It�s possible, and i hope it becomes true, but Argentina have to defeat Germany first, and like i said preciously, if they play like they did last game i don�t think its gonna happen. And assuming that Argentina defeat Germany, in theory after that it should defeat spain.
Brazil have to defeat the always extremely dificult Holland, and later on the winner of Uruguay-Ghana. On papers Brazil have a more "easy road", and also like someone said, it always look like if Brazil wins without any effort, just doing the necesary to be better than the contender.
Like a reporter from around here said, if you play 5 points, Brazil plays 6. If you Play 7 points, Brazil plays 8, and if you play 10 points, Brazil also plays 10 but for longer time.

I have nothing to add to the thread regarding football's rise in the USA...but I wanted to add that I lucked out and got Brazil in my office sweepstakes. AU$20 in and the winner gets $350.

With Australia out I am following closely the other green and gold team!

GO BRAZIL!!!

Isn't baseball attendance plummeting?

Not for the MLB in general but attendance has indeed dropped a lot for certain teams that are stuck in bad markets. Attendance at games for the big market teams like the Yankees, Red Sox and Dodgers has been better than ever.

Japan vs Paraguay, what a disappointment. Worst game of the tournament so far.

Yeah, shame to resolve it on a die-roll like that, though the shootouts are fun to watch.

Thankfully i didn�t saw the game, the security guard from where i work said thet it was a terrible bad game.

Well, Paraguay passed and now there are four southamerican teams on quarters, and there is the very unlikely to happen oportunity to have a fully southamerican semifinals .

So Spain won vs Portugal

Again wasn`t the game one would have expected, but one has to say that Spain played very disciplined and tactical effective.

The goal was again offside, but it was not easy to see though.

It was? Have to re-check didn't seem like it.


Edit: You're right he was offside. Very difficult to see at first but he was.

Ah yes, complacency, the ever motivating atmosphere. You realize these guys get paid to do this? Even the players themselves know they should have done better, so really my rant is nothing more than what is already understood by those who follow such things. To say that soccer is a niche sport ( not referencing you Letterboy1) and that Americans don't care (referencing you) is again wrong. Even in the small southern town where I live , and as an adult, I can find a pick up game and even play in a league. I can't even do that for football or baseball, though certainly could for basketball. It's not that we don't care, clearly I do, as do many others.

Good points Killdevil. But the level or "caring" that Americans have for soccer is about equal to the level of caring that we have for ballet. We think it's great for the kids (and pick-up games), but not enough to see a serious future in it. With baseball, football, and basketball it's a different story. But I hope the gap is closing.

Crap, I like the ballet too... Think I'm off to post in the men shouldn't wear crocs thread .

With all due respect to USA team and its players, i think you are wrong. Its true they could have gone farther, but only because they had to play against Ghana on 16th round. But the true is that USA don�t have the team with enough skill to be a truly a candidate to win the WC.
Lots of teams on the WC prepare themself to have a good defense and from there see what happens, and its no enough if you really have the ambition to win the WC. Look Switzerland for example, they made a very good defense, and with that they won over Spain, for a lot of people the biggest candidate of the WC, but then loose to Chile and all they needed to do was a victory over Honduras, the weakest team of the zone, to go to the next round. But they couldn�t score because they didn�t know how to attack when you are forced to do it. If you want to win the WC, a good defense is a must, but its not enough, you must have players and a team that is capable to score on very defensive teams. So far, the only teams that showed that capability are Germany, Argentina, Brazil, Holland and in a small degree Spain.
USA came out first on its zone because they had luck with England (they scored thanks to a huge mistake from the goalkeeper) and England made a terrible tournament. But if USA had to face any of the five teams mentioned, most likely they would have lost on the normal 90 minutes. With such a big population and good professional sportsman certainly USA have the potential to make a very good team, but its still far from it. There must be an increase in the quality of player on its own professional league for that to happens. When USA football (soccer) league reaches a level if importance close to your basketball league, if it ever happens, then you will most likely have a team with the real capability to win a WC. You must realize that in Europe and Southamerica, football leagues are as important as your basketball and american football leagues.

I know the English dont hold their team in high regard but I'm still ecstatic that USA managed to get a 1-1 tie against them.

One heck of a match coming up tomorrow... Brasil-Netherlands! - Could be the best European and south american bets for a champion team.

Even Canada could get a 1-1 tie against the current English team.

Goal for Brazil!

Go Holland!

Whoa, Brasil looks incredibly strong. The Netherlands are pressed back and hardly had a chance in the first half.

Nice little lob over the top, goal for the Dutch!