Saturday, June 22, 2024
Issue # 3.1.2 "Ties and Stayin' Alive"
[||| Mini-Updates | Dailies: Jun 19-20-21-22 ]

WHITTIER, CA (smt)- After having just one draw in the opening 12 matches, the next 12 saw half (6) end in draws which has kept every team except D1-Poland alive to make the Round of 16.  POL could beat D4-France 15-0 and would lose out to the head-to-head tiebreaker with D3-Austria, who POL lost 3-1 to.  A3-Hungary is the only other team without a point but could advance with a win and some help as 3 points may not be enough, especially starting with a -4 goal differential after two matches.  4 points will not be enough for E4-Ukraine if both games in Group E draw as they will get 4th place (not 3rd) and won't be considered even if other 3rd place teams have just 3 points.  It's the best four 3rd place teams not the best 4 teams outside the top 2 in each group.

E1-Belgium bounced back with a 2-0 win over E3-Romainia to help create the four teams with 3 points each.  UKR became the 4th team to win after giving up the first goal in beating E2-Slovakia 2-1.  A1-Germany, B1-Spain, and F3-Portugal each pitched shutouts to qualify for the Round of 16, with the latter two winning Group B and F, respectively.  C4-England and D4-France could only manage draws, the former a 1-1 draw with C2-Denmark and the latter the first Euro nil-nil match in 51 games with D2-Netherlands.  #66 B4-Albania and #57 C1-Slovenia each scored equalizers in the 90'+5 to tie B2-Croatia 2-2 and C3-Serbia 1-1, respectively.  A2-Scotland and A4-Switzerland played to a 1-1 draw as did #75 F2-Georgia and F4-Czechia.

23 of 24 teams could make the knockout stage and with three already in, that leaves 20 teams fighting for the remaining 13 spots.  There was the aforementioned 4-point team who finishes 4th and is eliminated but there is also the scenario where SCO draws and makes the Round of 16 with just 2 points (would need Group B and Group F 3rd and 4th place teams to all lose and stay at 1 point each).  So you can have the scenario where SCO with 2 points makes it and UKR with 4 points does not.  Fun indeed!

Of the top 7 teams (chosen by at lest 2 entries) picked to win it all, only BEL has 3 points or less.  Just 9 had POL making the Round of 16 and will not get 3 points.  All 58 had GER and ESP while 56 had POR making the knockout stage. Entries will get these 3 points each when their group has completed.

Of course ties were the hardest to pick.  Just 17 go the DENvENG draw, 15 SCOvSUI, 14 NEDvFRA, 8 SVNvSRB, 5 GEOvCZE, and for the first time in this tourney, no one got a match correct (CROvALB draw).  In our most evenly split decision, 18 got UKR correct (17 had SVK).  That was also our match with the most picked ties (23).

21goals, Disabling Below Jobs, Futbol Fab Fünfzehn (5th-Tied, 15 pts), and Toast each went 7-5 on Matchday 2 that featured six ties and no real upsets.  21goals and Disabling Below Jobs are tied for first with 17 points (17-7 thus far) with M&M and Toast tied for 3rd with 16 pts.  BigRedMessi 2 went 2-10 and fell from a tie for 30th after Matchday 1 to a tie for 53rd (10).  BlueIsTheColour 3 is still last with 9 pts.

Hopefully for the 7th time, Eric's Foster's Fubtol (or Football) Brew commentary will be back.  Expect insight into not only the Euros but Copa America and the USMNT (if applicable) as well.  I love other people's views and it is always a great read.

We are now on Twitter (@HWCI_Pools) and Discord for discussion or questions.  Please follow!  I will post using #hwcincaa mini-updates during the day so you can follow without being on Twitter (and if you are, please use #hwcincaa).  Please join our Facebook HWCI Soccer Pool Group or post comments on our blog. 

