I’ve been saying for quite some time that the 2010 FIFA World Cup will end in South America. Football is one of the hardest sports to predict and I’ve been wrong so many times so don’t go around putting all your bets on what I say. However if we take in consideration the performances and results in these first two rounds of group matches you’ll see that I’m getting it all right so far.
Here is a quick breakdown on the South Americans performances:
Brazil: 2 wins, 5 goals scored, 2 goals allowed.
Argentina: 2 wins, 5 goals scored, 1 goal allowed.
Uruguay: 1 win, 1 draw, 3 goals scored, 0 goal allowed.
Paraguay: 1 win, 1 draw, 3 goals scored, 1 goal allowed.
Chile: 2 wins, 2 goals scored, 0 goal allowed.
Argentina and Brazil had problems in their opening matches but nothing beyond expectations. Every big football nation will feel the pressure of the responsibility they carry (maybe the ultra-cool Germans being the exception) but both Brazil and Argentina did their jobs and came out with wins in the first round. Then they brought us the show on their second matches. Convincing wins and a foot in the round of 16.
Uruguay and Paraguay had similar matches so far. Los Guaranis faced World Champions Italy and got an important point. La Celeste played very defensively against runners-up France and also got a point. They did a great job in the round and also convinced everyone with good presentations and solid wins against South Africa and Slovakia respectively.
Chile needs a tie against Spain to finish in first place of group H. I’m sure this will be an amazing game and don’t fool yourself thinking that Spain is a much better team than Chile. It might be true on paper but as a unit the Chilean players are clearly enjoying themselves much more than the Spaniards. Did you notice how upset Fabregas seemed when he stepped on the pitch? Did you see how Torres looked when he was replaced? Viva Chile!
And if you compare the numbers above, and the performances from the South Americans with the top European nations it’s easy to see where my argument makes some sort of sense.
In short one can say that there’s still a lot of water to run under this bridge and football is full of surprises. I truly believe that we’ll see all the five South American nations moving to the round of 16 and if we throw to this mix Mexico and the USA we could have have seven countries from the American Continent moving to the next stage of the World Cup. If that’s not a total domination then you tell me what it is.
PS: There’s a possibility for a Brazil vs. Argentina final if both countries qualify as first of their groups. How nerve-wracking would that be uh?
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