National title contests have resulted in surprise upsets in Tunisia, Egypt, Oman, Jordan, and Bahrain. Previously unknown teams have finally merged to take on the long-established national teams.
The BBC's Freddie Pell explains, "The new teams have younger players that like a more open, flexible, Western style. Their strategy emphasizes communication, surprise, total offense, and occupying the center. The national teams know only traditional, slow-paced, defensive tactics and they've been unable to adapt.
"Only in Libya have the defending champions shown any enthusiasm, but it's too little too late. The younger team is clearly going to win and it's pointless to take this into overtime."
The world has taken notice of these match-ups and is watching them closely. Even the Americans, normally uninterested in foreign contests, have been seen among the spectators. American representative Buford Gridiron stated, "Normally, we already know which teams we'll have to do business with at the international level, but now we have no idea. It's a very confusing business: Some guys run this way, then they stop, then they run that way, and both teams act like they're winning. I'm having trouble following it all.
"We've just received an analysis of this crazy business from the world's expert, Englishman Bally Oiks, but it will take some time to translate it into American. In the meantime, this kind of business needs a hands-off strategy."