You're Unpredictable

Almost forgot how crazy having simultaneous matches is. Having to watch the replays was even trickier. Going about fifteen minutes at a time switching between games hoping you don't hear the score of the other match.  In a group where all four teams could not only qualify for the quarterfinals, but also win the group, the possibilities were numerous.  But who would've thought that both Greece AND Czech Republic would make it the Last 8.  In their first matches, GRE had to play down a man and a goal, missed the tourney's only PK attempt, and rallied to tie while CZE were routed by RUS 4-1.  How things change.

GRE were outshot

Issue # 4.1.2 "14 Teams Still Alive..."

Amazing that no team has qualified yet.. should make for an exciting four days!  And can Walleye build a big enough cushion if his champ NED fail to advance?


NO TEAM IS IN; JUST TWO ARE OUT
Walleye leads by 4 but Absolutely Clueless on a 6-game win streak 

England and France are Back

When I caught the game on Watch ESPN on my Verizon Galaxy Nexus phone, I was upset ESPN had prominently showed the UKR-FRA score at the bottom, then I realized the game was just in the 20' instead of somewhere in the second half.  So, lightning, eh?  Maybe it was the fact that this was the first match on ESPN2 instead of ESPN :-)  My DVR definitely had problems as it didn't record the first hour.  Anyway, a couple of goals three minutes apart silenced the home crowd as France beat Ukraine 2-0.  29 picked France as Walleye took a 2-win lead (4 pts). Sisyphus and Absolutely Clueless picked up their 5th win in a row.  After losing 7 in a row, V2 Wedding Bells!!! has now won 4 in a row.  Mikeonthemike lost for the 4th straight game.

England and Sweden played a wild match in which Sweden were looking to become the 2nd team to rally and win scoring twice (well, England helped with an own goal) to go up 2-1 but England rallied right back, a much different style of play from when they played France, to pull out a 3-2 victory.  24 picked ENG and Walleye maintained his 4-point lead (24) while Absolutely Clueless picked up his 6th win in a row to move into a tie for 4th. Mikeonthemike snapped his 4-game losing streak.

Gordo Scores! Twice!

Croatia was on their heels as Italy had opportunity after opportunity but after they finally put one away, they sort of tried to protect that lead and we know what usually happens when you do that, especially as early as they did it, Croatia took advantage of one defensive lapse and tied it up.  The tie meant 13 got it correct and Walleye moved back all alone in 1st. Kona Coast Sliders' 4-match winning streak was stopped.

Spain started Gordo, er Fernando Torres, and in the 4' he scored (the first of 2 on the day), ironically, off a Gordo play as the IRL player whiffed on an attempted clear and Torres took it and quickly scored.  IRL GK was peppered all day long as the Irish are the first team to be eliminated.  Spain woke up today with the 4-0 rout.  In the most lopsided pick, 36 of 39 picked ESP leaving Walleye on top with 20 pts.  12 went 2-0 while Mikeonthemike and V2 Divorce Court (now on a 5-game losing streak to remain in last) were the only ones to go 0-2.  Mikenjo was the only to pick IRL but he had the CRO-ITA tie correct.  Sisyphus and Absolutely Clueless are on 4-game win streaks.  Four had picked IRL to at least make the Quarters and will lose points there.

Of the second-tier teams, Poland, Denmark, and Croatia have impressed me.  It's amazing no one has punched through to the Quarters yet (and just one of 12 with no chance).  Tomorrow we'll see if France are for real, if England can play beautiful soccer, if the usually high-scoring Sweden can strut its stuff, and if the co-host Ukraine can punch a ticket through.

Foster's Futbol Brew # 3: Trouble’s a Brewin

June 13, 2012

Foster's Futbol Brew:  Trouble’s a Brewin (Third Edition)

Well, the first half of Group play has concluded, and as usual, there were plenty of surprises.

Let’s start with Holland losing to the Great Danes.  Well, as I predicted, Arjen Robben would be the guy to hold back the Dutch…but I didn’t expect a loss.  I can count at least half a dozen shots taken by Robben, only one of which was a worthwhile strike, which hit the post.  All other attempts sailed over the cross bar or were an easy save for the Danish keeper.  If Robben

Death to No One

In the Group of Death, we saw our first two-goal comeback, our first 5-goal match, or latest goal thus far (87'), and an incredible miss by the one and only Cristiano Ronaldo.  Denmark may have bunkered down vs Holland in the last game after getting the early goal but today they were down two goals early and had to fight their way back, and they did, tying it on 2 goals by Nicklas Bendtner.  But Portugal, in danger of being eliminated pending the Germany-Holland match, got the thrilling game-winner.  27 entries picked POR which still left Walleye in first.  Kona Coast Sliders and Agenterob picked up their fourth straight win while V2 Wedding Bells!!! aren't ringing, losing his last 7 matches to take sole possession of last.

The Dutch wanted to erase the taste of their last game and came out strong with several good chances.  Despite scoring in the first match, it was still should Germany start Mario Gomez or Miraslav Klose, so Gomez responded by scoring twice in the first half.  Holland tried to come back with one goal but remain winless.  The good news is that they are still alive although they are the only team (of the 8 who have played their 2nd matches thus far) who don't control their destiny.  The bad news is that no team who lost their first two group matches (EURO) went on to the next stage.  Germany with 6 points still has a chance to lose a 3-way tiebreaker.  This was the match that had the most number of entries pick a tie (19) but in the end, the 13 who had Germany picked up the critical 2 points.  Kona Coast Sliders won his 5th straight match to tie Walleye (but has NED as their champ; maybe, maybe) with 16 points.  Popozao and The Mighty Mobelfakta are tied for 3rd with 14 points.  V2 Wedding Bells!!! snapped a 7-match losing streak to enter a 5-way tie for last.

