World Cup: On to the round of 16

With the group stages finished yesterday, let’s briefly check out the status of Western Hemispheric squads:

Still in the tournament-

Argentina and Mexico kickoff today at 3pm with the winner going through to play Germany in the quarterfinals. Argentina won their group by finishing undefeated including a 6-0 drubbing of Serbia and Montenegro. Mexico finished second in their group and is hoping that the return of Jared Borguetti will spark an offense that has scored only one goal in their past two matches. (Update: 10 minutes into a very exciting match and both teams are tied 1-1).

Ecuador meets England tomorrow morning with both squads hopeful for victory. “We have nothing to fear” is the mantra of Ecuador’s coach, Luis Fernando Suárez, as the team will be fit and with most of their starters well-rested after missing the last group match. (Kickoff is set for about 11am).

Lastly, Brazil will play Tuesday morning against surprise squad Ghana. Brazil secured first place in their group yesterday by beating Japan 4-1 with 2 goals by Ronaldo who tied Gerd Mueller’s record for most career World Cup goals scored.

Returning home-

After a promising start in a first game loss against Germany, Costa Rica lost their other two games to end with one of the worst records in the tournament. The “ticos” allowed nine goals to be scored against them.

If the United States seemed to catch all the breaks in the 2002 World Cup, then this year’s edition was a polar opposite. Thursday’s 2-1 loss to Ghana sealed the elimination for the U.S. as they ended with only one goal and five shots on goal in three games and a heap of scorn against coach Bruce Arena.

Trinidad and Tobago surprised many by playing well during their games inasmuch as they did not win one game. The “Soca Warriors” caused quite a stir by tying their first game versus Sweden before falling to England and Paraguay.

Speaking of Paraguay, two losses in their first two games against England and Sweden ensured their elimination from the World Cup. Still, Paraguay’s coach feels that the team should not change its aggressive and attacking style of play.

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