With the start of the London Colney Region second round, our Round of 32 is fully underway. Gone from the tournament but not forgotten are Robin van Persie, Paul Merson, William Gallas, Marc Overmars, Emmanuel Eboué, Wojciech Szczesny, Lauren Etame-Mayer, and Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain.

Make sure to vote in the the Emirates Region, Highbury Region, and Hale End Region second rounds. David Seaman and Cesc Fabregas are separated by 10 votes in the Emirates Region. Martin Keown and Tomas Rosicky only by three in the Highbury Region.

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LONDON COLNEY REGIONAL

SECOND ROUND

#1 Patrick Vieira vs. #8 Theo Walcott

Patrick Vierira won the lowest percentage of votes among the #1 seeds in the tournament (89% compared to 97% or higher), but I suspect that had more to do with his opponent than him. People seem to like Robin van Persie and not be nearly as upset with him for the way in which he left the club as compared to the other #16 seeds. Theo Walcott picked up a respectable 62% of the votes in his matchup with Paul Merson but faces a much sterner test with this one. Can Fee-OH pull off the upset?

#4 Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang vs. #5 Steve Bould

Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang is one of my dark-horse candidates to win it all. In the first round, he handily defeated Marc Overmars, who may have been the most-underseeded player in the tournament. Aubameyang is one of only three current Arsenal players still in the running, along with Mesut Özil and Hector Bellerin. Steve Bould cruised to a 94%-6% victory over William Gallas. The Arsenal coaching staff had a strong first round showing — Mikel Arteta and Freddie Ljungberg won their matchups as well.

#3 Robert Pires vs. #11 Mathieu Flamini

Robert Pires smashed Wojciech Szczesny in the first round, 94%-6%; I thought that one would be closer, not a nail-biter but definitely not a blowout. [Sports Talking Head Voice] “Is it time to take Pires seriously as a title contender?” The Mathieu Flamini-Emmanuel Eboué matchup was a classic mid-major vs. middle-of-a-power-conference team. Flamini, the mid-major, is actually good, and Eboué got in on name recognition more than talent. Flamini, along with Nacho Monreal, is the lowest remaining seed in the tournament and will have his hands full with Pires. I think his Cinderella run ends here. At least he’ll be able to wipe away the tears with his billions of dollars.

#2 Ray Parlour vs. #10 Andrey Arshavin

I’m never going to tire of writing Ray Parlour’s nickname, The Romford Pele; it’s a fantastic moniker. Parlour picked up 87% of the votes over The Ox (not a bad nickname pairing). I’ll admit, I didn’t expect Andrey Arshavin to beat Lauren, an Invincible. For most of last week, it looked as if I would be correct. But Arshavin put on a late surge in the voting, earning him the slimmest margin of victory in the round (6 votes) and narrowly eclipsing Kolo Touré’s 8-vote margin. Who will win this Battle of the Blondes?

Here is the overall bracket, for reference.