Groups D & E

CMR becomes the first team eliminated from the Group Stage while NED is the first to qualify.  Here are the scenarios (Group E is the clearest path thus far):

======================
Group D       
    P W L D F A GD Pts
GHA 2 1-0-1 2 1  1  4
GER 2 1-1-0 4 1  3  3
SRB 2 1-1-0 1 1  0  3
AUS 2 0-1-1 1 5 -4  1
       
***Group D Scenarios
~REMAIN: GHA-GER, SRB-AUS
~NOTE: GER>AUS, SRB>GER, GHA>SRB, GHA=AUS
y-GHA W or T&SRB T/L
y-GER W&SRB T/L or (GD/GF/HH) W&SRB W
y-SRB W&GHA T or (GD/GF/HH) W&GER W
x-GHA W/T or (GD/GF/HH) L&SRB T or (GD/GF/DL) L&AUS W
x-GER W or T&SRB T or (GF/HH) T&AUS W7-
x-SRB W or T&GER L or (GD/GF/HH) T&GHA L or (GD/GF/HH) T&GER T
x-AUS W&GER L or (GF/HH) W7+&GER T

======================
Group E       
      P W L D F A GD Pts
x-NED 2 2-0-0 3 0  3  6 
  JPN 2 1-1-0 1 1  0  3
  DEN 2 1-1-0 2 3 -1  3
z-CMR 2 0-2-0 1 3 -2  0 

***Group D Scenarios
~REMAIN: CMR-NED, DEN-JPN
~NOTE: NED>DEN, NED>JPN
y-NED W/T or L&JPN-DEN T or (GD/GF/HH) L&JPNorDEN W
y-(GD/GF/HH) JPN W&NED L
y-(GD/GF/HH) DEN W&NED L
x-JPN W/T
x-DEN W

No Home Field Advantage

African nations have won just 1 of 11 matches thus far with CMR's loss to DEN.  The vuvuzelas aren't helping.  Standings & Results have been updated.  Corner Kick Kid and Forza Pazza have joined Big Tex on top with 13 points.

Nice Effort!

Two of my favorite teams played today, with Japan holding their own against Holland in losing 1-0 and the Socceroos tying Ghana 1-1 despite playing with 10 men most of the match.  Both Ghana goals have been PKs.

Sam's Latest Pando! or Gordo?

Just six days after praising the refs he has made a 180 thanks to a card-happy ref  in GER-SRB and inconsistent and poor ref in USA-SLV.  Read the latest which I have titled "Hold Your Man!"....

Big Tex Biggest!

Standings are updated and with one non-tie today (first time we had a tie since Tuesday), Big Tex moves into sole position of first with 12 points as one of only 9 to pick Serbia.  Nine people who un-American-like picked Slovenia missed a chance with a point.  Tomorrow will be interesting as we have two split games (AUS-GHA and CMR-DEN) along with no one, I mean no one picking Japan over Holland.

Refs in Spotlight

In the first match, the ref took out his yellow card as if they were meal tickets, including GER's Miraslov Klose getting two cards for a benign and harmless tackle in the first half.  His two were part of 6 given out by the ref in the first half with Serbia immediately taking advantage for a 1-0 lead.  Germany still had their chances and missed a PK after SRB once again committed an extremely dumb handball, with Nemanja Vidic reaching out as if it was a football passed to him.  That's SRB's second such incident... are these really FOOTBALL players, not FUTBOL players?

The USA once again allowed an early goal and another defensive lapse put them down 2-0.  But a great goal by Landon to start the second half (well, if he didn't roof it, he would've taken out the head of the SLV GK) and great half-volley by Bradley tied the score.  Unfortunately, the ref interjected himself with questionable calls all game (including one favoring the US, when Dempsey was spared a card in the first minute) with the biggest one being the phantom foul called on the US's 3rd goal.  Unlike in baseball when umpire Jim Joyce immediately acknowledged his mistake, FIFA doesn't allow its referees to comment.  Upon looking at it, nearly every USA player was grabbed in the box.  But the USA still showed a lot o heart, but next time, let's score first for once.  The ref did do the USA a favor, though, giving Findley a phantom yellow card which means he'll miss the next game.  Thank you!  This tie was the first tie in 9 matches (CIV-POR).

