Groups E & F Scrambled (6/19)

Another loud sold-out, full-capacity crowd in Budapest, Hungary (side note: can't wait to see tonight's first full Galaxy crowd since last March), saw F1-HUN go up 1-0 right before halftime and then held on to a surprising 1-1 draw with F3-France to keep their hopes alive.  Four F4-Germany crosses resulted in goals, two on own goals four minutes apart, to lift them to a 4-2 win over F2-Portugal.  The 4th goal was on a typical German header, reminding me of all of Miraslav Klose's headers in the World Cups (who Ronaldo tied with most goals in Euros & World Cups with his 19th which put POR ahead 1-0).

E1-Spain again dominated possession and even scored, but E3-Poland tied it to keep their hopes alive (they would've been eliminated with a loss) in the 1-1 draw.  ESP had a chance to go back ahead but missed a PK, their first non-PSO PK miss in Euro history as the shot went off the left post.

So raise your hand if you had E2-Sweden and E4-Slovakia in 1st and 2nd after two matches in Group E.  Another draw for ESP would have them dependent on others so they need a win to guarantee a spot.  Group F may still see the top 3 teams in FRA, POR, and GER advance, but the FRA-HUN tie complicates things for POR and GER.  Also, since head-to-head is the first tiebreaker, GER would jump POR if tied in points, regardless of GF.

Footballsack was the only one to get the HUN-FRA tie, 12 picked GER, and 7 picked the ESP-POL tie.  Footballsack (16 pts) is our new leader as the only one to go 2-1 for the day to push Club Med to 2nd place.  There is a 3-way tie for last now (9 pts).

Double the Ties and PK Goals (6/18)

SANTA BARBARA, CA -- We had just two ties in the first 18 matches but today we got two to double it to four.  We had just two made PKs in the first 18 matches but today two were converted to double it to four and up the percentage to 50% (4/8).  

Earlier, E2-Sweden picked up a key win that will most likely see them through to the Round of 16, edging E4-Slovakia, 1-0, on a 77' PK.  CZE took the lead on a controversial VAR given foul in the box, leading to Patrik Schick's PK and 3rd goal of the tourney.  From the picture, the elbow does look high (above the shoulders) and I guess a bloody nose on Schick is convincing for VAR and the ref (who did look on the monitor, one of only a couple times the ref has done that and not relied slowly on VAR).  CRO did tie it right after the half and the match ended 1-1.  

D1-England, playing at home in Wembley Stadium, was lackluster which gave D4-Scotland a much needed point in the scoreless draw.  Each team had just one shot on goal.  Interestingly, the CRO-CZE match played 3 hours earlier in Scotland had just 5,807 fans as most Scots opted to get ready to watch SCO-ENG.

SCO still have not scored but is still alive to make the Round of 16.  No teams officially qualified for the Round of 16 today but with 4 points, SWE, CZE, and ENG are near guarantees (as is A3-Wales) as four points easily got every 3rd place team with 4 pts in last time ('16 was the first time Euro featured 24 teams and this top 4 3rd place team qualifying).

44 picked SWE, 6 picked the CRO-CZE tie, and James Saint George was the only one to pick the ENG-SCO tie.  James Saint George was also the only one to go 3-0 to move into a tie for 19th (12 pts) while four went 0-3.  Club Med still leads by one with 15 pts.

Tribute. Comeback (6/17)

GOLETA, CA -- Working so this update later than usual.  In the early match, C2-Ukriane's duo of Yarmolenko & Yaremchuk each scored again and held off C4-North Macedonia, 2-1.  Each team missed a PK (though MKD put in the rebound) and it was an entertaining match.  In the late match, C1-Netherlands took care of C3-Austria 2-0, and the 11' made PK was just the 2nd of 6 PK attempts made in the tourney thus far.  NED qualified for the Round of 16 and knocked MKD out of the Round of 16, the first eliminated.

