Deutschland 2006: Quarterfinals Preview: The Case For Upsets

While each quarterfinal of the World Cup certainly has a favorite, a not so far-fetched and even convincing case can be made in each match for the underdog to pull an upset.

ARGENTINA v GERMANY

Its commonly believed that the class of the tournament so far has been Argentina. Their movement and creativity has been a revelation when compared with the negative tactics and bullying by teams like Italy. But a closer look shows that outside of their 6-0 defeat of Serbia & Montenegro, they have not overwhelmed teams. In the first match of the tournament, against Ivory Coast, they played well but just survived a late, tense onslaught by the Africans. And in their Round of 16 match, only a lack of creativity on the part of the Mexicans in the final third throughout the 120 minutes spared the Argentines blushes.

On Friday, they will be coming up against a German team who may be the most consistent of the tournament. They have impressed in each of their 4 matches steadily improving. They could defeat the South Americans as they will go into the match without fear, meaning they will constantly attack and with a greater width and more promising strikers than any team the Argentines have met. The Germans may be slow at times in defense, but if Michael Ballack and Torsten Frings continue their magnificent play in midfield, it may not matter.

Do not be surprised to see the Germans win it late or on penalties.

ITALY v UKRAINE

Italy have only really impressed during their first match against Ghana. Since then, they have been on the fortunate side of several referee calls and poor finishing by their opponents. They could have easily lost to the US and Australia and defeated a depleted Czech Republic team. They have been running on luck throughout the tournament and could fall to the first quality team they face.

Ukraine are probably not that team though they have proved to be resilient after a slow start. They were fortunate to survive Switzerland in the last round, but display an energy that most teams do not have. And the Italians have yet to play against a striker with the quality of Andriy Shevchenko.

Look for the Italians again to get a questionable penalty in injury time.

ENGLAND v PORTUGAL

England are hoping to continue that time honored tradition (think Brazil ’94 or West Germany ’90) of teams not playing well, but eventually winning the World Cup. They have yet to look fluid, confident or organized. But with Wayne Rooney finally getting some games under his belt, they may flourish against a Portugese team depleted by the flurry of red and yellow cards received in their match against Holland.

But Portugal will be the first team England will face in the tournament (outside of maybe Sweden) with true world class players at nearly every position, even with the suspensions of Deco and Costinha. They have the creativity, guile, and offensive threat to keep the England midfield from coming forward, cutting off the delivery to Rooney who will be playing as a lone striker.

Based on the evidence so far, if England do not get their act together quickly, Portugal could win by 2 goals.

BRAZIL V FRANCE

Brazil are another team that have improved as the tournament has gone on, but against Ghana in their last match, the Africans definitely had enough shots to score a few goals and the 3-0 score flattered. There were many holes in the Brazilian defense and only poor finishing by the Ghanaians kept the Brazilians in the tournament.

France do have the potential and experience to capitalize on these opportunities. Theirry Henry and Frank Ribery both have a goalscorer’s mentality and can take advantage of the Brazilians ageing and slow defense.

If Zinedine Zidane and Patrick Viera have the games against Brazil that they had against Spain, France could be headed to the semifinals.