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eFlicker.net
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Efrem Intra is the new world champion after a day of surprises in Dortmund.
The unseeded player from the Stella Artois Milano club beat Malta's Massimo Cremona in sudden death overtime in the final to ensure that the title went to Italy for a fourth successive year, though to an unexpected recipient.
As his more established compatriots fell early, Intra - winner of tournaments in Brussels and Beausoleil so far this season - made steady progress, beating Antoine Dikaios, Wolfgang Leitner, Giorgos Koutis and Raúl Benita in the semis.
And after Cremona cancelled out Intra's first half goal in the final with a second period equaliser, the 25-year old Italian hit an overtime winner, which was greeted with great emotion.
Reigning champion Massimo Bolognino joined Eric Verhagen, Vasco Guimaraes and Carlos Flores in departing the competition at the last 16 stage.
Bolognino and Verhagen each conceded a lead to both lose 3-1, against Massimiliano Nastasi and Cremona respectively, Flores went out by the odd goal in three to Gil Delogne and most surprisingly Guimaraes was eliminated by Olivier Père in a shoot-out.
Two-time world champion Delogne was left as the only player in the semi-finals with a real pedigree in the tournament, but the Belgian was beaten there by Cremona on shots.
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In the build up to the World Cup in Dortmund, some users of the FISTF internet forum derided the fact that qualification to the competition could be extended beyond each country's best two players.
It was the game's greatest stage after all, and only the leading lights should make an appearance.
It was therefore ironic that a supposed understudy should step up and take a starring role in proceedings.
Efrem Intra, whose world ranking of 21st left him outside the seeds, was one of Italy's two automatic choices, but only after three of his countrymen had secured their places in the tournament courtesy of their world ranking.
And the 25-year old from Bergamo was not initially included in the Italian squad for the team event.
Intra - European youth champion back in 1999 - did however make an impression at the Europa Cup last November, when he guided his Stella Artois Milano team to the semi-finals despite them effectively playing shorthanded.
He also won the Brussels International Open in January, ahead of esteemed opposition, as well as the Grand Prix in Beausoleil at Easter.
But those achievements paled into insignificance as he became the world champion, the fourth such Italian holder of the position in as many years.
Whilst Intra flourished from the off, many performers appeared to suffer stage fright early on in Dortmund.
Several seeded players - including Eric Verhagen (drew 1-1 with Antoine Dikaios) and Gil Delogne (2-2 with Nicos Beis) - had to rely on goal difference to retain their status for the knock-out stages.
For 2003 champion Massimiliano Nastasi, only a 1-0 victory over former Perugia teammate Kostas Triantafillou secured qualification from a closely fought "group of death" also containing Chris Thomas and eventual semi-finalist Raúl Benita.
Intra however showed championship form from the start, scoring 14 goals in a tough group including five against Nicolas Wlodarczyk, who went on to take Verhagen to sudden death in the last 32.
Intra required no more than 30 minutes to eliminate each of his knock-out phase opponents, beating Antoine Dikaios 3-1 in the last 32 and Wolfgang Leitner 2-1 a round later. Giorgos Koutis provided the biggest scare, but a single second half strike took won their quarter-final tie, whilst a goal in each half saw off the challenge of Spaniard Benita in the semis.
The world's established top players meanwhile were accounting for each other. Nastasi overturned a half time deficit to eliminate Alain Hanotiaux in the last 32 and again in beating reigning champion Massimo Bolognino a round later, before the Perugia star lost 4-2 to Gil Delogne in the quarter-finals.
Delogne - who had not practised at all for two months going into the tournament - beat Carlos Flores by the odd goal in three at the last 16 stage, the same phase where the competition saw its biggest upset as Vasco Guimaraes was eliminated by Olivier Père in a shoot-out.
Tournament favourite Guimaraes had though been unconvincing in the group stage, edging past Arnold Mair only by a single strike, then being held to a 2-2 draw by Jean-Guillaume Einsle and requiring goal difference to secure top spot.
He came from behind to defeat Nicos Beis in the last 32, and did likewise in drawing one apiece with Père. But the Belgian proved more accurate in the ensuring shoot-out, winning 2-1.
Père himself lasted just one more game, in which Raúl Benita beat him 3-0.
Elsewhere Cremona, like Intra, was surpassing all expectations, and played the tournament of his life.
The Maltese player came through the tougher route of the two finalists. In part that was due to his second placed finish in his group, where he tied on points with two other players.
Goal difference put him second to Wolfgang Leitner, but ahead of Valéry Dejardin, despite the Belgian's 2-1 win over Cremona. Second in the group meant the more difficult set of matches, but keen to show that his status of world number 2 is worthy of his ability and not executively by his regular appearances at tournaments, Cremona took to the task in hand.
A single goal defeated the methodical Italian Saverio Bari in the last 32, before Cremona had to come from a goal down to beat old rival, and current world number 1, Eric Verhagen 3-1.
Two further noticeable scalps were taken as Antonio Mettivieri was edged out 3-2 in a hard-fought quarter-final victory and Gil Delogne - the two-time winner being the only player left at that stage with a real pedigree in the competition - was beaten on shots after a particularly disputed semi-final.
That was enough to ensure that Cremona should go to world number 1 when the next FISTF rankings are compiled. However more pressing was the fight for the right to be world champion.
Intra took a first half lead in the final, but Cremona hit an equaliser after the interval to force overtime.