In the middle match, emotional B1-Denmark playing in front their home crowd came out flying and scored just 100 seconds into the match.  The early lead seemed to make B3-Belgium forget to kick the ball out of bounds in the 10' (technically at 10:11 or the 11') in honor of #10 Christian Eriksen, who was recovering well in a hospital nearby.  DEN had many chances but only took a 1-0 lead at the half.  BEL's superstar Kevin De Bruyne made his debut as a 2nd half sub and had an assist and goal in leading BEL to a 2-1 win, the first comeback this year.  

BEL advanced to the Round of 16.  BEL and NED joined ITA yesterday into the Round of 16.  Remember, you won't get the 3 pts for these three teams until after the 3rd match is played in their group.  Two more VAR rulings, meaning that 5 of the past 7 matches have had a review after the first 11 matches produced just one.  VAR gave UKR a PK (which was saved) which said that protecting your face from a free kick strike is moving the arm toward the ball.  Tough technicality. 

40 got UKR, 35 BEL, and 46 NED.  Club Med's lead got reduced in half to just one point (14 pts).  32 went 3-0 while 3 went 1-2.  Dagger is now last with 7 pts.

One Team In, One Nearly Out (6/16)

B2-Finland got more than one shot (albeit the game-winning goal) this time, getting 11 against B4-Russia, but had a goal overturned by VAR (offsides) as RUS prevailed 1-0 at home.  These two and B3-Belgium have 3 points with BEL playing tomorrow.

A1-Turkey's defense was no match against A3-Wales' Gareth Bale as he tore apart the defense with great needle and over the defense passes leading to two assists, a near goal pursing the GK, and drawing a penalty.  Alas, he missed the PK (teams are just 1/3) but WAL won 2-0, the last goal the last play of the match.  In the other Group A match, A2-Italy started fast and furious against A4-Switzerland in winning their second straight 3-0 match with two strikes outside the box.  ITA is now unbeaten in their last 29 matches and have not allowed a goal in their last 10 in being the first team to qualify for the Round of 16.  TUR is last with a horrible -5 GD.

After having just one VAR in the first 11 matches, there have now been 3 in the past 4.  ITA had their goal taken away with an inadvertent handball by the scorer.  Apparently, if the ball had dropped to another ITA player who scored, it would have counted - only the player with the handball can't score when it accidentally hits his arm/hand.

37 picked RUS, 14 WAL, and 39 ITA.  7 went 3-0 while DenMarkMyTerritory and Otsego1 went 0-3.  Club Med now leads by 2 with 12 points over 10 others tied for second.  Six are tied for last with 6 pts.  Also, note that in the Standings page, if your nickname has a pound symbol (#), you need to view your pick via the Picks page.  HTML doesn't work well with certain symbols like # (but I still allow it in the nickname) and the standings are automated.

Issue # 2.1.1 "No Home Sweet Home" (6/15)

Archive

[Dailies: 11-12-13-14-15]

TITLE CONTENDERS PICK UP KEY WINS
A record 49 entries sees Club Med take the early lead

EL SEGUNDO, CA (smt) - Top favorites picked to win it all picked up wins as A2-Italy, B3-Belgium, and F2-Portugal each won 3-0 while D1-England and F3-France secured 1-0 victories.  The other teams picked to win all were F4-Germany (who lost to FRA) and E1-Spain (who dominated with 75% possession and didn't allow an official shot on goal but settled for a scoreless draw with E2-Sweden). 

C2-Ukraine scored twice in four minutes to pull even with C1-Netherlands, but the Dutch got the final goal to win 3-2, C3-Austria scored twice late to break a 1-1 tie with debutant C4-North Macedonia, and E4-Slovika got a man-advantage goal in the 69' to win 2-1.  A3-Wales and A4-Switzerland tied 1-1 (one of just 2 ties), an opportunistic 54-yard golazo secured a 2-0 win for D4-Czech Rep, and in the why-did-they-finish-the-match-right-away, B4-Finland upset B3-Denmark 1-0 in a match that saw DEN player Christian Ericksen resuscitated after collapsing.

With Ericksen conscious and communicating with teammates,

Full Capacity & Ronaldo (6/15)

Playing in front of the tourney's first full-capacity crowd (55,662), F1-Hungary held tight against heavy favorites F2-Portugal only to see the visitors score three times after the 84' to lose 3-0.  Ronaldo scored the last two goals, on a PK, and then a great effort to get around the GK in stoppage time (first goal past 90' in this tourney).  That broke a tie and his 11 goals is the new Euro record.  HUN also had a goal taken away by offsides, which rocked the stadium.  

