CERRITOS, CA (smt) -- 1D-Portugal (4-0-1) didn't seem to do much with a man advantage for 58 minutes with 1B-England (3-0-2) although they outshot the English 20-9. But in the Penalty Kick Shootout (PSO), POR GK Ricardo saved three shots leading POR to the semis, 3-1 in the PSO. As in the Euro 2004 quarterfinal, POR beat ENG on PKs.

2G-France (3-0-2) conjured up the ghosts of WC98 in defeating the uninterested 1F-Brazilians (4-1-0), 1-0, on Zinedine ZIDANE's perfect free kick deep in the box to Thierry HENRY for the only goal of the match in the 57'. BRA's last wC loss was to FRA in the WC98 Final snapping a WC record 11-game win streak. BRA did not even have a shot on goal until the 91st minute.

Both ENG and BRA had relatively easy runs into the Quarterfinals while POR had to play MEX & NED and FRA had to beat ESP in the Round of 16. The all-European Final Four is lead by 3-time winners GER & ITA. POR has not appeared in a WC final and FRA won it all in 1998 in its first appearance in a final.

STOP THE FREAKING PROGRAM NOTES: Not only did KABC-TV do this every 5 minutes (ticker at bottom of the screen), it was done in standard format, not HD so the picture had to flop to standard everytime they ran the ticker... and are kids in America really watching the WC wondering where "That's So Raven" is???...

STUTTERING STEPS: I don't like the stutter step when taking a PK attempt... though it could really hinder the player taking the PK by killing momentum, it just seems flaky... it should be one fluid motion...

Four had POR (20 missed with ENG) while eight had FRA (34 had BRA) making this a big upset day and stabilizing the standings by taking valuable points away from people. As such, seven more were eliminated today leaving just nine vying for money.

After 60 WC matches, it has come down to this: if GER beats ITA on Tuesday, THE MIGHTY MOBELFAKTA (1st, 118 pts) (who has clinched at least 3rd place) will take home the $220 first place prize; but if ITA wins, then ELASTIGIRL (2nd-Tied, 117) will take home the top prize (and can only finish 1st or out of the money) and will be the second consecutive female co-worker of mine to win the pool (hmmm... I gotta stop making friends). Simple as that.

As for the others, FUTBOL FABONE (moi) is tied for 2nd place and has a 75% chance for money, the same as HOFBRAU FUTBAL who is in 4th place (116). The other five have a 25% each of winning money.

WC STATS: 60 matches (14 ties)... 138 goals (2.30 per game)... 27 Red Cards (4-TRI, 14-TOG, 15-UKR, 17-POL, 21-SCG, 22-ANG, 25-ITA, 25-USA(2), 26-CZE, 39-MEX, 38-SCG, 38-CIV, 41-CZE, 44-CRO(2), 44-AUS, 48-TUN, 49-SWE, 52-POR(2), 52-NED(2), 53-ITA, 55-GHA, 58-ARG, 59-ENG); team with advantage (14 goals for, 1 against (53-ITA))... 15 PKs (11/15) (15-ESP (G), 24-POR (G), 26-GHA (LP), 28-CRO (S), 31-ESP (G), 39-POR (G), 39-MEX(H), 38-CIV(G), 38-CIV(G), 42-GHA(G), 44-AUS(G), 48-UKR(G), 49-SWE(H), 53-ITA(G), 56-ESP(G))... Scoring first: 38-8-7 (12-JPN, 14-TOG, 31-TUN, 34-CRC, 38-SCG, 43-JPN, 50-MEX, 56-ESP)... Shutouts: 44 (6 0:0 ties)... Leading at the half: 27-4-3 (12-JPN, 14-TOG, 31-TUN, 38-SCG)... Both teams scoring in the first half: 12 (1-GER-CRC 2:1, 7-MEX-IRN 1:1, 25-ITA-USA 1:1, 22-NED-CIV 2:1, 34-CRC-POL 1:1, 39-POR-MEX 2:1, 38-CIV-SCG 1:2, 42-GHA-USA 2:1, 43-JPN-BRA 1:1, 44-CRO-AUS 1:1, 50-ARG-MEX 1:1, 56-ESP-FRA 1:1)... Own goals: 3 (3-PAR, 25-ITA, 36-TRI)... ET/OT: 4 (50-ARG-MEX 1:0, 54-SUI-UKR 0:0, 59-GER-ARG 0:0, 60-ENG-POR 0:0)... PSO: 3 (54-SUI-UKR 0:3 [3+], 57-GER-ARG 4:2 [4], 59-ENG-POR 1:3 [4+])