Monday, July 12, 2021 
Issue # 10.2.6 "Volare!"
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[Daily: July 11]

The 2021 Euro 2020 Champion
1934 WC Champs 1938 WC Champs 1968 Euro Champs 1982 WC Champs 2006 WC Champs 2020 Euro Champs
ITA - Italian Rep (Italy) - Federazione Italiana Giuoco Calcio (FIGC)	#7 | 1A | Winner | 5-0-2 2nd Title ('68) A1: Beat Turkey 3-0 A4: Beat Switzerland 3-0 A6: Beat Wales 1-0 R16: Beat 2C-Austria 2-1 (ET) QF: Beat 1B-Belgium 2-1 SF: Beat 2E-Spain 1-1 (PSO 4:2) F: Beat England 1-1 (PSO 3-2)

ESCONDIDO, CA (smt) - Another heartbreak for 1D-England, though with this being their first major final in 55 years, the fans may just keep celebrating the success.  A great start 116 seconds in put ENG up 1-0 but who would know that by the end of 120 minutes of play, that would be their only shot on goal.  A mad scramble off a corner kick put ITA level in the 67' in a match that ITA controlled (62% possession).  ENG came out stronger in the Extra Time as they seemed to not want to go to penalties based on their history.  Yet ITA still outshot ENG 5-2 in the extra 30 minutes (20-6 for the match).

In the PSO, ITA won the coin flip and went first.  ITA's second was saved and it seemed like ENG's luck was turning.  It was 2-2 with ENG's third kick to give them the lead, but a stutter step of an attempt did fake out the GK but the low shot to the opposite side hit the left post.  ITA applied the pressure getting the 3rd but ENG's was saved.  ITA had a chance to win it but the GK came out with a huge save.  All is well, until ENG's attempt was again saved, giving ITA a 1:1 (3:2 PSO) victory.  The last three misses by ENG were all by subs, including two who were put in specifically for the PK in the 120'.

It's ITA's 2nd Euro title (to go along with 4 World Cup titles) and for a team, like Spain, who were not supposed to peak yet, this has a potential to be a double in WC '22.  Although there is a certain schadenfreude about ENG being disappointed again, I still wanted them to win.  Maybe I should have tried harder to find my ENG Becks jersey (I had my ARG jersey on when ARG beat BRA in Copa Final and my USMNT jersey when USA beat Haiti to open the Gold Cup). 

Giacomo G (Gli Azzurri) saw his ITA battle back to tie and force ET and the PSO and wins our 3rd HWCI Euro Pool.  Although three picked ITA, only he was able to finish in the money.  The other three winners fell one spot with Tuan L (Footballsack), Tom J (Avenger #3), and Frank C (FrankfromSeattle) netting 2nd, 3rd, and 4th.  Slyelf (6th, 104) and Fantasy (7th, 104) were eliminated with ENG losing.  With two goals in the final, the total goals tiebreaker was 7 goals which helped break 14 ties in the standings.

Name	Nickname	Pts	Prize	Wins	# Euro (# Entries) [Total Won]
Giacomo G (3)	Gli Azzurri	122	1st Place	$240	1 (3)
Tuan L (1)	Footballsack	115	2nd Place	$120	3 (3) [$165 (4th '16)]
Tom J (3)	Avenger #3	110	3rd Place	$ 80	2 (5)
Frank C (1)	FrankfromSeattle	108	4th Place	$ 50	1 (1)

We are now on Twitter (@HWCI_Pools) and Discord for discussion or questions.  Please follow!  I will post using #hwcincaa mini-updates during the day so you can follow without being on Twitter (and if you are, please use #hwcincaa).  Please join our Facebook HWCI Soccer Pool Group or post comments on our blog. 

   Ins & Outs -  

• Goals (51 matches): 142 (2.78/match)

  • Own: 11 [1-TURvITA 53' {gw}, 10-POLvSVK 18', 12-GERvFRA 20' {gw}, 24-PORvGER 35', 24-PORvGER 39' (2), 28-FINvBEL 74' {gw}, 33-SVKvESP 30' {gw}, 33-SVKvESP 71' (2) | 42-ESPvCRO 20', 45-SUIvESP 8', 50-DENvENG 39']

  • Subs: 16 [4-BEL 27', 6-AUT 78' {gw}, 6-AUT 89' (2), 16-BEL 70' {gw} (2), 33-ESP 67', 36-GER 84' {gt} | 37-ITA 95', 37-ITA 105' {gw} (2), 37-AUT 114' (3), 42-CRO 85', 42-CRO 90'+2 {gt} (2), 42-ESP 114' (2), 41-SUI 90' {gt}, 43-UKR 120'+1 {gw}, 48-ENG 63', 49-ESP 80' (3) {gt}]

  • 90+/120+: 6 [11-POR +2, 13-WAL +5, 34-SWE +4 {gw} | 38-DEN +4, 42-CRO +2 {gt}, 43-UKR +1 (ET) {gw}]

