Holland V Spain Preview »
To be honest, Brazil did us no favours by getting knocked out so early, as we had foreseen a Brazil vs Spain final. However, it's the Dutch who knocked out Brazil and had replaced them in both the semi-final and the again in the final here. Spain's path was far from an easy one. They made it look quite hard, and -in our view- the only game in [...]
Uruguay V Germany Preview »
Nobody would've guessed Uruguay would go this far before the tournament kicked off, but they did. Admittedly there was some luck involved regarding who they played, and then there's this little incident vs Ghana, but the point is they still overperformed and will have absolutely nothing to lose coming into this game. Germany on the other hand [...]
Germany V Spain Preview »
They simply don't come any better. A repeat of the Euro 2008 final is what we have for the WC semi-final with the European Champions Spain trying to reserve a place in the WC final game for the 1st time in their history. The Germans of course have won the title before, but it's been 20 years since they last did. So the Manschaft machines are [...]
Uruguay V Holland Preview »
The way Uruguay got past Ghana we suspect 9 out of every 10 football fans will be cheering against them. Not that the theatrical acts of Robben are admirable, but in comparison Uruguay's win was far more ugly. But on the pitch the wishes of the fans don't count. It's the actual performances of the players and their coaches that define the [...]
Paraguay V Spain Preview »
Paraguay needed a PK shoot out to knock out Japan. Earlier in the groups stage they settled for draws vs both Italy and New Zealand. That's 3 draws and a win in 4 games against relatively vulnerable sides they have played so far. Spain on the other hand are not exactly free scoring, and it looks like David Villa is their only player who has a [...]
Argentina V Germany Preview »
The 2 former WC winners will come face to face to decide which of them should go to the semi-finals, and -after a dismal start for UEFA sides- it now has a more evenly matched look after the Dutch managed to knock out Brazil yesterday, making it 2-2-2 in the UEFA vs CONMEBOL confrontations in this tournament so far. The Argies have more skill [...]
Uruguay V Ghana Preview »
Who would've put either of these two in the last 8 before the tournament started? Uruguay, maybe.. seeing as they had to play whoever came 2nd next to Argentina in Group B, but Ghana? They've been lucky with the draw and then lucky again England came 2nd in Group C (or were they?) The fact Uruguay won the title twice is now ancient history [...]
Holland V Brazil Preview »
One of two major clashes in this round that will probably not go unnoticed, with both sides eying a place in the final 4 (not that anyone else isn't). For some odd reason Brazil are -more or less- priced at evens to win in 90 minutes, which we find a bit odd considering the Dutch have yet to even draw a single game in this competition. We are [...]
Spain V Portugal Preview »
The derby of Iberian peninsula is a heated love-hate affair between the two neighbours, and is sure to have a lot of 'action', so our first thought is to bet on bookings. The last these two met was in Euro 2004 and Portugal won that game by the odd goal, leading to the eventual elimination of the Spaniards from the group stage. They had also [...]
Paraguay V Japan Preview »
Paraguay did well in the group stage, but we can only assume it was because all other 3 sides were poor until Paraguay shows us something to change our minds. With the draw vs Italy we thought this team is living up to our expectations based on their qualifying campaign, and having beaten Slovakia the preconceived idea was further confirmed, [...]
Brazil V Chile Preview »
Brazil settled for a draw vs Portugal in their last group game that was enough to keep them at the top. There was not much of the 'real thing' especially in the 2nd half, but you can excuse the Selecao for wanting to save some of their finest tricks till later in the tournament, and especially since they didn't know for sure who will end up atop [...]
Holland V Slovakia Preview »
The Dutch collected a perfect 9 points in the group managing to guarantee advancing to the knock-outs after only 2 games, and looking quite comfortable they never even played to their full potential. They certainly look like a side that can take care of 'minnows' but they are still to face a single serious test. Slovakia are a poor side. They [...]