England Vs Germany : Preview - Goalless Excitement

Well, here they come. Two giants of world soccer, the contest that always guarantees entertainment, excitement, goals, controversies, penalties and English defeat. In this world cup both England and Germany entered as favorites. After the first game, everybody started talking about the new-look, youthful Germany as potential winners. But their loss against Serbia and their unconvincing display against Ghana has shown that they are vulnerable at the back and that they heavily depend on Podolsky, Schweinsteiger, Klose and Ozil. This German outfit has some resemblance to the team of Bayern Munich of this year. They both know their weaknesses in defense and that's why they attack in order to defend. Mesut Özil has been a revelation and Miorslav Klose has been very effective in the very first game. While he was absent, after he was shown the red card against Serbia and consequently missed the next game, Germany looked a different outfit. Podolsky is their leader in the attack but his form has been very inconsistent in last three games.

On the other end, England looked tired and clueless against USA and Algeria. After the second game John Terry led a failed coup against dictator-like coaching style of Manager Fabio Capello, which Capello in a dictator-like style handled successfully. Against Slovenia, in the must-win game Fabio Capello did some changes and somehow England looked a far better team.  I don't know if it's because they now know what to do of whether Slovenia was not as good an outfit as everybody thought it to be. Introduction of Jeramine Defoe and James Milner especially worked wonderfully. Milner was especially effective on the right flank and if Rooney finds his mojo, Milner can be a great support on the right flank. Apart from that, England has looked ineffective in retaining possession, making passes and creating chances. They sorely miss David Beckham in set-pieces.

So, given the inconsistency shown by both the teams so far, it's difficult to predict what might happen today. Both teams are rather cautious and we might not see too many goals. But surely the match will be one with lot of excitement. Both teams are afraid of going all the way upto penalties but if the match goes into Penalties, nobody should be surprised.

Verdict : Given the nature of these teams and the way they have evolved in this competition so far, I think England have a slight advantage. If the game doesn't go into penalties, England might win, 1-0.

Players to watch: James Milner (England) and Mesut Ozil (Germany). If Germany wins, Özil for sure, will have played a key role.

Prequarter Final Preview & Prediction - USA vs Ghana ...... The game of the tournament...

Ladies and Gentleman, this is going to be the game of the tournament! Simply because this is going to be a contest between two of the most valiant, attacking and emotional teams of the tournament. 

Apart from Japan, USA is one of the most entertaining underdogs of this world cup. USA's game has been one played with lot of heart. Sid Lowe  last night on the debate at Gol TV mentioned that USA reminds him the way young boys play in England or for that matter anywhere else. Everyone attacks and if you end up conceding a goal or two, doesn't matter....keep attacking. Looking at it from a different perspective, one can argue that USA has shown lot of character and confidence. In first game they were against one of the favorites to win the cup, England, and they conceded a goal all too quickly. Despite that they didn't change their style and finally they got lucky with the now famous, Robert Green howler. Against Slovenia they were trailing by two goals and they almost won the game, had their third goal not been disallowed in one of the most baffling decisions of the world cup. US coach Bob Bradley and son Michael Bradley have especially caught everybody's attention. Dad Bradley made some very interesting and important tactical decisions in last two group games and both changed the scenario of the game. It was interesting to see that at the half time in both the games, Bob Bradley replaced a striker with a midfielder. In the beginning it looked defensive but in both cases, it allowed Son Bradley (Michael) to show his versatility and his ability to play as an attacking midfielder. In fact Michael Bradley's influence on USA's performance in this tournament is probably second only to Keisuke Honda's influence on Japan. Michael Bradley is a wonderful talent with a great ability to mix attacking play with creative playmaking. No wonder comparisons have been made with Zidane in his youth and a much younger Steven Gerrard. While Bradley is the creative brain of the team, Dempsey, Donovan and Altidore can rattle any defense of the world on their day.

On the other hand Ghana is the last African hope. They displayed great attacking football and truly deserve to be in the second round. However, their lack of ability to score might worry them. While the trio of Gyan, Ayew and Boateng form the core of this team, the rest of the team has yet to show the same fighting character. Both their goals scored have come in form of Penalties and despite creating some very good chances in their last group game against Germany, it seemed that they quickly ran out of ideas and played for a draw. However, being the only African team in the knockout stage, expectations are high and so is the support for them. 

Verdict : Given their tendencies to attack and ignore their defense at times, this game might go all the way to penalties. If USA can score early they can create great pressure and Ghana might not be able to recover. Given both teams play attacking game, the one that attacks first will have a greater chance to win. 

Player to Watch. Michael Bradley. The way he has performed so far, he might be one of the biggest stars to emerge from this world cup.

Pre-quarter final Preview - Uruguay vs. South Korea

One of the best results of the way first round of the World cup has concluded is that out of Uruguay, South Korea, USA and Ghana we will have one semi-finalist and probably a finalist too. This world cup has been a reminder that in a gradual but definite way, global inequalities in terms of talent and power are being done away with. Uruguay came into this world cup as the weakest Latin American side and nobody thought that they would be able to qualify ahead of France or even South Africa. But they enter prequarter finals with a much enhanced reputation and as favorites. Uruguay has emerged as a solid, disciplined and a very effective outfit. In Forlan and Suarez, they have probably the most dependable striking duo of the tournament.  While we shower praise on Forlan and Suarez, let's not forget the fact that Uruguay is one of two teams (other team being Portugal) not to have conceded any goal so far in this tournament. Most importantly no other team has shown so much tactical flexibility as shown by Portugal. They played a closed and defensive game against France and denied them any opening. While against South Africa and Mexico, they played a much more free flowing and open game. Against Mexico they had their biggest test. Against brilliant Mexican midfield they not just managed to defend effectively, contrary to what was expected,  they managed to create lot more chances than Mexico, and made them truly deserving winners of the group.

South Korea was and is the Asian hope. Nobody considered them to be winners but given the quality of players they have, everyone thought that they would be able to leave a strong impression on this edition of the world cup. They were the second best in the group but, are they good enough to advance further, is something to be seen. South Korea has looked fluent and comfortable when they play attacking football. That was the reason they won so comfortably against ultra defensive Greeks. But when it comes to defending Koreans looked a bit unorganized. It was their lack of organization at the back which helped Argentina tear them apart and helped Maradona gloat more than before. The area where Uruguay should be worried is the efficiency South Korea has shown with set-pieces so far. While Park Ji-Sung, Park Chu-Young and Lee chung-yong are hogging all the limelight, Ki Sung-Yueng has shown great discipline in midfield (especially in regaining possession) and of course in delivering set-piece assists. 

Verdict : Given their tendencies to attack, these teams won't like to leave it to Penalties and we may have a result in normal time. I predict a 2 - 1 victory for Uruguay.

The man to watch : Diego Forlan. Simply because after playing in crazy Atletico Madrid for two seasons, he is just so used to carry weight of entire game on his shoulders and win games single-handed, it would be little surprise if he emerges as the lone differentiating factor between these two teams.