World Cup, Week Two

Hooray! We're out of the round-robin group stage!

The biggest news of the second week was the high-profile and eminently satisfying meltdown of the French side. It started midway through their 2-0 loss to Mexico, when Nicolas Anelka profanely chewed out coach Raymond Domenech. Domenech sent Anelka home.

In retaliation the French side went on strike and refused to train for one day. Things went from bad to even worse, and now the side that came in second in 2006 is gone.

Hot on their heels was the world champion in 2006, Italy. The CDLs, or Cheating Drama Llamas, lost to Slovakia, and had to go back to Rome in disgrace.

So, here we go with the next eight games that start this morning (Eastern time), and my picks for each matchup:

Saturday:
Uruguay v South Korea. I like the Koreans in this. They showed a lot of verve.
Ghana v USA. I want the USA to win, thank you.

Sunday:
Germany v England. I want Germany.
Argentina v Mexico. Although I want Mexico to win, I think it'll be the Argentines.

Monday:
Netherlands v Slovakia. Team Orange are the better side.
Brazil v Chile. Although neither side showed much enthusiasm, I think Brazil will win.

Tuesday:
Paraguay v Japan. Japan, plain and simple.
Spain v Portugal. A choice of pigs here, but some pigs are more equal than others. I want Spain to win, just to see Ronaldo throw a crybaby tantrum on the pitch.

And there you have it! The knockout round starts in three hours or so, so we'll see what transpires.

USA!
USA!
USA!