The Round of 16 draws to a close. Lionel Messi and Argentina, Xherden Shaqiri and Switzerland, Eden Hazard and Belgium, and Clint Dempsey and USA. 2 of those teams are in the quarterfinals, 2 of those teams are going home.
Round of 16: 1F Argentina vs 2E Switzerland
Result: A late 1-0 Argentine win
Goalscorers: 118' Angel di Maria (Real Madrid)
Bookings: 36' Granit Xhaka (Monchengladbach), 73' Gelson Fernandes (Freiburg), 90' Marcos Rojo (Sporting CP), 120' Angel di Maria (Real Madrid), 120+4' Ezequiel Garay (Benfica)
Lineups
Argentina (4-3-3)
Sergio Romero (Monaco); Pablo Zabaleta (Manchester City), Federico Fernandez (Napoli), Ezequiel Garay (Benfica), Marcos Rojo (Sporting CP); Fernando Gago (Boca Juniors), Javier Mascherano (Barcelona), Angel di Maria (Real Madrid); Lionel Messi (Barcelona, captain), Ezequiel Lavezzi (PSG), Gonzalo Higuain (Napoli)
Changes from last match
Sergio Aguero, who wasn't quite 100%, left on the bench replaced by Lavezzi
Subs:
Rodrigo Palacio (Inter) 74' for Ezequiel Lavezzi
Jose Maria Basanta (Monterrey) 105+1' for Marcos Rojo
Lucas Biglia (Lazio) 106' for Fernando Gago
Switzerland (4-2-3-1)
Diego Benaglio (Wolfsburg); Stephan Lichtsteiner (Juventus), Johan Djourou (Hamburger), Fabian Schar (Basel), Ricardo Rodriguez (Wolfsburg); Valon Behrami (Napoli), Gokhan Inler (Napoli, captain); Xherdan Shaqiri (Bayern Munich), Granit Xhaka (Monchengladbach), Admir Mehmedi (Freiburg); Josip Drmic (Nurnberg)
Changes from last match
Same starters and formation used against Honduras
Subs:
Gelson Fernandes (Freiburg) 66' for Granit Xhaka
Haris Seferovic (Real Sociedad) 82' for Josip Drmic
Blerim Dzemaili (Napoli) 113' for Admir Mehmedi
Despite both teams having more talented players besides their brightest stars, Messi for Argentina and Shaqiri for Switzerland have been instrumental to their success in the tournament up to this point. In the first half of normal time, Switzerland looked like the better team and had 2 great chances but it remained scoreless in halftime. Argentina began picking up the pace and looking more like themselves, but then both teams just cancelled each other out for the rest of the game. That is, until the last few minutes of extra time. A great run from Argentina threatened the Switzerland defense. Lionel Messi gave Angel di Maria a great ball in and di Maria finished it to score the decisive goal for Argentina. Switzerland got one last great chance in the form of a free kick outside Argentina's box in the last minute of the game, but Xherdan Shaqiri's shot hit the wall and time was up, allowing Argentina to breathe and move on to the quarterfinals for the 3rd World Cup in a row.
Elimination Analysis: Switzerland
Switzerland definitely looked the most out of place from the 8 seeded teams this World Cup (Germany, Brazil, Argentina, Spain, Belgium, Colombia<---first World Cup since 1998, and Uruguay, who qualified via playoffs), but they were an interesting and enigmatic team. In 2006, Switzerland were knocked out in the Round of 16 despite not conceding a goal (losing to Ukraine in a penalty shootout). In 2010, Switzerland beat Spain but failed to beat Chile and Honduras and left in the group stage. Switzerland were like a poor man's Belgium: they had a collection of decent players scattered around notable European clubs and were probably among the darkest of dark horses in this tournament. However, Switzerland definitely didn't look like a team that were going to lift the trophy. They won the games they were supposed to win (although they left it very late to score the winning goal against Ecuador), against the favorites of their group France they got defeated rather easily, and ultimately when it came down to the wire they lacked that extra bit of skill to come out on top against Argentina. Switzerland remain a team that will be happy to qualify for major tournaments in a tough region, UEFA, and with Ottmar Hitzfeld retiring, it won't be easy to find a coach as influential and intelligent as him. Switzerland will continue to be a mystery until they find consistency.