In an extra period where tensions were obviously high, Intra made sure that he didn't fluff his lines after creating a clear shot from a central position, and dispatched the chance high into the net, before turning to celebrate with his Italian teammates.
As the curtain fell on another World Cup show, it was a tearful Intra who had the chance of stepping into the limelight of Sky News' television cameras to accept his trophy from reporter Ian Dovaston.
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(Knock-out phase only)
Eric Verhagen - Nicolas Wlodarczyk 2:1 (1:1) (ot)
Massimo Cremona - Saverio Bari 1:0 (0:0)
Sergio Loureiro - Robert Lenz 2:1 (0:0)
Maikel de Haas - Antonio Mettivieri 2:3 (0:2)
Massimo Bolognino - Lazaros Papakonstantinou 2:0 (1:0)
Alain Hanotiaux - Massimiliano Nastasi 2:3 (2:1)
Gil Delogne - Jean-Guillaume Einsle 4:0 (3:0)
Markus Matzinger - Carlos Flores 1:3 (0:1)
Vasco Guimaraes - Nicos Beis 3:2 (1:2)
Nuno Noronha - Olivier Père 1:4 (0:3)
Hansel Mallia - Jean-Marie Amberny 1:2 (0:0)
Raúl Benita - Vicenç Prats Salat 4:0 (3:0)
Giorgos Koutis - Samuel Bartolo 3:2 (1:2) (ot)
Alexandre Torré - Francesco Mattiangeli 0:1 (0:0)
Efrem Intra - Antoine Dikaios 3:1 (2:0)
David Vacke - Wolfgang Leitner 1:3 (0:1)
Eric Verhagen - Massimo Cremona 1:3 (1:1)
Sergio Loureiro - Antonio Mettivieri 0:1 (0:1)
Massimo Bolognino - Massimiliano Nastasi 1:3 (1:0)
Gil Delogne - Carlos Flores 2:1 (1:1)
Vasco Guimaraes - Olivier Père 1:1 (0:1) shots: 1:2
Jean-Marie Amberny - Raúl Benita 0:2 (0:1)
Giorgos Koutis - Francesco Mattiangeli 2:2 (1:1) shots: 2:1
Efrem Intra - Wolfgang Leitner 2:1 (1:0)
Massimo Cremona - Antonio Mettivieri 3:2 (1:0)
Massimiliano Nastasi - Gil Delogne 2:4 (0:2)
Olivier Père - Raúl Benita 0:3 (0:2)
Giorgos Koutis - Efrem Intra 0:1 (0:0)
Massimo Cremona - Gil Delogne 1:1 (0:1) shots: 2:1
Raúl Benita - Efrem Intra 0:2 (0:1)
Massimo Cremona - Efrem Intra 1:2 (0:1) (ot)
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Italy again!
If Italy winning the individual World Cup is currently to be expected, Italian success in the team event is now becoming an almost certainty.
Since the Italians truly burst onto the FISTF scene in 1998, they have collected eight team titles, and the latest, the sixth in succession, was again at the expense of traditional final opponents Belgium.
The tie was decided in the second half, after the first yielded no goals on any of the four tables.
And it was the world champion connection which made the difference, as Efrem Intra, Massimo Bolognino and Massimiliano Nastasi - the three former winners in attendance - each scored a second half double in their respective games to seal victory. Alexandre Torré, Valéry Dejardin and Gil Delogne were the defeated players.
In reply for the Belgians, Alain Hanotiaux defeated Eagles Napoli teammate Antonio Mettivieri 1-0.
Italy's march towards the final had been delicate, rather than overpowering though.
After straightforward victories against Wales and the Czech Republic in the preliminary stage, the hosts Germany had put up a gallant fight in the quarter-finals.
Arnold Mair and Marcus Tilgner held Intra and Bolognino respectively to outstanding draws, as Italy's won through by just a 2-0 scoreline.
Only Mettivieri's 5-0 victory over Roland Popp showed dominance from the Italians, as Nastasi was required as a second half substitute to turn a 1-0 deficit against Alexander Ruf into a 2-1 victory in the other game.
Intra and Bolognino were the heroes in the semi-final though, by collecting the wins which saw them edge past Greece 2-1 on games. Giorgos Koutis beat Mettivieri for the Greeks whilst Nicos Beis and Saverio Bari played out a 1-1 draw.
Belgium meanwhile looked to be heading out in the semis, with Malta holding a mid-point lead over the Red Devils.
However Gil Delogne's second half equaliser against Samuel Bartolo and Valéry Dejardin's 2-1 win over Hansel Mallia turned the game around in Belgium's favour.
Malta themselves had reversed a half time deficit against the Netherlands in the quarter-finals, before winning through 1-0 in a tight set of matches. With three games ending level, Mallia's 1-0 victory over Maikel de Haas was the decisive factor.
Greece beat Spain 2-1 in games, and 3-2 on goals, in another close quarter-final tie, and it was those two countries who had contributed towards the elimination of Austria, and more surprisingly Portugal, in the first round.
Austria lost out in a tough group containing the Netherlands as well as Greece, whilst Portugal, twice FISTF team champions, exited after defeats to both Spain and Malta. The latter match saw Malta's Mallia pick up a vital draw against Vasco Guimaraes, albeit having led 2-0 at the interval.
Germany were a revelation in their home country.
