Surprised, I was asked after the game? Hardly at all. Our players played huge after a riveting pregame speech by QB Eli Cranor which offered us the possibility of dropping a team that was proclaimed to have been much more superior to us. These guys matched up against 7 German National team players and 6 imported players flawlessly not allowing the German Champs to have anything more than a long TD pass over the head of myself and a fluke TD before halftime in which penalties practically handed them the score. The biggest thing our team had to overcome was playing in front of a magnificently loud North German crowd. Not being able to hear the snap count could have posed a problem for a lesser team, but these savvy football players from Karlstad, Sweden handled it flawlessly by averting to a silent snap count that had never been practiced. After the game the position that was taken by the home team was that their mistakes led to our victory. Quite the contrary is a better version of the truth which can be attested to by about 3,000 Kiel fans. Both teams played spotty at times, but the Carlstad Crusaders were the team that made plays time and time again in crucial situations garnering us the well deserved victory. I am extremely proud of the humble nature of my team who all feel that this victory is one of the greatest international victories in the history of football in Sweden. Lastly, the Kiel organization and fan base are some of the most classy people I've come into contact with. Our travel and accomodations were taken care of by Kiel and they were truly first class, only to be outdone by the Kiel fans chanting of... Cru-sa-ders, Cru-sa-ders, Cru-sa-ders after their team fell at our hands. Classy bunch of folks.Full game report to follow upon returning to Karlstad later this week, along with a preview of the Swedish premiere next Saturday at home with a rematch of last year's Swedish championship between these Carlstad Crusaders and the Tyreso Royal Crowns.
An article retrieved from the Hurricanes official website telling the story of the Crusaders EFL win.
