London International - Results & post-tournament discussion

[gdh82]

In keeping with the tournament itself this post could end up being pretty big, I'm afraid...

Like a big kid on christmas eve I didn't sleep too well on the night before the London International. The anticipation of meeting up with everyone and taking part in the Everest of KO2 tournaments had me buzzing! After waking up around 2am I didn't get much sleep after so needn't have set my 6am alarm!

Anyway, soon after Ste picked up Si and me and we were on our way! As well as maps/directions, I'd printed off John H's exellent predictions providing plenty of talking points during our 100 mile trip and added to our pre-tournament build-up!

One of the great things about this tournament was the opportunity to meet in person and get to know a little bit more some of the forum friends I'd made. It was also cool to see those I don't see very often and it was really nice too that Bbob and Haydn dropped in too, despite not playing, adding even more to the friendly gathering spirit.

Now it was time for the mother of all 1-day tournaments.....

Stage 1 - Setting Off From Base Camp
Darren G 1 - 4 Garry C
Sandro T 6 - 0 Garry C
Steve E 3 - 3 Garry C
John H 3 - 2 Garry C
Alessandro V 5 - 1 Garry C
Garry C 3 - 8 Jon G
Simon K 0 - 5 Garry C

The mountainous fixture list had granted me an away tie to Stainy for my opener and as has happened before there was very little between us, except that I was able to convert more of my chances and got off to a 4-1 winning start. Phew! I knew it was going to be a bumpy ride today and against Sandro my hopes weren't exactly high - 0-6 it finished and deservedly so. Kudos to Sandro for claiming an impressive 3rd spot by the end of the day! Playing Steve E was an enjoyably tense encounter that ended 3-3. Surprisingly I think our last three competitive matches have all been draws! Well done again mate on taking 5th position in the league, a way koohl achievement. My expectations were also low against John H but by contrast this time I at least managed an honourable defeat. A number of desparate goal-line headers to foil John's BLC attempts kept me in this game with the score at 0-2. Then I got one goal back and late in the second half an equiliser! John's attacks continued to rain in as they had for most of the game, when in the last thirty seconds I conceeded an own goal but I'm pretty sure John's BLC was goalbound anyway. My heart sank but a few seconds later I had another chance to equilise when I got into space by his penalty spot for a straightforward trap and move goal. I'd usually score 19/20 of these but cat-like the keeper flew horizonally to save a goal that both of us anticipate. Neverthesless 2-3 was my best result yet against John and its always good to give a top player a scare! The best thing about my 1-5 defeat to Alessandro was at least I enjoyed the quality of his goals - a narrow-angled shot from near the corner flag stood out in particular. Jon G began our game with all cylinders firing putting away chance after chance. At 3-7 I had two golden chances to close the gap and create some pressure but sadly I failed to take them and Jon punished me like a UK Champion should. Just lately I've had the hoodoo over my arch-rival and it didn't stop in Luton. 5-0 to me was hugely flattering but despite this Simon finished a nice 14th position taking the scalps of Robert S and James B along the way!


Stage 2 - One Incredible Hike
Garry C 1 - 13 Gianni T
Garry C 4 - 2 Rodolfo M
Andy G 6 - 3 Garry C
Garry C 4 - 1 Andy E
Garry C 1 - 1 Thorsten B
Dagh N 3 - 2 Garry C
Garry C 2 - 1 Volker B
Garry C 6 - 6 Klaus Lo
Glenn L 4 - 1 Garry C
Garry C 4 - 5 Flavio Z
Garry C 6 - 8 Panayotis P

