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.

Bracket Link

Can We Top Today?

Day 2 of the knockout round features Group B winners Spain against surprising hosts Russia.  Spain are heavily favored in that match, but Russia has been surprising everyone all summer with their only loss coming against an impressive Uruguay team.  BISERGS leader Rachel has the favorites, so everyone that is desperately trying to catch her should probably be pulling for the hosts to pull of a huge upset. Everyone that is except DJ, Rachel, Dawn, Vera and Ivan who also have Spain.   Doug and Andrew will certainly be hoping for a Russian miracle as they are down to their last team and a Russian loss would mean farewell to two more BISERGSers. Annika, James and Arlan still have other teams in the game but Russia win would give them a significant boost up the BISERGS rankings.

Christian Eriksen and his Danish team plan to put an end
to Croatia's undefeated run in this year's World Cup.

The second game has even bigger BISERGS implications. Rachel is at it again with Lisa, Levi, Rick and Kelley, all of who owe a lot of their success this summer to Croatia's fine form.  Croatia are one of only three teams that finished the group stage with three wins.  Denmark are no slouches though and Krista, Shelby, Allie, Evan and Gray should like their chances.  Rick and Kelley who had been unstoppable all summer have hit a few speed bumps lately and need to get back to their winning ways if they are to mount a serious challenge for this years BISERGS.  Gray saw his first team of the tournament eliminated on day one of the knockout phase and would be devastated to see his number of teams cut in half so quickly.

Four more teams take the field tomorrow and two will be shown the exit.  Two of those teams belong to first place Rachel, so the results will either 1) accelerate her race to the crown, 2) be a shocking stop to her BISERGS momentum, or 3) be something in between.  The drama of both of these world famous competitions continues in 10 hours.

It Keeps Getting Better and Better

Argentina getting a very familiar look at Mbappe's back.

After the best group stage in memory concluded, I expected a few cagey, slow paced games as teams tried to edge their way into the quarter finals.  Today's action was anything but that.  France and Argentina put on a thrilling display in their 4 - 3 shootout.  19-year-old Kylian Mbappe became the first teen to score two goals in a World Cup game since Pele in 1958.  His amazing speed and the lightning French counterattack were too much for Argentina to handle and they picked up yellow card after yellow card as they desperately grabbed the French track stars to prevent goal scoring opportunities.  Argentina never gave up and scored on a long range effort by Angel DiMaria before half time and then took the lead just after the game restarted.  France sustained their pressure though and scored three second half goals, including my goal of the tournament by Benjamin Pavard.  If you missed his goal, you should definitely watch it.  Argentina scored in added time to draw within one goal and had a final chance to score just before the final whistle blew, but in the end France will advance and Argentina are out.

Game two was also a thriller featuring an Edinson Cavani goals in each half, both of the highest quality. Portugal scored between the Cavani strikes on a well worked team play that resulted in Pepe heading home from close range.  Uruguay had already surrendered their first goal of the tournament and it looked like Portugal might get a second but in the end it was Uruguay's night.

So France and Uruguay are today's winners and that means Rachel extended her lead to nearly 5 points over Gray, who lost his first team (Portugal) today.  Evan moved into third, just a half a point behind his brother.  Kelley didn't fall far and is still in fourth place, but she did lose a valuable piece of her arsenal with the Portugal loss.  Uruguay moved Emilie into her highest place of the summer at 9th, but the loss of Argentina puts her at a huge disadvantage to climb much higher. Dawn and Rick are encouraged by France's victory and hope to see Les Bleus continue their fine form since none of the BISERGSers ranked higher than the siblings have them.  Lindsay also returned to the top 10 thanks to the French success.  Annika, Levi, Lisa and Katee all started the day in the top 10, but didn't have teams playing and dropped slightly as a result.

