Dum-founded! (12/3)

WHITTIER, CA -- 1A-Netherland's Denzel Dumfries had two excellent low crosses that led to goals, one early (10') and a dagger before halftime (45'+1'), and then scored himself in the 81' on a wide open strike to lead NED to a 3-1 win over 2B-USA.  USA had a 54%-33% possession advantage, but that was by design as NED's first two shots on goal were goals.  Clinical finishing.  USA missed a point blank open shot in the 3', NED finished theirs.  USA did outshot NED 18-11 (7-6 on goal) but spent a lot of energy early.

NED was getting sloppy and USA finally capitalized on a Christian Pulisic cross that happened to hit the back of Haji Wright's foot and the ball leapt over the 6'-8" GK and into the goal to cut the deficit to 2-1.  But that only lasted five minutes as Dumfries scored to seal the victory.  NED is now unbeaten in their last 19 matches and USA is now 0-4 against UEFA teams in the R16.

Lionel Messi scored for 1C-Argentina early and an AUS GK gaffe extended the lead to 2-0 in the 57'.  But an own goal off a deflection pulled 2D-Australia within one in the 77' and unlike the USA, they didn't allow the killer 3rd goal.  While ARG blew some chances, AUS had a few of their own including at the end (point blank but straight at the GK) and ARG goes to the Quarters winning 2-1.

Wore my authentic 2002 USA Home jersey in hopes of rekindling USA's QF run in 2002.  I kept my thoughts on the blog:

USA v NED - Live!

as the match wore on.  Had to wash the loss down with one SoCal's iconic taco shop, Arturo's Puffy Taco in Whittier.  If you haven't been, the classic ground beef taco is excellent and has been featured on the Food Channel.  It's one of those foods that you cannot find anywhere else.  You would think someone would mimic the formula so I wouldn't have to drive there when I have the craving.  

98 had ARG and 88 had NED in their QF.  Two (Cicero (86th-Tied, 58 pts) (who was tied for 1st on Nov 29) and Ugh, as If! (67th-T, 60)) lost USA as their champ.  81 got both ARG & NED while 4 got none.  Kankleiscious still in 1st with 74 points while Markofthebeast is last with 42 pts.  

FFB 6.1 - Foster's Football Brew 12.3.22.1

Foster's Football Brew 12.3.22.1

So there's some real irony watching Argentina play against Australia at an Outback Steakhouse at the international airport in Buenos Aires (EZE)!  I think Ken Berry (who introduced me to HWCI many years ago) told me it was founded in FLA, not AUS?! 

My half-Argentine heritage is fully rooting for La Albiceleste, along with everyone else here. Nearly every airline & airport worker is wearing an Argentina jersey, sometimes under their blazer!

Let's break down the key issues of this game per Argentine TV pundits earlier in the day:

1) No DiMaria- he's out with a a slight hamstring issue they'll want to preserve him for latter stages of the Tourney

2) Lack of speed and dribble-penetration skills on the right wing to create higher % chances - three choices to take DiMaria's spot, and they're going w Papu Gomez. The pundits all had criticisms of each, so we'll see how Gomez can fill in. The strategy will likely be different, with more emphasis on bringing the ball up the left wing.

3) No team can be taken for granted, as was the case w Saudi. ARG must study the Soceroos tactics and exploit their weaknesses while defending against the counterattack and crosses.

4) The Aussies are a tall team. ARG must limit corner kicks and crosses to minimize AUS goal scoring chances. 

This will be the second of four ARG games I've been forced to watch gojng to and from airports. At least the streets and freeways were empty both times!  Imagine a Super Bowl atmosphere x 10 for your team, every time there's ARG plays in the World Cup (or Copa América, for that matter) 

On a side note, I'm saving this pictured Budweiser, the Messi edition, hopefully as a form of champagne celebration at the conclusion of the World Cup!!

-FFF

USA v NED - Live!

HOME -- Woke up just after 7 after a long night, put on my 2002 USA Home jersey, the same one where USA won their R16 (vMEX), freshened up, put on a cup of coffee... and...

