Well the first round has gone as expected so far. I certainly expected Argentina to beat Mexico, but it turned out to be tougher then I thought it would be. Even with a injury-riddled team I thought England would win out over Ecaudor. I thought Germany would have little problem with Sweden the way Germany has looked so far. The Portugal-Netherlands match is the first really interesting first round matchup. Italy should beat Australia, but Australia look like a plucky team, and very physical, and Italy isnt quite as intimidating as in years past so they best be careful. Brazil I would be shocked to lose in this round, but still Ghana has looked very impressive in their final two pool games, it could be a bit closer then anybody thinks, but then again Brazil really picked it up a notch in their final pool game, which would have been 8-1 without the Japanese goalie playing so well. I see Spain winning out over declining France, and Switzerland coming through vs Ukraine.
I also am not convinced on that Germany-Argentina matchup. Argentina played a tame final round robin game with the Dutch, but so did the Dutch who rested a bunch of starters, it is like both countries were happy with their draw and were playing for the scoreless tie anyway, so I did not read much into that after seeing it. Argentina really struggled with Mexico yesterday though, they look like they may have already peaked. Germany will be inspired by the home crowd, if Argentina can score first I think they win, but if not they could be in alot of trouble.
