International football badly needed a good World Cup. Authentic White Sox Jerseys For Sale . The jury is yet to deliver a verdict with the knockout rounds still to come, but all indications are that this will not be a good World Cup. Indeed, it is on track to be a great World Cup. Two weeks to the day that the opening match of the tournament between Brazil and Croatia came to a close, the curtain came down on the group stages and what a sensational show it was. We are now already through three quarters of the tournament, but rather than be sad that much of it is over, we should be grateful with what we witnessed. It was a group stage that gave us more special moments than the three previous World Cups combined. A group stage of surprises, where tactically versatile and organized sides shocked the so-called super powers of the game. A group stage that saw the renaissance of 3-5-2, used so well by surprise teams like Netherlands, Costa Rica and Mexico. A group stage of counterattackers, comebacks and headers, trends that the Netherlands used in their demolition of Spain back on Day 2. Their superb pressing and clinical finishing gave us a glimpse of what was to come in Brazil, but not before that look and pass by Daley Blind just before the half-time break. The ball landed on top of the supremely intelligent head of Robin van Persie and his magnificent header over Iker Casillas changed everything. It became the group stage of headers with 27 more following van Persies, but none of them beating it. It became the group stage of comebacks. Spain, massacred by the Dutch 5-1 in the third game of the tournament, was already the second team, after Croatia a day earlier, to lose a game they led. A small, exclusive group of only four from 2010 would grow quickly as Uruguay, Japan, Ecuador, Algeria and Australia joined them in the first week. During their second group games Germany, Ghana, Portugal and USA all managed to not win games against each other that they led in. Even Uruguay, Greece and Algeria had comebacks of their own, all qualifying despite losing their opening World Cup match. Only Spain did that in 2010. It became the group stage of counterattacks, once again ignited by the Dutch over Spain as they scored their last three goals with a combined 29 seconds in possession, and never more highlighted than when Switzerland broke away in the final seconds to score a dramatic, crucial winner over Ecuador. It became the group stage of creative, left-footed masters who glided across the field into space left open by a transition. The group stage of substitute goals, 24 in total, highlighted by Miroslav Klose joining the great Ronaldo on 15 World Cup goals and James Rodriguez dancing his way through the Japanese defence for one of the goals of the tournament. In the end, though, it was the group stage of goals as an incredible 136 went in (there was a total of 145 scored in South Africa). It was no surprise that a wind of caution blew around the stadiums as the third group games took place but before they started the goals per game ratio stood at a wonderful 2.96. It ends the group stage at a beautifully high 2.83. There are still 16 games to go, of course, but no World Cup since 1970 has come close to that average. It wasnt just about the amount of goals, however. Many of the worlds stars were the ones scoring and we already have three world class stars on four goals each through three games. My 23 man squad of the group stages GK – Guillermo Ochoa (Mexico), Keylor Navas (Costa Rica), Vincent Enyeama (Nigeria) D – Serge Aurier (Ivory Coast), Cristian Gamboa (Costa Rica), Kostas Manolas (Greece), Rafa Marquez (Mexico), Mario Yepes (Colombia), Raphael Varene (France), Giancarlo Gonzalez (Costa Rica), Daley Blind (Netherlands). M – Jose Vazquez (Mexico), Hector Herrera (Mexico), Blaise Matuidi (France), Charles Aranguiz (Chile), Toni Kroos (Germany), James Rodriguez (Colombia) F – Neymar (Brazil), Lionel Messi (Argentina), Karim Benzema (France), Thomas Muller (Germany), Arjen Robben (Netherlands), Robin Van Persie (Netherlands) Group Winners – Brazil, Netherlands, Colombia, Costa Rica, France, Argentina, Germany & Belgium. For the third time in the last four World Cups, three teams that were not seeded won groups. For the second successive World Cup, the only seed that didnt progress through to the next stage was the previous winners (Spain 2014, Italy 2010). Since the World Cup went to 32 teams in 1998, over the last four World Cups, nine group winners have lost in the next round (average of more than two per World Cup) and there hasnt been a World Cup in that time when all group winners advanced. Runners-up – Mexico, Chile, Greece, Uruguay, Switzerland, Nigeria, USA & Algeria. With that stat in mind it is likely that at least one of these teams will beat their opponent. Look for Greece, Uruguay, possibly Mexico, USA and even Chile to continue this streak. After that? In nine of the last 10 World Cups a group runner-up has made it to at least the semi-final stage. That will be the target of one of these teams going forward. Ranking teams eliminated at this World Cup based on performances in Brazil 32. Honduras31. Cameroon30. Japan29. South Korea28. England27. Iran26. Bosnia & Herzegovina25. Russia24. Portugal23. Australia22. Spain21. Croatia20. Ivory Coast19. Italy18. Ghana17. Ecuador Ranking teams left at this World Cup based on their chances of winning the World Cup 16. Switzerland15. Algeria14. USA13. Greece12. Costa Rica11. Nigeria10. Mexico9. Belgium8. Chile7. Uruguay6. Colombia5. France4. Netherlands3. Germany2. Brazil1. Argentina White Sox Reynaldo Lopez Jersey . Dirk Nowitzki scored 25 points, Shawn Marion had 22 and the Mavericks beat undermanned Philadelphia 124-112 Friday night, handing the 76ers their 10th straight loss. White Sox Tim Anderson Jersey . The incident occurred at 6:28 of the first period in Anaheims 6-3 home win over Dallas on Sunday. Garbutt left the penalty box and skated at Penner before leaving his skates to deliver a check. http://www.cheapwhitesoxjerseysauthentic.com/?tag=white-sox-bo-jackson-jersey . 