Paul O’Donovan Rossa (Captain)
Paul’s love and passion for table soccer began in 1971 on joining the Surrey County Club in England. By 1979 he had won the English Youth Cup, the English National League twice, the English Cup, the British Championship and captained England. During this time, Paul served on the English Table Soccer Association Committee, edited the national newsletter The Blue, and served as the European Table Soccer Federation Rules Secretary. Embracing modern rules and equipment 30 years later, Paul was 2017 US Veterans champion, and in Gibraltar will represent the US in a FISTF World Cup for the sixth time. As captain of the national team since 2015, he encourages interested US players of all ages to step onto the big stage by championing self-improvement of performance and mindset, and team work.
Peter Alegi
Born and raised in Rome, Italy, Peter participated in two Guerin Subbuteo nationals (juniors category) before moving in the mid-1980s to the United States—a Kalahari of soccer and Subbuteo at the time. After a long hiatus, he returned to playing competitively in 2011 in Michigan, where he became a founding member of Grand Rapids TSC. Peter’s notable results are two FISTF Satellite titles, third place in the 2017 American Subbuteo National League, and a #3 US ranking in 2017-18. The first US player to participate in a WASPA “Test Match” in Africa, Peter is representing the US at the World Cup for the second time.
Bryan Arnold
Bryan began playing Subbuteo as a 10-year old but got back into playing more seriously in 2014 at the age of 43. Since then, he’s become passionate about the sport, tallying 350 games around the US including tournaments in Michigan, Florida, Pennsylvania, Virginia, Maryland, Colorado, and California. Bryan’s most memorable match was his first barrage win at the 2017 Maryland FISTF Grand Prix, scoring the winning goal in sudden death as time ran out. Bryan aims to acquit himself well at the World Cup, and to collect powerful insights and experience from playing against the world’s greatest international players.
Daniel Cranston
Daniel was introduced to Subbuteo at age 14 at Paul Eyes’ famous school club in Maryland. He has been the US National champion four times, most recently in 2017 and 2018, and played in every ASA National championship since 2005. Winner of the 2017 Washington D.C. FISTF Grand Prix and International Open, Dan is currently 100th in the FISTF world rankings and 9th in the WASPA world rankings. Internationally, he is a member of the Italian club Black Rose Roma ‘98 and has competed in Italy’s Serie B National Team Championships the past two seasons. The 2018 World Cup in Gibraltar will be Dan’s fifth appearance for the US national team, as he pushes to break through against the world’s best players.
Christian Filippella
Christian became the best player in Italy in the mid-1990s, winning the National Championship, three Italian Masters and a Super Master. He represented Italy at the 1994 World Cup in Paris and the Euro ‘96 Cup at Wembley, placing third in both events. He won what is now called the Grand Prix in Reggio Emilia and the 1994 Grand Prix of Spain in both the Espoir and Open categories. With his club Benevento, he placed second, twice, in Italy’s Serie A championship. After playing very little from 1998, living now in California, he took up the sport again in 2015. Since then, he has won both the Messina FISTF IO and the US Nationals in 2016, and the WASPA World Cup in 2018. The Gibraltar tournament will be the third time Christian has proudly represented the US Team at the World Cup.
