Your “Syndicate
Hangover” is proudly presented by “Heineken 0.0”
All of the calories
and none of the intoxication!
This dog don’t bite ;
)
Day 20: Recap
Record—
Spread: 23-35
Straight up: 33-19-6
Hot
Girl Standings
Country
|
Tally
|
Games Played
|
Brazil
|
64
|
5 (finished)
|
Sweden
|
43
|
4
|
Colombia
|
41
|
4 (finished)
|
Mexico
|
40
|
4 (finished)
|
France
|
38
|
5
|
Russia
|
38
|
4
|
Belgium
|
36
|
5
|
Spain
|
34
|
4 (finished)
|
Argentina
|
34
|
4 (finished)
|
Poland
|
32
|
3 (finished)
|
Iceland
|
31
|
3 (finished)
|
Germany
|
31
|
3 (finished)
|
Switzerland
|
30
|
4 (finished)
|
Croatia
|
30
|
4
|
Japan
|
30
|
4 (finished)
|
Portugal
|
29
|
4 (finished)
|
Denmark
|
29
|
4 (finished)
|
South Korea
|
28
|
3 (finished)
|
Uruguay
|
27
|
5 (finished)
|
Nigeria
|
24
|
3 (finished)
|
England
|
24
|
4
|
Senegal
|
23
|
3 (finished)
|
Iran
|
22
|
3 (finished)
|
Egypt
|
21
|
3 (finished)
|
Tunisia
|
20
|
3 (finished)
|
Australia
|
20
|
3 (finished)
|
Costa Rica
|
20
|
3 (finished)
|
Serbia
|
19
|
3 (finished)
|
Morocco
|
18
|
3 (finished)
|
Peru
|
18
|
3 (finished)
|
Panama
|
13
|
3 (finished)
|
Saudi Arabia
|
11
|
3 (finished)
|
Don’t delete Belgium vs. Brazil, brothers. Watch it over and
over again throughout the year. What a breathtaking football match it was! I
don’t think we’ll get a better one this tournament, though I’d love to be
proven wrong.
All the analysis anyone could ever want below. My condolences
to the Latin American Contingent.
Your friendly bookie learned some truly sad news today. I
had no idea Brazilian Über-fan Clovis Acosta Fernandez passed away back in
2015! I was wondering where he and his trophy replica were this whole
tournament. Something was missing.
Yeah. It’s a melancholic day for many. I shed a tear too.
We bid a bittersweet farewell to “Gaucho de Copa”, and to
Brazil.
S.S.S.
Tactical Breakdown 
A business-like win from the French. Fervent domination from
the team your friendly bookie initially projected to win it all.
With an outstanding Semi-Final tie on tap for Tuesday, let’s
have what the Southerners colloquially term a “looksee”.
Are ze French about to get trumped by their hick cousins?
Lineup—France—Match
Five (Projected) (5-2-2-1) (7/5/2018)
Kylian
Mbappe
|
Antoine
Griezman Ousmane Dembele
|
Paul
Pogba N’Golo Kante
|
L. Hernandez Adil Rami B. Pavard
|
Samuel
Umtiti Raphael Varane
|
Hugo Lloris
|
Lineup—France—Match
Five (Actual) (4-2-3-1) (7/6/2018)
Oliver Giroud
|
Corentin
Tolisso Antoine Griezman Kylian Mbappe
|
N’Golo Kante Paul Pogba
|
Lucas Hernandez Benjamin Pavard
|
Samuel Umtiti Raphael Varane
|
Hugo Lloris
|
Just a simple plug-in from Deschamps at the end of the day.
Tolisso took Mathuidi’s spot from the previous match. It looked to me like Kante
spent more time on the left and occasionally occupied central midfield alone.
That made perfect sense. No other player has executed more precise tackling in
this tournament than him. Other than these two minor tactical adjustments, we
didn’t see any radical changes to the gameplan.
Can’t say this wasn’t totally unexpected. Managers with
experience in this tournament generally express faith in their players once
they feel they’ve found their best eleven. Deschamps believes in riding the
momentum. We saw him stick to his guns just like this in the latter stages of
Euro 2016. Ironically enough in that tournament the big news was the benching
of Kante in the Quarters, Semis, and Final. The 1998 captain stuck with the
exact same eleven for all three matches…and we all recall how that turned out.
It’s safe to assume that he’ll do the same thing here. Not
good news. We saw plenty of sloppy play out of the back today. Giroud continues
to slow and experienced problems with his touch. Pogba’s form was up a notch,
but I don’t think we’ll see the same tricks and flicks that he produced in the
first two matches.
