Saturday, December 12, 2009

Football Manager 2005 - Feyenoord wins treble! (season 2029/2030)

Remember Feyenoord's 5-1 win over archrivals Ajax in season 2028/2029? (refer last month's post: http://daplanetdt.blogspot.com/2009/11/football-manager-2005-feyenoord-5-ajax.html).

After that astonishing result, it was thought that Feyenoord would go on & complete the treble that season. Well, it didn't happen. Feyenoord got knocked out of the Champions League quarter-finals by AC Milan. They finished second in the Dutch League, 1 point behind champions PSV Eindhoven. They did win the Dutch Cup, beating NAC Breda in the final (2-0, i think). So after all the hype & hysteria from the Ajax demolition, Feyenoord ended season 2028/2029 with just 1 trophy. Injuries & bad luck didn't help.

Feyenoord headed into season 2029/2030 with added motivation to succeed where they fell short in season 2028/2029. For season 2029/2030, Feyenoord kept most of the key players in the squad but sold a fair few players, including Serbian forward Milovanovic & Czech forward Krejcik. Those forwards would be replaced by youngsters Simek (another Czech forward) & Chinese striker Li Wei. Both chipped in with their share of goals, though Simek is more regular than Li Wei. The chief attacker is still Roy Van Der Linden (worth more than 13 million euros). The emergence of Dutch young forward Bert Rijsbergen is particularly encouraging - he has a mixture of the pace of Fernando Torres & the aerial ability of Nicolas Anelka. Feyenoord has other quality forwards, too. The midfield department is also very competitive, where young midfielders like Dutchman Bert Bakker & Martijn Verhoeven had an excellent season 2029/2030.

In fact, Feyenoord had a lot more than just these players - most of the squad had an excellent season 2029/2030. Why??? Because Feyenoord won the treble!! Yes they did!! Dutch championship, UEFA Champions League & Dutch Cup. All in 1 season!!!

Feyenoord won the Dutch championship with a few games to go. They regained the Dutch title after beating Ajax 1-0 thanks to a goal by Verhoeven (for Ajax, it's better than losing 5-1 last season). That win meant that no one could catch Feyenoord on the table, & how sweet it is to clinch the title by beating your greatest domestic rival. Feyenoord ended up 20 points ahead of second-placed Roda JC & 21 points ahead of Ajax, who finished third. But this Ajax are no mugs - they reached the Champions League semi-finals before losing to Milan. Feyenoord's comprehensive semi-final aggregate win over Roma prevented an all-Italian final. So the Champions League final took placed in Lisbon on 22 May 2030, & it featured Milan (representing Italy) against Feyenoord (representing the Netherlands). Feyenoord won after a nail-biting penalty shoot-out 3-2, after the scores were 1-1 after 90 minutes & extra-time. That was revenge for losing to Milan in last season's Champions League quarter-final. So that is the second trophy in the bag, & Feyenoord are 2029/2030 champions of Europe.

The magical treble was secured on 25 May 2030 (a day to remember for Feyenoord fans), when Feyenoord beat PSV Eindhoven 3-2 in an entertaining, closely fought Dutch Cup final. Each time Feyenoord take the lead, PSV Eindhoven equalised. However, PSV could not respond to Feyenoord's third goal, so the final result was 3-2 to the Rotterdam side. Worthy but vanquished opponents PSV finished a disappointing fifth in the Dutch championship, & were beaten by Milan in the Champions League. That's interesting......Milan had to face all the big 3 Dutch clubs in the Champions League. They got past PSV Eindhoven in the quarters & Ajax in the semis to get to the final. But once there, they could not overcome Feyenoord, although perhaps Feyenoord did have a bit of luck in the Champions League final.

The next challenge is to do it all again, & this time to win the Champions League without the penalty shoot-out. Meanwhile, season 2029/2030 is Roger Kronendijk's best ever. He is the most successful manager in the Netherlands, in Europe & in the world. He has led Feyenoord to 20 Dutch championships, & champions of Europe for 5 times!!

Feyenoord Rotterdam, treble winners of season 2029/2030. Champions of the Netherlands! Champions of Europe!



























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