London International - Results & post-tournament discussion

[gdh82]

Really enjoying these tournament reviews. Looking forward to your next instalment, Volker...

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.

[gdh82]

Champion write-up, Dagh! Enjoyed the detail, the KO2 insights and little exchanges that went on including Robert's tactic deception!

I was slightly surprised to read that you expected to lose against Gianni as this wasn't evident from watching the game. You seemed to play with such assurance and particularly in the early part of the game, you scored flawlessly to achieve that title-winning lead.

[gdh82]

Enjoyed your write up, Glen, and must pick up on something...

After this its mostly a blur, at this point I have drunk to much..... Glenn –Garry C 4-1

It gets worse.... not only losing to the lockout and lob routine but to a drunk lockout and lobber too!!! At least I didn't encounter any diving for penalties in our match!

[Panayotis7]

First and foremost I got to say a major THANK YOU to Robert for everything. And also congrats on flawlessly organizing this tourney. He actually redefined the phrase "went like clockwork"! Also big thanx to Claire.

Congrats of course to Dagh for his victory. This was a pretty tough (and exhausting) tourney and winning it was no little feat. Way to go!

As for me, having not played any KO since November, except a couple of games on the emu, I had a really shitty day up until the last 4-5 games (games weren't played in order btw). Don't let results or the final ranking position fool you. I could have easily finished 10th the way I was playing - again, except my last games.

Now I got to admit I am getting addicted to the whole international tourney thing! I can't wait for the next one in Milan. I have even masterminded a major bank heist as plan B, in case I am low on cash by that time. After all, Robert, John and I are international bank robbers, with official business cards no less! (inside joke) Hopefully I'll see many of you there.
@Gianni: Don't forget to let me know as soon as you got the dates so I can look into booking my ticket.

I also really enjoyed real football later that night, and I hope this will eventually become a standard on all international tourneys. Of course this time I was dragged to the English team because they were 1 player short and I was the only international wearing white! I could have easily played one more hour btw!

Dinner was fantastic on Saturday, but I ended up eating too much and couldn't drink as much beer as I wanted to. I gotta say though I was taken by surprise by the closing times there, esp since it was a Saturday night. Ah well.

Sunday was tourism day for me, so I won't bother you with boring details - loved the Sherlock Holmes museum though, thanx Robert for the tip! Too much food, not enough beer for me again at night, then some after hours friendlies to end the weekend.

Oh, and btw, I am really loving the no autoslides rule now, so I know what my next vote will be - in case there's voting again.

A couple of games that stood out for me on Saturday (without saying that I didn't enjoy every single game I played):

Panayotis P 5 - 3 Robert S Vengeance is mine! I was waiting for this since Milan last May. It was also Alkis' birthday present! (Even though he commented it was like buying him a piece of gum and asked for a win against Dagh instead! What a greedy brat!)

Gianni T 7 - 5 Panayotis P This was the first game since the day I met Gianni where I felt I can win it and it was the best I've played against him. It doesn't matter that I didn't win after all, the point is, I'm getting there!

Pedro Q 1 - 8 Panayotis P Of course playing against the elusive Mr Quaresma is a game that is bound to stand out. But there's another reason too. This was the last game of the day for me and the 8th goal I scored was with Cox after lobbing the ball way behind the KO line, it bouncing in the box, over Fischer and in the net. I love scoring this goal cause it's very rare and I've never scored it vs a human opponent. So I thought it was appropriate I'd let this be my last goal for the tourney, which is why I stopped scoring after that - so me stopping out of the goodness of my heart is a misconception!

Panayotis P 2 - 7 Sandro T Fucking hell, this was a fucking disaster. Sandro totally dominated this game and it was in fact the hardest game of the tourney for me - btw, amazing performance by Sandro the whole day, makes me wonder if we'll have a case of brother usurps brother in the future! Note that none of his 7 goals were KO lobs. Overall this game is probably in the Top 5 of the "I feel fucking helpless, when's the fucking ref gonna blow the whistle" games for me.

