La Copa Mundial: Knockout Stages!

Sixteen teams. Knockout stage: Win or go home. Ninety minutes. If scoreless, 30 more minutes. If still tied, five penalty shots each, winner takes all.

Two teams. Two goals. One ball. One chance. This is it.

Eight matches occupy the computer screen. It's time to break down the 16 teams, their matchups and their chances.

First things first:

June 24 -- Kickoff 11 a.m. EST
Germany vs. Sweden
This match will be free-flowing and exciting. Both teams showed their preference to push the envelope, attacking the majority of the game while putting constant pressure defensively on their opponents. Both teams like to stiffle counterattacks in their opponents' half of the field; in other words, they will try to force their game on the other team, maintaining possession and a consistent potency.

If we break down each team statistically, this match's prediction would be easy to figure out: Germany won all three of their Group Stage matches; Sweden was just 1-0-2. Germany scored eight goals while conceding just two. In fact, they shut out their last two opponents. Sweden scored a meager three goals after tallying 30 goals in 10 matches in qualifying. The Swedes allowed two goals.

Players to Watch: Whenever Germany plays, it's always Klose and Ballack. For Sweden, see if Ibrahimovic has any impact in his return. Also, watch Larsson and Ljungberg.

Styles of Play: Germany -- Possession with great technical skill; attacking; height and power in attack as well as defense; attacks come from wings or up the middle, they are quite potent.
Sweden -- Possession team with flair and excitable speed; lots of fancy movement, runs and passing; attacking at all times; speed and skill are main attributes of Swedes.

Germany wins this game, 2-1. What gave it away? Germany will be at home, in extremely hot weather and they are on fire, figuratively of course.

June 24 -- Kickoff 3 p.m. EST
Argentina vs. Mexico
This match, on the cover, appears to be a formidable one -- pitting two quality Latin teams against each other on the world's biggest stage.

But Mexico has played very poorly in this World Cup, exposing their bloated world ranking. They barely made the second round in a group that featured two 99-percent-positive-they-should-walk-through-this-game-and-win type matches against Angola and Iran.

It's hard to really gauge Argentina after they played two odd matches. Against Serbia & Montenegro, S & M just gave up. Argentina had a training match and a field day against them. So that wasn't really a challenge. The Holland match featured two teams already in the next round, cautiously playing for first place in the group.

Players to Watch: Juan Roman Riquelme and Javior Saviola for Argentina. For Mexico, Rafael Marquez and Raul Bravo.

Styles of Play: Argentina -- Possession with flair, determination and persistent attacking; lots of diagonal runs into space, good through balls, plenty of goals from passes on the ground; tons of individual, on-ball skill; lots of dribbling; smart defending.
Mexico -- Long ball attacks; quick counterattacks; height on free kicks and corners; good running ability, plenty of stamina; comfortable knocking the ball around midfield to control game's pace; great defending.

Argentina wins 2-0. What gave it away? The Mexicans just haven't played very well at the World Cup and Argentina is more explosive than ever. They will possess the ball and assault the Mexican defense.

June 25 -- Kickoff 11 a.m. EST
England vs. Ecuador
England will have Wayne Rooney playing full tilt, without Michael Owen competing for the title of "The Man." David Beckham expressed his frustration over his performance in the Sweden match and should show up guns ablaze in this match.

Ecuador sat their two on-fire strikers and will be looking to rectify their surprise image after their 3-0 destruction by the Germans. This might be a better match than people think.

Players to Watch: Of course Wayne Rooney, but also Frank Lampard and Steven Gerrard in the midfield. For Ecuador, Carlos Tenorio and Agustin Delgado.

Styles of Play: England -- Possession with technical preference; strong midfield, probably the best at the World Cup; solid in defense; mixture of service passing, lofting long, high balls or short passes into the box.
Ecuador -- Attacking style with over-the-top balls to their dynamic forwards; shaky in defense; great speed; can score from the air or from the ground; lots of flair and creativity in attack.

England wins 2-1. What gave it away? England has a strong midfield and a better defense than any of Ecuador's opponents in the first round. Rooney should get a goal in this match.

June 25 -- Kickoff 3 p.m. EST
Portugal vs. Holland
Portugal hasn't played any good teams yet, and they don't have the defense to deal with Holland's three-headed monster of Robben, Van Nistelrooy and Van Persie.

Holland looked great the whole Group Stage, playing poorly only for about 20 minutes in the Ivory Coast match (remember, at the end when Ivory Coast pounded the Dutch to no avail?).

Players to Watch: The wingers for Holland: Robben and Van Persie. Cristiano Ronaldo and Simao for Portugal.

Holland in penalties. What gave it away? This will be a good match. But Holland looked better in the first round, even though the Portuguese were two points better. In penalties, I like Edwin van Der Sar over Ricardo.

So, to recap: Germany over Sweden 2-1, Argentina over Mexico 2-0, England over Ecuador 2-0 and Holland over Portugal in penalties. The rest of the previews will come Sunday.