As well as the impressive show against Italy in the quarter-finals, the host nation held Belgium to an overall draw in the group stage - Olaf Gottke providing the standout personal performance by turning around a 1-0 deficit as a second half substitute against Hanotiaux to win 2-1 - whilst France were defeated 2-1 on games.
Italy - Germany 2:0 (10:4)
Greece - Spain 2:1 (3:2)
Belgium - Czech Republic 4:0 (15:4)
Malta - Netherlands 1:0 (7:6)
Italy - Greece 2:1 (9:6)
Antonio Mettivieri - Giorgos Koutis 1:2 (0:1)
Saverio Bari - Nicos Beis 1:1 (0:1)
Massimo Bolognino - Lazaros Papakonstantinou 3:1 (1:0)
Efrem Intra - Spiros Hantzaras 4:2 (2:1)
Belgium - Malta 2:1 (7:6)
Gil Delogne - Samuel Bartolo 1:1 (0:1)
Valéry Dejardin - Hansel Mallia 2:1 (0:0)
Alexandre Torré - Massimo Cremona 1:2 (0:1)
Alain Hanotiaux - Charles Aquilina 3:2 (2:1)
Italy - Belgium 3:1 (6:1)
Efrem Intra - Alexandre Torré 2:0 (0:0)
Massimo Bolognino - Valéry Dejardin 2:0 (0:0
Massimiliano Nastasi - Gil Delogne 2:0 (0:0)
Antonio Mettivieri - Alain Hanotiaux 0:1 (0:0)
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Italy may have again completed the double in capturing the main individual and team titles, but Denmark were the big winners in the categories.
The Scandinavian country - not generally regarded as a major player on the international circuit - won gold in both U15 events, as well as the Female individuals.
Kristian Staal Nielsen (U15) and Kamilla Kristensen (females) took the personal honours.
Belgium, who could have been expected to do well in the U15 and Female events, won only the U19 team title, though they also provided finalists in the female team event, which France won, and the U19 individual tournament, where Stefano Buono ensured a third straight title for the Italians.
Italy made amends for last year's shock defeat to France to capture another veterans’ team title, but it was a close ran thing against Austria in the final, decided on goal difference.
Martijn Bom won the individuals, beating Renzo Frignani at the third attempt in a World Cup final.
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VETERANS:
Martijn Bom overcame frights against Phil Redman in the last 16 and Lionel Abecassis in the quarter-finals to ultimately go on and collect a first veteran' world title.
Despite being a long-time leader in the FISTF rankings for the category and a past master at the old ETF Europa Cup, the Dutchman has never won previously won table football's greatest single prize in the older age section.
But having lost in the last two finals against Italian Renzo Frignani, he made it third time lucky as this time he defeated his rival by a single goal.
Bom though needed shots to eliminate both Redman and Abecassis and was involved in an, at times, ill-tempered clash with Bob Varney in between, before he comfortably dispatched Spaniard Juan Carlos Granados 4-1 in the semis.
Italy took the team title, but it was a close ran thing against Austria in the final.
Renzo Frignani's 2-0 victory over Günther Bamberzky ensured that Italy won by goal difference, after the sides took two individual games each.
The Austrians' semi-final with England was just as close as Bamberzky's late winning goal against Phil Holmes prevented the tie going into overtime.
After their shock victory in the team tournament last year, France were surprise casualties in the group stage this time around, following defeats to both Austria - a bizarre tie in which Michael Hasieber's 3-2 success over Henri Cornu was the only game to feature any goals - and Belgium.
INDIVIDUALS
Quarter-finals
Martijn Bom - Lionel Abecassis 1:1 (1:1) shots: 3-2
Juan Carlos Granados - Henri Cornu 3:2 (2:0)
Renzo Frignani - Massimiliano Schiavone 5:3 (3:2)
Steve Grégoire - Enrico Tecchiati 2:0 (2:0)
Martijn Bom - Juan Carlos Granados 4:1 (2:0)
Renzo Frignani - Steve Grégoire 2:1 (0:1) (ot)
Martijn Bom - Renzo Frignani 1:0 (1:0)
TEAMS
Semi-finals
Italy - Belgium 3:0 (11:3)
England - Austria 1:2 (4:5)
Italy - Austria 2:2 (5:4)
Massimiliano Schiavone - Gerhard Ecker 1:2 (0:1)
Enrico Tecchiati - Michael Hasieber 1:2 (0:1)
Severiano Gara - Horst Deimel 1:0 (1:0)
Renzo Frignani - Günther Bamberzky 2:0 (2:0)
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Stefano Buono - ranked a lowly 34th in the world youth rankings - emerged from a position of a relatively unknown to capture the U19 title.
With Daniele Bertelli, winner of the last two events, now too old for the category, Belgium were expected to dominate the competition. But Buono ensured an Italian hat-trick by defeating favourite Arnaud Nullens on shots after a 1-1 draw in the final.
The shoot-out though was marred by controversy over Nullens' final effort. There was uncertainty over whether the ball had crossed the line, and the referee decided that the shot should be taken again. From the re-take, Nullens missed, giving the title to the Italian.
Buono had shown his intentions in the semis, with four first half goals against world number 1 Christian Haas, in an eventual 4-2 victory.
Nullens defeated Justin Leroy on shots in the other semi-final, as Belgium provided half the players in each of the final three rounds of the individuals' tournament.
