A few minutes ago marked the end of 90 minutes of the resurgence of Brazilian futbol as we know it: stylish, fast and very very entertaining.  Long gone are the days of Dunga's defensive and conservative minded Brazil that we saw in South Africa.  Tonight we saw a very new and fresh squad that seems to be a rough draft of the team that will take the stage in their home country in 2014.  If so, I will begin putting my pennies into my piggy bank because I am going to Brazil to witness this kind of futbol.

Talking Points of the match:

The U.S. came out very aggressively in the first half with Landon Donovan having a formidable chance at goal in the 3rd minute.  After this, the U.S. seemed to slow down and lost a great deal of composure.   I expected a lot more from a full U.S. squad that has collectively more experience than the entire Brazilian squad.  Michael Bradley was the best player in white, but seemed to have no support pushing forward.

A young Brazilian squad looking to impress on a massive stage put on quite the show.  Let's talk a little bit about the 'fro-haux'd-haired skinny kid named Neymar.  He was, undoubtedly, the star of today's match for me and I am excited to watch him again.  At 18yrs of age he showed a great deal of confidence on the ball and worked the U.S. defense like it was practice. It was a lot of fun to watch.  At first I thought, "here goes another pelada-wielding kid with nothing else to show" and then boom, the 'fro-haux puts the ball past Tim Howard's post.   But the build up was sublime. classic Brazil. classic Joga Bonito.

Jozy Altidore....what were you doing????? For someone with his size and speed I expected him to be much more dangerous and daunting against a Brazilian side whose heaviest player is probably 160lbs (20lbs of that being pure fat in the stomach. *cough* Robinho *cough*).  He looked very nervous and uncomfortable on the ball.  Add to that he sat in one position with his hands extended calling for a pass instead of giving the attacker an option by making a run into open territory.  He's young I guess, so he has time to develop.

Ederson pulls his hamstring on his first touch on the ball trying to dribble into the sideline. pure comedy.

All in all, it was a fun game to watch, and the 70k+ fans in attendance shows that futbol is really picking up some serious steam in the 'States, which is good.  Hopefully the increased interest will see us get better commentators who actually talk about the game being played and not how awesome every player is when he does something he is expected to do (when Gomez gets into the box for the header).  'Til later folks! Live Breathe Futbol.

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What's up guys? We've had a two day break from the World Cup as the teams remaining in the tournament need to rest up before the Quarter Finals that resume tomorrow morning.  I've had some time to review matches, scores and other factors that may affect the games tomorrow and Saturday so here are my predictions.

Ghana v Uruguay

Prediction: Ghana 2-1 Uruguay

Why: Ghana is the last African team left in the tournament, so of course they are going to win. Just kidding. Seriously, Uruguay has performed very well this tournament, but their defense is yet to be tested in my opinion.  In order for Ghana to win they must shut down Diego Forlan and Luis Suarez.  How will they do this? Forlan has to be closed down quickly and not permitted too much space; we saw what he did to S. Africa when they left him a yard of space.  As for Luis Suarez they have to prevent him from getting in behind defenders because he is very good at doing so.

Netherlands v Brazil

Prediction: Brazil 2-2 Netherlands. Netherlands advance on penalties

Why: They are both very quality sides with immense talent.  M. Bastos is the left back and he fancies going forward so I think the Oranje will be able to catch Brazil on a counter attack spearheaded by Arjen Robben.  It won't happen twice, though.  I presume the Netherlands' 2nd goal will come from Dirk Kuyt.  Fabiano gets one and Kaka gets the other.

I'm still contemplating long and hard about the Argentina v Germany game, but I think Germany will edge out Messi and co.  Check back for more on that.

Spain v Paraguay

Prediction: Spain 4-1 Paraguay

Why: Nobody has figured out how to stop David Villa. 

What are your predictions??

Earlier today the Netherlands faced Slovakia and Brazil faced Chile.  Here's my take on both.

Netherlands v Slovakia

I really like the Netherlands and wish to see them win the World Cup, but that is a bit of a stretch.  Here's why.  They are certainly a very talented squad and I think they have the skill and depth to go far in the tournament, but a friend of mine made a very good point about the boys in Orange: history doesn't favor them.  At first my reaction was "so? every game is different" but then it all began to make sense.  If you look back into the history books, the  Netherlands have reached the World Cup final twice (1974, 1978) but lost to W. Germany and Argentina, respectively.  In recent times the farthest they have made it is 4th place 12 years ago in France.  A history like this doesn't exactly give a team the confidence it needs in big games.  If you were to compare them to Brazil, who they face in the quarter finals on Friday for instance, history favors Brazil to win the entire tournament, and the Brazilians know this, as well as their opponents.  Your swagger is completely different knowing that you have been here many times before and taken the chip.  But like ESPN says, "One Game Changes Everything."  Onto the game commentary.

The Netherlands looked very, very good today against Slovakia.  They were composed and their chemistry has been exceptional all tournament.  Robben's goal was typical Robben; starts on the right, puts it on his left foot, drives left past one defender, past another, and then takes the left footed shot and this time, he beats the goal keeper with a low shot.  RvP did well with the decoy run.  However, the credit goes to Wesley Sneijder whose vision was superb and delivery was even better.

Slovakia never looked menacing and did not really test the Dutch defense.  I have said that in order for the Netherlands to do well, their defense must be exceptional, but I am yet to see a team really test their defense and expose the holes in it.  Trust a team of Brazil's quality to do that on Friday.  The second goal was exceptional for me and all the credit goes to Dirk Kuyt for being composed and having the patience to wait for Sneijder to get into the box before he played the ball in.  Unselfish play. That's what futbol is all about.

