Last week you had a tale of success. This week you will have a tale of heartbreak, I’m afraid.
At the end of Season 3, my team AFC RSI had secured their survival in Division 1 with a mighty comeback in the final few days. At the start of Season 4 however, some things had to change - for a start I was without a striker. Hmm. This wouldn't do at all.
Whilst I still had Danny Welbeck to provide some creativity, I was missing several other players following end of season departures. However, this was at the time the Gold packs went live... guess who had to test them? I bought myself a Gold pack and was pleased to see that a) it worked, and b) I got a good player from the four in the listing: Didier Drogba. Whilst not a fan of Drogba as a player, he fitted my formation very well so he was snapped up. I finally got a lucky break on the Silver packs too and got Barcelona's Sergio Busquet at a very reasonable price to plug my central midfield.
Even then it would be my seasoned players who would prove decisive in many a match.
This new blood saw my side return to a similar level towards the end of Season 3 (85) and for once I started on the front foot. AFC RSI carved up a series of teams to go fourth in the table at one point. In time they would slide back down to finish a comfortable tenth, still managing to display their own unique, strange brand of football by losing to all the teams destined for relegation, yet inflicting championship changing wins upon the runaway group of league leaders.
This story, however, is more about the Cup.
Ah yes, the Cup. With Natchai participating in the KONAMI Cup, the Rising Star Cup was up for grabs and I wanted to make it mine. So losing the first three qualifiers wasn't a good start. However, a recovery by winning the last three saw RSI just sneak through. After this though, I got the cup run I wanted so badly at the end of Season 3; we simply tore through the opposition, FC PARMA likely wishing they had stayed in Italy for the quarter finals where they lost 8-0 on aggregate.
Suddenly I had to leave the game for a couple of days due to an illness - my team were left to fend for themselves. Would they make it through a tough semi-final without their guiding light? They did, you know - both PES Community Managers were in Cup finals!
My opponents were FC Marco who were clearly no pushover - a Last 16 victory of 9-2 showed that. The referee blew his whistle and the match began with lots of end-to-end action and several near misses. Each side had a goal disallowed and by the time the first half ended Marco had taken a slender 1-0 lead.
AFC RSI equalised in the second half after a period of intense pressure. However, FC Marco would reclaim the lead soon after with a well-crafted effort. With twenty-five minutes remaining, I was pleased to see my team rallied and threw everything at their opposition. Shots flew into the box from all over the place in a period of play where only a quick breakaway and skimming shot over the bar broke up the offensive.
Sadly for me though, FC Marco’s defence put up a fantastic last stand and the match ended at 2-1.
We’d lost.
Not for us the glory this season, not for us the accolades and the shiny cup appearing in the AFC RSI trophy cabinet. No, that space would remain darkened for now, but I did have one thing; the knowledge of a job well done. The team had performed better than expected this season and, only due to lose a couple of players, all things being equal we would be in a good position for Season 5.
But then, things are rarely equal in football…
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