The USA chances got even better with England's lackluster effort in a scoreless draw with Algeria.  Now, with if USA wins, they're in.  Even a tie is a possibility.  Here are the Group C scenarios:

Group C       
    P W L D F A GD Pts
SVN 2 1-0-1 3 2  1  4
USA 2 0-0-2 3 3  0  2
ENG 2 0-0-2 1 1  0  2
ALG 2 0-1-1 0 1 -1  1

***Group C Scenarios
~REMAIN: SVN-ENG, USA-ALG
~NOTE: ENG=USA, ENG=ALG, SVN=USA
y-SVN W or (GD/GF/DL) T&USA W
y-(GD/GF/DL) USA W&SVN T/L
y-ENG W&USA L/T or (GD/GF/DL) ENG W&USA W
x-SVN W/T or L&USA T/L
x-USA W or (GF/DL) T&ENG T
x-ENG W or (GF/DL) T&USA T
x-ALG W&ENG T/L or (GD/GF/HH) W&ENG W

Shakeup in Standings

Mexico and Greece's wins allowed Big Tex and Forza Pazza to form a 4-way tie for first with Corner Kick Kid and Dime 23, replacing LeftyRodriguez and Rivas who are now part of a 10-way tie for 5th.

France gives up... again

Ah, the French.  I picked the 1998 World Cup (the only one to do so), picked them to repeat in 2002 only to see them succumb to lowly Senegal and quit the rest of the way, and need them to win the 2006 World Cup to finish 3rd (darm that ZZ!).  But once again, France faltered and quit in the end (when have the French NOT quit?).  So bad that not even Thierry Henry made it into the game.  Hope Henry can crack the NY Red Bulls starting lineup.

In Groups A & B, all eight teams are still alive and no one has advanced yet.  Here are the Group A & B scenarios:

[GROUP STANDINGS]
Group A      
    P W L D F A GD Pts
URU 2 1-0-1 3 0  3  4
MEX 2 1-0-1 3 1  2  4
FRA 2 0-1-1 0 2 -2  1
RSA 2 0-1-1 1 4 -3  1

***Group A Scenarios
~REMAIN: URU-MEX, RSA-FRA
~NOTE: MEX>FRA, URU=FRA, RSA=MEX, URU>RSA
y-URU W/T
y-MEX W
x-URU W/T or L&RSA-FRA T or (GD/GF/HH) L&RSA W or (GD/GF/DL) L&FRA W
x-MEX W/T or L&RSA-FRA T or (GD/GF/HH) L&FRA W or (GD/GF/DL) L&RSA W
x-(GD/GF/HH) FRA W&MEX L or (GD/GF/DL) W&URU L
x-(GD/GF/HH) RSA W&URU L or (GD/GF/DL) W&MEX L

======================
Group B      
    P W L D F A GD Pts
ARG 2 2-0-0 5 1  4  6
KOR 2 1-1-0 3 4 -1  3
GRE 2 1-1-0 2 3 -1  3
NGA 2 0-2-0 1 3 -2  0

***Group B Scenarios
~REMAIN: NGA-KOR, GRE-ARG
~NOTE: ARG>KOR, KOR>GRE, GRE>NGA
y-ARG W/T or (GD/GF/HH) L
y-(GD/GF/HH) KOR W&ARG L
y-GRE W3+&KOR L/T or (GD/GF/HH/DL) GRE W3+&KOR W
x-ARG W/T or L2-&KOR T/L or (GD/GF/HH/DL) L&KOR W
x-KOR W&GRE T/L or T&GRE L or (GD/GF/HH/DL) W&GRE W or (GD/GF/HH) T&GRE T or (GD/GF/HH/DL) L&GRE L
x-GRE W&KOR T/L or T&KOR L or (GD/GF/HH/DL) W&KOR W or (GD/GF/HH) T&KOR T or (GD/GF/HH/DL) L&KOR L
x-NGA W&GRE L

Legend
------
x – Advance to R16
y – Win Group
z - Eliminated

W – Win (by any margin)
L – Loss (by any margin)
T - Tie
W# - Win by # goals
L# - Lose by # goals
#+ (by # goals or more)
#- (by # goals or less)

REMAIN – Matches left of interest
NOTE – Match results of interest

Order of tiebreakers:
 >GD – goal differential
 >GF – goals for
 >HH – head-to-head (pts, gd, gf)
 >DL  - draw lots

Issue # 3.1.1 "The Reign of Spain Falls Mainly With Pain"

Wow.  My latest newsletter on the pool.

