FIFA World Cup 2010 Thread - 2010

[Ferbian]

By the way, Ferbs, there is no way Ronaldo meant to "juggle" the ball on his head before his goal. He was smiling because it was lucky, although I think he probably deserved a goal for his second half performance.

I know that much, but I still think it made for my favorite goal of the tournament thus far, it was pretty well handled nonetheless and that's what matters, it was just another shovel filled with dirt on top of the Korean mass grave that Portugal formed last night.

I shall comment on the other matches of today later on.

 

[Ferbian]

As promised, my update on todays soccer, sadly I did not get to watch all the games due to both being played the same time as the two others.

I watched Mexico vs vs Uruguay, which I thought Uruguay had pretty dominated, and they were the obvious winners in this game, I had expected more goals from the Uruguay squad, but a 0-1 victory is a victory nonetheless and they should be happy with proceeding at the top of their squad.

Argentina vs Greece had Argentina dominating, the first half had them pretty equal although, but ultimately they capitalized and scored two pretty good goals in the second half.

It was two pretty good games, and the two that had me most entertained, the other two didn't strike me as near as appealing, but South Africa at least now can brag about an actual victory as opposed to the French, which lets me think the French national team will have some summer cleaning to do.

 

[Барбоса]

So we are down to the business end of the group stages and after today we have four more teams heading home.

Of those heading home, the biggest name is France. To the casual viewer this might seem like a major shock but with the unrest in the camp, the dislike some would say hatred of the manager and the shocking performances on the field it is really so surprise to the 2006 beaten finalists. I for one am glad to see the back of them as they have been so poor and that was demonstrated again against the South Africans. What was perhaps most annoying for French fans was that when the pressure was off Ribery started to play well and made the African defence look as weak as it really was.

We have also seen the spirited, enthusiastic but ultimately weak South African hosts bow out. They just did not have the overall skill and technique to deal with their South American opponents in the group. Having said that, they signed off with a fine win over the French and for a while threatened to do the impossible and reach the knock out rounds. They also have my best goal of the tournament so far with their goal against Mexico. However, the best two sides in the group, Mexico and Uruguay, thoroughly deserved to go through.

Another African side that went out were the Nigerians. Boasting a better squad than many other teams in the tournament, they paid the penalty for a goalkeeping error and a stupid sending off against the Greeks. Even then they still had a chance had they been able to beat the South Koreans but again their defending let them down.

The other team to depart were the Greeks, whose ultra-cautious approach proved their undoing for they were not the defensive unit they were in 2004. When they conceded, they also lacked the firepower that propelled them to shock the world by winning Euro 2004. While I enjoy the defensive side of the game, for entertainment sake the tournament is better without them and the two more attacking sides of the group, Argentina and South Korea, have gone through

 

[Dave]

Well, the World Cup is finally living up to it’s potential isn’t it?

Today, I was slightly pissed that we had to go to matches that clashed with each other. I have been watching three matches a day since this thing started and to be honest, moving down to two makes me feel as though I have been robbed of something that is not even mine in the first place.

However, it was two groups that really could have gone any way. I started off the day watching South Africa vs France. I preferred watching this because I fucking hate France and I would have loved to see them getting trounced in every single match of this World Cup and that is exactly what happened. If the truth be told, I was very much behind South Africa as they are the host nation. The way they came out singing to every match was awe inspiring. They had so much character and I feel that without at least one African team in the later rounds, we are very much in danger of losing that character and flair. Nevertheless, South Africa managed to beat France and I was very surprised to see how badly France played. I think it’s karma after what they did to Ireland but what goes around…

On a separate note, I am glad to see back of Domenech. That guy was a fucking fruit-loop and if he thinks that picking people based on their star sign is a legitimate tactic, he deserve to hit the showers.

I was glad to see Uruguay and Mexico go through though. It adds a little more South American flavour to the competition and I will be behind Mexico for as long as they are in the tournament. I like a good underdog story and they are the epitome of that this time, it seems.

