This week, two massive TF2 nations will go face to face and compete for a spot in ESL's Nations Cup lower bracket Final.

Germany

With over 50 registered league and cup teams, Germany has a very active, competitive and proud TF2 background, who would like nothing more than to take down United Kingdom in what could be TF2's biggest match to date. In contrast to this, the great summer in Germany has been causing endless problems for the team, who could consider themselves lucky, after narrowly scraping past a surprising Poland side, relying on their strongest map pro_granary to clinch the semi-final spot.

Interview with Team Germany Captain, Marco “mvp.” Wichmann

Germany has been renowned for its huge player base and its highly competitive nature, how have you found narrowing down your team to a maximum of twelve players?

"Germany really is one of the biggest TF2 countries in Europe, so it wasn't easy to get the best of each class together. I focused on the experience, to get players together that were used to playing against international (top) teams. The next step was to invite some promising players to praccies to finally find out who's worth being in the team."

Obviously, a match up vs the United Kingdom will always have some added spice to it, regardless of the game or sport, how do you feel your players will handle the pressure of playing a semi final match against the United Kingdom?

"Ever since there's been competitions, Germany and the United Kingdom have been big opponents. Of course eSports is no exception. I have played against the UK in different games, and it's always been nice and exciting matches. Every player involved will be under pressure, because theres a lot of prestige to gain. I expect nothing else than a great match!"

A leader for any team or nation will always come across challenges, what has been the biggest challenge for Team Germany so far?

"Hmmm.. Hard to say. Some would say the match against Finland was the biggest challenge, or the upcoming clash against the UK, but in my opinion its the comments after the matches. Germany is famous for being very critical, which is in fact nothing wrong or bad, but some guys just wait for our team to loose or make a mistake. On the one hand its a bit frustrating, on the other hand its motivating.. It's a two-edged affair."

Captain

Marco “mvp.” Wichmann (Fracture)

Organisation

Falko “Falko” Steinbrich (Doppelnullen)
Lars “rook” Reinecke (plan-B)

Squad

Moritz “ Bas1c” Gutowski (from it's a farm)
Jan “ Deadeye” Hammer (Soldiers @ Work)
Christian “ mosepose” Geiermann (n2o)
Martin “GenerationQ” Hecker (plan-B)
David “Inqui” Funk (currently clanless)
Phil “phL” Körner (The Last Resort)
Matt “ psy” Rauber (Soldiers @ Work)
Patrick “Puschen” Blöbaum (plan-B)
Christian “Riemu” Hofmann (currently clanless)
Robert “RobG” Galetzka (Doppelnullen)
Matthias “zerox” Kühl (Fracture)

Story so far.. win vs (2-0), loss vs (0-2), win vs (2-1).

United Kingdom

The UK's competitive scene has always been lacking, for a long time only two teams were anywhere near the top, The Last Resort & Weapons of the Rebellion, however, the last month or two has seen teams such as Dead Cows Strike Back and Knights break in to the top tier. Whilst there are plenty of new teams spawning, barely any of them have the experience to compete at the high standards the ESL Nations Cup has set. In spite of these daunting facts, Team UK have come up with a very strong side and have already proven themselves in both practice matches and officials, the only loss being vs competition favorites Finland and even then, it took the Scandinavians three maps to finish the job.

Interview with Team United Kingdom joint captain, Jim "Xman" Maguire

In contrast to Germany, the United Kingdom has a tiny pool of competitive teams to pick it's players from, has this put any extra pressure on bringing in the right people for the job?

"The UK although very competitive, hasn't got a massive pool of high level teams to recruit players from. There are several teams breaking through but luckily the players that we have are some of the best players around. We have selected players from Weapons of the Rebellion, 4Kings, The Last Resort and Knights to represent us and as we hoped they are doing a great job playing for their nation."

Obviously, a match up vs Germany will always have some added spice to it, regardless of the game or sport, how do you feel your players will handle the pressure of playing a semi final match against the Germans?

"What can I say? UK v Germany - its always going to be competitive, two good teams going head to head to represent their nation. What more can you ask for? Germany are a solid team but I think that the last couple of games have seen Team UK work better as a team with a class game against France which has prepared us for the next round vs Germany and hopefully Sweden in the round after."

A leader for any team or nation will always come across challenges, what has been the biggest challenge for Team UK so far?

"I would say the biggest challenge we have come across so far would be adapting to each others game style, however with fantastic input from each of the clans that represent Team UK things are coming together and I cant wait to see what this team is actually capable of. I'm really looking forward to our next game and I'm sure that Germany will give as good as they get. Good luck! "

Captains

Rob “Wlv.” Rendle (The Last Resort)
Jim “Xman Maguire (Weapons of the Rebellion)

Squad

John “Abomination” Harrison (4Kings)
Keith “AcidRenix” Nichols (The Last Resort)
Kirk “AppZ” Preston (Weapons of the Rebellion)
Ahmad “Byte” Fansa (Weapons of the Rebellion)
Duncan “Dunc” Wraight (Knights)
Paul “Evil” Doyle (Weapons of the Rebellion)
Nigel “Stealthy” Manson (Weapons of the Rebellion)
Neil “TopGear” Partridge (Weapons of the Rebellion)
Andrew “Wai” Waite (The Last Resort)

Story so far.. loss vs (1-2), win vs (2-0), win vs (2-0).


Kick Off: 22:00CET (21:00BST), SourceTV: bcast06.blank-TV.de:50000 (500+ Slots)
Maps: ctf_turbine & cp_pro_granary

Related Links:
ESL Nations Cup Elimination Brackets
ESL Nations Cup
ESL Match Details Page