• 18' - Turned on TV - Boo!  NED 1-0.  Not stressed though like IRN match.
• [Start: No Sargent available.  No Reyna sighting but on bench.  Ferreira (MLS)?  2' - Save! USA needs a goal early.  Wide open.  10' - NED goal 1-0]
• 35' - NED playing great defense allowing USA possession but no passing lanes.  Interestingly, when USA GK has the ball, lots of orange jerseys in the area clogging outlet pass.
• 43' - "Zimmerman (MLS) mishits that ball" - yeah, I'm drunk already from his play.
• 45'+1 - With just +1', NED scores off another wide-open cross from the right in the box.  Duplicate of first goal.  NED 2-0.
• 46:40 - End half.
• 8:02 am - Start half.  I do hope Reyna is healthy as he enters match replacing MLS player (Ferreira).  Still not nervous though probably would be if at a Watch Party (e.g., Tom's Watch Bar)
• 49' - Ream can't get enough right at goal line.  USA still struggling to finish.
• 50' - NED another cross from right, closer to goal and nearly an own goal ("save" by Turner).  Whew.
• 53' - Why can't USA players hit it first time?  McKinnie on cross settles first then skies shot.  Both NED's goals were first-time clinical finishes.
• 8:11 am - Hmmm... my FOX stream on TV seems to be a full minute behind (FIFA+ app).  Going to restart stream.  Still behind.  Oh, well, eyes on TV.
• 60' - First yellow, this to NED.  Another USA free kick (Pulisic) and another to a NED defender.
• 64' - Robinson on the ground injured.  Time ticking away.  Wright (can he redeem himself?) and Aaronson ready to come in.  Players tired but winner of this match will get 5 full days of rest (opponent ARGvAUS will only get 3 full days of rest).  Put it all on the line!
• 69' - Aaronson run right off the ball then commits foul.  Child's play.
• 71' Turner double-save.  Time running out.
• 75' - Misplay by NED, but it's to Wright, who predictably instead of hitting it first time, has a touch too long, and barely gets a slow ball on goal, easily cleared off.
• 76'- Wright??  The pass is just behind him and he mishits but bounces high and into the net.  NED 2, USA 1.  I'll take it.  
• 78' - NED passes are getting sloppy, NED GK comes out to prevent another one-on-one attempt.  This GK only started for NED in the WC?  Crazy.
• 80' - USA corner, first of 2nd half.  Can they do well like their CKs against MEX in Gold Cup?  Higher this time but GK catch.
• 81' - Wide open header, NED 3-1.  Wide open.  All 3 goals NED players had free shot on goal.  All one-touch finishes.
• 86' - Weak bicycle by Zimmerman goes wide left.
• 87' - NED yellow to stop a counter.  Smart.
• 90' - Just six minutes of stoppage.  Where is our +10? :-)
• 90'+2 - Moore (MLS) on... too late? 
• 90'+3 - NED subs (will take a while).  USA players waiting for runners, got to pass faster.
• 90'+4 - Aaronson dribbling unnecessarily.  Is this a skills competition?  As George Lucas would say "faster, more intense".
• 96:08 - Game over!  Good effort but USA could not allow a goal early and couldn't allow a goal before halftime and failed at both.  Just momentum killers, especially for this young team.  It really came down to finishing as NED were clinical on crosses and USA could not convert some open looks.  Reyna had time to adjust this time and did nothing.  Maybe stop letting the fans pick your lineup.   GK Turner had no chance on any of the 3 NED goals.  Both teams missed 2018 and NED will give their hesitant fans back home hope and USA will take this memory into hosting in 2026.
• 9:00 am - Nice to see USA go toe-to-toe with soccer powers ENG and NED.  It used to be absorb and get lucky on a counter.  But whereas IRN missed their shot opportunities, NED finished with precision.  Until NED started getting sloppy before stoppage time, their defense was solid, as USA had too much dribbling and not many one-touch passing.  

Thank you USA!

Stoppage Time Winner (12/2)

WORK FROM HOME --  H4-Korea Republic (South Korea) scored in first minute of stoppage time to pull off upset of H1-Portugal, 2-1, to become the 3rd Asian team to make the R16.  H3-Uruguay took an early 2-0 lead over H2-Ghana but could not add to the total, and just one more goal would have advanced them.  As such, they lose the goals for tiebreaker to KOR.  I'm sure GHA will relish eliminating URU after an intentional handball by Luis Suarez (who helped with 2 URU goals today but was subbed off in the 66' after picking up a yellow card) in 2010 Quarterfinal forced GHA into a PK which they missed and URU eventually prevailed.  

