Issue # 2.1.1 "No Home Sweet Home" (6/15)

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[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,

Full Capacity & Ronaldo (6/15)

Playing in front of the tourney's first full-capacity crowd (55,662), F1-Hungary held tight against heavy favorites F2-Portugal only to see the visitors score three times after the 84' to lose 3-0.  Ronaldo scored the last two goals, on a PK, and then a great effort to get around the GK in stoppage time (first goal past 90' in this tourney).  That broke a tie and his 11 goals is the new Euro record.  HUN also had a goal taken away by offsides, which rocked the stadium.  

F3-France had two goals called back by offsides (1 by VAR) so it was an own goal in the first half that gave the 1-0 margin over home side F4-Germany.  The 3-time Euro champion GER lost an opening match for the first time.

The first stage is done!  12 matches down, 24 to go in the Group Stage.  47 picked POR and 32 picked FRA.  Club Med remains in 1st with 9 pts.  31 went 2-0 while Dagger went 0-2.  There's a 3-way tie for last with 4 pts.

Emotional night for Ronaldo

Sub Eder on top of the world

In a Euro tournament that saw 21 of the 50 matches go into halftime scoreless (3F-Portugal participating in three of them), why would the final be any different?  For a 3F-Portugal team that tied five of their six matches after 90 minutes, why would the final be any different?  For a 1A-France team that has hosted two major tournaments in the past 32 years and won both, why would the final be any different?  Uh, on that last one... A scoreless first half and a 0-0 tie after regulation were par for the course for the Portuguese (though France's Andre-Pierre Gignac late stoppage time twirl just hit inside the left post and ricocheted out) who had to play without captain Cristiano Ronaldo who left in the 25' due to a knee injury.  France had the better of the few opportunities but after the 1st half of extra time, ran out of gas.  A minute after POR's Raphael Guerreiro hit the cross bar on a direct free kick that shouldn't have been theirs (one of the few blown calls by the ref - handball on the wrong team), POR's Eder takes it in and hits a two-bouncer 25-yard shot that just beats the keeper for the only score of the night.

Moths had more fun than the fans

Ronaldo went on a roller-coaster ride by starting the match with high anticipation and pressure, in tears after being knocked down hard in the 8' and eventually having to call for his own sub in the 25' (a la moth), and in tears again after Portugal won its first major trophy.  France started off the match well but it seems the Ronaldo injury sucked the energy

Ronaldo on a roll

Ronaldo's 9th Euro goal (ties record)

Sometimes, things just line up.  A late stoppage time goal by 2F-Iceland knocked 3F-Portugal to third and put the Portuguese in the upper bracket with no giants (e.g., ENG, ESP, FRA, GER).  They even avoided BEL thanks to 1B-Wales.  After needing a late OT goal to beat 1D-Croatia and a PSO to beat 2C-Poland, POR could've settled for another regulation tie.  But after a listless first half, Ronaldo struck with a brilliant header off a corner kick and less than three minutes later, a Ronaldo shot was re-directed in by Nani and Portugal controlled the rest of the match winning 2-0 over the Welsh.  Will Ronaldo do what Messi couldn't do and win a title for home and country at the world stage?  Will Ronaldo quit the national team if he loses in the final like Messi?  Will Portugal finally go back to their traditional red and not the green glow/night shade jersey?  It was a nice run by Wales and with Iceland out, only traditional powers 1A-France, 1C-Germany, and Portugal remain.

Portugal's win was picked by 5 entries and this also meant we won't know who will win the pool until after the final on Sunday!  Travel Bug (who was 26th before the Round of 16 matches) moved into 1st (89 pts) while