And Belgium's strength in depth was demonstrated further in the team event, as the holders finished comprehensive 3-0 winners over Austria in the final, having beaten Italy 3-1 in the semis.
China made their team debut in the competition, but were unfortunate to be drawn in the same group as both eventual finalists as well as last year's runners-up Germany.
INDIVIDUALS
Quarter-finals
Christian Haas - Marcel Schulz 3:1 (0:1)
Nicolas Baccega - Stefano Buono 0:1 (0:0)
Justin Leroy - David Leroy 5:2 (1:1)
Arnaud Nullens - Thomas Karnthaler 3:1 (1:0)
Christian Haas - Stefano Buono 2:4 (0:4)
Justin Leroy - Arnaud Nullens 0:0 (0:0) shots: 1-2
Stefano Buono - Arnaud Nullens 1:1 (1:0) shots: 2-1
TEAMS
Semi-finals
Belgium - Italy 3:1 (18:6)
Austria - France 4:0 (9:1)
Belgium - Austria 3:0 (8:1)
Nicolas Baccega - Christoph Gerbasits 2:1 (1:0)
Logan Carette - Alexander Haas 3:0 (1:0)
Arnaud Nullens - Patrick Zeilinger 3:0 (2:0)
Justin Leroy - Thomas Karnthaler 0:0 (0:0)
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UNDER 15:
Kristian Staal Nielsen helped Denmark to a double in the junior section by taking the individual title himself, then leading his nation to victory in the team event.
In the individuals' tournament, all eyes were on Nielsen's quarter-final meeting with Portuguese wonderkid Ruben Português, and the tie didn't disappoint as the methodical Dane edged through by the odd goal in five.
And after beating Steven Breselg in the semis, Nielsen won the competition with a 3-2 victory over promising Italian youngster Mattia Bellotti, winner of last year's unofficial U12 competition.
Denmark's team success was achieved at the expense of a young French side.
The two countries had drawn 2-2 in the group stage, but in a final meeting which saw three individual re-matches, Christian Emil Christiansen’s 1-0 win over Benjamin Garnier, who he had lost against in the earlier contest, proved an important turnaround, as Denmark triumphed 3-1 on games.
Portugal, winners of the team event for the past three seasons, were unable to raise a side, whilst Belgium, finalists in all events since 1999, failed to progress past the group stage.
INDIVIDUALS
Quarter-finals
Kristian Staal Nielsen - Ruben Português 3:2 (3:1)
Lasse Honore - Steven Breselg 0:2 (0:1)
Mattia Bellotti - Jonathan Thulier 3:1 (1:0)
Joris Bois - Alexander Haas 1:2 (0:1)
Kristian Staal Nielsen - Steven Breselg 5:2 (3:0)
Mattia Bellotti - Alexander Haas 2:0 (1:0)
Kristian Staal Nielsen - Mattia Bellotti 3:2 (2:0)
TEAMS
Semi-finals
Italy - France 1:3 (3:8)
Germany - Denmark 1:3 (4:20)
France - Denmark 1:3 (3:8)
Benjamin Garnier - Christian Emil Christiansen 0:1 (0:0)
Charles Mekri - Lasse Honore 0:2 (0:1)
William Etienvre - Kristian Staal Nielsen 1:5 (0:3)
Joris Bois - David Frederiksen 2:0 (1:0)
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Kamilla Kristensen inflicted a first female World Cup defeat on Delphine Dieudonné for almost 13 years to prevent the Belgian from taking a 10th title in the category.
Dieudonné had lost the final of the female competition of the first FISTF international championships in 1993 but had since remained unbeaten in the section at World Cup level. Four of her previous final successes had come at the expense of Kristensen.
With Kristensen holding number 1 seeding and Dieudonné, despite only now playing in the female section at World Cups, seeded fifth, the pair were set this time for a semi-final showdown.
And apart from the Dane's quarter-final tie with the experienced French player Françoise Guyot, which was won 1-0, both had little difficulty in keeping the appointment.
Two second half strikes, following a goalless opening 15 minutes, decided the match in Kristensen's favour, as she set herself up for a second female world championship title.
However, it took until the second period for Kristensen to score the only goal of the final against Austria's Michaela Scherbaum.
There was further disappointment for Dieudonné - affected by an injury to her arm - playing for Belgium in the team event.
After beating the French side 2-1 in the group stage, the holders lost by the same score in the immediate re-match in the final, courtesy of Sylvie Guyot's late goal against Magali Doumont.
Kamilla Kristensen - Françoise Guyot 1:0 (1:0)
Delphine Dieudonné - Bénédicte Westrade 5:1 (2:1)
Audrey Herbaut - Elodie Bertholet 1:2 (1:0) (ot)
Michaela Scherbaum - Michaela Kalina 1:1 (1:0) shots: 4-1
Kamilla Kristensen - Delphine Dieudonné 2:0 (0:0)
Elodie Bertholet - Michaela Scherbaum 1:3 (1:1)
Kamilla Kristensen - Michaela Scherbaum 1:0 (0:0)
Group standings: 1 Belgium, 2 France, 3 Austria, 4 Germany
Belgium - France 1:2 (7:6)
Bénédicte Westrade - Arielle Guyot 0:0 (0:0)
Elodie Bertholet - Françoise Guyot 1:5 (0:4)
Magali Doumont - Sylvie Guyot 0:1 (0:0)
Delphine Dieudonné - Audrey Herbaut 6:0 (2:0)
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For team matches, total goals scored are shown in brackets. For individual matches, half time scores are shown in brackets.
