International Sunday

We're in the 3rd match round already with the exception of one match today and the World Cup is advancing towards the Play Offs Phase. Somewhat less than a month ago it all started with Portugal - Denmark a the first match and we're almost at the end of the Group Phase now. A few nations already qualified like Croatia and Finland, they are sure of a spot in the Play Offs. Tomorrow will bring us a spectacle of matches. With meetings starting at 15:00 (GMT+1).

First off is this match in Group F. Because of the time difference the match is scheduled this early. The Netherlands had it's first match last week because of a difficulty in the line-up and they won convincingly over Norway with 4-0. It's a whole different NL team than the one that performed in the Clanbase NationsCup though. No teKoa and no M1lk for example. Is this team, lead by perfo, who recently got through to the Eurocup Grand Final with a win over TLR, experienced enough to set a good achievement?

They'll have to beat Australia first though because still anything can happen in Group F with all teams having played only a single match. Australia performed well against Slovenia in their first match with a 4-0 win. They're finishing their Group Adventure tomorrow with their final match after this one against Norway. Then we'll see if they got through.

Australia is taking on their second opponent for today. It's Norway who already faced a defeat against The Netherlands and who need this win to advance. It's all or nothing for Norway tomorrow against Australia and they probably will go for it. Norway didn't have much luck in the last NationsCup being grouped with Finland and Belgium who finally took the Gold and Silver home. Now they're once again grouped with two strong teams but there is a chance. They can beat Australia and then only Slovenia is blocking their path.

Same story for Australia over again. They'll have to win at least one to advance. Can they make it? Of course Australia isn't represented at the usual Nations competitions and that's what makes this world cup so nice to watch. Teams like Chili, Brazil and Japan who are represented in our scene for the first time. Australia is maybe the strongest side of all those not-European nations. They have the biggest chance. Go for it Aussies!

This is going to be WW2 all over with USA facing Japan. Another battle over the Pacific. It's a shame there is no map Midway or Pearl Harbor. Is Japan going to take revenge for their loss in World War 2 or will the Americans triumph once again. Too bad I can't give any background information about these teams because I know so little about them. Good luck lads!

This will be a big clash. Two teams fighting for the last Play Off spot in Group A. Hungary used to be a recognized force in the ET scene with good performances at nations cup's but they slipped away a bit with a disappointing result at the last version of the nations cup. Now they're fighting for their honor because with a group full of East-European Countries, Hungary at least wants to be with the top 2. Above the Czech Republic and Ukraine. But it's not that easy. Do they still have that skill and experience? Let's hope for them...

Now the Czech Republic is a young team with some players from the old Infrag team. But also with the TLR routinier Marv who played excellent from time to time last Thursday. Now they were seeded in Poule A which should have been an advantage for the Czechs. But for some reason the very strong Croatia was seeded in Poule C which meant that the Czech Republic was now facing two very strong opponents. They'll just have to pull every string to get this win. Good luck Czech Republic.

Belgium has proven to be a strong side over the last years. Big disappointment two NC's ago when they lost to the Netherlands(!) which is pretty much their nemesis. But last year they finally got their game right and were almost there but the Suomi's got in the way unfortunately for Belgium. They have already beaten two excellent teams in the form of Estonia and Brazil and are now facing Austria who don't have the possibility of using their experienced former zP! players potter, darky and rapture.

When you go back far in history Austria was a respected ET nation but they've slipped away just like Hungary and are now facing elimination would they lose to Belgium. Their task is simple though difficult. They don't have to crawl underneath three hedges, find a purple sheep and three green bunny's and shoot a cow out of a tree; they just have to win! But that's the hard part. They're facing one of the better teams in this world cup.

United Kingdom are safe. They have won twice over both Russia and Malta and are gently leaning back and waiting for the Play Offs. But will they shown their Sportsmanship towards Russia and perform as assumed against Latvia? Last NC Latvia took the win over UK during the Group Stage and maybe that's a reason for the UK to get their revenge. Who knows?

Latvia has the chance to indirectly finish off "Mother Russia" and that must give a great feeling for the Latvians. There's one downside though. Their former oppressors Russia are facing the shooting booth on the fancy fair of their Group; Malta. Assuming that Russia takes the win it's all in Latvia's hands. They can make or break they're own world cup tomorrow night. Good luck.

This is an interesting one. Sweden, a top side in the ET scene who are always performing well have already lost one match which means they'll have to win this one. And even then they're not sure of the Play Offs because would Israel take out Iceland it brings the two teams even again. Sweden just can't loose unless Israel does so of course. But that's not very likely since Iceland is just like Malta a shooting booth at a fancy fair.

Now on the other side we have Italy, a fresh team with a few well known players and of course one of the world's best riflers; XyLos. They have a strong team and they've also proven it so will they bring a surprise for this world cup? You'd almost hope so. A new team on the top is always good for the game. Good luck to Italy.



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