The Quarter-Finals

It's very possible we're going to have a Copa América break out in the semi-finals of the World Cup here, as all four teams that come out of the quarter-finals could very well be south American.

First we'll have Brazil versus the Netherlands. Needless to say, Brazil moving on would be no surprise but the Oranje are not to be underestimated. Whoever wins this one will be favored to go to the final as they'll then face either Uruguay or Ghana but anything could happen. Uruguay are hungry to relive the glory their grandparents experienced in 1950, and before that in 1930. Ghana are only the third African team to ever make it this far, and would be the first team ever to make the semi-finals if they can beat the Celeste.

On the other side of the bracket we have another big one: Argentina versus Germany. Both teams were the beneficiaries of dubious refereeing decisions in the round-of-16, which is not to say either one is undeserving, but count me in as one who believes that the Germany v England match would have been much, much different if that Frank Lampard goal had been justly counted. The England defense would not have been so open to allow the speedy Germans to put a third and then a fourth past them had they tied the game before the half.  It's really amazing how the press is making it sound like England would have been trounced anyway, not a chance. Like I said, Germany are not undeserving, but I think the game could have gone either way.

And now I want some of those folks who were howling about Thierry Henry's hand ball to explain to me why Manuel Neuer not telling the ref that the ball was over the line is any different than Henry not telling the ref about his handball. Why is nobody calling Neuer a cheater, or calling the Germans a bunch of cheaters? Same for Carlos Tévez and Argentina, both of these players have acknowledged they knew, they knew it was a mistake, but they carried on.  So you expect Thierry Henry to go up the referee and say "sorry, I handled the ball, please disallow the goal and tell the crowd to stop celebrating," but not Neuer and Tévez?  Why?  Same thing.

Anyway.

I expect Argentina to win this match and then face Spain, although Paraguay could very well win with a quick counter-attack goal.  They might just frustrate Spain for 120 minutes and win on penalties again.  Here's hoping that doesn't happen and that both teams play an open game.

Only seven games to go (plus the 3rd place match), it's almost over, gah!