In the later fixtures, I decided that I would watch the Argentina match because I thought that they would turn on the style and it would be a good match. However, they were lack-lustre and I can certainly see them tumbling out of the competition sooner rather than later. They just don’t seem to have a good performance in them. Needless to say, I switched over to the Nigeria and South Korea match, which was infinitely better and way more competitive. It was nice to see South Korea go through at the end of the day as they have a Celtic player playing for them and I rate him for the future.

Nevertheless, England tomorrow. I can’t wait!

 

[Барбоса]

So one half of the second round draw is complete.

England played for better than they have done so far this year. The defence was solid and Milner was whipping dangerous balls into the box for Defoe to attack while Gerrard and Rooney showed glimpses of the potential their partnership has. That said, they still had to carry a couple of passengers like Gareth Barry, who gave the ball away at every opportunity, and the consistently anonymous Frank Lampard. They got away with it against a poor Slovenia side but if those two play like that against the Germans, England have not got a mission.

The Germans booked the tie against England with a close 1-0 victory over Ghana. Both sides played attacking football and missed a host of chances. However, before England take some solace from the supposed bluntness of the German attack, Klose will likely slot back in for the next round.

The Australians, much like the South Africans yesterday, played well enough in the second half to briefly threaten to qualify. However, the Serbs only have themselves to blame for their elimination, missing so many chances and only really turning up the pressure in the last few minutes. They are one of the many teams who have been found to have only one way of playing and when their Plan A fails, they are almost certainly sunk.

With the Aussies beating Serbia, Ghana made sure that Africa has a representative in the knockout stages, where they will meet the USA who needed an injury time strike to beat Algeria and finish above England. This could be an interesting tie for if the Ghanians can add a cutting edge to their dynamic attacking they could easily dispatch the "never say die" Americans.

 

[TheAnimal]

I cannot wait for the mouthwatering England v Germany clash on Sunday, i need to change my hours at work for it though somehow.
I think we need to be more clinical in that game though, we are creating chances now, we should have beat Slovenia by 4 or 5 but we need ot stick those chances away against Germany. Also, for a side of the poor quality of Slovenia, it is sort of worrying that the last 15 mins were so nerve wracking, we should have been able to defend comfortably against them throughout really, or maybe im just being nitpicky. Germany are very much a beatable side, but we need to be even better in possession now. I think Milner and Defoe should keep their places, but we should see Lennon and Crouch at some point in the Germany game.


Ghana should defeat USA, but again they need to be more clinical, they havent scored from open play yet have they?

A Mexico v Argentina rematch should be a very good game too, and Uruguay v S.Korea will at least give us 1 team we know should be heading home in the QF.

I cannot wait for the knockout rounds, bring on the weekend!!

 

[Барбоса]

Another European giant was put out of its misery today.

Defending World Champions Italy fell to a 3-2 defeat to Slovakia that saw them finish bottom of their group. While not as ignominious as the French departure off the pitch, on it the Italians were almost as poor with the defence all over the place. Like the French, they only produced some decent football when they were virtually out already.

As for the Slovakians, making their World Cup debut, they were far better than only got a point for their opening two games. They have looked solid at the back but tonight they added a threat up front and took advantage of the aforementioned Italian defensive lapses. Should they play like that again in the next round they might just fancy their chanes against the Dutch, who while finishing the first round with three wins from three after beating Cameroon 2-1 have still yet to show any real form; although the return of Robben might add some more attacking edge and flair.

Japan booked a second round berth with a thoroughly impressive display in a 3-1 victory over a poor Denmark side, who were a shadow of the side that played so well against Cameroon. With a firm basis in fitness and defensive organisation, Endo and Honda gave the Japanese a cutting edge that few other teams in the tournament have had so far.

Their second round opponents will be Paraguay who finished top of Italy's group after an uninspiring 0-0 draw with New Zealand. If the Paraguayans can recapture some of the dynamism they showed against the Slovaks, it could be an intriguing tie against Japan.

A brief word about the valiant Kiwis who arrived in South Africa as one of the lowest ranked teams and fully expected to be the whipping boys. However, contrary to those lack of expectations, they bow out as one of the few teams ever to do so while remaining unbeaten. Who knows where they could have gone in this tournament had they had a more potent strikeforce?

