Indeed, given the choice of only one, it had to be Messi. I like both my Argentina and British Isles team. The latter is about to play it's toughest opponent yet, so I've been saving the best players. Going to roll out the Blanchflower-Mackay duo in the game against Portugal
In groups 1 to 4 these players are the ones that need to play a part in the 3rd group games (all of them the 2nd goakeepers in a squad with 2 goalkeepers - one of them in my own squad and two in poetgooner's): Argentina-B: Antonio Roma Spain: Ricardo Zamora Italy Reserves: Gianluca Pagliuca I'll check groups 5 to 8 in a bit, but I know I have another goalie to use anyway!
Ok, yeah, in groups 5 to 8 these other goalkeepers need to play also (including one in a Titanlux squad and one in a Peru FC squad): Austria: Walter Zemen Fennoscandia: Ronnie Hellstrom Germany-A: Heinrich Staulfauth
I have no idea if this leak is true yet of course (haven't seen your team - as general info it's only you poetgooner, misoux and Peru left to submit...other than thebigman finalising Brazil Reserves; but I'm not rushing anyone as the deadline isn't even close yet really). Leaks coming from the Hungarian camp suggest an increased 'Red Banner' (MTK Budapest) connection in some shape or form. Sky Sports are re-showing old British Pathe footage: http://www.hungarianfootball.com/2013/04/17/magyar-magic-at-the-bridge/ Karoly Sandor can't play though of course, not having been named in the squad, but the real Stanley Matthews is expected to start again for your British Isles (but like I say I'm only guessing obviously!). I'm ok to leak that hint anyway, as I received the opposition team after already sending the Hungary one to Puck!
Groups 6 and 7 appear to be ready for early team line-up announcements! So those will appear fairly shortly, this morning.
These 3 goalies have indeed all been named in the starting line-ups. I'm ok to leak the Zemen news also, because I received Peru FC's Africa line-up. That game is expected to get massive TV ratings in Vienna and Lagos, as the teams although already out still look to round off with goals and their first points of this All-Time World Cup. The Fennoscandia vs Brazil Reserves game will be popular in Copenhagen and Stockholm too, but in Brazil there are some other games to watch of course!
Fennoscandia line-up for group stage game 3 vs Brazil Reserves Subs to be used: After half-time - Elkjaer for Nordahl After 70 minutes - Bohinen for Skoglund (Michael Laudrup switching to play from the left in a similar way Brian Laudrup is playing from the right, while Bohinen takes his role in midfield)
Hungary line-up for Group Stage game 3 vs Italy-B Subs to be used: After half-time - Czibor for Palotas (to play from left wing, with Albert as false right winger and Hidegkuti in between them) After 70 minutes - Zakarias for Kocsis (to play from a deep 'left wing half' position, with Sarosi moving ahead of him or staying behind as required, and with Hidegkuti playing in support of Puskas in a free role)
Group 8 games, and also Group 2 games, added now to the line-ups thread too: www.bigsoccer.com/threads/all-time-world-cup-game-line-ups-results-updates-fixtures.2105346/page-4
Yugoslavia line-up for group stage game 3 vs Spain Subs to be used: After half-time - Bobek for Suker After 70 minutes - Savicevic for Susic (to be a number 10 kind of attacking midfielder, tending to play from the left of centre, while Stojkovic is a number 8 midfielder/playmaker from a bit deeper and right of centre).
Italy Reserves line-up for group stage game 3 vs Argentina-A Subs to be used: After half-time - Toldo for Pagliuca After 70 minutes - Chiesa for Signori (to play up front with Prati, with Donadoni and Giannini behind as AMs)
All the 3rd group games are added now, so feel free to vote on them today/tomorrow: https://www.bigsoccer.com/threads/al...e-ups-results-updates-fixtures.2105346/page-5
I'll hold on till at least 4pm UK time today before announcing any results or fixtures for the 2nd round games. At the moment La-Maquina and poetgooner haven't sent votes. There is a final confirmed result in the Bulgaria-Romania vs Benelux-B game but the news isn't being officially broken while Argentina-A play out the final moments vs Italy Reserves.
So that is 8.5 hours from now. It could be I'd wait a bit longer by request, and delay the match reports for sure (they might be produced this afternoon or this evening if the final votes arrive soon though), but I'm thinking it's best to get fixtures set up for the next games today at least probably since some of you will still have several teams to prepare and I think a Thursday deadline might be what we go with again. The next time after late afternoon/early evening today that I'd be able to announce things would probably be a similar time tomorrow.
An emergency meeting of the ATWC committee has rejected a penalty shoot-out as the final tie-breaker (using 5 players each from the finishing teams on the pitch in the 3rd matches), so instead if two teams are tied on all metrics then a game of 6-a-side (to be voted on over 24 hours) will be arranged - 20 minutes each way. Can poetgooner and La-Maquina prepare to choose 6 players from their Argentina-B and Benelux-A squads for this purpose please? And PM me the choices (assuming you don't want to reveal them to each other). I have poet's votes, and I'd say it's basically impossible that La-Maquina's votes will avert this match being necessary now anyway! No goals scored in the 6-a-side will register in the overall stats, but a match report will be available (maybe not on Ceefax this time though).
