The Best Players in the World can't Compete at the World Cup

50/64 through the World Cup and we got to see Ronaldo help off Uruguay's Edinson Cavani before Uruguay helped Portugal out of the tournament. Ronadlo's nemesis Lionel Messi already was shown the door by an eager French side in the morning edition. The two talents will be missed on the World's biggest stage, but football is a team sport and the better 11  advanced in both cases.

France 4:3 Argentina

Antoine Griezmann (pk) 13' 1-0

Angel Di Maria 41' 1-1

Gabriel Mercado 48' 1-2

Benjamin Pavard 57' 2-2

Kylian Mbappe 64' 3-2

Kylian Mbappe 68' 4-2

Sergio Aguero 90+3' 4-3

			France		vs	Argentina
	Result	Points	C1	Score	Points	D2	Score	Points	Total
Artifex	France	0	France	2	0	Iceland	1	0	0
Fortuitous	Croatia	0	France	1(1)	0	Croatia	1(5)	0	0
Historicus	Peru	0	Peru	2	0	Nigeria	1	0	0
IoannesNix	Nigeria	0	France	1	0	Nigeria	2	0	0
Musicus	France	0	France	3	0	Iceland	1	0	0
Praeceptor	France	0	France	3	0	Iceland	2	0	0
Scriptor	France	0	France	2	0	Iceland	0	0	0

 Uruguay 2:1 Portugal

Edinson Cavani 7' 1-0

Pepe 55' 1-1

Edinson Cavani 62' 2-1

			Uruguay		vs	Portugal
	Result	Points	C1	Score	Points	D2	Score	Points	Total
Artifex	Russia	0	Russia	3	0	Morocco	2	0	0
Fortuitous	Saudia Arabia	0	Saudia Arabia	7	0	Morocco	0	0	0
Historicus	Uruguay	5	Uruguay	2	2	Portugal	1	3	10
IoannesNix	Uruguay	0	Uruguay	3	0	Spain	2	0	0
Musicus	Uruguay	5	Uruguay	1	0	Portugal	1	2	7
Praeceptor	Portugal	0	Uruguay	2	2	Portugal	3	0	2
Scriptor	Uruguay	5	Uruguay	1(5)	0	Portugal	1(4)	2	7

  

Here are how everyone's Quarterfinalist picks are faring. For every correct pick, you earn 5 points. Every team in green is a correct pick. Every team in a red is a team eliminated.

	Artifex	Fortuitous	Historicus	IoannesNix	Musicus	Praeceptor	Scriptor
	Russia	Saudi Arabia	Uruguay	Uruguay	Uruguay	Portugal	Uruguay
	France	Croatia	Peru	Nigeria	France	France	France
	Brazil	Costa Rica	Germany	Brazil	Brazil	Brazil	Brazil
	Belgium	Panama	Belgium	England	Belgium	Belgium	Belgium
	Spain	Portugal	Spain	Portugal	Spain	Spain	Spain
	Argentina	Iceland	France	Australia	Argentina	Nigeria	Argentina
	Germany	Serbia	Brazil	Germany	Germany	Switzerland	Germany
	England	Poland	Colombia	Poland	England	England	Colombia
Total	5	0	10	5	10	5	10

  

Musicus picked France for the Round of 16. He gained 19 points to his total. 

Penalty Goal	Griezmann	8
Goal	Pavard	2
Goal	Mbappe	10
Goal	Mbappe	10
Yellow Card	Matuidi	-7
Yellow Card	Pavard	-1
Yellow Card	Giroud	-4
Saves	Lloris	1
	Total	19

  

Artifex's newly paired team of Uruguay won to advance in the tournament. They have earned her 3 points.

Standings below.

	Standings	Points	Oracle
1	Musicus	230	71
2	Historicus	193	53
3	Scriptor	188	57
4	Praeceptor	179	56
5	Artifex	175	47
6	IoannesNix	161	43
7	Fortuitous	82	23

   

In lieu of a disciplinarian today, we would like to bid goodbye to Lionel Messi. The weight of Argentina sat on his shoulders. As we mentioned before, one man cannot defeat eleven on his own. 

Adios, Maestro.

Sadly, the Grand Salmon Alpaca

 

Extra Time

We have heard the final whistle blown on the Group Stage. In a football match, the whistle blows after 90 minutes. The match may be tied, and there must be a winner. Both teams move into extra time which is broken into two 15 minute halves with a short rest in between. According to the standings, you are not all tied. However, you are all being given extra time to move up and qualify for the playoffs.

No one has a perfect bracket, and there is still plenty of time for more upsets to occur sending your knockout round choices into chaos. We would therefore like to explain the scoring for the upcoming Round of 16.

First, if you have correctly picked a match in the Round of 16, you stand the chance to earn 5 points for picking the correct result. You earn 2 points for guessing one score correctly, and 5 points if you picked both. If you have the match up incorrect, but you guessed one score correct, you still earn 2 points. Wrong match up and two correct scores earns you 5 points.

Everyone is still paired with a team still in the tournament. If you're paired team wins, you earn 3 points. If they win or lose on penalty kicks you earn 1 point. If they lose, you earn zero points. Once your paired team is eliminated you will not be paired with another team.

