2024 Euro

England 1-2 Spain

Scoreless at halftime, I thought Spain was generally the more dangerous team but they seemed evenly match enough that the game felt like it was headed to OT. But then Spain grabbed the lead right out of halftime and suddenly it felt like they could make it stand up if they could control the possession. They more or less did, they still seemed more dangerous around the goal and certainly more likely to run out some clock. But England tied it up on a lovely rip just outside the box on a loose ball that got away from the crowd. Now it felt like we were back on the OT thing again, but both sides looked game for some action and I thought the 2nd half was good back and forth. Then Spain caught the English in a moment of not paying attention and took the lead back on a bang-bang finish off a swift low pass into the box (that actually didn't look all that dangerous). 

Both sides played hard and smart but I thought Spain was the better team throughout and the scoreline is accurate. All through this tourney, England had a knack for looking mostly confused on offense but then getting the last minute goal needed to move them forward; well, that got them all the way to the damn championship, but you just knew that wasn't really a proper strategy. And even though they did have some chances late (man, that triple header combo that led to back to back goal line saves was a pip!), Spain was not the team that was gonna let England steal one from them.

As I predicted earlier, the winner of the Germany-Spain quarterfinal went on to win the whole thing--I firmly believe it would've been Germany beating England in the final today if they had won. They really were the two best teams. Both teams had good talent and good depth all over the field. Spain got the head-to-head W and now they have the full on trophy. Great return to form for the Spanish. I wouldn't call them the runaway fave in the 2026 World Cup, though they'll definitely be in the mix. 

2024 Wimbledon

(7) Paolini 2/6/4 - 6/2/6 (31) Krejcikova

As Paolini was stepping up to take the opening serve, Krejcikova asked for a moment and they each mumbled around the court for an extra second before starting; but it struck me that Krejcikova wasn't saying, 'hey, could you give me a second?' to Paolini it was more like 'no, no, you're not supposed to start yet'. A brilliant little eye of the tiger moment. And in the opening set, Paolini struggled to find her serve and Krejcikova played solid (if rather vanilla) and easily rolled up over her diminutive  competitor. Krejcikova's serve was pretty much the same fast ball down the middle every time, not overpowering but consistent (even robotic) and Krejcikova was putting her forehand returns deep to the baseline and pushing Paolini back. Often times, especially in Ladies' tennis, the one who has to work harder will not be the victor, so as active as Paolini was, it felt like in the long run she was working against herself. Felt like Krejcikova was in control and Paolini was flailing, felt like this was gonna be over quick. 

But after dropping the 1st set, Paolini found her serve, suddenly Krejcikova was making a lot of unforced errors and the second set was the opposite of the first: Paolini's work was paying off and it was Krejcikova lumbering around out there. Another detail: in the 2nd set Krejcikova went through this phase of not hitting her serves and letting the ball drop back down; the commentator fretted that she was losing her confidence but I thought it was another psych-out technique: she was trying to put Paolini on the puppet string and get her thinking about tennis instead of playing it. 

Once they both went through their ups and downs and settled into themselves, the 3rd set was good stuff. Paolini had some nasty returns, Krejcikova had some nifty winners, it was back and forth action. Then tied at 3-3, Paolini double faulted away the game and that felt like the death blow. At 5-4, serving for the match, Krejcikova brought back her non-serving thing and, again, it didn't strike me as nerves, it struck me as a psych-out move. But sometimes that can backfire: instead of just playing your best tennis, you're trying to tiptoe through some game you're playing in your head and you lose focus. It felt for a moment like Paolini was gonna steal the break back and we might get to a tie break. But Krejcikova got over her shakiness, made enough winning plays to seal the match.

Fun match! These were two totally different players, different styles, different temperaments, different strategies and they both overcome their adversities to put on a good show. Good win for Krejcikova, not sure if she's back on track or if this was just a good two weeks for her. Tough L for Paolini but I think she's gonna be a tough out at the US Open, looking forward to seeing her. 

