[Albion] 2024 Fantasy Albion World Cup. Grand Finale. America's A vs England

So here we are, the grand finale live from Withdean Stadium. Dick Knight is out here greeting the teams.

Americas A
Manager: Gus Poyet. Poyet managed the Albion from 2009-13 and won the League 1 title with the club.

Poyet turns up to Withdean with a squad that won the tournament last year. They will once again consider themselves to be favourites even though they have been drawn in the group of death. Their midfield is the envy of almost every side in the tournament and they have firepower upfront with the likes of Pedro and Ulloa. There are question marks about their goalkeepers and their defence is reasonable but they'll be hoping to simply outscore their opponents.

Star man: World cup winner Alexis Mac Allister is the most decorated player in this talented squad

Story so far: Gus' men emerged from the group of death with relative ease, finishing in 1st place with 30 votes. They then thrashed Scotland 18-0 in the Quarter Finals. In the Semi Finals they thrashed Spain 11-1.

Goalkeepers: David Gonzalez, Tony Meola
Defenders: Bernardo, Gonzalo Jara Reyes (captain), Igor Julio, Pervis Estupinan, Valentin Barco
Midfielders: Moises Caicedo, Alexis Mac Allister, Steven Alzate, Jeremy Sarmiento, Facundo Buononotte
Forwards: Jose Izquierdo, Leonardo Ulloa, Joao Pedro, Julio Enciso

Possible starting line up:

Gonzalez

Jara Bernardo Julio Estupinan

Caicedo

Mac Allister Alzate

Enciso

Ulloa Pedro

Vs

England Internationals
Manager: Peter Taylor. Taylor managed the Albion in the 2001-02 season, winning the Division 2 (League One) title. He's the only man (to date) to manage the Albion and the England national side whom he managed for 1 game as a caretaker manager in 2000.

Taylor has selected a very strong squad for England's debut in this tournament. Whilst some had quite short Brighton careers, there are some real Albion legends here such as Foster, Stevens, Ward, Zamora and of course, Lee Hendrie.

Star man: In a competitive field there is much competition for this label but it could well be Peter Ward, considered by many to be the clubs best ever.

The story so far: England are making their tournament debut this year and managed to escape the group of death, fending off the challenge of the talented Rest of Europe side. They then beat a very strong Irish side 11-6 in the Quarter Finals. In the Semi Finals they narrowly overcame Africa 15-9.

Goalkeepers: Dave Beasant, Joe Corrigan
Defenders: Ben White, Wayne Bridge, Matt Upson, Fikayo Tomori, Steve Foster (Captain), Martin Keown, Gary Stevens, Russell Osman, Levi Colwill
Midfielders: Adam Lallana, James Milner, Lee Hendrie, Mark Chamberlain
Forwards: Peter Ward, Bobby Zamora, Darren Bent, Jesse Lingard, Danny Welbeck

Possible starting line up:

Corrigan

Stevens White Upson Foster Bridge

Lallana Milner

Ward Welbeck Zamora

The poll will close on MONDAY

Bounce for this one

I know it's based on "ability while at the Albion" but the English team in their pomp are pretty formidable. It's hard to separate the two, but the South American defence is a concern, while the English are solid throughout

stewart12 said:

Bounce for this one

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Not for the first time I disagree with the NSC consensus

I think it would go to the wire and for that reason I went for the Americas purely because they have a bit more off their bench. Sure, England could bring on defender after defender but their depth in midfield and up top isn't comparable to bringing on the likes of Buononotte, Sarmiento and Izquierdo. Bent only played a handful of games for us and Lingard was a bit meh

A few hours left !

Sake

POLL EXTENDED

I voted for England just to even it up.

Not been following this closely. Why isn't Dunk included?

Papa Lazarou said:

I voted for England just to even it up.

Not been following this closely. Why isn't Dunk included?

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He was in the Sussex squad

Really tough to decide.

I feel the first goal would be critical. If England get it I can't see anything but an England victory. Likewise if they have to chase the game I can see America's A running riot.

America's A also have an actual world cup winner in their team, part of the greatest midfield the club's ever seen.

But then England have, with Ward and Zamora, arguably the two most iconic players in the club's history.

Really tough!

I think I might go for England out of wanton nationalism and the fact that we'll never win the actual world cup again so this will have to do. Plus I f***ing love Bobby Z.

I'll have absolutely no complaints if America's A win it though. They're probably the more flair and entertaining of the two teams.

So England lose the final after extra time and presumably a penalty shootout

So America's A become two time champs after a closely fought final

The next version of this contest will be in 4 years time, to give an opportunity to really refresh the squads, feel like this years was probably too similar to last years