The United States and Italian men's national teams claimed the top seeds at the IFAF Flag Football World Championship in Ottawa, Ontario going undefeated in their group play. Mexico and Canada in the women's division also remained unbeaten earning number one rank.

The world's premier senior 5-on-5 flag football players from eleven countries and three continents are competing in the biannual IFAF showpiece tournament for adults at the RA Centre, located in the Ottawa, Ontario.  Flag Football female and male athletes representing the Austria, Canada, Denmark, Germany, Israel, Italy, Japan, Korea, Mexico, Sweden and United States are competing in this year's tournament.

The IFAF Flag Football World Championship has been held since 2002 and is the showpiece event for senior national teams competing in 5-on-5 flag football and has separate competitions for men and women.

The United States men's national team finished the group play in a dominating manner as they defeated Denmark 39-7, Korea 55-7, and Japan 56-20 to claim the top seed in the Men's Group B. 

United States redeemed their loss to Denmark in the 2008 IFAF Flag Football Championship with an impressive win over the previously undefeated Denmark (4-1).

On their first drive of the game, USA found the endzone as quarterback Jorge Cascudo connected with Defonte Coleman following a 25 yard gain to Carlos Jaime. The United States quickly increased their lead with a perfect toss to Carlos Jaime in the corner of the endzone.  Cascudo linked with Billy Survillion for another first half touchdown, but Denmark would cut the lead to 19-7 as Morten Weber threw to Michael Svane for Denmark's first and only touchdown to end the first half.

In the second half, USA came out firing quickly scoring as Cascudo threw to Justin Romano for another score to give USA a 26-7 lead after a successful extra point to Defonte Coleman. The United States had a suffocating defense throughout the game and day, as Carlos Jaime came up with an interception quickly ending a Denmark drive.  Taking advantage of the turnover, Billy Survillion caught another touchdown pass on the first play of the drive for a 32-7 lead.

After another defensive stop, the US switched things up on offense as Carlos Jaime took the snap passing it off to Cascudo who then threw the ball back to Jaime for the final touchdown of the game as the United States won 39-7.

The United States continued their success against Korea (0-5) as Carlos Romano, Billy Survillion and Adam Cordio had two touchdowns in the 55-7 victory. John Rooney and Danny Sanabria also had a touchdown. 

"This experience is incredible," said Jorge Cascudo. "You see tournaments like this in other sports and it would be awesome to play for your country. Playing the sport I like most is a great experience."  

The United States finished the group play with a 5-0 record and will face Germany in the quarterfinals on Sunday, August 15 at 9am.  

"For US to win gold which is our ultimate goal, we have to keep playing the same," said Carlos Jaime. "We can not let up and have to trust our teammates and continue to play like we did in game one."

The Italian men took the other top seed with an undefeated record of 4-0.  It was not an easy road for Italy who faced a tough Sweden national team to start the day coming back from a 20-14 deficit to win 27-20.

Sweden started the game off strong, taking an early 7-0 lead as quarterback Carl-Johan Haraldson found Vikto Hellmen in the endzone. Italy tied the game up with a drive of their own, ending with a touchdown toss to Andrea Beltrami. Sweden refused to go away, as they marched down the field on their next drive as Carl-Johan Harardson connected Fredrik Haraldson to give Sweden a 14-7 lead after one half.

Continuing the back and forth affair, Italy tied the game up again with a touchdown catch by Fabrizio Rossi early in the second half. Sweden would score once more with an impressive snag by Hellmen for his second touchdown of the game, but would fail to convert the extra point.

Italy took control of the rest of the game, as the Italian quarterback put together an impressive drive to give Italy their first lead of the game with a touchdown by Stefano Cocchi. Cocchi added one more touchdown for Italy to give them a 27-20 win.

In the second game of the day, Italian defeated Austria 25-19 who finished third in the Men's A Group. Italy will now face fourth seed Japan in the quarterfinals at 9am on Sunday, August 15.