Mbappe had his moments along with some really good ideas,
but all the hype surrounding him might prove detrimental. Don’t forget we’re
still talking about a teenager here. I’m not sold on his legend status just
yet. He’s demonstrated how explosively fast he can be, for all of ten minutes
of the 350+ that he’s logged.
Don’t count on Les Bleaus advancing further.
Lineup—Belgium—Match
Five (Projected) (3-4-3) (7/5/2018)
Eden Hazard Romelu Lukaku Dries Mertens
|
Moussa Dembele Nacer Chadli
|
Kevin De Bruyne Thomas Menuier
|
Jan
Vertongen Toby Alderweireld
|
Dedryk Boyata
|
Thibault Courtois
|
Lineup—Belgium—Match
Five (Actual) (3-4-3) (7/6/2018)
Eden Hazard Romelu Lukaku Kevin De Bruyne
|
Nacer Chadli Thomas Menuier
|
Axel Witsel Maroune Fellaini
|
Jan
Vertongen Toby Alderweireld
|
Vincent Kompany
|
Thibault Courtois
|
Following the show they put on today, this independent
oddsmaker considers them unstoppable. I strongly suggest a second or even third
review of the whole match those who have it on tape.
An absolute beast of a game from Lukaku. He was everywhere. Note
how he blazed through every challenger on the one-on-one duels. The Congolese
Giant is the one who has conclusively proved he possesses relentless and
uncontainable explosive speed. To hell with all the hype about Mbappe. Romelu’s
the real deal.
Phenomenal skills exhibited by Hazard. Lustrous touches and
magnificent ball control. He cast a magnetic spell over the ball. You almost
thought he had attached to his foot via a string. I definitely didn’t foresee
Martinez bringing De Bruyne all the way up front, but why the hell not go with
a “Cerberus Attack Formation"?
No one’s stopping this three-headed monster. They’re way to
strong. Even their keeper is playing like a superhuman mutant. Check out those
saves from Courtois again. How in the hell did he manage to see through all the
outfielders screening him? Does he have X-Ray Vision.
If anything, the Menuier suspension helps them. He was never
an attacker to begin with! Now they can keep De Bruyne at striker and deploy
Mertens, Thorgan, or Batshuayi behind him. Chadli’s injury isn’t an issue as
they’ve got Carrasco, Dembele, or Tielemans available to take his place.
Barring something unforeseen, here’s your Championship Squad
gentlemen. They could have easily scored more goals today. Only a surfeit of
options can sink them.
S.S.S.
Salute to Fallen Comrades
Uruguay—“La
Celeste”
-5
games played
-7
Goals scored
-27
Hot Girls
That’s a wrap for this striking corps. No more World Cups
for Suarez and Cavani. To my knowledge there’s no one in the pipeline to take
their place. There may never be. I needn’t remind regular syndicate readers
that Uruguay remains a ridiculously small country. Newcomers may not realize
that a country with two World Cups actually has less than three million
inhabitants.
I predict Tabarez will stick with this generation for one
last go in next Summer’s Copa America. Following that, the whole program will
fall into decline. We may not see them again for several cycles.
Loved how the fans kept cheering until the very end. ; )
Lineup—Uruguay—Match
Five (Projected) (5-1-4) (7/5/2018)
Christian
Stuani Luis Suarez
|
Rodrigo
Betancur Nahi Nandez
|
Cristian Rodriguez
|
Diego Laxalt Martin Caceras Sebastian Coates
|
Diego
Godin Jose Gimenez
|
Fernando Muslera
|
Lineup—Uruguay—Match
Five (Actual) (4-1-3-2) (7/6/2018)
Christian Stuani Luis
Suarez
|
R. Betancur M. Vecino
N. Nandez
|
Lucas Torreira
|
Diego Laxalt Martin Caceras
|
Diego Godin Jose Gimenez
|
Fernando Muslera
|
This didn’t work for a variety of reasons. First and
foremost, Stuani didn’t show up at all. Betancur got crowed out by his
immobility and Vecino’s positioning. Torreira was never going to work as a
“flight director”. He did well against the Russians, but that was because they
were a man down.
Maxi Gomez or Cristian Rodriguez would have been better
choices. Tabarez introduced them too little, too late. I really think Coates
would have matched up well against Tolisso and Hernandez. Pity.
Of course no one could have predicted that an experienced
veteran like Muslera would make such a rookie mistake. Rotten luck, but they
weren’t configured to be very competitive anyway. As soon as I learned that
Cavani had been ruled out as a sub, the outcome was clear.
Brazil—“A
Selecao”
-5
games played
-8
Goals scored
-64
Hot Girls
A lot of good work from Neymar wasted. Really liked what I
saw from him in this match both in terms of skills and class. His colleagues
simply couldn’t finish. Paulinho, Coutinho, Costa, Fernandinho, and Augusto
(after the goal) all screwed up some wonderfully served chances. No shortage of
gorgeous long switches from the team. Lovely nutmegs and dekes as well. They
had enough hustle and creativity to win. Unfortunately, no one wins without
finishing.
