retired_lydiadiebolt

Thanks, mate, I'm glad you're enjoying it. :thup:

Happy new year to all and sundry, btw.

retired_lydiadiebolt

4th of October 2008

World Cup qualifier time, and Albert Luque scores Spain’s first goal in its 3-0 win over Cyprus in Nicosia. In other matches, Dudu Awate kept a clean sheet for Israel as they defeated Norway 2-0 in Ramat-Gan. Stewart Downing played the first 67 minutes for England before being substituted with a deeply bruised rib – England went on to win the match against San Marino 3-0. Enzo Maresca scored for Italy in its 2-0 win over Finland in Helsinki. Freddy Adu bagged a brace for the USA as it thrashed El Salvador 5-0 in Los Angeles.

6th of October 2008

Sebastian Svärd is nominated in the Primera Liga Team of the Week.

8th of October 2008

More World Cup qualifiers, with Enzo Maresca playing a full but ultimately disappointing game for Italy in its 2-0 win over Northern Ireland. Adu also played a full 90 minutes for the USA, but they lost 1-0 to Canada in Edmonton. Stewart Downing again produced a wonderful display for England as they overcame Slovenia 2-0. Dalibor Stevanovic played for Slovenia but was substituted after a woeful display on the hour mark. Albert Luque scored Spain’s only goal in its 1-0 win over Belgium, a game they dominated, but will miss five days courtesy of a strained neck. Henok Goitom played 54 minutes of Sweden’s 2-1 loss to Scotland, but was substituted.

11th of October 2008

More World Cup qualifiers were played today. Alejandro Lembo captained Uruguay to a 6-0 whitewash of Venezuela. Oswaldo Chaurant was one of those on the receiving end. Dulee Johnson played for Liberia in its 2-1 loss to the Republic of Congo. Sebastián Saja kept a clean sheet for Argentina as it defeated Chile 2-0.

12th of October 2008

Ricardo Sousa, Javi Paredes, MÃ*chel (the striker) and Dalibor Stevanovic all announce their intention to leave the club on Bosman free transfers at the end of the season.

retired_lydiadiebolt

15th of October 2008

South American World Cup qualifiers are played today. Alejandro Lembo is named captain in Uruguay’s 2-0 loss to Chile in Santiago. Sebastián Saja kept goal for Argentina as it won 3-1 over Ecuador.

16th of October 2008

UEFA Cup – Group Phase, Group G, Game 1: Cartagena v Groclin

With several players returning from international duties, it’s a somewhat different eleven than usual that I put out on the pitch. Two first half goals from Matteini and Maresca are enough to see off Groclin, the Polish club. On 11 minutes, Maresca flicks on Bridge’s throw-in into the path of Matteini, who swivels and shoots past the Groclin keeper. Twenty minutes later, Groclin leaves Maresca unmarked at a corner, and he fires Svärd’s corner past the Groclin keeper. Given the amount of possession we enjoy throughout the game, we probably should have had a larger score-line in our favour, but a comfortable 2-0 win is still a good way to start the group phase.

Cartagena (4-1-3-2): Awate; Bridge, Mullins (c), Gaardsøe, Ferdinand; Svärd; Adu (Johnson 55), Maresca, Goitom (Viana 79); Luque, Matteini (Luis GarcÃ*a 55).

Groclin (4-4-2): A bunch of unknown Polish players.

Final score: Cartagena 2:0 Groclin
MoM – Enzo Maresca

18th of October 2008

Málaga agrees terms with Javi Paredes, so he will move to the newly promoted club in the winter transfer period, and the club will bank £750,000. It’s better than losing him for nothing in the summer.

19th of October 2008

Primera Liga – Game 6: Cádiz v Cartagena

Against lowly Cádiz, who have collected just two points in five games to start the season poorly, I expect to win comfortably. The boys meet my expectations nicely, with Matteini and Luque scoring on 29 and 45 minutes respectively. A nice interchange of passing between Maresca, Adu and Matteini allows the Italian to break free from his marker and fire the ball low and hard past Jorquera, the ex-Barcelona keeper, to open the scoring. On 45 minutes, Sebastian Svärd uses his bulk to win possession back, before he finds Maresca in the centre corridor. The Italian plays a nicely weighted pass to Luque, who spins past his marker and blasts the shot beyond Jorquera to make it 2-0.

