MEXICO SHUTS OUT SWEDEN TO REACH FINAL FOUR

Mexico produced a confident and effective offensive display to fire their way into the final four of the 2009 IFAF Junior World Championship with a 41-0 defeat of Sweden.

Things went Sweden's way initially when Mexican quarterback Roberto Isaias Vega was intercepted by Swedish defensive back Ville Olsson, but Sweden was unable to capitalize as an unnecessary roughness call brought then back 15 yards abd then Mexico struck.

The Swedes proved to be no match for Mexico, who led through a 15-yard Roberto Isaias Vega touchdown pass to Diego Viamontes and had amassed 20 points by halftime. Swedish defensive lineman Bjorn Elmlund had sacked Vega on a second down play at the 15-yard mark, but the Mexican offense proved too powerful on third down.

Vega ran a score in himself from two yards out after Sweden had turned the ball over on the edge of the end zone then hit wide receiver Viamontes who was wide open in the middle for the first down, leading to a 22-yard David Antonio Aceves field goal. Aceves added a 19-yard field goal to the two extra points he had tagged on earlier.

After a Sweden field goal attempt was blocked, Mexico scored through the air again in the third quarter to underline their dominance with a 29-yard pass from Vega to Sergio Gonzalez. Vega pitched his third touchdown pass of the afternoon in the third quarter when he hit Sergio Gonzalez from 29 yards.

Linebacker Pontus Westman started off the fourth quarter with a sack on the 35-yard line forcing Mexico into a fourth down situation but quarterback Erick Sedano passed to wide receiver Edmundo Ramos for a first down, then running back Davis Alexis Paz took a hand-off and rushed 10 yards to bring Mexico to first and goal.

Mexico then opened an unassailable 34-point lead when Jose Carlos Lozano scored on a four-yard dash.

When Octavio Fernandez came in at quarterback for Mexico, he pitched a 33-yard touchdown pass to Juan Carlos Maya to complete an emphatic victory.


"We were happy with this game and I feel we beat a very good team," said Mexico head coach Ernesto Alfaro del Villar. "This is our first step in this world championship and we hope for more performances like this. "

Wide receiver Maya added: "It was amazing to see the support in the stadium from all the Mexican fans. It is great to see all those people and to win for them."

Sweden head coach Jan Jenmert said: "We built everything on a plan with a camp here and had a great opportunity to play here at this level, but obviously our plan did not work out. "We knew they would score on us and planned for that, but we did not generate anything on offense to overcome that as we had planned to. We need to learn why we were nervous and overcome by the occasion."

JUNIOR WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS
Mexico - Sweden 41:0
(7:0/13:0/7:0/14:0)

Australia, New Zealand, Panama and Bahamas play qualifiers

AUSTRALIA HOSTS NEW ZEALAND; BAHAMAS TRAVELS TO PANAMA FOR

IFAF JUNIOR WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP OF AMERICAN FOOTBALL QUALIFIERS

Saturday, January 24: New Zealand at Australia (5pm local time) / Bahamas at Panama (2.30pm)

WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 21, 2009 – One more nation will qualify for the inaugural 2009 IFAF Junior World Championship of American Football (ages 19 and under) this weekend and one will move a step closer to joining the eight team field that will assemble in Canton, Ohio, USA, this summer.

Two qualifying games will take place on Saturday, January 24, in the Australian capital of Canberra between Australia and New Zealand and in Panama City between Panama and the Bahamas.

Six countries – USA, Canada, Japan, Germany, Sweden and France – have already booked a berth at the summer tournament, which will kick off at Fawcett Stadium at the Pro Football Hall of Fame on June 27 and play through to July 5. They will be joined by either Australia or New Zealand, who meet at the West Belconnen Leagues Club in Holt, a suburb of Canberra, at 5pm local time (1am EST).

Panama and the Bahamas meet at Balboa Stadium in Panama City at 2.30pm local time (2.30pm EST) for the right to then travel to take on Mexico on February 14 for the last remaining qualifying spot at the 2009 IFAF JWC.

“It is testament to the growth of the game of American football internationally that we have such a diverse group of countries from across the world who are determined to compete at the highest level of our sport,” said IFAF President Tommy Wiking. “Only a few years ago it would have been almost unthinkable that these countries would be meeting in qualifiers of such magnitude.”

New Zealand at Australia, Saturday, January 24, 5pm, Canberra: The New Zealand ‘Ironblacks’ triumphed 14-8 over the Australian Junior Outback team the last time the two rival nations met at junior level in 2003.

The 45-man New Zealand squad was selected from a total of 248 players who were invited to attend a series of training camps held to test and assess the country’s junior football talent. A preliminary squad of 80 was invited to two separate trial weekends in October, held in New Zealand’s capital Wellington and in its largest city Auckland, which saw the talented kiwis compete for final selection.

More than 90 of the best young gridiron players in Australia were invited to attend a camp at the country's peak training facility, the Australian Institute of Sport in Canberra. A group of 45 of were then selected to begin a pregame training camp on Tuesday, January 20, under direction of Head Coach John Ludvigson to prepare for the visit of New Zealand.

Bahamas at Panama, Saturday, January 24, 2.30pm, Panama City: The Bahamas will make history by playing the nation’s first-ever junior national team game when a 45-man roster travels to Panama City. Youth players have only been playing organized games under the Bahamas American Football Federation (BAFF) for two seasons and in the fall of 2008 eight community-based high school tackle football teams were established and totaled 320 players. Panama’s last venture into international competition resulted in a 14-6 win over France in the 2007 NFL Global Junior Championship in South Florida.

Visit the official 2009 IFAF Junior World Championship website at www.JWCFootball.com