|
|
Spyros Paraschis (Greece)
Rank:01
|
Unanimously voted "Least likely to
succeed"
during his early days in the KOA. Always a second, third, even fourth wheel
of the Greek team in pre-2006 world cups. Never a bookmaker's favorite. His
offense never as impressive as that of Klaus, his defense never as suffocating
as
that
of
Nikos. And yet, look at Spyros now, sitting comfortably in his throne after
winning his second title in a row, this time even undefeated. He's got something,
all right. As soon as I find out what it is, I'll let you know. |
Gianni
Torchio (Italy)
Rank:02
|
Easily the best Kick Off 2 player who has
never felt the ecstasy of winning a world cup, Gianni eliminated two ex-world
champions on his way to the final before his plans were once again
dashed by Spyros. At times an unstoppable Kick Off 2 machine, equally effective
on both sides of the pitch, Gianni won the top scorer's trophy for the second
year in a row, while he was 3rd in defense. The KOA is wondering: when will
Gianni's turn come? |
Gianluca
Troiano (Italy)
Rank:03
|
The Italian stallion is the absolute Kick
Off legend, with three gold medals and two bronze ones. He had been undefeated
for 4 years and a total of 98 matches before he lost the first semi-final
to Gianni. He was the best defender of the competition for the third time
in his carreer, but his offense seemed to betray him for the first time in
years in the semis. |
Sandro
Torchio (Italy)
Rank:04
|
How many more elite players will Milan
give us? It's been only three years since Sandro finished 39th in a total
of 43 players in his hometown, but it now seems like ages ago. A killer kick
off lob that demoralized his opponents and the well known Italian variety
in offensive moves were his main weapons. Even in the matches he lost, he
never went down without a fight. |
Mario
Fichera (Italy)
Rank:05
|
Although Mario didn't make it to the final
like the previous year, he made an impression in the competition. His numbers
keep improving, and this year he had the greatest goal difference of all
the players, while he was only one goal behind the top scorer Gianni. He
was second best defender as well. |
John
Hogstrom
(Sweden)
Rank:06
|
John became the first Swedish to make it
to the world's top 8 players, a distinction he clearly deserved. Using the
Falcon formation for the greatest part of his matches, this year he added
many more goals to his repertoire other than the BLC and he improved his
defensive game. |
Alkis
Polyrakis (Greece)
Rank:07
|
Paneleiro. Confirmado. |
Giacomo
Troiano (Italy)
Rank:08
|
Nerves of steel and mental fortitude by
Giacomo, who was off to an excellent start in the world cup by topping his
group after winning all matches, 5 out of the 9 by a single goal! He had
the 7th best defense of the tournament. |
Vasilis
Kafiris
(Greece)
Rank:09
|
It's been 5 years since Vasilis' last world
cup, and for most players this lack of attendance results to
a bad performance. Not in his case, as he had an excellent world cup. With
a little more luck during the first day, he could have finished higher in
his group which would have resulted to a more practicable Round 2 fixture. |
Ektoras
Kapsoulis
(Greece)
Rank:10
|
In his first international appereance,
Ektoras left quite a few promises for the future. He was the 6th best attacker
of the world cup and he managed
to leave several experienced players below him, only three months after he
joined the KOA. Definitely one to keep an eye on in the world cups that follow. |
Fabio
Fichera
(Italy)
Rank:11
|
After one year of absence, Fabio almost
made it to the quarter finals this time but he was eliminated on overtime
by Alkis. He has some minutes of excellence in his game, but also some crucial
black outs that cost him. |
Alessandro
Verrani (Italy)
Rank:12
|
As every other Milan resident, Alessandro
scores a lot, a skill that prevented losses against the likes of Sandro and
Vasilis. His defensive skills do seem to abandon him at times though. |
Steve Camber (England)
Rank:13
|
The man who performed the necessary surgical
operations to the Kick Off 2 disk that we all love, was unlucky in the 7th
world cup. A defeat by one goal to Giacomo and a 2nd round elimination on
overtime to John determined his final position. |
Jørn
Flagtvedt (Norway)
Rank:14
|
Jorn practices his skills inside an igloo
against polar bears in the most distant part of Northern Europe. It's no
wonder he has come to be a very decent defender, as he had the second best
average among
the people who finished below 9th place. The day he does
better than 2.80 in offense, he will be capable of some serious damage. |
Marco
Stoller (Italy)
Rank:15
|
The infamous "organizer syndrome" did not
seem to affect Marco, who had his best world cup performance in Rome. Comfortable
wins against Rodolfo and Knut were among his very good results. |
Mark
Bishop
(England)
Rank:16
|
We will never know how far Mark could have
gotten in the world cup, as he decided to not attend the second day for personal
reasons. His gameplay seemed to improve whenever his sweet girlfriend Janette
sat next to him on the bench. |
Rodolfo
Martin (Spain)
Rank:17
|
After a bad first day, the matador
swept everyone in his way on Sunday and won the trophy that is given to the
best out of the players who do not make it to the second round. |
Jorg
Panhorst
(Germany)
Rank:18
|
An experienced KOA player with five world
cups in his resume, Jorg's long distance shots were a problem for many. He