(2) Djokovic 2/2/6 - 6/6/7 (3) Alcaraz

Man, I've seen Djokovic lose before but I don't recall ever seeing him just get stomped like a bug before. Alcaraz was returning every ball which pushed Djokovic into really weird unforced errors compounded by the fact that Djokovic never got his serve going either. Really, the only moment of hope for Djokovic was when Alcaraz got the yips when serving for the match: he's up 40-love and then somehow loses the game. Alcaraz pretty well dominated from beginning to end. When Medvedev took out Sinner in the quarters (kept waiting for Medvedev to blow it in the 5th, kept waitng for Sinner to take over, but it never happened--good win for Medvedev), Djokovic must've been thinking that the tourney was his now, but he forgot about Alcaraz, who is officially the man now. I presume he'll be #1 going into the US Open and I'd put him as the fave.

2024 Copa America (Final)

Argentina 2-0 Canada

Okay, I will try to say something nice about Canada: their transition defense is actually pretty good, that is their ability to go from defense to offense had Argentina on their heels early on in this match. Argentina could only probe so deep, but when they lost possession, Canada was quick to put pressure on Argentina's goalie. (Okay, done with that) But Canada couldn't score and--let's be honest: the first time Argentina got anywhere near Canada's goal, they scored. Argentina didn't dominate the match so much as they got their early lead, then just ran the clock out. The second goal wasn't even necessary, just a bonus. Kudos to Canada for getting this far, a nice deep run in a world class tourney like the Copa is a good thing (I sure wish USA, for example, had done it); but I'm not ready to anoint Canada as the next great world power of soccer. They've got nice athletes, they push the ball forward with a quickness and...well, that's about it. Good for you, you did better than us. 

Uruguay 0-1 Colombia

In keeping with what the Copa has been so far, this was a very chippy match, both sides squawking and chirping from beginning to end (and, well, even beyond the end as some of the Uruguayan players went into the stands to fight with the crowd--not a good look, guys!). This was the first match where it really stood out to me that they were playing on a (American) football field rather than a proper soccer pitch (has that been the problem all along with this tourney?). Everything seemed very narrow, all the action compressed and built around running lanes instead of vast wide openness on both sides. I thought Uruguay had the best possession and generally had the better chances (though Colombia missed two wide open looks late that would've sealed the victory) but they didn't finish their best looks and they're going home. 

Final

Argentina - Colombia

This is the best non-Brazil match up that could've been put together, so the Copa looks like a success. Argentina is in a groove. But they aren't necessarily great and that groove could be a rut that just hasn't been challenge by worthy competition. The man of the competition (IMHO) so far as been James Rodriguez--that guy has been great! Best team versus best single player--throw in a potato and you got yourself a stew! Looking forward to this, I expect this to be (of course) a very chippy game, curious to see how the ref comes out of the gate. Argentina is the better team but if they strut around, they will get stung. But if they score before halftime (I think they will), the 2nd half might be a rock fight for the ages. Yeah, this is gonna be a tough one, no matter how you slice it. I got Argentina, I think they're the best and they will bring it. 

2024 Euro Soccer (Final)

France 1-2 Spain

Spain had a great look in the early minutes of the match but couldn't connect on the header in the box; France went right back down the field and did connect on their header in the box to snatch the early lead and it felt like we might have a match. The next 25 minutes or so was pretty exciting, with Spain managing to tie it up and then take the lead in successive possessions. But that was about it. After that the French just kept spinning their wheels and Spain just casually possessed the ball without worry until the game was over. The first 30 minutes were high octane excitement, but after Spain took the lead, they pretty well sucked the life out of the match. France is nice, a lot of nice players, but they don't do much as a team, there's no real center, no real identity, you'd think it would be Mbappe, but he disappears for long stretches and the overcompensates when he does finally get the ball. This team is listless and searching when it feels like they ought to be dominating right now with good depth all over the pitch and a good mix of youth and veterans. I dunno, maybe they'll figure it out by the next World Cup. 

