a Chiefpigskin original
  July 21, 2011





The World Championships of American Football just concluded in Austria this weekend with the United States claiming a second straight title. The USA has only participated in the last two championships and won them both. In 2007 the US defeated Japan 23-20 in overtime. If you're like me, you might be thinking, "Well, we should walk away with this all the time." But think about it. Our best players are in the pros or in college. We put together a team of former players and believe it or not there is pretty darn good football out there that the rest of the world is playing. Earlier in the week the Americans got a tough test from Mexico in a 17-7 win. So, yes, football outside the US is growing and getting better. But back to the competition that was held Saturday.

The United States produced a stunning display of offensive fireworks and defensive dominance to humble Canada 50-7 in the Gold Medal game of the 2011 International Federation of American Football Senior World Championship and defend the world title won in Japan in 2007. Incredibly USA scored 21 points and Canada registered seven inside the last 1:51 of the first half.  The defending champion rarely looked likely to lose its grip on the world crown in front of 20,000 partisan fans at the Ernst Happel Stadium in Vienna, Austria.

"We didn't hold anything back," admitted USA head coach Mel Tjeerdsma. "We have only been together for three weeks. I think those extra couple of days, in the group games you played every other day, and for this game we actually had four days to prepare, which is almost like American Football in the U.S. I think that really helped us. " "We are really proud of our players and the preparation they put in. We had some great game plans. Offensively we were very determined, but we didn't feel we put our best effort offensively in the Mexico game. Our offense was ready to play tonight."

"On defense, we struggled to do the things we hoped to do," said Canada coach Larry Haylor. "We hoped to do a little better with possessing the ball. We thought USA had an exceptional defensive line, which caused us a lot of problems. They executed extremely well and full credit to them. "Tonight they were an outstanding team and we just didn't play as well as we wanted to. The experience of it all was an extreme positive. To be the first Canadian team to compete in this tournament was exciting. Graz (one of the host cities) was amazing and our time in Vienna has been equally amazing."

Former Mt. Union standout Nate Kmic, who terrorized defenses with his rushing and receiving skills, was named tournament MVP. "I am just honored," said Kmic. "I did not expect to earn it. I just went out and did my job. That's what all of our guys mind set was to do. But what a great honor it is, a true blessing."

USA head coach Mel Tjeerdsma was named Head Coach of the tournament. As far as All Tournament selections, the USA led the way with 11 first team selections and five players named to the second team, followed by Canada with seven first teamers and two seconds. Mexico had five total all-stars and Japan four, while in the second all-tournament team Germany had five selections, France four and Austria three.

Chiefpigskin would like to congratulate all the countries and players from around the world that participated in this event. In all eight countries qualified for the championships that were held in Austria. USA, Mexico, Japan, Austria, Australia, France, Canada, and Germany were all represented.