ZeekLTK's Madden World Cup; Playing as: England

[ZeekLTK]

The History*
I love watching sports played on the international level. The World Cup and the Olympics are the best, in my opinion at least. But there's NO world competition for football! My friends and I were talking about that one day and we thought it would be cool to use the create-a-team feature on Madden to make a franchise with countries. So we picked 32 countries (mostly major ones, we tried to spread it around, there's 4 from Africa, 4 from Asia, 4 from South America, 4 from North/Central America, and the rest from Europe/Middle East/Pacific.) Basically we attempted to copy the uniforms from what countries used in the World Cup, and then tried to make them based on that nation's flag if they weren't in the world cup, so it really didn't take us long to make the teams. We did a simulated fantasy draft and included all the historic players in it just to mix it up. Well, actually "we" never did the draft. My friends helped make about 10-15 teams and then lost interest in the thing, so I finished the rest myself and just did a "solo franchise" with them, since I had already gone to all the trouble to make the teams and whatnot. I am currently in Season 3 of the franchise, and here is a breakdown of how it has gone so far:

I started my "solo franchise" as none other than Team USA! The USA rampaged through the Central Division which was made up of USA, Russia, Germany, Sweden, and Brazil and finished with an impressive 15-1 record, the only flaw being a 35-38 loss in Moscow to Team Russia in Week 11. However the United States over estimated themselves in the Elimination Round and lost their first match to Cameroon which had played them tough early in Week 2 and were left with an empty feeling and a 15-2 record. Mexico went on to defeat Holland in the Championship and the first ever Madden World Cup went to Mexico.

Being embarrased that he had let down his country, the coach resigned from Team USA and took a job with Team Argentina who had finished in last place with a 3-13 record. He quickly scoured the country to find some new talent and made a lot of roster changes. Argentina started their season strong with two wins against Greece and China, both in Buenos Aires. They finally had to go on the road and lost a tough one in Iraq. They went back home and were beaten pretty bad by Team Canada knocking them back to 2-2. A road win finally came in Week 5 at Athens as Argentina swept the season series with fellow South Division rival Greece. Argentina lost their next contest in a tough match against Costa Rica falling to 3-3. Meanwhile, division rival Australia had marched out to a big division lead with a record of 6-0! As the season went on Argentina slowly gained on Australia and by the time they met in Week 12 the Aussie's record was 9-3 while Argentina had worked up to 7-5. Australia beat Argentina in a very close game. Australia would go on to lose their next 3 while Argentina would win their 2 of their next 3 setting up a Week 16 meeting in Buenos Aires between 9-6 Argentina and 10-5 Australia. Argentina won a thriller to win the division with a 10-6 record! The win would be even bigger because it gave Argentina homefield advantage in the Elimination Round where they would face none other than... Australia! In another classic game, Argentina knocked out their new arch rivals to advance to the 2nd round where they found themselves against a very tough Irish team. Ireland had beaten Australia easily earlier in the season but it didn't matter because Argentina prevailed to advance to a semifinal match up against China. Argentina's defense stole the show in Beijing with 3 turnovers as Argentina rolled passed China and into the championship game where they would face Germany. In the most exciting game of the season, Argentina upset the heavily favored Europeans and won 17-14 to claim the 2nd Madden World Cup!

For Season 3 I found two teams that tied for last place, both with 5-11 records. These teams were England and Italy. I tossed a coin and England won so that's where I'd go for the next season. I thought I'd have to make some drastic roster changes with the British like I did in Argentina but was plesantly surprised to find that this team was full of talent. In fact it had multiple all-stars, most impressive were the WR and TE. I ended up making very few changes. The only ones I did were to bring in 1 new WR, a new RG, and 2 new defensive linemen. Having this much talent, I wondered how the British had gone 5-11 in BOTH previous seasons. So I decided to see what I could do with Team England in the thrid season of the Madden World Cup!

*Note: This was all written in 2002, during the actual World Cup. This is also being played with Madden 2002 because it's on that game... and Madden 2003 and 2004 both suck ass!

