Welcome! It’s the day you’ve all been waiting for, for so many reasons, but I hope the main one is that we’ll find out who takes the bronze medal. I jest. We will find that out but the reason you’re mostly all here is to see who will be crowned champion: DaveMathieson84 or Charlemaagne
3rd Place Playoff
S4ooter vs Verbist_Philip
Merson has recovered (from injury primarily, but gladly many other things too) but Eddie Guerrero is out. So is Simone, he’s not feeling good. The Bronze medal match is a prestigious affair.
Philip is almost at full strength but Fernando is out injured so Wosz is in. Philip’s confidence in this formation remains undeterred despite the brutal semi-final beating.
Dwight Yorke knows where the goal is and he opens the scoring on 22 minutes. Dan is struggling for the second game running but where there’s Ronaldo there is hope of a bronze medal. He equalises but the joy is short lived as Seedorf pops up with the winner and sends a bronze medal all the way to Belgium.
A fair result on the balance of play you would have to say.
Nikiforov and Ravelli did a lot of the hard work for Dan. Philip’s lads were consistent with their 7s and above. Jozwiak takes man of the match, him and Kastendeuch have been very dependable.
Well that was your starter, here’s the main course.
The Final
DaveMathieson84 vs Charlemaagne
Dave’s able to call upon his favoured lineup and formation. There’s plenty of match winners in there but they’re going to have to be on top of their game to topple what you’d have to say is the form team.
I suppose both sides are in form to make the final but when you’re coming off the back of a heavy semi-final win, it’s got to breed confidence. The tweaked formation was devastating there so unsurprisingly, Charle sticks with it.
Charle picks up where he left off and absolutely dominates from the off, it only takes 14 minutes before he takes the lead thanks to Zamorano. It seems inevitable the second goal will come but Vitor Baia is in excellent form. Right on half time with almost the first chance, Owen skips through one on one and levels it up. The second half is a little tighter but ultimately there is no breakthrough to be had and the 2021 CM Cup will be decided on penalties, which you can view below:
Of course whether you view or not, the result is here for all to see. Scholes and Zamorano blazed over the bar, Dave’s lads all scored and the CM Cup is heading to Dave Mathieson.
Congratulations to Dave for the win, scarcely deserved on the night but poor finishing let Charle down. Interesting though that 2-3-1-2-2 won it in the end – reports of its demise seem to be premature.
I thought Vitor Baia would get man of the match but no, that accolade goes to Patrick Moreau, who we are all now in love with.
A drama filled ending to a wonderful tournament. As ever, we’ll wrap up with some awards. Again, my sincere thanks to Jakob for his contribution here – he’s tracked all the stats throughout and now we can enjoy the fruits of his labour. Firstly though, goals, assists and average ratings:
Team of the tournament (decided by Jakob and I, using a mix of statistics and our own judgments):
That wraps everything up in a neat little package not just for the 2021 CM Cup but also for the season here on cm9798.co.uk. It’s been a strange year or so for everyone, I’m immensely proud of the content produced on this site by the blog squad and I’m already looking forward to what hijinks we get up to next season. We didn’t have a break last summer as we were in the height of lockdown and the lads were happy to keep going so my thanks to all of them as well as Zak who writes for CM0102Blogs (cheap plug) but also was a great statsman during the 2nd lockdown challenge. Throughout the past 18 months or so a number of people have messaged me to send their thanks for the content and helping them through a difficult time. Messages like that blow me away a little bit, this game is 25 years old next year but it has been a constant source of comfort so many of us – me included. Anyway, the pleasure was all mine and I’m sure the other lads will agree.
Now though it is time for me to recharge my batteries a little bit. In years gone by I would reach this time of the year and go somewhere hot for a week or so and come back with a head full of ideas. I haven’t had that opportunity for obvious reasons and I’m not ashamed to admit I am all out of ideas right now. Hopefully a few weeks off will help in that regard. Luckily I know the blog squad have many ideas either carrying over or new in the pipeline, so at least someone is still thinking straight. Andrew & I have started Champ Man Fans and it’s quite relaxing playing some of the old versions, so we have lots lined up there.
Next year’s CM Cup will be in September/October to mark 25 years since the release, and it’ll dovetail nicely with the World Cup. I haven’t got as far as a theme yet but that is very much future Dave’s problem.
I’m rambling now so in summary, thanks for reading/playing/writing/giving me the time of day, we’ll be back after the Euros and I hope you all have a lovely summer now we can just about go outside and play safely again.
Back soon.
Dave