Round of Sixteen round up

(The World Cup moves into the crucial stage now. Guest blogger Raam Shanker gives us a brief round up of all the games played so far in the knockout stage.)

Author’s note: I have not covered the Switzerland-Ukraine and Italy-Australia games, as I was not able to see them. Please accept my humble apologies.

Piquant Podolski Fires Germans Into The Last Eight

Two sensational goals by the heavily criticized Lucas Podolski saw Germany make mince-meat of a Swedish side that came back twice from behind to salvage a draw against England, a few days back! If youth and inexperience were mistaken for incompetence and mediocrity, please reserve the analogies to the English team alone as the sensational Germans blended youthful flair, sophistication and the aspirations of a nation into yet another match winning performance, to gatecrash into the quarterfinals.

They took on the punters, wizards, traditionalists and the practitioners of the old school and proved them wrong by defying all odds in the game against Sweden at Leipzig, which will be the last game of the tournament to be played there. Managed by a young coach Klinsmann, performances like this may spell the renaissance of German football and what better place to start than home! However their captain Ballack failed to find the net, despite numerous efforts and even lost his cool towards the end. The highlight of the game was the beautiful synchronization between Klose and Podolski up front and their seamless integration with the rest of the field.

Truly Deutschland Uber Alles!

Elsewhere…

It Takes Two To Tango As Argentina Devour The Mexican Tortilla Wrap

The odds were certainly against Mexico going into this game against Argentina, but a peach of a goal by captain Rafael Marquez saw them take the lead from a set piece. Any other team would have crumbled but not the Argentines for they came right back, firing on all cylinders with Crespo equalizing within minutes. The remainder of the ninety minutes was end-to-end and action packed, but no more goals meant we would play for another half an hour. A goal made in heaven, eight minutes into extra time was enough to see the Argentines through and reinforce their position as joint favorites, much to the delight of Jose Peckerman and the legendary Diego Maradona.

As the irony of life would have it, they now face the not-so-gracious hosts who have been unbeaten in this tournament so far. Will the German Blitzkrieg decimate the Argentines or the will the Argentines take the lead as they show the Germans how to Tango? All will be known in a few days from now!

Coincidence, That Lions Belong To The Cat Family?

The Three Lions played like three frightened cats against classy Ecuador, as mediocrity prevailed. Being an ardent supporter, even I was yawning much to the surprise of my gracious host, Kabilan. Long balls and lost chances; doesn’t get simpler than this, does it? And then a record tumbled. David Beckham scored out of a free kick and became the first Englishman to score in three different World Cups. His two earlier strikes were against Colombia in 1998 and the match-winning spot-kick against Argentina in 2002, when he redeemed himself after taking stick for England’s defeat to Argentina in 1998.

Records Will Tumble, When You Shove, Push and Head-Butt!

The clash between Holland and Portugal would have been a classic, except for the fact that the players showed no class. Instead they behaved like a bunch of juvenile delinquents and class dropouts pushing, shoving and head-butting their way into the record books. This game saw a record eighteen yellow cards and four red cards being shown. The ones to leave the party early were, Costinha of Portugal, followed by Boulahrouz of Holland, then Deco of Portugal and his Barca teammate Gio of Holland. Phew, truly everything is fair in love and war! The only high point of the game came from Maniche, who netted the early winner for Portugal. I really don’t want to take the names of all the players who entered into the referee’s book and the record book, as I don’t have the patience, to be honest!

Spain One and France Won; Brazil Still Unstoppable!

If experience is the best teacher, I am sure the young Spanish team would have learnt the lesson of its life, on the biggest stage in the world. The veteran French stormed into the quarterfinals to meet reigning champions Brazil with strikes from Ribery, Vieira and Zizou! The Spaniards took a lead through a penalty by David Villa but France was quick to respond and Ribery equalized in style, taking them on par into the break. Back from the break, it was push, push and push for both sides. In a contest of hard-earned experience versus youthful fervor, it was a matter of time before we would see the triumphant.

Zidane opting out of retirement must have been a blessing in disguise as he showed his class in a set piece that was converted by the former Arsenal skipper, Patrick Vieira. Deep into injury time, Zizou again proved why he is what he is as he drove the final nail on the Spanish coffin by blasting the third goal after leaving Puyol stranded. It was like Les Bleus were back with a vengeance and they face their old nemesis! This should take us back in time eight years where Zidane rocketed into stardom with two wonderful headers and Petit pouched a third, crowning themselves Champions of The World. By the way, today’s game extended France’s unbeaten streak to I think twenty-four games on a trot!

This time though, Ronaldo looks in good shape and seems to be in great form and scored as early as the fifth minute against minions Ghana. From there Brazil showed the stuff champions are made of, Sambaing their way into the quarterfinals with further strikes from Adriano off Cafu’s cross and Ze Roberto after leaving the opponent goalkeeper in tatters. Brazil, though have not met a competitive team of reputed quality and still it remains to be seen if they can keep the momentum going. I must say though that Ronaldo silenced most critics, me included.

Now the draw looks invigorating and I only hope we see positive attacking football and not the tame game that Ukraine and Switzerland played out for the heck of it.

The Draw for Quarterfinals:

Germany v Argentina
England v Portugal
Italy v Ukraine
Brazil v France

A few questions however need to be answered;

• Will we see the return of Trezeguet, as Henry was not effective in solitude?
• How will Brazil handle the pressure of being reminded of that fateful night in Paris?
• Will England for Queen’s sake start playing the way they played the first half against Sweden, at least…?
• Will England and Sven redeem themselves by outplaying Portugal or will the ghosts of Lisbon, 2004 come back to haunt them?
• Will German Blitzkreig prevail over Argentine Tango?
• How far can Shevchenko take Ukraine as he lines up to face his former Milan mates?

(Raam Shanker is still hoping that his team England will win the World Cup)