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....

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.

Stoppage Time Magic (6/23)

100th minute stunner

DON KNABE PARK, CERRITOS, CA - Minutes from an upset and minutes from a 0-0 draw, dramatic goals by A1-Germany in the 90'+2 (1:04 of 4 minutes added stoppage time) to tie A4-Switzerland to win Group A and by A3-Hungary in the 90'+10 (9:31 of 10 minutes due an injury) to stun A2-Scotland 1-0 and stay alive, the first of the simultaneous group games is off to a great start.  The Swiss finish 2nd and HUN sits in 3rd with 3 points (but a bad goal differential of -3).  

HUN's win means we lose the possibility of 2-point SCO making the Round of 16 but we still have the possibility of 2-point C1-Slovenia doing the improbable (would need B4-Albania, B2-Croatia, F2-Georgia, and F4-Czechia to all lose).  For the second time, SCO had zero shots on goal and is the only team to do this.

25 got HUN's win and 15 picked the SUIvGER draw.  All 58 had GER advancing and 49 had SUI.  Five went 2-0 in the matches while 23 went 0-2.  49 got both teams advancing while 9 got just one (GER).  El Buenísimo (4th-Tied, 22 pts), BlueIsTheColour I (10th-T, 21), Matt's Mostly Wrong (10th-T), Salah (23rd-T, 20), and Rainman (35th-T, 19) all got the max 8 points today.  At the top, it's a 3-way tie for first with 21goals, Disabling Below Jobs, and Toast tied with 23 pts.  Carseroni (52nd-T, 16), Danglish (57th, 14), and Cool Guy (58th (last), 13) all just got 3 of 8 points.  If HUN were to advance later, 34 entries had them in the Round of 16.  19 lost SCO as a R16 team.

After dropping my kids off for tennis (they hate us as we have finally hit the 90F mark), at Don Knabe Park a lot of white tents were being set up for the SMAP Unit for Humanity grand celebration (it said it started at 7 am or 10 am (Health Fair) but only a few tents and few attendees were there).  We are right next to a large Indian community so lots of meditation and yoga services being offered.  Since the USMNT started today, I wore my official 2016 away USA jersey, one of the nicer darker jerseys that look good in a casual setting.  Good to watch the USMNT win 2-0 but should have routed Bolivia who were very poor.  Hopefully goal difference doesn't come into play.

Fit to be Tied (6/19)

SUI GK had it!

HOME, CA - #66 B4-Albania struck first against #10 B2-Croatia but persistence prevailed as CRO peppered ALB with 20 shots forcing an own goal in 76' to take a 2-1 lead.  But sub Klaus Gjasula, who gave up the own goal, scored in stoppage time to salvage a tie for ALB, 2-2.  So technically, Gjasula is the first person to score twice in a match this tournament.  A2-Scotland scored on an own goal on a A4-Swiss deflection and for a while, SCO had 2 goals on zero shots on goal in the tournament.  But late in the second half, UEFA changed it to a goal (because the shot was on target).  SUI's Xherdan Shaqiri's (of MLS fame ;-) golazo strike tied it in the 26' and the score ended 1-1. Like E1-Belgium, SUI had two goals taken away via VAR in the 22' and 45'+2.

A1-Germany became the first team to clinch a Round of 16 spot with a 2-0 win over A3-Hungary.  ALB and CRO didn't do themselves any favors with the tie as each has 1 point after 2 games.  Both would need a win against B1-Spain or B3-Italy to have a chance.

Lots of leaves, little fruit

So after the corrections to the standings, 8 are tied for first with 11 points.  BlueIsTheColour 3 is still last with 6 pts.  No one picked the ALBvCRO tie, 15 picked the tie between SCOvSUI, and 53 picked GER.  Eleven went 2-1 while Ronaldo Pulls a Messi went 0-3.

So I was supposed to go the LA Galaxy match vs NYC but wasn't feeling well so wore my 1998 home Croatia jersey outside and sad to find lots of leaves and flowers but very little fruit thus far.  All the rain we've had in LA hopefully just delayed things a bit.  But hoping for good poms and plums next month.

