Save! Save! Save! (7/1)

For the win!

CYPRESS, CA - In the first big heavyweight fight of the knockout, #2 2D-France outlasted #3 2E-Belgium 1-0 on a late own goal in the 85', FRA's second win from an own goal this tournament.  This was predicted to be a quarterfinal matchup but happened in the Round of 16 because both teams fell to second in their groups.  BEL's generation is maybe officially extinguished as FRA outshot BEL 20-6 though FRA still hasn't scored from open play in 4 matches (2 own goals, 1 PK) and only made one sub in hopes of getting a cohesive starting 11 playing well.  

#6 1F-Portugal struggled against #57 3C-Slovenia with Ronaldo missing a penalty in the 105'.  The 0-0 match entered the penalty shootout and POR's GK Diogo Costa saved all three SVN attempts (a Euro record) in a 3-0 shootout win.  Ronaldo redeemed itself by making POR's first PSO attempt so he could stop crying.  SVN ended their Euros with four draws.

USA jersey with USA flag

50 picked POR to make the quarterfinals while 57 picked FRA.  49 went 2-0 while the other 9 went 1-1.  Disabling Below Jobs moves into 1st with 79 points while Germany Minus One and Rainman move up one spot to a tie for 2nd (78).  Previous leader Toast falls to 4th (76).  Overall, Disabling Below Jobs, Rainman, and BluesIsTheColour I (8th-Tied, 74) have gotten all 6 quarterfinal teams while three have gotten just 3 of 6.  Danglish moves into last with 57 pts.

With the FRAvBEL happening early, many had both BEL and FRA in the quarters (43 picked BEL) adn thus were guaranteed 3 points.

For the first time, I'm able to let folks know which entries can win the pool, finish in the top 4 money spots, or are eliminated.  Of the 58 entries, just 15 are eliminated leaving 43 entries with a chance to win money.  22 have a chance to win the pool.  Germany Minus One has the best chance to win the pool (15.2%) and win money (26.6%) with the GER champion pick.  Four others have 12.5-13.5% chance to win the pool and five entries have a 21.3-24.4% chance to win money so it's still way too early to feel confident.

21goals is tied for 5th but can't win the pool (has the same remaining picks as Germany Minus One) while BigRedMessi 2 (NED as champ) and JBueno (ESP over ENG in final and NED in semis) are tied for 50th but can still win the pool.  Soccer Guru and Soccerbix are tied for 23rd and are eliminated while BigRedMessi 2 (1st), I Say Old Chap (3rd), and JBueno (1st) are tied for 50th and can still win money.

I wore my Alexi Lalas USA home 1994 denim jersey and paired it with the Stars and Stripes flag at the Boys & Girls Club of America in Cypress while my son did his scout meeting.  Did not do any good as USA flamed out losing a must-win to Uruguay 1-0.  

While Gregg Berhalter supporters said the USMNT came out with energy and played well in the first half despite the horrible ref, in the end, the results showed USA had just one shot (a harmless header that the GK grabbed with two hands for a "save").  So what is the difference if they just bunkered down and had one shot?  You can have all the energy but it's not like they peppered the URU GK with 6-8 shots to keep him busy.  They generated nothing.  If Gregg is such a nice guy and allegedly has a united locker room, then hire him as the team psychologist... we need a good coach.  Sigh.