High Kick (11/25)

NERVOUS @ HOME - It seemed like D3-USA was using E4-Japan's strategy of absorbing pressure and saving energy for the second half but midway through the first half, the D1-England dominant possession gave way and USA had the better of chances.  Unlike against D4-Wales, USA kept the possession and pressure in the second half but could not finish, settling for a 0-0 draw, USA's first-ever 0-0 WC draw (35 matches).  With D2-IR Iran's two stoppage time goals against 10-men WAL, USA controls their destiny and need a win against IRN.  If you can't beat IRN, you don't deserve to be in the Knockout round.  

WAL had the first red card of the tourney as their GK came out and his high kick knocked the IRN player down way outside the box in the 86'.  IRN's second of two stoppage-time goals was in the 90'+11', the latest goal in regulation... of course, this WC, refs are putting all missing time back in resulting in unusually high added minutes (this match had +9 officially).  With the free-flowing injury-free ENG-USA second half, just +4 was put up, one of the lowest this WC (for 2nd half).  The first half was just +1.

ENG had one last chance in stoppage time thanks to another errant pass by Walker Zimmerman (the same one who dumbly committed the foul in the box to allow WAL to tie USA) but Harry Kane's clear header went wide left.  You could have a drinking game whenever there is a missed pass towards midfield, and if it was Zimmerman, take a shot.  You may get drunk quickly.  Luckily, Zimmerman plays well when defending to stay a starter.

A2-Ecuador got a second-half equalizer to tie A4-Netherlands 1-1 as both sit atop Group A with 4 points while host A1-Qatar got their first goal but A3-Senegal scored 3 and eliminated QAT for the Round of 16.  QAT is the second host to not make the Round of 16 (South Africa in 2010) and will try to not become the first host to finish the group stage with zero points.

I guess my 2010 home USA jersey worked as this jersey was the same type worn in USA 1-1 tie with ENG in 2010.  Since USA needs a win in their last match like 2010 (they somehow fell into 1st in 2014), I guess it'll be the 2010 away USA jersey on Tuesday.

In the pool, only SEN's win was picked by more than 19 entries (73).  19 picked IRN, 17 had ENG-USA draw, and only 6 had NED-ECU draw.  Eggman (30th-T, 10 pts) was the only one to go 3-1 while 23 went 0-4.  This left three at the top with 13 points (Cicero, Kankleiscious, and Walloon) with Markofthebeast and Meli tied for last with 6 pts.

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

Archive

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.

Scissor Kick (11/24)

FAMILY TURKEY DINNER @ HOME - G1-Brazil's Richarlison got one heck of a golazo scissor kick, his second goal of the match, to lead the #1 team to a 2-0 victory over G2-Serbia after a scoreless first half.  In fact, all four matches were scoreless in the first half with H1-Portugal and H2-Ghana putting up 5 total in the second half (3-2 win for POR), G3-Switzerland getting an early second half goal for a 1-0 win over G4-Cameroon, and H3-Uruguay and H4-Korea Republic playing to the tourney's 4th nil-nil draw.  In fact, neither URU nor KOR had a shot on goal!

Ronaldo scored a PK meaning he is the only player to score in 5 different World Cups (BRA's Marta has done the same for the Women's WC). KOR's tie meant that the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) went 2-0-1 in their last three games after losing their first three.  Both CAF (Africa) (0-3-2) and CONCACAF (North/Central America & Caribbean) (0-2-2) were winless (excluding Oceania who didn't place any teams).  UEFA (Europe) went 7-2-4 while CONMEBOL (South America) went 2-1-1.

Wore my 100th anniversary POR jersey (2014 Home) as we hosted the family dinner this year.  Our oven was great, zipping past the 170F for turkey but with an injector using my wife's unique seasoning, everyone loved the turkey.  Whew.  

