Spain vs England LIVE! & Copa Final

Noon PDT is kickoff

Saturday:  7 entries are alive and two can win the pool.

If SPAIN beats ENGLAND in Final…
1st	Jbueno	122
2nd	Merman	118
3rd	BigRedMessi 3	116
4th-Tied	Kds911-3	115	Tie:	7.0	Tied 4th if 6-8
4th-Tied	Luis Enrique's Armada	115	Tie:	7.0	Tied 4th if 6-8
4th-Tied	Big Blue	115	Tie:	10.5	Wins 4th if >=9
If ENGLAND beats SPAIN in Final…
1st	Merman	130
2nd	BigRedMessi 3	128
3rd	Big Blue	127
4th	Rainman	120

Cute dessert art!

Copa 3rd Place:  Okay, yet another reason we should be happy Gregg is gone - Canada managed to score twice on Uruguay (where USA couldn't) and nearly won the 3rd place game except for a stoppage time goal by the ageless Luis Suarez.  URU won in PKs to take 3rd.  I did wear my 2016 home URU jersey which has a cool sun pattern and had a cute rabbit at Premier Dessert Art in Monterey Park for a nightcap.  URU winning snaps a 2-game jersey losing streak... unless the streak is just for Euro matches ;-)

Sunday: The total goals thus far is 6.  I plan to wear a ESP jersey today so take note!

The theme song is a pop song?

11:50 am PDT:  Just realized the opening concert from OneRepublic is actually the theme song for the tournament.  With words.  I'm wearing my Xavi 2010 ESP home jersey with 2010 World Cup champion patch.  Does that mean a ESP win today?

12:00: Kickoff.  Love that the kickoff times start exactly at the top of the hour though I was worried they wouldn't get all the people and pomp and circumstance off the field in less than 4 minutes, but they did.

Ollie Ollie Oxen Free (7/10)

Who kicked who?

HOME, CA - 1C-England scored late again for the 3rd straight match but this time it was the game-winner at the start of stoppage time to beat 3D-Netherlands, 2-1.  ENG sub's Ollie Watkins' strike through the legs of the defender in the 90'+1 completed the comeback but it was a controversial VAR in the 14' that NED will be complaining about as a ENG shot follow-through connected with a defender's for a foul in the box.  I'm not sure how a defender is supposed to defend other than sticking his leg out, but VAR gave the PK.  Harry Kane's 18' PK tied it after NED went up in the 9'.  

ENG's rally was the fourth straight match where the team that scored first lost (three in regulation, one in PSO).  NED had just six shots and only two on goal and lost Memphis Depay in the 35' due to an injury.

Getting the hang of cooking sushi rice

22 picked ENG and ten got both ENG and ESP including the top 4.  Merman leads with 118 pts with BigRedMessi 3 second (116), Big Blue third (115), and JBueno fourth (110).  The top two are guaranteed money with Big Blue either 3rd or a tie for 4th (would need total goals >8).  The total goals right now is 6 with one match to go.  Rainman would finish 4th with an ENG title and Kds911-3 and Luis Enrique's Armada would tie for 4th with a ESP title and total goals in final 2 or less.  So a total of 7 entries can win money and either Merman (ENG title) or JBueno (ESP title) will win the pool.

I'm under the weather with a cough so just made some nigiri (Japanese rice with a little vinegar and sliced salmon chunk sashimi - unfortunately, nearly impossible to get wild salmon sashimi from market) that I bought yesterday (no, I haven't tried the A5 Wagyu yet).  I wore my NED women's 2022 away shirt (thankful they sell men's sizes of the women's jerseys which sometimes have cooler designs) at home.  So that means FRA lost yesterday and NED lost today.  Do I wear my ENG or ESP jersey Sunday?

Oh, and bye-bye Berhalter!!!

Quick Strikes (7/9)

Initially a GW own goal

GARDENA, CA - 2D-France finally scored in open play in the 9' but 1B-Spain struck back twice in 5 minutes (21' and 25' with the latter initially an own goal and then changed to a goal) for their only two shots on goal for the entire match to win 2-1 and advance to their 4th Euro final.  ESP's Lamine Yamal became the youngest person ever to score in the Euros (16 but will be 17 in the Final).  FRA tried to even the score but the two great chances late were shot high over the bar (including one by face-maskless Mbappe).

