Deflections (6/16)

SPOKANE FALLS, SPOKANE, WA - Two slight deflections gave D2-Netherlands the win (2-1) over D1-Poland and C1-Slovenia to salvage a tie (1-1) with C2-Denmark.  Both shots saw the GK go one way and the ball another.  I'm glad they didn't give own goals (like Opta used to do) for this when it was more strict.  Each of the three matches today also featured deflections with great reaction saves as well.

NED became the second team to win after giving up the first goal and SVNvDEN was our first tie and first "upset" of the tournament with SVN ranked #57 vs DEN's #21.  NED had six saves as POL fired 6 shots on goal (of their 11 total shots).

C4-England scored early on a great header but struggled in a 1-0 win over C3-Serbia, who became just the second team to fail to score (B2-Croatia) after 7 matches.

53 picked NED, 50 ENG, and 8 the SVN-DEN tie.  Four entries went 3-0 which leaves Disabling Below Jobs and I Say Old Chap tied for first with a perfect 7 points.   9 went 1-2 with five tied for last with 3 points. 

Was able to take a walk to Riverfront Park to take the SkyRide over Spokane Falls and learned about Expo 1974 (Spokane the smallest city to host an Expo) as this summer is the 50th anniversary of that event.  Of course, the falls is just over a dam but still pretty loud and cool.  I wore my 2013 home ENG jersey commemorating the 150th anniversary of the Football Association.

Issue # 8.2.4 "If at First You Don't Succeed..." (7/8)

Archive

Thursday, July 8, 2021 - Issue # 8.2.4 "If at First You Don't Succeed..." - [Dailies: July 6-7]

THIRD TIME NOT THE CHARM FOR SPAIN; ENGLAND REBOUNDS FOR WIN
Footballsack in the lead and wins with ENG; otherwise, Gli Azzurri wins pool

CLEANING THE YARD AT HOME, CA (smt) - Major soccer teams will once again grace the final although one has had much more success than the other with 1A-Italy's five major titles (4 WC, 1 Euro) to 1D-England's lone '66 WC title.  ITA is making its 10th major Final (6 WC, 4 Euros) while this is just ENG's second major final ('66).  But soccer's origins are associated with ENG and having the best domestic league, but yet no titles to show for it.  Will the trophy be "coming home" or will English fans once again drown their sorrows in beer again.

Once again 2E-Spain had 62%+ possession (6th straight), once again the match went to Extra Time (3rd straight), and once again the match with to the penalty shootout (2nd straight).  ESP had survived them all but not today.  ITA failed on their first attempt (ESP opponents had missed 4 straight PSO kicks, 3 saved) but if at first you don't succeed, the next four went in, including a very cheeky fake out of the GK who moved to Jorginho's left and Jorginho calmly slid a slow ball to the right corner for the victory.  The 1:1 (4:2 PSO) victory was technically

It's Coming Home - Almost (7/7)

EL SEGUNDO, CA to DIGNITY HEALTH SPORTS PARK -- 2B-Denmark scored first for the 5th straight match on the tourney's first direct free kick goal for 25 yards out.  But 1D-England tied it on the tourney's 11th own goal before the half and the match eventually went to Extra Time.  But ENG kept pressing (its 21 shots was more than half its combined five-match total (37) and its 10 shots on goal were 67% of their combined 5-match total (15)) and was rewarded with a soft penalty call in ET.  Of course, Harry Kane missed (the 8th PK miss of the tourney) but the save was poor and he scored off the rebound.  The 2-1 win keeps ENG in London for the final against 1A-Italy.  The trophy is almost home for ENG.

Of the four times teams have lost when scoring the first goal, DEN has two of them.  ENG allowed a goal for the first time in the tourney but had their third straight multi-goal match (after scoring just twice in the first 3 matches).  This was the first ET match for both teams and of the 7 that have gone to ET, this is the fourth to feature at least one goal.

19 picked ENG which eliminated Kona Coast Facui's, Cloak, and Forza Roma.  Footballsack still leads with 115 pts.  Two money spots remain, will it be Gli Azzurri and FrankfromSeattle (ITA win) or Slyelf and Fantasy (ENG win)?

