Friday, August 4, 2023 
Issue #7.1.6 "Can't Complain" 
[||| Mini-Updates | Dailies: Aug 2-3 ]

GERMANY, BRAZIL OUT; MOROCCO, JAMAICA, SOUTH AFRICA IN
Vlatko Better Win leads with 65 points and 6 lost GER as their champ

H MART, BUENA PARK, CA (smt) --  Living in the Los Angeles area, it is hard to complain about things.  It's been high 80s with 60% humidity which I describe as "pungent hell" (one of the very few times we ever got feedback on our Major League Soccer score sheets in the early days was one time we described the weather at the Rose Bowl as not "sunny" or "humid" or "hot", but our use of "pungent hell" --- the note was quickly followed with "but that's exactly what it felt like" so we had a good laugh), but someone from Boston will say hey, it's 105F and humid here or Orlando will say it's 99% humid here.  LA had like a dozen atmospheric rivers drench the area from December-March but then someone in Tampa will say we had to evacuate due to a hurricane or Vermont is flooded.  We're known for some famous "bad" areas here but them someone from Chicago will talk about constant gun violence.   LA is also famous for smog but can't complain because the Northeast is suffocating under the Canadian wildfire smoke out.  We can only complain about high taxes... anyone top that?  Anyone?  Darn.

So 2E-USWMT has been very disappointing and uncreative and critics are loud, but hey, can't complain because we could be fans of #9 Brazil.  Or two-time champion #2 Germany.  Or defending Olympic champion #7 Canada.  Or co-host New Zealand who did the hard part (beat #12 Norway) but couldn't get one point from #46 Philippines.  All four eliminated.  USA is still alive.  Want to complain about talented USA should have easily beaten #21 Portugal?  Well, GER lost to #25 1H-Colombia which started their downfall.  Want to complain about Alex Morgan missing a PK in a 3-0 win?  Well CAN legend Christine Sinclair missed a PK that cost CAN 2 points in the opener.  Want to complain how horrible USA coach Vlatko is?  Well, Zambia's coach continues to feed the creep machine with allegation after allegation.  Ick.

Who replaced these teams?  From CONCACAF, let me introduce you to #43 2F-Jamaica who tied #5 1F-France.  From Africa, let me introduce you to 2G-South Africa, who rallied to beat #16 Italy in the final match and #72 (72!) 2H-Morocco who lost 6-0 GER and then eliminated GER with an 1-0 upset win over COL. Those two teams join #40 2B-Nigeria who qualified earlier.  From South America, not Brazil or Argentina, but COL who beat GER in stoppage time. 

Back to the matches, FRA (in a wild 6-3 contest) and 1G-Sweden (Sweden' B team) easily took care of business to top their groups.  RSA blew a lead for the 3rd straight match but this time was able to score the game winner, beating and eliminating ITA, 3-2.  JAM held BRA and Marta to a 0-0 draw, good enough to advance over BRA. 

ENG is now the favorite to win the title at 3:1 followed by ESP (4:1) and USA (4.5:1).  RSA and MAR are the longest shots at 2500:1.  ENG has had 59%+ possession in play in all 3 matches and with no team ranked better than #25 until the semis, they should build momentum.  I'm rooting for JPN (when not playing USA) but agree with 7.5:1 odds because they are fun and opportunistic but if the opportunities aren't there, creating against a defensive minded team will be tough (first two matches they had 51 shots and 7 goals, vESP they had just 8 shots but 4 goals).  Ignoring the Olympics (heh, that 3-0 loss never happened), USA is 4-1-1 against SWE in WWC history, but this is the first matchup in the Knockout Stage.

You forget it's winter in Australia and New Zealand and the wet and cold weather in NZ have played its part, especially in Wellington.  The rain in Spain falls mainly... ESP, who played their group games in New Zealand, will stay in New Zealand for the R16 and the Quarters if they make it. 

After converting just 4 of the first 8 PKs, teams made the next 13 before MAR's miss (which was scored off the save, so kinda counts).  Goals are starting to come in bunches as the first 9 games saw just 1.89/game and now it's 2.63.  Five teams have allowed the first goal and come back to win, three more to tie (5-33-3 with 7 0-0 draws), but all 28 teams who have led at halftime came out with at least a draw (26-0-2).