   Ins & Outs - [24 Matches/7 Ties] - Goals: 61 (2.54/match) [Own: 6 (1-GER>SCO 87', 8-AUT>FRA 38' {gw}, 12-CZE>POR 69', 15-ALB>CRO 76', 16-ITA>ESP 55' {gw}, 23-TUR>POR{2} 28'), Subs: 10 (1-GER 68', 1-GER {2} 90'+3, 2-SUI 90'+3, 7-NED 83', 11-TUR 90'+7, 12-POR 90'+2 {gw}, 15-ALB 76' {og}, 15-ALB{2} 90'+5 {gd}, 18-SVN 90'+5 {gd}, 21-UKR 80' {gw}), 90'+/120'+: 6 (1-GER +3, 2-SUI +3, 11-TUR +7, 12-POR +2 {gw}, 15-ALB +5 {gd}, 18-SVN +5 {gd}), Extra Time: 0 (-)]... Scoring First: 13-4-6 [1 Nil-Nil ties (20-NEDvFRA); (4-ALB, 7-POL, 12-CZE, 21-SVK)]... Leading at Half: 11-1-3 [9 ties (4 scoreless); -]... Shutout: 11 [3-CRO, 5-SRB, 10-UKR, 9-BEL, 8-AUT, 14-HUN, 16-ITA, 20-NED, 20-FRA, 23-TUR, 22-ROU]... PK: 3/4 [1-GER 45'+1, 3-cro (s) 80', 19-AUT 78', 24-GEO 45'+4]... Extra Time: 0 [-]... PSO: 0 (0/0) [-]... Red Card (GF/GA): 1 [1-SCO 44' (1{og}/3)]... Multiple Goals: 0 [-]... Goal Line Tech: 0 [-]... VAR (-Reversal(Taken Away), +Reversal(Added), =Confirmed, xNo Call): 24 [1-SCO FoulBox-{PK-} 25', 1-SCO xFoul+{R+PK+GER} 42', 1-GER xOff+{g-} 76', 1-SCO xOff={og=} 87', 2-SUI Off-{g+} 12', 3-CRO xEncroach+{g-} 82', 4-ITA xOff={g=} 16', 6-DEN xFoulxPK= 53', 10-ROU xOff={g=} 57', 9-SVK xOff={g=} 7', 9-BEL xOff+{g-} 56', 9-BEL xHB+{g-} 86', 11-TUR xOff+{g-} 27', 12-POR xOff+{g-} 87', 14-GER xOff={g=} 22', 14-HUN xOff+{g-} 45'+2, 13-SUI xOff+{g-} 33', 13-SUI xOff+{g-} 82', 20-NED Off={ng=} 69', 24-CZE xHB+{g-} 23', 24-CZE xHB+{pk+} 45'+1, 24-GEO xFoulxPK= 60']... 63%+ Poss: 6 [1-GERvSCO (68) W, 4-ITAvALB (65) W, 7-NEDvPOL (65) W, 10-UKRvROU (66) L, 12-PORvCZE (69) W, 14-GER{2}vHUN (63) W]... Zero SOG (Shots): 1 [1-SCO (0)]... 20+ Shots (S/SOG/G): 5 [7-NED (20/4/2) W, 11-TUR (22/8/3) W, 15-CRO (20/5/1 {og}) D, 16-ESP (20/8/0 {og}) W, 24-CZE (26/11/1) D]... Breaks (>30 min): 0 [-]... Match Order of Play: RR: 1 | 2-3-4 | 7-6-5 | 10-9-8 | 11-12¹ | 15-14-13 | 18-17-16 | 21-19-20 | 24-23-22² | 25-26^A | 27-28^B | 31-32^D-29-30^C | 33-34^E-35-36^F | R16: 38-37 | 40-39 | 42-41 | 43-44 | QF: 45-46 | 47-48 | SF: 49 | 50 | FIN: 51... 

   Tids & Bits - no one has scored more than 1 goal in a match with 3 players tied with 2 goals to go along with 6 own goals... while 6 own goals is a lot, there were 8 in the group stage (5 in the first 24 matches) last year... POR had 13 CK to CZE's 0 in the first game but just had 1 vs TUR (while TUR had 9)... UEFA changed the stats on the first game giving SCO no shots at all (they had 1)... no VAR in Thursday matches... there have already been 24 VAR delays (there were 18 in all of Euro 2021) with 7 of those confirming calls on the field... there has been just 1 red card (in the first match) and in the POL match, I'm glad they didn't give a red card to the GK as the attacker touch was bad and the GK barely grazed him (but PK call was still correct)... FRA still has not scored (their 1-0 win via own goal)... there have already been 6 second half stoppage-time goals and three have been game-winners or game-tying (in all the group stage, there were just 3 in 2021)... entries averaged 8.3 correct picks on Matchday 1 (12 games) but just 4.9 on Matchday 2... the total correct picks averaged 13.2 (24 matches)... Oh, and Copa America started Thursday - in the states; with 6 non-CONMEBOL teams;  but, hey, Messi (Argentina won 2-0 over Canada in Atlanta with Messi getting one assist)... USMNT begins their Copa Sunday at 3 pm PDT in what should be an easy game vs Bolivia who have not made the World Cup since 1994... the LA Galaxy won 3 in a row for the first time since 2020 with a surprise 1-0 win over Western leaders Real Salt Lake on the road... this Tuesday and Wednesday will see 6 soccer matches on FOX/FS1 with 4 Euro and 2 Copa matches each (and yet, fubo still got 5 games???) at 9 am (2)/Noon (2)/3 pm and 6 pm...

On Wednesday, So after the corrections to the standings, 8 are tied for first with 11 points.  BlueIsTheColour 3 is still last with 6 pts.  No one picked the ALBvCRO tie, 15 picked the tie between SCOvSUI, and 53 picked GER.  Eleven went 2-1 while Ronaldo Pulls a Messi went 0-3. ... on Thursday, 8 got the SVN-SRB tie, 17 the DEN-ENG tie, and 35 the ESP win.  NastyNate was the only one to go 3-0 and moved from a tie for 47th to a tie for 12th (11 pts).  21goals and Disabling Below Jobs are tied for 1st with 13 pts.  Six went 0-3 and BlueIsTheColour 3 remains last with 7 pts. ... on Friday, 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... on Saturday, 5 got the GEOvCZE tie, 42 got POR, and 57 got BEL.  Disabling Below Jobs and Matt's Mostly Wrong went 3-0 with the former now tied with 21goals for first place with 17 points.  Rainman went 0-3 to fall from a tie for 27th to a tie for 50th (11 pts).  BlueIsTheColour 3 is still last with 9 pts.  Starting tomorrow, anywhere from 8-11 points per group (depending if a 3rd place team qualified that day) could be awarded as teams qualify for the Round of 16.  Again, the 57 who have GER making the Round of 16 will get those points tomorrow. ...

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No more Fubo TV! And no more 6 am matches!...
Scott