The World Cup says goodbye to Messi and Ronaldo on the same day and the BISERGS must sadly say farewell to Axel and Brian.  Thanks for playing you two.  Axel had two teams play today and the cruelty of the BISERGS dealt a double blow to his promising combination of Argentina and Portugal. Things didn't work out well for Brian at all this summer.  Argentina's loss is only the most recent in a series of disappointing results and as it stands, Brian's only chance to avoid last place this summer is for Belgium to beat Japan by 18 goals.

Bracket Link

It's About to Get Real

And so it begins.  From now on, every time a team steps on the field it is either one step closer to glory or to the airport for a flight home.  In the BISERGS the stakes couldn't be higher for Emilie, Derek, Greg, Axel and Brian.  Every one of their remaining teams is in action.  If the results go their way, they will climb the BISERGS rankings and live to see another day.  If not, they will be the first BISERGSers to say goodbye.

Uruguay need a few more goals from Cavani.

It's Europe against South America in day one of the knockout stage.  France and Argentina are followed by Uruguay and Portugal.  Victories by Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionell Messi would set up a mouthwatering quarterfinal matchup between the two superstars.  Paul Pogba, Antoine Griezman, Luis Suarez and Edinson Cavani are stars in their own right and hope to become national heroes by guiding their teams to glory well beyond this early stage of the tournament.  Four countries battle, but only two will survive.

For our top BISERGS hopefulls, Dawn and Rick must have a French victory if they have any ambitions of winning this summer.  Krista fields two of her three remaining teams.  Both must win if her BISERGS dreams are to become a reality.  A Portuguese victory will push Gray and Kelley ahead of Rachel (Uruguay) at the top while an Uruguay win would help Evan move ahead of his brother and Kelley into second place.  The BISERGS is about to get real.

Link to the bracket

Mexico City Celebrations and Team Point Totals

Link to the bracket

I just came across this video that I had to share with all of you.  A crowd of Mexico City residents stormed the South Korean embassy for this impromptu celebration with their new brother, the Korean ambassador.  The chant at the end can be roughly translated "Korean brother, now you are Mexican!"  It was South Korea's victory over Germany that allowed Mexico to keep going in the World Cup.

As we head into the next phase, remember that the value of the games changes with each round.  The round of 16 is the same as the group stage, but the quarter-final matches are worth 1.5 times the group stage matches. The semi-final is worth double points and the championship match is worth triple points.  In addition to points, a victory for your team earns them the right to play another round and gain you even more points in the future.  There is a third place match that will be valued the same as the group stage matches.  Also remember that in the knock-out stages of the World Cup, there can be no draws, so some matches go to penalty shootouts.  In those cases, goals scored in the shootout don’t count as goals or goals against for BISERGS points.  The team that loses the penalty shoot out still earns credit for a draw because they finished a full match, plus 30 minutes of extra time tied. The winning team is credited with a victory and of course gets to keep playing in the next round.

You may be wondering which teams provided the most BISERGS points for their 'owners' over the first 3 rounds.  Not surprisingly, Belgium topped the list followed by the other two unbeaten teams Croatia and Uruguay.  Interestingly, Argentina advanced to the next round, but they have scored fewer BISERGS points than Senegal and Iran who have both been eliminated.  Panama and Egypt are the only teams that actually cost their owners points over the course of three games.

Here is the complete list:

Belgium	13
Croatia	12.25
Uruguay	11.5
Brazil	9.25
Russia	9
England	8.75
France	8.25
Colombia	8
Sweden	8
Spain	6.75
Mexico	6.5
Portugal	6.5
Switzerland	6.5
Denmark	5.75
Japan	5
Senegal	5
Iran	4.5
Argentina	4.25
Costa Rica	3.75
South Korea	3.75
Nigeria	3.5
Tunisia	3.5
Germany	3
Peru	3
Serbia	3
Poland	2.75
Saudi Arabia	2.25
Australia	1
Morocco	1
Iceland	0.75
Egypt	-0.5
Panama	-1.5

Also, thanks to Krista for pointing out an error in the score calculator.  All owners of Egypt and Saudi Arabia have had their scores corrected by either +.25 or -.25 due to a mistake I made entering the match score last week.  If you notice any problems with the scores, please let me know so I can correct them.  

