What to do
-----------

Look at the fixtures below: do you play home or away? In any case:
remember that it's single-leg, and a draw qualifies the team with the X
on its side.

*Home*
- Before Wednesday 2025-02-26, 23:59 GMT
- Pick one team from each of the two matches.

*Away*
- After Wednesday (or even sooner, if the home player has picked his
teams) and before kickoff of the first match
- Pick one of the teams not picked by your opponent (if he hasn't
picked any team, you have free choice)
- Their opponents will represent your opponent

*ATTENTION: NEW RULE*: If the away player doesn't pick any team before
his/her deadline, the home player will be represented by the team that
achieves the best outcome out of his/her two picked teams.
If the home player doesn't pick any team before his deadline, the away
player can pick two teams (one from each match), and he/she will be
represented by the team that achieves the best outcome out of his/her
two picked teams.. If nobody picks a team, teams are assigned
randomly.)"

Play-in

PI1: Futbolmetrix - milivella
Napoli 1X - Cagliari 2
Milan 1X - Monza 2


PI2: Jesus Petry - Homer Simpson
Empoli 1 - Verona X2
Girona 1X - Atletico Madrid 2


PI3: Jesper Lauridsen - MH
Nottingham Forest 1X - Chelsea 2
Philadelphia Union 1 - Inter Miami X2


PI4: Mark - Werner Pichler
Tottenham 1X - Brighton 2
San Jose Earthquakes 1 - Houston Dynamo X2


-----------------------

QF schedule:
QF1:
1. The Doctor - Winner PI1

QF2:
4. Lleo - Winner PI2

QF3
2. Blueshirt - Winner PI3

QF4
3. Silver Skull - Winner PI4

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On Mon, 19 May 2025 18:52:55 +0000, Jesus Petry wrote:

On 19/05/2025 08:17, Futbolmetrix wrote:

PI2: Jesus Petry   - Homer Simpson
Empoli 1   -   Verona X2
Girona 1X   -   Atletico Madrid 2

*rona.

Homer picks *poli, doh! (Yeah, you would have liked Napoli, Homer...)

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On Mon, 19 May 2025 11:17:44 +0000, Futbolmetrix wrote:

Play-in

PI1: Futbolmetrix - milivella
Napoli 1X - Cagliari 2
Milan 1X - Monza 2

You're lucky, because those weren't the real matches.

1. Starting in 1982:
[nextpage 1X]: 1, 0, 1(1), 0, 0, 0, (1), 0, 0, 0, 0
[nextpage 2]: 1(4), (1), 0, 0, 0, 0, 1, 0, (1), 0

2. Also starting in 1982, but less restrictive
[nextpage 1X]: 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 1, 0, 0, 1, 0
[nextpage 2]: 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 2, 0, 2, 0, 2


I pick [nextpage 2] in match 1, and [nextpage 1X] in match 2.

If you don't pick a team, or make no attempt at guessing who [nextpage]
are, you're a chicken.

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On Mon, 19 May 2025 11:17:44 +0000, Futbolmetrix wrote:

PI4: Mark - Werner Pichler
Tottenham 1X - Brighton 2
San Jose Earthquakes 1 - Houston Dynamo X2

San Jose Earthquakes and Tottenham

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Mark <[email protected]> wrote:

On Mon, 19 May 2025 11:17:44 +0000, Futbolmetrix wrote:

PI4: Mark - Werner Pichler
Tottenham 1X - Brighton 2
San Jose Earthquakes 1 - Houston Dynamo X2

San Jose Earthquakes and Tottenham

The Original San Jose Earthquakes.

Ciao,
Werner

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On 19/05/2025 13.17, Futbolmetrix wrote:

PI3: Jesper Lauridsen   -   MH
Nottingham Forest 1X   -   Chelsea 2
Philadelphia Union 1   -   Inter Miami X2

West Bridgford & Chester

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On 2025-05-21 16:13, Jesper Lauridsen wrote:

On 19/05/2025 13.17, Futbolmetrix wrote:

PI3: Jesper Lauridsen   -   MH
Nottingham Forest 1X   -   Chelsea 2
Philadelphia Union 1   -   Inter Miami X2

West Bridgford & Chester

Inter Miami.