Cádiz (3-5-2): Jorquera; Mario, Bréchet, Amaya; Anderson Silva (Gavilán 81), Cziommer (c), Giacomazzi, Pérez (Gargiulo 72), Lagerblom; Forlán (Salvo 72), Benjamin.

Cartagena (4-1-3-2): Saja; Bridge, Mullins (c), Coloccini, Ferdinand; Svärd; Adu (Viana 64), Maresca, Goitom; Luque, Matteini (Ronaldo 74).

Final score: Cádiz 0:2 Cartagena
MoM – Albert Luque

We move into third position, behind Atlético Madrid and Real Madrid.

retired_lydiadiebolt

20th of October 2008

Enzo Maresca is selected in this week’s Primera Liga Team of the Week.

22nd of October 2008

Copa del Rey – First Round: Calahorra v Cartagena

I did field a weakened eleven, as I left out Wayne Bridge, Anton Ferdinand, Sebastian Svärd, Enzo Maresca, Albert Luque and Davide Matteini from the eleven that defeated Cádiz last weekend, but against Segunda Liga B opposition, I would have thought that my “second eleven� would have been capable of doing the job. Albert Luque caused all sorts of problems when he came on as a substitute, but even he couldn’t rescue us, while Ronaldo looked somewhat out of sorts leading the line. Oh well, at least it allows us to concentrate on the league and the UEFA Cup, now.

Calahorra (4-3-1-2): Argensó; Palencia, Borja (Sedu 45), Elbusto, Rafita; Dani (Zé Tó 59), Xavi Jiménez, Monforte (c); Moreno; Vytautas (Óscar 59), Puustinen.

Cartagena (4-1-3-2): Saja; Green, Mullins (c), Coloccini, Ferrón; Walton; Viana (Chaurant 59), Nunens, Goitom; GarcÃ*a (Luque 59), Ronaldo.

Final score: Calahorra 1:0 Cartagena
MoM – Alfredo Argensó

25th of October 2008

Primera Liga - Game 7: Cartagena v Real Sociedad

A great response to the disappointment of being bundled out in the first round of the Copa del Rey. Enzo Maresca is a cut above, and his ability to create opportunities from practically anywhere on the pitch gives my strikers plenty of confidence, because they know that they will soon have a chance to score a goal. Matteini, also, is maturing into a dangerous striker, and with six goals from seven league appearances, he is well on his way to justifying his salary increases over the last couple of seasons. And it was good to see Ronaldo get his name on the scoresheet, as he took full advantage of a horrible blunder from Arenas, who won’t want to look at the highlights from today’s game. The rest of the league plays tomorrow, but today’s match was a good result for us and I’m pleased for the players.

Cartagena (4-1-3-2): Saja; Bridge, Mullins (c), Lembo, Ferdinand; Svärd; Adu (Viana 79), Maresca, Goitom (Chaurant 73); Luque (Ronaldo 79), Matteini.

Real Sociedad (4-4-2): Arenas; Arruabarrena, Jauregi, Camisa (Dellas 70), Zubiaurre; Gabilondo (c), Blasi, Aranburu, Freier; Haedo Valdez (Oskitz 70), Nihat (Saavedra 73).

Final score: Cartagena 4:0 Real Sociedad
MoM – Enzo Maresca

26th of October 2008

Things are becoming tight at the top of the ladder. Atlético Madrid lost to Villarreal 4-2, and that means that Real Madrid join them at the top of the ladder, both equal on 18 points. We trail both by a point, along with Valencia. Real Zaragoza lies in fifth place, on 16 points, while Barcelona needs to get a move on, being sixth with 14 points.

