE MONTH
BRANDON DOS ANJOS SILVA View attachment 278671
Italy 2-1 Denmark D'Onofrio 2
Gave my 17 y/o centre half Alessi his first cap as we came from behind to win. Denmark's scorer was my former player Ronnow and they also fielded other ex CDS players in Peter Jensen, Bertelesen, Ibsen and out on loan Christensen!
Champions!!!!!! After a disgraceful result against Portosummaga we dusted ourselves off and ended up securing the title and making our way through to the Champions League final again!
Check out the league table btw - another biggie is about to go methinks!
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Portosummaga 1-1 Castel di Sangro Righini
This result is a tad embarrassing! If we won we would have wrapped up the title...........
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UEFA Champions League QF 2nd Leg
Castel di Sangro (3) 1-1 Marseille (0) Falchini (Agg: 4-1)
Two games in a row without victory!!!!!! Blooming eck! Gave my youth player that came in the latest intake his debut, Giancarlo Mainella, and he did ok.
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Castel di Sangro 6-0 Vicenza Sahbani 2, Crisetig, Righini, Murphy, Cosenza
We wrap up the title in fine style, banging in 6 goals in the process!
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Bari 2-3 Castel di Sangro Castelnuovo, D'Onofrio, Panagiotidis
With the title won the backups and youths get their chance.
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Castel di Sangro 3-1 Sampdoria Calderon 2, Castelnuovo
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UEFA Champions League SF 1st Leg Torino 0-1 Castel di Sangro Sahbani
Torino knocked out Sunderland and Real Madrid to get this far but we just edged them out here.
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Inter Milan 0-1 Castel di Sangro D'Onofrio
Noticed right before the game Inter's position - Serie B bound they be (probably) and I was tempted to play my strongest team to make sure they didnt have a chance of escape but the backups did enough. Parma are already doomed - some big teams down there!
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UEFA Champions League SF 2nd Leg
Castel di Sangro (1) 4-3 Torino (0) Crisetig, Bursuc (pen), D'Onofrio, Murphy (Agg: 5-4)
Was without a few players so Mainella started again. Arsenal await in the final.
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PLAYER OF THE MONTH
GAETANO D'ONOFRIO View attachment 278674
An exciting end to the season was had and we achieved the unbeaten season! We saw out the league campaign with little to worry about unlike the Coppa Italia final where Portosummaga gave us a big scare. In the Champions League final we won it in a thriller by the odd goal in 5.
The board have decided to extend our stadium again - the new capacity will be about 47,000 I think - remember the population of Castel di Sangro is under 10,000!!!
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Castel di Sangro 3-2 Torino Cinelli (pen), dos Anjos Silva 2
We scored 2 own goals in this game - 15y/o debutant Rasic and Mainella.
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Coppa Italia Final
Portosummaga 1-5 Castel di Sangro (AET) Sahbani, Salamon (og), Murphy, Cinelli, Righini
Almost a huge upset here against my feeder side and Paolo Di Canio's boys - we levelled in normal time with 5min left and then had Torri sent-off on his return to the team 6min into stoppage time. I went 3 at the back, dropped back the two cm's and we scored 4!
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Udinese 0-0 Castel di Sangro
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Castel di Sangro 2-0 Cagliari Calderon, Alessi
A quiet end to the season as we remain unbeaten (114 in the league I think). Avoid defeat against Arsenal and we have gone the whole season unbeaten!
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UEFA Champions League Final
Castel di Sangro 3-2 Arsenal Sahbani, Cosenza, Bursuc (pen)
What a final! Arsenal have a great starting eleven and in my eyes the best striker in the game in Bulgarian forward Borislavov but we overcame them in a thriller.
Sahbani put us ahead within a minute and then Borislavov got stretchered off and we made it 2-0 on the half hour mark. Saido Berahino pulled one back and I thought we sealed it with Bursuc's late penalty but Arsenal scored immediately after through Christian Eriksen however we held on. In the end we created 8 clear cut chance so we deserved the win in my eyes - UNBEATEN SEASON!!!!!
FINAL LEAGUE TABLE View attachment 278682
cheerio Inter!!!!!!!!!!!!
MY LEAGUE SCORERS
23(1pen) Sahbani, 14 dos Anjos Silva, 11 Righini, 10 Murphy, 9 Torri, 8 Castelnuovo, 7(3pens) Bursuc, 7 Cosenza, 5 Crisetig, 5 D'Onofrio, 4 Calderon, 2(2pens) Cinelli, 2 Karadzole, 2 Lotfi, 1 Alessi, 1 Bertini, 1 Panagiotidis, 6 Own Goals
SUMMARY
Cant complain about an unbeaten season although perversely there will be a few changes for next season methinks. Feeder club wise all four finished in mid table but obviously Portosummaga will be in Europe next year.
