Organisationally, it was very much a case of scoring a lucky last minute winner this time around. Having done absolutely nothing for pretty much nine months since last years bumper tournament in Portugal, the LIFA mandarins suddenly realised that a World Cup wasn't going to organise itself, and leapt somewhat belatedly into action. Luckily they were able to secure the use of the excellent Peffermill Stadium in Edinburgh at relatively short notice, and even more surprisingly an impressive total of nineteen teams were still able to battle through the quick-fire administrative qualification rounds to take their place in Scotland for the fourteenth Logica World Cup Finals.
Most, if not all, of the teams knew the score. Officially there was only one new team, Staines Utd, but even they had been formed by a breakaway group of Leatherhead ex-pats who had a few World Cups under their belts. Birmingham did well to raise two teams (the Sky Blues and the Heart of Midlandians) this time around, which was some compensation for the fact that Portugal mustered just one side (PT Utd) compared to the eight entered by last year's hosts. The Welsh, Czechs and Swiss would be missed, but it was good to welcome back the French who had last played in St. Andrews: perhaps they have a curious predilection for the Scottish climate?
Despite registering their lowest ever World Cup finishing position (fourth) in Portugal, few were betting against the Italians bouncing straight back. Last year's runners-up London hadn't qualified; the reigning World Champions Reading were playing down expectations after the loss of some of last year's key medal winners (Loriot and the Carter brothers); whilst the old men of English Lagdom would need to dramatically improve their strike rate if they were going to go all the way. Elsewhere, the Mancunians might have been tipped as dark horses, had not the core of their squad foolhardily decided to run the length of Hadrian's Wall just one week before the tournament. The horrific tales of serious leg-knack acquired running the equivalent of more than three consecutive marathons over a single icy and rain-swept Northern night had surely blown away any last straws of hope that the two-times finalists might have still been clutching on to.
Perhaps the hardest Group to call was Group A. Essex were the top-seeded team after an impressive fifth spot in the Portuguese sunshine. The Corinthians had once again reached the quarter-finals last year, just scraping past PT Utd with a last minute winner before falling once again to Reading, but this time were missing several big name players due to the unfortunate coincidence of Chapman's wedding. Staines were officially a new side, although based around a handful of ex-pat Leatherheadians. Meanwhile, a number of shrewd pundits were tipping the Hull Tigers as a potential dark horse - such wild and fanciful notions of potential zoological metamorphosis prompted by a smattering of McWilliams and Donellys who had so nearly seen the Lags pip the Italians in that famous Utrecht semi-final all those years ago.
In the end it was Essex who stuck to the form-book whilst Staines ripped it up. Last year's Golden Boot winner Ian Wells was again in explosive form as Team Essex swept aside three of their group opponents. Wells scored in all four group games, bagging six in total on Saturday and two more in the Sunday's knock matches. Only the solid Corinthian defence defied the seeded team, but the ex-Pups problem was scoring goals at the other end. After suffering their traditional slow start (going down to the only goal against Staines in the opening match), they managed to find the net only twice as they drew each of their three remaining fixtures. This meant that they failed to qualify for the quarter-finals for the first time since 2001 in Amsterdam, when at least they had the compensation of beating Italy in a group match before missing out on goal difference.
Staines followed up that opening win with another efficient single goal victory against Hull. Despite a 3-0 defeat against Essex, a second goal from Alan Wall saw them share the points with PT Utd, who had lost 4-0 to the group winners. That left the Portuguese side needing to beat the Corinthians to progress, but a dour 0-0 draw meant that it was Staines who qualified for the quarter-finals on their World Cup debut. The Tigers never really recovered from a serious injury to their keeper in the first match warm-up, a situation compounded when star defender Andy McWilliam was then obliged to don the gloves. But they did have the satisfaction of a draw against old Corinthian foes, and there would at least be some compensation on Sunday.
The Football Gods had not looked kindly on Aberdeen, Birmingham Hearts or Real Leatherhead by drawing them with the 2006 Finalists in Group B. Indeed, Italy and Calor Gas showed that they would again both be pushing for a presence on the trophy podium as they each emphatically dispatched each of these three opponents in turn without conceding a goal. Daniel Smith of Calor Gas scored in all four group games, including a hat-trick against Leatherhead, and Italian striker Lucio Volpe also enjoyed himself with a healthy haul that would ultimately see him bag the Golden Boot award.
The battle down below was won by an impressive Aberdeen side intent on showing that their eighth place finish in St Andrews was no fluke. They looked strong in seeing off first Leatherhead and later Hearts, with Craig 'Arshavin' Milne and David Glass scoring in each of these wins. Goals from Naheed Bhatti and Rafael Veloso enabled the Birmingham side to beat the Surrey side and qualify for the Tier Two Trophy on Sunday, leaving Real both goalless and pointless at the bottom of the Group.
The head-to-head match between the two seeded teams decided who would top the group. Predictably the game was competitive, and the Red and Yellow Card charity fund was significantly richer come the final whistle. Goals from Smith and Matthew Woolley seemed to have given Gas an unassailable lead, but the Italians pulled a goal back. The controversial clinching goal was scored by Calor's Michael Randall as an Italian midfielder lay with an injured shoulder on the pitch. However, no-nonsense referee Erik van Vliet had been made aware before the game that the Italian player was suffering from a dislocated shoulder, and thus deemed that his decision to play and incur further injury was made by the player at his own risk, and should not be used to disadvantage opponents. The goal sparked predictable scenes of complaint, and an Italian player was subsequently red-carded for violent behaviour in the tunnel after the final whistle.
The reigning champions were pitted against Manchester in the Group stages for the second year running. In Portugal, Reading edged a hard fought contest 2-1, qualified for the quarter-finals as a result and went on to become the first English winners of the Logica World Cup.
This time out, both teams had 100% records going into what proved to be one of the best games on the Saturday, each having already beaten two of the other Group C teams. Reading gained an early advantage through a Gary Barlow strike, but Dave Flemming soon equalised. The football played by both sides was both entertaining and of a very high quality, and chances were carved out at both ends before Rachid Otsmane-Elhaou struck to give Manchester the lead. It looked as if the Mancunians were about to gain some revenge for last year, but the quality of Reading's forwards should never beunder-estimated, and Barry Nichol popped up to snatch a late equaliser.
Both teams went on to win their final group game, and it was Reading again who finished top of the group by dint of having scored one goal more. But with only four Groups this year, at least Manchester's runners-up spot guaranteed them a place in the quarter-finals. Despite losing narrowly to each of these two teams, Sporting Leatherhead also impressed by winning their other two games to finish third. Birmingham Sky Blues and India also produced a highly entertaining 2-2 draw, but this was the only point either side picked up.
The quirk of nineteen qualifying teams meant that Group D comprised just four teams. The French were back and quickly reminded one and all of their credentials with a fine early display of pacey attacking football as they ran out 3-0 winners against Readchester (a merger of Reading B and Manchester B, rather than any Roy Race inspired newcomers).
The "experienced" squads of both Shell and the England Lags would doubtless have appreciated a slightly later kick-off time, but both defences were in uncharitable moods during a goalless draw of few chances. The Shell keeper pulled off excellent saves to deny the only two Lag openings, and it was abundantly clear that this Group, which offered no margin for error in just three games, would be tight. Readchester were unfortunate after a good performance to concede a last minute winner to Shell's Zouhir Zaouali, before the Lags just kept themselves alive with a sublimely lobbed second half equaliser from Sidaway, the old men having gone behind after conceding a penalty very early doors against the French.
Going into the final pair of matches, then, only Readchester were unable to qualify. But the amalgam still put up stern resistance against the Lags, who needed victory and a result in the other match to leap frog one of the teams above them. England took the lead just before half time when Ewen Brown finished off a fine team move, but lived on their nerves as Readchester created a number of openings after the interval as they pressed for an equaliser. Meanwhile, on the neighbouring pitch, French Supremo Mickaël Pignier had fired home a fine strike against Shell. Despite chances at both ends on both pitches, both matches finished 1-0 and it was France and the England Lags who were through to the quarter-finals from the only group to go down to the wire.
The optimal solution to the mathematical tournament format conundrums set by a nineteen team entry left the three fifth-placed teams playing off in a round-robin league system on the Sunday. Whilst far from ideal, this format at least proffered a healthy chance of silverware for this holey defensive trinity, who had managed to concede a combined total of 34 goals whilst playing two hours football each on the first day.
It was the Hull Tigers who rattled some Surrey cages early doors. Having found the net just once in Group A, the Tigers finally earned their stripes as a more balanced attacking formation yielded no less than half a dozen goals without reply against the hapless Real Leatherhead. Opting wisely to put the younger members of the squad in the more advanced positions, goals suddenly became plentiful with the pacey pair of Lewis Haggitt and Josh Mainland each helping themselves to a brace.
The Indians proved a sterner test, and Tigerish Supremo Dickie McWilliam's hope that their opponents would be suffering after going out for "an English" the previous evening proved unfounded. Indeed it took an own goal to deny the Indians all three points after Madan's fine goal. Perhaps inspired by memories of their legendary and dramatic 7-6 shoot-out victory over Leatherhead in St. Andrews, the Indians were up for extra time and another penalty drama, and arch-mandarin Abbott had to dash from the stands to confirm the league-nature of the Tier 3 competition.
There was still an outside chance of spot-kick drama if India beat Real Leatherhead by exactly the same scoreline as Hull: 6-0. A seven goal victory was needed for the Indians to claim the trophy directly, but in the event a solitary Unni goal did at least give the Indians their first on-field victory in the Logica World Cup. As so it came to pass that those wise sages (not a million miles from this particular website) who had tipped the Humbermen as outside bets for silverware were finally proven right.
If the Real men of Leatherhead were heading home with the wooden spoon, their local Sporting rivals also had high hopes of not returning to the leafy Surrey environs empty handed. But first they would have to get through a tricky Tier 2 Trophy quarter-final against the Corinthians which was certainly the plum tie of the round. The younger men of England are perhaps never at their best first thing in the morning, and goals from Ryan Atak and Sporting Supremo Teju Shoyemi extended Corinthian disappointment at this year's tournament.
In contrast Shell shrugged off Saturday's goal-shyness to overcome Birmingham Hearts 4-2 in a highly entertaining match, with Zouhir Zaouali netting twice for the victors, and Rafael Veloso scoring both Hearts goals. Veloso would go on to score thrice more in the Tier 2 play-offs, giving him an impressive haul of six tournament goals and joint-fourth spot on the Golden Boot rostrum. Fellow Midlands rivals the Sky Blues also lost their quarter-final, albeit in more dramatic fashion, losing what was remarkably the only penalty shoot-out of this year's competition to the Portuguese side PT Utd after an equally entertaining 2-2 draw.
In the other quarter-final, Aberdeen triumphed narrowly in another close-fought match. Despite Andy Barnett netting Readchester's first goal of the tournament, Logica's only host nation representatives won through via two goals from 'Wee' Alan Craig. The winning goal was a particularly curious affair as Readchester continued to pursue a high defensive line from an Aberdonian goal-kick. The dead-ball cleared the tight formation of raised arms near half way, leaving Craig a free run on goal and time to slot home. The vociferous appeals from Readchester only subsided when it was pointed out that a player could not be offside direct from a goal-kick. As Aberdeen skipper Rob Melville observed wryly afterwards, it was "a classic Route One effort".
The semi-final draw saw the two Scottish sides kept apart. Aberdeen continued their increasingly good run of form by emphatically dispatching PT Utd by 3-0, with 'Wee' Alan Craig and Craig 'Arshavin' Milne once more amongst the goals. Shell couldn't make it an all-home Final, however, for despite Brian Philip's strike, goals from David Catteral and Calum Bain were enough to see Sporting Leatherhead through to the Final from another tight match. Shell did at least have the consolation of winning their play-off match against PT Utd with another four goal haul.
The Final was hard to call with both Aberdeen and Sporting Leatherhead going into the match on a good run of form. In the end it proved a good time for Kenny Moss to open his World Cup 2008 goalscoring account, and two goals from the Sporting man proved decisive. Having finished 19th last year in Portugal, skipper Teju Shoyemi could be very satisfied as they walked up the steps of the Peffermill stadium to be presented with the Tier Two Trophy.
The Football Gods were clearly in charitable mood, for Sunday dawned sunny, if a little on the 'breezy' side; thankfully the heavy rain forecast for both days never materialised. The World Cup quarter-final line-up looked ominously strong. Calor Gas and Italy had perhaps impressed most on the Saturday. Both had bagged a dozen goals in Group B, and although Calor Gas had perhaps gained the psychological initiative by beating the seven times World Champions 3-1, few observers were in any doubt as to the motivational effect of that reverse on the Italians. Reigning Champions Reading were still in the mix, and their skeletal 13-man squad had at least been boosted by the overnight arrival of Nich Fazel straight from the beach, a veteran of eight previous World Cup campaigns with England and Reading.
If this was the majority view of the massed punditry assembled in the Peffermills TV gantry at the top of the main stand, then the quarter-finals could be deemed to have gone to form. France's potent and pacey forward line scored twice against the Italians, which is no mean feat. However, the emphasis on attack would seem to have left them somewhat vulnerable at the back and the Italians helped themselves to five goals of their own. Reading looked reinvigorated as they saw off their rivals Staines from just down the M4, scoring three times without reply. Gary Barlow scored his sixth goal of the tournament, but strangely it would be his last.
Calor Gas joined this pair in the semi-finals, although not without a struggle against a well-organised, if defensive minded, England Lags outfit. Michael Randall finally got the break-through ten minutes from time, but only at the cost of injuries to a couple of key players in a tough match. The remaining quarter-final was tough to call, with up-and-coming Essex taking on two-times finalists Manchester. In the event, a strongly organised Mancunian outfit blunted the attacking threat of Essex, no mean feat considering Ian Wells would finish with eight goals (the same number he scored in Portugal to claim the Golden Boot), and brother Graham with four. Instead it was Manchester's James McKenzie who scored the only goal of the game.
It was almost inevitable that Reading would draw Italy in the semi-final, as they had done in the previous three competitions, with the winner going on to lift the World Cup each time. The previous encounters had been tight and competitive, with the margin of victory achieved by a single goal on all three occasions. It was thus far more of a surprise when the Italians raced into a 4-0 lead by half time with a quite outstanding and lethal display of the attacking arts. To take a side of Reading's quality apart like in such a fashion was breath-taking, and although Reading restored a modicum of pride with a consolation goal from Nicholas Vasoliase after the interval, it only stung the Italians into action once again as they added a fifth goal before the final whistle. The Italians had now scored 22 goals in the tournament so far, with striker Lucio Volpe scoring ten of them, a total that won him this year's Golden Boot. In this kind of form, few would back against an eighth Italian title, whoever they faced.
The other semi-final was a far more edgy affair. Calor Gas once again found themselves up against a side difficult to break down. However, unlike the Lags before them, the Mancunians simultaneously mustered far more attacking threat as they again showed some inventive build up play, and it was Thomas Tataglia who grabbed the game's only goal to send the yellow jerseys racing to their third World Cup Final. On both previous occasions they had lost to Italy in Italy (Milan 1999 and Roma 2003): could they turn things around and stop the free-scoring Italians winning another World Cup?
By the time the 2008 World Cup Final was ready to kick off, the Peffermills grandstand was packed to the rafters with supporters and players from the other teams. As has become traditional on these occasions, the Italians were cast as the pantomime villains and a partisan but good-natured crowd cheered their every mistake, which admittedly was not often. The first half was an even and slightly nervous contest, with Manchester showing their quality and matching the Italians in the high standard of their play.
The match always looked as if it was going to be decided by a solitary goal. After the interval, the Italians increased the pressure and began to create some chances. Amazingly, given the number of goals they had banged in previously, a guilt-edged chance was wasted: a shot across the box was stabbed wide at the back stick when a goal seemed certain. Then Manchester keeper Toby Cordingly produced some heroics, advancing quickly to dive and block at the feet of an Italian forward sent clear by a neat pass. The crowd's mind was beginning to turn to thoughts of extra time and penalties as the clock ticked down.
Manchester were still giving as good as they got, and were sticking to their principles with some patient build-up play. With just five minutes remaining their endeavours were rewarded. Another neat passing move seemed to have been broken down by the Italians, but Dave Flemming collected the loose ball, and swivelled away from an Italian challenge. There seemed little on five yards outside the box and running away from goal, but Flemming had spotted the Italian keeper's ever-so-slightly advanced position and dug out a sublime chip with his right foot that proved to be perfectly measured. As the Italian keeper back-pedalled furiously, the crowd held its breath before letting out a huge roar as the ball dipped just under the bar and just beyond the despairing dive.
It was a quite brilliant and deft goal, Flemming's fifth of the tournament, and had won Manchester their first ever Logica World Cup. Exactly a week earlier Ben Waite had been close to collapse after running the length of Hadrian's Wall overnight for charity, 85 miles through the cold and rain. Now the pain was probably a distant memory as he danced up the steps to be handed the Logica World Cup by Erik van Vliet.
Having not won the World Cup at any of the first twelve tournaments, English teams had now won two tournaments on the trot, and claimed a clean sweep this year with the Tier Two and Tier Three Trophies going to Leatherhead and Hull respectively. What chance a hat-trick of English World Cup victories next year?!