In the pool, nine entries are tied for 1st with 11 points (though not the same 9 from yesterday).  Ten went 4-0 today while 4 went 1-3.  85 picked SUI, 107 BRA, 102 POR, and 14 got the surprising URU-KOR tie.

As the second matches for teams kick off tomorrow, if a team qualifies for the Round of 16, you won't get the 3 points until after each team plays their 3rd match of the group.  

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.  

Asian Shocker! (11/22)

EL SEGUNDO, CA - Well, #3 C1-Argentina scored four goals in the first 35 minutes, but three were called back (including one goal overturned by VAR) and one that they did score (a Messi PK) was possible because VAR overturned the ref and called for a PK.  Once C2-Saudi Arabia, ranked 53rd in the world, weathered this initial onslaught, they struck with 2 goals in six minutes early in the second half and held on to a 2-1 win.  The game-winner was a golazo strike by Salem Al-Dawsari in the 53' over the GK's outstretched hands in what some call the biggest upset in WC history.

But maybe ARG meant for this to happen so they could finish 2nd in the group and get to play G1-Brazil in the final instead of the semifinals?  I guess USA fans should not be disappointed anymore.  ARG had a 36-match unbeaten streak, had won their last 27 WC matches when leading at the half (1-0 today), and had not lost in their last 40 when scoring first.  Not sure what their record is when they were called offsides TEN (10) times.

ARG was not the only top team to struggle against lesser opponents as #10 D3-Denmark drew nil-nil to #30 D4-Tunisia and #13 C3-Mexico was held to a scoreless draw with #26 C4-Poland.  #38 D2-Australia scored first against #4 D1-France but Les Blues scored the next four (outshooting AUS 22-4) to sit comfortably on top of Group D.  While the MEX-POL draw was a positive for ARG, if ARG loses their next match against MEX, ARG are eliminated.  Same for AUS (lose next match vTUN and they are out).  Interestingly, both teams that scored first, lost.

Wore my 100th anniversary FRA jersey but was working so didn't get to watch the late game anywhere.  But that jersey will make an appearance again.

In the pool, no one picked KSA as this was the only one of 48 group matches where all 109 picked one team.  Luis (1st-Tied, 6 pts) was the one to correctly pick the DEN-TUN tie while 106 picked FRA and28 picked MEX-POL tie.  28 got two correct and Meli (103rd-T, 2) and Eggman2 (103rd-T) went 0-4.  Five are tied for first with 6 points while Markofthebeast got his first win with FRA (was 0-7) to sit in last.

I Got Your Back (11/21)

EL SEGUNDO, CA - B3-United States players ran into the back of B4-Wales' Gareth Bale twice, one which led to a late match-tying PK and one that prevented a killer mid-field attempt by Bale at an empty goal (a la Patrik Schick's mid-field strike in the Euros) almost 10 minutes into stoppage time.  USA dominated the first half but only got one goal (their only shot on goal) as WAL pushed in the second half and got their opportunity and Bale hit a great PK strike to tie the match at 1 in the 82'.  

Getting a 1-1 tie feels like a loss considering how strong USA came out.  Walker Zimmerman's silly foul going through Bale, whose back was against the goal, in the box was costly even though WAL was playing better.  This likely means USA will need to score a few goals against B2-IR Iran in their last match, much less winning.  

Had a meeting that went over by 45 minutes so I got to watch the worst of USA, with 10 minutes + 10 minutes stoppage left at the lobby of the Toyota Sports Performance Center (zero soccer fans) wearing the 2021 USA away kit.  Eventually just watched the end in my car.

B1-England quieted doubters in routing IRN 6-2 in an indoor soccer type of score line.   A4-Netherlands needed two late goals to pick up 3 points against A3-Senegal and keep pace with A2-Ecuador.  

What is with all these crazy long stoppage times?  10 minutes put in at end of ENG-IRN match (that went nearly 13 minutes) and 9 for USA-WAL.  There was also more than 10 minutes in the first half of ENG-IRN due to a GK injury.  With FIFA trying to keep the ball "in play" longer, the numbers being put up by the refs are unusually high.  In one aspect, fake or real injuries during play will be cumulatively added so that the losing team will get that extra time but that also means players are on the pitch longer and players are already cramping up (in mild temps, not the summer heat).

