The 2018  BISERGS Awards Celebration took place last night in Monroe, Washington in a fitting conclusion to the greatest BISERGS yet.  The evening featured a delicious barbeque prepared by many hands, but BISERGS participants Dan and DJ deserve a special mention for their skills in the kitchen and at the grill.  To start the awards off, Derek Samuelson accepted the certificate for highest scoring clan on behalf of his Rick, Katee, Rachel, Ari, Evan and Gray. Next it was Lindsay receiving recognition for her victory in the nephew/niece category followed by Rachel’s win in the ▼1G and Ari in the ▼2G.  Kelley was the winner of the Newcomer Award and Carol won the ▲1G, but they were unable to attend.  Dawn Rutz collected a certificate for finishing Runner Up this summer, but the big moment was when Rick was officially recognized as the Biggest International Soccer Expert Related to Greg Samuelson for 2018 and received his certificate and copy of the Encyclopedia Blazertannica.  There wasn’t a dry eye on Bill and Cookie’s deck as Rick was visibly moved by emotions while  receiving his prize.

History, Clans, Generations and Other BISERGS Awards

Nearly a week has passed since Rick placed the BISERGS Crown on his head.  This was the sixth BISERGS in history and the first time that someone outside of the Barrera clan has won the coveted title.  Here is a look at how Rick fits into the history of this great competition.  Dawn's second place finish matches her husband Dan's accomplishment in the 2010 version.

Throughout this BISERGS the idea of family groupings came up several times, so I decided to have a look at how things worked out by 'clan'.  I identified six different clans and listed them by BISERGSer that is closest to me in the family tree or by extended family name. Rick's Clan won the competition this time thanks to Rick's BISERGS victory, plus points earned by Derek, Rachel, Ari, Katee, Evan and Gray.

There are also many secondary contests within the BISERGS that need to be acknowledged.  First of all, the group that has always been most active in the BISERGS but has yet to win, is my nephews and nieces.  This year's prize goes to Lindsay Rutz who finished less than a point ahead of her cousin Levi Glenney.  Those two finished just ahead of Krista Rutz and Gray Samuelson who had exchanged first and second place in this category since 2010.

The BISERGS has been expanding during every World Cup, and it is always fun to acknowledge our leading new comers.  This year, Kelley Samuelson almost won the whole BISERGS in her first ever attempt, but when her Croatian's lost the championship match she slipped to third place overall.  She did win the First Timer Award and Nephew/Niece Winner Lindsay Rutz earned second place in the First Timer Category. 

Another way I love to see the BISERGS expanding is through the youngest competitors.  Every year we have a batch of Under 12-year-olds.  Rarely does someone this young make it into the top 10, but this year Lindsay fifth place finish makes her the top U12 participant. 

Finally, I want to look at all of the generations that play the BISERGS.  Taken from my generation, counting up, Carol Barrera won the ▲G category (one generation before mine) for the third time.  Carol had a disappointing BISERGS by her high standards, but she still did enough to hold off Cookie and Bill Snyder.  Rick won the =G category (same generation as mine) for the first time.  Rachel won the ▼1G category after finishing as the second place rookie in 2014.  Ari was a pioneer of th new BISERGS ▼2G category and won it unopposed, but some new BISERGSers will be reaching the four-year-old minimum soon, so she may be facing some stiff competition soon.

Rick Wins the BISERGS!

What a wonderful summer of international football it has been in Russia. I'm so glad we got to share it all together through this silly invention of the BISERGS.  Many long time soccer lovers have said that this was the best World Cup that they can remember and I have to agree with them.  There have been 64 games, 169 goals, 219 yellow cards, 49,651 successful passes, and 1252.68 total points in the BISERGS.  The best memory of all for me was watching Mexico beat Germany with Sharleen, Emilie and Annika at a restaurant in Abu Dhabi.  It was the first game we got to see and we had a table right next to the outdoor big screen television. Behind us were dozens of Germans that were as upset as we were happy.  Mexico played so well and the result was so shocking that I knew we were in for a great summer.

Rick getting BISERGS tips from 3 time winner Sharleen
last January during his worldwide BISERGS scouting trip.

Of the 1252.68 total BISERGS points, 73.25 belong to Rick Samuelson. That was more than anyone else, so he is officially the Biggest International Soccer Expert Related to Greg Samuelson for 2018.  Winning the BISERGS with 37 participants is impressive enough, but Rick's accomplishment is all the more astounding because his first pick was Germany, who were a huge disappointment this summer.  Despite picking a team that flopped, Rick's 2nd (France) and 3rd (Croatia) picks made it to the final and he was undefeated in the knockout stage until Croatia finally lost.  Rick spent most of the competition between 5th and 11th place but he hit his stride when the matches were worth more and more BISERGS points and used France's 4 goals in the final to pull away from Kelley, who entered the last day ahead of Rick but needed a Croatia victory to win.

