Issue 3.0.3 "Par Excellence!"

Archive

Thursday, June 18, 2015 

     TOP 11 TEAMS ALL QUALIFY FOR ROUND OF 16
Soccerhorn rises to the top as he and YellowCard and Bailo Con Hope Solo get 15 R16 teams

NEW YORK CITY, NY (smt) -- Like the Giants, Jets, and Red Bulls, I'm claiming to write this from New York despite flying into Newark, NJ and staying at a hotel in New Brunswick, NJ.  I did ride the train to NYC to see an awesome show (Finding Neverland), so it counts!  So despite the shaky second games for teams (A1-Canada ties! C1-Germany and D1-USA draw, F1-France loses), all four won their group and in fact, the top 11 teams in the WWC made the Round of 16 (hello #16 A2-China, #18 E2-Korea Rep, #19 C2-Swiss, #28 F3-Colombia, and #53 C3-Cameroon, the first African nation to reach the knockout stage).  #14 E3-Spain and #17 A3-New Zealand were the best-ranked teams (top 24) to not make the knockout stage.  C1-Japan and E1-Brazil completed a perfect 3-0-0 record with BRA getting three shutouts. 

Out of order, as the most exciting finish happened in the very last match as

Last Day for Group Play

As we head in to the last day of the group stage, 12 teams have punched their ticket to the Round of 16 with 1st/2nd pairs of Canada/China (A), Germany/Norway (B), Japan/Cameroon (C), and USA/Australia (D), third-place qualifiers Netherlands (A, 4pts, 0 Goal Diff) and Switzerland (C, 4pts, 7 GD), Group E winner Brazil, and Colombia (F, 4 pts) reaching the knockout stage.  New Zealand (A), Ivory Coast (B), Ecuador (C), and Nigeria (D) are officially out with third-place Thailand (B, 3pts, -7 GD, 3 GF) chances slim-to-none.

Third-place Sweden (D, 3pts, 0 GD, 4 Goals For) with its 3 ties has to wait to see if they will make it.

Spain (E, 1pt, -1 GD, 1 GF) plays Korea Rep (1 pt, -2 GD, 2 GF) and a tie will knock both of them out while a win by either will get them through.  Will Brazil rest its starters vs Costa Rica (E, 2 pts, 0 GD, 3 GF) to allow the Ticos to steal a spot with a win or a 2-2 or better tie (they could also make it with a 1-1 (further tiebreaker w/SWE if ESP or KOR win or 2nd if ESP-KOR tie) or 0-0 tie if ESP-KOR tie).

Three teams can take Group F but only Colombia has qualified.  England (3pts, 0 GD, 2 GF) and France (3pts, -1 GD, 1GF) only need a tie to advance while Mexico (1pt, -1 GD, 1 GF) need a win vs France.  An England and Mexico/France win would send those two teams through.  An England and France loss (MEX 2nd place) would send SWE through and leave England, France, Costa Rica, Spain, and Korea Rep in the running for the final 2 spots (2nd E and final 3rd place team) since Group F matches will finish before Group E starts.

Fun, fun, fun!

BTW, for my Thai friends, Thailand would make the knockout stage if Spain and Korea Rep tie, Brazil beats Costa Rica, Colombia beats England 7-0 or 9-1 or better, and France beats Mexico.  Not that far-fetched for three of the matches but that Colombia thrashing of England -- highly unlikely.

Avalanche of Points

As we get started for the final matches of the group stage, just a reminder that you will get the advancement to Round of 16 points after each team has played their third and final match.  Thus, you will get the 3 points for Japan after Tuesday's matches and 3 points for Brazil after Wednesday's matches. Each day for the next three days will see at least a minimum of 16 points (1 point per match (4) and 3 points per top 2 finishers in group (4)) awarded.  Also note that with the top four 3rd place finishers still in flux, it's likely the 3 points for 3rd place finishers won't be decided until after Tuesday's or Wednesday's matches.  You can check out how many entries picked which team to advance by looking the Team Distribution table.

With Ivory Coast (0 pts, -11 goal differential) and Ecuador (0, -15) virtually eliminated from Round of 16 consideration, Brazil and Japan already in, and Canada (4), Germany (4), Norway (4), Switzerland (3, +8), Cameroon (3, +5), USA (4), and Colombia (4) virtually in, that leaves 11 teams vying for the remaining Round of 16 spots.  Brazil is the only team that has clinched the group (1E) so the ordering of the other 15 Round of 16 spots is still up for grabs.

Issue 2.0.2 "Sacrebleu!

Archive

Sunday, June 14, 2015 

     FAVORITES STRUGGLE BUT JAPAN AND BRAZIL PUNCH THROUGH
Spermicidal WFC jumps from tie for 8th to 1st by two wins

LAS VEGAS, NV (smt) -- C2-Switzerland joined the double-digit goal club scoring 10 in a 10-1 rout of C4-Ecuador.  The Swiss had two players score hat tricks (including Fabienna Humm's 3 goals in 5 minutes (47', 49', 52') while Ecuador's Angie Ponce scored three times as well - unfortunately, two were for the Swiss.  C1-Japan became the first team to qualify for the Round of 16 with a 2-1 win over C3-Nigeria, who outshot the defending champs 20 to 4 while E1-Brazil became the second team to qualify by holding E3-Spain without a shot on goal (a Galaxy!) in their 1-nil win.  The heavy favorites B1-Germany and D1-USA had to settle for ties against B3-Norway and D3-Sweden, respectively, while F1-France fell 2-0 to F3-Colombia.  A2-China, B4-Thailand, D2-Australia, and F2-England picked up key wins.  Edmonton's weather delayed host A1-Canada's match with A3-New Zealand for a half-hour five minutes in in the first scoreless draw of the tourney.  NZL missed a PK as the shot went off the crossbar giving the hosts a crucial point.  E4-Costa Rica's rally to tie E2-Korea Rep 2-2 gave Brazil the Group E crown.

Odd sights as uniforms were too crazy as it was weird to see