I am writing you right after our match with the Birmingham Salvo. I am sitting in my apartment at the Oakwoods, thinking about what went wrong and what went right in our match. Thinking if I am still qualified for this job. Two years in a row, and two fifth places. Two years in a row, and two "nice tries". Two years in a row.

I can't answer the second question, since I can't judge my own work. Feel free to be the judge, dear reader. However, I can answer the first one. Nothing went wrong. Actually, I feel very proud of tonight's result, despite we didn't get the victory. How can that be possible ? Easy.

Last year when we lost against the Berlin Allianz, the haters legion didn't give us time to analyze things and started from that very moment to post in our website and in their own websites that we had to work in our CSS Squad and in FIFA. It was december, and the next season was distant for almost 6 months. However, I decided to hear their critics and started looking for talent, before the Season 2 Combine.

Sadly and as many of you know, we didn't have a Combine due to several factors. That gave me the chance to draft players at my free will and trusting in my knowledge of the game, the scene and the players. It was a tough decision, considering that I was unable to evaluate them in LAN (at least not physically), and that I wouldn't be able to interview them in person. I had a flashback of the Season 1 Combine, when due to a visa problem I was unable to attend the Live Qualifier. And this time I didn't have a representative up there giving me updated info to make a choice.

With that said, I decided to give my trust to my former DoA Couple, praised by many. It was a no-brain choice, since they proved me a lot of times that their talent and skills were huge. Then I decided to give my former racer, ElEcTrOfLoW, the chance to be part of the dream again. Sadly, he was unable to attend due to visas. His replacement, LEGITRACER and the new member, mEtAlx, one of the most famous racers in the mexican scene, were more than an amazing option, according to the critics.

Problems started when I picked my CSS Team. From the very beginning, they called me biased when I chose SecretAgent as my teamleader, and syndicated me as a "team destroyer" when I called 3 members of the former team inRAGE to join with v1koo to my CSS Squad. Phrases like "They won't beat anybody" and "You don't know anything about gaming in Mexico" are still in my head.

The storm was huge when Zerecero was announced as the FIFA player for the Furia. "Something shady is behind the scenes", "He doesn't even know how to play it in PC" and the most famous : "Aquiles' Heel" were quotes from every single day. I debated with many FIFA players, including the former RIO member, Davisso about it. Spent nights thinking about my decision, and if it was correct. Only time would tell.

The LatinAmerican Finals against Rio took place the last week. In that match, we won in DoA and Forza, and lost in CSS and FIFA. The haters legion started again, and I spent many hours here in the Oakwood meditating about it. I can't even tell how many times I was contacted by brazilians telling me that they are better than my current team, that we will lose with Salvo and not only lose, but getting smashed. Even the CSS Squad from Rio (Hello KIKOOO) told me that after the match, and despite that they may have told me those things only because of our victory, it sounded me like a truth, reinforced by the critics, predictions and analysis of the big CSS experts (Hello Weenus!).

Today, we lost in DoA and Forza. Today, we won in FIFA and CSS. Today, everything was different.

And today, I am more than proud of my team. The CSS Team came to this CGS as the real underdogs, as the punchbag supposed to be beaten. The match with Rio was close, but it only generated a bunch of comments about how non-qualified they were for the job. The Salvo CSS Team came as the second place of the world, defeating Rio Sinistro in the same map that we defeated them. I KNOW FOR A FACT that CSS is random sometimes. But hey, aren't the detractors getting based in numbers only ? Today, we won in CSS for 12-6. We would have done it better, but the lack of experience gave us some problems. And even with that problems, we defeated the Number two (number one for many "experts") CSS team in the World. My kids showed an AMAZING attitude and skills in the game, fragging and having fun.

Our Aquiles Heel according to that special guy that every single Furia carries in the heart, played an EXCELLENT match against Bazza. He was confident, played safe and lost a lot of oportunities to be honest, but gave us POINTS. Gave us a VICTORY against one of the best players in the scene. His match with Patan was HARDER than this one, not because of the rival, but because of himself. He had to prove himself that he was ready fo the big leagues, and he failed due to an outgame factor : his own personality. Now, with that controlled, he was able to give us (I won't get tired of saying it), a VICTORY.

Shall I blame the DoAs for the lost ? Shall I syndicate the Forza Racers as the factor that determined our goodbye ? That would be an easy thing to do, and honestly I see that coming in the next days from the same guys that praised them before. But I've never liked easy things, and this time won't be the exception. Our DoA Duo did the best thing that they can, considering that we don't have competitions, or even PLAYERS in this region. This is their SECOND franchise match in the year, and maybe the second DOA tournament match in the same time. I am more than confident that with the practice, the rivals and the time, they could beat any DoA Player in the league. Same thing with our Forzas. Considering that they have been playing the game for a little time, that LEGITRACER came as a replacement for ElEcTrOfLoW and that they fought against one of the best Forza Squads in the league, they did it extremely well. I am more than happy with their performance and i look forward to stay working with them in the future, giving them more practice to help them reaching the level needed for our competitive league.

So, nothing went wrong tonight. It went extremely well. Because we showed to the world that with work and dedication, we can overcome the odds. And you can expect this year LOTS of work and dedication in our side. Furia will be attending many tournaments, doing marketing activities and training camps. We'll start working TOMORROW, because time is precious and the road to be the World Champion is long and difficult. However, we've proved once that with a lot of work we can become a top-class contendor. We'll do the same with all the games, and that's a FACT.

As a side note, expect the double amount of work coming from me. I still can't evaluate myself, but I want to make my players proud of their GM, as much as I am proud of them. And that's a hard task, since I am VERY proud of my squads.

Looking to see you in our path to glory, Yours Truly

Augusto "NoobZaibot" Zapata
General Manager
Mexico City Furia - CGS Team.

PS. Yes, I know who you are.