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On 2025-05-25 20:32, milivella wrote:

MH:

On 2025-05-21 16:13, Jesper Lauridsen wrote:

On 19/05/2025 13.17, Futbolmetrix wrote:

PI3: Jesper Lauridsen   -   MH
Nottingham Forest 1X   -   Chelsea 2
Philadelphia Union 1   -   Inter Miami X2

West Bridgford & Chester

Inter Miami.

You big brains don't care to explain your riddles to the plebs anymore? :D

Actual locations of the home grounds of Nottingham Forest and
Philadelphia Union.

--
Cheers
milivella

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On Sun, 25 May 2025 2:13:58 +0000, milivella wrote:

Futbolmetrix:

On Mon, 19 May 2025 11:17:44 +0000, Futbolmetrix wrote:

Play-in

PI1: Futbolmetrix   -   milivella
Napoli 1X - Cagliari 2
Milan 1X - Monza 2

You're lucky, because those weren't the real matches.

1. Starting in 1982:
[nextpage 1X]: 1, 0, 1(1), 0, 0, 0, (1), 0, 0, 0, 0
[nextpage 2]: 1(4), (1), 0, 0, 0, 0, 1, 0, (1), 0

There are 11 values in the first line but only 10 in the second (as highlighted by my reformatting). Was it voluntary on your part?

You're right, it was a mistake. The correct lines should have been:

1. Starting in 1982:
[nextpage 1X]: 1, 0, 1(1), 0, 0, 0, (1), 0, 0, 0, 0
[nextpage 2]: 1(4), (1), 0, 0, 0, 0, 1, 0, 0, (1), 0

2. Also starting in 1982, but less restrictive
[nextpage 1X]: 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 1, 0, 0, 1, 0
[nextpage 2]: 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 2, 0, 2, 0, 2


I pick [nextpage 2] in match 1, and [nextpage 1X] in match 2.

If you don't pick a team, or make no attempt at guessing who [nextpage]
are, you're a chicken.

Wow, that is fun. Also, I am not a chicken. So I should try to guess
even if I'm late.

[snip off-track attempt]

There are 11 (assuming match 1, team 2 is a mistake) values for each
teams. There have been 11 World Cups since 1982. Interesting! It could
be the number of players of that club at the World Cup, with the number
in brackets maybe being players called up by a nation that is not the
club's home nation. Let's check it:

Getting warmer, almost hot.

I'm nice, so I'll give you some additional hints:

1. Even if you had managed to guess the teams, I would have won the UPT
match anyway, as I picked the advancing team in both matchups.

2. The numbers in brackets have some meaning.

3. Did you really have to wrack your brain to solve the riddle? I think
it was relatively easy to figure out who [nextpage] was in both matchups
even if you ignored completely the sequence of numbers. Then, of course,
it could have been an interesting challenge to figure out what the
numbers meant, after you knew the teams.

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On Mon, 19 May 2025 11:17:44 +0000, Futbolmetrix wrote:

What to do
-----------

Results:

Results
Futbolmetrix ?-? milivella (???-???) [Futbolmetrix advances]
Jesus Petry 2-1 Homer Simpson (Verona X2-Empoli 1)
Jesper Lauridsen 3-3 MH(*) (Philadelphia Union 1-Inter Miami X2) Mark 3-3 Werner Pichler(*) (San Jose Earthquakes 1-Houston Dynamo X2)


Pretty eventful matches in the MLS, away teams advance in the bottom
half of the draw, home teams advance in the top half.

Cup QFs to be announced shortly.

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On Wed, 28 May 2025 2:51:02 +0000, milivella wrote:

Futbolmetrix:

1. Starting in 1982:
[nextpage 1X]:    1,   0, 1(1), 0, 0, 0, (1), 0,   0, 0, 0
[nextpage 2]:  1(4), (1),    0, 0, 0, 0,   1, 0, (1), 0

There are 11 values in the first line but only 10 in the second (as
highlighted by my reformatting). Was it voluntary on your part?

You're right, it was a mistake.

And this still doesn't guarantee an automatic win for me?!

No, beacuse you had figured out the mistake very easily.

The matches should check all the following criteria:
- It should be a major league.

