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USA WINS GROUP, 7 TEAMS BATTLED FOR LAST 2 R16 SPOTS
Fotografo il Miglore and Kds911 are Tied for 1st; 40 Still Alive and 36 Can Win Pool

ATLANTA, GA (smt) -- F1-United States comfortably beat F4-Sweden 2-0 to win Group F.  E1-Netherlands, B1-Germany, and D1-England also won handily to win their Groups.  A1-France needed a couple of VAR reviews to beat A4-Nigeria.  All five teams picked up the max 9 points.  C3-Brazil beat C2-Italy to tie them along with C1-Australia with 6 points got beat by goal differential to only get 3rd while ITA took 1st and AUS 2nd.  B2-China PR and B3-Spain advanced by tying teach other (ESP taking 2nd) while A3-Norway helped themselves finish 2nd with a win.  Despite losing, E1-Canada and SWE took 2nd in their groups. 

But the biggest battle was for 3rd.  After CHN and BRA claimed spots, there were just two spots left.  Seven teams were trying to get in.  NGA lost their chance to clinch (turned out they would have) then and there with FRA getting the late PK retake and having to wait.  D2-Scotland was in having built up a 3-0 lead with 16 minutes to go but D3-Argentina stormed back to tie, keeping ARG's slim hopes alive and killing SCO's.  But with a tie doing neither E2-Cameroon or E3-New Zealand any good, CMR broke out in the 90'+5 to seal a spot in the R16 and knocking ARG out of contention and essentially eliminating F4-Thailand (they would need a 15-goal win).  F3-Chile needed a 3-goal win over THA and led 2-0 before getting PK opportunity in the 83' but the PK blast went off the crossbar crushing CHI's hopes and putting NGA into the R16.   

There were two more ties but just 3 of 36 matches ended deadlocked.  There have been just two red cards (2 cautions) and no direct red cards.  8 of the 9 UEFA teams and 2 of the 3 CAF teams qualified while the AFC got 3, CONCACAF 2, and CONMEBOL 1.  VAR has already ruled that the GK came off the line too early three times (and each subsequent PK was made). 

Fotografo il Migliore and Kds911 are tied for first with 72 points and 7 entries are tied for 3rd with 71 points.  NGA>KOR was the only real upset of this second round.  Soccerhorn is last with 57 points.  All 9 teams picked to win it all advanced to the Knockout Stage yet. 

With the Round of 16 set, we can run a model to unofficially simulate 32,768 possible outcomes (2¹⁵) and see which of the 44 entries have been eliminated from finishing in the top 4 money spots.  Inefficiently running this took about 12 hours and amazingly, 40 entries are still alive and more incredibly, 36 can still win the pool.  Pazzo Americano (3rd-Tied, 71) has the best chance to win the pool at 12.86% while Fotografo il Migliore has the best chance at money with 32.83%.  Coco (39th-T, 62), Poolraider (39th-T), Show-them-the-money (35th-T, 64), and The Puma (37th-T, 63) have been eliminated. BitchBttrHaveMy$$$ is tied for 16th (69) but can't win the pool while Cheers-from-Europe is tied for 42nd (60) and can still win the pool and Soccerhorn is last and can still finish 3rd.

