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Thursday, July 10, 2014
HOST HUMILIATED WHILE ITS RIVAL MAKES FINALGandhi United & JB take the lead; No one guaranteed money
LIVERPOOL, NY (smt) -- Four goals in six minutes? Really? Haven't seen stuff like that since following my old Anaheim Splash indoor soccer days where goals would come in bunches all the time (if you take out the 30-45 seconds for goal celebrations, this is probably more like 4 goals in 4 minutes). Soft 1A-Brazil got routed by an opportunistic 1G-Germany team, 7-1, to throw away their chance to avenge a '50 loss on home soil. The host teetered throughout the tournament needing a gift PK call vs Croatia, were punchless vs Mexico, and needed PSO vs Chile. But utter collapse? Crying? There goes our first Major League Soccer player to win the World Cup as Julio Cesar was peppered for 7 goals (5 in the first 29'), mostly due to lack of a defense in front of him. I guess when your team is made up from children's TV shows
(FRED Flinstone, The Incredible HULK, OSCAR the Grouch), immaturity and sensitivity will ensue. Not only did BRA lose at home, it was their first loss in Brazil in a competitive match in 63 matches (43-1-19; '75 Copa America vPER). BRA did come out more aggressively in the 2nd half and great GK kept them at bay as BRA actually finished with more shots on goal than GER (13 to 12). GER did finish well (sorry, Wondo) and they made the most of their opportunities (12 of 14 shots were on goal and 7 of those 12 were scored). Two Germans had a pair of goals and Miroslav Klose scored his 16th career goal, passing Ronaldo for most in WC history.
Meanwhile, 1H-Argentina and 1B-Netherlands played a tactical battle with selected pushes of offensive. In the end, save a poorly timed ARG header and a poor second touch by NED's Arjen Robben (reminded me of Clint Dempsey's poor first touch off the free kick vBEL), both teams played to a scoreless tie after 120 minutes. This was NED's second straight scoreless draw into PSOs and while they hit all 4 vs CRC, they missed their first one off the bat. Even more curious, they had used up all 3 subs so they couldn't bring PSO specialist Tim Krul in (who guessed right on all 5 shots and saved 2 vCRC) and wouldn't you know, starting GK Jasper Cillessen guessed right on only half the shots and made no saves (a couple he got with his fingertips -- think with a few inches longer wingspan if Krul would've made those saves) which was critical as ARG hit all 4 of theirs winning 4-2.
So BRA not only gets humiliated at home, they see their biggest rival advance to the Final. Who will Brazillians root for? The team that destroyed them or the team that is their biggest rival (yeah, I'm sure Red Sox fans will root for the Yankees... maybe not). Will BRA even show up for the money-making 3rd place match or will they at least take a victory home with them. We are denied a BRA-ARG 3rd place match which could've been the most emotional 3rd place match ever. Alas, BRA and NED should be an offensive affair with nothing at stake which is good news for those who are in a tiebreaker situation.
Gandhi United (Gwennie G) and JB (Jesse B) are tied for 1st with 123 pts and if ARG wins, they will be tied as well which leaves the tiebreaker to decide 1st and 2nd. If the total goals scored in 3rd place and Final matches (not including PSO goals) is 6 or less, JB will win the pool; otherwise,Gandhi United (and become our 3rd female winner in 5 pools) will win. It's simpler if GER wins as EEChick1400 (5th-Tied, 118, Tim H) will win outright and not only that, Tim will also win 3rd place (EEChick (13th, 114)). This would be the first time in our 26 pools (20 NCAA, 5 WC, 1 EURO) that someone will have managed to place twice among the money spots/bonus. So no one is guaranteed money which will make this is a fun final to watch. Goal Guesses (3rd, 122, Bob G) and Auxerre (4th, 121, Scott F) will be rooting for ARG while Chiquillos (8th-T, 117, Cynthia S) andFrank From Seattle (14th, 113, Frank C) will be rooting for GER.
Twenty-five picked GER and 36 picked ARG into the Finals. Nine got both correct while 24 got both wrong. No one will get a perfect Last 7 (all 4 Qtrfinalists, both Semifinalists, and Champion) nor will anyone go 0-for-the-Final-Four. Belgium Craft Beer clinched last with 62 pts. Swedish Fishmoved from 58th-T to 24th-T (105). Gailpants fell from 4th-T to 20th-T (108).
With GER and ARG winning, that means UEFA has 7 wins and CONMEBOL has 6. So the only outcomes are UEFA being the winningest region with 8 or UEFA and CONMEBOL tying with 7. And there are several suiters for each so someone will win $40 Bonus1. 15 are alive. Six others can't win (either the person will win 1st-4th or their 1/2 goal pick is surrounded -- don't worry, I picked 1/2 goals as well so just playing the odds).