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The DASA museum in Dortmund provided an unusual backdrop for the tournament, with matches played out in front of a massive furnace, trams and other strange metal work.
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Amongst the special guests during the weekend was Gunter Czarkowski, founder of the German federation and an international player in the 60s and 70s, who played several exhibition games using figures from that era.
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Dortmund 2006 – Medals table
(teams and individuals)
Italy 4 2 2 8
Denmark 3 3
Belgium 1 3 6 10
France 1 1 1 3
Netherlands 1 1
Austria 2 3 5
Spain 1 2 3
Malta 1 1 2
Germany 3 3
England 1 1
Greece 1 1
World Cup participation by country
(individuals’ events only)
Belgium BEL 6 5 4 5 5 25
France FRA 4 3 4 4 5 20
Germany GER 4 4 4 4 4 20
Italy ITA 6 3 2 4 5 20
Austria AUT 5 5 1 4 4 19
England ENG 4 1 3 5 13
Netherlands NED 4 2 2 4 12
Denmark DEN 4 4 1 9
Czech Republic CZE 3 4 1 8
Greece GRE 4 4 8
Spain ESP 4 3 7
Portugal POR 4 1 1 6
Switzerland SUI 2 4 6
Malta MLT 4 1 5
China CHN 1 1 2 4
Wales WAL 1 2 3
Albania ALB 2 2
Australia AUS 1 1
Cyprus CYP 1 1
Northern Ireland NIR 1 1
Poland POL 1 1
Turkey TUR 1 1
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All of the UK-based representatives in the Open category failed to progress past the first phase of the tournament, and only England's David Russell avoided last place in his group.
Starting off with a 2-1 victory against the Dane Thomas Øre Petersen, then drawing 1-1 with David Vacke, Russell's fate looked certain to be decided by goal difference.
But allowing four first half goals to Italian Saverio Bari gave the initiative to group rival Vacke, as the Czech completed a 4-1 success in his final game. Despite not conceding in the second half of his own encounter, Russell's failure to score himself meant that he missed out on a place in the last 32 by the narrowest of margins - one goal.
However, despite a fourth placed finish, the best performance by a UK player came from Chris Thomas.
Drawn into the proverbial group of death, not even draws against former world champion Massimiliano Nastasi - 2-2, after leading 1-0 at half time - and Spain's Raúl Benita, 0-0, could not save the England team captain from last in the table. His other game was lost 3-0 to Kostas Triantafillou.
Jeremy Bradley also picked up two draws - against Lazaros Papakonstantinou (1-1) and Lukas Opocensky (0-0) - but a 3-0 defeat to Hansel Mallia put him out of contention in a closely fought group, in which four of the six games were tied.
Dave Pawsey had, by his own standards, an unusually poor tournament, with a narrow 2-1 defeat against Malta's Charles Aquilina proving the only salvation to a 4-0 loss to Nicos Beis of Greece and a 6-0 thrashing from Belgian ace Gil Delogne.
Northern Ireland's sole representative Eoin Adams lost all three matches, without scoring a goal. Frenchman Jean-Guillaume Einsle beat him 4-0 in the opening game, Arnold Mair 5-0 in the second, before Vasco Guimaraes - who needed a high winning margin to ensure top spot in the group - scored 8 past the Irishman.
David Lauder of Wales made a great start to his tournament, by establishing a 2-0 half time lead against Nuno Noronha, but the Portuguese player hit back with three unanswered goals after the interval. Further defeats followed, courtesy of Emmanuel Gorgette (0-7) and Carlos Flores (1-8).
There wasn't much joy either for the other two UK-based players who were both making their World Cup debuts for their respective nations.
Paul Andreas (Cyprus) lost 4-0 to Fabio Bottano in his opening game, but with the group's better two players, Antonio Mettivieri and Alexandre Torré drawing 2-2 in their opener, it meant that goals would be all important in the race for top spot.
As it went, Andreas lost 11-0 in each of his subsequent matches, though he at least had the consolation of not suffering the heaviest defeat in the Open competition. Instead that dishonour went to Turkey's Abdullah Bicakci, who was thrashed 14-1 by the Netherlander Maikel de Haas.
Andreas' Putney clubmate Kenny Scott (Australia) was drawn into an equally as tough group, where goal difference would be important for his opponents, and faced heavy defeats against Sergio Loureiro (0-8), Nico Marks (0-4) and Samuel Bartolo (0-7).
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Aside from a goalless second half by Colin Lewis against Massimo Bolognino, Wales were no match for the mighty Italians in the team event.
Victory over the Czech Republic would have secured a quarter-final place, but the Welsh side fell to a 2-0 defeat, with father and son John and David Lauder collecting the individual draws.
England also suffered a first round exit, from a tough group containing Germany, Belgium and France.
A 1-1 draw with Germany in the opening game offered optimism, but hopes were cruelly dashed by 4-0 and 3-0 defeats to Belgium and France.
David Russell's 3-1 individual success over Germany's Leif Banscherus proved to be the only English win in the team event. Jeremy Bradley and Chris Thomas helped the side to individual draws against the host nation, whilst captain Thomas also picked up a draw in the France game.