To complete the London International any player has to stay strong despite the elements. And there is few greater challenges than facing Gianni! In his display against me he was a real force of KO2 nature, scoring goal after goal effortlessly with flair and precision. I thought to myself that I couldn't see anyone stopping him in this form. Commiserations on not taking the L.I title but your prescence nevertheless adds so much to any KO2 event. I felt I already knew Rodolfo from the forum and it was a pleasure to meet him in person, even if we didn't have much time to chat. Wary of his 442 I opted for Lockout when defending which gave my goal the extra protection it definately needed. Switching between 532/424 when attacking I managed to achieve a lead and hang on to it, 4-2. I'd remembered Dagh saying that Andy G (Logos) might surprise a few people so I approached this match with some intrepidation. It seemed to be going fairly well, leading 3-1 with less than 3 minutes to go when Andy exploded into action blowing me away with 5 goals in the remainder of the game. Fully deserved mate and after an extremely impressive 12th position on your debut (face-to-face) tournament, who knows what is yet to come! It was good to see Andy E and Andy H back in action after last years UKC. Against Andy E I think the match was never a foregone conclusion and I was more grateful than you knew to take a 4-1 victory! I really enjoy Thorsten's KO2 passion even if the sound of Jawoll didn't sound so sweet when he took the lead against me!!! Thorsten was playing lockout and gave me was a taste of my own medicine!!! Despite having a great number of chances, he took a 9th minute 1-0 lead and I was staring defeat in the face! Thankfully,however, my persistence paid with an injury time equiliser but I felt I'd more than earned it having had 23 v 5 shots and 18 v 3 on target (yes, I can still remember the stats from this game that goals forgot!!!). Maybe Thorsten's dogged defence had rubbed off on me or maybe Dagh was only playing in 1st gear, but I didn't receive the pummelling I was expecting. I therefore took some consolation with the 2-3 result against the Champ-to-be, especially bearing in mind in the dying seconds I made a quick parallel cross to the goal and first-time shot which smashed the post and so was nearly a dream 3-3!!! Good to meet you Dagh and full credit for deservededly taking the London International crown!

Myself and Volker have had a friendly forum rivalry going so I was particulary looking forward to our match. It was predictably close and I took the narrowest of 2-1 margins, although I'm sure your joystick problems were an unhelpful distraction. Even though I claimed victory, you had the last laugh by finishing one place above me in the final league postions!!! Really look forward to when we next meet so we can resume our duel! . I recorded one of my results of the day against Klaus. Although I was managing to keep even with him, the superior quality of his goals was evident, including some fine PBD dribbling skills. Nevertheless I felt very chuffed with a 6-6 scoreline. If I thought I might have had an easier game against his brother Glen, I was wrong. He used LOCKOUT extremely effectively and he was a pretty good lobber too. This deadly combo left me floored 1-4. Ouch! I was always behind to Flavio's fine 433 gameplay until a second half comeback saw me recover a 2-4 deficit to make it 4-4 but Flavio still hadn't finished and finished me off 5-4! In a game not disimilar to the one against Klaus, I had a highscoring battle with Panayotis. He always had a calm assurance about him winning 8-6 and probably would have comfortably scored 10 if I had somehow managed 9! Good to meet you and thanks again for going to the trouble of bringing those joysticks with you - much appreciated!


Stage 3 - The Final Ascent
Garry C 6 - 1 Mark E
Andy H 2 - 3 Garry C
Garry C 2 - 5 James B
Alex B 8 - 7 Garry C
Garry C 3 - 1 Pedro Q
Robert S 3 - 2 Garry C

It was really good to see Mark again, the first time since WC06, and we chatted quite a bit during our game. We agreed that at this stage in the competition, the matches were far less about KO2 skill and more about Ko2 stamina. Then again, I'm not sure how much skill was evident in my games at the start of this tourney!!! Anyway, I won our match but I think Mark took something from our discussion about Lockout ? I'd already lost a couple of games due to late goals but against Andy H it was the reverse. He lead 2-1 with less than 30 seconds on the clock. Not only did I claim an equiliser but with literally the last kick off the game my edge of the box diagonal lob sailed into the goal to give me the smash-and-grab 3 points!!! In true Newent style I had a cracker of a game against James B. Both of us were cheering and jeering at our own and each others goal attempts. Even though James took the points 4-2 I thouroughly enjoyed our energising contest. Reinstate Newent ffs! It was a pleasure to meet Alex for the first time and our game was a brilliant 15-goal battle, my hightest scoring game of the tournament and I still lost!!! I was playing catch-up for most of the game, usually only one goal behind, but when I went ahead for the first time to make it 7-6, I could sense victory but it was not to be. Still, I'd much rather lose 7-8 than 0-1 anyday! Pedro's ability to enjoy KO2 whether things go right or wrong was inspiring to me. Ours was a neck and neck battle and only in the late stages of the game did I take the lead and secure the points. Hope today's will be the first of many tournaments for you! By the time my final game came around, a number of other players had already finished and the (Anti) Robert fanclub had assembled behind us! Rob was thriving on this of course, cheering his own moves even if the crowd wasn't! He took particular delight in celebrating his victory by goading the audience in return. Great fun! And relief - I'd made it to the summit of my fixture list!!!