Netherlands 1-2 England

The Dutch got it started with an unexpected rip from 30 yards out and at first it felt like Netherlands might dominate. But after that initial score, the English took over possession and were able to tie it before halftime on a PK; I was surprised the ref didn't call the penalty right away (actually I thought he did and was surprised to find that he didn't), it looked like a foul to me, but he waited for VAR and then re-watched the video multiple times....wtf? What was he looking for? It was pretty obviously a foul right away! Anyway, for the most part the English struck me as the better team in possession and I expected them to score again. And, in typical English fashion, they waited til the final minute to do it, but they did score the winning goal--what a rip it was! He turned and fired it quick from a poor angle, the defender didn't react and the keeper, I think, fell asleep--which calls attention to the fact that the Dutch played so low energy in the 2nd half that when it came time to make plays, they just didn't have it in them to do it. England was the better team, the more confident team on the ball and the better attacking team and they got the goals. The Dutch scored a delicious goal early on but they just never got after it from that point on, they were lackadaisical and didn't protect the ball. 

Final

Spain - England

Spain likes to get a lead then take the air out of the game by dominating possession; England likes to wait til the last minute to get the goal they need. Gotta go with Spain here. Their offense is the best defense in this tourney and unless England scores first (preferably before halftime), I don't think they'll get their chance late to keep it going. If Spain avoids giving up a PK, I think they're the better team and should pull through.

2024 Euro Soccer (semifinals)

Germany 1-2 (AET) Spain

Wow! What a match, what a finish. Both teams were good, I'd say the control of the game went back and forth, both teams had good chances, both teams endured some bad luck, but Spain got the extra goal and they're moving on. Thought Spain got away with a handball--not sure why that wasn't called, though Fullkrug looked to be offside, so it might not have stood up anyway--and there were some chippy moments both ways and I thought the ref had some questionable moments. But all that aside, Spain took the lead but I never gave up on Germany and, sure enough, they knotted it up in extra time. Both teams had their moments in AET, felt like it was going to PKs, but Spain got the goal (great finish!) they needed with just a few minutes left and made it stand (though Fullkrug just missed on a header in the final seconds). Great game, this was the real championship, I'd be kinda shocked if there's a game as good as this one left. 

Portugal 0-0 France (France advances on PKs)

Bit of a snooze of a game, no one took control, no single player had a bust out game, and frankly in the 2nd half I thought France kinda sucked. Portugal was more aggressive, had better chances, but couldn't finish and after an extra 30 minutes, France nailed all their PKs and Portugal didn't. I haven't completely given up on France--certainly possible that Mbappe comes back stronger in the next game--but I haven't seen much from them either. Spain is better than anyone they've played so far, so they'll need to really kick it up a notch to make the Final.

England 1-1 Switzerland (England advances on PK's)

Yeah, England did their thing: play like shit for 70-80 minutes, then turn it on, get lucky and snatch all momentum right at the last minute. It's been working in this tourney, Switzerland was the latest victim. I thought Switzerland was generally the better team, played sturdy defense, attacked well, but when England feels like there's no time left, they turn unbeatable. Tough break for the Swiss, another lucky W for the English. 

Netherlands 2-1 Turkey

Another one: I thought Turkey was the better side from beginning to end, but Netherlands had a 5-minute stretch where they were able to steal 2 goals and rode that to the victory. Turkey is a lumbering kinda team but they more or less controlled this game--save for a few minutes in the 2nd half. And I gotta say: the only player that jumped off the screen at me in this whole tourney was Arda Guller, that kid's gonna be Real Madrid's next star. As for the Netherlands, I thought their finesse would get them past Turkey, but I'm not sure that's what happened (and unless they get up by 2 goals on England, that finesse won't serve them going forward). 