Real A5 Wagyu Ribeye!

23 had ESP making the final which kept Merman at the top with 110 pts with BigRedMessi 3 second (108) and Big Blue third (107).  Since all 3 have ENG as their champ, they will stay in this order.  10 entries can still win money and five can still win the pool.  Merman becomes the first person to win money and is guaranteed 4th.  Soccer Guru clinched last with 76 pts.  Eric F's three BigRedMessi entries are still alive but now he can't win the pool.  

BigRedMessi 3 is 2nd but can't win the pool while Sporty Xtina is 9th (101) but can win the pool.  Teton&Tahoe is 4th (106) but is eliminated while BigRedMessi 3 is tied for 37th but can still finish 3rd.

I love going to Tokyo Central for its Japanese groceries and now restaurant.  There, you can get A5 Japanese Wagyu ($99.99 per pound, same as when Costco sometimes sells it) which is delicious.  Because of the healthy fat content, you can't eat too much at a time so it lasts the whole week.  I wore my FRA women's 2022 home jersey and love that some nations produce different men's and women's jerseys (though that means I may have to buy double the jerseys if they look good).

Total Goals as of July 9 (1 of 3 Matches):  3

If SPAIN beats NETHERLANDS in Final…
1st-Tied	Kds911-3	115	Tie:	7.0	Tied 1st/2nd
1st-Tied	Luis Enrique's Armada	115	Tie:	7.0	Tied 1st/2nd
3rd	JBueno	114
4th	Merman	110
If NETHERLANDS beats SPAIN in Final…
1st	Sporty Xtina	121
2nd	Merman	110
3rd-Tied	BigRedMessi 2	108	Tie:	5.0	Wins 3rd if 3-5
3rd-Tied	BigRedMessi 1	108	Tie:	6.0	Wins 4th if 3-5, 3rd if 6, 4th if >=7
3rd-Tied	BigRedMessi 3	108	Tie:	6.5	Wins 4th if 6, 3rd if >=7
If SPAIN beats ENGLAND in Final…
1st	Jbueno	122
2nd	Merman	118
3rd	BigRedMessi 3	116
4th-Tied	Kds911-3	115	Tie:	7.0	Tied 4th if 3-8
4th-Tied	Luis Enrique's Armada	115	Tie:	7.0	Tied 4th if 3-8
4th-Tied	Big Blue	115	Tie:	10.5	Wins 4th if >=9
If ENGLAND beats SPAIN in Final…
1st	Merman	130
2nd	BigRedMessi 3	128
3rd	Big Blue	127
4th	Rainman	120

Rallies (7/6)

10th own goal stuns TUR

PALOMAR OBSERVATORY, PALOMAR MOUNTAIN, CA - For the second straight knockout match, 1C-England had to rally late with an 80' goal (for the second straight match, they scored on their only shot on goal in regulation) after allowing a 75' goal from 2A-Switzerland. Pushed to the penalty shootout, ENG hit all 5 of their kicks while SUI had their first saved as ENG advanced to the semis, 5-3.  2F-Türkiye were holding on to 1-0 halftime lead over 3D-Netherlands but NED scored twice in a six-minute span to stun TUR, 2-1.  The game-winning goal was the 10th own goal of the tournament (the second TUR have put into their own net) and was the 4th game-winning own goal this year.  

NED will try to replicate Portugal's third-place run to a title and will face ENG.  Like TUR's last group stage match, bench players and coaches were carded but this time, TUR's bench player was ejected and TUR's coach got a yellow in stoppage time.  NED's win was their second win after giving up the first goal (vPOL) and just the third time a team trailing at the half rallied to win.

200-inch telescope

44 had ENG making the semis and 12 NED.  Thirteen (13) went 2-0 while ten went 0-2.  Merman stays in the lead with 102 points but now Sporty Xtina is second (101).  Nacho Libre takes over last place with 75 pts although Soccer Guru (57th) will be stuck on 76 pts.  Overall, eight entries got all 4 semifinalists correct while Soccer Guru got none.

15 still have a chance to win money and six can still win the pool.  Merman has the best chance at money (62.5%) while Merman, BigRedMessi 1 (3rd-Tied, 100), and Sporty Xtina each have a 25% chance to win the pool.