Immediately before the tourney I'd said to myself I'd be looking at finishing in the 15-20 postions, so 17th is alright. Of course it might have been a little better but then again it could have been much worse too. Typical for me, it included plenty of highs and lows and twists and turns, which is all part of the KO2 fun.

Although we made the journey to/from Birmingham/Luton without a hitch, we twice got lost in Luton! First going to the Footy match and then to find the restuarant. Must admit we were on the verge of heading home but with one final attempt we fortunately found the Beef Eater almost an hour late at 10pm! So glad we did make it there, since it was fitting way to end a superb day and although time was short I really enjoyed the brief chats I had with KOA friends.

Our journey home was full of jokes and laughs and as we neared Brum at almost 2am, practically 24 hours after it started for some of us, we were all completely shattered. How Steve E managed to drive as well was nearly as impressive as his 5th placed finish. Si actually remarked this had been the longest day of his life, in true Jack Bauer style. Our mission was complete - we'd enjoyed some thrilling KO2, met some great people and had a real laugh, and got home safely at the end of it all!

[dnielsen]

Great write-up Garry

[goalkeeper]

Great write up, Garry

Time to post (only )the beginning of my review!


As every big tournament last time, i had some problems before. Were it my teeth before Athen, this time I brought my father into hospital on Thursday(Thanx god that there was no need to cancel the tourney in last moment).
Really glad, after two hard days, it was possible to go to bed early on Friday evening for some refreshment. Was sleeping very fast and wake up very fast, because of a call from a bloody stoker. So I could say hallo to Thorsten, eat something, but only had one and a half hour sleep before we drive to the airport in the night.

No problem with the flight and I enjoyed the sunrise over the clouds(Always a great compensate for an early, tired flight)
Landing 7.20 at Luton we had some problems to find the pavement, which lead to the hotel.
We found it, so the only thing what can stop us now, was that I only look left when I enter the street. Not overdriven we arrived at the hotel.

Good choice Robert!
After bringing our bags into the room, we met the first players at breakfast. Shit, they were all fit and it seems nobody had drunk a lot the night before, so I took 3 points away from my predictions.

The tournament starts and the flood came over me in form of soooooo many new players and dirty+fast spoken English that my brain was already dead after 10 minutes.

So it could be that my review is not 100% correct, but here we go:


Steve E – Volker B 4:3
Fantastic match with a fantastic guy!
I was really close to get a draw, but some seconds and a lob were against me. Evil!

Dagh N – Volker B 10:1
He not only win the crown of this tournament , he also smokes Krone( Thanx for the cigarettes).
Damn that Dagh not played with full power. Maybe I would had the chance that the game crash, when the counter reaches 100.

John H – Volker B 8:2
Always nice that John shows so much interest in Werder Bremen.
In the first half I had the feeling there was an improvement of my Ko2-skills, in the second half he shows me the different between feelings and reality.

Volker B – Andy G 6:6
Andy has the tendency to understatements! Answering that he is the guy, who plays online vs Dagh, but I should´t have any fear he is really bad. Knowing this from Oliver, I was warned.
But not enough and he leads 1:3. Wow, not four matches played and I already had the idea to stick my joystick into my ass and flight home. A little bit angry about it could be hurts, I began to fight. Yes 3:3, no 5:6, yeah 6:6 in last second. My first point in a great match! I was happy, my ass very.
You are on a good way, after only a half year, Andy! Keep on playing, the top ten will be yours.

Volker B – Simon K 3:2
I follow his results since a year and i´m impress how he has made his way from tournament to tournament.
So I was not surprised that he was in front with 1:2 vs me. I was only surprised that he was more tiered than me and shut his eyes for 50 seconds. Sweet dreams become a nightmare on Percival way!

To be continued...

[dreadedhen]

A mighty fine tournament guys, thank you for a great weekend. Glad we booked to stay over, it was quite tiring and I feel I've aged.....the cards delivered by the postman this morning confirm this.

I learnt a lot - the old days of depending on one game plan need to change, you get away with that when you only play one person.
For those of you that didn't notice that was 532, pbd off, no subbing, CHARGE! (I think you all probably did though, I definitley felt options shutting down as I was sussed within 1 minute). I need to experiment but decided the tourney wasn't the place.

