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USA CRUISES AND JOIN 8 OTHER TEAMS IN ROUND OF 16
Fotografo il Migliore and Pazzo Americano Tied for 1st

ALHAMBRA, CA (smt) -- The top teams are starting to warm up as 5 of the 6 top Group seeds have already advanced to the Round of 16.  Only C1-Australia, which had to rally from a 2-0 deficit to beat C3-Brazil, has yet to clinch.  C2-Italy (routing C4-Jamaica 5-0), D4-Japan, E4-Netherlands, and F4-Sweden also advanced with victories.  B1-Germany and D1-England squeaked by with 1-0 wins (Germany's second) while A1-France broke a 1-1 tie to win.  CONCACAF teams E1-Canada and F1-USA (who changed 7 starters) pitched shutouts and also did not allow a shot on goal by the opponent, the first two such events of the tourney.  A4-Nigeria surprised A2-Korea Republic 2-0 and B2-China PR's win stopped a six-match winless streak for the Asia Football Confederation (AFC).  F2-Thailand were bombarded with 74 shots over two matches but finally managed to score in stoppage time against SWE setting off an emotional celebration from the team, staff, and fans.

There were no ties in this second round of 12 matches and only one tie overall.  There have also just been one red card (2 cautions) and no direct red cards.  D2-Scotland's loss to JPN was UEFA's first loss against a non-UEFA team.  Six of the 9 UEFA teams have already advanced with A3-Norway and B3-Spain in good shape with three points but SCO will need some help at zero points and a -2 goal differential.  With four 3rd place teams advancing, even THA with zero points and a -17 GD still has a minuscule chance.

Fotografo il Migliore and Pazzo Americano are tied for first with 22 points and 12 entries are tied for 3rd with 21 points.  NGA>KOR was the only real upset of this second round.  Soccerhorn is last with 15 points.  Norway is the only team picked to win it all that has not clinched a ticket to the Knockout Stage yet.  16 entries went 11-1 while Soccerhorn went 7-5 for this second round.

Starting with Monday's matches,  a potential of at least 8 or 16 points can be earned for the next four days.  1 point per match and 3 points each for the top 2 finishers of each group (either 1 or 2 groups playing on the same day).  There is a potential for another six points if both groups in the day send their 3rd place team in.  But we may not know some of the 3rd place finishers until the last day. 

I'll be doing daily gameday updates on our Blog and re-posted on Twitter.  These updates will be every few days or so and will be emailed out.  Everyone can view their pick and bracket by clicking the "Pick" link in the standings next to their nickname or the picks page.  If you want to know who everyone is, the Who's Who in the Pool is now available.

   Ins 'n Outs -  Goals (24 Matches): 74 (3.08/match) [Own: 4 (2-NGAvNOR 37', 13-FRAvNOR 54', 15-KORvNGA 29', 17-BRAvAUS 66' {GW}), Subs: 8 (4-ESP 89', 10-NED 90'+2 {GW}, 11-USA 85', 11-USA 90'+2 {2}, 12-SWE 90'+4, 18-ITA 71', 18-ITA {2} 81', 20-SCO 88'), 90'+: 6 (5-ITA +5 {GW}, 10-NED +2 {GW}, 11-USA +2, 12-SWE +4, 24-THA +1, 24-SWE +6 {2} {pk}), Extra Time: -]... Scoring First: 20-3-0 [1 Nil-Nil ties (8-ARGvJPN); 4-RSA, 5-AUS, 17-BRA]... Leading at Half: 13-3-0 (8 ties; 4-RSA, 5- AUS, 17-BRA)... Shutout: 17 (1-KOR, 2-NGA, 3-CHN, 6-JAM, 8-ARG, 8-JPN, 9-CMR, 10-NZL, 11-THA, 12-CHI, 14-ESP, 15-KOR {2}, 17-RSA, 18-JAM {2}, 19-ARG {2}, 21-NZL {2}, 23-CHI {2})... PK: 8/11 (4-ESP 69', 4-ESP 82' {2}, 5-aus {s} 22', 6-bra {s} 38', 7-ENG 14', 13-FRA 72', 17-BRA 27', 18-ITA 12', 19-eng {2} {s} 28', 20-JPN 37', 23-usa {l} 81', 24-SWE 96'+)... PSO: -... Red Card (GF/GA): 1 (0/2) [4-RSA 81' {2Y} (0/2)]... Multiples: 10 [Renard 2 (1-FRA), Hermoso 2 (4-ESP), Bonansea 2 (5-ITA), Cristiane 3 (6-BRA), Morgan 5 (11-USA), Mewis 2 (11-USA), Lavelle 2 (11-USA), Girelli 3 (18-ITA), Galli 2 (18-ITA), Miedema 2 (22-NED), Lloyd 2 (23-USA)]... Zero SOG (Shots): 2 [21-NZL (2), 23-CHI (1)]... Goal Line Tech: 2 (6-BRA 64' G, 16-CHN 42' NG)... VAR (-Reversal(Taken Away), +Reversal(Added), =Confirmed, xNo Call): 16 (1-FRA xOff+{g-} 27', 4-ESP xPK= 66', 4-ESP xPK+ 81', 5-ITA Off={xg} 9', 5-ITA xPK= 67', 5-ITA Off={xg} 81', 6-BRA PK= 37', 7-ENG xPK+ 12', 13-FRA xPK+ 70', 14-NGA xHB={g} 29', 17-AUS xPK= 21', 17-AUS Off-{g+} 66', 19-ENG xPK+ 9', 19-JAM xGK+{retake PK} 11', 23-USA xPK+ 79', 24-SWE xPK+ 93'+)... 63%+ Poss: 9 [4-ESPvRSA (72) W, 9-CANvCMR (65) W, 10-NEDvNZL (69) W, 11-USAvTHA (75) W, 12-SWEvCHI (64) W, 19-ENGvARG (64) W, 21-CANvNZL (70) W, 23-USAvCHI (68), 24-SWEvTHA (66) W]... 20+ Shots: 7 [1-FRAvKOR (21) W, 4-ESPvRSA (25) W, 11-USA (39) W, 12-SWE (25) W, 21-CAN (22) W, 23-USA (26) W, 24-SWE (34) W]... Regions: UEFA (9) 14-4-0, AFC (5) 3-6-1, CAF (3) 1-5-0, Concacaf (3) 4-2-0, CONMEBOL (3) 1-4-1, OCEANIA (1) 0-2-0... Breaks: 1 [12-SWEvCHI (Lightning) 72' (~40 min)]...

