Round of 16 part I

The teams into the round of 16 have been decided. There were no shocks at all. Maybe a couple of ‘surprises’, but those weren’t shocking enough. Ghana to qualify ahead of Czech Republic, Australia ahead of Croatia, and maybe if you want to count Ecuador ahead of Poland are the minor surprises thus far. There was no Togo, or Angola or Saudi Arabia to provide a shock was there? All results have gone as planned for the favorites and now we analyze the round of 16.

I would pick out two players from each side. One who I felt was the best player of the side, and the other who is over-hyped in this competition. I stress that it is dependent on the performances of this competition only.

Germany vs Sweden

Germany have been impressive so far this tournament. Winning all 3 of their games and scoring 8 goals in the process. They showed that they can finish off so-called weaker teams, and break down resistant teams like Poland. It has been a good showing by the hosts so far and I think they will beat Sweden were have been struggling to score.

Best Player: Philip Lam
Over-hyped: Michael Ballack/ Bastian Schweinsteiger

Sweden have come through the group unscathed after their disappointing goal-less draw against T&T, but it’s all going to be forgotten now as they head into the second round. I think the 2-2 draw with England was half-planned. It ensured Sweden qualified and England to finish top of the group. But other than scoring 2 goals in that game, Sweden have struggled to score, and must improve to even stand a chance against Germany.

Best Player: Christian Wilhelmsson
Over-hyped: Zlatan Ibrahamovich

Argentina vs Mexico

It is hard to estimate the performances of Argentina. In the first game, they were luck to win; in the second game, they thrashed their opponent, but in their third game – it was probably because they qualified already – they failed to score. But I think the Argentines have enough class to get through this match.

Best Player: Juan Pablo Sorin/ Esteban Cambiasso
Over-hyped: Leo Messi/ Carlos Tevez

Mexico were unconvincing in qualifying, and it would be an upset to bring down Argentina in the second round. But when it comes to knock-out stages, no one reads the script anymore.

Best Player: Rafael Marquez (undoubtedly)
Over-Hyped: Jared Borgetti

England vs Ecuador

England somehow won their first two games, so in the end it didn’t matter they didn’t win their third game. They have got great individual players who have the “match-winning” capability, and that should see them through to the quarter-finals at least.

Best Player: Joe Cole
Over-hyped: (I don’t know where to start) Wayne Rooney? Michael Owen? Frank Lampard? David Beckham?

Ecuador have some really exciting players, but everyone knows that England are favourites to get through to the next round. I was impressed by Ecuador in their 3-0 demolition of Costa Rica, but then that was Costa Rica, it’s no England.

Best Player: Edison Mendez
Over-hyped: Austin Delgado

Portugal vs Netherlands

Portugal have won all three of their games – albeit unconvincingly. They failed to finish off smaller teams in a relatively easy group. They do have players who can change matches in Deco, C. Ronaldo, Figo, Simao just to name a few of the big names, but can they work consistently as a team?

Best Player: C. Ronaldo
Over-hyped: Simao

Netherlands have been showing good form until their 0-0 draw with Argentina. They did well to get out of the group of death and I suppose that puts them favourites to win this match. Van Persie and Robben have been working exceptionally well together despite all the off-field media squabbling.

Best Player: Arjen Robben
Over-hyped: Wesley Sneijder