Neymar
THE World Cup 2014 is now in the do-or-die stages for the 16 teams. You lose and you board the plane home. So one can expect all the match-ups to be feisty.
Picks of the second round matches would be Colombia vs Uruguay and Brazil vs Chile as four of these South American nations are regional rivals and those matches can be real intense.
Brazil vs Chile
This is going to be one mouth-watering encounter. Chile won't forget that they were booted out in the second round by Brazil in the 2010 World Cup in South Africa. Revenge is theme of this match.
The Chilean side led by Jorge Sampaoli looked impressive in group B and the only blip is their defeat to Netherlands. But never take anything away from them.
Alexis Sanchez has already said that they are prepared to face the Brazilians and the only fear they have is the referee. Refereeing decisions in some games have been questioned by fans and players. Let’s hope refereeing errors will not take centrestage for this game.
This game will be bogged down in midfield but expect individual brilliance to be the match winner for this tie. Neymar will be the key man for Brazil while Alexis Sanchez will surely exploit Brazil’s weak defence.
If you want to compete with midfielders like Arturo Vidal and Marcelo Diaz, Luiz Felipe Scolari will need to start with Fernandinho instead of Paulinho. The 28-year-old midfielder came in against Cameroon and impressed with his pressing passes, capping them with a brilliant toe-poked goal!
It is an interesting match-up and both sides will need to be tactically strong in order to win this match. Sentiments will surely be high for this game and I’m expecting Brazil especially the young Neymar to impress.
A repeat of the 2010 World Cup scoreline. 3-0 to Brazil!
Colombia vs Uruguay
The disgraced Luis Suarez grabbed the headlines again and prelude of this match would be the absence of the mercurial forward. He has been sent packing home to Uruguay after FIFA banned him from playing nine international games and also four months from football activities.
His absence will surely be felt by his teammates and Oscar Tabarez will now rely on veteran forward Diego Forlan. However, facing a young and tricky Colombian side will not be easy.
His organised and disiplined tactics worked wonders in the group stage but the Colombians, under Jose Pekerman, have flair, skills and composure. They did well in the qualifiers and in the group stages.
Players like James Rodriguez, Juan Cuadrado and Juan Quintero have looked impressive and they will be tasked to unlock the solid Uruguayan defence led by Diego Godin. Pekerman should also start Jackson Martinez in attack after his two goal heroics against Japan in the last match of group C.
This World Cup has seen many goals and I’m expecting the Colombians to pile on the pressure and see the Uruguayan wall crumble. Uruguay will look for a more conservative approach and if they opt them, they might as well bid adieu to the World Cup.
This will be one of the games to watch in the tournament. It’s going to be a high scoring affair and I’m looking at a 4-2 victory for the Los Cafeteros.
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