Another One 'Bout Bosnia

So Bosnia & Herzegovina almost nearly got to the last World Cup, and seemingly became everyone's second favourite team along the way. With hindsight a Bosnian team would probably have been a breath of coffee tigned fresh air compared to the Ronaldo led shitstorm that knocked them out in the playoffs, but anyway, that is in the past now. And where Bosnia is involved, looking forward is kind of the done thing.

So yeah, looking forward, Bosnia could well be one of the revelations of this Qualifying tournament, as they so nearly were 12 months ago. Whilst last time round they had a team of bright young talent mixed in with experienced euro-journeymen, this time their is a really solid look about the squad, that runs deeper than just 4 or 5 stars in the first 11.

Messr's Dzeko and Pjanic now look like genuine quality players who should spend a good while at the top table of European clubs, not just one season wonders that they easily could have become. Not many teams from the '2nd group' of countries in European football can build around such a talented, and now fairly experienced partnership. With Pjanic sure to play his part in this seasons Champions League, and Dzeko at the front of a pricely rebuilt Wolfsburg (Cough Diego Cough) it could be another big season for these two.

But beyond that there is more quality coming through. A solid goalkeeper for a team at BiH's level is a massive boon, take Handanovic between the sticks for Slovenia being a prime example. Hopefully Asmir Begovic can sort out his dispute with big T Pulis and really put his name on the number one Jersey both for Stoke and BiH. The heart shaped nation's main footballing strength is their attacking flair, but with a handful of defenders playing in France and Germany some top level experience is seeping in.

It is however midfield and forward where things get exciting. Pjanic is the obvious talent, and is a huge danger from dead balls, especially with Dzeko rangy frame to aim at, but beyond that there is strength in the depth. Misimovic and Rahimic bring with them experience and anchor a team that has been slowly progressing over 4 or 5 years, With Rahimic being 34, this is probably the last chance he will get to go to a major championship.
Menudjanin, Ibricic and Salihovic are a solid supporting cast who without a doubt will give the majority of teams a difficult time.

And then there is the forwards. It could be seen as a case of one of Europe's best and A.N.Other. Whilst Dzeko's sublime goalscoring does give this an element of truth, Muslimovic and Ibsevic, along with new boy Vec can more than hold there own across this continents stadia. Whilst Luxembourg, who where dealt with 3-0 at the weekend, do not represent the stearnest of tests, when Pjanic went of after 75 minutes, the chances continued to come. Far from a one trick pony.

And as clichéd as it seems, these guys are playing for something. This squad could easily represent a golden generation for the Lillies, and in such a small country they may not come along so often. The chance to represent BiH at a major tournament probably means a lot to this generation, and if they do it, they will be the first. Almost the polar opposite of tomorrow's rivals France. But there may never be a better time to play Group D's superpower, and after the World Cup fiasco, BiH may well be the team, in true clichéd fashion, that Wants It More. An upset could be on the cards, Sarajevo will be behind them, the majority of Bosnia will be behind them. This could be their time.

Football Is My Conscience

So what if I wrote exactly what it is about football, just write what is going on all up in those synapses.

Man I love football. It really is one of those great things in life. Like when your are in the build up to a big game. Waiting for it to start, and the tension and all that jazz. And then occasionally you just get those awesome games. Like Italy vs. Germany in 2006. That was glorious. The whole of that World Cup was glorious. Football has really got good again. I don't know what happened with WC 02 and the '04 Euros, but they just were not as good as the tournaments that preceded and followed. I mean, France '98, oh god that ruled. I mean there was the final, and there was Croatia, my lord there was Croatia. I totally fell in love with Davor Suker. On the playground at school I was allways Davor after that (I was eight, come on). And Chilie. Zamarano and Salas are still one of my all time favourite strike forces. They just ruled. That time with the national anthem before the Brazil game. Daaaaang. And Baggio playing for Italy, and how glorious the Netherlands were. It was great. Then Euro 2000 came along. Oh Francesco. The classic Toldo hands on hips, dissilusioned pose. With his nose tissue holding back the blood, and his awesomeness holding back the tears. How did it end like that after the semis? After the first 85 minutes. And then there was Bobby. Never had it felt so good to be a Toon fan. We beat Arsenal at Highbury to go top, in like, January. We drew at the San Siro. 4th, 3rd, oh holy glories. Then there was that night. The missed pens. The Going out to Partizan Belgrade. The shame. And football was kind of medium untill 2006. But then Germany came along. And I fell in love with international football again. It was primo. The German renaisance under Klinsi, the French reeling back the years, the awesome bastardlyness of Ronaldo. The glorious, gloroius Italians. Grosso in the semi, the Tardelli run all over again. And then the penatlies. Those penalties. Those stand an inch from the TV screen penalties. Buffon. Grosso again. Oh Lord. I'll set this down. I loved Germany 06. And then off to the Alps. Where everyone played such good football. When you watch every single game, and they all rule so hard, I mean c'mon. The Dutch at first, then the rain, and Colin Kazim Richards. He was superb. The Turks were superb. The Tournament was Superb. Croatia again, Slaven's nightmare. Spain. Good lord. Anyway, I need a brew. Only 143 days to go.

