Issue #4.1.3 "No German Ingenuity" (After 48 Matches)

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Friday, June 29, 2018 

OLD GERMANY OUSTED; JAPAN SNEAKS IN
Kds911 leads by 2; 22 lost Germany as their champ 

TERMINAL 21, WASHINGTON REAGAN NATIONAL AIRPORT, VA (smt) --  F4-Korea Republic shocked F1-Germany in stoppage time... twice, to send the defending champs out of the Knockout Stage or the first time since 1954.  KOR's win saved F2-Mexico the embarrassment of being the team to win their first two matches and fail to make the Round of 16 (getting trounced by eventual Group F winner F3-Sweden 3-0).  B1-Portugal was eerily close to being eliminated as B4-Iran had tied them 1-1 and threatened a couple times late to win which would have sent the Portuguese out on Fair Play Points against B2-Spain.  Spain got a stoppage time goal using a quick restart just to make sure they made the R16 and with IRN's late goal, won Group B.  

H2-Japan did advance via Fair Play Points, however, as both they and H4-Senegal

At Least No Coin Flip (6/28)

WASHINGTON REAGAN NATIONAL AIRPORT, VA -- Both H2-Japan and H4-Senegal just need a draw to advance to the Round of 16 and both failed to do so, by identical 1-0 scores.  As such, both teams were level on points (4), goal differential (4), goals for(4), and head-to-head (2-2).  So we headed to the next tiebreaker, Fair Play Points.  This was instituted by FIFA in 2016 so this is the first World Cup to use it.  At the start, Japan led Senegal -3 pts to -5 pts on yellow cards and SEN picked one up in 51' to put it out reach, -3 to -6.  JPN did pick one up in the 66' but still held on to a 2 point margin.  JPN joins MEX as the only non-European, non-South American teams in the R16.

What if?  SEN had favorable results in all three matches but

Group F Shuffles Around (6/27)

FREDERICKSBURG, VA -- One team was going to have one of the biggest collapses ever.  Either F2-Mexico was going to be the team to win their first two matches and get eliminated or defending champion F1-Germany was going to bow out of the Group Stage for the first time since 1954.  With F3-Sweden handily ahead of MEX, GER and F4-Korea Rep were still scoreless.  A GER goal would eliminate MEX and they had 26 shots to try to get that one goal.  But then the unthinkable happened as KOR scored off a corner kick in stoppage time (ruled not offsides by VAR (in either case - GER played the ball to a teammate or KOR was onside anyway) overturning the sideline ref).  With GER needing two goals now, GER GK became the 11th attacker but quickly KOR took advantage and scored an empty netter (wow, so many hockey terms this World Cup) to seal GER's fate, 2-0.  So who picked GER to finish LAST in Group F?  In 2002, KOR helped another CONCACAF team, the USA, advance to the R16 with their 70' goal against Portugal to eliminate Portugal.  MEX is the only non-European, non-South American team to qualify thus far (H2-Senegal and/or H4-Japan still have a chance).  Just two spots remain among 3 Group H teams (Group G's Belgium and England have already qualified).

In Group E, E1-Brazil took care of business

Issue #3.1.2 "Mexico, Japan, and Senegal" (After 32 Matches) (6/24)

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Sunday, June 24, 2018 

ARGENTINA IN TROUBLE, SIX TEAMS IN
Ilvecchio and Spermicidal FC are tied for 1st; Next four days will pile up 64 points

LOS ANGELES INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT (LAX->ATL->DCA), CA (smt) --  The second group of matches saw redemptions for some teams such as E1-Brazil and F1-Germany needed stoppage time goals to pull out wins, H3-Colombia dominated the Group H seed 3-0, and B1-Portugal and B2-Spain rebounded to narrow 1-0 wins after all five had disappointing starts.  The only world power who failed to bounce back was D1-Argentina who got shut out by D3-Croatia, 3-0, and now need help to qualify for the Round of 16.  A1-Russia (3-1), H1-Belgium (5-2), and H4-England (6-1) remained perfect after dominating victories while A4-Uruguay and C1-France struggled to 1-0 wins to remain perfect.  F2-Mexico and Croatia are the other teams to start 2-0.  Of the 7 teams at 2-0, Mexico is the only one to have not qualified for the Round of 16 yet.  

The E2-Swiss became the first team to win after allowing the first goal rallying to beat

Yawner and Thriller (6/26)

RICHMOND, VA -- In the fight of their lives, D1-Argentina got an early goal from Messi (finally) but D4-Nigeria fought back to tie it.  With elimination near, a great Marcos Rojo strike put ARG back in the lead in the 86' but with D2-Iceland still tied with D3-Croatia, an Icelandic goal would eliminate ARG.  But Croatia scored instead, in the 90', to secure Group D and helped ARG advance to the Round of 16 to the delight of Diego Maradona who was so excited he double-flipped the crowd and then had to be taken to the hospital.

Meanwhile, C4-Denmark were content to just

African & Asian Teams Shine (6/25)

DAHLGREN, VA -- B4-Iran nearly scored a stoppage time goal that would have eliminated B1-Portugal but had to settle for a hard-fought 1-1 tie that featured three VAR reviews.  Ronaldo missed an early PK after getting the benefit of a PK via VAR but had to settle for 2nd in Group B after Iran scored a PK in stoppage time.  B2-Spain had to rally twice against B3-Morocco (who had scored zero goals), the latter on a smart quick corner kick late in stoppage time that VAR review looked at and overruled the lineman's offside flag.  The 2-2 tie gave Spain the Group on goals scored over Portugal and still hasn't lost in 23 matches.  Due to goals scored, ESP still would've advanced with a 2-1 loss.

In the battle for first, A4-Uruguay scored

Two Advance and Three Eliminated (6/24)

LAX, CA -- G4-England's Kane scored one of the easiest hat tricks in his life, two via PKs and one shot that went off his heel and deflected into the net.  G2-Panama managed a goal after being down 6-0 but were still eliminated along with Tunisia.  H4-Japan rallied twice to tie H2-Senegal 2-2 with the latter goal by Honda surprising the GK who could only look behind him.  H3-Colombia rebounded with a

Group F Remains Open (6/23)

F1-Germany fell behind 1-0 to F3-Sweden and after tying the game, saw Jerome Boateng go out with his second yellow in 11 minutes in the 82'.  Germany was following in Argentina's footsteps of needing help in their 3rd match and no chance at winning the group.  But a foul outside the box in the fourth minute of stoppage time (of five minutes added) saw Germany execute a perfect free kick play as Toni Kroos took the free kick and a quick short pass to Marco Reus to stop the ball gave Kroos a better angle and his kick bent around the charging Swedish players and curled in just past the outstretched hands of the SWE goalkeeper.  It was a first-class, world-class goal in the clutchest moment possible.  The 90'+5 goal meant they can still win the group and now have more paths to make the Round of 16 although GER should not be doing classless acts after the match.

F2-Mexico took care of F4-Korea Rep, 2-1 and missed clinching a spot in the Round of 16 when