Enzo Maresca and Sebastian Svärd are both nominated in the Primera Liga Team of the Week.

retired_lydiadiebolt

29th of October 2008

Primera Liga – Game 8: Córdoba v Cartagena

A great result and it’s great to see Cartagena on top of La Liga, for the moment. We need to keep up the good work, though.

Cartagena (4-1-3-2): Saja; Bridge, Coloccini, Lembo, Ferdinand; Svärd (c); Adu (Viana 78), Maresca, Goitom (Chaurant 78); Luque (Ronaldo 59), Matteini.

Córdoba (4-4-2): Toño; López Ramos (c), MaÃ*nz, Bouzón, Ibarra (Redondo 78); Jorge Pérez, Manolo Pérez, Rubén Rodriguez, (Vrsic 71) Serginho (Iacolenna 71); Sérvulo, Peña Molina.

Final score: Cartagena 5:0 Córdoba
MoM – Sebastian Svärd

30th of October 2008

Albert Luque strains a groin muscle and will miss two weeks of football.

1st of November 2008

Enzo Maresca’s goal against Real Sociedad is considered the third best goal of the month, behind Rodrigo Paulista’s goal for Málaga against Levante and Park Joo-Young’s goal for Ejido versus Córdoba.

Oswaldo Chaurant believes that he will not be playing regular first team football at my club and requests a transfer. I will miss his versatility – it’s the reason why he is played off the bench so much – but I grant his request. I’m not in a hurry to find a new club for him, though. However, the fact his contract expires at the end of the season might hurry me along a little.

retired_lydiadiebolt

2nd of November 2008

Primera Liga – Game 9: Sevilla v Cartagena

Our time at the top lasts only four short days as a 1-0 loss to Sevilla brings us back to earth. DaMarcus Beasley, Freddy Adu’s international teammate, scores the crucial goal on 32 minutes to separate the sides. Apart from Enzo Maresca, we don’t seem to play with any verve or passion, and we probably deserved to lose, on balance. We missed the likes of Albert Luque, Hayden Mullins, Fabricio Coloccini and Alejandro Lembo, but I can’t blame their absence for this defeat. Simply, we weren’t good enough.

Sevilla (4-4-2): Esteban; Roberto (Vanden Borre 45), Cuéllar, Naldo, Sagnol; Beasley, Jorge (Sales 61), Kahlenberg, Jesús Navas (Ismael 61); Antoñito, Delgado.

Cartagena (4-1-3-2): Saja; Bridge, Mullins (c), Gaardsøe, Ferdinand (Coloccini 52); Svärd; Downing (Chaurant 52), Maresca, Goitom; Adu (Ronaldo 68), Matteini.

Final score: Sevilla 1:0 Cartagena
MoM – Enzo Maresca

The loss pushes us back down to second, a point behind Real Madrid and having played a game more.

3rd of November 2008

Svärd and Maresca represent Cartagena in the Primera Liga Team of the Week.

5th of November 2008

Cartagena will have as many as 12 players representing their countries in friendlies in three days’ time. Fabricio Coloccini and Sebastián Saja are selected by Argentina. Oswaldo Chaurant is picked by Venezuela. Israel calls upon Dudu Awate. Enzo Maresca will play for Italy. Slovenia requires Dalibor Stevanovic. Chile picks Jorge Acuña. Sweden calls up Henok Goitom. Sebastian Svärd has the opportunity to make his international debut for Denmark. Freddu Adu will turn out for the USA. Sipho Nunens will play for South Africa. Alejandro Lembo will be named captain of Uruguay.

In the evening, Real Madrid plays its ninth game of the season against Córdoba and better our score by three goals, winning 8-0 in a terrible contest, as Córdoba had three players sent off within the space of 12 minutes in the second half. Surprisingly, Dejan Stankovic was the only multiple goal scorer for Real Madrid, scoring twice. Roberto Carlos, Raúl, Chivu, Beckham (from the penalty spot), Owen and Ballack were the other scorers. The victory puts Real Madrid four points ahead of ourselves, with a healthy goal difference that is seven goals better than our goal difference.