The Bracket is Set

Link to the bracket

The group stage is over and the World Cup officially says goodbye to 16 nations that didn't make it to the next round.  Thankfully, in the BISERGS world, we all have at least one team to keep our dreams alive.  Some of our dreams are more realistic than others, but as of today, everyone playing may still have the 2018 World Cup champion on their side.

The thrilling action of the World Cup let up significantly today, but the dramatic and often unexpected action on the field over the first three rounds has made the BISERGS as exciting as ever.  The current standings have Rachel on top with 34.25 and three teams qualified to the next round.  Gray is one point behind but managed to get four teams qualified.  Kelley is keeping the pressure on with 32.5 points and Levi had the highest single round score of the summer with 15.25 in round three is just a half a point behind her.  Evan, Annika, Dawn, Rick, Lisa and Katee round out the top 10.  From the top 10, only Rick and Katee have two teams still in action, the rest have three.  Josh, Allie, DJ and Krista all have three teams even though they find themselves further down the table.

The matchups for the rest of the BISERGS have a lot more at stake as the winners move on and the losers are out.  Matchups are now the key and you can see a link to the bracket here. I have tried to publish to a new page on the website but have not been able to make it work yet.  Hopefully I'll figure it out soon, so you can see your teams' paths to the Cup and which BISERGSers you'll have to knock of to get there.  If not, I'll continue to post this link to every story for the rest of the summer.

A close look at the brackets shows some huge matches coming right away.  The very first game has current top 10 BISERGSers Rachel and Evan's Uruguay taking on  Gray and Kelley's Portugal.  The winners will feel confident of riding on to BISERGS glory while the losers will find themselves falling off the pace suddenly.  The knockout phase also brings family strife.  Brothers play sisters, mothers try to eliminate their children's teams and grandchildren take aim at their grandparents last surviving teams.  There is also the risk of the dreaded guaranteed self-elimination.  In the round of 16 Josh is the only unlucky one with both sides of the Brazil/Mexico matchup.  When that game is over, he'll be down a team no matter what.  Don't mock Josh, because as your teams advance, they may be on a collision course, too.  Personally, if I'm fortunate enough to win both of my Round of 16 matches, I'll face the same problem as Josh.

The penalty that VAR took away from Senegal.  Maybe it was
a perfect tackle but for VAR to overturn a call, it is supposed
to be conclusive and it definitely wasn't that.

The bracket also shows that the loser of today's Belgium vs England game may have an easier path to the final.  Evidently the teams were aware of this as they put in less than maximum effort today.  Watching the match reminded me of this terrible bit of World Cup history (Warning, there is some bad language if you are listening with kids).  Today's match wasn't that bad, because it did feature a beautiful goal for Belgium, but I don't think the coach was too happy about it since the goal means victorious Belgium is now on course for a quarterfinal matchup with Brazil.  In the other games that mattered, Senegal had a penalty taken away by a not so color blind VAR official (I think VAR is being implemented in a racist way, but I'll save that for another day) and Colombia beat them 1 - 0.  That result meant that Japan advances even though they lost to Poland.  Japan and Senegal were tied in points, goal difference and goals, so the final tie breaker was yellow cards.  Incidentally, there have been studies that show black players are more likely to be given yellow cards by white referees, so maybe that wasn't the fairest tiebreaker for Senegal.  Senegal's elimination means that no African teams made it to the next round but that did open the way for Japan to be the lone Asian team to still be playing. 

Tomorrow is a rest day for the World Cup and for us in the BISERGS, but on Saturday the pattern of two games every day will start up again.

