World Footy News

3pm, Mack Oval, Warrnambool, country Victoria. That was the unlikely setting for a brutal encounter between the islanders from Pacific Samoa and the Elks from European Sweden. And yet there was something very old style Australian football about this match.

The skills on display varied from exciting to rudimentary, but one thing was guaranteed all day - a very physical contest. The Samoans ran head first into every clash with frightening vigour, but perhaps surprisingly, the Swedes showed true courage under fire and gave almost as good as they got.

But alas after a slow start they couldn't never quite peg back the margin and will have to console themselves with the knowledge that they "stood up" in a fiercely contested match worthy of a bigger crowd.

Please note this article is one we have just completed from the last remaining match in Round 3, not the just completed Round 4 first round finals matches.

In the wake of South Africa defeating the US, and South Africa only defeating Denmark by 45 points we could only deduce that the Danes perhaps took a little while to get settled (having been comprehensively defeated by the US in their first match) and might just now be hitting their straps. The Chinese have put up a brave fight in their first two matches with big losses and it looked like they would need to be brave again today. The persistent wind seen in earlier matches kept up, though now pretty much across Reid oval the sun was shining as the match got underway.

The Warrnambool leg of the 2008 International Cup has been completed, with New Zealand and Papua New Guinea securing a place in Friday's Grand Final. The match is a repeat of the 2005 Grand Final, with Papua New Guinea also partaking in the 2002 final against Ireland.

As was expected, Round 4 provided much closer scorelines than the first three rounds, and whilst there were a few comfortable victories, there were no thrashings. Furthermore Finland and the Peace Team registered their first victories.

Friday concludes the 2008 International Cup. Apart from the Grand Final (curtain raiser to the Hawthorn vs Western Bulldogs AFL match at the MCG) classification matches will be held for the other teams to determine overall finishing positions and placings at future tournaments.

Round 5 - Friday 5 September		Melbourne
Match-up	Rank	Venue	Time
Finland vs Peace Team	13th/14th	Royal Park - Western Oval	10:00am
Great Britain vs Samoa	9th/10th	Royal Park - McAlister Oval	10:00am
Nauru vs Canada	5th/6th	Royal Park - Ransford Oval	10:15am
Sweden vs Denmark	11th/12th	Royal Park - Western Oval	11:45am
USA vs Japan	7th/8th	Royal Park - McAlister Oval	11:45am
Ireland vs South Africa	3th/4th	Royal Park - Ransford Oval	12:00pm
India vs China	15th/16th	Royal Park - Ransford Oval	1:45pm

Grand Final - Friday 5 September		Melbourne
Match-up	Rank	Venue	Time
New Zealand vs Papua New Guinea	1st/2nd	MCG	5:10pm

Multicultural Challenge Match - Friday 5 September		Melbourne
Match-up	Venue	Time
Team Africa vs Tonga	Royal Park - McAlister	1:30pm

The Post Courier, one of the major national newspapers in Papua New Guinea has already headlined the sports section with stories about the national Australian Rules Football team's International Cup campaign at least twice this week.

Although the sport has had the occasional story in PNG media in the past and PNG has always been one of the better supported teams in the cup, the level of attention that the team is currently getting is unprecedented in the country.

Today's front sports page ran the story "Mossies raring to sting".

The article highlights the real threat that a much improved South Africa poses to the Mosquitos' International Cup campaign.

Picture of today's cover

Additionally, the weekend Courier published a story "Awesome foursome" profiling their exciting junior players Peter Labi, Amua Pirika, John Vogae and Emmanuel Tupia who at just 17 are all playing in the International Cup for the first time.

Picture of the weekend cover

People are obviously getting excited about the Mozzies in PNG and with this much press one would expect signficant interest in the country if the team can either make the Grand Final or win the International Cup.

The intention is to update these scores each quarter as the games progress. Match reports and images will follow later. All times are Australian Eastern Standard Time (AEST), which is +10 GMT. The forecast is for a cool day, around 14 degrees Celsius, but fine after early fog. Partly cloudy with light to moderate southeasterly winds. The overnight low is then supposed to be zero degrees Celsius, so the evening will turn very cold very quickly - no need for ice baths for the players!

Round 4 - First Round Finals - 3rd September 2008

1pm

China Peace Team 0.2 (2) 1/4 2.0 (12) 3.2 (20) 1/2 3.0 (18) 3.2 (20) 3/4 4.6 (30) 4.4 (28) Full 5.7 (37)

India Finland 1.1 (7) 1/4 4.0 (24) 3.4 (22) 1/2 6.0 (36) 3.4 (22) 3/4 7.3 (45) 4.4 (28) Full 8.4 (52)

Nauru USA 0.0 (0) 1/4 2.1 (13) 0.2 (2) 1/2 2.2 (14) 1.3 (9) 3/4 2.5 (17) 7.3 (45) Full 3.5 (23)

3pm

Sweden Samoa 1.2 (8) 1/4 0.1 (1) 1.2 (8) 1/2 4.4 (28) 4.2 (26) 3/4 5.4 (34) 4.2 (26) Full 7.8 (50)

Great Britain Denmark 3.1 (19) 1/4 0.0 (0) 4.1 (25) 1/2 1.1 (7) 5.3 (33) 3/4 1.1 (7) 5.4 (34) Full 4.3 (27)

Japan Canada 0.2 (2) 1/4 2.0 (12) 0.2 (2) 1/2 3.2 (18) 0.3 (3) 3/4 4.5 (29) 0.3 (3) Full 7.7 (49)