Round of 16: 1H Belgium vs. 2G United States
Result: 2-1 win for Belgium
Goalscorers: 93' Kevin de Bruyne (Wolfsburg), 105' Romelu Lukaku (Everton), 107' Julian Green (Bayern Munich)
Bookings: 18' Geoff Cameron (Stoke City), 42' Vincent Kompany (Manchester City)
Lineups
Belgium (4-2-3-1)
Thibaut Courtois (Atletico Madrid); Toby Alderweireld (Atletico Madrid), Daniel van Buyten (Bayern Munich), Vincent Kompany (Manchester City, captain), Jan Vertonghen (Tottenham); Axel Witsel (Zenit), Marouane Fellani (Manchester United); Dries Mertens (Napoli), Kevin de Bruyne (Wolfsburg), Eden Hazard (Chelsea), Divock Origi (Lille)
Changes from last match
Anthony Van Den Borre (injured), Nicolas Lombaerts, Steven Defour (red card vs. South Korea), Mousa Dembele, Adnan Januzaj, and Kevin Mirallas left on the bench which meant Alderweireld, Kompany, Witsel, Hazard, de Bruyne, and Origi were able to start.
Subs:
Kevin Mirallas (Everton) 60' for Dries Mertens
Romelu Lukaku (Everton) 91' for Divock Origi
Nacer Chadli (Tottenham) 111' for Eden Hazard
United States (4-5-1)
Tim Howard (Everton); Fabian Johnson (Hoffenheim), Omar Gonzalez (LA Galaxy), Matt Besler (Sporting Kansas City), DaMarcus Beasley (Puebla); Geoff Cameron (Stoke City), Jermaine Jones (Besiktas), Michael Bradley (Toronto FC), Alejandro Bedoya (Nantes), Graham Zusi (Sporting Kansas City); Clint Dempsey (Seattle Sounders)
Changes from last match
Change from 4-2-3-1 to 4-5-1 formation. Kyle Beckerman and Brad Davis replaced in the starting lineup by Cameron and Bedoya.
Subs:
DeAndre Yedlin (Seattle Sounders) 32' for Fabian Johnson
Chris Wondolowski (San Jose Earthquakes) 72' for Graham Zusi
Julian Green (Bayern Munich) 105+2' for Alejandro Bedoya
USA got out of a tough group but are still rarely going to be favorites in any knockout stage encounter. Belgium got out of a weak group unscathed but are still a talented team. USA's worst nightmares would be that they would face the same problems they faced against Germany (being unable to hang onto possession, putting immense stress on the defense and goalkeeper) and that Belgium's talented but inexperienced team would finally start reaching their true potential. And in this match, slowly but surely those nightmares were coming true but USA definitely did put up more of a fight. They did get chances but it was still Belgium who had the bulk of them and if it weren't for some poor finishing from the likes of Kevin de Bruyne, Eden Hazard, and Jan Vertonghen (it was mostly them, but almost everyone except Thibaut Courtois got at least one crack at Tim Howard) and Tim Howard making 16 (yes, 16, saves), USA would've been massively screwed. However USA refused to give up. The rare opportunities they did get they put into better use than Belgium and Chris Wondolowski had a huge opportunity to break Belgian hearts and give USA a win but he didn't even hit the target. This match became the 5th of so far 8 knockout stage encounters to require extra time. My first thoughts were "ok if we can survive the first five minutes we can have a chance, just please don't concede early like they did against Ghana in the last World Cup. And guess what USA did? They conceded early. The player who seemed like he was having the worst luck ever taking shots, Kevin de Bruyne finally got rewarded for his efforts and finally scored for Belgium. To make matters worse Romelu Lukaku, the last guy you want to see on the other team if you're a tired US defender (which wasn't the first problem for the USA's defense, since Fabian Johnson had to leave the game early as he pulled a hamstring, just like his teammate Jozy Altidore). Lukaku helped set up de Bruyne's goal and he got his own right before the end of the first half of extra time. It seemed like things were finally over and Belgium had it in the bag, but all of a sudden Julian Green of all players scores and gives USA some hope. The rest of the game is pretty much USA going for that 2nd goal, with Clint Dempsey getting the closest to bringing it 2-2, but it didn't come and USA were knocked out, with Belgium reaching the quarterfinals for the first time since 1986 and their 2nd time overall.
