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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