Theme for the day was poor finishing, right through to the giant chicken skewer at the restaurant - stuffed!

I hope it was a bit of an off day too, a meter for that was surely the fact that my usual epic fight of goals and swear words with andyh was just a dull 2-1.

I knew it was a losing battle when I noticed that the score keeper stopped asking me "who too?" about half way through the day.

Thanks again, hope to see you soon after a bit of time experimenting in the lab.

AndyEEEEEEEEEEEEE

[Rodolfo]

Hello everyone, I just arrived from London!

I had a terrific weekend, and saturday was not an exception. The tournament was very well organized, so I want to thank everyone who took place in the organization, and Above all, Robert, who did his best for several weeks and specially last saturday for all of us to enjoy a great Kick Off party. Thanks a lot!!!

About my games I am not that happy, and I would even consider I may have some problem in defense, but anyway it was great fun. I loved meeting the new and the old ones, and I am only sorry that due to my weekend circumstances I could not stay with all of you all saturday night. I know that those post-tournaments night gatherings get very funny, and I am sure that I missed some great moments there. But anyway I was very happy that at least I could see Claire for a while, and she was so kind of driving me to the station so I could get the train back to London.

I hope to see some pictures soon. Thanks to all of you!

[dnielsen]

Kick Off review.

I am of course happy with my personal result in the table. I will not argue with people who say it was well-deserved, but I do think I was a bit lucky overall. My game with James was very tense and could easily have gone either way. Garry was extremely close to equalizing against me with 1 minute to go (a shot past the keeper hit the inside of the post, only a sligh bit of aftertouch was missing). Besides that, and besides my loss to Sandro, it seemed like none of the players from the top half of the table hit a real top-form game against me. Whereas, for instance, Gianni was almost blown off the pitch by Jon G and had to make a spectacular comeback to clinch a draw.

Dagh N 10 - 1 Pedro Q I just read what Pedro wrote about switching to 5-3-2. The silly thing is that I was speculating in advance about advising Pedro on tactics if need be, but once the game got going, I forgot everything about it. But you learn better from experience than from being told anyway . I don't give away free presents, but I was happy to concede a goal so that a beating like this doesn't seem totally pointless for an inexperienced opponent.

Dagh N 10 - 1 Volker B I didn't know what to expect from Volker, and what to expect from my own form. But I had not played James yet, so I was mentally still in a "I want to double-digit everybody" mode. Fortunately, this hard first (?) match for Volker didn't seem to affect his further efforts in the tournament negatively.

Dagh N 1 - 0 James B This game reminded me a lot about the first game I had in Copenhagen against John H. A tense, nervous affair. I am not sure, but I think it was 0-0 at half-time. Once I was ahead, James had many good mid-distance lobs that could easily have gone in, and he also had a BLC attempt that got my pulse up. Generally, James proved just how tough a defender he is. In advance, I had been thinking to myself, hey, it's not like you don't know how to score against 5-3-2, but during the game, my self-confidence quickly evaporated in that regard. A draw would certainly have been a fair result.

Dagh N 3 - 2 Garry C This game was played later in the day. At this point, it would make sense to have some relaxed games, but I really wanted to show Garry some of my best Kick Off since he is such a dedicated KO2 student and connaisseur. It started off "according to plan": I scored a couple of goals, Garry complimented them, and we could be well on our way to a nice, say, 8-3 game. But somewhere along the way we got derailed. Garry scored a couple of mid-distance lobs, I was only leading 3-2, and Garry began to defend tenaciously. Even worse, he also showed ambitions in the other direction. The absolute climax was about 1 minute before final whistle where Garry had a shot past my keeper that I was sure would go in, but somehow the ball hit the inside of the post and remained in play. Kudos to Garry for a great effort and some great fighting spirit! A draw would not have been an unfair result.

Dagh N 10 - 1 Andy H Once again, even though it is not by design, I am delighted when an opponent from the bottom of the table at least scores one goal in beatings like this. Well done!

Dagh N 7 - 1 Glenn L This game was pleasurable for me, as I hope it was for my room-mate Glenn, even though the result was a little harsh on him. It felt a bit like a training game, where I was happy to try and possibly share a few moves with Glenn and Klaus after their long absence from tournaments.

