Corner flag (vol 2.8) - Italy's finest hour

The group phase is over and now its time for tears at the end of every game.

And indeed there were tears at the end of the best game of the World Cup so far - when Italy went out to Slovakia. The defending champions finished last and were booted out. It was quite interesting right from the beginning as the Italians went down a goal early and the Slovaks attacked the pretty heavy legged Italians right through the game.

But in the second half of the second half, the Italians came alive to put together a passionate performance that I haven't quite seen before. So much so that I was hoping they score the requisite number of goals to go through. It was driven by the desperation of the situation that the Italians found themselves having to play out of their shorts to get something - fantastic goal by Quagliarella and they should have had couple more; but time ran out and saw Captain Cannavaro shepherding his players back to the dressing room in a hurry. A bit of irony in all of this - the most ineffective Italian team was by the far the most entertaining Italian side I have seen in a long while. Their finest hour in my opinion.

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Game 1 of Uruguay vs South Korea just finished and Uruguay have won. Which was my prediction. Seriously.

Rest of the games are:
1) USA vs Ghana
Ghana to win 1 nil

2) Germany vs England
Germany through hopefully, though Beckenbaur is shooting his mouth as always and thats not a good sign for the Germans

3) Argentina vs Mexico
Though I have just had a fabulous Mexican meal and been hearing all things bright and beautiful about Mexico, Argentina should win quite comfortably

4) Netherlands vs Slovakia
2 - 1 to Netherlands

5) Brazil vs Chile
Brazil to scrape through

6) Paraguay vs Japan
Paraguay 1 nil

7) Spain vs Portugal
Spain to go through. This will ensure the Year of the Tiger shortlist down to 3.

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If everything works as expected, we could see Netherlands vs Brazil quarters. Which will be quite a game I think.

After the most dramatic game, here goes another stalwart - before he catches the flight to the Middle East and work on his pension fund.

Picture from the Guardian: Fabio Cannavaro wipes away the tears as he leaves the pitch. This could well be his last match. What a stinker