This year, Sammy is once again provide biting commentary (the once Landon lover and now a hater) with his daily matchday"PANDO! or GORDO?" newsletters (his 3rd straight pool doing it). 
Also, following his successful HWCI EURO Pool newsletter, Eric's "Foster's Football Brew" is back and he is coming back home from Brazil. If anyone else wants to contribute, let me know. Anyone else going to Brazil and want to send pictures or mini-reports.
The best way to keep up with the pool is to follow @HWCI_Pools on Twitter or visit the #HWCIwc hashtag (you don't need Twitter account to view) often for daily updates. Less often will be our Facebook group page (post comments or organize viewing parties) and then these newsletters. But I intend to update the standings at the end of every matchday.
SIDES 'N KICKS: [62 matches] Goals: 167 (2.78/match) (Own: 5 (1-CROvBRA, 10-HONvFRA, 11-BIHvARG, 46-GHAvPOR, 53-NGAvFRA); Subs: 32)...Scoring First: 41-8-6 (7 0-0 tie; 1-CRO, 3-ESP, 6-JPN, 7-URU, 9-ECU, 15-ALG, 26-HON, 51-MEX)... Lead at Half: 24-4-2 (32 ties; 6-JPN, 8-URU, 9-ECU, 15-ALG)... Shutout: 34 (2-CMR, 5-GRE, 10-HON, 12-IRN, 12-NGA, 13-POR, 17-BRA, 17-MEX, 18-CMR, 19-ESP, 22-JPN, 22-GRE, 24-ITA, 27-IRN, 28-BIH, 31-RUS, 35-AUS, 36-CHI, 39-ITA, 40-CRC, 40-ENG, 41-HON, 42-ECU, 42-FRA, 46-USA, 47-KOR, 50-URU, 53-NGA, 55-SUI, 58-FRA, 59-NED, 59-CRC, 60-BEL, 62-ARG, 62-NED)... ET (GF/GA): 7 (49-BRAvCHI (0/o), 52-CRCvGRE (0/0), 54-GERvALG (2/1), 55-ARGvSUI (1/0), 56-BELvUSA (2/1), 59-NEDvCRC (0/0), 62-NEDvARG (0/0))... PSO: 4 (49-BRAvCHI (3/2[5]), 52-CRCvGRE (5/3[4.5]), 59-NEDvCRC (4/3[4.5], 62-NEDvARG (2/4 [4]))... PK: 11/12 (1-BRA, 3-ESP, 7-URU, 10-FRA, 13-GER, 15-ALG, 20-AUS, 25-fra, 37-COL, 38-GRE, 51-NED, 57-COL)... Red Card (Goals For/Against): 10 (8-URUvCRC (94+' 0/0), 10-HONvFRA (43' 2Y 0/3), 13-PORvGER (37' 0/2), 18-CMRvCRO (40' 0/3), 22-GREvJPN (38' 2Y 0/0), 34-CROvMEX (89' 0/0), 39-ITAvURU (59' 0/1), 42-ECUvFRA (50' 0/0), 47-BELvKOR (45' 1/0), 52-CRCvGRE (0/1))... Multiples: 15 (Neymar (2) 2G (1-BRA, 33-BRA), Robin Van Persie 2G (3-NED), Arjan Robben 2G (3-NED), Karim Benzema 2G (10-FRA), Thomas Müller 3G (14-GER), Mario Mandzukic 2G (18-CRO), Luis Suarez 2G (23-URU), Enner Valencia 2G (26-ECU), Jackson Martinez 2G (37-COL), Xherdan Shaqiri 3G (41-SUI), Lionel Messi 2G (43-ARG), James Rodriguez 2G (50-COL), Toni Kroos 2G (GER), Andre Schürrle 2G (GER))... Goal line technology: FRA G (48')... Regions: UEFA (13 teams) 24-16-10, CONMEBOL (6) 16-5-5, CAF (5) 3-11-3, AFC (4) 0-9-3, CONCACAF (4) 5-6-5 ... Water Break (>89.6F, 30' each half): 2 (30-USAvPOR 39' @Manaus (unofficial), 50-NEDvMEX 30' & 75' @ Fortelaza)... Region Round of 16 winners: UEFA 7-5, CONMEBOL 6-4, CONCACAF 1-3, CAF 0-2... 7 extra-time matches is a record overall... too many records to list in that BRAvGER match... Thomas Müller (5G, 4A in tourney; 10 G career) scored GER's first goal which was the 2000th in WC history...
---Where were you when GER scored 7 goals? On Moto X at customer site while tornado alert flashed on the screen...
Scott
Scott
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