We can Forget about 2006 Now

64/64 of the way through the World Cup, and France have won their second World Cup title. Les Bleus proved to be too much for a Croatian team that had played 3 straight matches that went into extra time. That's the equivalent of having played an extra match on tired legs. Onto the scores.

France 4:2 Croatia

Mario Mandzukic (og) 18' 1-0

Ivan Perisic 28' 1-1

Antoine Griezmann (pk) 38' 2-1

Paul Pogba 59' 3-1

Kylian Mbappe 65' 4-1

Mario Mandzukic 69' 4-2

			France		vs	Croatia
	Result	Points	W61	Score	Points	W62	Score	Points	Total
Artifex			Brazil	3	0	Germany	2	2	2
Fortuitous			Costa Rica	6	0	Poland	3	0	0
Historicus			Belgium	0	0	Spain	2	2	2
IoannesNix			Brazil	1	0	Germany	3	0	0
Musicus			Brazil	1	0	Germany	2	2	2
Praeceptor			Portugal	3	0	Switzerland	2	2	2
Scriptor			Brazil	1	0	Germany	2	2	2

Praeceptor as the #1 seed picked France, here's how she fared.

France
Yellow Card	Kante	-6
Penalty Kick	Griezmann	3
Yellow Card	Hernandez	-10
Saves	Lloris	3
Goal	Pogba	6
Goal	Mbappe	10
Assist	Hernandez	10
	Total	16

Scriptor was left with Croatia. Here's how he fared.

Croatia
Own Goal	Mandzukic	-17
Goal	Perisic	4
Assist	Vida	10
Saves	Subasic	6
Goal	Mandzukic	17
Yellow Card	Vrsaljko	-1
	Total	19

As a result, here are the final standings for the playoffs

	Scriptor
Praeceptor 18-2	Champion	23-4 Scriptor
	Artifex
Historicus 2-2	3rd Place	59-2 Artifex

Final overall standings:

1	Scriptor
2	Praeceptor
3	Artifex
4	Historicus
5	Musicus
6	IoannesNix
7	Fortuitous

And the final standings for the Golden Oracle:

1	Musicus	87
2	Scriptor	76
3	Historicus	73
4	Praeceptor	69
5	Artifex	59
6	IoannesNix	53
7	Fortuitous	31

Final Announcement.

 After reviewing this past tournament, it was quite a chaotic one. Many players' brackets suffered early on. Others seemed to die off in the later rounds. Most notably was the confusion caused by the playoffs. Therefore, going forward, no tournament shall contain a playoff. Rather, everyone will remain in a group stage until the very end. Also, rather than making a second chance bracket, players will be allowed to pick a team to earn extra points every round of the knockout stages. 

We apologize for any confusion that occurred and hope to see you all participating in future tournaments. Thank you all for playing. We look forward to seeing you in January of 2019 for the Asian Championship.

Humbly,

The Grand Salmon Alpaca 

Alderweireld's Got Your Back

63/64 through the World Cup. Since 2002 the third place playoff has been one of the most exciting games to watch a World Cup averaging almost 4 goals a game. This year's third place matchup was exciting to watch, but with fewer goals. Part of that was thanks to Belgian defender Toby Alderweirald who cleared an Eric Dier shot off the line when he chipped it over Thibaut Courtois. England's belief that football was finally coming home with a World Cup trophy has ended without so much as a third place medal. Onto the scores.

Belgium 2:0 England

Thomas Meunier 4' 1-0

Eden Hazard 82' 2-0

			Belgium		vs	England
	Result	Points	L61	Score	Points	L62	Score	Points	Total
Artifex			France	1	0	Argentina	3	0	0
Fortuitous			Croatia	0	0	Iceland	5	0	0
Historicus			Peru	1	0	Brazil	3	0	0
IoannesNix			Nigeria	2	2	Portugal	1	0	2
Musicus			France	2	2	Argentina	2	0	2
Praeceptor			Belgium	1	0	Spain	3	0	0
Scriptor			France	2	2	Spain	1	0	2

Artifex as the higher seed picked Belgium. Here's how she fared.

