I just had one of my favourite online experiences ever with this game.
Up to division 6 on online divisions, and I was struggling with my usual team of Everton, with only 2 wins and a draw in the first 8 matches. Looking at the league, I needed 2000 points total to stay up, or 679.5 in each of my last two games. The closest team I could find was Morocco, who get 680 per win, exactly what I needed.
I wasn't holding out much hope given my current form, but my first match was against Malaga. I was definitely still the underdog, but after expecting Real Madrid or Barcelona I was fairly happy with the draw. I normally play with a standard 4-4-2, but decided to stick with Morocco's default 4-5-1 as I expected to be under a lot of of pressure.
After a fairly strong opening 10 minutes I found myself under the cosh and ended up conceding. After failing to create much in the first half, I switched back to my standard 4-4-2 in the second half in the hope of creating more.
The strategy didn't work at first, and the first 20 minutes of the second half was all Malaga. But at 77 minutes I found myself on the break from a corner, and after a great cross and header it was 1-1. There was a chance!
Malaga seemed rattled, and the last 10 minutes was all Morocco. With just 5 minutes left I found myself out on the wing again, and after a run to the near post the striker heads the ball towards goal. Save! But only deflected to the defender, and in what seemed to last an eternity, the ball bounced backwards and trickled over the goal line. 2-1! We managed to hold on in a tense final few minutes, and I breathed a sigh of relief.
But the journey was only half done. I needed one more win to stay up. I chose Morocco again, and this time I was up against Argentina. I had to rely on my Moroccan defence to hold Messi at bay and try to nick one at the other end.
I decided on 4-4-2 from the off, and I noticed that my opponent had pushed most of his attackers out towards the right hand side, so decided to focus down the left. My tactics worked, and in the first 30 minutes Morocco were in control of the game, before a nice one-two between the strikers put me clean through on goal and 1-0 up.
I expected an onslaught in the second half but it wasn't to come. In fact, Morocco went on to win 2-0 after a poor clearance fell to a Moroccan midfielder 25 yards out who scored a screamer into the top corner. A fairly uneventful final 15 led to the final whistle. We'd done it!
Pro Evo