Saturday, July 10, 2021
Issue # 9.2.5 "It's Coming Home" - History of our Pool
The European Championship Final  -  
|
|||||||
 
|
vs |
   1966 World Cup Champs |
|||||
|
|
||||||
ITA - Italian Rep (Italy) Federazione Italiana Giuoco Calcio (FIGC) |
ENG - England The Football Assoc (The FA) |
||||||
|
#7 | 1A | Winner | 5-0-1 4th Final ('68, '00, '12) A1: Beat Turkey 3-0 A4: Beat Switzerland 3-0 A6: Beat Wales 1-0 R16: Beat 2C-Austria 2-1 (ET) QF: Beat 1B-Belgium 2-1 SF: Beat 2E-Spain 1-1 (PSO 4:2) |
#4 | 1D | Winner | 5-0-1 1st Final D1: Beat Croatia 1-0 D4: Tied Scotland 0-0 D6: Beat Czech Rep 1-0 R16: Beat 2F-Germany 2-0 QF: Beat 3C-Ukraine 4-0 SF: Beat 2B-Denmark, 2-1 (ET) |
||||||
ITALY GOING FOR 2ND EURO TITLE; ENGLAND ITS FIRST
Final is Noon PDT Sunday
ROSEMEAD, CA (smt) - After watching Lionel Messi get his (hard-to-believe) first international trophy (Copa America) in Argentina's foul-filled, what happened to VAR, 1-0 win over Brazil, in Rio de Janeiro (BRA) (in front of some fans for once), you wonder if 1D-England will suffer the same fate as BRA at home to 1A-Italy. ENG is 4-0-1 in London's Wembley Stadium this tourney but ITA does have an extra day of rest. ITA is making its fourth Euro Final but haven't won it since '68 while ENG is just making its 2nd final, Euro/World Cup combined, but did win the WC Final in '66.
For years, people have asked about the Euro pool, usually right after each World Cup. Having not watched the Euros (I don't think it was regularly on live TV until the '08 one), I didn't know what to expect. Considering each World Cup has "token" teams from Africa and CONCACAF (e.g., blowouts), the '12 Euros only had 16 teams and all were quality. So even though the setup was different from the World Cups (32 teams), I managed to get it to work. Granted it was a little easier because it was just the top 2 teams (no 3rd place to worry about like in '16 and '20). But folks like Eric F convinced me people would be interested and they were, with 39 entries in our first year.
Just our 3rd Euro pool,
we will have a 3rd different champion. Either Tuan L (Footballsack) or Giacomo G's 3rd entry (Gli Azzurri) will win the pool. Tuan L will try to follow-up his 4th place win last time ('12). This is Tuan L's 3rd Euro pool (4th soccer pool) while this is Giacomo G's first. If ENG brings it home, it will be Tuan L, Tom J's 3rd entry (Avenger #3), Kyle W (Slyelf), and Sean D (Fantasy) in the money spots. If ITA wins, Giacomo G, Tuan L, Tom J, and Frank C (FrankfromSeattle) will finish 1st-4th.Our soccer pools will continue with the World Cup (November '22), Women's World Cup (July '23), and back again for Euros (June '24) making it eight straight years with a soccer pool (WC '18, WWC '19, MLS is Back '20). We will have our off-year in '25 but we'll see if something interesting pops up then, even if we have to make it a free entry Special Edition like the MLS is Back tournament. The 2025 FIFA Club World Cup (maybe 24 teams) may be happening in the Canada/USA/Mexico so that could be an option.
Of course, we have our popular NCAA pool which will be our 27th in March '22.
A little history of our pool...
   
