Issue #7.1.6 "Can't Complain" (After Group Stage)

 Archive

Friday, August 4, 2023 

Dailies: Aug 2-3 

GERMANY, BRAZIL OUT; MOROCCO, JAMAICA, SOUTH AFRICA IN
Vlatko Better Win leads with 65 points and 6 lost GER as their champ

H MART, BUENA PARK, CA (smt) --  Living in the Los Angeles area, it is hard to complain about things.  It's been high 80s with 60% humidity which I describe as "pungent hell" (one of the very few times we ever got feedback on our Major League Soccer score sheets in the early days was one time we described the weather at the Rose Bowl as not "sunny" or "humid" or "hot", but our use of "pungent hell" --- the note was quickly followed with "but that's exactly what it felt like" so we had a good laugh), but someone from Boston will say hey, it's 105F and humid here or Orlando will say it's 99% humid here.  LA had like a dozen atmospheric rivers drench the area from December-March but then someone in Tampa will say we had to evacuate due to a hurricane or Vermont is flooded.  We're known for some famous "bad" areas here but them someone from Chicago will talk about constant gun violence.   LA is also famous for smog but can't complain because the Northeast is suffocating under the Canadian wildfire smoke out.  We can only complain about high taxes... anyone top that?  Anyone?  Darn.

African Strong, Asian Disrupters (8/3)

THE SLICE & PINT, EL SEGUNDO, CA - H1-Germany has to stop playing Asian teams in the group stage.  In 2018 WC, Korea Rep beat GER 2-0 to eliminate them from the knockout round in the last match.  In 2022 WC, Japan shocked GER 2-0 in the group stage opener that led to GER missing the knockout stage again.  Now in 2023, H4-KOR sends GER home again, securing a 1-1 draw, that combined with #72 H3-Morocco's 1-0 upset of H1-Colombia, eliminated both teams from the Round of 16.  

The COL "push" heard around the world gave MAR a PK attempt, and although they didn't score directly (the tourney's first miss after 13 straight converted), they put in the rebound in the 45'+4 for the pivotal only goal of the game.  GER's failure means 2E-USA is the only team to make it to knockout stage in every WWC.  COL still clinched 1st in the group despite the loss.  MAR loses 6-0 to GER and then qualifies over GER in the end?  What a crazy tournament.  MAR is the 3rd African team (and 1st Arab nation) to reach the R16, obviously the most ever.  #54 2G-South Africa and #40 2B-Nigeria are already in (all 3 African teams ranked 40 or worse with #77 3C-Zambia the only African nation to not qualify.

Wore my 2014 home Germany jersey with 2014 final lettering in front of our own Wrigley Field wall of ivy and it cursed them.  Speaking of jerseys, 8 teams have a bright yellow (or "orange" or "gold") jersey, way too many.

Tiocfaidh Ár Lá!!! (15th-Tied, 59 pts) was the only one to pick the KORvGER tie and 4 had MAR winning meaning 5 went 1-1 and 42 went 0-2.  Reggae Vibes (6th-T, 62) was the only to have MAR in the R16 and 14 had COL (all 47 missed GER).  Reggae Vibes got 4 of 8 points to move from 13th-T to 6th-T while 28 got 0 of 8. Vlatko Better Win is alone in 1st with 65 points with Kds911 2nd (64).  Tiny Destroyer is still last with 43 pts.

Four got 12 of 16 R16 teams correct while Tiny Destroyer only got 8 teams in.

Issue #5.1.4 "First Points" (After 32 Matches)

 Archive

Sunday, July 30, 2023 

Dailies: July 28-29-30 

JAMAICA, SOUTH AFRICA, MOROCCO PICK UP FIRST-EVER POINTS; GERMANY FALTERS
Eggman 2 remains in the lead with 23 points of 32 possible

CARSON, CA (smt) --  After 32 matches, each team has played two matches each (even though Group A got a head start, finishing their 3rd matches a half hour before H1-Germany vs H3-Colombia started).  H2-Morocco, F2-Jamaica, and G2-South Africa picked up their first ever WWC points joining E4-Portugal and A3-Philippines earlier this week.  MAR got an early 6' goal to beat H4-Korea Rep, 1-0, to stay alive in Group H.  In a rare battle between two CONCACAF teams in the group stage, #43 JAM edged out #52 F4-Panama to stay alive and eliminate the Panamanians. #54 RSA led 2-0 in the 66' but G4-Argentina scored twice in 5 minutes to end it on a 2-2 draw, RSA's first-ever point. 