In the pool, 23 entries got all 3 matches correct while Markofthebeast missing all 3.  He also is the only one with zero points while 13 have four points.  107 of 109 got ENG, 97 NED, and 19 picked the USA-WAL tie.

Issue #2.1.2 "Reckoning"

 Archive

Sunday, November 20, 2022

QATAR EXPECTATIONS HIGH, SHATTERED IN FIRST MATCH
Our 7th World Cup pool hits record 109 unofficial entries with South American teams favorites to win it all

VANCOUVER, BC/HOME, CA (smt) -- This 22nd FIFA World Cup has brought controversy with human-rights issues, alleged bought votes, the smallest country with a team that has never qualified for the World Cup, moving the tourney to late fall, and fan/reporter troubles leading to the opening match.  But there was hope that Qatar would keep it together and that the team, which stayed together and played entertaining matches in the Asian Cup and Gold Cup, would surprise and make people talk about success and not about all the issues.  Nope. 

Not only did A1-QAT get thoroughly outplayed in the first half against A2-Ecuador in losing 2-0, their "fans", which seemed to wear free or souvenir shirts (not the jerseys), abandoned them as well as the 2-0 halftime scoreline caused swaths of the sold-out stadium to feature empty sections in the second half.  That left the cheering of ECU fans as that is what a reckoning sounds like as QAT became the first host to lose their opening match.  This was a traditional opening match by the host that was bizarrely scheduled as the second match of the day.  Only 3 months ago, it got moved up a day so it can be, you know, the opening match.

Not for Us (11/20)

HOME - A country can buy and pay for the World Cup but they can't buy passion or talent.  The fun team that produced good results during fake qualifying and the Gold Cup hit the main stage and faltered.  Host 1A-Qatar got a reprieve a few minutes in when VAR suddenly intervened (well, a semi-automatic review) to call a technically correct 1B-Ecuardorian offside that no one would have noticed but in the 15', QAT's shaky GK tripped a player resulting in a PK goal in the 16'.  

ECU dominated but if you look at the stats, you'd never know.  Shots:  ECU 6-5.  Possession ECU 53-47%, Fouls 15-15.  ECU only managed to add one more goal (Enner Valencia scored both) to beat QAT 2-0, the first time a host nation has lost in their opening match (South Africa tied in 2010).  

Even more embarrassing was that a good number of Qatar fans among the 67,372 fans didn't come back after halftime.  Soccer is just not part of the culture (yet).  Considering just 11% of teams who lose their first game make the Round of 16, it is very likely QAT will join RSA as the only hosts to not make it out of the Group Stage.  

As for our 7th HWCI World Cup pool, we unofficially have 109 entries (shattering the 2018 record of 79) which may go down depending on payments.  56 got ECU right.  29 did pick ECU to make the Round of 16 and 84% who win their first match make the R16.  13 (including both of mine) have QAT in the R16.  Sigh.

You can now view the standings, results, team distribution, your picks, and who's who in the pool.

Admin Pick # 2

HOME -- When I landed at LAX, we had surpassed our record 2018 total of 79 entries (was at 72 before I left Vancouver).  Now, we are at 97 entries (though 2 do need some heavy fixing in the bracket) and hopefully will top 100 by morning.  

My second and last entry (bye, bye $20) is Arabian Bribes.   There are a few docs on how Qatar secured the World Cup, which I hope to watch in the next couple weeks.  This entry has ARG winning it all, as I tried to pick a dark horse team like Netherlands, England, or the elders of Belgium.  But it feels like a South American year and maybe, after Ronaldo got the Euro trophy, Messi can get his World Cup trophy.