The final didn't feature the best soccer of the summer, but six goals made it very entertaining.  There was some controversy. France's first two goals both depended on questionable referee's decisions and VAR.  The first goal went in off the head of a Croatian player into his own net for the first own goal ever in A championship match.  There was some great team work by Croatia for their first goal.  There was a huge mistake. Croatia's second goal was from an absolute brain freeze by French Goalie, Hugo Lloris.  And there was joy.  When Kylian Mbappe and Paul Pogba scored their goals and showed their huge smiles, you couldn’t help but be happy for them.  Croatia are the second smallest country ever to play in a World Cup final and their amazing heart, effort and team work endeared them to the whole planet.  They lost with great dignity despite their heartbreak.  France is a very young team and I bet they will be the top choice of most BISERGSers when the Men's World Cup comes back around in 2022 and they may very well still be favorites when the World Cup comes to North America in 2026.

Rick, Dawn, Lindsay, Krista and Sharleen all picked up a huge 13.5 points from the French victory.  That landed them in 1st, 2nd, 5th, 7th and 8th place respectively.  Croatia had kept their owners at the top of the leader board all summer, but Rick was the only Croatia owner that celebrated their final result.  Kelley, Rachel, Levi and Lisa all had hoped for one more bit of magic but in the end had to settle for 3rd, 4th, 6th, and 10th places.  Gray was the only member of the top 10 that didn't have one of the finalists.  You may remember that he had all four of his teams advance to the knockout stage, but when they started to fall away, he could only hold on for an 8th place tie with Sharleen.

Rick will be presented with his prize, The Encyclopedia Blazertannica, when I see him in Monroe later on this month.  Photos from the gala event will be posted here.  There will be a couple more posts here this week, including the unveiling of the new BISERGS World Rankings and a change to future BISERGSes, so don't delete this bookmark quite yet.

It All Comes Down to This

Eden Hazard finishes off his excellent World Cup with a goal

Earlier today, Belgium beat England to claim the bronze medals in this year's World Cup.  Belgium scored in the fourth minute on a play that demonstrated how dangerous excellent forward passing with great movement off the ball can be.  The ball was sent long by their goalie, Thibaut Courtois, to the midfield line where Nasser Chadli headed it to Romalu Lukaku.  After heading, Chadli raced down the field. Lukaku controlled the ball and took a few steps forward before sending a perfectly weighted pass to the streaking Chadli in the corner.  Chadli immediately crossed to Thomas Meunier who beat his man to the ball in front of the goal and scored.  The ball traveled about 95 meters in 10 seconds.  Direct, efficient, ruthless, 1 - 0 before England knew what hit them.  After that, Belgium were happy to give England a lot of possession because when they won the ball back, it was full speed ahead with their incisive passing to cut open England's defense.  Lukaku had a chance to overtake Harry Kane and win the Golden Boot today, but he wasted two or three great opportunities in the first half and early in the second half.  When he was subbed off the field in the 78th minute the lethargic and mostly anonymous Harry Kane was essentially given the Golden Boot, even though he has done very little since England's group stage match against Panama.  England did create some chances, but Belgium always seemed to be in control.  Eden Hazard and Kevin De Bruyne were always threatening to make the perfect pass to Lukaku or score on their own, but it took until the 82nd minute for Hazard to finally put the English away.  This time it was De Bruyne who made the pass to Hazard who got behind England's defense and easily dribbled at their helpless goalie before smashing it home.

Belgium's to 2 - 0 victory over England was the perfect result for Kelley.  Her rival for the BISERGS crown, Rick, has both teams in the final, but it is Kelley that will start tomorrow with a slim 1.88 point lead.  That means that if Croatia wins, Kelley wins, if France wins, Rick wins.  There are two exceptions to the simple outcomes above.  First (not that unlikely), if the game is still tied after 120 minutes and goes to penalty kicks, Rick will be awarded a tie for the eventual losing team (3 points in the final).  That would mean that Rick would win the BISERGS even if France lost the penalty kicks.  The other way Rick could win (very unlikely) is if France looses but they score a lot of goals.  For example, a Croatia 5 - 4 victory would mean Rick wins the BISERGS or a 7 - 5 Croatia victory.

A France victory, depending on the number of goals scored, could lift Dawn all the way from 7th into 2nd.  It could also move Lindsay and Krista into 5th and 6th place and Sharleen into 9th.  A Croatia win would have very little impact on the leader board, since five of the top six have Croatia as one of their teams.  A Croatia victory would move Lisa back ahead of Gray, who passed her with Belgium's victory today.

As for the game on the pitch, I'm hoping this will be a great one.  France are the favorites to win, but

Kylian Mbappe's speed and skill has been the individual story
of the tournament and made Neymar, Messi and Ronaldo's
exits seem like no big loss.  A French victory in the Final
could make him a legend before his 20th birthday.

Croatia has been overcoming obstacles for the entire month and doesn't mind the underdog label at all.  France is disciplined and very fast with tons of talented players that can change the game in a heartbeat.  Croatia is tenacious and works together as a collective unit in a way that has been impossible for their opponents to overcome.  France has won five games and drawn one this summer.  Croatia has not lost yet, but they have been pushed to the brink three times in a row.  In the knockout stage they've won on penalty kicks twice and in their other match they had to go an extra thirty minutes before finishing England off.  In fact, in the three knockout games, Croatia has played a combined 90 extra minutes.  That adds up to an entire match more than the French have played in the last three games.  Will all of those extra minutes and the emotional stress of such close matches catch up to them in the final or will it give them the further belief as a unit that they can overcome anything and do it one more time.  We'll all be watching to find out, but none of us more closely than Kelley and Rick.