While D1-England struggles to score, they still are winning, and with D4-China PR's VAR-infected 1-0 win over D2-Haiti, all four Group D matches ended in a 1-0 score line.  #5 F1-France, which opened with a lackluster 0-0 draw with JAM, finally showed up outlasting #8 F3-Brazil, 2-1 and G3-Sweden, who had to come from behind to beat RSA in their opener, showed they are the #3 team in the world in destroying #16 G3-Italy, 5-0 with three goals off corner kicks (4 for SWE in tournament).  #2 GER had a chance to assert themselves further after their earlier 6-0 win over MAR, but fell behind to #25 COL and then lost on a 90'+7 stoppage time goal (you guessed it, off a corner kick), which kept KOR alive.  The rockin' stadium full of Colombian fans has seen COL upset the two teams above them and now face #72 MAR to try to clinch Group H.

Stoppage Time Game Winner (7/30)

HOME, CA - Let's start of with Group H, which were the buns to the meat of Group A for some reason.  The day started with H2-Morocco scoring on a diving header in the 6' that stood up for their first-ever win, beating H4-Korea Rep, 1-0.  The #73 ranked team nearly held KOR with zero shots on goal (FIFA after the match had KOR with 14 shots, none on goal; ESPN had 17 shots, 3 on goal; FIFA corrected itself to 17-1) to stay alive in Group H. 

The day ended with a shocking H3-Colombian 2-1 upset of #2 H1-Germany on a wicked header off a corner kick in the 7th minute of stoppage time (only +6 was revealed).  GER had tied in on a PK in the 89' but the Colombian fans were passionate and loud in the stadium to help put COL on top of the group.  COL, who upset KOR earlier, actually kept KOR alive with the win, as a GER win/draw would have eliminated the South Koreans.  All four teams are still alive.

In between the Group H matches, Group A had their final stage and A2-Norway, scoreless through two matches, needed a big win and they got it, routing A3-Philippines, 6-0, to take second.  Co-host A1-New Zealand, needing to win after NOR went up 3-0 at halftime, could not push through despite their GK helping (and getting a shot) in the 7 minutes of stoppage time.  A4-Switzerland, needing just a draw, got it with the tourney's 4th nil-nil draw to win Group A.  NZL becomes the first WWC host (maybe B1-Australia is next?) to not make the knockout stage and did it in the most improbable way - beating #12 NOR, tying #20 SUI, and losing to #49 PHI.  What could've been, and hopefully the Kiwis will still support the rest of the WWC.

With four GER players and one NOR player playing for FC Bayen München, wore my 2021 home FC Bayen München jersey, complete with 5th star (30th title), UCL 6 starball, and 2020 FIFA World Champion patch.  Those palm leaves are getting HUGE!

Looking at just Group H matches, Firewire (38th-Tied, 17 pts) and last place Tiny Destroyer (13) were the only two to pick both upsets COL (picked by 2) and MAR (picked by 7).  Eggman 2 was one of 38 to go 0-2 in Group H but keeps first (23). 

With Groups concluding, you now get the 3 points per R16 team.  Group A saw 23 get both SUI and NOR into the R16 while the other 14 got just 1 of 2.  All 47 got NOR's win and 9 got the SUIvNZL draw correct.  Five entries got the full 8 points in Group A while 19 got just 4 points. 

For the whole day (Groups A and H), five entries got 8 points and 13 got 4 points.  Eggman 2 is still in first (31) with Hawkeye second (29).

