Dagh Nielsen (Denmark) Rank:01

Performances don't get much more convincing than that. Dagh Nielsen, only in his third year in the KOA and his second world cup appereance, did not leave any doubts whatsoever regarding who deserved the world champion's title in Duesseldorf. He set new sky high records on goal scoring and goal difference and defeated the defending champion four times. Although history has proved that nothing stays the same, everyone gets a taste of his own medicine some day and even the most impressive game style still has a way of being topped, one cannot easily imagine how and when this man can be defeated.

Gianni Torchio (Italy) Rank:02

You know that a player is a legend when he loses as many matches as he did in all four previous world cups combined, scores noticeably less than usual (-1.58 compared to last year's average) and still makes it to the final without even sweating. Yes Gianni was unrecognizable at times in Duesseldorf, but he is still untouchable by almost any player in the KOA. He now leads the planet in world cups medals as he is the only one with six in his possession.

Ektoras Kapsoulis (Greece) Rank:03

Ektoras hadn't managed to reach the quarter finals in the three world cups he'd played until this year, but this time his performance was nothing short of amazing as third place was really the best anyone could manage in a competition with the Danish and Italian monsters in it. The fifth Greek player to ever reach a world cup semi-final had the 3rd best attack of the tournament and the 4th overall goal difference. He was also the ony man who managed to beat Dagh all weekend.

Steve Camber (England) Rank:04

Not many people have ended up with Gianni in a group and lived to tell the tale. However, experience is a key factor in Kick Off 2 and Mr. "10 World Cups", playing what was perhaps the best games of his career, showed no fear against any of his opponents, whether they were Germans, Italians, Greeks or Swedes, never losing a single match to anyone who finished below him. Although he rarely manages to do equally well in domestic tournaments, Steve Camber is responsible for 50% of England's semi-final appearances and that says a lot.

Alkis Polyrakis (Greece) Rank:05

This is the third time in the last four world cups that Alkis is disqualified by Gianni, and in fact that's 5 times in the last 6 world cups that he is disqualified by an Italian. The fact that their paths crossed earler than expected due to him finishing second in his Round 1 group is no consolation, and neither is the fact that nobody else beat him all weekend. He needs to change something fundamental in his game if he wants to stop being the Italians' cannon fodder. He had the 4th attack and 4th defense of the tournament and he was 2nd in goal difference.

Oliver Stender (Germany) Rank:06

After a brief break in 2009, Oliver returned where he belongs among the world's elite players. After surviving a very hard Round 2 group, he fought with all his might and scraped an impressive 8-8 against Dagh before succumbing to his superiority in the rematch. Always a lethal scorer, he had the 5th best goal average.

Frank Fuhrmann (Germany) Rank:07

The German champion had a very good world cup and so his country had two players in the quarter finals for the first time ever. After topping a Round 2 group with Alessandro and Sandro in it he was the logical favorite for the top 4, however he apparently blacked out in the first playoff game against Steve.

Alessandro Verrani (Italy) Rank:08

Second consecutive quarter finals appearance for Alessandro, and this time he was more close to the Top 4 than ever as he only lost to Ektoras by a single goal. It is surely a matter of time before he joins the long list of Milanese who made it there and tastes the glory. He had the 6th attack of the world cup.

George Kakaletris (Greece) Rank:09

Last year George ended up in the same Round 2 group as his buddy Ektoras, and he managed to kick him out of the tournament. This time he could not repeat that achievement, but he still managed a spot among the world's Top 10. He even managed his first double figures victory and not against a newbie but an impressive 10-6 against Lorenzo!

Robert Swift (England) Rank:10

A defeat in the crucial match against George sent Robert straight to an impossible Round 2 group from where nobody in the world could have survived. A goal for or against him in some of the close matches he played could have tilted the scale differently, but in the end I believe that he managed an "on par" performance.

Jacob Kofoed (Sweden) Rank:11

Another good world cup for Jacob, who got his best position last year as 10th and did not venture far from it in Duesseldorf. He could have finished higher than 11th but most of the close matches he played did not favor him: 3-4 to John, 5-6 to Garry, 5-6 to Steve, a draw against George and 3-4 to Robert.

John Hogstrom (Sweden) Rank:12

After finishing 6th in Rome and Athens, John missed the Voitsberg world cup and perhaps this inactivity in the past couple of years cost him during crucial moments. A catastrophic defeat to Frederic in Group H, where he drew against Oliver twice, cost him his place in the quarter finals. He was the 7th scorer of the competition.