Playing for Bronze and Gold(en boot)

England and Belgium were both on the brink of playing in the World Cup final earlier this week, but

Which one of these will win the Golden Boot.

neither were able to make the final step. Belgium looked strong throughout their match with France but were never able to score the goal and ended up losing 1 - 0.  England scored early against Croatia but ran out of steam and ended up losing 2 - 1.  Usually these third place games are a very sad consolation game, but this time there is an interesting subplot.  The player with the most goals in the World Cup wins the "Golden Boot"  Currently, Harry Kane of England is leading the race with 6 goals and Romalu Lukaku of Belgium is in second place with 4 goals.  If Lukaku can get a hat trick, he'll jump ahead of Kane.  Their are a couple of French players that have 3 goals, but for them to win would be very unlikely.  At the start of the World Cup, Belgium were considered one of the favorites to lift the cup.  England is always a strong team, but few thought they'd make it beyond the quarterfinals.  So, this is a game of overachievers against underachievers. 

For the BISERGS this game is very important for naming a champion.  Kelley is in second place but less than three points behind, so a win for Belgium would put her into the lead ahead of the Final match.  Lisa still has a chance to win the BISERGS with Croatia in the final tomorrow and has England today.  A big England win could put her ahead of Kelley and then she'd lift the BISERGS with a Croatia win.  Ari has both teams in today's game and would move up further if the game is high scoring.  Gray is fighting to stay in the top 10 and Belgium is his last team so he wants a Belgium victory.  Ivan and Isaac are both within striking distance of the top 10. Matt S, Shelby, and Carol won't be moving into the top tier but would like to end their BISERGS on a high note.  

Croatia Book Their Spot

Mariano Mandzukic celebrates his extra time winner.

Sorry England, but it isn't coming home this year.  Croatia on the other hand will go toe to toe with France to see who will lift the Cup this weekend.  England started very well and scored after just five minutes on a Kieran Trippier free kick, but they were unable to add to their lead despite several great opportunities in the first half.  The game was pretty slow and uneventful after the break, but when Croatia's Ivan Perisic scored from a long cross in the 68th minute, Croatia seized the game by the neck and the stunned English were never able to recover.  Croatia had control until the full time whistle but England's goal keeper, Jordan Pickford, kept them out and forced the extra period.  In the second extra period, Croatia finally got their deserved winner on a play that reflected the way both teams were playing.  Croatia were playing with heart despite their exhaustion, while England just looked worn out.  So, it was fitting that when the ball was headed backwards toward the goal, Croatian forward, Mario Mandukic, simply reacted more quickly and decisively than English defender John Stones and was able to put the ball past Pickford who was left totally exposed by his sluggish defensive line.  There were ten minutes left for England to mount a comeback and they did manage a few dangerous free kicks and corners, but never really threatened the Croatian goal.  In the end, it was a sad end for England's dream but a very well deserved victory for Croatia. 

For the BISERGS, that moves an amazing five Croatia owners into the top 5.  Never in the history of the BISERGS has a single team had such an impact on the success of their owners.  Rick has both France and Croatia and continues to lead.  Kelley has Croatia paired with Belgium.  Rachel and Levi's only remaining team is Croatia and Lisa has both Croatia and England.  Lisa is training Rick by nearly 9 points, so that means England would have to beat Belgium by 18 goals and Croatia would have to win for her to claim the title of BISERGS.  Heading into the final weekend, Dawn, Gray, Ari, Lindsay and Krista round out the top 10.  They all have a team remaining, except for Ari, who has both teams in the third place game. 

The 3rd place game is Belgium against England on Saturday and the Final between France and Croatia will be played Sunday.

Who's It Coming Home to?

If you have any English friends or follow the English football media, you know that the last and only time England won the World Cup was 1966 and they have been 'rubbish' at major tournaments ever since.  Before every World Cup or European Championship the English swing violently between being sure they have the best team in the history of the world throughout the buildup to the tournament and then being filled with dread and doom minutes before the opening kickoff. Their most frequent means of being eliminated over those many dark English years has been the dreaded penalty kick shootout.  They slayed that beast against Colombia in the round of 16 and the characteristic English pessimism has been slowly giving way to the dare to dream lenses that most Americans view their sports teams through.  The song 'It's Coming Home' has been the theme song for the 'Three Lions' and it captures the glory of the past and the mix of hope and angst of an English World Cup summer.  The lyrics say '30 years of hurt' but that was when this song was written in 1996.  It could be updated to 52 years of hurt for this summer.

Today is the next step in the English dream, but it is also the first time in Croatia's history that they've come this far and they have every right to think this is their year.  Croatia demolished Argentina in the group stage, and survived two heart stopping penalty shootouts against Denmark and Russia to arrive in the semifinals.  Croatia has an excellent team at every position, but lacks a striker to fill the net with goals.  They've been able to overcome that glaring weakness so far, but many think it will catch up with them at some point.  If Croatia can win in the penalty kick shootout, then maybe a world class goal scorer isn't necessary for them.  Lisa, Levi, Rachel, Rick and Kelley hope that's the case again today.

