Run of play (7/11)

LA GALAXY FREE NACHOS AT EL TORITO IN MANHATTAN BEACH, CA -- 2G-England can go home again, but without the Cup in hand.  1D-Croatia became the sixth team to win after allowing the first goal, this time beating ENG 2-1 in Extra Time to reach their first final.  An opportunistic strike by Mario Mandzukic in the 109' in front of a slow to react ENG defense was the difference.  CRO becomes the first team to win three straight matches that went into Extra Time and even scored in their last two.  With ENG now confident in the PSO, CRO wouldn't allow them to get there.  A strong start by ENG with Kleran Trippier's bend-it-like-Beckham free kick, the ENG's 9th off of a set piece, in the 5' had their fans in a frenzy.  A rare double-miss by Harry Kane at point blank range (he was eventually ruled offside, but if it went to VAR, it likely would've been overturned) with the second off the post, off the GK, and still not finding the net, almost gave ENG a two-goal cushion.  With all the set piece goals lately, CRO used two run-of-play goals to seal the match.

The 20th ranked CRO team is the

Set Piece + Header (7/10)

NIKKA RAMEN, GOLETA, CA -- Samuel Umtiti headed in the tourney's 32nd headed goal off the tourney's 69th set-piece hat lead to a goal in the 51' giving 1C-France its fourth one-goal victory, 1-0, over 1G-Belgium.  Belgium had scored at least 2 goals in four of their five previous matches but their famous counter-attacks never materialized.  FRA advanced to their 3rd final and will seek their 2nd World Cup ('98).  In this battle of giants, defense and goalkeeping ruled as FRA picked up their 4th shutout and 14-goal BEL were shut out for the first time.

FRA was picked by 18 to advance to the Final.  This propelled Walleye to

Issue #7.2.3 "The Greatest Showman" (Semifinal Preview)

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Monday, July 9, 2018

FRANCE-BELGIUM THE REAL FINAL
Final four feature teams who have not won the Cup in at least 20 years

HILTON SANTA BARBARA BEACHFRONT RESORT, CA (smt) --  The first semifinal will feature the two best teams of the tournament, a pre-final of sorts, with Group C winners France facing off against Group G Belgium, both undefeated in regulation and both ranked in the top 7.  France rallied from a 2-1 2nd half deficit to beat 2D-Argentina 4-3 and Belgium rallied from a 2-0 2nd half deficit to beat 2H-Japan in their Round of 16 matches so they have been tested.  The second semifinal features 1D-Croatia which needed to PSO wins against non-group winners to advance and 2G-England which barely beat G3-Tunisia but did get the PSO monkey off their back in beating 1H-Colombia.  Only 2 of the 8 teams on this side of the bracket were ranked in the top 11.  So will the Final be anti-climatic?  The current odds:  France 2:1, Belgium 2.5:1, England 2.75:1, Croatia 4:1. 

English fans are going bonkers over England's success thus far, especially finally winning a penalty shootout, they believe they are destined.  They are going almost as crazy as buying albums of The Greatest Showman, which spent 11 straight weeks at #1 in the U.K. tying Adele of all people.  My son got me to buy the digital version of the movie as he saw it with his neighborhood friend and after resisting for a long time, got to watch and LOVE it (ignore the biopic liberties taken).  I should never doubt Hugh Jackman (I highly enjoyed The Boy From Oz and saw him live on Broadway) in a musical again.  So to link the topics together, below is the actual track list from the movie (all great songs and damn addictive, even my son and daughter are humming the tunes) and how it relates to the 2018 World Cup.  BTW, each title is linked to the song courtesy of Atlantic Records.  Enjoy!

The Greatest Show: Where it's covered in all the colored lights; Where the runaways are running the night; Impossible comes true, it's taking over you; Oh, this is the greatest show.  Indeed, the World Cup is the greatest show on earth and this particular one has seen the "runaways" running the show with

Issue #6.2.2 "It's Coming Home" (After Quarterfinals)

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Sunday, July 8, 2018 

ENGLAND ON A HIGH, HOSTS NO MORE
Flying Elvi holding on to lead; 14 still alive

STUBHUB CENTER, CARSON, CA (smt) --  2G-England scored a goal before and after halftime in shutting out 1F-Sweden, 2-0 to advance to the semifinals for the first time since '90.  English fans are going crazy as they hope this is the run that will erase 52 years of bad memories including '16's Euro loss to tiny Iceland.  While I wore my '09 era Beckham England home jersey, I got so many compliments at the Camarillo Premium Outlet including shouts of "we're bringing it back home" referring to the World Cup trophy.  Forgot how many tourists go to these outlets so a lot of soccer fans.  

