EFAF Cup: Europe Loses in the Quarters 161:20

---translated from www.aflcrush.com---
While many feel that the rest of Europe may be catching up to the traditional quality of play in Austria, this weekend's results show that Austria may again be a few steps ahead of the rest of the continent. The Austrians won all their games this weekend by a considerable margin, however one must not jump too quickly to this conclusion as several games have yet to be played. However, if the EFAF Cup plays out as shown, 3 of the 4 semifinalists will come from the Alpine Republic.

Danube Dragons 84:00 Wroclaw The Crew (Poland)
A practice session. It does not do the game justice any further to write more. The Dragons fulfilled their role and won their prelude play without any problems. They used exclusively reserve players in the second half and got much needed experience to Thomas Haider at QB and Herbie Klackl at RB (with 1 TD!). Finally the question arises, did Poland enter the EFAF Cup a bit too prematurely? On one hand it is pleasing that the tournament is attractive to Poland and that they want to participate, on the other hand it may not necessarily help Polish football grow.

Next step for the Dragons is a trip to Prague to take on the Panthers, who also shutout the Crew with a score of 53:00.

Carinthian Black Lions 39:20 Badalona Dracs (Spain)
The Lions are happy to be outside of the AFL and into international play. Though they have been humiliated in league play, in competition with other nations their outlook is completely opposite. The Badalona Dracs is a team with much international experience on the European level, but it was not enough for them this year. The Lions focused on mistake-free football and won the game very handily.

The next step for the Lions is a trip to Parma, Italy where they will take John Grisham's Playing for Pizza squad, the Parma Panthers. Parma is currently 1-1 in Italy and should be a considerable opponent for the Carinthian.

Cineplexx Blue Devils 38:00 Bern Grizzlies (Switzerland)
The Devils struck their Swiss opponent 38:0, against whom they must replay on May 10th. Though the offense saw some struggles under interim QB Paul Troth, the defense made a very strong impression, holding the Griz to less than 30yards in the first half, and stifling each drive clearly and quickly throughout the game. Unless something dramatic happens, the Devils should easily move on to the semifinals to play the winner of the Carinthian/Parma matchup in May.