Gianluca Troiano (Italy)
Rank:01
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Quote: "I would like to thank my brother
as he is the best Kick Off coach one could ask for."
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Gianluca came back two years later to finish the business he had started in the first world cup. Although his Sunday results were close, everybody agrees that he's a worthy champion. The statistics say that he was 5th in overall defense, but the truth is he was by far the best defender when it mattered; in the Playoffs.
Martin Jeffrey (England)
Rank:02
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Quote: "When you see that kind of brotherhood
stretching across European boundaries, it would be a hard thing to take not
to see each other again."
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The English champion had almost nothing but comfortable victories on his way to the final, but Gianluca's defense was too hard to break even for him. He had an excellent tournament and his performance will be remembered. He was third scorer with 6.19 goals per game, second best defender with a 2.19 average and third in goal difference.
Alkis Polyrakis (Greece)
Rank:03
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Quote: "I was a bit disappointed not because
I was out of the final, but because I had given the KOAers such a boring
semi-final to watch."
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The myth of 'nerves of steel' Alkis, the man who always
plays his best just when others crack, collapsed like the Tower of Babel in this
world cup after a disastrous 1-6 defeat in the first semi-final against Martin
Jeffrey. Nevertheless, Alkis won his third medal in a world cup and he was happy
about it, considering he was constantly below the other Greeks all year long.
He won the best defense award with a 2.08 average and he was also second scorer
and second in goal difference.
Nikos Andreou (Greece)
Rank:04
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Quote: "Last year's Nikos was thrashed by
Panayotis, so I had something to prove to him."
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Nikos seemed hungry to prove to everyone that last year's performance was only a bad day, and he succeded. He never lost a match to anyone who finished below him in the world cup. He had the 5th best goal difference, while he was the 8th scorer and 7th defender of the tournament.
Klaus Loite (Norway)
Rank:05
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Quote: "Last year I won the best defense
award, this year I was top scorer, so I must be crap in midfield."
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Klaus was first in his groups in both rounds but his otherwise impeccable offense failed him in the first quarter final against Alkis. I doubt the 7.45 goals he scored per game will ever be matched by anyone. He was also first in goal difference and third in defense.
Panayotis Pantazis (Greece)
Rank:06
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Quote: "I wasn't happy at all with my performance
and I was disappointed to lose at the quarter finals... but my girlfriend
is coming tomorrow from the USA, so I'm over it already!"
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Just like Klaus, Panayotis looked
unstoppable in his groups which justified the title of "Master of Leagues" people
had given to him, but the result was the same as last year, he couldn't do
as well in the knockouts.
The 4th place in defense with a 2.40 average was a surprise for him as he always
thought he wasn't a good defender. He was also the 5th scorer of the world
cup and 4th in goal difference.
Martin Beard (England)
Rank:07
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Quote: "I think I will cry after watching
the second leg against Gianluca again."
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Martin made his country proud in this world cup and he came very close to eliminating the world champion! People used to think that playing 4-3-3 is suicidal but he proved that he has mastered that formation. He was the world cup's 8th best defender.
Mark Poelstra (Netherlands)
Rank:08
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Quote: "Thank you all for a fantastic weekend,
I felt like a tourist in my own town."
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Despite his obvious lack of practice, Mark exhibited on some occasions the spectacular moves that we remembered from Dartford. He was the tournament's 7th scorer but his defense was leaking (15th overall) and that cost him.
Spyros Paraschis (Greece)
Rank:09
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Quote: "The effect constant bike riding
has on Dutch women bodies is... well... quite pleasant indeed!"
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The newly-wed was devastated when his trustful joystick failed him early in the tournament. He had to carry on using a CMS stick and his performance suffered. That didn't stop him from being the world cup's fourth scorer though.
Steve Camber (England)
Rank:10
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Quote: "Even when playing while half dead,
I still maintain my traditional and rightful final position in any KO event..
just above Swift."
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A very consistent player, Steve was unlucky to find himself in the 2nd Round group with Alkis and Gianluca, even though he had finished second in his group on Day 1.
Robert Swift (England)
Rank:11
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Quote: "Martin Jeffrey was carrying English
hopes and I wanted him to win so much I would have donated blood if it could
help."
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Every year Robert is significally better than the last, yet every year he fails to get to the quarter finals and he is disappointed. His numbers were good (5th scorer, 6th defender, 6th in goal difference) but he lost the crucial second match against Mark Poelstra and found himself in a very tough 2nd round group.
Riemer Poelstra (Netherlands)
Rank:12
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Quote: "It was really great to be your host
and I would do it again if I had to."
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The world cup's host did the best he could in the tournament and finishing third in his 1st round group was impressive, considering he was forced to play almost all of his games without a break.
Mark Williams (England)
Rank:13
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Quote: "Mr Dig took us to the Red light
district, I was soooo scared and just wanted to run away but I was very brave
and made it through alive....I swear the women were all men though."
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Excellent performance by Durban, he did better than most people expected. His impressive 7-2 victory against Mark Poelstra changed the quarter finals fixtures and perhaps the fate of the entire world cup.