With the elimination of France and Italy, one half of the draw has really opened up. Either Uruguay/South Korea/USA/Ghana will be in the semi finals which could be seen as an easy track to the final for the winner of the likely Netherlands-Brazil quarter final while England's potential route to the final (Germany-Argentina-Spain) suggests the continued strength of that half.

 

[Dave]

Today, I think we all witnessed the best match of this World Cup. Both in terms of result and performance, we really saw something special. Italy crashed out of the World Cup as Slovakia, yes Slovakia took their place in the round of 16.

Truth be told, I wasn’t going to watch the match. There is only a few teams that I will actually sit down and watch now and at first glance, this match looked like a game that would be easily won by the defending champions… I might need to say that again as I still don’t believe it to be true. Anyway, it was thanks to Lee that I actually took the gamble and watched the rest of the match. You see, he posted something about Slovakia scoring and I just couldn’t resist. I tuned in just after the thirty minute mark and I am glad that I did. Slovakia were very resolute in their defending and their counter attack really seen them through this match.

Italy, on the other hand, were pretty poor especially at the back where they looked very vulnerable to Slovakian attacks. Their goalkeeper was fucking horrible and I am of the impression that I would have done a better job in goals than he did. However, after Slovakia scored, I was sure that Italy were gone. All credit to them, they fought back and made a really entertaining game of it. They can feel hard done by in regards to the offside decisions but that’s football. Italy go out and we all wait to see who the next giant of world football will crash out next…

 

[TheAnimal]

The problem Italy and France have which England may have come the next world cup and the following 1 from that is they have aging sides but the quality hasnt come through really yet to replace the older stars. At least theirs peaked with internation trophies though. They have been a real disappoint in some ways, but in others i expected them to perform the way they have.

I think that the organisation and the way some teams have set themselves out has been the way that the sides like the Slovaks etc have qualified. Also the competitive nature of the groups where some teams have cancelled each other out so the point totals have not needed to be 5+.

 

[Барбоса]

Finally the second round draw has been completed.

Brazil and Portugal confirmed their already likely qualification after playing out a turgid 0-0 draw, while the Ivory Coast, who had needed Portugal to lose and manage a 10 goal swing in goal difference to steal a place in the last 16, only managed to beat North Korea 3-0. The Koreans seem to have shot their bolt against the Brazilians in their first game as they have been dire in their last two games while the Ivory Coast just did not have that extra bit of skill to get a result out of either of the big teams in their group.

Hopefully, we will get a more interesting game out of the Portuguese against their Iberian neighbours Spain, which is perhaps the only match-up in the second round that most people will have predicted. The Spanish turned on a bit of style against Chile to win their group, playing more like the side that has dominated international football over the last 5 years. With Switzerland being unable to score against Honduras, who were probably the team that made the least impression at the World Cup, the Chileans booked a place against their South American compatriots Brazil, which also has a good chance of being an exciting encounter.

The World Cup starts here

 

[Барбоса]

Today I saw 90 of the worst minutes of football I have ever seen.

I had no expectations of England beating Germany but the way in which they floundered out of the World Cup was an affront not just to their fans but to every hard-working professional in the country and football in general.

Forget the ridiculous disallowed goal as England were so bad that it would not have mattered. The defending from Upson and Terry was some of the worst I have ever seen. Glen Johnson at right back was constantly having to cover across to the middle of the pitch leaving massive gaps all over the place.

Personally, I think a lot of England's problems came from Capello's set up. If he persists on playing Gareth Barry, he must play 5 in midfield but by playing 4-4-2, Barry was expected to defend and attack and in the end did neither, leaving a gap of 25-30 yards between the defence and the midfield. It did not help that Barry had an absolute shocker. Not only Ozil but the entire game just seemed to just pass him by. He did not cover the errant Upson and Terry at the back and failed to add anything to the England attack.

4-4-2 also left Steven Gerrard totally out to dry again. Along with Johnson and the goalkeeper he was the only England player to show any kind of passion and drive but when he is stuck out on the left and the abysmal Rooney does nothing to link up with him then he spends all of his energy trying to get into the game rather than controlling the game from the midfield or creating openings up front, something that Frank Lampard seem totally unable to do.

