retired_confal2

Glad to hear it :cool:

Yes, Fred signed for Lyon, in the closing days of this summer's transfer market I think. Marseille allegedly offered 8M Euros earlier in the summer, but Cruzeiro wanted 12M and held out.

And to think l'OM paid 12M Euros for Luyindula a year ago

retired_trainer

Nice read Xenon... :thup:

I've tried several times to play in Brazil but each time i've been totally confused as to how it all works. I'll follow this with a view to starting in Brazil LLM style when FM06 hits the shelves.

retired_jdupont

Interesting story again, Xenon! :thup:


I can explain how it works if anyone wants (for the FM2006 version as there are several differences between the FM2005 and FM2006 versions, especially when it comes to the Brazilian Cup).

retired_workingmom77

Thanks guys!

Nice to see you following the story PMLF, as you can imagine I was devastated when the save game from my first spell at Cruzeiro got deleted.

retired_workingmom77

Oh, rukus good luck with the LLM in Brazil. It's hard work, the Third Division is commonly known as "The Basement" but it is good fun!

May 2004

It wasn't the start I had in mind for the league campaign. Gremio had deserved the three points, but if anything that meant I had more work to do. Our next game was on paper a much harder task than Gremio, São Paulo. Like us their start to the season had been less than inspiring, a goalless draw to relegation favourites Criciuma and a home defeat to Flamengo. That coupled with an embarrassing exit in the Sao Paulo state Quarter Final meant an unsettled team would be coming to the Mineirão. The first half was entirely dominated by us, I couldn't believe a team that arguably on paper should have the advantage were being controlled in this manner. It was testament to how much the defeat at Gremio had affected the lads, you could sense the urgency to put things right and it came across in that first half, sadly it didn't convert into goals. The second half started where the first had left off, Ederson and Wagner running the midfield sublimely. It was only a matter of time until we scored, We didn't have to wait long, Fred thumping the ball with terrific passion past Bruno into the net. He immediately ran over to the fans who were screaming with joy, we were playing like potential champions and it really got the fans going. São Paulo tried to fight back but in the end it proved pointless, Wagner curling the ball home on 84 minutes to make it 2-0 at the final whistle.

Football however is a fickle sport, after the elation of claiming the first of I'm sure many wins this season, we were humiliated 3-0 at the hands of Vasco. We were missing key players and I was thankful it wasn't a league game but again it cast another element of doubt amongst the fans. Next up was suprise league leaders Guarani, the had picked up three wins and a draw so far and were currently top of the pile by some distance. Fred provided the only goal of the match as we sent Guarani back down to third and ourselves climbed to ninth. We next travelled to Figueirense who were already languishing in 21st position. We despatched them with a comfortable 2-0 win, Wagner scoring yet again. After we had deposed Guarani from the top of the table, they were replaced by Parana who again were doing surprisingly well at the start of this season. Three points looked to be on the cards when they visited the Mineirão until with five minutes left João Vitor equalised to earn a draw. Wins against Flamengo (sorry PMLF!) and Juventude plus a hard earned draw left us top at the end May, however Corinthians and Santos our nearest rivals had plenty of games in hand.

Transfers

Results
<pre class="ip-ubbcode-code-pre"> ************************************************** ************************************************** *********2-0 São Paulo H First Division Fred, Wagner0-3 Vasco A Cup 6th round Leg 2 1-0 Guarani A First Division Fred2-0 Figueirense A First Division Wagner, Adriano1-1 Parana H First Division Adriano2-1 Flamengo H First Division Kerlon (well done to 16yr old Kerlon!), Adriano1-1 At. Paranaense A First Division Ederson1-0 Juventude H First Division Sandro******************************************** ************************************************** *************** </pre>

retired_jdupont

I always follow Brazilian stories.

You shouldn't have beaten Flamengo.

retired_workingmom77

June 2004

June seemed like a rest compared to the last few hectic months with only five games to be played. The championship was starting to evolve into a three horse race between ourselves, Corinthians and Santos. Corinthians were in the driving seat after they retook the lead from us, with us now two points behind them and with Santos a further three adrift from us. There was plenty of transfer speculation in June as Edu Dracena was linked with Internacional and Maurinho and Sandro were tipped for summer moves to Zaragoza and Nantes. It was true that these clubs had stated their interest to us but under no circumstances were my three most important defenders leaving.

