All I Want for Christmas is a Dukla Prague Away Kit

[Juventino]

I only just now realize how incredibly fast my team is. Usually I'm playing one notch above medium game speed, but it wasn't the game's setting after all...

Leftback Miroslav Praznovsky: Acceleration 16, Pace 19
Centreback Tomas Kalas: Acceleration 17, Pace 17
Centreback Robinho: Acceleration 17, Pace 18
Rightback Kakhaber Mujiri: Acceleration 20, Pace 19

Defensive midfielder Jozef Hrcka: Acceleration 17, Pace 17
Center midfielder Ksao Gezaw: Acceleration 20, Pace 20
Center midfielder Saul Marinelli: Acceleration 19, Pace 20

Left winger Walter Cortez: Acceleration 17, Pace 19
Right winger Diego Ferreira: Acceleration 17, Pace 15
Striker Akif Kara: Acceleration 15, Pace 17 (he's 1.96m)

This is the fastest team ever! All have great balance and agility aswell. There are some great passers on the team, which makes for devestating counter attacks. They remind me of the real life Arsenal. I can't remember a team scoring against me on a counter attack either, 'cause my guys are hauling their attackers in within 2 seconds. I want to say this is what I always had in mind for Dukla... It all fell together quite beautifully, that's for sure.

 

[Juventino]

Walter Cortez: 2020 World Player of the Year, with an average rating of 8.01 in the calender year. Legend. Absolutely one of my favorite achiements so far.

(You can see Cristiano Ronaldo's reflection in the Ballon d'Or... spooky)

Robinho joins him in the World Team of the Year. Akif Kara finished third in the Best Striker of the Year award, and Cortez suprisingly finished second in the Best Midfielder of the Year awards. That award went to Carlos Wilshire.

I also became manager of the Czech national team. The Czech Rep finished as runner-ups at the 2020 European Championships with stars Vaclav Kadlec, Adam Hlousek, the naturalized Alan Patrick and Dukla's Czech Champions League winners (mostly defenders) at the peak of their careers. The stars will be joined by Dukla Prague's best Czech young talents in the World Cup qualifying campaign, though the regens aren't quite as good as the (before mentioned) Czech talents at the start of the game. World Cup 2022 will be interesting.

I also have a problem... My contract at Dukla runs out in the summer of 2021 and the chairman offered me a contract so low I can't accept it... literally. The game won't let me. I tried to negotiate but the chairman won't offer me the minimum I can accept. It's really strange.

 

[Juventino]

Champions League 2020/2021

Advanced from the Group Stages ahead of Olympique Marseille, Dynamo Kiev and Unirea from Romania. Three wins (vs. OM, 2 x vs. Unirea) and three draws.

1/8 - Manchester City:

1/4 - Olympique Marseille:

1/2 - Atletico Madrid:

Diego Ferreira's goals vs. Atletico in his best game for Dukla yet, replacing the suspended Walter Cortez on the left wing.



And so Dukla advances to its second Champions League final in three years. The final will be against Manchester United, Man U's second straight final. They lost the previous one vs. Atletico Madrid. The 2021 final will be played in Olympique Lyon's new stadium; OL Land.

 

[Juventino]

2021 UEFA Champions League Final: Dukla Praha - Manchester United

Line-ups:

Four changes in Dukla's line-up compared to the 2019 final: Rodrigo Varela replaced Petr Tesar (who is now Varela's back-up), Miroslav Praznovsky is Jakub Heidenreich's replacement (also a back-up), Saul Marinelli instead of Alan Patrick (back-up) and Diego Ferreira is on the right wing instead of Marko Arnautovic (who is now playing in Serie A).

And that's number two for Dukla.