Most of the goals thus far  in this tournament have come off incredible headers off corner or free kicks or crosses.  All 16 teams have now scored with POR and NED getting on the scoresheet.  As teams qualify to the Last 8, points will be awarded (usually, I wait until after all the group matches are played before awarding everyone their bracket points).  But no team has (yet).  Tomorrow, in the Gordo Group, Croatia could become the first team with a win while Ireland could become the first team eliminated with a loss.

Greek Tragedy

Finally, the baby is sleeping after several hours.  But then she got hungry again.  This has been a long night after another long day at work.

Greece GK Kostas Chalkias allowed two goals in the first six minutes and then had to leave in the 22' due to injury.  And after that, Czech Republic didn't score another goal.  Had he only left in the 2' instead.  So, CZE avoided being eliminated with the win although GK Petr Cech (who was incredible for Chelsea in the finals of the FA Cup and Champions League) had another shaky outing with a poor clear for GRE's only goal. Just 10 got this result correct in one of the more conflicted matches (16 GRE, 13 TIE).

A Russian march in Poland (doesn't sound wise on paper) on Russia's Indpendence Day was going fine until they met some Polish fans.  Despite the violence and 123 arrests, RUS and POL met for real on the pitch with RUS a chance to be the first team to clinch a spot in the quarters.  POL once again came out strong and once again failed to put away chances allowing RUS to strike first.  A golazo by Jakub Blaszczykowski evened it up ending in a 1-1 tie.  Just 13 picked the tie with Popozao, JP, Kona Coast Sliders, and Agenterob (the latter two on 3-game win streaks) going 2-0 today while 26 went 0-2.  But Walleye once again is alone in first with 14 points.  VZ Wedding Bells!!! is on a 6-game losing streak and is in a 4-way tie for last.

Both GRE and POL had goals disallowed by very close offisde calls.  This has been a great group to watch as all four teams have scored at least once in each of their matches, 12 goals total (3.0 per match).  All four teams are alive and all control their destiny... a win by any team will get them through to the Quarterfinals, even GRE (who'd advance if there were a 3-way tie at 4 pts each).

The Group of Death resumes in a few hours with DEN-POR and then with another big superpower matchup, NED-GER.

Issue # 3.1.1 "Superpowers Tie Allowing Little Guys to Rise..."

So how did the first four days play out?  Who's in the lead?  How many of the 39 entries were submitted by women?  Just one, despite the fact 2 of the last 3 pool champs were women.  So go Adivinanza!  Here's my latest update...

http://www.hwci.com/euro/2012/e2012_03.htm
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DENMARK, CROATIA, UKRAINE ON TOP OF THEIR GROUPS?An astonishing 39 entries received in our first EURO Pool

The Gordo Group

In a chippy match, Italy struck first with a great chip but then a beautiful pass and a beautiful finish brought Spain even.   Both goals were great one-touch finsihes.  Then it was watching Gordo, I mean, Fernando Torres's follies as he had several great opportunities and did nothing with them.  Italy had their own Gordo, as Mario Balotelli never let up after the ref warned him, according to him four times (he counted to five) and gave him a yellow card on careless persistent fouling and then had a breakaway and just did nothing as the defender caught up to him to poke the ball away.  Both GKs had a bunch of excellent saves (9 saves combined) in what was a truly first class match between the last two World Cup champions.  What was interesting, that despite Italy's heritage, no one picked Italy (the only other two matches where a team wasn't picked was yesterday's Portugal vs Germany and Ukraine vs England).  But eight correctly picked the tie which put Sisyphus13 and Walleye in first.

In the second match, there was no luck of the Irish.  Ireland had a great pass... to Croatia for the eventual game-winner and then a ball went off the right post and off IRL's GK's head into the net for the final score as Croatia won 3-1 to lead Group C.  So it looks like captain Robbie Keane will be coming back to the struggling LA Galaxy earlier than expected.  27 picked CRO which means that Walleye (1 of 5 to go 2-0 today) is in sole possession in first with 10 points.  Also, Mikeonthemike is now in sole possession of last place (0-for-6 thus far) as Blue Panther finally got on the board with CRO's win.  And boy, I hope the French come through as my second entry SiemkoStrimkoPlinko! is 1 of 6 with just one win thus far.

And what is with security?  Yet another firework was thrown into the field after CRO's second goal.

In other news outside UEFA...

Congrats to the USA and Mexico for taking control of their preliminary groups to start the World Cup 2014 qualifying.  And in that infamous Oceania Football Confederation, their OFC Nations Cup featured a final featuring not New Zealand, but Tahiti Nui and New Caledonia.  And who will we see in the superstar 2013 FIFA Confederations Cup featuring Brazil, Spain, Mexico, and the likes?  Tahiti Nui! And after hearing Argentina beat Brazil 4-3 with Lionel Messi getting a hat trick, it reminded me of David F. (The Mighty Mobelfakta) suggesting why doesn't UEFA invite Brazil and Argentina (maybe Mexico) as guests and call THAT the superstar World Cup.  Oh, and the LA Galaxy did not lose for the second straight weekend.