WC2006: Day 15

Okay, so France gets one more shot to prove that they're not a bunch of over-the-hill pretenders. The thing is, TDH believes they do have one more win in them. They've been missing chances... but they've been creating a lot of chances. Hence TDH's predictions for the Round of 16:

Germany v Sweden: Germany's scoring power will be enough to take them through, but Larsson will get a farewell goal; 2-1

England v Ecuador: Ecuador seems to be running out of gas - not that England's amazing these days; 1-0

Argentina v Mexico: No contest in this one, but you won't see six goals again; 2-0

Portugal v Netherlands: Very tough to call; likely to be 1-1 after extra time

Italy v Australia: Hiddink's luck will run out as the Italians will be ready for another war; 1-0 and then the catenaccio takes over

Brazil v Ghana: The Africans will get found out as the big yellow machine kicks it into high gear; 3-0

Switzerland v Ukraine: Likely to be brutal, boring or both; 1-0 to Shevchenko in Senderos's absence

Spain v France: The dark star haunting Spain will return in Les Bleus' last hurrah; 1-0

And this one's for Mara: a heartwarming photo of King Thierry I embracing his loyal subject, Sir Franck de Ribery, after their victory on the fields of Kaiserslautern. Is all forgiven? We'll see next week.