Belgium
Goal	Meunier	15
Assist	Chadli	11
Saves	Courtois	21
Goal	Hazard	10
Assist	De Bruyne	3
Yellow Card	Witzel	-3
	Total	57

Historicus was left with England. Here's how he fared.

England
Saves	Pickford	3
Yellow Card	Stones	-2
Yellow Card	Maguire	-3
	Total	0

Here are how both final matches stand at the midway point of the weekend. 

Praeceptor 0-0	Champion	2-2 Scriptor
Historicus 0-0	3rd Place	57-0 Artifex

Unfortunately, our 3rd Place matchup is effectively decided as Historicus can only make up 2 points on Artifex. Tomorrow's match will still count towards total points as well as the final Oracle Points standings.

Scriptor currently holds a 2 point lead over Praeceptor, but as Belgium has shown, points can be accumulated quickly.

Today's Disciplinary Official is England's Manager Gareth Southgate.

Southgate missed his penalty kick in the 1996 European Cup Semifinals which saw Germany advance ahead of England to the final. Since then, he finished out his playing career, started a managerial career that lead to him coaching at the youth levels, and ultimately heading the senior squad to not only being a likeable squad, but also one of the best playing sides at this World Cup. He surely would have liked to brought home some more pride for his countrymen and women, but will look to build on the success he had. Losing your last two matches is not how you want to be remembered at the World Cup, but England's fourth place finish will certainly be memorable. Graciously, he has seen no indication that any foul play has been committed in today's match. No cards. No suspensions. 

The Grand Salmon Alpaca 

What a Trippier it's Been

31/32 through the World Cup. England came into this semifinal feeling like this could finally be the year that they return to the World Cup final. Kieren Trippier's goal in the 5th minute made it seem like that dream was coming true. For 63 long minutes they held onto that lead until Croatia would tie forcing the game into extra time. As England made it's last available sub, Kieren Trippier found himself limping off with a groin injury. He went from World Cup hero to the man that would leave England one man short trying to defeat a Croatian side growing in strength. No, it isn't coming home to England. And the reigning World Champion isn't quite finished either.

England 1:2 Croatia

Kieren Trippier 5' 1-0

Ivan Perisic 68' 1-1

Mario Mandzukic 109' 1-2

			England		vs	Croatia
	Result	Points	W59	Score	Points	W60	Score	Points	Total
Artifex	Germany	0	Germany	3	0	Argentina	1	0	0
Fortuitous	Poland	0	Poland	6	0	Iceland	2	2	2
Historicus	Spain	0	Brazil	0	0	Spain	2	2	2
IoannesNix	Germany	0	Germany	3	0	Portugal	1	0	0
Musicus	Germany	0	Germany	2	0	Argentina	2	2	2
Praeceptor	Switzerland	0	Switzerland	3	0	Spain	1	0	0
Scriptor	Germany	0	Germany	1	2	Spain	0	0	2

It was Scriptor and Praeceptor's days to bank on teams to gain them points. Praeceptor chose Croatia:

Croatia
Yellow Card	Mandzukic	-8
Goal	Perisic	4
Assist	Vrsaljko	1
Yellow Card	Rebic	-9
Saves	Subasic	1
Goal	Mandzukic	17
Assist	Perisic	4
	Total	10

While Scriptor chose England:

England
Goal	Trippier	12
Saves	Pickford	15
Yellow Card	Walker	-1
	Total	26

Here are the group standings for 5th-7th:

5	Musicus	264	83
6	IoannesNix	192	51
7	Fortuitous	145	29

And the playoff results:

Praeceptor 10-0				2-0 Artifex
	Praeceptor	Champion	Scriptor
Historicus 5-2				28-2 Scriptor
	Historicus	3rd Place	Artifex

Today's Disciplinary Official is England's captain Harry Kane who can be seen here wincing into the ground from pain. He can't see anything here. As far as he knows, Luka Modric should be sent off, but the rest of the field is free to play to the end.

The Grand Salmon Alpaca