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).

Ronaldo Who? (12/6)

SAINT LOUIS, MO -- How many TV shots were there on 1H-Portugal's Cristiano Ronaldo in the yellow sub jersey?  Well, his replacement Goncalo Ramos only scored a hat trick as POR routed 2G-Switzerland 6-1.  POR scored 6 goals on just 13 shots (9 were on goal) including some wicked strikes.  Ronaldo did come in as a sub but his future is uncertain if the team keeps playing well without him.

While favorites were dominating save 2018 runner-up 2F-Croatia who won in Penalty Shootout, 2E-Spain garnered 68% possession (with in-contest) and 13 shots, but just put one on goal.  1F-Morocco, surprise winners of Group F, were patient as ESP passed the ball around and had a good number of chances, but after 120 minutes, the match was the 7th 0-0 draw.  In PSO, MAR's GK saved 2 of 3 shots with the other hitting the right post as MAR hit 3 of 4, the latter game-winner right up the middle (a hard panenka, I guess) from a player born in Spain.

Flew out to St. Louis for a work technical information meeting and I allegedly have a view of the Arch, except it was rainy and foggy so you could only see some UFO lights in the sky.  But Busch Stadium is nearby and it was a good walk late at night.  Wore my replica 2012 ESP home jersey with the 2008 Euro champion patch.  I did not wear it at LAX's Delta Sky Club but watched as ESP took 3 tepid PKs.

58 got POR and two actually picked MAR (FTRxBigJim (22nd-Tied, 86 pts) and Inconceivable! (42nd-T, 80)) into the Quarters.  FTRxBigJim was the only one to get both MAR and POR while 50 got none.  Five are now tied for first with 91 points with 5 more tied with 90.  Markofthebeast is still last with 57 pts.

The Gambler 1 (1st-T) has the best chance to win the pool (14.1%) with Soccerbix (1st-T) the best chance to win money (34.4%).  21 can still win the pool and 57 can still finish in the top 5 money spots.  FTRxBigJim is tied for 22nd but can't win money while Kicking it Old School is tied for 88th (72) but can still win the pool.  Tiny Destroyer is tied for 6th but can't win the pool.

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:

Group F Shuffles Around (6/27)

FREDERICKSBURG, VA -- One team was going to have one of the biggest collapses ever.  Either F2-Mexico was going to be the team to win their first two matches and get eliminated or defending champion F1-Germany was going to bow out of the Group Stage for the first time since 1954.  With F3-Sweden handily ahead of MEX, GER and F4-Korea Rep were still scoreless.  A GER goal would eliminate MEX and they had 26 shots to try to get that one goal.  But then the unthinkable happened as KOR scored off a corner kick in stoppage time (ruled not offsides by VAR (in either case - GER played the ball to a teammate or KOR was onside anyway) overturning the sideline ref).  With GER needing two goals now, GER GK became the 11th attacker but quickly KOR took advantage and scored an empty netter (wow, so many hockey terms this World Cup) to seal GER's fate, 2-0.  So who picked GER to finish LAST in Group F?  In 2002, KOR helped another CONCACAF team, the USA, advance to the R16 with their 70' goal against Portugal to eliminate Portugal.  MEX is the only non-European, non-South American team to qualify thus far (H2-Senegal and/or H4-Japan still have a chance).  Just two spots remain among 3 Group H teams (Group G's Belgium and England have already qualified).

