Now what?

Well, for starters, I just got the UEFA Euro 2008 game – and after playing yesterday two games and getting outscored 11 – 5, I have alot of learning to do. So within the next 3-4 weeks, I will officially announce “The EURO 2008 OFFSIDE CUP” tournament.

This will be a tournament exclusively based on the real life groups and teams (yes, that means England will be ineligible). So stay tuned for that bad boy.

But what of another FIFA 08 Tournament?

I have a few ideas i am shooting around –

+ A single table MLS format (14 teams), where everyone will have to play each other twice. Top four teams enter a playoff, 1v4, 2v3, and the winner is crowned champ. Thats 28 games for a player to go through, not an easy task.
+ A “World Cup” much like the offside cup, but with International Teams.
+ “Battle of the Nations” club tournament - 4-5 teams from each nation (or region) will be grouped together, with several groups fighting it out, and the winners of each group are the Best of their Nations teams and advance to play world teams – our own version, just tweeked, of the Club World Cup.

I want to get your ideas. Let me know what it is you would like to do moving forward.

Click here to view his exclusive Q&A, being featured world wide on theoffside.com main page.

Through many trials and tribulations, Barcelona stood tall and kept their focus on the gold. Nearly three months later, that focus resulted in Gold.

Here is how they did it:

Barcelona drew a tough group to start off this elimination tournament. Rival Real Madrid lead the pack, with a fierce Roma squad, and the every stingy German side, Hamburg. After a scare against Roma, which resulted in one of the biggest upset victories of the tournament, Barcelona fell 1-0 in the 94th minute of a tight game. Real Madrid and Hamburg smelled blood in the water. But Barcelona just got a splash of cold water in the face – Roma awakened the beast.

Real Madrid was next to fall, in stunning fashion, 4-0 at the Bernabeu. Hamburg faired none better – 3-1 and they were eliminated. Only Barcelona and Roma stood tall in the group.

The Round of 16 presented its unique challenge as well – Barcelona would be forced to play a top seeded side. They drew Aston Villa, which impressively dispatched its group to a first place finish. But Barcelona took it to the Maroon Marauders, outscoring Villa 11-4 in 3 games.

Another tough cookie awaited in the Quarterfinal round - Celtic. Celtic had been able to dispatch quality opposition all tournament, and would now face a Barcelona Juggernaut. The series went two, and Barcelona took home and away 2-1 victories.

And as fate would have it, the virtual world and the real world collided, as Barcelona and Manchester United met in what can only be described as “The Clash of FIFA 08’s BEST Club Teams.” Avenging their clubs real life embarassment, Barcelona took it to Manchester, disposing them in 2 games as well, and outscoring the Reds 5-2.

So finally, they reached the pinnacle of the tournament – and in their path was a hungry Fiorentina squad, which notably discarded of Boca, the Totties and Sao Paolo, to name a few.

Fiorentina began strong, but only managed a tie in the first game against Barca. Barcelona read their play, made the proper adjustments, and began to shut the door on Fiorentinas aspirations with a devastating 5-1 win in Fiores home.

The final and deciding game saw lots of play and fireworks, but Barcelona managed to eek out a victory, 3-2, to clinch the first ever FIFA 08 Offside Cup Championship!

Ronaldinho took home the teams MVP award, and coach Roven was carried off the field on the players shoulders!

Seriously though, excellent work. And a hell of a path to victory.

Congratulations to Anders Skov “Roven” Klausen for his well played victory.

Barcelona as coached by Roven.

Barcelona defeats Manchester United (2-1 away, and 3-1 at home), in what can only be vengeance for the real life defeat. They have torn through opponents after a sluggish start in the group stages, and are now the heavy favorite to win this tournament.

They outplayed Celtic in a two game sweep. Aston Villa was run out of the building with a blow out win. And they left group H members Real Madrid, Hamburg and Roma in the dust.

Not to mention they have been the favorite to win the tournament throughout. But they face a tough opponent here in the final.

Fiorentina as coached by GreyGooseGuzla

Fiorentina was an unlikely finalist in this tournament, but it is only fitting that an Italian team represent – since it was the italian teams that dominated throughout.

Fiorentinas path to glory began with a dominant performance in group stage over the likes of Lyon, Boca Juniors and the Red Bulls. They met Sao Paolo in the round of 16, and properly dispatched the Brazilian upstarts. Then, it was on to a Quarterfinal showdown with fellow italians Inter Milan. But Inter fans just couldnt wait to get the game going, ran sacking the field, and causing a ruckus, so Fiore got the pass to the semifinals, where they dismissed upstarts Tottenham in three games: a 2-0 win, a 2-1 loss, and a 1-1 tie.

Now, both teams are reaching for glory here in the Offside Cup Final. Through two distinctly different paths, they have made it here, in some cases, by the skin of their teeth. And in less than a week, we will crown our champion.

Best of luck Gentlemen. May the best coach win.

The Totties and Fiorentina battle in one corner, while Manchester United, and Barcelona continue their fight, this time, in the virtual arena.

Tune in tomorrow to check out our finalists. Within the week, we will have an official Offside Cup Champion.

Congrats to everyone who has advanced this far. Your doing a great job.

Here are your results:

RESULTS

Celtic 1 –2 Barcelona

Barcelona 2 – 1 Celtic

Man U 4 – 1 AC Milan

AC Milan 0 – 2 Man U

Roma 2-2 Tottenham

Tottenham 2-2 Roma

Tottenham 1 – 0 Roma

Inter forfeits this round to Fiorentina. Apparantly, fans rioted on the field again, taking chasing Figo and Cambiasso around the arena. When will they ever learn. . . .

SO HERE ARE YOUR MATCH UPS!

Tottenham v. Fiorentina

Manchester United v. Barcelona

You know, I could swear that Barca / Man U match up is familiar . . .

Check your emails later on tonight. You can get an early start on the league, but will have 2 weeks to complete the round.

April 26th – May 10th.

Best of luck

The thing that started the wheels in motion for this page has been “The Offside Cup” – a tournament I began hosting on the redbulls.theoffside.com page.

While I will update scores there, I figure here would be a good place to talk about other things. Like betting lines.

Now, I am no gambler, but from the get go, I knew the tournament would feature high levels of success for 5 Star teams. Low and behold, in the final 8, we have 4 five star teams representing (and favored overall).

Manchester United
Barcelona
AC Milan
Inter Milan

This round features only one Five Star v. Five Star match up :

Manchester United v. AC Milan

The lowest rated team in this tournament round is Celtic FC, and they face everyones favorite team to hate, Barcelona. But don’t discount Celtics chances – they did eliminate Juventus in convincing fashion last round.

Inter Milan faces Fiorentina in what is sure to be – well – Italian footy at its best.

And finally, we have Tottenham taking on Roma. Roma is a team on fire, and the Totties are deceptively dangerous in this game, with a strong backline, and enough fire power up front to take on all comers. Tough to predict an outcome.

THE ODDS:

+ 2:1 Barcelona
+ 2:1 Manchester United
+ 5:1 Inter Milan
+ 5:1 AC Milan
+ 10:1 Roma
+ 10:1 Fiorentina
+ 15:1 Tottenham
+ 20:1 Celtic

The Quarter Final Round begins today, and continues on to Thursday of next week (4/24) at the stroke of Midnight. Check your emails for the league names and passwords.

TOURNAMENT: THE OFFSIDE CUP
PLATFORM: XBOX 360
TITLE: FIFA 08