The Beautiful Pool

Everything I know about morality and the obligations of men, I owe it to football.

― Albert Camus

People will talk about the first half of this game for 30 or 40 years’ time.  I don’t think I’ve seen anything as good. They were picking the passes, making the angles and playing it with such pace.

― Alan Hansen (Match of the Day)

This story shall the good man teach his son;
And Crispin Crispian shall ne’er go by,
From this day to the ending of the world,
But we in it shall be remember’d;
We few, we happy few, we band of brothers;
For he to-day that sheds his blood with me
Shall be my brother; be he ne’er so vile,
This day shall gentle his condition:
And gentlemen in England now a-bed
Shall think themselves accursed they were not here,
And hold their manhoods cheap whiles any speaks
That fought with us upon Saint Crispin’s day.

― William Shakespeare (Henry V)

OK that last quote has nothing to do with soccer, but reading some of the reaction to the Spanish victory today you’d think that it was an event as singular as Agincourt. Perhaps it was.  We shall see.

The complete final pool standings are here, and 1st and 2nd prizes go to Mauricio and Sofia.

Congratulations to Mauricio C and Sofia I for their brilliant team selection.  Final prizes are:

I will do an email transfer to the email address each winner supplied with the entry forms, unless you would prefer an alternative.  Just let me know.

And finally, here are the group results.  After a strong start, the CIBC Drones fell apart at the end, finishing dead last behind the Normal People.  Kudos to the Other FI Slaves.  Now, all of you, get back to work.

That’s a wrap for the 2012 Euro Cup Pool.   I have really enjoyed organizing this, I hope it was at least a little entertaining for you.

If you want to do it all over again for the World Cup in Brazil 2014, just let me know.  The comments button below is working.  Who knows, it might be fun.

Here are the point leaders after yesterday’s ESP-POR marathon.

Joe P and Greg W have both run out of opportunities as the teams they picked to win today and in the final have already been eliminated.  So, no soup for you!!

And there is significant action in the group results.  CIBC Drones and the Normal People are now tied.

Hmm…  maybe we are normal after all.

The England shirt is the precise opposite of a superhero costume, turning men with extraordinary abilities into mild-mannered guys next door. Were Stephen Fry to pull it on, he would struggle to string a sentence together. Were Lucian Freud to slip it over his head he would turn his easel round to reveal a childlike scribble of a cat.”

Marina Hyde

ESP, GER, ITA and POR advance to the semi-finals.  Just like in real life, GER is staring down the European periphery.

It was pretty obvious that this would happen. . . except for the fact that only one participant actually predicted it.  Congratulations Donna M who moves into first place!  Clearly we have an expert in our midst.

The race for first place has opened up a bit, with 8 of you sharing the top 5 scores.  Here is the leaderboard, going into the semis.  It is still too close to call.  This will be an interesting week, I’m sure.  Everyone’s results are linked here.

We even have a bit of a race going on at the other end of the standings.  Sean G and Sherman H are neck-and-neck for the mercy prize, with 9 points each.  But there is still hope, if that is the right word, that if GER wins the semis then Sherman and Sean will move out of the cellar.

Finally, there has been a shift in the group results.  The CIBC Drones have fallen behind, and the Other FI Slaves are now have a healthy lead.  The Normal People are still behind, but closing in.

 That’s it for now.  Back after the semi-finals.

“Football is a simple game.  Twenty-two men chase a ball for ninety minutes and at the end, the Germans win.”

Gary Lineker (England national team 1984-92)

Here are your point leaders after the first two quarter-final games.

The field has narrowed considerably.  And, here is something I missed. Donna M picked all 8 of the quarter-finalists.  So no matter who wins, Donna keeps racking up  points. [Not true, dummkopf.  Ed.]

I will update the results spreadsheet after all the quarter-final games are done.