Elimination Analysis: United States
I admit I was one of the people who were nervous for the World Cup after the draw back in December. Imagine being stuck in a car in a road trip with 3 people you're not quite friends with. That's how it was for USA. Not only were Germany, Portugal, and Ghana strong teams but in the last 3 World Cups USA had faced those teams in what were dramatic and emotional encounters. It's never easy being the USA. Because we call football soccer, because the majority of the population may prefer other sports over soccer, and.or because we compete in CONCACAF USA faces more criticism than most other teams that are at least a semi-regular sight in the World Cup. But this was an opportunity to prove to the world that they are no longer minnows in the World Cup. And it's a chance they took. They finally "broke the curse" and beat Ghana, they nearly beat Portugal once again but settled for a draw that saw USA dominate decent portions of the match against Portugual. Even though Portugal weren't 100%, they were still considered favorites by a lot of people. And Germany did beat the USA but it was a respectable game that saw Jurgen Klinsmann face his home nation and the team he coached at a World Cup 8 years ago, and since Portugal got taken down 4-0, a 1-0 loss doesn't look so bad. As runner up of a group, facing Belgium in the next round seemed like a manageable task if we played our best but USA didn't. Belgium did. But even if players like Clint Dempsey, DaMarcus Beasley, Landon Donovan (who was left out of this World Cup squad), and Tim Howard will likely not be around by the next World Cup, hopefully by then players like Matt Besler, Graham Zusi, Fabian Johnson, DeAndre Yedlin, Aron Johansson, and Julian Green will only be better and USA will be able to set their heights higher then. But for now, we'll see how much attention soccer in the USA can sustain after the World Cup is over and how the 2015 Gold Cup and 2016 Copa America Centennial (both hosted by USA) go.
Round of 16 Wrap-Up
Despite all 16 teams putting up a decent fight, only the eight group winners survived and now have a 12.5% chance (on paper, not considering strength of each remaining team, which would increase or decrease those numbers) at lifting the most coveted trophy in this sport. 4 European teams (Belgium, France, Germany, Netherlands), 3 South American teams (Argentina, Brazil, Colombia, and 1 North American (or Central American, which is a region, not its own continent) team (Costa Rica) remain. Belgium, Colombia, Costa Rica, and Netherlands seek their 1st, France their 2nd, Argentina their 3rd, Germany their 4th, and Brazil their 6th World Cup. It's Netherland's 2nd, Argentina's 3rd, Brazil's 6th, and Germany's 16th quarterfinal appearance in a row: it's Costa Rica and Colombia's 1st every quarterfinal appearance.
Goodbye, but congrats on reaching the top 16!
Algeria
Chile
Greece
Mexico
Nigeria
Switzerland
United States
Uruguay
Quarterfinal matchups and previews for the first two
Friday July 4th
France vs. Germany
Brazil vs. Colombia
Saturday July 5th
Argentina vs. Belgium
Netherlands vs. Costa Rica
No matter what happens, exactly 1 European and 1 South American team will be triumphant in Friday's matches. It's no surprise Germany has made it this far but it was tougher to get there than they expected, narrowly defeating Algeria after extra time. France however had a more comfortable victory over Nigeria and it only took 90 minutes for them to win their game. Both teams have strong, deep squads and it will take the combined efforts of all of their players that get used to defeat the other, and it looks like it'll be a good match.
The pressure continues to grow for Brazil. For the superstitious breed, they're relieved not to be facing Uruguay (remember Uruguay vs. Brazil at the 1950 World Cup), but that relief isn't that comforting considering Colombia is proving to be a very strong team even without Ramadel Falcao. James Rodriguez currently leads the scoring racing with 5 goals and might need to score more against Brazil if Colombia are to advance. If Brazil can conquer Colombia, winning the World Cup in their own backyard will seem much more realistic after barely getting through Chile on penalties.
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