Excuse me while I gather my thoughts, while they are still all over the floor after that USA vs. Portugal game. Wow, what a mistake by the United States defense in the 94th minute to let Portgual equalize the game and steal a point to turn the Group of Death into the Group of Anything-Can-Happen. For 80 minutes the US dominated the game, pressuring Portugal and having many chances at goal. They protected a 2-1 lead until extra time. Then what could arguably be called the greatest ball in the tournament so far, Cristiano Ronaldo put at cross on his teammate's head that ended in the back of the net. Now Portugal lives to see another day, and the US must do its math to advance to the Round of 16.
Today, we have more pivotal match ups to watch that will determine the pairings of Group A and Group B in the next round. Chile and Netherlands square off to see who will take bragging rights and a favored seed out of their Group. The Dutch will be without the services of Robin van Persie due to yellow card accumulation suspension. The Chileans may look to rest Arturo Vidal as even a loss in this game would not leave them out of the next phase.
Group A will be decided between Brazil, Mexico, and Croatia to see who will play against the Group B winners. Brazil plays Cameroon at the same time Mexico plays Croatia. All teams in this third match must play their games at the same time as their Group counterparts to insure there are no thrown games due to results earlier in the day. Needless to say, we will have a two games set after today that will give us insight into the knockout stage of the World Cup.
Today's Games:
Chile vs. Netherlands,
Spain vs. Australia,
Brazil vs. Cameroon,
Mexico vs. Croatia,
My Picks:
Netherlands
Spain
Brazil
Mexico
My Record:
18 out of 32, 56%
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