PGI Article

There was a point, even before we arrived in Nuremburg to film Euroball III, when I got the feeling it was going to be a weird trip. The producer, two cameramen and myself were on a travelator in a dark transfer corridor between departure gates somewhere in Frankfurt airport. And to make this more of an event, the airport had thoughtfully set up numerous little spotlights which sent gently pulsating beams of pink and green light along the walls. Tinkling ambient music was piped in above our heads, and as we were slowly carried towards the bright circle of light at the end of the tunnel I had a really unpleasant feeling that I was in fact being delivered via some kind of new age birthing ceremony. With thirty or so German commuters for company. The weekend that would follow would be only marginally less bizarre…

We’d agreed to film Euroball III while putting together the first ‘Pressure’ DVD, for the Euro 5-man tournament. As with Euro 5-man my role would be to direct the documentary side of the production and then write the screenplay, while the producer would be managing filming of the games themselves, as well as production of the project as a whole.

And what a whole it is. Euroball is huge- a final blow-out to the tournament season boasting four leagues, a separate ‘double trouble’ tournament, go-go dancers, a fixation with the music of 2unlimited, and an insane amount of teams.

Too many, in fact. Everyone knew that the numbers involved were unprecedented for a European tournament (120 at the last count, and there’s probably a couple still waiting to play their final prelim match as I write this, eight weeks down the line), and there were mutterings about the logistics of getting through 12 games per team even as we were filming players walking the fields. But as soon as the fixtures arrived, mutterings turned into outcries, as teams realised they were going to have to endure up to ten hour breaks between matches. This would turn out to absolutely ideal if your favourite pastime was trying to fall asleep on a wooden bench with an angel for a pillow.

More or less the first person I interview as the games proper kick off on the Saturday morning is Marcus from Cologne Predators, and he happens to mention he’s looking forward to playing his old team-mate Johan in the Backlash game. This is gold as far as I’m concerned, and I latch onto it straight away. Instead of ten guys in masks firing at one another for the hell of it, it’s this guy firing at this guy because this happened. Backstories provide a drama for the audience beyond the action of the game itself and as soon as we wrap up the interview I get on the walkie-talkie to the producer and confirm I want this game filming. Then it’s just a matter of getting Johan’s point of view on the game, filming some post-match chat between the two of them, and I’ve got a story in the can. Simple!

Before the morning is out I’ve also met Frank from rated German outfit Syndicate. He talks about the value of every player on the team being able to play every position, a suggestion my soccer radar straight away latches onto as similar to the idea of ‘total football’ (and interestingly, this is not the only time Syndicate will provide a quote that draws parallels with the ‘other’ beautiful game) and agrees to commentate on a couple of games for us. On the way to the first of these, which is Syndicate vs. Backlash, he takes me through the operations he’s recently had on his leg. It sounds like the bit in ‘Six Million Dollar Man’s intro where the surgeons crowd round Lee Majors .

Frank commentates on two Syndicate games for us and the first one, against Backlash, is a treat. Syndicate move fast and make ambitious, positive breaks that favour movement over paint. They move, then sit, then move, then sit, in definite cycles, and although Backlash are no slouches Synidcate make them look static. It almost seems unfair when they’re slowly picked off by the volume and accuracy of the Backlash paint. I say thanks to Frank hoping that his team won’t decide to play more defensively after this defeat...

I pretty much meet P.I.M.P. straight after. They’re a good team - fun to watch, with constant movement and strong cover from their back markers. We’d go on to interview P.I.M.P a number of times over the course of Euroball’s duration - talking about what a slave driver their captain is, trying to flirt with my camerawoman, pissing themselves because they’ve just beaten another pro team who played lazy against them, shouting us over so they can outline a move they’ve just invented two minutes before going on the pitch. They’ve no long-term strategy or plans to speak of, no sponsors to please, or reputation to protect, and they make the tournament a lot more fun.

While P.I.M.P are just starting out together, Tony Perez has been playing for years, but the two share an enthusiasm and excitement that comes across on film. Tony’s moonlighting from Avalanche for Warped Sports and the highlight of Sunday is when we film his proposed move for the finals. As part of a continuous commentary that really gets the hairs on the back of my neck standing up he even covers what will be going through his opponents’ minds when his back player takes one of them out. And straight away he’s made me give a damn about what he’s saying by bringing out the way it feels. This is why the Americans are good value – everything is personal. And Tony’s run-through is spectacular in any case- a timed crawl down the outside of a tape snake that ends with a leap over it way past the 50. “We’ve got to film their next game!” my camerawoman tells me breathlessly… As before, I run off down the corridors of the stadium (which are just like the ones in ‘The Shining’ but for skateboarding Germans) to look for the producer and get the cameras to film the game.

Come the finals it’s Syndicate vs Camp Tigers for a best of three to claim the pro title. The first game ties, with neither team giving an inch of ground to the other. Through a combination of watertight defending and impeccably inched advances, Syndicate edge it in the second game, holding onto this advantage with a draw in the third to win overall. Interviewing Frank post-match, he confirms Syndicate’s conscious decision to protect their lead, and in so doing shows the team’s willingness to adapt in the light of their earlier positive play, as well as providing a parallel with the legendary 1-0 skills of their national football side.

And that was it. Pressure had found the stories of the tournament in Syndicate and a resurgent Swedish showing, with Powertrip, FL Charms and Evil Swedes all making their mark alongside P.I.M.P. Now to write the script!