The 15th Mosconi Cup is only days away now and enthusiasm is running high with both teams keen to better the current scoreline which stands at 10½ wins for the US and 3½ wins for Europe. The 2006 edition ended in a 12-12 draw.

The 2008 PartyPoker.com Mosconi Cup will be staged at the Hilton Conference Centre in Portomaso between December 11 and 14, an event which features two five-man teams playing a series of singles and doubles matches over four days.

The USA Team will be made up of Rodney Morris, Shane van Boening, Earl Strickland, Jeremy Jones and Johnny Archer.

Mika Immonen (Finland), Neils Feijen (Holland), Ralf Souquet (Germany), Mark Gray (England) and Tony Drago (Malta) make up what looks to be one of the strongest European teams contesting the Mosconi Cup in recent years.

The latest news on the Mosconi Cup concerns the two men who will lead the teams at the Portomaso challenge. Dutchman Alex Lely has been appointed the captain of the European team while Nick Varner will be the captain of the American team.

Possibly the Mosconi Cup is the only pool event where the role of a team captain is a non-playing one. Since the early days of the event each team had a captain but it was always one of the players.

As the event grew bigger and there was increased pressure, non-playing captains were introduced for the first time in Las Vegas in 2003.

Varner, 60, has participated in four editions of the Mosconi Cup. Lely, 34, has been in the Europe team twice but has never won the Cup yet.

Online ticket booking is available on www.maltacup.org/mosconi, the official website of the Mosconi Cup.

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