World Footy News

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It was cold. It was wet. It was cold and wet in the low 40's (F). The big upset of the day was Vancouver beating the number one seed Denver. In the other pool, the Boston Demons beat the number two seed the Baltimore Washington Eagles. Pool B is a wash, all four teams are 1-1.

Sunday should be very interesting. The Boston vs Golden Gate game and the San Diego vs Baltimore Washington game will both decide the winner of Pool B. The BW Eagles' big win over Golden Gate may help them if it comes down to percentage.

In Pool A, Vancouver is the team to beat. They ran over both Denver and New York and they are looking to be the first Canadian team to win the USFooty National championship.

Barring a big upset by Orange County, Vancouver should go through to the final representing Pool A. In Pool B, San Diego takes on Baltimore Washington and Golden Gate takes on Boston. Baltimore Washington probably have the inside run but will have to beat a determined San Diego team.

Story by Chris Adams for USFootyNews.com.

The England Dragonslayers defeated the Croatian Knights in Prague yesterday to take out the 2008 EU Cup. Scores in the final match saw England 16.11.107 defeat Croatia 9.5.59.

Both sides were made up almost entirely of locals, meaning a good part of the score above is made up of handicap. Taking this out of the equation, the scoreline reads England 9.8.62 to Croatia 2.5.17 - reflecting a dominant effort on the part of the Dragonslayers. For their part, the Knights can be very happy with a very strong first-up performance at the cup, auguring well for Croatia as a future powerhouse in European footy.

Germany defeated Sweden for third place, with Finland narrowly defeating France for fifth. The full final rankings are listed below, reports to come in the next few days.

Most suprising is that he arrived in Australia from Ethiopia just two years ago knowing absolutely nothing about the game. His sporting background is soccer, where he held down the position of goal-keeper and his towering but still growing 193cm frame make him an ideal ruckman for Australian Football. He now features regularly among the best players for Murrumbeena and is obviously catching the attention of the league's umpires.

An article, Murrumbeena Colts’ Bol Luak a shooting star by Paul Amy which features in Caufield-Glen Eira Leader also makes mention of Murrumbeena's up and coming young Chinese and Indian players.

The odds appear to be increasing that Carlton's Irish brothers will be forced to go their separate ways next year. Setanta has played 46 games for the Blues and still seems a chance to hold down a key position. He was only considered as a possible trade for a reasonable pick in the draft, and with no deal done (trade week finished yesterday), and still under contract for 2009, it looks like Setanta will get another season.

The chances for younger brother Aisake O'hAilpin seem less promising. At 23, out of contract and with no AFL games after 3 to 4 years at the Blues, his time may be up. On Thursday Carlton confirmed there were no trade offers, and combined with reported disciplinary problems this year, it doesn't look good. The final blow could be Carlton's last gasp securing of Fremantle's 206cm rookie ruckman Robert Warnock in the trade. He joins 2007 number one draft pick and very promising ruckman Matthew Kreuzer at the Blues, so given that Aisake has been touted as a ruck option, it is bad news for the Irishman.

If the Old Dark Navy Blues decide to de-list Aisake, he will have to hope for a club to pick him up in the November or pre-season drafts, if he wishes to continue his AFL bid. Note that previously players only got a second the chance via the pre-season draft, so at least he now has two opportunities if Carlton cut him.

The Timor-Leste (East Timor) Crocs will be represented at this weekend's 12-team Indigenous Community Division of the AFLNT's annual pre-season carnival in Darwin, from Friday October 10th until Sunday October 12th at TIO Stadium, Marrara.

The Crocs were invited to compete as a team in their own right, however this was not possible and the team decided instead to send a small delegation to play in a combined team with Australian Defence Force personnel and East Timorese residents in Darwin.

Luke Gosling from the Timor Crocs said, "the Timorese players are very happy to be coming to Darwin and playing their newly adopted sport of Australian Rules Football. One of the Timor-Leste players to watch is Amaro da Silva, who is also a very good soccer player. With strength, natural agility and hand-eye coordination, Amaro and the other Timorese players have taken to the sport quickly."

Thus far in Timor-Leste, as well as in representative games played this year in Indonesia, the team has played 9-a-side on a soccer field. The tournament in Darwin will be the first time the players have experienced the larger field and different gameplay of 18-a-side.

Gosling says, "In many ways the Timorese players are quick and agile like the Northern Territory's indigenous players, however they lack the many years of practice that comes from growing up with a footy in their hands. The Timor-Leste players have a great opportunity to learn from playing the community teams and from their own Timor-Leste and Australian teammates."

The Crocs are scheduled to play their first match this afternoon at 5.30pm.

This year's EU Cup in Prague will feature live streaming via the web.

From 10am until approximately 7pm western European time this Saturday, action will be available via this link.

If that link doesn't work, try directly through the TVCom.cz website. The site's in Czech, but it's currently on the front page.