Germany vs Argentina The first match will be played between Germany and Argentina, what an enticing encounter it seems to be. Argentina in its marauding form and Germany egged by the home fans, if we able to get 40% of what it promises to be I believe it will define the World Cup in every sense. To my mind the last great world cup which is etched in every football fan memory is the one of 1986 in Mexico. After that we had a low scoring and boring world cup in Italy, a heat influenced world cup in USA 94, a controversial and lopsided final in 98 and a heat, fatigue and referees robbed one in Korea Japan 2002. Italy vs Ukraine The second match will be between Italy and debutant Ukraine. It seems to be the most one sided match of last eight. Both Ukraine and Italy has so far played some of the most boring and turgid football in the tournament. Both countries scrapped through the last 16 courtesy to penalties. Italy managed though a last grasp penalty from Totti deep inside injury time and Ukraine through shoot outs. All and all it seems like a pretty uninspiring match to look forward to. England Vs Portugal It will be a repeat of 2004 Euro quarterfinals where Portugal ended English hope in penalties. This time around though Portugal will be weakened by the suspension of some of the key players like Deco and Costinha but they will prove to be a tough challenge to totally unimpressive English side so far in the competition. Luiz Philip Scolari and Erickson will also face each other at this stage of competition third time in row. The Brazilian has outsmarted the Swede on all the two previous occasions beating by 2 goals to 1 while managing Brazil in last World Cup and in penalties in Euro 2004 while managing Portugal. Brazil Vs France This match will be a repeat of 1998 finals in which France humiliated Brazil 3-0 by two superb goals from Zidane. This to my mind is one of the most difficult one to predict as you never know how these two teams will turn up on that day. France had one of the most lackluster qualifying and group stage but had an impressive performance against the young Spaniards. Brazil on the other side is picking up the tempo but the defensive frailties are all there to see. Ghana had in all 18 shots on goal against brazil and with better finishing they may have just made the fist of it. One thing is for sure if only 10% of that (1.8) chances are given to Henry, Brazil could be 2 down against the French. All and all it promises to be one of the best last 8 line up after several world cups. 6 of the seven previous winners of the world cup are there and no one can take anything for granted. |
