Thursday, July 11, 2024
Issue # 7.2.3 "Don't Score First"
[||| Mini-Updates | Dailies: Jul 9-10 ]

HOME, CA (smt) - Scoring first is unhealthy for your chances.  On the last day of the quarters, 2F-Türkiye scored first but lost to 3D-Netherlands and 2A-Swiss scored first but 1C-England scored five minutes later and won in the PSO.  This time in the two semifinal matches, 2D-France finally scored an open play goal to open scoring in the 9' but 1B-Spain struck twice soon thereafter to hold on to a 2-1 win.  NED scored in the 7' but ENG scored on a controversial PK and then scored at the very end of regulation (I thought the goal was in the 90' but UEFA had it in the 90'+1 for a few hours) to stun NED, 2-1. 

ESP's Lamine Yamal became the youngest scorer in Euro history (16 years old, will be 17 come Sunday) and ENG's Ollie Watkins replaced PK scorer Harry Kane in the 81' and drilled the game-winner.  ESP makes its fifth Euro Final and will try to win its 4th while ENG makes its second straight Euro final and will try to win its first.

Ten got both finalists correct and five have a chance to go perfect in the Final Four (all 4 semifinalists, both finalists, and champ), but unfortunately there are only four money spots and Lukacus Lost Brother (9th-Tied, 104) will be left out if ENG wins.  23 missed both finalists.  FRA (picked by 18 to win it all) and NED (picked by 2) were big losses but ENG (13) and ESP (7) were still popular picks.  

7 entries are still alive for the top 4 money spots.  The top 3 in the standings all have ENG as their champ and will finish in the same order - Merman (1st, 118), BigRedMessi 3 (2nd, 116), Big Blue (3rd, 115).  Rainman (6th, 108) will join them and win 4th if ENG wins.  JBueno is 4th (110) but will win the pool if ESP wins and Kds911-3 (12th-Tied, 103) and Luis Enrqiue's Armada (12th-T) will tie Big Blue for 4th if ESP wins (Merman and BigRedMessi 3 will fall to 2nd and 3rd).  With the current total goals tiebreaker at 6, if ESP wins and the total goals scored in the final is 0, 1, or 2, Kds911-3 and Luis Enrqiue's Armada will share the 4th place prize.  If ESP wins and the total goals in final is 3 or more, Big Blue will take 4th.

23 went 0-2 and Soccer Guru is the only one to go 0-for-the-Final-Four and is last with 76 pts.

And in good news, Gregg Berhalter, who was just a walking billboard for US Soccer, was actually fired by US Soccer!  It's unfortunate that US Soccer's long review process and expensive consultant services still picked Berhalter to remain as coach last year as we wasted Copa America, the last chance to face good non-CONCACAF competition.  Seriously, USA will play New Zealand in September.  Who would you like to coach the USMNT?

