My thoughts on the tournament and England's chances will follow the predictions also, and it's not all doom and gloom either! Anyway, time to go back in time....
Group A
"Germany and Poland to cruise this group though which order is down to how well Klinsmann can get his side to gel, with or without Ballack."
Well I got the Germany bit right, and they have got progressively better throughout the tournament after a great opening game against Costa Rica. I'm very disappointed in Poland however and they deserve to go out after a dismal display against Ecuador. Ecuador have suprised people to a degree, and England certainly won't find it easy against them. Never under-estimate the host nation though...
Group B
"For England I'm expecting a hard fought victory over Paraguay, a whooping for Trinidad & Tobago and either a draw or a loss to Sweden as they are to England what Leicester City are to Pompey. Sweden look the most likely to take second spot with the amount of talent they have though Paraguay could also sneak it."
I almost got England right, though Shaka and co. have really done themselves justice in this tournament and I do wish it was them instead of Sweden who finished second but they just didn't quite have enough. Even at 2-1 up against the Swedes so late on I knew England would concede a late goal because of the "bogey" factor. More on them later...
Group C
"This group is extremely tough to call but I will stick my neck out and go for Holland and Serbia."
There is a very thin line between a controversial prediction and a stupid prediction... How foolish of me to write off the Argies after the first round! They have been the most impressive team in the tournament for me so far and I think they will now at least make the final. Bang goes my tenner on Serbia after I thought they might replicate what Greece did in Euro 2004 but at least the quality Dutch are still in it, so I still might win something! I'm not forgetting the Ivory Coast either, who added something different to the tournament and would no doubt be in the last 16 if not for being drawn in such a tough group.
Group D
"Portugal and Mexico to qualify at a canter though I wouldn't have a penny on either team getting much further."
Pretty much a spot on prediction due to how bad Iran were and the lack of cutting edge coming from Angola. I still wouldn't have a penny on either getting much further too as Portugal seem to lack a killer instinct which will cost them and Mexico just plainly aren't good enough judging by their performances to date.
Group E
"I think the Czech Republic will go far in the tournament and could win it as they can beat anyone on their day. Italy also have a very strong squad it's just a matter of if they can play well as a team or not. I'm tipping the USA to cause an upset or two again though by beating the Italians and nicking second spot from them."
Oh dear... couldn't have got this one any more wrong! I thought after their demolition of the USA that the Czech Republic really would do well in the tournament but a shock loss to the impressive Ghana along with some disciplinary issues and injuries to key players have cost them dearly, and have also cost me dearly after I stuck a tenner on them to win the tournament! Italy have been predictably hard to score against but I do question if they have the firepower to go all the way. Kudos to Ghana, they've certainly earnt their place in the last 16 by playing decent football and it wouldn't suprise me to see some more of their players in the Premiership this season.
Group F
"Brazil, with their squad of superstars should take maximum points from their games leaving Japan, Croatia and Australia to fight for second spot."
I followed this prediction by tipping Australia to nab second place and they did that. I'm with the majority in the belief that Brazil haven't played anywhere near their best yet they have still comfortably won a group full of banana skin teams which is the sign of a team who can who can go all the way. It's a shame that Yoshi didn't get any further in the tournament despite some really good showings (minus the second goal he let in against Brazil). The Aussies have done well, and I hope they go further as they certainly add something to the tournament.
Group G
"France have enough experience to win this feeble group and second place will probably go down to who is the best out of the solid Swiss or the flamboyant Koreans. Togo are likely to join Angola in the "nil pois" group."
I knew France were a spent force but even I seemed to over-estimate how good they were! The Swiss actually look a very solid outfit and have the best defence in the tournament so far having not conceded yet, though the opposition hasn't been of the highest quality. I commend the South Korean support for being so "Pompey-esque" and noisy whilst Togo were predictably awful, though the pay dispute and a management farce that wouldn't even be seen at Fratton Park didn't exactly help their cause.
Group H
"Spain always flatter to decieve and only taking three strikers, two of which are highly over-rated in Torres and Raul may prove to be too big a risk for Spain to go all the way so I think they'll progress through the group but not much further. Joining them should be Ukraine...."
I was spot on with the predictions on who went through though I stand corrected over Torres who has been immense in this tournament so far, and that could be said for the whole of the Spainish side who really look good this time around and could even be an outside bet for the cup. I haven't been overly impressed with Shevchenko and co. however and I don't expect them to go much further. Tunisia blew it again and Saudi Arabia were just as bad as what they were four years ago.
So the round of 16 now looks like this:
Germany vs Sweden
England vs Ecuador
Argentina vs Mexico
Holland vs Portugal
Italy vs Australia
Brazil vs Ghana
Switzerland vs Ukraine
France vs Spain
I can't see any upsets in there to be honest, Spain should hammer France and Switzerland will beat Ukraine in the two evenly matched games I feel. It's been a very enjoyable tournament too, with so many entertaining games so far like the opener between Germany and Costa Rica, the fiery encounter between Italy and the USA and the end to end game featuring the Czech Republic and Ghana. I'm still backing Holland to win the whole thing mind you, which means they'll probably have to go through England, no doubt we will probably lose on penalties once again!
Sticking on the subject of England, I'm sure if you had offered all England fans 7 points at the start of the tournament they would have taken it. The performances haven't been that great I agree but fans constantly getting on the players' and the manager's back isn't going to help them. Losing Owen is a blow though Rooney is getting back to full fitness, though I disagree that all our hopes of winning the cup lie on his shoulders when we have players like Joe Cole and Steven Gerrard in the team who are capable of getting goals out of nothing.
One player who has really disappointed me is Frank Lampard. For a player of his quality he really hasn't produced anything in this tournament so far with the amount of decent oppurtunities he has wasted. I'm sure there is more to come from him however. The defence has also been solid apart from the disaster against Sweden, but can you honestly see them being that lacklustre again? Especially considering Sweden are our bogey team anyway? I think we still have a realistic chance of winning the tournament so I hope the public would stop being so negative saying we don't have a hope in hell!
...I still think we'll go out to Holland on penalties though!