F3-France had two goals called back by offsides (1 by VAR) so it was an own goal in the first half that gave the 1-0 margin over home side F4-Germany.  The 3-time Euro champion GER lost an opening match for the first time.

The first stage is done!  12 matches down, 24 to go in the Group Stage.  47 picked POR and 32 picked FRA.  Club Med remains in 1st with 9 pts.  31 went 2-0 while Dagger went 0-2.  There's a 3-way tie for last with 4 pts.

54-Yard Bullseye (6/14)

A pair of teams ranked in the 40s played each other with D4-Czech Rep (#40) getting the better of home side D3-Scotland (#44) thanks to two great goals from Patrik Schick, including his 54-yard bending strike just over the running GK's head for the final score of 2-0.  Why SCO's GK was near the midfield circle is puzzling, but his desperate run backwards and falling and getting tangled into the net will be meme'd everywhere.

Schick's goal reminded me of USWMT's Carli Lloyd's midfield bomb in the WWC15 final or Zlatan's first goal with the Galaxy.  But Carli's had plenty of margin bouncing into the goal while Schick's strike just barely fit between the GK's hands and crossbar.  And to think we had golazos just yesterday from C3-Austria and C2-Ukraine.

More drama as E4-Slovakia got an own goal off the GK's back and after going up a man, the game-winner in the 69' to beat E3-Poland, 2-1.  POL's Robert Lewandowski had 5 shots but none on goal.  Each team had more than 10 shots (POL 17, SVK 11) but momentum changed when POL picked up a red card on a second yellow (unfortunately, the first yellow was very soft but the second was deserved) in the 62'.  

Like WC18, E1-Spain again dominated possession but lacked finishing as E2-Sweden held on with just 25% possession in the scoreless draw.  In WC18, three times ESP had 63% or more possession and came out it with just a 1-0 win (over Iran, no less), a draw, and another draw that led to a loss in the penalty shootout.  SWE was without an official shot on goal but had one chance that was cleared off the line by a Spanish defender, off the right post, and into the waiting arms of the GK.

ESP's draw meant home teams are just 3-3-1 with F1-Hungary and F4-Germany playing at home tomorrow.

In our closest pick of the pool, 18 picked CZE (15 SCO, 16 ties), no one picked SVK (43 had POL), and just 8 picked the ESP-SWE tie.  The unexpected results scrambled up the standings with Club Med now alone in first with 7 points after 10 matches. 11 others have 6 points while Isayoldchap remains at 2 pts.  3 went 2-1 while 26 went 0-3.

"It's Coming Home" off to a Great Start (6/13)

D1-England came out strong and were finally rewarded in the 2nd half to win their first Euro opening match ever (was 0-3-5), 1-0, over D2-Croatia, the team they lost to in the semifinals in WC18.  "It's Coming Home" is back again, just maybe not in pubs.  Both teams now get to play their remaining two games against teams ranked in the 40s so both are still in good shape.

Lowly C4-North Macedonia played C3-Austria tight - opportunistically tying the match midway through the first half, but two late scores by two subs gave AUT the 3-1 win.  Although MKD is ranked #62, they did beat Germany in a World Cup qualifier in Duisburg and have scored in 15 of their last 16 international matches.  AUT's Stefan Lainer had a golazo in the 18' leaping high on a long cross to hit it into the far post. 

After yet another scoreless first half (5th of 7 matches), home team C1-Netherlands exploded for two goals in 7 minutes but then C2-Ukraine answered back with 2 goals in 4 minutes to tie it at 2.  But six minutes later in the 85', NED retook the lead and held on for a thrilling 3-2 victory.

In the pool, 34 picked ENG, 40 AUT, and 42 barely got NED.  23 went 3-0 while 5 went 1-2.  This left just three at the top of the standings (Club Med, Futbol Fabone Twelf, and Poolraider) with 6 points.  Isayoldchap is still last with 2 points.