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 - [50 Matches/17 Ties] - Goals: 114 (2.28/match) [Own: 10 (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', 31-NED>AUT 6' | 39-ESP>GEO 18', 42-BEL>FRA{2} 85' {gw}, 48-TUR{2}>NED 76' {gw}), Subs: 21 (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}, 23-GER{3} 90'+2 {gd}, 24-HUN 90'+10 {gw}, 28-ITA 90'+8 {gw}, 36-TUR{2} 90'+4 {gw} | 39-ESP 83', 43-NED{2} 80', 43-NED{3} 90'+3, 44-AUT 66', 45-GER{4} 89', 45-ESP{2} 119' {gw}, 50-ENG 90'+1 {gw}), 90'+/120'+: 11 (1-GER +3, 2-SUI +3, 11-TUR +7, 12-POR +2 {gw}, 15-ALB +5 {gd}, 18-SVN +5 {gd}, 23-GER{2} +2 {gd}, 24-HUN +10 {gw}, 28-ITA +8 {gw}, 36-TUR +4 {gw} | 40-ENG +5 {gd}, 43-NED +3), Extra Time: 2 (40-ENG 91' {gw}, 45-ESP 119' {gw})]... Scoring First: 24-9-11 [6 Nil-Nil ties (20-NEDvFRA, 29-ENGvSVN, 30-DENvSRB, 34-UKRvBEL | 42-PORvSVN{2}, 45-POR{2}vFRA{2}); (4-ITA>ALB, 7-NED>POL, 12-POR>CZE, 21-UKR>SVK | 40-ENG>SVK{2}, 39-ESP>GEO, 48-NED{2}>TUR), 49-ESP{2}>FRA, 50-ENG{2}>NED]... Leading at Half: 18-3-4 [25 ties (15 scoreless); (21-UKR>SVK | 40-ENG>SVK{2}, 48-NED>TUR)]... Shutout: 28 [3-CRO, 5-SRB, 10-UKR, 9-BEL, 8-AUT, 14-HUN, 16-ITA, 20-NED, 20-FRA, 23-TUR, 22-ROU, 24-SCO, 27-ALB, 29-ENG, 29-SVN, 30-DEN, 30-SRB{2}, 34-UKR{2}, 34-BEL{2}, 35-POR | 38-ITA{2}, 37-DEN{2}, 42-BEL{2}, 41-POR{2}, 41-SVN{2}, 43-ROU{2}, 45-POR{3}, 45-FRA{2}]... PK: 9/12 [1-GER 45'+1, 3-cro (s) 80', 19-AUT 78', 24-GEO 45'+4, 28-cro{0/2} (s) 54', 32-FRA 56', 32-POL 79' {retake}, 33-ROU 37', 35-GEO{2/2} 57' | 37-GER 53', 41-por 105', 50-ENG 18']... Extra Time: 5 [40-ENGvSVK 2:1(1:1), 41-PORvSVN 0:0(0:0), 45-ESPvGER 2:1(1:1), 46-POR{2}vFRA 0:0(0:0), 47-ENGvSUI 1:1(1:1)]... PSO: 3 (19/24) [41-SVNvPOR 3.0 (0:3 {sss:GGG}), 46-FRAvPOR 4.5 (5:3 {GGGGG:GGlG}), 48-ENGvSUI 4. (5:3 {GGGGG:GsGG})]... Red Card (GF/GA): 6 [1-SCO 44' {R} (1{og}/3), 36-CZE 20' {2Y} (1/2), 36-CZE{2} 90'+8(Post) {R} (-/-), 41-SVN 105'+1(Coach) [R] (n/a), 45-ESP 120'+4 [2Y] (0/0), 48-TUR 90'+6(Bench) {R} (n/a)]... Multiple Goals:: 2 [- | Malen 2 (43-NED), Demiral 2 (44-TUR)]... Goal Line Tech: 2 [34-UKR (xG) 83' | 50-ENG (xG) 23']... VAR (-Reversal(Taken Away), +Reversal(Added), =Confirmed, xNo Call):: 43 [1-SCO FoulBox-{PK-} 25', 1-SCO xFoul+{RC+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', 7-NED YC~(14<23) 15',  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+GEO} 45'+1, 24-GEO xFoulxPK= 60', 23-GER xFoul+{g-} 17', 23-SUI xFoulxPK= 70', 24-SCO xFoulxPK= 68', 28-ITA xHB+{pk+CRO} 52', 31-NED HB-{g+} 75', 31-AUT xOff+{g-} 83', 32-FRA xFoul+{pk+POL} 74', 32-FRA xGKOffLine+{retakePK+POL} 77', 29-ENG xOff+{g-} 20', 33-SVK xFoulBox+{pk+ROU} 34', 35-POR xF+{pk+GEO} 53', 36-CZE xOffxFoul={g=} 66' | 37-DEN xOff+{g-} 48', 37-DEN xHB+{pk+GER} 51', 37-GER xOff+{g-} 90'+1, 40-ENG xOff+{g-} 50', 43-NED xOff+{g-} 63', 50-NED xFoul+{pk+ENG} 14']... 63%+ Poss: 12 [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, 29-ENGvSVN (72) D, 35-POR{2}vGEO (68) L |40-ENG{2}vSVK (63) W, 39-ESPvGEO (72) W, 41-POR{3}vSVN{2} (68) D/W, 46-POR{4}vFRA (63) D/L]... Zero SOG (Shots): 3 [1-SCO (0), 26-SCO{2} (4) | 39-GEO (4)]... 20+ Shots (S/SOG/G):: 13 [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, 35-POR (23/5/0) L | 39-ESP{2} (36/13/4) W, 42-FRA (20/2/0{og}) W, 41-POR (20/5/0) D/W, 43-NED (24/6/3) W, 44-AUT (21/5/1) L, 45-GER (23/5/1) L, 46-FRA{2} (20/5/0) D/W]... Breaks (>30 min): 1 [- | 37-GERvDEN (Lightning 30m)]... 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 - there was 1 VAR delay in the NEDvENG, the first in the last 6 matches (43 total VAR delays (though ESPN only is tracking 25 major incidents for now)... both Group D teams lost in the semis (NED, FRA)... ESP has a chance to become the first team to win all 7 matches (no PSO wins)... the Golden Boot is still wide open with five with just three goals - ESP's Olmo (3), ENG's Kane (3), ENG's Bellingham (2), ESP's Ruiz (2) have the best shot, but who knows, someone could score 4 goals in the final, right?... the race is wide open because only 2 players have scored more than one goal in a match (last year it happened 14 times)... Soccer Guru is the only entry to go 0-for-the-Final-Four... Disabling Below Jobs (39th-T, 89) was the 1 of 2 (Rainman the other) to get 7 QF teams correct but only got 1 SF and 0 finalists... BigRedMessi 1 (17th-T, 100) was the only one (of 8) who got all 4 SF correct but none of the finalists... BlueIsTheColor 2 rode only ESP and ENG through the SF and Finalists but will fall short (5th if ENG wins it all)... FC Spermicidals (28th-T, 95) also rode only ESP and ENG through the SF and Finalists but will only finish 8th if ESP wins it all...  entries averaged 0.78 Finalists (out of 2)... entries are averaging 94.9 points so far with twenty entries hitting 100...

On Tuesday, 23 had ESP making the final which kept Merman at the top with 110 pts with BigRedMessi 3 second (108) and Big Blue third (107). Since all 3 have ENG as their champ, they will stay in this order. 10 entries can still win money and five can still win the pool. Merman becomes the first person to win money and is guaranteed 4th. Soccer Guru clinched last with 76 pts. Eric F's three BigRedMessi entries are still alive but now he can't win the pool. BigRedMessi 3 is 2nd but can't win the pool while Sporty Xtina is 9th (101) but can win the pool. Teton&Tahoe is 4th (106) but is eliminated while BigRedMessi 3 is tied for 37th but can still finish 3rd.... on Wednesday, 22 picked ENG and ten got both ENG and ESP including the top 4. Merman leads with 118 pts with BigRedMessi 3 second (116), Big Blue third (115), and JBueno fourth (110). The top two are guaranteed money with Big Blue either 3rd or a tie for 4th (would need total goals >8). The total goals right now is 6 with one match to go. Rainman would finish 4th with an ENG title and Kds911-3 and Luis Enrique's Armada would tie for 4th with a ESP title and total goals in final 2 or less. So a total of 7 entries can win money and either Merman (ENG title) or JBueno (ESP title) will win the pool....

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USWMT hired the best who made some bold choices, can USMNT find someone similar?...
Scott