It seems quite likely that thebigman's France-B and my Hungary will be too (on those specific things listed there by poet) but as fun as an extra 6-a-side between those two teams could be, it wouldn't be necessary (for reasons to be confirmed later).
Ok, here are the results (and goalscorers/assisters) for the final group games: some Ceefax reports could possibly appear today within the next few hours, but I probably wouldn't get through all of them anyway, so they'll be added over the next couple of days.... Groups 1 & 2 first. Benelux-A 2 (Cruyff: assist Gullit, Davids: assist Cruyff) Uruguay 1 (Francescoli: assist Schiaffino) MOTM: Cruyff Argentina-B 2 (Messi: assist Riquelme, Riquelme: free-kick after foul on Ardiles) Poland 1 (Lewandowski: assist Deyna) MOTM: Messi Hungary 1 (Puskas: assist Kocsis) Italy-B 2 (Meazza: assist Del Piero, Piola: assist Facchetti) MOTM: Baresi France-B 1 (Pires: assist Vieira) Rest of South America-A 2 (Erico: assist Alexis Sanchez, Joya: assist Cubillas) MOTM: Chumpitaz Second Round fixtures will be: Argentina-B or Benelux-A vs Rest of South America-A Argentina-B or Benelux-A vs Italy-B
Groups 3 & 4 Yugoslavia 1 (Suker: assist Stojkovic) Spain 2 (Butragueno: assist Iniesta, Hierro: penalty after Butragueno fouled) MOTM: Zamora Rest of the World 0 British Isles-A 3 (Dalglish: assist Gascoigne, Best, Greaves: assist Dalglish) MOTM: Best Italy Reserves 0 Argentina-A 3 (Orsi: Maradona assist, Di Stefano: Corbatta assist, Maradona: penalty after foul on Redondo) MOTM: Di Stefano Bulgaria-Romania 1 (Stoichkov: assist Hagi) Benelux-B 2 (Ceulemans: assist Robben, Robben: assist Sneijder) MOTM: Krol Second Round fixtures will be: British Isles-A vs Benelux-B Spain vs Argentina-A
Groups 5 & 6 Austria 2 (Bican 2: assists Ocwirk and Sindelar) Africa 2 (Eto'o: assist Weah, Weah: assist Yaya Toure) MOTM: Yaya Toure British Isles-B 2 (Charlton, Law: assist Matthews) Portugal 2 (Eusebio: assist Figo, C.Ronaldo: assist Figo) MOTM: Moore Soviet Union 1 (Shevchenko: assist Blokhin) Brazil-A 2 (Pele: assist Tostao, Garrincha: assist Didi) MOTM: Garrincha Germany-B 3 (Rummenigge: assist Breitner, Muller: assist Ballack, Ballack: assist Rummenigge) Spain Reserves 0 MOTM: Matthaus Second Round fixtures will be: British Isles-B vs Brazil-A Portugal vs Germany-B
Groups 7 & 8 Germany-A 1 (Muller: assist Walter) Italy-A 1 (V.Mazzola: assist Zola) MOTM: Scirea Fennoscandia 3 (Litmanen 2: assists M.Laudrup 2, Elkjaer: assist B.Laudrup) Brazil Reserves 2 (Adriano: assist Bebeto, Maicon: assist Careca) MOTM: Michael Laudrup Czechoslovakia 1 (Kubala: assist Nedved) Brazil-B 3 (Ademir: assist Zizinho, Ronaldinho: assist Gerson, Zizinho: assist Ronaldinho) MOTM: Ronaldinho Rest of South America-B 1 (Valderrama: penalty after Salas fouled) France-A 3 (Platini: free-kick, Fontaine 2: assists Platini and Kopa) MOTM: Platini Second Round fixtures will be: Germany-A vs France-A Italy-A vs Brazil-B
Full set of group stage goalscorers/assisters/MOTMs: Goalscorers 5 - Just Fontaine 4 - Josef Bican, Gerd Muller, Pele 3 - Gabriel Batistuta, Eusebio, Jimmy Greaves, Lionel Messi, Silvio Piola, Cristiano Ronaldo, Karl-Heinz Rummenigge, Hristo Stoichkov, David Villa 2 - Roberto Baggio, Bobby Charlton, Johan Cruyff, Alfredo Di Stefano,Preben Elkjaer, Gheorghe Hagi, Jari Litmanen, Diego Maradona, Giussepe Meazza, Pavel Nedved, Daniel Passarella, Michel Platini, Arjen Robben, Ronaldo, Andriy Shevchenko, Marco van Basten, Zico 1 - Ademir, Adriano, Michael Ballack, Ferenc Bene, George Best, Oleg Blokhin, Alen Boksic, Andreas Brehme, Emilio Butragueno, Careca, Edinson Cavani, Jan Ceulemans, Teofilo Cubillas, Kenny Dalglish, Edgar Davids, Dixie Dean, Youri Djorkaeff, Dragan Dzajic, Arsenio Erico, Samuel