2002 HWCI World Cup Tournament Pool Update

Thursday, June 20, 2002      
Issue 11.2.3 "Lists & Who's Who..."
http://www.HWCI.com/worldcup

EL SEGUNDO, CA (smt) - The two-day break couldn't have come at a better time after 19 days of 3-6 hours of sleep per day. By far, at least in the modern era, this has been the most unpredictable World Cup with some of the most riveting matches. Just three of six teams heading their groups won their groups. The other two groups headed by the co-host nations surprisingly won their groups as well. Of the eight teams who won their group, just four are in the quarterfinals. And while the semifinals could still feature top teams Brazil/England, Germany, and Spain, one spot will either go to Turkey or Senegal.

Friday's quarterfinal matches feature the marquee Brazil vs England which hopefully won't fizzle like Argentina vs England. And then, USA vs Germany. The first goal will be key. I don't know if the US can survive being down 1-0. Saturday's matches will be Spain vs South Korea and then the improbable Senegal vs Turkey. You can bet school children in Senegal are hoping for another victory and another day off. The one thing I don't like is that Germany, England, Senegal, and Spain have two extra days rest.

THE, AHEM, ELITE 8
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Both Group C and D teams are still here. Brazil and Germany were popular picks to not make it very far despite their rich history. Now both are favorites to win it all.

1. 1C-BRAZIL. Certianly the cream of *this* crop, but *wasn't* this the Brazil that had to win their last qualifying match after losing six matches.
2. 1E-GERMANY. This was supposed to be a rebuilding year after nearly failing to qualify (won final playoff vs Ukraine).
3. 1B-SPAIN. The "underachievers" rebounded from a first-round exit in 1998 but will still be underachievers if they fail to win vs South Korea.
4. 2F-ENGLAND. Rout of Denmark was welcome after playing three very boring matches.
5. 1D-SOUTH KOREA. Not expected to advance, yet alone win their group. Or beat Portugal. Or beat Italy. Home crowds fueling entertaining offensive soccer.
6. 2D-USA. Finished their first three matches in reverse, but advanced in a group with Portgual and co-host Korea. Win vs Mexico solidified they are the team of CONCACAF.
7. 2C-TURKEY. Only team this year to advance after losing first match. Took Brazil's 5-2 win over Costa Rica to get them in. Gotten constantly better in just their second World Cup.
8. 2A-SENEGAL. Tiny African nation shocked France and never stopped- and is still undefeated in their first World Cup.

TOP 3 BLUES FEELING BLUE
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My favoirte color is blue and it's sad to see these blue clad teams fall. 

3. Japan - Blue Heaven
2. Italy - Azzurri
1. France - Les Bleus

KOR-ITA NEAR FINISHES
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Although Ahn's golden goal was great, there were four shots that would've been just as classic finishes had they gone in.

4. 113th minute- Gennaro Gattuso (ITA) took advantage of a dumb backheel by Ji Sung Park (KOR) and had his point blank shot inside the box incredibly saved.
3. 89th- A minute after allowing Korea to tie the score, Christian Vierri (ITA) took a perfect cross and only saw net but flicked it over the crossbar.
2. 102nd- This was so surprising, I am wondering why I don't see it more often. On a free kick just outside the box, Hwang Sun Hong (KOR) kicked it *under* the jumping wall of Italian players, nearly catching GK Gianluigi Buffon off guard as he just got a hand on the ground ball.
1. 90th- Cha Du Ri's (KOR) one-time bicycle kick deep in the box was unfortunately right at the GK but that would've been the best finish ever.

MY TOP 3 MATCHES
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Matches you could play over and over again.

3. GER 8:0 RSA. Sure this was a rout, but it was so fun to watch.
2. SEN 3:3 URU. A tale of two halves, Uruguay not only scored three goals in the second half, they had a chance to win it a couple of times.
1. ITA 1:2 KOR. This is sure to go down as a classic.

MY TOP 4 HALVES
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Sometimes it's the most exciting 45 minutes of all sports.

4. 2nd half of JPN-BEL. Four goals in 17 minutes? A bicycle kick goal? Wow.
3. 2nd half of BEL-RUS. After trailing 1-0, Russia had go offensive in the second half nearly erasing a 3-1 deficit.
2. 1st half of USA-POR. I had to pinch myself several times in seeing USA build a 3-0 lead.
1. 2nd half of POR-KOR. The first half was blah but the Korean fans really inspired South Korea to push forward and not play for a tie and produced some of the most tension filled moments (especially so for the USA fan).

MY 5 BIGGEST UPSETS
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Many people made lots of money picking these upsets.

5. ITA 1:2 CRO. Sure Italy had two good goals disallowed but Croatia still pressed on and won.
4. KOR 1:0 POR. Just below USA's win because KOR was up 1-2 men, but still a shocking defeat for Portugal.
3. POR 2:3 USA. It took all of four minutes to erase USA's performance in 1998 and 90 minutes to erase Portugal.
2. FRA 0:1 SEN. A sign of things to come, Senegal played their hearts out.
1. ITA 1:2 KOR. Unbelievable.

MY TOP 3 TURNING POINTS
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These are three key events that changed the fates of many.