England do have a striker this summer.  In fact, Harry Kane has six goals this summer and is leading the race to the golden boot. (We'll politely ignore the fact that five of those came against Tunisia and Panama and 3 have come from the penalty spot).  This is a different England team.  They are young and energetic.  In past tournament individual egos have been bigger than the team and made them impossible to coach.  This summer they are playing as a team and Gareth Southgate has managed to put his stamp on the way they play.  There is reason for optimism for Shelby, Ari, Ivan, Carol and Lisa and all of England.

In the race for the BISERGS, the scenarios are becoming clearer.  Rick leads and a Croatia victory would make him hard, but not impossible to catch.  He shares Croatia with second place Kelley, who also has the Belgians in the third place game, so she can pick up two victories next weekend and overtake Rick.  Lisa has both teams in today's game, so she would do well to see a highscoring tie with England winning on penalty kicks. A convincing win for England would put Ari within striking distance to win the BISERGS and the chance to pass her grandpa on the final day.  Even Ari's mom Rachel could sneak her way to victory if Croatia win the cup and Kelley, Dawn and Rick get enough negative points in the last two games.  This years BISERGS continues to be thrilling to the end with many routes to victory for those at the top.

France in the Final, Rick in the Lead

Samuel Umtiti, France's unlikely hero.

France got passed Belgium in the first semifinal with a tense victory in the first semifinal of this year's World Cup.  Samuel Umtiti's beautifully headed goal from a corner kick early in the second half was the only goal.  France had other heros as well.  Hugo Lloris made a huge save early in the game and Kylian Mbappe provided the speedy creative outlet to relieve the Belgian pressure many times throughout the later stages of the game.  When Mbappe got the ball, it seemed like Belgium's only solution was to grab him desperately from behind.  Their entire backline and midfield collected yellow cards as they failed to find other way to slow him down.  In the very late stages, France spurned many chances to put the game away and it looked like they would pay for their wastefulness, but in the end they got the victory and a place in the final.

Those goals that the French threw away didn't come back to haunt Les Bleus, but they may haunt their BISERGS owners who would have loved the extra points goals would have provided.  The victory did give French owners 7 points, lifting Rick from fifth to first and Dawn from eighth to third.  Linday, Krisat and Sharleen also made big moves up the table thanks to the French victory, while Belgium's owners all lost half a point.  Kelley, Gray, Ari, Isaac and Matt S, all slid backwards, but they will have a chance to benefit from the Belgians again in the third place match on Saturday.   

One Step Away

Belgium vs France:  Who will be celebrating today?

The World Cup has gone from 32 nations down to four.  It has been a thrilling tournament full of surprising results and shocking early exits, yet today's semifinal match features two teams that nobody would have surprised to see end up in the semifinal.  In the BISERGS draft, Belgium and France both flew under the radar a little bit.  Belgium was the fifth team to be selected by five participants and France was the seventh team taken off the draft board.  For the BISERGSers that were fortunate enough to land them, they have yielded big rewards.  Belgium's 22.63 points are the most produced by any team and France's 18.5 is third highest (Croatia is second with 20.75).  Of the two semifinals, this is definitely the one that has gotten more of the world's attention.  Pogba, Griezman, Mbappe, Giroud and Lloris are some of the big names for France, but Kante has probably been their most important player this summer with his ability to shutdown opponents attacks and Pavard struck their best goal of the summer.  For Belgium, Eden Hazard, Romelu Lukaku and Kevin De Bruyne strike fear into opponents at any level.  With all of those stars on the field, this has the potential to be the best game we've seen yet.

France has grown in confidence throughout this World Cup, just as their teenage star, Kylian Mbappe has grownup before the world's eyes.  In the group stage, they struggled against Australia, a team they should have annihilated.  Then they were undeserving winners against a very unlucky Peru team and by the time they played Denmark, neither team had anything to play for, so the game ended predictably in a 0 - 0 draw.  Since the knockout round began, however, France have begun shifting into higher and higher gears.  Against Argentina, they showed their amazing team speed in their 4 - 3 victory.  That game ended up being a nail biter, but France should have won by 2 or 3 goals.  In their next game, a tricky encounter against Uruguay, their young stars were extremely composed and well disciplined in a 2 - 0 win that felt much more even than their 1 goal margin against Argentina.  It is no surprise that they can shine in an open free flowing game, like they did against Argentina, but their ability to see out the tactically complex game against Uruguay was a surprise to many an bodes well for France in the next two matches.

Belgium have been Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde all summer.  Against weak teams in their group (Panama and Tunisia) they hardly broke a sweat and won with style.  When they played England, it was a game they probably wanted to lose because of the way the bracket was shaking up, but they couldn't manage because bench warmer Adnan Januzaj couldn't help himself and decided to score one of the best goals of the summer.  Their win over England, put them in the more difficult half of the bracket, but their first game of the knock outs, against Japan, was supposed to be easy.  The lethargic, uninterested side of Belgium showed up for that game and after doing nothing in the first half, some excellent Japan play put them down by two goals with half and hour left.  They fought back and finally broke Japan's hearts with a counterattacking goal on the last kick of the game.  Their reward for beating Japan was a quarterfinal encounter with Brazil.  In that game, Belgium played their most complete game of the summer and came out 2 - 1 winners.  Winning a game like that has Belgium full of confidence and they feel they are the best team in the World Cup this summer. 

For the BISERGS, victory today means double value (6 points for the win) and a team in the finals with a chance at triple points.