Dagh N 9 - 3 Robert S Robert before the game: "I have prepared a special tactic just for you: 5-3-2!". He started off with Lockout though . I really wanted to have a nice game with Robert, but after I got ahead with like 2 goals, he had Barber sent off, and it seemed to ruin Robert's fighting spirit. Of course, he used some kind of organizer hack and had Barber on again for the second half, but at that point it seemed to be too late for a close fight. And, btw Robert, when I scored 2 identical diagonal lobs from an odd distance, it was indeed a pure lucky coincidence and not some crazy "I know every spot on the pitch" cyborg hack .

Dagh N 10 - 4 Alex B This game was a lot of fun. Alex went for 4-2-4, defense be damned, and he was rewarded with 4 good goals. The game felt no different than when we played a couple of friendlies in Athens - just for fun.

Dagh N 6 - 1 Alessandro V For some reason I was very nervous before this game. Maybe I am developing an Italian complex? Alessandro on the other hand was in a happy mood, as always. I had a few "f**k"s and then a "yes!", and my worries were eased once I built a lead. Alessandro seems to improve a lot and had a great tournament, and it would have been only fair and natural with a closer result in this game.

Dagh N 10 - 2 Darren G 10-1 is a good result, but 10-2 is even better .

Dagh N 7 - 8 Sandro T This was a really great game. Sandro was ahead by 1 or 2 for most of the game. If I remember correctly, I had just finished my game with Alessandro. For some reason, my self-confidence was not too good, and I also felt Sandro would be a really tough opponent, toucher than when I drew him 6-6 in a friendly in Athens. But ironically, I played quite well. Sandro just played a notch better. He surprised me by using 5-3-2 as his main tactic. He scored 4 KO lobs, but I scored a similar amount of KO routine goals. I did get ahead 7-6 deep into the second half, but then a KO lob followed. At that point I couldn't restrict myself any longer and shouted some dirty word. Gianni said consolatory: "He's a machine." Indeed! Sandro soon after scored the final goal to secure victory. He also had a very nice defensive block along the way. I missed a final chance, but hey, I'm no machine . Congrats to Sandro on a great performance, in this game as well as in the tournament. I think Sandro must be considered a strong contender in the next WC.

Dagh N 8 - 3 Steve E Ironically, even though I was pissed about the loss to Sandro, the defeat probably helped me relax more in the following games. I consider Steve a dangerous opponent, but I also thought I would have a psychological edge after the butcherings in Athens. The game was about even for a while, but once I built a lead, it seemed like we both resigned to the fact that I was going to win this game without any further intense fight, and I think we both just enjoyed playing the friggin game of KO2 for a while and not being so result oriented!

Panayotis P 5 - 9 Dagh N The comments above from the Steve game could apply pretty well here as well. I had some fun teasing Panayotis with a KO lob, but he asked for it! - by using that KO routine of his that gave me nightmares in Athens Friday night before the official tournament .

John H 4 - 7 Dagh N John was obviously having an off-day after some tough, close defeats (for instance, 4-5 to Gianni, and 8-9 (!) to Sandro). This was a good, enjoyable game, though.

Simon K 4 - 6 Dagh N A good, close game where Simon surprised me with the strength of his play.

Andy G 3 - 9 Dagh N This game was played earlier in the day. We also had a friendly before the tournament. I have played tons of friendlies online with Andy, with many close games. I was curious to see just how strong Andy would be offline and I am happy that he had such a good debut in his first KOA tournament. Andy's feel for ball control and build up of attacks is very good and with even more potential. I am sure that once he gets more experience defending against various humans, more experience playing against different tactics, works a bit on various finishing moves, and gets player switch timing down to a clockwork, he is going to be a very tough oppononent for everybody and a strong contender in whatever tournament he gets a chance to participate in in the future.

Thorsten B 1 - 10 Dagh N This was one of the last games I played in the tournament. We probably both felt it more of a duty to play this game at this late point, but I hope we both enjoyed it anyway. Thorsten suggested at dinner that it might sometimes be a good idea to split up tournaments in two groups due to the nature of late games like this. It's not that it's bad to receive an occasional beating, but when it happens many times, it is probably not so interesting anymore. Food for thought!?

