World Cup: Conclusion

Hi everybody –

In case you hadn’t heard, the World Cup has concluded and Spain has been crowned the champion, earning the rare honor of holding both the European and World titles at once. It wasn’t a particularly pretty final, as Holland clearly decided that to win, they had to win ugly and take Spain out of their game. With nine yellow cards, and a red in extra time, they nearly succeeded as Spain had trouble mustering an attack. Netherlands had the best opportunity when Robben split the defense and got Casillas to guess the wrong way, but somehow Casillas got his foot in the space his body wasn’t to thwart the shot. Finally, Iniesta earned himself free sangria for life with the goal in the 116th minute that earned the trophy.

The undercard consolation game was a far more exciting affair with magic from Forlan followed by a stirring German comeback. Germany showed their confidence and resolve by holding off any celebration at their 2-2 equalizer until getting the 3-2 winning goal. Germany earned third place for the second cup in a row.

Some closing thoughts on the tournament:
· Spain only scored 8 goals in the tournament, but gave up only 2.
· Thomas Muller earned the Golden Boot (most goals) with five goals and three assists. The Golden Ball (tournament MVP) went to Diego Forlan.
· In the multi-generational competition of total World Cup victories, Brazil is still in the lead with 5 followed by Italy with 4, Germany with 3, Argentina and Uruguay with 2, and France, Spain, and England with 1 each.
· In my opinion the refs did pretty well this World Cup. There were some bad errors but nothing like Italy advancing against Australia in 2006 on an obvious flop in extra time. For the most part, they seemed to get it right -- at least when USA wasn’t on the field -).
· I’m not a proponent of bringing technology into the game to ensure off-sides, goals, fouls, and penalties are called correctly. Where do you draw the line and effect the flow of the game with a review? I do think something should be done about diving though, my suggestion being a post-game video review where players are penalized for obvious fakes – cards or fines. If you happen to know Sepp Blatter, please suggest this.
· Also from the suggestion box comes Josh Dean of NY Magazine with a great idea for breaking ties: go to five minutes periods where each team has to drop a player each round -- http://nymag.com/daily/sports/2010/07/spain_champions_of_the_world.html
· Soccer is clearly picking up steam in the USA. Sunday’s game marked the most TV viewers ever for a soccer match that didn’t feature a sports bra. This is more than the last World Series and NHL finals, and just slightly behind the NBA finals.

And onto the final tally of our competition. Congratulation again to Paul Riley of the USA for the victory with 129 points. He’s earned $375 for his trouble. France was well represented in the pool by Laurent Bret-Mounet’s second place victory of $220, earning for his country at least the accolades of 99 people. Ben Vega of Mexico coasted into third with his great early showing and Spain champion pick for $150. Rounding out the prizes are Chile’s Fernanda Villasenor with 4th place and $100, Serbia’s Mickey Plesic with 5th place and $80, England’s Dan Stewart and USA’s Henry Brusseau with 6th and 7th and $32.50 each, and finally the USA’s Kirk Swann gets his $10 back with 100th place. Winners please send me your address.

Thanks everyone for your participation, it’s been a fun month. Stay tuned for the Copa America pool next summer and get ready for Brazil in 2014! I’ll predict right now Argentina beats Mexico in the round of 16 before losing to Germany in the quarters, USA loses to Ghana (but in the quarters this time, they meet in the final in 2022), Germany comes in third, and Brazil beats Spain in the final for their sixth crown.

Chris

P.S. An octopus in Germany known as Paul the Octopus went eight for eight in picking winners in this World Cup (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paul_the_Octopus). Be afraid – he will be entering the pool in 2014!
P.P.S. Talk back at http://cingerblog.blogspot.com
P.P.P.S. Send me your $10 if you haven’t yet to 242 Yale Ave, Kensington CA 94708

World Cup: Day 28

Ahoy World Cuppers –

2010 will bring us the eighth World Cup champion, as two time winner Uruguay and three time winner Germany were knocked out of the competition. Spain has made it to its first ever final in an impressive 1-0 defeat of Germany on Wednesday. Uruguay managed to make a game of it Tuesday against a superior Dutch squad but ran out of clock in losing 3-2. It’s nice that the citizens of Spain or Netherlands will get to experience their first ever triumph on the biggest stage in sports, small consolation for the 99 of us who’s country’s run is over.

