PUTY’S WORLD CUP REVIEW & PREVIEW – June 22/23
Sam’s Safe Space for Soccer Stoolies
Hi haters™,
It’s Friday and there’s beer to drink to let’s keep this short. Below is a brief rundown of what happened yesterday and what to look for coming up today.
So let’s get to it…
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Recap – June 22
Scores from yesterday’s slate of games include:
This is what the eight groups look like at the moment, with teams circled in green having already qualified for the R16 and those with red crosses already being dead in the water (albeit with a chance to play spoiler in the third round-robin game).
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FRIDAY’S GAMES
BRAZIL (2) – (0) COSTA RICA
RUNDOWN: Costa Rica tried hard. Real, real hard. But in the end – and not tilt h very end – talent won out.
Lots of talk about Neymar’s flop, which originally was called as a penalty but upon review was reversed… yet he somehow didn’t get a yellow card for simulation. Doesn’t make a whole lot of sense in my book but perhaps that’s why I’m blogging in mama’s basement instead of a FIFA certified referee.
Thoughts on Brazil?
For the second straight game the Brazilians have had trouble breaking down a determined but bunkered defense. The insertion of Douglas Costa in the second half made a big difference, and the Juventus midfielder is probably going to see more time moving forward.
Thoughts on Costa Rica?
Heartbreaking way to go out for the Ticos but at the same time they really didn’t show us anything this World Cup. Big time 180 (in a bad way) from the 2014 tournament.
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NIGERIA (2) – (0) ICELAND
CONCLUSION: Nigeria outplayed Iceland and deserved all three points. Result adds some heft to those who say Croatia (who handled Nigeria) is underrated and begs further questions of Argentina, who couldn’t find a way through Iceland.
Thoughts on Nigeria?
Solid team with lots of skill and guile but not much experience. Just couldn’t get anything going against Croatia but now with a game under their belt seemed more at ease this time around. Incredibly pretty goal by Ahmed Musa opened the scoring and a second one sealed it.
Thoughts on Iceland?
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SERBIA (1) – (2) SWITZERLAND
CONCLUSION: Serbia opened the scoring and looked a bit better for a while but the Swiss grew into the game and eventually took control, scoring their first on an absolute BOMB from Granit Xhaka
and the second on a breakaway by Xherdan Shaqiri.
Thoughts on Serbia?
Rather disappointing performance, and yet they had a pretty good argument for a penalty that was totally ignored by the referee and VAR because… ummmmm… reasons?
Thoughts on Switzerland?
Slow start but eventually emerged as the better team. Not exciting but sometimes workmanlike is all it takes.
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PREVIEW – June 23
Couple early morning appetizers followed by the main dish as Germany finds itself in the odd position of playing for its life in the group stage.
Reminder: if you want more detailed explanations for my thinking behind the picks, check out the group previews that were the past week. But here is a quick and dirty run-through and some shot-in-the dark predictions…
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Belgium (-325)
Tunisia (+900)
Draw (+400)
Belgium has arguably been the most impressive team in the entire tournament to this point – though it helps that their only game was against a useless Panama side. Tunisia may put up a slightly tougher fight… but not necessarily too much. Belgium to win 2-0.
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Good Korea (+490)
Mexico (-165)
Draw (+260)
The USMNT fan in me wants to say Mexico is going to lose in embarrassing fashion but the tiny portion of my brain that is not hopelessly biased says that s unlikely given how good El Tri looked against Germany and how blahhhhhhhhhhhh Korea looked against a pretty meh Swedish team. Mexico to win 1-0.
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Germany (-230)
Sweden (+525)
Draw (+320)
Youuuuuuuuge game for Ze Germans, who should actually benefit from the fact that Sweden won their first game and is not going to come out like their back is against the wall. I’m guessing that rumors of Die Mannschaft’s demise will prove rather premature. Germany to win 3-1.
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So there we have it. Solid slate of games to get the weekend started off right. Thanks to everybody who has subscribed, downloaded, etc. the latest episode of PUTY’S WORLD CUP PODCAST… for those who haven’t but want to, the links for Apple and Droid can be found directly below.
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Holler,
Samuel Army