France vs. Germany
A classic clash of European powers, but they come in to this one from opposite positions. Germany was seen as one of the big favorites coming in, but since that opening demolition of Portugal, they’ve failed to impress much. Meanwhile, France came in with fairly low expectations, especially when Franck Ribery went down with an injury, but they’ve arguably been the best team in the tournament to this point. This is a tricky pick for me, as the Germans were my pick to win it all and the French were my “sleeper” pick. I have to stick with the quality of the Germans. I wonder if they will put Miroslav Klose or Andre Schurrle into the starting line-up, because they’ve really struggled to find goals over their past two games. I’ll go with Germany 2-1.
Brazil vs. Colombia
Somewhat similar to Germany/France, with a big favorite who has underwhelmed against a team that has rolled through with four relatively easy wins to this point. But, this time, I’m going with the upset. Part of the reason I didn’t pick Brazil to win this tournament was because I felt like the pressure would just weigh them down and balance out any positive push they get from the home-field advantage. I think we’ve seen that bear out in their performance, as well as the way that numerous players broke down in tears after their WIN over Chile. I think they’re just wound up too tight, and with each successive step in this tournament it gets squeezed tighter. Meanwhile, the Colombians have played with such confidence and ease. They won’t have the home crowd in this one that they’ve had in the previous four games, but they’ve shown the talent to take down this Brazil team, and even to win this tournament. Colombia knocks out the hosts with a 3-2 win.
Argentina vs. Belgium
As great as the two games on Friday are, this one is probably the most interesting for me. I see it as virtually a coin flip game on a neutral field, but this isn’t a totally neutral field, of course. Argentina is playing on their home continent and will certainly have the advantage in crowd support. All that being said, I’m going with my Belgians in the upset. Belgium has found yet another young talent in 19-year-old striker Divock Origi. The big clubs of Europe will be falling all over each other trying to sign him away from Lille after this tournament. And now Romelu Lukaku may have his confidence back after a great performance as a sub against the US. It seems like they may have settled on the attacking midfield of Hazard, De Bruyne, and Mertens, with Witsel and Fellaini behind them. It’s a monster front six, with a top notch goalkeeper that can hide some of the deficiencies in the back four. I’ll say the Belgians find the goal in extra time for a 2-1 win.
Netherlands vs. Costa Rica
I haven’t, at any point, been a big believer in this Netherlands team, and it looked like they might be heading home as they trailed Mexico in the 88th minute last game. But now they get, by far, the weakest quarterfinal opponent out there. Costa Rica has shown themselves to be legit and they are hard to score on, with a strong defensive style and a really good keeper in Keylor Navas. But I have to go with the Dutch to find a way and win this 1-0.
