IFAF World championship 2021 Group C
Group C
You can read about group B in our previous blog; today, we are heading to the most exciting group of the tournament. Not just because of the teams in it but because there are two powerhouses in the same group. If somebody would tell you that those two teams can play in the finals, you couldn't laugh and say it's untrue. They are just too strong for anybody else in the group.
We see that two teams could upset, but the Danish team and Italy should punch the tickets and go to the next stage without a sweat.
1st place Denmark
We could write about Denmark the whole day, and yet we would still forget something about them. They are serial winners in clubs scheme and on the international level. There are multiple golds in Championsbowl, Big Bowl, Sport Monda, European championships, and numerous silver and bronze medals in Worlds.
Everybody in the flag football world knows about Frederik Løchte Ermler as THE best flag football player in Europe. An Allerød Armadillos QB with pass accuracy per game around 90%, and he rarely throws an interception is just class. His ability for right play calling and reading defensive minds is just as spreading butter over the bread for us. Of course, his favourite target on the offence is Mads Esbensen, who is just the player with the WOW effect.
His quickness, body control and safe hands are explicit and enjoyable to watch. We cannot pass to mention Jonas Bo Hansen, Kristoffer Holmstrup, Alexander Cimadon, Jakob Mikael Espersen, Rasmus Brand, who are just wawaviva when they play. And Ermler is like a conductor in a very well-tuned orchestra.
In the defence, we have still one of the best blitzers (rushers) in the World in Christian Krogsgaard Sunesen from Søllerød Gold Diggers, who was slicing the flags of the QBs in the last European championship. Niklas Dyrby Johansen is THE best defender in Europe. He could easily play in the American flag football league. When you look at him on film, you feel he is playing with the 50%, yet he is still the best person on the field. Then you have his teammate Jakob Kossek. Both of them are such an electric duo.
We can see Italy upsetting them or giving them a pretty hard time, but we think the Denmark offence will hold, and they will play in the finals against the USA and maybe even beat them.
2nd place Italy
The national team sport in Italy is Calcio (soccer). No doubt about that. The second is Volleyball, then Basketball, then water polo. In fifth place, you have American football. This means that Italy as a country has enormous potential for getting the right athletes to this sport. Is it easy to handpick the best players from a 60 Mio population country?
And Giorgo Gerbaldi did that. This weekend he will have 21 players to prove and claim his earned spot in the Italy big national team. We know three things for sure. Luke Zahradka will be QB1, and he will bring his winning mentality from Milano Seamans and Italy national tackle team, which just won the European national championship. "Hot hand" Luke is just impossible to sack. He is big (197cm), has an unbelievable arm, and stands 15 yards from his centre. Before the rushers come….. Jordan Bouha is already in the end zone. He is probably the most lethal weapon of Zahradka. Fast as a flash receiver is playing for Raiders Roma, and the second thing that we are sure of is that he and Stefano di Tunisi will be a nightmare for the defences.
The powerhouse in the tackle version is Parma Panthers. And as far as we know, they have Guiseppe Della Vecchia in their ranks. Put him in the mix with Flavio Piccinni, and you have two lock down corners. The most exciting thing about Italy is that on the list of 21 players, they have 4! rushers. Yep, they will bring some fear and speed onto the QBs. They will be fast, fresh, and mark our words; they can have the most sacks in the tournament.
But still, we think Denmark has the better names on their roster. Italy has a chance to get a medal. Especially with Zahradka in the shotgun.
3rd place Swiss
The home of ASVZ Blackbirds is in Zürich, Switzerland. Blackbirds are among the top 10 teams in Europe, 3rd place in Sportmonda, and 7th place in the Championship bowl. So the national team should be fine. But they will have a hard time against the top two teams in the group. Dennis Sieger will not have any problems passing the ball to his teammate Frédéric Eppisser or Lukas Ebinger from Winterthur Red Lions against Japan and Brasil. Still, against Johansen or Della Vecchia, he can struggle a little.
On the defensive side, there will be Fabiano Piccinno from Blackbirds paired with Labinot Arapi from Zurich Renegades. Both of them are playmakers which psychical predisposition. Pascal Engeli's blitz will try to put effort into some sacks, but he has slight chances against Ermler and Zahradka. The Swiss national team still has some training camp on 26.11 and 28.11, so it will be interesting who they are bringing. They could go all the way to 9th place overall, but we don't think they have enough luck to upset Denmark or Italy.
They play attractive flag football, and it will be fun to watch them, especially against Brasil and Japan.
4th place Brasil
That get's us to Brasil. Brasil is not new to flag football World championship (we guess there is not a lot of data on the IFAF webpage or google if they ever participated anywhere). The girls played in the 2012 world cup in Göteborg.
Head coach Danilo Muller had a tough choice of who is he going to bring because of the size of brazil. We all know that Brazil is one of the best soccer countries, and they should not have problems finding some athletes. And there is samba. We believe they have the smoothes hips of us all!
There is a mix of players from Buzz flag, Bulls Potiguares, Sorocaba Braves, and others. Fernando Takai from Buzz Flag Sao Paolo will take the reigns as a QB. We know little about him, but he is the team captain, and he should be a good player and a good leader, suitable? His first guy will be nobody else than Adan Rodriguez, a sports freak from Coritiba Crocodiles. He has some experience from the tackle version, so he will be a player to watch from the offence side of the ball. They like to play the same style as Mexico does. And the double threat player will also be a player from Buzz flag, Leonardo Rodrigues. He can throw, he can catch, he is fast, and he can duck. If he were a little bigger, we could call him Brazilian Dani Eastman.
Leonardo Hirai and Guilherme Beliero will hold the defensive fort. The first one is coming from Sorocaba Braves, and the other is an off-court Buzz flag player. Hirai is a receiver in tackle football which means he knows how to pick up the ball. The Brazilians will have super talent, and because we know so little about them, but on paper and film, they could upset the Swiss national team for the 3rd place in the group. But we never know. Maybe they will even win a group. They are aiming for it. But the lack of experience on the international level will not be in their favour.
5th place Japan
Japan has definite talent. Every world championship when they show us a new trick play. And they are the most attractive flag pull players. They jump, they fly, they pull. That's their mana.
Haru Fukasawa will be the floor general. He possesses arm strength with a perfect spiral where he can find an open guy in the end zone if he has the time. But we all know in flag football 5v5, the blisters have the opportunity to sack him, and Boozers Tokyo QB could have some problems with that. Especially in the man coverage.
He likes to throw the ball to Tomohiro Fukuda, who has excellent hands, and he is also the best clutch receiver in Japan national team. We don't know about his height and how he will cope in the red zone with bigger DB's but those two will be an excellent connection. Isao Nakayama should be #2 WR for Fukusawa. He can jump high and snatch the ball, and also, he is known for diving catches which head coach Iwai Ayumu loves.
On the defensive side, Japan has two players who are better than anyone. Shota Shinohara will bring stability and physicality to the Japan defence and lock the best receivers at the opponents. A fitness freak and an athlete will prove his worth. Takenori Awatani is the next defender who will defend his position on the field. He is known for instant acceleration, the essential attribute of a defender in Flag football. He is known to be everywhere on the field.
But that being said, we think Japan is the best Asian team in the World cup. But they've landed in the worst possible group, and we don't believe they can get a win or two. Also, we think they will try, and they can upset Switzerland or Brazil if the stars align for them.
For us, a must seen game is Denmark, Italy and Brazil, Japan. What do you think? Please share your thought with us on our Instagram.