In Group E, E1-Brazil took care of business

Issue #3.1.2 "Mexico, Japan, and Senegal" (After 32 Matches) (6/24)

Archive

Sunday, June 24, 2018 

ARGENTINA IN TROUBLE, SIX TEAMS IN
Ilvecchio and Spermicidal FC are tied for 1st; Next four days will pile up 64 points

LOS ANGELES INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT (LAX->ATL->DCA), CA (smt) --  The second group of matches saw redemptions for some teams such as E1-Brazil and F1-Germany needed stoppage time goals to pull out wins, H3-Colombia dominated the Group H seed 3-0, and B1-Portugal and B2-Spain rebounded to narrow 1-0 wins after all five had disappointing starts.  The only world power who failed to bounce back was D1-Argentina who got shut out by D3-Croatia, 3-0, and now need help to qualify for the Round of 16.  A1-Russia (3-1), H1-Belgium (5-2), and H4-England (6-1) remained perfect after dominating victories while A4-Uruguay and C1-France struggled to 1-0 wins to remain perfect.  F2-Mexico and Croatia are the other teams to start 2-0.  Of the 7 teams at 2-0, Mexico is the only one to have not qualified for the Round of 16 yet.  

The E2-Swiss became the first team to win after allowing the first goal rallying to beat

Late Group E Game-Winning Goals (6/22)

E3-Costa Rica was headed to a scoreless tie with E1-Brazil despite taking no shots on goal and having just one corner kick but Brazil scored twice in stoppage time to dash those hopes.  E2-Switzerland was also heading to a tie in their match with E4-Serbia before Xherdan Shaqiri's great effort as he slipped the ball under the GK in the 90' to give them a 2-1 win.  Brazil and the Swiss are tied atop Group E with 4 points while Costa Rica is eliminated.  Serbia became the first team to score first and lose as well as have a lead at halftime and lose.

In a team that didn't play today, D1-Argentina benefited as

Issue 2.0.2 "Sacrebleu!

Archive

Sunday, June 14, 2015 

     FAVORITES STRUGGLE BUT JAPAN AND BRAZIL PUNCH THROUGH
Spermicidal WFC jumps from tie for 8th to 1st by two wins

LAS VEGAS, NV (smt) -- C2-Switzerland joined the double-digit goal club scoring 10 in a 10-1 rout of C4-Ecuador.  The Swiss had two players score hat tricks (including Fabienna Humm's 3 goals in 5 minutes (47', 49', 52') while Ecuador's Angie Ponce scored three times as well - unfortunately, two were for the Swiss.  C1-Japan became the first team to qualify for the Round of 16 with a 2-1 win over C3-Nigeria, who outshot the defending champs 20 to 4 while E1-Brazil became the second team to qualify by holding E3-Spain without a shot on goal (a Galaxy!) in their 1-nil win.  The heavy favorites B1-Germany and D1-USA had to settle for ties against B3-Norway and D3-Sweden, respectively, while F1-France fell 2-0 to F3-Colombia.  A2-China, B4-Thailand, D2-Australia, and F2-England picked up key wins.  Edmonton's weather delayed host A1-Canada's match with A3-New Zealand for a half-hour five minutes in in the first scoreless draw of the tourney.  NZL missed a PK as the shot went off the crossbar giving the hosts a crucial point.  E4-Costa Rica's rally to tie E2-Korea Rep 2-2 gave Brazil the Group E crown.

Odd sights as uniforms were too crazy as it was weird to see

Sam's PANDO! or GORDO? # 16 (June 25 - Day 14)

GHANA is in deep trouble tomorrow - CRISTIANO RONALDO got a new haircut.. ..  

Match 43: NIGERIA v. ARGENTINA

Date: Wednesday June 25, 2014  

Venue: Estadio Beira-Rio, PORTO ALEGRE

PANDO! or GORDO? Muy Pando!

PRINCE HARRY, CANNIBALS, EARLY GOALS! WHAT'S NOT TO LOVE?

Before the fans had a chance to finish up their introductions to the people sitting areound them ~~ 2 GOALS! BOTH BY LIONEL MESSI! In just the third minute, off a rebound in M/Box, MESSI smelled it out and roofed his L/Footer .. ..

NGA countered immediately when AHMED MUSA took the ball in L/Box, cut > middle and curled his R/Footer > L/Right to light the fireworks early on .. .. ARG probed the rest of the 1H with 7 set-pieces in the attacking-third (just 1 for NGA), but that eighth FK is what