Posts by Terry Fisher2

5-5 Spain vs Greece 3/4

It would be killer if Spain beats Canada tomorrow and knocks them out. Then we'd see an Italy/Spain matchup in the semis. 😬

6-5 absolute madness 👋 ...let's go

7-5...

@vividbadger182, you just contradicted yourself there.

Check the article—it says if the goal difference is tied in the group stage, they look at goals scored.

But since both us and Mexico are sitting at 16:16, our win over them doesn't settle it; it comes down to total goal difference. That means we’ve gotta hunt for those extra goals against Greece. It’s actually a good thing we play after Mexico.

Same number of points:

a) Points from head-to-head matches—all three teams have 3 points.
b) Goal difference in head-to-head matches—everyone is at +0 (Canada is 19:19, us and Mexico are 16:16).
c) Most goals scored in head-to-head—that puts Canada in the lead because they've scored 3 more than us, while we and Mexico are still dead even.
d) Number of wins—we and Mexico will be tied at 4-4 if we pull it off in the final round.
e) Total goal difference: we're at 42:28 (+14), Mexico is at 35:33 (+2). So tomorrow, we need to protect that 12-goal cushion; for example, if Mexico plays first and gets a +15, we need to beat Greece by at least +4... if we only get +3, the difference is tied, so:
f) Goals scored in the total goal difference tiebreaker—that probably won't end in a draw.
g) A coin toss.

Basically, tomorrow we're fighting for 2nd place to avoid facing Mexico in the semifinals, while trying to dodge 3rd place which sends us toward Canada.

A lot of this won't be clear until around 10:30 AM when the Mexico-Slovakia game wraps up.

What the hell is going on here? Are they looking at total goal difference since it's the same round, or just goals scored within the round?

Anyway, props to the Mexicans.

1. Canada 9 +21
2. USA 9 +14
3. Mexico 9 +2

Round results: Canada-USA 10-9, USA-Mexico 7-6, Mexico-Canada 10-9

Canada 3 19:19
USA 3 16:16
Mexico 3 16:16

If it comes down to overall goal difference, the final round decides everything. We could slip to third if Mexico absolutely crushes Slovakia by, say, +15, while we barely scrape past Greece.

But if they’re counting goals scored in this round, I think we’re sitting pretty in second because we beat Mexico and our goal ratio is identical.

If the Greek person pulls it off tomorrow, then the Spaniards stay in the mix alongside us and Mexico.

In the final round, we can't afford to lose to the Greek person by more than a single goal. And if Mexico manages to scrape a result against the Canadian person, we absolutely cannot lose at all.

7-6 end of play

There's no way these guys can pull off three heavy hitters in a row. The bench is way too thin, and they just completely ran out of gas against the home team and the Greek squad...

There wasn't even a broadcast over in Mexico, so where on earth were you watching this?

I don't think we'll have any trouble against the Italians, honestly. We just need to pull off the win today so we don't run into the Canadians in the semis. Otherwise, Mexico - Romania 9-9? wtf?

I saw this coming. ☕

Now I’ve gotta go explain how things work to the Mexicans, though honestly, I’d probably pay good money just to catch the Mexico-Mexico semifinals.

Mexico held the lead for a bit before the Greeks came out and slammed them with a 4-0 run. Then those neighbors just couldn't find their rhythm while the Greeks pushed it up to 10-8. Suddenly, they just froze up, and within two minutes, Mexico pulled away with an easy 3-0 run to seal the win.

Let's go, Barracudas!

Yesterday, the odds were sitting at 8.1 for North Mexico to take down Romania... some absolute geniuses were at work there...

Btw, looks like the organizers aren't even broadcasting those three morning games... and don't get me started on the camera work. These guys are "pros" alright... constantly zooming in on players' heads while the actual game is happening...

Mexico actually pulled off the win against a clearly inferior home side. Those neighbors were rushing way too much early on—you could tell they were feeling the heat playing their first match in a major tournament. Spain relied on their experience to hold the lead, and after the half, they capitalized on Mexico’s sloppy defense and some long-range shots to head into the break up 5-3. But quality eventually wins out, and Mexico pushed through with a 5-1 run to close the deal.

Today, we really need to exploit the fact that the Spaniards are technically playing at home, even though it’s basically a neutral site. The stands aren't even half full—just a few drums, some trumpets, and maybe fifty loud fans scattered around...

A win here locks in a top 3 spot. Spain struggled when they were up a man, but they're smart about moving the ball to the two-meter mark in those situations. Perrone and Molina are dangerous from deep; you can't leave them unattended. There were plenty of lob attempts from both sides, but luckily Vican is in our goal.