Yep.

- One of the teams should have odds of winning around 2.0 (supposedly
between 1.75 and 2.25, but who knows if Futbolmetrix follows the gamemastering rules, a fortiori in a match against me?).

Yes.

- (Indeed, both teams should still have something to play for - European
cup spot, avoiding relegation etc. But really, I don't expect this
gamemaster to care about that...)

No, didn't really look at this. I was just trying to find the matches
with balanced enough odds.

- Both clubs should be big enough to have something to do with World
Cups.

OK.

(Side thought: maybe the "less restrictive" numbers in 1982 is
something like players who have played in that WC and _even at some
other time_ have played for that club, but (1) it looks like the
criterion is not exactly "club players at that WC" and (2) I don't see Futbolmetrix wasting all the time one needs to check the career of all
the players at every WC since 1982---or maybe he doesn't need to do so?
I vaguely remember he has a database like that...)

Slightly warmer, I guess?

Candidates, before checking which (real) matches were selected for the
other (UPT) matches:
Getafe - Celta Vigo
Sturm Graz - Wolfsberger AC
Dender - KV Mechelen
Willem II - Dordrecht
Ipswich - West Ham
Nottingham - Chelsea
Tottenham - Brighton
Wolves - Brentford
Atalanta - Parma
Empoli - Verona
Udinese - Fiorentina
Girona - Atl. Madrid
Villareal - Sevilla
Ath Bilbao - Barcelona
Genk - Anderlecht
Fluminense - Vasco
Palmeiras - Flamengo RJ
Kayserispor - Bodrumspor

Match 1 is indeed in this list, while Match 2 is not. Maybe it missed
the odds cutoff by a small amount.

Hint: You *should* check which other UPT matches were selected. There's
a certain pattern that isn't difficult to figure out. Take that together
with the knowledge that I advanced, and you should be able to figure out
the identities of at least the two teams in Match 1.

Prof Futbolmetrix, is this proof of work enough to get the grad... I
mean, the solution?

You get a D+ for effort, but I will give you another chance to raise
your grade to a C.

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On Wed, 28 May 2025 18:51:45 +0000, milivella wrote:

Let's check the odds again and remove the matches with the home team favorite. The remaining matches are:

Italy:
Udinese - Fiorentina (I see that a Fiorentina win was at 2.34, but
again, this match may have been included)

Spain:
Getafe - Celta Vigo
Ath Bilbao - Barcelona

You're basically there.

Among these three matches, which one better fits the pattern that has
the clubs more involved in the WCs from 1982 to 1990?
- Udinese had 1 player at WC82 (Causio),

Hot!

Fiorentina had 5 Italians

Very Hot!

+ 1 Argentinian.

Cooling down...

The Fiorentina players scored 3 goals (2 Bertoni + 1
Graziani).

Cooling down

If we give 1 point for "having at least one player at the WC"
and 1 point per goal scored by said players, you get 1-4! (kidding...).

Lukewarm

- Udinese had 1 player at WC86 (Edinho---wait a minute, was he Brazil's captain?! unexpected!), Fiorentina 2 (Passarella and Galli).

Lukewarm

- Wait a minute. What if they are players in the final? WC82: Causio
from the bench (yes?)

Boiling hot!

vs... just Graziani for the first 7 minutes.

You basically just burnt yourself!

Nah.

And then poured some ice water on your burns.

You're basically there. OK, match 1 was indeed Udinese-Fiorentina. You
figure out the rule.


Match 2, as we said, was not included in your list, even though
rechecking your link, it had closer odds than Udinese-Fiorentina, so it
was your fault for doing sloppy work. C-

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Futbolmetrix <[email protected]> wrote:

On Fri, 30 May 2025 1:54:54 +0000, milivella wrote:

You can definitely ask. After carefully re-evaluating all your work, the grade remains C-

I should do more of these, it's fun!

For some reason this popped into my mind

https://youtube.com/watch?v=XMOKMS1MURk


Ciao,
Werner

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On Fri, 30 May 2025 1:54:54 +0000, milivella wrote:

Futbolmetrix:

You're basically there. OK, match 1 was indeed Udinese-Fiorentina. You
figure out the rule.