  • Extra Time: 7 [37-ITA 95', 37-ITA 105' (2) {gw}, 37-AUT 114', 42-ESP 100' {gw}, 42-ESP 103' (2), 43-UKR 120'+1 {gw}, 50-ENG 104' {gw}]

• Scoring First: 35-4-10 [2 Nil-Nil ties (9-ESPvSWE, 20-ENGvSCO | -); 16-DEN, 24-POR | 42-CRO, 50-DEN {2}]

• Leading at Half: 23-1-7 [20 ties; 16-DEN | -]

• Shutout: 27 [1-TUR, 2-DEN, 4-RUS, 7-CRO, 8-SCO, 9-ESP, 9-SWE, 11-HUN, 12-GER, 15-FIN, 13-TUR (2), 14-SUI, 17-AUT, 21-SVK, 20-ENG, 20-SCO (2), 26-WAL, 29-MKD, 30-UKR, 28-FIN (2), 32-CZE, 33-SVK (2) | 38-WAL, 40-NED, 39-POR, 44-GER (2), 48-UKR (2)]

• PK: 9/17 [3-den (s) 74', 11-POR 87', 14-wal (h) 61', 18-mkd (s) 57', 18-ukr (s) 84', 17-NED 11', 21-SWE 77', 19-CZE, 22-esp (p) 58', 27-RUS 70', 33-esp (s) 12' {2}, 35-POR 31' {2}, 35-FRA 45'+2, 35-POR 60' {3} | 41-sui (s) 55', 46-BEL 45'+2, 50-eng (s) 104']

• Extra Time: 8 [37-ITAvAUT 2:1 (0:0), 42-CROvESP 3:5 (3:3), 41-FRAvSUI 3:3 (3:3), 43-SWEvUKR 2:1 (1:1), 45-SUI{2}vESP{2} 1:1 (1:1), 49-ITA{2}vESP{3} 1:1 (1:1), 50-ENGvDEN 2:1 (1:1), 51-ITA{2}vENG{2} 1:1 (1:1)]

  • PSO: 4 [41-SUI:FRA 5:4 (5.0 {GGGGG:GGGGs}), 43-ESP:SUI{2} 3:1 (4.5 {pGsGG:Gssh}), 49-ITA:ESP{2} 4:2 (4.5 {sGGGG:hGGs}), 51-ITA{2}:ENG 3:2 (5.0 {GsGGs:GGpss})]

• Red Card (GF/GA): 6 [10-POL 2Y (0/1) 62', 26-WAL R (0/0) 55' | 38-WAL R (0/1) 90' {2}, 40-NED R (0/2) 52', 43-SWE R (0/1) 98', 45-SUI R (0/0) 77']

• Multiple Goals: 14 [Lukaku 2 (4-BEL), Schick 2 (8-CZE), Ronaldo 2 (11-POR), Locatelli 2 (14-ITA), Shaqiri 2 (25-SUI), Wijnaldum 2 (29-NED), Forsberg 2 (34-SWE), Lewandowski 2 (34-POL), Benzema 2 (35-FRA), Ronaldo 2 (35-POR) {2} | Dolberg 2 (38-DEN), Benzema 2 (41-FRA), Seferovic 2 (41-SUI), Kane 2 (48-ENG)]

• Zero SOG (Shots): 5 [1-TUR (3), 9-SWE (4), 21-SVK (10), 33-SVK (3) {2} | 40-NED (7)]

• Goal Line Tech: 1 [42-CRO 85']

• VAR (-Reversal(Taken Away), +Reversal(Added), =Confirmed, xNo Call): 18 [3-SUI xOff+{g-} 85', 12-FRA xOff+{g-} 85', 15-FIN xOff+{g-} 3', 14-ITA xHB+{g-} 19', 18-MKD xHB+{pk+DEN} 80', 17-AUT xFoul+{pk+NED} 8', 19-CRO xFoul+{pk+CZE} 33', 22-ESP Off-{g+} 25', 22-POL xFoul+{pk+ESP} 55', 28-BEL xOff+{g-} 65', 33-SVK xFoul+{pk+ESP} 9', 35-FRA Off-{g+} 47' | 38-DEN Off-{g+} 90'+4, 37-AUT xOff+{g-} 65', 40-NED Y-{R+} 52', 41-FRA xFoul+{pk+SUI} 52', 43-SWE Y-{R+} 98', 46-ITA xOff+{g-} 13']

• 63%+ Poss: 11 [3-DENvFIN (64) L, 5-NEDvUKR (63) W, 9-ESPvSWE (75) D, 11-PORvHUN (65) W, 22-ESPvPOL (69) D {2}, 26-ITAvWAL (64) W, 31-CROvSCO (64) W, 36-GERvHUN (70) | 42-ESPvCRO (64) W {3}, 45-ESPvSUI (66) D(W) {4}, 49-ESPvITA (65) D(L) {5}]