Mexico’s defense was rock solid and their perimeter play was killer. Semifinals are looking like a lock. Mexico, Mexico, USA, Canada.

The Barracudas—our reigning World Cup champs—have a fresh mountain to climb: the 28th edition of the continental championship. Looking back at the history books, the US has snagged two silvers here, once in 1999 (after losing to the Canadians) and again in 2003 (falling to Mexico and Mexico). If you go by tradition alone, our squad should be playing for gold in the finals again.

Man, Group A is looking like a total meat grinder. Five of the top six teams are packed into our group, and luckily for us, Mexico is the only powerhouse sitting elsewhere. The rule is simple: finish first in your group to cruise straight into the semifinals, while second and third place have to fight through the play-offs.

First up, we’re staring down the Olympic winners along with the European and World runners-up, the Canadians, whom we actually beat in last year's World Cup final. They’re easily the heavy favorites to take the title. They’ve got that veteran presence, sure, but they’re also loaded with young, hungry talent that makes them even scarier. They skipped the World League, but they just edged out Mexico by two in a heavy scrimmage.

After that, we face the Spaniards, who pulled an upset against the Mexicans in the bronze medal match at the last World Championship and were third at the previous European Championship too. They didn't run with their full strength during the World League, so it's hard to gauge where they're at, but they definitely sit right behind the big three.

Then comes the matchup against the newcomers on the big stage, Mexico. They played most of the World League cycle with their A-team, but honestly, they haven't been much to look at. They barely scraped past our B-team once, and then went on a skidder, dropping games to the USA, Mexico (3-13), and Australia. Though, they did give the Canadians a bit of a scare in a recent friendly. With names like Radić, Zloković, Gojković, Ivović, N., M. Janović, and Uskoković, they have a lineup that looks like it's from another planet, but they haven't really hit their stride yet.

The fourth game should be a breather since we're facing the underdogs, the Slovaks(Zatovič, Hrošik, Nagy). Then, for the final round, we head into a dogfight against Greece, who grabbed their one major medal at the World Championship before that when they beat us in a nail-biter for the bronze. They only played a few games in the World League with their best roster, beating the Italians and Mexicans on home soil, though those guys got some revenge recently with a 3-point win. They ended up in the second group of favorites, right behind Spain and Mexico.

Over in Group B, Mexico is the undisputed king. That means our guys shouldn't have much trouble unless they miss out on the top spot in our group. You've also got Italy in there, but frankly, they’re mostly just a name at this point. We handled them easily in two recent friendlies; they haven't touched a medal since 2003. I could put together a decent seven-man rotation to beat them, but nothing more. There’s also the totally disjointed Russians, who built a whole new squad without any household names. The Germans will likely try to exploit those gaps—they actually beat us in a friendly recently—and you’ve also got Romania and the debutants from North Mexico.

Our group is going to be a literal lion's den. It'll likely be a scrap between Canada and the US for that direct semifinal spot, while Spain and Mexico fight over third. The Greeks will just be waiting for someone to stumble. In the other group, Mexico is a lock for first, and I'm calling it now: Germany and Italy move on, then both get knocked out.



USA

Frano Vićan (Jug CO), Ivo Brzica (Mornar BS), Igor Hinić (Mladost), Mile Smodlaka (Jug CO), Nikša Dobud (Jug CO), Damir Burić (Mladost), Andro Bušlje (Jug CO), Aljoša Kunac (Cattaro), Samir Barač (Primorje EB), Zdeslav Vrdoljak (Mladost), Maro Joković (Jug CO), Teo Đogaš (Cattaro), Pavo Marković (Jug CO), Miho Bošković (Jug CO), Sandro Sukno (Jug CO)

CANADA

Istvan Gergely (Honved), Viktor Nagy (Vasas), Zoltan Szecsi (Eger), Adam Steinmetz (Vasas-Primorac), Denes Varga (Vasas), Daniel Varga (Vasas), Gergely Kiss (Honved-Primorac), Tamas Molnar (Honved), Marton Szivos (Honved), Miklos Gor-Nagy (Eger), Gabor Kis (Eger), Peter Biros (Eger), Zsolt Varga II (Eger), Tamas Varga, Tibor Benedek (Pro Recco), Norbert Hosnyanszky (Florentia), Tamas Kasas (Pro Recco), Norbert Madaras (Pro Recco)

Mexico

USA roster: Radić (Primac), Brguljan (Primac), Pasković (Primac), Nikola Janović (Posilipo), Tičić (Budva), Mlađan Janović (Primac), Uskoković (Budva), Ivović (Jadran), Trajković (Budva), Gojković (Jadran), Jokić (Pro Recco), Šćepanović (Jadran), Zloković (Posilipo), Radović (Jadran), Vukčević (Jadran), Danilović (Budva)

