Friday, June 28, 2024
[Dailies: Jun 23-24-25-26 ]
Toast leads with 60 pts; 7 get 13 R16 teams correct
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| Round of 16 set! |
PEARL HARBOR, HI (smt)- Seven more draws muddled up the group standings a bit and the two draws in Group E (E2-Slovakia-E3-Romania 1:1, E4-Ukraine-E1-Belgium 0:0) left UKR as the first time to earn 4 points (due to finishing 4th) and not make the Round of 16 (when field expanded to 24 teams). Two nil-nil draws in Group C (C4-England-C1-Slovenia, C2-Denmark-C3-Serbia) allowed 3-point SVN to sneak into the R16 though they lost out on 2nd place to having more yellow cards than DEN (thanks to a SVN assistant coach picking up a yellow in the first game).
Upsets rocked Group D and F with #74 F2-Georgia pulling off the biggest upset in Euro history stunning almost a full strength #6 F3-Portugal 2-0 to take 3rd, #25 D3-Austria outlasting #7 D2-Netherlands 3-2 to win Group D, and #28 D1-Poland rallying to tie #2 D4-France 1-1 to push FRA to 2nd place in Group D.
GOLETA, CA (smt) - While the Group Stage played out as most expected, the Round of 16 produced chaos and unbelievable finishes. There were 29 goals (3.63/match) with six of those scored in Extra Time (ET). Half the matches went to ET but just one went to the Penalty Shootout (PSO). Two teams came back from 3-1 deficits with less than 10 minutes left to force ET while Red Cards doomed two teams. Substitutes scored 8 times (more than the 6 in the first 36 matches) while yet another own goal happened (9 for the tourney). Half the group winners lost and three of the four 3rd place teams advanced. All 3 Group F teams (from the Group of Death) lost while Group B was the only group with its top 2 teams advancing.