Quick Picks

Germany vs. Ukraine
England vs. Brazil

(more later. . . .)

Sixteen Overview

The second round of the world's Beautiful Game tournament is finally set. Alas and alack, the American side is going home, but after watching all three matches, one can only conclude that our side should be going home. Over the three matches, Team USA were slow on the pitch, made poor defensive decisions, almost refused to shoot on goal, blamed refs (which was somewhat justifiable), and had a coach who made questionable lineup and subbing decisions (Eddie Johnson! Hello!?). Alright. Not much to say more.

Except taking a shot at the second round. I only see three-and-a-half teams that at this point show promise enough to take it all: Germany, Argentina, and Spain, with Brazil being the half. If they continue to play like they did against Japan, then they are a legitimate threat. If they play in the next round like they did against Croatia and Australia, they may return to Brasilia sooner rather than later. It was good to see Ronaldo get two goals, with one of them being a gorgeous header off perfect service. For these four, Germany has shown the most promise. When Oliver Kahn is your second string goalie, and you have the range of Michael Ballack AND the precision of Miroslav Klose at your disposal, you are in good shape. At this point, I have Germany taking it all. That may change after the next round, but I doubt it. England has the talent pool to play better than they have thus far, but with Michael Owen out, and with there being little cohesion up front, AND with Wayne Rooney still getting his legs under him, I suspect they will beat Ecuador, and perhaps even Portugal, but that's the very best that it gets.

Argentina/Mexico: Argentina
Germany/Sweden: Germany
Portugal/Netherlands: Portugal
England/Ecuador: England (Ingerland!)
Italy/Australia: Italy
Switzerland/Ukraine: Switzerland
Brazil/Ghana: Ghana (Just kidding! Brazil.)
Spain/France: Spain

Hydra and the Sword

A lot of hypothesizing is being done about what will happen next, now that al-Zarqawi is rather thankfully no longer a player in this grand drama. Some of the speculation is that it is now time to withdraw the troops (which I personally think is a bit premature and opportunistic); another is that trust may be deepened between Sunni and Shia; another is that violence will escalate; another still is that this is all a diversionary stunt. I think what's interesting and helpful about this development is what it does to the terrorist insurgency in Iraq. First, I don't think al-Zarqawi is easily replaced. For evil or for good, some individuals possess a je ne se quois that is not easily replicated. If you remove Bill Gates from the Microsoft equation, then the results are altered. I imagine the same will be true of al-Zarqawi. Whatever the terrorist movement does from here, it will not be the same. Second, while the movement is notorious for its cell division and the difficulties that brings in tracking and defusing the movement, this development can't help but breed questions in the leadership. And if second guessing foments at the head, it invariably works its way through the body--cell structure or no. Between the 'irreplaceability' of the leader and the distrust at the top, the overall consequence is a slowing of movement--and that is nothing but good for our side.