Sam's PANDO! or GORDO? # 19 (June 28 - Match Day 16)

Sporting KC owner Robb Heineman has arrived in BRA with a Designated Player contract for .. .. .. JERMAINE JONES.. ..  

Match 49: BRAZIL v. CHILE       16

         

Date: Saturday June 28, 2014      

Venue: Estadio Mineirao, BELO HORIZONTE

PANDO! or GORDO? Gordo?

1  BRA came out as they have the whole Festival, direct and lots of long-balls over the top > But when you have electric NEYMAR chasing long-balls, why not .. .. Both sides pressed high and CHI went to the long-ball when possible .. .. BRA pushed forward early and had 3 set-pieces (1 for CHI) when NEYMAR took a CK in the 18th minute and THIAGO SILVAs head-on towards DAVID LUIZ was turned in by poor GONZALO JARA who probably didn't know anything about it .. ..

A sloppy, nonchalant back-pass by HULK off a deep throw-in saw EDUARDO VARGAS steal the ball, feed ALEXIS SANCHEZ in R/Box and slid his R/Footer > L/Left to equalize .. .. That same nonchalance at the back almost bit again late in the half when

Standings updated, everything else delayed

In my infinite lack of wisdom, I left my flash drive at work. But I did post the latest standings after the group stage. I won't have who is eliminated though so some of us will be operating with false hope. I should have my flash drive tomorrow. Good luck!

Sam's PANDO! or GORDO # 18: USA Grades (6/26)

.  

2014 WC U.S. NATIONAL TEAM

How I see it .. ..

Player                         v. GHA                       v. POR                        v. GER                    v. BEL

======================================================

GK) Howard               Above-Average         Above-Average         Good

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

D) Beasley                 Average                     Good                          Average

D) Besler                    Good                          OUTSTANDING        Good

D) Cameron               Average                     Average                     n/a

D) Johnson                Above-Average         Above-Average         Above-Average

DM) Beckerman        Average                     Above-Average         Good

D) Brooks                   Above-Average         n/a                               n/a

D) Yedlin                    n/a                               OUTSTANDING        Good

D) Gonzalez              n/a                               Average                     Good 

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

M) Jones                    OUTSTANDING        OUTSTANDING        Good

M) Bradley                 Poor                            Below-Average          Average

M) Bedoya                 Above-Average         Average                     Below-Average

M) Zusi                       Above-Average         Above-Average         Above-Average

M) Davis                     n/a                               n/a                               Below-Average

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

F) Altidore                  n/a                               n/a                               n/a

F) Dempsey               OUTSTANDING        OUTSTANDING        Above-Average

F) Johannsson          Below-Average          n/a                               n/a

F) Wondoowski         n/a                               OUTSTANDING        n/a

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

PANDO! or GORDO? Q&A (Before and after the WC)

TIM HOWARD (better than '10?)

Yes - But,

Sam's PANDO! or GORDO? # 17 (June 26 - Day 15)

NIGERIA cancels their Sunday practice due to their own conflict with the Nigerian Football Federation over bonuses.. ..  

Match 45: UNITED STATES v. GERMANY

Date: Thursday June 26, 2014     

Venue: Arena Pernambuco, RECIFE

PANDO! or GORDO? Pando!

"We're out to win it!"

Yes & No; It sounds good to the pimped-media, but pragmatically, both sides are trying not to lose .. .. And both USA & GER are doing a world-class job of it .. .. If we can beak - break, if not - just pass it around .. .. If we don't need blood, let's put the knives away .. .. for now .. ..

GER came forward early when USA gave up the flanks early on and some nice 1-v-1 marking by OMAR GONZALEZ kept the match level .. .. Not many quality chances but in the 35th minute, MESUT OZIL hit a ball through the '5' hole of an USA defender and TIM HOWARD did well to parry it away .. .. USA came into the match late on in the 1H, but again is getting

Sam's PANDO! or GORDO? # 16 (June 25 - Day 14)

GHANA is in deep trouble tomorrow - CRISTIANO RONALDO got a new haircut.. ..  