Giacomo Troiano (Italy)
Rank:14
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Quote: "In real football playing is more
important than the result. I'm happy to have played good football in a few
matches against some of the greatest players."
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The champion's brother did more than simply coach Gianluca, he played some good Kick Off as well, especially in defense.
James Beard (England)
Rank:15
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Quote: "Big congratulations to Gianluca
who deserved to win this world cup with his amazing defensive performance
in the 2nd leg of the final. I have never seen such an amazing defence in
my entire life, truly remarkable."
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As always, scoring against James was not easy (9th defense in the world cup). As always, his offense left much to be desired.
Glenn Loite (Norway)
Rank:16
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Quote: "I hope you're in my group, Robert."
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Robert was in Glenn's group indeed but the result was not what he had expected! He was happy to qualify to the second round. He finished lower than last year, but this was a tougher tournament so I'm sure he wasn't disappointed.
Christian Dietz (Germany)
Rank:17
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He said: "Unfortunately, the Playouts trophy
was the only girl I got my hands on that weekend."
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Christian proved that he was a good player. He had the 10th best defense in the tournament but apparently he wasn't used to playing against very good players. It took him a while to get his form but it was too late for him to advance to Round 2, his opening 4-3 defeat against Riemer is what cost him. He did win the Playouts trophy after an exciting semi-final against Rodolfo and he's a player we'll be watching with interest in the future.
Evert Van den Berg (Netherlands)
Rank:18
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Quote: ""
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Evert did better than his brother which I'm sure was quite an accomplishment for him. In the Playouts he managed to come back after a home defeat against Knut and thrash him away, but Christian was too good for him in the final.
Jorg Panhorst (Germany)
Rank:19
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Quote: "I´m sorry for my last second goals
against Kees, Camber and Durban! Next year will be more difficult, but I
will learn the 'Catenaccio' instead of lobbing the ball! "
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A very interesting player and it's a pity he had to leave on Sunday and miss the Playouts. His inexperience was probably what kept him out of the second round.
Kees Van den Berg (Netherlands)
Rank:20
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Quote ""
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I expected a bit more from Kees to be honest. He had some good results and he seemed very hard to beat at home until Jorg did and got them both out of the second round.
Rodolfo Martin (Spain)
Rank:21
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Quote: "Gianluca is human. Everyone else
is a robot."
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Rodolfo was much improved compared to what we had seen in Athens and he was one of the few players that gave the world champion a hard time. He had the 13th best offense in the tournament. Although he was in the hardest group, he came very close to the second round but James Beard's victory aways against Gianluca sent him to the Playouts, where he lost the semi-final on overtime. Luck was not on his side this weekend.
Knut Loite (Norway)
Rank:22
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Quote: "When I lobbed Nikos from the kick
off, I could see that he was not very happy about it."
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A master of the lobs, Knut made it to the Playouts semi-finals. The away wins against Giacomo and Evert were his most impressive results.
Matthias Dietz (Germany)
Rank:23
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Quote (after losing 1-12 to Klaus): "Can you show me where the socket is so that I can plug out this killer machine?" "
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Matthias was not bad on offense (3 and 4 against Evert,
5 against Mark Poelstra) but he conceded more than he scored.
Luitzen Boonstra (Netherlands)
Rank:24
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Quote: ""
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Luitzen will remember his victory against Rodolfo which cost the Spanish a great deal.
Pascal Vermeulen (Netherlands)
Rank:25
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Quote: "I could tell by the way my muscles
felt that I'm not used to playing so many matches on one day."
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Pascal only defeated the game of shame players, maybe his best performance was the away draw against Evert.
Mark Elliott (England)
Rank:26
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Quote: "Martin made a great impact on the
WC and it could have been so different except for a post getting in the way
with 15secs to go."
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With only two victories against Niels, Mark did not have many expectations in this world cup, however he did put up a good fight in his two playouts matches.
Alex Brante (Germany)
Rank:27
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Quote: "I had always wanted to see others
play and had hoped that there was a level far above what I had known. And
indeed, that was the case."
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Alex played good defense; only two of the players who did not make it to round 2 had a better defense than he did. However, he had the second worst offense of the world cup and that's what he should work on in order to become more competitive.
Gunther Wening (Netherlands)
Rank:28
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Quote: "I liked it very much when people
thanked me for founding the KOA. Robert said 'I have Steve Screech in my
house thanks to you' and Rodolfo even kissed my hand!"
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Gunther had showed good skills in the first world cup in Dartford but he didn't play much since then, hence his poor performance this year.
Nick Housden (England)
Rank:29
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Quote: "Four bags of chips to go, please."
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The youngest player in the KOA (13 year old!) surprised us all when he managed to get his first KOA victory ever and avoid the game of shame!
Niels Tijssen (Netherlands)
Rank:30
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Quote: "NO MORE SHAME!"
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Two world cups, two games of shame for Niels but this time he was the triumphant winner and he was very happy for it!
Wolf Heyer (Germany)
Rank:31
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Quote: "Jorg will train me - next time this
won't happen again."
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Wolf wore his shirt of shame with pride and promised to
come back stronger next year.