Issue #3.1.2 "Favorites Revving Up" (After 16 Matches)

 Archive

Tuesday, July 25, 2023 

Dailies: July 23-24-25 

GERMANY & BRAZIL ROUT BUT FRANCE DRAWS 0-0 TO JAMAICA
Jolly Old England sits alone on top with 14 points

HOME, CA (smt) --  After 16 matches, one for each team, there has only been two clear favorite teams who have lost (A2-Norway) after #26 H3-Colombia scored twice in the first half to beat #17 H4-Korea Rep, 2-0.  D3-Denmark and D4-China PR had about the same ranking (#15 v #13) with DEN winning 1-0 earlier.  Two heavily favorite teams suffered 0-0 draws after #5 F1-France drew with #41 F2-Jamaica (#6 B4-CAN v #42 B3-NGA), and JAM rightly celebrated like it was a win.  E2-Netherlands and G3-Italy squeezed out 1-0 wins while #3 G1-Sweden became the first team to rally beating G2-South Africa, 2-1.  It was also the only match of the 16 where both teams scored (17 teams were shut out).

#2 H1-Germany routed H2-Morocco, 6-0, in a match where MAR were ranked 70 spots behind GER.  F3-Brazil got a hat trick from Ary Borges to beat F4-Panama 4-0.  Outside these two matches, just 24 goals were scored in 14 matches.  After 16 VAR interventions in the first 11 matches, there were none in the last five.  European teams went 8-3-1 this round with Africa still seeking their first win (0-3-1).  The 8 new teams in the tournament lost all 8 and were outscored 23-0.  Only 1 of 16 matches saw a match where both teams scored, resulting in 17 teams who were shut out.

Rout (7/24)

EL SEGUNDO, CA - Top teams turned it up today with H1-Germany getting a tourney-high 6 goals against debutant H2-Morocco and F3-Brazil scoring 4 against first-timer F4-Panama.  With MAR and PAN losing, all 8 teams making their WWC debut not only lost, but none of them scored a goal.

G3-Italy got a 87' game-winning header to beat G4-Argentina, 1-0.  BRA's Ary Borges got the tourney's first hat trick and GER's Alexandra Popp scored two goals, just as many as opponent MAR did (2 own goals).  There have been no VAR interventions in four matches.

Wore my 2019 Copa Oro Panama Home jersey while taking Amtrak (poorly managed, especially on the way back) from Fullerton to Solana Beach (and it was drizzling!).  PAN is ranked #52 and MAR #72 (70 spots behind GER!).  The biggest gap will be C1-Spain vs C3-Zambia (#6 v #77 - 71 spots).

Twitter is X?  So confused.

32 went 3-0 keeping the top 3 the same.  Tiny Destroyer went 1-2 to stay in last with 6 points.

Issue #5.1.4 "The Axe Forgets" (After Group Stage)

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Friday, December 2, 2022  

GHANA AND USA EXTRACT REVENGE, BEL & GER OUT
Kankleiscious is alone in 1st; no eliminations until end of Round of 16

WORK FROM HOME (smt) -- Although it has been 24 years since B2-IR Iran shocked B3-USA and 12 years since H2-Ghana lost in Quarters to H3-Uruguay on a sure game-winning goal nullified by a blatant handball by Luis Suarez, there is an African proverb that is used in Star Wars: Andor - the axe forgets but the tree remembers.  USA battled political questions at press conferences and US Soccer sabotaging players and survived IRN 1-0 to advance to the Round of 16 for the 4th time in their last 5 WCs.  A first-half goal on a crushing run by Christian Pulisic was just enough to erase the 1998 memories.  GHA, after going down 2-0 early with slim hopes of advancing, bunkered down and played spoiler, preventing URU from the R16-clinching 3rd goal as URU may have won 2-0 but were eliminated.  Like the 2010 QF vURU, GHA missed a PK that started their downfall.