The Czech league is still on three stars, below Ukraine, Portugal and the likes. A guy at The Dugout is having a similar game with Steaua Bucharest and won even more Champions Leagues, but the Romanian league is also stuck at three stars. There's only so much one club's UEFA coefficients and reputation can do for a league. Perhaps a way was to give a bunch of other Czech clubs a sugar daddy aswell, because as it stands they're not doing anything in Europe, their reputation won't increase and they will keep holding back the Czech league. Sucks.

 

[ShiftyPowers]

Olympique Lyon Land?

Sounds like Euro Disney.

And I can't believe those ****s played a 4-4-2. How arrogant can you get?

http://www.santosfc.com.br/futebol/elenco/jogador.asp?i=15

 

[ARIAGA II]

Looks nice though

http://www.grandstadeol.com/

And like all sporting arenas, it is designed by Populous.

 

[Juventino]

http://www.santosfc.com.br/futebol/elenco/jogador.asp?i=15

I looked up some vids of him on YouTube and it's incredible how accurate his game is on FM. Cool stuff.



I hope these footballers google themselves and somehow end up in this thread. Alan Patrick, Jan Navratil, Tomas Horava, Martin Sus, Lubomir Kubica, Milos Bosancic, Jakub Heidenreich, Antonin Fantis, Tomas Pekhart, Vaclav Prochazka, Semir Stilic and Josef Husbauer... You all had a role to play in the rise of Dukla Prague, and Sports Interactive is usually very reliable in their valuations of players, but please don't get your hopes up. You are however free to print these screenshots and gloat about them in your locker rooms at Santos, Sparta Prague, Banik Ostrava, etc.! All the best to all of you out there and holla at your Dukla manager if you're reading this! That also counts for all people named Walter Cortez or Akif Kara!!

Yeah... Anyway...... I thought this was quite remarkable:

Akif Kara in 2012:

Akif Kara in 2021:

Nine years of Dukla Prague: 314 apps, 273 goals, av. rating of 7.67. Quite a career.


Edit - Probably the coolest name of all regens so far (and a 195 PA)...

Lil' Garrincha. He's actually quite the opposite of Garrincha: he's much taller, he's white and he's on the other side of the field. Maybe one leg is shorter than the other, and that's why he reminded his hometown people of Garrincha.

 

[ShiftyPowers]

Lil' Garrincha. He's actually quite the opposite of Garrincha: he's much taller, he's white and he's on the other side of the field. Maybe one leg is shorter than the other, and that's why he reminded his hometown people of Garrincha.

Thought this was funny.

 

[Juventino]

2021/2022:

At the start of the season I signed Czech national team stars Vaclav Kadlec from Inter and Adam Hlousek from Chelsea. Both were demoted to a bench role (Kadlec was even put in Inter's reserves) and I couldn't risk them not playing the season before World Cup 2022 (I'm also Czech Rep's NT manager). I figured I'd give Hlousek-Kadlec most playing time in the Czech league, and I'd save Cortez-Kara for the Champions League.

I forgot to mention I made my most expensive signing in January 2021: Ron Menting from Benfica. He's one of the best midfielders and potentially THE best midfielder in the game. He couldn't play in Dukla's CL winning campaign last year, so this year would be the first he could make an important impact. He'd make a Xavi-Iniesta-like tandem with Saul Marinelli in midfield, which I was very excited about, however..... My chairman sold him to Barcelona after only 6 months at Dukla. I didn't give a damn about the money as I wasn't able to buy anyone back with his quality anyway. I was pretty pissed off about that.

(This screenshot is from September 2022... Look at his damn wages at Barca)

The first part of the season was very disappointing, and I suffered imporant losses in the Champions League group stage vs Everton and Olympique Lyon. Akif Kara and several other starters also suffered long term injuries and I couldn't make up the losses anymore. I finished third and had to prepare myself for the Europa League.

The Europa League campaign started off great: I beat Metalist Kharkiv, Besiktas and Hercules en route to a third year straight face-off with Manchester United; now in the Semi-Finals of the Europa League.

