Monzanator

Yeah, Germany & Italy appear to have the easiest path to semi-finals tbh. On the other hand is France who might have to play Brazil & USA to get there.

If New Zealand beats Cameroon by 2+ goals and there is no draw in the Scotland vs Argentina game then Nigeria is OUT and hence Italy would play China. Nigeria must hope for draws in either Scotland vs Argentina, Cameroon vs New Zealand or in both if Chile beats Thailand by 3+ goals which is still probable. All in all there's like 75% chance Italy plays China and only 25% they play Nigeria.

[hide] Preliminary Round June 21st - July 2nd, 2019 24 Nations, 6 Groups, the 1st and 2nd Nations from each Group and the 4 best 3rd ranked Nations from all Groups will qualify for the Round of 16 Group A Date & Time (GMT +2) Nation 1 T1 T2 Nation 2 June 21st 2019, h. 22:00 Egypt 3 0 Zimbabwe June 22nd 2019, h. 16:30 Congo DR 2 0 Uganda June 26th 2019, h. 19:00 Uganda 1 1 Zimbabwe June 26th 2019, h. 22:00 Egypt 1 0 Congo DR June 30th 2019, h. 21:00 Uganda 0 2 Egypt June 30th 2019, h. 21:00 Zimbabwe 0 1 Congo DR Group B Date & Time (GMT +2) Nation 1 T1 T2 Nation 2 June 22nd 2019, h. 19:00 Nigeria 4 0 Burundi June 22nd 2019, h. 21:00 Guinea 3 0 Madagascar June 26th 2019, h. 16:30 Nigeria 3 1 Guinea June 27th 2019, h. 16:30 Madagascar 0 0 Burundi June 30th 2019, h. 18:00 Madagascar 0 3 Nigeria June 30th 2019, h. 18:00 Burundi 0 2 Guinea Group C Date & Time (GMT +2) Nation 1 T1 T2 Nation 2 June 23rd 2019, h. 19:00 Senegal 3 0 Tanzania June 23rd 2019, h. 22:00 Algeria 2 1 Kenya June 27th 2019, h. 19:00 Senegal 2 2 Algeria June 27th 2019, h. 22:00 Kenya 1 1 Tanzania July 1st 2019, h. 21:00 Kenya 0 2 Senegal July 1st 2019, h. 21:00 Tanzania 0 2 Algeria Group D Date & Time (GMT +2) Nation 1 T1 T2 Nation 2 June 23rd 2019, h. 16:30 Morocco 3 0 Namibia June 24th 2019, h. 16:30 Cote d'Ivoire 2 0 South Africa June 28th 2019, h. 19:00 Morocco 2 2 Cote d'Ivoire June 28th 2019, h. 22:00 South Africa 1 0 Namibia July 1st 2019, h. 18:00 South Africa 1 2 Morocco July 1st 2019, h. 18:00 Namibia 0 2 Cote d'Ivoire Group E Date & Time (GMT +2) Nation 1 T1 T2 Nation 2 June 24th 2019, h. 19:00 Tunisia 2 1 Angola June 24th 2019, h. 22:00 Mali 2 0 Mauritania June 28th 2019, h. 16:30 Tunisia 1 1 Mali June 29th 2019, h. 16:30 Mauritania 0 1 Angola July 2nd 2019, h. 21:00 Mauritania 1 3 Tunisia July 2nd 2019, h. 21:00 Angola 1 2 Mali Group F Date & Time (GMT +2) Nation 1 T1 T2 Nation 2 June 25th 2019, h. 19:00 Cameroon 2 0 Guinea-Bissau June 25th 2019, h. 22:00 Ghana 2 0 Benin June 29th 2019, h. 19:00 Cameroon 2 1 Ghana June 29th 2019, h. 22:00 Benin 1 0 Guinea-Bissau July 2nd 2019, h. 18:00 Benin 1 3 Cameroon July 2nd 2019, h. 18:00 Guinea-Bissau 1 2 Ghana [/hide]

All this being said, except for the opener France look very unconvincing. They really lack a striking quality. USA probably awaits in the QF and I just can't see beating them with such a toothless attack.