  Qualification (x-Advance, y-Group Winner, z-Elim):  x-FRA (16-CHN W), x-GER (16-CHN W)... x-ITA (18-W), x-ENG (19-W)... x-NED (22-W), x-CAN (21-W)...  x-SWE (24-W), x-USA (23-W), x-JPN (23-SWE W & 24-USA W)...

   Bits 'n Bobs -  FRA scored all three goals in the match but one was an own goal... there was a malfunctioning flag (!) so the assistant ref had to get a new one in the FRAvNOR match... NGA's GK Chiamaka Nnadozie has faced 11 shots on goal, saving 7 with 4 others cleared in the goal box... GER has not allowed a 1st half goal in 19 straight WWC matches ('03 Final vSWE)... RSA's GK Andlie Dlamni who made a tourney-high 9 saves vESP, sat out the 2nd match vCHN... ESP outshot GER 16-15 but just two were on goal... NGA scored for the first time in 302 minutes... AUS 3rd team to rally to win after allowing first goal and first to do so after allowing the first two goals (2nd team ever in 248 matches - SWE>GER '95)... BRA's Marta scored in her fifth straight WWC (3-7-4-1-1), the all-time goals leader (16) and first to score in 5 WWCs... BRA lost for the first time in group stage since '95 and gave up more goals today than in the previous 13 group stage matches (2)... RSA only committed 3 fouls... CHN's win put GER and FRA into the Knockout Stage... ITA's PK was saved but VAR ruled GK did not have a foot on the line and on the retake, ITA converted... UEFA suffered their first defeat to a non-UEFA team when SCO lost to JPN (was 9-0-0)... JPN made it 3 wins in a row for AFC after starting 0-5-1... JPN has won last 6 matches against UEFA teams... SCO wore pink unis... ENG missed a PK, their first WWC miss (now 8 of 9)... ARG once again held a top 10 team scoreless in the first 60 minutes and still has not earned a corner kick... CAN's unis are so bland, like a t-shirt with a Canada iron-on patch in the upper left and they don't even have the game specific info (e.g., CAN v NZL) ironed on like all the other teams... NZL became the first team with zero shots on goal (2 shots overall, tying a tourney-low)... CAN's GK Stephanie Labbe has only faced one shot on goal in 2 matches, making the save... prior to this year, all 183 teams who got 5 points reached the Knockout Stage... with just one tie, six teams with zero points, and four teams yet to score (KOR, JAM, ARG, NZL), it's hard to justify the 24 teams yet expanding to 32 like the men's (until the men's expand to 48 in 2026)... USA's Carli Lloyd had 10 shots (4 on goal) and missed a PK but had 2 goals to set a record by scoring in her 6th straight WWC match... another sellout in Paris as 45,594 watched USAvCHI... CHI GK Christiane Endler actually got Player of the Match with 6 saves, most of them world-class... USA has won a 7 straight WWC matches and 12 straight without a loss... all 20 USA field players have played... USA had 15 corner kicks (CHI 1 - only shot in 32')... just 9,354 watched the SWEvTHA match... THA's 18 goals allowed ties ARG's record in 2007... THA's GK was credited with 10 saves in her first start... Six went 3-0 on Wednesday while All North America (42nd-Tied, 17) went 0-3 (39 picked FRA, 40 GER, and 7 NGA)... 19 went 2-0 on Thursday while 5 went 0-2 (22 picked AUS and 36 CHN)... 36 went 3-0 on Friday while Eggman (35th-T, 18) went 1-2 (41 picked JPN, 38 ITA, and 44 ENG)... 40 went 2-0 on Saturday while four went 1-1 (43 picked NED, 41 picked CAN)... all 44 went 2-0 on Sunday resulting in no change in the standings...

Love the unis on some of these teams - USA (red), AUS (yellow), CHN (gray), NZL (black), THA (blue) while NGA (lime green), FRA (white polka dots), SCO (pink) are hard to watch...
Scott