There was a glimmer of hope because of the early away goal, but sadly Saul Marinelli, Ksao Gezaw and Walter Cortez would be suspended for the home game, and that cost me in the end. Garrinchinha scored his first European goal for Dukla Praha, but Manchester United pretty much kept control through-out the game.

K.O.

------------------------------------------------

A very positive note: the Czech First Division gained in reputation!

It's now on par with the Dutch Eredivisie, Russia, Ukraine and Portugal. If the league makes it to 4 stars, it'll be on par with La Liga, Bundesliga and Ligue 1. Nice, huh?

------------------------------------------------

In the summer of 2022 I decided to sell Akif Kara to Hoffenheim (he rejected Juve and Liverpool). He'll turn 30 this year and this was the final year I could get a large transfer sum for him. I also wanted to keep the game interesting and test some new strikers.

... I do regret it a little bit. It was a bit of an impulse sell at the end of a Dukla gaming session, and I feel should've perhaps waited until the next time I opened up the game for a clearer decision. But what's done is done.


Akif Kara - 10 years of Dukla Prague (2012-2022)

339 matches, 297 goals, av. rating of 7.68.

Palmares:
2 x UEFA Champions League
2 x UEFA Europa League
2 x UEFA Super Cup
2 x FIFA Club World Cup
9 x Czech First Division
8 x Czech F.A. Cup
10 x Czech Super Cup

His best goals:

At Santiago Bernabeu:


Akif Kara's stunning goal at Stade Gerland on the road to Dukla's second Europa League final:


Akif's last minute goal vs. Internazionale in the 2017 Europa League final, assisted by Walter Cortez. Best tandem ever. (Every right winger I've had must've been pretty pissed off about that, hehe.)


His hattrick vs. Chelsea in the Quarter-Finals of the 2019 Champions League.


And his most legendary hattrick, and perhaps my favorite performance of any striker I've ever had: the 2019 Champions League final against AS Roma. He capped off the hattrick by scoring the 3-2 winner in the final minutes of the game, assisted by whom else but Walter Cortez (like the 2017 Europa League winning goal).


Farewell, Akif.

 

[Filipower]

Dude, I love you

 

[Juventino]

World Cup 2022

The Czech Republic XI

8 Dukla players in the starting line-up: Tesar, Heidenreich, Kalas, Dusek, Kocourek, Alan Patrick, Hlousek and Kadlec. Most of them are bench players at Dukla, but still get a lot of playing time in the Czech league. The team pretty much has the same dynamics as Dukla, and I'm using the same tactic I use at Dukla. Martin Kolar is also a youth product of Dukla, but Dukla's owner sold him to Porto in the summer of 2021. Asshole.

We were handed a pretty easy group: World Cup hosts Australia, Ghana and Colombia.



Colombia:

Australia:

Ghana:

Group standings:

Second Round:

Quarter-Final:

We couldn't really go for the 1-1 after Kocourek's red card right before half time. Italy played it out pretty easily in the second half, and the were more chances for their second goal than a Czech equalizer. Kocourek, you zkurvysyn!!!
Pretty good tournament from the Czechs, anyway. I mean, the stars of this team sit on the bench at Dukla Prague... The people of the Czech Republic can be proud of their kokots.


How the World Cup further played out:

Greece - 2022 World Champions (Wait, whut?!)

 

[ShiftyPowers]

Hahahhahaha. GREECE!!

Too bad for Kadlec, I thought he was going to pull a Jairzinho there.

 

[Juventino]

Dukla Prague 2022/2023

After Akif's departure, I wasn't in much doubt over who'd be Dukla's striker this season: Vaclav Kadlec. Backing up Akif the season before, he had an excellent campaign, even outshining Akif from time to time (though Akif was injured a lot). He finished as top scorer for Dukla in 21/22 both in in the Czech league and the European leagues, and on top of that he had an excellent World Cup, the final proof he could still perform at a world class level. I did buy a long term replacement, Farid Raffalli:

(This screenshot is from September 2023)


Champions League 2022/2023

… and Vaclav Kadlec was immediately out to prove to Dukla's faithful he's a worthy replacement of Akif Kara.