While G4-Cameroon and G1-Brazil's B-team battled scoreless for most of the day, G3-Switzerland and G2-Serbia exchanged plenty of goals.  SRB rallied to take a 2-1 lead (briefly taking 2nd place slot) but SUI scored twice more to win 3-2 and make the R16 for 4th time in last 5 WCs.  CMR actually got a stoppage time goal but still would need SUI to give up two goals so a moral victory.

BRA's 17-game unbeaten streak in group stage matches came to an end (yes, it was their B-team but that's a pretty good B-team).  No team won 3 games for the first time since 1994 with 1A-ENG #1 thus far (7 pts, +7 GD).  When KOR made the R16 in 2002 they need to beat -- POR in the 3rd group match.  KORvPOR was first non-scoreless tie at halftime (then followed by SRBvSUI 2:2 at half), after the first 23 halftime ties were 0-0.

One busy Friday working from home with several Zoom meetings but still enjoyed the endings of the matches.  Wore my 2020 POR Away jersey with Nations League champion patch.  But I was rooting for KOR so maybe I need to shell out for a KOR jersey.

As it happened:

Craziness at the Top (12/1)

LA MIRADA, CA --  So we all had F3-Morocco and E4-Japan winning Group E and F, right?  All goals in Group F were scored before halftime as MAR scored 3 (ok, one was an own goal to F2-Canada) in winning 2-1 while F1-Belgium and F4-Croatia would play to the WC's 6th scoreless draw.  With MAR handling CAN (started with mistake by CAN GK), #2 in the world BEL just needed one goal and they had many chances in the end (most by halftime sub Romelu Lukaku who was just unlucky and should've easily scored on at least 2 of his 5 shots) and the Golden Generation bows out of group stage for first time since 1998.  By holding on, CRO takes 2nd in Group F.

At halftime, Group E was reverting back to normal from chaos as 2-time champ E1-Spain and 4-time champ E3-Germany were sitting 1-2 in the standings.  But chaos returned as subs helped JPN net two goals in 4 minutes to lead ESP, 2-1.  The latter goal was initially called out of bounds before the great cross but VAR's super tech determined a sliver of the ball was still in play and the goal stood.  Sliver.  That sliver put JPN on top of the group with GER chasing.  GER ran into trouble giving up two goals to E2-Costa Rica in 6 minutes (the latter a GER own goal) and CRC took 2nd over ESP.  But GER scored 3 minutes later and though added two more goals to win 4-2, ESP had a massive GD advantage to keep 2nd.  In stoppage time after JPN made two key saves, ESP seemed content with 2nd place (while JPN fans were nervous of giving up tying goal which would have eliminated them) which I'm sure annoyed GER fans.

For the 2nd straight WC, GER fails to make the R16 while JPN has rallied twice to beat two WC champs in the same stadium (sandwiching a perplexing 1-0 loss to CRC).  Talk about the hardest path.  GER had 32 shots and would have needed to win by 8 to guarantee a spot but all they needed was ESP to tie. JPN had just 17.7% possession (14% if you include "in contest" possession) and that's the lowest for a winner of a WC match.  

JPN made the R16 in 2002 for the first time so wore my authentic 2002 JPN Home jersey while taking care of Dad.  My jersey is #7 Hidetoshi Nakata with JPNvTUR imprint for their R16 match (which JPN lost).  Was lucky today though and just as nerve-wrecking as USAvIRN match, but glad ESP took the pedal off the gas in the last two minutes of stoppage time.

As it happened:

Group Drama (11/30)

LA MIRADA, CA -- Yesterday, it was pretty straightforward towards the end with IRNvUSA and ECUvSEN being deciding matches.  Today, lots of drama in the final group matches of C and D as teams flip-flopped throughout the day until the final whistle.  D4-Tunisia shocked #4 D1-France's B team, 1-0, but it wasn't enough as D2-Australia shocked #10 D3-Denmark by the same score to take the 2nd place spot.  TUN was in 2nd spot for only minutes as AUS scored soon after.  DEN, needing two goals for any chance, tried to play spoiler to AUS but could not score.

