Team Profiles Kuala Lumpur Shanghai Bangkok Beijing Hong Kong Jakarta Singapore Shanghai Vikings II Kuala Lumpur: KL VIKINGS The KL Vikings are looking forward to this year's tournament in Shanghai. After watching the Shanghai players and fans behaving like true party animals during Viking tournaments in recent years, they truly deserve the honour of organising one on their home turf. We are sure they will deliver a memorable experience for all of us. Shanghai is a bit further away than usual and the weather is also a bit different. It was therefore tough to assemble a proper team that can successfully defend the title that we won last year in Vietnam. But the team that is representing Kuala Lumpur this year are motivated enough to make it four in a row! Only one team has ever done that before: KL!! We would like to thank the tournament sponsors as well as our local sponsors from Malaysia whom without we would have had to break the bank. We wish all players and fans lots of fun and we hope to see you all in Shanghai's nightlife and... in the final :-) TOP Shanghai: Shanghai Vikings The Shanghai Vikings are fired up and ready to get the Cup !!! Bringing the Cup home to Shanghai has always been a second (or rather third priority) - Especially huge overweight charges on flights have made it impossible for us to do this - and we have thus the past couple of years decided to let others have the honour..BUT now.. So we will let KL bring it here, where it belongs and take the Cup this year.. As always horny and in great spirit, The Shanghai Vikings look forward to playing with the fellow Vikings from all over Asia. Especially on our hometurf, we are happy to challenge our fellow Vikings for the Cup. We also have the intention of bringing the most important cup (the beer drinking one..) to Shanghai. We have practised for a year now - and several hangovers later we feel almost ready... Looking forward to yet another great Viking Cup together with you - enjoy and let the best team win, and let that be Shanghai !!! Cheers ! TOP Bangkok: Bangkok Vikings Bangkok Vikings is not only the team with Asia’s coolest football website, but is also one of the founding teams of the Viking Cup and has been participating in every tournament since it started back in the late 80’es. We even manage to win the Cup few times – latest in Manila 2001, where Bangkok took the silverware in both the football tournament and the beer relay. The football has since Manila lacked some quality, but the beer drinking abilities is improving year by year winning in both KL 2004 and Saigon 2005. The Bangkok team has a few veteran Viking Cup players in the squad. The most senior is our American "Scandinavian wanna-be" Mr. Tim Real, who will now be playing his 13th Viking Cup. Furthermore, Mr. Jakob Bergholdt – ex-coach and now residing / retiring in France – has played approx 10 (he can’t remember the exact number due to the Asian "Gin Tonic phenomenon") and Niclas Uddman and Michael Nielsen with 6 Viking Cups respectively. Unfortunately we will this year miss our long time Viking Cup captain Mr. Erling Pakula, who couldn’t make it this year due to "old man injuries". The average age of the Bangkok is a secret, but it is getting dangerously close to the average age of the Jakarta Vikings. However, experience can still make the difference – if not on the pitch, then at least in the beer relay. We look forward to an excellent Viking Cup 2006 in Shanghai and to, once again, hang out with the coolest footballers in Asia! The Bangkok squad in 2006 is: Thomas "Goalie" Frederiksen Goal keeper Michael "Sweeper"Nielsen Defense Jesper "Kaiser" Hansen Defense Terry Boulton Defense Johan "Honey" Arvling Defense Jakob "Jacques" Bergholdt Right Full Back (Defense) Niclas Uddman Midfield Ole "Schacksen" Hansen Midfield Mik Larsen Midfield Keld "C1" Bak Midfield Thomas "Slow mo" Schmidt Midfield Anders "Fisker" Schmidt Striker Tim "Tuna" Real Striker Jesper Kjeldsen Striker Jonas Drewsen Striker TOP Beijing: Beijing Vikings Beijing Vikings are coming into their 3rd Vikings Cup with great hopes of minimum equalling the result of their debut in KL in 2004, where Beijing made a respectable 4th place. The hopes have gone up after a series of good perfomance in the 1st division of International Football Friendship Club - and a qualification for the cup semifinals in the local tournament of some 40-50 teams. Beijing Vikings elected 18 for the Vikings Cup have with one-or two exceptions have won all more than 25 matches for the team, and with 8-9 players having played some 100++ matches for the team we are talking about a group of old friends. The fact of being friends is very significant feature of the team, and outside the pitch the Beijing Vikings are often seen around Beijings restaurant and even more important in Beijing nightlife hotspots like Den and Vics. Rape and Pillage, Beijing Vikings Coach, Michael Jorgensen TOP Hong Kong: Hong Kong Vikings Der har vaeret spillet Viking's fodbold i Hong Kong laenge foer Hong Kong overgik fra engelsk kronkoloni til kinesisk styre, og i perioder - specielt i starten af 1990'erne og nu her de sidste par aar - har Hong Kong Vikings virkeligt sat sit praeg paa tourneringen; det blev til et Cup mesterskab i 1992 og een tredieplads og to andenpladser i loebet af de sidste tre aar. Vi samler mellem 10 og 25 spillere til fodbold i Discovery Bay og oel paa Plaza'et bagefter hver onsdag aften og har derudover en del spillere i Hong Kong's Yau Yee League. Hong Kong Vikings har i flere aar vaeret holdt sammen af vores holdkaptajn Peter Visiti, der nu i loebet af foraaret relokere tilbage til Danmark. Jeg er helt sikker paa, at det ikke er sidste gang vi ser ham, men vil meget gerne paa hele holdets vegne sige Peter tusinde tak for arbejdet og de skide gode stunder paa og uden for banen. Cheers, Hong Kong Vikings Anders Larsen TOP Jakarta: Jakarta Vikings The team was formed in 1989 and was one of the founders of the Jakarta International Football League and has since 1990 participated in the Viking Cup winning it twice. Until 1998 Jakarta Vikings comprised mainly Danes with a few fellow Scandinavians thrown in for good measure although the team always included a few non-Scandinavian players, however, after the collapse of the Indonesian economy the composition has changed with Scandinavians often being a minority. Nevertheless, the spirit of Jakarta Vikings is basically untouched and we are a team that enjoys a good football match and particular enjoy socializing in 3rd half. The team that will participate in the 2006 Shanghai Viking Cup has 8 Over-40 players including 2 that has turned 50 with a team average age of 42 years. Not surprisingly we have the "oldies" in the JIFL and although it shows we can still be handful for even the best team on one of our good days. TOP Singapore: Singapore Vikings Dear hosts in Shanghai and opponent teams from the rest of Asia. We might as well cut to the chase and let you all have it: We are going to Shanghai to give every team a good fight and to win! It has been 3 years since Singapore last won the Viking Cup (also the only time), and we feel it has been long enough. With players in excellent condition, the temperature at reasonable levels and one of our players stoking out the conditions before our arrival, we feel very comfortable going to Shanghai. Despite the disappointment opponent teams will experience, we are sure that with Shanghai Vikings organizing this year's event, we shall all have great time! Looking forward to see new and old faces at Easter in Shanghai! TOP Shanghai Vikings II: Shanghai Vikings II Our team is an extension of the Shanghai Vikings I team. Some new and some old – some good, some better - all of us committed and out to win the Cup. Don’t underestimate the ability, mentality and spirit of this team. Our name has NOTHING to do with the us being the SECOND best Shanghai team, because we are capable of winning this tournament...... or at least the beer competition...... or at least...... or We have been at the Viking Cup before – but we are fast so you might not have noticed us!!! We have travelled from Denmark (well some of us), Australia, Europe and even from Pudong, to participate in the Viking Cup. This team is hot. We are ready to go all the way ! TOP