2006 WORLD CUP OF TABLE SOCCER “KICKS OFF” IN HAMBURG, GERMANY - U.S. National “Foosball” Team Expected to Dominate

Hamburg – While the U.S. National Soccer Team has made tremendous strides in international competition over the last 15 years (even achieving a world ranking as high as fifth) most soccer enthusiasts don’t believe the U.S. team has any real chance of winning the upcoming FIFA World Cup. However, the U.S. National Table Soccer Team, whose players have captured a combined total of well over 20 World and 100 Major tour titles, is widely expected to dominate the World Cup – of “Foosball.” Yes, you read that right: foosball, a.k.a. “table soccer.” You know, that game with miniature soccer men attached to rods that spin around to hit a little ball on a kitchen table sized soccer field. As it turns out there’s much more to it than that, and you’ll be able to see for yourself May 25-28, 2006 at the famed Fischauktionshalle in Hamburg, Germany, where about 200 of the world’s most elite foosball players will compete for the International Table Soccer Federation (ITSF) World Cup title.

Not that the U.S. foosball team will have it easy: top name competition will include world #1 ranked Frederico Collignon of Liege, Belgium and ITSF #2 ranked Rob Atha of Manchester, England, both heading up some of the strongest teams in the tournament. Other top teams include Italy, France, Denmark, Austria, Canada and Costa Rica. In all, the tournament will feature teams from 20 different countries around the world. Each team, having selected eight to ten of their nation’s best players, will be competing in a combination of doubles and singles events for both men and women. In a true test of all around foosball skills, competition will take place on five different official styles of tables: Tornado Table Soccer™, Bonzini™, Garlando, EuroSoccer, and Roberto-Sport.

So just who is the 2006 U.S. National Foosball Team that so many of the world’s foosball players are worried about? They are: Robert Mares (Team Captain) of Aurora, CO; U.S. #1-ranked Billy Pappas of Lowell, MA; Terry Moore, Chicago, IL; Dave Gummeson, Coon Rapids, MN; Louis Cartwright, Las Vegas, NV; Adrian Zamora, Newark, CA; Tom Yore, Tampa, FL; Stayce Fowler, Cedar Rapids, IA; Lotus Leong-Chesborough, Colbert, WA; and Dusty Bambenek, Canal Fulton, OH. The team’s Coach-Manager is Alan Cribbs of Pinnacle, NC, and stand-by players are Cindy Head of Sterrett, AL and Bruce Nardoci, Charlotte, NC.

Thursday and Friday will be qualification rounds, with a special opening ceremony at 7:00 pm Thursday. Playoffs are on Saturday with semi finals and finals on Sunday the 28th and a final awards presentation will take place on Sunday evening at 6:00 pm. Admission fees for spectators vary between $7-12 per day, or about $40 for all four days. Sponsors of the event include Carlsberg Brewery, Sportstadt Hamburg, Fabula-Film and the DEHOGA Hamburg hotel and restaurant association, while sponsors of the U.S. National Table Soccer Team include Nike™, Brunswick’s Tornado Table Soccer™, Bonzini™ USA, Tornello Enterprises, and Foosball.com.

Other ITSF 2006 World Tour events are scheduled to take place in Austria, Canada, Costa Rica, France, Germany, Japan, Mexico, Poland, South Africa, United States, the UK and more. In fact, this year’s tour will be the largest worldwide table soccer pro tour ever!!

For additional details about the event and the sport of table soccer, please see the following websites:

www.tischfussball-wm-2006.de/eng_teams.html - Official World Cup of Table Soccer website
www.table-soccer.org - ITSF web site/international rankings
www.foosball.com/ustsf - Official U.S. Table Soccer Federation website
www.foosball.com - General information about the sport of table soccer

For more information, photos, or for an electronic version of this release, please contact:
Larry Davis, Executive Director, USTSF, Tel: 1-563-580-9485; Email: larry.davis@ustsf.foosball.com

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