If ITALY beats ENGLAND in Final…
         Gli Azzurri 122 points
        Footballsack 115
          Avenger #3 110
    FrankfromSeattle 108
If ENGLAND beats ITALY in Final…
        Footballsack 127 points
          Avenger #3 122
              Slyelf 116
             Fantasy 115

Issue # 6.2.2 "We Will Not Vanish Without a Fight!" (7/4)

 Archive

Sunday, July 4, 2021  ***HAPPY INDEPENDENCE DAY***
Issue # 6.2.2 "We Will Not Vanish Without a Fight!"    [Dailies: July 2-3]

UNDERDOGS FIGHT WAY INTO SEMIS
Avenger #3 takes lead and is guaranteed at least a tie for 4th; 11 entries still alive

DIGNITY HEALTH SPORTS PARK, CA (smt) - 2E-Spain were being written off after lackluster ties to start the tournament but then scored 5 goals in consecutive matches before running into a stubborn 3A-Switzerland team.  1A-Italy had an easy group but outshone the #1 team in the world in #1B-Belgium.  2B-Denmark nearly lost a player in the field and lost the first two matches before fighting back to become the first team to qualify after losing the first two and needed to hold off 3D-Czech Republic.  Only #1D-England had an easy path the the semis despite playing away from Wembley Stadium for the first time.

ESP's only goal was an early own goal and took 27 shots (17 in extra time) with no goals to head into the penalty shootout with SUI tied at 1-1.  SUI, which rallied again to tie,

Early Goals Set Tone (7/3)

DEN GK Fingertips Preserve Lead

2B-Denmark scored in the 5', added another in the first half, and held on for a 2-1 win over 3D-Czech Rep to advance to the semis for the first time since '92. DEN had just 13 shots which means they are 3-0 when shooting 16 times or less and 0-2 when shooting 22 times or more.

1D-England scored in the 4', added two quick goals after halftime, and completed the rout of 3C-Ukraine, 4-0.  This was ENG's first match away from London and they didn't lose a beat, doubling their previous goal total (now 8 goals).  They now head back home (their last 3 goals were headed in) for the Semifinal and hopefully, the Final.

DEN was picked by 9 eliminating no one.  21 picked ENG eliminating 2 (leaving 11) and eliminating Forza Roma from winning pool, leaving 5 contenders.  5 got both right while 24 went 0-2.  Three (Avenger #3, Footballsack, and Glory to the Heroes) got 3 of the 4 semifinalists while 12 got none.

Avenger #3 is now in the lead with 102 pts.  FrankfromSeattle also reached the century mark and is 2nd.  Avenger #3, Footballsack, and Gli Azzurri have a 1 in 4 chance to win the pool while Carseroni and Rich-inho each have a 1 in 8 chance to win the pool.  Six others can finish 2nd to 4th.  Full possible outcomes are outlined here.

Note: There was a slight correction to the possibilities as detailed here.

Wild Extra Time (6/26)

Header snaps ITA's GA streak

DRIVING A BOAT IN NEWPORT HARBOR -- 2B-Denmark's Kasper Dolberg scored in each half and DEN added two late goals to dominate 2A-Wales, 4-0.  DEN had 16 more shots (giving them 77, or 19.25 per match) and are 2-0 when shooting 16 times and 0-2 when shooting 22+ times.

2C-Austria played 1A-Italy tough (nearly had the lead but VAR rules offsides in the 65') forcing extra time but two ITA subs scored 10 minutes apart to fall 2-1.  AUT did snap ITA's 1168 minute streak without allowing a goal with a great header off a corner in the 114'.  ITA had 26 shots, 9 in the 30-minute Extra Time (AUT also had 7 of its 16 shots in Extra Time).

ITA will face the 1B-Belgium/3F-Portugal winner and DEN will face the winner of 1C-Netherlands/D3-Czech Republic, both games tomorrow.

32 got DEN into the Quarters eliminating two entries (Futbol Fabone Twelf and Otesgo 2) and leaving 41 who can win the pool.  48 got ITA which prevented two more from winning the pool, leaving 39.  31 got both correct and 18 got 1 of 2.  No change at the top as Slyelf still leads with 78 pts. BigRedMessi 1, DenMarkMyTerritory, and Isayoldchap are tied for last with 60 pts.

