Around the Continent: Roger’s Corner – 7/18/14
And the championships continue!
[su_dropcap]T[/su_dropcap]wo national championships were played on the weekend, as well as the IFAF Europe Champions League final.
The first IFAF Europe tournament ever, the IFAF Europe Champions League, was held last weekend. The 13 team tournament featured the best teams from several countries including Finland, Italy, France, Sweden, Denmark, Serbia, Great Britain, Turkey and Spain. Kicking off back on April 12 it has offered surprises and great football at every turn.
Ultimately, with both round-robin play and playoffs, two finalists were decided and this past weekend the Helsinki Roosters edged the upstart Vukovi Belgrade from Serbia 36-29 in a thriller in Elancourt, France. Read the story: https://www.americanfootballinternational.com/helsinki-roosters-win-inaugural-ifaf-champions-league-tournament/.
In Norway, the Kristiansand Gladiators scored a last second touchdown to win the Norwegian championship over multiple-time champion the Eidsvoll 1814s to win its first ever championship 22-21. Read the story: https://www.americanfootballinternational.com/kristiansand-gladiators-upset-eidsvoll-1814s-win-norwegian-title/
In Switzerland, the Basel Gladiators broke a five-year stranglehold that arch rivals the Calanda Broncos have had and won the 2014 Swiss Bowl in convincing fashion 47-35 over the Broncos. Read the story here: https://www.americanfootballinternational.com/basel-gladiators-unseat-calanda-broncos-and-win-first-swiss-bowl/.
The Big6 championship game will be played July 19 between the Braunschweig New Yorker Lions (Europe # 1) and the Berlin Adler (Europe # 6 ). Read the game preview here: https://www.americanfootballinternational.com/heis-heiser-eurobowl-xxviii-berlin-alder-v-braunschweig-new-yorker/.
The finals of the European Football League also take place this weekend, July 19 at 5 PM as the Kiel Baltic Hurricanes (Europe #5) from Germany host the Badalona Dracs of Spain.
Here then is what happened around the continent last weekend.
Austria
Last weekend, not surprisingly, the Vienna Vikings (Europe #2) and the Swarco Raiders (Europe #7) advanced to the Austrian final- Austrian bowl XXX on July 26. Vienna dispatched the Prague Black Panthers (Europe #11 ) 41-27, while the Raiders blanked the Danube Dragons (Europe #16) 34-0. The two teams met twice during the regular season. In the opening game of the Austrian season, Vienna had no trouble rolling over Swarco, embarrassing them 41-14. Then a month later, the Raiders gained a measure of revenge, edging Vienna 22-20. These two teams have dominated football in Austria, and indeed in Europe, for many years. It will be a clash of titans.
Belgium
Belgian Bowl XXVII saw a new champion crowned three weeks ago as the Ghent Gators made no mistake handing the defending champion the Brussels tigers a 38-0 pummeling. This was the first ever title win for the Gators and they did it on their first try. Read the game recap here: www.americanfootballinternational.com.
CEFL (Central European Football League)
On July 20, the two top teams in the CEFL, the Ljubjana Silverhawks and the Vukovi Belgrade (Europe #12) face each other for the CEFL championship on July 20. The two teams met twice this year and split the series. But in the first game, the Silverhawks won 15-6, while in the second meeting, Vukovi whipped them 48-20.
Czech Republic
The Czech championship ended, as expected, with the Prague Black Panthers taking the title beating the Pnbram Bobcats 40-0. With that, Prague finishes a great season with a record of 11-6. They played more games than any other team in Europe.
