Before we look ahead to the knockout stage of the World Cup, let's take a gander at my predictions. 11 of 16 teams correctly picked. Not too bad. I said Argentina and Netherlands would do well and they did. I said France and Italy would disappoint and they did.
But enough about my savvy picks. How bout the U.S.??? If the U.S. was ever going to advance to the semifinals, this is the time. You will never, i mean NEVER, get an easier group than Ghana, South Korea and Uruguay. I'll be a homer and take the U.S. over Uruguay to advance to the semi's (my head says Uruguay to the semi's, but my heart screams U.S). In the bottom half of that bracket, give me Brazil over the Netherlands. In arguably the toughest quadrant I'll take Argentina over England. The Germany/England round of 16 game should be a classic--shame it's happening so early. And finally, I'll take Spain over Paraguay. In reality, it'll be the Spain/Portugal winner, but they should do enough to sneak by the Portuguese.
My semifinal picks haven't changed much, so I'll take Spain over Argentina and Brazil over the U.S. Call it Brazil 2-1 over Spain in the Finals.
At this point, you might be asking if this makes the U.S. one of the four best teams in the world? Absolutely not. In any World Cup, you need a little luck and a little skill. Skill was not losing a game in the opening round. Luck was having to face Ghana and Uruguay/South Korea.
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