8th of November 2008

The international friendlies are played this evening. Alejandro Lembo captained Uruguay to a scoreless draw in Montevideo against Scotland. Enzo Maresca came on at half-time against Mexico but Italy came away with only a 0-0 draw.

Henok Goitom was a half-time substitute in Sweden’s 2-0 loss to Portugal in Lisbon. Freddy Adu set up a goal and was named man of the match despite playing 74 minutes in USA’s 3-0 win over Guadaloupe.

Saja was on the bench while Coloccini was named at right back in Argentina’s 2-0 win over Russia in Moscow. Dalibor Stevanovic was a 63rd minute substitute for Slovenia as they beat Cyprus 2-1.

Sebastian Svärd came on at half-time and scored a goal on debut as Denmark routed Bahrain 4-0. After the match, Svärd credited me with giving him the self-belief that he could make it as a top-flight footballer.

Dudu Awate kept a clean sheet for Israel but they will be disappointed, drawing 0-0 with Luxembourg.

11th of November 2008

I persuade Sebastian Svärd to commit to Cartagena for four further years. At minimum, over that span of time, he will receive £3 million. This should suffice to discourage Valencia’s interest in the midfielder.

12th of November 2008

Alejandro Lembo captains Uruguay to a 4-0 win over the Faeroe Islands.

Enzo Maresca scored Italy’s second goal on 7 minutes as they defeated Switzerland 2-0. Maresca was substituted late in the match, but did enough to be named man of the match.

Fabricio Coloccini played 54 minutes for Argentina as they beat Serbia & Montenegro 3-0. Saja was an unused substitute.

Freddy Adu was substituted at half-time by the USA as they beat Haiti 4-0.

Henok Goitom came off the bench on 73 minutes for Sweden but couldn’t stop his country losing 2-0 to Germany.

Sebastian Svärd earned his second cap for Denmark, coming off the bench on 67 minutes, as they defeated New Zealand 4-0.

Sipho Nunens got South Africa under way as they defeated Gambia 4-0, with Nunens scoring the first goal on 14 minutes.

Despite Stewart Downing playing a very good match for England, along with Wayne Bridge in defence, England threw away an early lead to lose to the Czech Republic 2-1 in London.

retired_lydiadiebolt

15th of November 2008

Primera Liga – Game 10: Espanyol v Cartagena

On a televised game, we struggle to draw 1-1 with Espanyol. Raúl Tamudo opened the scoring for Espanyol on 52 minutes, when he battled his way through our defenders and put the ball beyond the reach of Saja. It was really no more than what Espanyol deserved to that point. We picked up the pace and Maresca equalized for us on 80 minutes, heading home Hugo Viana’s cross to secure a point.

Espanyol (4-2-3-1): Biel; Marc Bertrán, Masiello, Soldevilla, Damiá (Bilic 46); Tavares, Karhan; Jorge López (Santi 45), Mokoena (De Lucas 45), Maxi RodrÃ*guez; Tamudo (c).

Cartagena (4-1-3-2): Saja; Bridge, Mullins (c), Lembo, Ferdinand; Svärd; Downing (Viana 74), Maresca, Goitom; Ronaldo (Chaurant 74), Matteini.

Final score: Espanyol 1:1 Cartagena
MoM – Wayne Bridge

16th of November 2008

After the completion of the round, the top six looks like this:

<pre class="ip-ubbcode-code-pre">Pos Team Pld Won Drn Lst For Ag G.D. Pts---------------------------------------------------------------------1st Real Madrid 10 9 0 1 30 4 +26 272nd Atletico Madrid 10 7 1 2 26 11 +15 223rd Cartagena 10 6 3 1 22 7 +15 214th Valencia 9 6 3 0 22 11 +11 215th Zaragoza 9 6 2 1 16 5 +11 206th Barcelona 9 6 2 1 22 13 +9 20</pre>

17th of November 2008

Wayne Bridge is selected in the Team of the Week.

