Greece v/s Ivory Coast. Ivory Coast were a tad unlucky not to at least draw Columbia in their last game. Gervinho is playing like a striker possessed, and showing flashes of brilliance not seen in Arsenal colors. Provided their defence stays away from defensive lapses, the likes of which caused their un-doing against Columbia, the Africans should win this game.
Japan v/s Columbia. Columbia are assured to go through after winning their first 2 games. They have a couple of brilliant youngsters in this team who seem destined to have a career in the big European leagues. Japan need a win to have a chance of getting through but their main problem is that they are missing firepower on the front lines. I think this will probably end up in another Colombian win as long as the gist of their main team is playing.
Costa Rica v/s England. How patient can I be with this England team so that they finally show up in the win column at these finals? Apparently one more. I actually think they played well against Uruguay but were undone by atrocious defending, which has been cause for concern going into the tournament. Jagielka and Cahill are just not good enough at this level. Plus Gerrard is just Captain Calamity when major things are on the line, in my opinion. Still, since Costa Rica is through, I think England have enough quality, even with their second team, to get something out of this game. England to win this.
Italy v/s Uruguay. The Italians were flat against Costa Rica and Balotelli showed that he's more a liability to his team when not playing his top game. Uruguay will be riding a huge wave of confidence after having beaten England and having Suarez in goal scoring mood. Although Italy would win 8 out of 10 of these kinds of matches, I think that Uruguay will come out on top of this one, mainly because they will revel in the heat. They will win the physical battles, and that should give them the edge over the Italians at the final whistle.
Win: Ivory Coast, Columbia, England, Uruguay
Japan v/s Columbia. Columbia are assured to go through after winning their first 2 games. They have a couple of brilliant youngsters in this team who seem destined to have a career in the big European leagues. Japan need a win to have a chance of getting through but their main problem is that they are missing firepower on the front lines. I think this will probably end up in another Colombian win as long as the gist of their main team is playing.
Costa Rica v/s England. How patient can I be with this England team so that they finally show up in the win column at these finals? Apparently one more. I actually think they played well against Uruguay but were undone by atrocious defending, which has been cause for concern going into the tournament. Jagielka and Cahill are just not good enough at this level. Plus Gerrard is just Captain Calamity when major things are on the line, in my opinion. Still, since Costa Rica is through, I think England have enough quality, even with their second team, to get something out of this game. England to win this.
Italy v/s Uruguay. The Italians were flat against Costa Rica and Balotelli showed that he's more a liability to his team when not playing his top game. Uruguay will be riding a huge wave of confidence after having beaten England and having Suarez in goal scoring mood. Although Italy would win 8 out of 10 of these kinds of matches, I think that Uruguay will come out on top of this one, mainly because they will revel in the heat. They will win the physical battles, and that should give them the edge over the Italians at the final whistle.
Win: Ivory Coast, Columbia, England, Uruguay