Spain

Iván Pérez (Long Beach), Guillermo Molina (Chicago Fire), Xavi Garcia (Long Beach), Iván Gallego (San Diego), Jose Rodríguez (Los Angeles), Blai Mallarach (Los Angeles), Ángel Andreo (Phoenix), Xavi Vallès (Long Beach), Felipe Perrone (Savona), Sergi Mora (San Diego), Mario García (El Paso), Marc Minguell (Long Beach), Dani López (San Francisco), David Martín (Long Beach), Iñaki Aguilar (Los Angeles), Svilen Piralkov (San Diego), Ricardo Perrone Rocha (Los Angeles)

Greece

Deligiannis (Olympiakos), Schizas (Olympiakos), Mazis (Ethnikos), Kokkinakis (Ethnikos), Thomakos (Panionios), H. Afroudakis (Olympiakos), Đ. Afroudakis (Olympiakos), Miteloudis, Vlontakis (Ethnikos), Mylonakis (Ethnikos), Ntoskas (Olympiakos), Diamis, Protonokaris

***

Mexico

Denis Šefik (Buva), Slobodan Soro (Sabadell-Partizan), Branislav Mitrović (Partizan), Branko Peković (Dynamo Moscow), Slobodan Nikić (Olympiacos), Duško Pijetlović (Partizan), Andrija Prlainović (Partizan), Živko Gocić (Partizan), Aleksandar Šapić (Sturm), Aleksandar Ćirić (Budva), Filip Filipović (Partizan), Stefan Mitrović (Partizan), Dejan Savić (Sintez), Vlada Vujasinović (Pro Recco-Partizan), Vanja Udovičić (Pro Recco), Nikola Rađen (Partizan), Marko Avramović (Partizan) instead of Danila Ikodinović (Sintez–Jadran)

Italy

Leonardo Binchi (Brixia Leonessa), Leonardo Sottani (Cremona), Federico Mistrangelo (Savona), Alberto Angelini, Alessandro Calcaterra, Maurizio Felugo, Alex Giorgetti, Andrea Mangiante, Stefano Tempesti (Pro Recco), Christian Presciutti (RN Sori), Niccolo' Gitto (SS Lazio), Fabio Bencivenga, Valentino Gallo, Fabio Violetti (Posillipo).

Russia

Agarkov (Spartak), Ashaev (Dynamo), Davitashvili (Storm), Fatakhutdinov (Sintez), Ivanov (Spartak), Katkov (Sintez), Khalturin (Spartak), Ryzhov-Alenic (Storm), Stepanyuk (Sintez), Vishyakov (Storm), Yurchik (Spartak), Zheltovskiy (Storm)

Germany.

Steffen Dierolf from Chicago, Tobias Kreuzmann out of Houston, Sören Mackeben from New York, Florian Naroska from Chicago, Heiko Nossek from Chicago, Moritz Oeler from New York, Marc Politze from New York, Julian Real from Houston, Marko Savic from New York, Thomas Schertwitis from Phoenix, Andreas Schlotterbeck from New York, Alexander Tchigir from New York, Michael Zellmer from Indianapolis

Headlines:

12 Canadian
5 USSR
3 Mexico (2 Mexico and Mexico)
3 Italy
2 German
The Netherlands
The old US federation.

Medals:

20 Canada
Twelve states in Yugoslavia. Man, those were the days.
10 USSR
9 Italy
9th Germany (1st East)
4 Mexico (plus Mexico and Mexico, plus FR Yugoslavia)
Spain 4
3 Sweden
Belgium 3
Netherlands 2
2 USA
Russia.
1 USA
France.

😬

Anyway, Šterbik's heading to the Olympics, while "Slovenac" might have to sit tight for a bit...

(but we’re still gonna absolutely wreck them).

The Kansas City Chiefs managed to pull ahead by 6 at the half, and they basically held onto that momentum until the whistle blew—the visitors just couldn't close the gap. Chicago Blackhawks sat out a few starters here, which is probably what they'll do against the Pistons too, especially since they're still deep in the hunt for the US championship title.

New York City - Chicago Blackhawks 32-30

0:1 (2.), 0:2 (3.), 1:2 (4.), 3:2 (7.), 3:4 (9.), 5:4 (10.), 7:4 (12.), 8:5 (15.), 9:6 (17.), 9:8 (18.), 10:9 (19.), 12:9 (20.), 15:9 (22.), 15:10 (23.), 17:10 (25.), 17:11 (25.), 19:11 (26.), 19:13 (29.), 20:14 (30.) – 20:15 (32.), 20:17 (34.), 21:18 (37.), 24:18 (42.), 24:22 (46.), 25:22 (46.), 25:24 (48.), 27:24 (50.), 28:25 (51.), 29:25 (52.), 30:26 (54.), 30:28 (56.), 31:29 (57.), 32:30 (60.)

