Notorious villains France and Brazil both breezed their way into the quaterfinals today, rounding out the eight. I missed both games because I forgot to set the VCR this morning, which may have been a blessing in disguise. Back to back losses for heroes Ghana and Spain would have been disheartening to watch.

In the end my prediction accuracy for the round of sixteen was a barely passable 5-3. I'd like to beat that record in the 8. The teams I'm rooting for are in bold, predicted winners are in red.

FRIDAY, JUNE 30
11 AM EST, Germany v. Argentina. And now I'm already regretting promising to pick winners. This is a really tough match to call, as both teams are at the top of the sport and either could easily go on to win the whole thing. I've grown to loathe Argentina more than I loathe Brazil, though, so the hero pick is easy. Germany has the home field advantage, Lord knows we all deserve some good news, and in any event I think they're the slightly better side. Whoever wins this match will probably go all the way to the finals against Brazil.
15 PM EST, Italy vs. Ukraine. Despite my fondness for the country itself, I've taken to rooting against Italy ever since the Italy-U.S. debacle. Nevertheless, they should easily beat hard-luck Ukraine, who should feel lucky to have gotten this far.

SATURDAY, JULY 1
11 AM EST, England vs. Portguese. This Cup has really opened my eyes to how much I dislike the Portguese soccer team. Both teams are missing key players, but Portugal is missing their top man, and no amount of dirty play will save them this time.
15 PM EST, Brazil vs. France. Well, they've finally found a way to make me root for France. But I don't have to like it. Brazil wins, also beats England, and goes on to the finals.