We are the People

So there is a thing as official music artist of EURO 2020.  Hmmm.  Actually not a bad anthem which was created by DJ Martin Garrix and features Bono (yes, that Bono).  BTW, I do really like the Hans Zimmer anthem he composed for MLS as the teams walk and take the field.  Sounds great at Dignity Health Sports Park.

So 19 days left and the 2021 HWCI EURO Pool is mostly updated  now.  Or this is the 2021 HWCI EURO 2020 Pool.  I don't blame UEFA for not changing it to EURO 2021 (though one of their excuses about saving the environment since they already printed so much EURO 2020 stuff was humorou$).  Years from now, will it matter?  

Look for an email blast about Friday May 28 and I will be at the LA Galaxy match May 29 to hand out paper copies of the entry form (but you can enter now!).  Just remember teams will be able to carry 26 players (vs 23) but still so sign of the injured-Zlatan for Sweden.  And if there is a COVID hit on a team, the match could be rescheduled within 48 hours.

UK Wants it All

Well, the Euros are happening and UEFA still plans to have it across 12 cities in Europe.  But potentially, England (or the UK with Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland in the mix) could be the sole host of the tournament when it kicks off June 11.  UEFA said thanks, but no thanks, but depending how new COVID-19 variants progress, things could change.  England was already hosting the "final four" anyway.

Thanks to the UEFA Nations League, we will get to a smaller nation in the tournament as North Macedonia qualified via the Path D playoff.  Finland will also be making their Euro debut.

Our 3rd HWCI EURO Pool (and 12th Soccer pool) will be this summer!

Now EURO 2021

Due to extreme precautions against the spread of the coronovirus disease (COVID-19) and the uncertainty of when (or if) it could be effectively contained or mitigated, Uefa announced it is postponing EURO 2020 (which was scheduled to kick off June 12) until 2021.  That means our 3rd HWCI Uefa EURO pool will have to wait until next year as well.  It is hard enough to plan this big of an event on its own, even harder doing so always looking over your shoulder wondering if the event would even happen so a good decision.  This not only presents a clean break from 2020 but it also would allow all the domestic club European leagues to complete their seasons when safe and not worry about butting heads against EURO 2020 or worry about international windows.

Twenty teams had already qualified with four more to be decided by qualification play-offs (based on finish in Nations League 2018-2019) which was to played in March before COVID-19 popped up.  This was also going to be the first EUROs played across all of Europe (in celebration of Uefa's 60th anniversary) rather than a host nation (or two).  The new dates are June 11-July 11, 2021.

Also, Copa America was postponed until 2021 as well.  Luckily, 2021 is the year we had no soccer pool so EURO 2021 will fit nicely in there.  We have the HWCI World Cup pool in 2022, HWCI Women's World Cup pool in 2023, and EUROs again in 2024.  With this postponement, it would allow me a stress-free way in the summer to reflect on our past 10 soccer pools (6 Men's World Cups, 2 Women's World Cups, 2 EUROs) so look for periodic blog updates here.  Stay safe!

Post mortem

Euro 2016 Champions

3F-Portugal (3-0-4) A Seleção 1st Title F2: Tied ISL 1-1 F4: Tied AUT 0-0 F6: Tied HUN 3-3 R16: Beat CRO 1-0 (aet) QF: Tied POL 1-1 (Won PSO 5-3) SF: Beat WAL 2-0 F: Beat FRA 1-0 (aet)

(Published 7/10/19) In the pool, Ford R's Rainman rose and won the pool eliminating Game of Two Halves.  Eric F's BigRedMessi2 finished 2nd, Michael W's Big Blue 3rd (winning tiebreaker), and Tuan L's The Eleven 4th.  

