Knockout!

Saturday was the first day of the "knockout round" in the 2014 installment of the World Cup Futbol tournament.  The WC begins with each team playing 3 matches in their assigned "pool".  The USA was in Pool G....there were 8 pools total with 4 teams each for a total of 32 teams.  You can win, lose, or tie in the first three matches before someone is eliminated.  At the end of "Pool Play" the 2 teams with the most points (3 points for a win, 1 point for a tie, and 0 points for a loss) from each pool advance to the "Group of 16", which is the the "knockout round".  There must be a winner in each match from this point.  If a match ends in a tie after the first 90 minutes the teams then play an additional 30 minutes.  If still tied then the match is decided by "kicks from the mark" to determine the winner.  Each team starts out taking 5 kicks from the penalty mark.  If at the end of the first 5 kicks one team has converted more for goals than the other that team is declared the winner.

Breakfast with a "side" of World Cup Futbol

I wrote all that to write this.......the first match on Saturday (Brazil vs. Chile) was such a match.....at the end of 120 minutes the match was tied 1-1, and went to "kicks from the mark" to determine the winner.  Brazil converted 3 out of 5 kicks and Chile 2 out of 5 kicks, meaning Brazil won the match.  A very exciting match and multiple opportunities for each team to have won the match in the 30 minute overtime.  The second match Saturday was between Uruguay and Columbia (Uruguay was the team with the suspended "serial biter"), which was won easily by Columbia.

Other than the break in between the two Saturday matches we spent the better part of the day watching the first two matches of the "knockout round".  In between those matches we drove over to a local thrift store to pickup a few more items for our kids' visit later this week.....an Igloo ice chest (we'll need more ice than our small refrigerator can hold), another beach umbrella, and a small DVD player for the outside TV......we spent $43 ($19 for the ice chest, $15 for the very nice DVD player, and $9 for the umbrella)......the ice chest and umbrella will be re-donated at the end of the summer.

The weather will begin to really warm up now over the next week with temps getting to 86 on Sunday, and as high as 92 over the next 10 days.  We spent the rest of the afternoon reading outside, and enjoying our last few days of freedom before we begin to work.

Thanks for stopping by!