Rikki Fullarton (England)
Rank:01
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Quote: "I want you to know that when I get
home, I'm going to do my girlfriend in the back door."
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As he would say, Wonka prevailed in the world cup. He won the title with only one defeat, he was the first scorer with 6.32 goals per game, and second in defence with 2.41 goals concedeed per game. He was also first in goal difference, having scored 86 more goals than his opponents. He won the final mostly thanks to his efficiency inside the box, as he only needed 22 shots to score 10 goals. His infamous bar line chip move was proved unstoppable for most of his opponents.
Alkis Polyrakis (Greece)
Rank:02
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Quote: "I am proud of my performance as
I eliminated a player who perhaps deserved to be in the final instead of
me, Klaus."
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Alkis tried to repeat last year's triumph, but he was betrayed by his poor performance during the final minutes of the second final. He was 4th in goal average, 7th in defence and 3rd in goal difference. The semi-finals against Klaus will be hard to forget.
Klaus Loite (Norway)
Rank:03
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Quote: {SILENCE}
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Spyros called him a Kick Off cyborg, and that says it all. A man of few words, yet very eloquent with his joystick. He left the tournament with the bronze medal and the best defence trophy, while he was also second in goals and in goal difference. Not bad at all, but maybe not satifying enough for a man who had the potential to win the title.
Spyros Parashis (Greece)
Rank:04
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Quote: "Almost nobody ever remembers me
in the 'elite' posts."
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Spyros played his 100% in this world cup and 4th place was very much deserved. He defeated players like Bill, James, Nick, Klaus and George before the semi-finals. He only had a couple of months to practice for the tournament as opposed to the other players who played for a whole year. He was 6th in goal average and 7th in goal difference.
Panayotis Pantazis (Greece)
Rank:05
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Quote: "I had the 7th worst defence among
the 8 ppl to make it to the q-finals! my 3rd best attack was what got me
so high."
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The new kid on the block sweeped everything that blocked his way on Saturday, against all predictions. We expect wonders from him once he gets more tournaments experience. He was the 5th scorer of the world cup, 6th in goal difference.
George Koumoutsos (Greece)
Rank:06
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Quote: "Ridiculous, I'm now used to saying
'FUCK' whenever I miss a goal. Next time I'll be cursing in plain Greek."
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Having won three consecutive Greek tournaments right before the world cup, George was confident he was going for the title. However, Spyros surprised him with the epic 6-7 in the quarter finals, and as it has been proven before, one bad game is all it takes to eliminate someone. He was 7th in offence, 5th in defence and 4th in goal difference.
James Beard (England)
Rank:07
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Quote: "I'm a Beard, for fuck's sake!"
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Although he only finished one place higher than last year, most people agreed that James was the most improved player of the tournament. Always a class defender (3rd overall), he proved that he has some mean attacking skills in his repertoire as well. The two red cards he got in the first quarter-final against Klaus finished him.
Martin Beard (England)
Rank:08
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Quote: "I'm a Beard too, for fuck's sake!"
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The 8th scorer of the tournament seemed to be able to defeat anyone but Alkis. 4 of his 7 defeats were against the former champion, none by a wide margin though. He proved that his place is among the best, as he is the 4th player in the world in WC points.
Vasilis Vasiliou (Greece)
Rank:09
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Quote: "I wonder, how does it feel getting
knocked out of a cup competition in the quarter finals? I never felt that
before so i would be interested to know"
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Bill was the disappointment of the tournament as he didn't even make it to the quarter finals, although many people thought him to be among the favourites for the title. With the exception of an 11-2 victory against Spyros, he failed to demonstrate his notorious skills. He was the 3rd scorer, and 5th in goal difference.
Vasilis Kafiris (Greece)
Rank:10
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Quote: "Unfortunately I didn't continue
at the 2nd stage at the same pace, mostly because I underestimated my opponents"
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After a brilliant first day, Vasilis (aka William Beard) failed to play at his full potential. The day he will manage to remain reliable for the whole tournament, he will finish a lot higher than 10th.
Glenn Loite (Norway)
Rank:11
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Quote: "Steve Screech is the devil disguised
as a runty programmer, have you noticed the way he cheers his goals into
your face???"
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One word for Glenn: Unlucky. Too many results decided on
one goal, plus he was eliminated due to goal difference in his games against
Panayotis. His performance will be remembered by many, especially his defensive
skills (8th overall).
Steve Camber (England)
Rank:12
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Quote: "Shame I left my KO2 skills at home"
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Being in the same group with James and George proved very difficult for the 'German'. Scoring against him is never easy, as he has the best defence among the 10 people who played in both world cups (4th this year).