While just 11% of teams who lose their first match make the R16, 3 of the first 5 teams (60%) advanced (A3-Senegal, C1-Argentina, D2-Australia).  The last 6 teams did not make it so it ended up being 3/11 (27.3%).  On the flip side, just 16% of teams who win their first match fail to qualify and 2 of the first 5 (40%) did miss out (A2-Ecuador, C2-Saudi Arabia).  Just 1 of the final 6 teams failed to qualify (F1-Belgium, ending that Golden Generation) so it ended up being 3/11 as well (27.3%).  5 teams (C3-Mexico, D4-Tunisia, E3-Germany, G4-Cameroon, and URU) did win their last match but also failed to qualify. 

A4-Netherlands and B1-England picked up easy wins while 3 teams who had already clinched lost (D1-France 0-1 to TUN, G1-Brazil 0-1 to CMR, and H1-Portugal 1-2 to H4-Korea Republic).  ENG actually finished with the best record (7 pts, GD+7) as no team won 3 games for the first time since 1994.  There was just one tie in the last 16 matches (F4-Croatia 0-0 to BEL).

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:

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).

Issue #3.1.2 "Announcement" (After 1 of 3 Matches)

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Thursday, November 24, 2022  ***HAPPY THANKSGIVING*** 

GIANTS FALL, ASIA RISES, & USA SETTLES FOR TIE

Nine are tied for 1st but will ARG or GER break the pool?

TURKEY DINNER @ HOME, CA (smt) -- With one match down for each team, a few teams made an announcement to not underestimate them because they don't come from Europe or South America as Asian Football Confederation's #53 C2-Saudi Arabia rallied with two early 2nd half goals in 6 minutes to stun two-time champion #3 C1-Argentina, 2-1, and AFC's #24 E4-Japan rallied with two late 2nd half goals in 9 minutes to defeat 4-time champion #11 E3-Germany, 2-1.  ARG was riding a 36-match unbeaten streak and had not lost in their last 40 WC matches when scoring first.  Big underdog African teams D4-Tunisia and F3-Morocco secured scoreless draws against top 12 European teams D3-Denmark and F4-Croatia, respectively.  AFC's #28 H4-Korea Republic tied #14 H3-Uruguay in a match that saw no shots on goal (thus, ended nil-nil).

So considering KSA beat ARG and JPN beat GER, USA's 2-0 loss to JPN and 0-0 draw to KSA this fall right before the World Cup wasn't so bad after all.  But B3-USA still has to be disappointed to commit a reckless tackle in the box to allow B4-Wales to tie it 1-1 with a PK in the 82'.  CONCACAF didn't fare any better with #13 C3-Mexico not taking advantage of ARG's loss in a 0-0 draw with #26 C4-Poland, F2-Canada missing a PK and outshooting #2 F1-Belgium 21-9 but still losing 1-0, and E2-Costa Rica going shot-less in an embarrassing 7-0 loss to E1-Spain.

Asian Shocker Redux! (11/23)

LA MIRADA, CA - For the third straight major tournament, E3-Germany loses their first group match, this time to #24 E4-Japan, 2-1.  GER lost to France in Euro 2020 and was upset 1-0 by Mexico in 2018 where they eventually missed the 2018 Knockout Stage after getting upset by another Asian team, Korea Republic, in their 3rd match.  GER dominated for the first 2/3rds of the match with possession and shots but JPN got two late goals nine minutes apart (75', 83'), the latter a laser up past the GK near post at close range.  This reminded me of Landon Donovan's "aim for the head" laser shot in the 2010 World Cup vs Slovenia.  

E1-Spain, GER's next opponent, showed their dominance putting up 7 goals against E2-Costa Rica.  If GER were to lose against ESP, they would need CRC to beat JPN to have any chance of advancing.  CRC has no shots at all and had just 17% possession (they did have more offsides than ESP with 7).  

#2 in the world F1-Belgium struggled against F2-Canada (getting outshot 21-9) but saved an early PK in holding on, 1-0.  #12 F4-Croatia and #22 F3-Morocco played to the tourney's 3rd scoreless draw.

