Wednesday, June 24, 1998 http://www.HWCI.com/wc98 Issue # 19.1.15 "Penalty kicks galore..." 1998 HWCI WORLD CUP TOURNAMENT POOL =================================== PETIT LIFTS HOST FRANCE TO GROUP C TITLE BUT DENMARK STILL ADVANCES; SPAIN WAKES UP TOO LITTLE TOO LATE AS PARAGUAY BEATS NIGERIA The Mighty Mobelfakta makes a run as MLSBob barely holds onto lead EL SEGUNDO, CA (smt)- Emmanuel Petit scored in the 55th minute to lift host France to a 2-1 win over Denmark. Petit's goal was the only non-penalty kick goal of the match. Denmark still advanced since Saudi Arabia tied South Africa, 2-2. In this match three of the four goals, including South Africa's tying goal in extra time, were scored via penalty kicks. Despite playing with a makeshift lineup (resting players with yellow cards, playing without the suspended Zinedine Zidane) France still outplayed and outshot Denmark 22-7 and became the first team to go 3-0 in the first round this year. Spain woke up and finally played to its potential by killing Bulgaria, 6-1, but it was too little too late as Paraguay took control and will play in the Round of 16 by beating group winner Nigeria, 3-1. It was the highest output by any one team (6 goals) or any match (7 goals). Fernando Morientes and Kiko each had two goals for the Spainards. Spain became the first top group seed this year to not qualify, much less not win their group. The top seed became the first to not qualify for the next round since Italy in 1974. Paraguay, which had played to two scoreless ties, struck early in the 1st minute. With Spain leading 3-0, Paraguay need to win to advance and Miguel Benitez broke the 1-1 tie with a goal in the 59th minute. The Group of Death lived up to its name but was filled with highly entertaining matches. GROUP C W-L-T PT GF/A GROUP D W-L-T PT GF/A ---------------------- ---------------------- yx-France 3-0-0 9 9/1 yx-Nigeria 2-1-0 6 5/5 x-Denmark 1-1-1 4 3/3 x-Paraguay 1-0-2 5 3/1 S.Africa 0-1-2 2 3/6 Spain 1-1-1 4 8/4 S.Arabia 0-2-1 1 2/7 Bulgaria 0-2-1 1 1/7 x-Advances to Round of 16 y-Wins group title Sun., 6/28: #51(4). 1D-Nigeria vs. 2C-Denmark, Noon (PDT) #52(3). 1C-France vs 2D-Paraguay, 7:30 am (PDT) Group C: South Africa's match-tying goal prevented six (myself included) from picking up a crucial point in the standings. Fifteen correctly picked France over the Danes. Only 8 have gotten all six Round of 16 picks correct. MLSBOB (38 pts) still leads by one over LE BIX. RUSSO occupies last place by himself with 25 pts and is the only one to get just 3 of 6 Round of 16 picks right. Group D: Just two did not pick Spain over Bulgaria and only seven picked Paraguay to win. Only THE MIGHTY MOBELFAKTA thought Paraguay could advance to the Round of 16. MM, whose USA team has been eliminated, has moved from last (tied for 19th) to tied for fourth in just two days. CANTONA, has gone from tied for 13th to dead last (21st) with 29 points in that same time frame. MLSBOB, however, still continues to lead with 43 points and getting 7 of 8 correct into the Round of 16. LUIS ENRIQUE'S ARMADA (40 pts) has actually tied MLSBOB for the first round lead with 22 wins. However, ENRIQUE'S ARMADA and FLASHER have had their champion, Spain, eliminated. Spain's failure to qualify was the first result to really jumble up the standings. Twenty had Spain going to the Round of 16 and 11 had them going to at least the Quarterfinals. Group E gets the early start with the Netherlands (1-0-1) and Mexico (1-0-1) battling it out for first place. Belgium (0-0-2) will try and claim second place from whichever team loses when it takes on South Korea (0-2). Germany (1-0-1) will try and win Group F when it takes on upset-minded Iran (1-1). Yugoslavia (1-0-1) will try to do the same when it takes on the humiliated and eliminated USA (0-2) squad. Iran, which rejoiced in their victory over "The Great Satan" USA team, will now need their help if they want any hope in advancing to the next round. No mas Espana en La Copa del Mundo... Scott HW -----------------------------------------\\ || /\ || // ___ Scott M Tamashiro, HWCI Engineering \\||//\\||// /o-o\\ \ \ ` WC98 Pool Administrator \ / \ / (o-o-o)) ) > > > Email: scott@hwci.com || || \`o'// / / , Updates: http://www.HWCI.com/wc98 || || WORLD CUP ---------------------------------------------------- POOL 1998