MELBOURNE, Fla. (Men’s Soccer) – Former Florida Tech Panthers Timothy McRae, Ryan Moon and Sam Ormsby were casted for a video promoting the 2012 UEFA European Football Championship, called The Fire Within. The tournament began Friday morning with a match between Poland and Greece and it concludes July 1.

McRae, Moon and Ormsby can be seen several times in a behind the scenes video, accessible by clicking on the "Play Video" button to the right. Moon and Ormsby make their debut two seconds into the video. At that point, both are the last two players walking onto the field. McRae can first be seen at the 22-second mark. Clips from the video may be used as footage throughout the tournament on televised matches.

ESPN’s Creative Content Unit and Emerging Technology group worked with Victory Pictures — the production company behind ESPN’s themed Monday Night Football and FIFA World Cup 2010 opens — as well as a group of staff and students from Full Sail University in Winter Park., Fla., to produce the opening video.

In early May, a crew of nearly 50 people, including four stuntmen and a group of semi-pro players, were involved in filming the creative elements at a soccer complex in Sanford, Fla. ESPN analyst Taylor Twellman was also brought in to lend his expertise. The shoots took place from 6 p.m. to 6 a.m. over three nights.

McRae played for FIT in 2009, scoring three goals and giving out an assist. One of his goals, scored in the 99th minute of overtime, propelled FIT into the SSC Tournament. Moon and Ormsby both played for three seasons from 2008-10. Moon concluded his senior campaign by netting his first four goals and recording his first two assists of his Panther career. Ormsby, meanwhile, found the back of the net four times and contributed seven assists in three seasons.  

UEFA, or Union of European Football Associations, is the governing body of soccer in Europe. It sponsors the European Football Championship, commonly referred to as Euro, every four years.

Sixteen teams are vying for the 2012 cup. They include: Croatia, Czech Republic, Denmark, England, France, Germany, Greece, Italy, Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Republic of Ireland, Russia, defending champion Spain, Sweden and Ukraine. Poland and Ukraine are co-hosting this year’s tournament. The winner of the tournament will qualify for the 2013 FIFA Confederations Cup, hosted by Brazil.

ESPN will televise 22 Euro matches and nine matches can be seen on ESPN2. All 31 matches will be carried on ESPN Deportes.