Alkis Polyrakis (Greece)
Rank:01
|
He said: "I'm one of the 31 winners who participated
in the 1st Kick Off 2 World Cup"
He didn't say: "EAT MY DUST!"
|
Did
Alkis deserve to win the tournament? Most people seem
to think so. After all, he was the only undefeated player
in Dartford, either in tournament or in practice matches.
His gameplay wasn't the most attractive one, but he
was more concentrated than others. His strongest point
was his defence, as he only conceived one goal per match.
He was also on the top of the list in goal difference,
scoring 3.94 more goals than his opponents.
Mark Poelstra (Netherlands)
Rank:02
|
He said: "I still think you can beat Alkis with
a 4-2-4 formation... but with a 5-3-2 tactic it
is probably easier to beat him."
He didn't say: "Come on, everyone saw I was better
than the shorty. He was lucky, that's all."
|
Mark
reminded me of the Russian army officers we used to
see in early 80s Holywood movies. Standing 6' 6'', always
with a cool expression on his face, he looked like he
knew he was going to win. He was by far the most spectacular
player in Dartford, mastering a unique stop-and-run
technique. He eliminated Nazim and Gianluca on his way
to the final. He was third in overall goal difference.
Perhaps his only disadvantage was that he never switched
his 4-2-4 formation.
Gianluca Troiano (Italy)
Rank:03
|
He said: "I lost 1 match and I was out. Maybe if
the tournament was all just a league I would have
been the winner."
He didn't say: "But then again, Alkis lost no
match."
|
The
Italian stallion won the top scorer trophy of the competition,
averaging 5 goals per game! He was also second in defence
and goal difference. He deserved to be in the final
no less than Mark or Alkis. He appeared to be the unquestionable
favorite until the semi-finals, in which he competed
with the Italian flag wrapped around his shoulders.
Unfortunately for him, one bad game against Mark caused
his elimination.
Riemer Poelstra (Netherlands)
Rank:04
|
He said: "I was very pleased to be in the semi-final,
especially after a bad start."
He didn't say: "I'm glad Kees accepted my cheque,
cause I was out of cash."
|
The
elder Poelstra brother was the surprise of the tournament.
After a terrible start, he ended up 4th in his group
and didn't look like he had much chance in round 2.
His last minute victory against his friend Kees led
him to the quarter finals, where he defeated Steve Camber
with some impressive defence. He had trouble competing
with Alkis though, as he lost to him with an overall
16-2 in three matches, which was what caused his negative
goal difference. If someone played the best he could
in the gathering, it was Riemer.
Nazim Choudhury (England)
Rank:05
|
He said(to Vasilis): "I just can't keep up with
your posts man - if only your defenders were so
fast!"
He didn't say: "How do you spell defence again?"
|
One
thing about Nazim, he sure knew how to please the crowd.
Just look at some of his scores: 3-4,3-3,2-3,4-7.. Had
he been allowed to use tactics other than the defaults,
he'd probably use Blitz. Massive attacker, poor defender.
He was third in best goal average, just one goal away
from the first place.
Steve Camber (England)
Rank:06
|
He said: "You can't beat a good CamberGoal."
He didn't say: "Too bad Riemer didn't know that."
|
When
he wasn't busy repairing joysticks, Steve was playing
some serious Kick Off games. An excellent player under
pressure, he lead the closest groups in the first two
rounds. His attacking skills betrayed him in the quarter
finals.
Klaus Lederer (Austria)
Rank:07
|
He said: "It's a clear advantage for the aggressive
player if we use Fernandez in the final"
He didn't say: "I wouldn't mind being there, though."
|
Klaus
would never win a top scorer trophy, but he's a tough
player who never abandons a match. Many excellent players
did worse than him in the tournament because they cracked.
The Austrian did his best matches in the last two games
of each round.
James Beard (England)
Rank:08
|
He said: "I will host a tournament for everyone
and pay for everything the minute I become a millionaire."
He didn't say: "Meanwhile, is there any garlic
bread left?"
|
You
can tell James is a balanced player just my looking
at his stats. 0 goal difference! He had the second worst
offence of all 16 players who made it to Sunday, but
he was great at denying goals no matter which opponent
he was facing. The only player who managed to score
more than 3 goals against him was (surprise, surprise)
Anthony Kyne!