Linday, Krista and Sharleen are hoping to get maximum points from France and finish in the top 10, while Matt S and Isaac are hoping the same for Belgium.  Dawn, Rick, Kelley, Gray and Ari all have much greater ambitions and a real shot at winning this summers title of BISERGS.  Lisa and Levi don't have teams in action today, but they will be watching with interest as their BISERGS hopes will depend on how things go today.  It all starts in about 30 minutes, so rearrange your schedules and find a comfortable place in front of the TV.  I'm hoping this will live up to its potential and be one of the best games so far.

Kelley Leads with Four Games Remaining

England celebrate one of their two goals against Sweden

Day two of the quarterfinals saw England cruise to a controlled 2 – 0 victory over Sweden and Croatia end the Russians' dream run with a exciting penalty kick victory after the teams ended 120 minutes tied at 2 - 2.  When Ivan Rakatic put his penalty away, it sent Croatia into the semifinals and moved Kelley back into first place of the BISERGS.  In the semifinals England will face Croatia and France takes on Belgium.  Those are the last four teams remaining in the World Cup and we have 16 BISERGSers continuing until the end as well.  Kelley has Belgium and Croatia, putting her in a commanding position, but she is by no means free and clear.  Her double victory in the quarterfinals allowed her to pass Rachel, Gray and Levi who started the round ahead of her, but saw one of their teams fall.  Ari had the highest score of the round with 11.63 points, and Lisa and Rick also managed to get two teams through.  Rick, Lisa and Ari sit in 5^th, 6^th and 7^th place respectively and if results go their way in the next two rounds, they can win the BISERGS too.  Rachel, Gray and Levi have one team left, but they can win if their teams win the World Cup and their rivals get hit with enough negative points for goals allowed.  Dawn is in 8th place and still has France in action.  Even she could win if France wins by a lot and Croatia surrenders a ton of goals in the next two games.  Annika and Evan wrap up the top 10 but they both dropped from two teams to zero in a disappointing quarterfinal round that saw their BISERGS abruptly end. 
The others that have teams remaining going forward, can't win the BISERGS this year, but they can still move well up the table.  France are owned by Krista, Lindsay and three time champion Sharleen in addition to Rick and Dawn.  Belgium are owned by Matt Snyder, and Isaac in addition to Kelley, Gray and Ari.  Shelby, Ivan and Carol have England along with Ari and Lisa.  Lisa also has Croatia, so she will get a team into the final for sure, but she will also suffer a loss in the semifinals.  Lisa is joined by Levi, Rachel, Rick and Kelley in owning Croatia, all of whom are ahead of her, so she will probably be hoping England win the semifinal match up.  

Both semifinal matches are on Tuesday and they will be worth double points (both positive and negative).  It was in the semifinal four years ago that Germany embarrassed Brazil in front of their home fans by a score of 7 - 1 and sent BISERGS scores spiraling for some.  Of the four semifinalists, France and England have won the World Cup before while Croatia and Belgium would be first time winners.  Who knows what the final four World Cup games hold, but the way things have gone this summer, naming the BISERGS winner may take until the last whistle is blown.

Brazil Out! Gray on Top!

Kevin De Bruyne scores Belgiums second goal.

Two very entertaining games kept BISERGSers transfixed today.  France played with discipline and poise to claim a 2 - 0 victory over Uruguay in the opener.  The result sent Dawn to the top of the  BISERGS leader board for a few hours and poor Rachel, who had been at the top consistently all summer, was suddenly on the ropes.  In the second game, Belgium showed their quality against Brazil in a game that many wish had been the World Cup final.  I'm just glad we got to see them play because it was a fantastic game.  Levi was hopeful of ending the day on top, but this result sent BISERGS World #1 Gray to the top with Kelley close behind.  Since those two share Belgium, the results of Croatia and Sweden's matches tomorrow will determine which of them ends up on top, if Belgium keep on winning.

France and Belgium owners now have their teams in the semifinals which guarantees two more games for each of them.  Even the semifinal losers get a game next weekend in the 3rd place match (worth the basic BISERGS points - 3 for a win, 1/2 for a goal...), so these quarterfinals have an even greater importance.  The losses of Uruguay and Brazil mean Greg, Derek, Emilie and Josh no longer have teams in the BISERGS.  Thanks for playing. Our teams may be out but there is still a lot of excitement to keep watching this summer.

Tomorrow, the second and final day of the quarterfinals, has two more games.  These teams aren't as glamorous as today's, but the stakes are equally high, so we hope to see some great action.  For the BISERGS, the top 9 participants on the leader board have teams in on the field, so it is another huge day.  A Sweden victory would solidify Gray's place, but it would also put Dawn close enough behind to pass him if her France can beat his Belgium in the semifinal.  Lisa is down in 13th, but she two teams in action tomorrow and an England, Croatia double would guarantee her a finalist and give her the inside track to the BISERGS if England were to go on and win the World Cup.  James also has two teams playing tomorrow and is opposing Lisa in both of them.  Russia and Sweden victories would send him soaring up the table.  Rick and Kelley still have their own paths to the BISERGS this year, but both of them depend on Croatia winning tomorrow, so the late game is huge for them.  With each passing game, more and more BISERGSers are facing elimination.  Tomorrow's list includes Evan, James, Katee, Shelby, Ivan, Carol, Lisa, Andrew, Arlan, Doug, Annika, Levi and Rachel.  As we've seen before, BISERGS fortunes can change in an instant.