Brazil v Chile

Once, a few years ago, I was fortunate enough to eat lunch at a five star French restaurant (Le Bec Fin) in Philadelphia.  The lunch was crazy expensive and the portion was too small to even feed a stray dog, but the quality of the food was out of this world.  You could taste it.  I left there hungry and was looking for the nearest McDonalds, but the experience was unmatched.  Why am I telling this story?  Brazil just has that quality. And it was evident today against Chile.  I want to sit here and recap everything that was so awesome about Brazil, but there's just too much to name.  Their movement on and off the ball was excellent, the finishing was superb, and their defense was rock solid.  Sucks that they will be facing the Netherlands so early in the tournament, but what will be will be. It will definitely be a game to remember.

Thanks for reading, and the comments have been great! keep them coming, I love hearing what you all have to say.  Also follow us on twitter: @LiveBrtheFutbol to keep up with my futbol ramblings amongst other things.

The games continue in a few hours.  Japan v Paraguay. Spain v Portugal. Exciting stuff! Have a great night/day!

Another interesting day of futbol took place all over South Africa today.  Paraguay took on Slovakia, Italy faced New Zealand and the Brazilians faced Cote d'Ivoire.  The saga continues.  On to the reviews.

Italy v New Zealand

After a first round of games that saw most teams being understandably cautious I hoped we would see the defending champions come out gunning to secure three points against 78th ranked New Zealand.  Wait, I momentarily forgot that we are talking about Italy.   New Zealand's Shane Smeltz opens up the scoring in the 6th minute to give them a shock lead.  Daniele De Rossi DIVES in the box (yeah I said it) and earns the Azzuri a penalty that is tucked away by Vincenzo Iaquinta in the 28th minute.  1-1 draw.  After the second round of play the Italians are tied for second place with two points.  A dismal showing by the current World Champions.

Paraguay v Slovakia

I didn't wake up in time to catch this game (working late sucks especially during the World Cup).  It ended 2-0 with Paraguay sitting at the top of Group F with 4 points.  Enrique Vera opens up the scoring in the 26th minute to put Paraguay ahead.  Cristian Riveros secures the 3 points in the 85th minute from an assist by Paulo da Silva.

Cote d'Ivoire v Brazil

This is probably the game the whole world was looking forward to.  Why? The strongest African side versus the Brazilians.  The stage was set for a game of epic proportions.  And it did not disappoint.  Except for the hideous, suffocatingly-tight jerseys donned by the Elephants.  But this isn't a fashion blog, so onto actual futbol commentary.  For the first twenty minutes I was very proud of the Elephants for holding onto the ball and more or less controlling the tempo of the game and pressing forward.  Unfortunately, my pride took a massive hit in the 24th minute when Luiz Fabiano decided that it was a good idea to score his first goal in a World Cup against the Ivory Coast.  The build up play was beautiful one touch futbol between Fabiano and Kaka to set up the goal.

Three minutes into the second half Fabiano, with his confidence peaking, scores a pretty nice goal that was preceded by what is, perhaps, the greatest display of patty cake ever.  In real time the goal was exceptional.  He made the Ivory Coast defense look like a volleyball net and then places the ball on his left food to guide it past Boubacar Barry.  However, thanks to the super duper slow-mo instant replay fancied by ESPN/ABC in this World Cup, it becomes evident that Fabiano's first touch was with his left arm and his "chest" touch to control the ball right before he fires it home was indeed his right bicep.  Rubbish.  What infuriated me the more, thanks again to the super slow mo, was the referee jogging back with Fabiano after the goal and touching his left bicep and smiling with Fabiano presumably saying "I saw your handball, but sick goal bro! I wasn't gonna disallow that!" Despicable.

Dindane is taken off and Gervinho comes on.  Why? After his exceptional display against Portugal in the first round of play why did he start their most important game on the bench?? I am seriously appalled at some of the decision making in regards to African sides so far.  The better players are either not played or are brought on when it is a little bit too late. Anyhow, the difference is immediately evident.  Gervinho presses forward and cuts through the Brazilian defense, but again the finish is just not there.  Then the lesson in Joga Bonito is completed by Kaka's beautiful pass into the box that Elano catches with his left foot and slices it past Barry to put the Brazilians up 3-0.  Game over.  Didier Drogba was a non-factor in this game until his header in the 78th minute from a beautiful cross from Yaya Toure.  It was a beautiful finish and I won't rag on Drogba too much.  It's tough playing with a broken arm.  I commend him for playing the entire game.

The fight.

We need to address (we meaning futbol fans and lovers of the sport and FIFA and the players) the issue of diving and hideous acting in futbol.  It's horrible and it's a disgrace.  You bump into Kaka, who's clearly just guarding himself, he hits you in the chest and you fall to the floor clutching your face. Stop it.  Perhaps the holiest and well-mannered player in all of futbol gets sent off for a bogus challenge. Why not give the diver a card?  It's all over though, the Brazilians already had the game in the bag and now Ivory Coast find themselves with only one point after two games.  Keep the faith boys, hopefully Portugal can draw agaisnt North Korea, get obliterated by Brazil and you can defeat the North Koreans.  I highly doubt it will happen like that, but again, you never know.

Enjoy the games.  The saga begins again tomorrow morning with Portugal taking on North Korea.  Thank you all for reading, drop a comment if you will or catch us on twitter: @LiveBrtheFutbol rambling on about futbol and other uselessness.  Until next time, joga bonito!!