If you need to make any corrections to your picks, just send an email or submit a new pick (choose "Update" so I know) with same nickname.  Thanks to Eric F, Brian B, and Jim M for bringing in new people to the pool.  Also got about a half dozen strictly NCAA folks to get their feet wet in soccer.

Good luck to all!

Admin Pick # 1

VANCOUVER, BC -- Well, here is my first official entry, Kurat Alqadam Fab 13.  "Kurat Alqadam" translating in Arabic to soccer/football and 13 being the 13th HWCI soccer pool.  Had to shorten my "Fabone" to just "Fab".  This is my homer pick with USA making the semis and Japan getting 2nd in Group E over Germany.  As well as Canada and Mexico making the Round of 16.  Yup, a mess.  Well, good luck to all.

Deadline is 8 am PST Sunday!  Just 37 hours left.  Enter now!

USA Women Draw Netherlands But Expected to Advance

While the Men's World Cup gears up for the first fall tournament, the Women's WC recently had their Final Draw a few weeks ago where the four-time champion #1 E1-USWNT drew #8 E3-Netherlands (who USA beat 2-0 in the 2019 final) but then got #34 first-timers E2-Vietnam and then the Group A playoff-winner.  USA, playing all matches in New Zealand, will play its last group match against either #41 Thailand (which the USA won 13-0 four years ago), #58 Cameroon, or #23 Portugal.  

In addition to Group E, Groups C and F also feature two powerhouses (#6 C1-Spain & #11 C4-Japan and #5 F1-France & #9 F3-Brazil).  The hosts #22 A1-New Zealand and #13 B1-Australia drew decent groups and should make it out.  #2 G1-Sweden and #3 H1-Germany have easy groups while #4 D1-England got two teams in the teens (#15 D4-China PR and #18 D3-Denmark) in the closest Group of Death candidate.

So the reason this post came up is that USA is in the midst of a 3-match losing streak, their first since 1993.  Three.  Losses.  Granted, they were against top-tier teams (2-1 @ENG Oct 7, 2-0 @ESP Oct 11, and 2-1 vGER Nov 10) but it is unnerving because you don't want the team to be used to losing.  USA did go 9-0 against teams such as ENG, NED, JPN, ESP, and CAN in 2020 but last year had to settle for bronze in the Olympics after losing to CAN in the semifinals in their only loss of 2021 (but with 5 ties).  

Our 3rd HWCI Women's World Cup pool will be next July.

Issue #1.0.1 "Nobody's Listening!"

 Archive

Wednesday, November 9, 2022 
Issue #1.0.1 "Nobody's Listening!"
[||| Mini-Updates | Enter Now! ]

ITALY BACK-TO-BACK FAILURES, BRAZIL BACK TO #1
Our 7th World Cup pool in the late autumn will test if anyone's listening

EL SEGUNDO, CA (smt) --  The World Cup is a premier summer event but not this one.  When FIFA awarded Qatar the World Cup back in 2010, the country's average summer temperatures over 40 deg Celsius (104 deg F) forced FIFA to move the World Cup to winter (well, technically fall) to avoid the heat.  This messed up most of the world's domestic league's schedules (except Major League Soccer, which had their wild MLS Cup season-ender November 5) and add to it the controversies of Qatar hosting, who knew the World Cup will soon be upon us?  Can the World Cup coverage in America break though the noise and be heard with the NFL and college football in full swing (both conflicting with FOX's World Cup broadcasts), seasons underway in the NBA and NHL, and college basketball soon to start?

Qatar will feature eight stadiums all condensed within 34-miles of each other, four set kickoff times (2 am, 5 am, 8 am, and 11 am in the Pacific Standard Time), a short 29-day window, and again no gil Azzurri.