Its South America vs Europe Day

Bracket Link

Eight teams, four games, two days.  This is the World Cup quarterfinals and it kicks off on July 6th.  It is South America against Europe in the first two games.  In the first matchup it is France's speed against Uruguay's balance and precision.The second game is Brazil, who have emerged as the heavy favorites of the remaining eight teams against Belgium who proved both how good they can be and how bad they can be in their win against Japan.    Injuries and yellow card suspensions mean some key players will be out, none is more important to his team than Edinson Cavani of Uruguay who is racing to be declared fully fit before tomorrow's game.  If you can only watch one day of the quarter-finals, you should watch Friday.

In the BISERGS, games are worth 150% what the previous games were worth.  Rachel is still leading the BISERGS and she has Uruguay in the early game tomorrow.  Her brother-in-law Evan also has Uruguay and is in 5th place.   Dawn and Rick are slightly behind Rachel and Evan but that may start to change if France can win tomorrow.  In the second game it Levi, Annika, Katee and Arlan have Brazil and are still in the running.  If Brazil can continue to solidify its favorites status with a win tomorrow, Levi will be the one to watch and most likely winner of the BISERGS.  Belgium, who has given their owners more points than any other team this summer (17), need a huge performance for the whole 90 minutes.  If they can do that, then Kelley, Gray and Ari will suddenly find themselves the owners of the new tournament favorites.  For Greg, Derek, Emilie, Lindsay, Krista, Sharleen, Josh, Matt S and Isaac are all down to their last teams.  If they win, they'll have teams in the World Cup until next weekend, if they lose they are out.  

Bracket Link

And Then There Were Eight

And just like that, the World Cup field has shrunk from sixteen down to eight.  Today England and Sweden sent Colombia and Switzerland packing in games that could have gone either way.  The BISERGS field has also shrunk from 37 to 27 over the past four days.  Today it was Cookie, Matt R, Vera, Allie and DJ that say goodbye.  The farewell was especially harsh for Allie and DJ who started the round with three teams only to see all three of them lose.  

On the field, Sweden and Switzerland played a more cautious game than we saw yesterday.  Both teams seemed more interested in limiting their opponents chances than creating attacking opportunities of their own.  In the end, it was Sweden that benefited from a very fortunate deflection on a shot that the Swiss goal keeper would have handled easily.  Unfortunately for the Swiss, the ball hit a defenders foot and arched slowly into the corner of their net for the only goal of the match.

England celebrate a penalty shootout victory.  They had lost
their previous 5 penalty shootouts in major competitions
dating back to 1996 when their current manager, Gareth
Southgate missed his attempt against Germany.

The second game (disclaimer, I didn't see most of this one) was the most violent of the World Cup so far.  You never want the referee to be the talking point of the match, but apparently the American official struggled to get the game under control and it was mostly the Colombians who took advantage by upping their aggression a notch every few minutes.  England was finally awarded a penalty, which the converted, and seemed to be cruising into the quarterfinals when they let down at the very end of regulation and let Colombia score from a corner kick.  In the first extra period, Colombia seemed buoyed by their late equalizer and nearly scored on many occasions.  In the second extra period, it was England who had the upper hand and should have scored to put it away.  Since neither team could score a goal, it went to penalty kicks.  Penalties are always nervy occasions but the English had slightly more composure as Colombia hit the crossbar on one attempt and had their last attempt saved by English keeper Jordan Pickford.

The BISERGS race has tightened up considerably at the top.  Rachel maintains her lead by the narrowest of margins over Gray who rallied bravely after losing his first two games of the round.  Levi was a couple of penalty kicks away from being in first place with three teams remaining, but instead finds him self just off the pace in third.  Kelley is less than a point behind Levi in fourth place.  This year's BISERGS is all the more exciting because all of the top 10 have a different two teams remaining.  In fact, you have to go all the way down to 12th place Arlan to find two competitors with the same two remaining teams.  Arlan and his niece Annika both have Brazil and Russia. That is really remarkable and means that there is going to be a lot of twists and turns in the next round. 13 players have two teams remaining.  That is the current top 12, plus James who is down in 21st place but has both Russia and Sweden.  Two teams remaining at this stage is a huge advantage, but as DJ and Allie will tell you, they can be taken away in an instant.  Even with some unexpected results, the members of the top 10 didn't change at all over the last eight games and movement within the top 10 was minimal.  The biggest mover of the round was James who jumped from 30th to 21st.  After James it was his dad Arlan and Krista who each moved up four places.  Remember, games in the next round are worth 1 1/2 times the games we've played so far.  That counts for both positive and negative points, so we are expecting more turbulence in the rankings during the 1/4 finals.  With that in mind, enjoy the two day break, have a safe and happy Fourth of July and then buckle your seat belts and get ready for a bumpy ride.

Check out the bracket link to see what path lies ahead for your teams in the next rounds of the World Cup.

