World Cup Semifinal #1: Uruguay v. Netherlands

Without Suarez, Uruguay will struggle. Robben should own whoever comes in in place of Fucile at left back. Robin van Persie should have more freedom against Lugano's replacement. Uruguay will look to defend well and hit the Dutch on the counter. I don't think they'll have enough.

Netherlands 2-0 Uruguay

World Cup Quarterfinal picks: all of 'em in one place

But read the individual ones; the first is really, really worth your time.

Game 1 - Netherlands v. Brazil - Friday 7am

Brazil will win 2-0, but it won't be as exciting as everyone thinks. (I'm proud of this preview.)

Game 2 - Uruguay v. Ghana - Friday 11:30am

Uruguay should have enough to win, also 2-0. Could go the other way.

Game 3 - Argentina v. Germany - Saturday 7am

This will be an absolute corker. Wake up early. Germany could win 2-1.

Game 4 - Paraguay v. Spain - Saturday 11:30am

Spain should win, easiest of the round, 3-1.

There you have them, my picks for the quarterfinals. I went 6 and two half points out of 8 in the Round of 16; not bad at all.

World Cup Quarterfinal 2: Uruguay v. Ghana

Expect a South American semi-final on the left half of the bracket

The quarter-finals offer up some mouth-watering matches worthy of the final. See Netherlands v. Brazil for a look at that match.

Uruguay-Ghana isn't exactly a classic, but it should be fun; one of those two will be insanely happy to go through and both teams have been fun to watch. As a relative neutral, I'm cheering for both.

Quarterfinal Game 2 - Uruguay v. Ghana

Uruguay, perhaps more than any other team so far, has shown the ability to play however is needed to win. They can attack with verve, defend well, or maintain possession if needed. I'm not saying they are the best at it, just that they've demonstrated it more than anyone else.

They've shown that they can score, and some really nice goals too. Diego Forlan creates as well as finishes, and in Luis Suarez Uruguay have a clinical striker. (He had 49 goals in 48 games last season for Ajax in the Dutch Eredivisie.

Ghana are a bit of a strange team. Their game against the US showed, I think, the good and bad about this team: They are young, quick, good with the ball, and a bit sloppy. Too often against the US they dallied too long on the ball, particularly Ayew, or were too cute in passing. Resolute in defence, but they were exposed by a quick US move and often resorted to fouling the US players.

The speed and invention of Uruguay should be good for a goal or two, and the South Americans will defend better than the US.

2-0 for Uruguay.

World Cup Quarterfinal 1: Netherlands v. Brazil

And then there were eight.

The quarter-finals offer up some mouth-watering matches worthy of the final. Argentina-Germany looks like it will be a corker, and Netherlands-Brazil is huge match-up, if not as exciting. Either game reads like a great final.

Less monumental will be Uruguay-Ghana but it should be fun; one of those two will be insanely happy to go through and both teams have been fun to watch. As a relative neutral, I'm cheering for both.

And then there's Spain v. Paraguay... Yah, it will be interesting tactically but no one is getting too excited about this one. Hopefully Spain score early and force Paraguay to attack with intent.

Games 1 and 2 are this Friday, July 2nd, at 7am and 11:30am.

Quarterfinal Game 1 - Netherlands v. Brazil

I'm going to go out on a limb here and say that this will be a boring game. Brazil has produced only a handful of flashes of brilliance one expects from Brazilian teams, and against Chile only after they were a goal up. The Netherlands haven't hit top gear yet, and other than a few moments of brilliance (Robben's goal, for instance), have looked a bit disjointed.

This will likely be a midfield battle: Mark van Bommel and Nigel de Jong will face Felipe Melo and Gilberto Silva, each pair looking to release their highly talented attacking players or to spread the ball outside to attacking fullbacks. Maicon and Bastos for Brazil and van Bronckhorst and van der Wiel for the Dutch will all play significant roles, as both teams will look to push them forward and overwhelm their opponents.

Both teams play a variation on a 4-3-3, both with two holding midfielders, though both Melo and van Bommel have the ability to create as well. Melo will play in the place of the impressive Ramires, who picked up a second yellow against Chile.