Bosnia & HerzeGlorynia

Sup guys (Cal, Leanne, maybee Neal. Hows it going?). Okay, so I have a pro-Bosnia and Herzegovina streak in me. I am not going to deny that. And I totally think you should jump on my Yugo towed, Sarajevsko serving bandwagon. I even have some valid footballing reasons, which go beyond 'I totally had some way good times there a while ago', some of which may appeal even to the average Eng-Er-Land fan. Check it out. I even made a list:

1. This is for you England Fans (Kitchiner style point). England will get knocked out by Portugal. We all remember '06. That stamping, winking, Argentina 98-esque affair. No one wants that again, not even me. And the whole 'Sol Campell pushed someone in the box' thing from '04, where the ghosts of '98 were on poor old Sol's back again. They were horrible horrible games. Seeing all Owen Hargreaves hard work and steely penalty determination being undone by a weeping Steven Gerrard? No thanks. I would rather loose 3-0 to Germany ta.

2. Bosnia are a damn exciting football team. Not just in that 'they have young players who scored loads in the Bundesliga/Spanish mid table/For Lyon' way. They actually are exciting. They scored, and conceded most of all the teams to make the play-offs. It is almost Keegan-esk. The 'dead' game with Spain finished 5-2. Seven goals kids. They put 7 past Armenia aswell. Everyone loves teams of glorious attacking power, that really can't defend at well. Bosnia is that exact team.

3. It might be like Croatia '98. Remember that? It was the greatest, most super happy, heart warming run in football tournament history. Dzeko could be the next Davor Suker. I apreciate that comparison may not be at all popular in certain parts of the world. I just mean he could score loads of goals and stuff. Anyone who disagrees with this is clearly not a fan of football or happiness. It would be glorious. Eastern Bloc teams are allways great at World Cups, they either go nuts and reach the semis, or go nuts and loose 6-0 to the Dutch. Either way, top notch stuff.

4. Miroslav Blazevic - Talking of 98, this fella was coach of the tournament. He masterminded that Croatian dream team. Rad. The man invented 3-5-2*. Also Rad. He has lucky shoes, and best of all, said that he didn't need to qualify after seeing Bosnian Muslim fans cheering for his Bosnian Serb 'keeper. The man is 77 (73 next year) and is finally leading the country of his birth, hopefully to something historical.

5. The politics and history of it all. Some fool had a stab at summarising it here, and this guy is there first hand. Seems to me a football team to unite behind might be a damn good thing for this country

6. The team is exciting in the 'have young players who scored loads in the Bundesliga/Spanish mid table/For Lyon' way. Misimovic & Dzeko at Wolfsburg, Ibseviv & Salihovic and Hoffenheim, Pranjic at Lyon. This is such an exciting team. For such a small country, with so little money to invest in football to have these talents is pretty amazing. They really do need this golden generation to shine.

7. No one really likes Ronaldo do they? Really? If Portugal win this I will buy every fake Ronaldo shirt I see. Take that FIFA marketing board. Ha.

So there you go. I dare you to resist having a quick flick at Ceefax whilst watching the Brazil game on Saturday night. Those little pixelated numbers could mean a lot to a few million people not far from here.

*The invention of the 3-5-2 is up for debate. Here it is: It was Blazevic you pricks

Tito Would Have Loved This

So it is Champions League time again, and for the third time an Anglish team is hopefully going to get beaten around by Eastern Europes finest kids. Messrs Jovetic and Dzeko were on the case last time out. Hopefully everyone is versed up about Jovetic's mad skills after what he, and the rest of Florence's finest did to Liverpool, and Dzeko had a bit of an impact at Old Trafford the other week no?

