Friday, June 29, 2018 
Issue #4.1.3 "No German Ingenuity" (After 48 Matches)
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OLD GERMANY OUSTED; JAPAN SNEAKS IN
Kds911 leads by 2; 22 lost Germany as their champ

TERMINAL 21, WASHINGTON REAGAN NATIONAL AIRPORT, VA (smt) --  F4-Korea Republic shocked F1-Germany in stoppage time... twice, to send the defending champs out of the Knockout Stage or the first time since 1954.  KOR's win saved F2-Mexico the embarrassment of being the team to win their first two matches and fail to make the Round of 16 (getting trounced by eventual Group F winner F3-Sweden 3-0).  B1-Portugal was eerily close to being eliminated as B4-Iran had tied them 1-1 and threatened a couple times late to win which would have sent the Portuguese out on Fair Play Points against B2-Spain.  Spain got a stoppage time goal using a quick restart just to make sure they made the R16 and with IRN's late goal, won Group B. 

H2-Japan did advance via Fair Play Points, however, as both they and H4-Senegal lost 1-0 in their last match making them even on points, goals, goal differential, and head-to-head.  So before the dreaded coin flip (draw lots), the second to last tiebreaker is Fair Play Points (first WC to use this tiebreaker), where yellow cards earn you 1 point and reds 2 each.  Japan had a 2 point advantage that grew to 3 (when SEN picked up a yellow) and settled back to 2.  JPN and MEX are the only non-European, non-South American teams in the R16.

C1-France danced to a tie with C4-Denmark to win Group C while E1-Brazil and H3-Colombia ended with strong wins to win Groups D and H, respectively.  A4-Uruguay, G1-Belgium, and D1-Croatia all finished 3-0-0.  A2-Saudi Arabia, C3-Peru, G3-Tunisia, and H1-Poland picked up their first win of the tournament.  E2-Switzerland and E3-Costa Rica played to a 2-2 sending the Swiss into the R16.  Very weird to see 24 penalty kicks (breaking the WC record of 18 set in '90, '98, and '02) called and only one red card (we have had just 3 red cards overall).  URU has not allowed a goal in the tournament.  It's also been a mostly fun tournament with all teams scoring at least two goals and with only one scoreless draw.  And just two teams failed to earn a point (EGY and PAN).

Kds911 is our leader with 73 points.  Blitzkrieg813, Flying Elvi, and The Mighty Mobelfakta are tied for 2nd with 71 points.  Kds911 and Toshiyori (15th-T, 67) got 31 of 48 matches correct while 18 got 14 of 16 Round of 16 teams correct.  On the flip side, Sokkerbix (51st-T, 59), TroJen (70th-T, 53), and Tjnunes (79th, 44) got just 17 of 48 matches correct and Soccerhorn (78th, 48) and Tjnunes only got 9 of 16 R16 teams.  Toshiyori has picked six straight matches correctly while Ish (51st-T) has missed his last six.  Sokkerbix has missed 13 of his last 14 matches.

All 79 had GER in the R16 and 44 had them in their Final with 22 winning the Cup.  Not going to happen.  But all 79 did get ARG, BEL, and FRA correct.  Only 10 picked JPN and 16 SWE.  Most had ARG as the group winner, so ARG finishing second means that most will get the five points between FRA-ARG, it's just a matter is it five points for FRA or five points for ARG.  It also means FRA or ARG will be eliminated, as 71 of 79 entries had both teams in the Quarters but only one will survive.

Eric's "Foster's Football Brew", a HWCI EURO Pool staple, is back, already two issues in.  If anyone else wants to contribute, let me know.  Anyone else going to Russia and want to send pictures or mini-reports?

The prize distribution and Bonus Prize will be detailed at a later date (although eagle-eyed viewers will already have seen the distribution).  The Bonus Prize will be the same but if we go to the Bonus2 contest, because those with 0.5 are at a disadvantage, the total goals predicted will be doubled and include the two semifinal matches (4 matches total).

The best way to keep up with the pool is to follow @HWCI_Pools on Twitter or visit the #HWwc 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.

