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Maldives' World Cup Glory - Season 8

Written by TomG123

A guide to the Maldives' fantastic World Cup Qualifying, how/what/why we did certain things - here's all to know.

We may not have qualified, but we put up a fantastic fight. We came into the World Cup Qualifying (WCQs) in Group 1 as the 6th seed in a group of 7, my initial thoughts were that this was going to be a long tough season struggling to get a single point. However, this is the story of the 22 points!

Gameweek 1: Chinese Taipei 3 - 1 Dhivehi Raajje (298834869)

We came into this match knowing we faced Nicaragua at home the following week, and that was the game I was concentrating on. I opted for a 532 Counter Attack (CA) on a PIC, with 2 Wing Attacks. Admittedly, this was the worst game I played, but it was my first - and a great learning curve.

Gameweek 2: Dhivehi Raajje 1 - 0 Nicaragua (298834872)

When I saw the schedule of fixtures, this was the game I knew I had to win, if I didn't I'd consider my regime a failure. I decided on a 451 formation with Mots. With 3 strong defense sectors, and a reasonably strong wing. I played my SP taker as a forward at that decision came good as he netted a Free-kick after 74 minutes.

Gameweek 3: Dhivehi Raajje 0 - 4 Deutschland (298834873)

What can you say about this game? Well firstly I was honoured to play against the World Champions. I knew we had no chance of a win, so I decided to play 550 Press, PIC and Pray! I was saddened that we conceded 4 goals, but I guess that's where Germany's speciality bonus comes into play.

Gameweek 4: Northern Ireland 0 - 1 Dhivehi Raajje (298834877)

This was a huge game, the previous week the Irish manager quit and dropped the squad, meaning they had very low Team Spirit (TS). This was my chance of 3 more points, against a NI team who still had 20yo's. I played similar to the game against Nicaragua - but on a PIN. Once again our SP taker Gayoom scored, and we switched to 550 to see out the last few minutes. This game was huge for our momentum, we had 6 points after 4 games and that was important for me.

Gameweek 5: Lietuva 4 - 2 Dhivehi Raajje (298834881)

We had no chance of getting close to Lithuania's Midfield in this game, so I knew the CA was the best option. In the end I opted for a 532, and on a PIC. This CA was set up much better, and I think we deserved a point in this game, so was upset we couldn't capitalise on a brief 2-1 lead.

Gameweek 6: Dhivehi Raajje 1 - 0 South Africa (298834885)

Perhaps my finest moment as U20 coach. I secretly targetted this game for a few weeks, I knew SA would underestimate us, and they could not tell I would Mots this game (on a 451 formation) - I had a free week for TS to recover, so it was a no-brainer for me. Their coach actually offered me a PIC deal earlier in the week, so he was desperate for this win and would not sacrifice TS for it - I politely refused saying I wanted to get into no such shenanigans. Come match day I knew we had a chance should we have some luck - which duly came as we scored an Unpredictable SE. We went into the half-way stage looking strong with 9 points, I was 'Dancing in the Streets' at this point!

Gameweek 8: Dhivehi Raajje 1 - 1 Chinese Taipei (298834891)

During Gameweek 7 we had a bye, so therefore we move onto Gameweek 8. Although I didn't admit it, this was one of the hardest games for me to decide on what to do. I had several options, CA or not? Use TS or not? In the end I compromised on a defensive 451 on a PIN. Luck was once more on our side as we scored an 84th minute equaliser through the middle, despite having next to no attack there! We had 10 points after 7 games at this point.

Gameweek 9: Nicaragua 0 - 3 Dhivehi Raajje (298834892)

The reason why I was so confused about what to do in the Taiwan game is because I knew we could achieve 3 points here. In the end it was quite an easy victory - we played 352 AOW on a PIC. We had a strong wingsand a SP taker so I knew we could score goals with enough MF. This was a significant moment because it was the first point(s) we had achieved not playing 451! 13 points after 8 games, and we were looking good!

Gameweek 10: Deutschland 1 - 0 Dhivehi Raajje (298834894)

I went into this game knowing I had absolutely nothing to lose. Once again I opted for a 550 formation and on a PIC. This is another close one to my finest moment, losing 1-0 at the home of the World Champions is a fine effort, and we may have been unlucky not to score a SP goal!

Gameweek 11: Dhivehi Raajje 3 - 0 Northern Ireland (298834898)

By now, Ireland had switched to a Golden Generation. So the question was not winning this game, but how to win on a PIC. I opted for a 352 formation with 2 Strong Wings. These prevailed and we secured a 3-0 victory and most importantly going into our last games with good TS as we PIC'ed. We now had 16 points, and had two tough games ahead.

Gameweek 12: Dhivehi Raajje 3 - 0 Lietuva (298834902)

During the week before this game, Lithuania also changed generations. So I knew if I wanted a chance in the next game against South Africa - which was also our last. Then I had to win on a PIC. I played a similar way to the Ireland game, and we came away with a 3-0 victory and very nearly max TS. With 19 points on the board, the goal now was to break 20!

Gamewek 13: South Africa 1 - 4 Dhivehi Raajje (298834904)

This was our last match, and during the week South Africa too changed generations. I was hoping they wouldn't because I wanted a challenge, I knew we could beat them even with their 20yo's. In the end, their decision made it an easy victory, we won 4-1 and finished our 12 games with 22 points. A fine achievement for such a small nation.

Gameweek 14 concluded the end of the WCQs, and we had no game in this week. Here's how the table ended - (/World/WorldCup/Default.aspx?cupId=149&season=43&matchround=1&cupSeriesUnitId=677)

So what happens now? Well the future is bright for the Maldives U20, the new generation is in my opinion better than those who won 22 points. Qualification may be optimistic, but with a 4th seeding I don't see why we can't have a go!

For now, we play friendlies for the next season. Feel free to write about anything related here: (14506192.1)

Thanks for reading, I hope it can inspire you.

Tom
Maldives U20 Coach