The Americas Draft

@Chesterlestreet he's assisting me but won't be an assistant manager. Will mainly just post my picks if I'm asleep or anything as I'm on nights at the moment.

Position has not been kind to me at all here either. Hate doing double picks.
 
Šjor Bepo said:
you have the best position in this draft IMO.
Click to expand...

I hate the endless waiting for 30 players to be picked in between picks. Don't get me wrong you can make sure you get two complementary players just don't like the big gaps.
 
I'm running on a different timezone than most of you so can anyone here give me a Twitter DM (?) just to let me know it's my turn to pick? I'm online a lot though so this is purely a last resort :)
 
Gotta try scout an assistant for this, am just catching up on the rules now.
 
Anyone care to tell me how many hours ahead of current UK time the clock were using for this is? I'm shocking with timezones
 
Right ok so with the start time at 4 itching it will be 5 London time?

EDIT: Just seen its 3 UTC so 4 my time
 
No point overthinking this any further, as I'll blatantly end up picking him anyway:

Ronaldo.jpg
 
DavidG said:
Surprised he wasn't blocked to be honest
Click to expand...

You start blocking him though and you're onto dangerous territory about when to stop. Was an obvious first pick though
 
Skizzo/Pat 1. Ronaldo
Enigma/Joga 1. Garrincha
oneniltothearsenal 1.
Tuppet 1.
Aldo 1.
EAP 1.
Physio 1.
Gio 1.
mazhar13 1.
MounchesterUtd 1.
DavidG 1.
Raees 1.
Boris 1.
Mciahel Goodman 1.
Jayvin 1.
P-Nut 1.

@oneniltothearsenal
 
Not that Garrincha needs introduction but good piece on him:
He was born with a physical abnormality in his knees. He fathered 14 children with 5 different women. He was a hopeless alcoholic. Alongside being a womanizer and a cheat, he ran over his own father with a car while driving under the influence of alcohol. And most controversially, he lost his virginity to a goat.

Yet, the same man was the heartbeat of the great nation of Brazil. The same man was the best player in his position in the World Cup of 1958 where Brazil won the competition for the first time, and the same man was the best player in the world 4 years later in 1962, when he single-handedly won Brazil the World Cup, scoring braces in the Quarters and the Semi Finals. The man, the legend, was Manuel Francisco dos Santos, or as he is more famously known, Mane Garrincha.

Often called Alegria do Povo(People’s Joy) and Anjo de Pernas Tortas (Bent-Legged Angel) by the Brazilian faithful, Mane Garrincha was born in Pau Grande, a small Brazilian village, in 1933. Garrincha was born with several physical defects; he had a deformed spine, his right leg bent outwards whereas his left leg curved about 2 inches inwards. None of these abnormalities would, however, sever Garrincha’s career as a professional footballer, or his legacy as quite simply, the greatest dribbler that this game has ever seen.

His disabilities, theoretically, shouldn’t have allowed Garrincha to walk properly, let alone play the game of football. Yet, he did. Garrincha was the star of his local football team, but he was rejected by a host of top clubs from Rio de Janeiro, before Botafogo came calling in 1953. When he arrived at the training ground for his trial, Garrincha was thrown up against the Brazilian national fullback, Nilton Santos. Garrincha dribbled past Santos, as if he didn’t exist. It is said, that after that incident, the fullback grabbed him by the hand, took him to the club president, and told him to sign the winger, so that he wouldn’t have to play against him. And thus began Garrincha’s illustrious career.

Garrincha became an instant phenomenon at Botafogo, with his carefree attitude and his simple desire to enjoy the game while entertaining the audience, making him a fan favourite. It is often said that Garrincha was the only player in the country to be loved by every single football fan, regardless of which club they supported. Garrincha’s presence elevated Botafago to the status of the best club in the country.

Garrincha was called up to represent Brazil in the 1958 World Cup. He and another future legend, Pele, made their debuts in the 3rd game of the group against USSR, a game that would change football forever. It took just the first 3 minutes of the game for the world to realize the genius of Garrincha; those 3 minutes which are often regarded as the best three minutes of football history.
Garrincha was an integral part of Brazil’s first World Cup winning squad, with Pele and him, amongst others, inspiring Brazil to a world cup victory.

Four years later, Garrincha went to Chile to represent Brazil again in a World Cup. His more famous teammate, Pele, got injured during the second game of the group stages, and was declared to be out for the remainder of the tournament. Naturally, the nation was distraught. It was, however, this incident that led to Garrincha cementing his place in football history permanently. He had never been a leader, and he had never been bothered by tactics. Garrincha just went in, dribbled past defenders, and regardless of the result, went home happy. However in that tournament, he changed. The carefree boy from Pau Grande became the best player in the world, he became the nation’s inspiration, and led his team to their second world cup title, and he did that literally, single-handedly. In that World Cup, Garrincha ran defences ragged, and lambasted goalkeepers. He became a legend, he became a Brazilian God, when the final whistle of the final game blew. It was done!

Back in Botafogo, his life got better. Garrincha led his club to a Rio State Final win, in a performance which experts and fans claim to be his best ever. However, life does not keep smiling upon you for long. The same happened with the Brazilian winger, as his life was about to take a drastic turn, and everything started to change for the worse. After that game, his life was never the same.

Garrincha’s carefree life, his alcoholism, his obsession with women, and most importantly, his bent legs, were beginning to catch up with him. Garrincha’s affair with the nation’s famous Samba singer Elza Soares, made him a much less likeable personality in the public’s eye, and his on the pitch life began to waver too. Garrincha finally succumbed to a long term knee injury. The fact that he had become Botafogo’s icon did not help much, as the constant games and the medicines, eventually took their toll on him. He had arthritis in both his legs, and soon, he lost his tricks, and lost his game. His drinking got out of hand, and soon after, so did his life. His career, and his life, had taken a downward spiral.

