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