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England team captain Phil Redman found himself in a closely fought group with Jens Röttjer and Joël David for the veterans' tournament, and 1-1 draws against each - both times after leading at the interval - were enough to see him through to a last 32 match with Dutchman Martijn Bom.
A goal apiece in normal time and a blank overtime period meant shots, and Bom's shooting just about proved more accurate as he edged through 3-2.
Bob Varney had no troubles in the group stage, collecting 5-0 and 6-0 victories, and then eliminating Giorgos Dimakeas 1-0, before he too fell victim of champion-elect Bom, losing 3-1 in the last 16, in a match marred by some questionable refereeing decisions.
The decisive goal came only minutes from the end, and was met by Varney throwing his goalkeeper across the hall.
And then, after the match ended, he collected his figures together, returned to the area where the English contingent were sitting and threw his team box and contents smashing into a wall, in a copycat show to David Ruelle on defeat ironically to Varney himself at the Knighton Grand Prix in October - an act which drew widespread condemnation at the time.
Jeff Jordan's fate was in his own hands going into his group's final game against Arturo Martínez, as both players had drawn with Marcel Lange. However a 3-1 defeat against Spain's 2003 veterans' world champ put Londoner Jordan out.
Adrian Curtis lost his first game to Massimo Conti by a 4-1 scoreline which would prove vital, as in his second match against former FISTF President Laurent Garnier, he twice took the lead in the second half, only to see the Frenchman equalise twice, the second coming late in the match. When Conti could only beat Garnier 2-1, it meant Curtis was out on goal difference.
Alan Collins was a beneficiary of a goal difference decision, as a 0-4 reverse to Dutchman René Bolte was followed by a 1-1 draw with John Lauder.
Collins lost 1-0 to fiery Frenchman Thierry Vivron in the last 32.
Wales' Lauder had lost by 5 goals to Bolte, four of which came after the interval.
Gareth Thomas - playing his first tournament since last year's UK & Ireland Championships - faced two tough games, losing 4-1 to Jos Ceulemans and 7-0 to the hugely experienced Horst Deimel.
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England came within a whisker of forcing overtime in their semi-final tie in the veterans' team tournament.
With just a minute to play against Austria, the match was delicately poised as Varney led Horst Deimel by 4 goals, Jordan was trailing by a similar score and the games involving Phil Holmes and Redman were goalless.
However Günther Bamberzky hit a late winner against Holmes to take his side into the final, where they lost only on goal difference to Italy.
England had just sneaked through their group on game difference, when a draw between Germany and Spain in the final session allowed them qualification by virtue of game difference. A victory for either of their group rivals would have put England out.
Varney and Redman collected the wins in an opening 2-2 draw with hosts Germany, and the same two picked up ties in a 1-1 draw against a shorthanded Spanish team.
Switzerland were whitewashed 4-0, before a 2-1 defeat to Italy - Redman beating Massimo Conti and Phil Holmes holding Enrico Tecchiati at 1-1 - and the draw between Germany and Spain allowed England to progress.
Berkshire-based Panos Stemitsiotis played two and a half games for the Greece veterans' team, conceding two goals to Henri Cornu (France) before being withdrawn at half time, losing 3-0 to Horst Deimel (Austria) and playing out a goalless draw with Benoît Jadot (Belgium).
+++
A pair of 2-2 draws with Marcel Schulz and Giacomo Meozzi allowed England's Antony Collins - the only UK player in the U19 competition - to take second place in his group, but he lost out by the odd goal in three against Thomas Karnthaler in the last 16.
Having gone into the U15 tournament without a single victory in his first two World Cup appearances, Sam Curtis took three comfortable wins out of three in the group stage - including the weekend's best of 16-0 against the unfortunate Albanian representative Kastri Ibishi.
A place in the quarter-finals was not beyond Curtis' reach when he was drawn against Steven Breselg, a player who he had beaten once before. However he trailed 2-0 at the interval, and could only pull back one goal in the second half, whilst having another effort disallowed.
Brandon Lavender got off to a great start on what was his first ever appearance in an international tournament, by beating Czech Jakub Surmanek 5-0. However it wasn't enough, and despite scoring twice against champion-elect Kristian Staal Nielsen in an eventual 4-2 defeat, a 3-1 loss to Bryan Spiroux consigned the Worthing youngster to an early exit.
Dimitris Stemitsiotis meanwhile was eliminated on goal difference to Benjamin Garnier, with whom he played out a goalless draw in the final session of group games. Earlier Stemitsiotis had lost 2-0 against Mattia Bellotti, who would go onto reach the final, but beat Martin Bijlstra by a similar score.
+++
The late withdrawals of Matt Lishman and Jonathan Bryan meant that England's younger team entry switched from the U15 to the U19 category, to allow Antony Collins to make up a full squad.
And despite playing opponents older than themselves, the makeshift U19 team pushed the Netherlands close in a 2-1 defeat. Collins collected a win over Joey van Limbeek and Lavender got a draw.
A pair of 3-0 defeats against Italy and France were also closer than the scorelines suggested, though only Collins in the former and Lavender in the latter got anything out of their individual games.
+++++++++++
Vasco Guimaraes stands alone as the only man to have broken the Italian-Belgian dominance of World Cup and European Championship titles since 1993 - and he represents the best chance to break the duopoly this time around.
Apart from two all-Portuguese finals in 1996 and 1997 - both won by Guimaraes over Filipe Maia - at least one Italian or Belgian has reached every final played.
