Since day one I have never had a problem arranging friendlies....The good advice so far is make sure you only challenge teams that are clearly active(logged in on Monday), available and with big stadiums, then send out to 20 teams......I've never waited more than 1 day for a acceptance.

Also now that my stadium is built up a bit I get the odd invite now also which adds a little insurance to the situation.

Playing in "friendly cups" which are arranged will guarantee you matches but others probably are better to fill you in on that.

You've made some big steps that quite a few of us have taken, it is worth it, and with some patience, some luck, and time you will get there