NOW FOR A LATE NIGHT WORLD CUP....................
We were 2 up and cruising in the 1st half but Alessi got sent-off with 10min left and we suddenly conceded twice and then was losing 3-2 but Pirini levelled in stoppage time on his debut for Italy.
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Italy 2-0 Colombia D'Onofrio, Pirini
D'Onofrio missed a penalty in the 1st half but made amends in the 2nd with a goal and an assist. 2 in 2 for Pirini - both as substitute.
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Iran 0-4 Italy Cinelli, Cosenza, Righini, Dragoni
A nice and easy final friendly fixture. It was 0-0 at half-time but we found our scoring touch in the 2nd half. Dragoni was immense on the left wing - 3 assists and 1 goal.
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SQUAD
Goalkeepers [TABLE="width: 500"]
[TR]
[TD]NAME[/TD]
[TD]CLUB[/TD]
[TD]CAPS[/TD]
[TD]GLS[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]Gabriel[/TD]
[TD]Sunderland[/TD]
[TD]1[/TD]
[TD]0[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]Nicola Leali[/TD]
[TD]Inter Milan[/TD]
[TD]1[/TD]
[TD]0[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]Emiliano Viviano[/TD]
[TD]FC Porto[/TD]
[TD]99[/TD]
[TD]0[/TD]
[/TR]
[/TABLE] Defenders [TABLE="width: 500"]
[TR]
[TD]Sandro Alessi[/TD]
[TD]Castel di Sangro[/TD]
[TD]4[/TD]
[TD]0[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]Silvio Bertini[/TD]
[TD]Castel di Sangro[/TD]
[TD]52[/TD]
[TD]2[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]Alessandro Crescenzi[/TD]
[TD]Malaga[/TD]
[TD]4[/TD]
[TD]0[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]Simone Perico[/TD]
[TD]Udinese[/TD]
[TD]19[/TD]
[TD]1[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]Luis Rizzo[/TD]
[TD]Nottingham Forest[/TD]
[TD]2[/TD]
[TD]0[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]Davide Santon[/TD]
[TD]Newcastle United[/TD]
[TD]122[/TD]
[TD]0[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]Christian Torri[/TD]
[TD]Castel di Sangro[/TD]
[TD]34[/TD]
[TD]2[/TD]
[/TR]
[/TABLE] Midfielders [TABLE="width: 500"]
[TR]
[TD]Roberto Castelnuovo[/TD]
[TD]Castel di Sangro[/TD]
[TD]23[/TD]
[TD]5[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]Luca Fabrizio Cinelli[/TD]
[TD]Castel di Sangro[/TD]
[TD]31[/TD]
[TD]3[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]Pasquale Cosenza[/TD]
[TD]Castel di Sangro[/TD]
[TD]47[/TD]
[TD]16[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]Lorenzo Crisetig[/TD]
[TD]Castel di Sangro[/TD]
[TD]67[/TD]
[TD]5[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]Gaetano D'Onofrio[/TD]
[TD]Castel di Sangro[/TD]
[TD]19[/TD]
[TD]7[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]Ruben Greco[/TD]
[TD]Castel di Sangro[/TD]
[TD]8[/TD]
[TD]0[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]Rocco Pirini[/TD]
[TD]Lecce[/TD]
[TD]3[/TD]
[TD]2[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]Andrea Poli[/TD]
[TD]Valencia[/TD]
[TD]75[/TD]
[TD]6[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]Rafinha[/TD]
[TD]Fiorentina[/TD]
[TD]3[/TD]
[TD]0[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]Marco Verratti[/TD]
[TD]Paris St.Germain[/TD]
[TD]98[/TD]
[TD]26[/TD]
[/TR]
[/TABLE] Forwards [TABLE="width: 500"]
[TR]
[TD]Aldo Dragoni[/TD]
[TD]Castel di Sangro[/TD]
[TD]4[/TD]
[TD]1[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]Noel[/TD]
[TD]Wolverhampton Wanderers[/TD]
[TD]5[/TD]
[TD]1[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD]Damiano Righini[/TD]
[TD]Castel di Sangro[/TD]
[TD]36[/TD]
[TD]26[/TD]
[/TR]
[/TABLE]
I gather by now you know who is a regen and who isnt - some surprising clubs are providing my players you will agree - Dragoni has been on loan to Portosummaga the last few years.