[ZeekLTK]

World Cup
------------------------------
World Cup I: Mexico City: Mexico vs Holland; Winner: Mexico (13-11)
World Cup II: Madrid: Argentina vs Germany; Winner: Argentina (17-14)

Upcoming Events:
World Cup III: Kinshasa
World Cup IV: Athens
World Cup V: Warsaw
World Cup VI: Cairo



Standings
-------------------------------
Year I:
Mexico* 14-5(11-5)[4-4]
Holland* 13-6(11-5)[7-3]
Spain* 12-7(10-6)[5-3]
Cameroon* 11-8(9-7)[5-3]
United States* 15-2(15-1)[7-1]
Germany* 12-6(11-5)[4-4]
Poland* 11-6(11-5)[5-3]
Canada* 10-8(9-7)[6-4]
India* 10-7(10-6)[5-3]
Uruguay* 9-8(9-7)[6-2]
Israel* 9-8(9-7)[4-4]
Costa Rica 9-7(9-7)[4-4]
Russia 9-7(9-7)[5-3]
Thailand 8-7-1(8-7-1)[4-3-1]
France* 8-9(8-8)[4-4]
Nigeria 8-8(8-8)[4-4]
Ireland 8-8(8-8)[5-3]
China 8-8(8-8)[4-4]
Japan 7-9(7-9)[3-5]
Venezuela 7-9(7-9)[3-5]
Sweden 7-9(7-9)[2-6]
Italy 7-9(7-9)[4-4]
Greece 6-10(6-10)[5-5]
Australia 6-10(6-10)[4-4]
Portugal 6-10(6-10)[3-5]
Brazil 6-10(6-10)[2-6]
England 5-11(5-11)[5-5]
Egypt 5-11(5-11)[2-6]
Norway 5-11(5-11)[4-6]
Iraq 4-11-1(4-11-1)[1-6-1]
Argentina 3-13(3-13)[3-7]
* Made Playoffs

Awards:
MVP - USA
Off. Player of Year - USA
Def. Player of Year - Holland
Off. Rookie of Year - Ireland
Def. Rookie of Year - India
Best Coach - USA
Best QB - USA
Best RB - USA
Best WR - Norway
Best OL - Holland
Best DL - Portugal
Best LB - Holland
Best DB - Germany
Best K - Egypt


Standings
-------------------------------
Year II:
Argentina* 14-6(10-6)[4-2]
Germany* 13-6(11-5)[6-0]
China* 11-7(10-6)[4-2]
Nigeria* 11-8(9-7)[4-2]
Venezuela* 11-6(11-5)[5-1]
Ireland* 11-6(11-5)[4-2]
Norway* 11-7(10-6)[3-3]
Uruguay* 10-8(9-7)[3-3]
Australia* 10-7(10-6)[3-3]
India* 10-7(10-6)[4-2]
Costa Rica* 9-8(9-7)[3-3]
Iraq 9-7(9-7)[2-4]
Mexico 9-7(9-7)[3-3]
Poland* 8-8-1(8-7-1)[2-3-1]
France 8-8(8-8)[3-3]
Spain 8-8(8-8)[4-2]
Cameroon 8-8(8-8)[4-2]
Japan 7-9(7-9)[2-4]
Sweden 7-9(7-9)[3-3]
Egypt 7-9(7-9)[3-3]
Portugal 7-9(7-9)[2-4]
Greece 7-9(7-9)[3-3]
Thailand 7-9(7-9)[2-4]
Brazil 7-9(7-9)[1-5]
Israel 6-9-1(6-9-1)[3-2-1]
Zaire 6-10(6-10)[2-4]
Holland 6-10(6-10)[4-2]
Canada 6-10(6-10)[3-3]
United States 6-10(6-10)[2-4]
Russia 6-10(6-10)[1-5]
Italy 5-11(5-11)[1-5]
England 5-11(5-11)[2-4]
* Made Playoffs

Awards:
MVP - Japan
Off. Player of Year - Japan
Def. Player of Year - Germany
Off. Rookie of Year - Uruguay
Def. Rookie of Year - Mexico
Best Coach - Ireland
Best QB - Brazil
Best RB - Japan
Best WR - Brazil
Best OL - Germany
Best DL - China
Best LB - Germany
Best DB - Uruguay
Best K - Egypt

[ZeekLTK]

I'll be picking up in the middle of Season 3, during Week 12. Here is the current global picture of the league:

Season Results:
England: 15, Canada: 13
England: 28, Portugal: 6
England: 27, Holland: 17
England: 10, Norway: 9
England: 35, Zaire: 14
England: 27, Costa Rica: 20
England: 33, Norway: 24
Italy: 27, England: 24
Nigeria: 31, England: 28
England: 15, Israel: 13
Canada: 23, England: 7
Current Record: 8-3