For the second straight World Cup, it will be missing 4-time champ #6-Italy which suffered an embarrassing 1-0 loss to #65-North Macedonia in one of the UEFA semi-finals.  However, #16 B3-USA bounced back from missing the World Cup in 2018 to actually make Pot 2 of the World Cup draw (avoids two top tier teams in the group).  Unfortunately, with #19 B4-Wales winning the playoff to be put in Pot 4, the USA will face #5 B1-England, Wales, and #20 B2-Iran in the only group with all four teams in the top 20.  The other 7 groups each have two teams outside the top 20.  So ENG's Group B is the closest to a Group of Death but there really isn't one this year.  Group D (#4 D1-France and #10 D3-Denmark) and E (#7 E1-Spain and #11 E3-Germany) each have two clear top teams with #8 A4-Netherlands lucky to land in Group A with #18 A3-Senegal, #44 A2-Ecuador, and host #50 A1-Qatar.  H2-Ghana is the worst-ranked team at #61.

USA Qualifies, Draws Jolly 'ole England

The US Men's National Team tried, but only lost 2-0 Costa Rica, where only a 6-goal loss would have pushed to 4th place in the CONCACAF Octagonal, and into a playoff with New Zealand.  The USA (#15 in the world) is back in the World Cup and today, knew most of their fate.  They were drawn into England's (#5) Group B along with one of Asia's top teams, IR Iran (#21), and the European playoff winner (either Wales (#18), Scotland (#39), or Ukraine (#27)).

USA were able to get into Pot 2 (next 8 best teams, Pot 1 was host Qatar (#51) and the top 7 teams) and therefore avoid two major powers (such as Group C with Argentina (#4) & Mexico (#9) and Group E with Spain (#7) & Germany (#12)).  Last time ('14... sigh, the '18 debacle still hurts), they were in Pot 3 and drew Germany & Portugal (but still escaped to the Round of 16).  Canada (#38), despite winning the octagonal, was in Pot 3 and will have to face Belgium (#2) & Croatia (#16).  

So the USA has a good chance to get out of Group B (not the easiest, not the hardest) and will need to prove themselves again.  USA has made the Round of 16 the past two times (sigh, no '18).

More importantly, the 7th HWCI World Cup pool begins in November!  Get your ten bucks ready!

Glory to the Heroes

Less than 10 months ago, prior to Euro 2020, I was commenting about a spat between Ukraine and Russia on UKR's jersey for Euro 2020 (ne 2021). Glory to Ukraine on the jersey was okay but the additional phrase Glory to the Heroes was interpreted as a rallying cry when you put both together so the latter had to be removed.  UKR still was able to keep the complete outline of their country on the jersey despite RUS claiming the Crimea peninsula was no longer part of UKR after annexing it in early 2014.

Well, on Feb 21st, RUS was at it again recognizing two eastern UKR states then three days later attacking UKR from Belarus and western Russia, determined to change the map of UKR again.  Over 400 Ukrainian civilians have been killed with the count unfortunately going up every day.

As it relates to soccer, FIFA did a slow burn penalizing RUS,

A World Cup pool every two years?

While we have wait longer than usual, an extra five months to kick of the autumn/winter 2022 World Cup in Qatar, FIFA is moving forward for a study to have the men's and women's World Cups every 2 years instead of every four.   While the every 2 years has been kicked around for years, the Saudi Arabian Football Federation formally put the proposal on the table.  Considering some confederation qualifying can take up to 18 months to complete plus domestic and international competitions, are players supposed to play 12 months out the year now?  

And what about the Euros (not even considering Copa America or the Gold Cup which are farces every other tournament with no FIFA Confederations Cup berth at stake (oh, well, now every Copa and Gold Cup will be worth playing now if the Confederations Cup also moves every 2 years as well!)?  The women have a less congested club and country schedule so that is a possibility and would bring great promotion for the women's game more often.

But to have an opportunity to do more soccer pools?  That is exciting.  We're in the middle of a rare span of six consecutive years of soccer pools (thanks to Euros being pushed to our off-year in 2021 and the MLS is Back pool taking the 2020 spot).  Our next empty year is 2025... will we get a Women's World Cup then?