I Can't Dive (6/21)

Yeah, obstruction

CERRITOS, CA - D2-Netherlands thought they had a breakthrough goal against D4-France in the 69' but a defender next to FRA's GK was flagged for offsides and upheld by VAR.  Regardless if you thought the GK could dive and make the save (it was far to his left), just having a player in your peripheral vision is enough to hesitate and you can see the GK stutter-stepped instead of diving.   The game ended 0-0 which meant FRA still has not scored (their 1-0 win last game was via own goal) and it was the first Euro nil-nil draw since match #20 in 2021 (ENGvSCO) and ended a streak of 50 matches with at least one goal.  

With 4 points, both teams will be comfortably in but the draw also eliminated D1-Poland, who lost to D3-Austria 3-1 and can't finish in the top 3 (first tiebreaker is head-to-head which POL would lose to AUT even if POL beat FRA 20-0 in the next game).  

E2-Slovakia was continuing their dream run holding a 1-0 second half lead but E4-Ukraine roared back with two goals to stay alive.  More pressure on E1-Belgium tomorrow as the other three teams in Group E have 3 points already.

$5.95 for a single scoop

In two of the most split picks, 23 got AUT (16 had POL and 19 had a tie) and 18 got UKR (17 had SVK and 23 tie) while 14 got the NEDvFRA draw.  Only Toast was able to go 3-0 today and pulls into a tie with 21goals for 1st with 15 points.  18 went 0-3 with Cool Guy joining BlueIsTheColour 3 in last with 8 pts.  Just a reminder, points for teams qualifying (e.g., GER and ESP) won't be awarded until the final group match is played (e.g., you will get the 3 points for GER making the Round of 16 after Sunday's matches).  

We get a lot of transplants into my area and recently we got Sorry, Not Sorry Creamery that is based in Vegas.  The ice cream is very rich which means very good. Their popular flavor is Ube Honeycomb (I do not understand the fascination with ube, except for the bluish color) but I got Mint chocolate chunk.  Yum.  I wore my authentic 2016 home Slovakia jersey that has the anthem lyrics on the inside collar.  Then I went to Raising Canes for the kids, which is based out of Baton Rouge and opened last year in Cerritos.

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.