The Round Of 16 has begun!

This will not come as news to Word Cup fans, but I can be fairly certain that any true footballers are not reading this blog today anyway. Instead, they are glued to their TV sets watching the first games of the Round of 16 being played in Germany, the winners of which will advance to the quarter-final games beginning June 30th.

Here's a chart showing the matchups, courtesy of Wikipedia (click on the chart for a larger image):

(Update 6/27/06: The second round winners have been determined,
and quarterfinal play will begin June 30th. Revised chart shown above.)

The fever pitch is building as the games wind up to their concluding matches. Expect the entire European continent (and for that matter, most of the world) to freeze in its tracks on Sunday, July 9th, the date of the final match in Berlin where the World Cup winner will be determined. Even though footba...er, soccer, is still not that big here in the States, there is more of an interest this time around than in previous years, now that the U.S. is represented in the competition. The Americans were eliminated fairly early in the knockout matches, but they still played respectably.

If you're new to the sport, check it out and see what the rest of the world is so excited about. You can join in the global spirit by painting your body in the colors of your favorite team, getting rowdy-ass drunk, and beating the crap out of fans of the opposition. Oy, what bloody fun, mate! Hoist a pint and kick it!