Readers are getting their money's worth this month with post after post! (mostly thanks to Sidarth, I readily admit.) As always, thanks for visiting VillarrealUSA.org.
Group C
Matchday 13. Do or die day for the United States, as they stand with full control over their destiny, taking on Algeria in their final group stage match. Group C is altogether up in the air, as all four teams have reasonable chances at advancing.
10am Eastern time:
USA vs. Algeria
Slovenia vs. England
How they stand:
1 Slovenia (4 pts, +1GD, 3GS, 2GA)
2 USA (2 pts, 0GD, 3GS, 3GA)
3 England (2 pts, 0GD, 1GS, 1GA)
4 Algeria (1 pt, -1GD, 0GS, 1GA)
Slovenia advances with:
(a) Win or tie versus England
(b) Loss and USA ties with Algeria
(c) Loss and Algeria win as long as Algeria doesn't make up tiebreakers
USA advances with:
(a) Win versus Algeria on Wednesday
(b) Tie and Slovenia-England tie, if England does not outscore USA by 2 or more goals
(c) Tie and England loss
England advances with:
(a) Win versus Slovenia
(b) Tie and USA-Algeria tie and outscore USA by 3 goals (i.e., US/Algeria ends 1-1, and England/Slovenia end 4-4)
Algeria advances with:
(a) Win versus USA and Slovenia win/tie versus England
(b) Win versus USA and Slovenia loss versus England and makes up tiebreakers against Slovenia
Everyone can make it through - even Algeria's chances are not completely out of the question. I hope to be taking the time away from work to watch the match. Otherwise I will have to catch it on ESPN3.com, which would not be anywhere near ideal.
Group D
This is either very simple or very complicated. Ghana, German, and/or Serbia all advance with a win. The problem with that is that all three of them can't win, and all three of them can't advance. If you are an Aussie supporter, well, good luck.
2:30pm Eastern time:
Ghana vs. Germany
Australia vs. Serbia
The table:
1 Ghana (4 pts, +1GD, 2GS, 1GA)
2 Germany (3 pts, +3GD, 4GS, 1GA)
3 Serbia (3 pts, 0GD, 1GS, 1GA)
4 Australia (1 pt, -4GD, 1GS, 5GA)
Here are the scenarios:
Ghana advances with:
(A) Win or tie versus Germany
(B) Loss and Australia-Serbia tie, if Serbia does not make up tiebreakers
(C) Loss and Australia win, if Australia does not make up tiebreakers
Germany advances with:
(A) Win versus Ghana
(B) Tie and Serbia-Australia tie, if Serbia does not make up tiebreakers
(C) Tie and Australia win, if Australia does not make up tiebreakers
Serbia advances with:
(A) Win versus Australia
(B) Tie and Ghana win
(C) Tie and Ghana-Germany tie and make up tiebreakers on Germany
Australia advances with:
(A) Win versus Serbia and Ghana win
(B) Win and Germany win and make up tiebreakers on Ghana
(C) Win and Ghana-Germany tie and make up tiebreakers on Germany
The evenness of the groups - at least in the fact that so far no one has been out of it before the last day of the group - really speak to just how crazy and unpredictable this World Cup has been.
Tomorrow should be fun. Hope all of you can find time to catch the match!