Shadow Scholar Syndicate: CC 2017--Day Six Recap

Your “Syndicate Hangover” is proudly presented by “Renegade: Hammer & Sickle Imperial Stout”

Meh. It’s still probably better than your local “Hipster IPA”

Day 6: Recap

Record—

Spread: 2-8

Straight up: 4-3-3

Hot Girl Standings

Country	Tally	Games Played
Russia	28	3 (finished)
Mexico	21	3
Chile	12	2
Cameroon	9	2
Germany	5	2
Portugal	4	3
Australia	1	2
New Zealand	1	3 (finished)

Don’t let those stats fool you, your friendly bookie had a lucrative day indeed. As always, love the privilege of reconnecting with each and every last one of you. ; ) I was very honored to receive the following words from Syndicate Member 23-M:

“Getting very formulaic, Vicey?”

Bwahahaha. Love it. It’s an ineffably empty honor to be compared to a Maureen Dowd Column. For the record, though, I’d prefer to be equated to Paul Krugman. Yes, I have my templates…but I still have a few cursory wits left about me ; )

The inherently unsatisfying Eight-Team Tournament drags on, brothers. The Group Stage—mercifully enough—concludes tomorrow. Matches with far more at stake await. Let’s get to them.

LINEUP—Russia—Match One (5-3-2)

Dmitry Poloz Fyodor Smolov

Alexsandr Golovin Aleksandr Yerokhin

Denis Glushakov

Yuri Zhirkov Alexsandr Samedov

F. Kudrayashov V. Vasin G. Dzhikiya

Igor Akinfeev

LINEUP—Russia—Match Two (5-4-1)

Fyodor Smolov

Yuri Zhirkov Alexsandr Samedov

Alexasandr Golovin Denis Glushakov

Dimitri Kombarov Roman Shishkin

F. Kudrayashov V. Vasin G. Dzhikiya

Igor Akinfeev

LINEUP—Russia—Match Three (5-3-2)

Alexsandr Bukharov Fyodor Smolov

Alexsandr Golovin D. Glushakov Alexsandr Yerokhin

Yuri Zhirkov Alexsandr Samedov

Fyodor Kudryashov Georgi Dzhikiya

Victor Vasin

Igor Akinfeev

Had a rather disturbing nightmare about this lineup last night. Bukharov was up front! The dream also augured a post-hit from Smolov and a howler from Akinfeev. How prescient the instrument between one’s ears can be ; )

An amazing goal from Lozano in the 52^nd! What truly astounds is how focused Akinfeev was on the clearance. He came nowhere close to noticing the attacker crashing in on that long hopeful ball!

Decent fight from the hosts down the stretch. They exceeded all of our expectations and deserve the plaudits associated therewith. ; ) They did not finish “Dead Last”. The sustained vocal sustenance of the crowd mattered in the end. We’ll discuss how the Ruskies might rebuild in time to rise to the occasion in the “Goodbyes Section”. For now, acclaim is in order.

LINEUP—Mexico—Match One (4-3-3)

Raul Jimenez Chicharito Carlos Vela

Andres Guardado Jonathan dos Santos

Hector Herrera

Miguel Layun Carlos Salcedo

Hector Moreno Diego Reyes

Guillermo Ochoa

LINEUP—Mexico—Match Two (3-4-3)

Raul Jimenez

Oribe Peralta Jürgen Damm

Javier Aquino Giovanni dos Santos

Marco Fabian Diego Reyes

O. Alanis Nestor Arajuo Carlos Salcedo

Alfredo Talavera

LINEUP—Mexico—Match Three (4-3-3)

Carlos Vela Chicharito Hirving Lozano

Andres Guardado Jonathan dos Santos

Hector Herrera

Miguel Layun Diego Reyes

Hector Moreno Nestor Araujo

Guillermo Ochoa

The “tinkerer” tinkers less than you think. He knows his best eleven and won’t make any drastic adjustments to it in a big match. He also deeply cares about his players like any leader worth his salt should. This guy grows on me. Liking his style more every time.