For every quarterfinalist that you have picked and advances, you will earn 5 points. Some players have more opportunity to score this way than others. If you're bracket is more busted than the rest of the field's, don't fret. There is one more way to score points.

Starting with the first ranked player, everyone will pick a team that is still playing in the tournament. Based on that team's performance you have a final chance to pick up points. Once you have a picked  a team, you cannot change it for that round. You will be able to pick another team in the next round.

For every goal your team scores, you will earn an equal amount of points as the jersey number of the player who scored. If a player on your team scores a penalty kick, you will earn half the jersey number, rounded down if an odd number. For every assist to a goal, you will receive half the jersey number. The total amount of saves your goalkeeper makes will be totaled using the nth triangular number formula. That means 1 save is worth 1 point, 2 saves is 3 points, 3 saves is 6 points, 4 saves is 10 points, and so on.

Examples: Number 9 scores a hattrick- you earn 9 x 3 = 27 points
                  Number 23 scores a penalty kick- 23/2= 11.5, rounded down to 11 points
                  Number 16 assists a goal- 16/2=8 points
                  Goalkeeper finishes with 10 saves- 1+2+3+4+5+6+7+8+9+10= 55 points

You can also lose points. A yellow card deducts a point total equal to half the jersey number of the player award the card. A straight red card deducts double the amount of the player's jersey.

Examples: Number 7 receives a yellow card- 7/2=3.5 rounded down -3 points
                  Number 7 receives a second yellow card- 7/2=3.5 rounded up -4 points
                  Number 7 receives a straight red card- 7x2= 14, you lose 14 points

If anyone has any questions, please feel free to ask. As always, good luck players.

The Grand Salmon Alpaca

Japan, so Good that when They Lose They Still Win

3/4 of the way through the World Cup and the Group Stage has come to a close. Poland beat Japan 1:0 but Japan advance on Yellow Cards. Colombia defeat Senegal 1:0 eliminating the Lions of Teranga and winning the Group. Belgium one upped England 1:0, but both teams are advancing. Panama fell to Tunisia 1:2, but both teams are on their way home. Tomorrow is a rest day, but there will be a big announcement.

Japan 0:1 Poland

Jan Bednarek 59' 0-1

	Result	Points	Score Japan	Points	Score Poland	Points	Total
Artifex	Poland	5	1	0	3	0	5
Fortuitous	Poland	5	0	2	6	0	7
Historicus	Poland	5	0	2	2	0	7
IoannesNix	Poland	5	1	0	3	0	5
Musicus	Poland	5	0	2	1	3	10
Praeceptor	Poland	5	0	2	2	0	7
Scriptor	Poland	5	0	2	1	3	10

Senegal 0:1 Colombia

Yerry Mina 74' 0-1

	Result	Points	Score Senegal	Points	Score Colombia	Points	Total
Artifex	Colombia	5	2	0	3	0	5
Fortuitous	Senegal	0	5	0	2	0	0
Historicus	Colombia	5	1	0	3	0	5
IoannesNix	Colombia	5	0	2	2	0	7
Musicus	Draw	0	0	2	0	0	2
Praeceptor	Draw	0	2	0	2	0	0
Scriptor	Colombia	5	1	0	2	0	5

   

England 0:1 Belgium

Adnan Januzaj 51' 0-1

	Result	Points	Score England	Points	Score Belgium	Points	Total
Artifex	Belgium	5	2	0	3	0	5
Fortuitous	England	0	7	0	2	0	0
Historicus	Belgium	5	1	0	3	0	5
IoannesNix	England	0	4	0	3	0	0
Musicus	Belgium	5	1	0	2	0	5
Praeceptor	Draw	0	2	0	2	0	0
Scriptor	Draw	0	1	0	1	2	2

   

Panama 1:2 Tunisia

Yassine Meriah (og) 33' 1-0

Fakhereedine Ben Youssef 51' 1-1

Wahbi Khazri 66' 1-2

	Result	Points	Score Panama	Points	Score Tunisia	Points	Total
Artifex	Tunisia	5	1	2	2	3	10
Fortuitous	Panama	0	1	2	0	0	2
Historicus	Draw	0	0	0	0	0	0
IoannesNix	Panama	0	1	2	0	0	2
Musicus	Tunisia	5	0	0	1	0	5
Praeceptor	Draw	0	1	2	1	0	2
Scriptor	Tunisia	5	0	0	1	0	5

   

Panama loses resulting in 0 points for Musicus. They are also eliminated, so Musicus uses a substitution and will now be paired with England who eliminated Panama.

Japan lost, earning Fortuitous 0 points. They roll on in this tournament and remain paired with Fortuitous.

Onto the standings.

	Standings	Points	Oracle
1	Musicus	194	69
2	Historicus	173	48
3	Praeceptor	172	54
4	Scriptor	171	55
5	Artifex	167	47
6	IoannesNix	156	43
7	Fortuitous	82	23

Today's Disciplinary Official is wildly falling Jaime Vardy.

 He's falling awkwardly with his eyes shut and arms up in the air. He's seeing red because Ousmane Dembele is Belgian and wearing red. He's not at the Jaime Vardy Party, but he'll be please to be moving on out of the Group of G. As such, he's just gonna give everyone a pass. His eyes are closed, afterall.

Sleep Well.

The Grand Salmon Alpaca