Conclusion of the last sixteen

Last night, the better teams won. So, it is goodbye to Christiano Ronaldo, some of the readers of this blog think I have an agenda against him. I do not, he was a great player. He played for some teams I do not particularly like, but that is it. My issue was that he should have known when to step aside, he was a heavy weight on some corks trying to stay afloat and, in the end, he dragged them down.

Espana march on, they have now not conceded a goal in seven world cup matches. which is a record. They have not lost in thirty five games, they will face the Brussel Sprouts in the next round. The Sprouts duly thumped the good ole boys from the US of A who to be honest did not turn up and may have been distracted by the revoked red card incident, which certainly fired up the sprouts.

Tonight we start with the Argies against the Pharaohs, Messi et al against the Prince of Egypt, Salah. This is the first time that the Pharaohs have scaled these heights, to be honest they have had a rather easy run to reach this far and normally one would discount the chances of a victory over the reigning world champions.

However, the Argies struggled mightily in their previous game against the Blue Sharks, the darlings of this tournament from the islands of Cape Verde, winning in extra time by three goals to two and it will be interesting to see how they react to that game.

 

They have never faced each other in a competitive match, and I cannot see the Pharaohs advancing to the next stage despite the Argies struggles in the last game. In fact, the Argies may come as hungry as crocodiles from the River Nile ready to feast on some tasty Egyptian flesh. Two players apart from Salah and Messi to look out for.

Martinez has shone

Marmoush needs to step up

The final game in this round is between the Cartel neckties of Colombia and the Swiss cow bell ringers. Out of all the eight games in this round this is probably the hardest to predict.

As I wrote previously, the neckties have been quietly efficient, keeping a low profile as they have stealthily advanced to this stage. The Gnomes from Zurich started slowly but are maturing like a lump of Gruyere or Emmentaler, I suspect they would prefer I use the first of those two cheeses for the analogy as the second is full of holes.

A new star has emerged for the Swiss in this tournament, but the Colombians have lots of skillful players, I really do not know who to go with here. I think this might be the only game in this round that could go to extra time and even penalties.

Diaz has looked good

Manzambi shining bright

They have faced each other once before, in the 1994 world cup, which of course will always be remembered for the tragic murder of Andres Escobar, a few days after he scored an own goal in the neckties 2-1 defeat to the US of A.

 

Interesting enough the man who served time for the murder of Escobar was himself shot and killed earlier this year.

 

We will be back on Thursday to preview the first quarter final, the intriguing clash between the Frogs legs and the Fez Heads.