Group play ends today with Group G and Group H, which means that by this evening I should be able to post my full and eagerly awaited list of heroes and villains for the Round of Sixteen.

* Group H plays at 10 am EST. Spain is guaranteed to go forward whether or not they beat Saudi Arabia, but the other slot could still go to any of the three teams. The Ukraine-Tunisia game is probably most promising, as Spain seems pretty likely to beat the Saudis: they beat Ukraine 4-0, and Ukraine beat Saudi Arabia 4-0.

* The situation with Group G at 3 pm EST is rather more complicated, but excites me more. I was very excited by the South Korean squad in last weekend's tie with France, and I'm hoping they can hold their own against Switzerland and advance. As Wikipedia and WorldCupBlog explain, the trouble is South Korea probably needs to win outright, as France is extremely likely to beat Togo.

Looking backward to yesterday's loss against Ghana, the Meesher's Boyfriend has a post about things wrong with the U.S. Soccer Team with a lot of good links. As may come as no surprise to regular readers of the Backwards City comments section, he especially has a problem with coach Bruce Arena.

Meanwhile, my good friend and former fellow Three Guy Shankar D has some very worthwhile thoughts on the World Cup as "a microcosm for what plagues contemporary American political discourse." When I started watching this year, I wasn't planning on rooting especially heavily for the American team -- but in the end I found I couldn't help it. While I can sympathize a bit with the soccer snobs who refuse to root for America to win, I just can't join them -- and the mindless conservadrone disdain for soccer drives me completely nuts as well. Even if you don't acknowledge agree that it's the greatest sport in the world, how can you deny that it's exciting?

I really wish our side had advanced yesterday, but as others have said, Ghana wanted it more. Though if not for the unbelievably, existentially bad officiating in that second game...