Without that failed penalty from Ghana all my predictions for yesterday's games would havwe been wrong. Still, I can't see how Spain can fail to reach the semifinals.

I'm off now to watch Germany - Argentine with friends.
What speaks for Germany is
- that Argentine has won one ('86 final) out of five encounters with Germany during world cups.
What speaks for Argentine is
- that Argentine has won most of all games with Germany
- that Argentine has by far the best individual player among the 22 we'll see soon
- that Argentine has won the recent friendly match in Germany (and the 1:0 was only a poor indication of Argentine's superiority)
- that Germany comes this year with weak penalty shooters

Whatever happens, please let that be a game without a colossal referee blunder or at least that he makes his major blunder in midfield play where it doesn't matter.

Wolfgang