SIX TEAMS UNDEFEATED AFTER DAY ONE OF THE 2010 FFWC

After the first day of the 2010 IFAF World Flag Championships, six teams remain undefeated. In the men’s tournament, Italy (2-0) leads Group A, while in group B Denmark (3-0) and USA (2-0) have the advantage after the opening day of the IFAF Flag Football World Championship. In the women’s category, 2008 defending champions Mexico (2-0) and Austria (2-0) are on top in Group A as Canada (2-0) is the only undefeated team in Group B.

The world’s premier senior 5-on-5 flag football players from eleven countries and three continents are competing in the biannual IFAF showpiece tournament for adults at the RA Centre, located in the Ottawa, Ontario.  Flag Football female and male athletes representing the Austria, Canada, Denmark, Germany, Israel, Italy, Japan, Korea, Mexico, Sweden and United States are competing in this year’s tournament.

The IFAF Flag Football World Championship has been held since 2002 and is the showpiece event for senior national teams competing in 5-on-5 flag football and has separate competitions for men and women.

The Italian men’s national team started the tournament a high note, upsetting host country and 2008 Champions Canada 39-31. Quarterback Fierli Massimo connected with wide receiver Sebastinano Pascolo for four touchdowns in the win.  Italy ended the day with a 48-20 victory 48-20 over Germany claiming the top seed in Group A after one day of play.

The United States, who finished third in the 2008 IFAF Flag Football World Championship, opened the day with a close 34-28 victory over Israel who finished the day 1-3.  The USA quarterback connected with four different receivers in the victory as Adam Cordio, John Rooney, Billy Survillion, and Defonte Coleman each found the endzone.

In their second game of the day against Mexico, USA showcased a new quarterback, Jorge Cascudo from Miami, Florida.  Cascudo immediately made an impact on the performance of Team USA as they cruised to a 39-13 victory.  Cascudo’s quick feet work and rifle of an arm resulted in six touchdowns for the United States. Fellow Miami, Florida resident, Carlos Jaime found the endzone three times as Adam Cordio, Justin Romano, and Defonte Coleman had one touchdown a piece.

“It is a great honor to present our country,” said defensive back and wide receiver John Rooney. “We are ambassadors of the United States which is a big deal. We take it very seriously and with a lot of pride.”

“I did not come here with personal goals, just a team goal – to win gold!”

Denmark men’s national team finished the day with the most victories in the men’s tournament with three. The first play of their first game against Israel, Denmark scored as Jakob Espersen found the endzone to give his country a quick 7-0 lead and went on to win 35-25.  Denmark continued their momentum into their second game of the day easily defeating Korea 54-0 with an eight touchdown team performance.  Finishing the day on a high note, Denmark beat Japan 20-0 as wide receiver Jakob Espersen scored all three touchdowns.

The top two team’s in the women’s tournament after one day are Mexico and Canada who finished first and second in the 2008 IFAF Flag Football World Championship.

Mexico women had dominating performances with their wildcat formation, speed, and suffocating defense.  Defending champions showed why they won the gold two years ago beating Israel 45-6. The Mexican offense kept their opponents on their toes lining up in Wildcat with multiple players taking the direct snap all with deadly speed and arms.

In their second game, Mexico defeated Germany 45-0 as wide receiver Rosa Adriana Rivera finished the day with four touchdowns and Jessica Jordan, Paola de los Angeles Islas, and Lilia Priego had one touchdown a piece.  Germany’s quarterback was pressured throughout the game by Lilia Priego who also had an interception.

“It is very important to represent our country,” said Lilia Priego. “The first day is just beginning; we have to worry about our next opponents now. We want to become IFAF Flag Football World Champions again like we did two years ago.”

Canada opened the tournament with a big 33-7 victory over rival United States (1-1).  Canada scored on their first drive of the game, as quarterback Vanessa Birri connected with Joanie Lanthier for an early 6-0 lead that Canada would not let go of. Lanthier had another touchdown in the first half as Canada had a 26-0 lead at the end of one half. After two more Canadian scores, the United States found the endzone in the second half as quarterback Karen Mulligan found Adrienne Smith. Smith also played for the Team USA that recently took gold at the IFAF Women’s World Championship in Stockholm, Sweden.

The Canadian women ended the day with a 34-14 victory against Japan (1-1).  Birri threw four touchdowns in the win to three different receivers. Genevieve Fortier caught two as Emilie Pfeiffer-Badoux and Audrey Sauve-Desjardins had one a piece.

The United States women bounced back from their morning loss with a commanding 41-0 shutout victory against Sweden (0-2). Adrienne Smith had another big game for Team USA finishing with three touchdowns and an extra point.

“It is humility and honor to represent the United States for tackle football in Sweden and now here in Canada for flag football,” said Adrienne Smith. “We are just very happy to be playing this wonderful sport.”

“Our goal is to win the gold, especially coming off the recent win in Sweden. We are expecting to achieve gold and anything else we just will not be satisfied with.”

The United States women will face Japan tomorrow at 10:15 to finish their group play.

Remaining games will kick off at 9am on Saturday and Sunday with the group games concluding at the end of Saturday’s action. The semi finals will begin at 11.30am on Sunday, July 28, and the Championship Game is scheduled for 3.15pm for the men and 4.30pm for the women.