Open the Floodgates (6/21)

DEN (& 5 other teams): Did we make it?  Refresh, refresh...

Although a tie would technically get both C2-Ukraine and C3-Austria in with 4 pts, AUT would lose tiebreaker and sit in 3rd and wait, thus, AUT came out and got the early goal to assure themselves 2nd place in Group C with a 1-0 win.  UKR now has to wait at 3 pts (-4 GD/4 GF).  C4-North Macedonia, already eliminated, had a great goal taken away by offsides and hit the right post early, but C1-Netherlands finally showed their strength in another 3-0 win (both A2-Italy and NED have posted two 3-0 wins).  

Thanks to a coin flip, B1-Denmark got the home match between the two Group B hosts, and the atmosphere helped the Danes pull off a 4-1 win over B4-Russia.  Needing to win by 2 goals and a B2-Finland loss to guarantee a spot in the Round of 16, DEN led 2-0 and around the 68' B3-Belgium scored but then a double whammy as BEL's goal was taken away by offsides (keeping FIN tied 0-0) and DEN gave up a soft PK.  RUS converted meaning DEN only led by 1 (2-1) and FIN still had the point they needed.  But the next ten minutes saw BEL score for real and DEN added two goals and by the 82', DEN lead by 3 and FIN was trailing by 2.  BEL's 2-0 win made them the 3rd team with 9 points (joining ITA and NED).  RUS got the short end of the three Group B teams tied with 3 points, losing on GD to finish 4th.  Gotta love the simultaneous matches (which you can watch split screen on the TV but on an iPad).

With both Group B and C having a third place team with just 3 points (thanks, DEN!), all teams with 4 or more points now qualified for the Round of 16 including A4-Switzerland who only had to wait a day to find themselves in.  D4-Czech Rep, D4-England, E2-Sweden, and F3-France can relax as they are now in the Knockout Stage.  Third-place teams FIN (GD -2) and UKR (GD -4) will have to wait, in that order.

48 got NED, 10 got AUT, 33 DEN, and 48 got BEL.  Five teams from Groups A/B/C made the Round of 16:  all 49 got BEL & NED, 47 DEN, 40 SUI, 32 AUT.  Those who have CZE and/or ENG will have to wait until tomorrow to get the 3 pts each and those who have SWE and/or FRA will have to wait until Wednesday to get the 3 pts.

Six got all four matches correct while Wolverine1 went 0-4.  26 got all 5 R16 teams today while 5 got just 3 teams.  Five got 19 points today while yesterday's leader Footballsack got just 11 pts (to fall to tie for 20th (34 pts)).  Slyelf moves into 1st place (41 pts) with Forza Roma second (39).  My second entry Glory to the Heroes is now in last all by itself with 28 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.

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,

Scare in Copenhagen (6/12)

B1-Denmark's Christian Eriksen collapsed in the 43' and needed CPR in a scary scene as the home crowd stood in silence.  The match was suspended of course but then resumed (of course not... wait, they did, about 90 minutes later) at the request of the players (and a stable and awake Eriksen).  B2-Finland, making their first major tournament, converted their only shot of the match on a cross to upset DEN 1-0.  DEN came out flat (as expected) and missed a game-tying penalty.  DEN, #10 in the world, now faces the top team in the world, B3-Belgium, who also won on the road dispatching B4-Russia, 3-0.

In the early match, A4-Switzerland eased off the pedal after going up 1-0 and A3-Wales took advantage gaining a 1-1 tie.  The first three matches of Euro 2020 were scoreless at the half but none ended up as nil-nil draws.  

All 49 entries picked DEN (the only match that was unanimous), which means no one got the point.  12 picked a tie between WAL-SUI and 45 picked BEL.  Eleven (11) are tied for first with 3 points while Isayoldchap has no points.  

