Anthony DiCicco is the CEO of SoccerPlus Companies, which includes one of the most successful soccer camp organizations in the United States as well as SoccerPlus Connecticut, an accomplished premier club.
Before we preview the Quarterfinal matchups, I think it's prudent to take a moment to review what we learned from the Group Stage. First, this has been the most competitive World Cup in history with even the weakest teams, Equatorial Guinea and Columbia showing character, playing with pride and being competitive. We've seen a few surprises, France was far better than I expected and Canada was far worse. We've also seen that talent and preparation are not enough, you also need a bit of luck (as Norway found out after the Australian crossbar denied them on more than one occasion) and to win this event, teams will have to get better as they get deeper into the tournament, in some cases (like the United States, much better).
Quarterfinals:
England v France - France
Separated by the narrowest of geography, these two teams have to feel great about the fact that they are one game away from the semifinals and they're not having to play one of the big 3 (Germany, the USA or Brazil) to get there. In fact, whoever loses this game will join the ranks of Germany in '99, Brazil in '03 and China, at home in '07 as examples of teams not fulfilling their potential. England has gotten to where they are in spite of the fact that Kelly Smith has not had the opening round that many of us thought she would. And with this being her last World Cup, I am hard pressed to believe that she is going to allow this game to pass her by without either making a statement or sacrificing her body, soul and spirit in pursuit of a victory. But England has had other players step up and shoulder the responsibility, which is very encouraging for the Lionesses. If we are using the group stage as a gauge of where these teams are, France was better but they will be without their starting goalkeeper who was sent off in their last match versus Germany. Although I'd prefer to see England with their two Boston Breakers (Smith and Alex Scott) advance, I believe the French advance on a goal by Marie-Laure Delie who has tallied 26 times in 23 international matches. England's been tripped up twice at this stage previously and I believe it will happen once again to them, although it will be an extremely close match (and if the game goes to PKs, the edge shifts back to England).
Germany v Japan - Germany
This is probably the game everyone will be the most confident in picking. Germany is a good team that is getting better. They took apart France 4-2 and Japan struggled mightily in their last group match versus England, losing 0-2. Germany is strong, deep and with sold out stadiums and 16 million people tuning into the games on German TV, they have the support of the nation behind them and that can be powerful. Japan winning would be a massive upset and that won't happen. It will be curious to see if German manager Silvia Neid has found a solution to the Birgit Prinz situation. If you want some numbers about how dominant Germany has been, they have never lost in nine meetings with Japan and they are unbeaten in their last 15 WWC matches dating back to their Quarterfinal loss to the USA in 1999. Germany advances.
Before we preview the Quarterfinal matchups, I think it's prudent to take a moment to review what we learned from the Group Stage. First, this has been the most competitive World Cup in history with even the weakest teams, Equatorial Guinea and Columbia showing character, playing with pride and being competitive. We've seen a few surprises, France was far better than I expected and Canada was far worse. We've also seen that talent and preparation are not enough, you also need a bit of luck (as Norway found out after the Australian crossbar denied them on more than one occasion) and to win this event, teams will have to get better as they get deeper into the tournament, in some cases (like the United States, much better).
Quarterfinals:
England v France - France
Separated by the narrowest of geography, these two teams have to feel great about the fact that they are one game away from the semifinals and they're not having to play one of the big 3 (Germany, the USA or Brazil) to get there. In fact, whoever loses this game will join the ranks of Germany in '99, Brazil in '03 and China, at home in '07 as examples of teams not fulfilling their potential. England has gotten to where they are in spite of the fact that Kelly Smith has not had the opening round that many of us thought she would. And with this being her last World Cup, I am hard pressed to believe that she is going to allow this game to pass her by without either making a statement or sacrificing her body, soul and spirit in pursuit of a victory. But England has had other players step up and shoulder the responsibility, which is very encouraging for the Lionesses. If we are using the group stage as a gauge of where these teams are, France was better but they will be without their starting goalkeeper who was sent off in their last match versus Germany. Although I'd prefer to see England with their two Boston Breakers (Smith and Alex Scott) advance, I believe the French advance on a goal by Marie-Laure Delie who has tallied 26 times in 23 international matches. England's been tripped up twice at this stage previously and I believe it will happen once again to them, although it will be an extremely close match (and if the game goes to PKs, the edge shifts back to England).
