I must say, as a USA fan, there was nothing left to give. It was heartbreaking to see the side go out given the chances they created in the final fifteen minutes, but there could be no argument over who the better side was. USA is making up a lot of ground in a short period of time - two tournaments in a row now they have gone past the group stage and three of their last four. They led Brazil 2-0 at the half in the 2009 Confederations Cup Final before going down 3-2, which came just after a 2-0 win over Euro 2008 champions Spain. These are moments that USA players and fans could not have dreamed of twenty or so years ago.
That being said, the gap is still there, and talent wise it is massive. The bottom line is that we had one forward who belonged in the team, and without Jozy, we were left with Dempsey, who is not a pure number 9, and a group of strikers who don't have a place on the top level of football. We brought on Chris Wondolowski, who is a poacher and good positioned forward, but no sort of elite talent. Belgium brought on Romelu Lukaku, a forward for Chelsea with a deadly combination of pace and strength. The future is very bright for the USA if their young players continue to develop and bring the sort of positive attitude to the game that we saw from Yedlin, Johnson and Green.
My last point about the USA is this whole notion of "we don't win because the talent plays other sports." That is completely false. There are 300 million people in this country; there are just under 17 million in Holland. Which country has an extremely decorated history in this sport? Football is not a game of talent and physicality - it comes from culture, time and experience. The USA team clearly has unity and fighting spirit - it is just missing the last bit of culture that comes from generations of experience at the top level. Jurgen Klinsmann is bringing that bit of culture to this team and demanding it be more positive, and to stop giving too much "respect" to their opponents. This is exactly what is needed to bring the team from hopeful underdogs to a legitimate power. He is speeding up the process. By 2018, we should see a more comfortable USA, and hopefully we won't get such a demanding draw.
Anyway, we have three teams from South America, four from Europe, and one from good ol' CONCACAF. The South American sides were knocked out by other teams from their continent, and one more will go down this round after Brazil plays Colombia. I expect three of these four matchups to be absolute dynamite (guess the odd one out).
France – Germany
France stayed perfect by seeing off Nigeria 2-0 but were slightly off of the pace. They had the better of the play for nearly the whole game but their two goals were from poor Nigerian mistakes and they were tested at the other end several times. Germany have not played a complete game since their 4-0 thumping of Portugal, and were inches away from going behind to Algeria in the first half. This is truly a matchup of titans and should be a testy affair.
I mentioned before this tournament that I saw a
weakness in Germany in their holding midfield. Joachim Low has tried to
play Philipp Lahm in that role and it has simply not worked. Lahm is a
much better right back than holding midfield
player, and with Sami Khedira out of form and Schweinsteiger playing
injured, there is an obvious deficiency. France have Paul Pogba and
Blaise Matuidi waiting to gobble them up. France have a strong, physical
team and are playing better at the moment. Although
he did not score against Nigeria, Karim Benzema was a threat all game and
should find his way onto the score sheet here. France, 2-0.
Brazil – Colombia
Colombia are the tournament’s new dark horse. Cast
aside by many, including myself, after losing star striker Radamel
Falcao in February, Colombia has won all four of their games so far,
scored at least twice in each, and has the tournament’s
leading scorer and rising young star, James Rodriguez. Their next
challenge? Tournament hosts and favorites Brazil, who have failed to
impress in any of their fixtures so far. They will try to break the
World Cup streak of eight straight losses for a team
that won a penalty shootout in its last match – the last to win was
France in 1998.
I can’t go against the hosts yet. They have lost
just twice to Colombia in twenty-five matches and haven’t lost at home
in a competitive match to anyone since 1975. Colombia have impressed me, but I
don’t think any of their opponents were as good
as they were believed to be before the tournament started. Brazil
haven’t played the stiffest competition either, but the home support has
been able to help the side squeeze out results. This little Copa
America is a tough test for the hosts, but if they can
click into gear now, they will be ready to go on to win the tournament.
Brazil, 2-1.
Argentina – Belgium
This is just a great matchup. Similar teams with
pacey wingers and loads of world class attacking talent. Belgium and
Argentina are each a perfect four-for-four so far in this tournament,
and interestingly, each side has won each of their
games by a one-goal margin. Argentina were just good enough to find the
late winner against the Swiss, while Belgium held on for dear life in
the final fifteen minutes against USA after dominating the first 105.
Are they out of energy?
Argentina have had strong fan support throughout
the tournament, contrasted by the home Brazilian fans rooting against
them. Belgium have a very strong side and will be difficult to
penetrate. I expect a low scoring game. Both of these
sides have created plenty of chances but few finishing touches. Fitness
is about even given that both sides just played extra time and had
wrapped up their respective groups after two games. This could go either
way, but I will give the edge to the Argentines
in South America. Argentina, 1-0.
Netherlands – Costa Rica
The Dutch struggled through most of their game
against Mexico before finding two goals in the last five minutes of the
game to turn it around. The penalty was courtesy of a trademark Arjen
Robben flop, but I guess that is to be expected.
Can’t be too upset when it happens to a player like Marquez. Costa Rica
have slowed down every game, but turned in a valiant performance with
ten men against Greece, winning the penalty shootout 5-3.
While Colombia is the fashionable dark horse, Costa
Rica are the Cinderella story, hoping to knock off a third European
powerhouse. I would really like to see them go through but I bet against
them because I think they’re out of gas. After
playing over an hour with ten men in the last round, plus the
deteriorating level of performances as this tournament has gone on, it’s
difficult to see them going through here. The Dutch have more rest,
more ability, and more experience. Louis Van Gaal’s troops
should be in the semifinals. Netherlands, 3-0.
I am going to add a trivia question to my posts
from now on. The answer will come in the next post, or Google it if
you’re impatient. This post’s question is:
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