Garry C 6 - 8 Panayotis P Garry turned out to be a very tough nut to crack! The score fluctuated in a 1-1, 2-2... 6-6 fashion until I managed to shake him off at the last minute. Throughout the whole game I was feeling there's no way I'll win this and that I need to focus on not losing the draw pt at least.

Jon G 5 - 5 Panayotis P My first ever game vs Jon stood out esp for the quality of KO that was played throughout its 10 mins. This was a game that should have been recorded or shown on a projector screen and I'm sure Jon will agree with me. Too bad we couldn't know that beforehand.

Panayotis P 6 - 0 John H This one was my finest hour. It is a very rare occasion that I finish a game with a clean sheet, even vs the weakest opponents, and I especially never expected to do so in a game vs one of the top players of the KOA. Granted, John didn't have a good day, but a clean sheet against him is one for the books. The key to this was that I have figured out how to stop his deadly BLCs, and although it doesn't work 100% of the time, it worked every single time in this game. It was also the game where, from the 2nd half on, I felt my overall performance getting better - too late of course, but still.

[Tripod]

Ok, this is it, a comment about every match I played even though I don't remember most of them too well. Just pick and choose, no need to read thorugh it all.

Alex B 6 - 1 Glenn L

Just in case there's still somebody out there who doesn't know: I only practice on WinUAE and a TFT and usually only turn up for World Cups (five under my belt now, while this was my third non-WC tournament). With 24 games ahead, I didn't feel like a practice match so I jumped right in with this match and it went surprisingly well, Glenn was rusty, I was only marginally better, but nearly all shots went in. It was like that on and off in this tournament (usually it's always off).

Alex B 2 - 9 Robert S

I wrote this already: I need practice against good 532 players. I don't know how to attack against them and I don't know how they go about attacking me. I'm used to getting a beating from Rob, this game was over well before half time (1-7).

Panayotis P 6 - 0 Alex B

I've played Panos before and the games were fairly close (or at least not total domination), but in this one I just didn't get anywhere, I was rubbish. I don't think I had any scoring chances until the final two minutes, well, consistency is something I lack.

Alessandro V 5 - 4 Alex B

A game later I was playing a lot better, I think I might have even led 4-3 and my namesake clinched the victory in the final phase. Good game altogether, methinks.

Darren G 1 - 7 Alex B

To be honest, after these three defeats I was happy to play Darren because I knew I should be able to win this one. I don't really rememvber how the game went and how I managed to score 7 goals, I don't think the scoreline did Darren's keypad gameplay justice.

Sandro T 7 - 5 Alex B

I was now in a phase of playing well. I of course forgot about Sandro's kick off lobs (yes, yes, stupid I know), I'm not sure if the first one went in or not, but I believe I defended all the others with desperate sliding. And I was playing quite well, I was up 5-4 but Sandro has a new trick up his sleeve, or at least new to me, a fast pass from one striker to the other past my Cox I had no idea how to handle and he scored pretty much all his goals with that one move (copy&paste, he said ). I'll need to learn that one, seems very effective.

Steve E 5 - 4 Alex B

Steve was up 5-1 or 5-2 and I clawed some goals back to make it a tighter affair but then time just ran out on me. Another good game, even though it was another loss and Mr. Evil deserved it, too, he had more of the game and the margin could have been greater.

Dagh N 10 - 4 Alex B

Thoroughly enjoyable. Dagh is a great player and scored some lovely goals. I was happy to score 4 myself (one more than Rob managed just before ).

John H 9 - 5 Alex B

This one was close until John remembered to try his BLCs. Damnit, I just cannot defend them. Never mind. Plus my KO routine made this one close until John switched from Falcon to 424, apparently Falcon's Cox positioning isn't as good. Ok, I was now on a losing streak though to be honest, I didn't check my results until the very end, when asked I simply couldn't say how many I'd won or lost. I had not put any pressure on myself anyway.

Andy G 3 - 4 Alex B

Certainly by now it was time to just pick any opponent available and I have no idea about the precise order. But it may have been Logos at this point. Can't remember anything about the game except that it was fairly even, Logos seems to claim that I should have won by a greater margin.