Germany v Japan - Germany
This is probably the game everyone will be the most confident in picking. Germany is a good team that is getting better. They took apart France 4-2 and Japan struggled mightily in their last group match versus England, losing 0-2. Germany is strong, deep and with sold out stadiums and 16 million people tuning into the games on German TV, they have the support of the nation behind them and that can be powerful. Japan winning would be a massive upset and that won't happen. It will be curious to see if German manager Silvia Neid has found a solution to the Birgit Prinz situation. If you want some numbers about how dominant Germany has been, they have never lost in nine meetings with Japan and they are unbeaten in their last 15 WWC matches dating back to their Quarterfinal loss to the USA in 1999. Germany advances.
Australia v Sweden - Australia
There is little question about the compelling nature of the matchups in this round. The biggest question is can one of the favorites be sent packing at this point? The answer is yes because the USA losing to Sweden in the last group match meant that the USA face Brazil (we'll talk about that in a moment) and Australia now face Sweden instead of the United States. Australia were lucky to advance past Norway, they were lucky the goalkeeper, Melissa Barbieri's blunder didn't hurt them. They will need a bit of luck today, but they also have something else going for them - a lot of self-belief. That coupled with the Swedes coming off the high from beating the USA is a recipe for upset and Lisa DeVanna has been in these situations before, including 4 years ago when the Matildas battled Brazil, coming up short 2-3 but playing with tremendous heart and mentality after being down 0-2 23 minutes in. They battled back to 2-2 before Cristiane put Brazil ahead for good. (That was the Brazil team that dismantled the USA 4-0.) Australia will have to battle, they will need a bit of luck, they will need Barbieri to avoid the pitfalls of which she is so susceptible, but they will find a way to escape and will advance to their first semifinal in a major event.
USA v Brazil - Brazil
Not since 1999 has the USA had such a difficult opponent at this stage when they defeated Germany 3-2 after twice going down a goal. That game, although not frequently part of the narrative of that legendary '99 team was a major turning point. If the USA can find a way to win against Brazil, I believe it will have the same effect and will propel the United States to once again regaining the title as World Cup Champions. And some players on this team represent the mentality that the '99 team possessed, Hope Solo, Christie Rampone, Abby Wambach are all warriors. But if you read the post game quotes after the Sweden game, you would have thought that there were no issues and they played a good game but were unlucky. I like Pia (she was my travel partner during the YWC in 2008) but Pia was outcoached in the Sweden game and this United States team isn't the '99 team and I'm not certain they have the mentality to be disciplined against the potent offense led by Marta. But the United States has Hope Solo, the best goalkeeper in the world protecting our net. Brazil has their issues too, they play a 3-back with a sweeper and that can be exploited but if you don't score or earn a corner kick, you need to transition quickly because the Brazilian have the pace, technical ability and tactical awareness to counter at speed and punish lazy defending. This game in my mind comes down to one thing, has the United States addressed the issues of the group stage and will they make changes (beyond just inserting Heather O'Reilly back into the lineup) that will cause Brazil problems? If they do that, the United States will win. But I don't think they will. I think that they will continue to play Cheney on the left midfield, in spite of the fact that she's our most likely goal scorer at the moment, they will continue to struggle to maintain any prolonged possession because even if Pia changes Cox for LePeilbet, which seems likely after having to make that change in each of the last two games, unless Cox and Kreiger can get more established in the attack, we simply aren't getting enough bodies forward and especially into the box. Both teams will score, if the game goes to OT and/or penalties I give the edge to the United States but (and I hope I'm wrong about this one) I think Brazil wins 3-2 in regulation. The silver lining is that this loss will expose the developmental failing of the system in the United States and will force us to do some soul searching for the program to regain its footing.