After 48 matches, Vlatko Better Win is alone in 1st with 65 points with Kds911 2nd (64).  Three are tied for 3rd with 63 pts (Flying Elvi, Kds911-3, Kona Coast Sliders).  Tiny Destroyer is still last with 43 pts. Four got 12 of 16 R16 teams correct while Tiny Destroyer only got 8 teams in.  The last 16 matches saw Merman move from a tie for 43rd to a tie for 18th (58).  Silver Fox went from a tie for 6th to a tie for 25th (56).  Six entries lost GER as their champ and Rutin4Putin (34th-T, 54) lost BRA.  14 had GER making the Final.  No one picked NGA in the R16 even though they were the best ranked African team. 

Will Eric's "Foster's Football Brew" be back this year?  I hope so!  If anyone else wants to contribute, let me know.  Anyone else going to down under and want to send pictures or mini-reports?

The best way to keep up with the pool is to follow @HWCI_Pools on Twitter or visit the #hwciWWC hashtag (you don't need Twitter account to view) often for daily updates.  Less often will be our Facebook group page (post comments or organize viewing parties) and then these newsletters every 4 days or so.

   Ins & Outs - [48 Matches/10 Ties] - Goals: 126 (2.63/match) [Own: 6 (5-CRC>ESP 21', 15-MAR>GER 54', 15-MAR{2}>GER 79', 19-IRL>CAN 45'+5, 34-PHI>NOR 48', 46-ITA>RSA 32'), Subs: 13 (6-JPN 90'+11{pk}, 8-DEN 90' {gw}, 14-ITA 87' {gw}, 15-GER 90', 20-ESP 69', 20-ESP {2} 85', 22-NGA 72' {gw}, 27-ARG 79' {gt}, 30-SWE 90'+5, 37-JPN 82', 39-ENG 77', 40-DEN {2} 90'+10, 45-SWE 90' {pk}), 90+/120+: 9 (6-JPN +11 {pk}, 22-AUS +10, 30-SWE +5, 31-COL+7 {gw}, 34-NOR +5, 38-ZAM +3, 35-AUS +4 {pk}, 40-DEN +10, 46-RS +2 {gw}), Extra Time: 0 (-)]... Scoring First: 33-5-3 [7 Nil-Nil ties (4-NGAvCAN, 11-FRAvJAM, 18-SUIvNOR, 33-SUI{2}vNZL, 36-IRLvNGA, 41-PORvUSA, 44-JAM{2}vBRA); 12-RSAvSWE 1:2, 19-IRLvCAN 1:2, 22-AUSvNGA 2:3, 46-ITAvRSA 2:3, 43-PANvFRA 3:6]... Leading at Half: 26-0-2 [20 ties (16 scoreless); -]... Shutout: 43 [1-NOR, 2-IRL, 4-CAN, 4-NGA, 3-PHI, 5-CRC, 9-VIE, 6-ZAM, 7-HAI, 8-CHN, 10-POR, 11-FRA, 11-JAM, 14-ARG, 15-MAR, 13-PAN, 16-KOR, 17-NZL, 18-SUI, 18-NOR {2}, 21-CRC {2}, 20-ZAM {2}, 24-VIE {2}, 25-DEN, 26-HAI {2}, 30-ITA, 29-PAN {2}, 32-KOR {2}, 33-SUI {2}, 33-NZL {2}, 34-PHI {2}, 37-ESP, 35-CAN, 36-IRL {2}, 36-NGA {2}, 41-POR {2}, 41-USA, 42-VIE {3}, 40-HAI {3}, 45-ARG {2}, 44-JAM {2}, 44-BRA, 48-COL]... PK: 17/22 [1-nzl (x) 90', 2-AUS 52', 4-can (s) 50', 3-SUI 45', 5-esp (s) 34', 9-usa (s) 44', 6-JPN <retake> 90'+11, 7-ENG <retake> 29', 16-COL 30', 26-CHN 74', 31-GER 89', 34-NOR 53', 38-ZAM 31', 35-CAN 90'+4, 39-CHN{2} 57', 40-DEN 21', 46-ITA 11', 45-SWE 90', 43-FRA 37', 43-FRA{2} 52', 43-PAN 64', 48-mar (s) 45'+4]... Extra Time: 0 [-]... PSO: 0 (-/-) [-]... Red Card (GF/GA): 5 [4-NGA R 90'+8 (0/0), 6-ZAM 2Y 90'+7 (0/1), 11-JAM 2Y 90'+2 (0/0), 26-CHN R 29' (1/0), 34-PHI R 67' (0/1)]...  