Thorsten B 1 - 5 Alex B

Thorsten is a top bloke but he didn't get many chances to proclaim his famous Jawoll, I think this one was fairly one-sided in my favour. Thorsten played lockout and that's really a formation where it's useless to check the scanner, there's always tons of players in the opponents half and you just have to trust that your own balls up front to the wingers or Barber just find their target. On the other hand, it seems to be easy to defend when the opponent isn't lobbing, the wingers can be brought into play but the lone striker in the middle - if he even made it anywhere near the box - just isn't much of a threat.

Andy E 0 - 6 Alex B

Sorry, Andy, but this one was pretty one-sided, too. I didn't feel threatened by his attacks and could concentrate on mine. In the past it could have still been troublesome because of my inability to convert chances, but I seem to have gotten better at that...

Alex B 2 - 2 Andy H

...though still not in every game. Against his pal, the other Andy, I was only up 2-0 and in the end had to settle for a draw, I feel I should have won. Nonetheless, it was a good game and Andy did enough to justify the draw, so I needn't complain. Both of you are bound to improve if you practice a bit more.

Alex B 2 - 10 Jon G

I guess I needn't say sorry for playing so badly, Jon. It was only close until I was down 2-3, but the half time stats showed that I had exactly those two shots on goal. I had a long phase in this tournament of missing every header and in this game both my attack and defence were simply too bad to challenge Jon and he thoroughly punished me for it.

Rodolfo M 5 - 3 Alex B

Rodolfo! My nemesis! I have yet to win a competitive match against him. I felt fairly confident this time round and may have been leading 3-2, but I'm just so used to playing my style attacking from the wings, I keep forgetting to try the middle. However, Rodolfo is a fine attacking player and a good scorer so he absolutely deserved yet another victory against me. One day, pal...

Simon K 1 - 6 Alex B

Simon was not happy the way this game went. I believe he was higher up in the table and I predicted he'd beat me but then I scored two (more) goals from diagonal lobs which I always want to head in with Nicholls but either he isn't there yet or I miss the header, in fact, I was terrible at heading at this point anyway. After the two lob goals I promised one from inside the area and managed it, but it was a cheap goal, Simon shouldn't have tried to follow Barrett from behind but switched to Cox instead and thus allowed me a near post goal. His frustration made this game easy for me. I'm sure things will look different next time round, he's certainly at least as good as me.

Alex B 8 - 7 Garry C

This was an all-out-scoring game I believe neither Garry nor me are used to. The goals just kept piling up, spread evenly throughout the game. I was up by two or three at some point and thought that would clinch it, suddenly Garry fought back and was leading 7-6 and I was sure I'd be a tad disappointed to lose this one but somehow I scored another two goals to win it after all. Should have been a draw I guess, that would have been the fair result after such a battle. Great game, Garry!

Alex B 1 - 7 James B

Whoever was my next opponent, I "warned him" I'd just scored 8 goals. I think it was James next and I was in for another 532-beating. If I remember correctly I felt I should have scored a couple more, but in any case it was a clear win for Jim. He's a good defender who doesn't allow me many chances and he was lethal up front, too.

Alex B 1 - 7 Gianni T

I for sure played this one earlier. And I think I did pretty well in this game, too. I believe I kept the score to 1-3 until the final 2 or 3 minutes. As always against Gianni, I defended with all my might and got a few compliments from the champ, but he also missed a number of chances he wouldn't usually, maybe trying a little too hard to score nice goals. And then in the last part of the match he suddenly made it look easy again. Excellent player, great fun to play against no matter how many I concede.

Klaus Lo 6 - 0 Alex B

We went into half time with Klaus leading 5-0 which I had totally expected, but he then said that was the best KO2 he'd played all day and we were nearing the end of the tournament. To be honest, the second half seemed to confirm what he said, he was suddenly "down to my level". Nonetheless, his first half was impressive and his defending was good the whole game. I tried my usual diagonal chips from the corner of the area and he headed every single one away.

Alex B 2 - 1 Mark E

Late in the tournament we were all pretty knackered I guess. I played badly and was happy to win this one. Still, despite being tired and hurting I love playing KO2 and I enjoyed this match as much as any other one, even if it wasn't of the highest quality.