A great start (6/14)

Ouch!

COEUR D'ALENE, IDAHO - I was thinking that unlike the World Cup, you wouldn't get routs in the Euros as the competition is tougher.  Well, wrong.  Host A1-Germany scored five goals (well, six since they scored an own goal) to destroy A2-Scotland, 5-1, breaking a few records.  As a first game, it also featured a lot of oddities with one PK being called back, one PK being given along with a red card, goals taken from the semi-auto offsides, and SCO getting 1 goal on zero shots on goal and only one shot overall (0.01 expected goals).

Listening to the match while driving to Idaho (after flying into Spokane) and, boy Darke and Landon are quite a bore to listen to.  We got a Euro record 58 entries (from 39 people), topping the 49 in 2021.  It also topped the 47 we got the Women's World Cup last year.  12 entries have been in all 4 Euro pools and 30 entries have been in at least 5 of the 15 soccer pools we've had.  France (17) and England (13) were the overwhelming favorites but 7 other teams were also picked.

56 of 58 picked GER.

I could've gotten seasick!

Continuing my trend of wearing jerseys during game days as I wander around, I wore my 2022 Germany home jersey with the cool gold crest.  Lots to see but here I am at the world's longest floating boardwalk at Coeur d'Alene Lake in Idaho.  It was very windy and water was splashing on the bridge and it was rocking.  Pretty cool.  Also then got caught up with Car d'Lane Classic Car Cruise with hundreds of cars made before 1980 showing off on Main St.  

Admin picks!

About 15 hours until Euro 2024 kicks off!  We have 40 entries already which already surpasses our Euro Pool totals in 2012 and 2016.  We are on track to break the Euro Pool record of 49 entries in 2021 and become our 5th highest entry total for any of the 15 soccer pools (behind World Cups 2010, 2014, 2018, 2022).

I will be on a flight tomorrow morning so I'm hoping there will be a bunch of entries when I land and will send out any modifications to picks late Friday night (right now, tiny issues on 11 of 38 (29%) entries, not to bad considering we have to deal with 3rd place permutations).

But here, here I lay out my two picks for the tournament.  Will it be $20 down the drain?

• Futbol Fab Fünfzehn - Since 1998, I have always tended to pick France to win the World Cup (was the only one to do so back then).  With their talent, hard to pick against them.  My bracket laid out a good path for Portugal, even though they wouldn't necessarily been my top 2 to make the final.  Fünfzehn (or fuffzehn if the U with umlaut causes me any troubles) is German for fifteen (15), which this is our 15th soccer pool.
• Germany Minus One - The host has not won the Euro since 1984 (France).  Germany is uncharacteristically ranked #16.  Yet, yet, if they can get past the Iberian peninsula teams (Spain and Portugal) in the Quarters and Semis, it's a coin flip in the final against France or England (in this case, England - sorry, it's not coming home).  Having seen the masterpiece Godzilla Minus One on Netflix, this German team is down, knocked by a poor 2023 record, but could they rise out of the ashes to claim their 4th Euros to match their 4 World Cup titles?

Issue # 1.0.1 "Will Germany Continue Host Woes?" (6/6)

 Archive

Thursday, June 6, 2024 

FAMILIAR CAST OF CHARACTERS ARE FAVORITES
Our 4th Euro pool kicks off with a deadline June 14th

LOS ALAMITOS, CA (smt)- Amidst a busy summer of American soccer with the USMNT (finally!) playing in the Olympics (July 24-Aug 10), the USWMT also trying get the bad taste of Women's World Cup 2023 out their mouths in their Olympics, the USMNT participating in Copa America again on U.S. soil (June 20-July 14), and Major League Soccer participating in the Leagues Cup (July 26-Aug 25), our attention right now turns to the great players of Europe as the European Championship kicks off June 14.  Euro 2024 will feature the typical favorites D4-France, E1-Belgium, C4-England, F3-Portugal, D2-Netherlands, and B1-Spain, all in the top 8 FIFA overall rankings.  Throw in defending champion B3-Italy (#9) and host A1-Germany (ranked a low #16), who else could win the title? 