And in the pool, we have a winner. Paul Riley of the USA has guaranteed himself the crown regardless of who wins on Sunday. Congratulations Paul! Depending on the outcome of the next two games, there’s still some movement below the #1 spot as 12 of us still have a shot at some prize money.

Enjoy the last two games! Here’s the blog link à http://cingerblog.blogspot.com

Chris

P.S. Esteban sent me an interesting bit of World Cup trivia on the precedence for Suarez’s block. In 1978 Argentina had to beat both Poland and Peru to advance to the final. Against Poland, Argentina’s best player Mario Kempes both scored and made a diving save with his hands. Argentina stopped the penalty kick to advance and Kempes didn’t get carded at all. In the next game, Kempes scored two goals in beating Peru to advance to the final where he scored two more to beat Holland. As a result of this, FIFA changed the rules to make it an automatic red card for such an infringement. Esteban also reported that he had to listen to this game on the radio because his sister insisted on watching Little House on the Prairie :-).

World Cup: Day 25

Hi Soccer Fans --

This South American tournament has finally shifted, as Europe won all three of its quarterfinal matchups and is guaranteed at least one spot in the final.

The quarterfinals opened Friday with a couple of spectacular games. Brazil-Netherlands has always had a warm place in my soccer heart. Their unbelievable match in the quarters of my “first” World Cup in ’94, with 5 second half goals, helped hook me on the competition and was followed up by the ’98 semis where Holland equalized late before losing on penalty kicks.

This time, the Dutch finally got through the samba, coming back after falling behind early. The game featured the first autogol ever given up by Brazil at this level – and the first time they have ever lost after leading at the half. Brazil has played a lot of World Cup matches making this quite a remarkable achievement for the Dutch, especially having to play in their wooden shoes and all.

Uruguay-Ghana presented a situation I’ve often pondered: when would it behoove a defender to deliberately block a sure goal with his hands? From an objective measure, the calculus is lose a player for the rest of the game (and the next) in exchange for the chance that a penalty kick is missed and no goal is awarded – maybe a 20% chance. Generally it wouldn’t make sense because if you are playing with 10 men for any length of time, your chances of eventually winning the game are diminished considerably.

But, if you consider the situation at the end of the match with no time on the clock, Uruguay just has to beat the 50/50 proposition of penalty kicks. At that point, I’d say Suarez’s move gave Uruguay a 10% chance of advancing versus the certainty of going home (preserving his dignity by watching the knock-out ball sail over his head). I’m not sure why he was so upset in the tunnel there -- 40 years is a long drought for a proud soccer nation like Uruguay. I’d say he’s a national hero no matter how it goes. I understand that soccer is different from typical American sports, with an ethical code that says you shouldn’t use your hands, shouldn’t take a dive, shouldn’t pretend a chest tap is an elbow to the face. But ultimately, “cheating” works and I think needs legislation if it’s to be avoided.

Anyway, onto the sad day Friday for the Argentines, who got steamrolled by the Germans 4-0. Spain and Paraguay followed by an exciting 1-0 match, that could have gone either way with back-to-back missed penalty kicks on both sides of the field.

The semifinal matches are Germany-Spain on Tuesday, followed by Uruguay-Holland on Wednesday.

The pool has a new leader, Chile’s Fernanda Villasenor with three of the final four correct. You’ll see a new column in the scoring “Best”. This is the highest possible position for the entry (subject to final double check). 25 of us still have a shot at getting something back, but if you don’t see a number by your name you are done for this pool. Note that Kirk Swann has locked in 100th place with the losses by Argentina and Brazil.

Enjoy!
Chris

World Cup: Day 20

Saludos Pileta de Mundial –

Whew, today was the first day with no World Cup soccer since the tournament started. The quarterfinalists have been set and only eight more matches until it is over. Then it will be 1400 some odd days until another World Cup game, so enjoy them while you can.

If you don’t count France going on strike, South America continues to be the 2010 story. Chile is the only team to depart as the continent holds half of the final 8 spots. Chile was also the only one unfortunate enough to have to play another South America country in getting steamrolled by Brazil on Monday 3-0. Paraguay persevered against Japan Tuesday in the first match decided on penalty kicks – a rather boring 120 minutes of scoreless midfield play before the excitement of goals going into a net.

