France and Germay Prevail

Germany finally broke through in added time to set up a
quarterfinal clash with France.

Africa is out of the World Cup as Nigeria and Algeria couldn't overcome their European rivals.  Nigeria and Algeria had plenty of the attack in the early going of their matches and each saw goals called back due to offsides calls.  In the first match, a tactical switch halfway through the second half turned France into the dominant side.  Still, their attacks were turned away by brilliant goal keeping and the woodwork until their goalie misplayed a corner kick and Paul Pogba easily headed home the first goal.  France scored a second to seal the victory as their continued pressure force Nigeria into an unfortunate own goal.  Algeria gave Germany a scare from the outset and both goal keepers were called into action again and again.  Germany took firm control of the match in the second half, but were unable to score and at the end of regulation time the score was 0 - 0.  Early in the overtime Germany broke through as Andre Schurrle brilliantly dragged low cross into the net using his trailing foot.  As Algeria committed numbers forward to rescue their World Cup dreams, Germany struck again.  Algeria managed a very late consolation goal, but the Germans ended up 2 - 1 winners.  The result sets up another thrilling World Cup quarterfinal between France and Germany the day after Brazil and Colombia square off.

The prevailing wisdom throughout the tournament has been that the European teams would struggle in the heat and humidity of Brazil, especially late in matches.  The Netherlands, Germany and France have all proven that wrong in the round of 16, scoring either in the extra time or late in regulation to knock out Mexico, Algeria and Nigeria.  Even Greece managed to score in the 90th minute to force the extra period against Costa Rica, although Costa Rica went on to win the match.  Currently two South American teams, one Central American team and three European teams have spots in the quarterfinals with the final two round of 16 matchups still to come.

The German victory puts Rodrigo firmly in control of the BISERGS with a five point lead over second place Greg.  He has three teams into the next round (Germany, the Netherlands and Costa Rica).  France's victory lifted Annika back into the top 10.  The Nigeria loss adds Derek to the list of BISERGSers who have had their third team eliminated.  Sorry Derek for not getting your name on the Nigeria flag graphic this summer.  I just noticed that now. 

Playing the Differentials in Day Three of the Knockouts

 The key to BISERGS success is finding value in teams that others ignored.  Costa Rica's unexpected run into the quarterfinals is a major reason that Rodrigo and Rick find themselves in first and second place.  Today's matchups offer a chance for some unexpected teams to bring huge rewards.  Only Rachel and Bill had the foresight to pick Algeria and only four BISERGSers selected Nigeria.  Success for either of the African teams today and in the later stages of the World Cup will dramatically affect the outcome of this years BISERGS, moving their owners way up the leader board.  Even the French were largely ignored until the third round of the BISERGS draft, but yielded the second highest point total in the group stages and is a major reason for Greg, Carol and Irma/Byron's strong positions.  Of the four teams in action, Germany was picked highest and is expected to go deep into the tournament if not win the whole thing.  Germany is Evan and Brian G's final team and if there is an upset today, their BISERGS will be over.  Similarly, Andrew has put all of his remaining BISERGS hopes on France.  So far in the knockout stages, the group winners have one every match, but Nigeria and Algeria are real threats to buck that trend.  It should be another exciting World Cup and BISERGS day.  

Costa Rican Joy and Lágrimas Mexicanas

Arjen Robben is awarded a late penalty for tripping
on something, most likely a blade of grass.

Costa Rica was a perfect 5 for 5 in a penalty shootout victory over Greece and have advanced to the quarterfinals.  Mexico was a few minutes away from beating the Netherlands but were unable to hold on to their lead and gave up two heartbreaking goals in the last 5 minutes.  It is the fifth consecutive World Cup that Mexico has lost in the round of 16.

El Tri dominated the first half but were unable to score before the break.  They changed that with a goal just after the restart and were holding on through more heroics from their goalie Memo Ochoa when the Netherlands scored through a blistering strike by Wesley Sneijder.  Then a controversial penalty was awarded and Mexico was sent home from the round of 16 once again.  Costa Rica were reduced to 10 men when defender Oscar Duarte was sent off for getting his second yellow card early in the second half.  They were leading 1-0 at the time and held on to their lead until the 90th minute when Greece finally broke through.  In extra time, no one was able to score and the game went to penalties where the exhausted Costa Ricans were perfect.

The results sent Rodrigo back to first place and Rick into second.  Carol Barrera entered the top ten again based on the Netherlands result, although she and Rodrigo would have preferred to see Mexico continue.  Sadly, the losses for Mexico and Greece mean that Dawn, Dan and Emilie have now had all of their teams eliminated.

The Field Continues to Narrow

Today's matchups are between the four teams competing for the next semifinal birth.  The high scoring Netherlands are the favorites to advance of the four, but they have to start against the surprising Mexicans.  Mexico has impressed and improved in every outing and could be peaking at just the right time.  Costa Rica and Greece play in the second game.  Nobody gave Costa Rica a chance to advance out of their group which featured Italy, England and Uruguay.  They not only advanced, but they dominated the favorites and won the group.  That is why they get to play Greece who may have pushed their luck to the limit to get this far, but they have been the shock winners in major tournaments before.