Match 43: NIGERIA v. ARGENTINA

Date: Wednesday June 25, 2014  

Venue: Estadio Beira-Rio, PORTO ALEGRE

PANDO! or GORDO? Muy Pando!

PRINCE HARRY, CANNIBALS, EARLY GOALS! WHAT'S NOT TO LOVE?

Before the fans had a chance to finish up their introductions to the people sitting areound them ~~ 2 GOALS! BOTH BY LIONEL MESSI! In just the third minute, off a rebound in M/Box, MESSI smelled it out and roofed his L/Footer .. ..

NGA countered immediately when AHMED MUSA took the ball in L/Box, cut > middle and curled his R/Footer > L/Right to light the fireworks early on .. .. ARG probed the rest of the 1H with 7 set-pieces in the attacking-third (just 1 for NGA), but that eighth FK is what

Issue #4.1.3 "Bite Me! : Parked Behind the Bus"

Archive

Tuesday, June 24, 2014

SLOW 1ST HALVES WITH BITING FINISHES
Win It All roars into lead; Meli rising fast

GOLETA, CA (smt) --  The two-hour trek to Goleta past the midnight hour was uneventful.  Kind of like the Group D matches that saw a pair of nil-nil halftime scores and just one goal combined.  But drama ensued as the supposed clash of titans between D1-Uruguay and D4-Italy fizzled in the heat, as URU's Luis Suarez once again took a bite out of an opponent (3rd time? profit!) and did not get penalized for it.  A couple minutes later, URU had their lone goal that stood up and sent them to the Round of 16 and ITA home(wow, ENG, ESP, ITA all eliminated already). 

Talk about a bus.  In the 8 matches, four were 0-0 at the half (now half the 40 matches played have been tied at the half) and two more were just 1-0.  Of the 23 goals scored, just 7 were scored in the 1st half.  But the second half was a different story.  Of the 16 goals scored in the second half, 14 of them came in the last 21 minutes of the match.  A3-Mexico's explosion of 3 goals in 10 minutes threatened A1-Brazil for the top spot in Group A.  C2-Greece needed a stoppage time (90'+3) penalty to put them through to the Round of 16, to the heartbreak of

Sam's PANDO! or GORDO? # 15 (June 24 - Day 13)

USA v POR becomes the most-viewed soccer match in US Television history, more than the USA Women's World Cup or NBA FINALS.. ..  

 Match 40:  COSTA RICA v. ENGLAND

Date: Tuesday June 24, 2014      

Venue: Estadio Mineirao, BELO HORIZONTE

PANDO! or GORDO? Gordo?

WE ALL KNEW THIS MATCH WOULD BE BETWEEN A WC HOPEFUL VERSUS A WC ALSO-RAN; WE JUST NEVER ENVISIONED THE ALSO-RAN WOULD BE ENGLAND!

With the Three Lions fielding the Three Cubs lineup, they figured to be sloppy and boy, were they > ENG was just dreadful playing the ball out of the back, committing a WC-high 9 unforced TOs in the 1H alone .. .. Think USA v GHA, but worse .. ..

CRC ruled the midfield, but ENG did get a few quality chances once they held on to the ball, but KEYLOR NAVAS didn't have to break a sweat in the first-45 .. .. CRC was not afraid to continue their version of 'tikky-tak', even deep in the ENG third .. .. CRC already had 4 set-pieces before ENG took three consecutive CKs in the 34th minute .. ..

CRC kept shutting down ENG all over the pitch and ENG kept giving the ball away all over the joint .. .. ENG huffed and puffed their way to 7 set-pieces (1 for CRC), but again nothing really came of it .. ..

CRC meant to shut it down and they did .. .. Perhaps the highlight of the match was

Sam's PANDO! or GORDO? # 14 (June 23 - Day 12)

AC Milan are quietly accepting interest in ITA striker MARIO BALOTELLI; The price tag of ₤30,000,000 still has ARSENAL very interested.. ..  