Sandro Torchio (Italy) Rank:13

Sandro's world cup was very similar to the one he had played two years before in Athens. Very strong and 1st place in his Round 1 group, inexplicable blackout and 3rd place in Round 2, where he scored only 17 goals in six matches. He still had the third best defense of the tournament, first among the ones who made it to the World Cup round.

Garry Currier (England) Rank:14

Garry has come a really long way since 2006, when he made his first and only world cup appearance and finished 40th out of 50 players. He is now the 4th placed KOAer in total matches played and he used his experience to fight well in the first group where Jacob, Klaus and he battled for two places. Calm in his game like the tap-tap of raindrops, just like Robert he was unlucky to end up in the lion pit with Dagh and Gianni in what was perhaps the most uneven group in the history of world cups, with the top two players scoring 102 goals and the bottom two 14!

Sascha Weigelmann (Germany) Rank:15

After mysteriously disappearing for 4 years, Sascha returned to a world cup and surprised everyone, possibly even himself by beating Gianni in his opening match! He almost blew that advantage after losing to Jan Galinski, but he managed to draw against Alex and make it to the second round thanks to his goal difference. His biggest defeat in the WC was a 7-3 to Alessandro, which proves that he never lets go of a match.

Frederic Baum (Germany) Rank:16

The highest placed rookie of this year's competition, Freddy had no problems overcoming the obstacles of Rodolfo and Jorg and making it to the World Cup groups. He only won one match on Sunday, but it was this victory against John that sent his friend Oliver to the quarter finals. Definitely one to keep an eye on in the future.

Lorenzo Lozito (Italy) Rank:17

Last year, Lorenzo barely missed the Silver Cup final and watched his friend Tommaso lose to the expert of this round, Rodolfo. This year the roles were reversed and he took it one step further by claiming the title. Featuring perhaps the weirdest joystick of the world cup, it remains to be seen whether he can keep improving in the future.

Rodolfo Martin (Spain) Rank:18

You can't win them all, but Rodolfo surely tried. In his fourth consecutive Silver Cup final, he tried his best but ended up losing the trophy on extra time. The semi-final battle versus Simon reminded many of his 2003 matchup against Christian Dietz in Groningen.

Knut Loite (Norway) Rank:19

Without the support of his wife, who stayed home waiting for their newborn to arrive, Knut's trademark "Lobout" tecnhique -a combination of Lobs & Lockout- was less effective than the previous years. It still gave him the 5th best defense of the tournament though.

Simon King (England) Rank:20

Although Simon is 10th in overall matches played in the KOA, this was his very first world cup, and he did very well in it. His defense so suffocating it sometimes resembled a biological warfare, he never conceded more than 6 goals in a game all weekend so naturally he went back home with the Best Defense trophy.

Tommaso Rollo (Italy) Rank:21

I am positive that it will take a lot of time for Tommaso to forget the match against his buddy Lorenzo. The winner would be the only one who'd make it to the Silver Cup's semi-finals and their domestic rivalry was so important to them that their hands was shaking badly and the result was 0-1 to Lorenzo! He had the 2nd best defense of the tournament.

Jorg Panhorst (Germany) Rank:22

Same position as last year but in a much more challenging world cup, so Jorg should be satisfied by his performance. This is not the first time that he comes close to making it to the Top 16. He had the best attack average among the Silver Cup competitors.

Jan Galinski (Germany) Rank:23

Jan had some good results in his first world cup, such as victories against Sascha and Jorg. His attacking skills seem to abandon him at the worst possible moments.

Alex Brante (Germany) Rank:24

Alex won all the matches that he was supposed to win on Saturday, but he missed the World Cup groups due to Sascha's victory over Gianni. It was therefore natural for people to expect him to fight for the title, but a couple of draws in the groups stage did not allow him to.

Kostas Kakaletris (Greece) Rank:25

Unfortunately for George's brother, Greek tournaments are usually too hard for him and he rarely manages to avoid last place. World Cups are a different story though, as he always finishes somewhere around the middle of the Silver Cup. It should be noted that he won a playoff match on penalty kicks and another one on overtime.

Klaus Lederer (Austria) Rank:26

Klaus was in the World Cups groups until the very last match of the first round, but Garry's victory against Jacob sent him to the Silver Cup instead. He did perform somewhat worse than expected there, however he remains the best Austrian player.

Flavio Zurla (Italy) Rank:27

Flavio's defense is quite strong, and that can give him impressive results such as the victory against Frank. However, he will need to score more than 2.29 goals per game to get further.

Thorsten Butschke (Germany) Rank:28

Thorsten makes small but constant paces of improvement every year. This was the first time that he made it to the Silver Cup, and although he scored less than anyone there Herr Jawoll was not an easy prey. One should respect the man who had more games per month in the past 12 months in the KOA.