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 (36 Matches): 106 (2.94/match) [Own: 8 (2-NGAvNOR 37', 13-FRAvNOR 54', 15-KORvNGA 29', 17-BRAvAUS 66' {GW}, 32-SCOvARG 79', 34-CMRvNZL 80', 35-SWEvUSA 50', 36-THAvCHI 48'), Subs: 11 (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', 29-JAM 49', 32-ARG 74', 33-NED 75'), 90'+: 8 (5-ITA +5 {GW}, 10-NED +2 {GW}, 11-USA +2, 12-SWE +4, 24-THA +1, 24-SWE +6 {2} {pk}, 31-ARG +4 {GT} {pk}, 34-CMR +5 {GW}), Extra Time: -]... Scoring First: 30-3-1 [2 Nil-Nil ties (8-ARGvJPN, 28-CHNvESP); 4-RSA, 5-AUS, 17-BRA]... Leading at Half: 18-3-1 (14 ties; 4-RSA, 5- AUS, 17-BRA)... Shutout: 23 (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}, 27-RSA {2}, 28-CHN {2}, 28-ESP {2}, 25-NGA {2}, 30-ITA, 31-JPN {2}, 35-SWE)... PK: 13/17 (4-ESP 69', 4-ESP 82' {2}, 5-aus {s} 22', 6-bra {s} 38', 7-ENG 14', 13-FRA 72', 17-BRA 27' {2}, 18-ITA 12', 19-eng {2} {s} 28', 20-JPN 37', 23-usa {wl} 81', 24-SWE 96'+, 25-FRA 79' {2}, 26-NOR 4', 26-NOR 50' {2}, 30-BRA 74' {3}, 32-ARG 90'+4, 36-chi {xb} 86')... PSO: -... Red Card (GF/GA): 2 (0/3) [4-RSA 81' {2Y} (0/2), 25-NGA 75' {2Y} (0/1)]... Multiples: 13 [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), Kerr 4 (29-AUS), White 2 (31-ENG), Nchout 2 (34-CMR)]... Zero SOG (Shots): 4 [21-NZL (2), 23-CHI (1), 25-NGA (2), 28-CHN (1)]... Goal Line Tech: 2 (6-BRA 64' G, 16-CHN 42' NG)... VAR (-Reversal(Taken Away), +Reversal(Added), =Confirmed, xNo Call): 23 [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'+, 25-FRA xPK+ 73', 25-NGA xGK+{retake PK} 76', 32-ARG xPK+ 86', 32-SCO xGK+{retake PK} 90'+2, 33-CAN PK- 1', 35-USA xOff={g} 50', 36-CHI xPK+ 83')... 63%+ Poss: 10 [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, 25-FRAvNGA (69) W]... 20+ Shots: 13 [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, 25-FRA (22) W, 26-KOR (23) L, 27-GER (23) W, 28-ESP (24) D, 34-CMR (22) W, 36-CHI (29) W]... Regions: UEFA (9/8) 19-6-2, AFC (5/3) 4-9-2, CAF (3/2) 2-7-0, Concacaf (3/2) 5-4-0, CONMEBOL (3/1) 3-4-2, OCEANIA (1/-) 0-3-0... Breaks: 1 [12-SWEvCHI (Lightning) 72' (~40 min)]...

  Qualification (x-Advance, a-Group Winner, b-Group Runner Up, c-3rd place, 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)... a-GER (25-W), b-ESP (26-D), c-CHN (26-D), z-RSA (25-L)... a-FRA (23-W), b-NOR (24-W), z-KOR (24-L)... a-ITA (GD), b-AUS (29-W & GD), c-BRA (30-W), z-JAM (29-L)... a-ENG (31-W), b-JPN (32-ARG D), z-SCO (32-D)... a-NED (33-W), b-CAN (33-L), c-CMR (34-W), z-NZL (34-L), z-ARG (34-CMR W)... a-USA (35-W), b-SWE (35-L), c-NGA (36-CHI GD), z-CHI (GD), z-THA (36-L) ...

   Standings (17-24): 

17 CHI 1-2-0  3 ( -3  2) [ -5]
18 ARG 0-1-2  2 ( -1  3) [ -3]
19 SCO 0-2-1  1 ( -2  5) [ -6]
20 NZL 0-3-0  0 ( -4  1) [ -1]
21 KOR 0-3-0  0 ( -7  1) [ -7]
22 RSA 0-3-0  0 ( -7  1) [ -9]
23 JAM 0-3-0  0 (-11  1) [ -4]
24 THA 0-3-0  0 (-19  1) [ -5]

   Bits 'n Bobs -  GER has not lost in 19 (16-0-3) straight WWC group stage matches ('95 vSWE)... GER has not allowed a 1st half goal in 20 straight WWC matches ('03 Final vSWE)... RSA's GK Andlie Dlamni returned after missing the 2nd match and made 8 more saves (17 total)... ESP has taken 65 shots with 23 on goal but have only scored 3 times (take out the 2 PKs, then ESP has scored once in 21 shots on goal)... ESP outshot CHN 24-1  (9-0 on goal) and had 8 CKs (to zero for CHN) in scoreless draw... CHN's GK had 9 saves and has 14 overall... CHN scored just one goal on 4 shots on goal in 3 matches... FRA converted in the 79' (seriously from the first foul to the goal the dead time was 6 minutes and 45 seconds (72:08 to 78:53)), hence, 8 minutes of stoppage time that extended the match to an even 100:00... NGA had just 15 min of playing time... not sure why the time of the 2 NOR PK goals are off, unless the TV time was off as these should have been 5' and 51' (not 4' and 50')... NOR's 2 PK goals were their only two shots on goal... NOR has six goals but 2 were own goals and 2 were PKs... AUS's Sam Kerr had 4 goals, the last pouncing on a GK mistake, giving her 5 this tourney... AUS's 4th goal put them back into 2nd after BRA took a 1-0 lead... BRA's Marta's PK goal made her the all-time WC (men's or women's) goal leader with 17 (Men's GER's Klose 16)... btw, what's with Marta's deep dark lipstick?... 28 fouls in the ITAvBRA match (15 BRA, 13 ITA) and SCOvARG match (15 SCO, 13 ARG)... ENG made 8 changes to their lineup... JPN has been held scoreless twice yet picked up 4 pts... ARG is first team to come back from 3-0 deficit to tie, all 3 goals in the last 16 minutes... SCO's foul to final PK make took a long 7 min and 27 seconds (85:49 to 93:16) to finish... SCO is the only UEFA team not to make the R16... CMR barrage at 64' for a great 3 save sequence with the 4th going just wide left... just 8,009 to see CMR's last goal of the match in the 90'+5 to send them to the R16... CAN's GK Stephanie Labbe had only faced one shot on goal in 2 matches but she faced 3 and let 2 in loss to NED... USA's Lindsey Horan's 3' goal is fastest thus far... all 194 teams who got 5+ points reached the Knockout Stage... USA's Carli Lloyd had her 6 match streak of at least one goal snapped thanks to brillant save by SWE... USA has won a 8 straight WWC matches and 13 straight without a loss... USA has 83 shots and 34 shots on goal...  THA's 20 goals allowed is most in history as is USA's 18 goals scored... NZL and CHI were the last teams to score and both were own goals... CHI hit the left post in 10', the crossbar in 45'+2, off the left post off the GK for a goal in 48', and off the crossbar on PK in 86'... GER and USA were the only teams to not allow a goal...

