Tea Time (7/2)

1F-USA's Alex Morgan celebrated her birthday by scoring in what turned out to be the game-winner with a sipping British tea salute in helping USA to their third straight 2-1 victory, this time over the jolly good women of 1D-England.  ENG had a brutal stretch from the 68' to 86' where Ellen White's game-tying goal was overturned by VAR (hairline offsides), an open tap in that was whiffed by White but then overturned by VAR into a PK as a foul (hairline contact to her leg), ENG continuing a tradition by missing a penalty kick (their 3rd straight miss), and then going down to 10 women after a second yellow to Millie Bright.  I guess ENG is just a semifinal team after all losing their 3rd straight semifinal ('15 WWC, '17 EURO).  Meanwhile, USA makes its 3rd straight final and 5th overall by winning their 11th straight WWC match (16th without a defeat).

I was wondering who was going to continue to score early and they both did, the USA in the 10' by Christian Press (who replaced the injured Megan Rapinoe) and ENG in the 19'.  The match felt like there were a lot more than 17 shots (7 ENG, 10 USA) and 21 fouls (12 ENG, 9 USA).  USA GK Alyssa Naeher came into her own with 3 saves including the penalty (though that was one poor PK attempt, I think Naeher basically fell to one side and smothered the ball) and Morgan was fouled four times and several times had to take a breather before getting back up.  It was an exciting match but once again, during the stoppage time (7' this time), the USA's defense stepped up and frustrated their opponent to not even get any momentum going until time ran out.  It was smothering and definitely helps keep my heartrate and anxiety level down in the dying minutes.

34 picked USA.  On placement, all 34 had USA as 1F in the Final.  4 lost ENG in the final and 3 lost them as their champ.  The top 11 did not change leaving Tom J and UncleChimps tied for 1st with 120 pts.  ENG's loss eliminated Kona Coast Sliders 2 (27th-T, 102) and GetAdaMyPool (19th-T, 106) leaving 6 for the top 4 spots.  UncleChimps is guaranteed at least 4th and either Pazzo Americano (4th-T, 117), From the Pubs! (4th-T), or THE GAMBLER 1 (8th-T, 115) will win the pool.  Futbol Fabone Dix (3rd, 119) has a 75% chance at money and Tom J has a 50% chance at money but both no higher than 3rd.

If UNITED STATES beats SWEDEN in Final…
	Pazzo Americano	137	points
	UncleChimps	132
	Futbol Fabone Dix	131
	From the Pubs!	129
If SWEDEN beats UNITED STATES in Final…
	Pazzo Americano	125	points
	UncleChimps	120	Tie:	6.5	Wins 2nd if total goals is 6 or less
	Tom J	120	Tie:	7.0	Wins 2nd if total goals is 7 or more
	Futbol Fabone Dix	119
If UNITED STATES beats NETHERLANDS in Final…
	From the Pubs!	137
	UncleChimps	132
	Futbol Fabone Dix	131
	Pazzo Americano	129
If NETHERLANDS beats UNITED STATES in Final…
	THE GAMBLER 1	135
	From the Pubs!	125
	UncleChimps	120	Tie:	6.5	Wins 2nd if total goals is 6 or less
	Tom J	120	Tie:	7.0	Wins 2nd if total goals is 7 or more