Who's Playing Today

Today's matches feature some teams that aren't expected to try very hard.  We'll get into that after the matches, but for now here are the teams and the BISERGSers that are in action today.

Gray Qualifies Fourth Team but Rachel Leads

We knew things were going to be exciting today because seven out of the eight teams that played  still had a chance to qualify for the next stage of the tournament.  The stakes were high for us BISERGSers as well, since advancing teams is crucial for success in the game.  Rachel, Rick and Gray were the only BISERGSers with a chance to get four teams through and that all depended on the two early games today.  Here is how it went down, Gray's Swedes scored a huge win against Mexico, meaning he got four teams through to the next round.  Sweden's victory made it impossible for South Korea to advance, so Rachel was out, but she didn't go down without taking out her father-in-laws BISERGS dreams, as her South Koreans scored a shocking win over Germany.  That result meant that Mexico gets to continue despite losing heavily today.  South Korea's win means that Rachel's round 3 is her highest tally yet.  Bill suffered a double loss with both of those upsets as he held favorites Germany and Mexico.  Germany were the first selection of Cookie, Dough, Carol, Bill and Rick, so their defeat is a heavy blow to them.  Carol is always a huge BISERGS favorite, but Germany's loss leaves her with only one team remaining.  Very few people saw Sweden's success coming, but Evan can puff out his chest a bit, since he took a risk on his ancestral homeland and used his first pick to make sure he had them.  James, Katee, Dawn and Gray also benefited from Sweden's excellent bounce back game after they completely collapsed against Germany in their previous outing.  

In the later games Brazil was facing the possibility of eliminations if things went very badly for them today, but they took care of business despite coming under a lot of Serbian pressure in the second half.  That's good news for Levi, Josh, Arlan, Annika and Katee who used their high position in the draft to take the favorites.  Katee who also saw Sweden win earlier today made a remarkable jump from 24th place to 9th.  Switzerland and Costa Rica played an entertaining 2 - 2 game, but once it was clear that Serbia were going to lose, the result in this match didn't matter for next rounds placement.  It did matter to the BISERGS though, and the owners of both teams would have liked to pick up more than the 1.5 points they got through this result.  The Serbia loss made this a truly disastrous day for Rick who started the day hoping to see four teams go through but had two teams eliminated.  Cookie  also had the same two teams go out today.

Tomorrow is the last round of the group stage.  Belgium and England are already through, but Senegal, Colombia and Japan all have ambitions of advancing.  It is unlikely anyone will catch Rachel with tomorrows results, but there is bound to be more movement on the BISERGS table as we get ready for the knockout stage.

By the way, we went over 3000 page views today.  Is this the best World Cup ever?

Argentina Sneak Through

Today was Group C and Group D's last round of games in the group stage.

In Group C, there wasn't a lot of drama compared to the frantic qualification frenzy of Spain and Portugal yesterday.  France had already qualified and Australia had an outside chance of getting through, but in the end it was Denmark that made it out of the group thanks to a 0 - 0 draw against France.  Peru who had been unlucky to find themselves eliminated after two games showed their quality by beating Australia.

In the BISERGS the scoreless draw did little to help Krista, since she had both teams, but she is happy to get Denmark through.  Despite not being in the top 10, Krista now has three teams into the next round.  Gray also has Denmark and has his knockout round qualifier count is up to 3.  The French owners have been high flyers in the BISERGS so far, but they should be unconcerned by their teams lackluster performance today.  Several key players were rested since France's progression had already been secured.  Peru owners have been extremely unlucky to have received nothing after two strong performances, so they will be happy to get four points out of today's game.