The last of the giants were put down, as 1G-Belgium used

Bonus Possibilities

With only UEFA (European) teams left, that means every match from now on will be won by UEFA.  That means UEFA will be the Winningest Region with 13 wins (of the 15 knockout matches).  Only 3 entries had this by the way they picked their bracket.  Krispy Kremer wins the Bonus if the total goals scored in the 3rd place and Final matches is 8 or more (not including PSO goals).  Note that if Croatia beats France and the total goals (3rd+Final) is 5 or less, then Bigblue2 will win 4th and won't be eligible for the Bonus.  There is also a chance of a 3-way tie for some scenarios if the total goals is 7 (that would be $13.33 each).  Here are the simplified Bonus Possibilities:

2018 HWCI Men's World Cup Pool - Bonus Possibilities
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If FRANCE beats CROATIA in the final, then the possible winners are...
             Flying Elvi (tiebreak: 5.5 | Tied if <=6 | 3-way Tie if =7)
                Bigblue2 (tiebreak: 5.5 | Tied if <=6 | 3-way Tie if =7)
           Krispy Kremer (tiebreak: 8.5 | 3-way Tie if =7 | Wins if >=8)
If CROATIA beats FRANCE in the final, then the possible winners are...

Final Four Possibilities

Despite all the heavy favorites bowing out, no one has been guaranteed money yet.  14 entries still have a chance to win money while Flying Elvi, Walleye, and Stillcryin4USA will battle it out to win the pool.  Here are the Final Four Scenarios (8 possibilities).  If France beats Belgium in the Semis, then Walleye will win the pool; if Belgium wins their 1st Cup, then Stillcryin4USA will win the pool; and if Belgium loses in the Final, Flying Elvi, despite picking Germany as his champ, will win the pool.

2018 HWCI Men's World Cup Pool - Final Four Possibilities
---------------------------------------------------------
If FRANCE beats CROATIA in the final, then the possible winners are...
                   Walleye Score: 124 (place 1 winner)
              BigRedSquare Score: 121 (place 2 winner)
           Sacre Les Blues Score: 115 (place 3 winner)
                 Sokkerbix Score: 109 (place 4 winner)
If CROATIA beats FRANCE in the final, then the possible winners are...

Back to Back PSOs (7/7)

CAMARILLO PREMIUM OUTLETS, CA -- 1D-Croatia was determined not to go PSOs again and became the first team to score in Extra Time to take a 2-1 lead.  But 2A-Russia, which had survived on PSO as well, answered back and the match ended on a 2-2 tie. There was a scare in that the CRO GK seemed to pull a hamstring minutes before Extra Time and stayed in and was tested right way and made the saves.  Host RUS started the PSO first and things went well until their ET game-tying savior, Mario Fernandes, became the first person this tourney (62 PKs) to completely miss the target, his shot going wide left.  CRO closed out for a 4-3 PSO win to make their second semifinal and first since '98.  Teams who kicked first in the PSO are now 0-4.

2G-England rolled over

Youth and Speed (7/6)

OJAI OLIVE OIL FARM, CA -- Just like that, we only have European teams left.  South American sides 1A-Uruguay and 1E-Brazil both had allowed just one goal in four matches this tournament.  They were also the last of the non-European teams left.  The youth of 1C-France outplayed URU with an early goal in the first half and then a rocket that went through the hands of the URU GK that sealed their fate, 2-0.  FRA has scored on their last six shots on goal and advances to the Quarters for the first time since '06.

1G-Belgium got a gift of an own goal but BEL used their fast and deadly counterattack to

Issue #5.2.1 "Just a Tease" (After Round of 16) + Bonus Details

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Wednesday, July 4, 2018 ***HAPPY INDEPENDENCE DAY***

SPAIN, PORTUGAL, MEXICO DISAPPOINT
EEChick1400 and TheComeBacker on top; 28 still alive; Bonus!

