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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