Despite being called up for a third time to play in the World Cup, Garrincha’s performances were not even half as good as those in 1962. Botafogo had released him, and Garrincha tried to revive his career at different clubs, albeit failing each time. Garrincha the footballer, was no more. Garrincha tried to take his own life once, and eventually, he succumbed to a liver condition in 1983, at the age of 49.

What made Garrincha beautiful?
What made Garrincha click? Perhaps we’ll never know. There is something so amazing about a genius like him, a childish man with whom an entire nation rose and fell. There had been several instances in Garrincha’s life, which point to the character he was, a character we probably will never see again. He once pulled down his teammate’s trousers during a formal interview. He would disappear from Botafogo for days, and appear suddenly in his hometown, recovering from the alcohol and the women. Garrincha was a child in a man’s body. Some people consider him to be a greater player than Pele himself, while claiming that the latter had the media in the palm of his hand. If Garrincha was alive, he’d probably laugh that away and go for a drink.

Simply put, Mane Garrincha was beautiful. He performed tricks on the football pitch not to humiliate the defenders, he did them to entertain the audience. He dribbled and he scored like it was nothing, with a perennial smile on his face. Perhaps the closest modern day player that comes close to his personality would be Ronaldinho, but even he wasn’t as good as the “Bent Legged Angel”. Simply speaking, Garrincha was a unique personality. No one, not even Pele, contributed as much to Brazilian football’s identification with the beautiful game as Mane Garrincha. Lucky were those fans who saw the genius of the man with their own eyes and bear testimony to the flair he did possess; while we have to be content with YouTube videos depicting his greatness. There is possibly a next Pele in Lionel Messi, but the world might never see a player like Mane Garrincha ever again; arguably the most mesmerising player to ever grace this mesmerising game.
Click to expand...
 
This draft should be great fun. For my first pick:

zico-Brazil.jpg



Skizzo/Pat 1. Ronaldo
Enigma/Joga 1. Garrincha
oneniltothearsenal 1. Zico
Tuppet 1.
Aldo 1.
EAP 1.
Physio 1.
Gio 1.
mazhar13 1.
MounchesterUtd 1.
DavidG 1.
Raees 1.
Boris 1.
Mciahel Goodman 1.
Jayvin 1.
P-Nut 1.


@Tuppet
 
please delete and don't count towards limit
 
Romario-1024x575.jpg


Skizzo/Pat 1. Ronaldo
Enigma/Joga 1. Garrincha
oneniltothearsenal 1. Zico
Tuppet 1. Romario
Aldo 1.
EAP 1.
Physio 1.
Gio 1.
mazhar13 1.
MounchesterUtd 1.
DavidG 1.
Raees 1.
Boris 1.
Mciahel Goodman 1.
Jayvin 1.
P-Nut 1.

@Aldo
 
Skizzo/Pat 1. Ronaldo
Enigma/Joga 1. Garrincha
oneniltothearsenal 1. Zico
Tuppet 1. Romario
Aldo 1. Passarella
EAP 1.
Physio 1.
Gio 1.
mazhar13 1.
MounchesterUtd 1.
DavidG 1.
Raees 1.
Boris 1.
Mciahel Goodman 1.
Jayvin 1.
P-Nut 1.

@Edgar Allan Pillow
 
Chesterlestreet said:
@Downcast Who are you assisting/co-managing with again? You seem to have disappeared from the list.
Click to expand...

Yeah, I'm not a co-manager but I won't vote for him in order to dispel any ambiguity.

P-nut will defend his choices.

Mciahel Goodman said:
Gotta try scout an assistant for this, am just catching up on the rules now.
Click to expand...

The rule is very sample.

If Boris submits a player at 1 pm, you will be the only one manager invited to submit a player in the next 8 hours (so up to 9pm).

After 9pm, you and Jayvin will have the right to submit a player regardless of the order.

In any case, there are many available assistants here (Invictus, marty, redtiger and maybe other posters)

Jayvin said:
Leave some Brazilians for the rest for us, eh :P
Click to expand...

Yeah, now, you need to analyse the Haitian market IMHO
 
Last edited:
Is there someone around who, at the very least, will help me in my matches? Since I am at least 5 his behind most of you, I need someone who can be involved when I'm at work. I only ask for this because weekend matches have not gone well for me in the past, so if I am to play on a weekday, I need someone to bridge the time zone gap between me and the rest.

This is all I need at the very least. If this is not possible, I might consider dropping out of this draft as a manager but sticking around as an AM/scout.
 
Since I'll be offline for a while, I'm reminding everyone now that the deadline starts running in less than an hour.

Per now this means that @Edgar Allan Pillow (or whoever follows him in the order) has 8hrs to make a pick starting at 1500 UTC/1600 BST.

I'll be back sometime this evening to check on progress and deal with queries, should there be any (should run itself, really).
 
I am so glad Edgar didn't pick:

8629.jpg


Skizzo/Pat 1. Ronaldo
Enigma/Joga 1. Garrincha
oneniltothearsenal 1. Zico
Tuppet 1. Romario
Aldo 1. Passarella
EAP 1. D Santos
Physio 1. Chumpitaz
Gio 1.
mazhar13 1.
MounchesterUtd 1.
DavidG 1.
Raees 1.
Boris 1.
Mciahel Goodman 1.
Jayvin 1.
P-Nut 1.

@Gio
 
You must log in or register to reply here.