Berlin vs Sydney; 15th July 3AM BST/4AM CEST

FINAL

CS:S

FZA

FIFA

DOAF

DOAM

SCORE

Berlin Allianz

9

5

2

5

5

26

Sydney Underground

10

2

1

1

0

14

The first game of the Championship Gaming Series World Finals kicks off in style with the European continental Champions, the Berlin Allianz, taking on the Pan Asia Champions, Sydney Underground.

Before I give a rundown on how these teams match up I’d like to say with regrets we’ll have no on-site coverage of this match, my flight lands just too late for me to make it to the studios on time. However our writers at home will be providing live updates and as usual you can enjoy the outstanding live blogging of Mike Luxion over at the Championship Gaming Series website. Normal service will resume the next day as we bring you photos, interviews, results and live blogging on site in Los Angeles.

Let's take at look at both team's recent results;

These results tell us little. With standards of competition varying so much region to region we need to dissolve this matchup into every single game, and it’s once we do this Berlin emerge as clear favourites.

Berlin’s Forza motorsport 2 racers managed to salvage some pride for Europe in the individual finals on Saturday, securing Forza as the only game the American’s didn’t win. Right now they look like the best two racers in the world. Standing in their way will be Sydney’s much praised racers, whom despite being among the top of the pack in raw speed, their teamwork has sometimes left much to be desired. Anything less than a win here for Berlin will be a crushing blow to Jonas Alsaker-Vikan, who has gotten accustomed to seeing his racers perform this season.

If there was a match during the individual finals that was unfair it was Rostyslav "Manyna" Nedoviz’s loss to Eafra on penalties. Despite having the majority of the chances in the game, he failed to score and the nature of penalties is at best random. However, he remains undefeated in CGS franchise games, a statistic few other current CGS FIFA players can claim. Sydney’s Harout "haroutig10" Atachparian on the other hand comes into this match without a win during the entirety of the 2008 season, over 7 games. I can’t see tomorrow’s match bucking the trend.

Sydney celebrate the Pan-Asia finals win, they'll be looking for a repeat tomorrow. Photo courtesy of theCGS.com

Counter-Strike: Source is by far and far away the most intriguing match of the night. Berlin coming into this match winless in 08, the new roster consisting of Swedish and Dutch isn’t paying off, yet. I had the chance to talk to David Olander after the European final defeat at the hands of Salvo and he gave me the line, “We know what is broken and we know how to fix it, it’s only a matter of time,” promising. Sydney come into the game after a strong run against the best of Pan Asia, yet a 12-6 defeat at the hands of Birmingham Salvo show they can’t compete with the best in Europe, don’t read too much into this result though, as it’s the exact same score line suffered by Allianz in the European final. I’m expecting a very close back and forward match, emerging in Berlin’s favour. They’ve had over 2 weeks to sort out any issues and General Manager of the Allianz Jonas Alsaker-Vikan simply responded “yes” when I asked that very question.

Dead or Alive looks to be tense affair on both fronts, Berlin’s heavily improved Livia "Liefje" Teernstra taking on formidable Eileen Bell in a match with little to go on. One thing you can judge at face value is that both players have faced (and lost) against Salvo’s Sarah Lou, Teernstra getting two rounds more than Bell did in the individual championships. I think Eileen has the edge going into the game but if Liefje can continue her stunning run of on-stage performances she can do very well to minimize the damage or cause an upset.

The male side of things looks to be a bit easier to call; Rudolph “THE_TACTICAL” Fischer will have ten times more determination after his defeat in the Individual Championships. His opponent is Bezerk who despite plenty of wins in the Pan-Asia championships has seemed to struggle greatly against the higher class fighters. Fischer is one of them and I’m expecting a relatively simple win from the native Berliner.

Goodeh's Predictions

FINAL

CS:S

FZA

FIFA

DOAF

DOAM

SCORE

Berlin Allianz

10

5

2

4

5

26

Sydney Underground

8

2

0

5

2

17

Overall the match seems set to go Berlin’s way, yet overconfidence can prove fatal, and is something Alsasker Vikan won’t let happen. Cadred caught up with him for a few words.

Jonas Alsaker-Vikan hopes to be all smiles tomorrow.
Photo Courtesy of theCGS.com

How has the team’s practice regime been going in the run-up to your first world final game, have you made any changes in preparation for Sydney?

The players are expected to improve from the last game against Birmingham - some had a great day on the job while others did not and that is natural in a sport where we have ten individuals in four different divisions (games).

What can your Forza duo do to keep the good form which saw them win the individual finals?

By staying true to what enabled them to be at their best when they needed to: Their practice regiment - and obviously avoid big headedness but I do not see that happening at they learned humility last season.

How much will the wins and losses for your player(s) in the individuals affect the match tomorrow?

The individual competition is a different animal - a bonus for the players but it is not theirs nor main focus - however they are notoriously bad losers so I should think it serves as an incentive to seek redemption tomorrow (for Manyna and The Tactical)

Best of luck!

Ben Woodward offers Cadred his expert opinion. Photo Courtesy of theCGS.com

Expert Opinion: Ben Woodward

For every game we'll be getting the opinion of a Championship Gaming Series expert. Today's prediction is by none other than Ben Woodward, General Manager of the London Mint who narrowly missed out on the World Finals in the wild card final. He predicted a far closer game than myself, giving Sydney the edge in Counter-Strike: Source.

Stay tuned every day to Cadred.org for your Championship Gaming Series World Finals coverage!

FINAL

CS:S

FZA

FIFA

DOAF

DOAM

SCORE

Berlin Allianz

7

4

3

4

5

23

Sydney Underground

11

3

0

5

3

22