Andy E 2 - 10 Dagh N Once again: 10-2 is twice as good as 10-1

Klaus Lo 6 - 9 Dagh N I had a few glimpses of Klaus' play during the day which confirmed his reputation of being a spectacular scoring machine with wickedly quick reflexes. His defense might understandably have been a bit rusty, though, which is not so fortunate in a 4-2-4 vs. 4-2-4 match. My attacking play was working well in this game, and I built up a 9-2 lead. Klaus then fortunately proved his strength by scoring 4 goals in a row for an honorable result.

Rodolfo M 1 - 8 Dagh N Another late game. Rodolfo had not had such a good tournament. He had scored many goals, but also conceded many. I had given Rodolfo a rough beating in Athens, which he naturally didn't enjoy so much. The problem is that, against a 4-4-2 or 4-3-3 player, it almost becomes a matter of philosophical principle for me to punish their weakness in defense, even if that means using the same line of attack over and over. In this game, Rodolfo had more of a share in the game though, and the result is somewhat misleading. And as I joked with Logos last night: what would the KOA be without a 4-4-2 player?

Flavio Z 1 - 10 Dagh N This game was played earlier in the day. As Rodolfo sticks to 4-4-2, Flavio sticks to 4-3-3. I hope he enjoyed the game despite the beating. It's really an incredible demonstration of dedication to KO2 that Flavio shows up even though his English is not so good.

Jon G 6 - 10 Dagh N Despite being told in advance about his skills, I had caught a few glimpses of Jon's games, and he had really surprised me with his efficiency in front of the keeper. I also didn't know he was a 4-2-4 player ("all English players are 5-3-2 players"). I think I played some of my best KO2 of the day in this game. I was leading throughout, but always felt Jon might catch up until deep into the second half. He either seemed very focused, or very disinterested (I hope the former !). Well played, mate.

Mark E 0 - 9 Dagh N I hope Mark enjoyed the tournament despite his finish near the bottom of the table. It would have been great if Mark had scored a goal or two in this game, but it was not to be this time.

Gianni T 4 - 7 Dagh N I was almost certain I was going to lose this game. With that in mind, I decided I should at least not go down without a fight on all tangents. There was also another reason for this: In the second game in Athens, my cyborg attitude collapsed when it felt like there was an overflow of emotion in the whole situation. In general, it seems extremely important to get the goal lead in close encounters so that you get the mental lead as well. I particularly regretted that I had not cheered my somewhat lucky 1-1 equalizer in that second final game (not that it would have led to a different result, which I don't think it would, but one should probably try to learn even from inevitable defeats!). So, with that in mind, I decided to try and inject my mental state outwards, instead of having a difficult situation impact my mental state inwards. Make no mistake, though, my shouts of "yes!" came from the heart as well

As already said, it seems very important to get the first lead, and even more so at the end of such a long day where it is more difficult to find energy to fight for a comeback in a depressing situation. I think I got ahead like 4-1 and approximately held that distance throughout. I played Lockout almost exclusively in the second half, and it seemed like Gianni more or less resigned at some point. Kudos to Gianni for a good fight in the table throughout the day, though. I think you were unlucky not to win the tournament, and it would have been fully deserved if you had won it. You are the KOA King after all!

People may now go on hating me for winning the tournament by use of scripted routine goals

[Rodolfo]

And of course, of course, of course: congratulations Dagh!!!
This was an amazing and very deserved victory

[dnielsen]

Thanks, Rodolfo

[Logos]

Wow, not four matches played and I already had the idea to stick my joystick into my ass and flight home.

Damn! That last second goal really saved your ass!

[dnielsen]

Wow, not four matches played and I already had the idea to stick my joystick into my ass and flight home.

Damn! That last second goal really saved your ass!

[Tripod]

Alex, (who should have finished higher than me!)

Sorry, I disagree. After all, we finished equal on points but look at your goal difference compared to mine, far superior. And it was your first tournament, it might be the first and last time I beat you if you turn up more often now. Reminds me of Oliver St., I beat him in the first time we met (and it was his first tournament, too), but I stand no chance now.

[Abyss]

Congrats to everyone and especially to the newcomers and the big winner.

So Pedro does really exist after all?

Andi, I hope the joystick proved to be as you expected!

Congrats to Dagh for winning such a big tournament with such quality opposition. It's also nice to read his tournament review so fast after the tournament - a first!