Our first game of the month was a diffucult prospect, away to Santos. With star striker Robinho injured we had a great chance of winning. They came out of the traps quickly however, and by the ninth minute we were a goal down and seemingly floundering. Mid-way through the first half Adriano created half a yard of space for himself and slammed the ball off the underside of the crossbar and in. I would of taken 1-1 at half time but it wasn't to be, Fabio Baiano put the home side back in front with a delicately cushioned header just before the break.
The second half was largely dominated by us but no equaliser seemed to be forthcoming. In the 93rd minute Fred shrugged off his marker and was presented with 30 yards of pitch between him, the keeper and the net. It was a heart stopping moment as he galloped towards the onrushing keeper and slotted it calmly through his legs to make it 2-2 and rescue a point.

Fred was to score again as he converted a penalty against Sao Caetano to give us a 1-0 win in an incredibly dull match. Botafogo were next to be put the sword by the trickery of Wagner, another 1-0 vitory. A more exciting game was to follow as Fred and co. were rested and the bench warmers gave a footballing lesson to Vitoria who succombed 3-0.

Our last game of the month was against Fluminense that ended in a 0-0 draw keeping us thee points ahead of Santos but Corinthians could extend their lead to four points.

League Table


Transfers
N/A

Results
<pre class="ip-ubbcode-code-pre">********************************************* **********************************2-2 Santos A First Division Adriano, Fred1-0 Sao Caetano A First Division Fred1-0 Botafogo H First Division Wagner3-0 Vitoria H First Division Ederson, Martinez, Michel0-0 Fluminense A First Division****************************************** ************************************* </pre>

retired_workingmom77

July 2004

July was somewhat of a injury crisis for us, we had started the month in relatively good shape but the strenuos match schedule was finally taking its toll on the players. Our first game was the 4th Mineirão derby of the season against Atletico. With Adriano injured, Waltinho stepped in and did a good job getting the only goal of the match to earn us a 1-0 victory. Towards the end of the game both he and Fred picked up injuries that effectively left me without a strikeforce. Not a good thing when the next game was against Corinthians who were our main challengers at this point. Even without the likes of Fred and Adriano we still managed to put in a good performance and maybe should of got all three points instead of the one we got as a result of a 0-0 draw.

The day after the Corinthians match, Santos lodged a 1.4 million pound bid for Sandro. I wasn't going to let Sandro go for any less than 5 million and especially not to a fellow title contender. With injuries and suspensions mounting up we managed to scrape a draw against Ponte Preta and subsequently lost 2-0 to Internacional. By this time we had slumped to fourth and our next game was against Palmeiras who had recently overtaken us into third. An Athirson penalty restored us into third place and we followed that up with a 2-1 victory against Paysandu.

Towards the end of July we announced our squad for the Copa Sudamericana, I decide to leave Kerlon out as he was doing well enough and didn't need to be rushed with his development. Our final game of the month was against Vasco and we were without Maldonado, Wagner, Adriano and Fred. In the end I thought we were lucky to come away on the end of a 1-0 defeat as it ould have been more. With all the injuries July could have been a lot worse, but we found ourselves in third just 5 points off the leaders Corinthians and with most of the difficult matches out of the way.

Transfers
N/A

Results
<pre class="ip-ubbcode-code-pre"> ************************************************** ************************************************** *********Atletico Mineiro 1-0 H First Division WaltinhoCorinthians 0-0 H First DivisionPonte Preta 1-1 A First Division WagnerInternacional 0-2 H First DivisionPalmeiras 1-0 A First Division AthirsonPaysandu 2-1 H First Division Augusto Recife, AdrianoVasco 0-1 A First Division****************************************** ************************************************** *****************</pre>

retired_jgirl87

Very enjoyable, -Xenon-. KUTGW :thup:

This rush of Brazilian stories has prompted me to fire up CM01/02 and try a Division 3 team just for a bit of fun. I choose Goiânia in the Gois(?) State League, but half of my team retired before the first match. Anyway I am 2nd after 8 games which I'm happy about. All these different leagues are a bit confusing, but by following your story and with the explanations of PMLF it is starting to make sense. Cheers.

retired_jdupont

Goiás State Championship. :thup:

Nice to know Xenom lost to Vasco whil he beat Flamengo.