Fantasy World Cup: It’s time to get serious…

TWO weeks in and the World Cup has already been whittled down to 16 teams with the end of the group stage of matches.

We have seen England splutter their way through to the knockout stages, we have seen Argentina set the pace for the rest to follow and we have said goodbye to the likes of Poland, the Ivory Coast and Iran.

But for all those taking part in the Travel Industry Fantasy World Cup brought to you by Travel Weekly, our sister company DG&G’s Gazetteers Plus and recruitment company C&M Travel Recruitment, it is time to analyse the results, pick out the players in form and get your team ready for the first round of knockout matches set to start this weekend.

Just as Wayne Rooney has appeared from the substitute’s bench to power England into the second round, the World Cup has seen many a starting line up changed by injury, suspension and form.

If you want to stand a chance of being in the top half of the Fantasy League then now is the time to swing the axe and get rid of those players that simply are not scoring you any points or through elimination or suspension won’t be taking any part in the second stage of matches.

To help, Travel Weekly has being doing a bit of number crunching for you and identified those players that have been troubling the scorers with their goals, assists and defensive heroics (check out our separate Players’ vital statistics box, below).

Our publishing schedules mean we are always going to be a day or two behind the fixtures, but these give you an idea of the players in form and the players you should be thinking of having in your team.

To make a player transfer simply go to the Fantasy League website, click on Player Transfer and follow the simple instructions.

Remember you are able to make up to 12 changes to your team through to the end of the tournament.

That breaks down to a possible eight changes in phase one – the group stage – four in phase two – the second round games – and four from the quarter finals onwards.

But whatever team you come up with you can only have two
players from any one country and your team must consist of:

• A goalkeeper
  
• Four defenders
  
• Four midfielders
  
• Two strikers

The first of our many prizes is to be given away this week with the team that finishes top over all after the group stages winning a three-night stay at the five-star Hesperia Alicante Golf Resort and Spa, thanks to Hesperia London Victoria.

The winner will be named next week.

Remember, you can still have your own mini-leagues with friends and colleagues at work. So if you have been slow to be gripped by World Cup fever, get online now.

Those in with a chance of winning overall are in contention for our main overall prize of a seven-day Ocean Village Caribbean cruise, courtesy of Complete Cruise Solutions.

To see the Fantasy World Cup leaderboards and find out how you are getting on click here.

Not only do you have the chance of being crowned World Cup champion, you can win a host of prizes along the way. Thanks to all our industry partners who have offered up a fantastic array of prizes for you to win at each stage of the World Cup.

They are:

Overall winner: our World Cup champion receives a seven-night Ocean Village Caribbean cruise courtesy of Complete Cruise Solutions
Runner-up: seven nights’ all-inclusive accommodation in the Verandah Resort in Antigua, courtesy of Elite Resorts Caribbean
Third place overall: the third-place team will receive a signed Arsenal shirt from Bedswithease.com
Phase One winner: a three-night stay at the five-star Hesperia Alicante Golf Resort and Spa, courtesy of Hesperia London Victoria
Phase Two winner: a crate of champagne or a hot-air balloon ride courtesy of Enjoyengland.com
Phase Three winner: an iPod Nano from Dertour
Beat the editor prize: seven-day car rental from Avis anywhere in Europe. To give you a better chance of winning, we are offering a Beat the Editor prize. A team will be chosen at random from all those that finish higher than Travel Weekly editor Richard Siddle’s team at the end of the competition
Best team name prize: Avis is donating £300 worth of high-street shop vouchers for the best-named team chosen by the organisers.