So turning to tonight, I am hoping for yet more 'Liverpool get beaten about by super talented Eastern Europeans' action, this time courtesy of Miralem Pjanic. Lyon vs. Liverpool is one of those games that I love. I was ready to spend an evening watching the build up and game only for Sky to spoil everything for me once again. Is there anything they can't ruin about football? I was prepared to devote the entire evening to it and I work full time. Evenings are precious. But anyway, I am hoping beyond all hope that Pranjic gets good game on tonight firstly because an English team might go out in the groups (Oh the horror!), and secondly it will reaffirm my hopes that Bosnia get to South Africa next month.

So this brings me on to my main, and massivly ridiculous point. If Yugoslavia had not broken up (told you it was ridiculous) it would surely have the most exciting team on the planet, Seriously. Samir Handanovic is one of the most promising keepers in Europe right now, and it is not like there are many other world class keepers kicking around at the minute anyways. Vidic is one of the best defenders in the world right now, and I would bet my own head that him and Chelsea's Ivanovic would keep it tight at the back. Dejan Stankovic still scores the odd goal. Eduardo, Modric and Klasnic could get involved. Then there are the kids I mentioned before; Dezko, Jovetic, Pranjic. Rene Khrin and co might just fire Slovenia to the World Cup. I was going to mention Mirko Vucinic, but with Roma's form at the minute, he might not get a chance.

But there is more. If we are assuming Yugoslavia had never broke up, it dosen't seem to far fetched to assume that the people at the Croatian federation, they who convinced Eduardo to abandon Brazil, may have worked in the Yugoslav FA. You would think that if they can convince Eduardo to come to Croatia, they could probably persuade a certain Mr Ibrahimovic to play for the country of his parents no? Bohan Krkic is from that part of the world aswell?

See what I mean. This is a damn exciting team. A hundered and eighteen year old Josep Broz (In the context of this post, not to far fetched) could have watched his boys take South Africa by storm.

Jonathan Wilson, you are my hero.

Edit; I would just like to point out I have just found out Mr Wilson wrote about exactly this subject, although obviously way better. I would like it be known that I did not know this article existed when I wrote le above, honest. Anyhoom check it out. There is talk of tactical balance and everything.

The Real World Cup

So you may have grasped that I think it is pretty unfair that Blatter(dick) has decided that the European playoffs have to be seeded. You may think this is because of a natural soft spot for former Yugoslav countries, having spenth a month or two there last year I thus really really really want Slovenia and Bosnia & Herzegovina to qualify. You would probably be right of course, but even from a purely unbiased, totally sporting point of view it really dosen't seem fair to seed teams to start of with, then seed them again halfway through, having previously said you wouldn't. Jeez Sepp.

So Slovenia, having allready finished above two teams seeded higher than them in the group, see that count for nothing, and could face Portugal or France, two teams who finished behind lesser seeds, and yet will be seeded for the playoffs. It is just FIFA and Blatter dicking around so that the most marketable players can reach the world cup. Bunch of dicks.

So I had no choice but to take matters into my own hands, and drawn the playoffs myself. Completely unseeded. I may as well claim this is how the draw should have been. It is how FIFA said it would be. So, with additional comentary, I present to you, the draw for the World Cup Playoffs:

France vs. Russia - Woah. Big game. This would be undenaiably awesome over two legs. Every fan of football would agree no? I mean come on. How sweet. My money would be on France to shade it. Ribery scoring a wondergoal in the dying minutes at St. Denis to send France to the party. But it can never happen. This seems proof to me that FIFA have, to borrow from you Gianni, ruined football. This would rule.

Greece vs. Bosnia & Herzegovina - So this is actually an unseeded team vs. a seeded one. It could actually happen kids. Being honest, I think Greece, or maybee France, are the unseeded teams best chance of getting through. Greece came through a pretty easy group and France seem capable of throwing anything away when Domenech is calling the shots. I'd like to hope Bosnia could hold Greece in Athens, before winning infront of what would be an amazing atmosphere at Bilino Polje. Besides, no one wants to have to watch Greece go all '04 on us again right?