It was well worth getting up at 6:30 am (after going to sleep near 3 am after watching the satisfying season finale of Star Wars: Andor) to see JPN turn it on and get rewarded with two goals.  Wore my authentic 2020-21 home JPN jersey afterwards when taking my mom to get her car a smog check.  But JPN's WC jersey looks great as well.

Kona Coast Uno (10th-Tied, 7 pts) was the only one to pick JPN while 14 picked the MAR-CRO tie.  101 picked ESP and 96 picked BEL.  12 entries went 3-1 while Firewire (69th-T, 5) and Young Bloods (69th-T) went 0-4 today.  This left nine in a tie for first with 8 pts while Meli (108th-T) joins Markofthebeast in last with 3 pts.

NOTE: Unlucky (1st-T) and What Would Pep Do (69th-T) were inadvertently swapped in points (corrected 11/23).  Thanks for Keith J for finding this error.  I now have an additional check when Excel decides to outsmart me.  

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. 

Shocker in Rennes (6/29)

It was a little shocking to see 1C-Italy and 1E-Netherlands so blatantly arguing in the faces of the referee.  It was pretty disrespectful and I wonder if it was a male ref, if they would do that.  There were 29 fouls (16 by NED) and four cards (all ITA).  NED got a couple of headers in the second half to be beat ITA 2-0 to advance to their first semifinal.  This match also featured the first cooling breaks in the 30' and 75' as the heatwave continues across France.

1B-Germany, with more days rest than 2F-Sweden, struggled all day and already made two subs as the second half started.  GER scored early on a great volley but soon and for the first time in 22 WWC matches  (coincidentally also against SWE in '03 Final), GER allowed a goal in the first half.  The 1-1 tie was broken early in the second half off a great save but the rebound was easily put in giving the Swedes the lead.  After not allowing a goal in 394 minutes, GER now has allowed two in one match.  SWE held on to win 2-1, snapping a streak of 29 straight matches where the team that scored first had won (not including NOR-AUS that went to PSO).  The # 2 team is now out and SWE makes their first semifinal since 2011 and wins their first major tournament match against GER since 1995.

Issue 6.2.1 "Black and Blue" (After Round of 16)

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Tuesday, June 25, 2019

TOP TEAMS BRUISED AND BATTERED, BUT ALL FAVORITES ADVANCE
Kds911 is first while 13 can still win Pool

MANHATTAN BEACH, CA (smt) -- All 6 group winners plus 2F-Sweden and 2A-Norway won giving the Quarterfinals a near unanimous European feel.  1B-Germany and 1D-England each won 3-0 in physical matches while 1A-France (after extra time), 1F-United States, and 1E-Netherlands held on to 2-1 wins.  NOR routed 2C-Australia in the penalty shootout 4-1 after a 1-1 tie after extra time and 1C-Italy survived a suddenly offensive-minded 3B-China PR team 2-0 and SWE got lucky as 2E-Canada missed a game-tying PK to prevail 1-0.  Cup favorites were woman-handled as GER was fouled 15 times, ENG 11, FRA 23, and the Americans 17 times.  GER was the only one to fight back fouling 3A-Nigeria 16 times.  GER will have two extra days rest on opponent SWE though.

3E-Cameroon displayed an all new look of unsportswomanlike conduct delaying kickoffs in protest, pushing referees, spitting and elbowing players, and having a coach that tolerated the behavior.  2B-Spain were lucky not to get more yellow cards including a blatant chokehold on Megan Rapinoe.  But the fact these top teams survived proves their resiliency that hopefully will take them far.  GER and NOR seem to be on the upswing while ENG, FRA, and the USA (their last 2 matches) are still trying to find their footing.  ITA, who finished last in their group in the 2017 UEFA Women's EUROs, has been the biggest surprise and gets to play a NED team, although the 2017 UEFA Women's EURO champs, struggled in the second half against 2D-Japan and needed a 90' PK to prevail. 

