My first bracket is in tatters, and when I tried to merely edit it, I realized again why I’ll never be a betting man. Before I get to that though, wow, Ivory Coast turned on the jets a little too late, Chile lost because they got a little lackadaisical in the back, and Spain doesn’t look like the second-ranked team in the world right now (that first goal in the Chile-Spain game, seriously?) I guess Spain was playing with house money considering that the Swiss never looked like a team that wanted to play in the second round (in their game against Honduras).
So, here is my humble attempt at revision… with some new faces and some new seedings.
Uruguay vs South Korea and U.S. vs Ghana results in Uruguay vs U.S. with the U.S. advancing to the semifinals.
Netherlands vs Slovakia and Brazil vs Chile results in Netherlands vs Brazil with Brazil advancing to the semifinals.
Germany vs England and Argentina vs Mexico results in England vs Argentina with Argentina advancing to the semifinals.
Paraguay vs Japan and Spain vs Portugal results in Paraguay vs Portugal with Portugal advancing to the semifinals.
Sadly, I don’t think the U.S. has the power or athleticism to keep up with Brazil for a full ninety minutes. I think that Maradona’s mojo plus Messi have gotten them far but that they will probably fall to the more balanced teamwork and skill of Portugal. Therefore, I’m “betting” on a rematch of Group G play with Brazil beating Portugal in the final on penalty kicks.
June 26th, 2010 at 11:05 am
England over Germany? I don’t think England has played well enough so far to advance beyond this point.
The Netherlands/Brazil match may be the key match of the 1st round. I expect Brazil to win, but the Dutch can be surprising.
June 27th, 2010 at 9:50 pm
Ah, Darrel. Looks like you were right, although the Brits will forever wonder what difference that disallowed goal means… These refs are making the Jim Joyces and Ed Hochtalis of the world look good!