Suppose I should briefly address the two questionable
touches on Neymar in the box. I don't think either one was strong enough to
warrant a penalty, but I don’t think he dove either.
The Brazilians are well poised to take next Summer’s Copa
America. This collection of players will obtain some silverware soon. They’ll
simply have to wait longer for that sixth star. The Germans get another chance
to catch up ; )
Lineup—Brazil—Match
Five (Projected) (5-1-4) (7/5/2018)
Gabriel Jesus
|
Neymar P. Countinho R.
Firminho
|
Paulinho Willian
|
Marcelo Danilo
|
Miranda Thiago Silva
|
Alisson
|
Lineup—Brazil—Match
Five (Actual) (4-1-4-1) (7/5/2018)
Gabriel Jesus
|
Neymar Fernandinho Paulinho
Willian
|
P. Coutinho
|
Marcelo Fagner
|
Miranda Thiago Silva
|
Alisson
|
Haven’t checked any other media reports yet. Your friendly
bookie prefers to complete his write-up first, then see what others are saying.
I’m sure Firminho’s non-start will be a huge talking point. I was shocked. That
may have cost them the match. If not Firminho, why not Costa if he was fit?
These were not the right moves. They didn’t really come to
life until Firminho’s insertion after the restart. The above positioning
reflects how I saw them attempting to play in the first half. It was just plain
wrong. Moving Fernandinho and Paulinho up while dropping Countinho back
scrambled any flow.
I guess he went with the four-man-support line in an attempt
to shut down the ferocious Belgian attack. It didn’t come close to working.
Willian and Neymar got toasted. Another bad game from Gabriel Jesus. Ugh.
Fairly sour note to exit on.
S.S.S.
Half-Assed Culture Minute
It’s the triumphant return of a segment everyone’s been
wondering if I forgot about! To be honest, I’ve been so hooked on the program “Phenoms”—discussed
in the Day One Recap—that I haven’t been inspired to pimp anything else
football related. If you haven’t given that series a look yet, mates, I can
assure you it’s very much worth your time. Truly a fabulous way to augment your
tournament. The Brazilian and Russian episodes are my favorites thus far.
Another great tournament augmentation comes from a program
that was making the rounds on Fox before we got started. Though it’s no longer
being broadcast, I checked and you can watch on multiple web sources. As we
draw closer to trophy time, check out an excellent piece put together by FIFA
itself. It’s called “One to Eleven”. The feature covers all of the World Cup
Finals in the eleven cycles since the current World Cup Trophy was introduced in
1974; the tournament many consider to be the first of the modern World Cup Era.
You get to relive it all. All of the splendor. All of the
drama. Interviews with all of the players. We’re very likely to crown a totally
new champion, something we’ve actually only done twice in those eleven cycles
(France in 1998 and Spain in 2010). Everyone already knows who won these
tournaments, so you surely won’t mind me giving you the other winners of the
cycles covered ; )
-3 for Deutschland (1974, 1990, 2014)
-2 for Argentina (1978, 1986) -2 for Brazil (1994, 2002)
-2 for Italy (1982, 2006)
Who’s next?
“Riffs
of the Day”—Day Twenty
Reader:
A Norman Conquest Final would be fun.
Vicey:
Cool idea, 128-M. Just don’t think France will make it. England vs. Belgium
could be billed as revenge for starting the most pointless and bloodiest war
mankind has ever known…then setting up a sequel.
Reader:
Too many sad Brazilian girls. I feel bad.
Vicey:
Look. At least it wasn’t 7-1. Don’t feel bad for them.
Reader:
$100 on the Swedes. I profit off your bias.
Vicey:
(figuring out how to prostitute himself)
Reader:
Why weren’t you paying attention to the constellation lecture at the
planetarium?
Vicey:
….probably because I was high. Haven’t been to the planetarium in my adult
life. Wanna go, 135-M?
DAY TWENTY-ONE—PREVIEW
England vs. Sweden
vs. 
Don’t miss a moment of this one. St. George with the best look
at a title they’re likely to ever get. Will they fuck it up? Probably, but
bookie holds the line just in case.
THE
LINE: England +1 Goal (holding)
Russia vs. Croatia
vs. 
The highlights of this one might be a better option…or watch
it in Russian on a peer-to-peer website. I’ll stick with the line as I’m still
feeling an upset.
THE
LINE: Russia +1 Goal (holding)
GENTLEMEN,
ENTER YOUR WAGERS