In Group D there was a lot to play for.  Croatia had already qualified but Argentina, Nigeria and Iceland all had a chance to make it out of the group.  Nigeria was in poll position and would have advanced with a draw against Argentina.  The Africans lost that advantage quickly though when Lionel Messi struck early in the first half.  He nearly doubled their lead, a few minutes later when his free kick struck the post.  At half time it was Argentina that held the second place in the group and was going through, but a goal by Iceland or Nigeria in the second half would have them eliminated.  Nigeria jumped back into the drivers seat when they scored on a penalty kick in the 51st minute.  In the other match, Iceland's brave attack was thwarted again and again and Croatia broke through first to make the Icelandic task even more daunting.  After the Nigeria goal, Argentina looked like they had absolutely no idea how to score the goal they so desperately needed.  Every Argentina player simply passed the ball to Messi and prayed he would do something special.  Nigeria were definitely the more threatening side throughout the second half and should have taken advantage to secure their place in the round of 16.  The cynic in me thinks that FIFA really wanted Messi to continue in the tournament as a ratings boost since a few harsh decisions went against the Nigerians.  In the meantime, Iceland came back to equalize and if they had scored again, they would take second place and move on.  Very late in the match, Marcos Rojo (who could have been given a card to match his name earlier in the game) scored on a very well taken volley to send Argentina into second place.  They were still vulnerable, since an Iceland goal would have put them out, but it was Croatia who struck again in the other match.  Argentina prevented a last gasp goal from Nigeria and the Super Eagles were sent home along with Iceland, who were poised to be the darlings of the tournament this summer but ultimately failed to make an impression.

In the BISERGS world, Kelley had both teams in the Iceland vs Croatia game, but she probably wasn't a neutral observer.  She would have preferred for Iceland to win in order to slow down her rivals Rachel, Rick, Levi and Lisa.  Croatia seems to be the key to BISERGS success so far.  An amazing five of the BISERGS current top six have Croatia in their portfolio.  Emilie, Brian, Derek, Greg and Axel all used their first picks in the draft to get Argentina and were relieved to see them make it through to the next round.  They shouldn't be too optimistic though since the way Argentina has played so far has been completely unconvincing.  Argentina's lack of team play and complete reliance on Messi makes a victory over France in the next round almost unimaginable.  The BISERGS world was happy to see Brian pick up two victories in a single day as he has definitely been the unluckiest participant so far.  Iceland's exit means that Rachel, Rick and Gray are the only BISERGSers that have not had a team eliminated from the World Cup yet, however none of them have had a fourth team qualify yet.  The scoreboard page now shows teams remaining in the fifth column, so you can see which players have the most hope going forward.

Round Three Kicks Off

The final round of the group phase got underway today.  In round three the four teams in each group play simultaneously.  It was group A that had its two games start together in the early match. The Russians and Uruguayans had already advanced but were playing for important positioning in the next round.  In the other game, Saudi Arabia and Egypt were playing for pride.

Russia lead the BISERGS in team point production for the first two rounds but today James, Andrew, Arlan, Doug and Annika stopped reaping the benefits of home field advantage.  It was Uruguay that delivered the points for its owners by coming through with an emphatic 3 - 0 victory.  The 4 1/2 points went to all of those that selected Uruguay in the draft, but it is Rachel that moved to the top of the table thanks to her Group A champions.

In the second game it was Saudi Arabia that started strong but were stunned by a Mo Salah goal that came out of nowhere.  Egypt had three more excellent opportunities in quick succession but wasted those chances to add to their lead.  They were made to pay as Saudi Arabia had a penalty saved once, but then were awarded a second penalty that they made no mistake about.  The game looked destined for a 1 - 1 draw when Salem Al Dawsari scored a goal from a tight angel in the 95th minute to send the Saudi's home with a smile.

In Group B, Portugal and Spain had the upper hand in the race for the next round but there was still a chance that Iran could sneak in if results went their way.  Morocco were already out, but they have caught the attention of the world through their play this summer and were looking forward to the chance to make an impression again against Spain.