And whilst that part of the status quo looks like remaining in place, Guimaraes goes into this year's World Cup the form player.
Winner of the Bologna Major just over two weeks ago, and in Mons in March, the Portuguese player possesses the ability and experience to claim another greater honour on the game's greatest stage.
And if he is successful, it will make up for the disappointment of last year's World Cup, when he exited on shots to Eric Verhagen in the quarter-finals, after also going into that tournament as one of the favourites.
Sergio Loureiro is another player who appears to have hit form at the right time, having beaten current World champion Massimo Bolognino in the Bologna quarter-finals, before losing narrowly to countryman Guimaraes in the semis.
Fellow Bologna Tigers player Carlos Flores, so unlucky to have been a beaten finalist in both Elbeuf and Mons, has also shown that he can perform on the highest stage over the season so far, and will be seeking to improve on last year when he was just as unfortunate to face champion-elect Bolognino as early as the last 16 in Belgium, losing 2-1.
World number one Verhagen is another looking to improve on past World Cups, though for him, the last two competitions have yielded runners-up and semi-final positions. However, a lack of top-level practise whilst living in Brazil for much of the season may be the Dutchman's undoing this time around.
Of table football's two powerhouse nations, Belgium's challenge comes from the dependable Gil Delogne, a winner in 1998 and 2002, Alain Hanotiaux, beaten finalist last time, and Valéry Dejardin, whilst the Italians as ever look formidable.
Reigning champion Bolognino - who had won a hat-trick of titles between 1999 and 2001 - heads a squad also containing 2003 champion Massimiliano Nastasi, Antonio Mettivieri, Saverio Bari and the unseeded, but prolific, Efrem Intra.
As a team, the Italians will be looking to claim their sixth straight Open title, in a competition where the Belgians and Greek will look to go one better than in previous years.
Italian supremacy may well extend to the veterans' category where Renzo Frignani is looking for a third successive win. Martijn Bom, beaten finalist for the last two years, and former champions Thierry Vivron (1998 and 1999), Horst Deimel (2000) and Arturo Martinez (2002) will be amongst those providing tough competition.
Other countries are most likely to find joy in the other categories, and the U19 competitions looks set to be the most open, now that Italian Daniele Bertelli, winner of the last two tournaments, has moved up to the Open category. That leaves world number 1 Christian Haas and a clutch of Belgians to fight it out for the title.
In the U15 event, the two favourites, Kristian Staal Nielsen of Denmark and Portugal's Ruben Português are seeded to meet in the quarter-finals. The up and coming Italian Mattia Bellotti, ranked third in the world, can't be discounted either.
Delphine Dieudonné would appear certain to claim a 10th title in the Females' section, with only the Dane Kamilla Kristenain seemingly with the ability to beat her.
China are one of several countries making their World Cup debut, with entrants at Female, U19 and U15 levels, whilst others, such as Switzerland and the Czech Republic, return to the competition after an absence.
++++++++++++++++++++++++
OPEN SECTION (64 players)
1- Verhagen Eric (NED) WR1
2- Cremona Massimo (MLT) WR2
3- Guimaraes Vasco (POR) WR3
4- Flores Carlos (ESP) WR4
5- Bolognino Massimo (ITA) WR5
6- Hanotiaux Alain (BEL) WR6
7- Lenz Robert (AUT) WR8
8- Mettivieri Antonio (ITA) WR9
9- Loureiro Sergio (POR) WR10
10- Mattiangeli Francesco (ITA) WR11
11- Mallia Hansel (MLT) WR12
12- Nastasi Massimiliano (ITA) WR13
13- Delogne Gil (BEL) WR14
14- Père Olivier (BEL) WR15
15- Haas Wolfgang (AUT) WR16
16- Bari Saverio (ITA) WR19
17- Intra Efrem (ITA) WR21
18- Thomas Chris (ENG) WR23
19- Prats Vicenç (ESP) WR26
20- Gauci Mark (MLT) WR28
21- Beis Nicos (GRE) WR29
22- Leitner Wolfgang (AUT) WR31
23- Papakonstantinou Lazaros (GRE) WR32
24- Matzinger Markus (AUT) WR34
25- Dejardin Valéry (BEL) WR38
