It gets really exciting from here!

This week everything I've said about the World Cup and soccer has been wrong - my predictions, my knowledge of the rules, and more. Despite my bout with bad luck, I am going to be bold and make some predictions for the round of 16. Here they are:

Germany v Sweden
Argentina v Mexico*

England v Ecuador
Portugal v Netherlands

Italy v Australia**
Switzerland v Ukraine

Brazil v Ghana
Spain v France (ESP will win by a wide margin)

*My pick for World Cup 2006 is Argentina. Me, and a whole bunch of online betters.

At first I thought Mexico didn't stand a chance but Argentina is 2-2-1 with Mexico in the past six years (dating back to 1930, the first time the two teams played each other, their record is 5-7-2). Their most recent win was three years ago. It could go either way!

Happy Birthday Riquelme!!!!

**I keep changing my mind about this match - I've changed my favorite twice already. I think if Australia plays a really good game, they stand a chance to beat Italy. But is Australia really that good?