08-01-2023, 12:55 AM
Just a couple of hours before 4 of the remaining 5 group play games begin in the World Cup. In group E the USA plays Portugal, and USA must win or draw to advance. Finishing first in the group is the goal because it means an easier game first game in the knockout phase. USA should win easily (on paper at least), with a good chance of finishing first, depending on how many goals Netherlands scores while beating Vietnam
At the same time Netherlands plays underdog Vietnam in the other group E game. (The simultaneous starts are intentional to avoid a situation of a team knowing earlier results; this could lead to matches in which, for example, a team would know that they could lose and still advance - that leads to conservative, unexciting games.)
Three hours later, the group D games start, with England vs China, and Denmark vs Haiti. I'm picking England to edge out China for first place and Denmark to easily beat Haiti.
The knockout phase will be interesting, and to me at least hard to predict. Two trend have recurred so far: 1) many of the higher-ranked teams have not played up to their potential (USA, Canada, France, Denmark, and Germany come to mind) while Japan and Sweden have been notable exceptions; 2) some some lesser ranked teams have over achieved: Colombia and Morocco.
While tending to my pots of tomatoes and hot peppers this morning, I noticed a small spider on a stake in one of the pots and took a couple dozen photos. Here's one that I'm quite pleased with...
It needed little processing: cropping, some minor adjustments to brightness in selected areas, tweaks to color saturation in other areas, and sharpening for posting.
At the same time Netherlands plays underdog Vietnam in the other group E game. (The simultaneous starts are intentional to avoid a situation of a team knowing earlier results; this could lead to matches in which, for example, a team would know that they could lose and still advance - that leads to conservative, unexciting games.)
Three hours later, the group D games start, with England vs China, and Denmark vs Haiti. I'm picking England to edge out China for first place and Denmark to easily beat Haiti.
The knockout phase will be interesting, and to me at least hard to predict. Two trend have recurred so far: 1) many of the higher-ranked teams have not played up to their potential (USA, Canada, France, Denmark, and Germany come to mind) while Japan and Sweden have been notable exceptions; 2) some some lesser ranked teams have over achieved: Colombia and Morocco.
While tending to my pots of tomatoes and hot peppers this morning, I noticed a small spider on a stake in one of the pots and took a couple dozen photos. Here's one that I'm quite pleased with...
It needed little processing: cropping, some minor adjustments to brightness in selected areas, tweaks to color saturation in other areas, and sharpening for posting.
Don't blame me - I didn't vote for him!
Nikon D7500 with Nikkor 18-300 mm; PSE2021, PSCS5
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