C1-Argentina sat in 2nd after losing their first match and peppered C4-Poland but had their controversial PK saved in the first half.  POL was content with their superhuman GK (11 saves) even after ARG scored a couple of goals and needed to hold the line as they got outshot 25-4 and 13-0 on goal.  C3-Mexico need to make up at least four goals against POL or hope for ARG to lose.  After ARG scored to reduce the GD (goal differential) deficit to 3, MEX scored two goals (including a long FK golazo) in 6 minutes, their first goals of this WC, to cut the GD deficit to 1.  ARG scored again making MEX and POL even on GD, GF (goals for), and head-to-head (they tied).  The next tiebreaker was Fair Play (FP) points which POL started the day +2 but an early MEX yellow card increased it to +3. MEX needed a 3rd goal (almost got it in the 87' but auto-bot ruled offsides) to win on GF since POL wasn't trying to score.  But they came up short and missed the R16 for the first time since 1978 (8 straight when qualified, missed 1990 due to ban) and POL made their first R16 since 1986.

Two teams that won didn't make the R16 (TUN, MEX) and both teams also scored their first goals in their 3rd match..  Thus far, two teams with 4 points (ECU, TUN) and two teams that won their first match (ECU, KSA) failed to qualify.  AUS and ARG joined SEN as teams who lost their first match and made the R16.  All 4 matches were scoreless at the half (22 of 40 have been). 

I didn't have a MEX jersey so I wore my authentic 2022 MLS All-Star Liga MX jersey and pondered how far CONCACAF has fallen (save USA).

As it happened:

+9 (11/29)

WORK, EL SEGUNDO, CA -- While A4-Netherlands and B1-England had easy victories over A1-Qatar (2-0) and B4-Wales (3-0), respectively, to win their groups and qualify for the Round of 16, the second-place slots were nerve-wrecking.  Each game had a high 9 minutes of stoppage time as A3-Senegal and B3-USA had to protect one-goal leads to advance.  A2-Ecuador had tied it before SEN went back up three minutes later in the 70'.  With ECU needing only a draw, SEN's defense held up for those long 9-10 minutes.  

USA's only option was to win (no dependency on ENGvWAL) and although they didn't get an early goal they did get a late first half goal thanks to future star finally showing up and putting his body and soul into the play giving USA a 1-0 lead in the 38'.  But Christian Pulisic suffered a bad injury (either he getting kneed in the stomach/groin area by GK while he braced himself on the GK's groin) and left the match at halftime.  

All of USA's effort was marred by poor touches and bad decisions, especially in the last 15 +9 (actually ten) minutes, and while you can blame fatigue considering how hard USA played, a good number of these misfires were coming from subs Shaq Moore and Haji Wright.  Luckily, like E2-Costa Rica did against E4-Japan, they constantly challenged IRN players just inside midfield (not letting them get too deep in USA's end) forcing IRN to play backwards at times. But going into a defensive shell does mean lots of IRN possession and when IRN did break through, strong shots not on frame hurt them (USA GK Matt Turner was only credited with one save (FIFA updated: 2) though several shots got past him).  

There were two instances in the +9 stoppage time where IRN wanted a handball and a foul, but luckily both plays weren't 50/50 calls so no call was the obvious correct call.  Add to that this ref let a lot of physical play happen (there were 4 yellow cards ( with 1 to a IRN bench player and 1 to IRN for shirt pulling not a tackle) but could have easily been 8 or more), no way he would call those fouls.  Boy the stress though!  

Issue #4.1.3 "One Way Out" (After 2 of 3 Matches)

 Archive

Monday, November 28, 2022  

TWENTY-ONE TEAMS KNOW WHAT TO DO TO MAKE R16
Four are tied for 1st with 20 points but next four days can earn 16 points each day

MISTLETOE WRAPPING IN CYPRESS, CA (smt) -- Of the 21 teams who know what they need to do to guarantee themselves in the Round of 16, only the B3-USA has one way out - win or be eliminated.  No backing their way in like in 2002 or 2014.  No slim chance if they didn't win vs Algeria in 2010.  26 of 27 eligible teams can make the Round of 16 (joining D1-France, G1-Brazil, and H1-Portugal) with some help if necessary.  USA gets no help.  No need to watch the D1-England-D4-Wales score.  Doesn't matter.  Win and in.

Only 2 teams have been eliminated (host A1-Qatar and F2-Canada) and just three have qualified leaving an unusually high 27 teams still alive fighting for 13 spots.  E3-Germany has the most difficult guarantee to make the Round of 16, and that is beating E2-Costa Rica by 8 or more goals... considering E1-Spain beat CRC 7-0, maybe possible (though CRC shocked E4-Japan 1-0)?  Otherwise it's win and hope for a good result from JPNvsESP.  WAL and C3-Mexico are in if they win their matches by 4 or more goals.  ENG can lose by 3 goals and still qualify.  All 6 teams that do not control their destiny still need to win for any chance of making the R16. 

