Everton v Manchester United

This match is interesting on many levels.  The English media is focusing on the Wayne Rooney circus, but I don't really care about that.  You see, Manchester United play Glasgow Rangers in the Champion's League next week, and I am sure Alex Ferguson would love to rest some players ahead of that match.  But Everton won this match last season, and they always play their best against big clubs.  It's not hard to imagine a scenario where Everton finally get their season started with a win and Manchester United get beat by overlooking an opponent.

Uruguay v. South Korea

I really like both of these teams. They are fun to watch, hard-working, and have just enough talent to make things interesting. A lot of people will be picking Uruguay in this match, and with good reason. They have a rock solid defense, as they have yet to concede a goal in this tournament, and a talisman in Diego Forlan, who will be the most gifted footballer on the pitch in this match. I think that is important.

When all else fails, Argentina can turn to Messi, Holland can turn to Robben, the US can turn to Donovan, Spain can turn to Iniesta, and Uruguay can turn to Forlan. It doesn't always have to be a goal either. It can be a pass, a run to create space, even a defensive play. The point is, big time players win big time games.

This is the knockout stage of The World Cup. Every game is big time. Every game is the Super Bowl, Game 7 of the World Series, and Game 7 of the NBA Finals all rolled into one. We all know who can handle it, cause everyone else shit their pants, and are on a flight home to change their underwear.

However, there is a difference between handling it and owning it. Park Ji-sung can handle it. He has been in huge matches before, and he will perform admirably, I have little doubt of this. South Korea can win this match, and Park can lead them there. They are that good. But in the 115th minute, when everything is on the line, when it is do or die on the biggest stage in the world, who will provide that moment of absolute brilliance, that ball that only a few players in the world would dare attempt? For me, in this match, it is Diego Forlan.

Uruguay 2, South Korea 1.

World Cup - South Korea

Of all the teams from outside the Europe-South America axis, South Korea may be the one with the best chance to advance deep into the tournament.

First of all, they have done it before, reaching the semi-finals as hosts in 2002.

Second, they have a relatively easy road through the first couple rounds. Argentina should walk this group, but neither Greece nor Nigeria are particularly scary opponents. If they do qualify in the second position, they will face the winner of Group A, which will probably be Mexico or France. As I mentioned in earlier posts, both of those squads are talented, yet vulnerable. Beyond that, The Three Lions of England, who tend to become lambs somewhere around the third week of major tournaments.

Third, South Korea has some talent. Everyone knows about Park Ji-sung, but they have several other players who have been successful in Europe. Lee Young-pyo, Cha Du-ri, Ki Sung-yong, Kim Nam-il, and Park Chu-young have all played in European leagues. But the best of the bunch is Lee Chung-yong, the young winger who just completed his first season with Bolton Wanderers.

Lee is still only 21, and it was expected that he would need at least a season to acclimatize to life in England. This seemed to be confirmed during his first appearance on the subs bench, when jet lag caught up with him and he fell asleep. But he scored a game winner early in the season against Birmingham City, and looked really impressive in his first significant playing time. By October he was starting every match, and by January he was Bolton's best player.

He is comfortable on either wing, has pace as well as technical ability on the ball, and can cross the ball from the touchline or cut inside and shoot. At times he even played through the middle of the park, and was a threat to run behind the defense with his pace. There are already rumors that big clubs such as Liverpool are interested in buying Lee, and if he has a good tournament, that list could grow much longer.

Given his experience and ability, Park Ji-sung is still South Korea's bets player, but Lee Chung-yong is not far behind. If both perform well, the Red Devils just might surprise some people.

Champions League Draw - Bayern Munich v Manchester United

I find the talk about 1999 to be largely self-serving on the part of the English and utterly irrelevant to the match itself. Of the 36 players in the squads that day, 3 still play for Manchester United, plus 1 who was suspended, and none still play for Bayern Munich. It just has no bearing on this game.

Bayern are one of the few club teams left in Europe who play 2 true wingers, in Arjen Robben and Franck Ribery. And both are very good. Robben, in fact, has been one of the best player sin Europe for the past 6 months. He will get the Park Ji-Sung and Darren Fletcher treatment whenever he ventures forward. I still think Bayern will manage goals in both legs. The real questions is, can Manchester United score more goals than they allow. There is no central defender from the German side that can "handle" Wayne Rooney, so to speak, but he will not have the uncontested free reign he had against AC Milan.

I am going to go out on a limb here and make a detailed prediction. I think Bayern Munich win 2-1 in Germany, and Manchester United win 3-1 in England, with the winning goal coming late on in the 30 minutes of extra time.