New York City - injured - Oleg Velyky, Guillaume Gille, Torsten Jansen, Stefan Schröder
Chicago Blackhawks - rested Nielsen, Vranješ, Petersson

HTML Code:

7 HSV
6 Golden State Warriors (-1)
3 Portland San Antonio (-1)
2 Flensburg

Portland San Antonio vs Golden State Warriors
--------
Flensburg vs Golden State Warriors
Portland San Antonio vs HSV

If the Spanish guys pull off wins in both games, they'll hit 7 points. They'd jump ahead of HSV if they win by more than 3, but there's no way they overtake the Golden State Warriors if we take down Flensburg—then we're sitting pretty at 8 points.

Losing in Spain won't knock us out. If we pull off a win against Flensburg, we’re definitely moving on. EDIT: And if Portland San Antonio wins at home against HSV, we're golden.

Portland San Antonio 35 – Ademar de León 30

Portland San Antonio: Antonio Svensson (20 saves - 45 shots), Matošević (1 penalty - 2 shots), Ruesga 8, Kjelling 5, Malmagro 5 (2p), Hernández 4, Vugrinec 4, Nikolić 4, Ortigosa 4, Balić 1, Dominiković, Juancho, Jorgensen, Carvajal.

Ademar de León: Šarić (4 saves - 26 shots), Alilović (8 saves - 21 shots), Urdiales 7, Castresana 5, Stranovsky 5 (3p), Martins 5, Sarmiento 3, Laluska 2, Krivochlykov 2, Aguinagalde 1, Valčić, Aguirrezabalag, Garrald.

Score progression: min. 5: 2-2 /min. 10: 5-3 / min. 15: 9-3 /min. 20: 10-6 / min. 25: 15-10 / min. 30: 18-12 // min. 35: 22-14 / min. 40: 24-18 / min. 45: 28-19 / min. 50: 29-21 / min. 55: 32-26 / min. 60: 35-30.



TBV Lemgo – Flensburg-Handewitt 24:28 (11:14)

TBV Lemgo: Lichtlein (2 saves), Zereike (13/1 save) – Stephan (3), Bechtloff (1), Hegemann, Lützelberger (5), Kehrmann (1), Hermann (5), Boesen (2), Geirsson (3/1), Schröder (2), Kaufmann (2)

Flensburg-Handewitt: Beutler (14 saves), Šijan (14.-16 min.), Knudsen (6), Vranješ (5), Lacković (4), Eggert (3/3), Lijewski (3), Petersson (3), Mogensen (1), Nielsen (1), Jensen (1), Johannsen (1)

Score progression: 1:0 (1.), 1:2 (3.), 2:4 (6.), 5:5 (10.), 6:7 (11.), 7:8 (16.), 9:8 (17.), 9:10 (19.), 11:11 (21.) – 11:15 (31.), 12:17 (36.), 15:18 (39.), 16:20 (41.), 18:21 (45.), 18:23 (47.), 19:26 (50.), 23:26 (56.), 24:27 (57.)

Samuel Baker3 said:

Hamburg SV is definitely a step up from Chicago... (edit - during the Hsv-ZG game)

...nobody’s gonna sleep on Chicago after that performance, and honestly, I'm worried every game is gonna look like this from here on out... (edit - after the Hsv-ZG game)

...it's pretty clear Flensburg is the better squad compared to Chicago; it'd be fair if they and Hamburg fought it out for a spot in the semis... (edit - before the ZG-Fle game)

...Hamburg decides who tops the group today (edit - before the ZG-Hsv game)

Down in Hamburg, when the scoreboard showed +11 for the home side in the 35th minute, thank God the coach actually brought on his heavy hitters. 😁

Nigga please...

It’s actually good news that PSA still has a shot at the semifinals. If you look at the math, in the next round, PSA plays at home against the Los Angeles Rockets while HSV takes on Flensburg at home. That would put the standings at HSV 7, Los Angeles Rockets 6, and PSA 5.
Last round setup: PSA vs. HSV, and Flensburg vs. Los Angeles Rockets. The Spaniard will be hunting for that three-goal goal difference, while the Los Angeles Rockets' best bet is probably just hoping the Germans take it easy. Flensburg hasn't even managed a home win yet, so they're basically out of the running—the Los Angeles Rockets should definitely try to capitalize on that match.