   SIDES 'N KICKS:  [48 Matches / 9 Ties] Goals: 122 (2.54/match) [Own: 9 (4-MARvIRN, 5-AUSvFRA, 8-NGAvCRO, 15-POLvSEN, 17-EGYvRUS, 33-RUSvURU,  42-SUIvCRC, 44-MEXvSWE, 46-TUNvPAN), Subs (incl. Own): 8 (1-RUS 70', 4-MAR {og} 90'+5, 29-BEL 90', 30-ENG 78', 32-JPN 78', 35-IRN 90'+3, 36-MAR 81', 36-ESP 90'+1, 42-SUI 88'),  Stoppage: 16 (1-RUS +1, 1-RUS +4, 4-IRN +5 {GW}, 14-ENG +1 {GW}, 23-CRO +1, 25-BRA +1 {GW}, 25-BRA +7, 27-GER +5 {GW}, 28-KOR +3, 29-TUN +3, 34-KSA +5 {GW}, 35-IRN +3 {GT}, 36-ESP +1 {GT}, 42-CRC +3 {GT}, 43-KOR +3 {GW}, 43-KOR +6)]... Scoring First: 35-4-8 (1 Nil-Nil ties [37-DENvFRA]; 26-SRB, 27-SWE, 34-EGY, 46-PAN)... Lead at Half: 15-3-4 (26 ties; 26-SRB, 27-SWE, 46-PAN)... Shutout: 27 (1-KSA, 2-EGY, 4-MAR, 6-PER, 8-NGA, 10-CRC, 11-GER, 12-KOR, 13-PAN 18-KSA {2}, 19-MAR {2}, 20-IRN, 21-PER {2}, 23-ARG, 24-ISL, 25-CRC {2}, 31-POL, 33-RUS, 37-DEN, 37-FRA, 38-AUS, 41-SRB, 43-GER {2}, 44-MEX, 45-ENG, 47-JPN, 48-SEN)... PK: 18/24 (3-POR, 5-AUS, 5-FRA, 6-per [H], 7-arg [S], 8-CRO, 12-SWE, 14-TUN, 16-JPN, 18-EGY, 22-AUS {2}, 24-isl [H], 28-MEX, 29-BEL, 30-ENG, 30-ENG {2}, 34-ksa [S], 34-KSA {2}, 35-por [S] {2}, 35-IRN, 39-NGA, 40-ISL, 42-crc [XB], 44-SWE {2})... Red Card (GF/GA): 3 (2/2) [16-COL 3' {R} (1/1), 27-GER 82' {2Y} (1/0), 33-RUS 36' {2Y} (0/1)]... Multiples: 10 [Cheryshev 2 (1-RUS), Ronaldo 3 (3-POR), Costa 2 (3-ESP), Lukaku 2 (13-BEL), Kane 2 (14-ENG), Musa 2 (24-NGA), Lukaku 2 {2} (29-BEL), Hazard 2 (29-BEL), Stones 2 (30-ENG), Kane 3 {2} (30-ENG)]... Zero SOG (Shots): 4 [1-KSA (6), 12-KOR (5), 20-IRN (5), 25-CRC (4)]... Goal Line Tech (Award): 1 (5-FRA 81')... VAR: 17 (5-FRA PK+ 56', 6-PER PK+ 45', 12-SWE PK+ 63', 17-EGY PK+InBox 72', 20-IRN Off+ 62', 22-AUS PK+ 36', 25-BRA PK- 79', 24-ISL PK+ 80', 34-KSA PK+ 45'+2, 35-POR PK+ 50', 35-IRN PK+ 90'+1, 36-ESP Off- 90'+1, 39-NGA PK- 76', 42-CRC Off+ 90'+1, 43-KOR Off- 90'+3, 44-SWE PK- 29', 48-SEN PK- 17')... 63%+ Poss: 10 [4-MARvIRN (63) L, 7-ARGvISL (73) T, 20-ESPvIRN (68) W, 25-BRAvCRC (69) W, 27-GERvSWE (71) W, 35-PORvIRN (68) T, 36-ESPvMAR (68) T, 39-ARGvNGA (65) W, 43-GERvKOR (70) L, 44-MEXvSWE (65) L, 6-TUNvPAN (64) W]... 25+ Shots: 3 [7-ARG (26vISL) D, 11-GER (25vMEX) L, 43-GER (26vKOR) L]... Regions (Teams/R16): UEFA (14/10) 21-11-10, CONMEBOL (5/4) 9-4-2, AFC (5/1) 4-8-3, CAF (5/0) 3-10-2, CONCACAF (3/1) 2-6-1, OCEANIA (0)... Qualify: A-RUS (18-URU W), A-URU (18-W), C-FRA (21-W), D-CRO (23-W), G-BEL (30-ENG W), G-ENG (30-W), B-POR (35-T), B-ESP (36-T), C-DEN (37-T), D-ARG (39-W & 40-ISL L), F-MEX (43-GER L), F-SWE (44-W), E-BRA (41-W), E-SUI (42-T), H-COL (48-W), H-JPN (48-SEN L & Fair Play)... Eliminated:  A-KSA (18-URU W), A-EGY (18-URU W), B-MAR (20-ESP W), C-PER (21-L), E-CRC (26-SUI W), G-TUN (30-ENG