After 2 weeks of football, South Africa is finally set for the knockout stages. 32 teams are down to 16 and things should get very exciting here on in. As far as my original prediction went, 11 out of the 16 teams made it through. The five that didn't make it are... Nigeria, Cameroon, South Africa, Italy and Switzerland. Yeah, I was really betting on Africa but those teams failed to turn up and I thought Italy being eliminated was too good to be true, but guess not! Some of the fixtures for this round are really eye-catching, not least, Spain vs Portugal, which unlike the Brazil-Portugal match, should be exciting, since only one of these teams can progress. Germany-England is another match with a great deal of history behind it and either team has been fairly equally inconsistent in this tournament, though England haven't played anywhere close to how Germany played against Australia. Argentina-Mexico is a repeat of the last World Cup when Maxi Rodriguez scored that wondergoal winner in extra-time. Here are my predictions...
URU 1-0 KOR
Uruguay have been solid defensively, not conceding a single goal in the group stages. Diego Forlan is in great form and Luis Suarez came good against Mexico so attacking-wise, La Celeste definitely have the edge. Korea on the other hand haven't really been solid at the back, leaking goals against Argentina and Nigeria. Uruguay to go through...
USA 2-1 GHA
Should be a good game. USA have been very positive through the group games and they never give up. Both Slovenia and Algeria were subject to wave upon wave of American attacks. Ghana have been lacklustre and are lucky to have qualified, having yet to score a goal from open play. Without Essien, Muntari and Appiah, they're definitely not the side that beat USA in 2006. Hopefully Donovan & co. will come through.
GER 1-0 ENG
Honestly, I don't expect much from this game. I'm hoping it'll be great but I can't see England playing like Argentina/Spain/Portugal and I can't see Germany turning in a performance similar to the one in their opening match. England have been solid defensively, conceding only due to the Green fuck-up but going forward, they've looked dreadful. Germany on the other hand have been fairly decent at both ends.
ARG 2-1 MEX
A re-run of 2006. Though I don't expect this to go to extra-time. This Mexico side is I think slightly weaker than the previous one and Argentina are much better in the midfield. I just hope Messi gets on the scoresheet. He so deserves it...
NED 2-0 SVK
Shouldn't be much of an exciting game. All of Oranje's games have been pretty boring and they look like a shell of the side that rampaged the Group of Death in Euro '08. Arjen Robben's back though so that should provide the impetus to score 2 goals against a Slovak side that aren't as desperate to reach the next round as the Dutch.
BRA 3-1 CHL
A repeat of the 1998 Round of 16 match when Brazil won 4-1. This match should be closer since this is a weaker Brazilian team and a stronger Chilean team.
PAR 2-1 JPN
Could go either way, but Paraguay have been slightly better than Japan.
ESP 3-2 POR
Should be the match of the round, if not the tournament. I'm hoping that unlike the hyped Group G match, this one between the 2 most attacking teams in Europe, lives up to the billing. Spain have finally come good (a dull 2nd half vs Chile notwithstanding) and Portugal won't be as cautious as they were against Brazil. Hopefully.
So there, if things go according to kilter, the quarterfinal line-up should look thus...
URU-USA (w00t!!)
NED-BRA
ARG-GER (2006 rematch!)
PAR-ESP
This should be fun!
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