Ireland vs. Portugal - So again, another 'could happen' fixture. This would be such a sweet tie aswell. It would be undenaiably awesome seeing the Republic go up against Ronaldo and Co, especially at Croke Park. After the result against Italy, it shouldn't be impossible for the Irish.

Slovenia vs. Ukraine - Okay, I admit, there might not be much in this for the neatrals, but there are a whole lot of eastern Europeans who would certainly give a damn. The difference between Ukraine's ginormous stadium in Kiev, and Slovenia's teeny weeny one in Maribor would be a pretty cool contrast. And I reckon boths teams would fancy there chances. And lets be honest, it is the little guys who make the world cups.

So there you go. THIS IS THE TRUTH, THIS IS HOW IT SHOULD BE FIFA. And come on, this would be way better no?

The OFC Has Some Sweet Style

So New Zealand drew with Bahrain the other night. Big Game. In terms of what was at stake, equally as big if not bigger than that little old Argentina-Peru spectacle. One of those guys will get a place in the World Cup. I kinda hope the 'All Whites' make it. I guess they have the greater pedigree. Everyone saw that sterling Confederations Cup 0-0 with Iraq right? Glorious stuff. There is another reason I feel New Zealand should get the place, being the first OFC representative since way back in '82. The reason is this:

Jings, this guy is the complete badass. It is like the Blues Brothers spent a druken night with an Adidas Tango, and then neglected him throughout his childhood. I didn't see those Euro 08 dudes donning wayfairers. Footix, the france 98 guy, didn't have such a rad smirk. Never has a tournament mascot had such a effortless style. When have you ever though ''Jeez, this major tournament mascot is clearly way cooler than me''. Never, until this guy came along, and for that, the Oceanian Football Confederation deserves a break. Forza New Zealand.

Who Ate All The (Glory) Pies?

Antonio Cassano should be one of the best players in the world, but I think I prefer his career the way he has done it. His glorious relationship with Gianpaolo Pazzini at Sampdoria surely indicates he can put the last few years behind him and look to a future among Europe's eilte. Perhaps once the Sampdoria adventure is over (Heres hoping it could be as glorious as the early 90's ), a stint leading Juve to their first post scandal Scudetto with Pazzini in tow? Oh God. The thought of Cassano-Pazzini-Diego-Giovinco-Chielini-Aged Buffon-Cameos from Del Pel would be so so so beautifully, amazingly rad. It would cost like 25 - 30 million to prize those two away from Samp? I will gladly buy Fiats for the rest of my life if you could make this happen Juve. Seriously.

But back to the point in hand. Cassano's dark days at Madrid are summed up best by a bit of Wikipedia vandalism;

''Continuing reports of his erratic and anti-social attitude, his expanding waistline, due to a weakness for chocolate, cakes and more cakes, as well as soft drinks, beer, sweets and pies, led in May 2006 to Madrid fining him for every gram he remains overweight''. Check the source

Makes you realise what a ginormous risk Samp were taking. Huuuuge. But by God did it pay of. The old Cassano is back. Yes, so there is still the occasional clothes off tantrum but it is more than offset by the influence Fantonio had on this super loveable Sampdoria side. And to be fair, that Torino player went straight for the neck. That is going to make anyone angry. But yeah, it is nice to think that Mr Cassano feels at home in a team that is down the local Ristorante after every game. That is the way it should be. The fact that Mr Cassano is in a team currently second in Serie A surely indicates a call up is in order. That too, is how it should be.

So over to you Marcelo, why no call up? It is seems like a repeat of the Baggio-Trapatoni farce of 2002, and we all know how that ended. Cassano and Pazzini are the best strikeforce in Serie A since the dawn of 2009, both are italian and neither are in the Azzurri set up. So Di Natale is on fire and Gilardino scored last night, but Iaquinta could be sacrificed for one of these two, at least for two games where one point was needed. Italy have a wealth of options going into South Africa, but I am sure that leaving Cassano at home would be a mistake

This Could Rule #2

Sheeesh. The one time I really wanted England to win they go and throw it all away. Ukraine's win puts them in a pretty commanding position to oust Croatia from the World Cup. Surely they will win in Andora on wednesday? Surely. I am pretty devastated that Croatia probably wont make it. I have had a soft spot for them since Davor Suker and co. lit up France 98, and helped me realise that football was about more than endless Newcastle United induced heartbrake. They could and probably should have made the Final of Euro 2008, if only for the one million minutes of extra time on that rollercoaster night in Vienna. I am going to have to pray for the biggest night in Andorran football history.

