FRANCE TO FACE GERMANY IN THE 2010 EUROPEAN CHAMPIONSHIP GOLD MEDAL GAME

FRIDAY, JULY 30 – FRANKFURT, GERMANY – The 2010 European Championship of American Football Gold medal game match up is set as first-time finalist France will face host Germany on Saturday, July 31 with the tournament’s only unbeaten teams entering the game with a 2-0 record.

The European Championship features the top six senior national American football teams – Austria, Finland, France, Germany, Great Britain and Sweden – competing for the 12th EFAF (European Federation of American Football) championship.

The Gold medal game will be held at the Commerzbank-Arena in Frankfurt, Germany kicking off at 7.30pm (CET). The game will be broadcast live on Eurosport 2, which is available in up to ten languages and available through most major TV cable systems. In Germany and Austria the program may be received via Astra satellite, live streaming via IP-TV may be accessed worldwide at http://video.eurosport.de/eurosport-player.

In their opening game of the tournament, France surprised Sweden with a 14-7 victory over the reigning European champions in front of more than 1,100 spectators in Wetzlar, about 70 kilometers in the north of Frankfurt.

France continued their success on Tuesday, July 27 as they faced Great Britain, easily defeating the young GB Lions 50-0 guaranteeing the French a spot in the European Championship Gold medal game.

To see full game recaps visit www.IFAF.org or www.football-em.de.

The European Championship opened in a thrilling manner as host country Germany defeated European rival Austria 22-20 on Saturday, July 24 at the Commerzbank-Arena.

In their second group game, Germany defeated Finland 23-4 on Thursday, July 29 to earn a spot in their fourth consecutive European Championship Gold medal game.

The French national team is led by quarterback Max Sprauel who has been the key to France’s success throughout the tournament, earning MVP honors. Against Great Britain, Sprauel finished the game 23-33 for 305 yards and three touchdowns. In the first game, he passed for 194 total yards including a 50-yard touchdown pass to wide receiver Jeremy Rabot.

In addition to Germany’s usual stifling defense, the European powerhouse will look for quarterback Dennis Zimmermann and wide receiver Dominic Hanselmann – who was named game MVP – to have productive games. In the Finland victory, Zimmermann finished the game with 110 yards and three touchdowns while Hanselmann had 84 total receiving yards including a 5-yard touchdown catch.

Along with a berth in the championship game, Germany and France also secured a place in the 2011 IFAF Senior World Championship in Austria next summer as the top two teams from the European Championship qualify alongside host Austria. They will join qualifiers USA, Mexico, Canada, Australia and either Japan or Korea at the eight-team tournament next summer.

Prior to the Saturday’s Gold medal game, Sweden will take on Austria in the Bronze medal game with both teams entering the game with a 1-1 record.

The former European Champions, Sweden fell to the France in their opening game of the tournament, but bounced back with a 14-2 victory over Great Britain. Austria lost a close battle with Germany to kickoff the tournament but recorded a convincing 30-7 win against Finland.

In the fifth place game, Finland will face Great Britain to start the championship game day on Saturday, July 31 at the Commerzbank-Arena in Frankfurt, Germany.

All games will be featured on a live game ticker that provides play-by-play updates and statistics at the official event website www.football-em.de.

Tournament schedule:

Date	Game	Venue	City	Time
Saturday, 24.07	Germany 22 Austria 20	Commerzbank-Arena	Frankfurt	19:30
Sunday, 25.07	Sweden 7 France 14	Stadium Wetzlar	Wetzlar	16:00
Tuesday, 27.07	France 50 Great Britain 0	Stadium Wetzlar	Wetzlar	16:00
Tuesday, 27.07	Austria 30 Finland 7	Stadium Wetzlar	Wetzlar	19:30
Thursday, 29.07	Sweden 14 Great Britain 2	Brita Arena	Wiesbaden	16:00
Thursday, 29.07	Finland 4 Germany 23	Brita Arena	Wiesbaden	19:30
Saturday, 31.07	5th place Game: Finland vs. Great Britain	Prefield Commerzbank-Arena	Frankfurt	10:00
Saturday, 31.07	Bronze Medal Game: Austria vs. Sweden	Commerzbank-Arena	Frankfurt	16:00
Saturday, 31.07	Gold Medal Game: France vs. Germany	Commerzbank-Arena	Frankfurt	19:30

In its 11-year history, the European Championship has been won five times by Finland (1985, 1993, 1995, 1997, 2000), which included four consecutive titles won between 1993 and 2000. Italy hosted and won the inaugural championship in 1983 and triumphed again in 1987 and is a two-time winner alongside Great Britain, who won back-to-back titles in 1989 and 1991. Germany won its first crown in 2001 and Sweden also won for the first time in 2005.