When our simulation concluded at the end of the 2010/11 season, Arsenal were crowned Premier League champions for the first time since the inaugural campaign of this experiment. The last of the international action was in the Asian Cup, which saw China defeat North Korea in the 2004 final, and Japan beat Indonesia four years later. A little look at their squad shows Pita Kalotong (Key Attributes – Marking 18, Positioning 15, Teamwork 19) marshalling the defence, and Richard Iwai (Agility & Strength 20, Determination 18, and Finishing 13) grabbing the goals up top. The African Cup of Nations provided plenty of diversity with a different winner each time – Cameroon winning it in 2002, followed by South Africa, Senegal, Ghana, and finally Algeria in 2010 – and despite it seeming logical for Australia to win the OFC Nations Cup every year (they left in 2006 in real life), they failed to win it in 20, when New Zealand and then Vanuatu were triumphant. His key attributes lay in his Strength, Finishing, Off the Ball and Stamina that all come in at 20.
Missing from the defeated side was a 15-year old Radamel Falcao, who come July 2009 had made his way to FC Koln, where he’d scored 48 goals in 72 games. Over in South America, it was routine stuff in 2005, 2007 (both Brazil) and 2009 (Argentina) but a US side including Brad Friedel, Claudio Reyna, Landon Donovan, DaMarcus Beasley and Cobi Jones, beat Colombia 1-0 in the final. A wonderful achievement for the likes of Jussi Jaaskelainen and Mikael Forssell – overcoming the Super Greeks is no easy task. Playing in front of a sold-out Hampden Park, the minnows managed to beat Greece by the same score-line to become European Champions.
Having advanced by the skin of their teeth in a group with Ukraine, Czech Republic and Scotland, Finland got a kind quarter-final draw against Bulgaria, winning 1-0, before overcoming Holland 3-2. The real shock in international football was to be found in the European Championships where, after Italy had dispatched Spain in the final of Euro 2004, the continent’s finest head to Scotland for the next edition. As of June 2011, he’d made just 6 international appearances. It wasn’t even our friend Tsigalko carrying his country either.
They could have made it three on the bounce if it wasn’t for the mid-decade rise of tiny Belarus, who, in 2006, knocked out the hosts and went on to reach the final where they lost 2-1. It was a good ten years for Italy in our parallel universe, as they won the World Cup in 20, to take their total to five, beating Brazil and Ukraine in the finals. It’s safe to say there was some variance between real life and what our little test provided us with. We loaded up a new game, selected a few leagues (England, France, Germany, Italy, Holland, Spain, Portugal), and went on holiday for ten years. If you’re struggling to get Tsigalko in because of those pesky work permits, there’s always Joao Paiva to get you started.īut what happens if you don’t do anything? That’s what we decided to do. Get the green-haired rock alongside Isaac Okoronkwo, sit Kim Kallstrom in front of them, and go from there. Cherno Samba is at Millwall, Maxim Tsigalko is at Dinamo Minsk, and Taribo West is available on a free.