Mexico Thrills, Favorites Struggle

Entering the World Cup, Germany, Brazil, Argentina, Spain and Portugal were listed among the sure fire favorites to win their groups and challenge for the trophy.  Of those five teams, none have won a match in Russia so far this summer.  Russia, Iran, Serbia, Croatia and Mexico are all leading the groups with those powerhouse nations.  Don't you just love the World Cup this year!

The media will focus on disappointing results from the big teams, but what about the performances by Mexico and Switzerland and Iceland who slayed the giants?  For the Abu Dhabi Samuelson family, last night was our first chance to actually watch a World Cup match and it was amazing.  In a restaurant filled with Germans, Annika had to constantly remind me to stay in my seat and quiet down.  I could do neither. The Mexicans were under threat by the Germans for most of the game, but when they got the ball, their lightning counter attack was devastating.  Against a team like Germany, you have to score when you have the chance, yet Mexico threw away chance after chance before and after Lazano's now famous goal.  Would the El Tri have to pay for their watefulness?  Thanks to Memo Ochoa in goal and the 2 cm that separated a German lightening bolt from bulging the Mexican goal at the end of the match,  the answer was no.

The last game of the day saw Brazil take the lead through a beautiful shot by Philippe Coutinho in the first half, but they failed to add to their tally even though they had many chances.  In the second half, with the aid of a well timed shove in the back, Switzerland headed in from a corner kick and another World Cup favorite was denied a victory.

The days first game saw Serbia take all the points over Costa Rica in a game I'm sure was great, but I haven't had the time to watch any highlights and won't pretend to know what happened.

I do know exactly what is happening in the BISERGS though.  Rick sprinted past his daughter-in-law Rachel and into the lead with the Serb victory.  He looked ready to extend the lead and put some serious space between himself and the rest of the field when the Germans let him down.  He remains in first place though.  Three time BISERGS champion Sharleen jumped 10 place into 5th place on the strength of Mexico's performance.  James was the biggest mover of the day.  He moved all the way from 29th place into a tie for 15th.  Scores at this point can be very deceptive.  Isaac, for example, has had two disappointing results, but his top two picks are yet to play, so I expect him to be the next one to shoot up the rankings.

*Correction:  Yesterday's graphic for the Switzerland/Brazil match listed Levi Glenney as a BISERGSer that has Switzerland, but it should have been Lisa Glenney.