Kerr-fuffle (6/22)

1B-Germany scored early and recorded their 4th straight shutout, beating 3A-Nigeria, 3-0.  GER has now reached the Quarters in all 8 WWCs.  VAR reviewed the first two goals where the first it was ruled GER wasn't offsides in that the offside player was not interfering with the GK (though it was a busy box) and the second was another defender whiffing and kicking a player hard on the follow-through and VAR ruling a foul had occurred and PK was awarded. 

Twenty-Two Shots (6/17)

Each match saw one team take at least 22 shots but only two of the four won today.  B1-Germany got tired of 1-0 wins and came out swinging shooting 23 times and scoring four times in a 4-0 win over B4-South Africa to clinch Group B with 9 points.  In an interesting match where the winner would be the loser, only a loss would keep B3-Spain, holding 2nd place, from likely facing the F1-United States in the Round of 16 and yet they came out shooting 24 times with 9 shots on goal but was held to a scoreless draw by B2-China PR, who had just one shot and none on goal.  By finishing 3rd, CHN will likely play C2-Italy, C3-Brazil, C4-Australia, D1-England, or D4-Japan, all preferable over facing a hot USA team.

Own It (6/12)

A3-Norway must be kings of the own goal as they benefited for the second straight match as an opponent scores for NOR, this time hometown A1-France which tied the score at 1 in the 54'.  It was a bizarre play as the cross would've gone harmlessly past the goal but FRA's Renard, who scored 2 goals in the opener, just seemed to tap the ball into her own net with no NOR defender around her.  However, a reckless tackle (really a mis-hit by NOR which made the follow through worse) in the box was looked at by VAR and deemed to be a foul, and FRA converted the penalty and held on to a 2-1 win to take the lead in Group A.

In the other Group A match, another own goal changed the tide of the match as A2-Korea Rep's control of the match was unhinged on a counter and accidentally kicked into their own net to give A4-Nigeria a 1-0 lead in the 29'.  The bizarre part was NGA's player near by put her hand up and appeared to graze the ball as it went past the goalkeeper into the net but VAR said no handball, thus the goal stood.  KOR had chances but it was another counter that did them in and NGA picked up three points in a 2-0 win.

Solo Survivor (6/8)

B1-Germany struggled but eventually gained control in a 1-0 win over B2-China PR.  GER had 62% possession and outshot CHN 18-4.  GER also extended a streak to 18 matches without allowing a first half goal in the WWC ('03 Final vs SWE).  CHN committed 19 fouls and had 4 yellow cards.  B3-Spain found themselves down 1-0 to B4-South Africa at the half but used their 72% possession advantage in creating 2nd half chances, including two that led to penalty kicks.  The rally for the 3-1 win puts ESP on top of Group B for now.

Both PK calls are probably what differentiates recreational players from professional players.  I can see myself flying with my hands slightly up and saying it was an incidental handball on the first PK foul and getting to the ball first but having the player run into me and saying it wasn't my fault on the second PK foul (called by VAR).  However, in a professional setting, players know to have their hand near their body or even behind their backs when attacking a cross to avoid the incidental handball and a players know to clear the ball and not completely follow through to avoid unnecessary contact to the onrushing player (that looked painful and would've been doubly so if it was against a male).  VAR was needed to call the foul and penalty (and doubly bad for RSA as the foul was the second yellow on the player) on the second PK which ESP converted for a 2-1 lead.  VAR was earlier used to confirm no foul in the box that would've gave ESP a PK while down 1-0.

A3-Norway scored early

FFB 18.04 "Fallen Stars - What Happened to...???" (7/2)

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Monday, July 2, 2018

[ FRA | POR | GER | ARG | BEL ]

As the knockout phase of the 2018 World Cup unfolds, I think back to the previous Euro and World Cup, when I was tracking some rising stars that were mysteriously (or otherwise) left off their countries’ World Cup Rosters this time around.  Here’s a quick look at some unfortunate circumstances and puzzling moves by international managers: 

Dimitri Payet (France) – One of the key performers for France in the Euro 2016, wizarding midfielder Payet was in tears as he

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

Archive

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