The Moroccans took advantage of a miscommunication on the Spanish half of the field and Khalid Boutaib, ran at Spanish keeper David DeGea in disbelief before putting the ball through DeGea's legs and into the net.  With Iran putting on a strong showing at the same time, Spain suddenly was at great risk of not qualifying for the next round.  Spain responded immediately with a beautifully worked team goal that was finished by Isco going high into the net.  Before half time, Boutaib was given a similar chance on a break away, but this time DeGea came up big to keep his team alive.  Meanwhile in the other match, Carlos Quaresma struck a beautiful shot from outside the penalty area to lift Portugal to a lead before half time.  In the second half more drama ensued in both matches.  Iran put Portugal under pressure again and again and the conspiracy theorist in me believes that FIFA really wanted Cristiano Ronaldo's pretty face to continue on in this tournament.  He was awarded a dubious penalty when more blatant penalties should have been rewarded to Iran in the second half.  Ronaldo stepped up to the penalty spot with a chance to put his team up 2 - 0 only to have his penalty saved by the Iranian keeper.  A few minutes later Ronaldo was caught on camera delivering an elbow to the face of an Iranian player only to escape with a yellow card when a red card would have been merited.  Iran were rightfully freaking out when they realized they had to play against 12 men.  Ronaldo is hard enough to defend, but Paraguayan referee Enrique Cáceres had become Portugal's biggest weapon.  (Sorry about that rant, I'm still bitter about several similar calls or non-calls that benefited Portugal against Morocco last week).  In the 81st minute, Morocco scored on a powerfully taken header off of a corner kick, putting Spain on the ropes and at the mercy of the result of the other game.  Just as Iran scored in the 93rd minute to draw even, Spain also found the net.  Suddenly, Spain were on top of the group when just seconds before they had feared elimination.  Surely there wasn't enough time for Iran to get another.  After the restart, Portugal's defense switched off and the ball fell to an open Iranian at the left post with an open shot on goal.  If he could score, Iran would win the group and Portugal would go home.  As Mehdi Tarimi lined up his chance to be a hero, ad executives for Nike, Samsung, CocaCola, Tag Heuer and KFC let out a collective gasp of horror.  Could CR7 be out of the tournament despite FIFAs best efforts to keep his face on TV screens across the globe?  But alas, Mehdi Taremi hit the side netting, order was restored in the universe and Portugal and Spain are moving on to the next round.  Without a doubt, Last place Morocco were actually the best team in group B :)

The draws in both matches meant that all of Group Bs owners picked up a meager point and a fraction, but both Rachel and Kelley got their third team qualified for the next phase and all Spain and Portugal owners will see their teams continue.  Rachel should also be relieved that the results of today's matches mean her Uruguay and Spain teams won't meet in the next round.  In fact, the Uruguay vs Portugal match in the knockout phase will be a chance for Rachel to strike a blow against her two nearest rivals Kelley and Gray.  While nobody was paying attention, the Glenney family raid of the top 10.  Lisa was already in the top 10, but Ivan and Levi had big days to push into the fourth and ninth positions respectively.  Now this is really getting exciting.  

Round 2 Goes Out with a Bang

If you've been watching for the last two days, you've been treated to an amazing 27 goals.  Today it was England padding their goal total against hapless Panama in a 6 -1 victory.  Then Japan and Senegal traded goals in a 2 -2 thriller before Colombia shifted into high gear and ran away from Poland in the last game of the second round.

England and Belgium have both advanced from a very uncompetitive Group G and their next game against each other will determine who gets to be the first seed and who gets to be second.  Like Belgium yesterday, England decide it was a good move to run up the score to grab that vital tiebreaker advantage against their group rivals.  When they scored their sixth goal today England moved ahead of Belgium by the slimmest of margins according to FIFA tiebreakers.  So if their match against Belgium ends in a tie, they will get the first seed.  Panama were unable to do anything to stop the English onslaught and were sent packing in the most humiliating way we've seen this year.  If you think Panama are truly awful, and they are, remember that they finished two places ahead of America in World Cup qualifying.  Not going to Russia this summer probably saved the US an international embarrassment.

