Tuesday July 7 Links and Banter
Did everyone eat your Belgian waffles for breakfast?
About Yesterday's Games
Spain 1, Portugal 0
Kind of...: I don't know if there's a better term to describe Spain than "aristocratic." Not in a political sense but in an aesthetic sense. They dominated play yesterday, but like with the Cape Verde and Uruguay games, it felt like they were so committed to their own stylistic image, that they refused to score a goal unless it followed a certain exacting process. The goal they scored early in injury time was tidy and elegant, but they've reached the stage of the tournament where any goal should be welcome. Hopefully they realize that.
HoustonBoiler: The timing of this game was not good for me due to work and a medical appointment. Basically, I followed it via the Gamecast when I could. I will say that Spain was the better team going in and, eventually, scored the deciding goal in stoppage time. Interesting note, Spain has yet to yield a goal in this tournament.
Belgium 4, USA 1
MaximumSam: Welp. That was anticlimactic.
Kind of...: That was as bad as it looked. Early in the tournament I comped the USMNT to Wisconsin football. And, in case you really didn't pay closer attention last year, last night was like watching the 2025 Wisconsin offense. In particular, the gobsmacking inability to complete simple passes.
For Belgium...look you benched the historically great, but aging, Kevin De Bruyne and looked fabulous. Wonder if Portugal noticed. Belgium dominated this game. Partly because they played really well. Partly because the US was soooo bad. Quarters feels like their ceiling, though. Don't expect the goals to come so easily against Spain.
I'll let Jim Mora (Sr.!) have the last word:
HoustonBoiler: Woof! Belgium played well while the US played a lot less well. Last night the US was sloppy and didn't play with intensity, which reminded me of Purdue football. The US team from earlier in the tournament clearly missed the bus to the stadium. The passing was not as crisp, linking passes together in the offensive end didn't happen, and the offense overall was disjointed. The US backline seemed very discombobulated and lacked the size/strength to battle the Belgian forwards. Just prior to Charles De Ketelaere's first goal, at least three US players allowed the ball to land amongst them while not seeming overly interested in clearing it. On De Ketelaere's second goal, US captain Tim Ream was totally manhandled.
In yesterday's preview, I thought the US could hang with Belgium and it would be a close match. Boy, was I wrong. The US didn't play inspired and made a lot of mistakes and Belgium cashed in on them.
In the end, I am thankful that the US didn't face Norway because no one in the US backline could come close to stopping Erling Haaland. I will speculate that he would have score four against the US before being pulled.
AlmaOtter: This was ugly. Much like game 3 of the NBA Finals at MSG, a miasmic and stifling stank descended upon the team from parts unknown. Another quadrennial, another bounce-out in the R16 (and once again by Belgium, like 2014.) We'll try for a better showing in 2030 in Spain/Portugal/Morocco.
Today's Matchups
Argentina v Egypt
Atlanta, GA. 12:00 ET/11:00 AM GTZ.
Kind of...: Fresh off surviving Cape Verde, I expect Argentina to look sharp today. Egypt is definitely good enough to pull the upset (they drew with Belgium), but Argentina deserves to be the clear favorite.
MaximumSam: Argentina keeps things simple with the Malbec. A good malbec and a side of meat sounds great on any day that ends in Y. Maybe I should move to Argentina. Egypt refreshed with a shai bi-na'ana' - a very fancy looking word for black tea with sugar and mint. I'll stick with a hearty red.
HoustonBoiler: The sense I have gotten from Argentina is that they are not, at least yet, playing up to their potential. Sure, Messi has been scoring goals, but they've also been surrendering them at rate inconsistent with being the top ranked team. The degree of difficulty only increases from here.
Switzerland v Colombia
Vancouver, Canada. 4:00 ET/3:00 GTZ.
Kind of...: I had a good run and successfully picked all 12 group winners. But really, there were only two surprise winners: these two teams. Giving myself too much credit, I'll pretend that I saw deeply into the reality of both rosters and assume that means I'm destined to nail this preview as follows: Colombia is clearly the better side. They can score elegantly, but, unlike Spain and like most of their CONMEBOL brethren is a SMASHGOAL opportunity presents itself, they're not above taking it either. Switzerland is good, but Colombia is better.
Now, when Switzerland wins, making the semis tally UEFA 6, CONMEBOL 1, you'll realizing that so much of this is guessing rather than insight.
MaximumSam: Switzerland has a surprising drink - Rivella. This is a soda made from milk whey? I am told it does not taste like milk but rather a combo of apple juice and ginger ale. Colombia keeps things boozy with Aguardiente, an anise flavored sugarcane spirit. I don't think I've had either of these but feel inclined to mix them together.
HoustonBoiler: Damn, Kind Of... kind of nailed my approach - guessing. In this case, I agree with Kind Of... that Columbia is the better team for the reasons stated above. I expect, i.e., guess, that Columbia will win this one while Switzerland enjoys Swiss Miss on the flight home.