Robert Swift (England)
Rank:09
|
He said: "When Garry Kasparov beat everyone at chess,
they made a super computer to beat him. I was wondering
whether the Anco boys could re-open the Kick-Off
lab and write a souped-up computer player to beat
Alkis"
He didn't say: "Kasparov wouldn't stand a chance
against the tactics I designed in Chessplayer
Manager."
|
What
I will never forget about Robert was the demonstration
of his custom teams & tactics in Player Manager. He
has obviously spent hours designing them. I also loved
the way he was constantly mumbling during his (and other
people's) games. Not that he was a bad Kick Off 2 player;
the game that cost him was the legendary 4-5 against
Jacob.
Kees Van den Berg (Netherlands)
Rank:10
|
He said: "Beautiful playing never wins the worldcup
(see Holland)"
He didn't say: "At least an English girl called
me a gentleman!"
|
My
personal favorite player, I was surprised to see him
go so soon. One of the best competitors at keeping the
ball possesion. He never lost a game with more than
one goal, and this includes Gianluca and Alkis! He had
the third best defence. Had this been a city tournament,
Groningen would have finished first, with him and the
Poelstras playing.
Martin Beard (England)
Rank:11
|
He said: "Come on bro, don't let your fans down."
He didn't say: "...like I did."
|
Another
one who could have done better. He had what seemed to
me like the least suitable joystick in the tournament,
yet he was 6th in overall goal average & difference.
A sterile second round game against Gunther Wening was
the end for him.
Jacob Kofoed (Sweden)
Rank:12
|
He said: "My conclusion of the tournament is that
I need human opposition to get a better defense."
He didn't say: "And the rest of you need to bring
your girlfriends next time, so that Cecilia isn't
bored to death."
|
The
only Swedish in the tournament, and the only one who
dared to bring his girlfriend along! A veritable scoring
machine, 5th in goal average. Unlucky though, as he
was disqualified due to goal difference.
James Lockerbie (England)
Rank:13
|
He said(after Round 1): "I'm not going to win a
single game in the second round"
He didn't say: "I lied."
|
James
finished second in his group in Round 1, but he couldn't
do any better in the lions pit (Group H) with Gianluca,
Nazim and Vasilis. His defensive skills (4th in the
tournament) were not enough, as he only scored 3 goals
in these 3 games.
Gunther Wening (Netherlands)
Rank:14
|
He said: "I was deeply shocked after I was kicked
out in the second round after a very close game,
but tried to look normal"
He didn't say: "I did better than all the Angeren
boys, didn't I?"
|
The
founder of the Kick Off Association did a lot more than
sit back and enjoy his creation. His performance in
Dartford was pretty honorary, considering he was an
ST man. He had trouble coping with the differences between
the two versions, that's why he only managed a 1.4 goal
average per game.
Anthony Kyne (Ireland)
Rank:15
|
He said: "I was very happy with my results as I
thought I was favorite for the Shirt Of Shame"
He didn't say: "Hey Screech, how do I look from
down there?"
|
Anthony's
performance on Saturday was a surprise to many (not
excluding himself). Maybe his opponents took his word
for granted and expected an easy match. With 5 victories
in 6 matches, the Anco programmer progressed to the
second round, where he went down fast with three defeats
and 0-12 goals.
Vasilis Kafiris (Greece)
Rank:16
|
He said(after Steve discovered he and Alkis had
eaten his rolls): "I'm a victim of social cruelty
Steve! Like in V.Hugo's 'The Miserables'! I was
only hungry sir Steeeeeeve sir! Pleeeease sir!"
He didn't say: "Somebody, put something, somebody
put something in my drink."
|
Vasilis
was his usual self on Friday evening's practice games,
with 4/4 victories against opponents like the Beard
brothers and Steve Camber. I don't know what happened
to him in the weekend, but he failed to show his talent
in most occasions. One thing's for sure, he won't make
the same mistakes next year in Athens.
Danny Dinneen (Ireland)
Rank:17
|
He said: "For a person who plays at 50% and has
never played at 100% before, 3 victories and 1 draw
is pretty good going."
He didn't say: "I'd like to see you play at 200%!"
|
Danny
said it all in his quote. Most of the players were very
curious to see how "the 50% man" would do in the gathering.
He arrived just an hour before the beginning, so he
had almost no time to practice. We thought he was the
main canditate for the worst player award, and he surprised
us all.
Steve Screech (England)
Rank:18
|
He said: "One night's practice was totally unsufficent
for me to be able to put up even a modest challenge."
He didn't say: "See if I ever make another football
game."
|
I'd
need pages to even begin to describe the KOA members'
feelings about Steve. He was one of the two programmers
who gave us Kick Off 2. He gave us a chance to participate
in the making of a new game. He keeps giving us more
credit than we deserve. And finally, he organizes an
event as big as the 1st Kick Off 2 World Cup, which
must have cost him a fortune. One word for the man:
gratitude. As for his performance in the tournament,
I'm sure it was due to lack of practice.