Volker Boger (Germany) Rank:29

Volker had his ups and downs in this world cup, obviously influenced by a sickness that hit him on Friday evening. If he had a DeLorean, he would probably return to play that match against Peter Klimaschefski again.

Helmut Hausmann (Austria) Rank:30

Although Helmut technically finished at the same place he did last year, 30th out of 46 is certainly better than 30th out of 34, so that was obviously an improvement. A comfortable win against Thomas got him to the Silver Cup.

Cornelius Henze (Germany) Rank:31

Cornelius not only saved Christmas, he also saved himself from having to compete in the Bronze Cup. Although he only beat Kostas in the group, Mr. Smile fought most of his matches and had close defeats.

Peter Sommer (Germany) Rank:32

You gotta love Peter! He got totally wasted on Friday night and was AWOL until late in the afternoon of the first day of the world cup. Just as we thought he would not show up to compete, not only he played all his matches in one breath he also managed to qualify to the Silver Cup! Apparently he did not have any booze on Saturday evening, so he could not win any of his Sunday matches. That was not the performance of a coward.

Michael Gebler (Germany) Rank:33

It's not often that a newbie attends his first world cup and goes back home with a trophy (unless it's the shirt of shame). Michael defied the odds as he recovered quickly from the cultural shock of the first day and won the Bronze Cup.

Heiko Wenck (Germany) Rank:34

Heiko was the logical favorite for the Bronze Cup trophy, as he won the group beating Michael and having the best goal average in the process. However, he appeared to black out in the final.

Steve Screech (England) Rank:35

This site's space is not enough for me to write enough words to describe how grateful we must all be to Steve Screech. He is the reason we all went to Dartford, Athens (twice), Groningen, Milan, Cologne, Rickmansworth, Rome, Voitsberg and Duesseldorf and took back all these great memories that we will always cherish. It was awesome seeing him again and meeting his son, and we hope that he will continue to join future world cups. He was granted an honorary participation in the Bronze Cup although he did not play on Saturday, and he looked good enough to win at least that if not for a poor start in the opening matches.

Michael Malli (Austria) Rank:36

Michael had improved a lot since Voitsberg '09 and I am willing to bet that he will be among the Silver Cup players next year. Unexpected defeats to Dirk and Horst drove him out of the final. He had the 6th best defense of the World Cup.

Thomas Niekamp (Germany) Rank:37

Thomas returned after two missed world cups and actually had some very good results, such as the victory against Jan G. A close defeat to Peter S sent him to the Bronze Cup.

Peter Klimaschefski (Germany) Rank:38

Another newbie in KOA tournaments, Peter managed to beat experienced players such as Volker and Steve Screech. Just like his friend Michael, he promised to come back stronger.

Dirk Becker (Germany) Rank:39

Dirk's victory against Michal Malli was his best result of the weekend. This was only his 4th KOA tournament so we trust that he gathered valuable experience.

Carsten Puschmann (Germany) Rank:40

Carsten was a late entry in this world cup, and although he had played in 30 tournaments beforehand he had no international experience. He had several one goal defeats so he could have finished higher.

Horst Lienert (Germany) Rank:41

Horst started the WC with 10 defeats. He shaped up on Sunday and apparently performed his best against good players, as he draw against Michael Gebler and beat Michal Malli.

Michael Fuchs (Austria) Rank:42

Michael was afraid that he'd be among the contenders for the Game of Shame in Duesseldorf, something he managed to avoid only in the very last match in his hometown the year before. Instead, he managed to perform better than ever, getting 5 victories and 2 draws.

Gunther Wening (Holland) Rank:43

Apparently Kick Off 2 was the last thing on Gunther's mind as he arrived in Germany with a beautiful girl but no joystick! He went back home with a Lifetime Achievement Award which is more valuable than any victory.

Alessandro Cossu (Italy) Rank:44

Alessandro failed to exhibit any progress compared to his previous appearance in Rome. He was still considerably better than the two last players so there was never a question of him playing the Game of Shame.

Wolf Heyer (Germany) Rank:45

A step back for the Big Bad Wolf, who thought that his Shirt of Shame days were long gone but found himself on the big screen once again. We will never know what would have happened had Jan decided to try his best against him, as he did beat him in the group stage.

Jan Kiefer (Germany) Rank:46

With Andreas and Astrid absent, Jan was the big favorite for the Shirt of Shame and he did not prove the predictions wrong. He made a point of showing to everyone that the game is above all clean fun by repatedly scoring against his own goal in the Game of Shame. He proudly continued the great German tradition.