Of the 8 aforementioned teams, only BEL has not won any major title and six have already won the Euros (not ENG & BEL).  And no host nation has won the Euros since 1988 (FRA) and last year's heartbreak of ENG scoring early and losing at Wembley Stadium in the Euro 2020 (well, played in 2021) final while fans broke through barriers outside (a great documentary about the chaos of that day, The Final: Attack on Wembley, is now on Netflix) was a reminder that being the home team was not all that it's cracked up to be.  ITA, who can't even qualify for the World Cup (missed 2018 and 2022), will try to repeat as Euro Champions like ESP did in 2012, our first Euro Pool.

Unlike the World Cup,

An Extra Time Stoppage Time Goal (6/29)

120'+1 Goal!

EL SEGUNDO, CA - 1A-England, playing at home, withstood 2F-Germany's attack and scored two late goals to advance to the Quarters, 2-0, posting their 4th straight shutout.  Joachim Low's 15-year tenure with GER ends on a whimper as GER was lucky not lose more than 1-0 to FRA and needed an 84' goal against HUN to advance out of the group.  GER's Thomas Mueller missed a one-on-one with the GK, not even getting the shot on frame which would have tied it.  Amazingly, ENG won a non-PSO Euro match for the first time since '68 and are 10-0-4 in Wembley Stadium.

I love the blue/yellow teams of 1E-Sweden and 3C-Ukraine.  Both teams traded first half goals but an unfortunate (but horrible) tackle by SWE changed the match in the first half of Extra Time as UKR finally capitalized in the 120'+1 (the extra time, stoppage time goal!).

ENG travels for the first time and will be in Rome to face UKR, but if ENG wins, they will be home for the semis and final.  Ironically, UKR benefited when SWE beat POL in the last group stage match to barely make the R16 as the 4th best 3rd place team.

31 picked ENG eliminating 4 (32 still alive) and preventing 5 from winning the pool (15 can win).  3 lost GER as their champ and 17 had them in the Semis.  Fabio was the only one to pick UKR into the Quarters eliminating 6 (26 left).  32 went 1-1 while 17 went 0-2. For the R16, 23 got 5 of 8 while 9 got just 3 of 8.

No change at the top (Slyelf by 2 (90 pts)) but the possibilities are shifting.  Gli Azzurri now has the best chance to win the pool (15.6%) and Slyelf has the best chance at money (57.0%).

Issue # 4.1.3 "Everything That Has Transpired Has Done So According To My Design" (6/24)

Archive

Thursday, June 24, 2021 - [Dailies: 20-21-22-23]

NOT MANY SURPRISES IN THE ROUND OF 16
Slyelf in 1st as six get 15 of 16 R16 teams correct; all 49 entries still alive

CERRITOS TENNIS CENTER, CA (smt) - Was it so predictable?  Everyone seemed to know F2-Portugal, F3-France, and F4-Germany would make the Round of 16.  But a wild ride to get there with GER six minutes from being eliminated.  Of course, D1-England would win their group.  But with two lackluster 1-0 wins and scoring just two goals?  It seems the only real surprises were D4-Czech Rep and A3-Wales making the cut.  Could be the strongest Round of 16 we've seen.

A2-Italy, B3-Belgium, and C1-Netherlands won their group with max of 9 points while D1-England and E2-Sweden won to get to 7 pts.  A4-Switzerland and D2-Croatia each won 3-1 to secure their R16 spot while B1-Denmark routed B4-Russia 4-1 to claim 2nd on goal differential over B2-Finland, who missed the cut.  C3-Austria beat C2-Ukraine 1-0 to take 2nd but UKR still snuck in as the last 3rd place team.  Power teams needing results got them as a fun E1-Spain routed E4-Slovakia 5-0 (SVK's GD got hammered and missed the cut), F4-Germany had to rally twice against F1-Hungary (2-2 draw), and F2-Portugal got 2 PKs from Ronaldo to tie F1-France 2-2 to advance (though POR would have had advanced if they lost by a few as long as HUN didn't win... but HUN was leading for most of the match).