Goals & Golazos (11/28)

CYPRESS, CA -- The day (or night here on the Left Coast) started off with a banger with G4-Cameroon scoring first before G2-Serbia scored two first-half stoppage time goals.  SRB added a third before CMR's Vincent Aboubakar looped a ball high over the GK to the lead to one in the 63'... or so they thought.  Offsides.  But wait, VAR intervened and CMR added the game-tying third goal three minutes later.  Great goals in this one as both teams exchanged flicks on direct kicks (CK for CMR, FK for SRB) and the other four all came from the run of play.

Five more goals would be found in the next match as H2-Ghana jumped to a 2-0 first half lead before H4-Korea Rep's Guesung Cho scored twice in 4 minutes in the second half to level it at 2, the latter a leaping golazo header past the GK.  But Kudos Mohammed scored his second goal 10 minutes later to give GHA the 3-2 win.  African teams went 3-1-1 this round after going 0-3-2.

G1-Brazil got a late half-volley golazo to beat G3-Swiss 1-0 and H1-Portugal got two goals from Bruno Fernandes, the first a pass just missing the head of Cristiano Ronaldo that went into the net, to defeat H3-Uruguay, 2-0.  Both winners joined D1-France into the Round of 16.

Didn't have a Serbia jersey but Slovakia has good relations with them and is one of the few countries I have visited (Bratislava).  So I wore the authentic 2016 home jersey, which as a white jersey is pretty slick with two badges on either side of the Puma logo.  Good enough to wear at a Boy Scout meeting to prepare mistletoe presents for over 300 people.  

In the pool, The Gambler was the only one to get all 4 matches correct to jump into a tie for first with DDubs, Kankileiscious, and The Gambler 1 (also him) with 20 points.  Four went 0-4 as Chris 1, Markofthebeast, and Meli are tied for last with 10 pts.  107 picked BRA, 102 POR, 24 GHA, and 18 picked the CMR-SRB tie.  

We now head into the final round of games.  16 points are up for grabs for four straight days (12 points for getting 4 R16 teams and 4 points for 4 matches).  For the 109 who picked FRA and BRA and 101 who picked POR won't get those 3 points each until their group matches are complete.

Not as Expected (11/27)

CUCINA ALESSÁ, HUNTINGTON BEACH, CA -- F2-Canada scored in the 2' but it was all F4-Croatia after that in losing 4-1 and becoming the second team eliminated from the Knockout Stage.  For a CAN team that outplayed #2 F1-Belgium and won the CONCACAF qualifying group, this was a disappointing outcome heading into co-hosting in 2026.  Speaking of #2 BEL, F3-Morocco scored two late goals to shock BEL, 2-0 and take the group lead.

E4-Japan, who rallied and beat E3-Germany, overthought the game against E2-Costa Rica, who got blown out 7-0 by E1-Spain, by changing their lineup and keeping CRC in the match.  A spirited CRC defense fought for every through ball and took their one chance with an off-speed lob that fooled JPN's GK into jumping a tad early for the game-winner in the 81'.  Who would have thought CRC would give CONCACAF their first win of the tourney.

ESP was in control leading 1-0 but power doesn't panic and GER, although with JPN losing they would not have been eliminated with a loss, got the equalizer in the 83'.  GER has one of the more unique direct qualification path in that if they beat CRC by 8 goals, they will qualify.  But most scenarios need help even with a win.  

With Asian Football Confed's C2-Saudi Arabia and JPN losing, they are on the verge to be one of the 16% to fail to make the Round of 16 after winning their first game.  

So waking up at 3:30 am just in time to see CRC score was demoralizing and went out with my family to a very good Italian restaurant (yes, I had an Italian sausage omelet but the kids had pasta which was really good) in Huntington Beach to drown my sorrows in my authentic 2021 Anniversary JPN jersey, one of my favorite jerseys.

While 74 picked CRO, just 29 picked the ESP-GER draw, 13 CRC, and Party Brigade (104th-Tied, 10 pts) was the only one to pick MAR.  26 went 2-2 while 18 went 0-4.  CDOG, DDubs, Kankleiscious, and The Gambler 1 are tied for first with 17 pts while Meli is now alone in last (8).