I feel that a massive clear-out and major resturcturing is needed within in the England squad whether with Capello at the helm or not. I would get rid of everyone over the age of 26, which would leave only 6 of the current squad (Rooney, Lennon, Johnson, Hart, Milner and Dawson), and rebuild for the 2014 World Cup by blooding new players in the qualifying for Euro 2012.

This might sound extreme but something has to be done so that the pathetic display of today is never repeated.

 

[harrythem]

England's squad was made up of a bunch of over-paid ***** who should be made to walk back from South Africa with Vuvuzela's shoved up their shitters. Perhaps the most pathetic display I've ever seen. Three lions? Fuck off, three stooges more like.

Well done to the Germans though, for how shit we were they were efficient and effective (as usual) and showed that belief in youth can pay off massively.

And that second shitty linesman call in Argentina Vs Mexico shows that they deffo need goal-line technology in football, it's caused big scenes in two different world cup matches today. It wouldn't have changed either result (the right teams won) but it still shouldn't happen at this level

 

[TheAnimal]

What the hell to say about England v Germany? I suppose aside from the god awful defending there were some issues that go back and can be applied to Englands whole campaign:

1) Predictable attacking. Use of wings when Rooney/Defoe wont really trouble defenders with crosses, Heskey would but never be in danger of scoring and the wingers were mostly either not on the wings (Gerrard) or not on their natural side to be able to hit a good 1st time ball. We had overlapping full backs, or attempts to overlap but that was so obvious that it was easy to defend against and also a clear weakness for counter attacks (re: Germanys 4th goal).

2) Rooneys lack of discipline was also a problem. It was well documented that Capello made Rooney play in the final third because that is where he can score from. This worked a treat and Rooney was banging them in and adopted this approach in his club games as well. However, due to lack of service for him he was dropping deep and going to the left side. This meant he was easily closed down and it was also easy to defend because he has to shift onto his right foot, which defenders made difficult for him to do, and then had to play it back and maybe try a crossfield pass to Milner. Today these didnt come off.

3) Players out of position. Gerrard on the left cant influence games the way he normally would when he is out on the left. He is too isolated, and the midfield battle is won in the middle. Gerrard comes in, meaning more work for Cole and a congested midfield.

4) We clearly did not have our best line up going into the competition, which is essential for any success. Sometimes you have to adapt to games/situations. Today i didnt feel like we had the set up to beat the Germans, we had the players and the talent but none of it showed.

5) The use of Gareth Barry as a holding midfielder does not work. At Liverpool, we had Mascherano and Alonso as holding midfielders. This can be seen as negative, but Mascherano was the tenacious ball winner, then he made a simple pass, mainly to Alonso who was a ball playing midfielder, and he would set up attacks. Barry has too much to do in trying to break up the attack, protect the back 4, win the ball and set up the attack. Against better opposition this gets exposed, and Ozil today did exactly that.

6) Gerrard is the focal point of the Liverpool team. Lampard is the focal point of the chelsea team. Rooney is the focal point of the United team. Even Barry is the guy who all of Citys play goes through. The problem we have is that they cant all be the focal point of the England team, but they all try to be. They are too individual. Lampard needs to be dropped so Gerrard can play in the middle, or even play Gerrard behind Rooney. The Spain side pick the best team, not best selection of individual talent.

Other points to be made are:

The German keeper came for balls with his eyes closed, it is unbelievable we did not attack this more and force errors.

The Lampard goal that was disallowed is something that FIFA need to address but is in no way an excuse for the ineptitude shown today. It would have made the score 2-2, but with the way we were defending it is likely that we would have conceded more. If they players couldnt move on from the fact that it was disallowed and felt that hard done by then they need their mental strength examining.

