World Cup Roundup Yishum.

Can you believe it's the tenth World Cup roundup post? Incredible.

Netherlands v Slovakia

Man, my cousin Daniel is on freaking fire with his pick for the Orange to win the cup. An early strike from Arjen Robben in the 18th put some hope in the Dutch fans, and they seemed to dominate the game from that point forward. It was a brilliant long ball that found the foot of the slashin Robben for the opening netter. Sealing the deal in the 80-something was Sneijder on a long drive, and Netherlands coasted to the win despite a penalty kick goal from Vittek in the 90th to cut the Slovak deficit in half. Netherlands have now won all four of their games, heading into their most difficult match in the quarterfinal round. So, Daniel, can the Netherlands keep up with Brazil?

Brazil v Chile

I watched this match via ESPN Mobile TV, and I must say, Brazil handles it. Chile didn't seem to keep up with the power and improv skills of the Brazilians, and it showed from first whistle to last. Juan and Fabiano scored within 4 minutes of each other on the halftime side of the half hour mark, and Robinho scored a third shortly after halftime to send Chile home in pain. Man, Brazil is good. The game against Netherlands may be a throw down, or it may be just another easy Brazilian win. It'll be interesting to see.

Japan v Paraguay

This was the game I was most anticipating over these two days, and it didn't disappoint. Thrilling play from both sides on both sides of the ball led to an exciting Nil-Nil draw after 90 minutes. The fans in the stadium all looked more nervous than excited, really. Extra time was upon us, with the possibility of penaty kicks looming on the horizon. In the first half of extra time, it was Paraguay earning the most thrilling chance. They pushed forward and had a brilliant first touch in the box that resulted in a point blank save from about 3 yards out. The second half of extra time saw little other than a Japan free kick that put a little pressure on. As the clock struck 120, the whistle blew, and we were headed to penalties to decide the match. Japan and Paraguay were trading back and forth until a Japanese defender stepped up to the mark. He had never scored a goal for Japan in his multiple starts, and yet here he was. We can let the second guessing begin, as he glanced his shot off the top bar and up, up, and away. Japan's Honda was able to bury their next shot to keep their hopes alive, but Paraguay's shooters were unstopable, and they advanced with the win on penalties. Rough.

Just to check my work, I picked Netherlands and Japan to win, so there you have it.

So far, the quarterfinals are:

Uruguay & Ghana
Germany & Argentina
Netherlands & Brazil
Paraguay & Spain/Portugal

My LSF Predictions to the semifinals are:

Uruguay, Germany, Brazil, and Spain/Portugal.

After this afternoon's Spain/Portugal match, we have a layoff until Friday when the quarters start.

Let's go Portugal!

-- Sent from my Palm Prē