Eto'o, Diego Forlan, Enzo Francescoli, Garrincha, Ryan Giggs, Ruud Gullit, Thierry Henry, Fernando Hierro, Andres Iniesta, Juan Joya, Sandor Kocsis, Ronald Koeman, Laszlo Kubala, Frank Lampard, Gzregorz Lato, Denis Law, Robert Lewandowski, Wlodzimierz Lubanski, Maicon, Lothar Matthaus, Valentino Mazzola, Thomas Muller, Gunnar Nordahl, Raimundo Orsi, Jean-Pierre Papin, Robert Pires, Pierino Prati, Ferenc Puskas, Helmut Rahn, Raul, Rob Rensenbrink, Juan Roman Riquelme, Luigi Riva, Roberto Rivelino, Pedro Rocha, Romario, Ronaldinho, Paolo Rossi, Mohamed Salah, Hugo Sanchez, Gyorgy Sarosi, Uwe Seeler, Alan Shearer, Alberto Spencer, Davor Suker, Lajos Tichy, Carlos Valderrama, Robin van Persie, George Weah, Zinedine Zidane, Zizinho Assisters (incl. pens/free-kicks won, but not deflections or secondary assists) 4 - Michael Laudrup, Juan Schiaffino 3 - Johan Cruyff, Kazimierz Deyna, Luis Figo, Diego Maradona, Stanley Matthews, Matthias Sindelar 2 - Oleg Blokhin, Paul Breitner, Kenny Dalglish, Alfredo Di Stefano, Garrincha, Francisco Gento, Gheorghe Hagi, Raymond Kopa, Michel Platini, Ferenc Puskas, Francesco Totti, Zico 1 - Francisco Arce, Osvaldo Ardiles, Jose Augusto, Michael Ballack, Bebeto, Franz Beckenbauer, David Beckham, Ferenc Bene, Dimitar Berbatov, Dennis Bergkamp, George Best, Zvonimir Boban, Emilio Butragueno, Careca, Omar Corbatta, Teofilo Cubillas, Alessandro Del Piero, Didi, Youri Djorkaeff, Dragan Dzajic, Giacinto Facchetti, Paulo Roberto Falcao, Paul Gascoigne, Gerson, Josep Guardiola, Ruud Gullit, Eden Hazard, Thierry Henry, Nandor Hidegkuti, Andres Iniesta, Jorginho, Mario Kempes, Sandor Kocsis, Jan Koller, Brian Laudrup, Pierre Littbarski, Lionel Messi, Michel, Bobby Moore, Jose Manuel Moreno, Gerd Muller, Pavel Nedved, Gunter Netzer, Ernst Ocwirk, Pele, Andrea Pirlo, Fernando Redondo, Rob Rensenbrink, Juan Roman Riquelme, Gianni Rivera, Arjen Robben, Dominique Rocheteau, Romario, Ronaldinho, Ronaldo, Paolo Rossi, Rui Costa, Karl-Heinz Rummenigge, Marcelo Salas, Clarence Seedorf, Uwe Seeler, Alan Shearer, Alexis Sanchez, David Silva, Omar Sivori, Wesley Sneijder, Socrates, Dragan Stojkovic, Jean Tigana, Tostao, Yaya Toure, Patrick Vieira, Rudi Voller, Fritz Walter, George Weah, Faas Wilkes, Zinedine Zidane, Zizinho, Gianfranco Zola Man of the Match 2 - Franco Baresi, George Best, Johan Cruyff, Alfredo Di Stefano, Lothar Matthaus 1 - Roberto Baggio, Franz Beckenbauer, Paul Breitner, Hector Chumpitaz, Teofilo Cubillas, Paulo Roberto Falcao, Luis Figo, Elias Figueroa, Tom Finney, Garrincha, Gheorghe Hagi, Raymond Kopa, Ruud Krol, Michael Laudrup, Soren Lerby, Diego Maradona, Josef Masopust, Stanley Matthews, Lionel Messi, Bobby Moore, Thomas N'Kono, Wolfgang Overath, Daniel Passarella, Pele, Michel Platini, Frank Rijkaard, Arjen Robben, Ronaldinho, Dejan Savicevic, Juan Schiaffino, Gaetano Scirea, Albert Shesternyov, Yaya Toure, Patrick Vieira, David Villa, Xavi, Ricardo Zamora, Zico
I'll leave it here for tonight now, but check the above posts to find your 2nd round fixtures, and feel free to start thinking about line-ups and then sending them to me. I have poetgooner's 6-a-side Argentina-B team for the play-off to decide 1st place in Group 1, so @La-Máquina feel free to send your Benelux-A 6-a-side selection (from your whole squad) as soon as you can. I'll give it 24 hours from now though maximum since I guess you haven't found out about that situation just yet! If I don't get a Benelux-A 6-a-side team in that time we can say Argentina-B take the match-kick-around by default, and will play Rest of South America-A in the 2nd Round. But otherwise we'll have a vote-off for the 6-a-side match with everyone having 24 hours from when I reveal the line-ups on here to send me a vote.