BigRedMessi 3 (same remaining picks as Merman) is tied for 3rd but can't win the pool while JBueno (ESP>ENG in final) is tied for 12th (94) but can win the pool.  El Buenísimo is 8th (97) but is eliminated while Azzurri di Hermosa (FRA>ENG in final) is 41st (87) but can still win 3rd place.

Made the hour-long drive from Fallbrook to Palomar Observatory about 5,500 feet up.  On the tour there is a very helpful demo of how the telescope moves and tracks - because in looking at it behind the scenes, it's hard to visualize how these big pieces move.  I wore my adidas fan Ajax (NED) jersey featuring starry night which I always get compliments on, including the Cal Tech lady selling the tour tickets.

A Tale of Two Headers (7/5)

Great leaping header for the win

OCEANSIDE HARBOR BEACH, CA - In a match that finally woke host 1A-Germany up when 1B-Spain took the lead in the second half, GER finally tied it in the 89' and had a couple chances in stoppage time but couldn't find the game-winner.  ESP took advantage of a great leaping header in the 119' to go ahead 2-1 but GER had a great close header opportunity in the final minute but it went wide sending ESP to the semifinals.  GER had 23 shots (20 of them in the second half and extra time) while ESP had 18 shots (10 after halftime).  ESP stepped off the gas after going ahead and it almost cost them.

2D-France once again failed to score but so did 1F-Portugal (for the third straight match) as the match went to penalty shootout.  Both teams scored on their first two tries but a wide left by POR left the door open and FRA went on to win 5-3.  After making 3 straight saves in the last match in the PSO, POR's GK couldn't stop any of the five FRA attempts.

Busy Oceanside Harbor Beach

In the two big matchups between favorites, lots of entries had a big stake on the outcomes.  31 had ESP making the semifinals and 49 had FRA.  24 went 2-0 while two went 0-2 (Soccer Guru and Il Vecchio).  A new leader has emerged as Merman is now in first with 90 points.  Danglish is now in last with 67 pts.

However, it's Kds911-3 and Luis Enrique's Armada with the best chance to win the pool (28.1% each) and win money (43.8%) and both have ESP as their champion (both tied for 2nd with 89 pts).  They will be forever tied as both also have 7 goals as their tiebreaker. Goleador (2nd-T) also has a 43.8% chance to win money.  The two matches cut our number of entries to win money from 40 to 24 and cut the number of entries who could win the pool in half (20 to 10).

BigRedMessi 3 (2nd), Blue Frogs (3rd), El Matador (3rd), and Rainman (2nd) are tied for 7th but can't win the pool while Azurri di Hermosa is tied for 39th but can still win the pool.  Germany Minus One (GER champ) and Salah (POR champ) are tied for 7th but are eliminated while BigRedMessi 2 (NED champ) is tied for 48th but can still finish 2nd.  

Canada wins on PKs!

Well, maybe I should have worn a GER shirt as my FRA and CAN shirts produced victories for those countries.  My Germany Minus One had a good run but went from best chance to win money to eliminated in one GER loss :-(  I wore my authentic 2024 FRA home jersey with great enlarged rooster on a beautiful blue jersey at Oceanside Harbor Beach near our AirBNB.  BTW, our AirBNB in Fallbrook, CA is always cycling through power causing loud shrieking smoke alarms to go off at 4:30 am.  Of course, the owner denies anything was wrong even when seeing the video and kids woken up.  But between brownouts (their solar battery is severely conflicting with power balance and we get dimmed lights every so often like a ghost is walking through the house), we did get to see Canada (wearing my 2021 women's home jersey) beat Venezuela to advance to the Copa semifinals.  Canada.  They better fire Gregg Berhalter fast, that's embarrassing.  I'm writing this as we have turned off anything electric within reason (meaning no A/C) and we still get weird power fluctuations.  Sigh....

Great save! (7/2)

Last minute diving save

CYPRESS, CA - Surprise group winners 1E-Romania and 1D-Austria were knocked out of the tourney with #46 (#47 in June 20 ranking) ROU getting routed by #7 3D-Netherlands 3-0 and AUT's rally falling short to 2F-Turkey, 2-1.  Finally, we had a player score more than once in a game and today we had two.  NED's Donyell Malen came on as a sub and scored in the 80' and 90'+3 while TUR's Merih Demiral scored 7 seconds in and in the 59'.  AUT had a great header in the final minute of stoppage time that was incredibly saved to preserve the TUR win.