• 20+ Shots (S/SOG/G):  12 [1-ITAvTUR (24/8/2+og)) W, 3-DENvFIN (23/6/0) L, 16-DENvBEL (22/6/1) L {2}, 25-SUIvTUR (23/10/3) W, 26-ITAvWAL (23/6/1) W {2} | 37-ITAvAUT (27/6/2) {3}, 39-POR (24/5/0) L, 42-ESP (23/10/5) W, 41-FRA (26/8/3) D(L), 45-ESP (27/10/0+og) {2} D(L), 50-ENG (21/10/1+og) W, 51-ITAvENG (20/6/1) D(W) {4}]

• Breaks (>30 min): 1 [3-DENvFIN (Injury) 43' (90 min) | -]

• Home Teams: 15-7-5 [3-DEN, 4-RUS, 8-SCO, 11-HUN, 12-GER, 16-DEN (2), 31-SCO (2) | -]

• Match Order of Play: [ 1 | 2-3-4 | 7-6-5 | 8-10-9 | 11-12 | 15-13-14 | 18-16-17 | 21-19-20 | 23-24-22 | 25/26 | 29/30-27/28 | 31/32 | 33/34-35/36 ] [ 38-37 | 40-39 | 42-41 | 44-43 ] [ 45-46 | 47-48 ] [ 49 | 50 ] [ 51 ]

• Final Standings # Grp Team W-L-D Pts (GD GF) {FP if applicable}:

 1 1A ITA 5-0-2 17 ( +9 13)
 2 1D ENG 5-0-2 17 ( +9 11)
 3 2E ESP 2-0-4 10 ( +7 13)
 4 2B DEN 3-3-0  9 ( +5 12) 
 5 1B BEL 4-1-0 12 ( +6  9)
 6 3D CZE 2-2-1  7 ( +2  6) 
 7 3A SUI 1-1-3  6 ( -1  8) 
 8 3C UKR 2-3-0  6 ( -4  6)

 9 1C NED 3-1-0  9 ( +4  8)
10 1E SWE 2-1-1  7 ( +1  5)
11 1F FRA 1-0-3  6 ( +1  7)
12 2C AUT 2-2-0  6 (  0  5)
13 3F POR 1-2-1  4 (  0  7) 
14 2D CRO 1-2-1  4 ( -1  7) 
15 2F GER 1-2-1  4 ( -1  6) 
16 2A WAL 1-2-1  4 ( -3  3) 

17 3B FIN 1-2-0  3 ( -2  1) 
18 4B RUS 1-2-0  3 ( -5  2) {5}
19 3E SVK 1-2-0  3 ( -5  2) {6}
20 4F HUN 0-1-2  2 ( -3  3)
21 4E POL 0-2-1  1 ( -2  4)
22 4D SCO 0-2-1  1 ( -4  1)
23 4C MKD 0-3-0  0 ( -6  2)
24 4A TUR 0-3-0  0 ( -7  1)

   Bits 'n Bobs -  all four semifinalists played all 3 group matches at home (NED and GER were the other 2 who played all 3 at home as well)... officially, ENG's first goal came at 1:56, fastest in a final and 5th quickest overall... first time both teams have scored in final since '00... ITA allowed the first goal for the first time in 19 matches... ENG had just one shot on goal, the goal in the 2'... ITA is 27-0-7 in last 34 matches (last loss Sept 2018 vPOR), a national record... 3 of ITA's 4 knockout matches went to ET... ENG finished 4-0-2 at home in London in this tourney (11-0-6 overall at Wembley in Euros/WC)... 142 goals (record 2.78/match) smashes previous record of 108 in '16 (best goals/match is 2.74 in '00)... the 11 own goals are more than the combined total of all previous Euro tourneys (9)... great golazos as 19 have been scored outside the box... of the 30 teams that played in the knockout round, just 5 were shut out... a record 8 knockout round matches went to Extra Time (8/15)... ITA had 20 shots, the 4th time they had 20+ shots in a match... all 4 teams that went first won the PSO... ITA is first team to win two PSOs in the same Euro tourney... ITA is 4th team to win multiple Euros (GER 3, ESP 3, FRA 2)... this was the 7th Euro final to go to ET but just the second to go to PSO ('76)... the sold-out announced attendance was 67,173 for the final (67,500 was the 75% max capacity), topping the previous high of 64,950 for the ENGvDEN semifinal... Budapest averaged 54,845 fans for its 4 matches... home teams finished 15-7-5 in probably the last continental tournament, even if there was no pandemic (some teams traveled nearly 10,000 miles while ENG only made one trip to Rome)... Germany will host Euro 2024, just 3 years away! GER qualifies as host, the other 23 to be decided in 2023 and March 2024 (Nations League playoffs)... fans broke through a barricade trying to get into the stadium without a ticket, which of course English fans would storm the castle... Euro Awards - ITA GK Gianluigi Donnarumma (5-0-2, 9 saves, 4 GA) (Player of the Tourney), ESP's Pedri (Young Player), POR's Cristiano Ronaldo (5G, 1A) (Top Scorer)...

Until the first winter World Cup, ciao!...
Scott