Still miss the unfettered passion of Miguel Herrera. ; ( He screamed and screeched “motherfucker” at least twice every match ; )

LINEUP—New Zealand—Match One (5-3-2)

Marco Rojas Chris Wood

Ryan Thomas Kosta Barbarouses

Michael McGlinchey

Deklan Wynne Kip Colvey

Michael Boxall A. Durante Tommy Smith

Stefan Marinovic

LINEUP—New Zealand—Match Two (5-3-2)

Marco Rojas Chris Wood

Ryan Thomas Clayton Lewis

Michael McGlinchey

Deklan Wynne Dane Ingham

A. Durante M. Boxall Tommy Smith

Stefan Marinovic

LINEUP—New Zealand—Match Three (5-3-2)

Marco Rojas Chris Wood

Ryan Thomas Clayton Lewis

Michael McGlinchey

Tom Doyle Dane Ingham

Tommy Smith A. Durante M. Boxall

Stefan Marinovic

Thank Goodness we no longer need to discuss this nonsense. Your friendly bookie was courteous enough to give the “All Whites” a nice initial write-up and a friendly line in the last Round. Go away now, please! Oceania and Asia can take a long walk off a short cliff!

LINEUP—Portugal—Match One (4-4-2)

C. Ronaldo Nani

A. Gomez R. Quaresma

J. Moutinho W. Carvalho

R. Guerreiro Cedric Soares

Pepe Jose Fonte

Rui Patricio

LINEUP—Portugal—Match Two (4-4-2)

Andre Silva Cristiano Ronaldo

Andre Gomez Bernardo Silva

Adrien Silva William Carvalho

Cedric Soares Raphael Geuerreiro

Pepe Bruno Alves

Rui Patricio

LINEUP—Portugal—Match Three (4-4-2)

Andre Silva Cristiano Ronaldo

Bernardo Silva Ricardo Quaresma

Danilo Pereira Joao Moutinho

Eliseu Nelson Semedo

Pepe Bruno Alves

Rui Patricio

Santos knows how to build a lineup. Switching Bernardo Silva worked out wonderfully! Not entirely sure if he switched Andre Silva and C. Ronaldo. At times it looked so. Other times it didn’t. The Portuguese always keep you guessing. You can’t accurately call field assignments because the players switch so often. This has been the case since your friendly bookie first started writing about them back in 2002. “CR 7” wasn’t even part of the starting lineup back then!

Enough reminiscing. May the Navigators continue to intrigue for years to come ; )

GRADES—Russia (Match One)

Igor Akinfeev	A+
Alexsandr Samedov	A
Fyodor Smolov	A
Viktor Vasin	A
Fyodor Kudryashov	A-
Denis Glushakov	B+
Geori Dzhikaya	B
Dmitri Tarasov	B
Yuri Zhirkov	B-
Alexandr Yerokhin	C+
Alexsandr Bukharov	C+
Alexsandr Golovin	C
Dmitry Poloz	C

GRADES—Russia (Match Two)

Igor Akinfeev	A+
Fyodor Smolov	A
Alexsandr Golovin	A
Dmitri Kombarov	A
Alexsandr Samedov	A-
Dmitry Poloz	A-
Alexsandr Yerokhin	B+
Alexsandr Bukharov	B
Yuri Zhirkov	B
Denis Glushakov	B-
Viktor Vasin	B-
Fyodor Kudryashov	C+
Georgi Dzhikiya	C
Roman Shishkin	C

GRADES—Russia (Match Three)

Fyodor Smolov	A+
Alexsandr Samedov	A
Dmitry Poloz	A
Alexsandr Golovin	A-
Denis Glushakov	B+
Alexsandr Yerokhin	B
Georgi Dzhikiya	B
Fyodor Kudryashov	B-
Victor Vasin	C+
Alexsandr Bukharov	C
Yuri Zhirkov	D
Igor Akinfeev	D

GRADES—Mexico (Match One)