Bosnia & Herzegovina made the playoffs. Good times in Sarajevo. Thing is, now Blatter (dick) ruined the playoffs I really fear they might not make it through. Would Greece be seeded? That might be their best hope. Let us pray once again for the miracle of Bilino Polje. Serbia made it. Gonna stick my neck out and make them my dark horses. Infact, Serbia and Chile will both reach the quarter finals. For sure.

How good did Ireland-Italy look? I really wish I had been down the pub for that one. Massive crowd, loads to play for, and some top notch goals being scored. Richard Dunne could see world cup football yet. Check out these highlights for yourself. Irelands first goal is sublime. Sublime I say!

Italy still need to get Cassano involved mind.

I Didn't expect Germany to get a win. Kudos to them. How many international goals has Miroslav Klose got now? It must be in the thousands. Should be pretty good to see Joachim Low lead a side once again, especially with the names Germany can call up. I feel 2010 will be Mario Gomez's chance to shine.

And yeah. That Argentina game was epic. The rain, good lord the rain. Who would of thought Martin Palermo would be the hero. The fact he scored the greatest header of all time with his face the other week could have been a clue. That was some comeback though, the rain made it somewhat biblical no? If he scores again on wednesday I would vote for some sort of new Martin Palermo adventures chapter to be inserted into the holy book. I reckon I could get a few others on side with that plan.

So wednesday brings one final evening of reckoning, before yet more november reckoning, you reckon? Is there any sequence of events that would see Portugal finish as the 9th best runner up. Finger crossed. Argentina should make it now. I would be confident if Maradonna could be trusted not to rotate his tits of between now and kick off in Uruguay. Thing is I hope Forlan makes South Africa aswell, so I should be supporting Chile right? Well I do that anyway. Problem solved.

And oh yeah, Bahrain-New Zealand was a disappointing 0-0. Damn.

Football Victories Shape a Nation’s Identity As Much As Any War

That title is a quote from President Franjo Tudman, a man who probably has a pretty good idea of how wars shape a nations identity. He wrote a book on guerilla warfare and was pretty caught up in the demise of Yugolsavia and the formation of an independant Croatia, and yet he still said that. Having spent a large portion of last summer in and around former Yugolsavia chatting to the locals, I got the opinion that that Tudman fella might have a point.

Former Yugolsavs Serbia are looking pretty secure at the South Africa check in, with Bosnia and Croatia hoping for the playoffs. You wonder how much football could mean to people who have gone through so much in the past fifteen years or so. Tudman was right, it means a lot.

Bosnia came out of the Yugolsav war badly, completely divided along ethnic lines, officially between Bosniaks and Serbs, and just as obviously between the Bosniaks and Croats. In Mostar, a focal point of the troubles, the divides are none more obvious than with the city's football teams. Zrinjski, the Croats, moved into Mostar's main stadium after it came out of the conflict on the Croat side of the city. With Croat money from nearby Medjugorje (Jesus must support these guys) and the support of the large Croat population Zrinjski took their first Bosnian title last season. Velez, the Herzegovinians, homeless after the loss of their 25,000 seater home, moved to a somewhat smaller stadium on the East side of the Neretva river and suffered relegation. The Yugoslav cup winning days of the mid eighties long forgotten. They are back in the top league again now, finishing mid table last season.

The difference between these two sides reflects the situation at large. Bosnian Croat businesses taking money to Croatia, whilst Bosian Muslims make the best of things. We were told that the Croat controlled airport in Mostar was kept closed so any one wanting to fly in had to fly to Dubrovnik in Croatia. Out west towards Medjugorje town halls proudly displayed the Croatian tricolour, whilst the Bosniak flag on the adjacent poll was a tattered mess.

The national team is genuinely exciting; Dzeko is undoubtedly the star, with a supporting cast of Misimovic, Muslimovic and Ibsevic amongst other bright prospects, but it also has the capability to unite under the Bosnian flag, not that of Serbia or Croatia and give the people of this war torn country something to be proud of. The fact that Bosnia have rarely lost at their Bilino Polje stadium surely speaks volumes for the atmosphere that must be created inside. Led by a Bosnian Croat, the guy who led Croatia at France 98, the team that introduced me to how glorious football can be, and compromising players from all three ethnic groups, it seems like the country can finally get behind a successful team.