15 in Hamburg. The fight was originally slated for Sept. 6 but had to be postponed after Klitschko tore a bicep in sparring and was forced to miss four weeks of training.Indianapolis quarterback Andrew Luck was sensational in fantasy leagues this year — the top scorer in standard formats and the most consistent passer. Just dont point that out to fantasy players who used him in the title game last week and watched him put up zero points.Still stings, doesnt it?Its one of the roughest truths about fantasy football, that the regular season and playoffs are two very different formats.And as much as you study and make good lineup decisions, you need more to win a title.Theres an element of luck, said John Paulsen, senior editor of 4for4 Fantasy Football (www.4for4.com ). Obviously, if you have a season-long roster and youre hit by injuries or bad performances ... youre going to have a tough time winning your league.Rankings aggregator FantasyPros ranks Paulsen as the most accurate fantasy expert of 2014, with the best advice on weekly rankings among 125 experts. Paulsen got a 60.7 per cent accuracy score — remarkable high because the calculation only includes rankings where experts give differing advice.Even if you are only getting a 10 per cent edge from a 50-50 type of prospect you still have that edge over people in your league, Paulsen said.Paulsen stayed away from top fantasy quarterbacks this year because he saw much more value in Russell Wilson, who delivered a knockout performance last week against Arizona, putting up 35 points to help Paulsen win two leagues.Luck meanwhile, had little to play for with a playoff spot locked up, prompting his coach to pull him from the game in the second half.Skill can put you in the position to win but then you need some luck, Paulsen said.And the ability to be OK if that luck doesnt come.Paulsen thinks this years finish among quarterbacks will prompt fantasy owners in 2015 to wait even longer to draft a passer.Here are some other lessons from the 2014 fantasy season:___WIDE(OUT) EXPECTATIONSIts difficult to overstate the value of Odell Beckham Jr. in fantasy circles, even though he was snubbed for the Pro Bowl, lacking the star power of Calvin Johnson or A.J. Green despite clearly better numbers.According to league data from CBS Sports, Beckham was on 30 per cent of teams that won championships last week — faar and away the most title teams for any player. White Sox Paul Konerko Jersey. LeVeon Bell was on 18 per cent of title teams, while Antonio Brown was on 15 per cent of championship rosters (Joseph Randle was a reserve on 24 per cent of title teams — some manoeuvring there on the DeMarco Murray injury).But Paulsen says the success of Beckham and other rookies like Mike Evans, Kelvin Benjamin, Sammy Watkins and Brandin Cooks will change expectations of rookie receivers heading into next years draft.I think some of the rookies that come in are going to be expected to do that immediately and people will criticize them when they dont, Paulsen said. Most seasons that wouldnt work very well for you.___HEADS-UP WINSBeckham might be on the most championship teams, but four players topped him in terms of helping teams win the most games this season, according to CBS data.Teams with Bell, Antonio Brown and Luck each won 58.2 per cent of their games, while DeMarco Murray teams won 57.8 per cent of matchups, the data said.___QB CONSISTENCYOne more thing on Luck — he was the only quarterback to post a top-12 score 13 times this season, meaning he was worthy of starting in a standard league that starts one quarterback. Only four other quarterbacks cracked the top 12 in at least 10 games: Aaron Rodgers, Drew Brees, Peyton Manning and Wilson.___WEEK 17?If youre still playing this weekend, sorry about the drop-off on advice. But might want to convince your commissioner that itd be better to settle your fantasy championship in Week 16. Even if its a two-week playoff, jostling for playoff position puts teams in wacky situations.Know whether Tom Brady or Rob Gronkowski will play for the Patriots, who have a top seed locked up? Or how much Luck might play given that the Colts, given the AFC South title already locked in? Or how much other guaranteed playoff teams will jockey for things like division titles and first-round byes?Tough propositions that will directly affect some of your top fantasy starters. Good luck — hope you make the right choices.___AP NFL website: www.pro32.ap.organd AP NFL Twitter feed: www.twitter.com/AP_NFL___Oskar Garcia can be reached on Twitter at http://twitter.com/oskargarcia cheap falcons jerseys cheap ravens jerseys cheap bills jerseys cheap bears jerseys cheap bengals jerseys cheap cowboys jerseys cheap lions jerseys cheap texans jerseys cheap colts jerseys cheap jaguars jerseys cheap chiefs jerseys cheap rams jerseys cheap dolphins jerseys cheap vikings jerseys cheap saints jerseys cheap giants jerseys cheap jets jerseys cheap eagles jerseys cheap steelers jerseys cheap 49ers jerseys ' ' '