Struck by the discovery of a long-forgotten goal, I began to archive some of my delusional fantasies in football games:
Unshaken
To see Luka play for another great club like Milan is awesome… but if it were up to me, our number 10 would have stayed in Madrid for as long as he wanted. So instead of goodbye tears, we'll have a legendary captain who has come through much worse than the disappointments of the previous season. Besides new faces like Trent, Mastantuono, Huijsen, and Carreras, I also brought Nico Paz back from Como. Bitterly… the what-if scenario extended to Xabi Alonso actually having a chance to finish the season.
Life Will Change
Honestly, I wouldn’t dare change anything about Ancelotti’s road to Lisboa and risk losing that 93rd minute that saved my soul. But still… since this was also the time when Isco, Carvajal, and Casemiro didn’t have real face models, why not take that as an opportunity to imagine one last chance at European glory for greats like Kaká, Özil, and Higuaín. Nostalgia prevailed, and I couldn’t resist keeping more old favorites like Carvalho, Albiol, and Essien in this 2013–2014 quest for La Décima. At long last… the year that was promised.
The Lazarus Project
We can let the heart win again and have another season under Modrić's captaincy. But why stop there? When the opportunity arises for Gareth Bale to come out of retirement and reclaim a right flank that hasn't been the same since his time in the team… you take it. Two club legends reuniting with José Mourinho, ready to test his football heritage theory, along with the biggest influx of new signings since 2009: Bernardo, Konaté, Dumfries, Cucurella, Diomande, Espí… and well, I think I'll keep Nico Paz and Mastantuono, once again.
The Questionable Area?
Here's a mixed bag of smaller one-off recordings – some more surreal than others. It all started with that old Benzema goal that eventually (along with Modrić’s farewell speech doing a number on me) sent me and Val on a nostalgia-fueled quest around our city, searching for physical copies of all the football games I lost or never really got to own… ultimately resulting in me wanting to start this elaborate archive of so-so gameplay. Someday I have to figure out how to properly record the PS3 ones.