And the European matchups also saw the favorites move on, Holland 2-1 over Slovakia and Spain 1-0 over Portugal. Holland featured the return of Robben, who scored the first goal and looked like his hammy is fully healed. Slovakia’s goal was a penalty on the last touch of the match. David Villa (of course) scored Spain’s goal allowing Spain to show off half an hour of precise keep-away to close out the match.

As an aside, Villa has in my opinion the 2nd best goal of tournament so far with his zigzag score in the Honduras match -- behind Tevez’s laser shot from way outside the box last Saturday.

So, with our quarterfinal matchups, it is entirely feasible that the final four could all be South American. Brazil, Argentina, and Uruguay are all favored. Paraguay over Spain would be a significant upset, but not entirely surprising given Spain’s history at this level.

Soccer picks up again Friday morning with Brazil v. Holland at 7 am Pacific followed by Uruguay v. Ghana at 11:30. Saturday features Argentina v. Germany in the early game, Paraguay v. Spain in the late.

On to the pool. The leader board looks familiar, though finally a few USA entries are showing up towards the top. Charles Curran has leaped into 4th place by picking 7 of 8 quarterfinalists correctly. Paul also has 7, jumping him to 2nd only one behind Ben. Fernanda is in third with the highest entry that has all four semifinalists still alive.

You’ll see below I included a column “Paid?” which is my record of who still owes money. Kindly let me know of any payments I’ve missed recording, and apologies in advance. My address is: 242 Yale Ave, Kensington CA 94708.

Enjoy what’s left!
Chris

P.S. Personal request – I intend to time shift the Friday games for a camping trip, so please no emails, texts, or phone messages that mention what happened!
P.P.S. Did you hear that Sepp Blatter warned Nicolas Sarkozy not to interfere with his country’s football team or face suspension? The president of FIFA actually has the power to threaten the president of a G7 country.
P.P.P.S. Not to knock a country when its down, but our Norwegian contingent provided a set of actual quotes of English football players. I added it to this email after the scoring.


At Least When England Leave The World Cup The Players Can Rely On Their Great Oratory Skills For Work

“My parents have always been there for me, ever since I was about 7. " David Beckham

"I would not be bothered if we lost every game as long as we won theleague." Mark Viduka"

Alex Ferguson is the best manager I've ever had at this level. Well, he's the only manager I've actually had at this level. But he's the best manager I've ever had." David Beckham

"If you don't believe you can win, there is no point in getting out of bed at the end of the day." Neville Southall

"I've had 14 bookings this season - 8 of which were my fault, but 7 of which were disputable." Paul Gascoigne

"I've never wanted to leave. I'm here for the rest of my life, andhopefully after that as well." Alan Shearer

"I'd like to play for an Italian club, like Barcelona " Mark Draper

"You've got to believe that you're going to win, and I believe we'll winthe World Cup until the final whistle blows and we're knocked out." Peter Shilton

"I faxed a transfer request to the club at the beginning of the week, but let me state that I don't want to leave Leicester " Stan Collymore

"I was watching the Blackburn game on TV on Sunday when it flashed onthe screen that George (Ndah) had scored in the first minute atBirmingham . My first reaction was to ring him up. Then I remembered he was out there playing." Ade Akinbiyi

"Without being too harsh on David Beckham, he cost us the match." Ian Wright

"I'm as happy as I can be - but I have been happier." Ugo Ehiogu

" Leeds is a great club and it's been my home for years, even though I live in Middlesborough." Jonathan Woodgate

"I can see the carrot at the end of the tunnel." Stuart Pearce

"I couldn't settle in Italy - it was like living in a foreign country."Ian Rush" Germany are a very difficult team to play...they had 11 internationals out there today." Steve Lomas

"I always used to put my right boot on first, and then obviously my right sock." Barry Venison

"I definitely want Brooklyn to be christened, but I don't know into what religion yet." David Beckham

"The Brazilians were South American, and the Ukrainians will be more European." Phil Neville

"All that remains is for a few dots and commas to be crossed." Mitchell Thomas

"One accusation you can't throw at me is that I've always done my best." Alan Shearer

"I'd rather play in front of a full house than an empty crowd." Johnny Giles

"Sometimes in football you have to score goals." Thierry Henry

World Cup: Day 17

Greetings Pool Players –

Alas, the USA run is over as Ghana showed a game team the art of closing in a very exciting match. As usual, they had to come back from an early defensive lapse, and as usual did – but it was Ghana that still had gas in the tank in extended time. Throughout this successful run, the USA led a total of 2 ½ minutes out of around 400. As to its lasting impact on US soccer, we’ll have to see though my brother Tim is anticipating this headline from The Onion: “USA catches soccer fever for 3 days”.