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Cruel Blows

Brazil and Belgium both advanced with victories over Mexico and Japan today.  Mexico played with

Heartbroken Japanese fan.

an energy and drive that made most observers think the result was fair but cruel to the Mexicans.  If that result was cruel to Mexico, there are no words to describe what happened to Japan.  Entering the World Cup, Japan were ranked 61st, only Saudi Arabia was ranked lower among teams in the World Cup.  They were facing 3rd ranked Belgium.  If you didn't know that going in, you never would have guessed by watching the play.  Japan were faster, more creative and better organized for most of the game.  They were rewarded in the scond half and went up by one goal and then Takashi Inui drove home a stunner to put them ahead by two.  Belgium did rally after the first goal and put pressure on Japan, but Japan responded so well.  Belgium finally got a goal back in the 70th minute on an absolute fluke of a goal.  After Belgium struck again just five minutes later, it was the post and some amazing saves by Japan's keeper that kept them from going ahead.  Still, after several minutes of pressure, Japan survived the gut check and they that seemed just as likely to score the game winner as the clock ticked down.  A free kick by Keisku Honda well into stoppage time almost beat Belgium's goalie, Thibaut Courtois, but he managed to push it behind for corner kick.  It seemed like Japan was destined to score from the ensuing corner, but instead Courtois snatched the ball from the sky, patiently found Kevin DeBruyne who burst through the midfield and initiated a beautiful team goal that crushed Japan's dreams.  It was a beautiful goal and Belgium were not undeserving, but poor Japan.  Even the biggest Belgium supporter would have to feel heartbroken for the Blue Samurai.

Neymar pleading to have his leg amputated to take away
the pain.

Back to the earlier game.  Mexico were every bit Brazil's equal throughout the match.  They were very fast in the attack and quick to recover the ball whenever Brazil got a hold of it, but all of their hard work and excellent game plan couldn't get them the goal they needed to break through.  When Brazil did get forward, they looked very dangerous and Mexican goalkeeper Memo Ochoa was a heroic barrier against the Brazilian attack.  The Brazilians were frustrated again and again until Willian got the ball in a place Brazil had been passing from all day and instead used a tremendous burst of speed to open up space on the left side of Mexico's defense.  When Mexico scrambled to defend the new angles, Willian put in a perfect cross to Neymar who finally found the Mexican net.  Mexico fought on and had many chances to score but were finally worn out and vulnerable to Brazil's counter attack that saw Neymar as the provider from the left and Firminio ready to tap in past a helpless Ochoa in the 88th minute.  Neymar's goal and assist are all the more remarkable given that he was ready to check himself into the nearest ICU at least three times in the second half after being severely injured by the shadows of nearby Mexican players.  Mexico has gained a lot of support in Russia and among BISERGSers who enjoyed watching them this summer, so the result was a sad one for most.

It was not a sad result for everyone though.  Levi, Josh, Arlan, Annika and Katee are all happy to see their top pick continue in the tournament and welcomed the two goals and a shutout.  Four points earned has all five of them in the top 12 with Levi pushing upwards to third place and Annika riding high in fifth.  Both Levi and Annika are the only members of the top 5 with three teams remaining.  Will this summer bring us the youngest BISERGS winner ever?  Levi and Annika hope so.  On the losing side of the Mexico / Brazil match were Anita and Bill who are now out of the BISERGS.  It was Anita's first time playing and I enjoyed watching a few matches with her in Cheyenne.  I wouldn't be surprised if she wins the BIESERGS a few years down the road.  It is always great to have Bill play too and we are sorry to see both of you bow out.  Sharleen and Matt Rutz still have one team left, but they were counting on Mexico to bring them BISERGS glory.  Josh lost Mexico at the expense of his Brazilian's, so he wasn't crying over this one.  Josh was crying over the next one though, since he had Japan and was seconds away from reaping huge rewards from an upset victory.  In the end, Josh's big day resulted in one win, two losses and only 3.75 points.  Japan's loss sends Josh's dad Dan out of the BISERGS also.  Thanks for playing Dan.  Your bravery in picking Iran first in a nod to your family history and Peru, where you visited Matt this spring, was very noble and we hope next time such loyalty to teams that you wanted to cheer for anyway will be better rewarded.  DJ saw his Spaniards shocked earlier and hoped to be on the other end of a shock result via Japan today, but was unlucky to lose his second team in two days.  BISERGS hopefuls Kelley and Gray were happy to see Belgium win as a boost to their campaigns.  For Kelley it was added to Croatia's success yesterday, but for Gray it was pure relief as every team he put in this round seemed to be cursed until the late Belgian goal got him back on the right track.  Ari and Isaac moved up the rankings and each look strong with two teams remaining.  Matt Snyder avoided elimination from the BISERGS through Belgium and hopes to ride the Red Devils all the way to the final.

Tomorrow we've got the last two games of the round of 16 with Sweden facing Switzerland and Colombia taking on England.

In the first game, Matt, his sister Allie and their Grandma Cookie are all facing the threat of elimination and need a Switzerland win.  Lisa and Annika also have Switzerland but are in a much stronger position and Swiss success could give them an amazing three quarter-finalists.  All five Sweden owners are big players this summer thanks in large part to Sweden's surprising Group F success.  In the second game, Vera, DJ (Colombia), Shelby, Ivan and Carol (England) are all fielding their last remaining teams.  Levi  could move into first place with a Colombia win that would aso lift Isaac and Linday into the fray.  On the other side it is Lisa, who already has Switzerland in action in the early game, who could vault into the top five if both games go her way.  The English could also move Ari back into the top 10 with two teams remaining in the quarter-finals.  Tomorrow is going to bring a lot of movement on the leader board and sadly, we will also be saying goodbye to a few more BISERGSers. 

