Tonight the fourth edition of the Hattrick Masters will enter its third round. The thought of an global club competition in Hattrick is still new to the Hattrick players, and a vast majority of the teams and managers involved are unknown for most of us. Hattrick Monitor has been looking into a couple of the favourites for the greatest title of them all. All in English for you, the followers of our Global Edition!

The tempation of being known as the coach of the best team in the world is something that – of course – can get you into making great sacrifices. The temptation is even so big that many coaches put their entire teams and their future existence in Hattrick at stake for winning the Hattrick Masters. The three first editions of Hattrick’s most prestigious (?) competition, have been won by so called kamikaze teams, teams that have sacrificed all of its resources and future existence for winning the title. FC Barentin (France) and The Insane (Eesti) are both history, and last season’s champions Alberto Garcia (Guatemala) is now a bot.

This season, Swedish champions Neonic FC’s coach mange_d has stated that he aims to make his team the first non-kamikaze winner of the Hattrick Masters. Based upon enormous economic resources, Neonic seeks to become the reigning powerhouse team in Hattrick for several seasons – not only in Sverige, where the team took its first league title last season, but also globally.

But mange_d will face fierce opposition in realising his global domination plans. Italian cup champions Taj Mahal and the Bulgarian cup champions Sofia_2003, are among the favourites to this time out. We have asked their respective managers, Giutrader and BLadeHunteR (Ivan Gospodinov) a couple of questions.

Taj Mahal have flashed one of the most impressive overall performances in their opening match in the tournament (3-0 vs Dynamo Moscow, with 416 HatStats-points), and still after some new superstar additions to the team in the last couple of days, they have €17.6M left in their bank account. Money that possibly will be used in an attempt to become the greatest team in the world. How does Giutrader look at his team’s chances?
”I don’t know, I hope to progress through as far as possible, but it is very difficult – there are lots of strong teams out there.”

Giutrader is one of the most well-known coaches in the Italian Hattrick community. His team has 258 supporters. Seeing that he hasn’t reached the Serie A yet, and the fact that his trading has given him a economic position from which he, just like Neonic’s mange_d, can create a winning dynasty for many seasons to come, I don’t believe that he is willing to sacrifice all that in a blind kamikaze attempt at the Hattrick Masters title. Right?
”Economy is the most important aspect of Hattrick. I have a solid economy and a nice budget, which is not easy to build. I can say for sure that I don’t want to become a bot, even if it would make Taj Mahal the best team in the world. It is the dream of everyone to win the Hattrick Masters, but still I don’t want to sacrifice all the hard work that I have put into this team for a lot of seasons, for winning it.”

What teams have the biggest chance of winning the Hattrick Masters IV?
”In my opinion the best team is DREAM TEAM WORLD (Ed: Mexican cup champions), but Sofia_2003, Neonic FC and (with a little luck) Taj Mahal are the outsiders”

Sofia_2003 are, as stated above, last season’s cup champions of Bulgaria. They also finished second in Bulgaria’s top flight, Vissha Liga, after missing out on the gold medals by just two points after a 1-2 loss to champions CSKA_ in the last round. They have faced some problems in the Hattrick Masters, needing sudden death overtime to progress from the 2nd round vs English Stealthcows (5-4).

However, their 444 HatStats-points were impressive, and the team still have €7.9M left. And, unlike mange_d and Giutrader, coach Bladehunter is playing with the thought of making an all-out shot at the Hattrick Masters title, risking the future of his team.
”This season I will only play at full strength in the HTM, and winning it will mean that I’ve made a successful season and that may be the end of playing HT for some time. My chances? Right now I can’t say much about this. Only 2 rounds are played. But after all I think there is some realistic chance for my team winning the HTM.”

Mange_d has mentioned you as one of the most dangerous teams in the tournament in the Allsvenskan (Sverige’s top flight) conference. What do you think about that? From where do the most dangerous opposition come?
”I am honoured to be one of the most dangerous opponents in the eyes of the manager of a great team like Neonic. I see 5-6 teams that have a bigger chance for the title. Neonic is the first of them. ”
Team and manager facts:
TAJ MAHAL
Manager: Giutrader (since Italia’s season 24, 21st Oct 2004)
Series: II.3 Italia
Merits: Winners of the III.15 in Italia last season (30), Italian Cup Champions last season (30)
Seasons in top flight: 0
Tell us about the man behind Taj Mahal. You’re from Bari? Do you remember one of my favourite players, Swedish striker Kennet Andersson, who used to play for AS Bari in the 90s?
”I’m 31 and I’m a fan of Bari, and Inter as well. I’m a merchant and I’m in love with my nice girlfriend. I can remember Kennet Andersson very well, and Klas Ingesson as well – two great players, just as Daniel Andersson and Yksel Osmanoski. My favourite hobby is Hattrick but I like real football and technology too.”

SOFIA_2003
Manager: BLadeHunteR (since Bulgaria’s season 3, 16th May 2003)
Series: Vissnu Liga, Bulgaria
Merits: Bulgarian Cup Champions last season (12) Winners of the II.2 in Bulgaria season 11, III.12, season 10.
Seasons in top flight: 2
Tell us about the man behind Sofia_2003!
”As the name suggests I’ve been playing the game since 2003. Now I am not so interested like before, my friends make the game interesting. I am 20, now studying at university in Sofia. Like most people I enjoy listening to music, being with my friends and drinking some… mineral water”