There is little question about the compelling nature of the matchups in this round. The biggest question is can one of the favorites be sent packing at this point? The answer is yes because the USA losing to Sweden in the last group match meant that the USA face Brazil (we'll talk about that in a moment) and Australia now face Sweden instead of the United States. Australia were lucky to advance past Norway, they were lucky the goalkeeper, Melissa Barbieri's blunder didn't hurt them. They will need a bit of luck today, but they also have something else going for them - a lot of self-belief. That coupled with the Swedes coming off the high from beating the USA is a recipe for upset and Lisa DeVanna has been in these situations before, including 4 years ago when the Matildas battled Brazil, coming up short 2-3 but playing with tremendous heart and mentality after being down 0-2 23 minutes in. They battled back to 2-2 before Cristiane put Brazil ahead for good. (That was the Brazil team that dismantled the USA 4-0.) Australia will have to battle, they will need a bit of luck, they will need Barbieri to avoid the pitfalls of which she is so susceptible, but they will find a way to escape and will advance to their first semifinal in a major event.
USA v Brazil - Brazil
Not since 1999 has the USA had such a difficult opponent at this stage when they defeated Germany 3-2 after twice going down a goal. That game, although not frequently part of the narrative of that legendary '99 team was a major turning point. If the USA can find a way to win against Brazil, I believe it will have the same effect and will propel the United States to once again regaining the title as World Cup Champions. And some players on this team represent the mentality that the '99 team possessed, Hope Solo, Christie Rampone, Abby Wambach are all warriors. But if you read the post game quotes after the Sweden game, you would have thought that there were no issues and they played a good game but were unlucky. I like Pia (she was my travel partner during the YWC in 2008) but Pia was outcoached in the Sweden game and this United States team isn't the '99 team and I'm not certain they have the mentality to be disciplined against the potent offense led by Marta. But the United States has Hope Solo, the best goalkeeper in the world protecting our net. Brazil has their issues too, they play a 3-back with a sweeper and that can be exploited but if you don't score or earn a corner kick, you need to transition quickly because the Brazilian have the pace, technical ability and tactical awareness to counter at speed and punish lazy defending. This game in my mind comes down to one thing, has the United States addressed the issues of the group stage and will they make changes (beyond just inserting Heather O'Reilly back into the lineup) that will cause Brazil problems? If they do that, the United States will win. But I don't think they will. I think that they will continue to play Cheney on the left midfield, in spite of the fact that she's our most likely goal scorer at the moment, they will continue to struggle to maintain any prolonged possession because even if Pia changes Cox for LePeilbet, which seems likely after having to make that change in each of the last two games, unless Cox and Kreiger can get more established in the attack, we simply aren't getting enough bodies forward and especially into the box. Both teams will score, if the game goes to OT and/or penalties I give the edge to the United States but (and I hope I'm wrong about this one) I think Brazil wins 3-2 in regulation. The silver lining is that this loss will expose the developmental failing of the system in the United States and will force us to do some soul searching for the program to regain its footing.
Semifinals:
Germany v Australia - Germany
A semifinal that will feel like a group match, Germany will dissect Australia and remind the world why they are two time defending World Cup Champions. This one won't be close.
Brazil v France - Brazil
Brazil's confidence will be sky high after defeating the United States and France will once again find themselves outmatched as they did against Germany. This game will be decided by one goal, but Marta is too good for France to contain her for 90 minutes.
Final:
Germany v Brazil - Germany
Two of the greatest footballing nations on the mens side will face off in an explosive final. The Brazilians will tally first but the Germans will get their legs underneath them and will storm back to win their third consecutive Women's World Cup and will establish themselves as the dominant women's footballing nation in the world having gone 18 matches unbeaten in Women's World Cup play. (Unless the United States defeats Brazil, in which case the trophy is coming back across the Atlantic).
Germany v Australia - Germany
A semifinal that will feel like a group match, Germany will dissect Australia and remind the world why they are two time defending World Cup Champions. This one won't be close.
Brazil v France - Brazil
Brazil's confidence will be sky high after defeating the United States and France will once again find themselves outmatched as they did against Germany. This game will be decided by one goal, but Marta is too good for France to contain her for 90 minutes.
Final:
Germany v Brazil - Germany
Two of the greatest footballing nations on the mens side will face off in an explosive final. The Brazilians will tally first but the Germans will get their legs underneath them and will storm back to win their third consecutive Women's World Cup and will establish themselves as the dominant women's footballing nation in the world having gone 18 matches unbeaten in Women's World Cup play. (Unless the United States defeats Brazil, in which case the trophy is coming back across the Atlantic).
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