Sweden, Czech Republic, Finland, Switzerland, Latvia, Norway, Slovakia and Denmark will play for the championship title in the A-division.
Sweden – The reigning champion, Sweden, has not lost a single match since the last WFC in November 2007. The team has been preparing for the upcoming championships on a training camp in their home country, where the tactics have been rehearsed, before leaving towards Finland. Team Sweden consists of seven right players and the first offensive line with Henrik Stenberg and Kevin Lundgren is one to watch out for.
Czech Republic – the Czech team has played tight matches versus the other top teams. In the EuroFloorball Tour in November 2008, the Czechs lost tight matches against Finland (2-3) and Sweden (3-5). Some of the players to keep an eye on: Adam Stegl, a tall and fast player with lots of experience. Patrik Suchanek, a short and skilful player, who is the fans´ favourite and Vlastimil Princ, always active and a physical player who can score goals.
Finland – is aiming for the final. The toughest opponent for the home team in the group matches is Czech Republic. Niklas Niiranen and Casper Pfitzner are the only players born in 1991, all others are born in 1990. The head coach, Lasse Eriksson, is emphasizing the importance of team play and different player roles in the team.
Switzerland – the Swiss team played two matches versus Czech Republic during the last international weekend, which ended in one tie 6-6 and one tight loss 6-7. The goalkeeper Pascal Meier, played already in the last championships and is most likely going to be the first goalie in the team. The two young defenders (1991), Stefan Siegenthaler and Patrick Vetsch, are also of great help in the defence. Some of the offensive top players are Sandro Cavelti, who scored 9+5 in five friendly internationals and Philipp Frankhauser, who was one of the important players already in 2007.
Latvia – looking forward to challenging the four big. Latvia´s best placement in U19 context is 4th (2001, 2005). Team Latvia has still seven players from the 5th placed team in 2007. The Latvians will have a tough start as they will play their first matches against the favourite, Sweden, and the second versus Switzerland. The Latvians won the last battle versus the Swiss in the Polish Cup with 4-3.
Norway – Team Norway has 10 players born 1991 and one player, Daniel Gidske, born 1992. The Norwegians have played friendly internationals this season versus the A-division teams Czech Republic, Latvia, Slovakia and Switzerland and lost all matches, although the battle versus Latvia was very tight, 5-4 to Latvia. The best placement of team Norway is 5th from 2003.
Slovakia – Floorball has developed fast in Slovakia, which the Men´s WFC C-division victory in 2008 proved. There are a total of 11 players in the Slovakian team from the 2007 U19 WFC and with the last lock in the goal, Gabriel Meszáros, who already payed in the victorious Men´s WFC team, Slovakia is a team to look out for.
Denmark – in 2001 and 2003 Denmark played in the A-division and in 2005 they were relegated to the B-division. After winning the B-division in 2007 Denmark is back and fighting for a place in the top 7. Team play is one of the team´s strengths, but also the 18-year old goalkeeper, Mike Trolle, is one of the interesting players together with another youngster, the 16 year old Niklas Juul Jensen. Juul Jensen already played in the U19 WFC 2007. A third player to look out for is the forward Patrick Nielsen.
