Ready for the Knockout Rounds

The first three games of the round of 16 have not disappointed. I KNEW that the first game, Brazil vs. Chile, was going to go to penalty kicks even before it started. With this tournament the extremes are just inevitable. I was happy that Brazil started the game better than they had in the knockout rounds. Neymar and co applied a lot of early pressure and had some great creative chances. After Hulk's give away and the resulting Chile goal the Brazilians reverted back to their lackluster and sloppy style of play. The sad part is is that Alexis Sanchez's goal was practically in slow motion. Julio Cesar clearly could have stopped Sanchez's weak side footed shot. The goal confirmed my belief that Cesar is really not that good of goalie. I still believe this even though he saved two of Chile's penalty kicks but that is primarily due to good luck. Cesar did a good job of guessing which side the players were going to go proving that you don't have to be better to win, you just have to be lucky. The man of this match was Hulk. He was one of the few players who in the second half looked liked they cared. He had a great goal disallowed and proved really problematic for the Chilean defense. I think he clearly made up for his give away that the Chilean goal. 

Brazil's showing yesterday did not instill confidence in their progression in this tournament. I think that the Colombian's will prove problematic to Brazil's oftentimes shaky back line. The Colombian's showing against the Uruguayans was impressive. James' two goals, especially the first, were great and have helped catapult him to a new level of superstardom. I can see him making a big money move away from Monaco and heading to a team in La Liga and the Premiership. The Colombians are one of the few teams in the World Cup that have both a good defense and a good offense and have a shot of shutting down Neymar, who is supposedly injured with a swollen thigh. Who knows if that is really the truth. I do not feel bad at all that the Uruguayans went out without scoring a goal and not really being that impressive. It is safe to say that I am still a little bitter about Suarez.

One of the many informative Google World Cup Trends graphics

The Mexico vs Netherlands started off on a good foot with the cutest Google Doodle. I really like that Google is changing their doodles multiple times a day in honor of the World Cup. If you haven't I would also check out Google's World Cup trends page, they have created some really cute graphics and interesting facts about what people are searching for during this year's tournament.

I LOVE this doodle!! That lion is so cute!!

Another personal favorite and my sister's favorite doodle! 

The Mexicans played a very impressive first half despite the oppressive heat in the stadium that made me tired and I was sitting on my butt. You know that the day is really hot when the fans in the section directly in the sun have to leave to find shade, and they are all drunk on alcohol and soccer fandom. The second half started well for the Mexicans, clearly since that's when they scored their goal. I was confused as to why Miguel Herrera felt the need to take out Dos Santos, the goal scorer, for a more defensive minded player leaving the Mexicans with only one offensive option. I believe that a 1-0 victory is not a comfortable one and would not play for a tie. The Mexican team resigned themselves to defending the Netherlands in their own half for much of the second half and when they did get the ball had only one player up field for the counter attack. Even bringing in Chicharito did not provide the Mexicans with a good offensive option on the counter attack.

Clearly Arjen Robben was the best player on the Dutch team. He was super problematic for the Mexican defense drawing a lot of late tackles. I felt that their should have been a penalty called in the first half since Arjen was just too quick for the Mexican defense. I have spoken about Robben before and have given him some flack but it can not be disputed that he is an amazing player. He reminds me alot of Messi, with their dominant left foot, quickness, and ball control that allows them to somehow get around defenders. Sneijder's goals was truly amazing and was a pay off for what I believed was an inevitable Netherlands goal. It is clear that Mexico is not adept at defending corners and their was no way that Ochoa could have blocked that shot. The late penalty is a bitter pill to swallow. I do not believe that Robben should have been awarded that penalty since it was a soft foul but Robben did a Academy Award winning performance of selling it as a foul. It is sad that the Mexicans went out so late since they have really had a great tournament but I, personally, am not that torn up about it. Truthfully, I wanted the Dutch to win since I think that they have an all round better team. Their ability to come back from behind and put off the Mexican team is proof that they are a good team and have the ability to go far in the tournament. 

Such a great goal!