Shadow Scholar Syndicate: WM 2018--Day Twelve Recap

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Day 12: Recap

Record—

Spread: 14-22

Straight up: 21-10-5

Hot Girl Standings

Country	Tally	Games Played
Russia	29	3
Spain	28	3
Sweden	24	2
Mexico	23	2
Iran	22	3 (finished)
Egypt	21	3 (finished)
Portugal	20	3
Brazil	20	2
Poland	20	2
Iceland	19	2
Morocco	18	3 (finished)
Columbia	18	2
Argentina	17	2
Senegal	17	2
Nigeria	15	2
Croatia	15	2
Belgium	15	2
Germany	15	2
Tunisia	15	2
South Korea	15	2
Denmark	14	2
Australia	14	2
Japan	13	2
Uruguay	12	3
Switzerland	12	2
Serbia	12	2
Costa Rica	12	2
Saudi Arabia	11	3 (finished)
England	11	2
Panama	10	2
Peru	10	2
France	8	2

Crazy day of immensely satisfying football. How’s a humble bookie supposed to keep track of the Group Projection Bets when the standings shift every thirty seconds? Oh man. Insanity. Wouldn’t have it any other way. Had a blast with you rubes as always.

Told you Ruskies were overrated…and that Morocco featured a really great team. It’s a damn pity they couldn’t overtake the Portuguese with all the chances they had. The deserved to leave the competition with something. Why don’t we commemorate their performance with our much coveted daily photo slot?

It was indeed Syndicate Member 36-M who suggested during our coverage of the 2017 African Cup of Nations that Herve Renard resembled Vicey plus a few years.

….Man I wish I looked that good TEN YEARS AGO. You’re nuts, dude.

S.S.S. Tactical Breakdown

Is Uruguay a threat to go deep after today's drubbing? Let's have a look.

Lineup—Uruguay—Match Two (4-4-2) (6/20/18)

Edinson Cavani Luis Suarez

Cristian Rodriguez Carlos Sanchez

Rodrigo Betancur Matias Vecino

Martin Caceras Guillermo Varela

Diego Godin Jose Gimenez

Fernando Muslera

Lineup—Uruguay—Match Three (3-5-2) (6/25/18)

Edinson Cavani Luis Suarez

Diego Laxalt Nahi Nandez

Rodrigo Betancur Matias Vecino

Lucas Torreira

M. Caceres D. Godin S. Coates

Fernando Muslera

Unexpected moves from Tabaraez. I would have been less amazed had he pitched the cane and started riverdancing. Even Old Man Oscar is experimenting with a three-man-defensive front now? The game has really changed. This tactic appears to be the freaking “Pokemon Go” of the tournament. Everyone has to try it at least once before rapidly losing interest.

Doubtful we’ll see something like this against the Navigators on Saturday. For starters it didn’t really yield much other than some nasty knocks to Torreira and Laxalt. Suarez’s set piece goal, courtesy of some of the dumbest defending I’ve ever seen, set the tone for the match. The own goal from Cheryshev came less than fifteen minutes later. It was all over before it even began.

It is true that Laxalt’s dusting of Smolnikov on the left eventually led to his frustrated fouls and dismissal. That doesn’t count as a strategy as La Celeste can’t rely upon future opponents to behave as insipidly as the hosts did today.

We’ll need to see more.

S.S.S. Salute to Fallen Comrades

Egypt—“The Pharaohs”

-3 games played

-2 goals scored

-21 Hot Girls

Salah is rumored to be considering retirement from the National Side. They’ll work hard to keep him as 2019 AFCON Qualifying is off to a rocky start. They should nevertheless make the continental championship, placing second in a group that features Tunisia, a lousy Niger Side, and….er....Swaziland.

Lineup—Egypt—PROJECTED (4-5-1) (5/26/18)

Mohamed Salah

Mahmoud Hassan Ahmed Hassan

M. El-Nenny A. Said Tarek Hamed

M.A. Shafy A. Fathy

Omar Gaber Ahmed Hegazy

Essam El-Hadary

Lineup—Egypt—Match One (4-5-1) (6/15/18)

Marwan Mohsen

Mahmoud Hassan Amr Warda

M. El-Nenny A. Said Tarek Hamed

M.A. Shafy A. Fathy

Omar Gaber Ahmed Hegazy

Mohamed El-Shenawy

Lineup—Egypt—Match Two (4-5-1) (6/20/18)

Marwan Mohsen

Mahmoud Hassan A. Said Mohamed Salah

M. El-Nenny Tarek Hamed

Mohamed A. Shafy Ahmed Fathy

Omar Gaber Ahmed Hegazy

Mohamed El-Shenawy

Lineup—Egypt—Match Three (4-5-1) (6/25/18)

Marwan Mohsen

Mahmoud Hassan A. Said Mohamed Salah

M. El-Nenny Tarek Hamed

Mohamed A. Shafy Ahmed Fathy

Omar Gaber Ahmed Hegazy

Essam El-Hadary

Saudi Arabia—“The Green Falcons”

-3 games played

-2 goals scored

-11 Hot Girls

They’ve already qualified for the 24-team 2019 Asian Continental Championship, placed in a group where they can expect some tough competition from Qatar, North Korea, and Lebanon. Unclear whether or not they’ll keep their Argentine manager.

