Quater Finals Day 2 Previews

Gelsinkirchen

ENGLAND vs PORTUGAL

Our excitement have been cut short when the news that Frank Lampard will be fit for the game against Portugal. He will as usual, continue to donate the "TeamGeist", or the football to the fans behind the England goal. But they recieve a defensive boost when Gary Neville is being passed fit and will regain his right-back post from Owen Hargreaves.

But Portugal will be without their influencial midfielders, Deco and Costinha due to their suspension, after receiving red cards on their previous game against Holland. CRonaldo is also a major doubt for this game. Tough times for Portugal.

England (4-5-1): 1-Paul Robinson ; 2-Gary Neville, 5-Rio Ferdinand, 6-John Terry, 3-Ashley Cole; 7-David Beckham, 8-Frank Lampard, 16-Owen Hargreaves, 4-Steven Gerrard, 11-Joe Cole; 9-Wayne Rooney
Coach: Sven-Goran Eriksson

Portugal (4-5-1): 1-Ricardo; 13-Miguel, 16-Ricardo Carvalho, 5-Fernando Meira, 14-Nuno Valente; 8-Armando Petit, Maniche, 11-Simao Sabrosa, 7-Luis Figo, 17-Cristiano Ronaldo; 9-Pauleta.
Coach: Luiz Felipe Scolari

Drogballs' Prediction: England 1-0 Portugal. Portugal will sorely miss their midfield general, Costinha and their inspirational Deco. Also, England will be fired up for this game, as they have been kicked out of the last 2 major competitions by none other than Portugal's coach, Scolari.

Waldstadion

BRAZIL vs France

Ah, it's the 1998 World Cup Finals yet again. Deja vu for the Brazillians, as they were utterly humiliated by the French back then, losing 3-0 with Zinedine Zidane and Emmanuel Petit scoring. 8 years on, there is still remnants of the previous team here in this game. Roberto Carlos, Zidane, Cafu, Henry and just to name a few. Brazil will want to bury the nightmare of that game tonight by beating the French and gaining a place in the semi finals facing either England or Portugal. There are no injury problems from both the squad so they'll likely start with their normal first XI.

Brazil (4-4-2): 1-Dida; 2-Cafu, 3-Lucio, 4-Juan, 6-Roberto Carlos; 17-Gilberto Silva, 11-Ze Roberto, 8-Kaka, 10-Ronaldinho; 9-Ronaldo, 7-Adriano
Coach: Carlos Alberto Parreira

France (4-2-3-1): 16-Fabien Barthez; 19-Willy Sagnol, 15-Lilian Thuram, 5-William Gallas, 3-Eric Abidal; 4-Patrick Vieira , 6-Claude Makelele; 22-Franck Ribery, 10-Zinedine Zidane, 7-Florent Malouda; 12-Thierry Henry
Coach: Raymond Domenech

Drogballs' Prediction: Brazil 2-1 France. I personally have this gut feeling that Ronaldo will play a blinder due to the fact that he missed the '98 World Cup Finals with an unknown illness and he'll be out there to prove his worth. And of course Brazil will want to up their game and get their revenge, especially Ronaldinho, who has been largely disappointing.

Tags: World Cup 2006, Soccer, Football, Brazil, France, England, Portugal