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.  

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?

Empty Netter (6/18)

Just a bit offside

WATTS TOWER, LOS ANGELES, CA - Like in the E1-Belgium match, the favorite had a late goal taken away via VAR on the slightest of infractions (shoulder in 87'), but unlike BEL, F3-Portugal still recovered to score the game-winner in stoppage time to finish the comeback, 2-1, over F4-Czechia (was Czech Republic, well it's still Czech Rep but the government prefers Czechia so FIFA/UEFA obliged).  The match featured the first 0-0 halftime score line, first game-winner in stoppage time (90'+2), a record sixth Euros appearance by POR's Ronaldo, and the oldest player to play in the Euros (POR's Pepe).  POR and Ronaldo created some havoc in the box with their first goal coming on an own goal deflection and CZE's GK making 7 saves.  

This was the F1-Turkey (or now Türkiye) we expected in 2021.  TUR got off to a strong start (would've been stronger but they had a goal taken away by a toe offside in the 27') beating F2-Georgia, 3-1, with the last goal an empty netter as it was in the 7th minute of stoppage time and the GEO GK was in the attack.  The worst-ranked team (#75), GEO felt trying for a tie against TUR was worth a -2 goal differential with POR up next.  GEO managed 15 shots with one going off the left post, one off the crossbar, and one saved going off the right post.

So this is Watts Towers

53 picked TUR and 56 picked POR.  51 got both correct while the other 7 went 1-1.  5 are tied for first with 10 points with 24 tied for 6th with 9 pts.  BlueIsTheColour 3 is last with 5 pts.

All these years, I never stopped by Watts Towers because, it's in Watts.  But after sitting is traffic for so long, I realized I never got a picture and so I pulled off and it's a nice park.  I wore my 2023 Al Nassr Ronaldo home jersey that I picked up in Porto, Portugal last year.  

Perfect 3-0 (6/20)

A2-Italy completed group play a perfect 3-0 with a comfortable 1-0 win over A3-Wales as both teams advanced to the Round of 16.  The Italian home cooking will end as they will go to London for their Round of 16 match.  A4-Switzerland scored early and often to beat A1-Turkey, 3-1, to sit in a good position with 4 points in 3rd place.  TUR was disappointing but did end their scoring drought with a great strike just over the GK's outstretched hands.  SUI's Steven Zuber became just the 2nd person to notch 3 assists in a Euro match (CZE '08) while Xherdan Shaqiri has now scored in 4 Euro tourneys.

28 got SUI right and 45 ITA while 48 got 3 points for ITA in the R16 and 18 WAL.  25 went 2-0 while DenMarkMyTerritory went 0-2.  17 got both ITA and WAL making the R16 while 32 got just one.  Eight got the full 8 points today (ITA, SUI wins x 1 = 2; ITA, WAL in R16 x 3 = 6) while DenMarkMyTerritory only got 3.  Footballsack is still in the lead with 23 pts with 4 tied for 2nd with 22.  DenMarkMyTerritory and Otsego1 are tied for last with 13 pts.

All six groups could produce a 3rd place team with 4 points (though there were just 2 in '16) but 4 should be enough.  SUI (who lost GD tiebreaker to WAL for 2nd) could advance as early as tomorrow if both 3rd place teams in Groups B & C have just three points.  In Group B, RUS and FIN each likely just need a draw but DEN beating RUS would mean they would own the head-to-head tiebreaker if tied for 3rd with 3 pts.  DEN, RUS, and FIN tied at 3 points will depend on additional tiebreakers.  In Group C, UKR and AUT play each other and are guaranteed at least 3rd place with MKD already eliminated, so a boring, defensive-minded draw between them likely will advance both.  

One Team In, One Nearly Out (6/16)

B2-Finland got more than one shot (albeit the game-winning goal) this time, getting 11 against B4-Russia, but had a goal overturned by VAR (offsides) as RUS prevailed 1-0 at home.  These two and B3-Belgium have 3 points with BEL playing tomorrow.

A1-Turkey's defense was no match against A3-Wales' Gareth Bale as he tore apart the defense with great needle and over the defense passes leading to two assists, a near goal pursing the GK, and drawing a penalty.  Alas, he missed the PK (teams are just 1/3) but WAL won 2-0, the last goal the last play of the match.  In the other Group A match, A2-Italy started fast and furious against A4-Switzerland in winning their second straight 3-0 match with two strikes outside the box.  ITA is now unbeaten in their last 29 matches and have not allowed a goal in their last 10 in being the first team to qualify for the Round of 16.  TUR is last with a horrible -5 GD.

After having just one VAR in the first 11 matches, there have now been 3 in the past 4.  ITA had their goal taken away with an inadvertent handball by the scorer.  Apparently, if the ball had dropped to another ITA player who scored, it would have counted - only the player with the handball can't score when it accidentally hits his arm/hand.

37 picked RUS, 14 WAL, and 39 ITA.  7 went 3-0 while DenMarkMyTerritory and Otsego1 went 0-3.  Club Med now leads by 2 with 12 points over 10 others tied for second.  Six are tied for last with 6 pts.  Also, note that in the Standings page, if your nickname has a pound symbol (#), you need to view your pick via the Picks page.  HTML doesn't work well with certain symbols like # (but I still allow it in the nickname) and the standings are automated.