Monday, July 6, 1998 http://www.HWCI.com/wc98 Issue # 32.3.4 "Time to get nervous..." 1998 HWCI WORLD CUP TOURNAMENT POOL =================================== SEMIFINALS TO FEATURE CINDERELLA MATCHUP AND EXPLOSIVE MATCHUP Russo finishes dead last while inaugural pool heads for climax EL SEGUNDO, CA (smt)- The last four teams will battle it out for the right to be crowned the 1998 World Cup champions beginning Tuesday. The Brazil-Holland match could be one of the most entertaining matches of the tourney, led by the attacking and skilled styles of both teams. Wednesday's France-Croatia matchup features two teams not used to being in the tourney at this late stage. This is Croatia's first World Cup and France has only made the semifinals 3 times before and hasn't been in a World Cup since 1986. We were heading toward a predictable Final Four: Germany, Brazil, Argentina, and Italy- these four teams have won 12 of the 15 World Cups and two of these teams have battled each other in the Final five times, including the past four World Cups ('82, '86, '90, '94). However, France beat Italy, Croatia upended Germany, and Holland (who are 0-2 in the World Cup final) took care of Argentina. Only Brazil managed to survive (barely) in overcoming Denmark and reach the semifinals. Tuesday's match will be looked at closely by SAN DIEGO SUCKERS and NAW'DEEN. If Holland beats Brazil, then SD SUCKERS will have a chance for 3rd place, otherwise NAW'DEEN will position herself better to claim 3rd. LUIS ENRIQUE'S ARMADA needs Holland to win for any chance at 4th place. SOCCER SPICE needs Brazil to win for any chance at 4th place. The big match is Wednesday, though, as that will decide who gets first place. If Croatia wins, then MLSBOB will finish in first, otherwise LE BIX pulls off the come-from-behind victory. SOCKER SCOOTER needs France to win to keep his hope for 3rd place alive. SD SUCKERS only chance for 2nd place stays alive only if Holland and Croatia both win. RUSSO will finish dead last, with an HWCI record-low of 68 points. In four previous HWCI NCAA Pools, the lowest score (out of the same 196 possible points as this WC pool) has been 80 points. RUSSO will be the only one to finish with zero points in the final three rounds. LE BIX is the only one who could get both of his finalists correct (Brazil and France). The semifinal matches are worth nine points each and the final match is worth 14. SOCKER SCOOTER, despite sitting in 10th place, can still get 3rd place. MLSBOB can't finish lower than 2nd place and LE BIX can't finish lower than 3rd place. THE BRUTE SQUAD remains the ultimate HWCI loser by not winning in any of his six entries (5 NCAA, 1 WC) so far. LE BIX, who won the inaugural HWCI NCAA pool (then BIX PIX), will try to duplicate that success on Wednesday. ------------------------- FINAL BOTTOM 28 STANDINGS ------------------------- Rnk GRP TEAM W-L-T PTS GF/A GD ------------------------------------------ 5 B Italy 3-0-2 11 7/3 +4 6 H Argentina 3-1-1 10 10/4 +6 7 F Germany 3-1-1 10 8/6 +2 8 C Denmark 2-2-1 7 9/7 +2 ----------------------------------------- 9 G England 2-1-1 7 7/4 +3 10 F Yugoslavia 2-1-1 7 5/4 +1 11 G Romania 2-1-1 7 4/3 +1 12 D Nigeria 2-2-0 6 6/9 -3 13 E Mexico 1-1-2 5 8/7 +1 14 D Paraguay 1-1-2 5 3/2 +1 15 A Norway 1-1-2 5 5/5 0 16 B Chile 0-1-3 3 5/8 -2 ----------------------------------------- 17 D Spain 1-1-1 4 8/4 +4 18 A Morocco 1-1-1 4 5/5 0 19 E Belgium 0-0-3 3 3/3 0 20 G Colombia 1-2-0 3 1/3 -2 21 F Iran 1-2-0 3 1/4 -3 22 H Jamaica 1-2-0 3 3/9 -6 23 B Austria 0-1-2 2 3/4 -1 24 C South Africa 0-1-2 2 3/6 -3 25 B Cameroon 0-1-2 2 2/5 -3 26 G Tunisia 0-2-1 1 1/4 -3 27 A Scotland 0-2-1 1 2/6 -4 28 C Saudi Arabia 0-2-1 1 2/7 -5 29 D Bulgaria 0-2-1 1 1/7 -6 30 E South Korea 0-2-1 1 2/9 -7 31 H Japan 0-3-0 0 1/4 -3 32 F USA 0-3-0 0 1/5 -4 -------------------- SEMIFINAL SCHEDULE -------------------- Tue., 7/7: #61(D1). 1A(A)-Brazil (BRA) (5-0) -vs- 1E(C)-Netherlands (HOL) (3-0-2), Noon (PDT) Wed., 7/8: #62(D2). 1C(B)-France (FRA) (4-0-1) -vs- 2H(D)-Croatia (HRV) (4-1), Noon (PDT) Who to root for: Host France or Underdog Croatia?... Scott HW -----------------------------------------\\ || /\ || // ___ Scott M Tamashiro, HWCI Engineering \\||//\\||// /o-o\\ \ \ ` WC98 Pool Administrator \ / \ / (o-o-o)) ) > > > Email: scott@hwci.com || || \`o'// / / , Updates: http://www.HWCI.com/wc98 || || WORLD CUP ---------------------------------------------------- POOL 1998