19th of November 2008

Sebastián Saja plays for Argentina in their 1-0 World Cup qualifying match against Brazil, while Alejandro Lembo captained Uruguay to a thumping 4-0 loss at the hands of Colombia.

20th of November 2008

UEFA Cup – Phase 2, Group G, Game 2: Gorica v Cartagena

Despite having most of my South American contingent unavailable through international commitments, we still manage to comfortably dispose of the second of two East European minnows. Albert Luque returned to goalscoring form, notching up a first half hat-trick with goals on 6, 34 and 40 minutes. Enzo Maresca was also in fine form, making two goals for Luque and adding a third himself when he converted a penalty kick earned by Luque on 38 minutes. Substitute Sipho Nunens, on for Maresca in the second half, added a fifth goal on 71 minutes. We only had five on-target shots for the game but fortunately for us, they all scored! :thup: However, it was disappointing to see Dudu Awate concede a relatively easy goal to Gorica when Mavric converted a free kick from distance past the static Israeli international. Still, we top the Group on goal difference.

Gorica (4-4-2): Fourteen amateurs

Cartagena (4-1-3-2): Awate; Bridge, Mullins (c), Gaardsøe, Ferdinand; Svärd; Downing, Maresca (Nunens 58), Goitom; Luque (GarcÃ* 58), Matteini (Walton 67).

Final score: Gorica 1:5 Cartagena
MoM – Albert Luque

retired_lydiadiebolt

23rd of November 2008

Ricardo Sousa requests a transfer. As I am disappointed that he has failed to deliver on his talent, I’m more than happy to grant it. My assistant manager is given the task of finding a club that will take him off our hands.

Primera Liga – Game 11: Cartagena v Atlético Madrid

Third versus second on the ladder, and an important game for us as we need to win to keep up with pacesetter, Real Madrid, who are threatening to streak away from the rest of the pack. However, we make a streaky start ourselves, and Atlético are probably unlucky not to be ahead as soon as 3 minutes into the game, thanks to José Mari and then Taddei a couple of moments latter. However, we recover our composure and when Anton Ferdinand repels an Atlético thrust forward and finds Luque, we’re away down the left flank through Downing. The English international carries the ball into a dangerous position and finds Luque streaming into the box. Luque scores past Lastuvka’s outstretched hands into the far corner on 23 minutes. :thup:

Then Atlético danger man José Mari is sent off on 35 minutes after collecting two yellow cards and we make our numerical advantage count in the dying minutes of the half as we score two goals in the space of a couple of minutes to end the half on a high. First, Downing’s cross on 45 minutes causes headaches for the Atlético defence and the ball is headed out only as far as Svärd, who bends the ball superbly from 25 yards into the top corner of the Lastuvka net to make it 2-0 in our favour. Then in the third minute of injury time, Mullins plays a magnificent ball to the advantage of Luque, who beats the off-side trap and carries the ball into a shooting position. Inside the box, he rarely misses and he makes no mistake to make it 3-0.

The second half is somewhat of a let-down after the enjoyable first, but we don’t concede anything to our visitors and we finish the game still enjoying our 3-0 lead.

Cartagena (4-1-3-2): Saja; Bridge, Mullins (c), Coloccini, Ferdinand; Svärd; Downing (Walton 78), Maresca (Viana 45), Goitom (Chaurant 45); Luque, Matteini.

Atlético Madrid (4-4-2): Lastuvka; Fernando Navarro, Førsund, Pablo (c), Molinero; Taddei (Benayoun 73), Luccin, Bystron, José Mari (s/o 35); Arizmendi (Nery 61), Edú (Diego Tristán 61).

Final score: Cartagena 3:0 Atlético Madrid
MoM – Stewart Downing

The result pushes us into second place behind Real Madrid, but the league leader holds a comfortable six point cushion over us. Valencia is equal with us on points but has an inferior goal difference.

24th of November 2008

Sebastian Svärd and Stewart Downing represent Cartagena in the Primera Liga Team of the Week.

26th of November 2008

We concede second spot in the league to Barcelona, who comfortably defeat relegation-threatened Cádiz 3-0 to leapfrog into second. They had a game up their sleeve and we have now played the same number of games.