Notably missing out were Guglielmotti, Leo Bonatini, El Shaarawy, Bertolacci, Sirigu and a few regens that you wouldnt know about.
Line Up: Viviano, Santon (Crescenzi), Perico (Alessi), Torri, Bertini, Cinelli, Crisetig (Poli), Cosenza, Verratti, D'Onofrio*, Righini
A nice way to kick-off our campaign - we could and maybe should have scored more goals. This was Viviano's 100th cap.
Saudi Arabia 0-1 Greece
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Italy 5-0 Saudi Arabia Righini, Cosenza, D'Onofrio 2, Perico
Line Up: Viviano, Santon, Perico, Torri, Bertini, Cinelli, Crisetig (Greco), Cosenza (Castelnuovo), Verratti, D'Onofrio*, Righini (Dragoni)
Another easy win in what was Verratti's 100th cap. D'Onofrio was man of the match again - this time 2 goals and 2 assists. We didnt get a player booked either which was a boost.
Greece 1-2 Cameroon
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Italy 0-1 Greece
Line Up: Viviano, Santon, Perico, Torri, Bertini, Cinelli, Crisetig (Poli), Cosenza (Castelnuovo), Verratti, D'Onofrio, Righini (Noel)
Shocking!!!!!! Cant believe we lost this as we dominated throughout - we still top the group but I expect better than this!!!!
How this went to extra-time is beyond me! We battered them throughout and D'Onofrio missed a first half penalty but I thought we won it when we scored on 76min but we conceded with 5min to go. Rafinha struck late on in extra time to send us through.
Argentina 1-2 Slovakia South Africa 0-2 Germany Spain 2-0 Japan Romania 0-1 Colombia England 5-0 South Korea Brazil 1-2 Ivory Coast France 3-0 Cameroon
Some shocks happened here with the two South American giants getting knocked out! Still some big teams left though.
Line Up: Viviano, Santon, Perico, Torri (Alessi), Bertini*, Cinelli, Crisetig (Greco), Cosenza, Verratti, D'Onofrio, Righini (Dragoni)
Just scraped through here - they took the lead through a penalty on 22min but Cosenza levelled on the half hour mark. So it stayed to get extra time except we went down to 10 men when Perico went off injured and I had already made 3 subs. We took the lead in the 2nd period of ET and Cosenza had one disallowed. Ivory Coast did have a man sent-off very late on also.
Slovakia 1-0 Colombia
Germany 0-2 Spain England 1-0 France
FIFA WORLD CUP SEMI FINALS
Slovakia 1-3 Italy Cinelli, Cosenza 2
Line Up: Viviano, Santon, Alessi, Torri, Bertini (Crescenzi), Cinelli, Crisetig, Cosenza*, Verratti (Pirini), D'Onofrio, Righini (Dragoni)
DOH!!!! I have been wondering for a while why my Italy side keep struggling through all my games and I realised I hadnt changed my philosophy or anything like that!!!! Anyway I keep getting the luck of the draw although Slovakia have some decent players including former CDS ones like Kovalik, Chmura and Stranianek. We took the lead but they levelled before half-time and in the 2nd half Pasquale put them to the sword with 2 goals.
England: Smithies, Abbott, Ademola, Foster (Caulker), Robinson, Murphy, Shelvey, Wilshere (Knight), Sterling, Berahino, Welbeck (Redmond)
GET IN!!!! 11 of my CDS players were in the final (including Murphy) and it was my Italians who came out on top. England took the lead on 27min through Berahino but Damiano Righini scored twice before half-time and that was enough for victory!
Immediatley after the tournament the following international jobs became available - Austria, Belgium, England, France, Romania, Slovakia, Ghana, Mali, Argentina, Brazil, Mexico and Uruguay - think I will stay put though.
Best Player - Mario Gotze (Germany) Golden Boot - Brandon dos Anjos Silva (France)
Best Young Player - Gaetano D'Onofrio (Italy) Best Goalkeeper - Hugo Lloris (France)
Hello peeps - I am thinking of doing another challenge in the last few weeks of fm12 as I am on holiday for a week and cant really see me doing another 10-15 seasons with Castel di Sangro (finding it far too easy). Would anyone be interested in it? If you are leave a PM or a comment on who to be etc - wont do a San Marino story and will save the Pentagon Challenge for FM13.