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Andy Gregoris (England)
Rank:01
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It's been
13 years since the last time the Kick Off Association had an English world
champion, and we could do a lot worse than Andy Gregoris. Just like Gianluca
Troiano used to do before him, he does not always prevail in group stages,
leaving his best performance for the knockout rounds. Though a late entry in
Kick Off 2 tournaments, his matchups against Gianni are already a derby that can
always go either way. He reached his absolute peak when he managed to beat the
Italian champion twice in Dublin - or did he?
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Gianni Torchio (Italy)
Rank:02
|
Everyone wants to be Gianni Torchio, the only
player with the four World Cup titles, right? However, try to imagine how bad it
must hurt to lose in a World Cup final. Now, remember that Gianni has lost four
of them. Let that sink in for a few seconds. It takes a very special kind of
character to be able to get back on your feet, fight and win back what is
rightfully yours, something that Gianni has done twice in the past and will no
doubt do again. That's the stuff elite players are made of. He had the 2nd best
offense and 2nd best goal difference of the competition. |
Oliver Stender (Germany)
Rank:03
|
Oliver has
been fighting for a place in the semi-finals for 10 years. After landing in a
Round 2 group with Gianni, Andy, Sandro, John, Steve Camber, Robert and
Alessandro, it looked like it would remain a dream for yet another twelve
months. And yet not only he managed to qualify from there, he also did it by
winning 6 out of 7 matches, with only one inevitable loss to Gianni. He also
made Andy work very hard in the semi-final, before proceeding to secure
Germany's first medal. |
Christopher Durrans (Norway)
Rank:04
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No longer a rookie, and that shows; Christopher keeps getting better and better
every year and it seems like we have not seen his zenith just yet. In Dublin, he
scored more than ever, conceded less (3rd defender of the tournament) and gave
Gianni quite a fight in the semi-final right after he had swept away his
brother. How long will it be until he can be considered a serious contender for
the title? |
Fabio Fichera (Italy)
Rank:05
|
Fabio is a
clinical finisher, able to find the back of the net with a certain ease that is
unrivaled by so many of their peers, very precise in his one-on-one
confrontations and with no apparent weaknesses in his game when he's playing his
best. So how did he end up in 5th place? Sometimes, a single defeat on extra
time is all it takes to send you home, which is what happened against Andy. He
did take the best attack & best defense trophies back home, the first person to
break the Gianni-Dagh top scoring duo since 2005. |
Sandro Torchio (Italy)
Rank:06
|
Following
his fourth place in 2006, Sandro was out of the competition's top 8 in the three
tournaments that he had attended. That was understandable, since he had migrated
to Australia in the meantime, where there are not many Kick Off players to
practice again. Here he is back in a quarter final then. Can he complete his
comeback and aim for the semis next time? |
Thor Egil Skaug (Norway)
Rank:07
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It did not take Christopher's alter ego long to place himself among the world's
best in just his second appearance in a world cup. Thor continues the tradition
of high scoring Norwegians who do not neglect their defense, as he was third in
overall goal difference. Definitely the best current player in the United
States. |
Jacob Kofoed (Sweden)
Rank:08
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A
fantastic achievement for Jacob, who finally achieved his long sought dream of
reaching a world cup quarter final in his 8th competition. He remained focused
on his goal, which he managed after he defeated the Austrians Michael and Klaus
in the second round. He is the second Swede to reach that round. |
Alessandro Verrani (Italy)
Rank:09
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Dublin was
not one of Alessandro's best competitions, as he could not manage more than one
victory in his Round 2 group of death. Will he manage to return to the quarter
finals that he reached in 2009 and 2010?
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Michael Malli (Austria)
Rank:10
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A good
world cup for Michael, who apparently reached the best position he could have in
Dublin. Among his most notable results were his
first time wins versus Robert. |
Steve Camber (England)
Rank:11
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Steve got
off to an excellent start in this world cup, securing second place in his Round
1 group. However, he could not continue at the same pace against much better
opponents on Sunday. |
John Hogstrom (Sweden)
Rank:12
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John could
not repeat the excellent performance that he had displayed in Copenhagen, where
he had reached 5th place, the best of his career. He had some good
moments in Ireland, but he did not get those victories against better players
that he usually does. |
Robert Swift (England)
Rank:13
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Robert is
one of the pillars of the KOA, so everyone was happy to see him return to action
after three missed world cups. It's only a matter of time until he returns to
his full form, as he know that
he is capable of much more. |
Klaus Lederer (Austria)
Rank:14
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Klaus had a fantastic first round, finishing above Sandro and only behind Gianni
and Thor. He is now considered among the players
who are expected to get to Round 2 each year. |
Jorn Flagtvedt (Norway)
Rank:15
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Life in the second round is
hard, for players of Jorn's caliber, but it's the right place to be when one
wants to improve.
