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Goooooooooooooooooooaaallll!

Aha, so Brazil are slowly awakening. Their defence still looks atrocious, but that Neymar chap is quite a player. I'd not seen a lot of him before the tournament and so was wondering what all the fuss was about. That sumptuous first goal showed exactly what he is about. Brazil ramped things up to the point when even Fred (aka 'the statue') scored.

The prize for football is that now Brazil play Chile - which if ever a game had 5-5 written all over it, is the one! Both team have questionable/non-existent defences and a potent strike force, so I am looking forward to the clash on Saturday.

Mexico also progressed, beating my tip Croatia into second place, and deservedly so. Their manager is a legend. He went ballistic when they scored and was hugging people so hard that he was falling over in his suit and all sorts. Great scenes. They always seem to make it to the round of 16 and then bomb out and I think it will be no different this time around.

I'm at home now, rue-ing the fact that my tivo has recorded the England game and not the Italy v Uruguay one, as I rather be watching that, more competitive contest. As for the England game - there's little to gain, and I fully expect we'll win, looking generally more promising, which will invite the obvious conclusion that we played the wrong players from the start. It will doubtless all feel a bit flat.

Surely better to self-destruct, Cameroon style, rake a few players, finish up with 9 men and loads of infighting. If we're going to go out, why not do it under a massive cloud with headlines like "The Battle of Brazil" or "Hot tempers".

Then later I hope to watch Ivory Coast progress. On paper the games tonight look pretty wretched, but the fact that Ivory Coast, Greece and Japan are all fighting for 2nd spot, it does throw up potential for some excitement.

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