Semifinals

Spain - France

Spain is better than France, they attack more consistently, possess more thoroughly and I even think their defense is better, too. France just takes too long to unwind, too plodding in the midfield, I think Spain will swarm them, this might be over by halftime.

England - Netherlands

Well, shit, man, who knows? I think Netherlands are the better team--but then again, I thought this would be Switzerland v Turkey, not sure I'm the man to ask. England likes to wait til the last minute and surely the day will come when that strategy just don't work no more, but I kinda think they can still sneak by Netherlands. Netherlands can put together some dangerous combinations but I don't think they'll control this game--in fact, I think I see this as the opposite of England's strategy. I can see England dominating and then losing to a late flurry by the Dutch. Yeah, I'll go ahead and pick against England one more time.

2024 Copa America (semifinals)

Ecuador 1-1 Argentina (Argentina advances on PKs)

Wow, what a game! Ecuador kicked ass for about 15 minutes, then the Argentines took over but they could only find the goal once setting the stage for Ecuador to kick ass for the last 10 minutes where they found the goal that knotted it up late. Furious action down the stretch and, like all the Copa games so far, very chippy action from both sides all the way through. No overtime (!) in this tourney, so Ecuador's late tying goal sent the game straight to PKs and both teams feature stifling goalies, so this felt like it would be a classic--especially since Messi doinked the first shot! (Also, not to be a whiner, but, man, Messi did NOTHING in this match, nary a single worthwhile highlight in 90+ minutes; I know he can still come alive with a quickness but his long stretches of nothing are kinda starting to drag this team and I just don't see how he'll make it to the next World Cup) But, while Argentina's awesome goalie came up with a coupla big saves, Ecuador's awesome goalie was bested and Argentina gets to move on. Argentina really is pretty great (with or without an active Messi) but hats off to Ecuador, they hung tough, man.

Venezuela 1-1 Canada (Canada advances on PKs)

Wow, Venezuela totally sucked in this match! I thought Venezuela was one of the better teams in the whole tourney, a shoo-in for the semis and maybe a trendy upset pick. But they woefully underestimated Canada's athleticism and just never got any kind of coherent game plan going at all. Their one goal was kinda fluky--holy shit, I've seen more long ball attempts in the last two weeks than I've ever seen in my life and this is the only one that actually went in! But even tying up the game rather late in the 2nd half didn't swing the momentum. Oh and just to pile on: Canada didn't even play particularly good in this game! They should've scored at least 5 goals, they had so many wide open looks in the box that they couldn't connect on and yet Venezuela was so incompetent on this evening that Canada still dominated this game--even through the PK's. Canada has definitely improved over the years and their athleticism is legit (though they still are not particularly good at soccer), but they still aren't very good--and the fact that they're going to the semis while USA and Mexico couldn't get out of group play is....frustrating, to say the least. Good luck to them, I'd love to say they're playing well but they're not, but God love 'em. If they beat Argentina, I will eat my television. 

Colombia 5-0 Panama

Well, this was a snooze. Colombia was up 2-0 before I even got my popcorn ready! The only moment of controversy was right after Colombia's second goal, Panama had a shot go off the inside of the post, then get swatted out by the keeper. I say that was a goal but the Copa doesn't have goalline technology. WTF? 42 thousand cameras in that stadium and they can't figure out how to point one at the goal? Da fuck is that? Anyway, it's hard to imagine that goal would've made any difference but Panama did have a flurry there where they might've been able to get something going and the powers that be jacked them. Oh well. Colombia was the better team and Panama shouldn't have been there anyway (yeah, I'm the USA fan looking at this scoreline and thinking, 'that could've been us....' LOL). Colombia is really good, though, James Rodriguez (whatever happened to that guy?) looks rejuvenated.