It's over!

The TURvAUT match had great moments and when the rain was pouring down, AUT poured it on getting 21 shots off and TUR had a couple of great counters that were saved.  The players fell to the grass after that exhausting back-and-forth match.  TUR makes up for their poor 2021 performance where they were a dark horse but lost all 3 group matches and is the lowest ranked team (#40, or #42 in the June 20 rankings) left. 

47 had NED making the quarters and 2 had TUR (Toast and I Say Old Chap).  49 went 1-1 and the other 9 went 0-2.  The top 7 didn't change with Disabling Below Jobs in first with 83 pts.  Cool Guy takes back last place with 60 pts.  40 can still win money and 20 can still win the pool.  Germany Minus One still has the best chance to win the pool (13.3%) and money (26.6%).  Overall, two went 7-1 (Disabling Below Jobs and Rainman) and five went 4-4 this round.

Food run after Costco

21goals is tied for 5th but can't win the pool (has the same remaining picks as Germany Minus One) while Azzurri di Hermosa (ENG over FRA, which is possible since FRA fell to second in Group D) is tied for 50th but can still win the pool.  Kds911-2, Soccer Guru and Soccerbix are tied for 21st and are eliminated while Azzurri di HB Tre (3rd) and Azzurri di Hermosa (1st) are tied for 50th and can still win money.

Preparing for a family road trip (short) and did a Costco run but then ended with a little strip mall with good pasta (Noodles) and Mexican (Taco Masa - which I kept reading as Tacoma-sa when I got back from Washington).  I wore my 2019 Puma City Influence Pack red Amsterdam shirt.  

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.

Bicycle Kick (6/30)

The bicycle kick to remember

SUNSETPOINT, WEST OAHU, HI - The underdogs took early leads (#48 3E-Slovakia in 25', #74 3F-Georgia via own goal in 18') but 1C-England's Jude Bellingham's incredible bicycle kick at 94:34 (of 6 minutes added) tied it to send it to Extra Time (where ENG prevailed 2-1) and 1B-Spain recovered to rout GEO 4-1.  ENG scored less than a minute into Extra Time and held on.  SVK lost for the second time after leading at the half 1-0 (the only team to lose while leading at halftime).  While ENG had 16 shots, they only had two shots on goal (meaning, the bicycle kick was ENG's first shot on goal).  ENG is purely in survival mode and face 2A-Switzerland next.  

ESP had 36 shots with 13 on goal while GEO didn't have a shot on goal and just four shots overall.  ESP reverted back to their old self completing 823 passes (to GEO's 281) and having 72% possession.  ESP will face 1A-Germany for another class of the titans.

Sunsetpoint

57 had ESP making the Quarters and 56 ENG.  Thus, 55 went 2-0 while the other three went 1-1.  No change to the top 7 with Toast leading with 72 pts.  No change to the bottom 7 either with Cool Guy and Lukakus Lost Brother tied with 52 pts.  Overall, three have gotten all 4 QFs correct while two have gotten just 1 correct.

Have never driven west before past Kapolei and what a beautiful drive that is.  The road ends at Sunsetpoint (there was an option to hike another 2 miles to the actual westernmost point of Oahu but was flying out in a few hours).  I wore my authentic 2016 Spain away jersey and really like the triangle patterns.

Lightning (6/29)

Lightning Delay

ALA WAI BOAT HARBOR, HONOLULU, HI - 2A-Switzerland put defending 2B-Italy out of its misery 2-0 to advance to the Quarterfinals. ITA didn't have a shot on goal until the 73' and didn't have one the rest of the match.  SUI scored quickly after halftime to make it 2-0 and deflate the Italians and have now knocked out France and ITA in back-to-back R16 Euro matches.  

A 30-minute delay due lightning at 34:48 in Dortmund didn't stop 1A-Germany from cruising to a 2-0 win over 2C-Denmark.  A DEN goal overturned via VAR for a toe outside in the 48' was quickly followed by a VAR that needed a sensor in the ball to determine a handball on DEN.  GER converted the PK and added another goal later as they peppered DEN with 14 shots and 9 of them on goal.

