round of 16 predictions

continuing with my predictions "analysis"...

there are 8 groups of four teams (as you may know), divided by letters of the roman alphabet, a-h. for those of you not in the know, to determine who plays in round two, the round of 16, it goes like this: winner group a v. runner-up group b and vice-versa (group a runner-up v. group b winner); group c winner and runner-up v. group d runner-up and winner; group e winner and runner-up v. group f runner-up and winner; and group g winner and runner-up v. group h runner-up and winner.

so, according to my fearless predictions of yesterday, the round of 16 would break down into two "brackets" (a & b) like this, with the winners of each "bracket" playing in the finals: germany v. sweden; holland v. mexico; u.s. v. australia; and switzerland v. tunisia in "bracket a"; and england v. ecuador; iran v. cote d'ivoire; brasil v. czech republic; and ukraine v. france in "bracket b".

and, now, "bracket a":

germany v. sweden: as much as i'd like to see germany lose, i think they'll progress because of home crowd support. it won't be easy, though, as sweden will offer tough competition

holland v. mexico: an attractive matchup that holland should win on merit alone, though it certainly wouldn't be a given. however, a germany-holland matchup in the next round is too enticing NOT to predict.

usa v. australia: an intriguing matchup of non-futbol-playing, english-speaking countries. oz should have sufficient motivation to knock off the yanks because the u.s. gaffer allegedly referred to oz as being one of the two weakest teams of the 32 in the competition. however, aussie motivation aside, the yanks have too much strength and depth and will advance on. sorry, my aussie mates...

switzerland v. tunisia: the most boring european team v. perhaps africa's most boring team. the red cross v. the red crescent. the beauty of the alps v. the beauty of the atlases. tunisia to win because they're african and boring africa nearly always trumps boring europe.

next, "bracket b":

england v. ecuador: by this time, barring any injury setbacks in the first round, the english should have no problems with the south americans.

iran v. cote d'ivoire: this is a truly intriguing matchup of exciting, but internationally-underrated teams. this would be a matchup of two teams i really admire and would hate seeing out at this stage. iran is truly a class team of asia, but the ivorians have too much strength and panache for iran and move on.

brasil v. czech republic: this is a contrast in styles--brasil's flair v. czech republic's brawn. in most situations, one would have to go with brasil, but because czech republic borders germany, this would be a distinct advantage in crowd support for the czechs. that, along with brasil's history of not playing well in europe, leads to a huge win for the czechs.

ukraine v. france: france scraped by in the group stages, but meets their fate here against an underrated ukraine squad still in form after romping through qualifying and then the first round here.