On Monday, Group B: 13 went 2-0 (13 TIE, 40 GER) while 4 went 0-2, 40 got all 3 teams in while 4 got 2 teams (44 GER, 43 ESP, 41 CHN), on placement (44 had GER 1st, 24 ESP 2nd, 21 CHN 3rd (12 as BEF, 9 as ABF)); Group A: 27 went 2-0 while 4 went 0-2 (27 NOR, 40 FRA), 43 got both teams while Hereforthecommentary missed NOR (44 FRA, 43 NOR), on placement (43 had FRA 1st, 31 NOR 2nd); overall, 6 went 4-0 while 2 went 0-4 (Poolraider, Coco), 39 got all 5 teams in R16 while 5 got 4 of 5, 6 picked up max of 19 points while 2 got just 14 (BENSANCHO, Hereforthecomentary), 4 tied for 1st with 40 pts (Eleanor Abernathy, Fotografo il Migliore, Pazzo Americano, Spermicidal FC) and two tied for last with 32 pts (Hereforethecommentary, Soccerhorn)... on Tuesday, Group C: 27 went 2-0 (39 AUS, 27 BRA) while 5 went 0-2, 34 got all 3 teams in while 10 got 2 teams (35 ITA, 44 AUS, 43 BRA (From the Pubs! only one not to pick BRA)), on placement (Mauihammy II was only one to have ITA 1st, 7 AUS 2nd, 11 BRA 3rd (9 as CDE, 2 as ACD); overall, 20 picked up max of 11 points while 3 got just 7; 30 have all 8 R16 teams while BENSANCHO has 6; 4 tied for 1st with 51 pts (Eleanor Abernathy, Fotografo il Migliore, Pazzo Americano, Spermicidal FC) and 3 tied for last with 42 pts (Coco, Hereforthecommentary, Poolraider)... on Wednesday, Group D: 5 went 2-0 (25 ENG, 8 TIE) while 16 went 0-2, 40 got both teams in R16 (44 ENG, 40 JPN) while 4 got 1 of 2, on placement (37 had ENG 1st, 31 had JPN 2nd); overall 3 picked up max of 8 points while 2 got just 4 (Show-them-the-money, Soccerhorn); 26 have all 10 R16 teams while BENSANCHO has 8; 3 tied for 1st with 58 pts (Eleanor Abernathy, Fotografo il Migliore, Pazzo Americano) and Soccerhorn is last with 47 pts... on Thursday, Group E: 3 went 2-0 (20 NED, 3 CMR) and 24 went 0-2, 43 got 2 of 3 R16 teams (40 NED, 43 CAN, 4 CMR) while Mauihammy only got 1, on placement (18 had NED 1st, 17 CAN 2nd, 0 CMR 3rd (0 as BEF, 0 as CDE)); overall, 3 got 8 of 11 points while Mauihammy got just 4 pts, 26 have 12 of 13 R16 teams, 2 have 10; Fotografo il Migliore in 1st (65 pts) while Mauihammy and Soccerhorn in last (52 pts); Group F: 17 went 2-0 (36 USA, 19 CHI) while 6 went 0-2, 2 got all 3 R16 teams (44 USA, 41 SWE, 2 NGA (Hereforthecommentary, From the Pubs!)) while 3 got 1, on placement (44 had USA 1st, 40 SWE 2nd, 1 NGA 3rd (0 as ACD, as 1 ABF)); overall, 2 got 10 of 11 points while Cheers-from-Europe got 3... End of Group Stage: 28 got 14 of 16 R16 teams, 5 got 12, 4 got 30 of 36 matches while Soccerhorn got 21...

Lots of drama for 3rd place...
Scott