Futbol by continents

It's interesting how the World Cup has worked out. No team from the continent of Africa remains. Or Asia. Or Australia. Pretty sure they don't play much soccer in Antarctica and, even if they could have fielded a team, I'm also fairly confident they would have been eliminated by now. Penguin-esque folks typically don't fare very well running around in 90 degree heat.

North America has been kicked to the curb though, to be fair, that continent only consists of two countries. The United States and Canada. Well OK, Costa Rica lies in "central" America, which is technically part of north America, I think, but the Netherlands squad gave them the boot in the Elite Eight round. For whatever reason, it would appear windmills trump bananas. Somewhere, Don Quixote is smiling, while Miss Chiquita is likely not amused. Sorry. Ahem.

So now we're down to the heavyweights. Two European countries versus two South American countries. Argentina will take on the Netherlands in one semi-final, while host Brazil tangles with Germany in the other.

Argentina will be favored over Holland. Tulips are great and wooden shoes have their place -- though I wouldn't recommend them to play soccer in -- but Argentina's futbol team is just flat-out good. Plus, it's highly likely Argentina will enjoy somewhat of a home field advantage with the fans that will be in attendance for that game. It's a heck of a lot easier, shorter, and cheaper to get from Argentina to Brazil, than it is from the Netherlands.

Brazil vs Germany presents an interesting match-up. Obviously, the Brazilians, playing in their own futbol fanatical fiefdom, will enjoy a huge advantage with the fans that are lucky enough to make their way into the stadium.

But Germany's no slouch. They've been there, done that, just like Brazil, in years past. Normally, one would still think Brazil would be the favorite -- and they might well be -- but in their last game against Colombia, Brazil lost their best player, Neymar, to a fractured vertebrae. Will that hurt their chances, or inspire his teammates to play even harder? Unknown.

But here's the thing. At this level, despite or because both teams are so highly skilled, the games themselves often get very boring. That's because very few goals will be scored. They will run back and forth for countless miles kicking the ball around over the course of a few hours while thwarting each other, but typical scoring chances will be rare, and actual goals rarer yet. A single goal (notice the scores in the quarter-finals) might well provide the margin of victory. And 0-0 games after regulation and "extra time" are not unusual. Some three hours may have transpired without a single goal. I'm sorry, but while I definitely appreciate the skill level of all the players -- a few hours without a score translates into being boring. It's little wonder the announcers and fans go berserk when the ball actually finds its way into the back of a net. Clean-shaven guys can grow beards, grandmas can knit a few sweaters, and adolescents can grow six inches while waiting for a damn goal to be scored.

So remembering I'm usually wrong -- here's the picks.....

Argentina sends the Netherlands back into, well, the netherlands.

Even without Neymar, Brazil holds their home court and the Germans have a long flight back to Deutschland.

And in the finals?

The Brazilians are amped up to the max in carnival spirit anticipating yet another World Cup championship.

But they don't get it.

Argentina wins.

Just a guess....