Giant Zucchini national football team

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Giant Zucchini
Nickname: The Zucchinis
Association: Giant Zucchini Football Association
Coach: Domingo Ferrero, World Cup 28-
Most caps: Mikhail Glinka (55)
Top scorer: Johann Rilke (19)
World Cup Best result: Winners, World Cup 3

The Giant Zucchini national football team represents Giant Zucchini in international football competitions such as the World Cup and the Cup of Harmony. It is controlled by the Giant Zucchini Football Association, the governing body for football in Giant Zucchini. It is currently coached by Domingo Ferrero.

History

Early years

Giant Zucchini is credited with playing the first ever international friendly in NationStates history, a 3-2 win over Europa Brittania in the Giant Zucchini National Stadium. Not long after, there was interest in starting the inaugural World Cup. Initially, the responsibility was undertaken by Iesus Christi, but it ran into some problems that were unresolved. Most of the original interested parties lost trust in Iesus Christi and boycotted his World Cup. Ariddia picked up where Iesus Christi left off and founded his own World Cup, which is now widely recognised as the official World Cup of NationStates. It recently celebrated its centenary during World Cup 26.

Giant Zucchini is one of the original 32 countries who participated in the inaugural World Cup, and is one of the few from that selection of countries which are still playing in the World Cup currently. However, at that time, the Zucchinis were not one of the better sides in the world, and did not manage to progress past the group stage in the first 2 World Cups.

World Cup 3

As the popularity of the World Cup grew, more and more countries applied to participate in the World Cup, making a qualifying round necessary in World Cup 3. The Zucchinis' experience in the first two World Cups gave them an advantage in playing at international level, as well as a seeding from their performances in the first two World Cups.

Their experience served them well, as they cruised through qualifying, losing only 1 of their matches while winning the rest comfortably. The Zucchinis continued their run through the group stage, while moving on to upset the higher seeds in the knockout stages, setting up a final with World Cup 1 champions Crosshill. However, history did not repeat itself, as the Zucchinis won the final 2-0, forward Urk and goalkeeper Oog in particular turning in amazing performances, cementing their places in the World Cup Hall of Fame.

Decline

However, the Zucchinis failed to continue their momentum in World Cup 4, losing in the quarter-finals to Steel Shadows to a golden goal in extra time. The Zucchinis' slump continued in World Cup 5 as they lost in the second round to Tanah Burung, and the decline was complete when the Zucchinis failed to qualify for World Cup 6, finishing even below regional rivals One Red Dot, the first time this has happened in the history of the country.

Revival

The Zucchinis atoned for their awful World Cup 6 performance by qualifying for World Cup 7 and reaching the knockout stages of World Cup 8, and the team continued to progress in World Cup 9, reaching the quarterfinals. The Zucchinis progress paved the way for them to co-host World Cup 10 with One Red Dot.

Hosting Controversy

The Zucchinis performed admirably well on home soil in World Cup 10, impressing on their way to the finals. However, One Red Dot's equally impressive performances drew accusations of foul play, as for the second World Cup in a row both hosts made it to the last four. While the Zucchinis made it to the final, One Red Dot lost their semi-final match and Third Place Play-off to finish 4th. Meanwhile the Zucchinis lost the finals to Lemmitania.

Second Decline

The Zucchinis continued to be successful for another few World Cups, however by World Cup 13, the standard started to fall again, and they disappointed for the next few World Cups, and failed to qualify for World Cup 16 again.

Collapse

By this time, cracks in the country were starting to show behind the prosperous facade, and it was started to impact the country in many ways, sport being no exception. By World Cup 17, the nation had plunged into collapse. Little is known about the collapse, as records were missing and destroyed. The nation witnessed a small revival during World Cup 19, but by then it was apparent that the sentient vegetable race of zucchinis was starting to deteriorate. The race is generally believed to have been extinct by World Cup 23, although sightings have been reported.

Rediscovery and Revival

By the time Giant Zucchini was rediscovered, the nation was filled with refugees from different countries in NationStates, as well as carcasses of overripe zucchinis. In a few short years, the great stadiums of the land were rebuilt, renovated, and refurbished, and plans were made to bring the Zucchinis back into footballing prominence. Early signs show that there is potential, even without the presence of sentient vegetables in the team.

World Cup record

Players

Famous past players

Current players

Players who have been called up for World Cup 28 qualifiers.

Goalkeepers
Defenders
Midfielders
Forwards


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