The WFC Qualification Europe 2 is played in El Escorial in Spain from February 3rd – 6th with eight teams in two groups, group C & group D.
More information about the tournament, the host city and tickets can be found from the WFCQ Europe 2 official web site from where you can listen to the WFC Q tournament anthem.
Estonia is currently the 8th ranked team in the world and together with Italy (ranked 10th) they can be considered as the favourites to qualify to the WFC Final round. Slovenia has the 3rd highest ranking (18th) and the Netherlands is ranked 19th.
Italy and the Netherlands will play in group C and Estonia and Slovenia in group D. The teams placed 1st and 2nd in both groups will play in the Qualification Finals on February 6th (1st C – 2nd B & 1st D – 2nd C) and the two winners of the Qualification Finals will be qualified to the WFC 2010 Final round.
Estonia reached their best placement ever in the WFC 2008 (8th) and is the highest ranked team out of all the teams in the WFC Qualifications. Estonia will play with a strong team again and the goal is to win the Europe 2 tournament and qualify to the Final round.
The brother pairs, the Kivi brothers Raul # 32 & Rein Kivi # 19 and the Talme brothers, the forward Henrik # 6 & defender Kristian Talme # 16 are real the top players in the Estonian team.
Rein Kivi plays for the Finnish reigning champion SSV Helsinki and is tough forward and accurate scorer. The Talme brothers play both for Balrog in Sweden and Henrik was the top scorer of the Estonian team in the A-division in 2008 with 4+9 and has also been very effective in the Swedish Superleague this season with 12+24.
The Italian team has been renewed a lot since the last two WFC´s and now includes the best young players from the National League in Italy. Italy is aiming to qualify and play in the WFC Final round in Finland.
Fabio Rocco # 2 plays for Viking Roma and is a strong offensive defender with a good eye for the game.
One of the most experienced players is the forward Andrea Iezzi # 23 (pictured) who has played in the World Championships 2004, 2006 and 2008. Iezzi is a valuable player in the Italian offense that fights for every inch on the field.
Slovenia will play the Qualifications with a very thin roster as the team consists of only 14 players.
All the players originate from the Slovenian league and many of them are quite young players. The youngest player is the 16-year old talented forward Anze Burnik who has gathered experience from the U19 WFC Qualifications in 2009.
The goalkeeper Anze Rovtar is one of the best goalkeepers in Slovenia, who despite his young age (19) played already in the WFC B-division in 2008.
Also the Netherlands have rejuvenated their team and are focusing on developing new international players. Many of the players originate from Dutch clubs and have played or are still playing in the U19 national team as well.
The first goalie, Leonard Widjaja # 1 (pictured) played an excellent WFC in 2008 and is one of the key players in the young team (average age 21). His brother Stephan Widjaja # 34 is a technically skilful player and having played in the last three WFC´s, he is the most experienced player in the team.
