Euro 2012 Fantasy Player Pool - Day 11 Roundup

With no one player really standing out from the pack (Pirlo, Cassano, and Iniesta all tied for top daily scorer with a mere 7 points), Day 11 was all about small, subtle storylines. 

Of course, every tiny edge you can get on the stat sheet counts, and enough little edges put together will pay off big - as evidenced by the pool's increasingly dominant top dog, Andrew L.

Andrew seized control of the leaderboard on Day 6. Since then he's inched a little further ahead each day, rarely putting up the highest score on any one day but consistently among the daily leaders. It's all added up to a lead of 18.8 points here with one more pair of games to go before the Knockout stage. With Gomez, Ronaldo, and Captain Casillas among his players advancing, Andrew will be tough to catch from here on out.

Iker Saves Spain's Euro

Incredibly, Casillas and his countrymen came thiiiiiiis close to missing out on the business end of the tournament and the fantasy pool.

Spain ended up needing Iker's final save even more than they needed Jesus' first goal, but they were fortunate enough to get both, and Andres Iniesta owners will gladly take the late assist to help their man nudge ahead of Xavi in the overall individual point standings (14 to 13)...again, every little edge counts.

Iniesta's current standing ahead of his midfield buddy is still subject to change, of course, as Spain moves forward. But the Irish roster features a similar "small but potentially important" distinction between teammates, and this one's locked in for good: John O'Shea's yellow card vs. Italy leaves him with a final total one point smaller than that of fellow defender Richard Dunne. The 10 people who chose Dunne will be glad they aren't the 7 people who chose O'Shea (Meanwhile the 2 people who chose top-scoring Irishman Aiden McGeady will be happiest of all).

Ireland serious WC'14 contenders? You're taking the piss!

Bookings and the lack of the chance to earn save points meant that choosing an Irish defender probably hurt you in the pool. But choosing Irish keeper Shay Given actually worked out pretty well.  Being under constant fire helped him keep the pace, point-wise, even though a lot of those shots still found their way into the net. Given actually was once a great goalie, and he'll forever remain a great Irishman, no matter what Roy Keane says!

The Irish may've made more of an impact on Euro 2012 with their fan presence than they did with their play, but they still came close to outperforming Italian hothead Mario Balotelli.  When the final fantasy rosters were set, I had thought Mario was a great sneak pick for myself and the two others who took him.  But blustering form, a bad attitude, and a bum knee all combined to change my mind before Italy kicked off vs. Ireland with Balotelli on the bench. But of course, having me write you off means you're just about to do something amazing, and Mario certainly did his best to prove me wrong once he took the pitch as a sub.

I love that Rob M. emailed me after the Day 11 matches to ask if he could get a bonus point for Bonucci immediately running over to restrain Balotelli from bitching at the refs over O'Shea's shirt pull.  No can do Rob, but I like the way you're thinking.  Another yellow would've ended my chance to get any more points from Mario, for good.

With Croatia heading home as also-rans in Group C, we say goodbye to the most over-used player in the pool and perhaps the most boring fantasy crew of the entire tourney. Luka Modric was probably the only Croatian most of y'all even recognized, because just about every tourney preview I read was calling him out as exhausted at the end of the long Premier League season, and no one was tipping him to do much, but he still wound up on more than three-quarters of the rosters in our pool.

The Modric naysayers proved correct, but because no one else on Croatia did anything either (except the un-owned Mandzukic), it didn't really hurt any of the 21 people who chose him.  You could've gotten one of those slight edges with Jelavic or Strinic,  but then you'd be taking away your chance to get other high-scoring forwards or defenders from other nations. For Croatian purposes, the safe choice looks to have turned out the best, overall.

If someone does eventually run Andrew L. down, it's likely that the successful chaser will come from outside the current Top 4.  Mike S., Kyle M., and Scott W. have all had impressive showings up til now, but they've also each had to say goodbye to their captain prematurely. 

Look for guys like Ryan W., (Lahm Captain), Tyson G. (Gomez Captain), and Steve J. (Ramos Captain) to make runs over the next few games.  Their standings after the Quarterfinals will be quite telling.  

If Ozil goes off, it will definitely help the 4 people who made him the pool's 2nd most popular captain (behind the 5 who wish they hadn't chosen RVP).  If you're looking for an extreme dark horse, don't sleep on Kevin L., the only one with Benzema in his captain slot.

It's not too late for one of these guys to change everything on our Leaderboard

Today we wrap up the Group Stage for good, and welcome Wayne Rooney (Captain of 2 fantasy squads!) to the tournament.  If by some miracle Ukraine can advance, it would really help a few people (guys like me w/ Konoplyanka) and really hurt a few others (The aforementioned dudes who made Rooney their captain, among others).  

Let's hear from a few of y'all in the comments, yo!  Who thinks they're not out of it yet even though the numbers say otherwise? Who's up near the top but already feels like they have no chance?  Who's down at the bottom of the standings and wants a side bet with me??? These are the questions that need answers before we start the knockout stage!