made it all the way to the 17-32 group final, but he had no answer to Rodolfo's
offense. |
Steve
Ellesmore (England)
Rank:19
|
Steve had plenty of experience in KOA tournaments
before he attended his first world cup, and that helped him against less
experienced opponents. I am confident that there is more to see from this
promising player. |
Wayne
Lam (Hong Kong)
Rank:20
|
Wayne had a plan in this world cup. In fact,
Wayne's "I have a plan" was a phrase that caught on among the others more
than Martin Luther King's "I have a dream". He was confident about making
it to the 2nd round, but Jorn had other plans and his victory against Fabio
did not allow him to do so. The mid-tournament format changes broke his concentration
during the second day. |
Luca
Fagioli (Italy)
Rank:21
|
Solid first world cup performance for Luca,
with some excellent results, such as the convincing victories against Knut
and Haydn. |
Knut
Loite
(Norway)
Rank:22
|
A master of the "turtle & lob" tecnhique,
Knut made good use of the Lockout formation in the competition. Very good
defensive skills, especially against mid-class opponents. |
Haydn
Hamm (Wales)
Rank:23
|
The Welsh champion was obviously improved
in offense compared to his performances in the previous years. He could have
finished higher if it wasn't for that extra time loss to Rodolfo. |
George
Kakaletris (Greece)
Rank:24
|
The new Greek player had some excellent
results in his first KOA tournament, and several defeats by a single goal
as well. He will certainly put the experience to good use in the future. |
Mandhir
Sidhu (England)
Rank:25
|
Although this was Mandhir's first world
cup, he had played more than 400 official games before going to Rome. A couple
of defeats by a single goal to Luca and Wayne during the first day diminished
his chances for a better second round draw. |
Tomasso
Rollo (Italy)
Rank:26
|
Tomasso's main strength is his defense.
He conceded only 2.60 goals per game (4th in the world cup), but he needs
to learn some standard goals if he wants to have better results in the future. |
Thomas
Niekamp (Germany)
Rank:27
|
Although this was Thomas' third world cup,
he only plays Kick Off once a year, and therefore his results have not improved
much. He did surprise Haydn to a 3-3 draw though. |
Gunther
Wening (Holland)
Rank:28
|
After missing the world cup in England,
the father of the KOA gave a more decent performance than the one he had
in Cologne. His experience helped him defeat the newbies he played against. |
Wolf
Heyer (Germany)
Rank:29
|
Wolf won the shirt of shame in his first
world cup appereance in 2003, but he's a much better player these days. Scoring
against him is not that easy for average players. |
Flavio
Zurla (Italy)
Rank:30
|
Looking at Flavio's results, one can tell
that he could have gotten some more points and that even experienced players
sometimes had trouble scoring against him. As most newbies, he had troubles
in offense. |
Michael
Malli (Austria)
Rank:31
|
Michael must be proud as he was the only
Austrian who made it to the 17-32 group. His enthusiasm and love for the
game will help him improve in the future. |
Alessandro
Cossu (Italy)
Rank:32
|
With only 8 goals in 16 matches, Alessandro
could not do much in this world cup. However, he did manage to defeat Harald
in a crucial match and avoid playing in the 33-40 group. |
Thorsten
Butschke
(Germany)
Rank:33
|
Another ex-shirt of shame winner who has
improved his game, Thorsten not only got his first wins on Sunday, he even
won the 33-40 league without losing a single match and he thoroughly enjoyed
doing
so. |
Harald
Bauer
(Austria)
Rank:34
|
Harald gave people some good games during
the first day, drawing against Knut and losing to Giacomo by a single goal.
He was second in the 33-40 league as he had no answer to Thorsten's attack.
10th best defender of the competition. |
Peter
Sommer
(Germany)
Rank:35
|
Peter improved his numbers considerably
in his 4th world cup appeareance. He had 1.70F-4.28A in 80 matches beforehand,
but managed a respectable 3.31F-3.69A in Rome, a better offensive performance
than 18 players. He even
managed
to score 6 goals against Spyros. |
Alessandro
Guarnieri (Italy)
Rank:36
|
No matter what Alessandro does in his future
KOA tournaments, he will always be remembered as the first person ever who
lost to a girl. Sorry! |
Michael
Fuchs (Austria)
Rank:37
|
A victory against Andreas will be Michael's
most valuable experience from Rome. He has friends to practice against, and
therefore his skills will probably improve. |
Simone
Casotti (Italy)
Rank:38
|
Simone had trouble scoring in this world
cup, and that cost him dearly. A draw against Harald and a victory against
Michael Fuchs helped him avoid the Game of Shame. |
Astrid
Bouten (Holland)
Rank:39
|
Tennis had Martina Navratilova. Gymnastics
had Nadia Comaneci. Tracks had Jackie Joyner-Kersee. Kick Off 2 is proud
to have its own female legend, the incomparable Astrid Bouten. Astrid fights
in a men's world, getting better and better, slowly but surely. After getting
her first two victories in Rome, one can't help but wonder who her next victim
will be! |
Andreas
Klammer (Germany)
Rank:40
|
Following the fine German tradition of Wolf
and Thorsten, Andreas was unlucky
to lose the Game of Shame because of a penalty kick in the dying seconds
of the match.
What remains to be seen is whether he will follow their example and improve his
game in the world cups that follow. |
|
|
|
|
|