Group of Death to Double D (Dutch & Denmark)

Wow, what a Group of Death.  Every goal scored changed the possibilities (DEN v GER, POR v NED):

Start: GER & POR - let's keep it scoreless
NED goal 11': GER & DEN - the Danes are in!
GER goal 19': GER & POR - no, Portugal are in!
DEN goal 24': GER & DEN - no, I said the Danes
POR goal 28': GER & POR - no, I mean Portugal
POR goal '74: GER & POR - OK, Portugal, but GER in jeopardy of being eliminated if DEN scores next
GER goal 80': GER & POR - Insurance goal!  Now  both clearly through (NED would need 4 goals, DEN 2 in final 10 minutes)

In the end, both teams won by 2-1 scores as GER picked up the max 9 points while POR were a dominant runner-up playing well in all three matches.  Like ESP's Fernando Torres, POR's Cristiano Ronaldo responded after a lackluster match and exploded with a pair of goals.

In the pool,

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.

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
---
DENMARK, CROATIA, UKRAINE ON TOP OF THEIR GROUPS?An astonishing 39 entries received in our first EURO Pool

Group of Death it is

Denmark has made its mark that there are FOUR great teams in the group. Germany finally broke through with a 1-0 victory as well.   SalsaKing was the only to pick Denmark while 31 picked Germany. The same six still top the leaderboard. 32 got one correct today. Was late to Gymboree as Portugal was threatening late.

The leaders thus far:

Rnk	NAME	Correct->	RND1
1	BigRedMessi1		3
	BigRedMessi2		3
	Jay		3
	Sisyphus13		3
	Walleye		3
	XaviOzil		3

Polling & Distribution

Our poll has closed and 13 put in a vote as to who will win EURO 2012 and Germany led the way with 6 with Spain and Holland tied for second with 3 each.  And no one picked England?  So, now, what would be a good poll question to put up?  I'm taking suggestions.

The site has been updated with more information as we now have the current standings up (click on "Standings" above).  The goal is to update it soon after the last match is played, but with work and two demanding kids, it probably won't be updated until late at night.  I've tailored it from our HWCI World Cup files, so it's still a work in progress.

Next, if you want to see how many entries picked Germany (14) as their champion, then click on the "Distribution" menu item above.  It'll list all 16 teams and you'll find some gems like every team was picked at least two times to make the Quarterfinals but four teams were predicted to not reach the Semis.  Denmark, in the Group of Death is the odd man out as only two entries picked them into the Quarterfinals over Germany, Holland, and Portugal.  Six teams are picked to win it all while only eight teams had someone pick them through to the final.  Someone picked Ukraine into the Semis.

In the menu of that file, you can also see how everyone picked each Round Robin match and bracket.   You can visually scan the table to find which entry picked Ukraine into the Semis or which two entries picked Denmark to advance to the Quarters.

And now, the "Your Picks" menu item above now is complete and sorted by name and by nickname so you can find your friends and family members easier.  You can also make fun of people's nicknames or praise them on our Facebook group or any item on this blog.  Since there are links to your individual brackets, this may be referred to as the Brackets page as well.

Pick Ukraine and you can win!

Well, with 15 entries in, only 3 teams have been picked to win it all -- Germany (6), Spain (5), and the Dutch (4).  In the Final, just five teams make it (England and France each garnering one vote of confidence to lose in the Final).  So pick an underdog and you could win!  Will I pick France for the third time and will it be the good France leading me to a 3rd place finish in 1998 or the bad France in landing me 3rd from last in 2002? 

Also, since Michael W. (Walleye <- cool nickname!) brought it up, let me just reiterate that when you fill out your Quarterfinal bracket (picking the top 2 teams from each group), it doesn't matter how you picked the Group stage matches.  So, if you're a Dane, you can pick Denmark to win all 3 matches (so you don't have root against them) but NOT put them in your Quarterfinal bracket (or put them as Group B runner-up).  This was done to encourage novice fans to participate (don' t have to worry about calculating points) and allow flexibility if you were a homer for one of the countries or wanted to hedge your bet.  Also, for example, if you picked ties for all six Group A matches, all four teams would have 3 points so there is no way we could automatically advance the top 2 teams for you.  But, I may try to figure out how to calculate points on the fly and list them next to the team so you can see which two teams logically make sense to advance (again, you're not stuck to it).