Players who played in the final for (were in the squad of) the winning
team?

Let's check:

WC: 82 86 90 94 98 02 06 10 14 18 22
[nextpage 1X]: 1, 0 , 1(1), 0, 0, 0, (1), 0, 0, 0, 0
[nextpage 2]: 1(4), (1), 0, 0, 0, 0, 1, 0, 0, (1),0

1982:
- Udinese: 1: Causio
- Fiorentina: 1 (4): Graziani (Vierchowod, Antognoni, Massaro, Galli)
1986... no.

Ackshually... Passarella

Let's change the criterion to "players who played in the final (were in
the squad of) finalist teams". 1982 remains unchanged (and fitting).

1986:
- Fiorentina: (1): (Passarella)
1990:
- Udinese: 1 (1): Sensini (Balbo)
2006:
- Udinese: (1): (Iaquinta)
- Fiorentina: 1: Toni
2018:
- Fiorentina: (1): (Badelj)

I will not check the 0's. If the >0s are correct, chances are the
hypothesis is correct.

Yeah, you kind of got there by accident, and not exactly a complete
proof, is it?

Match 2, as we said, was not included in your list, even though
rechecking your link, it had closer odds than Udinese-Fiorentina, so it
was your fault for doing sloppy work.

You mean for doing a work that was not sloppy enough? I shouldn't have included Udinese-Fiorentina to begin with!

Anyway, at this point I more or less know that it's a Spanish match,
that is not among the ones I had listed, and that the away team had
<2.32 odds to win on betexplorer. This univocally identifies
Alaves-Osasuna.

\o/

Can I decrypt the "less restrictive" criterion?

The first, trivial, intuition is "players at the WC". Let's see (again,
only checking values >0).

wc 82 86 90 94 98 02 06 10 14 18 22
[nextpage 1X]: 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 1, 0, 0, 1, 0
[nextpage 2]: 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 2, 0, 2, 0, 2

- 06: Alaves 1 (Aloisi); Osasuna... 1 (Milosevic) + maybe 1 ("Nekounam
joined Osasuna following the tournament"). Hmm.
- 14: Osasuna 1 (Silva)!
So it's not it?! Or is this another Nekounam-like case? Let's keep
checking:
- 18: Alaves 1 (Guidetti)
- 22: Osasuna 2 (Budimir, Ezzalzouli)

Hmm...Osasuna's wiki page claims Nekounam in both the 2006 and 2014
World Cups...

I guess it's it.

C-

Can I ask for a reassessment of my work, Prof?

You can definitely ask. After carefully re-evaluating all your work, the
grade remains C-

I should do more of these, it's fun!

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On Tue, 27 May 2025 2:37:47 +0000, Futbolmetrix wrote:

On Mon, 19 May 2025 11:17:44 +0000, Futbolmetrix wrote:

What to do
-----------

Results:

Results
Futbolmetrix ?-? milivella (???-???) [Futbolmetrix advances]
Jesus Petry 2-1 Homer Simpson (Verona X2-Empoli 1)
Jesper Lauridsen 3-3 MH(*) (Philadelphia Union 1-Inter Miami X2)
Mark 3-3 Werner Pichler(*) (San Jose Earthquakes 1-Houston Dynamo X2)

For completeness:

Futbolmetrix 3-2 milivella (Fiorentina 2-Udinese 1X)
Jesus Petry 2-1 Homer Simpson (Verona X2-Empoli 1)
Jesper Lauridsen 3-3 MH(*) (Philadelphia Union 1-Inter Miami X2) Mark 3-3 Werner Pichler(*) (San Jose Earthquakes 1-Houston Dynamo X2)

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On 26/05/2025 04.32, milivella wrote:

MH:

On 2025-05-21 16:13, Jesper Lauridsen wrote:

On 19/05/2025 13.17, Futbolmetrix wrote:

PI3: Jesper Lauridsen   -   MH
Nottingham Forest 1X   -   Chelsea 2
Philadelphia Union 1   -   Inter Miami X2

West Bridgford & Chester

Inter Miami.

You big brains don't care to explain your riddles to the plebs anymore? :D

The big brain move would have been to notice that the X was on the Messi
team,

--- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
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