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