[_glenn]

First of all i would like to thank robert for excellent organizing, the weekend was perfect, as i also expected, because this is the swift organizing trademark. It was really nice to see all the familiar faces, and nice to meet all the new people. The koa seems to have its very own magnet that draws nice people, because when the amiga is switched off everyone seems to get along, no matter what nationality or ko-level they’re at.

I would like to point out what seems to be the new kick off ambassadeur, gianni, the last time I saw him, his english was not so good, and he mostly stood in the “italian circle”. Now his english has improved, and so he is buzzing around talking to everyone, and always has funny comment. For those that has participated in the last world cups, I am sure that this is no news for you, but for me this was a very pleasant surprise. I must say, he is truly a worthy champion. Also nice to meet my room-mate dagh, the kick-off player with the biggest potential is already the best it seems. His ko-performance was exceptional, but he is really a really nice guy outside of the gaming room as well.

I really don’t like to fly, therefore I had some beers in the airport, just to ease the nerves, but once started I did not stop… I had some more beers on the plane, and another few on the bus from stanstead to luton, therefore I was useless when I arrived in luton, apologize to anyone having to talk to me! This also meant that I woke up with several lumbermen running inside my head lumbering my brain to death. I found out the only solution was more beer… I had one for breakfast, and just continued, so I cannot remember all the details from the games, but I will try to give my some gaming info:

Alex B – Glenn L 6-1

After 2,5 years of inactivity i did not stand a chance to alex’s leathal finishing. Should probably have played lockout in this match, but I don’t think I did. Well earned points for alex, worst possible start for me. I think he was leading 6-0 when I scored a kick off lob or something. Oh my god, this is going to be ugly I thought…

Alessandro V –Glenn L 2-1

Can’t remember much from this match, but i think it was quite even, i played lockout and could have had a draw.

Stainy-Glenn 2-2

The match against stainy was an even fought battle. A draw was a fair result and although we both had chances to win the finishing was to poor, and we both got what we deserved 2/3 loss.

Sandro T –Glenn 3-0

I had never played Sandro before, but i knew he was a good player, went for lockout and minimalized the loss to 3-0, was quite happy with the result, although I never was close getting any points.

Steve E –Glenn L 3-0

Copy/paste from the game versus Sandro, was never close in this game either. Had a nice chat with steve, he was not surprised that knut was my brother, lockout and lob is easy to recognize….

Dagh-Glenn L 7-1

This was my 6.th game and i had only 1 point. And now I was going to play dagh, ok then I had really nothing to lose and played quite well. Dagh went ahead 1-0, and the just before half time I equalized, just to see dagh score again, making the score 2-1 at half time. During the first half I thought, I am playing well, maybe I can steal a point. In second half I was never over the half way line for more than 3 seconds in a row. I was outplayed all over the pitch and could not do anything but admire some fantastic kick-off…

John H –Glenn L 3-1

Still only 1 point and having played 7 games, only pedro was behind me in the table, not looking good. I have played against John H in a couple of friendlies and I have won, so I had a little hope that I could maybe get something out of this match. In the first half it was an even match, with john as the best man, but in the dying seconds of the first half I scored on a lob. 1-0 at half time and john was swearing. He mentioned our last friendly and said that I won it, and I kindly remarked that I actually won it 4-0. In the second half john soon equalized with a great goal, and not long after he scored another one and the game was turned around. He scored his 3 about 1 minute before the end ( I think) and got his deserved win.

Simon K-Glenn L 0-2

I had now drunk about 5-6 pints and the lumbermen was gone, and the “I don’t give f..k” feeling was kicking in. I had never played against Simon, and did not how good he was. I had played som good games against some quality players with lockout and selected this out of old habit. A good choise… I remember simon saying, oh my god, this is going to be a long game when I made 3 lobs in a row when winning the goal-kick header. Suddenly one of my lobs went in. Simon had many good attacks but mr fisher was on form and made spectacular saves. When I scored 2-0 in the beginning of second half he gave up and I had my first victory of the day.

Andy G-Glenn 2-3

I actually remembers nothing from this match, i probably did lockout and lob, and it seems to have worked fine...

Thorsten B –Glenn 3-7

I was surprised when i came home and found out that i had won this game 7-3, i thought had won with 1 or maybe 2 goals, not 4….

Andy E –Glenn L 3-4

In this game Andy was ahead 3-2 at half time, i had checked the table before this match and andy was behind me in the table so i remember thinking i have to win this match, I was lucky to do so. Scored twice in the second half and defended well in the end. The game could have gone either way!

