Ad'ihan national football team

Ad'ihan
Nickname None Association Ad'ihan Football Federation (AFF) Manager Luke Evans Captain Darren Mills Most caps1 Lenny Fowler (18) Top scorer Julian D'Abbo (9) Home stadium Protectorate Stadium, Ad'ihan Three-letter code ADH [also AHN (outdated)] First international1 Rugiero 3 – 1 Ad'ihan (AET; 90 min. 1–1) (Donna Cathedral, Mar Sara, Elves Security Forces, Baptism of Fire 23) Largest win Ad'ihan 4 – 0 Tylero (Protectorate Stadium, Ad'ihan, WC36 qualifying) Worst defeat Ad'ihan 1 – 6 Jeruselem (Dazza Dallas Stadium, Jeruselem, Friendly) Highest-scoring match Ad'ihan 6 – 3 Aurendia (Protectorate Stadium, Ad'ihan, WC36 qualifying) World Cup Qualification attempts2 1 Appearances3 1 Best result Group stage (37) Current KPB rank 47
1 Does not include BoF 23 challenge stages, in which matches were not held as 90-minute football games. 2 Does not include World Cup 37, since no qualification attempt took place as Ad'ihan were co-hosts. 3 Includes appearance as co-hosts of World Cup 37.

The Ad'ihani national football team represents the International Protectorate of Ad'ihan in international football and is controlled by the Ad'ihan Football Federation, the governing body for football in the protectorate as well as the city limits of Ad'ihan, Liverpool England. Players who represent Ad'ihan are also Liverpool England citizens and could technically opt to represent the Liverpool England national football team instead.

Ad'ihan have played 19 international matches and scored 25 goals in that time, conceding 46 goals. They have qualified for one World Cup, 37, as cohosts of the event alongside Novapsolu.

History

See also: Ad'ihan national football team all-time record

The Ad'ihan national football team was formed prior to World Cup 36 by amateur footballers in the protectorate who had been frustrated at the refusal of the Football Association of Liverpool England to field an international team in the World Cup following World Cup 34. In a concession, the FALE helped set up the Ad'ihan Protectorate Football Federation (now the Ad'ihan Football Federation) to oversee football in the protectorate. Trials were conducted and the best players were selected for the Ad'ihan squad participating in Baptism of Fire 23. Local man Jason Helmer was selected to lead the team as manager.

The team's first-ever full international was in the round of 16 at the Baptism of Fire, with the group stages having been replaced by an unorthodox phase. The team played Rugiero in Elves Security Forces, losing 3–1 after extra time to end their first — short — foray into international football.

The team's first match immediately after the failure in the BoF was a 6-1 away friendly drubbing at the hands of Jeruselem, followed by Ad'ihan's first-ever home match, a close 1-0 friendly loss to The Lowland Clans.

World Cup 36 qualifying finished with Ad'ihan fifth in their qualifying group with a record of 4-2-8, with 22 goals scored and 29 conceded. During this period Ad'ihan recorded their biggest-ever victory, a 4-0 win over Tylero. The highest-scoring match in Ad'ihan history occurred on the last day of qualifying, with a 6-3 home win over Aurendia.

Helmer was relieved of his job after World Cup 36, with the team not being invited to the Cup of Harmony in Kura-Pelland. He was replaced by Luke Evans on the recommendation of the FALE, and Evans took over effective Matchday One of the World Cup 37 finals, with Ad'ihan having not played any games in the period between the end of World Cup 36 and the start of the finals of the next cup.

Recent form

Luke Evans appointed Darren Mills as his new captain for World Cup 37, but things got off to a sour start with Ad'ihan's worst-ever competitive loss, 4-0 at Protectorate Stadium to Commerce Heights JSY. Evans reportedly^[1] blasted the team in the post-match team talk, and refused to speak to the press after the match. The next match was a better performance from the players, with Lenny Fowler scoring Ad'ihan's first-ever World Cup finals goal.

Home stadium

Ad'ihan's home stadium, Protectorate Stadium, is the only stadium located inside the protectorate, and it seats 74,000 people. However, not all of Ad'ihan's home games take place at the Protectorate Stadium. In World Cup 36 qualifying, Ad'ihan played two 'home' matches in Orean, Liverpool England, at Grovers Park, at the request of the AFF, who wanted to host the two "big" home games against Elves Security Forces and Tynelia at a more established stadium.

In World Cup 37, more stadia around the Outer Islands were opened to help host matches for the tournament. However, the AFF confirmed that for World Cup 38 qualifying all home matches would be played at Protectorate Stadium.

Kits

Ad'ihan play in teal, yellow and blue, after the colours of the national and protectorate flags. Their home kit consists of teal shirts with yellow stripes down the sides, blue shorts and white socks, while the away kit is the reverse, with blue shirts, and teal (yellow-side-striped) shorts with white socks. The goalkeeper plays in a white shirt, with the same shorts as the outfield team, for both home and away games.

The AFF has announced that a new kit design will be introduced should Ad'ihan qualify for the World Cup 38 finals.

Player numbers are assigned to individual players each tournament, usually based on the position they play in. For example, World Cup 36 striker Des Sutton wore the number 9, but as he was dropped for World Cup 37, Julian D'Abbo, who wore the number 10 in World Cup 36, moved up to wear the number 9. Substitutes are also assigned numbers, also normally based on the position they play in, although for World Cup 37 this trend was broken when defensive midfielder Barry Miller was handed the number 20 shirt (number 19 being the substitute attacking midfielder's, and number 21 being a striker's).

Ad'ihan squad

Tactics

Ad'ihan play an unorthodox 3-3-1-3, with two full-backs, one centre-half, two wide midfielders, one centre midfielder, one attacking midfielder, and three centre forwards. There has also been speculation that the inclusion of Barry Miller in the squad is because the team intend to play an anchorman/defensive midfielder in the near future.

World Cup 37 starting eleven (listed by squad number)

<div" class="plainlinksneverexpand">

Ad'ihan team formation

Staff

Head coach	Luke Evans
Assistant coach	Éric Adamo
Goalkeeping coach	Adam Carrero
Physio	Jean-Noël Poivre

Competition history

See also: Ad'ihan national football team all-time record

World Cup record

*Draws include knockout matches decided on penalty kicks.

Non-World Cup finals tournaments

*Draws include knockout matches decided on penalty kicks.

Player history

Most capped

Top five most capped players for Ad'ihan as of World Cup 37:

Most goals

Top five goalscorers for Ad'ihan as of World Cup 37:

Managers

Name	Career	Played	Won	Drawn	Lost	Won %	Win + draw %	Goals scored	Goals allowed
Jason Helmer	BoF23 – WC36Q	17	4	2	11	23.5%	35.3%	24	39
Luke Evans	WC37 –	6	1	1	4	16.7%	33.3%	9	17
Total		23	5	3	15	21.7%	34.8%	33	56