World Cup 2010 - Quarter-Finals

Can everyone who predicted the outcomes of all the quarter-finals correctly please raise their hands?

Anybody?

No, me either.

I think I’ll hold back from guessing what will happen in the next two games as I’m bound to be way off with even the most basic predictions. Anyway, here are my thoughts on the quarter-finals.

Holland 2 – 1 Brazil

I told you. I told you there’d be a huge upset at some point. Okay, so perhaps Holland reaching the semi-finals isn’t really an upset, but against a Brazil side who had played so well up until now, I think it has to be classed as one. I didn’t see this coming. After Brazil ripped Chile to pieces in the last round, I thoroughly expected them to go on and reach the final - especially as Holland hadn’t really hit top gear in this World Cup. So much for them not being a real threat in the knockout stages of big tournaments. It goes to show that even the best sides in the world can be beaten. They were defensively excellent in the second half, after Robinho had put Brazil ahead. But that was some comeback from Holland to score twice in the second half, and hold out to win the game. The one thing that disappointed me was the number of petulant fouls sneaking in to Brazil’s game after they were 2-1 down and the frustration started to build. However, I can’t credit Holland enough for their performance. Wesley Sneijder has had a fantastic tournament. If he can keep playing as well as he has been, and he gets a little help from the rest of his goal scoring threats, Holland could win the World Cup. A final against Germany would be very interesting to see.

Uruguay 1 – 1 Ghana (Uruguay win 4 – 2 on penalties)

Wow. So much drama in the latter stages of this game. Two excellent goals from Sulley Muntari and Diego Forlan (who has had a wonderful World Cup) respectively set up a dramatic extra-time ending in this game. The key moment in this game was in the last minute of stoppage time, when Luis Suarez was dismissed for a deliberate handball on the goal line. The resulting spot kick taken by was smashed against the crossbar by Asamoah Gyan, which allowed Uruguay to win on penalties. Incredibly unlucky for Ghana, who were carrying the hopes of all African football fans. This Ghanaian side should still be extremely proud of their performance in this match, and throughout the entire tournament. They did their country proud. To be eliminated in such unforgiving circumstances is difficult. There will, however, be questions asked as to whether the actions of Suarez should have been punished further than just a one game ban. Was the handball instinctive or cynical? Having said that, he had nothing to do with the penalty miss. How will Uruguay - who have been a refreshing change of pace in this tournament - cope with the loss of Suarez for their semi-final match with Holland?

Argentina 0 – 4 Germany

Regardless of how well Germany have played this tournament, this still must go down as one of the biggest upsets of World Cup 2010. Very rarely will you see a side as good as Argentina have absolutely no answer to an opposition. As a good friend of mine put it, that was a demolition. Germany were outstanding from the first minute. All four goals were wonderfully worked team efforts. Thomas Müller, who had never previously scored for his country, now has four in seven games. Miroslav Klose only scored three goals in the Bundesliga this year, but now also has four goals in this tournament. Lionel Messi scored over 40 for Barcelona last year, but was contained by an impressive German defence - as were Carlos Tevez and Gonzalo Higuaín. It’s almost incomprehensible. Can Klose win the Golden Boot for two World Cups in a row? That would be amazing. He always seems to be in the right place at the right time. That midfield is so effective when pushing forward. I’d like to say that Germany should go on to reach the final from here, but this tournament has been so unpredictable.

Paraguay 0 – 1 Spain

Probably the most straightforward of the quarter-finals, but this game was certainly not without any drama. Three penalties in the space of a couple of minutes, two saved, one scored, and it still remained 0-0. You have to feel incredibly sorry for Paraguay who had a game plan and stuck to it for around 80 minutes. They managed to contain a very threatening and much improved Spain team for the majority of the game. Spain even hit the post three times before the David Villa's shot eventually went in. Oscar Cardozo looked inconsolable after Paraguay had lost. Like Ghana, Paraguay should be extremely proud of what they accomplished in this tournament. Gerardo Martino has a strong set of players in this team. Full credit to Spain, though. They look a completely different side than the one that lost to Switzerland in their opening game. Villa is such a threat, which is just as well because Fernando Torres is still nowhere near his best. Officials are still lacking consistency, though, and this showed with the penalty retakes. By the rule of law, the Spain penalty should have been taken again, but so should the Paraguay penalty. Spain were the better side, though. Two major tournament wins in two years would surely establish them as the best team in the world.



We're down to the last few games of the tournament. Stay tuned for my thoughts on the semi-finals. Your comments and thoughts are always appreciated.