Remaining Games
vs Holland
vs Ireland
at Spain
vs Egypt
vs France

Group A
North:
1. England (8-3)
2. Norway (6-5)
3. Canada (5-6)
4. Holland (3-8)

South:
1. Greece (8-3)
2. Argentina (7-4)
3. Australia (5-6)
4. Zaire (4-7)

East:
1. Poland (6-5)
2. Japan (4-7)
3. China (3-8)
4. Israel (3-8)

West:
1. Italy (10-1)
2. Spain (5-6)
3. Ireland (4-7)
4. Egypt (3-8)

Group B
North:
1. Sweden (7-4)
2. United States (6-5)
3. Russia (6-5)
4. Germany (5-6)

South:
1. Brazil (6-5)
2. Venezuela (6-5)
3. Uruguay (4-6-1)
4. Mexico (3-8)

East:
1. Cameroon (9-1-1)
2. Thailand (7-4)
3. India (5-6)
4. Iraq (5-6)

West:
1. France (7-4)
2. Portugal (6-5)
3. Nigeria (6-5)
4. Costa Rica (3-8)

[ZeekLTK]

England Finishes Divisional Play on High Note
London - After suffering their first divisional loss of the season to Canada last week, England came out tonight on Monday Night Football looking to redeem themselves against Holland. The Dutch had managed to make it to the Championship game two years ago, only to be defeated by Mexico, who also happened to be hosting the event. However, this season Holland has been less than stellar, and are already out of the Championship picture with a dreaded 3-8 record, tied for worst in the World. Meanwhile, England has been on the rise. After going a combined 10-22 in the first two seasons, the British are now making their run, coming into the game with an 8-3 record on the season, but having lost 3 of their last 4. With losses by other division foes Canada and Norway this week, it was a prime opportunity to get even further ahead in the division.

But things didn't start out very well. The Dutch defense forced a turnover and quickly went up 3-0. But the British regrouped and battled back, scoring a touchdown in the 2nd quarter to take a 7-3 lead. Holland would rally late in the quarter to cut the lead to 7-6 before half time and make it an interesting game... until the 3rd quarter that is. The British knew that if they let Holland hang around, there could be trouble. So England came firing right out of the gates and swarmed the Dutch QB, forcing two turnovers in the 3rd quarter, both resulted in scores to make it a 21-6 game and seemingly put it out of reach for Holland. The Dutch managed to fight back in the 4th, scoring their first touchdown of the night to make it 21-12, and then they converted on the 2-point conversion to make it look like a ball game. But the score was closer than the game actually was, as England shut down any further attempts by Holland to score, and worked the clock to eventually run it out.

With the win England is now 3 games ahead of the 2nd place team in the division, Norway, with only 4 games to play. The winner of each division will automatically advance to the next round, along with two other 'wildcards', to play in a four round elimination tournament, with the final round being the World Cup Championship. The World Cup Finals will be hosted by Zaire this year. The British will now prepare for a battle with their rivals, the Irish, next week. Ireland suffered a tough loss to Germany this week and will be the third straight English opponent with a losing record (4-8). In fact, the only team remaining on England's schedule that has a winning record is France (8-4), who will come to London for a match up in Week 16.

Week 12 Notable Scores
Divisional:
England: 21, Holland: 14
France: 42, Canada: 17
Egypt: 26, Norway: 13
Global:
Spain: 34, Italy: 24
India: 28, Cameroon: 21
Poland: 30, Argentina: 24 OT
United States: 28, Costa Rica: 21
Germany: 29, Ireland: 26

Group A North Standings
1. England (9-3)
2. Norway (6-6)
3. Canada (5-7)
4. Holland (3-9)

[HopefulHoosier]

Very interesting! I just wish you had called Holland 'Netherlands' or 'the Netherlands'.

But whatever :)

[fatcheerleader]

If the World Cup is every four years, shouldn't you be starting this dynasty up again?!

[laugh]

[ZeekLTK]

lol how did you find this?

Actually I might just put it in again...

[fatcheerleader]

lol how did you find this?

Actually I might just put it in again...

