Sunday, June 27, 2010

World Cup 2010 Rd of 16 review/preview

Well after predicting 3 of the 4 games right, I'm feeling pretty good about myself.

Uruguay and South Korea went about how I thought it would. Suarez's second was truly spectacular. Other than that, the only thing to talk about was the rain and the pitch (terrible).

Germany tore England apart.Now there will be controversy about a possible England goal. Maybe it would have changed the game, although you figure Upson would have been exposed several more times to get Germany another goal. FIFA only have themselves to blame. Perhaps this is the goal that pushes the topic over the edge. But there can be no doubt that Germany were better and revealed England to be pretenders. Any time they face a team of quality (Argentina 98, Brazil 02, Portugal 06, Germany 10) they lose. No matter what they think, England are not among the elite.

Argentina got a gift for their first goal and then ran rampant. Mexico offered very little after a couple of good attacks in the opening minutes. Barrera came on in the second half to good effect, but it wasn't enough to overcome a catastrophic defensive error and a stunning goal from Tevez.

That brings us to the US game. What did we learn? Not that the US starts slow. Not that the US can't finish chances. Not that Ricardo Clark is done as a starter. But our central defenders are weak. Demerit was partially at fault for both goals, with Howard getting some blame for the first and Bocanegra not being strong enough on the second. I would not say that the US was the better team, but they definitely created the better chances.

In Monday's games, I see Holland handling Slovakia. It might only be 1-0 but they should advance. We are still waiting to see them throttle someone.

Brazil should have an easy time against Chile. Chile will attack which should give Brazil the space they need to create lots of chances. I look for Fabiano and Robinho to have big games.

On Tuesday, I see Paraguay continuing the South American dominance. Japan will keep it close but won't have enough.

As for Spain and Portugal, my gut says that Portugal will find a way to win. Spain just haven't been sharp enough and it my catch up to them here. I doubt there will be many goals and Portugal could advance in an ugly fashion.

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