Issue 11.2.6 "The Double" (Final Preview)

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Saturday, July 6, 2019

2019 Women's World Cup Final - Stade de Lyon - Lyon
	vs
USA - United States (The Stars & Stripes)U.S. Soccer Federation (USSF) [Concacaf]		NED - Netherlands (Orajeleeuwinnen) Koninklijke Nederlandse Voetbalbond (KVNB) [UEFA]
#1 | F1 | F Winner | 6-0-0 5th Final ('91, '99, '11, '15) F1: Beat Thailand 13-0 F3: Beat Chile 3-0 F5: Beat Sweden 2-0 R16: Beat Spain 2-1 QF: Beat France 2-1 SF: Beat England 2-1		#8 | E4 | E Winner | 6-0-0 1st Final E2: Beat New Zealand 1-0 E4: Beat Cameroon 3-1 E6: Beat Canada 2-1 R16: Beat Japan 2-1 QF: Beat Italy 2-0 SF: Beat Sweden 1-0 (aet)

THE USA VYING FOR FOURTH TITLE, NEWBIE ORANGE LIONESSES IN THE WAY
Final is 8 am Sunday PDT; Sweden takes 3rd Place

PALO ALTO, CA (smt) -- Both finalists are a perfect 6-0-0 but there is one clear favorite, and that is the 1F-United States.  On paper, both teams have won their groups, both have only allowed 3 goals, and both have at least 8 different scorers (USA with 9).  But the USA is anywhere from a 2:1 to 5:1 favorite in the final led by a pair of 5+ goal scorers, Alex Morgan (6) and Megan Rapinoe (both have even missed a match) and on a roll where they have just lost once in their past 44 matches.  NED are the defending EURO champions and have won 12 straight major tourney matches but were outplayed by JPN in the R16 and disappeared in big patches vSWE in the SF and are only making their first Final in just their second try.

Live! ENG vs SWE (7/6)

1D-ENGLAND "The Lionesses" 5-1-0 vs
2F-SWEDEN "Blågult" 4-2-0 

Start: ENG has scored in the first 20 minutes 5 of 6 matches. ENG is going for 2nd Third Place finish ('15) and SWE is going for their 3rd ('91, '11).  SWE is 14-3-8 vs ENG (1st matchup in WWC).  For the pool tiebreaker, if NED wins the final, then UncleChimps needs the total goals in this match and the Final match to be 6 goals or less while Tom J wants 7 or more (for battle for 3rd/4th).  The goals count only in regulation or Extra Time, not the Penalty Shootout.  Ellen White (ENG) has scored in 5 straight matches.

11':  All SWE thus far and a poor ENG clearance is pounced upon by Aslanni, who came off the field in the last match in a scary potential neck injury.  So she starts and scores!  SWE 1:0.  ENG has allowed a goal in the first 12 minutes two games in a row.

22':  A great curling strike in the box by Jakobsson and now SWE leads 2:0.  But two SWE players are injured so ENG playing up for now.   Tom J is happy as goals are pouring in.

45':  An unusually high 5' of stoppage due to VAR and SWE injuries.  Now an ENG player is down.  SWE 2:1.

33':  Back to back ENG goals but no, the second won't count as VAR shows an unintentional handball calls yet another White goal back (she'd have 8 if not for VAR) and is back stuck on 6 goals.  But Kriby's goal in 31' was a great effort.  ENG 1:2.  Total time 51:00.

75':  Game has slowed down, SWE out of subs.  Retiring Karen Carney enters the match for ENG.  SWE 2:1.

88':  If White is kept off the board, then USA's Alex Morgan would retain the Golden Boot (more assists).  White's 6 goals is impressive considering she didn't take any of ENG's 4 PKs.

89':  Goal mouth block by SWE's Fischer head!  SWE 2:1.  4 min stoppage.

Finish:  94:23.  SWE wins their 3rd Bronze medal (tying USA)!  Total goals for tiebreaker is 3.  So if NED wins tomorrow, Tom J is going to need at least 4 goals scored between USA and NED.  FOX calling ENG a failure which is funny.  SWE didn't have many opportunities but made the most of them with 8 of their 9 shots on goal.

Issue 10.2.5 "Master and Padawan" (After Semis)

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Wednesday, July 3, 2019

USA SURVIVES ENGLAND, NETHERLANDS SCORE IN EXTRA TIME
Either From the Pubs! or THE GAMBLER 1 will win the pool

EL SEGUNDO, CA (smt) [DAY 23] -- 1F-USA didn't have Megan Rapinoe due to a hamstring injury but her replacement and vet Christien Press scored in the 10' and battered vet Alex Morgan broke a 1-1 tie with a birthday goal in the 31' and that held up sending the Americans past 1D-England, 2-1, into their 5th WWC final.  ENG had more possession and played well but 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). 

In a foul-marred match, at one time 2F-Sweden led in fouls 17 to 2 before it ended 24 to 14, the highlights were some world-class finger tip saves by both GKs.  For just the third time, a matched ended scoreless after regulation but in Extra Time, Jackie Groenen took a rocket of a strike from way outside that just got past the GK into the left corner in the 99' and match's only goal leading 1E-Netherlands to their first final.  Maybe SWE is a semifinal team as well losing their 3rd WWC semifinal (only won in '03).