I bookmarked it a long time ago and since the threads I regularly visit aren't as popular lately I have started to browse the archives. And, I love wacky ideas like this one! I remember being completely confused by it the first time I read it as I just glanced over it and couldn't figure it out. It was also before I realized what people were doing on here with posting their dynasties so it was twice as confusing! [laugh]

[ZeekLTK]

Long Delay Too Long For England
London - The season took a long break inbetween games, as often happens in World Cup Qualifying. Sometimes that can have an adverse affect on some teams. Was it the case today? It's hard to think it wasn't. But then again, anything can happen in a rivalry game, so that could explain it to. Explain what? 4-8 Ireland coming into London and beating 9-3 England.

The game started atrociously for both sides. After the first quarter there had been less than 50 yards of total offense produced by both sides. With the half winding down the only scores of the game had been an England touchdown set up by an interception returned inside the 10 yard line and an Ireland safety. Both teams had also missed a field goal too.

At 7-2, with the clock winding down on the half and Ireland still spinning their tires at midfield, most English supporters would figure the lead was safe. It wasn't. Ireland's quarterback was under pressure, about to be sacked, and heaved a ball down field. England had about 3 defenders in the area, but somehow the Irish receiver got his hands on it. Even worse, he broke free from the pack and scooted all the way into the endzone to give the Irish a 9-7 lead at half time!

At half time there had been just 12 yards rushing - 13 by England and -1 by Ireland. That was doubled on the first play of the second half when Ireland's running back caught England cold and went for 25 yards on the play. He rushed for another big gain on the next play and then the Irish completed a pass to put themselves inside English territory! At last, the English defense recovered from that late touchdown and stood up to Ireland's advance, holding them to a field goal. Shortly after it was another Irish field goal to put Ireland up 15-7 thanks to an interception.

England tried to rally back. Down by 8 entering the fourth quarter, the squad rallied down the field and cut into the deficit with a field goal to make it 10-15. Another big defensive stop saw England marching with 2 minutes left in the game. A big completion put England inside the 30, but then Ireland came up huge on defense, with 2 consecutive sacks to make it 4th and 33 from about midfield with only 15 seconds left. England went for the hail mary, but it was batted down and Ireland stormed Wembly to celebrate the huge upset over their rival neighbors!

Week 13 Notable Scores
Divisional:
Ireland: 15, England: 10
Norway: 16, Canada: 9
Holland: 33, Poland: 20
Global:
United States: 27, Russia: 15
Cameroon: 31, France: 21
Italy: 37, Sweden: 21
Argentina: 30, Venezuela: 27
India: 21, Thailand: 17
Portugal: 50, Germany: 41
Spain: 14, Egypt: 10

*Italy clinches 1st place in their division

Group A North Standings
1. England (9-4)
2. Norway (7-6)
3. Canada (5-8)
4. Holland (4-9)

[fatcheerleader]

United States: 27, Russia: 15
Cameroon: 31, France: 21


USA avenges its previous loss + frogs lose = good day!

[ZeekLTK]

England Skid Continues in Spain
Madrid - England started the season 7-0 and have since lost 4 of their last 6 heading into this week's encounter with Spain. The Spanish entered the game on a 3 game winning streak, including a victory over Italy 2 weeks ago. With two teams heading in opposite directions, this game did little overall to change that.

England jumped off to an early lead in the first quarter, but Spain finally found their legs and tied it in the second quarter. Just before half time Spain fumbled a punt return and England recovered. The field position was good enough to help England to their second score of the game and it was 14-7 at half time.

In the second half England were driving to put the game out of reach when a holding call nullified a long gain. England would have been at least in field goal range without the call, but ended up punting. This gave Spain momentum and they marched down the field to tie the game. On the ensuing kick return Coles fumbled the ball, Spain recovered, and then took the lead shortly after.

All looked lost for England until the 4th quarter when the team finally put a drive together. At this point Spain had outgained them 260-96 in terms of offensive yardage, but with just over a minute to go England tied the game with a 35 yard touchdown pass. All they had to do was hold Spain for 70 seconds to force overtime.

They couldn't. Spain drove right back down the field and got to the 26 yard line with about 24 seconds left. England stood firm and pushed them back to the 28 on the next play, but the clock had wound all the way down to 4 seconds when Spain used their timeout. The Spanish kicked the field goal, as time expired, and stole the victory from England. Italy have already clinched Spain's division, but Spain are still hopeful for a wildcard slot, which they could get if they can beat Ireland and Germany in their final two matches.

England are still in front in their division, and will clinch first with a victory over Egypt next week, or if Norway fails to win against lowly Holland.

