This is who I hope will make it through to the Round of 16:
Uruguay, South Africa, Argentina, South Korea, Slovenia, USA, Ghana, Australia, Netherlands, Denmark, Italy, New Zealand, Brazil, Portugal, Chile, Switzerland.
However, these are my predictions of what will really happen:
Group A Winner: Uruguay
Group A Runner-up: Mexico
Group B Winner: Argentina
Group B Runner-up: South Korea
Group C Winner: USA
Group C Runner-up: England
Group D Winner: Germany
Group D Runner-up: Serbia
Group E Winner: Netherlands
Group E Runner-up: Denmark
Group F Winner: Paraguay
Group F Runner-up: Italy
Group G Winner: Brazil
Group G Runner-up: Portugal
Group H Winner: Chile
Group H Runner-up: Spain
Quarter-finalists:
South Korea def. Uruguay
Argentina def. Mexico
USA def. Serbia
Germany def. England
Italy def. Netherlands
Denmark def. Paraguay
Brazil def. Spain
Portugal def. Chile
Semi-finalists:
Argentina def. South Korea
Germany def. USA
Italy def. Denmark
Brazil def. Portugal
Finalists:
Germany def. Argentina
Brazil def. Italy
I think that this game showed why experts were calling this the group of death. Even though they are the lowest ranked team in the tournament, North Korea has a very strong team that can cause problems, even against the number 1 team in the world. Expect North Korea to play just as well in it's other games and possibly cause problems for Portugal and Ivory Coast.
I'm waking up early to see the Dutch play my Danish squad. Being of Danish heritage, and the fact that i'm going to study abroad in Denmark next semester, I am biased towards them. I really want to see them do well in this tournament. However, I think that the Netherlands have a really great team and it's going to be a tough to beat them. I'm predicting a draw, possibly 1-1?
Japan and Cameroon is another interesting match-up. Cameroon is a very strong team, but I think they are somewhat overrated. I think Japan can play very well and can give Cameroon some trouble, so again I'm going to call a 1-1 draw.
Finally, Italy (another nation of my ancestors) vs. Paraguay. While many think that all of the Spanish-speaking teams are amazing, Paraguay is probably the exception. The defending champion Italians should have no problem in this match, and I predict a 2-0 victory.
There have actually been several surprises in these first 2 days of the World Cup. South Africa played a great game against Mexico and proved that they deserve to be in this tournament. I really hope they can advance. France was a major let down in tying Uruguay and are now at risk of now advancing past the first round. South Korea played great against the faltering Greeks and I think they have a chance to cause some upsets later in the tournament. Nigeria put up a good fight against Argentina, but Argentina was just too good. Finally, USA can consider their draw with England to be a victory, as they are likely to do well against the weaker teams in their group, so a great start for them. So far I was definitely most impressed with South Korea.
Day 3 Predictions:
Algeria 2 - 1 Slovenia
Ghana 2 - 1 Serbia
Germany 3 - 2 Australia [though I think the Aussies are capable of an upset]
I recently got hired at 2 jobs, and i've been working a ton the past few days, and will be for the next few months. i'm afraid to join a casting because i don't want to die from inactivity, but i don't have enough money to play anything else because i spent it on color levels. i guess i just need to time it right. it's sad because i want to be more active on tengaged, but work is preventing that =[