Alex B 3 - 1 Pedro

Finally time to take on Pedro. If I had managed to score a bit earlier I would have used the game to go through a few KO2 basics with my Portogoose pal, but I didn't have as many chances as I hoped and missed the few I did, the game stood at 0-0 until well into the second half. So, good defending, Pedro. And good tackling, too.

Alex B 7 - 3 Flavio Z

Finally, the last two matches against my room mate and then a Bundesliga battle against Volker. I had no idea how Flavio was doing nor how good he is. I think this was another case of nearly all my cheap shots going in, 7 goals, that's really not the norm for me.

Alex B 2 - 2 Volker B

Truth be told, I should have won this one, though I told Volker in the end I was happy not to lose. I went up 2-0 and felt that should be enough, but then he scored with a tremendous lob/shot from the corner (!) and then got the equaliser and at this point I just couldn't step up anymore and if he'd managed to score one more I would have lost.

Wow, 24 games! Nothing better than starting a tournament at 10 o'clock with my first pint of beer. At one point Will, our official score enterer, told me I was lagging behind, I had only played 10 games up to then and everybody was ahead of me. At that point I was sure I wouldn't make it through to the end. Another 8 games later he told me I had six more games to play and with two hours to go that seemed feasible, if harsh considering my condition. 10-2-12, 89:109 goals. I usually consider my defence to be better than my attack, but in this tournament I had a few bad games defending - and that against players who know how to take advantage of it (ok, thankfully also a few who don't). To balance it I suddenly scored more goals than ever before, in some matches I really had an eerily good conversion rate, no idea how I managed that. Sorry to some of you who I beat more heavily than I should have. Altogether great fun.

[Rodolfo]

Thanks Alex for reminding me about Will: what a great and fundamental role he played! Thank you very very much!

[SimonB]

Who won the real football - score?

Were England thrashed again?

[gdh82]

Who won the real football - score?

Were England thrashed again?

The score is too painful to recall but in answer to your second question, yes!

Dagh summed the match up pretty well in this thread, a page or two up above.

[gdh82]

Great write up, Alex - read it all!

I usually only turn up for World Cups (five under my belt now, while this was my third non-WC tournament)

I don't know why but I didn't know this so it was all the more impressive you made it to Luton! And imho impressive you maintain your level of KO2 despite competing so infrequently.

And well said about Will - absolutely vital role. He went about the task with a friendly manner and was a real asset to our footy team too!

[Torchiador]

In general, everything was so damned nice and fun. Just, one day felt too short. In Athens, two days felt too short. I think the KOA delegates should really lobby the EU to add one more day to the weekends.

What Dagh said!

Tournament:
It has been the hardest league I've ever joined, without doubt.
Dagh deserved the final victory, besides to beat me ,he had the lead of the tournament for the whole day, he never had a flaws in his games, he dominated every game but Sandro. On the other side I had many troubles with many players, I have been the follower player in the most of my games, big troubles with all the best players, beating or drawing them at the very last second. There are many players who can say "I was leading the game with Gianni", no one can say the same about Dagh. He showed a very good roadholding even in the hardest bends of the KOA.

Great performance Sandro and Alessandro, I'm really happy for them, also Flavio is really improved, 9 wins are a really good result!
Another one 4th place for Panos I'm happy for him, he had the second best defence for long time. Absolutely happy to see Klaus! I knew he was really good in KO2, I didn't know he was so good in real soccer!
Steve isn't a news, I found him even improved.

I didn't follow the fixture so the games below are not in the right order.

Gianni T 5 - 4 John H First game of the tournament, problems started here: John was leading 3-0, I completed the come back 12 second before the final whistle.

Gianni T 9 - 0 Simon K Probably this 9-0 is the reason because he tackled me from behind at the real soccer game... my right knee is still aching...

Gianni T 10 - 2 Andy G He is a very good player. If I remember correctly he was leading the game, but I had a strong come back.
On this point I've no reason, I don't care about pitch direction, if it is up pitch or down pitch, I play better in the second half... I do need a cure for the first halves...