Week 13 Notable Scores
Divisional:
Spain: 24, England: 21
Egypt: 45, Holland: 31
France: 27, Norway: 6
Canada: 34, Japan: 10
Global:
Argentina: 13, Australia: 12
Ireland: 25, United States: 24
Iraq: 31, Cameroon: 26
Portugal: 19, Nigeria: 14
Italy: 21, Germany: 10
Venezuela: 37, Brazil: 27
India: 24, China: 12
Greece: 31, Zaire: 26

*Greece clinches division


Group A North Standings
1. England (9-5)
2. Norway (7-7)
3. Canada (6-8)
4. Holland (4-10)

[ZeekLTK]

England Wins Division
London - England's losing streak finally came to an end at home this week against Egypt. The Egyptians had beaten Holland the week before, but England were determined to end this nonsense they've endured during the last few weeks. After forcing the Egyptians to a 3 and out, it took just 2 plays for England to take the lead with a 71 yard touchdown run.

Surprisingly, and much to the fans dismay, Egypt had an answer. In fact, the game took a horrible turn as Egypt scored on a 49 yard pass, sacked England twice, and then scored again on a 14 yard pass. "Not again" reverberated through the stands and the sideline.

England did right the ship, though it took them a bit of time. With just over a minute to go in the first half, the team mounted a drive that was capped off with another touchdown run, this time from only 9 yards out, to tie the game at half time. Then, in the third quarter England took the opening possession all the way down the field in an extended drive to take back the lead with a field goal.

By the fourth quarter it was 17-14. England pulled away for good midway through the quarter with a 37 yard touchdown, then picked off a pass on the ensuing possession to add insult to injury for Egypt. England ran the clock down to 8 seconds and then turned the ball over to Egypt on the 15 yard line. Expecting Egypt to kneel respectively and end the game, England were caught off guard by a bomb from Egypt that went for an 85 yard touchdown. England didn't even bother to stay on the field for the PAT, as they headed off to the locker room to celebrate.

Week 13 Notable Scores
Divisional:
England: 24, Egypt: 21
Norway: 37, Holland: 27
Canada: 16, Greece: 14
Global:
United States: 47, Germany: 17
Spain: 24, Ireland: 10
Iraq: 20, India: 13
Poland: 27, China: 24
Uruguay: 24, Argentina: 17
Portugal: 31, Sweden: 21
Venezuela: 35, Cameroon: 32

*England, Poland, USA, Venezuela, Cameroon, and Portugal clinch divisions
*Argentina and Spain clinch wild cards

Group A North Standings
1. England (10-5)
2. Norway (8-7)
3. Canada (7-8)
4. Holland (4-11)

[ZeekLTK]

France Fighting for Final Play-off Spot
Paris - All six play-off teams from Group A have been determined: Italy, Greece, England, Spain, Argentina, and Poland will make up the field on that side of the bracket. Meanwhile, in Group B, only Cameroon, Portugal, United States, and Venezuela are sure to go through. Coming down to the last weekend, there are two spots left and three teams in the running for them.

France, Thailand, and Iraq will all be fighting for the last two spots this week in their respective games.

Here in Paris, France hosts England, who qualified last week with a victory over Egypt. Thailand will travel to South America to face Venezuela, who also clinched their spot last week with a surprising victory over Cameroon. Iraq have a less daunting task, traveling to Mexico.

If, somehow, all three teams lose, Nigeria and India would have an outside chance of qualifying if they can beat Canada and Uruguay, respectively. Though, even if this happens, it comes down to tiebreakers and may still see these teams miss out.

Up for grabs elsewhere in Group B is home field advantage throughout the play-offs. Italy have already clinched this in Group A, but Cameroon will have to defeat the United States to secure their home stand. If the Africans fail to do so, Portugal will have a chance to earn home field advantage if they can beat Holland. However, if Portugal loses, Cameroon will hold home field regardless of their outcome thanks to their draw against Uruguay earlier in the season. The USA-Cameroon game should be heated, as Cameroon were the side that knocked the USA out of the first World Cup after the USA had gone 15-1 during that qualifying season.

In Group A, the only real thing left to fight for is second place. Greece currently hold the advantage, but if they slip up against China, England could jump ahead of them and earn the BYE by defeating (and most likely eliminating) France.

Week 16's Important Games
France at England
Thailand at Venezuela
Iraq at Mexico
Cameroon at United States
Holland at Portugal
Greece at China
Canada at Nigeria
India at Uruguay