Luis Fabiano and Robin van Persie play similar roles at the front, both quite mobile, extremely deft, but sometimes ineffective if starved of service. Robinho and Robben, other than sharing a name, are similar as well: creative, skilled with the ball, and eager to run at defenders.

Kaka and Sneijder play in the same position but have such different styles: Kaka smooth, fast yet languid at times, Sneijder quick, combative and technical. Both are under-performing. Yes, Sneijder has scored twice and passed beautifully to set up Robben's goal. But both his goals were fortunate, and he hasn't linked up well with the Dutch attackers, his primary role. Kaka passed well for Fabiano's goal against Chile but other than that has been frustrating.

On the balance, Brazil are a better team, especially at the back. They won't give the Dutch many chances, and they'll put pressure on the weaker Dutch backline. Expect that pressure to produce a goal or two.

2-0 to Brazil.

World Cup Day 16 results: Yanks go home! (as a directive in a chant)

Day Sixteen

prediction: Uruguay 2-1 South Korea - "we should see some fast, attacking football"

result: Uruguay 2-1 South Korea

Well, that's nice to get one completely right for a change. Uruguay sat back a bit too much in the second half and were punished for it, but generally this was a lively, very watchable match. After conceding the tying goal, Uruguay went back into attack mode and deserved to win. Suarez's second was a piece of perfection:

World Cup Day 16: The knock-out stages are finally here

Well, folks, we're into the knock-out stages. This is where it gets exciting, while actually the games tend to get a little more conservative. There won't be a 7-0 blow-out, is all I'm saying.

The first round, aka the Round of 16, has a few interesting match-ups. The draw is now separated into four groupings, each group sending a semi-finalist. It makes sense visually, so I've included a picture rather than trying to describe it all.

World Cup Day 12: France crash, Argentina, Uruguay and Mexico impress

Day Twelve... how do you say "ouch" in French? *

prediction: France 1-0 South Africa

result: France 1-2 South Africa

Wrong result, half-wrong score. Well, we have our first big casualty, but is anyone surprised? I really thought France would have enough talent to overcome their chaos, but France never looked good all tournament. Well done to South Africa for getting the win. A win and a draw are nothing to be ashamed of, even if they are the first host to not get through the group stage.

Domenech the muppet started Djibril Cisse and Gignac up front... Cisse was good five years ago and plays in the Greek league; Gignac has never impressed outside of France and has only scored against the Faroe Islands and Austria.

prediction: Mexico 1-1 Uruguay

result: Mexico 0-1 Uruguay

Wrong result, half-wrong score. Mexico should have equalized after Uruguay went ahead. The first half of this was the most attractive bit of football I've seen so far: end-to-end stuff, both teams playing to win, getting chances, stringing passes together. The second half cooled down as Uruguay looked to defend their lead.

prediction: Greece 0-2 Argentina

result: Greece 0-2 Argentina (link to match report pending)

Argentina worked hard to break down a resolute Greek side that could have gone through with a draw. Maybe not the best plan against Argentina, especially given how weak their central defenders looked at times.

prediction: Nigeria 1-2 South Korea

result: Nigeria 2-2 South Korea
Nigerian striker Yakubu missed a sitter from 4 yards out. Really, probably the easiest goal he ever could have scored. He redeemed himself from the penalty spot shortly after, but still...

* According to Babel Fish, it's "aïe".

World Cup Day Six results, Day Seven picks and results

Because I can, and because I went a sad 2 and 7 on my

predictions over the past three days, and because

Nina is away for the weekend.

I was wrong, wrong, wrong. My prediction record is hanging in tatters.

Day Six results

Chile 1-0 Honduras

me: Chile 1-1 Honduras. Wrong result, half-wrong score. Chile attacked with style. I really expected more from Honduras this World Cup. A good win marred by a horrible dive by Chilean forward Alexis Sanchez. Shame.

Spain 0-1 Switzerland

me: Wrong result, wrong score. I could be forgiven for getting this one wrong. Never underestimate a great coach (Ottmar Hitzfeld). See my match report on what happened.