Gianni T 10 - 2 Thorsten B he wasted my goals with a pair of great shots. He used the Balanced tactic to try something new with me, but he hadn't the expected results.

Gianni T 14 - 2 Andy E Our first game together, probably I gave him the wrong visiting card to be friends...

Gianni T 4 - 3 Klaus Lo My Klaus, I had one of my best and lucky come back in my KOA history, semifinal 2005. This time was his turn, making a come back from 4-0 to 4-3. I've been saved by the gong.

Gianni T 9 - 6 Rodolfo M very hard game, he was leading at the half time but I made a good come back. Rodolfo is very dangerous.

Gianni T 10 - 0 Flavio Z the guy is really improved, probably thanks to his new look! against me he had some problems anyway...

Gianni T 8 - 8 Jon G before the end of the first half he was leading 6-1, I thought :" damn! I've to save the double digit!" But at the very last second I saved even the defeat! every time is a Passion with him.

Gianni T 11 - 0 Mark E I didn't give him the room to express his game style. Next time will be better.

Gianni T 7 - 5 Panayotis P Very hard game, the best game that Panos gave me till now. Panayotis had the last two words of that game and it seemed to me that he wasn't out of argumentations.

Pedro Q 1 - 10 Gianni T Really glad to meet him! he has been my opponent #100 !!! we had fun playing together!

Volker B 1 - 6 Gianni T As for the real soccer game, his goal was well defended!

James B 6 - 6 Gianni T I remember I had problems in Rickmansworth as well. after 9 minutes he was leading by 2 but I got the draw at the last second.

Garry C 1 - 13 Gianni T I didn't give a good treatment to best beta tester that we have... At least I show him a quite good KO2.

Andy H 0 - 11 Gianni T I dispensed the wrong visiting card to be friends again...

Glenn L 0 - 5 Gianni T I've to be clear: he plays the best soccer of the KOA, but I can't say the same about KO2 at least about his attitude to score! anyway he had a good defence, he stopped some shots!

Robert S 0 - 9 Gianni T Before the game I was sure that this time could be the good one for Robert because I wasn't at my best and I knew it. Anyway Robert probably wasn't playing at his best in that moment as well and this one helped me to get the victory. ANDIAMO!!!!

Alex B 1 - 7 Gianni T Great game of our KOA Hero who helped Steve Camber to find the 3 bugs, and the Alkis' house over the cloud! He stopped me many times.

Alessandro V 2 - 11 Gianni T He was leading the game for two times, I then pushed very hard the accelerator.

Darren G 0 - 6 Gianni T He has a mysterious touch over the Italians, Sandro and cousin every time have troubles with him. and me as well. it wasn't easy to break his defence.

Sandro T 6 - 8 Gianni T Another one game with my opponent leader. Sandro had a good beginning, supported by Dagh! then I dominated the middle of the game, giving him a long and hard break. In the end of the game Sandro shortened the distances.

Steve E 2 - 5 Gianni T umpteenth game with my opponent leader. Steve is better every time I see him, he is improved in defence, he wears very well ithe 532 now. He hasn't the fire power of the UK Champ Jon, but in my opinion he is one of the best UK defender.

Gianni T 4 - 7 Dagh N One way game, Dagh was always on the ball before of me. I had just one chance to enter in the game when we were 2-4 but I missed the break and Dagh extended the lead. I shortened just in the last minute by 1 goal but the game was already archived.


In 4 years of international class tournaments, it is the first time that I don't win an international tournament, It means that if a rule is decided by Robert, is is pointless to resist! (btw, the rule was: old rule was Gianni wins, new rule is Dagh wins).
Thank you all again for the great weekend that you gave me. Also Alessandro and Sandro say thank you all for everything, Ws Ds Ls and above all LOLs!

Soon I'll post a comment of the journey that Robert gave us before the tournament... I saw my pictures of Yorkshire, they quite good.

[dnielsen]

Also nice to meet my room-mate dagh, the kick-off player with the biggest potential is already the best it seems.

Thanks for the nice words, but I feel I have to object since I wouldn't want this to be consensus.