Semi-finals 5:30pm and 7:30pm at Reid Oval

New Zealand Ireland 4.3 (27) 1/4 0.0 (0) 6.3 (39) 1/2 1.1 (7) 7.6 (48) 3/4 1.2 (8) 8.9 (57) Full 2.3 (15)

PNG South Africa 2.3 (15) 1/4 0.0 (0) 4.4 (28) 1/2 1.2 (8) 7.8 (50) 3/4 1.3 (9) 9.8 (62) Full 2.3 (15)

The fourth series of matches in the 2008 International Cup, currently in Warrnambool, sees teams that finished in the same position in their respective pools taking each other on (e.g. fourth in Pool A plays fourth in Pool B). This means there should be some very evenly matched sides playing off, building towards the semi-finals in the evening that will determine which two nations head to the MCG on Friday for the IC08 Grand Final.

The good news is that the weather for the first round finals, on Wednesday 3rd September, is predicted to be fine and 14 degrees, and if the wind stays down that would make it much warmer than for the games last Monday. The bad news is that the overnight minimum is forecast as zero degrees Celsius, and with matches scheduled at 5:30 and 7:30pm, players and spectators will definitely be feeling it.

Hollywood star Brendan Fraser, a self-confessed Aussie Rules Footy fan, was at a recent AFL match between Hawthorn and Carlton at the Telstra Dome.

Fraser was in Melbourne promoting the new movie from "The Mummy" series and was one of at least a dozen celebrities on hand to watch the shootout for the Coleman Medal between Lance "Buddy" Franklin and Brendan Fevola in front of a near capacity crowd. Not only that, but he would have also witnessed the International Cup teams parade at half time.

Fraser was interviewed during the television coverage of the match and the subject of the Herald Sun article "Brendan Fraser at AFL match in Melbourne".

This match was eagerly anticipated by International Cup watchers. Could the improving Lions take it up to the bigger bodied and more experienced Revolution? The weather while still quite windy across the ground and favouring the southern end had improved since the earlier session with the sun now shining and the ground dried by the constant wind.

The Lions set the tone with the first clearance. Steven Malinga snapped out of the pack to open the scoring with a point. Simphiwe Mbhalo added another from a long kick that drifted away and Bayanda Sobetwa snapped one more after roving a loose ball. The US team started to look a little more settled and laying some strong tackles. But the Lions put up the first goal of the day and the only one for the quarter when Malinga marked a kick in from an out of bounds free kick, went back and goalled. Donnie Lucero cleared from the centre of the ground to Justin Valley for the US, but the ball spilled and though he gathered was tackled as he kicked with the ball skewing left for a behind.

South Africa added another point after Sobweta's long bomb came off hands for a minor score. Further points were added for the Lions by Mtutuzeli Hlomela, Toy Prinsloo and Richard Prinsloo. The Lions 1.8 to the US 0.1 with a wind advantage of a couple of goals looked like a poor return but it was a lead that they were glad to have.

Sweden and Finland continued their countries' long running sporting rivalry and so far short running footy rivalry at the other end of the world in Warrnambool. The more experienced Swedes kicked with the wind in the first quarter. Finland were competitive at ground level but unable to get too much going into the wind as Sweden added 2.4 with the wind affecting goal kicking that could have seen the lead being much larger. Roger Nillson was aggressive at the ball and 18 year old Emil Aberg racked up possessions. Fernando Leon was the standout for the Finns.

A cold Warrnambool morning kicked off with the New Zealander’s Haka and the Samoan Siva Tau going head to head as the local media (and a large group of school children) lapped it all up. At the last International Cup the two almost came to blows at the end of the ceremonial shows of force but everyone went their own way peacefully this time at Walter Oval.

After the Monday round 3 games International Cup players headed to Warrnambool's Brauer College where the vast gym room hosted a relaxed evening of complimentary finger-food, drinks, music, a bit of dancing, and performances by some of the teams.

In much the same style of an evening in Wangaratta when the Cup went there in 2005, speeches were kept to a minimum, with the AFL's Kevin Sheehan doing the basic introductions. The local rockabilly band The Sky Rockats played a few songs (with the unstoppable ground announcer Grilla joining in) and several nations also sang - the Indians gave their rendition of a Bollywood hit, the Americans, unusually self-conscious, sang "You've lost that loving feeling" and the Kiwis started with a gay Austrian impersonation (I'm not sure why) followed by the theme song to popular Aussie soap-opera Home and Away, but couldn't escape before acceding to crowd demands for the Haka. Japan were all energy as they belted out a tune (using the term lightly) and the Irish were deep and strong but didn't burst into any Riverdancing, though at least one began to strike the pose - more threat than intention.

The Our Airline Nauru Chiefs have faced some major obstacles over the last few years and just making it to the third of the AFL's International Cups has been an achievement in itself. So it's quite remarkable that after such an effort, including personal self-sacrifice, that coach Wes Illig (pictured with Dipper) still found time to have some empathy for his opposition.

As with all the Peace Team's matches against the more experienced international sides, this was never going to be a close match. So coach Illig obviously asked himself, "what are we going to get out of this match?" But he also asked "what will they get out of it?". His decision was to try to teach his own men to have some understanding of their opponents, and to over an olive branch the Palestinian and Israeli players. Prior to the match he suggested that the two sides warm up together, and that was gratefully accepted by coaches Robert DiPierdomenico (the famous former Hawthorn champ that you'll see the media swarm to) and Simon Jacobs (the quiet but just as important one in the background).