Group Standings

First Knockout Round - JUVENTUS - Game 1

First Knockout Round - JUVENTUS - Game 2

Thrilling final minutes of the game with Diego Ferreira botching a penalty in the 92nd minute of the match. Thankfully we were the lucky side in this encounter, anyway.

Quarter-Final - REAL MADRID - Game 1

Quarter-Final - REAL MADRID - Game 2

I thought I was on my way to another final when I drew Atletico Madrid in the semi-finals, but it wasn't meant to be.

Semi-Final - ATLETICO MADRID - Game 1

Semi-Final - ATLETICO MADRID - Game 2

Atletico Madrid went on to lose the final vs. A.C. Milan.

------------------------------------

At the start of the new season the Czech league reputation dropped back to three stars again. The league's reputation surely isn't holding me back from competing in Europe, so screw it.

I'm also starting to think Dukla's owner is pissed off at me for rejecting hundreds of offers over the last 10 years. He accepted an offer from Chelsea for my Slovakian deep-lying playmaker and nine-year Dukla veteran Jozef Hrcka. Hrcka is still only 27 and I'm now missing out on his prime. Hell, Chelsea's offer wasn't even special. This is now the fifth or sixth time he does this in the last couple of years, and they're players I really value aswell (Ron Menting was absolutely the most painful case). I guess in Hrcka's case it does give me an opportunity to look around a little bit and test out some new players whom are perhaps even more talented.

Robinho, Cortez, Ferreira, Marinelli... They won't be leavin'. Robinho is now selected to the World Team of the Year first XI three times in a row. Cortez was also selected three times, but made it to the starting XI only once, the year he won the Ballon D'Or and World Player of the Year award.

So yeah, Dukla Praha is pretty much still going strong. Glory, glory, Dukla Praha!

 

[Juventino]

Halfway through 2023/2024, I'm going for my first perfect season (ever). Of course the Champions League will have higher priority, but so far my reserves have had no trouble versus Czech opponents. Yawn.

Unbeaten in the Champions League aswell. Shame about that draw vs. City.

After the departure of Hrcka, I'm really pleased the way my new defensive midfielder Marin Makacha is playing. Only just turned 20. It wasn't such a bad idea of the chairman after all.

Then there is Igor Alarcon, the most exciting young player in my game. His second season as a full-time starter in all competitions. Last year he was a little disappointing in the Champions League, and he didn't seem comfortable, but not anymore! He's killing it this year besides Saul.

And another midfielder I'm excited about: Martin Dusek. He broke through in Slavia Prague's first team when he was just 15. He transferred to Valencia the year after, played regularly there, and I got him aged 17. He's a natural on DM, MC, MR, AM & AMR and has been a valuable asset from day one. One of my favorite players in the squad.

EDIT -

I think I rejected at least 5 offers from Juventus. They kept improving their offer, and then this happens... AGAIN. Diego Ferreira is the best right winger in the game, and absolutely pivotal for Dukla Prague to have another shot at the Champions League. Only had him for 4 1/2 years, and he's still only 22 years old. Damn it.

FML.

 

[Mandieta6]

Maybe try upping their offer to astronomical amounts.

 

[Juventino]

You're right, I should've negotiated to scare them away. All I did was reject but they kept coming back.

There wasn't a worthy replacement available on the market, so I decided to put Martin Dusek on the right wing for the remainder of the season... But then he got injured for 5 months. I'd have to play a young winger who seemed far from ready, or I'd have to change my formation to one without wingers, but where would that leave Cortez? I had no choice but to go with the young winger, and he's for real, though his mental attributes may not show it.

