World Cup Podcast 8: 2010 World Cup Quarter-finals Preview

The 2010 World Cup quarter-finals take place this weekend and we have some mouth-watering ties to look forward to. In today's podcast Damon and Damian cast their eyes over the four match ups. Vocabulary, in bold from the transcript of this report can be found below. If you have any questions, suggestions or comments then please email us at: [email protected].

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Transcript

Holland-Brazil

Everyone's favourites for the title - at least on our site's poll - Brazil take on Holland in the first of the World Cup quarter-finals. Indeed, so much are they favourites that the Dutch are being described as 'Brazil light'. These two sides have a history - though not as contentious as the Germany-Argentina game - going back to 1974 when the then reigning champions Brazil were torn apart by a rampaging Dutch side that included Johann Cruyff. In 1994 they met again and this time the Brazilians won 3-2 despite a wonderful comeback from the Dutch. With current manager Dunga as their captain, Brazil went on to lift the trophy on penalties that year, which is how they defeated the Dutch in the 1998 semi-finals in France. The games have always been of a high quality and no one is expecting anything less of today's match.



Both teams are in very good form with the Dutch on a national record run of 23 games unbeaten but it is generally felt that Brazil have better discipline, organisation and more match winners in their team than Holland. True, the Dutch have Sneijder, Van Persie and Robben but Brazilian fans point to Robinho, Fabiano, Maicon and Kaka. Despite these top players, however, I am going to go for Holland partly because I feel the pressure on Brazil - and particularly Dunga - is simply too heavy for them to bear. I also feel that the Dutch have one good game in them and this could be the one, while Robben looks very impressive and I feel if he or one of his team mates scores first then it will be very interesting to see how Brazil cope. 2-1 to Holland.

Ghana - Uruguay

How fitting that Uruguay are doing so well this time round in a World Cup held on African soil. They were the first national team in South America to field a player of African descent, years before their more famous neighbours Brazil. But what a shame that they are up against an African side in Ghana, and one of these teams will be going home come Sunday. Ghana of course, are hoping to be the first African side to reach the semi finals in a World Cup, and Uruguay, although past World Cup winners, haven't tasted success in this competition since 1970 when they got to the semis.



I expect this match to be quite defensive, a little like Japan v Paraguay, as both teams have so much to gain from a win, and will feel so disappointed with a loss. On balance, Uruguay have looked the stronger of the two teams so far and seem to be able to score when they need to with Forlán and Suárez up front. On the other hand, Ghana have looked resilient,