World Cup Knockout Tournament.... Round of 16 and on....

Now let's hold on.

 It was tougher than expected but we will take it! French are talented but very sloppy. They don't have the precision of the Germans. I like Germany if they get through.

Once France pushed (or equally as likely, once Nigeria realized they are oh-so-close to getting a draw and decided to 'protect the result' rather than play to win), it became clear the underdog would need a miracle to avoid conceding.

Miracles don't happen very often. Nice win, vanzack.

Good summary. This is better than the talking heads and former players ESPN rolls out. Ballak had the biggest "DUH" and low key response Ive ever seen after the Mexico Nederland game. 

Yes, well put, it was an unbelievable onslaught at the end there. Suddenly they were men among boys. Vanz is right, they are a very dynamic team with lots of ways to beat you but I was not impressed with their defense. They gave Nigeria too many opportunities/corners and could have easily gotten burned. 

Soccer is much more entertaining when they actually TRY to score!

Teams are just too willing to play cautiously as long as it is 0-0, 1-1, etc.

5-6 goals could have been easily scored over the 180 minutes of regulation in today's games but apparently underdogs are playing their A game from the first minutes, unlike the favorites.

Some services keep sending me OVER bets (that got them big profits in the group stage and that they've already lost by now) and I keep ignoring them. Wish I stayed away from in-play overs but how do you do that with all the chances these teams keep creating?

Ah, the life of a degenerate

US wins tomorrow and advances.............

All the BIG BOYS are starting to step up...gotta like the COLOMBIANs to go get that underachieving Brazilian bunch... I like your PK "losing next time out"   angle .. 

P.S. USA has the "home hemisphere" advantage....

Algeria played the game of their lives. They defended corners well (much better than Portugal!) They pressed and 3 times out of 4 got their way. Germany were forced to pass it back on so many occasions I literally couldn't believe it. And there were a couple of counters - late in the game too - where with a little bit more luck the African side could take the lead. They played with poise pretty much all 90 minutes. Neither Nigeria nor Mexico were able to do that. (this is not to say Germany didn't have twice as many chances, just that Algeria were able to resist the temptation to hide their head in the sand and forget about even trying to score... that's mental fortitude, my friends)

With all the quality on France and Germany teams it should be a defense-dominated game. Both coaches have reasons to be unhappy with defending (Nigeria were inches from having their 1H goal allowed, Algeria inches from Boateng failing to clear the ball and three (!) attackers having time and space, just needing to beat the goalie). 

Both teams showed today the plan is to advance, not cover handicaps. Would you be surprised to find out both goalkeepers will spend hours practicing for penalty shootouts?

Seems like the sport is coming back to earth in terms of all the scoring, and overs, we saw in the group stage.  Sounds like you don't have time for write-ups but the total on USA/Belgium set at 2 and the over at (-130) I find intriguing.  Love your thoughts on totals and/or predicted scores.

Having said that, I laid one unit on the petulant  Belgian squad -.5 .

With all due respect, this may be the "Waterloo" for a an American side that has already earned the respect of the football world.

I disagree! France set them up and then picked them apart. Wore them out for 70 minutes, and after that it was a slaughter! That was one of the most tactical victories we've seen in this world cup... they look good!

And people need to understand, Nigeria is no slouch! That's the best team on the African continent, and they played with reckless abandon. It may seem lucky when you have to wait 80+ minutes to get the goal, but France knew what they were doing, and you could see from 70 min to the end, they were assaulting a team that they had made vulnerable.

I was impressed, although nobody else seemed to be...

Have to agree there... when you break down the US team from a performance rating standpoint, it doesn't look good for this game. They beat Ghana (barely) 2-1... then took a draw against a very overrated Portuguese team, and then lost (scoreless) to a German team that (a) doesn't look that dominant, and (b) was playing very conservatively. Now they face a Belgian team that has one of the best back lines in the world, has two players that are among the best in the world at their positions (Kompany & Hazard), and cake-walked through their group (albeit a somewhat easy draw).

I just don't see where anything they have done suggests this is a match they will win. However, given the conservative approach of the favorites, a draw in regulation is not inconceivable.

Belgium has no reason to expose themselves in the first half, and will most likely take a similar approach to France, German and the Netherlands. They know, if push comes to shove, they will win this game in extra time (or PKs) if necessary. The key is to not fall behind. I expect to see them play conservatively until the 60-70 minute range, and wear down the U.S. team. If this game is a draw after 70 minutes, you will see Belgium kick into gear, and the U.S. will be in over their heads.