Mexico women breezed through the second day of competition defeating Austria 40-19 and shut out Denmark 45-0. In the first game against Austria, Mexico received production from Maria del Rocio Flores who tallied four touchdowns in the victory. Rosa Rivera also had a touchdown for Mexico.  Austria (2-2) had a strong start to the game with two quick touchdowns by Grabher Theresa and Pia Pfaffenbichler. Austria finished second behind Mexico in the Ladies Group A.

In Mexico's second game, everyone got in the action as six different receivers scored in the 45-0 victory for the team's fourth victory of the tournament.  Mexico earns a spot in the semi-final as the top seed of Group A and will face the winner of USA/Israel in the semifinals.

The United States (2-1) finished their group play in second after an exciting 26-24 victory over Japan which was not decided until the last seconds of the game. At the end of one half, the United States held a slim 13-12 lead over the fast and determined Japanese team.  Japan took the lead early in the second, as Ayako Iura found Tae Nogami for the touchdown giving Japan an 18-13 lead. USA quickly responded as quarterback Karen Mulligan threw the ball down field to Adrienne Smith to Japan's own 5-yard line on the next play Mulligan found Donna Spilotras bobbling the ball but able to bring the ball in for a touchdown as USA regained the lead 19-18.

Japan got the ball moving again on their next drive, but the US defense stepped with an interception giving the ball back to the US who immediately took advantage as Mulligan threw her fourth touchdown pass of the game to Chante Bonds.

Japan would not go away, showcasing their speed quickly moving the ball down the field with time running out of the game. With less than a minute remaining Japan scored with a touchdown from Sachiko Oya cutting the deficit to 26-24. Japan went for two to tie the game, but the US defense again stepped up as Sharon Vasquez came up with an interception sealing the US victory.

"This is an unbelievable experience," said Chante Bonds. "I am proud to be part of this team. It is awesome to see all of these other countries and the great sportsmanship. The competition is intense and we definitely have to come with our A game and more. And our goal is to win gold!"   

The Canadian women earned the top spot in the Ladies Group B after defeating Sweden 43-12 for their third victory of the tournament and remains undefeated going into championship round. Canada started the game of with fireworks, as quarterback Vanessa Birri continued to show her stellar arm throwing a perfect spiral to Emilie Pfeiffer-Badoux in the opening seconds of the game for a touchdown. Canada increased the lead later in the first half with another touchdown catch by Pfeiffer-Badoux. The host country would score two more touchdowns before Sweden got on the board.  Pfeiffer-Badoux finished the game with four touchdowns for Canada as Audrey Sauve-Desjardins recorded two touchdowns.

Canada will now face the winner of Austria/Japan in the semifinals kicking off at 11:30am.

For complete event information including final scores, stats, and standings visit http://www.ffwc2010.com

Standings at the end of Saturday, August 14:

Men's Group A                  Men's Group B                   

1. Italy                         1. USA

2. Canada                     2. Denmark

3. Austria                      3. Mexico

4. Germany                   4. Japan

5. Sweden                     5. Israel

                                   6. Korea

 

Women's Group A           Women's Group B

1. Mexico                      1. Canada

2. Austria                      2. USA

3. Israel                        3. Japan

4. Denmark                   4. Sweden

5. Germany                                    

 

         

IFAF Senior Flag Football World Championship Men's Results & Schedule

 

Group A       

Austria 35 Germany 19      

Sweden 20 Italy 27                  

Canada 50 Sweden 25

Germany 0 Canada 45        I

taly 25 Austria 19                   

 

Group B

Japan 20 USA 56               

Denmark 65 Mexico 33             

Korea 7 USA 55

Denmark 7 USA 39            

Mexico 45 Korea 0                   

Japan 53 Korea 12

IFAF Senior Flag Football World Championship Women's Results & Schedule

 Group A

Denmark 0 Mexico 45 

Germany 7 Austria 47       

Denmark 14 Germany 13

Austria 19 Mexico 40                                                    

Group B

Canada 43 Sweden 12          

USA 26 Japan 24