Green Diamond Head

48 had GER making the Quarters and 5 had SUI.  Three (Rainman, BluesIsTheColour I, and Disabling Below Jobs) got both SUI and GER into the QFs.  Eight went 0-2.  Toast is still in first with 64 pts with Disabling Below Jobs now second (63) with El Buenísimo and Rainman moved into a tie for 4th (62) with Germany Minus One.  Cool Guy and Lukakus Lost Brother are tied for last with 44 pts.

Nice walk this morning near Ala Wai Boat Harbor with a great view of Diamond Head, which was green (usually it's dry and brown).  Apparently, there has been a very rainy season thus far.  I wore my authentic Germany 2014 home jersey (#7 Schweinsteiger) that has the World Cup 2014 final match info on the jersey.  I did mention earlier no more 6 am matches, but now that I'm on Hawaiian Standard Time, 6 am again.

Georgia, Georgia (6/26)

18 YCs

Watching both Group E games

ANAHEIM, CA - F3-Portugal's Ronaldo wanted to score but instead F2-Georgia came up with the biggest Euro upset ever (topping earlier E2-Slovakia over E1-Belgium), stunning POR 2-0 to make the Round of 16 on their first try.  The #75 (okay, the June 20 rankings have them #74) ranked team knocked off #6.  POR, who already had won Group F, had 23 shots but only put 5 on goal.  In a game F4-Czechia needed to win, F1-Türkiye kept the tie until a stoppage time goal gave TUR the 2-1 win.  That game featured a record 18 yellow cards (at least, a coach or two may have gotten one as well, and 2 yellows that brought out a red which count as 1 yellow, so maybe 20?) and 2 red cards (one after the game) in a game the ref let out of control.  Two TUR players (TUR had 11 of the yellows plus maybe the coach) will be suspended for picking up their second yellow in the group stage and one backup GK picked one up.  Had CZE advanced, the ref carded a player on the bench, and that player would've have missed the Round of 16 match.  The 2 reds were the first since the opening match when A2-Scotland picked one up.

Group E started in a unique state (all teams 3 points) and stayed that way (all teams 4 points).  E4-Ukraine was the only one that needed to win if both games drew and outshot BEL 14-12 but couldn't score in the 0-0 draw.  The rain-soaked E2-Slovakia and E3-Romania match also drew (1-1) putting both teams in.  UKR becomes the first Euro team to ever bow out with 4 points (3C-Slovenia with 3 pts advanced) since the field expanded to 24 teams because they finished 4th, not 3rd.  The 4-way tiebreaker put #46 ROU first to play #7 3D-Netherlands of all teams, #3 BEL second (to play #2 2D-France), and #48 SVK third (to play #4 1C-England).  Because it was a 4-way tiebreaker, BEL's win over ROU didn't matter (nor the fact that SVK beat BEL).

Fresh roasted nuts!

24 picked the TUR win, 14 the SVKvROU draw, and 10 the URKvBEL draw.  No one imagined GEO winning.  13 went 2-2 while 23 went 0-4.  All 58 had BEL advancing (barely), 56 had POR, 43 TUR, 36 SVK, and 13 ROU.  Cool Guy, El Buenísimo, and Danglish (56th, 45) actually had GEO making the R16.  Alyonushka (4th-Tied, 56 pts) and Rutin4Putin (4th-T) (coincidentally, the same person) got 5 of the 6 teams.  Flying Elvi (40th-T, 50) only got 2 of the 6.  Alyonushka and Rutin4Putin picked up 17 of 22 possible points (no one else had more than 14) while Flying Elvi got just 6 of 22 points.

Toast still leads with 60 points with El Buenísimo second (59) and Germany Minus One third (58).  Lukakus Lost Brother fell into a tie for last with Cool Guy (44).  Overall, Toast had the most Round Robin wins (21) while Cool Guy had the least (11) (out of 36 possible points).  7 entries got 13 of the 16 teams in the Round of 16 while Lukakus Lost Brother got just 10.

The last 12 matches saw entries only get an average of 3.1 correct (total of 16.3) as 7 more ties reared its ugly head.  Entries got 11.9 teams in the R16.  Email update likely late tomorrow since I'll be traveling in four hours and no elimination runs (still haven't made it efficient), but likely after the R16 is over.  So there is still hope (for now).

Needed to get a local gift for my upcoming trip so went to a local place that actually roasts nuts in house (Fresh Nuts).  I wore my Bratislava, Slovakia t-shirt that I bought when I was there in October 2017.  Who knew SVK would advance?