Gameplan: Score Early (6/27)

So 1D-England has a plan.  Score early.  For the fourth time this tourney, ENG scored in the first 15 minutes, this time 2:07 into the match (fastest thus far this tourney) as ENG cruised to a 3-0 win over 2A-Norway.  ENG's three previous early goals were coincidentally all in the 14'.  The one downside is that ENG has failed to score on two straight PKs (both saves from shots by Nikita Parris).  Ellen White scored her 5th goal (tying USA's Alex Morgan and AUS's Sam Kerr) and once again we got the eye goggles (when she scored her first goal vSCO it was an opportunistic pounce and finish off a defensive error and I thought her gesture was just to say "I can't believe SCO just gave the ball to me").  ENG will now play the winner of 1A-France and 1F-United States in the semifinals where in 2015 they lost to JPN on an own goal.  Is ENG peaking at the right time?


The good news is that after each team wins their quarterfinal match, the yellow card count for each player resets back to zero.  Seems unrealistic that a player can go 5 matches (3 group + R16 + QF) and not pick up two yellow cards, but I guess it can be done.  Just one yellow (NOR) today.  ENG only picked up one yellow card in 5 matches (thus, just a -1 Fair Play Point).  3 FRA (Le Sommer, Gauvin, Renard) and 4 USA (Long, O'Hara, Horan, Rapinoe) players are sitting on one yellow card and one more would mean that player would miss the semifinals.

On Thursday, 32 got ENG while 12 didn't.  On placement (29 had ENG as 1D in SF).

Kds911 still in first with 102 pts while Soccerhorn is last (73).  Skoal1 (25th-Tied, 92) lost NOR as champ (1st champ to go out in pool) and was only person eliminated.

23 are still alive and 11 can win the pool.  GetAdaMyPool (4th-T, 100) and Tom J (4th-T) have best chance to win pool (20.3%) while GetAdaMyPool and Deutsche Mädchen (11th-T, 97) have best chance at money (35.9%).  BitchBttrHaveMy$$$ is 8th-T (99) but is eliminated while Orange Country is 40th-T (82) and can still win 3rd.  Spermicidal FC is 2nd-T (101) but can't win the pool while Sacre le Bleu and THE GAMBLER 1 are 20th-T (95) and can still win the pool.