In the league he has 13 apps, 7 goals and 11 asists with an average rating of 7.80. In the Champions League he played 7 games so far, scored 3 goals with 6 assists. Not bad, kid.

In the First Knockout Round of the Champions League I beat Bayer Leverkusen 4-2 overall. Bayern would be waiting for us in the Quarter-Final, my first encounter with them. The first game was at Masopust Park, and I thought their late away goal could hurt me a lot in the end.

In a trademark brilliant counter attacking performance at the Allianz-Arena, Dukla exploited Bayern's defence. Bayern dominated possession, but we converted 6 of 8 clear cut chances on beautifully executed lightning fast attacks. Bayern never saw it coming! ''What the f*ck just happened?''

Chelsea will be waiting in the semi's.

My bid to perfection in the Czech league has sadly come to an end. Damn cheeky goal by Sparta Prague there in the final minutes. Dammit.

I noticed I hadn't posted my Starting XI in a while, so here it is; the team that will go for a third Champions League title. Farid Raffalli is currently leading the CL goal scoring charts with 15 goals, a CL record.

 

[Juventino]

F.K. Dukla Praha - Chelsea F.C. - Semi Final of the 2023/2024 Champions League

First Leg - Masopust Park, Prague:

Second Leg - Lampard Park, London:

Going up 0-2 at Lampard Park in the first 30 minutes, Dukla were never in danger of Chelsea coming back and scoring 4 goals. This Dukla Prague is terribly strong and has shown it can win in a variety of ways, this time showing they can defend, hold possession and dominate a game. Dukla were never in danger of losing this series.

The 2024 Champions League Final will be a rematch of the 2021 Final: Dukla Praha vs. Manchester United. This time the game will be played at the Stade Roi Baudouin in Brussels, Belgium (formerly named the Heysel Stadium, the site of the '85 CL final and its great tragedy.)

 

[Zlatan]

Lampard Park

 

[Juventino]

''Extra! Extra! Přečtěte si vše! Vítězství, vítězství Dukla Praha V Bruselu!''
(Hey, it's that kid again! It must be good news!)


2024 Champions League Final: F.K. Dukla Praha - Manchester United

It's been three years since our Champions League win vs. Manchester United in 2021, and only four changes have been made in Dukla's winning line-up since then: Makacha replaces Hrcka (now Chelsea), Alarcon replaces Gezaw (now Manchester City), Vavra replaces the recently departed Ferreira (Juve), and CL top scorer Raffalli replaces club legend Akif Kara (Hoffenheim). Unfortunately Dukla's defensive leader and starting point of Dukla's attacking game Robinho will miss the final through injury. Vaclav Janda will take his place, whom possesses a lot of the same passing and build-up qualities. Same 4-3-3 formation.

Manchester United changed pretty much their entire line-up since the 2021 Final. In defense Dukla will see the familiar faces of Walker, Boyata and Dvorak, and in midfield Mulholland, but the rest of their team is different. They also still play in their same 4-4-2 formation.

The match was a lot like the 2021 Final; neither team created clear cut chances and neither team could really combine passes far up the pitch. The 2021 game was decided on penalties, but it wouldn't come to that this time around!

THE 99TH MINUTE


(How can they leave Marinelli that open?!)

FAARRRIIIDDDD!!!!

Manchester United had a goal cancelled in 122nd (!!!) minute of the game, and it looked awfully suspicious...

Tough luck, Mancunians. That's number 3 for Dukla. After Akif twice lifted the trophy for Dukla, it was now Walter's turn.


Overheard in the streets of Prague...

''Hand me one of those gazettes, kid, here's a nickle ... God, this Dukla team sure is something! Their manager must be a genius. And what a pretty face.''
''Sir, you look an awful lot like that man on the front page. Are you him by any chance?''
''Gotta run, kid.''

 

[ShiftyPowers]

Congrats. Boyata at the heart of their defense? Pretty amazing considering how much of his early career was spent in Hungary