The Knockouts Continue

**

Today is another huge day in the BISERGS.  The two remaining favorites in the tournament are in action today, but being a favorite has seemed like a curse so far this summer.  Will Brazil and Belgium assert their dominance or become the latest powers to fall?  The most anticipated matchup in the Round of 16 is Brazil vs Mexico.  Mexico were an unstoppable machine in their first two games but the wheels fell off against Sweden.  Brazil struggled and sputtered at times in the group stage, but when it came together for them they reminded us why they have one more World Cups than any other nation.  Hopefully today's game will be an instant classic with plenty of goals and plenty of drama.  The second game is supposed to be the biggest mismatch of this round.  Belgium's team of superstars has been clicking on all cylinders when it mattered (the last game against England doesn't fall into this category), while Japan got to play 86 minutes of one game with a man advantage and still needed the most obscure tie breaker to get out of their group.  If Japan beat Belgium, it would be the biggest shock of a summer full of shocks.  Belgium hope the only question asked of them today is which one of their players will be topping the tournament goal scoring charts when the final whistle blows.

In the BISERGS, this day belongs to Josh Rutz.  His three teams are all in action and with a guaranteed victory in the Brazil/Mexico clash (he has both teams) a Japan victory would give him a sure semifinalist and a lot of points.  For  Josh's brother Matt* (Belgium), Bill & Anita(Mexico) and Dan (Japan) it is a very different story.  These four brave BISERGSers are down to their last shot and the way the matchups have fallen, we will be saying goodbye to at least one Rutz today.  Brazil already boasts top 10 owners Levi and Annika and a Brazilian victory could conceivably put Arlan, Katee and the aforementioned Josh into the top 10.  A win for Levi would put him in position to take the overall lead tomorrow.  A Mexico win would put Sharleen back into the top 10, and move Anita, Bill and Matt Snyder into stronger positions going forward.  The expected result in game two would help Kelley and Gray close the gap on Rachel and end Gray's shocking losing streak in the current round.  Isaac and Ari are further down the BISERGS table, but if this is the beginning of Belgium's march to the World Cup, they will both be starting their rise.  A Japan shocker would be a perfectly played differential for Dan, DJ and Josh as they would knock off another favorite and leave the 34 BISERGSers who ignored Japan amazed at their foresight.

Kickoff is in 45 minutes, so get your coffee, call in sick to work and find a comfortable place on the couch.

*I noticed another Matt Rutz, Matt Snyder mistake on my graphics and I used it to write the article.  So, Matt Snyder has Belgium and Mexico, both in action today, so Matt S, faces the risk of elimination based on today's game

Another Giant Falls

Russia celebrates giant-killing penalty shootout win.

Spain is the latest pre-tournament favorite to be eliminated and Russia will be celebrating late into the night.  The Russians gave up an early goal from a bizarre corner kick.  Sergio Ramos kept his eyes on the ball as he was being thrown to the ground and managed to move his foot toward the ball as he fell.  Ramos kicked the foot of the Russian that was manhandling him, and that guy's foot kicked the ball into the goal.  If hadn't gone in, Spain would have been given a penalty.  The Russians had been very defensive minded to that point, but came to life and scored from a penalty at the end of the first half.  Russia then played a very even game with Spain and defended bravely when they needed to.  Spain may have deserved a penalty at the end, but I was in church so didn't see it.  Please comment below with your thoughts on the penalty if you saw it live.  With no penalty given, full time plus 30 minutes of extra time ended with score tied.  The game went to a penalty shootout and Russia prevailed.  Spain out! Shock!  Russian stadium goes crazy with joy!

The second game saw two very scrappy goals in the first four minutes and it appeared we were destined for another thrilling high scoring match.  Nope!  Those were the only goals of the game which was not worth watching.  At the end of the extra time, Croatia won a penalty but it was saved by Danish goalkeeper Kasper Schmeichel, forcing penalty kicks for the second game in a row.  Both keepers made some clutch saves, but in then end Croatia was able to hold their nerve and will advance to play Russia in the quarterfinals.

In the BISERGS when matches go to penalties, the losing team is awarded a point for a draw, even though they have been eliminated from the tournament.  If the games are thrilling or bore you to tears, they are worth the same amount of points.  Today's results saw Rachel lose one team (Spain), but continue to expand her lead.  She now has a 6.75 point lead over second place Kelley.  Levi is less than a point behind Kelley, but he still has three teams alive, including Switzerland and Brazil who are yet to play in the knockouts.  Gray's terrible round of 16 continues as he has seem his number of BISERGS teams cut from four to two in 24 hours.  Evan is scoring well in this round, but really wanted to see Denmark advance and will have a hard time catching Rachel without them.  Rick is equal on points with Evan after Croatia's win and already has both of his teams into the next round.  Dawn stays in 7th place but lost Spain today and Annika remains 8th, but she is thrilled with Russia who continue in the tournament.  Lisa moved back into the top 10 via Croatia and Emilie slipped to 10th as she had no teams in action today.  The Russia victory means that we don't have to say goodbye to any BISERGSers today, but we won't see Spain or Denmark play anymore this summer.

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