Oliver Shleede (Germany)
Rank:19
|
He said: "That's a very unconventional way of scoring."
He didn't say: "Can you teach it to me please?"
|
Oliver
was one of the people who deserved to be in the second
round. Among his accomplishments, one cannot help but
notice the 5-1 victory against Riemer. He got disqualified
because he failed to beat the last two players of his
group!
Helmut Hausmann (Austria)
Rank:20
|
He said: "Continuous there was a rejoicing scream,
a shrill whistle of the referee, or a goal noise."
He didn't say: "Not to mention Mark Elliot's shrill
voice."
|
Helmut
did not do as well as his compatriot, but he didn't
do badly either. None of the four first players of his
group managed a big victory against him.
Filippo Della Bianca (Italy)
Rank:21
|
He said: "I don't want to see 31 Alkis clones next
year."
He didn't say: "Because if I do, I will finish
32nd."
|
How
did the 5h defender of the tournament manage to finish
21st? Well, the answer is obvious. Filippo scored even
less frequently than he conceived. He scored 6 out of
his 7 goals in only 2 games, and just 1 goal in the
other four! Perhaps it was a question of anxiety.
Franco Chiandotto (Italy)
Rank:22
|
He said: "Eeeeee fuori eeeeee!"
He didn't say: "At least I had a 12-0 victory,
not even Gianluca managed that."
|
Franco
appeared to be much better than the bottom two players
of his group, and worse than the top five, so his results
were normal.
Michael Qureshi (England)
Rank:23
|
He said (everytime he conceded a goal): "NEIN!"
He didn't say: "JA!" (at least not often enough
for him to qualify)
|
Same
thing goes for Michael, as he only managed to beat those
below him.
Carl Norman (England)
Rank:24
|
He said: "The greatest game of the tournament has
to be Mr Dig versus Nazim, if only to watch Naz
slap his head every time he missed/lost a goal...
if Mark had scored any more Naz might have broken
his jaw, Naz you were viscious."
He didn't say: "Maybe I should have slapped my
head once or twice, too."
|
Carl's
finest moment was a draw against Oliver, which was painful
to the German.
Jan Tijssen (Netherlands)
Rank:25
|
He said: "It's not a holiday. It's serious business."
He didn't say: "Andy defeated my brother, but
he didn't get passed me."
|
Jan
was another example of different versions confusion.
Mark Elliott (England)
Rank:26
|
He said: "I'm sure i'll gradually get back to normal
but i'll never forget this last weekend for a very
long time."
He didn't say: "Not as long as the time other
people will need to recover from my heckling."
|
Mark
did a much better job with his camera than with his
joystick! Not a bad taxi driver, either. When he wasn't
playing, he was one of the best defenders of the tournament,
because his sarcasm made people laugh and they couldn't
hit the target.
Pim Vink (Netherlands)
Rank:27
|
He said: "The ranking isn't fair. I was in a much
more difficult group than others."
He didn't say: "At least I had Tim to make sure
I wouldn't compete for the shirt of shame."
|
Pim
was probably the youngest player of the tournament.
I guess he was too young when Kick Off 2 was released.
Fabio Artuso (Italy)
Rank:28
|
He said: "I haven't played Kick Off for 10 years."
He didn't say: "I had a draw against the semi-finalist!"
|
Fabio
entered the competition late, due to another Italian
cancelling his trip, so he didn't have enough time to
practice. He used to be a champion, so maybe we'll see
a better Fabio next year in Athens.
Andy Middleton (England)
Rank:29
|
He said: "Scoring in Final Whistle is easy."
He didn't say: "Why can't I make an overhead kick?"
|
Andy
should be pleased we had only one worst player award,
although rumour has it that he's a better player than
he showed us in Dartford.
Niels Tijssen (Netherlands)
Rank:30
|
He said: "At lease I have got a shirt, and you are
still waiting for stainy."
He didn't say: "SHAME!" (all the other players
said it to him)
|
Was
Niels the worst player of the tournament? The numbers
say that he was. He didn't score a single goal in seven
games (just one in the game of shame), and he lost to
Andy. It's a good thing he had a sense of humour and
didn't feel hurt when he wore that shirt!
Tim Klifman (Netherlands)
Rank:-
|
He said: "Maybe I will have some beginner's luck."
He didn't say: "Kick Off players are ungrateful.
I should have made a porn site instead."
|
Tim's
presence in the tournament was complimentary, as he
was our web master. He's not a Kick Off player, at least
not yet. We hope he will learn to love the game and
play it.