Robert Swift (England)
Rank:13
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Quote (After a 4-4 against Alkis): "Frankly
it was worth travelling 3000 miles to know that just for one moment I had
equalled the best in the world, in a game that he desperately needed to win"
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I'm sure Robert did not expect to finish lower than last year before the event began. His two defeats against Vasilis cost him the second place in his group and sent him right into the lions pit with Rikki, Alkis and Bill. Everybody saw he was much better than in Dartford though.
Steve Screech (England)
Rank:14
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Quote: "I never lost by more than a single
goal with Team A, Team B however was a let down for me and i'll have to work
on it."
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Steve was a much tougher nut to crack than last year. His finest moment was a 5-4 victory against Klaus, however he didn't get the away points he needed to qualify.
Rodolfo Martin (Spain)
Rank:15
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Quote: "You did not see the real Rodolfo
in Athens."
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The Spanish champion had the biggest
joystick any of us had ever seen! Not a bad KO2 player either, he had his
quality moments (victories
against Vasilis & James) but he lacked experience in big tournaments and it
showed.
Apostolos Terlis (Greece)
Rank:16
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Quote: "I can't believe I made it to the
second day."
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Apostolos was a hero just for showing up. He got a last minute permission from his military base and had to travel by bus from the Greek borders on Friday. His qualification to the second round was a big achievement, considering he hadn't played the game for months.
Nikos Andreou (Greece)
Rank:17
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He said: "I didn't win in Kick Off today,
but I earned some good friends."
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Too bad for Nick, he found himself in the toughest group and was out of the tournament very early. I still believe he could have qualified had he been his usual self, however all the fatigue he got from organizing the world cup eventually got to him. He has the 6th best defence of the tournament, and he won the Play-outs trophy easily as he was overqualified for them.
Filippo Della Bianca (Italy)
Rank:18
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Quote: "My performance reflected my absolutely
lack of practice (only 2 tournaments in the last 6 months including the Mediterranean
Cup 7 days before the world cup!)."
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Filippo considered himself unbelievably lucky when he found three rare Pacman joysticks in the Greek market, but that was his only moment of luck in Greece. He was one victory short of qualifying to the second round, just like in Dartford, and as this wasn't bad enough his luggage got honey all over it on his flight back to Italy! He got to the Play-outs semis but couldn't do more against Nick.
Jacob Kofoed (Sweden)
Rank:19
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Quote: "I still hear the Beards & co shouting
JAAACOOOB every five minutes... but when i look around they're not around
any more.... sniff....."
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The Swedish has no player to practice against in his country and as we all know that's a big disadvantage. He wasn't worse than last year, but everybody else seemed to have improved.
Anthony Kyne (Ireland)
Rank:20
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Quote (In response to Rikki's comment that
next year's shirt of shame should feature him on it): "Yeah, me giving you
a back door."
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Last year he had managed to surprise many people, but all he could manage in Athens was 4 points against Darren. He didn't make it to the play-outs semis due to worse goal difference than Filippo.
Mark Elliott (England)
Rank:21
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Quote: "Durban mate, I thought your performances
on the Saturday really stood out from the rest, how far did you say you were
projectile vomiting?"
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The New Ely showed up in Athens with an impressive home made joystick. Some noticeable improvement since last year was exhibited, he missed the Play-outs final on a third playoff match to Yakos.
Yakos Tsimblidis (Greece)
Rank:22
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Quote: "How should I sign my posts? 'Yakos,
OFFICIAL 3 wins - 345345 losses'?"
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Yakos failed to show up in the Greek tourneys that precedeed the world cup, missing some great practice opportunities. Therefore his performance was expected. He did get to the Play-outs final though.
Antonis Trikas (Greece)
Rank:23
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Quote: "Please tell me the shirt of shame
is not a female's shirt!"
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Despite his worries, Antonis won the Game of Shame final and that was his moment of glory in the world cup. Just like Apostolos, his participation was not guarranteed before the last days, and he was happy just for being able to be there.
Darren Gurney (England)
Rank:24
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Quote: "I`ve ditched the joyboard, because
everyone that I saw, there was always something they could do that I couldn't."
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Everyone is glad that Darren has finally realized that his joyboard, innovative as it may be, is just not the right tool for competitive Kick Off. We'll be looking forward to see him play using a real joystick.
Leonardo Comesino (Italy)
Rank:NC
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Quote: "Now I can defend well, I only need
to understand how to score."
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These were the first Kick Off 2 games of his life for Leonardo, as he only joined the tournament for fun, being more interested in tourism during his stay in Athens. He did score a nice goal against George though!
Mark Williams (England)
Rank:NC
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Quote: "It was nice to see Rikki win it,
although as we have all said we are all mates so the winner will always be
supported."
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Mark was the most unlucky guy of the world cup as he missed
the first round of the world cup due to food poisoning. Fortunately, he was able
to play in the play-outs on Sunday.