27th of November 2008

UEFA Cup – Phase 2, Group G, Game 3: Cartagena v Sporting Lisbon

At the recommendation of my head physio, I rest Coloccini and Downing and draft in Lembo and Adu in their place. Nevertheless, we turn in a fairly lacklustre performance against our Portuguese opponent but still secure the important victory and another three points. As it turns out, results go our way and we also secure qualification from the Group. Freddy Adu was the architect for our single goal, playing a superb ball cutting our the defence completely for the advantage of Matteini who tucks it away neatly. We keep our opponent on the back foot throughout the 90 minutes but we don’t add to the scoresheet.

Cartagena (4-1-3-2): Saja; Bridge, Mullins (c), Lembo, Ferdinand; Svärd; Adu (Viana 52), Maresca (Chaurant 82), Goitom; Luque, Matteini.

Sporting Lisbon (4-4-2): Ricardo; Humberto, Beto (c), Enakarshire, Araújo; Tello, Krause (Ajide 61), Rogério, Ribeiro (Zé Mário 70); Liédson, Braga (Djaló 45).

Final score: Cartagena 1:0 Sporting Lisbon
MoM – Freddy Adu

retired_lydiadiebolt

29th of November 2008

Ahead of our crunch league game against Villarreal tomorrow, I can hardly afford anyone to skip training. So when Sipho Nunens decides not to turn up, I hit him with a week’s fine, which he accepts.

Two important fixtures are played today. Real Madrid extends its lead with a 3-1 win over Sevilla in Seville, while Barcelona edges out Valencia 3-2 at La Mestalla. That allows Barcelona to go five points clear of us, but we play tomorrow. We need the win to keep up with the leading frontrunners but against a club in sixth, only two points below us, it’s not going to be easy.

30th November 2008

Primera Liga – Game 12: Villarreal v Cartagena

I restore Stewart Downing to the first-team lineup in place of Freddy Adu, while Goitom’s position is taken by Chaurant in the former’s absence through suspension. We make another lightning start to the game when some neat build-up work by Chaurant and Matteini culminates in Luque firing home from inside the box, despite the attentions of two Villarreal defenders, on 8 minutes. However, our lead is cancelled out by old boy Javier Araújo, who takes advantage of some slack marking at a corner to bury Armando’s corner past Saja. The game remains in the balance until 42 minutes when Luque and Downing play the old one-two inside the Villarreal box and before any defender could react, Luque has his second goal! :thup: From then on, it’s a cake walk as Luque and Svärd combine to set up Maresca cleverly on 44 minutes and the Italian international doesn’t miss from point-blank range.

So we enjoy a comfortable lead at the break but Luque makes the points sure when on 57 minutes he toys with the Villarreal defence until he is in a position to score past Reina, and he does so expertly to claim another hat-trick. On 80 minutes, Svärd plays a superb ball through the heart of the Villarreal defence to Luque, who turns one defender inside-out and buries it past Reina for his fourth goal of the game! :cool: The man is unstoppable! The match finishes 5-1 in our favour and Luque is the hero.

Villarreal (4-4-2): Reina; Armando, Lourde (RodrÃ*guez 58), EdmÃ*lson, Jiranek; Araújo, Arteta, Andresen (c) (Rivas 70), Okan (Fritz 58); Elmander, Marica.

Cartagena (4-1-3-2): Saja; Bridge, Mullins (c), Lembo, Ferdinand; Svärd; Downing (Viana 68), Maresca, Chaurant; Luque (Ronaldo 80), Matteini.

Final score: Villarreal 1:5 Cartagena
MoM – Albert Luque

After the game, I single out Luque, Downing and Maresca for special praise, as I believe that all three of them have been instrumental in our recent upturn in form. However, by the time I get to Maresca, the jaded press are starting to look at me a little bit cynically.

The boss, however, is delighted with our big win.

retired_perilousfaith

Great read! Took a while to read through it all though!

KUTVGW! :thup: