| 2004 FISTF GRAND PRIX of USA May 2nd in Ellicott City, Maryland |
Shorab! Shorab! Shorab!
What sounds like a terrifying war cry, is actually the name of the best Subbuteo player
ever walked on US soil. Shorab, one name like the legendary Pele', lightened the scene
at the FISTF Weekend and brought home both titles. WTSL's Rick Wilcox was his
opponent in the final in both tournaments and the double match closed with a
self-explanatory 10-2 aggregate!
The SC Connecticut sent to Sunday's Grand Prix the 3 oldest members: Eddie
Davidson, Jim Taylor and Massimo Conturso. Eddie and Massimo were at their
international debut.
The draw was quite benevolent with the 3 nutmegers as Eddie picked Saturday's Top
American, Rick Wilcox, and U15 Stuart Russell and Andrew Prantl. Jim faced U15 Kevin
Bao and Canadian Chris Buttigieg, while Massimo had the pleasure to cross fingers with
Mike Ewer from Michigan and Eric Walton from North Carolina.
All the SCC members passed the Group Stage by collecting praise for their
sportsmanship and skills. Eddie, after a 2-0 loss against Wilcox, had a 8-1 aggregate in
the double win against the youngsters and qualified as second. Jim opened his
tournament with an unusual 13-0 win over middle school student Kevin Bao, but he
lost the header with Buttigieg's Toccer Figures 2-0 and qualified as second.
Massimo won his opener 7-1 over MISTFA's founder, Mike Ewer, but the game was
more intense than the final score would suggest. Absolutely memorable was the 1-1
draw against Eric Walton's Sports Figures (Massimo tied with 20 seconds left). The
score could have been 3-3 or 4-3 as the attacks on both sides were spectacularly fast,
but produced only two goals and many woodworks! At the end of the game, the two
contenders had a serie of shoot-outs to determine the group's winner and--luckly for
the SCC--Walton won it all to face Jim Taylor in the Round of 16.
While the club's co-founders avoided an international version of the Founding Fathers
Derby, Davidson wasn't that lucky as he found the Great Shorab waiting for him in the
knock-out stage. Eddie knew right away that his tournament was over, still he showed
good sportsmanship and positive attitude as he tried to score at least one goal for the
honor. He didn't make it, received 9, but felt happy for his FISTF debut as he collected
2 wins, 2 losses, 8-12 on goals.
Taylor and Conturso traded their respective group stage's opponents as Jim faced Eric
Walton and Massimo Canada's Chris Buttigieg. They gathered before the flick-off for a
brief scouting report. "Remember St. Patrick's", Massimo told his clubmate. Jim
actually listened to and encored the 2003 ASA St. Patrick's upset when he beat Eric
1-0. This time, he did actually better and knocked Walton out of the competition with
a peremptory 2-0 win.
Massimo also did well with a 1-0 victory over Buttigieg, despite feeling a little intimidated
by seeing his little Subbuteo figures on the same pitch with the huge Toccer figures.
Problems to force the ball out of bounce followed, but the result was the logical
consequence of a well played match.
The Quartefinals arrived with an excellent result for the SC Connecticut: 2 out of the
last eight players were from Hartford. Taylor battled Germany's Michael Beifuss (1-2),
while Massimo had the pleasure to face Belgium's Stephane Lambert, world-ranked #
70. The match Conturso-Lambert (3-0) was absolutely incredible and no one would
have bet on the Italian at the end of the first half. Stephane took control of the game
right away and only a double woodwork saved Massimo. Actually, the first post was
the result of a controversial episode, in which Stephane claimed a goal that neither
Massimo nor the ref saw. Stephane is a player with a great sense of sportsmanship and
agreed on playing-on. The luck wasn't on his side as he hit the crossbar before the
break. The second half opened with the Italian surprisingly up 1-0. Lambert decided to
take Conturso's half pitch under siege and left dangerous spaces in his defensive line.
As result of an Italian counterattack, the Belgian committed a foul and Massimo scored
an easy 2-0 from a central position. The third goal came later as consequence of
Stephane's desperate attempt to comeback.
Reaching the semifinals was Conturso's ultimate goal. The match against Rick Wilcox
would have guaranteed one ASA member in the final, and Massimo thought the upset
would have been tough but possible: after all, he won their last game (2003 ASA
Connecticut Cup, 1-0).
Time 30 seconds in the match: Conturso penetrated from the left with a fast
combination, but his shot ended on the post! Then, a long monolog of Wilcox followed
and the Virginian scored with merit: 1-0. Massimo tried to react, but Rick looked on
top of his game. The surprise arrived late in the first half as the SCC player found the
net with a precise chip over an opponent's figure for the 1-1 at the break.
The second half looked a different match. The Italian was in control and was pressing
looking for a hole that he eventually found as result of a long corner flick. Wilcox made
a mistake on a defensive flick, but Massimo failed to take advantage and his shot went
wide. The mail man from Hartford paid a high cost for that error as Rick went up again
with a fast maneuver from the center and a blast under the crossbar.
The time wasn't speaking Italian and the 3-1 goal came late in the match with no figure
left to defende the SCC shooting line.
What sounds like a terrifying war cry, is actually the name of the best Subbuteo player
ever walked on US soil. Shorab, one name like the legendary Pele', lightened the scene
at the FISTF Weekend and brought home both titles. WTSL's Rick Wilcox was his
opponent in the final in both tournaments and the double match closed with a
self-explanatory 10-2 aggregate!
The SC Connecticut sent to Sunday's Grand Prix the 3 oldest members: Eddie
Davidson, Jim Taylor and Massimo Conturso. Eddie and Massimo were at their
international debut.
The draw was quite benevolent with the 3 nutmegers as Eddie picked Saturday's Top
American, Rick Wilcox, and U15 Stuart Russell and Andrew Prantl. Jim faced U15 Kevin
Bao and Canadian Chris Buttigieg, while Massimo had the pleasure to cross fingers with
Mike Ewer from Michigan and Eric Walton from North Carolina.
All the SCC members passed the Group Stage by collecting praise for their
sportsmanship and skills. Eddie, after a 2-0 loss against Wilcox, had a 8-1 aggregate in
the double win against the youngsters and qualified as second. Jim opened his
tournament with an unusual 13-0 win over middle school student Kevin Bao, but he
lost the header with Buttigieg's Toccer Figures 2-0 and qualified as second.
Massimo won his opener 7-1 over MISTFA's founder, Mike Ewer, but the game was
more intense than the final score would suggest. Absolutely memorable was the 1-1
draw against Eric Walton's Sports Figures (Massimo tied with 20 seconds left). The
score could have been 3-3 or 4-3 as the attacks on both sides were spectacularly fast,
but produced only two goals and many woodworks! At the end of the game, the two
contenders had a serie of shoot-outs to determine the group's winner and--luckly for
the SCC--Walton won it all to face Jim Taylor in the Round of 16.
While the club's co-founders avoided an international version of the Founding Fathers
Derby, Davidson wasn't that lucky as he found the Great Shorab waiting for him in the
knock-out stage. Eddie knew right away that his tournament was over, still he showed
good sportsmanship and positive attitude as he tried to score at least one goal for the
honor. He didn't make it, received 9, but felt happy for his FISTF debut as he collected
2 wins, 2 losses, 8-12 on goals.
Taylor and Conturso traded their respective group stage's opponents as Jim faced Eric
Walton and Massimo Canada's Chris Buttigieg. They gathered before the flick-off for a
brief scouting report. "Remember St. Patrick's", Massimo told his clubmate. Jim
actually listened to and encored the 2003 ASA St. Patrick's upset when he beat Eric
1-0. This time, he did actually better and knocked Walton out of the competition with
a peremptory 2-0 win.
Massimo also did well with a 1-0 victory over Buttigieg, despite feeling a little intimidated
by seeing his little Subbuteo figures on the same pitch with the huge Toccer figures.
Problems to force the ball out of bounce followed, but the result was the logical
consequence of a well played match.
The Quartefinals arrived with an excellent result for the SC Connecticut: 2 out of the
last eight players were from Hartford. Taylor battled Germany's Michael Beifuss (1-2),
while Massimo had the pleasure to face Belgium's Stephane Lambert, world-ranked #
70. The match Conturso-Lambert (3-0) was absolutely incredible and no one would
have bet on the Italian at the end of the first half. Stephane took control of the game
right away and only a double woodwork saved Massimo. Actually, the first post was
the result of a controversial episode, in which Stephane claimed a goal that neither
Massimo nor the ref saw. Stephane is a player with a great sense of sportsmanship and
agreed on playing-on. The luck wasn't on his side as he hit the crossbar before the
break. The second half opened with the Italian surprisingly up 1-0. Lambert decided to
take Conturso's half pitch under siege and left dangerous spaces in his defensive line.
As result of an Italian counterattack, the Belgian committed a foul and Massimo scored
an easy 2-0 from a central position. The third goal came later as consequence of
Stephane's desperate attempt to comeback.
Reaching the semifinals was Conturso's ultimate goal. The match against Rick Wilcox
would have guaranteed one ASA member in the final, and Massimo thought the upset
would have been tough but possible: after all, he won their last game (2003 ASA
Connecticut Cup, 1-0).
Time 30 seconds in the match: Conturso penetrated from the left with a fast
combination, but his shot ended on the post! Then, a long monolog of Wilcox followed
and the Virginian scored with merit: 1-0. Massimo tried to react, but Rick looked on
top of his game. The surprise arrived late in the first half as the SCC player found the
net with a precise chip over an opponent's figure for the 1-1 at the break.
The second half looked a different match. The Italian was in control and was pressing
looking for a hole that he eventually found as result of a long corner flick. Wilcox made
a mistake on a defensive flick, but Massimo failed to take advantage and his shot went
wide. The mail man from Hartford paid a high cost for that error as Rick went up again
with a fast maneuver from the center and a blast under the crossbar.
The time wasn't speaking Italian and the 3-1 goal came late in the match with no figure
left to defende the SCC shooting line.
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| MASSIMO CONTURSO Group Stage Mike Ewer (USA)..................7-1 Eric Walton (USA)................1-1 Round of 16 Chris Buttigieg (CAN).........1-0 Quarterfinals Stephane Lambert (BEL)...3-0 Semifinals Rick Wilcox (USA)................1-3 P5 W3 L1 D1 GF13 GA5 |
| JIM TAYLOR Group Stage Kevin Bao (USA)..............13-0 Chris Buttigieg (CAN)........0-2 Round of 16 Eric Walton (USA)..............2-0 Quarterfinals Michael Beifuss (GER)......1-2 P4 W2 L2 D0 GF15 GA4 |
| EDDIE DAVIDSON Group Stage Rick Wilcox (USA)..................0-2 Stuart Russell (USA).............4-1 Andrew Prantl (USA)..............4-0 Round of 16 Shorab (ENG)..........................0-9 P4 W2 L2 D0 GF8 GA12 |