Spain Disappoints ... Again

The Swiss used their one lucky break while Spain had trouble getting shots on target despite all the pressure and possession. So it looks like the Euro Cup title didn't lift the curse the Spaniards have in the Cup.  The Iberian Peninsula countries of Spain, Portugal, and France (well, a small portion is part of the peninsula) have struggled mightily.  Toss in countries bordering the Mediterranean Sea (Serbia, Italy, and Greece) and these six southern Eurpoean teams are 0-3-3.

I Hate Vodka was the only one to pick the Swiss (amazingly, it wasn't Coin Tossed).  I R Winner! Part 2, who was tied for first to start the day was one of six to go 0-for-3.  Fifty-six picked Chile and 42 picked Uruguay, spoiling South Africa's Youth Day.

Standings after the first 16 are on the Archive page while the Standings tab above includes URU's win today.  Sam's latest Pando! or Gordo? is out and is PG-13 rated ;-)

Spain is Spain

Another debacle for Spain.  Now the Swiss and USA have something in common.  More later...

Status Quo

Nothing changed in the standings as there were two ties and everyone picked Brazil (except for Coin Tossed).  Corner Kick Kid, Dime 23, I R Winner! Part 2, LeftyRodriguez, and Rivas all have 7 points (of 8 possible).  Japan's win (which I can't believe I didn't even pick them in my 2nd entry at least -- boy I thought they really had no chance) yesterday prevented anyone from being perfect.  So, the three teams  who would be good bets to not score a goal in the World cup, have all scored (Japan (W), New Zealand (T), and North Korea (L)).  Which leaves powerhouses such as France and Portugal goalless.  Was eating at O-Nami's (all you can eat, better than average sushi!  Recommended!) watching the 2nd half and when North Korea scored, there were some cheers coming from the other room.  I wonder if I should report them in :-)  But at least North Koreans can actually see one highlight from the match from state-controlled TV.  Although Brazil's first goal could've been a GK mistake since he got beat nearside, but in reality, it's Brazil and every indication was that Maicon's only option was to cross and the GK played the percentages.  Whereas the English and Algeria's GKs misplayed the ball and the Paraguay's GK misjudged his jump, the PRK GK just made a calculated decision that didn't work out (what a wicked shot by Maicon though).

Sam's Pando! or Gordo? is up to nine issues already and you can always find the latest by clicking on the Pando! or Gordo? tab above.  Also, on that page you can read Sam's 2006's newsletters (called "Clap! or Crap?").

Wow.

North Korea and Brazil tied at the half?  This following one boring scoreless draw an exciting extra time tie by New Zealand. 

Japan is a Power!

OK, not really.  But this guarantees they won't finish last of 32 teams.   I'd like to say wearing a Japan national team warmup jersey helped, but it was a nice performance! 

Email seems to be working again but it looks like hwci.com is still not up (though I can upload files to the site).  BTW, we have a 67th entry (66 was not a good number) and I just have to confirm payment method from one more person and we should be set (both are not new online entries so we should end with 67).

Seeing Red

Well, the hwci.com site is still down, though it looks like email might now be coming through.  Case in point, here is Sam's latest Pando! or Gordo? analysis.  In the meantime, the Results, Standings, and Distribution pages have been redirected so those green tabs will still work.  Speaking of standings, Dime 23, I R Winner! Part 2, LeftyRodriguez, and Rivas are perfect with 5 points.  Coin Tossed, as the name implies, is last with 1 with both of my picks (Futbol Fabone Four and Zulupalooza) tied for 2nd to last with 2 points.  Where are the Italians with their match-fixing skills?  I need them :-)

All 3 matches today featured red cards with the team receiving one losing all three.   And Group C featured another GK blunder, this time by Algeria's GK who tried to do a volleyball move as the easy save turned into disaster and puts Slovenia (picked by 44) on top of Group C putting pressure on the English and Yanks.  Ghana (picked by just 18) got the first PK of the tourney on an embarrassing handball by favorite Serbia in the box.  Incredibly, there was another dumb handball, this time putting Slovenia Algeria down a man.  Germany (picked by all but one) finished fast and furious in a 4-0 pounding of the Socceroos (:-().

HWCI.com Temporarily Down

I will move the standing and picks over to this blog until the site is back up later tonight.

Star Wars & Soccer

Sammy posted this... Adidas is genius!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3Zd_khk6zXo