|
In 2012, several people inquired about doing a European Championship (Euro) pool modeled after our successful World Cup pools we had done four times as many prefer the Euros to the higher quality (e.g., 14 of the top 18 teams were from Europe in '12). Having never watched the Euros, I was finally convinced. Since it would be our first, another request I get consistently is to pick ties for group stage matches (the previous World Cup pools was pick the winner, with ties getting 0 pts). So the experiment to pick a TIE was implemented, and was successful enough that it was kept for all future soccer pools, including the World Cup pools. With just 16 teams, the total possible points was not 196, but 148. Interest was high as we received 39 entries from 33 people. 23 people (25 entries) had participated in one of our prior World Cup pools. This was the 3rd co-hosted Euro (Poland & Ukraine) and qualification was difficult with just 14 spots available but all the regulars were there in the end (top 13 ranked European teams qualified). Netherlands was a surprise team that failed to advance and more than half the entries (20/39) were eliminated after the group stage. England (of course) and Portugal lost in the PSO. Spain trounced Italy 4-0 to win back-to-back Euros and their 3rd straight major title (WC '10). Ricardo A (Salsa King) won the pool with an even 100 pts with Edmund L (Thecomebacker), Alex R (Russo) (the only one to get both ITA and ESP in final), and David F (The Mighty Mobelfakta) taking 2nd, 3rd, and 4th. 12 picked ESP. Bernice P (Advinanza) was the only one to pick ITA and would've won the pool. |
   
|
In 2016, the Euros expanded from 16 to 24 teams allowing for the top 4 3rd place teams to advance. The online web entry was late (just 4 days prior) but we still got 27 entries from 25 people. 6 new people participated in their first soccer pool. Portugal had 3 ties in the group stage and needed to rally to tie Hungary 3-3 to advance as a 3rd place team. 4 of the 5 teams making their Euro debuted made the R16. Italy got their revenge in the R16 to prevent Spain from winning their 3rd straight Euro title while host France rolled into the final. England got beat by tiny Iceland in the R16 while POR beat tiny Wales (who upset Belgium in the Quarters) to make the final. Cristiano Ronaldo was injured 25 min into the final but POR prevailed 1-0 in Extra Time to win their first major title. With 24 teams, the max points was 168 but 100 points was still the top score (like in '12) with Ford R (Rainman) winning the pool and Eric F's second entry (BigRedMessi2), Michael W (Big Blue), and Tuan L (The Eleven) taking 2nd-4th. Ford R was the only one to pick POR as his champ while 9 missed on FRA. |
 
|
In 2021, the Euros were postponed a year due to COVID-19 but still stuck with the Euro 2020 moniker. With more time, the online web entry was up early and we got a record 49 entries from 34 people. 9 new people joined thanks to Eric F's recruitment. UEFA still stuck with holding the tournament across 11 cities (was 13), as a celebration of the tourney's 60th anniversary, despite fan and travel restrictions due to the pandemic. England was supposed to just host the Final Four but complications with Brussels gave ENG 3 home matches in Group D and with Dublin gave ENG a home R16 match (since they won Group D). The group stage saw very few upsets with the Group of Death still sending France, Germany, and Portugal forward. A record number of own goals and missed penalty kicks were balanced by the highest scoring tournament to date. Netherlands were upset in the R16 while top favorites France lost in the PSO in the R16 to Switzerland, who had rallied from 3-1 down in regulation. Italy is riding a 32-match unbeaten streak and knocked off #1 Belgium in the QF. England scored just 2 goals in the group stage (still won the group) but 8 in the knockout stage thus far. Six got 15 of the 16 R16 teams and three got 3 of the 4 semifinalists. Tuan L (Footballsack) will win the pool (2nd Euro win after coming in 4th in '12) with 127 pts if ENG wins (followed by Tom J 3rd entry (Avenger #3), Kyle W (Slyelf), and Sean D (Fantasy)) and Giacomo G's 3rd entry (Gli Azzurri) will win the pool if ITA wins (followed by Tuan L, Tom J, and Frank C (FrankfromSeattle)). 8 picked ENG and 3 picked ITA. |
Haven't cracked this Euro pool yet...
Scott
HWCI circa 1990
No comments:
Post a Comment