Group A: Clearly I overestimated France and underestimated Uruguay as I picked France and Mexico to go through.
Group B: I picked Argentina and leaned towards South Korea.
Group C: I picked USA and England.
Group D: I picked Germany and Ghana.
Group E: I picked the Netherlands and Denmark. I was clearly behind the curve on Japan.
Group F: I said I was going out on a limb and picked Paraguay and Slovakia.
Group G: I picked Brazil and Portugal.
Group H: I picked Spain and Chile.
So, the only ones I didn’t get right were Groups A and E.
MikeJ
In which order did you pick USA and England? I know I got it wrong.
Yutsano
I’ll just have to say this and risk the charge of racism: I work with a lot of Mexicans, including one of my bosses, so the Mexico versus Argentina results will be very closely monitored at my workplace. I, fortunately, will not be there.
handy
Who’s performance was more disappointing this year, France or Italy? Deep down I am rooting for Mexico to advance. I always do. Living in SoCal I run into many Mexico fans, and I admire their passion for the game and love to see my neighbors happy :)
Edited for verb tense fail.
burnspbesq
What does your bracket for the knockout stage look like? I have the Netherlands beating Spain in the final, and the USA beating Argentina in the third-place game.
beltane
I wonder how many times I’ll have to wash my husband’s Nederland shirt before it can go into hiding for the next four years. The orange makes me feel like it’s hunting season.
burnspbesq
My complete bracket:
Round of 16:
Uruguay over South Korea
USA over Ghana
Netherlands over Slovakia
Brazil over Chile
Argentina over Mexico
Germany over England
Paraguay over Japan
Spain over Portugal
Quarterfinals:
USA over Uruguay
Netherlands over Brazil (my pick for best game of the tournament)
Argentina over Germany
Spain over Paraguay
Semifinals:
Netherlands over USA
Spain over Argentina
Third Place:
USA over Argentina
Final:
Netherlands over Spain
Spaghetti Lee
I wish the U.S. wasn’t playing the only African team left. I wish we were playing Spain or Argentina or someone else hateable.
Spaghetti Lee
@burnspbesq:
Given how the U.S. has played so far, I think you’re being a bit optimistic. I’d have them losing to Uruguay, if we even beat Ghana.
Quaker in a Basement
First round of the knockouts has some fantastic rivalry matchups. Mexico v. Argentina (as Yutasano mentioned), England v. Germany, Chile v. Brazil, and Spain v. Portugal.
Peter J
Most European teams will continue to disappoint, Spain might make it all the way, but this year it will be all about South America.
The Netherlands will lose against Brazil. If the US team survives against Ghana, Uruguay will take them down.
I would not be surprised if the first four teams will be Uruguay, Brazil, Argentina and Paraguay, with Brazil winning over Argentina in the finals.
Jay C
@Spaghetti Lee:
Heh – I see there’s hope for the American Soccer Fan yet….
burnspbesq
@Spaghetti Lee:
Maybe. But the game plan for Uruguay is really simple: make somebody other than Forlan beat you. I wonder who on Uruguay is going to step up if we manage to make Forlan an afterthought.
Nylund
My complete bracket:
Round of 16:
Uruguay over South Korea
USA over Ghana
Netherlands over Slovakia
Brazil over Chile
Argentina over Mexico
Germany over England
Paraguay over Japan
Spain over Portugal
Quarterfinals:
USA over Uruguay
Brazil over Netherlands
Argentina over Germany
Spain over Paraguay
Semifinals:
Brazil over USA
Argentina over Spain
Third Place:
Spain over USA
Final:
Argentina over Brazil
What I HATE about this is that the Netherlands have a great team and I think they deserve third (if not second) over both Spain and the US, but the brackets don’t work out that way.
MattR
@burnspbesq: The bracket I filled out on ESPN before the tourney started
Uruguay over
Greece(is actually S Korea)USA over Ghana
Netherlands over Slovakia
Brazil over Chile
Argentina over Mexico
Germany over England
Italyover Japan (is actually Paraguay, and I change my pick to Japan)Spain over Portugal
Round of 16
USA over Uruguay
Brazil over Netherlands
Argentina over Germany
Spain over Italy (actually Japan/Paraguay)
Semifinals
Brazil over USA
Argentina over Spain
Finals
Argentina over Brazil
If I could change things, I would ride the Netherlands all the way to the championship but I think I would leave the rest the same.
burnspbesq
The big imponderable: we have the best goalkeeper, by far, in our quarter of the draw. If we go to PKs, we win. In Timmeh we trust.
burnspbesq
Sucks that Netherlands-Brazil is a quarterfinal.
Mnemosyne
Yes, but how have your predictions fared compared to the octopus?
Randinho
@burnspbesq: I didn’t do a bracket. By the time I was able to, the games had started.
I take it one step at a time.
@MikeJ: I don’t believe that I picked any in any order, I just picked who would go through.
To everybody: let’s not get ahead of ourselves.
Yutsano
@Mnemosyne: As soon as that octopus is wrong he’s oden. Humans are fickle like that.
MattR
@Mnemosyne: I did an ESPN contest for that too. I got 24 of 48 matches correct so far and those were the predictions I used to determine who would advance to the knockout stage for my bracket predictions above. I am actually kinda proud that my bracket predictions are currently tied for 13th overall with 28 of 32 points (6 people have 30 and 6 have 29). I am sure they are gonna get blown up soon, but I am enjoying the moment while it lasts.
Derek
Impressive prognosticating there, Randi.
Randinho
@Derek:
Thanks, but it wasn’t that hard. The only real gamble I took was picking Ghana and predicting Italy wouldn’t make it out of the group.
This post on Group H has links to my other selections for you to check.
Violet
I wish we didn’t have to play Ghana. I like the thought of an African country getting further into the competition. But for that to happen the US would have to lose and I don’t want that to happen.
Mark
Don’t kick yourself – by a large margin, Uruguay and Japan had the least possession of the teams that advanced. They needed and got good luck.
Peter J
Some more observations.
South America got five teams left, and since four of them won their groups and them having a bit of a luck, these four won’t run into each other until the semifinals.
Of these four the one I see as the weakest Paraguay, is going to face the winner of Spain and Portugal, which I’d pick to be Spain.
The second weakest, Uruguay, got lucky by ending up in a great spot for advancement, first facing South Korea, and then the winner of Ghana and the US. None of these teams should be a threat against them reaching the semifinals.
South America hasn’t just had great teams this year, the teams have also had the fortune of a lot of luck.
Randinho
@Peter J: Good observation, Peter.