The only group winner that was a surprise was

Last Day Drama (6/23)

Blame it on the sun

ROSEMEAD, CA -- This day had a lot of drama.  18 goals in 4 matches.  Two big GK gaffes.  First game-winning extra time goal.  A rally from two goals down to tie.  Two more own goals - in the same match.  First subs to score since Match # 16.  Four players scoring two goals each.  Four PKs, three in the same match.  Wow.

Group E saw E4-Slovakia's GK made a couple of great saves including one off a soft PK (E1-Spain's second missed PK this tourney) but it was a high ball into the sun/shadow that he accidentally knocked into his own net that opened the floodgates for ESP.  ESP scored four more times to rout SVK 5-0 (the last goal also an own goal) to finish 2nd and knock SVK out of the tourney with a very bad GD.  E3-Poland needed a win but E2-Sweden scored 82 seconds into the match (first of 2 goals for Emil Forsberg) to put POL on their heels.  Down 2-0 with 30 minutes left, POL's Robert Lewandowski scored twice (earlier he had to the crossbar on back-to-back sequence) to give POL hope but SWE scored four minutes into stoppage time (just the 3rd stoppage time goal this tourney) to win 3-2.  SWE wins Group E and SVK's GD meant C2-Ukraine made the Round of 16 as a 3rd place team. Could B2-Finland sneak in as well?

Group F.  Okay.  Ten minutes in, F1-Hungary, playing in Munich (GER), stunned F4-Germany (FRA 1st/POR 2nd/HUN 3rd (GER out)) with an early goal in a must-win match for HUN.  Twenty minutes later, a soft PK call is converted by F2-Portugal's Ronaldo (POR/FRA/HUN).  After tying with PK, two minutes into the 2nd half FRA scores again (after VAR negates the offsides) for a 2-1 lead (FRA/HUN/POR with FIN hoping FRA scores three more).  Another PK for Ronaldo in the 60' (to tie 2-2) essentially seals FIN's hopes (FRA/POR/HUN).  GER finally breaks through in the 66' off a missed GK punch that leads to an easy head-in (FRA/GER/POR).  About 18 seconds after kickoff, HUN scores again! (FRA/POR/HUN).  Pressure gets awarded as a GER sub scores in the 84' to tie it at 2 (FRA/GER/POR).  Both matches end in 2-2 draws eliminating HUN and FIN.

Two days to rest before the Round of 16 begins.  Breathe.

45 picked ESP, 23 SWE, 19 the POR-FRA tie, and Fantasy picked the GER-HUN tie.  All 49 got ESP into the R16, 48 FRA, 47 SWE, 46 POR, 44 GER, and 42 UKR.  Pretty clear majorities.  Today, 9 got 3 right while two got none (Rainman, Big Blue).  33 got all 6 R16 teams correct (impressive!) while two still got 4 of 6 (MK, Fabio).  Five got 21 points today while Fabio only got 14.

Amazingly, six entries got 15 of the 16 R16 correct and 23 got 14 correct.  Even MK still got 11 right.  Overall, Slyelf got 25 of the 36 round robin matches correct while Wolverine1 only got 13 (but he did 14 R16 teams correct but not enough to get out of a tie for last with 55 pts with MK).  After the Group Stage, Slyelf is first with 70 points with FrankfromSeattle second with 68 pts.

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).