Winners (Tie = 5)…
	Rainman	100	1st Place $120
	BigRedMessi2	94	2nd Place $75
	Big Blue	92	3rd Place $50 (Tie: 7.5, Diff = 2.5)
	The Eleven	92	4th Place $25 (Tie: 9.0 Diff = 4.0)

Stats:   Goals: 108 (2.12/match) (3 OG, 8 PK, 9 90'+, 2 ET)... Scoring 1st (32-5-10, 4 0-0 ties): 16-WAL, 32-ESP, 40-IRL, 44-ENG, 46-BEL.... Lead at the Half (18-2-5, 26 ties (22 0-0)): 16-WAL, 40-IRL... Shutouts (34): 02-ALB, 05-TUR, 06-NIR, 07-UKR, 08-CZE, 10-BEL, 11-AUT, 15-ALB, 17-UKR, 18GER, 18-POL, 19-SWE, 21-TUR, 22- IRL, 24-POR, 24-AUT, 25-ROU, 26-SUI, 26-FRA, 27-RUS, 28-SVK, 28-ENG, 29-UKR, 30-NIR, 31-CZE, 35-ITA, 36-SWE, 38-NIR, 9-CRO, 41-SVK, 42-HUN, 43-ESP, 48-WAL, 50-GER, 51-FRA... PK (8/12): 01-ROU (G), 14-ROU (G), 20-CZE (G), 23-ISL (G), 24-POR (X), 32-ESP (X), 33-AUT (X), 40-IRL (G), 41-GER (X), 44-ENG (G), 47-ITA (G), 50-FRA (G)... ET (5): 37-SUIvPOL (0:0), 39-CROvPOR (0:1), 45-POLvPOR (0:0), 47-GERvITA (0:0), 51-PORvFRA (1:0)... PSO (3, 28/37): 37-SUIvPOL (4:5, 5.0), 45-PORvPOL (5:3, 4.5), 47-ITAvGER (5:6, 9.0).... Hat Tricks (0)... Red Cards (GF:GA) (3, 0:1): 02-ALB 36' (0:0), 11-AUT 66' (0:1), 40-IRL 66' (0:0).... Own Goals (3): 09-IRLtoSWE, 23-ISLtoHUN, 38-NIRtoWAL... All five teams making their first appearance finished 3rd or higher and four – Iceland, Northern Ireland, Slovakia and Wales – qualified for the round of 16 (Albania came up just short)... FRA's Antoine Griezmann won the Player of the Tournament and the Golden Boot (6 goals)... POR and SUI were the only teams not to officially lose (SUI lost in PSO)...

After Round Robin (36 matches):  Scoring 1st (23-2-7, 4 0-0 ties): 16-WAL, 32-ESP.... Lead at the Half (12-1-4, 19 ties): 16-WAL... Shutouts (26): 02-ALB, 05-TUR, 06-NIR, 07-UKR, 08-CZE, 10-BEL, 11-AUT, 15-ALB, 17-UKR, 18GER, 18-POL, 19-SWE, 21-TUR, 22- IRL, 24-POR, 24-AUT, 25-ROU, 26-SUI, 26-FRA, 27-RUS, 28-SVK, 28-ENG, 29-UKR, 30-NIR, 31-CZE, 35-ITA, 36-SWE... PK (4/7): 01-ROU (G), 14-ROU (G), 20-CZE (G), 23-ISL (G), 24-POR (X), 32-ESP (X), 33-AUT (X)... Hat Tricks (0)... Red Cards (GF/GA) (2, 0/1): 02-ALB 36' (0:0), 11-AUT 66' (0/1).... Own Goals (2): 09-IRLtoSWE, 23-ISLtoHUN... UKR was just the third team ever to not score a goal (TUR '96, DEN '00)... GER did not allow a goal, just the 3rd team to do so (GER '96, ITA '80)...

Final standings:

