What others have been doing

I've spent a lot of time on data collection and modeling, and not as much on analytics.  To fill the gap I've decided to focus on what other people did with respect to statistical analysis during the World Cup:

Waiting for the equalizer is a site written by a Serbian football fan that has some interesting back-of-envelope studies on player performance based on boxscores and rating goalkeepers by goals they allow against stronger/weaker teams in league. 

A Beautiful Numbers Game is a blog out of the Seattle area that examines some statistical questions primarily focused on MLS but also the World Cup, including a little-too-serious statistical analysis of Paul the Octopus' World Cup predictions.  Poor Zach was so distraught by the USA's elimination from the World Cup that he ran off and got himself married!  But he appears to be very happy about that, so visit his blog and say congratulations to him and his bride.

GoalkeeperGrades.com is a site that has developed a ratings system for goalkeepers based on their passing and reaction to crosses, shots, and penalties.  There were some results that were presented through part of the group phase of the World Cup and after the Round of 16, but little else after that. 

Soccer by Numbers is written by a social scientist at an Ivy League university.  Some statistical studies on football and the World Cup from that perspective, as well as links to some very neat data visualization related to the sport.  I especially liked the link that illustrated the links between the national teams of the World Cup and the national leagues represented by those players.  The soccer world has definitely become more globalized since 1994.

Fussball Oekonomie (Football Economy) is a German-language site on the business aspects of football, with some technical analysis added in.  It seems to be a very interesting website, but it's entirely in German and I don't speak or read German.  Not yet, anyway.

Some of these sites are along the right-hand column already.  Others will be added shortly after I add a Blogs section.

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