Cornish Steve

Two people managed a perfect score today: MikeO and markjazzbassist. For the semifinal round, the jazzbassist is the winner - well done! The overall leaderboard is a clear two-horse race with just two games to go (with the final being double points).

Was sitting in a restaurant at Chicago's O'Hare airport, since my connecting flight was over two hours late. Most of the servers were wearing yellow Brazil shirts, and their faces were becoming greyer and greyer. What do you say to someone when their team is getting slaughtered on the screens behind us? "Would you like to borrow my Germany shirt?"

You came the closest.

Congratulations to Alguna Vez Tonelada, Matt, and TonkaRoost for managing three points for this game - predicting a German lead at half-time, a German win, and Brazil scoring one goal. You are joint leaders for the semifinal round. MikeO has gained a point on verreauxi but is running out of time.

I'm flying to Seattle today and won't arrive until quite late. Apologies in advance, because I won't be able to post results until after I've arrived.

I'm willing to predict, because it's more about strategy than players - just like a business is more about strategy than employees. Not that players aren't important, but a team can meet its target with any of a number of player combinations. I would guess that the strategy this year is mostly consolidation: achieving the same finish as last year (5th) but with the added load of the Europa League. In addition, maybe the team will push strongly for silverware of some sort, no matter which cup it is. Anything above 5th place would certainly exceed my expectations. No playing in Europe the following season would be a disappointment.

I had no idea. Naively, I assumed they used the same route every year.

Eden or Thorgan? Sounds painful to me.

Here's another obscure rule in football. A few seconds into stoppage time, a defender heads the ball back to his goalie. Even before the latter touches the ball, the referee issues a red card to the defender. Why?

You're correct! The ball was thrown and became stuck in the umpire's mark. Baseball rule 5.09c: "A pitched ball lodges in the umpires or catchers mask or paraphernalia, and remains out of play, runners advance one base."

As a matter of interest, why has it suddenly become Tour d'Angleterre, with cyclists racing from Cambridge to London?

The runner on third base did not steal.

The pitcher is just fine and, most likely, rather upset.

Traore runs down the field, passes to Traore, who crosses the ball for Traore to head into the net.

The batter did not walk to first base.

I should have clarified: Nothing happened that meant the hitter walked to first base.

Brazil (0)2 Germany (0)1 Netherlands (0)2 Argentina (1)3

Here's the template for the semifinal found.... Brazil (x)x Germany (x)x Netherlands (x)x Argentina (x)x

The NY Yankees are playing a baseball game against the Boston Red Sox. The score is 4-4 in the bottom of the ninth, with three Boston players on base. A fourth Boston player comes to the plate. The Yankees pitcher throws a fastball (no balk), the Red Sox hitter swings and misses, and the umpire rules immediately that Boston have just won the game. What happened?

Congratulations to Rubecula for managing a perfect score for the Netherlands-Costa Rica game. He and doc_bump are joint winners of the quarterfinal round. As we go into the semifinal round, verreauxi maintains an overall lead of 8 points. As we approach the final four games, I'm going to make a small change to the rules: There will be double points for the World Cup final!

I suggested an answer a while back: It's what all the world's network channels want to see. There's an awful lot of money riding on it.

No change at the top for either this round or the overall leaderboard. Rubecula is seeing his wish fulfilled, though, increasing his quarterfinal lead over me by two more points and drawing level overall.

Talk about a reduction in ambition. Trying to beat me instead of MikeO is like saying you were trying to recruit Lionel Messi to your team but now you'll be satisfied with Charlie Adam!

I don't think Belgium changed. It's more pointing out the fact that the US team is not very good. They ran on effort, commitment, and enthusiasm, not on ability.

Congratulations! Yes, I remember like yesterday when my older daughter was born, and now she's expecting her second - another girl.