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     FAVORITES STRUGGLE BUT JAPAN AND BRAZIL PUNCH THROUGH
Spermicidal WFC jumps from tie for 8th to 1st by two wins

LAS VEGAS, NV (smt) -- C2-Switzerland joined the double-digit goal club scoring 10 in a 10-1 rout of C4-Ecuador.  The Swiss had two players score hat tricks (including Fabienna Humm's 3 goals in 5 minutes (47', 49', 52') while Ecuador's Angie Ponce scored three times as well - unfortunately, two were for the Swiss.  C1-Japan became the first team to qualify for the Round of 16 with a 2-1 win over C3-Nigeria, who outshot the defending champs 20 to 4 while E1-Brazil became the second team to qualify by holding E3-Spain without a shot on goal (a Galaxy!) in their 1-nil win.  The heavy favorites B1-Germany and D1-USA had to settle for ties against B3-Norway and D3-Sweden, respectively, while F1-France fell 2-0 to F3-Colombia.  A2-China, B4-Thailand, D2-Australia, and F2-England picked up key wins.  Edmonton's weather delayed host A1-Canada's match with A3-New Zealand for a half-hour five minutes in in the first scoreless draw of the tourney.  NZL missed a PK as the shot went off the crossbar giving the hosts a crucial point.  E4-Costa Rica's rally to tie E2-Korea Rep 2-2 gave Brazil the Group E crown.

Odd sights as uniforms were too crazy as it was weird to see Japan in bright yellow/green and Mexico in all red while a facemask donned CRC's Wendy Costa and sunglasses on CMR's Francine Zouga.  USA was lucky by using their arm and head as Sydney Leroux slightly moved her arm out to deflect a ball in the box (should've been a handball) while 5'-2" Meghan Klingenberg at the goal-line headed a sure goal up against the crossbar to keep the match scoreless.

While the first 10 matches were relatively easy to predict (10 matches, 136 wins, 13.6 wins per match, 61.8% per entry), the second 12 had some surprises (12 matches, 118 wins, 9.83 wins per match, 44.7% per entry).  Despite that, Spermicidal WFC (15 pts) got 9 correct to open up a 2-point lead on BigRedMessi, D.R., Toney Tribe, and Vivisdaddy (the only one to pick the tie between CAN-NZL).  There is a 9-entry logjam at 12 pts while Futbol Fabone 7, Melis, UAU!, and UFFA! (the latter two both Warner L's entries) bring up the rear with just 9 pts.  UFFA! and Melis only got 3 of 12 correct.  YellowCard (6th-Tie, 12 pts) was the only one to pick COL's upset of FRA while Melis was the only one to go against ENG.

    Bits 'N Bobs:  Goals: 74 (3.08/match, 24 matches) (3 own goals (8-NGA, 18-ECU (2)), 9 goals by subs (3-GER (2), 8-SWE, 16-CIV, 16-THA, 16-CRC, 23-COL, 24-ENG, 24-MEX))... Shutouts: 16 (1-CHN, 2-NZL, 3-CIV, 4-THA, 5-SUI, 6-ECU, 9-KOR, 11-ENG, 13-CAN, 13-NZL, 14-NED, 17-NGA, 19-USA, 19-SWE, 21-ESP, 23-FRA)... Hat Tricks: 5 (Anja Mittag (3-GER), Celia Sasic (3-GER), Gaelle Enganamouit (6-CMR), Fabienna Humm (18-SUI), Ramona Bachmann (18-SUI))... PK: 9/11 (1-CAN, 4-NOR(x-SV), 5-JPN, 6-CMR, 6-CMR, 6-CMR, 9-BRA, 13-NZL(x-CB), 18-SUI, 18-ECU, 22-KOR)... 90'+ goals: 4 (1-CAN 92', 6-CMR 94', 14-CHN 91', 24-MEX 91')... Leading at Half: 13-0-5 (6 ties)... Scoring 1st Goal: 16-1-5 (2 0-0 ties, L: 16-CIV)... Red Cards (goals for/against): 1 (6-ECU 66' (0/3))...  Japan is the only team in its group to have appeared in a WWC before... all of Group F's teams have been to the WWC before... Australia is the only team in Group D who has not appeared in all 7 WWCs... MEX was CONCACAF's first loss (2-1-5)... Spermicidal WFC got six in a row at one point being 1 of 5 to pick the tie between USA-SWE and 1 of 5 to pick tie between CRC-KOR... 9 entries started 0-4... UAU! missed 8 straight matches (#10-17)... no one else had more than 7 of 12 correct... SUI (65%), CHN (60%), and ENG (60%) all had 60% or more possession and all won... 5 matches have been 0-0 at the half with CAN and CHN each in two of them... while CHN gave up a stoppage time goal to lose in their first match, they scored a stoppage time goal to win -- both breaking 0-0 ties... GER (27), CHN (27, 10 on goal), SUI (24, 13 on goal), ENG (23), FRA (21), CMR (20), and MEX (20) each had 20 or more shots in their match with ENG-MEX combining for 43 shots... in fact Group F combined for 64 shots and while COL only had 3 shots, 2 were goals... no red cards this time around with THA and CHN picking up just 4 and 5 fouls, respectively... Spermicidal WFC and D.R. went 2-2 on Thursday while 9 went 0-4... Spermicidal WFC, Frankfromseattle (6th-T), and BigRedMessi went 4-0 on Friday while three went 1-3 (UFFA!, Art (18th, 10), D.R.)... 4 went 3-1 on Saturday while 3 went 1-3 (Ponytail Houligans (6th-T), Futbol Fabone 7, Melis))...

That incomplete, was your training. That not ready for the burden, were you. -- Yoda, VI:RTOJ...
Scott