Maradona Part Deux

The Argentina Football Association just announced that it will extend international manager Diego Maradona's contract through the 2014 World Cup in Brazil.

Say what you want about Maradona as a coach, but for the World Cup, there couldn't be a better coach. Not even his players are as excited as he is when they score a goal. And as far as calling German striker Thomas Muller a ball boy, and asking veteran midfielder Bastian Schweinsteiger if he was nervous to play Argentina, those are just great moves. No team wants to deal with the pressures of carrying an entire nation on there back, and Maradona did a great job to shift the focus onto himself, while his team went to work.

By the way, is that Joe Torre wearing the giant Diego Maradona face hat?

Quarters Are Set

The Round of 16 finished up yesterday with 2 wickedly exciting games. Paraguay-Japan gave us out first penalty shootout of the tournament, and two of the world's best, Spain and Portugal fought it out for 90 minutes, the world number one living up to their ranking. So we're all set for the quarterfinal match-ups starting Friday at 9:30am EST.

The first match is between the Netherlands and Brazil. Brazil seems to be heating up of late, really finding their stride, and really working together as a team. Netherlands is one of two undefeated or untied teams in the tournament, and they play with such poise, precision and determination, it will be tough to stop them. I think in the end, Brazil will become frustrated at seeing their runs killed over and over by the stalwart Dutch defense, and what will ultimately bring them down will be a strong counterattack from The Flying Dutchmen. I wouldn't be surprised if this game ended 3-2.

Netherlands advances.

Later in the day at 2pm EST, Uruguay will take on Africa's last hope, Ghana. As we saw in the Ghana-USA game, Ghana's speed is tough to beat, but they can be worn down. Uruguay is a tough defensive team as well, and they may not have to tweak their game plan much to be successful. Both attacks will be fun to watch, but when it's all said and done, i think Uruguay will walk away, 2-1.

Uruguay advances.

Saturday, the match-up of a lifetime hits the pitch, when Germany faces Argentina. Argentina is one of the strongest looking teams in the field, and are still my favorites to win it all. The attacking force of Klose, Ozil and Podolski is tough to stop, but with the chemistry La Albiceleste are working with, I think shutting them down will be more than reasonable. The magical Lionel Messi is still looking to break through and net his first goal of the Cup, and will look to send Argentina into the semis. Although both teams seem to score at will, I think we'll see a 1-0 game.

Argentina advances.

Finally, powerhouse Spain takes on Paraguay. Only one South American team has been eliminated so far, but this match will be quite a contest. Spain did the seemingly impossible when David Villa scored against Portugal to advance in a 1-0 win. Their world number one ranking could also be somewhat of an advantage for support. Paraguay is an excellent team. They struggled against Japan but were tough defensively and used every attacking chance to its fullest, This game will be exciting, but I think another 1-0 win is in sight for La Furia.

Spain advances.

Go World.

2-0 Argentina!

Argentina was onsides this time, and with some nice footwork by Gonzalo Higuain, stole the ball and may have potentially stolen the match. That was Higuain's 4th goal in his 6th international cap.

GOL!

ARGENTINA SCORES IN THE 27TH MINUTE, 1-0 LA ALBICELESTE!

Round of 16

All the first round group stage games are complete. Now its time for the real World Cup action, the knockout stages. The field of 16 is set, and the match-ups range from two unlikely opponents, to old rivalries, to expected finals meetings.

I'll obviously be looking forward to the matches tomorrow, first to see who will be the USA's potential next competition, then to see if they can get past Ghana to play another round.

Picks: Uruguay to face USA. I don't think South Korea can keep up any longer, and Uruguay seemed to have no trouble in their group play. As for the USA, I know Ghana will have the support of an entire continent as their 12th man, but I think the US has too much momentum, and are too ready to move on.

On Sunday, perhaps the four biggest names in the greatest sporting event on earth will square off. England, the dark horse of the tournament, up against Germany, 2006's third place finisher, and Argentina, my personal favorite to win, against Mexico, who looked uncharacteristically shaky in group play.

Picks: Germany to face Argentina. Some big names have already fallen from the tournament, and England's performance in Group C doesn't give me any confidence in them. And many people have had their shots to take at Diego Maradona, but I think his knowledge of the game has rubbed off on La Albiceleste and will give them yet another reason for the upper hand against Mexico.

To start your Monday off right, the powerhouse Netherlands team, winning all three group stage games, will take on Slovakia, capitalizing on Italy's early exit from Group F. Then perennial favorite, Brazil will take on fellow South Americans, Chile.

Picks: Netherlands to face Brazil. The Netherlands have just rolled over their competition, and seem too strong to be stopped by the Slovaks. While Chile battled valiantly against La Furia, I don't think that Brazil will go down easy. They know what is at stake, and have not played fewer than 5 matches since 1990. They are experienced, and I have no doubt they want to establish themselves as the top South American team.

And the final day of the Round of 16 on Tuesday, features Paraguay and the surprise nation of Japan. The later match will be another pre-Cup potential Finals match-up. A hungry Portugal squad will face the favorites, star-studded Spain.

Picks: Paraguay to face Spain. South American is harvested respect from the entire world, and I don't think that Japan's style of play will hold up for 90 minutes against Paraguay. Brazil-Portugal will probably be the most exciting game of this round. The two teams are heavily favorited, but since flopping doesn't appear anywhere on the stat sheet, the Portuguese will be headed home at night's end.

South Africa: Pool B

Pool B is next up. Led by one of the strongest teams in the field of 32, this pool could turn out to be interesting.

Argentina
Nigeria
South Korea
Greece

Argentina is my personal favorite for the Cup at the moment. First of all, they're led by their head coach Diego Maradona, I'm not sure if anyone has really heard of him... They haven't won it since 1986, but after making the quarterfinals in 2006 and winning the Olympic Gold Medal in 2008, I think they're an even better team for South Africa. Up top, they have one of the world's biggest stars in Lionel Messi (44 caps, 13 goals) as well as Carlos Tevez (52, 9). At the midfield, Liverpool teammates Javier Mascherano (57, 2) and Maxi Rodriguez (36, 12) anchor the corps. Mascherano has also been named captain for the Cup this year. Also for the first time since 1994, Javier Zanetti will not wear the light blue and white stripes on the pitch with his countrymen. But with a still veteran defense corps, I think Argentina will be not only one of the toughest teams to score against, but one of the toughest to stop.

South Korea has not made it out of the first round with the exception of 2002, when it was held on their home turf. I don't expect them to give anyone much trouble this time around, either. Nigeria will be playing in just their fourth World Cup, on their native continent, but they have been slipping since their 9th place finish in 1994.

Now, Greece hasn't qualified since 1994, when they lost all 3 matches in the first round, failing to score a goal. In 2004, they were victorious in the EUFA Euro Cup. Most of their current squad plays in one of Greece's football leagues, but there are a few names who will step up and try to prove themselves to the world. Angelos Charisteas has the second most caps with 83, and is the squad's leading scorer with 24 goals. He will play alongside fellow striker Theofanis Gekas (47, 20). At midfield, and leading this Greek team will be Giorgos Karagounis (92, 6). They may not look like much, but I think Greece is still a team on the rise who will surprise people.

There's no doubt in my mind that Argentina will steamroll this pool. Nigeria may get a win here, with the help of the home crowd, and Greece will have to step up on offense, which has been lacking in the past, and if they do, I think it will be their goal differential that will push them through with Argentina to the Round of 16.