Our defending was abysmal. The players got pulled out of position so much. What happened to a rigid back 4, defending in a line and holding positions? There was no organisation in it. Upson was shaky and didnt seem up to it. Terry, Johnson and Cole seemed like they were scared of the German attack with its pace and incisiveness. They were always 3 steps behind. James should have attempted to organise them more. But there were some things, like Podolskis 2nd which i cant explain. Johnson came right across to defend the possible ball in to him, rather than hold his position, which had he done, Podolski would not have had such an easy goal. When defenders went forward nobody came to fill in for them either, this was exposed for the 4th.

The wrong subsitutions were made. We needed pace against the German defenders who couldnt handle being ran at, this meant Lennon, we also needed someone to give the goal keeper a hard time, meaning Crouch, who could also be a danger to score. Instead we had Heskey and Joe Cole.

 

[Барбоса]

After the England debacle, we had a far better game between Argentina and Mexico. Both sides kept the ball well and the Mexicans were looking more than a match for Maradona's men until an awful linesman decision saw Argentina take the lead, despite Tevez being two yards offside. The mistake was compounded by someone in control of the screens in the stadium replaying it for all to see. This caused the Mexicans to go crazy and for a brief period the linesman looked like he was going to correct his decision although the referee knew that he could not. This threw the Mexicans off and soon a defensive blunder left Higuain to make it 2-0. To give them credit, the Mexicans continued to fight even after Tevez fired in a third Argentinian goal. Had they had some luck and a bit more finishing the quality of Hernandez's late strike would have had the Argentinians in serious trouble.

Yesterday we saw Uruguay clinch a place in the last 8 but it took an 80th minute screamer to put away South Korea who had bossed the game for long periods after Suarez had given Uruguay an early lead. They thoroughly deserved their equaliser before Suarez curled in the winner. With the French and Italians away home, in their open half of the draw, the Uruguayans will fancy their chances of reaching the semis, although their next opponents Ghana will feel exactly the same. They came through their second round match with the USA in a very similar style to the Uruguayans by scoring an early goal but gradually surrendering the initiative before then conceding an equaliser. The only real difference was that the good strike that took Ghana through came in extra time rather than the 90mins

 

[Dave]

Well, another day gone and another “big” team bites the dust. Admittedly, it is not such a big deal anymore because we have finally got into the knockout stages of the World Cup and the giants are going to start dropping like flies from here on out.

Anyway, onto today’s action. England had every chance of getting past Germany today. Let’s face it, the Germans have been anything but spectacular and I would think that England rather beat themselves today. Their defending was utterly shambolic and I would have done a better job of defending some of the goals. I realise that the Germans got the better of them on the break quite a lot and if you are pushing for a goal, then you are always likely to leave yourself open at the back. However, you would think that the English national team, made up of some of the best players from the best league in the world, would know how to defend properly but that is apparently too much to ask of these players who get paid almost £130,000 a week, right?

However, a case could be made that it would have been a very different game had the Frank Lampard goal, and it was a goal, was counted. You could argue that England would have definitely been in the ascendancy and that they could have gone on and won the match. However, that is not the case and they fall out of the World Cup. Germany did look OK up front and I grow increasingly impressed by Ozil. I actually wish that he would go to the Premier League so that I can see how good he actually is. However, there is no doubting that Argentina and Germany will have a cracking match in the next round. Both Argentina and Germany looked shaky at the back today but great up front. To me, it has all the makings of a goal fest written all over it and I can’t wait to see it.

Tomorrow, I will be watching the Netherlands and Brazil in their respective matches and I will be looking for someone to look like winners. Also, as a closing note, I would not be surprised if Brazil tumble out tomorrow… Mark that down, someone!

 

[Барбоса]

I realise that the Germans got the better of them on the break quite a lot and if you are pushing for a goal, then you are always likely to leave yourself open at the back.

