PUTY’S WORLD CUP REVIEW & PREVIEW – June 15/16
Sam’s Safe Space for Soccer Stoolies
Hi haters™,
Two days are now officially in the book and hooooooooooooly balls Puty’s World Cup is officially lit. What follows is a quick and dirty recap of the games that happened today, followed by an easy breezy rundown of what you can expect tomorrow.
[Programming note: I’ll include links to the preview blogs for all eight groups at the bottom of the post, along with the coordinates to the Barstool’s first, best and only soccer-specific podcast… big thanks to everybody who has already subscribed/downloaded/reviewed (etc etc).]
I am still workshopping the format so bear with me, but let’s get to it…
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Recap – June 15
Three games played today, bringing with them two buzzer beater wins and one of the most incredible World Cup games in recent history (not to mention yet another buzzer beater).
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Egypt (0) – (1) Uruguay
CONCLUSION: While the result was what a lot of people (myself included) would have projected, the game itself did not exactly play out as predicted as the lone goal did not arrive until the 89th minute when CB Jose Giminez scored off a corner kick.
What did we learn about Egypt?
Not a ton. The game confirmed that they have a rather solid defense, perhaps even more solid than a lot of people expected, but also cemented the fact that without Mo Salah in the XI they have little to offer going forward.
[Note: “easily fixable” is predicated on Salah being healthy… which I am starting to suspect he is a ways away from at the moment]
What did we learn about Uruguay?
Not good things. The team is solid defensively, which is no surprise, but their midfield was nonexistent for most of the game. Luis Suarez could have changed the conversation by putting away one or more of his three golden chances… unfortunately he missed all of them, and had an absolute trashy performance overall. Edinson Cavani looked better but several well hit shots didn’t find the back of the net, including a free kick off the woodwork just before the breakthrough. An optimist would say Uruguay will look better against better competition who are more comfortable with the ball and are more susceptible to counters, but a pessimist would respond that they may not advance to face better teams if they play like that again.
Attempted SpinZone:
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Morocco (0) – (1) Iran
CONCLUSION: Ugly, ugly, and more ugly for 90+ minutes followed by a terribly beautiful finish. Bad passing, bad dribbling, bad finishing, bad defense. Just plain bad. But with a helluva finish as the breakthrough for Iran finally came on a late gasp own goal deep into injury time.
What did we learn about Morocco?
They are who we thought they were. Some people tried to argue after they got a couple shots on goal early on and thus offer more going forward than I gave them credit for, to which I say: really? They put a lot of pressure on Iran’s 18-yard box for the first 15 minutes but were unable to turn it into more than one half-chance that Benatia slammed into the Iranian keeper. Other than that they did very little. Defense was find but distribution out of the back and through the middle was lack to say the least.
What did we learn about Iran?
They are who we thought they were as well. A relatively solid back line that plays bend-don’t-break defense. Not much in the way of passing or possession and counterattack was not terribly deadly. This win was a necessary but not sufficient component of Iran fulfilling my prophecy of snagging second place away from Portugal (or Spain). They are still a longshot to advance but weirder things have happened.
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Portugal (3) – (3) Spain
CONCLUSION: WHAT A DAMN GAME! Man oh man, soccer games don’t get much better than this. Spain looked like the Spain of old with their deadly possession and passing attack trying to impart death on opponents by a thousand cuts (5-foot passes) while Portugal was a one-man story with Ronny putting the team on his back, including a beautiful last minute free kick to essentially steal a point from the game.
What did we learn about Portugal?
They are a one-man team and will only go as far as Ronny can carry them. Defense did okay, better than I was expecting to be honest against a strong Spain side, but there is no getting around the fact that Portugal were fortunate to nick a draw. Ronny scored on a soft penalty, a horrendous mistake by David De Gea and the last gasp free kick (off a silly foul by Gerard Pique). While they will feel fortunate about the draw, they will also like their position heading into the next two games against opponents that don’t look too terribly scary, but even if they get out of the group you gotta question whether Ronny can come up with superhuman performances like that every game (which is what it would take to go anywhere in the knockouts).
What did we learn about Spain?
They looked goooooooooooooooooood for most of the game Dumb plays by Nacho and De Gea ended up being their undoing. Tighten up their game a bit and they oughta be just fine. Importantly, Spain’s midfield is BACK in a big way.
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PREVIEW – June 16
Today was chock full of “important” games but the finishes of Uruguay/Egypt and Iran/Morocco made up for some poor play, while Spain/Portugal is as good as it gets.
Tomorrow we’ve got four – yes, FOUR! – matches on deck, including one potential snoozer, one that is anybody’s guess, and two evenly matched tilts that could decide second place in Groups B and C (respectively).
Reminder: if you want more detailed explanations for my thinking behind the picks, check out the group previews that were the past week – links at the bottom. But here is a quick and dirty run-through and some shot-in-the dark predictions…
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France (-430)
Australia (+950)
Draw (+515)
This is the possible snoozer that I mentioned above. France, on paper, should win this going away. That said, they looked extremely pedestrian against an inexperienced USMNT squad last weekend, which will give the Aussies some reason for optimism. My guess is that the Thunder from Down Under learns quickly, though, that the Frenchies recent underperformance was more of a wake-up call than red flag. France to win 3-0.
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Argentina (-325)
Iceland (+875)
Draw (+400)
A lot of people may be thinking this is going to be an ass whupping but I’m not so sure. Argentina just doesn’t look, feel and sound like the Argentina that we are used to. They still have Messi, who you know will be out for blood after watching Ronny’s performance against Spain, but I’m just not all that impressed by the players around him, who are an odd mix of untested and slightly over the hill. Then again Iceland just isn’t dynamic enough offensively to cause too many problems outside of set pieces. Argentina to win 2-0.
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Peru (+215)
Denmark (+135)
Draw (+220)
I am on record as liking Peru a lot. Not quite as dynamic up top or strong in the back as Uruguay but with a more balanced midfield. I also love Christian Eriksen but am not nearly as big a fan of the rest of the Danes. (Reminder: No Bendtner, no party.) Peru to win 2-0.
Somebody is sniffing (snorting?) a big win
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Croatia (-140)
Nigeria (+400)
Draw (+265)
Nigeria are heavy, heavy underdogs but I think they have a legitimate shot at winning this game. Croatia’s midfield is STACKED with dynamic little –ic’s – eg, Modric, Kovacic, Rakitic and Perisic – but Nigeria has proven they are not afraid of anybody and strike me as having more talent than the bookies are giving them credit for. Nigeria to win 2-1.
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So there we have it. Quite a first “full” day of games, and tomorrow looks pretty damn tasty as well. Below are the links to previews and podcast (note: next episode likely come on Monday or more likely Tuesday).
GROUP PREVIEWS:
PUTY’S WORLD CUP PREVIEW (presented by Barstool) – Groups A & B
PUTY’S WORLD CUP PREVIEW (presented by Barstool) – Groups C & D
PUTY’S WORLD CUP PREVIEW (presented by Barstool) – Groups E & F
PUTY’S WORLD CUP PREVIEW (presented by Barstool) – Groups G & H
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PUTY’S WORLD CUP PODCAST:
iTunes (Apple): click here
iHeart (Droid): click here [also available Stitcher and Spotify]
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Get some sleep, kiddos, I’ll check ya at the buttcrack of dawn tomorrow when France/Australia gets the day started off right.
Holler,
Samuel Army