An overview of the group matches in South Africa 2010 & the knockout stage. Let's hope for more excitement & goals than we have got so far!

Thank you Argentina, Diego Maradona, Lionel Messi, Gonzalo Higuain & co. Not just because of your fans! But also for keeping the faint flame of exciting football in the group stages alive & for playing attacking football & trying hard to score lots of goals! Argentina's 7 goals & 30 shots on target made them the only team that averaged more than 2 goals per game & scored in all three group matches (Portugal also scored 7 goals but had two 0-0 draws & a 7-0 win against the hapless North Korea)

Only a handful of other so called footballing giants managed to show glimpses of brilliance in their group stage matches. Brazil, Portugal, Germany (against Australia), Spain, Holland & Uruguay played exciting attacking football at times but not with the consistency of Argentina. On the other hand, the 2006 finalists France & Italy were bitterly disappointing & England have looked lethargic & at times tactically lost!

This has made this World Cup, the tournament for the underdogs to a great extent. Whilst African teams largely disappointed by underachieving overall & only Ghana qualifying, the so called minnows of the rest of the world put up a brave fight & at times even thrilled with their overachievement.

Special mention should go to New Zealand for their brave unbeaten effort & Slovakia for defeating Italy & earning qualification in the process. Their group was meant to be a walk in the park for the reigning champions Italy. Instead the brave effort of New Zealand & Slovakia earned Italy the embarrassing wooden spoon in the group.

Some of the more seasoned but lower ranked World Cup campaigners such as USA, Japan, South Korea, Chile, Mexico & Paraguay also qualified with distinction whilst the likes of Australia's Socceroos, South Africa & Ivory Coast left the tournament with their heads high

As a result, so far South Africa 2010 a group stage that has produced the lowest average goals per match & many defensive & rather dull matches as weaker teams attempt to counter the "in Vogue" 4-2-3-1 style of most attacking teams.

Whilst this system can producing exciting attacking football, it is also very effective in protecting a lead once a team scores & can therefore produce overly defensive matches.

regardless of tactics, a major feature of South Africa 2010 was the European teams' poor 7 at times lethargic displays. The South Americans meanwhile have been comfortably impressive. 7 of the 13 European qualifiers, including Italy & France got eliminated.
This will undoubtedly raise calls for a reduction in Europe's quota again, specially as 4 of the 5 South American teams topped their groups & the Oceania Champions New Zealand finished ahead of the World Champions Italy.

It is well known that European teams have never won the World Cup when it has been held in the Southern Hemisphere or Central America & this year has so far been no exception. The knockout stage has produced more difficult passage for the qualifiers in the bottom half of the draw with heavyweights Germany, England, Spain, Portugal & the favourites Argentina all in that section of the draw. Europe's misery is compounded by the fact that its remaining 6 teams have been paired against each other guaranteeing Europe a mere 3 teams in the quarter finals as opposed to 6 in Germany 2006.

Here are my predictions:

Uruguay will get the better of the brave South Korea. This is the first time in many years that Uruguay have produced attractive & attacking football.

USA have been very entertaining & their die hard attitude should eliminate Africa's last remaining representative Ghana. Ghana, whilst fast on the wings, are careless in front of the goal & were lucky to draw with the 10 man Socceroos & only qualified on goal difference.

Holland will have Robben back & will account for Slovakia. Slovakia, in their first World Cup as an independent nation rewrote the history books by gallantly eliminating the reigning champions Italy & should therefore be very proud of their achievement.

Brazil would undoubtedly have preferred to face a non South American team & must be worried about the fearless Chilean side. Chile is coached by the Argentine Marcelo Bielsa, one of the most attack minded coaches in the World. He has instilled self confidence in his young side & as they proved against Spain with 10 men, they are capable of beating any team on their day. The only thing that could get Brazil over the mark is their vast experience at this level

Argentina & Maradona have proven all pundits & commentators wrong. Messi & co have produced disciplined attacking performances & are now favourites to beat Mexico & even go all the way to winning the Cup.

England vs Germany penalty shootout in the semi finals of World Cup 1990 won by Germany

• Germany have overall been more solid than an out of sorts England teams with Rooney struggling to find form. However this ultimate World Cup classic will see players on both side shift up a gear for supremacy in a footballing rivalry which goes back to many decades & has previously produced the 1966 World Cup final, 1970 quarter final & 1990 semi final. This match will be no exception & I am merely picking Germany because I am a life long hard core fan of the Nationalmannschat!

• Paraguay have been solid in defence & disciplined in their attack in topping their group whilst Japan scored two world class free kicks on their way to qualification at the expense of Denmark. This is the battle of equals but the South Americans tactical superiority should prevail.

• Spain & Portugal are both capable of winning this tussle but the fact that Portugal failed to attack or score against Brazil (& Ivory Coast) is a major concern & slightly tips the match in favour of Spain & the free scoring & impressive David Villa.

Whatever the out come of the above matches, let's hope they are all free flowing with an abundance of attacking football & lots of goals! Otherwise South Africa 2010 will go down as the dullest World Cup in history with the lowest average goal per match!