They have overcome a farce-laden, ''we don't need this Zlatan fellow to play for us", frequently protested against, plain incompetent federation, to be in with a their best chance of a big tournament since they missed out on Euro 04 by one goal. A win against Estonia, whom they beat 7-0, (seven!) in the return fixture should see them get Turkeys spot in the ''Blatter Playoffs of Preference' where they will undoubtedly be unseeded and in need of a minor miracle to overcome one of the prefered teams.

So yeah, Bosnia vs. Estonia is important. It might help shape a nations identity. Football is important yo.

That Zlatan guy was Mr Ibrahimovic by the way...

This Could Rule

International week next week you know. A super huge international week at that. England are allready there so only a fool would pay attention to something other than Sky's premiership superleague. WRONG. Yes 'we' are there and I am quite happy about it, allthough I probably would have prefered Croatia to have the automatic spot, so England could get caught up in some playoff madness.

So how is the World Cup shaping up. Lets go through who is allready there. England are in. I am kind of excited about how we do. Maybee it is Defoe's time to shine and Young & Milner are exciting enough. The presence of Heskey and James should bring some hilarity to the table. The Netherlands should be glorious in the groups, then go out in some hilariously bad tempered afair, perhaps ending with penalties. Spain won't win, they lost at Soccer last summer.

Brazil's presence should be cool as will Paraguays. Not quite as good as the glory days of Chilavert, allthough I would like to hope he will be involved with the team in some way, perhaps sensationally becoming the first sporting director to score in the World Cup. Aisan teams are pretty much sorted and both Korea's are there. Both! South Korea I will allways love, after they won me eight quid eight long years ago. But North Korea? They play football there? How much does everyone want them to be drawn with Italy. And yeah, Ghana are in. The Black Stars ain't a great nickname by African standards but it is pretty sweet in a world wide context, and they where the best African team last time round.

The excitement of next weekend is due to the teams that could yet still qualify however (Duh!). I am probably most excited about Bosnia's games against Estonia and Spain (stay with me). Bosnia have some exciting players. Everyone knows Dzeko after last wednesday, but Misimovic, Ibsevic and Muslimovic are a few other names in an exciting team. They have never qualified as an independant country, and hopefully Blatter's (dick) sell out play off seedings will not ruin the dream. Imagine if they got Serbia or Croatia in the Playoffs though? I really hope they can make it.

Croatia should secure a play off spot, and I really hope they make it through. By far the team of Euro 2008. Hopefully Germany and Joachim Low (3rd sexiest manager in football) send Russia into they playoffs and the Azzurri should secure top spot in group 8. Why Lippi leaves out Cassano, his super stylish speedo, pie loving and Sampdoria-dragging-to-the-top-of-serieA ways is beyond me though. Italy could have one of the most exciting squads in South Africa if Lippi will drop some of the old guard. CoughCamourinesi.

Groups 2 & 3 seem to have few big teams, hence Slovakia all but guarenteed a place, and Northern Ireland still being in the hunt. I mean, what the hell? Greece? Switzerland? Sheesh.

And so to the France/Portugal situation. France are not as good as Serbia at the minute (Go Eastern Bloc!) but Ribery's gallic magic will see em through, and I hope that Denmark and Sweeden put Portugal out in Euro 2004 stylee so that Blatter (dick) and his stupid seedings don't get Team Ronaldo a place. Big weekend in Europe then, all I need is for someone to fill me in on how the 9 second place teams into 8 playoff spots things work and we are good.

And so to South America. Argentina play Peru and then put it on the line against Uruguay. I so hope they get in. Tevez, Aguero and Messi coached by Maradonna is so so so awesomely rad that i would cry if they missed out. They should get in ahead of Uruguay and Ecuador on passion and super skilled tiny attackers value alone, and i don't reckon a playoff against New Zealand, Honduras, Bahrain or like Shrewsbury or something, would be the end of the road. They have to make it through.

And so finally what of Chile. Guarenteed a place pretty much, allthough I couldn't name a player I don't think. Is Salas still involved? Allready they are my dark horse for the tournament.

Oh God next June is going to rule so hard.