Uruguay 3-0 South Africa

me: Uruguay 1-1 South Africa. Wrong result, wrong score. I should have heeded my own words: "I suspect the Uruguayans have too much quality for the South Africans". A blatant dive for a penalty, but Uruguay looked like winning. The first Forlan goal wasn't as spectacular as everyone says (it was deflected, ferchrissakes), but it was still pretty nice. Uruguay look in good position in what was the most difficult group to predict.

Day Seven predictions and results (lucky I emailed them to a friend so I remember them)

Argentina 4-1 South Korea

me: Argentina 2-1 South Korea. Right result, half-wrong score. Argentina put on the show we expected from Spain. How much of this is Maradona and how much is the skill of the players? Your guess is as good as mine, but I am starting to hope they fail so the Maradona era comes to a crashing end. He's an annoying man.

Nigeria 1-2 Greece

me: Nigeria 1-0 Greece. Wrong result, wrong score. Another victory marred by some playacting. Nigerian midfielder Sani Keita, in a fit of anger kicked out at Torosidis, who went down like he'd been stabbed in the leg. If there was contact it was minimal. Stupid, stupid move by Keita, one that likely cost his team a chance at progressing.

France 0-2 Mexico

me: France 1-1 Mexico. Wrong result, wrong score. Will this be the second time in a decade that the French fail to score at the World Cup? Well done to Mexico, who played with intent, passion and flair. France looked good in the first half but couldn't break down Mexico's backline. Abidal had no business taking down the Mexican player for the penalty; he was never going to threaten a goal.

My predictions thus far

I started well, highlighted by a ballsy call on the 1-1 draw between England and the US which put me at 4 and 1 after Day Two. Day Three gave me another two correct, for a 6 and 2 record. Day Four left me at a respectable 7 and 4. Then came the fall.

Days Five, Six and Seven were not kind to me. A sad 2 and 7, with my only positives the easy Brazil and Argentine victories. I thought for sure I was safe picking Spain... bah.

So I'm 9 and 11 on the tournament so far. And it's only going to get harder. At least I've got my FHM jogo bonito girl up top.

World Cup Day Six predictions, and a Spanish wondergoal

A quick one before bed.

Day Six predictions

Chile and Honduras draw 1-1.

I've picked Chile to go through, and I'm tempted to go for a 2-1 win for them, but Honduras are better than their ranking indicates and should compete.

Spain beat Switzerland 2-0.

If you haven't seen it yet, enjoy this goal from a warm-up game Spain played against Poland:

Good luck, Switzerland.

Uruguay and South Africa draw 1-1.

This is a really tough game to call. I suspect the Uruguayans have too much quality for the South Africans, but home field and all that...

Day One: results, thoughts, extras

South Africa's Siphiwe Tshabalala celebrates after
scoring the opening goal of the tournament.

Today's results

South Africa 1-1 Mexico

me: 1-3 Mexico win. Wrong result, half-wrong score. I did predict the flow of the game, but SA's keeper was brilliant in the first half to keep the Mexicans off the scoresheet. Good result for the hosts but they shouldn't have conceded the goal so easily.

France 0-0 Uruguay

me: 1-1 draw. Right result, wrong score. France continued with their difficulty in finding the net while Uruguay defended well and showed some flashes of attacking verve. France coach Raymond Domenech is a muppet; my boy D-Day expounds upon this at soccriligious.

Other interesting tidbits

The boys over at The Daily Gumboot have started the World Cup with a heated war of words. Who will win this scintillating tete-a-kopf? Tune in to find out. My money's on John, but Kurt has some tricks up his sleeve.

The vuvuzelas? I stopped hearing them after 5 minutes. They almost drove my girlfriend nuts.

Interested in picking a team to support based on their jerseys? See the (nearly) full range of kit on display here. (North Korea is missing.) I like Spain's.

Check out this interesting post on the freedom and development of the 32 competing nations:

The World Cup, global inequality and global community

The depth of suffering and oppression still prevalent in Africa—and in many other places around the world—can be glimpsed by taking a statistical look at the 32 participating countries’ political institutions and economic status.

That's Day One, folks. Thanks for tuning in.