WYNDHAM GARDEN VENTURA PIERPONT INN, VENTURA, CA (smt) --  After 2F-Mexico's wins over Germany and Korea Republic, CONCACAF was riding sky high on the Tricolor's chances.  But then the egg against Sweden led to a Round of 16 match against 1E-Brazil instead of 2E-Switzerland and for the seventh straight time, MEX was eliminated in the Round of 16 while BRA won its Round of 16 match for the seventh straight time.  The Iberian powers B1-Spain and B2-Portugal were both expected to go far past their Group A opponents but Ronaldo and POR were stopped by 1A-Uruguay 2-1 and ESP, despite huge advantages on possession, shots, and passes completed, could only muster a 1-1 tie with host 2A-Russia and lost in the Penalty Shootout (PSO), 4-3.  RUS was the 70th ranked team while ESP was the 10th ranked team in the world. 

2G-England shut the door on their PSO curse by

What is possible?

A lot of updates this Independence Day eve.  A new feature at the top is "Possibilities" which will let everyone know which entries are still alive (can finish in the top 4) and which entries can win the pool.  This is a custom macro so it may not be fool-proof, though in the eight previous pools, no issues have come up.  So if you're eliminated, you can hope we'll find the one bug in the software!  After the Quarterfinals, 28 are still alive and ten can win the pool.

Typically, we would show who was eliminated after the Round of 16 but my macro to run 32K possible outcomes on a 4-year old laptop is way too slow!  I figure this way some of you will still have some false hope.

If you look at the "Standings" now, it has a new format.  In addition to adding columns for "Pl" (highest placement) and "Max Pts" (maximum points you could achieve), the last column is "Bonus Pick Winningest Region".  Full details in a future update, but based on how you picked your Round of 16 bracket, which region will end up with the most wins (15 matches - not including 3rd place match).  The only possible outcomes now are UEFA (Europe) with 9, 10, 11, 12, or 13 wins.  They currently have 6 wins but there are two UEFA-UEFA matchups and they will meet each other meaning the least they would get is 9.  And again, the $40 Bonus is only for those entries who won't finish in the top 4.

17 are eliminated from the Bonus and 13 are eliminated from both prizes.

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

Curse is Broken (7/3)

2G-England scored on Harry Kane's 3rd PK goal of the tournament and was poised for the win until 1H-Colombia became the 11th team to tie or win in stoppage time as Yerry Mina's 90'+3 sent the match into Extra Time.  ENG, having lost all 3 PSOs in the WC plus one Euro PSO were making their fans' nervous as the 30 minutes ticked away.  But ENG was prepared for a PSO.  Even after falling behind 3-2, luck was on their side as COL hit the crossbar giving each side a miss.  After COL's fifth was saved, ENG got lucky again as even though the GK guessed right and got a hand on the ball, the ball still powered into the net, giving ENG their first PSO victory, 4-3.

In a battle of evenly matched European teams that start with the letter "S",

Buzzer Beater (7/2)

TGI FRIDAY'S, LOS ANGELES - LADERA, CA -- #61 2H-Japan came out strategically and attacked when necessary to upset the #3 1G-Belgium's offense but instead of trying to play for a scoreless draw, Japan managed to score twice after the half and took a 2-0 lead. Two BEL subs in the 65' changed everything. Creating havoc off a corner kick, a routine header cross somehow managed to tuck away just under the crossbar to cut JPN's lead in half in the 69'.

Then five minutes later, sub Marouane Fellaini

FFB 18.03 "World Cup Field Report - Russia" (6/30)

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Saturday, June 30, 2018

[ Foster's Football Brew:  Euro 2012 | Euro 2016 | WC 2018 ]

Eric Foster, Erica Mapa, Reza Amidi, Alejandro Aragon

The Argentina match against Nigeria (26-JUNE) was surreal... 64.5K fans, about 80% of which were Argentina supporters.  As if it were a home game with AFC Championship Game-like atmosphere in St Pete.  

Fan Fest

Got to spend one hour walking around World Cup media center and Fan Fest in Moscow's Red Square from 3-4am in morning during

Extra Time (7/1)

NHA HANG TAI SUI RESTAURANT, ROSEMEAND, CA -- 2A-Russia, the worst-ranked team (70th) in the tournament, opened people's eyes with a 5-0 win to start the tournament.  Now the host used a highly efficient defense to shut out the #10 team in the world for 120 minutes to prevail in the penalty shootout, 4-3 (1-1 tie).  1B-Spain's only goal came off an own goal in the 12' and despite playing a highly efficient possession game (completing 91% of their passes (1,031 passes completed vs RUS's 204), having 74% possession time, and having 60 minutes of playing time (vs RUS's 20)), ESP was almost too patient and couldn't score in 120 minutes.  RUS's only shot on goal was their penalty kick goal in the 41'.

In the penalty shootout, RUS was a