Hands up # 2! Germans fall

Unnecessary handballs vs Italy & France

Sigh.  Usually it's the French who are always surrendering.  For some reason, the past two matches 1C-Germans have been holding their hands up for no apparent reason and getting called for handballs in the box.  On the final play of the first half, Bastian Schweinsteiger went hands up and the ball deflected off the head onto his hand prompting the ref to call the penalty kick. Controversial, maybe, but the way Schweinsteiger went after the cross was so unnatural -- who goes in hands up like that?  This image clearly shows how unnatural it looked as it looked like he was getting into his Superman pose and was going to fly and head the ball off.  Bad strategic decision by the captain.  Doesn't matter it was unintentional (yes, I know the rule book says it has to be deliberate, but other than Maradona, who on a 50/50 tries to handle the ball with the hand?).  The hands and arms made him look bigger and that's a disadvantage for the offensive team. Antoine Griezmann put in the PK for his 5th goal of the tourney and the dominant Germans were down 1-0 to 1A-France at the half.

For some reason, this really got the Germans self-doubting themselves and France gained confidence and kept the pressure up until

Hands up! Germans survive

Zaza in just for PK, misses badly

1C-Germany took a 1-0 lead in a match they dominated possession but a what-is-he-thinking arms up Jerome Boateng caught the ball off his arm giving 1E-Italy a PK they did not miss in the 78'.  In the only match between group winners, both teams played it safe the rest of the match.  Going into penalties, Germany had only missed 2 in their history of Euro and World Cups (26 of 28 in six PSOs, winning 5).  Then again, Germany had never beaten Italy in a Euro or World Cup (0-4-4).

After being the first team to score against GER in this Euro, ITA started off well and then had their PK specialist Simone Zaza, who came in the 120', next but he skied the ball high.  Uncharacteristically, GER did miss

Favorites Rule

Belgium lucked out

1A-France fell behind early on a PK goal by 3E-Ireland but a brace by Antoine Griezmann in 3 minutes sent the hosts to the Quarterfinals, 2-1.  IRL GK Darren Randolph did his best with 8 saves but it was not enough.  1C-Germany missed a PK but it didn't matter in routing 3B-Slovakia, 3-0.  Both GKs combined for 16 saves but 2E-Belgium scored early and then finally broke through with 3 goals in the final 12 minutes to put away 1F-Hungary, 4-0.  By NOT winning their Group, Belgium

Germans seal Group C, Croats rally and stop PK

ESP's 1st loss since '04 (11-0-3)

A missed PK by D1-Spain turned out to be the difference between winning Group D and finishing second as D4-Croatia rallies for a 2-1 win.  D3-Turkey finally scored en route to a 2-0 win over D2-Czech Republic, eliminating the Czechs and keeping the Turks hope alive.

C1-Germany did what they needed to do in beating C4-Northern Ireland 1-0 while C3-Poland secured 2nd place with a 1-0 win over C2-Ukraine, who were already eliminated from advancing to the Round of 16.

In race for the four 3rd place spots:

• Group E (ITA (6 pts), BEL (3 pts, +1 GD), SWE (1 pt, -1 GD), IRL (1 pt, -3 GD))
• Group F (HUN (4 pts), POR (2 pts, 0 GD), ISL (2 pts, 0 GD), AUT (1 pt, -2 GD))
• (Qualified) B4-Slovakia (4 pts, 0 GD)
• (Qualified) C4-NIR (3 pts, 0 GD)
• D3-TUR (3 pts, -2 GD, 2 GF)
• A3-Albania (3 pts, -2 GD, 1 GF)

Remember, you won't get points for
SVK and NIR until tomorrow (as well as already qualified E2-Italy and F4-Hungary).

After 32 matches, JBueno leads with 42 pts with Mejia12 (who has picked a high of 20 correct group stage matches, two better than the next entry) right behind with 41 pts. Seven have all 8 Group A/B/C/D winners and runners-up (including both of Eric F's (BigRedMessi (8th, 38), BigRedMesssi2 (3rd-Tied, 40)) while 12 entries have 6 of 8.  Cheesy Grits FC and The Eleven are last with 29 pts and both have picked a low of 11 of 32 matches correctly.

Tomorrow, 28 points are up for grabs (4 group matches, Group E&F winners, Group E&F runners-up, and 4 3rd Place qualifiers).