This is true Dave but if you look at the game yesterday, England left themselves wide open to the counterattack with over 20 mins to go... Worse than that, it was for a free kick that Lampard was clearly going to shoot with and yet three of their four defenders plus the woeful Barry in the attacking third... they were only a goal down. Instead of idiotically going for broke that early in the game they should have held on to possession and cranked up the pressure on the Germans before throwing Crouch on in the last 10-15 mins to try and steal the equaliser

Just about everything was wrong for England and that left the Germans, who are not that great at all particularly at the back, the relatively easy task of making the last 8

 

[FunKay the Inevitable]

England Crash Out. What a 'Surprise'. I love how wrong England got it. England got the whole thing wrong. Even the mind games. Beckenbauer does that week in week out in Germany. You took things for granted and it came back to bight you on the arse. Let's take a look at what happened thus far in the last 16:

Uruguay vs. South Korea:
The South Koreans tried and tried but they lacked what Uruguay have...a clinical finisher. Suarez showed us all why he was top scorer in Holland last season with this game. I expect them to reach the Semi's BUT Ghana could well beat them if they do what they did here and try to soak up the pressure especially with Gyan up front for Ghana. Speaking of Ghana...

USA vs. Ghana:
The USA's odyssey finally ends here. They were poor in the first half and Ghana could well have scored a couple of more goals. In the second half, USA were tactically set and knew what to do. They got the penalty and from that point onwards looked like a dangerous threat, there only problem was that Altidore wasn't the guy they needed up front. They needed a 20 a Season Goal scorer. Ghana dominated extra time and Gyan's goal was a just reward for Ghana.

Germany vs. England:
The German's completely and utterly deserved this win. England's defence was shambolic and Upson should never have started. You could see straight away that the German's would rip them apart in terms of pace. Klose did his job and he did it effectively. He isn't there for pace, he's there to tap them in. Podolski, Muller & Ozil are all there for the pace and they crushed them. I will say that things could've been different if Lampard's goal stood BUT Karma's a Bitch:

Argentina vs. Mexico:
I would say the score-line flattered the Argies but they did deserve to win in the end. Tevez was alert as was Higuain and they look a real threat attacking. Defensively, the jury's still out on them and if Mexico had a decent striker then this could've been tighter. That being said, Argentina march on to face Germany in a re-match of the last Tournament's Quarter Finals.

 

[Барбоса]

The world heavyweights bit back today as the Netherlands and Brazil set up an intriguing quarter-final between them. However, while the Brazilians brushed aside Chile with a relative amount of ease with their combination of hard-tackling defenders and central midfielders and free-roaming attackers and full-backs, the Dutch had a harder time of it against Slovakia. While players like Sneijder and Robben always looked dangerous going forward, the World Cup debutants at times carved open the Dutch defence and probably should have scored a lot earlier than they did. Had they done so, they would have added another major scalp. As it is, the Dutch will have to step up their game to deal with Dunga's men

 

[Барбоса]

Today we had the first penalty shoot out of the competition and a regional derby that somewhat flopped.

Paraguay defeated Japan 5-4 on penalties to become the fourth South American team in the last 8 after the two played out a rather dur 0-0 draw. It threatened to get better in the first half of extra time but in the end it had penalty shoot-out written all over it as neither side wanted to risk losing to prevent it.

They will now play Spain who overcame their Iberian neighbours Portugal 1-0 in a game that never really got going either. Spain dominated possession for long periods while the Portuguese played altogether too negatively with their two banks of four relying too much on their superstar Ronaldo to do the damage but who ended up having as underwhelming a World Cup as many other 'great' players

 

[gd]

Final 8, you say? How bout some more or less completely uneducated predictions? Let's get to it.

Uruguay v. Ghana

Ghana is the only non group winner remaining and is coming off the victory over the US in extra time. Uruguay has looked quite good up front with Forlan and that other guy. Suarez? Something like that. I think South America continues to do quite well with another win here.

Brazil v. Netherlands

Most interesting matchup of the quarterfinals, likely. The Dutch have played well enough thus far and look dashing in orange. However, Brazil doesn't seem to have a weakness and Kaka continues to look beautiful whilst running the attack. Can't see Brazil losing here.

Argentina v. Germany

Germany has played mostly shit opponents thus far, even though a 4-1 win over England was somewhat impressive. But I thought from the beginning that Argentina would be winning the whole tourney, and I'm not changing that now. Look forward to seeing Maradonna celebrate drunkenly on the sidelines after ever goal.

