The Group stages have come to a conclusion, bringing us to the business end of the World Cup as we begin the knockout stages starting with the Round of 16 tonight. Now there are no second chances - lose and that is it, time to pack the bags!
But what a World Cup this has been! There have been goals galore with 136 goals scored thus far at an average of 2.83 goals per game. This is the highest since 1970 where the average was 2.96. Except for Greece, all the remaining teams have a strong attacking disposition so do not be surprised to see the average holding up or even increasing.
Apart from Cristiano Ronaldo, who probably was not 100% fit to be honest, the big stars have stood up so far in this tournament. Especially Lionel Messi and Neymar. The Dutch duo of Bat-van (van Persie) and Robben also lit up the Group stages with 3 goals apiece. Two other players of note who have stood are Colombian midfielder James Rodriguez and Mexican goalkeeper Guillermo Ochoa who single-handedly kept Brazil goalless in their match-up. Uruguayan forward Luis Suarez recovered quickly from a minor knee operation four weeks prior to Uruguay's second Group match against England and was an animal as he scored 2 goals to flatten England. However, he took his animal instincts to another level in the final Group match against Italy as he bit Giorgio Chiellini on the shoulder, the third time he has bitten a rival player on the football pitch! Suarez has subsequently been expelled from the tournament by FIFA, banned for nine international matches and barred from any football activity for four months.
There were certainly shocks and surprises as well with Costa Rica, Greece, Algeria and the United States making it through whilst defending champions Spain were sent packing along with Italy, England and Portugal. Apart from England, I had certainly expected Spain, Italy and Portugal to progress. All three teams were disappointing to watch though and deserve to be on the plane home.
So how does the Round of 16 look now? Here you go:
Brazil v Chile
Colombia v Uruguay
Netherlands v Mexico
Costa Rica v Greece
France v Nigeria
Germany v Algeria
Argentina v Switzerland
Belgium v United States
Bold teams represent author's correct picks whilst the Netherlands in italics had been picked to finish second in their Group initially.
Interesting note is that 5 out of 6 CONMEBOL teams have made it through keeping in line with the tradition of South American sides doing well in tournaments held on the continent. Ecuador was the only team to miss out and was my pick to have edged out Switzerland.
So having watched and observed the teams leading to this stage, here are now my predictions:
Quarter-finals:
Brazil v Colombia
France v Germany
Netherlands v Costa Rica
Argentina v Belgium
Semi-finals:
Semi-finals:
Brazil v Germany
Netherlands v Argentina
Final:
Germany v Netherlands --> Germany
Third-place playoff:
Brazil v Argentina --> Brazil
Betfair currently have Germany third favourites to win the World Cup at $5.50, just behind Argentina on $5.40 whilst Brazil still are the favourites at $4.20.
You can get $13.50 for a Germany/Netherlands final or $7.60 for a Germany/Argentina final on Betfair. The Brazil/Argentina is still the favourite and priced at $6.