Uruguay 0-0 Brazil (Uruguay advances on PK's)

Wow! Chippy game, sloppy game, neither team ever took control, but it was still fun as hell. Both teams had great moments, both teams made stupid fouls--and, man, this ref was allergic to cards or something, it took him forever to finally book anybody! Full court action, too, both of these squads went up and down the field on each other. Kinda shocking that Brazil didn't just casually go 5-for-5 on the PK's, but they did not and they're going home. Brazil always has the talent but they don't always have cohesion or a clear game plan and its been a while now since Brazil has been....you know....BRAZIL, even though their C-team still has world class talent. (Take heed, American basketball fans: this could happen to us!) Oh well, Brazil will always be dangerous, but I wonder when they'll win again. As for Uruguay, this team is good and a match with Colombia will be another classic. 

Semifinals

Argentina - Canada

Who let the Canada in here? How is this possible? Brazil got bounced but fuckin' Canada is still in it? Oh well, that will be rectified soon. Argentina beat Canada 2-0 in the opening match of the tourney and I would expect at least that here. Argentina is cruising even if Messi seems kinda vacant, they should dominate from beginning to end. Canada has nice athletes but they can't hang with Argentina. 

Colombia - Uruguay

This is gonna be a great one! Similar squads, good talent all over the field, should be a little cleaner than their recent Brazil matches, but still competitive. Can't wait, no idea who to pick, this is a coin flip match. I'll go with Colombia, but a Uruguay victory wouldn't be shocking.

2024 Euro Soccer (Quarterfinals)

Switzerland 2-0 Italy

Man, Italy kinda sucked! Switzerland dominated the 1st half, then tacked on a second goal right out of halftime and hit cruise control from there. Italy was shaky in the back, not strong in the midfield, not dangerous around the goal, this is one of the crappier Italian I think I've ever seen. The Swiss were good in possession, sneaky in the box, crafty in the box, they played good team soccer. Not necessarily quarterfinal talent but they are a complete team and well-disciplined, they're gonna be a tough out. 

Germany 2-0 Denmark

Both teams had a lot of good looks, the score should've been more like 5-3 or something. Each team had a goal taken off for sketchy reasons: Germany for a foul I never did see and Denmark for the tightest offside call in the history of soccer. Germany was the better team, the better attack, more chances around the goal, so this is the right result. But Denmark played hard, they had some chances and their goalie was kinda great.

England 2-1 (ET) Slovakia

I like that Slovakia came out with a high pressing defense, that they didn't simply bunker into a shell in the face of all that English scoring potential. I think it threw the Brits off as they accumulated a ton of yellow cards right away and had trouble mounting a sustained attacked. Slovakia, on the other hand, put the ball in the box routinely and eventually scored on a breakaway (where the English defender seemed hesitant perhaps because he already had a yellow) and took command of the game before the half. I expected both teams to score, England had a few possessions where they were able to crunch down Slovakia's defense and exhibited good potential to either break through or connect on a corner. I didn't expect them to wait til the last damn minute of the game! But I wasn't surprised the game went into extra time. When England scored right away, it was kinda over for Slovakia because they'd spent the previous 60 minutes or so getting back on defense with the occasional flurry forward, but when the pressure to score smacked them hard in the face, they had nothing to go on because they hadn't built up any offensive muscle. England got lucky as hell--the two goals were legit, can't front on that--but the timing of it all lulled Slovakia to sleep and made them think they had the game won. Tough L for Slovakia, lucky W for England.

Spain 4-1 Georgia

Yeah, Georgia was able to stonewall Spain early on and then induce an own-goal to stun the crowd. But....come on, did you for a second think Georgia was gonna win 1-0? Me neither. Georgia bunkered nicely and for a long long long (long) time felt like they might have what it takes to keep Spain off the scoreboard, but no one can endure a 90 minute onslaught. Spain looks stacked, man, outside of that own goal, Spain pretty much controlled every second of this match. Good W for Spain, valiant effort by Georgia. 