Go USA!

I see my picks Futbol Fabone Hut and Rogue Un are in sync, tied for 21st place (31)...

Updates!!!!

11 days into EURO 2016, I have finally managed to find some time to update everyone's picks --  which means, we have standings!  There are actually several updates.

New items in the menu above:

Standings:  Up until the end of the 2nd matches, every match was worth one point.  As the 3rd matches are played, you will get the one point per correct match PLUS the winner and runner-up of that group (3 points each).  So, today, Groups A and B have finished so 11 entries have all 4 Round of 16 teams (FRA, SUI, WAL, ENG).  Remember, it doesn't matter if you had WAL as the winner, runner-up, or 3rd place qualifier -- it's 3 points regardless.  However, not placing WAL in the correct slot may hinder getting the maximum possible points.  Currently, JBueno leads with 28 points with Mejia12 in second with 26 points.  TurboTobi is in last with 17 points and was the only entry

Issue # 7.3.1 "Azzurri vs La Furia Roja..."

Well, the end is near.  The penultimate issue!

Spain (3-0-2) Real Federación Española de Fútbol	vs.	Italy (2-0-3) Federazione Italiana Giuoco Calcio

LAST TWO WORLD CUP CHAMPS TO MEET
It'll be SalsaKing vs Adivinanza for the inaugural title
"All or nothing, huh? That's how I roll!" -- Advinanza
"Let's do this!! I won't be able to watch the game in peace now" -- SalsaKing

Balotelli Busts Germany

Finally, a goal scored in regulation, thanks to Mario Balotelli.  The last two matches were scoreless.  Finally, a goal scored in the run of play.  Last time was ESP's Xabi Alonso's goal in the 19' three matches ago.  Finally, a classic matchup, which thanks to Italy's two first-half goals, provided an entertaining second half which we have missed since Germany last played, four matches ago.  But it was Balotelli all over the pitch and his two first-half goals barely stood up as Germany peppered the goal area with many missed chances and some great saves by ITA's Gianluigi Buffon.  It was his opponent's counterpart, Manual Neuer, which provided a great show acting as the 12th attacker in the last five minutes, kicking and heading balls away while leaving his net empty.  Germany did pull one back in one of the frantic moments as ITA was called for a hand ball and Mesut Ozil, boy we haven't heard that name as much as we thought, put away the PK in the 90'+2 leaving a couple of minutes for a tying goal.  But it never came and Italy stunned Germany, 2-1, ending the German's record 15-match competitive win streak and remain unbeaten against them in tournament matches (4-0-4).

So now we get a rematch

Issue # 6.2.1 "Best Four Teams In..."

It'll be nice to have a 2-day break.  Of course, why Portugal and Spain each get an extra two days rest seems illogical for UEFA.  We'll see how it plays out.  Very nice that 13 are still alive and 4 each have an equal chance of winning the pool.


EACH QUARTERFINAL FEATURED ONE DOMINANT TEAM
Flying Elvi leads by a point, but four can win title

Like Economy, Germany Bests Greece

No one really gave Greece a chance and when Germany dominated the first half and scored before halftime, it looked like lights out.  But a Greece counter tied the match and the hope was to get through regulation.  But Germany is Germany and in quick succession, scored three straight.  Only a late PK, just the 2nd awarded in the tourney, made the final score a somewhat respectable 4-2.  No magical Greece run like in 2004 this time.  We even got the classic Miroslav Klose header (circa 2006) as Mario Gomez, with three goals, sat on the bench.  Greece tried to replicate the success in their first match where they resisted an onslaught by Poland only to tie it in the second half. It did work again, it's just that 35 minutes is much too much time for Germany to strike back.

Since 37 of 39 picked GER in the pool not much changed except that Bix Pix fell from 21st to 33rd (48 pts) and Blue Panther regained the last spot once gain (41).  Flying Elvi still holds a 7-point lead and a 93.8% chance to win money.