Paraguay v. Spain

Paraguay has had a nice run, but if you need PKs to beat Japan, you probably aren't all that great. Spain has been relatively unimpressive thus far, but I'm sure they'll be able to come up with yet another unispiring win here.

After that, I think we're looking at an epic Brazil/Argentina final, with the Argentinians celebrating into the night.

 

[Maggot01]

Uruguay vs. Ghana

I'm going on a limb and saying Ghana beats Uruguay.

Brazil vs. Netherlands

This one is going to be a good game but Brazil wins here

Argentina vs.Germany

This one is tough but I'm going with Argentina because they have been on fire here

Paraguay vs. Spain

Spain wins easily here

 

[FunKay the Inevitable]

My Thoughts on the Quarter Finals

Netherlands vs. Brazil:
The Dutch were and still are my picks to go all the way. They'll definitely need to step up there game in order to beat Brazil. They breezed past Chile with relative ease but there is a weakness in that team at left back and if Maicon bombs too far forward from Right Back then the Dutch could well get at them. Then there's the Dutch defence. Getting past Van Bommel & De Jong will be hard but if/when the Brazilians get past them, the defence is really going to have to step it up. I'm going for the Netherlands here but only out of bias.

Uruguay vs. Ghana:
Never, ever bet against Ghana. These guys are dangerous but they will most definitely miss Ayew who is suspended. Jonathan not so much but with Ayew out and possibly Boetang (Any Update on Him?) they'll be in trouble. That being said, Uruguay cannot afford to defend like they did against South Korea. Gyan will most definitely run at them and smash them to pieces. Uruguay as usual with be strong up front and with a weak defence, Ghana will have to really step it up. It's going to be tight but I'm going with Ghana here.

Germany vs. Argentina:
This will be a classic. Two teams who'll be fighting a re-match from 06'. Germany look dangerous and there defence tightened up in the second half of the England game (Friedrich defended very well second half). They'll be a real threat against a weak Argentina defence. The Argentina defence has yet to be fully exploited and with Klose, Podolski, Muller & Ozil, the Germans could well be the ones to do it. Then there's Argentina. Attacking, they look unstoppable, Higuain is in top form, Tevez is beginning to look good going forward plus they have a whole host of brilliant strikers on the bench. Messi has done it all in this tournament, and yet he still hasn't scored. It's tough but I got to give it to Argentina in Extra Time.

Paraguay vs. Spain:
Well, it was nice knowing you Paraguay. They were lucky to get past Japan and here, if Spain show up, they will be blitzed. Spain are looking good at this moment in time and with only Torres not playing well, they should be more than a threat against a shaky looking Paraguay defence. Paraguay are strong on the attack but they don't score enough (Just like Mexico) and the Spanish defence looks solid. I expect a Spanish victory.

 

[future admin]

Ghana vs Uruguay
This was a really entertaining match, especially the last half of extra time, with the penalty stuff. Suarez is a big loss for them through the suspension though. I cant see Uruguay winning againsst netherlands, so I'd say they come 4th

Holland vs Brazil
Another extremely entertaining match, I watched it start to finish. Brazil played so beautifully at the start, but really slacked of in the 2nd half, you could see they were extremely frustrated. I think Netherlands will lose in the final though, 2nd for the Dutchies

Germany vs Argentina
This match will be like the previous Quarter final matches, Germany will win a really close, entertaining match, Argentina have a big blow though, losing Messi. So I think Germany are going all the way and winning the cup.

Paraguay vs Spain
I see Spain Winning this match, unfortunately, we won't be seeing that cheerleader stripping off but spain will win maybe 2 nil, but they will come 3rd after losing to Germany, and beating Uruguay. We are set for a really entertaining end to the cup

 

[Барбоса]

The semi-final line up is complete and as usually happens it is down to South America vs Europe. However, the South American side of that rivalry does not contain either of their usual suspects.