Rnk Team W-L-D PT GD GF-GA GRP

--- ---- ----- -- -- ----- ---

 1. POR  3-0-4 13 +4  9-5  3F 

 2. FRA  5-1-1 16 +8 13-5  1A

---

 3. WAL  4-2-0 12 +4 10-6  1B

 4. GER  3-1-2 11 +4  7-3  1C

---

 5. ITA  3-1-1 10 +4  6-2  1E

 6. BEL  3-2-0  9 +4  9-5  2E

 7. POL  2-0-3  9 +2  4-2  2C

 8. ISL  2-1-2  8 -1  8-9  2F

---

 9. CRO  2-1-1  7 +1  5-4  1D

10. ESP  2-2-0  6 +1  5-4  2D

11. SUI  1-0-3  6 +1  3-2  2A

12. ENG  1-1-2  5  0  4-4  2B

13. HUN  1-1-2  5 -2  6-8  1F

14. IRL  1-2-1  4 -3  3-6  3E

    SVK  1-2-1  4 -3  3-6  2B

16. NIR  1-3-0  3 -1  2-3  3C

---

17. TUR  1-2-0  3 -2  2-4  3D

18. ALB  1-2-0  3 -2  1-3  3A

19. ROM  0-2-1  1 -2  2-4  4A

20. SWE  0-2-1  1 -2  1-3  4E

21. CZE  0-2-1  1 -3  2-5  4D

22. AUT  0-2-1  1 -3  1-4  4F

23. RUS  0-2-1  1 -4  2-6  4B

24. UKR  0-3-0  0 -5  0-5  4C

         Tie: PT, GD, GF

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

Heading to the final

In meantime, catch up on kick-ass anime
with awesome music, Macross Delta!

3F-Portugal (2-0-4) will try to snap a 10-match losing streak to 1A-France (5-0-1) when the two national teams meet up for the final in Paris, France.  In the new expanding Euro (24 teams from 16), a third-place team has reached the final.  It has happened twice in the World Cup when they had 24 teams with Argentina losing 1-0 to Germany in the '90 final and Italy losing in PKs (0-0 (3-2)) to Brazil in the '94 final.

Both teams struggled to being the tournament with France needed a late second-half goal to edge Romania while Portugal blew a 1-0 lead to tie, at the time, lowly Iceland.  After settling for a tie in their 3rd match, France has won each knockout stage scoring 9 goals.  Portugal has played even in the first 90 minutes in each of their first

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

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

France explodes, dashing Icelandic dream

Vive la France!

For some reason, when I woke up to an alert that there was an explosion before the 1A-France/2F-Iceland match, I thought I read the match was postponed.  So a noontime belated Father's Day lunch in Pasadena (Lunasia Dim Sum) with my in-laws wouldn't interfere with the match after all.  As we got there just before noon, I noticed the restaurant was playing the match and the pre-game looked legit.  Then I confirmed I misread the alert and the match was taking place as planned.  While the first-level had a couple of large HDTVs playing the match, we were in a more private area on the top level with no TVs.  But not to fear, an iPad Air 2 streaming the match thanks to Verizon's UDP (unlimited data plan) hotspot on my new Moto X Pure Edition, and I never missed a beat.  Even the waiters were coming over to watch the match with me!  Oh, and thanks to my wife's sister for getting me a Euro 2016 France shirt while she watched the opening match at the Eiffel Tower.  

As for the match itself, France starting strong and unlike England or Belgium, continued the pressure and exploded for four goals in the first half.  But give Iceland credit, as they

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

Clearing the path for Ronaldo

Run little man, run

About the only exciting thing in the later stages of the 2C-Poland-3F-Portugal match was a wave of blue shirts chasing an un-shirted fan on the pitch.  Portugal tied the match in the 33' but both teams played it safe in overtime.  About the only thing that went right for Ronaldo was his PSO goal as he was blatantly taken down in the box early with no call and flubbed two settling chances, that for a mere man would be hard, but for elite players would be gimmes.  POR hit all five PSOs to POL's three.  But the Portuguese hopefully won't be looking to the final as they will get to play 1B-Wales and not 2E-Belgium in the semis.

After going up a goal, BEL took the foot off the pedal and the Welsh took full advantage,

So improbable, the impossible has happened

Unbelievable.  Unbelievable.  The two-time reigning Euro champions are out!  Oh, there was a second match?

1E-Italy scored early and late in methodically eliminating 2D-Spain, 2-0.  The Spanish fizzled in the World Cup and continued at the Euros.  Change is coming.  Of course, the reward for Italy is a quarterfinal matchup with 1C-Germany.

My favorite tweet

I'm gonna miss hearing Vin Scully's voice and a portion of one of his most famous quotes is so applicable here:  "So improbable, the impossible has happened!".  In the second match, oh my, 2B-England got off to a dream start with a PK conversion in the 3rd minute.  Tiny 2F-Iceland would be doomed and the rout on.  But the spirit of Nordic island country fought back with two great run-of-play goals by the 18th minute.  Even with 72 minutes left, England had