Match 35: AUSTRALIA v. SPAIN

Date: Monday June 23, 2014       

Venue: Arena da Baixada, CURITIBA

PANDO! or GORDO? Gordo?

Farewell Match for the Spanish Golden Generation started with AUS on the front-foot and full of industry as they came forward early on, especially from the L/Flank .. .. In their first two matches, 16 of their 25 crosses came from that side and all four 1H balls came from the left .. ..

Notoriously narrow in their first two matches, ESP surprised everyone by playing on the wings, pumping in 8 crosses in the 1H alone - They have only 10 total crosses in their first two matches combined .. .. Still a little loose on the ball, ANDRES INIESTA delivered a beautiful deep release ball to JUANFRAN whose cross saw MLS-bound DAVID VILLA back-heel neatly into the net in the 36th minute to take a 1-0 lead @ HT .. ..

AUS kept trying hard in the second half, but the quality and creativeness aren't just there yet but they are probably the premier side in the Pacific now .. .. ESPs class finally wore down the Sockeroos in the

Issue #3.1.2 "Worst Tie Ever! : Let It Goal!"

This is after 32 matches -- Archive

Sunday, June 22, 2014

GOALS IN BUNCHES AS EURO POWERS STRUGGLEThe Mighty Mobelfakta leads Gandhi United by a point

CERRITOS, CA (smt) --  The story was written.  G2-Portugal would be the 3rd European superpower to be eliminated after just two matches.  They would be the 8th team to lose when scoring first.  The top 3 CONCACAF teams would be 5-0-1.  It would be the G4-USA, not G1-Germany resting its starters in the 3rd match.  USA would win its first-ever WC match when allowing the first goal.  Back-to-back game-winning goals in the 80'+ minute.  History would repeat with G4-USA beating Portugal again in the WC.  Cristiano Ronaldo would remain the only superstar to not make an impact for his team.    But alas, it was not meant to be.  As Ronaldo (14 shots, 0 goals in 2 games) crossed a perfect ball to Varela to head in with about 30 seconds left in stoppage time (which now becomes the latest goal scored in group play this year (90'+5, was E1-Swiss's 90'+3 game-winner in their first match)).  So now, while the USA is in good position (win or draw and they're in, own tiebreaker vs D3-Ghana), the battered Americans will have just three days rest to battle GER with four days rest.  Who knows if Zusi going down gave the official a reason to add +1' (5 minutes total of stoppage time), heat/humidity (first ref given water break at 39'!), or if Michael Bradley is just not world-class (according to Sammy) but the defensive lapse and late goal is devastating (though some are used to it -- see tweet below). 

 

D2-Costa Rica is the dark horse, giant killer downing 2-time champs D1-Uruguay (ranked #7) and now 4-time champs D4-Italy (#9) in back-to-back matches to

Sam's PANDO! or GORDO # 13: USA Grades (6/22)

.  

2014 WC U.S. NATIONAL TEAM

How I see it .. ..

Player                                    v. GHA                       v. POR                        v. GER

===========================================================

GK) Howard               Above-Average         Above-Average        

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

D) Beasley                 Average                     Above-Average

D) Besler                    Above-Average         OUTSTANDING

D) Cameron               Average                     Average

D) Johnson                Above-Average         Above-Average

DM) Beckerman        Average                     Above-Average

D) Brooks                   Above-Average         n/a

D) Yedlin                    n/a                               OUTSTANDING

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

M) Jones                    OUTSTANDING        OUTSTANDING

M) Bradley                 Poor                            Below-Average

M) Bedoya                 Above-Average         Average

M) Zusi                       Above-Average         Above-Average

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

F) Altidore                  n/a                               n/a

F) Dempsey               OUTSTANDING        OUTSTANDING

F) Johannsson          Below-Average          n/a

F) Wondoowski         n/a                               OUTSTANDING

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

PANDO! or GORDO? Q&A (Before and after the WC)

TIM HOWARD (better than '10?)

Yes - But,