Extra Time! (7/3)

For the first time, a WWC semifinal went into Extra Time.  Each GK had some amazing finger tip saves and 2F-Sweden were at one time pounding 1E-Netherlands on fouls 17 to 2 in the first 62 minutes.  But in ET, a seemingly typical play saw Jackie Groenen with some daylight and she hit a rocket of strike from way outside the box into the left corner in the 99' and NED held on to win 1-0, their first trip to the Finals in just their 2nd WWC appearance.  They will face 1F-USA, who is making their 5th final on Sunday.

SWE's Kosovare Asllani committed 8 fouls (no cautions) and was fouled 7 times (2 drawing cautions) as SWE ended up outfouling NED 24 to 14.  She was also carted off on a stretcher after being hit in the face with the ball in the 120'+1 delaying the match for more than 5 minutes.  SWE lost for the 3rd time in the SF.

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).

Issue 9.2.4 "End of the Saga" (Semifinal Preview)

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Monday, July 1, 2019

First Semifinal - Stade de Lyon - Lyon			Second Semifinal - Stade de Lyon - Lyon
ENG - England (The Lionesses) The Football Association (The FA) [UEFA]	USA - United States (The Stars & Stripes U.S. Soccer Federation (USSF) [Concacaf]		NED - Netherlands (Orajeleeuwinnen) Koninklijke Nederlandse Voetbalbond (KVNB) [UEFA]	SWE - Sweden (Blågult) Svenska Fotbollförbundet (SvFF) [UEFA]
#3 | D1 | Winner | 5-0-0 2nd Semifinal ('15) D1: Beat Scotland 2-1 D3: Beat Argentina 1-0 D5: Beat Japan 2-0 R16: Beat Cameroon 3-0 QF: Beat Norway 3-0	#1 | F1 | Winner | 5-0-0 8th Semifinal ('91, '95, '99, '03, '07, '11, '15) F1: Beat Thailand 13-0 F3: Beat Chile 3-0 F5: Beat Sweden 2-0 R16: Beat Spain 2-1 QF: Beat France 2-1		#8 | E4 | Winner | 5-0-01st Semifinal E2: Beat New Zealand 1-0 E4: Beat Cameroon 3-1 E6: Beat Canada 2-1 R16: Beat Japan 2-1 QF: Beat Italy 2-0	#9 | F4 | Runner-Up | 4-1-04th Semifinal ('91, '03, '11) F2: Beat Chile 2-0 F4: Beat Thailand 5-1 F6: Lost to USA 2-0 R16: Beat Canada 1-0 QF: Beat Germany 2-1

THE RISE OF WOMEN'S SOCCER
Semifinals begin Tuesday; A women of Star Wars-themed look at the tourney

EL SEGUNDO, CA (smt) -- As I lament the end of the Skywalker saga in Star Wars but satisfied to have witnessed this great space fantasy, I start to wonder if this is also the end of the era of USA dominance in women's soccer.  Not that they don't win the tourney, but that the number of teams that can beat the USA will vastly expand more than Germany, Sweden, England, and France.  No Japan?  JPN technically tied the USA in the WWC11 Final and only won in the penalty shootout and has only beaten the USA once, in 2012.  The last time the USA lost in a meaningful match not named those four teams?  November 5, 2010 vMEX in a WWC11 qualifying match.  That's more than 8 1/2 years ago.  In any friendly?  July 27, 2017 vAUS and AUS is ranked #6 in the world.  Before that?  Dec 16, 2015 vCHN (#16).  Ridiculous success.  But with a lot more countries finally trying to develop women's soccer properly, the National Women's Soccer League still struggling, and the USA transitioning from the veterans to the newcomers (the last 9 USA goals were scored by vets Rapinoe (4), Lloyd (2), and Heath (but officially an own goal) with only Ertz and Horan appearing on the scoresheet) this could be the last year where we expect the USA to make the semifinals (though that FRA match was admittedly a major roadblock) without a sweat.

Issue 8.2.3 "The Heat is On" (After QF)

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Saturday, June 29, 2019

HEATWAVE ACROSS EUROPE AS USA MAKES 8TH SEMIFINAL
Tom J and UncleChimps are first and among 8 still alive in pool

HOME, CA (smt) [DAY 21] -- Temperatures reached 90 F across France for the quarterfinals but only the Saturday matches saw the utilization of water breaks in the 30' and 75' as those matches were played earlier in the day.  The "real final" saw host 1A-France and 1F-USA battle in sold-out Paris with temps in the high 80s despite being played at night.  No water breaks were needed and USA once again scored in the first 13 minutes netting a direct free kick that went though lots of players without being touched into the back of the net in the 5'.  USA's Megan Rapinoe added another, the first woman to score 2 or more goals in back-to-back matches as USA held off FRA, 2-1 for their 10th straight WWC win.  After the first goal, USA relented and let FRA have possession but they couldn't do anything with it and of their 20 shots, just five were on goal.  Meanwhile, 1D-England scored for the fourth time in the first 15 minutes and beat 2A-Norway 3-0 to meet the USA in the semifinal.