I look at team success too and NOLA has had none during his tenure there. If individual numbers were really that important, Russell Westbrook should have been labelled as the league MVP and nobody really thinks that way.

Germany 4 South Africa 0 & Spain 0 China 0 in the final Group B games. That means Spain probably plays USA in R16 (unless Sweden beats USA)

Yeah, but AD has been a massive disappointement as former #1 pick even with West being that much stronger in this decade. If an overrated guy like D.Lillard can lead Blazers to Conference finals then Davis' struggles in NOLA are even more disturbing. He might settle as #2 to LBJ and that would be a perfect role but as Lakers future leader I just don't see this happen tbh.

In the day of social media & internet you don't have to play in a big market to be relevant anymore. Hell, Kawhi went up North even on a one-year rental. Toronto has had three meaningful players for 25 years and they drafted them all: V.Carter, McGrady & Bosh Every team can issue 2 max free agents deals as well. The only thing that worked against Pelicans lately was the strenght of the Western Conference. Hell, even Clippers tried to swing for the fences, Dallas has had life around Nowitzki while back in the East even Nets did blow their chance but they actually had it few years back. The only two doomed locations IMO are 1) Phoenix Suns because Arizona always struggles to attract big-time players & 2) Sacramento Kings because it's California taxes without the hot babes & beaches

It's Olympics, folks. IOC prefers continental diversity over actual power rankings of the sport. No surprise here.

Why? You can't overlook the looming Vogel/Kidd/Rambis mess outside of the court.

USA wins 3-0 after one poor clearance & two corners. Chile's keeper Endler prevented more goals and should be Player of the Match. Lloyd missed a penalty too.

If LBJ goes down again, all this hype is gone. AD taking over as #1 will end equally as fruitless as during his Pelicans era IMO.

USA make 7 changes for the Chile game. Naeher, Ertz, Dahlkemper & Horan are the only ones to start from the Thailand massacre.

Looking at the Mexico squad 3-4 players are newbies to national team but it's not a B-team full stop. Even Ochoa got the place in goal against such poor opposition.

Well, fuck the draft. LBJ doesn't have time for rooks around him to develop. This is "win now" move alas let's see what happens with squad depth. LBJ, AD, Kuzma & maybe another deal for Kemba Walker? It looks play-off worthy on paper alright but championship? Nope. I don't see this happening even with GSW on the ropes next season. However the offseason hype will be ridiculous The front office is a mess and it's only a matter of when Vogel, Kidd & Rambis will stir the pot and derail all of that.

The level is going up, let's be honest North Korea will be back in four years once they became seeded in Asia again and I have no idea how Jamaica outqualified Mexico in first place? The big issue is CONMEBOL because Brazil is getting way too old and there's nobody coming through from that continent. Argentina seems to have improved but other than that it's pretty dire down there.

Yeah, but they beat Norway in April too. However they've been absolutely toothless here. Canada wins 2-0. First time they score 2 goals in a single finals game since 2007. I wouldn't be surprised much if Cameroon beats New Zealand too.

Does he even know one word of Slovakian?

New Zealand beat England a week before the World Cup. They're unable to do anything on offense though.

Miedema with her second and it's 3-1. Dutch still commit too many defensive mistakes to have a real shot at the medal round IMO but maybe the offensive power carries them through?

Italy 2 Jamaica 0 at half-time. Could have easily been more. Jamaica just not up to par whatsoever.

Japan holds on to win 2-1. Scotland only woke up in the last 20 mins following the subs. Nowhere near good enough at this stage.

Japan 2-0 on Scotland after 37 mins. Total control by the Asians so far.

Five straight 100+ game seasons and the wheels simply fell off. The dynasty was on it's last legs. Klay Thompson played in 122 PO games and then missed one in these finals and now tore his ACL. Next season West will be much more open as Warriors have lost their Superman's cape for good. But I'm really happy for the Raptors.

Anna Jagaciak-Michalska (triple jump) has retired at age 29. She last competed at the Euro Champs last season.