In Saturday’s other exciting match, Korea scored the only goal Uruguay has given up, but Suarez got the two needed to advance. This Uruguay team, with its stellar overall defense and strikers that know how to capitalize on limited opportunities, reminds me a bit of Italy four years ago….

Sunday was two apparent blowouts -- Germany 4-1 over England and Argentina 3-1 over Mexico – but the losers at least get significant referee mistakes to complain about for the next four years. For Argentina’s first goal, it appeared the linesman saw the offsides on the stadium replay and wanted to change the call. There’s going to be a ton of instant replay suggestions for FIFA to ignore.

So, the first half of the quarterfinalists have been determined -- Uruguay and Ghana, Argentina and Germany – and these are the matchups next weekend to determine the semifinalists.

In the pool, most people got Argentina and Germany but only a few picked Uruguay or Ghana to advance this far and no one picked all four.

Enjoy!
Chris

P.S. Here’s my address again if you haven’t yet paid your $10: 242 Yale Ave, Kensington CA 94708.

World Cup: Day 15 (end of group play)

Hello Pool Players –

Group play is done, and the tournament has its Sweet 16. In Group G, Brazil and Portugal were content to ride the game out (0-0) and earn their #1 and #2 positioning. Ivory Coast got three from North Korea, but needed five more to bypass Portugal.

And in Group F, Chile with 10 men elected to ride out the game at 1-2 counting on Switzerland not to get the goal from Honduras needed to move on. Switzerland came through for Chile 0-0. For their trouble Chile get to play Brazil this Monday, and we will finally see a South American team sent home.

Ben has moved back a little closer to the rest of the pack with his pick of Switzerland over Chile in the Round of 16. Today’s report includes the count of how many points we each scored per day, good for double-checking your entries…

No more ties! Get ready for extra periods and penalty kicks.

Go USA!!

Chris

World Cup: Day 14

Howdy Soccer Fans !!

What a moment. 91st minute, goal or go home, ball sitting alone in front of the net, guy closest is wearing a white shirt. That’s a snapshot that will stick in my mind forever along with Steve Garvey’s blast in ‘84 and Tony Martin’s catch in ’94 (San Diego sports references may be lost on the bulk of this international crowd, but permit me the indulgence). The USA has arrived in soccer. And it’s not just their play on the field in qualifying, in coming back in their first two games, in extended time heroics by the best American soccer player ever and newly minted sports icon. It’s also the true entrance of soccer in the national conversation. Yesterday evening, I’m in the San Francisco airport – the right half of the bar is showing the live SF Giants game, the left half is showing a repeat of the England-Slovenia game. Guess which half was packed with people engrossed in the TV and which was nearly vacant?

Okay, so in case you hadn’t heard, the US won group C with a 1-0 victory over Algeria. And in England, I think they are still playing tennis. No actually, the Brits held on against Slovenia (1-0) to earn the second spot. In Group D, Germany beat Ghana 1-0 providing an opportunity for Serbia who couldn’t convert against the Socceroos in losing 1-2. Germany wins the group with Ghana #2 as likely the only African country to qualify for the knockout stage.

Germany and England matchup on Sunday in 2nd round play, and the US plays Ghana Saturday at 11 am Pacific. The winners of these matches will be 2010 quarterfinalists.

And, this morning Italy and Slovakia played a very exciting match -- with 3 goals and 22 flops in the last 10 minutes -- as the defending champions were sent home in last place in Group F – behind New Zealand. Paraguay drew with the Kiwis to win the group, with Slovakia #2. South Americans, by the way, are 10-0-3 in this tournament. This afternoon, Japan handily defeated Denmark 3-1 to earn the second spot in Group E behind Holland, who beat Cameroon 2-1 and became the only European team to win all three of their group games. Netherlands goes against Slovakia Monday and Japan plays Paraguay on Tuesday.

So let’s see, France and Italy surrender leaving England to battle Germany as the USA comes through at the last moment. There’s something vaguely familiar about this….

And also familiar is Ben at the top of the pool, with his early round picks leading to a solid 10 of 12 correct Round of 16 choices so far in the second round.

Arrivederci!
Chris