CHIPPER NIPPER SKIPPER
After a fairly brutal introduction to international football in Manchester last year, the Nippers were hoping to build on that experience and establish themselves as more than just a team of Pup-wannabes. In losing their first three games last time out, the Nippers had learned that there were no easy games at this level. But they had fought back to win their final play-off match, and this time out thought that a quarter-final place would be a good achievement in an unpredictable group. Whilst France were clear favourites to win Group D, the second qualifying place was up for grabs, and Holland 'B' and the Manchester Cloggers probably fancied their chances as much as the Nippers.

Having said all this, not too many of last year's gladiators had returned for another taste of Nipperdom. Last year's captain Matt Denyer had been "promoted" to the Pups along with centre forward Paul Banoub, and only Fazel, Lurch, Raffanelli and Sutton had returned to heed the lessons of 2000. It would be these experienced players that the novice Nippers would look to for a lead in the heat of battle. In Manchester, striker Nichervan Fazel had been the Nippers' outstanding player, as well as notching three goals, and his 'reward' this time out was the Captain's armband. In contrast, Raffanelli's memories of the previous year made him so nervous that he was violently sick on the flight over to Amsterdam.

Initially somewhat fazed by the precedence given to the Pups in the choice of Sunday morning players, Fazel worked hard to mould his charges into a footballing unit that could compete with the world's best. And one week before the tournament started, the new captain would have taken great heart as the Nippers gave the Pups quite a scare in a hastily arranged friendly match. A hat-trick by Fazel himself gave the Nippers a 4-2 lead at full-time, but the Pups insisted on playing on for as long it took for them to claw back the goals to save face. As the sun disappeared over the horizon, the Pups finally scrambled a fifth goal and the final whistle was quickly blown. But regardless of the eventual 5-4 scoreline, the performance greatly pleased Fazel, and he was quietly confident that the Nippers would not disgrace themselves on the world stage.

CINQUE WITHOUT A TRACE
GROUP D: ENGLAND NIPPERS 0-5 FRANCE
The fixture list did not favour England's youngest, and they found themselves facing many people's tournament favourite's France early on Saturday morning. The French have always been a talented side playing excellent football, and they ruthlessly exploited the Nippers' slow start. As Fazel recalls with a shudder, "we had a very disappointing start. Four of the goals were conceded in the first half."

It seemed that the Nippers may have slept through their alarm call, but their leader was not going to take things lying down, and the half time whistle offered him the first opportunity to rectify matters. "I reorganised the formation during the interval, and this allowed us to put out a more solid defence." This resulted in a big improvement, and England only conceded one more goal. However, it was not quite the encouraging start Fazel would have hoped for.

DRAWING HOPE
GROUP D: ENGLAND NIPPERS 1-1 HOLLAND ‘B’
(Fazel)
Despite this defeat, all was still to play for as France were always likely to top the group. If, as expected (and as in fact transpired), les bleus won all their matches, the Nippers' other two fixtures would be the critical ones. Building on their second half display against the French, England turned in a far more impressive performance against the Dutch second string. And even when Holland 'B' took the lead, the Nippers showed their character to battle back and gain a draw.

It was Fazel who played a captain's innings, scoring the all-important equaliser in the second half to extend his impressive international goal tally (four goals in seven World Cup appearances). Although they had earned their first point in the tournament, the Nipper Skipper was still not satisfied. "We had a much stronger game against Holland and had far more possession of the ball," observed Fazel. "But we just couldn't make the final passes to get the goals".

If the Nippers failed to score the goals that their dominance warranted, at least the defence was looking much sturdier after being breached at will in the first game. Chris Whiting was the main reason for this. His dominant presence was an inspiration to his back four, and time and again it was he that would halt an opposition attack via a well-timed interception or a sturdy challenge. With Jan Salisbury and Kiran Amin providing a strong midfield axis, and Damien Sutton's pace complementing Fazel's constant threat up front, the Nippers looked a far more balanced outfit in this match.

ALL OR NOTHING
GROUP D: ENGLAND NIPPERS 1-2 MANCHESTER CLOGGERS
(Marsh)
Fazel was in no doubt as to what was required of the Nippers in their final group game against the Mancunians if their quarter-final goal was to be achieved. "We really needed to win this game to have any chance of going through." The players knew it too and continued their game-by-game improvement to turn in by far their best performance of the World Cup.

But the Nippers inability to convert domination into goals would once again cost them dear. "This was a more frustrating game then the Holland game," recalled Fazel, "as we were in total control. Again the problems started when we didn't take our chances." After a string of missed chances, the Nippers finally took the lead from an unlikely source. Fazel picks up the commentary: "Our star defender Mike Marsh (aka Lurch) was loitering in the opposition's penalty area. He got hold of the ball and hit a cracker right into the top left-hand corner."

This should have been the platform for the Nippers to go on and ensure victory along with qualification for the knockout stage, as their captain knew only too well. "We had even more chances after the goal, but the Cloggers' goalkeeper, who probably deserved the Man of the Match award, saved everything we could throw at him." And as Big Ron would doubtless observe, you've got to notch whilst you're on top.

Fazel describes what happened next with a tone of resigned inevitability. "We kept pushing forward and this left us vulnerable at the back and gave the Cloggers their chances." One such break procured an equaliser and then with just five minutes remaining, the Cloggers pinched a second goal to send the Nippers to the bottom of the table. As Holland already had four points, neither team qualified, and the Nippers only had pride left to play for.

PUTTING IT DOWN TO EXPERIENCE
GROUP D: ENGLAND NIPPERS 0-2 EDINBURGH
After the tensions and ultimate disappointment of the previous day, Sunday proved a bit of an anti-climax. With Logica ESIS failing to show up for the second day of competition, apparently due to a glut of injuries, the Nippers were left with just one play off game against Edinburgh. The English themselves were not without their injury problems, not least to their captain Fazel who was unable to play in this final match. With little to play for, the Nippers were decidedly below the standards they had achieved in the group games, and eventually went down by two goals to nil. So once again, the Nippers would have to put this one down to experience, but, if they can learn to take more of the chances that come their way, their performances against Holland and Manchester give plenty of hope for a better showing in Prague next year.