Glenn –Klaus 0-9

Rubbish!

Glenn –Rodolfo 4-4

Rodolfo was ahead 1-0,2-1,3-2,4-3 but I always seemed to fight back. Rods famous 4-4-2 is known for its defence problems, and he suffered from this in this game.

Glenn-Flavio 0-3

Before the game I asked flavio how he was doing, and he said that he was winning many games, flavio din’t speak english so we communicated in a mix of french/spanish/italian, so I might have misunderstood him, at least I was not very happy when I found out that I had played lockout and settling for a 3-0 loss when flavio at this point was behind me in the table. I always fear the italians, they are very good players, but with some luck I could have had a better result in this match.

Glenn -Jon G 5-2

Jon G had just played his 8-8 game versus gianni, he had been ahead 6-2 during this game but gianni fought back. A couple of matches later I sat down to play aginst him, and my goal was to try to limit my loss, lockout and lob was the gameplan yet again. Then something strange happened, one of my lobs went in. John rapidly equalized, but then yet another lob went in. Jon looked a little stressed, and the the crucial point in the game came, he got nicholls sent off. Just one minute later he got barber sent off. Then I think I scored again, just before half time, 3-1 to me at half time, and he had his 2 strikers sent off. I couldn’t believe it, and I believe jon had some problems believing it himself… of course barber came back on the field for the second half, so now he had at least one striker. But my lobs kept going in, whilst jon missed his chanses, and when the game was over I had won 5-2. That was the highlight of my day, and must have been the opposite for jon…

Glenn –mark E 6-0

Always a pleasure playing mark, he is a very funny guy, and in this game he had a very generous goalie as well. Result not reflecting the game.

Glenn –Gianni 0-5

Result not reflecting the game, it was one-way traffic, I did not win any headers in midfield, I don’t think I had one shot at goal. It could have been 20-0 if gianni had tried, I was outplayed!

Glenn-Pedro 4-0

I think this game was 0-0 untill the middle of 2 half. Pedro impressed me, he suffers from what all newcomers suffers from, he does not convert the standard goals. If he continues coming to gatherings he will soon reach the middle of the table.

Glenn-Volker 6-7

I don’t remember all details from this game, but I remember volker being ahead almost all of the game. I scored some kick off goals, and he scored some kick off routine goals. The game was a good game untill it was about 1 minute left of the second half, volker was leading 6-5 when I attacked. My attacker was in front of his last defender when volker tries to tackle him outside the box, his tackling attempt is unsuccesfull and his player slides into the box. Now I am a bastard, I see the player inside the box, leave the ball, run back and falls over his player, the referee blows for a penalty. DIVE (or schwalbe?) volker screams, I laugh, but then I understand that he is serious, I think he was considering leaving the game. I understand that this is not a popular way of getting goals, and that many players have an unwritten law against this. I have never been ashamed of diving. Now that autoslides is taken out of the game I think that it is your own choise if you slide near the box or not. I f you slide near the box and I can take a dive I will do it. I am not saying that it is a nice thing to do, it is not fair play, but its an opportunity to score just like it is when you trap the ball and run around the keeper. Anyway, volker scored yet again and he won deservedly 7-6, after the game we shake hands and I hope he does not hate to much after this.

Glenn james B 3-7
Glenn –Garry C 4-1
Glenn –Andy H 4-2
Glenn Panayotis 1-3
Robert S Glenn 4-2

After this its mostly a blur, at this point I have drunk to much, I remember being outplayed by james, in the game versus panayotis I remember leading 1-0 at half time, after my goalie had produced some extreme saves, In second half he scored some deserved goals. Against garry all my lobs went in, and garry said something abot the taste of his own medicine. Against andy I won 4-2, and against the devil robert I lost deservedly, he was out for revenge after his famous loss against knut in athens and he got it.

After this it was real football, and this was a much more pleasant experience for me, although I had been drinking all day and all through the game I had to concentrate not to throw up, it was a nice way to get some kick of (and aolcohol) out of the system. Had some hilarious moments with robert man-marking me,and also watching Dagh flying almost over the fence after some tackles. But the most important was to yet again deny the english a victory!!

Thank you to all of the people taking part in making this yet another special ko-moment!