Rakitic-ing Up The Win!

15/16 of the way through the World Cup and we await news that Russia has annexed parts of Croatia. In the early matchup, England continue their dream run and keep on believing that the "Cup is Coming Home". They ousted Sweden to reach the semifinals. In the other match, Russia saw more drama as they went ahead, drew, fell behind, and came back to draw. However, Croatia's penalty kicking abilities have guided them into the Quarterfinals. Now they have used those abilities to oust the Hosting Country. This is where the tournament really begins.

Sweden 0:2 England

Harry Maguire 30' 0-1

Dele Alli 58' 0-2

			Sweden		vs	England
	Result	Points	W55	Score	Points	W56	Score	Points	Total
Artifex	Germany	0	Germany	2	0	England	1	0	0
Fortuitous	Poland	0	Serbia	1	0	Poland	4	0	0
Historicus	Brazil	0	Brazil	1	0	Colombia	0	2	2
IoannesNix	Germany	0	Germany	3	0	Poland	2	0	0
Musicus	Germany	0	Germany	3	0	England	1	0	0
Praeceptor	Switzerland	0	Switzerland	2	0	England	1	0	0
Scriptor	Germany	0	Germany	1	0	Colombia	0	2	2

Russia 2(3):2(4) Croatia

Denis Cheryshev 31' 1-0

Andrej Kramaric 39' 1-1

Domagoj Vida 100' 1-2

Mario Figueira Fernandes 2-2

Marcel Brozovic (pk) 0-1

   Alan Dzagoev (pk) 1-1

Luka Mordic (pk) 1-2

Sergei Ignashevich (pk) 2-2

Domagoj Vida (pk) 2-3

Daler Kuzyayev (pk) 3-3

Ivan Rakitic (pk) 3-4

			Russia		vs	Croatia
	Result	Points	W51	Score	Points	W52	Score	Points	Total
Artifex	Argentina	0	Spain	2	2	Argentina	3	0	2
Fortuitous	Iceland	0	Portugal	2	2	Iceland	3	0	2
Historicus	Spain	0	Spain	2	2	France	1	0	2
IoannesNix	Portugal	0	Portugal	2	2	Australia	1	0	2
Musicus	Argentina	0	Spain	1	0	Argentina	3	0	0
Praeceptor	Spain	0	Spain	2	2	Nigeria	0	0	2
Scriptor	Spain	0	Spain	2	2	Argentina	1	0	2

Here's how everyone fared with their Semifinalist picks:

	Artifex	Fortuitous	Historicus	IoannesNix	Musicus	Praeceptor	Scriptor
	France	Croatia	Peru	Nigeria	France	Portugal	France
	Brazil	Costa Rica	Belgium	Brazil	Brazil	Belgium	Brazil
	Argentina	Iceland	Spain	Portugal	Argentina	Spain	Spain
	Germany	Poland	Brazil	Germany	Germany	Switzerland	Germany
Total	10	10	10	0	0	10	10

IoannexNix rode the Viking Train in this round. Here's how Sweden helped her.

Sweden
Yellow Card	Guidetti	-5
Yellow Card	Larsson	-3
	Total	0

Scriptor opted for the Three Lions and earned this many points:

England
Goal	Maguire	6
Assist	Young	9
Goal	Alli	20
Assist	Lingard	3
Yellow Card	Maguire	-3
Saves	Pickford	6
	Total	41

Praeceptor went with Russia, under some curious circumstances:

Russia
Goal	Cheryshev	6
Assist	Dzyuba	11
Yellow Card	Gazinskiy	-4
Goal	Fernandes	2
Assist	Dzagoev	4
Penalty Kick	Dzagoev	4
Penalty Kick	Ignashevich	2
Penalty Kick	Kuzyaev	3
Saves	Akinfeev	3
	Total	31

Here are the final standings of the first round of our competition. The top 4 players now advance to the playoffs. The 3 eliminated players will remain in a group format to determine 5th, 6th, and 7th places.

	Standings	Points	Oracle
1	Praeceptor	295	67
2	Artifex	294	57
3	Scriptor	283	70
4	Historicus	279	69
5	Musicus	260	79
6	IoannesNix	192	51
7	Fortuitous	145	29

Today's Disciplinary Officials are the National Football Team of Sweden.

 The Yellow and Blue Vikings surprised everyone just by qualifying. They had to beat Italy over 2 legs, a matchup that Italy was heavily favored in. They then saw Germany defeat them in the last minute, before destroying Mexico to win the Group. They outlasted Switzerland, but finally met their match in England and are leaving as one of the top 8 teams in this World Cup. Their Yellow Jerseys are gone, and with them any and all yellow cards that have been accumulated. That's right, from here on out everyone is without caution. Play well my Crias. The future is filled with bright hope, but it rests on the ash of defeat.

The Grand Salmon Alpaca