With regard to the biggest potential, my thinking is pretty prosaic: The player with the biggest potential is the player with the best joystick . Even then it's not so simpel though. Different joysticks have different limits. For instance, the handheld joysticks that the Thorchiador brothers use allow for extremely quick circular movements and changes of direction, whereas they might not be quite as good at precisely-timed minute adjustments (here I am only guessing). The Greek Stick is extremely sensible, but maybe sometimes a bit too wild, having a mind of it's own. Etc. etc. I use a good all-round joystick, the same type that I used 15 years ago. I bought 2 from Ebay when I started playing again. Later, I bought 3 more to possibly find a better model. I was lucky and got one that had just slightly shorter engage distances and more resistance from the microswitches and the rubber-ring inside (meaning quicker return-to-center). The difference was really small, and would probably hardly be noticed by people used to other joysticks, but nevertheless, it was enough to make a huge impact on which types of moves I could begin to try and master reliably. This in turn leads to a more intricate study and adoption of various approaches. So this is why I think that when it comes to potential, the joystick is the hardest limit. Incidentally, I suspect that Robert might easily be able to improve significantly if he changed to a joystick that allowed for more refined movements. I say this not from studies of his game, but from a quick touch on his stick when left unattended ( ) in Athens, I just hope he won't decide to shoot the messenger.

With regard to who is best, this is of course a silly question . The only facts are the results, and they change with every game. On a more subjective level, I like to think of who/what is impressive. I am in awe by the skills of Gianni and many others, and I feel I have a lot to learn whenever I watch or play a game with any two experienced players. Incidentally, this is probably one thing that is so attractive about Kick Off: Even though the game is confined to a rectangular field and 8 directions and seemingly endless repetitions of various moves, it is always possible to think of even better or at least alternative approaches or decisions in practically every spot on the pitch. Once a dynamic between two players is added, the game becomes practically infinite in its challenges.

I just watched the semi-finals from 2006 between Marco and Mario:

http://video.google.co.uk/videoplay?doc ... 3&hl=en-GB
http://video.google.co.uk/videoplay?doc ... 1&hl=en-GB

At some points during the game, I could think, hmm, I might have chosen a better approach there. But the overriding feeling is the countless times I would think to myself "holy crap, that was an interesting idea" or "jeeeesus, that guy is good at blocking the other guy" or "goddamn, this guy has some wicked quick movements". As said, I get these sensations against every even just fairly experienced player, and this more than fuels my interest in trying to keep improving. I practiced a lot many years ago in preparation for what is essentially childish fantasy opponents. But the game died, championships were now held in Goal! or Sensible Soccer instead, and I came to learn and accept that the process of practicing and improving has its own value, and that everything does not depend on and end with one proving to be "the best", or, for that matter, thinking that one has "seen it all". That being said, I am of course infinitely delighted that the KOA has now allowed me to finally meet and challenge all those fantasy opponents of my childhood .

My biggest regret since joyning the KOA is not that I was not able to win in Athens, but rather that I have not had the chance to participate in more informal "practice and enjoy" sessions like the one I had with Nick, John, and Jacob the day after the last Copenhagen tournament, or with Rayge and Andy online. 10 games against the same opponent where you really get under the skin of the other guy really adds to the depth of the game.

To sum up: Gianni must still be considered a clear favorite for the next WC, IMHO (unless of course Robert makes it a rule that somebody else will win ).

[Binary]

I use a good all-round joystick, the same type that I used 15 years ago. I bought 2 from Ebay when I started playing again. Later, I bought 3 more to possibly find a better model. I was lucky and got one that had just slightly shorter engage distances and more resistance from the microswitches and the rubber-ring inside (meaning quicker return-to-center). The difference was really small, and would probably hardly be noticed by people used to other joysticks, but nevertheless, it was enough to make a huge impact on which types of moves I could begin to try and master reliably. This in turn leads to a more intricate study and adoption of various approaches. So this is why I think that when it comes to potential, the joystick is the hardest limit.

I confess I don't remember - which joystick is this?

[manicx]

In 4 years of international class tournaments, it is the first time that I don't win an international tournament...

I still remember the London Marathon... That was close! But I used to play KO2 well back then ....