3. Robbie Keane's (IRL) 92nd minute tying goal vs Germany. This not only gave Ireland a much needed point but the tie forced Germany to play to win vs Cameroon to clinch the group and this allowed Ireland to finish second.
2. Henry's (FRA) red card vs Uruguay. A team the French could beat and hoping to bounce back from the shocking loss to Senegal, they went down a man early (plus he'd miss the last match as well) and settled for nil-nil and later failed to make the second round.
1. Pinto's (POR) red card vs Korea. With Poland whacking the USA, Portugal was in good shape playing for a tie. This combined with Beto's second yellow card, gave the Koreans enough space to score the game-winner and eliminate Portugal and send the USA into the second round.

THE TOP 4 WORST JACK EDWARDS' QUOTES TO END MATCHES
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At least of the ones I've heard. He probably gets the most groaners of all the announcers. And you can tell he has them written on his hand or something cause there is silence as he anticipates when the final whistle blows before yelling...

4. "THE DREAM IS OVER!" (RSA-ESP). It was a shocking change of events (see below) and I'm sure South Africa's dream was to make the Round of 16, but this was too cliched.
3. "THE FANTASY CONTINUES!" (KOR-POR). Maybe the most spontaneous since it came after a golden goal but unless he was making a pun (the game Final Fantasy is a big hit in Korea), there had to be tons of better phrases than this.
2. "MINE EYES HAVE SEEN THE GLORY! (POR-USA). Please, god, mine ears have heard the gory.
1. "THE LAND OF THE FREE, THE HOME OF THE BRAVE IS INTO THE ROUND OF 8!" (MEX-USA). Barf. What channel is Univision again?

MY BIGGEST DISAPPOINTMENTS
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As much as there were surprises, there were also some downright ugly events.

3. Favorites. France and Argentina played poorly and didn't make the 2nd round. Cameroon was Africa's star and failed to make the 2nd round. 5th-ranked Portugal played Spain's underacheiver part and lost twice. Croatia, 3rd place in '98, shocked Italy but fell to Ecuador.
2. Matches. The Group of Death was the Group of Boredom (just 7 non-PK goals in 6 matches). ENG-ARG was a dud after all the hype. ENG-NGA and ARG-NGA were lackluster as well. GER-PAR, CMR-KSA, and JPN-TUR were disappointing.
1. Jeff Agoos. After waiting ten or so years to play in the World Cup, he proceeded to kick in an own goal, miss a header that lead to a goal, got outjumped by smaller players for two goals, and got outhustled on another goal. So of the six goals the US has allowed, Agoos was there for five. Boy, when it rains it poors. Thank goodness he's injured. As my good friend once said berating another friend who had made a critical judgmental error in a softball game: "We all make mistakes. I even make mistakes. But I don't make stupid mistakes!".

FOUR UNLUCKY TEAMS
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These teams were inches, calls, and goals short of extending their run.

4. Ireland. Still undefeated (1-0-3) but out.
3. France. Hit no less than seven posts/crossbars in their three scoreless outings and played without key players Zidane (2 gms), Henry (1.5 gms), and Petit (1 gm).
2. Italy. No less than five "it looked good from up here" goals were called back in their last three matches (loss to CRO, tie with MEX, loss to KOR).
1. South Africa. Sitting comfortably in second place, 37 minutes from the end of the final match, being tied 2-2 with Spain and third place Paraguay down 1-0 to Slovenia, four combined goals would have to be scored by Spain and Paraguay for Paraguay to advance over South Africa. It took just 31 minutes (1 goal by Spain, 3 by Paraguay).

MY TOP 3 "OH MY HECK"S
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I still don't believe it.

3. Except for Brazil (2nd), the top six teams from '98 are out (FRA 1st->28th, CRO 3->23, HOL 4->DNQ, ITA 5->15, ARG 6->18). While the bottom three teams from 1998 will finish 9th or higher (KOR 30th->at least 8th, JPN 31->9, USA 32->at least 8th).
2. Either Senegal or Turkey will be in the semifinals of the World Cup.
1. South Korea is 3-0 and Senegal is 2-0-1 vs Eurpoean teams in this tourney.

And finally, here's the list of the 23 people in our pool. Pick out the Simpsons' references and win a cookie. And to be fair, Michael wanted "Spermacidal Jelly Donuts" but it was too long. Like the World Cup, Clueless is still alive while Soccer Guru is out. Go figure.

NICKNAME- FIRST L.I.
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01.Beck's Left Foot-        Gareth M.
02.BerniSam United FC-      Bernice P.
03.Bern's Da Bomb '02-      Sam N.
04.Clueless- Jeff H.
05.Crestfield Wax Paper-    Andrew F.
06.Danny Boy- Patrick D.
07.Dimples- Omar D.
08.Eek- Eric C.
09.Flying Elvi- Brian S.
10.FreddyD- Fred D.
11.Hooty McBoob- Lisa F.
12.Indy- Bar L.
13.Luis Enrique's Armada-   Rob C.
14.Man Eat Dog World-       Scott T.
15.Matador- Joey M.
16.PinkBubbles- Van P.
17.Puna- Tina M.
18.Rocky Mtn Soccer-        Bob G.
19.Soccer Guru- Thanh H.
20.Source- Nelson P.
21.Sperm Jelly Donuts-      Michael G.
22.The Mighty Mobelfakta-   David F.
23.Tom- Tom P.