For the BISERGS, Rodrigo is near to the prize, but I doubt if he will be able to support the Dutch team he has for the BISERGS over Mexico.  Sharleen has already said she will put blood ahead of BISERGS as she cheers for this one.  Will Carol B be able to cheer for the Netherlands against her beloved's Mexico?  Costa Rica's owners couldn't have expected such a great showing or so many points from their team, but they seem poised to deliver even more.  And even though Greece has advanced to the round of 16, it hasn't produced many points for its owners so far.  They'll hope that the Greeks can deliver three points today.  Once again, a wonderful goal or a surprise result could be in store today to turn the BISERGS on its head, so don't miss the action if you can.

Colombia Thrill Again and Brazil Squeaks Through

Colombia celebrate a goal on their way to victory.

Brazil advanced to the next round by the skin of their teeth, but their opponent in the next round, Colombia stole the show and continues to steal the hearts of World Cup viewers around the world.  Colombia's first goal by James Rodriguez was a nominee for best goal of the tournament.  He now has five goals for the tournament and is the leader in the race for the "Golden Boot".  When his wonder-strike went off the bottom of the crossbar and into the goal, Uruguay's strategy of defending and waiting for one opportunity to strike went up in smoke.  Chile hit the bottom of the crossbar at the very end of the second extra period, but their shot caromed out.  A few minutes later, their final penalty kick also hit the post and Brazil slipped into the next round.  The Brazil - Columbia match up should be as exciting a quarterfinal as the World Cup has ever seen.

Those results put Greg into the lead for the first time this summer.  Rodrigo dropped to 5th, but with both favorites in today's matches belonging to him, he will likely be on top again by the end of the second match.  Ivan and Matt S. made big moves today into 2nd and 4th respectively as the owners of both Colombia and Brazil.  Rick is still in third place after the shuffle, but is now just 1/2 point from the top.  In fact, just 1.75 points separate the top 5 BISERGSers in what is the closest BISERGS ever at this point.

It's South America Day in the Round of 16

The first soccer-less day of the World Cup summer is over. I hope everyone managed to survive somehow. Now the excitement really starts.  In the group stage there was some room for error, as only 4 out of the 16 teams that advanced won all three matches.  From now on, if a team loses, they are out.  South America has done incredibly well in this years World Cup.  Five out of six South American sides advanced to the round of 16, but unfortunately four of them have ended up in the same quadrant of the knockout bracket.  That means that Brazil, Chile, Columbia and Uruguay will be battling one another for a single place in the semi-finals at the expense of their regional rivals.

Hosts and tournament favorites Brazil start the action today against Chile, who had a big part in eliminating world #1 Spain from the World Cup.  Chile would love to knockout another world power from the tournament.  Everyone who used their first pick on Brazil hopes that doesn't happen, but if it does, it would just be another exciting twist in the World Cup and BISERGS.  Columbia have been a very fun and high scoring team to watch and they go against the Suarez-less Uruguayans who advanced at the expense of Italy and England.  Uruguay's coach's reaction to the Suarez suspension makes me like his team even less, but that won't prevent James, Rachel, Emilie and Derek from cheering for the bad boys.

In this round of the BISERGS, the points are the same as in the group stage.  Teams earn their owners 3 points for a win, 1/2 point for a goal and they loose 1/4 point for goals allowed.  The only difference is that games can't end in a draw.  If a game is tied at the end of 90 minutes (plus added time), then a 30 minute overtime is played.  After that if the score is still tied, the game is decided by penalty kicks.  If that happens, for the BISERGS points, penalty kicks DO NOT count as goals scored or goals allowed.  The losing team in a penalty shootout is awarded one point for a draw, even though they have lost the match and will not advance to the next round because they were equal for 120 minutes.  In the quarterfinal round all scores (both positive and negative) are increased by 150%.  The semifinal points are worth double the first round matches and the final earns triple points.  The third place match is worth the same amount as the group stage matches.  All of this information can be found on the rules page.

BISERGS Leaderboard Tightens up as Group Stage Completes

Ronaldo finally scored a World Cup goal, but his
Portuguese team couldn't do enough to oust team USA. 

Doug completed a stunning 16.25 round yesterday that saw him rise all the way to third place in the BISERGS.  Rodrigo maintained the first position with 36.75 points, but he is being pressed by Greg who is only 1.5 points behind.  Greg's brothers Rick and Doug are both very close behind with 34 points overall.  Annika and Rachel managed to get four team through to the next round and everyone else in the top 10, except Sharleen have three teams remaining.  Gray, Ivan and Matt are the other members of the current top 10.  Defending BISERGS winner Carol B is in 11 place and could still repeat as champion.  Allison looks to bounce back from a very difficult round three that saw her slip from 2nd place down to 12th.  Sadly, the BISERGS is over for Katelynn and Hudson since they have had all four teams eliminated, but there is still plenty of excitement left in the World Cup for them to enjoy.

The USA advanced even though they were beaten by Germany 1-0.  Portugal beat Ghana in the other group game, but not by enough goals to take away the American's superior goal differential.  The result means the USA will play Belgium in the next round (at the exact time we will be checking into the airport, so I'll probably miss the match.)  The Germans won the group and will play Algeria who finished 2nd to Belgium in group H. Algeria sealed the final spot with a 1-1 draw against Russia.  The Russians jumped out to an early lead, but the Algerians made the most of a corner kick in the second half to equalize and kept the Russians out the rest of the way.  Belgium looked underwhelming in a 1-0 win over South Korea.  The Americans should like their chances against the Belgians who are full of super stars, but haven't gelled as a team at all.