This is now the third consecutive time that he's reached the World Cup
stage. |
Michele Lorenzetti (Italy)
Rank:16
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This was Michele's greatest achievement so far, and he should be proud of it.
He keeps developing his skills, slowly but surely. |
Lee Whiting (England)
Rank:17
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Not many people get to their
first world cup and return home with something to show for it.
Despite his inexperience, Lee displayed impressive composure during the Silver
Cup knockout stage and earned a well deserved trophy, in addition to being the
rookie of the year. |
Jorg Panhorst (Germany)
Rank:18
|
Jorg had some statements for
everyone in Dublin, and not all of them were about fashion.
After a number of mediocre world cups, he once again was a serious contender for
the Silver Cup, but once again lost it on details. |
Ian Kay (England)
Rank:19
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Ian topped his group on Sunday
and felt confident for a place in the final, but he
couldn't get past Lee. He had the highest goal average among the players of the
Silver Cup. |
Peter Sommer (Germany)
Rank:20
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Peter is certainly a good Kick
Off player, but the lack of lower middle class players in recent world cups has
made us forget that.
Finishing above 18 people is no small feat. |
Steve Screech (England)
Rank:21
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'The return of a man named
Screech!' was the title of an Amiga magazine in the 90s, and in Dublin we got to
witness the comeback of the man who brought us all together. His defense was
excellent, second best in the tournament, in fact, but
his goal scoring skills were rusty. |
Stephen Derry (N. Ireland)
Rank:22
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Although Stephen had already
played in a number of KOA tournaments in the past, this was his first world cup.
He had the fifth best defense of the competition. |
Jaume Perello (Spain)
Rank:23
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Everyone in the KOA was
surprised to find out that Rodolfo is not the only Spanish Kick Off player on
the planet. Jaume had some good results, mostly against other newcomers. |
Helmut Hausmann (Austria)
Rank:24
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Helmut topped his Silver Cup
group and looked ready for great things in that round. However, one bad game is
all it takes, so a disqualification on penalty kicks by Peter shocked him. |
Thomas Niekamp (Germany)
Rank:25
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Just like his friend Peter,
Thomas is too skillful a player to be battling to avoid the Game of Shame, as he
was doing in past competitions. When confronted with several newcomers, he put
those skills to use. |
Charley Deardon (England)
Rank:26
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Charely could have got more
from this competition, with a little bit more luck. Almost all of his matches on
Sunday were either draws or decided by a single goal. |
Tomasz Ankudowicz (Poland)
Rank:27
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This
was Poland's first appearance in a Kick Off 2 World Cup, and Tomasz tried to
make the best of it. Some good results against more experience players. |
Danny Dinneen (Ireland)
Rank:28 |
Danny was very determined to
make this World Cup a memorable one, and he certainly succeeded. He displayed
excellent pre-tournament publicity and was rewarded with a great number of
newcomers. After all that work, one can forgive his low scoring average which
prevented him from finishing higher. |
Olly Dearden (Scotland)
Rank:29 |
Olly went to Ireland not
knowing what to expect, and he was shocked to lose 17-1 to John in the first
round. He did manage to beat his brother on penalty kicks, a tale that will be
told over and over again in future family meetings, I'm sure. |
Luke Dearden (Scotland)
Rank:30 |
Luke seemed capable of good
results in the first round, where he defeated other newcomers and even drew
against Sandro. He wasn't just as composed on Sunday. |
Alan Byrne (Ireland)
Rank:31 |
A win against Danny was Alan's
best result in the competition. |
Mick Nolan (Ireland)
Rank:32 |
Too many games with no goals
for Mick, who only had one draw in the first two group stages but then somehow
beat Luke and Alan in the Silver Cup Playouts. He played in the Silver Cup when
Sean had to drop out. |
Pedro Quaresma (Portugal)
Rank:33 |
The
World Cup's co-organizer is a KOA veteran who had somehow managed to avoid the
association's greatest competition for 14 years. He gave Portugal the Bronze Cup
after a well deserved win against Gary in the final. |
Gary Plowman (Ireland)
Rank:34 |
Some wins and draws against
the players who finished below him were what Gary took back home from this
competition. |
Dino Dini (England)
Rank:35 |
The KOA was honoured to have
Dino in a World Cup once again. He managed to improve his game and stay clear of
the Game of Shame this time. |
Daryl Hutchinson (Ireland)
Rank:36 |
Many close and even more
not-so-close defeats for Daryl, who wore his Shirt of Shame proudly. |
Sean Costigan (Ireland)
Rank:37 |
A 1-0 victory against Mick was
enough to get Sean to the Silver Cup Round, which he however did not attend. |
Stuart Barlow (Ireland)
Rank:38 |
Stuart scored three out of his
four goals of the competitions in the 3-1 win against Daryl, then did not show
up on Sunday. |
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