Lineup—Saudi Arabia—PROJECTED (4-5-1) (5/26/18)

Mohammed Al-Sahlawi

Fahad Al-Muwallad Salem Al-Dawsari

Nawaf Al-Albed Salman Al-Faraj

Tasir Al-Jassim

M. Al-Harbi O.S. Hawsawi O.M. Hawsawi M. Hawsawi

Yasser Al Mosailem

Lineup—Saudi Arabia—Match One (4-5-1) (6/14/18)

Mohammed Al-Sahlawi

Yaya Al-Shehri Salem Al-Dawsari

Tasir Al-Jassim Abduallah Otayf

Salman Al-Faraj

Y. Al-Shahrani O.S. Hawsawi O.M. Hawsawi M. Al-Breik

Abdullah Al-Mayouf

Lineup—Saudi Arabia—Match Two (4-5-1) (6/20/18)

Mohammed Al-Sahlawi

Hattan Bahebri Salem Al-Dawsari

Tasir Al-Jassim Salman Al-Faraj

Abdullah Otayf

Y. Al-Shahrani O.S. Hawsawi A. Al-Bulaihi M. Al-Breik

Mohammed Al-Owais

Lineup—Saudi Arabia—Match Three (4-5-1) (6/25/18)

Fahad Al-Muwallad

Salem Al-Dawsari Hattan Bahebri

Housain Al-Mogahwi Salman Al-Faraj

Abdullah Otayf

Y. Al-Shahrani O.S. Hawsawi O.M. Hawsawi M. Al-Breik

Yasser Al Mosailem

Morocco—“The Lions of the Atlas”

-3 games played

-2 goals scored

-18 Hot Girls

Great football from them this tournament. Renard’s Wanderlust will likely see him take another job. Several African teams have vacancies. Morocco should easily qualify for the 2019 African Cup of Nations. In an interesting twist, they will play qualifying matches against already qualified hosts Cameroon. Great idea, Africa! Why exclude the hosts from meaningful matches?

Lineup—Morocco—PROJECTED (5-3-2) (5/27/18)

Aziz Bouhaddouz Ayoub El Kaabi

Hakim Ziyech Younes Belhanda

Faycal Fajr

Hamza Meddyl Romain Saiss Nabil Dirar

Manuel da Costa Medhi Benatia

Munir Mohammed

Lineup—Morocco—Match One (3-4-3) (6/15/18)

Ayoub El Kaabi

Younes Belhanda Nordin Amrabat

Amin Harit Mbark Boussoufa

Karim El Ahmadi Hakim Ziyech

Romain Saiss Mehdi Bentia Achraf Hakimi

Munir Mohammed

Lineup—Morocco—Match Two (4-2-3-1) (6/20/18)

Khalid Boutaib

H. Ziyech Y. Belhanda N. Amrabat

Mbark Boussofa Karim El Ahmadi

Achraf Hakimi Nabil Dirar

Mehdi Bentia Manuel da Costa

Munir Mohammed

Lineup—Morocco—Match Three (4-2-3-1) (6/25/18)

Khalid Boutaib

H. Ziyech Y. Belhanda N. Amrabat

Mbark Boussofa Karim El Ahmadi

Achraf Hakimi Nabil Dirar

Mehdi Bentia Manuel da Costa

Munir Mohammed

Iran—“Team Melli”

-3 games played

-1 (legitimate) Goal Scored

-22 Hot Girls

Quieroz remains as the Iranians set to do battle with their arch Rival Iraq in the 2019 Asian Continental Championship. Their group also features Yemen and a surprise Vietnamese Squad.

Lineup—Iran—PROJECTED (4-4-2) (5/27/18)

Sardar Azmoun Reza Goochannejhad

Ehsan Hajsafi Ashkan Dejagah

Masoud Shojaei Alireza Jahanbakhsh

Milad Mohammadi Ramen Rezaeian

Pejman Montazeri M.R. Khanzadeh

Alireza Beiranvand

Lineup—Iran—Match One (3-4-3) (6/15/18)

Sardar Azmoun

Vahid Amiri Alireza Jahanbakhsh

Masoud Shojaei Karim Ansarifard

Ehsan Hajsafi Omid Ebrahimi

M. Pouraliganji R. Cheshmi R. Rezaeian

Alireza Beiranvand

Lineup—Iran—Match Two (4-2-3-1) (6/20/18)

Sardar Azmoun

Vahid Amiri Mehdi Taremi Karim Ansarifard

Saeid Eszatolahi Omar Ebrahimi

Ehsan Hajsafi Ramin Rezaian

M. Pouraliganji Majid Hosseini

Alireza Beiranvand

Lineup—Iran—Match Three (4-5-1) (6/25/18)

Sardar Azmoun

Vahid Amiri Mehdi Taremi

O. Ebrahimi A. Jahanbakhsh

Saeid Eztolahi

E. Hajsafi M. Pouraliganji M. Hosseini R. Rezaeian

Alireza Beiranvand

“Riffs of the Day”—Day Twelve

Reader: Someone should tell the Russians that clearing a goalscorer’s path to net isn’t how defending works!

Vicey: You said it, 15! It was like watching the Soviet Army clear a minefield by marching their soldiers over it.

Reader: Guess we can rule out Putin’s manipulation.

Vicey: It takes time for Russians to emulate Europe. Peter the Great didn’t get it right on his fourteenth try either. Probably should have laid off the booze. ; )

DAY THIRTEEN—PREVIEW

Denmark vs. France