Multiple Goals: 14 [Smith 2 (9-USA), Miyazawa 2 (6-JPN), Popp 2 (15-GER), Borges 3 (13-BRA), Hermoso 2 (20-ESP), Redondo 2 (20-ESP), Ilestedt 2 (30-SWE), Haug 3 (34-NOR), Miyazawa{2} 2 (37-JPN), Raso 2 (35-AUS), Brugts 2 (42-NED), Roord 2 (42-NED), James 2 (39-ENG), Caruso 2 (46-ITA), Diani 3 (43-FRA)]... Goal Line Tech: 1 [9-USA xG 85'].. VAR (-Reversal(Taken Away), +Reversal(Added), =Confirmed, xNo Call): 39 [ 1-NOR xHB= 52', 1-NOR xHB+{pk+NZL} 87', 2-IRL xHB= 45', 4-NGA xFoul+{PK+CAN} 48', 4-NGA Y-{R+} 90'+6, 3-PHI xFoul+{PK+SUI} 43', 9-VIE xFoul+{PK+USA} 41', 9-USA Off-{g+} 45'+7, 6-JPN xOff+{g-} 21', 6-JPN xOff+{g-} 49', 6-ZAM xOff+PK-Y= 51', 6-ZAM xEnc+{retake PK+JPN} 90'+10, 7-HAI xFoul+Foul-{PK-} 17', 7-HAI xHB+{PK+ENG} 26', 7-HAI xEnc+{retake PK+ENG} 28', 10-NED Off-{g+} 13', 20-ESP Off-{g+} 70', 20-ESP Off-{g+} 85', 27-RSA Off-{g+} 30', 26--CHN Y-{R+} 28', 26-CHN Off-xFoul+{PK+} 72', 26-xFoul+Box-{n/a} 76', 26-HAI Foul-{PK-} 90'+2, 29-PAN HB-{PK-} 90'+2, 34-PHI xFoul+{PK+NOR} 50', 34-PHI xR+ 63', 38-CRC xOff+{Foul-PK-} 55', 35-AUS Off-{g+} 9', 35-AUS xOff+{g-} 34', 35-CAN xFoul+{PK+AUS} 90'+2, 42-NED Off={xG=} 67', 39-ENG xOff+{g-} 45'+5, 39-ENG xHB+{PK+CHN} 54', 40-DEN xOff+{g-} 4', 40-DEN xF+{g-} 83', 46-RSA xHB={xPK=} 34', 46-ITA xOff={g=} 74', 43-PAN xHB+{pk+FRA} 49', 43-PAN Off-{g+} 87', 47-GER xOff+{g-} 57']... 58%+ Poss (w/in contest): 19 [3-SUIvPHI (65/24) W, 5-ESPvCRC (64/18) W, 9-USAvVIE (59/23) W, 7-ENGvHAI (63/23) W, 12-SWEvRSA (59/27) W, 11-FRAvJAM (60/24) D, 15-GERvMAR (59/22) W, 13-BRAvPAN (61/25) W, 17-NZLvPHI{2} (59/24) L, 20-ESP{2}vZAM (63/23) W, 24-PORvVIE{2} (61/24) W, 25-ENG{2}vDEN (59/27) W, 34-NORvPHI (60/25) W, 37-ESP{3}vJPN (68/21) L, 42-NEDvVIE{3} (67/21) W, 39-ENG{3}vCHN (67/20) W, 43-FRA{2}vPAN{2} (61/24) W, 44-BRA{2}vJAM{2} (63/20) L, 47-GER{2}vKOR (60/24) D]... Zero SOG (Shots): 7 [3-PHI (3), 5-CRC (1), 9-VIE (0), 6-ZAM (0), 41-POR (5), 42-VIE{2} (5), 44-JAM (4)]... 20+ Shots (S/SOG/G): 13 [5-ESP (46/14/2(1 og)) W, 9-USA (26/7/3) W, 6-JPN (26/11/5) W, 13-BRA (33/9/4) W, 21-JPN {2} (25/11/2) W, 20-ESP{2} (22/13/5) W, 22-AUS (27/7/2) L, 24-POR (28/9/2) W, 30-SWE (20/7/5) W, 29-JAM (20/4/1) W, 34-NOR (30/12/5(1 og)) W, 42-NED (43/17/7) W, 43-FRA (27/9/6) W]... Breaks (>30 min): 0 [-]... Regions (Teams/R16/QF/SF/F/C): UEFA (12/8) 19-9-8, AFC (6/2) 7-10-1, CONCACAF (6/2) 3-10-5, CAF (4/3) 5-4-3, CONMEBOL (3/1) 3-4-2, OCEANIA (1/-) 1-1-1... Match Order of Play: RR: 1-2 | 4-3-5 | 9-6-7-8 | 12-10-11 | 14-15-13 | 16¹-17-18 | 21-20-19 | 23-24-22 | 27-25-26 | 30-28-29 | 32-33-34^A-31² | 37-38^C-35-36^B | 41-42^E-39-40^D | 45-46^G-43-44^F | 47-48^H | R16: 49-50 | 51-52 | 54-53 | 56-55 | QF: 57-58 | 59-60 | SF: 61 | 62 | 3rd: 63 | F: 64 ]...  