Carlos Vela	A+
Javier Hernandez	A+
Hector Moreno	A
Jonathan dos Santos	A
Raul Jimenez	A
Miguel Layun	A-
Giovanni dos Santos	B+
Diego Reyes	B
Guillermo Ochoa	B
Jonathan dos Santos	B
Nestor Araujo	B-
Hector Moreno	C+
Carlos Salcedo	C

GRADES—Mexico (Match Two)

Raul Jimenez	A+
Alfredo Talavera	A+
Javier Aquino	A+
Oribe Peralta	A
Jürgen Damm	A
Hector Moreno	A
Giovanni dos Santos	B+
Hector Herrera	B
Marco Fabian	B-
Rafael Marquez	B-
Diego Reyes	C+
Nestor Araujo	C
Oswaldo Alanis	C

GRADES—Mexico (Match Three)

Hirving Lozano	A+
Javier Aquino	A
Luis Reyes	A
Carlos Vela	A
Miguel Layun	A
Jonathan dos Santos	A
Javier Hernandez	A-
Guillermo Ochoa	B+
Hector Herrera	B
Andres Guardado	B-
Jonathan dos Santos	C+
Hector Moreno	C
Nestor Araujo	C

GRADES—Portugal (Match One)

Cristiano Ronaldo	A+
Ricardo Quaresma	A+
Cedric Soares	A+
Gelson Martins	A
Nani	B+
William Carvalho	B
Andre Silva	B
Andre Gomez	B
Pepe	B-
Rui Patricio	B-
Adrien Silva	B-
Jose Fonte	B-
Raphael Guerreiro	C+
Joao Moutinho	C+

GRADES—Portugal (Match Two)

Bernardo Silva	A+
Eliseu	A
Cristiano Ronaldo	A
Rui Patricio	A
Cedric Soares	A
William Carvalho	A
Bruno Alves	A
Adrien Silva	B+
Andre Gomez	B+
Andre Silva	B-
Gelson Martins	C+
Raphael Guerrerio	C
Pepe	C-

GRADES—Portugal (Match Three)

Bernardo Silva	A+
Andres Silva	A+
Nani	A+
Rui Patricio	A
Cristiano Ronaldo	A
Ricardo Quaresma	A
Bruno Alves	A
Pepe	A
Nelson Samedo	B+
Eliseu	B
Daniel Pereira	B
Pizzi	B-
Joao Moutinho	B-

GRADES—New Zealand (Match One)

Stefan Marinovic	A
Marco Rojas	A
Ryan Thomas	A-
Tommy Smith	B+
Shane Smeltz	B
Chris Wood	B
Kosta Babarouses	B
Andrew Durante	C
Bill Tuiloma	C
Michael McGlinchey	C-
Kip Colvey	C-
Monty Patterson	C-
Deklan Wynne	D
Michael Boxall	F

GRADES—New Zealand (Match Two)

Chris Wood	A
Monty Patterson	A
Ryan Thomas	A
Tommy Smith	A-
Stefan Marinovic	A-
Michael McGlinchey	B
Kosta Babarouses	B
Bill Tuiloma	B
Clayton Lewis	C+
Marco Rojas	C
Deklan Wynne	C-
Andrew Durante	D
Dane Ingham	D
Michael Boxall	F

GRADES—New Zealand (Match Three)

Kostas Barabrouses	A
Shane Smetltz	A
Bill Tuiloma	A-
Tommy Smith	A-
Ryan Thomas	B
Marco Rojas	B
Tommy Smith	C+
Chris Wood	C
Andrew Durante	C
Dane Ingham	D
Clayton Lewis	D
Andrew Durante	F
Michael Boxall	F
Stefan Marinovic	F

“Riffs of the Day”—Day Six

Reader: So many memories. When can we get back to “then”?

Vicey: Hang in there, 19-M!! We can’t go back to “then” because we missed it… “just now.” We’re at “Now” now. You’re looking at “Now”. Everything that’s happening “now” is happening “Now”. I can’t go back to “then”. Sorry. ; (