Colombia play with joy and also bring joy to
anyone who watches.

In the late game, Colombia and Poland both faced an uphill battle to qualify for the next round after disappointing results in their openers.  It was Colombia that came to play and electrified the world's biggest sporting stage just like they did in Brazil four years ago.  Even though Bogota is 12,000 kilometers from the stadium where the match was played and Poland is practically a neighbor, it was like a home crowd for Colombia.  With the yellow shirts in the crowd and the chants and songs in support of Colombia, you would be forgiven for thinking the game was being played in South America. Since Colombia lost to Japan in the first game, they still have to win against Senegal in their next outing to make the knockout phase.  Based on what we saw today, I wouldn't bet against them.  Poland, for the record, has been eliminated.

Japan and Senegal started the day on top of Group H with three points each and after playing 90 minutes of even football, they ended the day tied and in first place with four points each.  Their back and forth encounter saw Senegal go into the lead twice only to see Japan equalize both times.

Round Two Wrap-up

At this moment every BISERGSer has had 8 games, so the current scores are a true indication of everyone's success so far.  Kelley is the leader with an incredibly well balanced performance.  Her opening round score of 11.5 was improved on with a 12.5 in the second round giving her a full 1 point lead over second place Gray.  Kelley has Belgium and Croatia qualified for the knockout stage and Portugal hopes to add to her good fortune tomorrow against Iran.  Even her worst team Iceland hasn't been eliminated and could make a phenomenal four teams for her into the next round.  Gray is in second but only has Belgium qualified.  He was one of the victims of Germany's amazing comeback victory as his Swedes would have made it through but now must beat Mexico to advance.  Gray has Portugal and Denmark on the brink of qualification, so he has a real shot of getting four teams through.  Rick is a quarter point behind his son in third place but can boast two teams in the next round and he has a chance of getting four through.  The biggest mover of the second round was fourth place Josh, who scored a remarkable 13.25 points in this round.  Josh's fearsome combo of Brazil and Mexico kicked into gear as expected, but his great foresight to pick Nigeria and Japan where most others passed on them is what really set him apart this round .  Lisa also had a great second round to finish in fifth place and ensure that the Snyder side of the family won't go unnoticed in this year's BISERGS.  Rachel, Sharleen, Annika, Dawn and Ari round out the top 10.  Josh's great round was based on three wins and a draw.  If anyone picks up four wins in the next round, they will be right back in the thick of things, even if they are way down the list at this point. (I'm really just trying to encourage myself)  Ten of the sixteen teams that will play in the knockout remain unknown, so their is still everything to play for in Russia and for us in the BISERGS.

Group F Explained

With the second round wrapped up, some teams that have 6 points have guaranteed their spot in the next round, while Mexico (6 points) could still be eliminated.  On the flip side, every team that has zero points is out all ready except for South Korea (0 points).  Why is Group F so different?  With the standings as they are below, the round three matches are Mexico vs Sweden and Germany vs South Korea.

Consider the following two scenarios.
Scenario 1) It is possible for Mexico to be eliminated because if they lose to Sweden and Germany beats South Korea then Mexico, Germany and Sweden will all be tied on six points.  The next tie breaker is goal difference, so it would depend on the scores of those games to see who the top two would be.  If Mexico lose to Sweden by more than one goal, they will likely be eliminated despite their great play so far this summer.

Did this goal mean more than any other so far this summer?

Scenario 2) South Korea could still qualify if they were to beat Germany and Mexico beat Sweden.  In that case Germany, Sweden and South Korea would all have three points and the team with the best goal difference would advance.  In the Mexico / South Korea match yesterday, the goal by Son in the 93rd minute seemed like a nice but meaningless consolation in a game that Korea was going to lose.  In reality, that goal could be South Korea's salvation or Mexico's demise if one of the two scenarios above play out.