France 1-0 Belgium

France was the better team though these two sides are basically mirrors of each other. Fun match, neither team ever really grabbed the upper hand. But Belgium is still so uninspiring in ball control; I think the problem is De Bruyne: he should be the leader of this team and yet so often it seems like he's stuck all by himself on the other side of the field, he's got to figure out how to get himself into the action. As for France, Mbappe stirs the drink but--I dunno--I'm not sure he's what makes them good, they ought to be a more cohesive team with Mbappe as the icing on top when it feels like they try to defer to him too much. 

Portugal 0-0 (Portugal wins on PKs) Slovenia

Strangely exciting game. Just kept waiting for Ronaldo to make a big play but he came up short every time--he even missed a PK, which I thought was nearly impossible! Slovenia hung nicely with them, this was an extremely even match, though Portugal had a few more scoring chances than Slovenia. Portugal had a few different chances to win, this really should not have gone to PKs, but hats off to Slovenia for giving them the what-for.

Romania 0-3 Netherlands

Romania put up a good effort, thought they had some nice moments on both ends. But Netherlands had more talent, more speed up front and though they had trouble finding the goal, they did find it early enough to really put the pressure on the Romanians and that was more than enough. The scoreline is misleading, Netherlands scored two late goals (and had one taken away for offside), as Romania had to gamble up front. Good match for about 80 minutes. then Romania completely ran out of gas. 

Austria 1-2 Turkey

I thought Austria was generally better but Turkey found the goal almost immediately (after Austria missed a pretty good chance in the 1st minute) and rode that high for the rest of the match. Austria was able to counter quickly after Turkey's second goal but it wasn't enough to regain the momentum. 

Quarters

Spain - Germany

Wow! This is a quarterfinal? Much too early for these two to be meeting, I'll go ahead and say now that the winner of this match will win it all. I think Germany is the most complete team I've seen in ages, they are good and deep all over the field. But Spain is probably the second most complete team in this tourney, good mix of youth and wily veterans, with a ball control offense that could possibly fustigate even the Germans. I gotta go with Germany but I wouldn't be shocked if Spain took this (and, again, this is the real championship game IMHO). 

Portugal - France

Portugal is still chugging along but, man, they seem old, don't they? Ronaldo is still good but he isn't the great Ronaldo and the rest of the squad is good enough to pummel the sorry group they were in but I can't see them going too deep in the knockout stage. France has tons of talent, too, but they, too, have been kinda lackluster so far, dispatching their weaker opponents but hardly looking all that dangerous. This should go to over time, but I do think France is the better side.

England - Switzerland

England has tons of talent that has yet to really gel into a full fledged attack. Switzerland, on the other hand, just keeps churning, they play stingy in the backfield and have shown capability of brilliance up ftont. I like Switzerland to get it done--and though everyone will then say it's a huge upset, it isn't really.

Netherlands - Turkey

Turkey is a scuffling, scrounging squad that can hang with tough teams. But I think the Netherlands will finally show off some of the silky smooth attack that they ought to have been showing all along. Turkey will make them work but I think Netherlands is the better team and will come out on top. 

2024 Copa America (Quarterfinals)

Argentina - Ecuador

I've been impressed with Ecuador, they hold well in the midfield, not intimidated on defense and they've got real scoring punch up front. Argentina is arguably the favorite from here, but I think Ecuador makes them work. I'll go with Argentina, but I can see this going to Extra Time, possibly PKs.

Venezuela - Canada

Canada is lucky to be here, while Venezuela has been murdering people. I expect this one to be over by halftime, Venezuela should win rather easily. 

Uruguay - Brazil

Ohhhhhhh, this'll be a good one. Brazil still looks so fluid in possession, but hasn't looked all that great at goal scoring. Uruguay is downright feisty, won't be afraid of Brazil at all and can definitely hang at both ends. I'll go with Uruguay.

Colombia - Panama

Well, Panama isn't that great, they just found the sweet spot of USA's weakness. As for Colombia, they look pretty damn good and I think they're gonna destroy Panama.