After two weeks of mostly thrilling soccer, the World Cup field has been cut in half. As usual, there have been plenty of surprises, plenty of disappointments, and some of the world's best showing us exactly why. Now we get a day off to rest and sink everything all in before the tournament resumes on Saturday with the beginning of the knockout round.
Saturday will be a mini-Copa America, as Brazil meets Chile and Colombia faces Uruguay. The theme of this tournament so far has been the domination of the American teams. Half the remaining field is from either North or South America. Of the 10 teams from those two regions that began the tournament, eight advanced to the knockout stage. Only Honduras and Ecuador missed out. And this is the first time there are three teams from CONCACAF moved on to the second round, which I don't think anyone saw coming, especially since Costa Rica and the United States came out of arguably the two toughest groups.
It's also the first time that two African teams advanced in the same World Cup. And it easily could've been three if not for that Greece penalty kick in second half stoppage time that knocked out Ivory Coast. Nigeria finished second in Argentina's weak group, while Algeria is right up there with Costa Rica when it comes to most surprising squad remaining. Neither one is going to win their next game, but it is theoretically possible that they could meet in the quarters and guarantee the first-ever African semifinalist.
Meanwhile, Europe had 13 teams in the tournament and only six of them moved on (among the high-profile European eliminations were defending champion Spain and Cristiano Ronaldo-led Portugal). While the Netherlands, Germany and France have looked good, I'm still not sold on Belgium or Switzerland. I still don't really understand why these two teams were seeded. Greece is probably the third-most surprising squad remaining. I bet there were very few people who expected to see them play more than three games in this World Cup. They can't score! Yet somehow they did enough to advance.
However, with a few exceptions, the top 16 teams in the world are the ones left standing. Of the top 16 teams in the FIFA World Rankings, 11 advanced to the Round of 16. And France, at No. 17, is the 16th-ranked team that actually qualified for the tournament. You've also got Mexico at No. 20 and in the Round of 16 for the sixth straight World Cup, so their advancement isn't a shock to anybody. The only outliers in the group are Algeria (22), Costa Rica (28) and Nigeria (44).
Anyway, I saw a number of predictions of a European victory prior to the tournament, and there are still plenty of people I know that are picking Germany or the Netherlands. I just don't see it, though. A European team's never won the World Cup in the Americas, and now I know why. It's not just the fan support. It's the conditions and everything else. And with half the field coming from the Americas, the odds are certainly stacked in their favor. Can a European team advance to the final, and maybe even win? Of course. I just wouldn't bank on it.
I'll start breaking down the Round of 16 with Saturday's mini-Copa America. Of the five South American teams, four of them are in the same section of the bracket. Which means, at the very least, that we're guaranteed a South American semifinalist. Anyway, Brazil wasn't overly impressive in its first two games, but looked incredible against Cameroon. Chile did a great job to knock off Spain and come out of Group B, but I'm not sure how much they have left. These teams are obviously familiar with each other, but I'd like Chile's chances a lot better if the game was being played in Santiago or on neutral ground.
In the second game, Colombia meets Uruguay. Colombia has been one of the most impressive sides in the tournament, but that might be a consequence of their weak group. Ordinarily I'd like Uruguay in this matchup, but that was before the biting incident. Without Luis Suarez, Uruguay simply isn't as good. And that's why I think we're getting a Brazil-Colombia quarterfinal.
The next section of the bracket is the two Europe vs. Africa matchups. In Group E, France certainly looked like the team that was seeded. Not Switzerland. Anyway, their reward for winning a weak group was playing the second-place team in another weak one. That would be Nigeria. Great job by Nigeria to get here, but Les Bleues will continue making people forget about the disappointment of four years ago by getting to the quarterfinals. Germany always makes it to the quarterfinals. This World Cup will be no exception. Like their African counterparts, Algeria is simply overmatched. Germany's the No. 2 team in the world for a reason and still a popular pick to reach the final, if not win the whole thing.
On the bottom half, we've got the Netherlands against Mexico and Costa Rica against Greece. It's possible that we'll have our very first all-CONCACAF World Cup quarterfinal, but I don't think the Mexicans are beating the Dutch. Their stated goal has been to finally win their Round of 16 game after five consecutive losses, but unfortunately for them, they have to play a very good Dutch team that's showing everybody why it was a finalist in the last World Cup. The winner of that one gets the winner of Costa Rica-Greece. It's safe to say that whoever comes out of that game will be the most unexpected quarterfinalist in this year's World Cup. No one would've predicted either one of these teams to get that far (or even this far). Costa Rica won a group that included Uruguay, Italy and England. All three of those teams are better than Greece.
Moving into the bottom section, this whole tournament is set up beautifully for Argentina. Their path to the final has never been easier. They had an easy group, and looking at the other teams that they'll need to get through in the knockout games, I'd be shocked if they weren't playing at Maracana in two weeks. In fact, the only other team in the bottom half of the bracket ranked in the Top 10 in the world is Argentina's second round opponent, No. 6 Switzerland. I don't feel the need to question Switzerland's ranking again, but suffice it to say they're not as good as Argentina.
Then there's the final Round of 16 matchup between Belgium and the United States. Once the draw was finished and the U.S. ended up in a group with Germany, Portugal and Ghana, the one silver lining that everybody found was that the Round of 16 game would definitely be winnable if they got out of the group. Well, they did get out of the group. And the Round of 16 game is still definitely winnable. Belgium looked very good in its group games, but they're not the caliber of Germany and Portugal. The U.S. played very well against European opponents that are far superior to this Belgian team. Klinsmann will have them ready for another one. Thanks to this team, America has gotten swept up in soccer fever. Well, everyone better clear their calendars for Fourth of July weekend. Because there's a quarterfinal game against Argentina on the agenda. I believe that we will win! I believe that we will win! I believe that we will win!
So, there you have it. My quarterfinal matchups are Brazil-Colombia, France-Germany, Netherlands-Costa Rica and Argentina-United States. I only picked six teams in the right positions (nine overall) correctly, but that includes three of my semifinalists. In the semis, we'll see an epic Brazil-Germany showdown, while the Netherlands will play Argentina. And I'm sticking with my original pick for the final. The biggest game ever between two of the biggest rivals in international soccer. A can't-miss World Cup Final between Brazil and Argentina at Maracana. How awesome would that be?
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