W), G-PAN (30-L), H-COL (31-L), B-IRN (35-T & 36-ESP T), C-AUS (38-L), D-NGA (39-L), D-ISL (40-L), F-KOR (44-SWE W), F-GER (44-L), E-SRB (41-L), H-SEN (48-L & Fair Play)... Won Group: A-URU (34-W), B-ESP (36-T & 35-POR T), C-FRA (37-T), D-CRO (40-W), F-SWE (44-W & 43-GER L), E-BRA (41-W & 42-SUI-T), G-BEL (45-W), H-COL (48-W & 47-JPN L)... ESP has a 23-match undefeated streak and BEL has a 22-match undefeated streak... IRN earlier ended MAR's 18-match undefeated streak... 5-AUS's, 14-TUN's, and 17-EGY's only shot on goal was their PK goal... RUS just had 3 shots (1 on goal) vs URU... PER 1st goal since 1982 (205 min)... 9 own goals breaks '98 record of 6... CRC hit the post three times, including the PK attempt that bounced off the crossbar and then off the GK's head into the goal... GER is 4th defending champ in 5 WCs to be bounced in Group Stage ('02-BRA QF)... GER last eliminated in group stage in '54... MEX has made 7 straight R16 stage (all failed to reach QF (0-6-1))... CRC was the 9th team to score in stoppage time to tie or win the match... BEL has scored the most goals (9) off a tourney high of 22 shots on goal and best goal differential (+7) while PAN allowed 11 goals and had a -9 GD... all 32 teams scored at least 2 goals with only URU holding all three opponents scoreless... GER had two matches of 25 or more shots and lost both (they had high of 67 shots)... IRN took the fewest shots (21) and had the fewest on goal (4)... AFC's Korea Rep had the most fouls (63) and JPN had the least (28)... PAN picked up 11 yellows while ESP, KSA, and URU only received one... ARG were picked on the most, suffering 54 fouls while EGY was fouled only 21 times... with all the PKs, only 13 teams did not commit a foul in the penalty box while EGY and PAN allowed 2 PKs in the same match... non-European and non-South American teams went 9-24-6 and qualified only 2 of 13 teams (MEX and JPN) -- are we sure expanding to 48 teams is a good idea?... more than half the matches were tied at the half (26 of 48 (54.1%))... this is the first time since '82 that no CAF team made the Round of 16... officially, 17 events were flagged for official VAR review (summary) with 14 decisions being changed and 3 upheld... VAR also corrected a mistaken identity 21-PER 81' and helped award two yellow cards (10-SRB YC+ 90'+8, 35-POR YC+ 83')... Tjnunes is the only entry to get zero points in one of the groups final matches (0 for Group H)... Sir Kyle (9th-T, 68) and Watching in Korea (26th-T, 65) got all 16 points on Day 2 (Groups C and D)...

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Still depressed about the USB drive failure, but luckily Excel files were backed up or the pool would've been kaput!...
Scott