The first quarter final was the personification of a "game of two halves" with Brazil giving the Netherlands a footballing lesson for 50 mins looking every inch potential World Cup winners never mind semi-finalists. They thoroughly deserved to be out of sight but through some poor finishing and decent goal-keeping, they failed to kill off the continually underwhelming Dutch. It took one mistake to totally change the game. The usually excellent Julio Cesar flapped at a cross and Brazil fell apart. As good as they had been for 50 mins, they were worse in the last 40. The Dutch winner was another defensive shambles with the 5 foot 7 Wesley Sneijder getting a free header four yards out at a corner...

While nowhere near the level of the sides of Cruyff or even Bergkamp, this Dutch side will never get a better chance to win the World Cup and that is because of how the draw has panned out. They will now face Uruguay for a place in the final, a team who has won the World Cup twice but not in the last 60 years. They finished off African interest in the tournament by somehow finding a way passed Ghana. The South Americans had started well but as the first half went on, the Ghanaians grew into the game and took a deserved lead with a great strike from Muntari. Uruguay managed to equalise early in the second half through another great strike from Diego Forlan, who is up there with Wesley Sneijder as Player of the Tournament. That was really it until the last minute of extra time with Suarez taking a red card to prevent his team conceding a winning goal to the Africans. To see Gyan hitting the bar with his first penalty was unbelievable. Pressure makes fools of us all. For Gyan to take the first pen in the shootout took some stones but how much would he have given to have done that 5 mins earlier? Ghana then totally bottled it as some of their penalties were woeful. Mensah's one step run-up was truly ridiculous while it was so obvious which way Adiyiah was going. Sad for Africa.

The other South American giant, Argentina, finally paid the price for being unable to defend when they came up against Germany. In a similarly efficient way to how they dispatched England, the Germans gave Maradona and his superstars a footballing lesson in how to soak up pressure and punish defensive lapses. The writing was on the wall after just 3 mins with the chronic Argentinian attempt to hold a line at a free kick. Laughable. Then the Germans set about spoiling Argentina's attacks and outside of a long range effort, Tevez and Higuain, never looked like scoring. Even the great Messi was almost completely shut down by German organisation. Then the German machine went on the ruthless counter-attack, bagging three more goals in a 4-0 victory that in no way flattered them. Maradona, Messi and perhaps the world, if that lesson was needed, found out that you cannot win the World Cup by just attacking but you can by defensive organisation.

This German demolition set up a potentially mouth-watering semi final with Spain, who again flattered to deceive in their 1-0 defeat of Paraguay. I am confused as to how any team, even the talented Spanish, can play 4-4-2 without any recognised wingers. How can you expect your full-backs to provide your only width? It is clear that Fernando Torres is nowhere near fit and it was not surprising that when he made way for Fabregas and Pedro that Spain played a lot better. Even with this Paraguay had their chance in a crazy five minutes. First there was Pique's ridiculous foul on Cardozo. What was he doing? As with Suarez, he got away with it as Cardozo blasted his penalty straight down the middle. Then Spain went straight up the other end and the excellent Villa won them a penalty which Xabi Alonso also missed after being forced to retake his original successful effort due to encroachment. Finally after running miles to prevent Spain from getting into their passing groove, a tiring Paraguay side cracked with Xavi and Iniesta opening them up for Pedro to hit the post before Villa to put away the rebound off both posts. Hopefully now that they will not be outright favourites to reach the final, we might see some more of the Spain that made Ronaldo and Portugal look second rate.

 

[gd]

From what I've seen, Germany clearly seems to be the best team remaining at the moment. Their counter attack is incredible and they have a good combo of youth and guys who have been their before. Schweinsteiger is a truly incredible name, and player as well. Tough to see the Germans losing here, unlike WWII.

Spain has advanced, but has never been impressive. Other than Villa's superhuman like efforts, they've done virtually nothing. I was under the impression that Torres was the best player coming into this. Obviously not. They're goin' down.

As for the other semifinal, the Dutch have played well, and it was an incredible comeback, but Brazil sort of shot themselves in the foot, in a way. Still not convinced the Orange are all that fantastic.

Uruguay will be in some trouble without Suarez, but Forlan has been thoroughly impressive to me during the entire tourney. Just from what I've watched, he's clearly the best player remaining. I can see this going to extra time as it's a hella close matchup, but I do think Uruguay will prevail.