   Qualification (Advance, Group Winner, Elim, G-Group):  B-IRL (19-L)... C-ESP (20-W), C-JPN (20-ZAM L), C-ZAM (20-L), C-CRC (20-ESP W)... E-VIE (24-L)... G-SWE (30-W) | F-PAN (29-L)... A-SUI (33-D & 34-PHI L), A-NOR (34-W & 33-NZL D & GDvNZL), A-NZL (33-D & 34-NOR W & GDvNOR), A-PHI (34-L)... C-JPN (37-W) | B-AUS (35-W & 36-NGA D), B-NGA (36-D), B-CAN (35-L & 36-NGA D)... E-NED (42-W & 41-USA D), E-USA (41-D), E-POR (41-D) | D-ENG (39-W), D-DEN (40-W & 39-CHN L), D-CHN (39-L), D-HAI (40-L)... G-SWE (45-W), G-RSA (46-W & 45-ARG L), G-ITA (46-L), G-ARG (45-L) | F-FRA (43-W & 44-RSA D), F-JAM (44-D), F-BRA (44-D)... H-COL (47-GER D & GDvMAR), H-MAR (48-W & 47-GER D), H-GER (47-D & 48-MAR W), H-KOR (47-D)... 

   SIDES 'N KICKS:  first-time WWC teams are 5-18-1 (PHI, VIE, ZAM, IRL, HAI, POR, MAR [R16], PAN) (1 win due to two debutantes playing each other PORvVIE)... though eliminated, GER's Alexanda Popp tied JPN's Hinata Miyazawa with 4 goals... CHN is one of two teams (JPN) with no yellow cards but are 1 of 5 teams with a red card... both of CHN's goals were scored from the PK spot... SUI, JPN, and... JAM kept clean sheets in all three matches... JAM scored just 1 goal and SUI 2 but both advanced... RSA and MAR each gave up 6 goals and both advanced... Haiti and Vietnam (who finished last at 32nd) were the only teams not score a goal... five teams with 4 points failed to make the Knockout Stage (in the men's, 7 teams with 4 points didn't qualify (7 of 8 groups))... MAR's WNT hope to follow in their men's footsteps surprising everyone with a 4th place finish...

Locally in AUS/NZL, on Wednesday, Group G concluded with 35 getting SWE's win and 4 RSA's win with Of-Course-it's-US (39th-Tied, 52 pts) getting both correct; nine got both wrong; 45 had SWE in the Round of 16 while Rutin4Putin (34th-T, 54) and TroJenn (43rd-T, 51) each got RSA with the former the only one to have both SWE and RSA in their R16; Tiny Destroyer was the only one to miss both teams; Rutin4Putin got 7 of 8 possible points while Tiny Destroyer got 0 of 8; Group F concluded with 44 getting FRA's win and Merman (18th-T, 58) the only one picking the draw between JAMvBRA; Merman was the only one to go 2-0 while three went 0-2; all 47 had FRA in their R16 and 4 had JAM; four got both teams while the other 43 got one; Flying Elvi (3rd-T, 63), Mauihammy (38th, 53), Bean (25th-T, 56), and Kung Fu Master Kai (46th, 49) each got 7 of 8 possible points while Eggman 2 (9th-T, 61), TroJenn, and TroJenn2 (43rd-T) each got just 3 of 8; overall, five got 11 of 16 points and Tiny Destroyer only got 4 of 16; Flying Elvi moved from a tie for 6th to sole possession of 1st (63 pts); Hawkeye and Vlatko Better Win dropped to a tie for 2nd (62) and Kds911 and More$ are tied for 4th (61); Tiny Destroyer returns back to last place with 40 points, 6 points off 46th place Kung Fu Master Kai... on Thursday, Tiocfaidh Ár Lá!!! (15th-Tied, 59 pts) was the only one to pick the KORvGER tie and 4 had MAR winning meaning 5 went 1-1 and 42 went 0-2; Reggae Vibes (6th-T, 62) was the only to have MAR in the R16 and 14 had COL (all 47 missed GER); Reggae Vibes got 4 of 8 points to move from 13th-T to 6th-T while 28 got 0 of 8...

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Reasonable kickoff times tonight, 10 pm and 1 pm...
Scott