Yeah, a lot of the powerhouses are getting awful close but not going out. Maybe America has a chance to get to the semis this year then :).

So.. next level. Some interesting matches like England - Germany and Portugal - Spain. Argentina - Mexiko also sounds promising. Hope we see now better matches than before...

1st ever world cup hosted in Africa, playing an African country team in Africa, the USA has their odds against them.

I can't help but feel the same way... That being said, I'm still giddy about the whole thing. We have a decent chance, if nothing else. Just 11 more hours now...

Ghana has a good team and made a fine match against Germany.
Over the last years, the african teams got better and better, I guess it's gonna be a hard game for the USA. The african teams still need more coolness, more serenity to stand the pressure in such games and they often lack a decent team play. But, tbh, I probably bet on Ghana.

Uh, thanks, I think. (I'm in France on vacation) My dad and my great-uncle both said how France wasn't even playing together -- and I agree. They're sinking because they're not united. Eerie reminder of some interesting passage in the Gospel:
That's Matthew 12:25 if the thing didn't say it.

So well, I was right. Sorry for the US team, but Ghana's success is OK, both teams played well, but Ghana was a tick better.

The USA had a couple of good scoring chances, but in each case managed to kick the ball right at the 'keeper. Sorry, soccer fans, but their late scoring touch eluded them tonight.

I don't know if Ghana will be going much further in the competition. They've lost at least two of their starters for the next match through yellow cards.

I'm ready for tomorrow afternoon. Both England and Germany have had good and bad games. I hope England can get their act together against their old rivals.

Bad news (depending on your POV) from The Register:
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2010/06..._germany_odds/

Ouch.

(That is all I have to say. The board says my message must be 10 characters minimum.)

Double ouch.

Well, seems like the english defense was on holiday. At least, I didn't see one.

Now Germany will face Argentina and this game will be much harder I guess.

Did the English field a defense? Upson scored our goal. Rooney was in mid-field half the time. I don't know what was going on. I don't think Capello had a clue, either.

Anyway, I will support Germany against Argentina. (I worked in Heidelberg for almost three years.) But I like Carlos Tevez. He's a thug, but he's one heck of a player. Latin flair against Prussian organization. Too close to call, I think.

I'm not entirely sure who to support at this point. I was supporting the US, and my second team was England. Both went out, so... I do want to chear for Ghana because I kind of hope at least one African team will make it deep into the tourney. Granted, that's going to take an upset of Uruguay, but hey, they upset a few other teams, maybe it's just their lucky year? :D

Other than that, I just don't know.

PS -- I'm having a hard time resisting the urge to cheer for Brazil. I hate cheering for a heavy favorite, but the problem is that Pele (stories about his play at least) is what first got me interested in football...so... Maybe I will cheer for Brazil after all :). If so...things are going well against Chile :D:D

I am American, mostly Irish and some German descent. So, I guess, GO GERMANY!!!!

Only two games left before the quarter-finals. I'll have to cheer for Japan against Paraguay: my neighbour dresses in the Japan strip and puts his hair up samurai-style for the match.

But the match for me will be Spain/Portugal. Neighbours. I have to cheer for Spain, since I still hate Ronaldo for winking to his bench after goading Rooney into a send-off in 2006. Ronaldo then moved to Manchester United and became Rooney's team mate. Bizarre. Ronaldo made Rooney look good with his supply and by attracting the defenders. It's one of the reasons England players are were so highly rated: they play with great players in the Premier League.

England's display Sunday deflated that impression. About time, too.

I think Japan v Paraguay will be a tight game. I don't think there are any clear favorites as far as this one goes.

Spain on the other hand, I reckon will be too strong for Portugal.

@freelunch -- I still think that England's melt down has less to do with talent and more to do with a lack of team unity and thus team energy. In all the games I watched, they never looked like they really wanted it, it never seemed to me like they added that last little bit of effort that would get the ball back into their possession. It was almost as if they'd take a look at the ball and go "meh, it's too far away for me to really give it a go." Sad really...

America, for all it's fault, always gave off the impression that they wanted the ball right now...well, at least every time they were scored on in the first half suddenly they felt like they wanted the ball now :D. If we could just take away those early goals in each of the games we played...we would have won all of them, you know that? Hopefully they can adjust for that before 2014...

Egads! Both my teams lost today! And Ghana TOTALLY should have won that game. Why is it that a hand ball in the net isn't just considered a goal?

i still think the netherlands beating brazil was pretty epic :D

A hand ball in such a situation is IMHO not only red, but a ban for a lot of games for that player. It's unfair and totally unsportsmanlike. The missed penalty.. well.. Ghana's problem.
Holland has a good _team_ this year, let's see. But it's also a good example for what went wrong in many teams - good single players, but no team. Soccer is a team game, and a lot of players simply miss that. True for England, Italy, Ivory Coast, Brazil, ...
Now on to the next quarter finals. Germany - Argentina is a classic one, and Spain vs. Paraguay looks also promising, though Spain should make it. But well, we saw a lot of title candidates stumble this year, so.. ^^ :D