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??

In 14 hours and 15 minutes the US Men's National Team will take on Ghana in the Round of 16. If you remember the 2006 World Cup, Ghana defeated the United States 2-1 and the US will be seeking revenge tomorrow. This is a very different US squad from four years ago. I will be expecting a phenomenal game because the stakes are high and there is a bit of history there.

Who will you be rooting for?

I'm a bit torn. I've lived in the United States for the past decade even though I am West African. And since Ghana is the only African side to advance to the knockout stages I feel a sense of responsibility in supporting the Black Stars in the first World Cup on African soil. Who are you guys rolling with?

Sentiment and emotions aside, I have been more impressed by the US' showing thus far in the World Cup. Ghana has scored only two goals so far, both of which have been penalties. However, I certainly am not counting them out because they are a strong defensive side and have shown some attacking flair even though they have not particularly finished well.

X- Factor

It goes without saying but Landon Donovan must be on his game and be the leader he has become if the U.S. are to win this. Though he is still young, Jozy Altidore's size and strength is a huge bonus up top for the US and they ought to capitalize on it.

For the Black Stars Asamoah Gyan has to score goals. Not a penalty, but a legitimate product of a well orchestrated attack. Also, Kevin-Prince Boateng has to shine. He is new in the squad, but extremely confident on the ball and he brings creativity to the midfield.

My prediction? The U.S. wins 2-1. Whats yours?

Twitter: @LiveBrtheFutbol

Ok. I'm a bit frustrated.  First Ghana draws with Australia then my team loses 2-1 in the semifinals and I return to watch Cameroon lose to Denmark.  Not sure about you guys but the outcome of a futbol game greatly affects my mood.  At the beginning of this tournament I believed that Cote d'Ivoire, Ghana and Cameroon would be the African sides that would make some noise in the tournament.  So far, it has been only a whimper.

Ghana v Australia

Coming from a 1-0 victory over Serbia I expected the Black Stars of Ghana to be confident enough to take 3 points home against an Australian side that got mollywhopped by Germany 4-0.  There is a psychological advantage in futbol that a lot of teams are not capitalizing on it seems like.  The Black Stars had a great opportunity to comfortably sit atop of Group D (which they currently are) with 6 points.  However, they seldom played like they had the desire to win.  This is my gripe with every African side so far.  We are yet to see the tenacity and hunger for a victory from an African side.  Sure there are times when they are pressuring the opponents for minutes on end, but the attack always breaks down in the last third whether it is someone making one pass too many or taking a wild shot from outside the 18 yard box like Kojo Asamoah seemed to fancy all game.

Also, Australia played a man down for a good portion of the game.  What happened to taking advantage of this (like Greece did against Nigeria the other day)?  At times the Ghanian defense was way too exposed which is the problem with most of the African sides in the tournament.  The  Black Stars came away with a draw which certainly does not rule them out of the tournament, but if they lose to Germany and Serbia beats Australia they very well could be out of the tournament.  Is that going to happpen? Your guess is as good as mine.  My bracket is completely shot; the teams we expected to dominate the group stages are falling at the hands of teams we paid no mind at all.  Interesting stuff.

Cameroon v Denmark

Where do I begin? The match started out very promising for the Indomitable Lions with Samuel Eto'o showing his class by scoring a goal early on in the match.  He would go on to hit the post again before Nicklas Bendtner, perhaps the world's most unreasonably confident striker, would put Denmark level after a half hour.  Poor defense from the Lions would see Rommedahl score a left-footed shot that should easily have been prevented.  I am absolutely infuriated with African teams seemingly forgetting how to play defense.  It's classic futbol.  Striker at the edge of the box receives a ball, you close him down.  You don't wait for him to exercise judgment upon you and punish your keeper.  Then, as all  other African teams that find themselves down a goal with time running out, the Indomitable Lions (referred to from hereon out as the "Domitable Cubs") begin to mount the pressure on Denmark with plenty of full and half-chances, but they can not seem to find the back of the net with Idrissou having the best chances at goal with two headers that he knocks high over the bar.  Just like that the Domitable Cubs crash out of the World Cup having successfully accumulated zero points in two games.  Great stuff.

Netherlands v Japan

Brazil, Argentina, and the Netherlands are the only teams that have kept my bracket from being shot to hell. Thank you Maicon, Higuain and Sneijder, you guys are awesome.  Of the three, the Netherlands are the only ones that are yet to concede a goal.  This was a big concern for me before the tournament because I believed that if they were able to tighten up their defense and strengthen it they would go far in the world cup.   Hopefully they do.  I really like their team and they are exciting to watch.

Thanks for reading my useless World Cup rants and I hope you are all enjoying the games.  Brazil plays today.  Italy just did...er....we'll talk about that in the next blog post.

P.S.  what's up with Les Bleus?? They're looking more like the cast of a reality TV show than a futbol team of seasoned professionals.  Leave the drama and the egos elsewhere and just play futbol.  Your nation is counting on you.

Until next time, au revoir mes amis! Follow us on twitter: @LiveBrtheFutbol where we rant about all things futbol and more.