26- Einsle Jean-Guillaume (FRA) WR39
27- Koutis Giorgos (GRE) WR44
28- Amberny Jean-Marie (FRA) WR46
29- Benita Raul (ESP) WR48
30- Pawsey David (ENG) WR49
31- Staal Nielsen Jesper (DEN) WR63
32- Aquilina Charles (MLT) WR66
33- Buhl-Hansen Anders (DEN) WR67
34- Wlodarczyk Nicolas (FRA) WR75
35- de Haas Maikel (NED) WR89
36- Triantafillou Kostas (GRE) WR90
37- Russell David (ENG) WR92
38- Ramos Sergio (POR) WR107
39- Bartolo Samuel (MLT) WR118
40- Noronha Nuno (POR) WR120
41- Murciano Emilio (ESP) WR122
42- Tilgner Marcus (GER) WR124
43- Lauder David (WAL) WR131
44- Marks Nico (NED) WR134
45- Dikaios Antoine (BEL) WR136
46- Busch David (AUT) WR142
47- Torré Alexandre (BEL) WR184
48- Adams Eoin (NIR) WR205
49- Petersen Thomas (DEN) WR265
50- Mair Arnold (GER) WR355
51- Popp Roland (GER) WR360
52- Brinker Paul (NED) WR640
53- Vacke David (CZE) WR735
54- Scott Kenny (AUS) WR1032
55- Andreas Paul (CYP) WR1033
56- Latka Piotr (POL) WR--
57- Madr Vitezslav (CZE) WR--
58- Gautschi Maxwell (SWI) WR--
59- Bottana Fabio (SWI) WR--
60- Ali Ibrahim Ahmed (NIG) WR-
61- Orakposim Emeka Olisa (NIG) WR--
62- Bicakci Abdullah (TUR) WR—
63- Opocensky Lukas (CZE) WR--
64- Emodi Chukwu Emmanuel (NIG) WR--
1- Gorgette Emmanuel (FRA) WR98
2- Bradley Jeremy (ENG) WR95
3- Lange Tommas (DEN) WR272
4- Ruf Alexander (GER) WR753
5- Mateja Zdenek (CZE) WR--
6- Obiechina Felix Ifeanyi (NIG) WR--
7- Benita Vicente (ESP) WR432
8- van den Berg William (NED) WR621
9- Conti Derek (MLT) WR80
10- Haider Karl-Heinz (AUT) WR42
11- Goor Laurent (BEL) WR18
VETERANS (48 players)
1- Bom Martijn (NED) WR1
2- Tecchiati Enrico (ITA) WR2
3- Frignani Renzo (ITA) WR3
4- Conti Massimo (ITA) WR4
5- Mazzaglia Fabrice (BEL) WR5
6- Ceulemans Jos (BEL) WR6
7- Vivron Thierry (FRA) WR7
8- Martinez Arturo (ESP) WR8
9- Collins Alan (ENG) WR9
10- Grégoire Steve (BEL) WR10
11- Bamberzky Gunther (AUT) WR12
12- Büsing Thossa (GER) WR13
13- Hasieber Michael (AUT) WR14
14- Spiteri Mario (MLT) WR15
15- Redman Phil (ENG) WR16
16- Varney Bob (ENG) WR18
17- Curtis Adrian (ENG) WR19
19- Jordan Jeff (ENG) WR22
35- Lauder John (WAL) WR67
44- Thomas Gareth (WAL) WR--
U19 (24 players)
Seeds
1- Haas Christian (AUT) WR1
2- Carette Logan (BEL) WR2
3- Leroy Justin (BEL) WR3
4- Leroy David (BEL) WR4
5- Baccega Nicolas (BEL) WR5
6- Zeilinger Patrick (AUT) WR6
7- Nullens Arnaud (BEL) WR7
8- Collins Anthony (ENG) WR8
U15 (32 players)
Seeds
1- Staal Nielsen Kristian (DEN) WR1
2- Haas Alexander (AUT) WR2
3- Bellotti Mattia (ITA) WR3
4- Curtis Sam (ENG) WR4
5- Honore Lasse (DEN) WR6
6- Thulier Jonathan (BEL) WR8
7- Deloose Renald (BEL) WR10
8- Português Ruben (POR) WR11
15- Stemitsiotis Dimitris (ENG) WR36
29- Lavender Brandon (ENG) WR--
FEMALES (24 players)
Seeds
1- Kristensen Kamilla (DEN) WR1
2- Guyot Françoise (FRA) WR2
3- Mensel Anna-Lisa (GER) WR4
4- Westrade Bénédicte (BEL) WR5
5- Dieudonné Delphine (BEL) WR6
6- Radic Jelena (AUT) WR8
7- Scherbaum Michaela (AUT) WR9
8- Kastner Jennifer (AUT) WR10
Open (15)
WALES
NIGERIA
DENMARK
GERMANY
CZECH REPUBLIC
MALTA
SPAIN
NETHERLANDS
ENGLAND
BELGIUM
ITALY
PORTUGAL
GREECE
AUSTRIA
FRANCE
Veterans (10)
GERMANY
SPAIN
NETHERLANDS
SWITZERLAND
ENGLAND
BELGIUM
ITALY
GREECE
AUSTRIA
FRANCE
U19 (7)
GERMANY
CHINA
NETHERLANDS
BELGIUM
ITALY
AUSTRIA
FRANCE
U15 (7)
DENMARK
GERMANY
CZECH REPUBLIC
ENGLAND
BELGIUM
ITALY
FRANCE
Females (4)
GERMANY
BELGIUM
AUSTRIA
FRANCE
++++++++++++++++++++++++
09.00 - 17.00 Free training at the venue with media coverage
11.00 International press conference
19.00 Players Night at the "ROADSTOP", Do-Hohensyburg
20.30 Draw at the event-room of the "ROADSTOP"
21.30 FISTF congress at the event-room of the "ROADSTOP"
08.30 Arrive and check-in
09.00 Opening ceremony
09.30 Start of the individual competitions - groups
13.15 Break
13.45 Knock outs
19.00 End of the 1st day
08.30 Arrive
09.00 Prize giving ceremony - Females / Veterans
09.30 Start of the team competitions - groups
13.15 Prize giving ceremony - U15/ U19
13.30 Break
14.00 Prize giving ceremony - Open
14.15 Knock outs
16.15 Finals
17.15 Prize giving ceremony team competitions
17.45 Say goodbye from Dortmund...
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